First Grow - Bag Seeds - Germinated July 27 2015

[MagicJim]

Is it Indica, Sativa or Hybrid? What percentages? : Unknown
Is it in Veg or Flower stage? : Veg
If in Veg... For how long? 20 days
If in Flower stage... For how long?
Indoor or outdoor? Started outdoor, Indoor beginning Aug. 17, 2015
Soil or Hydro? : Soil
If soil... what is in your mix? : Commercial Sta-Green Flower & Vegetable Garden Soil
If soil... What size pot? : 1 gallon
Size of light? CFL 6500k, 60W equivalent using 13W
Is it aircooled? : No
Temp of Room/cab? : 79 C
RH of Room/cab? : 61
PH of media or res? 7 (Using old analog probe) awaiting new digital measuring devices
Any Pests ? Y Small brown spiders eliminated Aug. 17, 2015
How often are you watering? Every 2 days if needed
Type and strength of ferts used? Hyponex 10-10-10 started Aug. 13, 2015

These were started July 27 and germinated in Jiffy pots using Jiffy Natural & Organic Seed Starter Mix, which is 50 to 60% sphagnum with vermiculite, coir pith and lime. I don't know the PH but bag said "Balanced".

Overnight, while on my deck, one of two was slimed by a snail and I'm assuming it was consumed. Replacement seed was germinated July 29. These seeds were very vibrant germinaters.

My intent was to grow these outdoors; however, as time went by I decided to order a stealth grow cabinet equipped for hydro as I have recently been consuming what was described as Hydo grown MJ. The equipment supplier advised shipment to be on 8/21/15 the seeds I have on order may not be here for quite a while. Therefore, since I'm a newbie I've decided to practice a soil grow when the cab arrives. The cab can be used soil or hydro.

Nutes were started Aug 14 and on August 15 I noticed one leaf curling on the smaller plant and had to remove a small brown spider. Web was cleaned with saliva and fingers. Second feeding was August 16 and today an additional spider was removed from the larger plant. Same cleaning process and both were generously sprayed with Neem Oil and tops were fimmed above the fourth true leaves. I also moved then indoors to acclimate them to CFL light which will be 18/6.

The quality of the bag was very good and I realize sex will be a coin toss. Maybe I'll get lucky. Who am I kidding here? I've never been very lucky when it comes to sex. LOL.

Anyway....To point them in the right direction, they have been named Carol and Mary. Let's hope they don't become Carl and Mark !

Comments are welcome. Jim

 

[Outragedpluto]

Hey there MagicJim!!! Welcome to the community! Plants are looking great! One question. How far your lights from the plants. They look to be a little stretched out. That can be a cause of the light being to far away or not enough light in general. Good thing is that it can be fixed and if adjusted can turn into a great thing and tie her down to to make her bush out.

Anyways grow is looking awesome!!!! Any pictures of your setup??

 

[MagicJim]

Thanks Outraged.... Until this morning the light source was almost 93 million miles away.

Now under CFL 5 inches. I will begin training those branches when the cab arrives. Will post pictures of cabinet as soon as it gets here and is set up. Jim

 

[MagicJim]

Day 21 Carol, Day 19 Mary

Yesterday I did some LST and seems like I continue to do something. Both girls exhibit some bruising to a few leaves and I know that this is only trauma from rough handling while chasing those brown spiders. Note to self: Don't start outdoors and bring indoors. Not only due to insect or arachnid issues but these older pots I'm using were not sterilized and could easily contain some ugly pathogens. Jim

Mary

Carol

Before new anchors added.

 

[MagicJim]

Update Aug. 18, 2015. Yesterday, I brought these two plants from outdoors to indoors. While outdoors they were subject to attack by at least 3 small brown spiders, about the size of a small MJ seed. I first used Neem Oil for control and later saw many different kinds of critters, including centipedes, ants and one unidentified very small insect. I have previously treated house plants with a light soil spray of Dursban and systemic granules of a very old product called Bonide. Neither of these products were watered into the soil but made all the critters dead.

Regulations prohibited the manufacture of Dursban many years ago and I'm not sure I even want to know why. I do know it kills things. Bonide contains Dy-syston as it's primary ingredient; controls thrips, mites and aphids and can be used on vegetables. I really didn't research whether either of these products would be harmful if smoked.

Being somewhat concerned about my health, I decided to carefully repot my babies. I damaged some of the root structure on Carol so I'll have to watch this one closely. They both may require that they be junked. We shall just wait and see. In the meantime, I got a letter from the IRS this morning so now I have a different priority. Jim

 

[MagicJim]

8/20 Update Pen meters arrived. Also received my Hydroguard and they sent me a 250 ml bottle of Overdrive as a bonus I guess.

Tap water measured Ph 7.46 and 132 PPM after bubbling for 1 day.

8/21 Nutrients at 1/4 strength and 1 Tums tablet (500 mg Calcium Carbonate) were mixed into the first gallon of water resulting in Ph of 6.7 and 500 PPM. Plants were given about 1/2 cup each of nutrients before the Tums tablet was added.

Some yellowing of bottom leaves which I attribute to that one day of rough handling chasing the spiders; however, it could easily be slightly elevated Ph level. I also moved up to 2 lamps and switched to 100 W (23W) 6500K CFLs and added a small fan so they could just dance in slight breeze.

My cabinet is to arrive next week along with some PH up and down. The cab has its own set of lamps and ventilation so they'll soon have a new home. Its dimensions are 16" W 9.5" D and 36" H. I've ordered some 3 gal smart pots so I'm hoping that those fabric pots can be crammed in there somehow.

A DIY screen made from a wooden frame and string will finish the project for a Scrog if these girls make it that far. I've done 1 top FIM on both and some LST although I've probably put them through more of a high stress situation. As always, comments are welcome.

Mary - Day 24

Carol - Day 26

Environment

 

[MagicJim]

A quick visual progress report:

Jim

 

[MagicJim]

UPS just advised that the cabinet will arrive tomorrow. I wish I had some feel for seeds coming from Amsterdam.

Gave both a complete watering of the nute mixture and added Hydroguard (Bacillus root inoculant) 1 drop / Qt. Label is 2 ml / gal. Ph going in 6.84. Run-off out is Ph 7.70 which I need to think about here. I suspect this soil is quite alkaline and I'll test some run-off of the soil straight from the bag today. Pics are done and first true leaves were taken from Carol as they were brown and add nothing to photosynthesis of the plant. Plus, I wanted to just keep her looking good.

 

[SweetSue]

Well, I'm more than remotely interested in following your first grow attempt Jim. I love the way you guys just jump right in and start playing with practice plants.

Here for the ride Jim. Let me grab my popcorn. You've already had me laughing more than once.

 

[MagicJim]

Well, I'm more than remotely interested in following your first grow attempt Jim. I love the way you guys just jump right in and start playing with practice plants.

Here for the ride Jim. Let me grab my popcorn. You've already had me laughing more than once.

Yeah! When the student is ready, the teacher appears. Thank you. I sent you a friendship thingy. Facebook's hold is loosening and I'm about to break that tie. I just have to figure out some things. Oh well, I just smoked my bowl so my only goal is to greet the UPS man. Jim

 

[MagicJim]

Progress pics

 

[MagicJim]

Well, the UPS man took almost all day to get here with the Cabinet but it's now all set up. The DWC reservoir and net pots (not pictured) are only 1 1/2 gal and 3 inches, respectively. It seems small but I'm ready to start a hydro grow. I'm really thinking about ordering some auto seeds so I can run them after my soil grow is complete. Interior is small at 9.5" D x 16" W x 36" H but I'll make it work. Exhaust fan is a little noisy and I didn't even plug in the air pump which has a nice size stone. It came with RAW nutrients and my Ph Up / Down also got here. Anyway, here's some pics.

 

[SweetSue]

Let the games begin!

 

[MagicJim]

I just realized something. These efforts are going to require some patience. I actually do have some; proven by my many visits to Walmart without ever injuring anyone.

So here's the progress report. The girls looked a little sick this morning. They have lost some of the shine from the leaves and I detect the tint of yellow. The cabinet has only the one fan and it draws air out. Temp range last 12 hrs were 77F to 97F. I took the 100W CFLs out and replaced them with 60W. So now the cabinet has 3 60W CFLs (6500k) and operates 18/6 hours. I also mounted my small fan to the inside of the cabinet and it will only run during lights on. I'll be interested in the temps tomorrow. I also found a tray that required some remodeling but will catch any run-off when I water. I also bought a $1 turkey baster so I can remove most of the run-off and test it. It's just going to be cramped in the bottom and I may not be able to move up to 3 gal smart pots. We shall see.

Even before I got the cabinet hooked up yesterday I could smell the girls' odor and it is very intense now. I'll be working on a vent and carbon filter soon. Anyway, here's some pics:

 

[MagicJim]

Day 31 for Carol, 29 for Mary. Yesterday I removed all anchors and unintentionally almost broke Mary's stem. I think they call that Supercropping. She's alright and both look a little better this morning. Environment: I still concerned about high temp that the meter records for the last 12 hours. High was 99F. I'm skeptical here and believe I might have a faulty meter here. If not a meter issue, why would I have such a spike of the high temp? I look in several times a day and never witness the high extreme. I'm going to research deficiency charts today to gain more insight. I just re-found this Some plant deficiencies

Mary is now 4.5" tall and Carol 5" with the bending training I did. When I brought them from outdoors, they were 6" and 7", respectively.

 

[MagicJim]

I almost forgot to show everyone the DIY screen I made yesterday. It's made with wood and designed to fit this cabinet. 24 compartments were created by placing thick string through small eye screws. I used a little Elmer's glue and 2 small wood screws at the corners. Once the plants are ready, I'll take some additional measurements and put four 5/16" wooden dowels under each corner to ensure it doesn't fall on the ladies and to allow some room for maintenance. Click on thumbs for larger views. Enjoy....Jim

 

[glimmergrass]

Love that cabinet and your sense of humour Can't wait to see how things progress!

 

[Outragedpluto]

Hey the MagicJim, your cabinet is looking pretty slick. Looking like a pro now Little ladies are looking great as well. I just tied my little baby down today as well. Such a fun hobby

 

[MagicJim]

Love that cabinet and your sense of humour Can't wait to see how things progress!

Makes me happy. Thank you glimmergrass.

Hey the MagicJim, your cabinet is looking pretty slick. Looking like a pro now Little ladies are looking great as well. I just tied my little baby down today as well. Such a fun hobby

Thanks Outragedpluto. It is pretty slick. I wish I had not been quite so impulsive when I bought it though. I do want to run it as hydro but now I want a tent and some LED lights. I want that so much that I cleaned up my spare room today and even hung a new interior door. When I bought this repossessed house 5 years ago, it was in rough shape inside and I just tossed two damaged doors out. So we shall see if I place an order soon.

I got my seeds from The Netherlands today and I couldn't stop smiling on my walk back from the mail box. Got 12 White Widows (ordered 10), 3 Jack Herer and 3 Amnesia Haze. All are feminized so if they pop I'm good....I think.

Anyway....Thanks so much for the comments. You just don't know how good it makes me feel with you guys tagging along on this adventure. Jim

 

[glimmergrass]

Wow, WW, JH and Amnesia Haze -- that sounds AMAZING

Is the screen just wedged into the cabinet? I couldn't tell what's holding it up.

I feel you on the issue of what to grow in. I want to order a tent but keep hesitating. I should just do it - I've got a clamp base for my more powerful CFL coming as well as a smallish LED full spectrum light bank and the cupboard I was going to grow in looks awfully small at the moment ...

All my best to Mary and Carol!