My Disappointing, even PATHETIC Grow!

one plant here just got over her bout of n-toxicity.

same soil mix, same 3-gallon fabric pots, same growing conditions, same watering, etc. maybe different genetics, though.

for what it once was, i now seem to be getting it together better, huh.

happy with the plant pictured on left, as its covered all of her pot's canopy.

the leader of the pack, presently!

she covered all her 3-gallon fabric pot's canopy with growth/tips - which is one goal i was aiming for. thinking of training her a little 'fatter', larger canopy - before letting her just grow taller.

waiting for the others to do so, fill their own pot canopy/area with growth.

MK10, she's the mongrel, now, she's all out of shape.

i had bent her main stem horizontal to the pot's surface - now, thinking of somehow training her back along her main stem, back towards her own pot

she's just recovered from n-toxicity.

i was worried about MK9, as she took hard her n-toxicity. there are still some 'clawed' leaves, but generally she is getting towards full health.

MK9 was a little out-of-shape before, now managed to encourage its offshoots to fill up much of her pot's canopy. might train her main tip/top growth around the parameter of the pot.

she's a little thirsty, she'll get her drink a little later.

in summary, i think i might be getting my act together a little better, reflected by the plant's growth developments.

patience, huh - you don't know if it paid off until you do wait.

maybe there wasn't a choice, still, glad to have waited for these plants to respond from their various traumas, including recent n-toxicity.

i think my patience will run out in about 2 to 3 weeks, when I will flip these plants and the LED grow lights to its 12/12 on/off cycle - regardless of how much of the tent's canopy these plants have filled by then. There's gotta be an end-game.

wait until i have to cross that bridge, huh. more water underneath the bridge.

i thought last night one of the other plants was thirsty, MK9 got her drink today, after i got home from work and noticed her droopy leaves.



just plain watering, about 1 litre, with maybe 100 mls run-off - as they had suffered a recent bout of n-toxicity, i have been watering so there is a little run-off.



i'm trying to shape her - simply bending the main stem, encouraged many offshoots to grow off the main stem. i think i attempted to top this plant earlier, but its all been a little bending of its stem/offshoots.

yup, hard to photograph under these LEDs.

while i can see plenty of blemishes on my behalf, the amateur grower, these plants are again heading mostly in the right direction.



MK9 in the forefront on the right-hand side is now the leader of the pack - strong offshoots developing. I'm bending over her main growth tip, while bending the lower offshoots, so she covers her own pot.

I took to MK10 (pictured left-front) hard - bent those lower offshoots onto herself, and snapped the main stem towards the top at 90 degrees - i'm trying to train herself back along her main stem, and back towards middle of her pot.

BBK10 in the right-rear of the tent/photograph is lagging behind the pack - but again, i feel that she is about to finally get over her earlier traumas. Some offshoots are developing from her bent main stem, which hopefully soon will kick on.

Now, finally the last plant in the rear-left is now a little concern, she seems to be again changing in her growth development - next watering, I will take pickies in natural light, upon closer inspection. However, she's covered all her 3-gallon fabric pot - about 1/4 of the tent's canopy - i'm happy for her to just grow taller.



I'm waiting for these plants to fill out the tent's canopy a little more, and then I want these plants to grow taller, before flipping the light cycle.

not sure about those yellowing larger leaves...



wary of applying any nutrient solution yet.



still, i'm wondering after the recent bout of n-toxicity, now she wants a feed?



anyway, watered her, added no nutrients.

see the bridge, can't see the Opera House, but hey, some of us do it tuff.

i just did some test on the aquarium water, running fish-less....



now sure what it means....but 0 PPM ammonia, 0.5 PPM nitrite, 0 PPM nitrate.

testing pH tomorrow, 2 different tests.

i think i need to lower the nitrite....?

Looks like it is getting hungry to me. Don't go wild, just a small meal.

yup, looks even hungrier, me thinks. will apply weak nutrients next she's thirsty. at 20% of recommended full dosage...

I never thought that this day would come, not this way, anyway. I am now working as of today, at home, remotely. And there's a little adjustment working from home, but it is what it is, hey. Come and band together, to get thru this thing!

anyway, one good thing is i get to hang around my grow tent all day - careful on the video conference, not to capture it in my background! Watered my flowering plant leisurely during my lunch break.



bought this cheap shelving to house my T5 fluorescent light fixture for the second batch. i broke the tube - a nice pop. had a replacement light fixture!



this temporary setup will do for time being, and its neater setup than before. i can place the exhaust fan on the top shelving, etc. modify as i go, or change the setup up later.



they're going okay, my anxiety is growing, keen to flip the LED to its 12/12 on/off cycle. hanging on still in their vegetative grow phase for another 2 weeks, this thread - my patience is getting real bare. it's still a wait-and-see, still keen for them to fill the tent's canopy more.

Did the first water change to my aquarium, today!

The six Serpae Tetra were first introduced to their new home, my 80 litre aquarium, last Saturday. Compared to my first grow, I seem to have got off to a better start, knock on wood! Did I mention the war, again!

Last night, I started preparing for this water change, by filling up a 20 litre pail bucket with tap water, and letting it sit for 24 hours to de-chlorinate.



This afternoon, I added 2 mls of API Stress Coat & Stress Zyme to the 20 litres of water - let this mixture sit for half an hour. I measured this mixture at 6.4 pH. I added 1 ml of API pH Up solution to this mixture, and again let the mixture sit for half hour. The mixture now measured 6.9 pH, which I figured is close enough.

Placed another 20 litre pail bucket underneath the aquarium, and used a siphon to clean the gravel and extract the used/dirty tank water. I removed about 10 litres of tank water, and added about 18 litres of treated water - to take into account for the amount of tank water which evaporated.

Sit & Wait, to see how my family of six Serpae Tetras respond, to this first water change.

What's all this gotta do with my Pathetic First Grow? Well...



My other half instructed me to get rid of the discarded tank water - i suggested otherwise, and she was happy instead to use this discarded tank water on her flowering household plants.

I have started to conduct regular testing of the tank water, including its pH using the same pH meter to measure my nutrients for my plants. I got bits & pieces - water pumps, air-pump and its tubing, buckets, etc - which could be used for either hobbies - aquarium or my grow.

There is a regular routine of monitoring and ongoing maintenance to both my grow & aquarium. A discipline of sorts are similar for both hobbies, where the hobbyist is ensuring the conditions in the aquarium are suitable for healthy fish, and to make sure the growing conditions are suitable for healthy plants. Both hobbies includes measuring certain factors to maintain these suitable conditions. Both hobbies, I'm using a syringe to add solutions to water.

Again, similar to my pathetic indoor grow, i have taken the same approach of wearing out the brake pad, trying not to bite off too much than i can chew on my first attempt(s) at running an aquarium, and my grow. Both hobbies, I did some research, before decided to dip into the deep end, to get hands-on experience rather than any further academic studies. And organically again like my grow, i'm thinking soon of adding more population to my tank. Finally, both hobbies, (to me) it's FUN.

Though...I'm not going to eat these fish.....

Kampbe1l said:

Did the first water change to my aquarium, today!
My other half instructed me to get rid of the discarded tank water - i suggested otherwise, and she was happy instead to use this discarded tank water on her flowering household plants.

Click to expand...

Fish aquarium water is GREAT for growing plants! It has most of the needed nutrients and micronutrients, as well as bacteria that can help break down more complex nutrients for use by your plants. My local grow shop has plants growing in aquarium water... it circulates the used water for the plants. The plants clean the water and the fish enjoy getting it dirty. Symbiosis at it's finest!

hey, my first attempt at cloning my plants was a failure. this failure was simple because I slackened off, somehow losing interest. I do want to get some clones off the plants. try again, maybe soon!

i showed my other half how to use the small rockwool cube and some cloning gel, when I first took some of my cuttings - and she has successfully got her cuttings to strike!



you would have thought that cloning MJ is easier than African Violets - might just give my cuttings to her, for her to nurture my clones for me!



i've been longing hard for a simple humidity dome - baulking at the idea of paying more than $20 for such item. FFS, it's only made out of plastic. Anyway, let me chew on this fat...



parent african violet plants...pictured above..

Kampbe1l said:

not sure about those yellowing larger leaves...

View attachment 952331

wary of applying any nutrient solution yet.

View attachment 952333

still, i'm wondering after the recent bout of n-toxicity, now she wants a feed?

View attachment 952334

anyway, watered her, added no nutrients.

see the bridge, can't see the Opera House, but hey, some of us do it tuff.

Click to expand...

Have you felt the bottom of the container, i suspect the roots are damp. If the bottom is damp get them on a rack or bricks for air circulation.

Madbud said:

Have you felt the bottom of the container, i suspect the roots are damp. If the bottom is damp get them on a rack or bricks for air circulation.

Click to expand...

just lifted her fabric pot, and it's dry, not even moist. she'll probably get thirsty tomorrow.

i have been using a large plate for their saucers to sit upon.

rack is a good idea....

"Australians have been told not to go out in public with more than one other person.............. From tomorrow, all Australians are urged to only go out to shop “for what you need, food and essential supplies”, to shop as infrequently as possible, leaving only to attend medical care, exercise and work or education if they were unable to work or learn remotely." - our Australian Prime Minister, today

this is the final point of social distancing, the next phase is total isolation.

take care, everyone, take care of everyone.

Placed the 'first family' onto our small balcony, on this mild overcast autumn day, when I quickly cleaned out the tent while the LEDs are turned off.



All things considering, happier with how we're - the family and myself - travelling at this present moment.



One plant is a little hungry, one plant is out-of-shape but starting to grow stronger offshoots, one plant is powering along while another plant is lagging behind the pack - it is what it is, hey.



I can see how patience has started to pay off, and my persistency has already some dividends. Glad that I hung on as much as i did up until now - after a rough start to this indoor grow.



My patience has 2 more weeks before I flip the lights to its 12/12 on/off cycle, to start their flowering phase.

RDM4, happy how she is turning out, despite her pathetic appearance! She has been the trail-blazer, setting the path that I am currently on. She provided many valuable lessons, valuable for future grows.



And her story has not yet ended.



Over the last couple of weeks, her buds have thicken up and her sweet BO is more noticeable. I'm hoping she fattens out a little more, still impressed how her buds developed, all things considered.

I'm happy that i didn't discard her, and kept her to her full maturity. Any harvest from her is a bonus! I figured she still has some way to go, before her harvest.

Kept in a separate area to the grow tent, she has had no artificial lighting since late December.



she will be the first to harvest, and it's fruits of my labour. by herself, physically, hardly impressive. symbolically, she was the pioneer.