Ol Dirty Ghost's Vanilla Kush Grow Journal - 2014 (1st Grow)

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OlDirtyGhost

New Member
Ol Dirty Ghost's Vanilla Kush Grow Journal - 2014 (1st Grow)​

Strain - Vanilla Kush (Barney's Farm)

25 Days above soil currently (Vegetative stage)

Medium (Local Amish Soil Mix with perlite)

Lighting (3 6500k CFL's + 2 3000k CFL's) (Sorry I forgot the actual wattage on these)

Room Temp - 75 (f) Humidity (RO) 50%

I went from solo cups (14 day period after sprouting) Then proceeded to transplant to a 5 gallon bucket.

So this is my first official attempt at cultivating.. I honestly had no expectations so any progress at all is awesome! I have a small grow area around 3x2 (Extra Shower) With some CFL's rigged to my make shift reflector (Bake pan) & power strip.

I started off by germinating in a distilled glass of water sitting inside of my medicine cabinet for two nights.
After the taproot had came out I then put it in a bowl wrapped in a wet paper towel for two additional days with a pretty good success rate.

I initially had 3 plants with one of them dying about a week above soil & the other not popping :/

But luckily! One lone survivor had managed to make it.. & for that I'm satisfied lol
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Seed Leaves wilted off which I'm assuming is normal from reading posts on here, but also a bottom pair of fan leaves wilted off too?? :( (Started prior to me transplanting to the 5 gal)
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I put a quarter strength of FF's Grow Big waited a cpl days after that feeding & then switched to regular distilled water for that feeding & these things started to finally boom a bit :)
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I haven't fed them in a about 4 days now, the top leaves seem to be curling a bit inward? Not sure if that's normal but now I just checked them today & seen some weird yellow / orange color on them :/ Hopefully a feed will solve it?.. Not sure honestly if I'm overfeeding or not I've scoured plenty of PDF's & these forums looking for solid watering (measurements + schedules) with not enough adequate information seeming that most info is opinionated.
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In the end, this is all a learning experience regardless of my results :thumb:
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If you guys could provide any tips , recommendations etc It would very much appreciated.. Excuse my ignorance , I'm here to learn. :Namaste:
 
Nice little grow you have here my friend :bravo: and :welcome: to 420 where there is all kinds of help and friends :)

From what I under stand you are growing in organic soil correct!? If that is so you should need to add and nutrients for about 3 weeks, maybe 4 weeks. I did the same thing as you one my first grow and put them in a 5 gal pot and while that is okay you must under stand what might happen. When you water a small plant in a 5 gal pot the top of the soil will dry out before the bottom does, so you will need to insure that the roots of the little tikes get the water they need. I would suggest you doing the finger poke to see in the roots are damp/wet or dry...If you stick your finger in all the way and there is no moisture I would water it until the root system develops more. If they dry out too long they will die, but if the stay too wet too long they will die as well....just keep an eye on it for sure.

If are feeding them nutes and the tips of the leaves turn brown and yellow and turn down that could be a sign of nute burn or some other problems. Just remember it is just a weed and it is stronger than you think it is, it can take a lot of mistake before it will die so don't panic when you see something going on, just address the problem and it will be okay. :)

As for the cfl light clips I got the a Home Depot, but you can get them at any hardware store. They are just a signal light clip that I have removed the reflector from and add "Y" and straight plug in's like you have on your light strip. If there is and thing I can offer just ask. I have subbed and will be watching too.

edit: I would wait until they have at least 4 or 5 nodes before doing any topping or femming and until they are healthy with no yellowing...you want the strong before doing that :).

Knots
 
Yes , organic local soil I was recommended to by a local hydroponics shop employee.

I was initially going to get FF ocean forest but he was telling me that burned a lot of peoples plants prematurely?

As for those cfl clips I guess I'll check home depot again , Thanks for the advice I definitely appreciate it.. Hoping for the best with this plant!

Lastly, do you think half gal of distilled water every 4 days is too much water?
 
looks like a good start -New grower here along for the ride also!!! Subbed!
 
I'm looking forward to your smoke report, I'm a big fan of barneys farm. Every single seed I've grown from them has been fantastic. I never tried the vanilla kush.

I'm not a soil person. I tried it, and the growth was too slow, bugs were a problem, watering was a problem. It just wasn't worth it (to me.) The funny thing is when I first started I was really against hydro, I was soil all the way. It seemed more natural. Now I'm DWC all the way.

Anyway, not being a soil person you'll have to take my advice a little lightly. I see some signs your plant might have a N deficiency. But since she is so young and you're using soil (in a really big pot) I doubt she's had time to leach all the nutrients from it. I'm thinking she might be a little over watered. You see how the very edges of her leaves are curling in? That's one way too tell if she's getting too much water. Also the edges are starting to yellow. If I saw that in my plant I would think N deficiency but in your case I really think that's due to the over watering as well. In soil you want to let it dry all the way through between watering. This will also help the roots get bigger. Bigger roots = bigger plant.

The leaves are also cupping a bit, I think that's just her trying to soak in as much light as possible. I hope that helps some, she looks a little rough around the edges but I have no doubt she'll pull through. She looks like a fighter and is a very pretty plant even with the yellowing. :goodjob:
 
OlDirtyGhost said:
Yes , organic local soil I was recommended to by a local hydroponics shop employee.

I was initially going to get FF ocean forest but he was telling me that burned a lot of peoples plants prematurely?

As for those cfl clips I guess I'll check home depot again , Thanks for the advice I definitely appreciate it.. Hoping for the best with this plant!

Lastly, do you think half gal of distilled water every 4 days is too much water?
Click to expand...

That is hard for me to say without being there, do you have perlite mixed in the soil. The best way is to do the finger poke, if the soil is dark and sticks to your finger it is good, if it doesn't stick I would water it. The way I water my plants is I use enough water so that about 10% of it runs out the bottom of the plant, if no water is coming out of the pot you are not watering it enough as it could be leaving dry portions in the soil. In my 5 gal pot I usually water with a gallon of water...sometimes 1 1/2 gallons...until I get water dripping out of the pot and I water every 3 days. I keep a daily log of what I do or don't do, if it starts to droop then you should have watered the day before. I hope that helps, but I would say a 1/2 is not enough in that large pot, but you will have to be the true judge.

Check where they have the extension chords for the light clamp.
 
The tip with the proding around to see if the roots are getting dried out is a good thing to do. I also like to spray my plants every day a few times as my humidity isnt too awesome. But its looking pretty good. I saw you asking about the LED and if youre thinking of making a small investment into something that will last they might look like the company to invest in seeing as loads of people are getting mad results with their lights. Adding a led to your cfls will only improve your plants health. I am not an expert on topping but am really interested in it. I failed at a micro top but i learned from it so thats always a lesson in its self. From reading people say to do it after the 3rd internode, but its recommended to have suggestible healthy growth to sustain the energy of the plants growth after the topping.

Those are my 2 cents

Btw how big is your grow area? 3x2 and how tall is that? you could go for the double reflector thats double the size of mine i think that ought to fit in your space if im not mistaken.

Looks like a lot of people replied before me haha
 
ChronicMaxi said:
The tip with the proding around to see if the roots are getting dried out is a good thing to do. I also like to spray my plants every day a few times as my humidity isnt too awesome. But its looking pretty good. I saw you asking about the LED and if youre thinking of making a small investment into something that will last they might look like the company to invest in seeing as loads of people are getting mad results with their lights. Adding a led to your cfls will only improve your plants health. I am not an expert on topping but am really interested in it. I failed at a micro top but i learned from it so thats always a lesson in its self. From reading people say to do it after the 3rd internode, but its recommended to have suggestible healthy growth to sustain the energy of the plants growth after the topping.

Those are my 2 cents

Btw how big is your grow area? 3x2 and how tall is that? you could go for the double reflector thats double the size of mine i think that ought to fit in your space if im not mistaken.

Looks like a lot of people replied before me haha
Click to expand...

Nice to know! I've been sitting on the idea of purchasing one for quite a while now so that's good to hear.

& as far as the height goes I would say roughly 6.8-7 ft high?
 
knotspeeds88 said:
That is hard for me to say without being there, do you have perlite mixed in the soil. The best way is to do the finger poke, if the soil is dark and sticks to your finger it is good, if it doesn't stick I would water it. The way I water my plants is I use enough water so that about 10% of it runs out the bottom of the plant, if no water is coming out of the pot you are not watering it enough as it could be leaving dry portions in the soil. In my 5 gal pot I usually water with a gallon of water...sometimes 1 1/2 gallons...until I get water dripping out of the pot and I water every 3 days. I keep a daily log of what I do or don't do, if it starts to droop then you should have watered the day before. I hope that helps, but I would say a 1/2 is not enough in that large pot, but you will have to be the true judge.

Check where they have the extension chords for the light clamp.
Click to expand...

That's what I needed to hear! I appreciate it. I'm going to try to make this info applicable to my current grow & see how it goes.
 
OlDirtyGhost said:
Yessir , I've tried to go through as much as I possibly could on this site before even attempting anything.. I've been nervous I was going to kill them all the first day lol..
Click to expand...

You are not going to kill them...lol. Do you know what your water ph is?
 
New grow! Yay!

Ok lots of info coming, some may have been stated already, so if you see it again from me, it's important!

First, PH meter! If you don't have one, get one, ASAP! There's no proper way to diagnose problems without a PH meter. If you can afford it ($20) a digital meter is best. If budget is tight, a $5 analog meter will help, but won't be the most accurate. I use the cheap model myself with a certain degree of success.

Light: I use CFLs as well. I try to provide about 100 actual CFL watts per plant in Veg, and 150 per plant in Flower. (Currently giving 2 plants a total of 342w in flower) I like a mix of spectrums. I use mostly 6500K bulbs in Veg, but I have a few 2700K bulbs in Veg. When I flower, I reverse the ratio and use mostly 2700K bulbs, but still keep a few 6500K. (12 bulbs total, I use 9 as the main spectrum, and 3 the alternate)

CFLs suck! The light penetration isn't as strong as HPS/MH or LED. But that doesn't mean your grow should suck too! Take advantage of training. Topping, and LST are really easy for beginners, and I suggest training your plants to grow wide and flat. My plants are like 2 months old or more? I forgot exactly.. and they're barely over 12" 30cm tall.
But they're both WIDER than they are tall. I have pics in my FIM journal if you'd like to get some ideas.

Feeding. You shouldn't need nutes for 3-4 weeks. FFOF is a little too hot for seedlings and can cause problems with nute burn. Very few strains can actually grow in FFOF as seedlings without issues.

My germination method is "strange" compared to what I see most folks do. I use the fine grit side of my girlfriend's nail file (girlfriends are a great source for tools. cuticle scissors work well for trimming too lol) Anyways, I LIGHTLY rub the nail file on the seed just to scratch the surface lightly, then I plant them in soil 1/2"-3/4" deep, and I keep the soil moist with a spray bottle. 100% germination rate so far. It usually takes 2-5 days to break the surface.

Watering time will vary on medium, how well it drains, air circulation, temps, humidity levels, and how much the plant uses. With all that being said, my 5 gallon pots take 5 days currently to dry out completely, without wilting. Wilting won't kill your plants, but it causes a little light stress which helps to avoid. You want the top of the soil to be completely dry. Zero traces of moisture. Don't dig in the soil, roots are all around, damaging roots can cause stress, stunted growth, and/or open the plant up to infection. A moisture meter can help here until you get an idea of how light the pot feels when you lift it compared to when it's full of water (It's a huge noticeable difference)

Topping: I believe most wait until 4-6 nodes. The opinions will vary though. I FIM'ed my plants at 4 weeks, and 3 weeks on my current grow.

The first grow sucks a bit because you just can't waittttt to try some Cannabis that you grew. Plus having tons to learn all at once, it's crazy at times, but trust me, it's worth it. I'm on my 2nd grow now and it's even more fun than the first one!

:rollit:
 
When using the nail file, the idea is not to FILE the seed. hold the nail file at the end, and just drag it across the seed.

The other method folks use, is a matchbox. They line the bottom of the drawer with 320 grit sandpaper, and lightly shake the seeds around inside for a few seconds. I just didn't have a match box to use lol
 
@Antics great info it's most definitely appreciated

*****UPDATE*****

So I took the advice with letting it run off , but for whatever reason they still seem to be getting burned possibly from the
quarter strength FF Grow Big I used? I literally only used a half teaspoon per gallon ratio, :/ Thinking it may be time for grow two?
Wondering if I should abandon this one & start over, thanks for the input 420 Peace..
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