GalaxysEdge Grow Diary (First Grow)

[GalaxysEdge]

I finally have some time here on a Monday morning to start my Grow Diary. Unfortunately, the diary will start a little late in the process as I am about 15 days into it, but my first post here will be a quick synopsis of my first 15 days. The following post will be my diary as of 15 days into the grow.

Working with two strains:

• The One x Blue Moon Rocks Bx4​
• Mazar x Guerrero IBL​

I germinated 3 of each. For the Mazar I went with the paper towel method. For The One, I planted seeds directly into the medium (for experimental purposes).

Of those 6, all three of the Mazar have sprouted, and only one of The One has sprouted. You will see in my photos that I have labeled the plants M1, M2, M3 for Mazar and B1 for The One.

My Set Up:
I went with the Vivosun set up as demonstrated by Mr Grow It on YouTube. Pretty mediocre set up, but I didn't want to go all out for my first grow. I also wanted something that I could follow along with as this was my first attempt. You can see the video here:

I have the set up in my office, which gives me a chuckle as I have Zoom meetings for my work throughout the day and the grow tent is in the background. I work in the corporate world. Don't worry, I use the Blur filter for my background

Here is a few photos of the set up:

 

[GalaxysEdge]

So - now onto Day 16....

I topped one of my plants today. First time doing this and was nervous as hell, but I think it went well. I used some pruning shears that were wiped down with alcohol before making the snip. I was debating whether I should wait to top this particular plant or not, but I settled on doing it as I felt the area and age was perfect for doing so. I am still nervous though. I don't know how long it will take for the plant to bounce back and this is my Number 1 plant in terms of progress (it is exceeding the others). None of my plants have too much height and I wish all of them were growing more quickly, but I am an impatient guy. Fun fact about me...I haven't smoked in about 3 years. I took a big break from it so I could turn the jets on at work and pursue promotion. I also have 2 young ones at home so I felt guilty. But since legalization in VA and great progress at work, I am feeling I am in a good place to start again...and why not do it with a bang and grow my own!

Anyway...here's a photo of my topping...I like it think it was a well executed surgery...but again, I am a noob:

Other Mazar plant and The One plant are doing well. Slowly progressing. Each day in peak into the tent and expect to see a burst of growth....but I have yet to encounter that. Slow going so far:

And finally...the runt of the litter. Prior advice sought out in this forum told me that I overwatered this sucker. Today was actually the first day I watered in 5 days. It was bone dry. I also added a few more holes into the cup for better drainage. I am not giving up on it yet!

Until next time...good luck and thanks for reading!

 

[GalaxysEdge]

Captain's Log...Day 27...

I did some LST today. Tied down a few branches on two of my plants. I have no idea if I did it right, but my approach is to just try to keep the canopy even and expose some of the lower growth to light.

Check out my attempt:

 

[M0nStarNuggety]

Looks amazing so far.
How many nodes up did you top the one? Just take it slow and easy, make them comfortable.
I only use the paper towel method, 95% success rates. Damp paper towel, placed in a baggie, set on my snakes cage, 1-3 days boom.

 

[GalaxysEdge]

Looks amazing so far.
How many nodes up did you top the one? Just take it slow and easy, make them comfortable.
I only use the paper towel method, 95% success rates. Damp paper towel, placed in a baggie, set on my snakes cage, 1-3 days boom.

Thanks!!!

For the first top, I topped 4 nodes up.

I honestly have a tough time knowing how to LST or what my topping is doing for the plants because I am having trouble conceptualizing where my bud sites will be. A few folks on here posted some really helpful videos on where I would locate bud sites, but I think for it to click in my brain I need to see it on my plants.

I am also starting to think about when I should flip to flower. My tent is only 2x4 so I dont have much height. I dont want to run out of room. These are obviously indicia strains so they are bushy, but I keep reading that stretch will be about 2x or 3x their current height. I gotta plan for that!

 

[M0nStarNuggety]

The first grow is usually the hardest, so much to learn. Really just need to learn your space and dial it all in. That is the main key, healthy environment.
With the LST you can control the stretch and a net will help keep them close to even. Done right you can pull a lot from just that 2x4 tent .

 

[Schwer]

honestly have a tough time knowing how to LST or what my topping is doing for the plants because I am having trouble conceptualizing where my bud sites will be. A few folks on here posted some really helpful videos on where I would locate bud sites, but I think for it to click in my brain I need to see it on my plants.

I'm pretty much the same way. I had to see-it-to-get-it with regards to plant anatomy, but now it all (mostly) makes sense and I can even be a little predictive about what's going to happen next.

Since it looks like you're training your plants in a similar way to how I trained mine I can probably takes some pics to show you what you might be able to expect with their development. I'm about to open the tent for a watering anyway. You may even change your mind and go with another technique, not that I've been unhappy. Like you, I just didn't necessarily understand why I was doing what I was doing. Hell, I still don't in most aspects of my life.

 

[GalaxysEdge]

I'm pretty much the same way. I had to see-it-to-get-it with regards to plant anatomy, but now it all (mostly) makes sense and I can even be a little predictive about what's going to happen next.

Since it looks like you're training your plants in a similar way to how I trained mine I can probably takes some pics to show you what you might be able to expect with their development. I'm about to open the tent for a watering anyway. You may even change your mind and go with another technique, not that I've been unhappy. Like you, I just didn't necessarily understand why I was doing what I was doing. Hell, I still don't in most aspects of my life.

That would be awesome if you could take some pics! I definitely need all the help I can get. I feel like my LST was pretty random..."ill just tie the branch down....here." At least I can say I LSTed a plant now.

On my largest plant its looking okay. I'm starting to see where some big fan leaves are just getting in the way but I am so hesitant to snip them. I try tucking then behind things, but they always find their way back to their original spot. Have you done any trimming? I am worried its too early for me to defoliate.

 

[Schwer]

That would be awesome if you could take some pics! I definitely need all the help I can get. I feel like my LST was pretty random..."ill just tie the branch down....here." At least I can say I LSTed a plant now.

Okay, here's what I did with my grow but keep in mind this is my first grow too

You probably already know this, but the goal of both topping and LST is to break apical dominance, create more overall bud sites, and in doing so increase yield (for our indoor grows in particular). Good stuff, and like everyone says if you don't do it you're probably leaving some bud on the table (for photos anyway).

I started training my plants much like yours by topping at the 5th node (IIRC) along with an LST bend. I topped because it encourages the plant to generate two main stems in place of the one. Simple enough, right? I did the bend in the main stem to get more light to the side stems because that helps them grow like main stems too! I *think* doing this also slows the growth of the main stem/stems and helps those side stems play catch-up.

In the pic below the main stem is traced in red and the main side stems in blue. I'll keep using the same color combos in these pics.

Below is one of my plants today with the main stem highlighted in red and those same side stems highlighted in blue, though they're pretty big now and more like main stems thanks to the LST.

Here is the same plant with a view from the side of the main stem where I topped. Its a little crazy in there, but you might be able to tell that my goal was to spread all of the red and blue stems relatively evenly around the plant to give myself an even canopy on top.

Below is a wider view of that same plant today. The main stems are still highlighted in red. Only one of the main side stems has been highlighted in blue to avoid this visual being too messy, but now I have also highlighted some of the smaller stems that break off from the main red and blue stems in yellow. Honestly, I don't know how many of these I should keep, but I do cut off most of these "yellow" branches that are well under the canopy and will never receive light. I will probably have to thin more of these out as the grow goes on.

As for the location of bud sites, they're right at the tops of each stem and at each node (or most anyway, not sure). But since a picture is worth a thousand words, I grabbed this flowering solo cup grow pic from the internet (ty tryppyjezus) and I think its just about perfect for letting you see exactly where bud sites occur on the plant. Hell, your plants are about the same size, so you can kinda picture where the flowers would be.

As for defoliation, I played it pretty conservatively for a long time because taking scissors to my healthy plants was scary. I started with a lot of tucking and was eventually willing to remove some of the big lower fan leaves that weren't getting any light, as well as any leaves that were dragging in the soil as I've heard that's an invitation for disease. Over the past several weeks I've become much more comfortable with defoliating. In fact the only reason you can those lower branches in the pics above is because I trimmed so many fan leaves and tiny branches from the middle. I can't help you too much though because its still a process I'm learning.

 

[GalaxysEdge]

Okay, here's what I did with my grow but keep in mind this is my first grow too

You probably already know this, but the goal of both topping and LST is to break apical dominance, create more overall bud sites, and in doing so increase yield (for our indoor grows in particular). Good stuff, and like everyone says if you don't do it you're probably leaving some bud on the table (for photos anyway).

I started training my plants much like yours by topping at the 5th node (IIRC) along with an LST bend. I topped because it encourages the plant to generate two main stems in place of the one. Simple enough, right? I did the bend in the main stem to get more light to the side stems because that helps them grow like main stems too! I *think* doing this also slows the growth of the main stem/stems and helps those side stems play catch-up.

In the pic below the main stem is traced in red and the main side stems in blue. I'll keep using the same color combos in these pics.

View attachment 1157561


Below is one of my plants today with the main stem highlighted in red and those same side stems highlighted in blue, though they're pretty big now and more like main stems thanks to the LST.

View attachment 1157564

Here is the same plant with a view from the side of the main stem where I topped. Its a little crazy in there, but you might be able to tell that my goal was to spread all of the red and blue stems relatively evenly around the plant to give myself an even canopy on top.

View attachment 1157566

Below is a wider view of that same plant today. The main stems are still highlighted in red. Only one of the main side stems has been highlighted in blue to avoid this visual being too messy, but now I have also highlighted some of the smaller stems that break off from the main red and blue stems in yellow. Honestly, I don't know how many of these I should keep, but I do cut off most of these "yellow" branches that are well under the canopy and will never receive light. I will probably have to thin more of these out as the grow goes on.

View attachment 1157609

As for the location of bud sites, they're right at the tops of each stem and at each node (or most anyway, not sure). But since a picture is worth a thousand words, I grabbed this flowering solo cup grow pic from the internet (ty tryppyjezus) and I think its just about perfect for letting you see exactly where bud sites occur on the plant. Hell, your plants are about the same size, so you can kinda picture where the flowers would be.

View attachment 1157601

As for defoliation, I played it pretty conservatively for a long time because taking scissors to my healthy plants was scary. I started with a lot of tucking and was eventually willing to remove some of the big lower fan leaves that weren't getting any light, as well as any leaves that were dragging in the soil as I've heard that's an invitation for disease. Over the past several weeks I've become much more comfortable with defoliating. In fact the only reason you can those lower branches in the pics above is because I trimmed so many fan leaves and tiny branches from the middle. I can't help you too much though because its still a process I'm learning.

This is awesome. Thanks so much for sharing. I learned a couple things just from those examples. For one. I didn't think to anchor the stem in the opposite direction that I am bending it as you have in your first pic. I just straight up bent it over and the disruption to the soil at the base of the plant is obvious lol.

When it comes to defoliation. When is an OK time to do it? I have two plants that are dragging leaves in soil. You mentioned that could be bad news so now I'm a little eager. Does defoliation slow the plant growth? I think I read somewhere the best time to defoliate is right before flower.

Alao, thanks for sharing the solo cup picture. Its probably one of the best examples I've seen, probably because it's just such a simple plant.

One other question for you. When did you know it was time to flip to flower? Did you base it on how much room you had left in the tent?

 

[Schwer]

This is awesome. Thanks so much for sharing. I learned a couple things just from those examples. For one. I didn't think to anchor the stem in the opposite direction that I am bending it as you have in your first pic. I just straight up bent it over and the disruption to the soil at the base of the plant is obvious lol.

When it comes to defoliation. When is an OK time to do it? I have two plants that are dragging leaves in soil. You mentioned that could be bad news so now I'm a little eager. Does defoliation slow the plant growth? I think I read somewhere the best time to defoliate is right before flower.

Alao, thanks for sharing the solo cup picture. Its probably one of the best examples I've seen, probably because it's just such a simple plant.

One other question for you. When did you know it was time to flip to flower? Did you base it on how much room you had left in the tent?

Even some of the stems I held in the opposite direction ended up at that extreme angle, just like the plant I showed in the example above. The only downside to how low I trained is that with the roots so close to the soil it becomes more difficult to water, to defoliate, to top dress, to maintain good airflow, etc. If I were to do it again I would keep that main stem just a few inches further from the top rim of the pot than I did in my first run.

Regarding defoliation, [total amature disclaimer] most of the grows that I've followed here or watched on youtube have defoliated all throughout their grows for varying reasons depending on the stage. Defoliating too much at once may slow your growth for a bit, (like the topping process for instance) but If you haven't seen examples of mainlining look that technique up sometimes as a comparative example. That's a very extreme example of defoliation and training but the plants can survive it. Seeing that might make you feel better about removing a leaf here or there when you think you have a good reason to do so/

I wish I could give you some better rules of thumb for the process but as I said I'm learning myself. Obviously diseased or super damaged leaves can go. For me any leaves dragging the soil were eventually an automatic removal, as were any internal fan leaves blocking airflow through my plants. The airflow thing has been a huge priority for me.

Regarding flipping, my goal was to "fill the canopy" before the flip because that's what everyone says in their youtube videos. My tent is pretty tall and my plants are short, so stretch height was never going to be an issue for me. Once all of those beautiful green faces were nearly filling my canopy I decided it was time to flip. Everyone's grow and goal is different though, as evidenced by the solo cup pic, lol. So the decision is ultimately up to your preferences and gear requirements.

 

[GalaxysEdge]

Day 39....

Yesterday was a bad day...

Accidentally dropped a fan on one plant and then snapped the main stem on another when adjusting some LST. Oof...

But these plants are surprisingly resilient. They are looking great today. I've started feeding with Fox Farm Big Bloom, Grow Big, and Calmag. Today was their first feeding.

Aside from my one little engine that could plant, things are looking great. I am planning to flip on Aug 31st, simply for the fact that I want bud so I can deal with my inlaws during the holidays. Hey....we all have different goals..

 

[GalaxysEdge]

Oh and another thing of note....

This one plant always seems to be droopy on watering day. Last time I posted about this she ended up popping back to life the next day. We will see if that happens again...

 

[Schwer]

Good to see an update. Looking great man! Holy hell it didn't take long for them to look like bushes. lol, nicely done.

 

[GalaxysEdge]

Good to see an update. Looking great man! Holy hell it didn't take long for them to look like bushes. lol, nicely done.

Thanks man! Droopy girl has perked up today as expected.

So I've been taking some measurements and I am thinking I need to flip soon if I am going to have room for the stretch. I am basing the measurement on my tallest plant which I am not able to bend down any more to allow the others to catch up.

Any advice on this to do before flipping? Or is it as simple as just changing the light schedule. Speaking of that...when you change the light schedule, do you start off with the dark period of 12 hours or the light period of 12 hours...or maybe that doesn't even matter.

 

[Nate_in_AK]

That droopy plant is just using more water than the others and getting thirsty early. Be careful letting her droop much, I've read drooping leaves are closely followed by dying roots. I sometimes let mine get to where yours was as well, but that's about as far as I like to ever see them droop.

I would agree the big one at least is ready to flip. You don't need to get silly about the light schedule, just change your timer so the dark period is 12 hours instead of 6.

Looking good!!

 

[GalaxysEdge]

That droopy plant is just using more water than the others and getting thirsty early. Be careful letting her droop much, I've read drooping leaves are closely followed by dying roots. I sometimes let mine get to where yours was as well, but that's about as far as I like to ever see them droop.

I would agree the big one at least is ready to flip. You don't need to get silly about the light schedule, just change your timer so the dark period is 12 hours instead of 6.

Looking good!!

Awesome, thank you for the info my friend!

 

[GalaxysEdge]

Day 1 of Flower!

I flipped the plants to flower. They came off of their first 12 hour dark period as of this morning. I caught a great photo of them in their dark period...

Jk jk jk...at least no light leaks right!?

Ok back to business...I totally forgot to flip my lights from their "veg" setting to their "bloom" setting. Did that just now actually and the plants are now basking in a nice orange/red glow.

Does anyone know if I should keep the "veg" setting on as well in addition to the bloom setting? Or just use the bloom?

Here is how they look on the "bloom" setting

They are already starting to smell a little more strongly which i find interesting.

Anyway, Day 1 is in the bag. Onward and upward.

 

[Schwer]

I nominated your first image for the Pic of the Month contest. Good luck, man!

 

[GalaxysEdge]

I nominated your first image for the Pic of the Month contest. Good luck, man!

I dont see how it can't win.

Figured out my light switch question. Both veg and bloom switches on!