My Disappointing, even PATHETIC Grow!

[Kampbe1l]

I bent a stem at right angle, just before I went to bed last night. i crunched its stem walls a little. This afternoon, it's straightened back up!

so, looks like i might need a plant tie, to LST instead.

okay, hold off manipulating the plants, until the next watering in a couple of days time, when i will closely inspect the plants.

 

[Kampbe1l]

this is what i've been calling an unsettled summer 2019/2020.

i'm gonna shut down the grow tent with her LED, and place these plants in a sunny spot in the apartment for the Thursday. i'm going to melt myself, on thursday.

the plants are going to get their watering on that Thursday morning.

 

[Beachwalker]

this is what i've been calling an unsettled summer 2019/2020.

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i'm gonna shut down the grow tent with her LED, and place these plants in a sunny spot in the apartment for the Thursday. i'm going to melt myself, on thursday.

the plants are going to get their watering on that Thursday morning.

I wouldn't leave them in direct sun if they've never had Sun

 

[Kampbe1l]

nuh, no direct sun, well only short windows. generally, our apartment is softer/gentler sunlit.

we have many household plants, many different growing requirements, which routinely gets shifted around the apartment. some plants tend to stay in the same spots. we've learned which plants are sensitive to harsh direct sunlight, and there's only a few spots in our apartment which gets this harsher light for relatively short periods.

i have been leaving it on the balconies and other spots within the apartment till now, on warm summer days, while i'm at work. then returning home, i would shift the plants back into the tent, a couple of hours after sunset.

last fortnight has been cloudy or wet even, months of bushfires & smoke haze before that, when the plants have been mostly left in the grow tent. i do let the kids out to play, typically on a sunny afternoon. also, the LED grow lights are less than a week, keen to keep plants under this new toy.

when i water/feed the plants, i take 'em out to the balcony, then leave it until a couple of hours after sunset. must admit, soon i might have to water within the tent, without moving these plants to water.

i like moving them in & out of the tent, as it gives me opportunity to clean or re-arrange the tent. i can shut down the fans and lights for a while. i can inspect closely, when watering/feeding the plants. i can let the water run off to drain on the balcony.

and the smaller balcony is just 5 metres away from the grow tent.

if i leave it in the grow tent as it is, without an exhaust fan running, on a hot summer day...so, might as well take advantage of the hot outdoors (within our apartment).

 

[Beachwalker]

Putting indoor plants outside or even with other indoor plants risks many kinds of things, mainly bugs! I have seen the fires on the news, stay safe!!

 

[Kampbe1l]

Putting indoor plants outside or even with other indoor plants risks many kinds of things, mainly bugs! I have seen the fires on the news, stay safe!!

okay, point taken. also, i will keep 'em more inside the windows, sliding doors - rather than outside on balcony, unless watering.

the small balcony doesn't have any household plants, and so does another good spot in the apartment which has no other h/hld plants. careful to quarantine these plants away from the rest of h/hld plants.

i tend to my plants, mostly. other h/hld plants are tended by the other one.

i'm good, nothing here but discomfort of poor air quality of the masking smoke haze. it was close enough but sydneysiders are mostly fine. maybe not the sydneysider's family and hometowns. its also the aftermath which has to be dealt with, when the ashes settle. let alone the environment, animals, mother earth, etc. mildly put, it's freaky - there has to be one, but this is the worst summer i remember going thru.

 

[DBaldass]

I don't know what your soil is it may well be poor soil as you say but if your watering till 20% runoff every time you might be keeping it too wet & I suspect you are, that would also explain the fungus gnats

If you're interested in a quick trick to learn to water using a wet/dry cycle properly tag me back in, either way good luck!

Was wondering about this wet/dry watering cycle you’re speaking of?? Please enlighten me.

 

[Beachwalker]

Actually I just posted about this exact thing for someone in the beach house drop by!

the beach house

^ oh I get it! Duh! I got to stay off of forums before I have coffee, just saying LOL Maybe this will help? Take a pot the same size as you're using and fill it up with the same Medium you're using and leave it dry and set it aside: Then when you think a plant needs to be watered pick them...

www.thcfarmer.com

 

[Kampbe1l]

this morning, rushing to get to work. quick glance, and 'the twins' were droopy - shit, no time to prepare its watering, so grabbed a litre bottle left outside, and quickly poured it into the pot. and of course, a bit of a puddle on the bottom of the tent - but no time to do anything else.

all good, upon coming home from work.

i'm repotting 'the twins' out of their single pot - one plant is starting to dominate the other, while they both together get thirsty quicker than the other plant (MK10) in same 3-gallon pot, with same soil mix. maybe tomorrow, after work - when i will have a closer inspection of the plants, before taking such action.

41c day HOT and mostly sunny day forecast for tomorrow!

 

[Kampbe1l]

5th week, day 32, i think, typically i'm good with numbers - update.

as forecast, 41c uncomfortable day, i melted a couple of times today. a quick water to MK10, while the 'Twins' had their drink yesterday, this morning before i went to work.

in my haste, in line with the whole concept, i got a small pair of scissors, and FIM both MK10 and one of the 'twins'. i even cut off half a leaf, unnecessarily, i didn't line it up carefully, i did FIM, snip and i was off to work.

i left the plants along the sunny window and sliding door to absorb this hot sunny day, and turned off the LED in the grow tent.

the forecast is for 30c until about 2 am. so, i was thinking of putting the plants under the LED in the grow tent closer to midnight. forecast for tomorrow is an early smoke haze, a shower or two at 28c!

as you can see, one twin is starting to dominate the other - i am going to repot them individually in the next couple of days. the MK10 (at forefront of top photo) - I bent the lower offshoot a week ago, and there are another couple of encouraging lower offshoots maybe to manipulate soon.

i was going to LST or HST, but got a little frenzy with the snippers. This photo above shows where I bent the lower offshoot, which extended a little away from the main stem.

top view of MK10, after its snip. see how these FIM develops!

need another 3-gallon pot, thus a slight delay in separating 'the twins'.

another 28 days of vegetative, before considering flipping. 5 weeks ago, these plants were patients in ICU, now they are getting past the juvenile, and getting towards vegetative growth phase. now, at phase, where keen to manipulate the plant into shape, to promote as many offshoots, to fill up the tent's canopy.

 

[Kampbe1l]

i am making this up, as i go along.

Viparspectra PAR450 is running at 60/60/30 B/W/R settings for her 1st week of operation. i was going to leave it at this setting for another week (or more), before cranking it up to 100/100/60 B/W/R settings for the remaining vegetative phase.

the lights are about 36" from the plants on present settings. planning to narrow that distance between the plants and LED to around 28" when i crank this B/W/R settings.

the plants seems to be enjoying themselves under these LED.

 

[Kampbe1l]

i bought this Garland Tray - 60 CM x 60 CM x 7 CM | Capacity 25 L

though its contradictory product description state its size as 59 CM Long x 59 CM Wide x 7 CM High which is going to be the tightest fit to the bottom of the tent.

one immediate purpose is to use it as a drip tray - and the tent's dimension is 60 cm (W) x 60 (L) (square!), so it will be a tight fit.

i anticipate in the future, it will become impractical to move the plants in and out of th

e tent for their watering or their day out. there is already a cloth bottom, on top of the tent's floor - but this tray is to act as one big saucer for my small tent. I was going to tilt the tray, such that the water drains towards the front of the tent.

i also purchased a couple of days ago, 13 mm inlet and 19 mm outlet.

and this was an impulsive purchase, where i don't yet intend to set up any hydroponic system. I do have 2 pumps, which i tested to confirm they're functional. You see where i was going with the second idea, i had in mind for this plastic tray?

 

[Kampbe1l]

just fed one of the plants today...

water left outside for at least a couple of days, measured 6.5 pH. added some nutrients and Cannazym, and this nutrient solution dropped under 5.9 pH (measured at 25c). Added some diluted pH Up solution, to get the nutrient solution to 6.3 pH and left it at that.

what i noticed is that the pH of the tap water (also left outside) several months ago (cooler October?) was just over 8.0 pH. up until more recently, i have been using diluted pH Down to adjust.

i suppose i have experienced here the fact that pH of water falls, as its temperature rises. but this doesn't mean it's more acidic, the water.

i guess i am noting that the measurements over different temperatures is not scientifically consistent readings to be able to compare? not important, i suppose to delve too deep into such science, but my mind just wandered off to this topic.

difference in pH could also do with the state of the water supply itself..?

 

[Kampbe1l]

Viparspectra VAR450 at B/W/R 80/80/50 settings...

I only changed to these setting yesterday. Previously, it was running at B/W/R 60/60/30 settings, drawing 100 W from the wall socket.

Also, these figures are with the light cycle on/off gradually adjusted to 18/6. Presently, its 18.5/5.5 on/off cycle.

roughly, the usage charge is about $0.70 (AUD) daily at 2.5 kWh rate.

 

[Lenny805]

the tap water presently is around 7.3 pH, left sitting outside for at least 24 hours lower its reading closer to 7.0 pH. a few drops of diluted pH Down solution, and water adjusted to around 6.5 pH. i am watering so that there is <20% run-off.

i use a 1-litre measuring cup with its small beak, when watering. and then throw a small paddle-pop stick on top of the soil, with the day of the week when it was watered. roughly 6/7 days between watering, depending on the plant's conditions and outdoor weather.

keeping it simple.

i haven't yet bothered doing a slurry test or run-off test - as to me, these plants seem happier, mostly because of its new soil mix. maybe i should, just for curiosity sake.

I have been growing for 35 yrs and on a commercial scale for 28 and have never checked my run off, never checked ec, never worried about run off. Growing weed is extremely easy but is complicated by all these complicated methods. Never used teas or anything organic for that matter and I grow absolute fire. I use 3/4 strength of directed nutes , don’t use calmag ever. I have a commercial account with advanced nutes and I don’t run there high end products. Sensi grow and sensi bloom, big bud, overdrive and bud candy. I flush for 15 days and my soil is original Roots Organic’s with 2 cups per gallon of soil of perlite and sometimes I run straight coco with advanced coco products. I know people will hate on what I’m saying but my livelihood depends on this and I’m doing very well. I’ve got 50 if not more friends growing organically and you can’t tell any difference in the end product and I fight zero deficiencies. You mentioned you are lazy with your timer. Well you can’t be lazy with any of it. 18/6 in veg every day , not 20/4 one day and then 19/5 and then back to 18/6. It’s 18/6 everyday , plants need to sleep and that’s not subject for debate. 12/12 flower , no light leaks or interruptions of any type ever! No green lights in your room so you can work at night on them. Do not enter your grow room when lights are off. Follow VPD chart and flush for 15 to 20 days. Don’t buy flushing products because they are bullshit. Hope this helps .

 

[Farmer P]

I have been growing for 35 yrs and on a commercial scale for 28 and have never checked my run off, never checked ec, never worried about run off. Growing weed is extremely easy but is complicated by all these complicated methods. Never used teas or anything organic for that matter and I grow absolute fire. I use 3/4 strength of directed nutes , don’t use calmag ever. I have a commercial account with advanced nutes and I don’t run there high end products. Sensi grow and sensi bloom, big bud, overdrive and bud candy. I flush for 15 days and my soil is original Roots Organic’s with 2 cups per gallon of soil of perlite and sometimes I run straight coco with advanced coco products. I know people will hate on what I’m saying but my livelihood depends on this and I’m doing very well. I’ve got 50 if not more friends growing organically and you can’t tell any difference in the end product and I fight zero deficiencies. You mentioned you are lazy with your timer. Well you can’t be lazy with any of it. 18/6 in veg every day , not 20/4 one day and then 19/5 and then back to 18/6. It’s 18/6 everyday , plants need to sleep and that’s not subject for debate. 12/12 flower , no light leaks or interruptions of any type ever! No green lights in your room so you can work at night on them. Do not enter your grow room when lights are off. Follow VPD chart and flush for 15 to 20 days. Don’t buy flushing products because they are bullshit. Hope this helps .

I also do think it's good to be consistent, but plants absolutely do not sleep! They lack a central nervous system and therefore cannot sleep. I'm not saying they don't use light cycles for various purposes, some not fully understood. I have run 24 hrs light through entire veg cycles many times with no ill effects that I can see. There are plants that grow in areas that have 24 hour light 6 months per year. Think ruderalis.

 

[Northwood]

I'mma keep my opinions to myself other than good job. Some folks I know would have given up and started over. I've been on forums 20+ years now and I still find I learn the most from trying something and totally messing up firsthand.

I'll make no claims to better or worse but I've settled on an 18/6 cycle for anything with roots and not flowering. My plants just seem happier.

 

[Kampbe1l]

didn't want to cut the lights from 24/0 on/off under the fluorescent, then immediately change it to 18/6 on/off under the new LED grow lights. probably, made no difference - other than electricity bill - to have, instead, switched immediately to 18/6 cycle.

now, it matters not, the lights are running off TP-LINK smartplug HS-110 which also measures the electricity consumption and be that timer. a restriction of this smartplug, if it is such, is that it can only have 30 on/off times - but its only running the LED. now, on 18/6 cycle until when it gets flipped to 12/12.

the next stage will be further cranking up the B/W/R settings to its 100/100/60 settings on the Viparspectra PAR450 for the final vegetative phase, then onto the final flowering phase where its settings are to be boosted to its max 100/100/100 B/W/R, when the lights go 12/12 cycle.

ps i don't like taking pickies with these LED on, and i don't like taking pickies when the tent is dark. so, i ain't got many pickies the last week. next time, i rearrange the tent, i will take pickies for update, soon.

 

[ThatCrazyStonerChick]

PRE-NOTE: Take 2 on writing this thread...so, paraphrasing what I might have written before. I am suspecting the downtime last night wiped my new thread, which I swear I wrote in this 'Grow Diaries' section.

Maybe I am going crazy? I imagined writing my thread and its responses. I definitely uploaded a 'before' and 'after' photos. it's not a double post, is it? I think i was talking about my own credibility.

------------------

Yup, it's been a struggle this year. This struggle all stemmed from my visit to the store several months ago, when they didn't have the regular potting mix I had used in past grows. I made a wrong decision on-the-spot in the choice of 'premium' potting mix.

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Kicking myself for making this silly mistake, getting the fundamentals wrong doesn't help. I read the bag's label closely, before purchasing! Made sure no slow-release fertiliser time-bomb, right balance of NPK,etc.

Other reason for kicking myself was not correcting this silly mistake quicker. I let it go for about a month, when I knew immediately what the issue was, unsuitable potting mix causing poor root development.

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On the flip side, i learned some lessons. I found a better soil/potting mix, which i may use in future grows. i learned to tackle the issue immediately, and properly.

hey, those who never stuff up, never have the joy of figuring it out, finally. maybe, its more a relief.

i could have germinated seeds, sown it, and it would have been more developed (in the new potting mix), than rescuing these babies. But happy that i got these babies back from the dead, and i didn't burn any more seeds.

Onto the next challenge....

This is why I'm writing this grow diary here, to show others the stuffups and its fixes (or not) - rather than tellling ya all how big & beautiful my dick is.

I just started a you tube channel to start doing exactly that.

 

[Kampbe1l]

Day 41 progress update.

MK10 is still the strongest. She has yet to fully respond to the FIM, still seeing how it might turn out.

i have some concern about this MK10, but I am going to have a closer look at her lower leaves, before reporting back here. Some of these lower leaves are yellowing - you can only see one pictured. But before I start speculating, I need to have a closer inspection than when I was hungover.

I separated 'the twins' about 2 weeks ago. Their roots were heavily intertwined, and these plants went into deep shock with all her leaves drooping. I thought I killed these plants for the first 4 days. Now, the plants have got over their shocks and starting to respond well again.

I am getting good at this - nearly killing them, and then reviving them. It's not something I want to be good at.

Pictured above the MK10, is the repotted/transplanted MK9.

I've renamed 'the twins' - MK9 and BBK9. I applied twice LST, where I have bent MK9's main stem, and also FIM her top just yesterday.

I haven't yet 'manipulate' the shape of BBK9, so she is growing straight up.