Gingerbud's First Indoor Grow: 315 CMH, Tent, Lemon Thai Kush, Blueberry & Sour Diesel

[BudGinger]

Hey there, long time creeper first time growing indoors. It's finally legal here in Canada and the wife okay'd the tent so I ran with it. I started from seed, germinating on November 19th, 2018. I'm fortunate to have a good friend who works in a hydroponics shop, so they've been pointing me in the right direction so far. Here's what I'm running.

315 watt CMH light, nothing too big.

3x3x6 grow tent that has more vents than I know what to do with.

4" inch carbon filter

I'm using some in house nutrients from the local shop (3-1-3), and just gave them calmag for the first time. Just a little bit.

For soil I'm using fox farm oceans forest mixed with a bit more perlite, but I topped them off with worm castings after they went to their final pots.

I've yet to top, that will be happening in the next day or so. I'm just finally reaching my 5th node.

I regret picking three different strains for my first grow but I'm stuck at this point haha. I went with three lemon Thai kush's, seeds from Humboldt. One blueberry from Dutch passion and one sour diesel from Humboldt as well. The blueberry is very sensitive to nutrients right now where as everything else is thriving off them (blueberry is only getting water for now).

The fan has been doing great. Constant Temps at 75 degrees. I'm leaving the lights on 24 hours for the veg cycle.

Other than that, not much else to report. My next update should be in a couple days when I finally top. Till then, here's some pictures from day one till now (scrog is going in soon) :

 

[Sir Digby]

Be careful with space in there as the plants grow. I had 5 plants in my 4x4 and it was a little crowded, I downsized to 4 plants this time.

 

[BudGinger]

Be careful with space in there as the plants grow. I had 5 plants in my 4x4 and it was a little crowded, I downsized to 4 plants this time.

I think you're right. It might be ambitious for 4 plants in there haha. I might take one of the Lemon Thai kush's out and use it for clones.

 

[Sir Digby]

That might be wise. The plants are looking happy though!

 

[BudGinger]

That might be wise. The plants are looking happy though!

Thanks! I'm new to having to use nutrients, light cycles etc, I've only done outdoor with water so I've been grateful for all the help I've received so far.

 

[SmokeLake]

Lookin good im gonna watch keep us posted!!

 

[SmokeLake]

Btw my wife let me too... took a bit of convincing but she asks to see them now when im puttering about with them!!

 

[BudGinger]

Btw my wife let me too... took a bit of convincing but she asks to see them now when im puttering about with them!!

Thanks! I just keep telling her none of this be possible with her (approval). Lots more to come! Thanks for looking In.

 

[Sir Digby]

Btw my wife let me too... took a bit of convincing but she asks to see them now when im puttering about with them!!

Same. I think most people that have a wife and want to keep them get the ok on something like this first, lol. I would hate to be the guy trying to sneak an entire grow behind the wife's back.

 

[BudGinger]

I finally topped the crop, although I gave blueberry an extra day to give me an easier target. Hoping I didn't FIM. Today was also nutrient day, I'm using a low mixture of 3-1-3 (2 mL per L). Probably bit of calmag next week. Oh, I also put the scrog up. I didn't realize the difference in size amongst the crop till now. I'm still uncertain what to do with my extra lemon Thai, I don't have anywhere to put it and it would be a shame to put it down. Anywho, here's some quick pics.

 

[BudGinger]

Not much to really report. My stud has reached the scrog, going to have to start bending soon. Anyone have any advice for it?

 

[BudGinger]

Kind of just cruising along. A friend suggested I raise my scrog to let the others catch up.

I was really looking forward to my blueberry strain but she just does not respond well to the food I'm giving her. I was already going weak on 3-1-3 with her and she's not toooo happy with it.

Went away to a hockey tournament this weekend in the middle of the feeding schedule, they showed some signs of neglect but ultimately they were just thirsty. A lot of branches below the toppings are starting to catch up, and starting to show more growth sites which is exciting. I think I could be flipping to flower in just under a couple weeks.

 

[BudGinger]

Well, I've decided to switch to 12 - 12 tomorrow. Went and picked up flowering nutrients, going to start weaning them onto those in the next 10 days.

 

[BudGinger]

I guess this is a self reflection journal at this point lol.

Flipped the girls to flower this morning, thought I had another week but definitely not. In a panic I realized I hadn't even bought a timer, I'm such a bone head. Luckily I found a "smart plug" laying around, tested it out and she works... I'm glad I can check it's status whenever I'm out and about but I'm not sure if I trust it yet. Anywho.

There isn't much of a plan from here other than wait. I'm switching over to flowering nutes in 10 days or so.

So in this time I'm going to start picking my next strain, I was suggested Gorilla Zkittlez. I was told they are a little more difficult to grow but I feel like I'm ready for something a bit more labor intensive.

Anyways here's before and after darkness. I ran a 24 hour light schedule for veg.

 

[Greenlizard]

Hey BudGinger.
Looks like a healthy grow dude. Kudos.
So I'm not very familiar with your smart plug but I would suggest going to Canadian Tire and grabbing a timer for peace of mind... but hey maybe smart plugs are better?
I am also running a 315 Watt CMH and love it! Great light. What bulb are you running for flower?
I see the reason you are flipping to flower so soon being that you have 5 plants in a 3x3.
I have 5 plants in a 4x4 and I would have rather go with 4 plants.
As your friend suggested raising the scrog to allow the smaller plants to catch up I personally disagree. This is what the scrog is for. You can spread out your taller plants while the lower ones catch up, resulting in a nice even canopy. Some plants will be a little bigger than others due to strain / genetic variations.
When I flipped to flower I did one more feeding with grow nutes and then on my next feeding I started with the bloom nutes. Sounds like you have the same plan. During the stretch the grow nutes are still required and that's why I didn't switch nutes until the following feeding.
Not sure how high your light is but I have mine about 16" above my canopy. These CMH lights can come closer than HPS due to the reduced heat. I believe if I were running in a 3x3 I would run my light at about 12" or as close as I could before I see heat stress. I can't do that in my 4x4 because I need the coverage on the edges.
You can see my setup in my signature for reference.
Exciting times!

 

[Greenlizard]

Also I forgot to mention. I noticed that in some photos the smaller plant is in a smaller pot. If you want to encourage her to catch up with the big girls you should really provide a bigger pot in my opinion.
In the last couple of photos the new growth is covering the view of the pots so perhaps you have done this already.

 

[BudGinger]

Hey BudGinger.
Looks like a healthy grow dude. Kudos.
So I'm not very familiar with your smart plug but I would suggest going to Canadian Tire and grabbing a timer for peace of mind... but hey maybe smart plugs are better?
I am also running a 315 Watt CMH and love it! Great light. What bulb are you running for flower?
I see the reason you are flipping to flower so soon being that you have 5 plants in a 3x3.
I have 5 plants in a 4x4 and I would have rather go with 4 plants.
As your friend suggested raising the scrog to allow the smaller plants to catch up I personally disagree. This is what the scrog is for. You can spread out your taller plants while the lower ones catch up, resulting in a nice even canopy. Some plants will be a little bigger than others due to strain / genetic variations.
When I flipped to flower I did one more feeding with grow nutes and then on my next feeding I started with the bloom nutes. Sounds like you have the same plan. During the stretch the grow nutes are still required and that's why I didn't switch nutes until the following feeding.
Not sure how high your light is but I have mine about 16" above my canopy. These CMH lights can come closer than HPS due to the reduced heat. I believe if I were running in a 3x3 I would run my light at about 12" or as close as I could before I see heat stress. I can't do that in my 4x4 because I need the coverage on the edges.
You can see my setup in my signature for reference.
Exciting times!

Hey thanks for stopping by. It's nice to see someone else here lol. Thanks for the kind words and suggestions.

I'm using the same bulb for flower as I did for veg. The wife is pregnant, so we're on a budget for a while. My light is higher than 16 inches but I don't see any complaints from the girls so I'm going to leave it for now. I love the cmh so far, I was really worried about heat and cost but both have been significantly lower than I thought.

I kinda forgot yo upgrade the blueberry to a bigger pot but in the end I think it'll keep it an appropriate size for how many plants I have.

Did you switch to different nutrients for flowering? If so I hope you don't mind me asking what you used?

 

[Greenlizard]

Yes, I used grow nutrients during veg, and bloom nutrients during flower.
The line I am currently growing with is Nutri-Plus. They have A&B for grow and A&B for bloom. Also I am using a bunch of other additives from them along with my main A&B parts. The plant has different requirements during it's different stages of life so that's why most people switch things up after the first week or two of flip.
I am of course not familiar with what products you are using but they very well may be all you need. I'm not about to stick my nose where it don't belong and tell you that what I'm using is better than what your using. Your nutrients might be way better than what I have...
Regardless your plants look very healthy.
Congrats on the baby by the way. When my wife was pregnant everyone would rub her belly and say "good job"... nobody ever rubbed my junk and said "good job"... Don't you just hate that.

 

[BudGinger]

Yes, I used grow nutrients during veg, and bloom nutrients during flower.
The line I am currently growing with is Nutri-Plus. They have A&B for grow and A&B for bloom. Also I am using a bunch of other additives from them along with my main A&B parts. The plant has different requirements during it's different stages of life so that's why most people switch things up after the first week or two of flip.
I am of course not familiar with what products you are using but they very well may be all you need. I'm not about to stick my nose where it don't belong and tell you that what I'm using is better than what your using. Your nutrients might be way better than what I have...
Regardless your plants look very healthy.
Congrats on the baby by the way. When my wife was pregnant everyone would rub her belly and say "good job"... nobody ever rubbed my junk and said "good job"... Don't you just hate that.

We did all the work to make the baby anyways, right?

Everyone has their own preference for nutrients, right? I've been getting my grow advice from a friend who works in a hydroponics shop, I've been using their in house stuff. I've been using 3-1-3, going to pair it up with an 0-2-3 in 10 days or so.

Thanks again for swinging by. It's been pretty lonely here lol.

 

[BudGinger]

Success, the smart plug timer works. Good morning ladies.