Noob's First Grow: Indoor, Coco, 4 Plants

Today was the big day for my auto Purple Kush (aka LongHorn). At the age of 94 DAYS since germination, and DAY 62 since showing pistils, she got the axe this morning. A few pictures of the slaughter:

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So, 10.2oz (285 gr) wet weight, including stems. I'm guessing that should yield about 2 oz or 60 gr when dried, and stems removed. So not a killer harvest by any means, but for my first time out, I am really darned pleased!! In addition (not on the scales above) I got about 30 grams of sugar leaves, which I will use to make oil for gummies.

I will be using the "low and slow" drying technique I found here on 420 - the buds are in the fridge in paper bags right now.

Finally, here is the corpse... see, there really was a quad-line attempt made for this girl.

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Goodbye, Purple Kush, we will meet again in smoke or edible form in a few weeks!

Will do another update in a few days on my GSC, Trainwreck, and Green Crack. Those are my three photoperiod girls who are currently in flower. Saturday will be DAY 21 since pistils, and they will be getting a defol job at that time.

Have a great evening, everyone!
 
Derbybud said:
Nice job bard on your first harvest. Feel proud dude cause most of us didn't get a first harvest. Nice job and just wait till you taste your own product. Congrats
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Thanks Derby! Yes, I am very grateful. Not just that I got to a harvest, but more important, for all the great support and advice that I got here from folks like you, and so many others. Couldn't have done it without everyone's help!
 
The Bard said:
Hello!

I've been exploring this website for several weeks now, and have learned so much - thanks to all of you that have shared so much of your wisdom and experience ...
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Hey @The Bard ... nice meeting you today ... I am going to read through your grow journal and see if I can pick up some tips on growing in coco coir.
 
SQl2kGuy said:
Hey @The Bard ... nice meeting you today ... I am going to read through your grow journal and see if I can pick up some tips on growing in coco coir.
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Thanks! I am still really new, but have been reading up here on 420. There are such a great group of advisors and helpers around. It has been a lot of fun, and I've learned so much. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have questions - I'll try to help; otherwise, someone with more experience will be sure to have an answer for you!
 
The Bard said:
Thanks! I am still really new, but have been reading up here on 420. There are such a great group of advisors and helpers around. It has been a lot of fun, and I've learned so much. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have questions - I'll try to help; otherwise, someone with more experience will be sure to have an answer for you!
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Sorry, just re-read your comment about coco. I love it! A few tips of the top of my head...

1) Make sure to wash it well before you use it. It can often have a very high salt content.
2) Buffer or pre-charge it (helps displace the sodium, and replace with calcium). Cal/mag is a good choice.
3) pH range for your nute solution should be in the 5.8-6.2 area
4) Water pretty frequently - most recommend once a day. Now that I am in bloom with my photo girls, I am watering 3x per day. Once the plants are past early seedling stage, it is pretty hard to over-water in coco.
5) Keep an eye out for cal and or mag deficiencies, especially if you are growing in coco and also under LED lights.

Hope this helps, but feel free to ask anything.
 
Last week's excitement was my very first harvest, ever, of my autoflowering Purple Kush! Was so excited to give her the chop. I was pretty pleased with my harvest, and the buds are now on a cooling rack inside a paper bag in the fridge. Every other day I take them out, turn them over, let them come to room temp, and then back into the fridge. About the middle of this week I will check to see if they are dry enough to move on to the next stage (bottling and curing).

In the meantime, the three photoperiod gals have been chugging along. Makes me really happy to open the tent each day to see how they are. Today is DAY 103 from germination, DAY 24 from seeing first pistils. I did a big defoliation a couple of days before flipping to 12/12, and since then have basically left them do their thing without messing with them. Just keeping a close eye on them, and feeding regularly. They have stretched quite a bit, especially given how short and bushy they were at flip. I have raised the LED lights a bit over the past week or two, but I am still ok for height, given their vertical growth seems to be slowing down now.

They are consistently drinking more and more each day, and I am having to increase the amount of nute solution to keep up. I give them lots of small waterings throughout the day, and a larger amount an hour or two before lights off, to get a bit of run off.

DAY 21 was the target for the next defol, which I finally did this morning (a few days late - didn't have time until now). I have read lots of different opinions regarding how much to defoliate at this stage, with strong points of view on the "do almost nothing," all the way to "leave only one or two leaves per bud." I chose a path kind of in the middle, or perhaps a bit more towards leaving more leaves than others might. Basically I tried to clean up the base of each plant, under the canopy, to allow for really good air circulation. Then I removed leaves that were blocking bud tips as well, to allow light in. But I don't think I went too crazy removing leaves. More of a nice trim job, as opposed to a full Brazilian wax job. :)

Here are before and after images for each one of the three. They are all quite sticky (and now so are my fingers and trimming scissors), smell great. I am especially pleased with the GSC, as she was the most challenging of the three to keep on-track this far. The other two also look good, but they have been really easy to look after.

Trainwreck - before
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Trainwreck - after
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GSC - before
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GSC - after
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Green Crack - before
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Continued in next post....
 
Continued...

Green Crack - after

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All three girls are now back in their tent. Next big milestone will be around DAY 42 (three weeks from now), when they will get another haircut.

Any feedback or suggestions welcomed!

Enjoy the weekend. Thanks to all.
 
SQl2kGuy said:
Hey @The Bard ... nice meeting you today ... I am going to read through your grow journal and see if I can pick up some tips on growing in coco coir.
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Use a quality product. I use the Canna Coco Bricks. The coconut husks have been ground into a nice consistent product, and the salt has all been washed out. I expand the bricks with the nutrient solution I use for aggressive vegetative growth, as that's whats needed when I transplant into their final containers. I mix it 70% expanded coco to 30% perlite for better drainage and aeration. It takes about 9 liters to expand both halves of one brick in a bag. When using it for seed, or clones I use an amount equal to the expanded coco/perlite of seedling/clone nutrient solution to cut the nutrient strength in the coco. I use water from my RO for the plants. Try to stay away from municipal water as it contains chloramine.

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Ingredients for Coco/Perlite Substrate​

I no longer use the Promix Perlite. I buy it in 4 cu ft bags at the garden center as it costs 25% of the Promix. I use 120l totes for both the perlite and coco/perlite mix.

Stick with one manufacturer for your nutrients, and keep it basic for your first grow. I use the General Hydroponics' Flora Trio at 25%-35% of the recommended strength. More causes nutrient burn. Advanced Nutrients, Canna, and Mega Crop nutrients have also been successfully used by our members. I may try Mega Crop when my General Hydroponics run out.
 
The Bard said:
Continued...

Green Crack - after

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All three girls are now back in their tent. Next big milestone will be around DAY 42 (three weeks from now), when they will get another haircut.

Any feedback or suggestions welcomed!

Enjoy the weekend. Thanks to all.
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They're looking great!
 
Old Salt said:
Use a quality product. I use the Canna Coco Bricks. The coconut husks have been ground into a nice consistent product, and the salt has all been washed out ...
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Hey @Old Salt ... nice to hear from you again ... and as always, your tips will come in handy. I've done the reading and watched the YouTube videos so I've picked up on a few of the pit falls too. Also, my current grow should give me some high-level experience and a bit more confidence.

The only question I still have at this point is whether I can use my current Gringo Rasta nutrients (please see the photo in my grow journal) along with a few microbe additives when I transition from soil to coco? I will look for other threads on here to help guide me ... as well as reaching out to the senior "coco loco" members ... (that just sounds funny) ... when the time comes.

Alright... thanks again ... and Dr. Watson and I are off to the dog park to run with the other big dogs.

May all your plants grow as fast and as strong as puppies :)
 
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