Beginner’s Indoor Grow Journal

[Kushy Tushy]

77 is fine even a little more but only if no heat stress is showing.

Does heat stress look like droopy leaves? It’s been up to 90 in here, but nothing droopy or sick looking so far. Except for that yellowish brown on bottom leaves.

 

[Kushy Tushy]

Dude, for real, it’s pretty friggin’ hard to “mess it up.” It is a weed, after all. I subscribe to the “less is more” style of growing and it’s never done me wrong. My last grow was the only one where, against my better judgment, I went,”Okay, I’m gonna go with buildasoil’s recommendations,” and it just turned my grow gnarly and disappointing. Never again. Usually, I just go with my instincts and it works out well. Just remember, if you think you need to add something, don’t haha.

As far as mulch, I usually use barley mulch, but this run I’m using a mix of some old barley I had sitting around and some bark mulch. This is the last time I’ll be using barley at all. Shit’s annoying, it’s not very heavy, my fans blow it around and I end up with a bunch of mulch scattered around my tent. I’m super-OCD when it comes to my grows, so having mulch blowing around my tent drives me fucking crazy. But you can use whatever. You could even use the perlite your mixing into your soil right on top of the dirt, like about two inches worth.

The reason you don’t want your dirt to dry out is the same as the reason you don’t want YOU to dry out. What would you rather do? Drink a shitload of water and then wait a few days to drink some more water? Or stay consistently hydrated? I water every other day and that’s fine. I’m not too too sure how you’re growing, but the way I grow, totally organic, the last thing you want is for your soil to be drying out. It’s best to keep everything consistent.

Regarding “feeding”: I don’t know what Botanicare pro grow is. I grow completely organic and don’t really “feed” at all. Maybe just a sprouted seed tea and some fulvic acid here and there. But remember, all of these “weed growin’” companies are just trying to sell you more shit, so if nothing else, I’d maybe cut the application rates of what you’re using in half of the recommended. Even with the stuff I add to my water, I always go with about half of what the manufacturer recommends and my grows always turn out fucking stellar haha!

I would like to be totally organic, with my own soil, but recently moved here and have only just begun composting pile from the winter. So I am buying soil and fertilizer for now. When feeding, I will use the least amount possible. I agree with you totally, I really don’t want it....but I think I need it for now. Baby steps.

 

[Minitiger]

Ok, I will back off on the feeding in veg for now, since they were just transplanted into the 5-gallon pots. I’d like to keep at least 3 of the 6 in veg for awhile. How many weeks can I go before they would need feeding? Or none at all? I would rather not feed and also err on the side of underfeeding. My bf wanted me to feed because of some yellow/brown on the lower leaves. I won’t feed anymore....View attachment 877242View attachment 877243View attachment 877244

Dude, no, you don’t need to feed just cuz you have a couple yellow spots on some of the bottom leaves. It happens, it’s normal. The only reason the pics you see in High Times or Skunk or whatever are of these GLORIOUS green and lush plants is because of the camera angles and shit. A few yellow, dried-out leaves is perfectly normal. No need to get freaked out.

I totally get it, though. My first grow, I fucking freaked OUT over every little thing. But you’re all good. Your plants look real healthy, temps are fine (my temps have been getting into the low 80’s ocassionally, due to the summer weather and I’m not worried about it at all), you’re good.

The less you worry, the less you have to worry about. That’s my mantra and it fucking works for me......

 

[Kushy Tushy]

Dude, no, you don’t need to feed just cuz you have a couple yellow spots on some of the bottom leaves. It happens, it’s normal. The only reason the pics you see in High Times or Skunk or whatever are of these GLORIOUS green and lush plants is because of the camera angles and shit. A few yellow, dried-out leaves is perfectly normal. No need to get freaked out.

I totally get it, though. My first grow, I fucking freaked OUT over every little thing. But you’re all good. Your plants look real healthy, temps are fine (my temps have been getting into the low 80’s ocassionally, due to the summer weather and I’m not worried about it at all), you’re good.

The less you worry, the less you have to worry about. That’s my mantra and it fucking works for me......

Ok....I will keep re-reading that!!!

 

[Minitiger]

I would like to be totally organic, with my own soil, but recently moved here and have only just begun composting pile from the winter. So I am buying soil and fertilizer for now. When feeding, I will use the least amount possible. I agree with you totally, I really don’t want it....but I think I need it for now. Baby steps.

You don’t have to use your own compost to “grow organic.” I don’t. 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 pumice (waaaayyyyyy better than perlite) and 1/3 of either EWC (I use Agrowinn; most castings you find in gardening centers are shit) or Bu’s Blend compost. Amend that with crab, oyster, gypsum, neem, rock dust kelp and, uh.... Shit, I dunno, a couple other things and you’re all good. But that’s basically it. Good clean water all the way through and you’re golden. It’s fucking easy! And CHEAP.

 

[Kushy Tushy]

Typically, people top because it increases the yields. Instead of one big-ass cola, you get two. But it really depends on the genetics of whatever you’re growing. I ALWAYS top, without fail, but this run I’m growing a couple Apollo 11’s that I didn’t top. And that’s because the last time I grew them, a few years ago, I did top them and it was obvious that they wanted to grow as a single-cola-type plant. It really is just a genetics thing. Some plants wanna get topped, some don’t. You’re growing a couple GSC’s, right? I don’t have any experience with GSC, but if I had to guess, I’d say top away. From what I’ve read, it’s a pretty low-yielding strain, so you probably wanna do your best to maximize yields. Top, bend, tie down etc etc.....

Ok. Got x2 GSC, x2 hds cheese, x1 Bruce banger, x1 jack herrer. Thanks for the info. Will try experimenting and keep u posted.

 

[MIMedGrower]

Happy Frog with added perliteView attachment 877253View attachment 877254

You got a couple weeks at least.

 

[MIMedGrower]

Does heat stress look like droopy leaves? It’s been up to 90 in here, but nothing droopy or sick looking so far. Except for that yellowish brown on bottom leaves.

It can. Or the edges or whole leaf point up.

 

[Kushy Tushy]

You don’t have to use your own compost to “grow organic.” I don’t. 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 pumice (waaaayyyyyy better than perlite) and 1/3 of either EWC (I use Agrowinn; most castings you find in gardening centers are shit) or Bu’s Blend compost. Amend that with crab, oyster, gypsum, neem, rock dust kelp and, uh.... Shit, I dunno, a couple other things and you’re all good. But that’s basically it. Good clean water all the way through and you’re golden. It’s fucking easy! And CHEAP.

EWC = earthworm castings, got some cheap ones I’m using for some other plants, NOT the girls......will look into all that, thanks!

 

[Kushy Tushy]

You got a couple weeks at least.

Whew! Thanks :)

 

[Kushy Tushy]

It can. Or the edges or whole leaf point up.

UP? I’ll def let you know if that happens!

 

[Minitiger]

EWC = earthworm castings, got some cheap ones I’m using for some other plants, NOT the girls......will look into all that, thanks!View attachment 877255

Shitty castings are better than none at all. You can definitely top-dress with those. It isn’t gonna hurt your plants. If you really wanna mulch, I’d throw about an inch layer of those castings on top of your soil and then follow up with an inch or so of perlite, since that’s what you have sitting around.

 

[Minitiger]

UP? I’ll def let you know if that happens!

But sometimes your leaves will point up when the plants are really happy, too. Also, leaves pointing up is a sign of Mg deficiency, which is bad. So, yeah, there’s that haha! I just read the post where you said temps are getting into the 90’s. That’s too high, but nothing to stress about. Maybe add another oscillating fan or two. Or crank the AC a little more. You’re just vegging now and although it would be ideal if everything was perfect, in veg you don’t have to worry too much. Having said that, you definitely wanna get your temps a little lower once you flip.

Also, if your temps are that high, you’re probably gonna want to water a little more frequently.

 

[Kushy Tushy]

But sometimes your leaves will point up when the plants are really happy, too. Also, leaves pointing up is a sign of Mg deficiency, which is bad. So, yeah, there’s that haha! I just read the post where you said temps are getting into the 90’s. That’s too high, but nothing to stress about. Maybe add another oscillating fan or two. Or crank the AC a little more. You’re just vegging now and although it would be ideal if everything was perfect, in veg you don’t have to worry too much. Having said that, you definitely wanna get your temps a little lower once you flip.

Also, if your temps are that high, you’re probably gonna want to water a little more frequently.

90 has been the highest it’s ever been in there cuz I wasn’t leaving the A/C on until recently. It was usually much lower than that, but now I’m aiming for 75-77. I have wondered about outdoor grows in the summer, I mean it’s hot outside! I’ve been mostly worried about keeping up the humidity, but the room doesn’t have any problems with that. Got x2 fans going.

 

[jumpincactus]

Ok, I will back off on the feeding in veg for now, since they were just transplanted into the 5-gallon pots. I’d like to keep at least 3 of the 6 in veg for awhile. How many weeks can I go before they would need feeding? Or none at all? I would rather not feed and also err on the side of underfeeding. My bf wanted me to feed because of some yellow/brown on the lower leaves. I won’t feed anymore....View attachment 877242View attachment 877243View attachment 877244

I see a philodendron strain lurking in there

 

[Kushy Tushy]

I see a philodendron strain lurking in there

I’m hoping to clone it soon lol. I checked it really well for bugs first before putting it in with the girls.... So far so good, no bug problems.

 

[Kushy Tushy]

It can. Or the edges or whole leaf point up.

I saw a whole leaf sticking up this morning on the Bruce Banger and the other leaves looked droopy.

The soil is still damp and I haven’t watered. It could have been unhappy because I turned it yesterday and the fan could have blown it (the fan behind it is not oscillating, but there is a fan across the room that does oscillate.)

All the other plants look fine, but some have their tips pointing down slightly.

Then tonight when I checked the Bruce Banger seems to be happier now.....

Hmmmmm....?

 

[MIMedGrower]

I saw a whole leaf sticking up this morning on the Bruce Banger and the other leaves looked droopy.
View attachment 877780View attachment 877781The soil is still damp and I haven’t watered. It could have been unhappy because I turned it yesterday and the fan could have blown it (the fan behind it is not oscillating, but there is a fan across the room that does oscillate.)View attachment 877782View attachment 877783View attachment 877784
All the other plants look fine, but some have their tips pointing down slightly.
View attachment 877785
Then tonight when I checked the Bruce Banger seems to be happier now.....
View attachment 877786View attachment 877787
Hmmmmm....?

They look generally happy to me. Those tilted leaves can be reacting to the light or wind but dont look stressed. You can always try not pointing any fans directly at rhem but over them between the lamp and canopy. And also play with fine tuning the light height. We all experiment with these things until we like the results. It is all trial and error.

 

[Minitiger]

I saw a whole leaf sticking up this morning on the Bruce Banger and the other leaves looked droopy.
View attachment 877780View attachment 877781The soil is still damp and I haven’t watered. It could have been unhappy because I turned it yesterday and the fan could have blown it (the fan behind it is not oscillating, but there is a fan across the room that does oscillate.)View attachment 877782View attachment 877783View attachment 877784
All the other plants look fine, but some have their tips pointing down slightly.
View attachment 877785
Then tonight when I checked the Bruce Banger seems to be happier now.....
View attachment 877786View attachment 877787
Hmmmmm....?

Re: that one fan leaf that’s at a ninety degree angle: it’s nothin’. Not a big deal at all. It happens. I’m sure there’s a reason why, but I don’t know what it is. Your whole grow log thus far makes me chuckle (in a good way), totally reminds me of my first grow where I’d be like,”And what is THAT??? Why is THAT happening???” Like @MIMedGrower said, your plant health looks on point, nothing to worry about.

I will say that the difference in height of your plants is a little surprising. Probably gonna need to put those smaller plants on top of five gallon buckets pretty soon, if you wanna keep the canopy even. That plant in the middle of the front row is gonna dwarf the others once you start flowering. Have you started flowering yet? If you haven’t, I think it’s time to. I’m counting like twelve nodes on that tall plant. It’s gonna strrrrrretch like a mofo once you start flowering.

 

[Minitiger]

Also, as far as watering is concerned, just water every other day with 10% of the total container volume. I’m in five gallon airports this grow and I water with a half gallon per plant every other day. I notice you’re in regular pots, so that MIGHT make a little bit of difference re: how often you need to water, but the “10% every other day” regimen has always worked for me. The plants in your pics absolutely don’t look under-watered. You can always just stick your finger down into the soil about an inch. If it’s moist, don’t water. Also, I always water with half the amount they need and then wait a bit, then water with the other half. It seems like the soil absorbs the water better, rather than just running all down the sides of the pots.

Another good way to tell if they need watering is just to lift the pots. If they feel light, water them. If they don’t feel light, don’t.

Notice you haven’t mulched yet. That’s cool..... Whatever..... hahaha!!!