MGD420's Second Grow Journal

[bluter]

The 6 leggy seedlings that made it now under the blurple until they get moved up into the loft. Will try my luck and plant another 4 seeds at the beginning of the week and hopefully they all germinate this time.

did you have grow bulbs in those fluorescents earlier ?

 

[MGD420]

did you have grow bulbs in those fluorescents earlier ?

No it was just the fluorescent bulbs that were there. I borrowed a blurple grow light from a friend and popped it in beside the plants last night.

 

[MGD420]

@bluter

How long can seedlings go in perlite without the need for nutrients ?
When I done my last grow they went around 2 - 3 weeks before I started nutrients. Just not sure if the same would apply to perlite.
My understanding is that seedlings have enough to sustain themselves for around a couple of weeks before nutrients are really needed. Is that the case ?

Thanks again

 

[bluter]

No it was just the fluorescent bulbs that were there. I borrowed a blurple grow light from a friend and popped it in beside the plants last night.

there are grow bulbs that will work with that fixture for seedlings.

@bluter

How long can seedlings go in perlite without the need for nutrients ?
When I done my last grow they went around 2 - 3 weeks before I started nutrients. Just not sure if the same would apply to perlite.
My understanding is that seedlings have enough to sustain themselves for around a couple of weeks before nutrients are really needed. Is that the case ?

Thanks again

i start feeding in perlite much sooner. there is nothing in perlite at all to sustain a plant, you have to provide it all. i usually start feeding at 1/2 or 1/4 seedling strength, and normally begin with a weak foliar in lieu of watering at the very beginning.

so long as there's something at the bottom of the hempy cup you'll be fine.

 

[MGD420]

there are grow bulbs that will work with that fixture for seedlings.





i start feeding in perlite much sooner. there is nothing in perlite at all to sustain a plant, you have to provide it all. i usually start feeding at 1/2 or 1/4 seedling strength, and normally begin with a weak foliar in lieu of watering at the very beginning.

so long as there's something at the bottom of the hempy cup you'll be fine.

Thanks for the reply bluter.

I'll have a look and see if I can find bulbs for the fluorescent fitments and keep them aside if I ever need to use them again. I took the fluorescent lights out of one of the units I have in the livingroom lol so will need to put them back.

The seedlings look fine at the moment, no discoloration etc other than being stretchy they seem healthy enough but will start feeding them some nutrients from tomorrow onwards

 

[bluter]

Thanks for the reply bluter.

I'll have a look and see if I can find bulbs for the fluorescent fitments and keep them aside if I ever need to use them again. I took the fluorescent lights out of one of the units I have in the livingroom lol so will need to put them back.

you can buy bulbs in the correct kelvin for seedling. i think they run up around 6500k. kelvin in a fluorescent is a bit steeper than led as it carries less overall spectrum.

The seedlings look fine at the moment, no discoloration etc other than being stretchy they seem healthy enough but will start feeding them some nutrients from tomorrow onwards

if the first true leaves are established you can pretty well start feeding. intervals between feedings are a bit longer at this stage. the cup won't dry out, you are just making sure the res has been refreshed every few days.

 

[MGD420]

you can buy bulbs in the correct kelvin for seedling. i think they run up around 6500k. kelvin in a fluorescent is a bit steeper than led as it carries less overall spectrum.





if the first true leaves are established you can pretty well start feeding. intervals between feedings are a bit longer at this stage. the cup won't dry out, you are just making sure the res has been refreshed every few days.

I would need to measure the bulbs to see what size they are if I do buy bulbs for them as I don't know what type, size of fitment the bulb would be for those, I've never had to replace the bulbs on them as they came with a unit for the livingroom with side lighting but the lights were barely ever used.


The seedlings have 2 main leaves with a couple starting to show at the sides at the moment. I'll start giving them nutrients tomorrow at a 1/4 of the recommended dose that canna recommends for seedlings.
When I do transplant the seedlings into their main buckets. Would it be better to bury the stems a bit more into the perlite so they're not as leggy.

 

[bluter]

I would need to measure the bulbs to see what size they are if I do buy bulbs for them as I don't know what type, size of fitment the bulb would be for those, I've never had to replace the bulbs on them as they came with a unit for the livingroom with side lighting but the lights were barely ever used.

size kelvin etc is usually printed on the bulb. at least in civilized countries. it's a mfgr requirement even for house use. i understand the uk has decided to chart a different path though lol

for easy ref most grow friendly fluorescent usually have a green colour on the metal ends of the tubes. our big box stores even adhere to it. they're super easy to find. most people just use them as regular bulbs with no idea.


you can also buy led equivalents that just snap in to the regular fixture. most aren't as good as real fluorescent yet, but they are getting better.

The seedlings have 2 main leaves with a couple starting to show at the sides at the moment. I'll start giving them nutrients tomorrow at a 1/4 of the recommended dose that canna recommends for seedlings.

not familiar with that schedule. i'd be feeding at almost seedling strength in MC. about 1/2 in GH or AN. that's about go size.. i'd bury the stems at up pot. it's early now, but you might have to get ahead.

 

[MGD420]

size kelvin etc is usually printed on the bulb. at least in civilized countries. it's a mfgr requirement even for house use. i understand the uk has decided to chart a different path though lol

for easy ref most grow friendly fluorescent usually have a green colour on the metal ends of the tubes. our big box stores even adhere to it. they're super easy to find. most people just use them as regular bulbs with no idea.


you can also buy led equivalents that just snap in to the regular fixture. most aren't as good as real fluorescent yet, but they are getting better.




not familiar with that schedule. i'd be feeding at almost seedling strength in MC. about 1/2 in GH or AN. that's about go size.. i'd bury the stems at up pot. it's early now, but you might have to get ahead.

I guess we're not civilised here in the UK The bulbs that are in it at the moment have chinese writing on them. I did have a look before I put the seedlings under them to see if they were fluorescent or led but couldn't see anything that gave a definite indication as to what size of bulbs they were or a brand name etc to check online but they're glass tubes so assuming they're fluorescent.

The standards in the UK for anything are generally high and normally need to be eu, bsi approved before they can be sold. Probably similar sort of requirements to the US regarding products and normally would be marked with some sort of logo but I didn't seem to see anything like that on the bulbs.

I'll remove one of the tubes in the morning and see if there is maybe something I've missed. At the moment I've got the seedlings under a philizon led grow light that I borrowed. I do have 3 mars hydro sp3000 led lights but they're up the loft and can't go up there as my little ones been here all week.

Canna is one of the better known brands in the UK, i think they mostly specialised in coco coir and products for coco but offer other forms of nutrients and medium aswell. It shouldn't be hard for me to find a feeding schedule for their canna vega and flora nutrients as thats what I'll be using. Last time it was the AN nutrients I used with the coco.
I'll probably wait about another week or so before I do transplant the seedlings into their buckets up the loft, hopefully by that time the roots will be a bit more established

 

[MGD420]

This is the feeding schedule by canna for their aqua vega and aqua flores.
From what I've read online a lot of people suggest that their feeding chart is way too strong and recommend starting at around 1/4 of what canna recommends in their feeding charts.
It was the same when I looked into their canna coco A + B start at a 1/4 dose.

Aqua vega A + B for Veg and Aqua flores A + B for flower.
I won't be using the cannazym or rhyzotonic

 

[MGD420]

Over or underfed ?

 

[MGD420]

Thats the loft more or less set up now. Took a lot longer than expected but with having my kids here for summer holidays I had to leave everything. Just a couple of small things to do now and that should be everything set.

 

[Paul Squiggle]

Howdy do..
Awesome set up..loving the loft conversion..
I will be following along from now on, if that's ok.
How's the temperatures in the loft? This mini UK heatwave has melted the felt on my shed roof..
Unfortunately, I won't be able to offer any assistance on your growing setup. Im a "stick it in the soil and water it" guy.
Wishing you the best of luck...

 

[Rexer]

Thats the loft more or less set up now. Took a lot longer than expected but with having my kids here for summer holidays I had to leave everything. Just a couple of small things to do now and that should be everything set.

stellar looking setup!

 

[MGD420]

Howdy do..
Awesome set up..loving the loft conversion..
I will be following along from now on, if that's ok.
How's the temperatures in the loft? This mini UK heatwave has melted the felt on my shed roof..
Unfortunately, I won't be able to offer any assistance on your growing setup. Im a "stick it in the soil and water it" guy.
Wishing you the best of luck...

Thanks Squiggle.

Yea thats fine, the more the merrier.

The temps up the loft at the moment at sitting around 31c. After I started doing a lot of the work up there I started asking myself if it would end up being way to hot for the plants. Whenever I'm up there I start sweating buckets lol so not sure how the plants will react to it.

 

[MGD420]

stellar looking setup!

Thanks Rexer.

 

[Paul Squiggle]

Thanks Squiggle.

Yea thats fine, the more the merrier.

The temps up the loft at the moment at sitting around 31c. After I started doing a lot of the work up there I started asking myself if it would end up being way to hot for the plants. Whenever I'm up there I start sweating buckets lol so not sure how the plants will react to it.

They should be fine..check out this UK members grow space> Buds loft <has just had a peak of 42°C in his loft and his plants are chooching along quite nice..
Oh!! Next time you're sweating buckets up there; Collect it and feed it to the plants. Saves on the water bill

 

[MGD420]

They should be fine..check out this UK members grow space> Buds loft <has just had a peak of 42°C in his loft and his plants are chooching along quite nice..
Oh!! Next time you're sweating buckets up there; Collect it and feed it to the plants. Saves on the water bill

Here's hoping. I'll give his profile and posts a look.
The last couple of days there probably was enough to fill one of the buckets lol I've built a sweat box up there.

 

[MGD420]

So i ran into a slight issue other than my seedlings looking a bit down.
I wanted to test the setup to check for any leaks and low and behold my DIY skills didn't fail my expectations.
A few minutes and around 10 litres of water later i noticed the reservoir leaking so have had to remove the 2 x 20L buckets that were used as hempy buckets from my previous grow that i attempted to use and butt them together using a couple of connectors, some rubber o rings and some pipe.

i will try and get a large bucket tomorrow and attempt to fix the issue.

 

[MGD420]

Little update.

The girls will be going up the loft either tonight or tomorrow morning once I've tested the setup for anymore leaks.

2 or 3 of the girls had a nitrogen deficiency and needed a little help. Thanks to felipeBlue, bluter and the other members that helped me regarding the deficiencies.

I planted a kannabia lemon haze on Thursday night to replace the super kush as the kush had the highest rate of duds with 3 seeds not germinating.
The big yield auto, out of 2 seeds only one germinated and another strain which didn't germinate. 5 seeds in total that did not germinate from 3 different strains.

The lemon haze I will keep downstairs for another week or so before she goes into her final bucket.

Strains I'm now growing are

1 × Lemon Haze
1 × Pineapple Express
2 × AK27 Express
1 × Big Yield Auto
1 × Super Kush
2 × Strong Stuff
2 × Amnesia Express

The girls at the moment