Jon's Second Grow, First Grow Journal, Soil Grow Autos & Photoperiod

[lvumlow]

You will know pretty quickly, if you don't see any calcification (white powder) then you will be fine. I knew I had a problem on the first day.

It is interesting that we are talking about this because I have all the bases covered for my grow except distilled water. Our heater is on 24/7 all winter and my HVAC is literally right next to my tent. Even with a builtin humidifier on my HVAC system, it maxes out at 35%.

Don't give up, do everything you can to keep your girl in the best possible conditions within reason. The better the job you do, the better the reward will be in the end.

 

[Jon]

You will know pretty quickly, if you don't see any calcification (white powder) then you will be fine. I knew I had a problem on the first day.

It is interesting that we are talking about this because I have all the bases covered for my grow except distilled water. Our heater is on 24/7 all winter and my HVAC is literally right next to my tent. Even with a builtin humidifier on my HVAC system, it maxes out at 35%.

Don't give up, do everything you can to keep your girl in the best possible conditions within reason. The better the job you do, the better the reward will be in the end.

Thanks. That was my thought. You think distilled water will eliminate the white powder problem if I see it? And, if I do see this white powder, do I simply wipe it off?

 

[lvumlow]

Yes, distilled water has nothing in it and with provide clean vapor. If you end up using regular water, the powder is just dust and you can wipe it off but it will get everywhere (kind of like overspray). You will also incur a heavier maintenance cycle cleaning the humidifier (can get calcified quickly depending on the quality of your water).

At my peak, I was using about 4 gal/day so depending on the demand it goes fast.

I mentioned creating a lung room earlier, this will drastically help to keep your tent stabile. You put the humidifier in the lung room and it will serve as a buffer between the two extremes (garage and tent).

 

[Jon]

Yes, distilled water has nothing in it and with provide clean vapor. If you end up using regular water, the powder is just dust and you can wipe it off but it will get everywhere (kind of like overspray). You will also incur a heavier maintenance cycle cleaning the humidifier (can get calcified quickly depending on the quality of your water).

At my peak, I was using about 4 gal/day so depending on the demand it goes fast.

I mentioned creating a lung room earlier, this will drastically help to keep your tent stabile. You put the humidifier in the lung room and it will serve as a buffer between the two extremes (garage and tent).

Thanks again. Unfortunately I rent and do not have the ability to alter or add on to any part of the garage or rooms of the place. And I don't have any space left for even a large box due to the wheelchair access necessity. I'll see how the humidifier does and go from there. Gracias.

 

[lvumlow]

Looking forward to seeing how it goes and wishing you the best of luck...

 

[SoGnotSOG321]

Tight. Inkbird controller's now for the temps get the one with day/night settings, like two in one the 610 I think. Get a cheap steam humidifier, unless they come with replacement elements the extra expense is waste and 20$ is what I spent. I crack it open once a week and beat off (phrasing! lol) the scale on the stainless steel elements but they are degrading a bit (3 months use) and it might last another 3 months minimum because i wont buy scale remover solution. Do get larger pots, 7 gallon and fill anything to the brim, dont skimp on that it adds size, probably more than what you think. Temp gun, infrared type, several hygrometers to give readings above midway and bottom, fancy is good, cheap works. Temp gun is to check temps of your canopy and other areas, floor included if its low raise them up a few inches leave an air gap a couple inches. VPD, search that. Now when your RH fluctuates track your water/feed, it (rh) should increase immediately after and stabilize, moisture evaporates from the bags into the tent and will lead you around keeping on top of that humidifier and exhaust/intake fan fandango. See a major drop, indicator of your pots drying out and smol 3 gallon wont take long, you'll fight this and lose yield stressing for autos at different times and to much, less yield and quality.
You seem dead set against timers, I pose this question, What if something comes up and you absolutely cant be there for a week. I say a week at most, but even a weekend could end it. Investment gone. Your determination or OCD isnt going to pull it back from the grave and you'll beat the hell out of yourself (phrasing) mentally if it happens. Another thing, power outages. Do you have a ginny tied into your house panel? I'm betting theres at least a ton of weed if not tens of tons of weed down in texas that just went to shit amirite? I wont fill up anymore of your journal and I can delete this one to clean it up, just copy and paste this one to your clipboard and send me a message, and again you got it tight, nice op let's tune it up. GG

 

[Jon]

Tight. Inkbird controller's now for the temps get the one with day/night settings, like two in one the 610 I think. Get a cheap steam humidifier, unless they come with replacement elements the extra expense is waste and 20$ is what I spent. I crack it open once a week and beat off (phrasing! lol) the scale on the stainless steel elements but they are degrading a bit (3 months use) and it might last another 3 months minimum because i wont buy scale remover solution. Do get larger pots, 7 gallon and fill anything to the brim, dont skimp on that it adds size, probably more than what you think. Temp gun, infrared type, several hygrometers to give readings above midway and bottom, fancy is good, cheap works. Temp gun is to check temps of your canopy and other areas, floor included if its low raise them up a few inches leave an air gap a couple inches. VPD, search that. Now when your RH fluctuates track your water/feed, it (rh) should increase immediately after and stabilize, moisture evaporates from the bags into the tent and will lead you around keeping on top of that humidifier and exhaust/intake fan fandango. See a major drop, indicator of your pots drying out and smol 3 gallon wont take long, you'll fight this and lose yield stressing for autos at different times and to much, less yield and quality.
You seem dead set against timers, I pose this question, What if something comes up and you absolutely cant be there for a week. I say a week at most, but even a weekend could end it. Investment gone. Your determination or OCD isnt going to pull it back from the grave and you'll beat the hell out of yourself (phrasing) mentally if it happens. Another thing, power outages. Do you have a ginny tied into your house panel? I'm betting theres at least a ton of weed if not tens of tons of weed down in texas that just went to shit amirite? I wont fill up anymore of your journal and I can delete this one to clean it up, just copy and paste this one to your clipboard and send me a message, and again you got it tight, nice op let's tune it up. GG

Whoa. That's alot to assimilate at one time. You have a ton of suggestions here and frankly, some of them I don't even understand. I will message you and let's talk. Regarding the timer thing: yeah, I know. Got any suggestions you're allowed to post the brand of for a GOOD and DEPENDABLE and THREE PRONG timer? I need two. There are two factors though that guarantee I'll be here: one, I'm in a wheelchair, and two, I live in a state where Covid is very bad and nobody goes anywhere. Lol. But your point is well taken and frankly my sleep schedule could use a break, and it's only gonna get worse next week when I start the autos and I have one tent going 18/6 and one going 20/4. I struggle with this cuz for whatever stupid reason I have this weird innate distrust for these damn things. I'm afraid they're gonna screw up and hermie my whole crop.

 

[Jon]

I was reading @Dabeast09 and he was talking about how much he learned on his first grow. That really is the best part I think. The knowledge from the first grow, at least I think, should make your second much much better. I made a TON of rookie errors on my first grow. And I kept my first grow journal on paper - I have a nice notebook on it. One of the pages (actually, it took two pages) is a list I made at the end, and since then, as I realized all the mistakes I could identify that I made on Grow one. As I am realizing there are more newbie growers like me on here than I previously had thought, I was thinking it might be helpful for some less experienced growers to see a list of mistakes another less experienced grower made and identified from grow one, and the solution that has been implemented for this grow two.

So here we go, and this is the oversimplified version:

Mistake: I tried to cram 6 8-gallon pots into a 5x5. This is WAY WAY too much. There may be someone who could make this work, but that someone is not a first time grower. The tent quickly got overgrown like a jungle.
Fix: This time I am using 5 5-gallon pots in the same space and trying a SCROG grow.

Mistake: I started my seeds in the final 8 gallon pots. This is problematic for anyone except maybe Emilya could make it work. My understanding now is to never do this. The poor seedlings have no idea what to do in all that space.
Fix: I am starting my seeds in Dixie cups and transplanting when they have an established rootball.

Mistake: Not only did I start the seeds in the final pots, I also had them live their first two weeks of life in my closet until I moved them to the tent, because I was overeager and started my seeds before my lights arrived. Their first two weeks of life took place under a regular light bulb and one 22 watt bar led. LMAO. By the time I moved them into the tent they were ten inches tall and only had their first two sets of leaves. I did all I could to recover from that stretch, but the plants were basically permanently stretched at that point.
Fix: I started the seedlings in the tent, under the real light. They LOVE it. I figure seeds pop out in nature into full sunlight and do just fine. This "seedlings should only have a little bit of light" thing I hear over and over mystifies me. Why? It makes no sense to me. As long as you don't go over say 600 ppfd your seedlings should be fine. If you see a brown tip or discoloration, simply raise your lights.

Mistake: I used PLASTIC pots with drainage only at the bottom. This is basically the worst choice I could have made. Choked the roots. Compromised my drainage. Etc.
Fix: I am using cloth pots this time so that my roots get the air they need. Toss up between cloth and air pots.

Mistake: I had no idea how to water so basically I just watered when I felt the plant needed water. That's bad enough to do it with no system. But then I compounded my ignorance by simply dumping a gallon at a time right on top of the soil whenever I watered. I also didn't begin watering to runoff until halfway through veg. My watering was so bad it's absolutely astounding that I got any bud at all, much less that it came out pretty well.
Fix: I am watering with a system and a tiny understanding of HOW to water. I read Emilya's How to Water a Potted Plant and use it as my bible. I will be watering to runoff every time post seedling as well.

Mistake: I had no idea about nutes and used only Tiger Bloom for budding and blackstrap molasses for the last month or so. I did it willy nilly, adding the TB when I "felt" it was time. Lol. What a maroon. This is next to useless and basically was a waste of money.
Fix: I studied my ass off and this time am using, for this run, the Fox Farms nutrient trio, and will follow their feeding schedule with the tweaks as I have learned them. It may not be the best but it's plenty good, and since I'm using FF soil I figured I'd stay with FF nutes. Regardless, the important part is that I will do it with a system and using a three part integrated nutrient package. I also have CalMag Plus if necessary, Great White, and a couple other things I may or may not use. There will be no guesswork this time, or minimal at least. I know to start at at least half of what they recommend if not less. I know FF will burn my plants if I use too much. And with a natural looking light this time I should be able to more readily recognize a problem.

Mistake: Defoliation - I had no clue. We can argue defoliation all day long, but in my mess of a tent it was absolutely necessary the thing was so overgrown. But I kept hearing "don't take off any leaves." So I didn't for a long time. I got a jungle. Completely unmanageable. And the predictable outcome. Good colas, and a ton of flarf. Minimal yield (10 1/2 ounces of real bud from six plants in a 5x5 is terrible, let's be honest). Etc.
Fix: Again, I studied. Learned a lot here. Made a philosophical and behavioral decision and will do targeted defoliation per the suggestions of some folks I believe have it down. Absolutely will not allow my tent to be overgrown and out of control, with compromised air flow and all that.

Mistake: some would not consider this a mistake, but I grew bagseeds from the dispensary the first time. Lots of folks do this, I guess it's personal preference. But now I know a bagseed, while likely female, is also way more likely to become a hermie. It wouldn't exist if it weren't a hermie itself. I won't do bagseeds again.
Fix: I went with good genetics. I went this time with all Humboldt Seed Company seeds. Dependable genetics for sure. So that won't be an excuse. I know I'm at a good starting point.

Mistake: I never thought a lick about humidity the first time, only temperature. I can't imagine how badly I compromised my yield due to that. It's vital. Last time the plants just got whatever that day held for them. No control.
Fix: Learned of the importance of controlling humidity. Have several ways to do so now. AC, adjustable fans, humidifier, open or closed doors, etc., and I have a dependable gauge with which to measure rh. The goal is to control it every step of the grow start to finish.

That's a very partial list that includes some good "lowlights." LOL. I'll see if I can dig up a few pics of the jungle. Anyway, if any newbie growers made or are making any of these rather common mistakes (I now know), here's what I did to fix them for what it's worth. We'll see how these remedies take.

Will post a pic or three after the humidifier arrives today and I get that thing going. Very excited to give my girls 70% instead of the 45-50% they have gotten so far. Hope the damn thing works.

 

[Dabeast09]

Thanks for the shout out Jon, and what a great thing came out of you reading me! Very detailed, very concise, well done my friend
I hope my summery would be as good, but you sure did inspired me with all regarding the layout etc.

 

[JD Green]

Looking good, way better than my caveman grow room, lol. I got a feeling you are going to be a master grower.

 

[Jon]

Looking good, way better than my caveman grow room, lol. I got a feeling you are going to be a master grower.

Lol. Thanks. Here's what I know about master growers. I know one. He lives in Oregon. He is a licensed grower and deals to dispensaries. He's been growing for 35 years. Dude grows the most amazing weed I've ever even dreamed of and has been for a long time. He knows every major grower and distributor in Oregon. All organic natural soil, all long term well established genetic lines, all grown from clone. His goal has been to get invited to participate in a Cannabis Cup for as long as I can remember. And he JUST NOW, after trying for YEARS, finally got invited to compete. This guy has forgotten more about growing weed than most people know. Apparently you only compete if you get invited. Took him three decades.

So my point is, I hope you're right my friend, but there is a VAST gulf between a second grow and a master grower. Lol! But thanks!

 

[JD Green]

First off, since your friend is the only person that I know of going to the Cannabis Cup, tell him that I am rooting for him 100%. I hope he wins because he has put his time in. You are well organized and you have a bonus being your friend. The more you grow the more you will find what works for you, it might be different than how someone else does it but the end result is the same. Example: Most people soak their seed in paper towel till the tap root is growing out of the seed. I soak in a glass of water for 12-14 hrs then throw in a roto-rooter then in my mini bubbler, as you can see by the pic the end result is the same. When I see roots coming thru the side or bottom, it goes into a 6" net pot and I cover the basket that's its already in with clay, see pic. Happy growing and many huge yields.

 

[Jon]

First off, since your friend is the only person that I know of going to the Cannabis Cup, tell him that I am rooting for him 100%. I hope he wins because he has put his time in. You are well organized and you have a bonus being your friend. The more you grow the more you will find what works for you, it might be different than how someone else does it but the end result is the same. Example: Most people soak their seed in paper towel till the tap root is growing out of the seed. I soak in a glass of water for 12-14 hrs then throw in a roto-rooter then in my mini bubbler, as you can see by the pic the end result is the same. When I see roots coming thru the side or bottom, it goes into a 6" net pot and I cover the basket that's its already in with clay, see pic. Happy growing and many huge yields.

Beautiful setup. I have a picture of the actual growing plant that got him invited at 8 weeks of flower. I'm trying to get it out of the phone but it's old and my phone archived it and I can't figure out how to access it. I'll post if I can. So what does the clay do? What's the purpose of it? I've seen this similar setup and lots of people using the clay on top.

 

[JD Green]

The clay is a neutral medium, or its supposed to be, the pic in the pail the plants roots are already in the water, 12 days from the first pic. I do not put anything else in the net pot, only clay balls.

 

[Jon]

Every once in a while we win one. How many of you guys have gotten ripped off online ordering one thing or another? A fan that didn't show. A filter that was not what was advertised. Whatever. It's happened to me more than once. I try to buy from the small businesses and actual stores whenever I can, even online. I use Amazon and Walmart as little as I possibly can, for a million anti-big business reasons. So today I thought my humidifier was coming, and I took a nap and when I woke up there was indeed a package at my door. Except it wasn't the humidifier. That's not coming til tomorrow, I read the email wrong on the tracking. No, what came today was 4 cubic feet of Mother Earth Perlite #3. The exact bag I ordered two weeks ago from Walmart cuz none of my local garden stores had it. The bag that never came. The bag I had already called Walmart about, canceled the sale, gotten my money already back in my account, and had already had Walmart put a stop delivery in to FedEx. So I was quite surprised to get this sack, especially since I found it elsewhere and already had the exact bag and obviously am already using it. I called Walmart. I told them all of the above and asked what to do. I told them I wouldn't pay to return it when I had done everything right, but they could come grab it if they wanted. The service rep puts me on hold. When she comes back - FREE BAG OF PERLITE!!!! She says once the money is returned there is nothing they can do and they ask the customer to donate it or keep it for FREE! Well, I'm happy to donate to any growers around me who need perlite, so I made a call and already have given half the bag away!

GROWERS WITH A CONSCIENCE - 1
WALMART - 0

That's the way the score should be! Lmao!

Not much of an update but related to this grow and I thought it might make someone smile.

 

[Jon]

Beautiful setup. I have a picture of the actual growing plant that got him invited at 8 weeks of flower. I'm trying to get it out of the phone but it's old and my phone archived it and I can't figure out how to access it. I'll post if I can. So what does the clay do? What's the purpose of it? I've seen this similar setup and lots of people using the clay on top.

I found it. Here's a pic of the Lemon Tree at 8.5 weeks that is what he is entering in the CC. The other pic is his Blue City Diesel. If this dude tells me I would be well served to do X, I do X. You can see why.

 

[Jon]

DAY FIVE OF VEG

Not a whole lot of update, but below is a picture of the girls on Day 5. All five have nice color, leaves look good, a little curling on the one plant but I think that's just how this girl is taking off since the other four all look fine. Apparently my thought that you CAN start seedlings in a real amount of light is working. I have no burn and no signs that it is a problem. The light is at 36" and for you par junkies, the plants are getting about 500-600 ppfd. This is high for sure, but my thing is to push the plants every step of the way. It's not only elemental of my personality, it's how I attempt to get the most out of each girl.

Numbers:
Temperature range: 72-85 degrees (I think this is ideal)
Humidity range: 45-55% (Hoping the humidifier coming today can pump this number to 70%)

I have fans blowing gently on the seedlings so they move a little bit. My understanding is that this helps the stems begin to harden/toughen up from the very beginning, as the movement the wind creates actually signals the plants to develop more stem cells, or at least that's the way I understand it.

I am watering according to Emilya's How to Water series of posts. I am taking her advice and letting the cup the seedlings are in dry ALL THE WAY OUT before each new watering. This is easy to do with no guesswork. I have a cup of just the same soil mix that's dry. It weighs 194 grams. In the morning I weigh each seedling cup. If it weighs more than 194 grams I do not water it until it matches the number. Simple. But it does require a weird discipline. At least for me, if the seedlings weigh, say, 205 or 210, my inclination is to want to say "close enough," and water. NO. I am fighting that urge. So this morning one plant got watered and the others will get watered in a few more hours when they lose that little bit of water and weigh the same as the test cup. NO GUESSWORK. I am also watering right down the edges of the Dixie cups other than a few squirts at the end in the middle, to try and entice the roots outward. So far so good.

The thing that makes me very happy this morning is that all five of these girls have sprouted their second set of leaves, if you can see that in the photograph. In just five days of growth. And note how the second set is directly on top of the first. I want tight internodal spacing. My first grow I let my seedlings stretch like crazy and it sucked. So to see these second sets of leaves already and where they are makes me very happy.

So far so good! Excited to see what this humidifier will do.

 

[Jon]

The humidifier finally showed up at around 8:30 tonight. Got it out, got it working, got it in the tent. Here's a pic of the unit in the tent. In the first fifteen minutes it brought the humidity from 44% to the 61% you see in the picture. I'm going to leave it run overnight and see what the humidity is in the morning. I'm thinking this thing will not quite get me to 70% but it should get close. Hopefully this is the last expense for this grow. So the end of Day 5 of veg and now we can give the girls what they really want. Can't wait to see what the humidity registers in the morning.

 

[Dabeast09]

Awesome Jon looking good. The wait is nerve racing right?

 

[Jon]

I like when a plan comes together. Here are the numbers as I woke up the girls this morning. Took me 12 hours to be sold on the use of a dehumidifier. I couldn't be happier with these numbers for seedlings. Now I can give them the 70% humidity I know they want. To avoid the white crap spraying out from the humidifier, since I had no distilled water on hand, I filled the reservoir with water from the filtered water thing on the front of my refrigerator. NO WHITE STUFF. 4 liter tank lasted all night and still has some water left in the unit. It automatically shuts off when it reaches the desired humidity and comes back on when it is lower than target. If it's still working in a week I'll really be excited. Lmao.