Gubba's Grow Journal - 2012

[Gubba3Bump]

Thanks 420 for all the support and feedback you are providing!

Strain "Unknown"
Found a single seed in a very nice bud of a high quality West Coast grow. Decided to germinate and see what happens. This is my Journal, my girlfriend decided to name her "Sylvia", this is her journey.

This is an indoor grow, I germinted in paper towel and then placed into organic soil at 20-10-10 "Red Solo Cup" watering using a wicking system. Two days later she popped her head out with 1st and 2nd set of leaves visible.

I have converted a walk-in closet into my grow room (approx 5x5). Currently have her growing under a single 100w CFL 6500k and 1274 lumins (approx 4-6 inches above the plant). I plan on adding a second 100w CFL 6500k 1274 lumins tomorrow. I lined the walls using reflective emergency blankets.

Placed digital thermometer/hydrometer in the room, Tempreture ranges have been from 76F-79F and Humidity between 46%-49%.

She is in day 3 above ground. I noticed today that there were a couple of white/grey small bugs crawling in the soil, but have yet to be able to identify them (Thoughts?).

This is my 1st grow in 20+ years so I am experimenting with a lot here. Because I dont have a great setup yet, I will be using Miracle-Gro All Purpose Plant Food 24-8-16 for Veg Stage and switch to a Bloom Booster 15-30-15 at flowering.

Will update with Pics and data every 2-3 days...

 

[CaliPho3niX]

Sub'd, looking forward to the first pics...

How big are the bugs? If they're crawling around in the soil and not the plant itself, my guess would be root aphids possibly. I'm assuming you know what spider mites look like? Try searching Google images for either and see if they match what you're looking at...

 

[CronicHempHog]

Thanks 420 for all the support and feedback you are providing!

Strain "Unknown"
Found a single seed in a very nice bud of a high quality West Coast grow. Decided to germinate and see what happens. This is my Journal, my girlfriend decided to name her "Sylvia", this is her journey.

This is an indoor grow, I germinted in paper towel and then placed into organic soil at 20-10-10 "Red Solo Cup" watering using a wicking system. Two days later she popped her head out with 1st and 2nd set of leaves visible.

I have converted a walk-in closet into my grow room (approx 5x5). Currently have her growing under a single 100w CFL 6500k and 1274 lumins (approx 4-6 inches above the plant). I plan on adding a second 100w CFL 6500k 1274 lumins tomorrow. I lined the walls using reflective emergency blankets.

Placed digital thermometer/hydrometer in the room, Tempreture ranges have been from 76F-79F and Humidity between 46%-49%.

She is in day 3 above ground. I noticed today that there were a couple of white/grey small bugs crawling in the soil, but have yet to be able to identify them (Thoughts?).

This is my 1st grow in 20+ years so I am experimenting with a lot here. Because I dont have a great setup yet, I will be using Miracle-Gro All Purpose Plant Food 24-8-16 for Veg Stage and switch to a Bloom Booster 15-30-15 at flowering.

Will update with Pics and data every 2-3 days...

from what everyone says on this site miracle grow is not so good to use for mj grows
fyi

 

[Gubba3Bump]

They are crawling in the soil. They do not stay on the surface just cross from area to area then go back under the dirt. These are not Mites and I have checked the baby completely and she shows no signs of stress.

What is a simple Fert I can use that will not require me to have a PHD in Chemestry? (Want the fert in the holding tank for the wicking system if possible).

Thanks...

 

[CaliPho3niX]

Hard to really tell from such a vague description but let me just tell you, if it IS root aphids, the plants won't show any signs of stress until the colony is fully populated and the root zone is infested. Since they live in the soil and feed on the roots, you tend not to notice or pay attention to them until there's noticeable damage to the plants (unexplained, phantom nutrient lockout is usually the first and most misdiagnosed sign). Usually by the time you get to this point, it's too late (hence why RA's are the "silent" killer of cannabis).

Just a heads up, keep a close eye on them (the bugs *and* the plants)...

 

[CronicHempHog]

They are crawling in the soil. They do not stay on the surface just cross from area to area then go back under the dirt. These are not Mites and I have checked the baby completely and she shows no signs of stress.

What is a simple Fert I can use that will not require me to have a PHD in Chemestry? (Want the fert in the holding tank for the wicking system if possible).

Thanks...

alot of people here like the site sponsors nutes bpn
i been using botanicare been working great for my dwc

 

[dadums]

Sounds like fungus gnats. Looks like a fruit fly? You shouldn't have to do all these unless there are a lot of critters. 1.let the top of the soil dry they love it wet 2.ad a layer of Diatomaceous earth it will cut the larva to shreds. (evil laugh). 3.add a chunk of mosquito dunk to your water, spray with a neem oil based insecticide. If you see them flying around hang a fly strip it will only get the adults, but keeps them from breeding and you can keep track of when they are eradicated.

 

[Gubba3Bump]

Ok, solved some techincal issues with the camera. Here is a picture...she is coming along now. Found what appears to be an ant in the soil, not sure how it got there. I visited a local Hydrophonics shop and purchased "Terra Vega" 2-1-3 Fert. Doubled the amount of light in the room to just over 8000 Lumins at 6500k the average temp in the room has risen from 79f to 81f with the added lights but humidity is holding steady at about 49%. She will be on her own for the weekend so will update again on Sunday/Monday. Peace...

 

[dadums]

Hold on girl daddy won't be gone long

 

[Gubba3Bump]

Quick Update...

Back from my weekend trip. Soil was pretty dry even though I saturated it before I left.

I have a yellowish spot on the 2nd set of leaves (bottom left leaf) kinda hard to see in the pics. I watered with clean PH neutral water before I left on Friday afternoon so approx 48 hours before this picture was taken today.

Watered today with a weakened (watered down)nutes mixture.

 

[donpaul.p]

hi, great journal so far mate, chances are the yellow spot is a nute problem, miracle grow is high in nute content and has slow release nutes in it, this tends to kill off any young plants, some survive but a lot die due to to much nutes in the soil, its not even worth flushing due to the slow release nutes in soil as it would just get these slow release working and give you the same problem, so even adding nutes to the soil is a bit hit and miss as you dont know exactly whats in the soil itself,

a lot of growers have loads of problem with miracle grow so id try and keep away from it for any future grows or when you transfer to bigger pots use something different and plant them in that, all you can really do for now is let them grow, try not to over water, i know you using a wick system but keep an eye on the soil getting to wet as the roots like to have air and dry out from time to time, so over watering causes loads of problems,

id say the problem you are having though is down to the miracel grow, so just keep an eye on it, if it gets worse and the plant starts dying then id switch to something else and start again with fresh soil, hopefully they will be ok, miracle grow tends to be better for bigger plants as the can take the nutes in the soil ok and grow well from it, but starting off in miracle grow can be difficult and the plants may be stunted and stop growing till they recover.

i used cfls from day one of my grow journal and they got me well into flower, but i was using around 400 actual watts and decided to switch to a dual spectrum 400watt hps as i was using the same amount of power,

 

[Gubba3Bump]

I didnt use the Mirical Grow, I took earlier advice and decided to visit the local Hydroponics store who recommended "Terra Vega" 2-1-3 and thats what I have used. Went a little under the directions on the back to make it about 75-80% as strong as the bottle suggests. I am sure she is fine, just going to watch her for a few days and alternate clean water every other watering. Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it!

Came home for lunch and found a Jumping Spider at play in the plant. I am glad to see it in there...Good Karma!

Peace...

 

[dadums]

If things don't get worse you'll be fine. I used MG first time out with OK results, but that one went hermie from stress. I was new and did everything wrong. I agree with D.P that it's hard to correct mistakes with MG. You just can't flush. That being said I wouldn't make any major changes that could cause stress.

 

[Gubba3Bump]

Day 10: Added another 100W CFL 6500k 1274 Lumins for a total of just over 9000 Lumins. Spider is gone now, but have not seen the small silver bugs since it visited. She is drinking just fine now, 2 days between watering. Thinking it is time to introduce some music to her life. I'm thinking Led Zepplin will keep her happy!

Peace...

 

[dadums]

Pink Floyd

 

[donpaul.p]

ive hear a lot of people play the plants music, would be good if a side by side study was done with clones, say a room with 5 clones with music and rhe same amount without music and compare the results.

by the look of the leaves it looks like a sativa strain or a mix of the 2 leaning towards a sativa cross.
if your planning on keeping it in the cup for a bit then try and make sure the cup is not letting light through as this can damage the roots and slow development, i was using 20 and 23 and 30watt 6500k cfls and kept them close to the plants and found they produced very little to no stretch what so ever my plants didnt even make it a foot tall but now im using hps im getting some stretch and some bud sites are growing taller now so thinking im getting more stretch with hps than cfls.

in the past flourecents where not good at growing but these new cfls are the exact right light spectrum for the plants and they seem to love these new cfls

 

[Gubba3Bump]

When I transplant her, would it be a good idea to change her soil (understanding that I need to keep the root ball in the same soil it is in now)? I am not extreemly happy with the "Mirical Grow Organic Choice Potting Mix' that I used when I was uneducated.

Peace...

 

[Gubba3Bump]

Would it be ok to change my soil when I go to transplant her? She is currently in a Red Solo Cup filled with "Mirical Grow Organic Choice Potting Mix" with a .10-.05-.05 nutes. I understand I will need to keep the root ball in the current soil but the rest of my new pot could I use a different soil?

 

[donpaul.p]

no it will be ok mate, try not to mess with the roots to much, just put them into some decent compost and you will be ok mate, just make sure you transplant when the soil the plant in is dry so you can just turn it upside down and slide it out in one go, making sure you have the plant between your fingers and the palm of your hand supporting the soil, if you know what i mean, letting it dry out will prevent the soil falling apart when you tip it up, i wouldnt worry about removing any soil from the roots, it would do more harm than good, you will find when you change the pot the roots will be all over the place so wont take long to grow into the new soil. so id leave it as it is and just put it in another pot with fresh soil/compost.

mg tends to slow the plants growth down, not sure why, possibly its because its made for house plants that need higher nute levels, but what ever it is these plants dont seem to like it much, when i grew years ago i used a miracle grow nutrient liquid and that grew my plants ok and i flowered with it as well, but i never used miracle grow soil since the first time i used it, the plants do a lot better in anything other than miracle grow

 

[Gubba3Bump]

12 Days above ground...Transplanted her today!

Her new soil is Sunshine - Advanced Rainforest Blend that I purchased at the local Hydrophonics store. I decided to move her into a "Smart Pot" aeration container. When I removed her from the Red Solo Cup she was pretty root bound on the bottom so I think this was the right time to make the switch. Her 3rd set of true leaves are 5 tips, and the 4th/5th set are coming in now, I am loving that she is staying short (approx 1/8-1/4 inch between nodes).