Mr. Pipe And The First Time Stinky.

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Potato Pipe

Potato Pipe

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Hello, my name is Potato Pipe and I'm a first time grower.

I know my little grow op is nothing compared to most of the others on here, but I wanted to do a grow diary to allow those with more experience (which is pretty much everyone) to comment, critique, and suggest throughout the process.

I actually started germinating the first seed back on February 1st but had a bad case of influenza-B sweep through the household so I haven't had much time to write with kids needing to be kept hydrated and fevers needing attending to (and parents needing rest). So I'm starting the diary a little late, unfortunately.

Plants:
Since this would be my first time growing I thought starting with a single plant would be a good idea. I decided to go with the Dinafem White Widow that came as a freebie with my actual order from the seed bank. After doing some reading I decided to try and germinate the seed in a glass of water placed in a dark cabinet. After four days of soaking and no germination I pulled a Paradise Seeds Delahaze that also came as a freebie. This time I used the paper tower method and threw the White Widow seed in the bag as well figuring it was a bad seed but not wanting to throw it in the garbage. Well, a little over 24 hours later and they both had sprouted! As a side note, the White Widow was very deformed looking till it sprouted its third set of leaves and it still looks like a strawberry plant as of 03/17/15.


Soil:
For the seedlings I used a mix of 80% Happy Frog and 20% earthworm castings. I have to say that I do not like Happy Frog at all. My entire bag was chalked full of large chunks of wood and round flat pebbles anywhere from the size of a dime up to the size of a quarter. When I re-potted the seedlings to one gallon felt pots I knocked all of the soil loose and put the roots into a mixture of 70% coco coir, 10% worm castings, and 20% Happy Frog that I sifted with some contraption my wife had in the kitchen (might be for noodles). When I re-potted from the one gallon containers to the five gallon containers I took the soil knocked free from the plants and added it to a two gallon mixture of roughly 90% coco coir and 10% worm castings. Next time I am just going to do 100% coco coir from the start.

Feeding:
Seedlings were fed tap water that had been aerated for 24 hours. After the third set of leaves showed up I began feeding them with the water from my freshwater fish tank. I figured the fish were happy because they get to eat like pigs and have their water changed regularly and my plants were happy because they were getting nutrient rich, well-oxygenated water. The leaves started to show signs of thinning and slight yellowing between the veins of each leaf at around three and a half weeks and I began using Dyna-Gro fertilizers on 03/12/2015 and currently alternating between 'Foliage Pro' (9-3-6) at half strength and 'Grow' (7-9-5) at full strength for each feeding.




02/11/2015:
20150211_105317.jpg

I had replanted the Delahaze (on left) into a one gallon pot just before the photo was taken. The White Widow is very small and seems to have malformed leaves but is otherwise green and happy.

03/15/15:
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My wife gave me a real grow tent, carbon filter, and vent fan for my birthday so I switched over from my DIY setup. Also built a scrog net out of square dowel rods and cotton kite string I had sitting in a closet.

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Also managed to break off a stem and fan leaf while trying to tuck them under the net. I didn't like the lighting setup of two 2700k and two 6000k so I switched them all out to the 6000k variety.



03/17/15:
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Top view of the Delahaze.

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I started to have roots coming straight up out of the soil so I added more coco coir that was amended with rock dust and mixed it into the upper layers of exiting soil.

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Top view of White Widow.

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Side view of the Paradise Seeds White Widow. I was able to find out that this strain from this seed company has a reputation for being runty and malformed but produces great buds if you can make it work.

03/18/2015:
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Began work on converting an old computer case to a clone/seedling starter. The usable area for growing is only 10 inches x 6 inches x 20 inches so it may end up only being usable for seedlings? I'm not sure. I'd like to set up a little aeroponics system in there but I'm not 100% sure how to go about it yet. I may end up just building a veg box of a better size since I intend to have four plants going at any given time with two in flower in the main tent.

EDIT: Currently trying to figure out why some photos aren't posting
 
Last edited:
juniper

juniper

247
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I like the DIY spirit; looks a lot like my first indoor adventure, a few years back.

You may soon find yourself stoned and staring slack-jawed at your plants
for long periods of time.

Sometimes freebies end up being the best ones.

You have 1/2 hour to edit a post, by the way.
I'm not sure it's possible to "reserve" a post.

You seem to have done your homework, I'm sure you'll do fine.
 
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motherlode

motherlode

@Rolln_J
Supporter
5,524
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looking real good - and maybe you did some homework too - great way to start out man

really dig the structure of your plants - cant wait to see what you turn out

cleaned up that duplicate "reserved" stuff for you too
 
Bones69

Bones69

167
43
Yeah man looks good! Off to a good start! Once those shoots start popping through that net, work that shit! You gotta weave the shoots in and out of that net. Great start for a first timer! My suggestion and only one, cfl's work great during veg especially when you get them as low as possible! When you flip You should grab yourself an hps set up. In my humble opinion there is no other way to produce the best buds!
Good luck!
 
Potato Pipe

Potato Pipe

62
33
jDeBsl39FcLOoxA7RJy-1r_Gmv3Sgqm7Bl6XhtWJfgUpjMCt4RrBkAIvSTSsUjXS3OQ-uF27PJyRMS0=w1342-h547
in8ghjBE-aabOIDSIzNyeIkuZ1PRkfiZOMA_NCmj295AXmm19PzDuqmMEfGIR8fFe2OOz42bWIo2170=w1342-h547

I wasn't satisfied with the computer case seedling box so I tore the whole thing down and redid it. I stripped it and I added 4x10 watt LEDs with each chip glued to a laptop CPU fan with thermal paste. Each fan was then taped together with aluminum ducting tape and hung with kite string for a ghettofabulous finish. The lights I have in there right now are a mix of near-UV and a few 6500k LEDs. I also planted some Dr. Krippling Incredible Bulk to make bubble hash later on. I'm planning to put in some sensors and an automatic misting system (it is always very dry where I live) but I'm still milling the idea around in my head.

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The White Widow is starting to take off so I pegged the two main stalks down with pipe cleaners. It's such a bushy plant that it was impossible to get a good photo showing that those two main stalks are at 180 degrees from one another. There are a few fan leaves that I had no choice but to remove from the Delahaze plant. I couldn't bend them back without overcrowding the canopy and they were casting shadows on the White Widow so they had to go.
 
straincreation

straincreation

1,217
263
Thats the way to do it,trial and error my friend.
youll be a grower in no time.
Happy farmin;)
 
Potato Pipe

Potato Pipe

62
33
Just as a quick update:
I flipped the plants to 12/12 on April 4th but I'm still waiting for my flowering lights to arrive.

I wish I could have let both of the plants veg for longer but I've run out of space on the Delahaze side and for whatever reason I couldn't get the main stems to grow horizontally along the scrog for more than four or five inches before it was completely stop growing in length and instead focus on growing the shoots. Not sure if that is suppose to happen or not?
0407151002a.jpg




The seedling/clone box seems to be working well and cloning with coco coir and honey seems to be a pretty easy way to go about continuing the awesomeness. Also, it just looks cool (to me, anyway).
0407151001a.jpg
 
Potato Pipe

Potato Pipe

62
33
16 days into flower.

Delahaze is averaging buds of 20mm high by 15mm diameter.
0420151328.jpg
0420151329a.jpg


White Widow is averaging buds of 15x15mm.
0420151331.jpg
0420151331a.jpg


I need to build a new veg box asap. Two seedlings and six tiny clones and space is already at a premium.
0420151335.jpg
 
juniper

juniper

247
63
Some sativa strains are so prone to branchiness that you more "shape" them. It doesn't aggressively grow branch you tuck under, just the side branches getting the light. If there's too many nodes, I'll thin the extraneous ones, and give the remaining ones space, air, and light to develop larger flower sets.

Great use of small space, it looks great.
 
north knect

north knect

1,203
163
16 days into flower.

Delahaze is averaging buds of 20mm high by 15mm diameter.
0420151328.jpg
0420151329a.jpg


White Widow is averaging buds of 15x15mm.
0420151331.jpg
0420151331a.jpg


I need to build a new veg box asap. Two seedlings and six tiny clones and space is already at a premium.
0420151335.jpg
Looking good man..everything looks pretty happy in there..what did u grab for a flowering light? Happy farming bro :D
 
Potato Pipe

Potato Pipe

62
33
Some sativa strains are so prone to branchiness that you more "shape" them. It doesn't aggressively grow branch you tuck under, just the side branches getting the light. If there's too many nodes, I'll thin the extraneous ones, and give the remaining ones space, air, and light to develop larger flower sets.

Great use of small space, it looks great.
Thank you for the advice. As far as shaping what do you suggest? I thought I was doing the right thing trying to scrog her but she HATED it. I ended up cutting the net because I was worried about the number of torn leaves and deformed/thin branches I was getting as the main branch halted growth (nodes were starting to practically stack on one another). I ended up pinching and bending the main stalks then pruning some of the older or damaged fan leaves and branches that didn't seem like they were going to amount to anything

I have a picture but my phone is being....new....and problematic. The solution is ugly as sin but seems to be working ok.

Looking good man..everything looks pretty happy in there..what did u grab for a flowering light? Happy farming bro :D
Right now its a combo of 50 watt 5500k LEDs, blue (can't remember the kelvin) LEDs, cheap red LEDs and 2700k CFLs of various wattages. I kind of just threw it together when HPS I was sent was broke to shit on arrival. I'm currently working with the company that sold it to me but I'm none too happy. Hopefully the buds come out ok but if they are all fluff I'll just reduce them all to hash (maybe?).

I swear its like some kind of mystical voodoo. Anything remotely cannabis related gets completely F'd in transit but anything not related magically floats here on a temperpedic mattress of wishes and good intentions.
 
juniper

juniper

247
63
If I'm looking at a huge pile of nodes growing on top of one another, I'll go in, select the strongest branches with the best spacing, and remove all other branches. I'll sometimes remove extraneous nodes on the same branch. You just want to balance having enough nodes to take advantage if the light but not so many that they crowd out nodes with more "potential". Let the plant focus it's energy on just enough tops, so the buds develop well. Don't be afraid to strip healthy plants of wispy stems, old leaves, undergrowth, or any leaf blocking light to a budsite.
 
juniper

juniper

247
63
I usually end up cleaning out lower leaves and stems that get too cramped after the switch into flower as well. After the stretch, you'll usually have extra stems and nodes that can be eliminated. Just best to get them early on before they start budding in earnest. If one stem looks like it's going to compete with another for space and light and air, I'll usually remove the smaller stem.
 
Potato Pipe

Potato Pipe

62
33
0420151648.jpg

This is from a few days back when I first cut the scrog. I'll get an updated pic in a second now that I've finally figured out my phone lol.

I picked up a $10 pocket microscope. I couldn't hold my phone still enough to remove all the distortion but the view is crystal clear to the naked eye.
wwclose1.jpg
 
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