Baffled boomer here first timer.

[BoboGrower0813]

By way of introduction, I am a 72 year old boomer who knows how to grow things, but is baffled by this social media technology stuff.

I am not on Facebook, have never sent an Instagram, and I am just creeping out of the stone ages technologically wise, having added only texting and emailing to my repertoire.

This is the first forum I have ever joined, and my first post, and I don’t even know if I’m doing this right.
but here goes.

I have been an organic gardener for many decades growing everything from Arugula to Zucchini. I make my own supercharged compost and I get incredible yields fry virtually everything I grow. I just love to grow stuff.

Having started smoking weed in the 60s, I’ve Smoked my fair share of bud. I love a good sativa, but I need a heavy Indica to knock me out at night, a common complaint among old folks it seems.

I don’t know how extensive this intro is supposed to be, but I’ll try to be brief. In a nutshell, I live on Long Island New York, and with the recent legalization, I decided to put my small greenhouse to use for something other than starting my garden seedlings. A friend gave me a couple of seeds and I decided to give it a shot. Nothing ventured nothing gained.

It is very tricky growing in a small greenhouse in winter when the temps can fall into the 20s or below, and yet the sun can heat the greenhouse to over 100° in less than an hour if you’re not careful. I’ve got some questions on greenhouse growing and would love to speak to someone who is doing it.

I’ve got to MJ plants growing in small pots in my greenhouse. From seedlings I vegged them for about five or six weeks, and they are now about five weeks into flowering.

The friend who gave me the seeds didn’t know what strain they were, but from the looks of them, one is an Indica, short, bushy, broad dark green leaves, and the other is a sativa or sativa/hybrid, taller, spindlier, with thinner lighter green leaves.

Thankfully both turned out to be female and they are well into along forming beautiful buds. The sativa has tons of white tendrils, but the Indica shows none, nice buds forming. Don’t know if this is normal. Another question for someone.

I will try to send some pictures. Anyway, going to sign off now. I hope this message ends up somewhere that someone can read it.

 

[TSD]

Welcome to the farm.... there is a wealth of knowledge here! Having a background in gardening definitely helps when starting to grow. You said it can get down to 20 in your greenhouse? I assume you have a way to warm it up in winter, besides the sun?

 

[chemistry]

Welcome to the Farm, plenty of old boys on the Farm, you'll blend in. Just start a grow diary and you made, that way if your stuck, folk will have a place to go to help you out.

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

I love a good sativa, but I need a heavy Indica to knock me out at night, a common complaint among old folks it seems.

Same here. Love my sativa but a solid couchlock indica is great for bedtime.
Your girls are looking good except the indica seems to have an issue. How much and how often do you water?
Those pots might need additional drainage.

Since you are in flower, defoliate the bottom 1/3 of the plant to push nutrients into the flowers.

We do a straight organic grow indoors, but we have to amend.
Read about it --> SF1000 goes Organic in our 2x4 | THCFarmer

Like you, my wife and I can grow anything outside, but indoors is a different animal.
Some reading material for you;

Basic Watering

Marijuana Watering, how media, pot size/shape and environment affect it

Ok lots of posts on how to water plants. So I thought I would put together a thread on how different factors contribute to different results that ppl see. This will be a long read based on my personal knowledge, opinions, research and others work to consolidate information for our members. I'm...

www.thcfarmer.com

Watering SOIL

New Simplified Way to Water Marijuana Plants

The other day I had an idea and after testing, it works great. To know if you need to water, get yourself a soil meter. Poke or drill 4 holes in your pot 1/4 way up from the bottom spaced around the pot. Insert the meter probe into the hole and test for moisture. If its dry, then water SLOWLY...

www.thcfarmer.com

 

[smokedareefer]

Welcome to the forum.

Good intro.

 

[BoboGrower0813]

Welcome to the farm.... there is a wealth of knowledge here! Having a background in gardening definitely helps when starting to grow. You said it can get down to 20 in your greenhouse? I assume you have a way to warm it up in winter, besides the sun?

Sorry for the misunderstanding. The OUTDOOR temps are in the 20s or below often times in New York winters.

At this time of year the sun is so low that as it traverses the sky it ducks behind the surrounding tree line and the sun reaching the greenhouse varies accordingly. Many variables in play besides outdoor temps, Including cloudy versus clear skies, etc. very tricky to maintain a stable temperature.

but amazingly, my plants have adapted to the radical swings in temps, and seem to be doing relatively well considering.
they even survived a two hour drop in temp down to 32° in the greenhouse when my fan crapped out and tripped my circuit breaker, knocking out my electric heaters on the coldest night of the year so far 25°. I am a night owl and thankfully at 2:45 AM I discovered the issue and remedied it. But it was a frenzied night, and thankfully the shock was not great enough to trigger hermaphrodite-ism or worse. But it was a close call. By morning they would have been frozen.

 

[Fuzzy_Buzzy]

I am amazed you've kept them alive, Bobo.

Also a NY grower (180 miles north of u) I use my sub basement........I maintain a proper VPD in spite of these wicked cold days and nights......But I do have electricity............it wouldn't cost ya an arm and a leg to purchase a grow tent and a grow light. I'm sure you already have humidifiers, fans and a dehumidifier. You control the environment yourself.

 

[BoboGrower0813]

Same here. Love my sativa but a solid couchlock indica is great for bedtime.
Your girls are looking good except the indica seems to have an issue. How much and how often do you water?
Those pots might need additional drainage.

Since you are in flower, defoliate the bottom 1/3 of the plant to push nutrients into the flowers.

We do a straight organic grow indoors, but we have to amend.
Read about it --> SF1000 goes Organic in our 2x4 | THCFarmer

Like you, my wife and I can grow anything outside, but indoors is a different animal.
Some reading material for you;

Basic Watering

Marijuana Watering, how media, pot size/shape and environment affect it

Ok lots of posts on how to water plants. So I thought I would put together a thread on how different factors contribute to different results that ppl see. This will be a long read based on my personal knowledge, opinions, research and others work to consolidate information for our members. I'm...

www.thcfarmer.com

Watering SOIL

New Simplified Way to Water Marijuana Plants

The other day I had an idea and after testing, it works great. To know if you need to water, get yourself a soil meter. Poke or drill 4 holes in your pot 1/4 way up from the bottom spaced around the pot. Insert the meter probe into the hole and test for moisture. If its dry, then water SLOWLY...

www.thcfarmer.com

My watering schedule is unconventional, as they are growing in fairly small 11 inch pots. I water them every day, but not excessively. The few times I have skipped a day, the whole plant droops and looks pretty sad, So I stick with my daily minimal watering schedule, and so far so good.

The plants are 42 inches and 52 inches tall. I initially did some fan leaf trimming, but have now stopped since I read that a plant needs it’s fan leaves to draw nutrients from as the buds mature. And yet I see many pictures of MJ plants almost denuded of their leaves. Another one of the ambiguous factoids that are confusing. I now just cut leaves that have started to yellow, though they are very few as yet.

Here are some pictures taken today.

 

[BoboGrower0813]

I am amazed you've kept them alive, Bobo.

Also a NY grower (180 miles north of u) I use my sub basement........I maintain a proper VPD in spite of these wicked cold days and nights......But I do have electricity............it wouldn't cost ya an arm and a leg to purchase a grow tent and a grow light. I'm sure you already have humidifiers, fans and a dehumidifier. You control the environment yourself.

Oh, I do have electricity and of course grow lights. But I have no dehumidifier and can’t add one because I only have 20 A running out to the greenhouse, and it is pretty maxed out with 1500 W heater, 500 W for lights, and about 100 watch for fans, etc.

The humidity rises and falls pretty much tied to the varying and fluctuating temperature levels. But it is generally within the 50-60% range.

 

[BoboGrower0813]

Welcome to the Farm, plenty of old boys on the Farm, you'll blend in. Just start a grow diary and you made, that way if your stuck, folk will have a place to go to help you out.

Please help.
You mentioned setting up a grow diary. I would love to do that but have no idea how to navigate this forum. I am completely lost and going in circles.

I am sorry to bother you about this, but could you please open a dialogue with me and help me through this learning curve? I have never engaged in any multi media like Facebook or Instagram, and have never participated in any forum of any kind, so I am at a little out of my element, but would love to get involved on this forum site, and have many questions, but no idea how or who to interact with.

thank you so much.

 

[Moe.Red]

Hey Bobo, welcome and nice job for a newbie. Yes, we can still be old as dirt and be a newbie.

You navigated correctly to the introduce yourself forum. For the grow diary, it's just another "folder" that folks post in kinda a start to finish look at the plants, maybe a smoke report, and the what's next. These things become perpetual threads and it's where you make friends. There is a lot of noise like "help! my shit is turning brown" all over the forums, the grow diaries are where you go to just talk and get to know people. I learned the most following along with some of the braniacs here on their grow logs.

Right now you are in Forums | What's happening | Introduce yourself.

You want Forums | Grow diaries.

Tag me in by using my handle with the @ sign like this @BoboGrower0813 when you start your thread and I'll follow along. I have a greenhouse in a very different climate and grow mostly hydro, but I'll help ya where I can.

Cheers.

 

[BoboGrower0813]

Thank you so much for your response. I am going to try to follow your instructions and find the forums/grow diaries and relate my story to date there.

Not sure how I tag you with @but I will give it a try. It is amazing how technically ignorant I am for a relatively intelligent person.

 

[Moe.Red]

Thank you so much for your response. I am going to try to follow your instructions and find the forums/grow diaries and relate my story to date there.

Not sure how I tag you with @but I will give it a try. It is amazing how technically ignorant I am for a relatively intelligent person.

So I just hit the reply button on your post. That’s what brings your post in as a quote.

the @BoboGrower0813 i put in my last post is a call out to you. You will get a notice when someone does that, or quotes you or comments on a thread you are posting in. In the upper right of the screen you should see your user name. All those buttons up there, the heart, check them out. You won’t break anything.

 

[Millwright]

Hello nice to meet you @BoboGrower0813 . I’ve only been growing for a year. Indoor and out door. Been on the farm about a month now. Everyone really tries to help.
I’m newly retired construction worker. It became legal in my state and gives me a winter hobby.

 

[Edinburgh]

I'm gen x right on cusp of boomers, all my 9 brothers and sisters are boomers you did fine, play with your phone so you know all the things it can do, you can text, buy all kinds of stuff including seeds, you can even find some old school Columbian gold or mowi wowi, gamble as you can download the Mohegan Sun app,, anyway you seem to be doing well plantwise wide swings in temp and rh often make plants unhappy but it seems you know the drill, I'm next door in Connecticut so welcome.

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

I am amazed you've kept them alive, Bobo.

Also a NY grower (180 miles north of u) I use my sub basement........I maintain a proper VPD in spite of these wicked cold days and nights......But I do have electricity............it wouldn't cost ya an arm and a leg to purchase a grow tent and a grow light. I'm sure you already have humidifiers, fans and a dehumidifier. You control the environment yourself.

@BoboGrower0813 I believe @Fuzzy_Buzzy meant set up a grow inside (after you finish the one in your greenhouse). Having a greenhouse of my own in Michigan, it's a struggle when the temperatures swing around like a carnival ride and rH becomes difficult to control. If you have room to set up your grow inside, it should become an easier process to manage not just in December but all year around.

Edit: I heat my greenhouse with a ventless propane gas heater. It runs off of a thermostat. No electricity needed. I'm not sure it's an option in your area of NY.

 

[BoboGrower0813]

So I just hit the reply button on your post. That’s what brings your post in as a quote.

the @BoboGrower0813 i put in my last post is a call out to you. You will get a notice when someone does that, or quotes you or comments on a thread you are posting in. In the upper right of the screen you should see your user name. All those buttons up there, the heart, check them out. You won’t break anything.

Oh, I’ve been poking buttons all right, but still seem to be going around in circles most of the time. I will get the hang of it virtually. Thanks for your help though. I appreciate it

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

@BoboGrower0813 It's all good friend, welcome to the farm.

My green house is 10 x 20. I use it for my summer run. Even with the greenhouse, I don't try to go beyond the middle of October. The temperature swings and the cloud cover leads to condensation and that leads to trouble.

 

[BoboGrower0813]

@BoboGrower0813 I believe @Fuzzy_Buzzy meant set up a grow inside (after you finish the one in your greenhouse). Having a greenhouse of my own in Michigan, it's a struggle when the temperatures swing around like a carnival ride and rH becomes difficult to control. If you have room to set up your grow inside, it should become an easier process to manage not just in December but all year around.

Edit: I heat my greenhouse with a ventless propane gas heater. It runs off of a thermostat. No electricity needed. I'm not sure it's an option in your area of NY.

You’re right. The temperature swings in a greenhouse in the winter can be ridiculous. Last February it went from 40° to 107° in the greenhouse in about an hour. Sun pops out from overcast skies, or from behind a stand of trees, and that sun unleashes a lot of energy.

I did look into the propane angle, but this is the first winter I am growing anything in the greenhouse, so had to get things set up in a hurry, and opted for the simplest route, a couple of 750 W electric heaters that I can control separately on timers to give me what I need when I need it. Still challenging to compensate for the sun, etc. but I’m doing my best. And can’t run propane from big tanks here in my state. And cost of 1 pound cylinders adds up fast. I have a small propane heater that I use for emergencies only.

Indoor in the house set up is not a good option for me. But there’s always more than one way to skin a cat, and in the spring I intend to plant a few outdoors camouflaged between rows of corn and tomatoes.

 

[BoboGrower0813]

@BoboGrower0813 It's all good friend, welcome to the farm.

My green house is 10 x 20. I use it for my summer run. Even with the greenhouse, I don't try to go beyond the middle of October. The temperature swings and the cloud cover leads to condensation and that leads to trouble.

The temperature swings have been a big challenge, but so far I’ve managed to deal with them, and my plants seem to have adjusted to the rigors of inconsistency. they are hearty girls. They have no choice. Obviously, I won’t get the optimum yields that other folks get, but this is my first stab at it, and it’s a learning experience. Plus I’m having fun.

As to the humidity, that is also a challenge, but I have got two fans going and keep air moving, so I’m hoping that will compensate somewhat, and it won’t bite me in the ass as the buds ripen up. But so far so good. I have no way to dehumidify as I only have 20 A out there, and it’s all being used for heat and lights and fans.