My Grow Diary. First timer. Here goes.

[BoboGrower0813]

I related most of my background in my intro, this is a timeline of my first growing attempt in my 8 x 8 greenhouse on Long Island New York. I am growing in soil organically.

September 13. Presoaked two seeds for three days until saw white tips.

September 16. Planted in 3 inch plastic cups set into 11 inch pots.

September 18. Seeds popped and kept under eight 4’ Philips 32 W F32T8/TL965 deluxe daylight, and F32T8/TL930 deluxe soft white fluorescent grow lights for 24 hours. Probably overkill, but the plants survived my ignorance.
The lettuce and arugula in my greenhouse went wild though.

October 11. Transplanted from 3 inch cups into 11 inch pots. I start in small cup to control water to avoid damping off, etc.
Gave them a drink of Neptunes harvest fish and seaweed (NHFS) to settle them in like I do with my tomatoes, but evidently too strong and some leaves burnt and curled. Condition subsided after several days.
lights at 18/6
Plants 9” and 11” tall.

November 1. Fed with NHFS (one TSP/21 Oz filtered water) and Actinovate.
plants 22 inches and 24 inches tall.

November 14. Fed with NHFS.
Plants both 30 inches tall.

November 16. Added six 4’ Monios LT8LED full spectrum 42 W bulbs, three vertically on each side.

November 21. Fed with compost tea aerated and brewed for 36 hours. For my brew I use my own compost, worm castings, humeric, alfalfa, kelp, and potassium.

November 26. At this point they had spent two weeks as seedlings and eight weeks in veg vegetative growth. They were 36 inches and 40 inches tall and anticipating early flowering growth surge and calculating maximum I can move my lighting up to keep proper spacing, I decided it was time and flipped the lights to 12/12.

November 28. Fed with flowering tea. Aerated and brewed for 36 hours, made from my own compost, worm castings, humeric, molasses, potassium, Azomite, Cal/Phos, and bonemeal.
I also started removing fan leaves, a few every day. I learned about that a little late in the game.

December 2. Fed with Epson salts drink.

December 5. Sex pronounced. Both showing tiny female stigmas in the pistils. I was elated. They were both random seeds given to me by a friend. No idea of variety or strain either.

December 9. Fed with NHFS and Actinovate.
Plants 42 inches and 49 inches tall. pH 6.8 and 6.6.

December 13. Fed with flowering compost drink.
Plants 42 and 52 inches tall.
Done with their stretch. Now it’s time to make buds.

December 19. Disaster. One of my fans crapped out in the middle of the night and shorted out the power strip running the electric heater. And on the coldest night of the year so far. 23° outside. I am a night owl, and at 2:45am when I checked the greenhouse temp with my Govee digital wireless monitor, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was 32° inside the greenhouse.
Long story short, lots of panicky running back and forth, setting up my portable propane heater to raise temps back to normal quickly, and got it back to about 73° within three hours.

December 20. Disaster averted. I was concerned the stress might trigger hermaphrodite, but I think I dodged that bullet.
Gave the plants an Epson salt drink.

December 26. Fed with NHFS.

December 28. Installed 2 foot AgroMax T5 UV fluorescent 24 W. Couldn’t put it overhead, so I hung it about 4 1/2 feet away from the plants, and tilted the fixture at about a 45° angle to hit the plants from above and the front side. I have lined the interior walls of the back half of the greenhouse so will hopefully get some reflected light as well.
Having read of the possible disastrous effects of overdoing UV light, I decided to start slow and gave them a 15 minute burst from 4 1/2 feet out. Will gradually up that each day until I notice any adverse effects. Could definitely use some advice as I am in unknown territory here.

December 29. Gave the girls two 15 minute doses of UV light.

And there we stand.
If I am calculating right, I am now in my fifth week of flowering, having flipped to 12/12 on November 26.

I have tons of questions, and maybe this will serve as a basis or a springboard to launch into them.

First and foremost I need to understand how to best utilize the UV lighting, and I am wondering why the indica has very few white hairs on the buds, and still smells vegetative, while these sativa is hairy, frosty, and getting stinky. I can send additional pictures if this helps in analysis.

The presumed Indica

The presumed sativa.

If anybody reads this and responds, I will be one very grateful old boomer.

PS. Was at Woodstock with my wife, If that tells you anything.

 

[ochemdonkey]

Looks like you're having fun man. What type of nutrients does your soil contain?

 

[Dye]

Bringing a lot of attention to that yard, a lot of pot stealing satan worshippers around stealing weed.
but it’s a beautiful set up! a lot geoengineering being done on longIsland sun is not out much!
hard to finish outside now under natural sun believe it or not. enough to veg even when cloudy which is most of the time.
Long Island is becoming like Seattle always windy and wet.
I had a tornado rip thru my yard a month ago wipe out my yard.
my grow secured and locked up behind doors.
I grow a couple of plants in 5 gallon buckets outside every summer
only two easy to move! Two extra plants outside in 5 gallon buckets scores me a lot of extra smoke.
plus my around the clock indoor! Good luck wind is always coming!

 

[BoboGrower0813]

Bringing a lot of attention to that yard, a lot of pot stealing satan worshippers around stealing weed.
but it’s a beautiful set up! a lot geoengineering being done on longIsland sun is not out much!
hard to finish outside now under natural sun believe it or not. enough to veg even when cloudy which is most of the time.
Long Island is becoming like Seattle always windy and wet.
I had a tornado rip thru my yard a month ago wipe out my yard.
my grow secured and locked up behind doors.
I grow a couple of plants in 5 gallon buckets outside every summer
only two easy to move! Two extra plants outside in 5 gallon buckets scores me a lot of extra smoke.
plus my around the clock indoor! Good luck wind is always coming!

Of the many challenges in life we are facing these days, figuring out how to grow some good pot, even on Long Island, is among the more palatable.
And hopefully rewarding.

 

[brotherfrombelgium]

Hell yeah loved the first pic of your green bouse I'm like wicked...i love green house's.

Looks good amigo following with interest.

 

[BoboGrower0813]

Looks like you're having fun man. What type of nutrients does your soil contain?

Looks like you're having fun man. What type of nutrients does your soil contain?

I build my own compost from horse manure from my sister-in-law‘s horse, unsprayed/adulterated leaves from our own property, kitchen scraps, and plant material from our garden.

I built a two chamber compost bin from skids/pallets and don’t do all the churning and turning that you read about as necessary. I let the red wigglers do the hard work. I build in layers of manure then leaves, grass clippings, or whatever, and just keep on layering as raw materials arise, but the key is to build in layers with the proper ratios of green to brown materials.

Every few layers I sprinkle in Kelp meal, aragonite, crab flower, azomite , potassium pellets, wood ashes, and basalt to add all the minerals and micro nutrients to super charge it, and super charged it is. My garden vegetables blow people away, and my compost is the secret.

This compost I add to my outdoor garden beds. For pots and planters, I mix 3 gallons at a time in a 5 gallon bucket of 2/3 Vermont compost Fort Vee organic potting soil and 1/3 my compost, with a cup of worm castings and some vermiculite thrown in.

Works for me.

 

[BoboGrower0813]

Hell yeah loved the first pic of your green bouse I'm like wicked...i love green house's.

Looks good amigo following with interest.

My wife and I built it last year after the government sent us that stimulus money and asked us to spend it to stimulate the economy, so we bought the greenhouse from a company in Idaho.

It was like a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle, and took us about three days to complete, with our son helping on the final day, finishing it just before a big snowstorm last December. We love it. Here are a few more pictures to wet your whistle.

 

[Muttley]

I just emerged from my dwelling under a rock to offer up some praise for that nicely assembled greenhouse last year, and for that feat of producing superb buddage even in the dead of a New York winter, thanks to the miracle of supplemental lighting.

Truth be told I get green with envy at the sight of a legal grow right in the comfort and convenience of one's own garden. I live right on the Equator where my garden would be overflowing with monstrous Sativa trees, but for the minor inconvenience of 20 years pokey time that gets imposed for cultivation in my neck of the woods. So, a guerrilla grower I'll remain until the cows come home.

 

[Budzyz]

Quite the setup. Personally I would abandon UV light altogether. The science of actual studies DOES NOT show any positive benefits from supplement of UV. Also don't worry about the Indicas not having a lot of peach fuzz on them yet.... they'll get there. Here's a suggestion however, don't presume. Buy quality seed from ILGM or another quality supplier. Then you'll know . If you like frosty and potent try gold leaf from ILGM this one has two weeks to go

 

[Budzyz]

You have a great advantage though.... you can grow huge plants in that greenhouse. Five perfectly timed plants and you would not need any more for the rest of the year....