Schwer's First Grow Evah! Planning, Prep and Grow

[Schwer]

This morning I up-potted everyone into their 1 gallon homes with the exception of little Peggy, but I'll probably up-pot her tomorrow too since you guys made me feel bad.

I know some people read these threads looking for the little details, so I'll give a quick rundown of the process I used for the benefit of future Googlers.

After putting some soil (CoM Stoneingtons) in the bottom of the pot for height I placed a spare solo cup in the middle and filled around it. I replaced that solo cup with one of my plants (still in its cup) and gave the whole works a watering. Then I removed the plant from the cup and put it into its new home with a perfect fit and without a lot of loose soil to deal with. I can't recall where I read about that technique but it seemed simple enough. Oh, I also dusted the roots and hole with some myco during transplant.

I had to drop my light a couple of feet since I got rid of the table. They're on their lowest setting and the plants are getting PPFD levels of ~200 µmol/m²/s which is right where I've been keeping them since propagation. I'll give them a few days to get comfortable in their new homes and then I'll gradually increase to around 450-550 PPFD.

I moved my fans around a little as well to account for the new pot arrangement and for the broken oscillating movement on one of my little tent fans. The bottom fan near the intake is the broken one so its just blowing right across the front of the tent. The one above the lights is till oscillating and kind of blowing above my plants. They're getting some very gentle movement which I believe is what I'm looking for at the moment.

I guess that's about it for now. I'll keep my eyes on them and see how they adjust.


Roots on the biggest plant just before up-potting...

Wonky Wilma is still on the back left, but this time around I dropped Lois (back right). She doesn't seem too bad though.

I really like these optional cross bars on the gorilla tent. They're coming in handy for securing the fans just where I want them.

 

[Schwer]

Hey gang, I hope everyone's lives and grows are going smoothly. I found out today the main sewer line to my house somehow disconnected at both the home side and the county side, wtf. Did we have a recent earthquake I slept through? I'm betting this is going to cost a fortune to fix because the county connection is buried 12 feet under my driveway. Oof. I hope home-owners covers this.

But hey, not everything is going to literal shit. These guys are nearly 3 weeks since popping and seem to be doing okay. I've increased light intensity from ~200 to ~260 over the past 3 days as I work my way up to ~450. Too slow or too fast? I have no idea. I am seeing some purpling on the stems but I've read that doesn't necessarily mean anything either at this point. So yeah, other than taking notes about what's going on I'm actively sitting on my hands and trying not to overwater or otherwise screw things up.

That said, it does seem like it will be time to start thinking about topping and LST pretty soon. Any suggestions on which node to top at given that it seems like I'm going to try keeping all six of the girls for this run in the 3 gal pots? I was planning to top above the 5th and LST a day or two after that but I'm open to better ideas. If it makes a difference these all indica dominate hybrids (Blackberry Kush and GDP).

Hope everyone has a great week!

 

[bejd2010]

Thanks guys!



Yeah, about that Blackberry. I was looking at seeds last night and it seem like Blackberry Kush autos are the only seeds available. Are they only autos? I have no idea. I have my heart set on doing a photo run for my first time out so the Blackberry might have to wait for another run. My current sub of choice is Skywalker OG assuming I'm not going to run into the same issuw. I've always wanted to try it but could never get my hands on it, plus as an indica dominate hybrid I thought it would still be cool to pair it with the sativa-dominate Strawberry Cough I'm looking to grow.



I may have been overcaffeinated and slightly manic when I wrote my original post. Sometimes I joke around too much and my actual intensions get lost in the shitty jokes.

I don't really want to spend a lot of money and I never set out to do so. In most realms of my life I'm pretty thrifty and a dedicated saver. That said, when it comes to impassioned hobbies I don't mind spending more up front to get quality equipment because it usually means I spend less in the long run. Now while that almost makes me sound like a responsible human being I also have a wicked case of gear acquisition syndrome and over time I end up buying shit I want moreso than what I need. No regrets though, as I never spend beyond my means and in this particular case its also for the greatest of causes.

Now that the disclaimer is out of the way... about those smart systems...

As for growing different strains, the advice you shared is what I've generally heard as well. However, I was planning to use the SCROG method and my understanding is that SCROG-ing largely mitigates the potential height/light issues, with the biggest added challenge introduced to the grow then being the potential difference in nutritional preferences between strains (assuming similar grow cycles). But hey, this is only where I've settled for the moment based on my very limited knowledge on this subject and "you don't know what you don't know." I'll keep seeking advice on this before I jump into it so this is still subject to change.

Thanks for a reminder about the humidifier and dehumidifier as well as the pot info. From what I've read so far my tentative pot plan was to begin with solo cups or something similar, transfer to 1 gal, and then transfer to 5 gal to finish. I'm pretty sure four plants in 5 gal is going to be more than enough to fill out my 4x4 space, especially using SCROG. Might even be too much already.

In other news...

I've been doing a lot of research on a soil mix that isn't overly complicated for a beginner like myself. I think I've made some progress on that front and will post my plans on that in detail a little later.

Peace!

My advice would be to make sure you PH your water.
If your water is right your soil will be right Do not over water &
Leave a dry soil filled pot outside your tent , compare the weight of it to your pots in tent before you water.
Tent temp 72-77 F with 40-50% humidity
Will work really well .
Sit back and enjoy the show.
The guy I learned the most from is on YouTube , Mr Canuk’s grow .
He’s very informative and humorous.
Good Luck !

 

[lvstealth]

You're in soil, might want to check to see if its buffered, most are, and with what before you start adjusting pH.

If it is buffered, it will make the pH be between 6.3 and 6.8 no matter what you do,. And all the things you do might not get along with the things in the soil that already do that job.

They are looking pretty, sit back and enjoy the greenery!

 

[Schwer]

Thanks guys

Ivstealth is certainly spot on with those numbers. I'm using the Coast of Maine Stoneington mix and it is indeed buffered to be between 6.3 and 6.8 pH. I've been watering with some RO water I that I make every couple of days in a 5 gal bucket. I use that water for my humidifier as well.

And bejd2010, I have to agree with you about Mr. Canuk's Grow. His vids are entertaining, relaxing, and informative. Good stuff.

 

[FourPlants]

Sucks about the sewer line brother. Happy you are getting to enjoy your grow to resolve some of that stress.

 

[Schwer]

Sucks about the sewer line brother. Happy you are getting to enjoy your grow to resolve some of that stress.

Thanks man. You have to keep it all in perspective right? There are multiple wars going on in the world and I have a busted sewer line. Sure I have to shit at the local grocery store, but I have a grocery store and a sewer system to shit in. Zero complaints on my end. Weed kinda helps too, not gonna lie, lol.

 

[Schwer]

Hey gang, hope all is well!

Yesterday I gave my girls a good watering in the morning, made some adjustments to the tent to get better placement for my temp and humidity sensors, and then ended up topping two of my BBK's.

Watering
I'm sure I'll get a better feel for the watering situation over time (I have been reading all of the wonderful FAQ's and they have been great) but this is definitely one area where I have little confidence in my judgement. I wasn't planning on watering until this morning, 7/14, with my last watering being on 7/11, but yesterday morning my BBK's in particular were looking droopy so I checked the soil deep on the sides inside the pot and it felt dry... like out of the bag dry, not dry dry. I even went so far as to employ bejd2010's and other's recommendation of keeping a filled pot of dry soil on hand to get a better feel for the wet vs dry weight, and the pots felt virtually identical. So okay, I felt pretty good about giving them a good watering and they did indeed perk up within a couple of hours.

But then last night all of the BBK's were looking a little droopy again, the ones I topped and the one I did not. I think they're looking much better this morning but the experience did have me second guessing my watering practices. What's more, I did another weight comparison on the dry soil pot and the watered soil pot and they still feels the same, so maybe I'm just bad really at that particular judgement. No big concerns or questions here though. I'm just sharing what's on my mind so other new growers know its not just them.

Here are the girls looking pretty okay as of this morning. Some drooping, some reaching... I dunno.

Sensors
My temp and humidity sensors were right up against the back side of my tent so I decided to position them closer to the plants to better reflect what they are experiencing. I routed the senor cables through the rear center of the tent and used a spare Gorilla crossbar to position them. Good stuff.

Topping
As mentioned I decided to go ahead and top two of the tallest BBK's. In this particular case I topped just above the 4th node on both. The other BBK will follow very shortly and I'm not sure about the shorter GDP's. Should I wait on those? Top at a higher node? I'm just thinking about it in terms of more easily managing the canopy across 6 plants down the road if they happen to vary a lot in size. No worries if no one has an answer though, I bet I can figure it out through research, trial and error or buckets of man tears.

Have a great grow/day!

 

[Schwer]

And as a bonus for the day, here's a video of this little air circulating fan that just arrived. I like it!

It has a little remote control to mess around with so I can increase speed or change the oscillation without having to get into that back corner of the tent. For the light conscious among us it does have a digital readout just above the controls on the base. I think this is meant to be a night time sleep fan so the readout is pretty dim. Still, I slapped a piece of duct tape over it just in case.

Nothing exciting here, just a bit of fun. But I do see some loose soil down there I need to go clean up.

 

[FourPlants]

And as a bonus for the day, here's a video of this little air circulating fan that just arrived. I like it!

It has a little remote control to mess around with so I can increase speed or change the oscillation without having to get into that back corner of the tent. For the light conscious among us it does have a digital readout just above the controls on the base. I think this is meant to be a night time sleep fan so the readout is pretty dim. Still, I slapped a piece of duct tape over it just in case.

Nothing exciting here, just a bit of fun. But I do see some loose soil down there I need to go clean up.

View attachment 1145891

Looks like a neat little fan. Inexpensive? I know I will need to be increasing my air flow as the plants start putting on a little size. All I have now is my T6 exhaust and a little fixed clip on fan I don't even point at the plants since it doesn't oscillate.

 

[Schwer]

Looks like a neat little fan. Inexpensive?

It was $70 on Amazon which I would consider pretty expensive for what it is, but when I bought it I had just been burned by a $25 fan where the oscillating mechanism broke on day two (the other one I purchased is still working). Here are the links to both because $25 is hard to beat. I might be getting another even though one of them is partially busted.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08S3G1D76/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T3BVIBW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Schwer]

This morning it looks like my plants have a bit of tacoing going on, mostly on the upper leaves. Based on pictures from yesterday it looks like it may have already started, but the difference between today and yesterday was enough for me to notice.

Day temps have been around 73F with the nighttime/lights-off temps closer to 69F. Humidity has been hovering in the high 60's and low 70's with a few spikes into the low 80's depending on weather. My dehumidifier will arrive next week and give me a little more control.

The light (ROI-E680), which I suspect to be the culprit here, is currently set to 630W and that's giving me between 350 and 400 PPFD at canopy height, but its also only 13 inches from the tallest plant. Too close?

The other suspect I have in mind is the new fan, or at least the combination of all 3 fans beating the leaves into gentle submission. This seems less likely because the tacoing is consistent across the tent and the only plant I would consider close to getting excessive movement is the one closest to the new fan.

I think I'll go ahead and set that new circulation fan to its lowest setting just in case. I might also adjust lights today but before I do that I want to do a bit more research or wait for responses from the Farm's knowledge base... whichever comes first

 

[FourPlants]

Got to love the crazy swings in Virginia. What is the humidity in your lung room? You're plants aren't huge or anything compared to mine and your humidity is higher than mine. Makes me worried because I am 5 mins from beach and have a creek running through my backyard lol

I am planning on picking up a 70L dehumidifier and already added a 14k BTU Window AC to my garage.

 

[AmokNewb]

This morning it looks like my plants have a bit of tacoing going on, mostly on the upper leaves. Based on pictures from yesterday it looks like it may have already started, but the difference between today and yesterday was enough for me to notice.

I feel in my grow a little canoeing was where they seemed to like to be at. I think they look good where it is at, but I would probably still raise the light a bit, not much though, if possible since they are probably gaining some height everyday as well. Disclaimer: I am a first time grower just starting flower, so that being said use your instincts and other more experienced people might have better ideas.

 

[Schwer]

Got to love the crazy swings in Virginia. What is the humidity in your lung room? You're plants aren't huge or anything compared to mine and your humidity is higher than mine. Makes me worried because I am 5 mins from beach and have a creek running through my backyard lol

I am planning on picking up a 70L dehumidifier and already added a 14k BTU Window AC to my garage.

Yeah man, VA doesn't know what it wants to be. I think its established on some very loose tectonic plates and likes to move all around the country. Neighbors to Florida today, neighbors to Maine tomorrow.

My lung room RH has been around 70%. I haven't seen it drop much below 70 but I have seen it jump to 80 once or twice with the weather. Right now with my lung room at 70 the RH in the tent is actually 60 which is on the very low side of what I've been seeing. That might be because I bumped my T6 speed a few days ago, or because local RH is down to 64%, or both. Either way, the humidifier hasn't seen any action in days and I could probably go ahead and store it for the next grow.

Which dehumidifier did you go with? I ended up getting a 50 pint Whirlpool with a pump so I don't have to keep dumping the water. I'm pretty sure that will be enough for the room but we shall see.

I feel in my grow a little canoeing was where they seemed to like to be at. I think they look good where it is at, but I would probably still raise the light a bit, not much though, if possible since they are probably gaining some height everyday as well. Disclaimer: I am a first time grower just starting flower, so that being said use your instincts and other more experienced people might have better ideas.

Thanks for the feedback, man. I've been considering that possibility as well. I've mostly been relying on temps and and PPFD measurement's at the canopy using an Apogee PAR meter to keep my plants and lighting in the zone. That along with the general guidelines I posted in the pic below.

I've seen Grower's Choice recommend a minimum distance of 7" for the ROI-E680 but I don't think I'd ever want to be that close. I'm getting close to the point where I was going to raise the light anyway but I'd hate to do so in response to a problem I don't actually have, heh.

And I feel you, I hesitate to offer advice around here yet even when I think I *might* be able to help. I don't know what I don't know and don't want to be responsible for any disasters except my own.

 

[FourPlants]

Yeah man, VA doesn't know what it wants to be. I think its established on some very loose tectonic plates and likes to move all around the country. Neighbors to Florida today, neighbors to Maine tomorrow.

My lung room RH has been around 70%. I haven't seen it drop much below 70 but I have seen it jump to 80 once or twice with the weather. Right now with my lung room at 70 the RH in the tent is actually 60 which is on the very low side of what I've been seeing. That might be because I bumped my T6 speed a few days ago, or because local RH is down to 64%, or both. Either way, the humidifier hasn't seen any action in days and I could probably go ahead and store it for the next grow.

Which dehumidifier did you go with? I ended up getting a 50 pint Whirlpool with a pump so I don't have to keep dumping the water. I'm pretty sure that will be enough for the room but we shall see.

Haven't pulled the trigger on any yet. I looked briefly at the Toshiba 70L. I need to do my research and make sure it will fit my needs.

Local Humidity been 70-80%+ overnight/early morning lately. I record my conditions twice a day and my lung room has been between 57% and 65% for all of July. I'm sure it would be higher if it weren't for the AC working.

 

[AmokNewb]

Thanks for the feedback, man. I've been considering that possibility as well. I've mostly been relying on temps and and PPFD measurement's at the canopy using an Apogee PAR meter to keep my plants and lighting in the zone. That along with the general guidelines I posted in the pic below.

I've seen Grower's Choice recommend a minimum distance of 7" for the ROI-E680 but I don't think I'd ever want to be that close. I'm getting close to the point where I was going to raise the light anyway but I'd hate to do so in response to a problem I don't actually have, heh.

And I feel you, I hesitate to offer advice around here yet even when I think I *might* be able to help. I don't know what I don't know and don't want to be responsible for any disasters except my own.

View attachment 1146217

I use that same chart as a guideline as well but found that one of my plants is way to sensitive for that chart. Also I am under an SF-4000 in a 2.3x2.3 But it does come in handy!

 

[bejd2010]

This morning it looks like my plants have a bit of tacoing going on, mostly on the upper leaves. Based on pictures from yesterday it looks like it may have already started, but the difference between today and yesterday was enough for me to notice.

View attachment 1146186


Day temps have been around 73F with the nighttime/lights-off temps closer to 69F. Humidity has been hovering in the high 60's and low 70's with a few spikes into the low 80's depending on weather. My dehumidifier will arrive next week and give me a little more control.

The light (ROI-E680), which I suspect to be the culprit here, is currently set to 630W and that's giving me between 350 and 400 PPFD at canopy height, but its also only 13 inches from the tallest plant. Too close?

The other suspect I have in mind is the new fan, or at least the combination of all 3 fans beating the leaves into gentle submission. This seems less likely because the tacoing is consistent across the tent and the only plant I would consider close to getting excessive movement is the one closest to the new fan.

I think I'll go ahead and set that new circulation fan to its lowest setting just in case. I might also adjust lights today but before I do that I want to do a bit more research or wait for responses from the Farm's knowledge base... whichever comes first

Try 20” on your light.
Looks like you have everything else dialed in .
The dehumidifier will spike your temps to the high end , make sure your ax has enough BTU’s to off set a significant jump in room temperature.
Good Luck !!

 

[FourPlants]

Try 20” on your light.
Looks like you have everything else dialed in .
The dehumidifier will spike your temps to the high end , make sure your ax has enough BTU’s to off set a significant jump in room temperature.
Good Luck !!

Why would a dehumidifier spike his temp a ton? If anything wouldn't it help the AC run more efficiently? How much heat does the actual unit put out? I have never run one, although will be soon.

 

[bejd2010]

Why would a dehumidifier spike his temp a ton? If anything wouldn't it help the AC run more efficiently? How much heat does the actual unit put out? I have never run one, although will be soon.

I got a 50 pint by hisense and it’s exhaust temp is between 88-92 F
Which raised my room temp from 72 to 86 in an hour , I freaked out and ended up putting a 10k BTU directly in 8x4x6 tent . It’s helped , I stopped running lights during the day , raised dehumidifier to 59% and it keeps it around 46% . Room is still about 79 during day and 75 at night .
This was the biggest debacle I’ve run into yet …..