TJ.Ontario's Grow Journal 01 - Jealousy, London Pound Cake, Star Killer (+ comparing synth vs organic)

[TJ.Ontario]

I am starting my first serious attempt at growing and will log my results here as I go. I would appreciate as much feedback and advice as I can get. I am hoping to learn as much as I can and also hope that sharing my journey will help other new growers learn as well. I will keep as detailed a log as I can

This grow will be 4 plants in a 4x4 grow tent. I am only expecting a medium per-plant yield but hoping for quality.
I have limited experience with hydroponic setups, and I normally just grow in a 50% soil,50% sheep compost mix. For the this grow I've gone with a slightly different mix which I am not as familiar with.

Strains:
*all seeds have been ordered from The Seed Fair, which is a Toronto based company. So far I am very happy with their service and speed of delivery (1 week delivered across country). They have great prices, and also currently offer free bonus seeds along with your order.

Jealousy Feminized 55% indica / 45% sativa - 8-10 week flowering time - cross of Sherbet BX1 and Gelato 41 - up to and around 30% THC content
London Pound Cake Feminized 70% indica / 30% sativa - 9-10 week flowering time - cross of Sunset Sherbet and "anonymous Indica hybrid" - up to and around 29% THC content
Star Killer Feminized 75% indica / 25% sativa - 8-10 week flowering time - cross of Skywalker OG and Rare Dankness #2 - up to and around 28% THC content
*there will be 2 Star Killer plants grown (one will be only organicly fed)

Grow Medium:
40% Sungro Sunshine Grower Mix #4 - (sphagnum peat moss, perlite, dolomite, wetting agent, RESiLIENCE® horticultural silicon supplement
40% Nutri+ NutriMix HP - (sphagnum peat moss, perlite, calcitic limestone, dolomite, AquaGro 2000M, 'major elements', 'minor elements')
20% worm castings

*being unfamiliar with this grow medium, I premixed and moistened it, and spent a couple days testing the pH and moisture. It seems to be fast-draining compared to soil/compost mixes that I am used to while staying moist, which should be a benefit. It also sits at a pH between 6.5 and 7 which I am happy with.

*please provide any thoughts, feedback or concerns about my choice of grow medium. I am used to mixing the Mix#4 with soil and compost and was concerned that this mix would include too much peat soil - although the pH level suggests its a good mix

Nutrients/Food:
Jealousy, London Pound Cake, and 1 of the Star Killers will be fed with a feeding regiment from Advanced Nutrients
Micro-Grow-Bloom regular scheduled feeding, as well as supplimented by their B-52, Bud Candy and Big Bud products

The second Star Killer will be exclusively fed using Gaia Green organic products
Gaia Green All Purpose 4-4-4 and Power Bloom 2-8-4

Water provided is city tap water which will be allowed to sit for 24+ hours to allow chlorine to dissipate before feeding or adding nutrients
Also some waterings will use nutrient rich water from fish tank

*please provide any advice or suggestion about my feeding, including suggested ratios and feeding schedules. Also I am open to hearing opinions on whether I should add more Gaia Green products to my organic Star Killer feeding

Light/Room Setup:
Tent: Vivosun 4'x5'x80" grow tent -> 4x4 main grow area with seperate 1x4 area for starting seeds/clones
Starter Lights: Noma 800 lumen T5 Full Spectrum LED bulbs (x2)
Main Grow Light: Mars Hydro TSW-2000 300W Full Spectum LED

 

[TJ.Ontario]

Germination
​

On December 1 2023 at around 6:30pm, I put the seeds in water-filled plastic containers to start soaking. I left them above a heat vent covered by a t-shirt for the night

I checked the seeds at around 8:30am on December 2 (so only 14 hours after putting them in water) and they were all starting to swell, with the Jealousy starting to crack open. Shortly afterwards I moved the seeds to wet paper towel to finish.

I checked them again after only about 3 hours and things were looking good. The Jealousy was sprouting a root that was about 3mm long, and all of the other seeds were cracking open with the white root starting to emerge. I took this as a sign that the seeds were all healthy and germinating well. I transferred them to their starter pots and moved them to a starting shelf in my grow tent.

After some fine tuning with humidifier and fans I have the temperature sitting at around 25°C (77F) and humidity staying around 80% which I will lower once the seedlings have sprouted. Starter shelf using 2 low-power Noma grow lights currently sitting about 18 inches about the top of pots

 

[2Water]

Awesome start and very detailed, hope you don't mind if I follow along

 

[TJ.Ontario]

Dec 5 2023 - First spouts this morning!
Around 8am this morning I checked the pots, and found the Jealousy and one of the Star Killers have sprouted!

Initially the Jealousy had it's seed husk stuck tightly wrapped around it, so it's cotyledon leaves were trapped in a tight ball. I wet the husk and gently removed it - I regret not getting a photo or video of this process. After a few hours, the tiny seed leaves have started to open up and turn green

(Star Killer on left, Jealousy on right (not in focus)

 

[TJ.Ontario]

Dec 6 2023 - They have all sprouted!

This morning around 7am I found the final 2 seeds were breaking through the surface of the soil. I left them alone for the day to grow on their own.

By evening the Star Killer 'OG' needed a bit of help shedding it's seed husk, but all four of my plants are now sprouted and growing well. The Jealousy and Star Killer are growing tall, the newly sprouted LPC and Starkiller 'OG' are only about half an inch tall so far

I moved all four seedlings into my 4x4 grow area under the big light which is turned down to 25% and set at a medium height.

I think I will give them one more day under 24 light before putting them on a timed schedule.

 

[Redneckx]

Welcome and happy growing!
Keep us running.

 

[2Water]

Your Jealousy and first Starfighter appear to be stretching a little for the light, maybe give them a couple days of 24hr light before reducing down

 

[TJ.Ontario]

Weekly Update 1​

Dec 8 2023
All seedlings are now looking healthy and growing well.

This morning I top-dressed the Starkiller and Jealousy which had stretched for light in the first couple days. I added an extra inch of soil around the stems to keep them stable.

I am using a light measuring app on my phone (Photone) showing my light strength at about 300µmol/m²/s under the MarsHydro light at 25% which should be ideal for the seedling stage. The Noma grow lights I used for starting are very weak (causing first 2 seedlings to stretch) so I may not use them again.

I managed to get humidity to stay around 70% but it takes my 2 small humidifiers running full blast to manage it.

I have been keeping them under constant light for 2 days now. Tonight I have the light set to turn off at 9pm and it will turn back on at 3am, starting my 18/6 light cycle

 

[Zenthanol]

Good luck with your humidity. Here in the midwest, I can't seem to keep it above 45% RH. . .

 

[TJ.Ontario]

 

[TJ.Ontario]

Transplant Day
​

Dec 14 2023

This morning I found all 4 seedlings were showing roots poking out the bottom of their starter pots, so I decided to give them more room to grow.

Seems like they are happy with the move. No droop at all

 

[TJ.Ontario]

Week 2 Update
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Dec 16 2023
Not very much to report here. All 4 plants are in their new pots and growing at a steady rate as they move into veg. I'll just add some pics and mention what issues I'm having

*I have discovered that the dimmer on my Mars Hydro TSW2000 has an issue and keeps dropping down to low power when I touch the dial. So I'm just leaving it on full power and kept it high in the tent, and now that the plants are growing I'm lowering it a bit day by day.

*The Jealousy is growing lopsided in an odd way...
It's newest set of leaves are oddly shaped and grew on one side (the side facing away from the light) I haven't seen this before and unsure if it's a genetic trait or maybe an issue with roots? I turned it around so it's facing towards the light. Can see in the video and pics

 

[TJ.Ontario]

I am pretty sure that the Jealousy has topped itself...

The top of the plant - which would normally be the first node growing a pair of multi-fingered leaves and a new grow site in between - only grew into a single mutated leaf, and not showing and growth continuing upwards..

Instead, new growth sites have emerged below, sprouting from where the cotyledon and first single-fingered leaves grew. These new points seem to be growing quickly and so far look normal, so it looks like the plant is putting it's energy into growing them. I didn't plan on topping or FIMing until the 4th node, but the plant had other ideas...

 

[AsheyBear]

Dang! Ya that’s weird! Wonder what it is. Nice grow so far!

 

[Aligoodtime]

Hey there ,
I believe it’s genetic ! I used to grow a lot of blu cheesy and mainly had 2 dif phenos. One that showed mostly cheese characteristics and then the blu part which 9 times out of ten showed some branching disfigurement which usually showed 3 branches within the first two nodes at the bottom similar to urs but treated properly and you can exploit the genetic “ defects “ don’t panic and if that was mine I would most definitely top it it two maybe three times ! You’ll end up with untold tops that have fat solid nugz on

 

[TJ.Ontario]

Week 3 Update
​

Dec 23 2023
Growth is now starting to take off.

Leaves were starting to curl upwards and plants were drooping slightly this morning. They seem to be slightly stressed from heat and light. Since the dimmer on my light has been acting up I've had to keep it on 100% power... But this morning I turned the dimmer on and found that it seems to be working properly... so I set the light to 75% and within a couple hours the plants are no longer drooping and the curling has subsided.

The self topping Jealousy is growing quickly. It's supposed to be a tall strain so hopefully I can keep it's growth under control in the tent with the others. It may get it's own thread if it's growth keeps up

 

[AsheyBear]

That one star killer is so tall!! It’s suppose to be a 2-3 foot tall plant when finished! That thing looks huge for its strain!

The jealousy looks thick! The fact that it auto topped is just awesome! You going to try and fim or top the two shoots that sprouted? You could even mainline the jealousy if you start pulling the shoots horizontally now I bet.

 

[TJ.Ontario]

That one star killer is so tall!! It’s suppose to be a 2-3 foot tall plant when finished! That thing looks huge for its strain!

The jealousy looks thick! The fact that it auto topped is just awesome! You going to try and fim or top the two shoots that sprouted? You could even mainline the jealousy if you start pulling the shoots horizontally now I bet.

I can't make up my mind lol. I think I'm going to start pulling the shoots outwards to edge of the pot then let them grow upwards and top/fim them once they each have a few nodes (if it doesn't top itself again ). I wish I had another tent for the jealousy because now I want to see how big it can get

 

[AsheyBear]

That sounds like an awesome plan! Jealousy is suppose to be super tall, so that thing should really pack on the height now that it’s growing vertically. It could be a nasty mother. Making clones that auto top after the first node would be something

 

[TJ.Ontario]

TOPPING DAY
​

Dec 23 2023
I was so distracted by the Jealousy topping itself that I barely noticed the other plants had passed the 4 node point, where I had intended to top them. They are all growing very dense and compact. I went ahead and topped them this afternoon. When I top I tend to snip just at or above where the new leaves are starting so it's almost a FIM.

The next step will be finishing their cages and get ready to train them as they grow