A noob's journey... Let there be green

[Cort]

Welcome to the house of tards. Your guide Cort will be taking you on a quest to provide meds for himself and several disabled folks in his family and circle. So kick back, relax, grab some munchies and be ready to laugh at the trips, slips and blunders that are bound to happen.


Lets take a walk in the new grow room... wait; this looks like a gym and storage room. Where is everything?.... on order.

Enough of the third person babble, I can’t keep it up with a strait face. SO...

The grow space:

I will be devoting an entire room for this.

A 4x4 Hydro hut with 1k (magnetic;( ballast), 6 inch Lumecool hood and Eiko HPS bulb will be cooled with a 6 inch Valueline fan cleaned with carbon. A baffle may or may not be added later as needed for discretion. Passive intake via a light trap on the lower levels will replace the air being sucked out.

My dining room table will be moved into the garden as a place to keep babies and take cuttings until I get good shelving. Besides, if the table stayed in the dining room, where would the now homeless gym go? Priorities people.

Blah blah blah, Milwaukee PH meeter... blah TDS pen, Botanicare nutes and all the other assorted doodads needed.

Now... I was having issues finding good clones to start. The clubs were either out, or had half dead junk for 15-20 bucks a pop. I decided to get some seeds. Ended up with a pack of Mendocino Madness from THSeeds. ($60 for 10 beans)
http://img822.invalid.com/img822/84/picture003uv.jpg Avatar is the MM in flower.

They claim a fast flower of 50-55 days. Summer is just around the corner in California's deserts and I don’t have an AC for the window. I might have time. I get home and drop them in 5.6ph RO water, bundle them for the night wrapped in wet paper and standing vigil over the x-mas tree from a perch on the warm cable box. This is Christmas Eve.

I awake in the morning and rush to the living room. Santa was nice, 3 of 10 already popped. Too bad Santa didn't bring me some red cups and Coco...

Fast forward: I located some Blue Dream babies on Craigslist $10 a stem :worried I arrange a viewing. Good news, they look fair and the dude tossed in a few extras. Fortunate was I that my bro had his card on him or I would be over the limit. Some are for him anyways.
http://img254.invalid.com/img254/2710/picture007fw.jpg
http://img573.invalid.com/img573/599/picture008p.jpg

I rush home to take some crappy pics for your viewing displeasure.

I didnt give up on the seeds, as of the 26th, 8/10 are resting comfortably in Coco. I will just grow them out and learn to take good cuttings till there is room in the tent. Maybe a scrog for my second flip, we shall see.

Busy few days while waiting for order getting that gym moved out, florescent lights hung, covering windows, waiting for my sparky to install something beefier than 15 amps so all my gear can run at the same time.

To be continued... in a less wordy manor I hope. Maybe I should just update when I am really busy so the points are made quickly.

Tune in next time for “When noobs talk too much”

 

[winta]

sounds good bro! where the pix at? ;)

 

[Cort]

Gah, cant delete post, blunder #4

 

[Cort]

Morning of the 28th: 4 days after seeds soaked

They got pretty scraggly overnight.
http://img222.invalid.com/img222/7576/1228001.jpg

Time for a tiny bit of food
3ml Pure Blend grow
2ml Liquid Karma
2ml Cal Mag
1ml Hygrozyme
1/2 drop Superthrive
ph to 5.7
tds 190

Fed each about 3 ml around the outside edges of the cups. The coco was still damp from germination.

Any thoughts to letting my babies get some mild morning sun through the widow? Or stick with artificial lighting?

Blue Dreams Clones, 2 days after adoption
http://img704.invalid.com/img704/2021/1228002.jpg

Still damp, no noticeable root improvement. Some new growth up top.
Fed with 2ml each of same solution for seedlings. Been keeping these girls domed (vented) and in sunlight and a t8 for nights.

Noticed a browning leaf
http://img266.invalid.com/img266/5634/1228003.jpg
Any thoughts? Resembles a potassium deficiency pic found in the infirmary. (Thats why I fed them today)


Having some medical training, if this was my leg I'd get some antibiotics. Figuring some kind of rot. Should this girl be culled? isolated?

http://img545.invalid.com/img545/1319/1228004.jpg

Whats the cause of something like this, bad cloning technique? bad luck?

Im picturing a street hack doctor with dirty needles and grubby hands. The kind of Dr. that would do this...
http://img146.invalid.com/img146/5948/botox.jpg
but to plants.

 

[Cort]

Happy New Years!

Transplanted the Blue Dreams from the sheet rock wool they came in to 3x3x4 blocks soaked in 1 drop super thrive and 2ml hygrozome per gallon. Tossed in the air stone for shits and giggles.
http://img195.invalid.com/img195/1304/11003t.jpg

They are looking good, lots of nodes and new growth. Still have some odd discoloration on some leaves.

http://img408.invalid.com/img408/6069/11004.jpg

Going to up the CalMag a hair and see if that helps. Just at 2ml now and using RO. Will make up a gallon stronger than what I am feeding these babies
http://img828.invalid.com/img828/2922/11001q.jpg

The Mendocino Madness girls (I hope) are just a week old. Trying to find a stable way to get them a bit closer to the light to limit stretch. I can only stack crap so high. Im about four inches off the BD and about 6 off the MM.

 

[Cort]

Been a few days. So here goes:

The baby girls
On the 5th I noted the girls still had symptoms of deficiency on the new growth. As I had already bumped Cal-Mag up I decided to check the PH and PPM of runoff.

Flushed them all with 5.6 ph 2ppm RO water. Runoff was 6.8 and 680ppm. I figure high ph was locking out some goodies. Flushed down to 5.8 150ppm. Fed with same nutes at 490ppm.

As of today, they are looking real good. Solid green colors, straight leaves in the new growth.
http://img218.invalid.com/img218/6305/19005.jpg

And WOW... 9 days in the 3x3 cubes
http://img98.invalid.com/img98/9176/19006c.jpg
Got no buds, so you get root porn.

Seedlings:
Not doing as hot. I burned some on the same day I flushed the ladies. The effect was instantaneous, within the hour I noticed leaves discoloring and flushed them. Feed jugs are now labeled for babies and seedlings :speechless
Most recovered well and are doing fine. I re-flushed a few today, including this one (the worst of the lot) This one had run off at 375ppm.

http://img218.invalid.com/img218/7146/19004.jpg

Tuned the nutes down to 105ppm for seedlings from 150. Im in no rush for them. Got the 4x4 up, mounting lights and carbon filter today, then running it a bit to get kinks worked out. Blue dreams goes in soon, even if just for HID vegging.

Cheers :drink

 

[Melvan]

Sorry to join you late.

I can't believe no one told you not to feed the seedlings so young. I don't think you were having deficiencies, you were having plain old burn.

The 2nd error, and at least I know you know you're going to make them, is that you sprouted your seed before you had your grow area set up and ready. Hindsight is 20/20, but you should have had the area ready to receive the plants before you set them to germ.

I don't know why you have a sad face next to your 1k magnetic ballast. Certain brand names of the digital are knocking out phone lines and cables when they kick on. On another forum a guy actually had the FCC knock on his door trying to find out what was knocking all the phones out in his apt. building.

You're talking about ppms & ph, but no mention of your temps & humidity, which are just as important, and should have been under control, again, before you sprouted your seeds.

I don't grow hydro, but it seems to me you may be loving these girls to death. They don't need as much babying as you think.

I'll follow along, looking forward to the noobie harvest, always fun to see the first one come in after all that hard work.

Was wondering why a noobie would choose to do hydro on the first grow? You should have started in soil, much easier to learn on, much easier to control.

 

[Cort]

I was under the impression that, especially in a nutrient void like coco, very light feeding should start once the first spiked leaves pop out. Yes, I over did them, noobs are so impatient.

I started with seeds before I had grow tent set up because it was on order. Seeds dont need the tent, so I figured I had time.

Hell, I popped beans before I found clones. Being in the deserts of SoCal, time to get 1, maybe 2 harvests in was running short. I dont really have the funds to do a complete climate control on the room, so I need to rely on cool outside temps and run the light at night.

One good harvest, or 2 crappy ones will pay for the equipment by no trips to the dispensary for myself or family over the hot summer months. If everything works out with quality and quantity, I might invest in an AC unit. If not I might buy some quality genetics from the bay and go for a nice long veg over the summer.

Good point about the magnetic vs. digital. I have read some about that also sense that post. I always seem to have a craving for what is perceived to be the best stuff.

T&H been pretty stable at 73 on 68 off, 40-45rh. I failed to mention them yes, but mostly because they are within what I have read as norms. You are right and I will be posting those as I go from now on.

Soil VS coco/hydro? I love a challenge :D

Welcome, feel free to yell at me when I noob up.

 

[Melvan]

Why are you having lights off right now? You should be on 24 hrs of light. All you do by having the light go out is extend their veg time. Put them under 24 hours of light starting now. MJ grows as long as she is receiving light. You'll hear people spout 20/4 or 18/6, they are wrong. 24 hrs is the way to go.

73 degrees is too cool. Optimal temp for mj is 80 degrees with 40-60% humidity, when you flower you'll want a 10 degree change from day to night.

I've been a Pro-Mix BX grower for a decade, but my good buddy is hydro. I smoke his, I smoke mine, I can't tell a difference, even in girls he grows from cuttings off my strains. My weight under the same light as him, no different. My stress compared to his, negligible. His hard-head, legendary.

You may get a faster growth rate in hydro, but in the end, to me, there is no difference in the quality of the smoke.

 

[mittenmedgrow]

I agree wiith most of what melvin says. Except the first two weeks of flowering I keep day and night at 78 keeps them from stretching so much and leads to dense nugs. Dont keep same temps for more than 2 weeks freeks em out.

 

[Cort]

Depending on how this pans out I might switch to soil next round. Pass or fail, the coco is already paid for and in the garden room, no turning back now.

Ill see what I can do to bump my temps a bit and lights are now on 24hrs.

Sense you guys are here, I tossed the idea out of putting my girls into the tent with the 1k on 12/12 and t5 on 24hrs while I get my flowering environment worked out. Will letting them have 12 hrs of HID light and 12 hrs of lesser light stress them out?
Others say go for it, but Im always ready to listen to another opinion.

 

[mittenmedgrow]

Hell yes go for it t5s are cool but that 1000 will blow them up. Think of it this way its realky sunny for 12 and then here comes the clouds for 12.

 

[517kush]

veg time doesnt make that big of a diff. but i have never heard someone say 80deg. is good anywhere in your room. i think your temp. and humidity are perfect. just looks like you gave them 2 many nutes 2 fast. 70deg. is perfect for any room. just difficult to achieve. good luck & one love

 

[Melvan]

veg time doesnt make that big of a diff. but i have never heard someone say 80deg. is good anywhere in your room. i think your temp. and humidity are perfect. just looks like you gave them 2 many nutes 2 fast. 70deg. is perfect for any room. just difficult to achieve. good luck & one love

Temp and humidity are not perfect. 78-80 is optimal temp for mj. 70 is not perfect for any room, it is way too cold if the lights are on. Think about where pot comes from originally, central and south asia, warm, sub-tropic like climates with high humidity. Indoors we are trying to duplicate those conditions as best we can.

If you can veg under the 1k do it. Yes, the T5s are great and will get the job done well, I use my T5s to veg all the time, but the 1K kept at the proper distance will give you a real bushy veg with tight spacing between the nodes. They will explode with growth, giving you good opportunity to take lots of cuttings.

 

[mdTHC420]

cus none of em come from the kush mtn ranges from the middle east, Tibet, and Nepal, not to mention land runs up in AK where i have never been but cant see it breaking 70 on a constant basis. not really warm there. dont generalize, theres a wide array with some that can be grown best in warmer climates while others cooler.

id throw em under the 1000 as long as u can per day, like said before, it will blow em up, allow light to penetrate to lower growth, and give u a bushier and healthier overall plant.

 

[517kush]

i wasn't trying 2 start a debate or anything just giving my opinion. i always thought high temp/humidity would cause airy buds,mold, and other issues.i guess if your strainz can take it, thats cool,but the pic looked over nuted nt heat stressed 2 ME. MY(Kush) plants suffer when i let temps go over 75deg. I can see that 4 sure. but... "what works for you, is what works" good luck and one love

 

[mdTHC420]

for sure. also really dense buds can just as easily mold out at a lower temp than airy buds.

 

[naturehd]

im no guru by no means and have no advise for anyone. i can say in my indoor soil garden i keep ambient temps between 68-72 and found indica dominate strains i've tried love it and sativa dominate strains dont stretch as much. now in my indoor hydro garden i keep my res temp around 70 degrees, that means your ambient temps will be roughly 10 degrees warmer. of course there is the fact i dont use 1000 watters i prefer 400 hids. im proly wrong with my theories on temps effecting it but it works for me. my outdoor girls after a month of veg inside are put in the ground when temps range from 50-60 degres for the highs( late feb) and thru summer it gets as hot as 100+ outside and by harvest(late nov) im looking at 40-50 degrees. humidity outside is always in the range of 80% on dry days. due to the extreme heat i do plant my girls outdoors in half shaded areas no more then 2 plants in one spot and no closer then 20 feet apart. outdoor lsting is a must for me to avoid bud rot come late summer. spacing my girls for good ventilation is a key to good farming as well imo. im sure none of this helps but i was feeling chatty lol. maybe one decade itll be legal in the bible belt i live in and ill move up to 1000 watters, until then its a must to keep the light bill low.

 

[Melvan]

Ed Rosenthal's Grow Tips
Maintaining Optimum Grow Room Temperature

Marijuana plants are very hardy and survive over a wide range of temperatures. They can withstand extremely hot weather - up to 120 degrees - as long as they have adequate supplies of water. Cannabis seedlings regularly survive light frost at the beginning of the season.

Both excessively high and low temperatures can slow marijuana's rate of metabolism and growth. The plants function best in moderate temperatures - between 60 and 85 degrees. As more light is made available, the ideal temperature for normal plant growth increases.

With a range of 60-85 degrees to work with we could go around and around forever as to what's optimal. All I know is that for 10 years I've busted my butt to keep my temps 78-80, and I'm going to keep on doing it.

 

[Cort]

I really appreciate the back and fourth yall are doing. The more info the better. Temps will be going up once I start running that 1k hps. Decided to vent into the house instead of running the heater, or at least testing this. Fresh air to house via open windows in day time and or a cracked window in garden room.

Got a ValueLine 6" fan, anyone got mounting tips? In the tent? out the tent? Seems to have a lacking of mounting places on it.

As it stands now, I have mounted the Active Air AC20 D16 filter vertically in an upper corner of my tent using tie down straps. I tried doing it horizontal, but it gets in the way of my reflector being in the center. Not super happy with the bends in the ducting when its the light is low, but I'll manage.

Anyone got passive intake/light trap tips? Once I get full power I was thinking of making a foam rubber baffle with a 18 gal rubbermade for the intake as a light trap. Thinking about it, I could prolly go as small as a large Tupperware stuffed with foam rubber and wrapped in tape.

The seedlings were definitely over loved and should be back on track soon, even if today I had the tray fold over on me and I accidentally bent/super cropped a few seedlings while moving them. They look like they will be fine. Used bread ties stuck in the ground and twisted around the stems for support. Pics later if it works.

Big problems today with power though. Sketchy on some details, but some underground power lines in my area have let the magic smoke out, causing limited power to my house (no heat/laundry for me or my neighbors, just not enough juice in the remaining lines) so my girls spend half the day in the dark. I tried to set them in the living room where the sun hits, but that dont work when answering the door etc...

So the girls been cold and dark part of the day... tent testing has been pushed back a day or 2 till the power company gets their stuff sorted and I get full power.

Happy Harvests.