First Grow Dirt Bag Seed May Year of the Dragon

[CaptainJones]

Social Liberal - Fiscal Conservative
As in I will be trying to keep costs to a minimum on my first run.

I do not know if it is Inidica Sativa I got it from a bag I found on the street. And we all know what redman says. tasted like it was on the higher end of schwagg

I will be using dirt from my yard, I picked an area of my yard that looked like it would yield the best quality dirt and began digging.

I am currently using 3 - 23w cfl bulbs. I am probably going to increase this to 12 bulbs eventually.

Currently have 7 viable sprouts. Any guesses on how many I can hope to be females? Being dirt weed does this run any higher risk of hermaphrodites? I will be vegging them all fully and sorting out afterwards.

The temp of the room is approx 68f with low to moderate ventilation.
I'm doing research on ph testers and assuming the soil is relatively neutral since i got it outside.

I am watering when the top layer gets dryish using a spray bottle at the base of the trunk.

I am considering using guinea pig dropping as fertilizer but will need to do more research.

Feel free to post your questions/comments and especially suggestions. I am hoping to keep the budget to a shoestring.

This guy sprouted 3-4 days after the others but its trunk has a significantly larger girth.

 

[JASPL]

Social Liberal - Fiscal Conservative
As in I will be trying to keep costs to a minimum on my first run.

That's funny.

New grower to cannabis here, but not to gardening.

My thoughts:

Having used solo cups in my current grow, a crusty surface can hide moisture underneath. I would encourage taking a pencil or screwdriver and gently stirring up the surface of the soil and feeling the moisture underneath - then I would add water directly to the cup accordingly. Surface moisture evaporates quickly leaving dry roots.

GP droppings are ok to use but may not provide enough nutrients by themselves. Using guineapig poop as fertilizer... - Growing Tomatoes Forum - GardenWeb

About the CFLs, they are fine to get seedlings started. Judging by the last picture you may want to move them within 6 to 8 inches from the top leaves so they don't get too leggy - just be mindful of any effects from the heat.

Hope this helps - enjoy your grow.

JASPL

 

[CaptainJones]

I'm gonna try to keep regular picture updates going, may miss a few days but hoping to get some at least 5 days a week

The Next Day ^

The Next Day ^

The Next Day ^

 

[CaptainJones]

So 2 weeks later I've noticed that some of the of the young (hopefully ladies) are suffering from some ailments.

A few have twisted , curling and yellowing leaves,

some getting rust spots

I was guessing it was time to repot and when I was doing so I found some fuzzy roots

which I assume is a bad thing.

I am hoping the it was a drainage issue and by simply repoting the plants will shake off this possible fungus by itself.

here's my temp setup

Any suggestions?

 

[JASPL]

Those curly leaves look dry and burnt.

The soil around your root ball looks dry as well.

The fuzzy roots are actually root hairs and are perfectly normal.

Keep in mind that you now have a pretty deep container and not much root to reach the water that will congregate at the bottom. You are going to need to be extra diligent making sure those seedlings get enough water.

Hope this helps.

JASPL

 

[James 1st]

Hey do what I did I started with Dixie cups so the roots would be able to reach the water at the bottom then I switch to styrofoam cups for the first trans plant & now I'm switching to smart pots. Also invest in some compost tea, neem oil & molasses to mix into the tea it will help a lot. Oh the neem oil will be added to a mix of water by itself & sparyed on the soil once every 2 weeks to prevent pests but only after the plants are 2-3 weeks old.

 

[James 1st]

Do not spray on the leaves I did that & the girls didn't like it too much.

 

[CaptainJones]

Those curly leaves look dry and burnt.
The soil around your root ball looks dry as well.

The fuzzy roots are actually root hairs and are perfectly normal.

Keep in mind that you now have a pretty deep container and not much root to reach the water that will congregate at the bottom. You are going to need to be extra diligent making sure those seedlings get enough water.
Hope this helps.
JASPL

Thanks JASPL, I do think it was an under-watering issue, I think I read somewhere that overwatering is an issue for new growers and I didn't want to be THAT guy so I dehydrated them. I'll post some pictures soon, but I think they're doing a better after the transplant & getting plenty of water.

Thanks for the info on the root hairs, i thought for sure it was a fungal infection.

Regarding my grow room I am running at 67f pretty constant with 50%humidity with fairly good air quality and ventilation... I have another option that runs anywhere from 80-111f fluctuating with night and day and I cannot find cheap (enough) options to regulate the temperature of this rather large room; humidity is low but I think I can manipulate it to the high 40s , the air quality is not that great, loose insulation is just about everywhere, I've cleared out an area and put some plastic up, but it is still rather dusty; ventilation is not good but I think I can make it at least mediocre. The high temperature is what I'm most worried about, can the plants handle 108f for 6-8 hrs? Or is keeping them at constant 67 stunting their growth?

 

[CaptainJones]

Hey do what I did I started with Dixie cups so the roots would be able to reach the water at the bottom then I switch to styrofoam cups for the first trans plant & now I'm switching to smart pots. Also invest in some compost tea, neem oil & molasses to mix into the tea it will help a lot. Oh the neem oil will be added to a mix of water by itself & sparyed on the soil once every 2 weeks to prevent pests but only after the plants are 2-3 weeks old.

Well I don't want to take the plants out of the litter bo... i mean pots that I just put them in. Mostly because I know I damaged some roots during the process, being an amateur and all. I'll keep this in mind for my next grow. Also I will have to keep the neem oil mind. My soil likely has some pests in it as I got it from what is now a hole in my yard.

Thanks for the post.

 

[Blackheart]

Hey Cap nice grow I see ur using a growdroble like me and cfls. Do you plan to continue using cfls or are you going to switch to HPS later? Some light reflection on the walls of your growdrobe might speed up things.
PS. Can't wait to see those seedlings grow up

 

[CaptainJones]

Sorry for the delayed update. Work...Life...Etc. I will try to keep the updates more frequent going forward.
Here's what's happened up until now.

I noticed that a couple of my plants were not doing so well despite my watering and adding nutrients.

I planted another 4-5 seeds to make up for the terminally ill. I am pretty sure it was because the soil had lots of corroded chunks from red bricks, probably toxic. After discovering this I purchased potting soil and noticed a clear difference.

NEWBIE Lesson 1 Soil quality does matter.

I've been running pretty constant temp and humidity am running between 62-68 f

The Healthy ones look like this

And the setup-at-a-glance looks like this and will probably change with the season.

I am going to be researching topping soon and maybe flowering a couple within the month.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[mcloadie]

Dear captain jones, I have found that seeds and clones do really well in peat pots to start. My take on the whole idea of starting plants is to have them growing continually without shock. Breaking or exposing new roots always stunted my plants or killed them. I prefer 4" peat pots as I'm not going to have to have them in their final growing containers for a week or two and I can prepare. I dont tear the bottoms of the peat pots off when I plant them and they usually have exposed roots. I got these special trays for the peat pots at home depot that the 4" pots fit into 4 at a time. They fit snugly and the bottom of the peat pot is about 1/2 inch from the bottom of the tray allowing roots to penetrate the pots. My plants live their entire life without ever going into shock or being stunted. The weed grows best when unhindered, I dont pluck leaves or pick at the ladies. I may or may not top them, they seem to branch out quite well on their own and I like that main cola. I hope this gives you some insight. I've got 3 plants growin from some nasty bag weed, I'm not able to post pics yet, but they are really, really loaded with trichs and I know they'll kick ass. It's the mishandling of the bag weed that makes it nasty. My first indoor grow was with 8 75 watt under counter grow lights from walmart. 4 months.....2 ounces of kick ass weed...total investment...200$

 

[CaptainJones]

Sorry for the posting delay. I think my grow time is taking longer than "normal" due to the relatively low temperature of my grow room (50-60f) Still, the plants are looking better than I could have imagined when starting.
I'm working on getting a magnifying glass so I can see how close I am to harvest.

 

[CaptainJones]

more pics
Male!!!!! I did sexing all by myself!
note I said by myself, not with myself

 

[mcloadie]

You're doin good bro, I would suggest trying to get the temp around 75-80F, during veg I run humidity at 60-70%, flower at 40-50%. In the early part of flower I would run temps up to 90F, only for the sake of co2 consumption. If you can, I would get rid of the miracle grow fert. and get some other product that was organic and intended for use on weed. Organic is more forgiving when it comes to feeding, and I prefer the smoke. It's up to you! Later!

 

[Truth Seeker]

How did this grow turn out?

We would love to be updated with some pictures and info!

How about posting a 420 Strain Review?

If you need any help with posting photos, please read the photo gallery tutorial:
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I am moving this to Abandoned Journals until we get updates.

Thanks and hope all is well in your world.

Love and respect from all of us here at 420 Magazine.