Newb Outdoor Grow / 4 Clones / Smart Pots / On a "Budget"

[ncalgrower]

Hi Everyone!

I'm very excited to be posting my first grow journal ever. I had a failed indoor grow over 25 years ago. Life took its course and I watched several friend's grows over the years and have always wanted to get back to it! Now is the time. I'm trying to keep costs reasonable, but also wanting to get the right tools so when I'm successful I can continue growing every year!

I have 4 clones:
Royal Bud Line - Tangie
Henry’s Original - Lemon Jack
Purple City Genetics - Capstone
Purple City Genetics - Lemonade

I'm researching analyst by nature and I'm afraid I'm going to drive myself crazy with all the conflicting information across multiple boards. BUT, I'm going to try to adhere to KISS method and care for my plants with the same love I give everything else in my garden.

I'm mixing my dirt today - I went with some economical choices, but will be measuring soil and water to keep them in range.

I have a few concerns as I get started:
Light schedule: I just realized all my clones were grown under 24/hour light and I'm concerned about transitioning them outside to our current 16.5 hour light schedule.
Transplanting - plants will go into 10 gallon smart pots to finish, but so much conflicting information about root growth and going straight into final pot or up-pot 1>3>5>10
Scrog/Topping/Training - I live in a residential area so I have to train these a little so they don't creep over the fence.

I'm grateful for all the advice and wealth of knowledge others have provided here. Thanks to all and I look forward to sharing my journey with you!

 

[ncalgrower]

For my soil, I'll be mixing the following:
Kellogg Organic Raised Bed and Potting Mix
Supersoil Organic Premium Potting Soil
Perlite

I also have Bat Guano, but haven't decided if I'm going to mix in with the soil or make a tea with it.

 

[ncalgrower]

I put my girls into 1 gallon pots to fill out their root system before I transplant into 10 gallon fabric pots. I'm a little frustrated because in the process I found out my city water supply has a ph of 9! I've never paid attention to water ph before but now I understand why all the plants in my yard really struggle! The high ph is preventing them from absorbing all the nutrients they need. Unfortunately, this means I'm going to have to solve for water ph in addition to maintaining good ph in the soil.

 

[ncalgrower]

The ladies are coming along nicely but I'm still wrestling with Ph levels in soil. City water sucks and have to let sit and add citric acid to lower ph from 9.0 to 5.0. Soil Ph is still off in the 7-8.0 range (give or take due to cheap Ph meter). I added some Organic Blackstrap molasses and it dropped the soil Ph about .5. I'm going to have to get serious about my smart pots and get that soil dialed in before transplant.

 

[ncalgrower]

It's almost been a year. Now that I'm under a shelter in place order, I guess I can finish up this grow journal!

June 2019
Keeping the plants under 18/6 light to get some more veg time in before transplanting outdoors. I'm traveling quite a bit, so this is going to get interesting. Thankfully I have someone who can check on them at least once a week. Hoping they'll bulk up a bit more before I start sun training.

Using some cheap LED grow lights from Amazon. There is literally too much information on LED grow lights, most of it seems like BS, but I'm trying to learn as much as I can. I love learning about new things, but it seems like much of it is happening through trial and error.

I have a seedling mat to keep plants at a constant 74 degrees.

If these plants make it to harvest I will be pleasantly surprised regardless of quantity or quality!

 

[ncalgrower]

mid June 2019
Just got this cool reissue of a 70's classic, Plantasia! Spinning for my girls to help them grow and stretch. Some new Willie Nelson too :)

 

[ncalgrower]

July 2019
Time to get the girls out into the sun. I'm doing just an hour or two each day all week. They seem to be loving it. Those Amazon LED lights suck. My brain still hurts from all the reading I've done on grow lights. Will get it dialed before next season.

 

[ncalgrower]

July 2019
While the girls are sunbathing, I'm getting the smart pots dialed in. Scored some used, but cheap ones from a grower headed back to the hills. Wish I had a garage, he offered me his whole indoor setup for a song! Using 5 gallon fabric pots as I'm not sure how big these plants will get and need to keep a low profile with the neighbors. Can't wait to see what they smell like LOL!

 

[ncalgrower]

July 15th, 2019
The girls are loving their natural sun time. Over the last 2 weeks, I've been leaving them out for longer and longer. I had to setup some wire mesh because of the damn squirrels. Mixing dirt and will put into the fabric pots next!

 

[ncalgrower]

July 23rd, 2019
The girls are planted in their final containers! Here we go! Very excited to get to this stage. I have no idea how much bigger they will get. Can't wait to see them start flowering. I hope they don't get too big or smelly - I hate that I even have to think that way!

 

[ncalgrower]

July 28th, 2019
I've been reading about low stress training. I'm going to go with a lite version as I started very late in the season and don't really know what I'm doing! Fingers crossed. I probably should just leave them alone but I'd like to see what happens. Famous last words lol. I'm just using a rubber band with some clips and string to pull the plants down sideways a bit. Hoping those lower branches will flower nicely too.

 

[ncalgrower]

I took some cutting from each plant to see if I could clone a few plants. Maybe I can setup a small tent in my shed or something and see what happens. I really just want to see how "easy" it is to clone a plant. I've done it with a lot of other plants in my garden, shouldn't be too big of a deal.

 

[ncalgrower]

August 17th, 2019
Plants are growing, but they seem to be growing slowly. They seem to have doubled in size in about 3 weeks or so. I don't even know if that good. I'm telling myself "yes" because they're still trying to adapt to their new larger containers. God I wish I would have started earlier! I comfort myself with the fact this is my first grow since I was a teenager and I still have 4 plants alive and 6 clones in the closet! Nothing better than being outside, smoking a fatty, watering the girls and watching them grow!

Oh, I can totally see how LST can bring great results. I started way too late on this too, but those lower branches are starting to stretch upward. :)

 

[ncalgrower]

August 23rd, 2019
Plants are filling out and little budlets are starting to form! Wow! I never thought I would make it this far. Just need to hang in there a little longer. Watering in fabric pots has been interesting.They dry out pretty quickly, but they plants don't seem to mind. I'm also having a light issue. A summer has progressed the trajectory of the sun isn't great for where the plants started. I had to move them onto the sidewalk and I need to elevate them because it gets pretty hot. The aroma is starting to kick in. I wonder what it will be like when those buds get bigger.

 

[ncalgrower]

September 6th, 2019
Buds are coming along nicely. Definitely behind the curve, but still very happy the girls got this far. With a little more luck, I'll be smoking my own homegrown in a couple months! I love seeing all the little white hairs and trichomes form all over. Frosty ladies coming right up! One plant in particular concerns me. The Lemonade clone has never kept up with the other plants. She's always been shorter, tighter and seems to struggle with everything. It's almost like one big dense bud all smashed together. I'm going with "genetics" as the answer and will see what happens.

 

[ncalgrower]

September 6, 2019
Oh shit! Took the microscope out to examine pistils and trichomes and found worms! Ugh, now I'm neck deep in websites about worms in my plants. This is a real bummer. I should have expected this, been prepared...

 

[ncalgrower]

September 7-9, 2019
My buddy who works in hydroponics got me some samples to deal with my worms. I got up super early in the morning and went through every single bud looking for worms. Thankfully they were just getting started. One plant had none, two had 3-4 worms and one had 7-8. It was interesting the Lemonade clone was the one they really liked. I guess those super compact bud/leaf genetics allowed them to feel cozy. Thankfully I only had to cut off a couple buds, everything was untouched. I used both an on contact spray and a soil drench. Not sure how this will affect my growth in the flower stage. Thankfully its early enough the plants still have some time to work things out.

 

[ncalgrower]

October 5, 2019
I had to travel a lot the past month. Thankfully it's worked out to come home every week or so and water. Had a little help too. I really need to get that rainwater collection > drip irrigation system setup for next year! Put that bad boy on a timer and let my girls go! I setup some Wyze cams around the yard for both security, but also to watch my girls. It's very cool to login from overseas or across the country and see how my plants are doing! I got a macro lens and have been having fun taking bud shots. More to learn!

 

[ncalgrower]

October 18th, 2019
It's getting cold outside. Leaves are darkening and trichomes are turning orange. I'm not sure if I should wait on these a little longer. I had hoped they would get bigger, but I started too late in the season, should have followed a different up potting strategy and more! Still an amazing process. I have buds! I love these plants and they are loving me back! I have more work travel coming up, probably need to harvest and let them dry while I'm gone. Decisions, decisions!

 

[ncalgrower]

October 19th, 2019
Restless night last night. I was worrying about my plants and whether to leave them a little longer or not. Decided I'd rather not worry about them while I'm gone, so today is the day. They haven't been watered in a few days, so I'll let them soak up one more day of sun and harvest this evening.

Ok, here we go! Harvest Time :))