First Grow Attempt

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FullFuzzy

FullFuzzy

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Hey all, first serious attempt at a grow. Read about cannabis cultivation for a couple years, but ready to try putting it into practice.
Wrote my labeling of the strains on my paper towel when germinating the seeds, but the water made it fade, so not sure which is which but there should be a Gorilla Zkittlez from Barney Farms, and I think a Northern Lights & Amnesia Fast from Seedsman & a Red Diesel from Dinafem. One of them didn't germinate properly, which I think was either the Diesel or Amnesia, but I will just have to take a guess later.

They were under a 75W CFL for the first week or two of life, but are under a 400W MH at the moment in a 4'x4'x6' Grow Tent. This is probably week 4 overall of life post-germination. I have a 400W HPS to switch to once I start flower. Temperatures are quite stable, at about 24C (75.2F) outside the tent, and about 28C (82.4F) in the tent under the lights, the top of the plants don't feel uncomfortable to the hand though

Current soil is a generic general purpose potting mix for vegetables/flowers/fruit. One of the plants seems to have started to have some brown spots, which I understand may be a nutrient defficiency, so I'm planning on moving them to some larger smart pots tomorrow. I've made a soil mix out of the generic soil, coco coir & mulch, with a little bit of cow & sheep manure with some ground up egg shells mixed through.

I've mostly been feeding them plain tap water, but occassionally I feed them water with a kelp extract (maybe every 3 or 4 days), and I watered them once with a little neem oil to prevent pests, and plan to do so every few weeks or if I see any pests showing up. I have a tiny tiny bit of Bio Vega nutrients that I plan to start giving to the plants once they're established in their larger pots & are a little larger, as well as an almost full bottle of Bio Flores I plan to give once my plants are flowering. I intend to start weak, and see how the plants react before giving bigger amounts.

Any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated, I'm keen to start contributing to the community & to start my growing experience
 
First grow attempt
First grow attempt 2
First grow attempt 3
FullFuzzy

FullFuzzy

31
8
The plant that had brown spots & started curling curled more today, and started yellowing the bottom leaves (doesn't show that too well with my camera) so I made sure to move them today. Plants are in their larger pots with the soil mix I made now, roots had started to reach through the bottom of the starter pots so it seemed like good timing, although they hadn't started to wrap around the pots yet. The soil balls did crumble a bit while transplanting, but nothing too bad. Also added some planting gel for the 2 plants that don't seem stressed (forgot I had it before I moved the stressed one). Applied some water with kelp extract to help with the rooting & transplant stress.

Forgot to mention with the manure added to the soil mix, it was packaged manure & the texture was like soil with no strong odour, so I believe it was pre-composted. The cow manure had been sitting in my yard for a couple months, so even if it wasn't precomposted before I bought it, I believe it has been now. The sheep manure was the same. Didn't add a huge amount of it to the mix, so I don't think the soil will be too hot for the plants but I will keep an eye out for signs for it anyway. Saw some little critters in the soil which I understand isn't neccessarily a bad thing, they didn't look like aphids or gnats, but I will likely apply a little neem oil tomorrow just in case.

Took more photos of my general tent setup as well. Since I don't know which plants are which strain at the moment, I will likely number them as well tomorrow. After they're a little more established in their new pots, I'm thinking I might top the plants fairly soon (in maybe a week or so?). Not sure if I'm being too hasty with that
 
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Fr3nzy

Fr3nzy

221
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First grow aswell I'd say start with soil. Seems woody might be holding to much moisture. Looking for a well draining soil that will dry out in somewhat of a timely fashion. Also tds meter and ph meter is a great tool to have. $25-$30 on amazon. Also do you have a fan blowing on them? Just curious by how the top pictures look. I'm sure kelp extract is lower on the scale. But I'd say maybe less is more. Wait for signs it needs something. As in being a light green/slow growth. Also of Indoors why worry so much about bugs? Unless your growing a giant crop I think its adding a little much. Also at that size really shouldn't need much at all.
 
Fr3nzy

Fr3nzy

221
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First grow aswell I'd say start with soil. Seems woody might be holding to much moisture. Looking for a well draining soil that will dry out in somewhat of a timely fashion. Also tds meter and ph meter is a great tool to have. $25-$30 on amazon. Also do you have a fan blowing on them? Just curious by how the top pictures look. I'm sure kelp extract is lower on the scale. But I'd say maybe less is more. Wait for signs it needs something. As in being a light green/slow growth. Also of Indoors why worry so much about bugs? Unless your growing a giant crop I think its adding a little much. Also at that size really shouldn't need much at all.
I guess when I'm stoned I prefer the word "also" lol
 
FullFuzzy

FullFuzzy

31
8
First grow aswell I'd say start with soil. Seems woody might be holding to much moisture. Looking for a well draining soil that will dry out in somewhat of a timely fashion. Also tds meter and ph meter is a great tool to have. $25-$30 on amazon. Also do you have a fan blowing on them? Just curious by how the top pictures look. I'm sure kelp extract is lower on the scale. But I'd say maybe less is more. Wait for signs it needs something. As in being a light green/slow growth. Also of Indoors why worry so much about bugs? Unless your growing a giant crop I think its adding a little much. Also at that size really shouldn't need much at all.

Yeah, I have a tower fan blowing on them at the moment shown in the 2nd last image, but I didn't have it on them for maybe first 2 - 3 days they broke the soil when they were under a tiny lamp in my room, once I moved them to the tent I put it on especially since they were quite lanky/falling over at first, but they are getting a lot sturdier. I'm a little concerned about pests since I did try a grow once before which failed due to me never getting better lighting (only had a CFL at the time, a DIY LED project fell through) so I gave my plants to a friend to finish, but at one stage I had a bit of a gnat problem that I had to fight with some yellow stickies & neem. I'm not going heavy on the neem, using it more as a preventative measure, but I will stop applying it unless I see something for now. With the kelp, I'm only using tiny amounts, the mix doesn't have any/little NPK afaik so I wasn't too concerned about burning the plants, but I can reduce it's use to weekly or biweekly.
 
FullFuzzy

FullFuzzy

31
8
Also, the woody texture comes from the coco coir mix I used (maybe 20% of the overall volume in the soil?), which unfortunately had mulch in it as well, did remove any larger pieces I saw when filling the pots except closer to the top soil. I thought since I'm using smart/fabric pots it should be alright to dry out as long as I don't water it too frequently, I always make sure that it's dry about a knuckle deep before I water. Also think I have a TDS/PH/Temp meter somewhere, will try and find it when I check on them tomorrow
 
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Bigdope916

Bigdope916

42
8
Hi guys,

I just set up my first greenhouse grow but am having some problems with humidity. I am using a Flowerhouse 5ftx5ftx6.5ft I bought from Home Depot. I have two 6 inch clip on fans running 24/7 and 5 plants, all of which are in 15 gallon smart pots. I just put in the clones today which are small but I watered the whole 15 gallons worth of soil. Humidity has stayed around 88% but shoots up to almost 100% when I close up doors. Temperature was mid 80’s today but upwards of 95 degrees in greenhouse. My greenhouse has two doors on opposite ends with a mesh screendoor behind it as well. There is no other vents besides the doors and I’m curious what the best way to keep temperature and humidity in the right levels is under these circumstances? Do I need to keep the top of door open at all times? Should it ever be fully closed up? Also it is going to rain tomorrow.. should I be worried about rain coming in through doors? Any help is greatly appreciated
 
FullFuzzy

FullFuzzy

31
8
2nd day in their larger pot, 2 plants seem to be growing quite happily, but Plant #3 is still looking a little sad. I may add a tiny little bitt of Canna Bio Vega nutrients to it tomorrow if it continues on this trajectory. Only fed them a little drizzle of plain water today as the bottom of the pots was still a little moist, but the sides & top were dry, but the roots likely haven't spread too far yet so I don't want to have the soil too moist & risk root rot.

Is adding nutrients a likely fix for this plant (top 2 images) or am I misdiagnosing something like heat stress or wind stress? Thanks
Plant 3   1
Plant 3   2
 
Plant 1   1
Plant 1   2
Plant 1   3
Plant 2   1
Plant 2   2
sambapati

sambapati

2,174
263
Yeah, I have a tower fan blowing on them at the moment shown in the 2nd last image, but I didn't have it on them for maybe first 2 - 3 days they broke the soil when they were under a tiny lamp in my room, once I moved them to the tent I put it on especially since they were quite lanky/falling over at first, but they are getting a lot sturdier. I'm a little concerned about pests since I did try a grow once before which failed due to me never getting better lighting (only had a CFL at the time, a DIY LED project fell through) so I gave my plants to a friend to finish, but at one stage I had a bit of a gnat problem that I had to fight with some yellow stickies & neem. I'm not going heavy on the neem, using it more as a preventative measure, but I will stop applying it unless I see something for now. With the kelp, I'm only using tiny amounts, the mix doesn't have any/little NPK afaik so I wasn't too concerned about burning the plants, but I can reduce it's use to weekly or biweekly.
Also a newbie and don't know much -- but that never stopped me b4. You know that the Neem oil has to be combined with some natural soap/diluted/shaken and then sprayed on, right? The plants look good, so keep up the good work
 
FullFuzzy

FullFuzzy

31
8
Also a newbie and don't know much -- but that never stopped me b4. You know that the Neem oil has to be combined with some natural soap/diluted/shaken and then sprayed on, right? The plants look good, so keep up the good work
The neem oil I purchased appears to have some sort of soap mixed in already, only takes a little shake to get a consistent color through the water. Bottle also only says to mix with water, but yeah good advice, did read about that when I looked into getting neem initially. Thanks!
 
jaguarlax

jaguarlax

Supporter
888
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2nd day in their larger pot, 2 plants seem to be growing quite happily, but Plant #3 is still looking a little sad. I may add a tiny little bitt of Canna Bio Vega nutrients to it tomorrow if it continues on this trajectory. Only fed them a little drizzle of plain water today as the bottom of the pots was still a little moist, but the sides & top were dry, but the roots likely haven't spread too far yet so I don't want to have the soil too moist & risk root rot.

Is adding nutrients a likely fix for this plant (top 2 images) or am I misdiagnosing something like heat stress or wind stress? ThanksView attachment 974331View attachment 974332
It does look like you have wood chips in here.. I can tell you that it harbors PM... not that you have to run out and change your soil... but I would def pull out those big chunks... it also most definitely has nutrients which is why you are seeing the bit of tip burn...other than that... I would say your off to a good start.
 
FullFuzzy

FullFuzzy

31
8
It does look like you have wood chips in here.. I can tell you that it harbors PM... not that you have to run out and change your soil... but I would def pull out those big chunks... it also most definitely has nutrients which is why you are seeing the bit of tip burn...other than that... I would say your off to a good start.
The tip burn started before I switched it into the soil with the wood chips though? Will try and pull as much of it out as I can though
 
jaguarlax

jaguarlax

Supporter
888
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The tip burn started before I switched it into the soil with the wood chips though? Will try and pull as much of it out as I can though

Do you still have the bag of soil around? That would tell the story.
 
FullFuzzy

FullFuzzy

31
8
Do you still have the bag of soil around? That would tell the story.
I initial soil mix I used is this one. Then I made a soil mix that was maybe 20% - 30% Coco Coir/Mulch mix (from a brick, rinsed and loosened before use, removed the largest pieces but left some as I read some mulch was fine), 15% - 25% Organic Compost (also bought), a couple handfuls of cow & sheep manure, mostly sheep (Both packaged, seemed composted as it was a dark soily texture), some ground up egg shells for some calcium & other micronutrients, and the rest was more of that initial soil mix. Still mostly the prepackaged soil. Left the soil outside to "cook" for a week in the sun, stirred daily, but it wasn't producing any noticeable heat so once that plant started showing signs of stress, I assumed it was root/nutrient bound, and moved them all to the larger pots with the mix I made.

EDIT: Although I can't find the specific NPK values (not on the bag either), it does say on the website under Suitable For "Safe to use on new plants - the controlled release of nutrients means it will not burn soft leaves or tender young roots" so I'd hope it's not nutrient burn, as I haven't given it anything containg any extra nutrients, just microbial benefits. (The only thing other than the neem I applied to the soil once, is the Kelp Extract, information on that here which to my understanding from store clerks & the couple places online where's discussed in regards with Cannabis, should be fine to apply to young plants, but I have only been doing that with about a week between mild doses, think total 3 times now?)
 
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Nottheone

Nottheone

23
3
I’d like to preface what I say by highlighting that I’m also very new to growing, so please take what I say with a grain of salt. But I’d be careful watering with neem oil. Before I bought some neem, I did pretty extensive research about its application. I’ve read some horror stories about people watering with the neem and their plants taking a turn for the worst. I thought you are only supposed to foliar with neem, but I could be mistaken. Also, it’s works prophylactically, but when using it for that purpose, without any sign of a pest problem, I’d use less than the recommended amount. You can always use more, but you can’t ever use less.
I also couldn’t tell if you soil was organic or not (note: just reread and saw that you’re using an organic mix so this applies), but if so, I’d also consider using some recharge to help with your root development. Strong root growth resolves a lot of problems on its own. Good luck with your grow!
 
FullFuzzy

FullFuzzy

31
8
But I’d be careful watering with neem oil. Before I bought some neem, I did pretty extensive research about its application. I’ve read some horror stories about people watering with the neem and their plants taking a turn for the worst. I thought you are only supposed to foliar with neem, but I could be mistaken. Also, it’s works prophylactically, but when using it for that purpose, without any sign of a pest problem, I’d use less than the recommended amount.
I used less than the recommended amount once on the soil, you can use it as a foliar spray because it will help with something that's attacking the leaves, but doing so also risks burning the leaves under intensive lighting, and getting any of the spray on the lighting can also risk burning the lighting out (not that it's a bad idea, but something to still do with care). You can also use it as the soil as a measure against gnats, that attack the roots. Neem also has a scent that repells most pests, which is why it seemed like a good idea to apply it once. My other 2 plants are doing fine, and I know there is some genetic variation with different strains, but I'm not inclined to think it's the neem oil causing harm weeks after the fact
 
FullFuzzy

FullFuzzy

31
8
Day 2, Week 4:
Plant #1 & #2 still looking good, bit shorter than Plant #3 so starting to think #1 & #2 are indicas and #3 is maybe one of the sativas? but I think #3 broke the soil first and had the longest time under the CFL, so that may also contribute to the stretch. Plant #3 doesn't seem to be anymore stressed than it was before, I think there is some healthy new growth at the top, so I'm not too worried about it, but I decided to give all the plants a very light nutrient feed with their water today & will see how they react. Pots were completely dry before their watering, soil doesn't seem to be too compact, didn't pool at all at the top & drained out the bottom fairly quickly. Drainage seems good
 
Plant 1   1 18 05 2020
Plant 1   2 18 05 2020
Plant 2   1 18 05 2020
Plant 2   2 18 05 2020
Plant 3   1 18 05 2020
Plant 3   2 18 05 2020
Fr3nzy

Fr3nzy

221
43
Have a wierd hook in them, I'm assuming this was from the fan? Are you rotating plants?
 
FullFuzzy

FullFuzzy

31
8
Have a wierd hook in them, I'm assuming this was from the fan? Are you rotating plants?
I've rotated them before, but not enough, I've started rotating them & swapping their positions today & will continue to do so daily
 
FullFuzzy

FullFuzzy

31
8
Week 4, Day 3:
Plant #3 has new growth at the top, mostly looking fine although I think there's a slight yellow discoloration at the tips of the new leaves. Still wet at the bottom of the pots, so I gave them a a small splash of plain water each. In the future I'll likely just give them a light spray of water when the soil is still fairly wet. Other two plants still looking good as usual
 
Plant 1   1   19 5 2020
Plant 1   2   19 5 2020
Plant 2   1   19 5 2020
Plant 2   2   19 5 2020
Plant 3   1   19 5 2020
Plant 3   2   19 5 2020

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