First Grow, First Diary, follow along with me on this long ride...

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RGWD0202

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This is my first attempt at growing cannabis and have decided now would be a good time to get it a try. My hope is to learn as I go, document clearly to use in my next attempts and hopefully help those who might make the the same mistakes I make or hopefully prevent you from making the same mistakes that I'm sure I'll make. Any seasoned growers that want to follow along and provide some advice would be appreciated. All feedback is welcome, don't hold back.

VivoSun 4x2x5 grow tent
VivoSun Exhaust with controller
Fecida cr1200 260 watt LED light
Bag seeds, I believe to be White Rhino or White Widow, not 100% on if they are auto or photo, but will be growing as if they are photos, not feminized
Fox Farm Light Warrior for germination
Burpee Seed dome to start seeds.

I started this grow November 22 so I will update a few days in single posts until I catch up. I'll try to keep each post brief but thorough.

Due to the size of my tent, I plan on flowering 2/3 plants so I will start with 6 seeds in hopes of a 50/50 male to female ratio.

On 11/22 I filled the Burpee tray with Fox Farm Light Warrior soil, I watered the soil until all soil was fully saturated, planted seeds about a 1/2" deep and then covered with dome. I placed the dome in a dark room with temperature reading 72. Natural light from windows during the day was only light used but was never directly shining on the seeds.

On 11/25, the first seed has broken through the soil with a 2nd one not too far behind it, by 11/26 4 of the 6 seeds have broken through, by 11/27 all seeds have broken the soil, 100% germination rate. I uncovered the dome and moved it to my tent. The soil is still saturated, I'm going to let the soil dry completely before watering again. Afterall, the number one mistake new growers make from what I've read on this forum is overwatering. Light is 12" above the seedlings set at 20%. I downloaded the Photone app and its registering 330ppfd at the top of the seedlings. Grow tent is currently 65 degrees with humidity at 60%. Both are lower than I want, will look into small heater and humidifier to increase these numbers.
 
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RGWD0202

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12/6, Added a mesh wire drying rack on top of the saucer to elevate the plants off the floor. Added 2.5ml of CalMag, no other nutes provided. Soil has dried out and watered until runoff. Appears I was over watering my plants. In an attempt to not over water, its exactly what I was doing. I learned over watering isn't giving an abundance of water at one time, but is giving water too often, even in small amounts. i.e. not allowing the soil to dry back enough.

Apparently a difuser is required for photone app, I thought my ppfd were at 300+ however they were actually sitting around 200 or less. Makes sense why the ppfd #s were all over the place. Another learning opportunity.

12/8, Plants have grown significantly in the past 5 days since transplanting and learning how to water more appropriately. Temps are staying in the low 70s and humidity is remaining between 75-80. The VivoSun controller is really helpful with regulating temps and humidity.
 
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RGWD0202

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12/11, the solo cups have dried back to the same weight as they were prior to the first watering. I don't believe I mentioned it earlier but I weighed the cups on my digital scale after I filled them with soil and then weighed again after fully watering to help me know when to water again.

12/13 transplanted to 1 gallon pots with Happy Frog. I think it was too early, the cups weren’t completely full of roots. Added worm castings to the soil mix. Weighed the pots before watering and again after, this really helped with watering.
 
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RGWD0202

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12/14
Even though I transplanted early, these little friends really liked their new home and responded really well to the larger pots and new soil. Light is currently 18” above the plants and set at 25%. Humidity is set at 62% temps hovering around 74.
 
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12/17
Giving them their first feeding. Fed with General Organics bio thrive Grow 4-3-3.. 7ml per gallon and cal mag at 4ml/gallon

12/18
Plants appeared to have doubled overnight. Increased light to 30%

12/19 plants are showing their 5th node, top 4 nodes have nice branching. Decided to top today. Removed the 5th node from each plant. Top dressed with wiggle worm worm castings and added a little bit more happy frog to help mix it in.

12/20
Fed again, using same nutrients as previous feeding but also decided to add some Silica. 1/8 tsp Raw Silica to each gallon.
 
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RGWD0202

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12/26
Transplanted to 5 gallon fabric pots. 6 completely fills the 4x2. Next grow will be 3 plants with feminized seeds or clones. All are taking to their new homes really well. Transplanted into a 50/50 mix of Happy Frog and Ocean Floor with worm casting mixed in. Watered fully with calmag and silica. Rh at 58% and temps holding 73 during day and dropping to 64 at night.
 
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RGWD0202

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I decided to upgrade the light, after reading several post about the potential consequences of having a cheap light decided to upgrade. Purchased a vs3000 from VIVOSUN. I really like this light, it’a noticeably brighter, it mounts directly to the top bar on the ceiling so I can get the most out of this smaller tent. It’s compatible with the VIVOSUN controller and allows me to adjust brightness in 1% increments. It doesn’t appear to work though with the built in timer.

Installed the light on 12/27


1/7 Flipped to 12/12
 
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1/10
I’m still not finding any preflowers there are some forming but not identifiable yet. I need to remove the males before adding the trelliss since I’m growing from bag seed. The tent is getting full and they have really responded to this new light. I have it 26” at 55%. I am slowly increasing the intensity. Fed today with 1/4 strength General Organics bio grow and 1/4 strength GO bio bloom. CalMag and earth juice microblaster
 
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Bilber

Bilber

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??

You flipped on 1/7........and the next post it says 1/10.....

Is the picture taken on the 10 or today....

Looks great either way....just curious.....
 
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RGWD0202

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thanks for asking, flipped them 1/7. That picture is from 1/10. I’ve been way behind on this journal.

I was able to sex them all by 1/16, I was hoping for 3 females and ended up with 5! Not ideal for this tent but a good problem to have. One of the 6 plants was unidentifiable so decided to pull it. Hated doing it not knowing the sex for sure but figured that added space would be more beneficial. Finally got the trellis put on and working on filling it out.
 
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RGWD0202

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My light is 12” from the tallest plant. I have it set to 74% increasing the light 1% daily. Hoping the stretch ends soon I can’t bend them any more. Closing in on the end of week 3 of flower.

My tent is clearly overcrowded with 5 plants in 5 gallon fabric containers. I’ve been tucking fan leaves everyday and defoliating a handful of fan leaves pretty much every other day for the past 10 days but it doesn’t seem to make a dent in this canopy. Just trying to open up bud sites. My plan was to do a heavy defoliation when the stretch is done but not sure on how much is too much. Would it be more beneficial to not defoliate heavy and have an overcrowded tent or defoliate way back to get better light penetration?
 
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