Zabka
New Member
Hi, new here and new to growing. I've been smoking for about eight years - helps with undiagnosed depression, sleeping issues, anxiety, work-related stress, and the general monotony of modern life! 
My girlfriend and I (she's been smoking regularly for a few years) are pretty skint and an old friend let on that he'd bought a CFL and reflector to grow a monster he had vegging in a cupboard at his place. He said we should give it a try...right now we pay around £240 on the ounce at best, so after some extensive Googling we ordered a bunch of stuff for around £300. If this grow survives and succeeds, we'll need about 1.25oz to return our investment...here's hoping!
During research (and that was crazy indeed, reminded me of cramming for exams in school, reading so much so quickly), this place cropped up more often than any other site; the people appeared friendly and helpful, knowledgeable yet open minded, and as soon as I'd read my first couple of grow journals, I knew I wanted to get one on the go.
We'd set up our tent in advance to get a feel for the conditions, and our seeds arrived last of all, so after a couple of days anxiously waiting I spotted a tiny green bent thing in the middle of one of our pots this morning before work. We'd gone to check, found nothing, and she left the room. I picked up the pot for a better look, then shouted the house down in excitement until she came back to see
I never thought 1ml of green could make me so happy! Anyway, I figured that was a good excuse to get started - stops me from hanging around the tent until lights on at 4, and I won't have to suffer the embarrassment of beginning a journal only for the plants not to show. Guaranteed they will die now, of course 
Overly long and pointless introductions out of the way - now, down to the good stuff...
What strain is it? 1 x Cali Jack/1 x Blue Cheese, both fem
Is it Indica, Sativa or Hybrid? What percentages? Both hybrids, unsure
Is it in Veg or Flower stage? Yet to show/Seedling (kind of)
If in Veg... For how long? N/A
If in Flower stage... For how long? N/A
Indoor or outdoor? Indoor
Soil or Hydro? Soil
If soil... what is in your mix? Pre-mixed Canna Terra
If soil... What size pot? ~4", with ~10" (about 9L) waiting in the wings (both round)
Size of light? 125w CFL (have blue right now for veg, one red for flowering later - hopefully) with reflector
Is it aircooled? Yes - 4" inline fan/filter, two 6" desk fans for intake/circulation
Temp of Room/cab? High 30C, low 23C
RH of Room/cab? High 70%, low 40%
PH of media or res? 6-6.5, if I remember rightly
Any Pests? No
How often are you watering? Light sprays with tap water which has sat out for a couple of days - just enough to moisten the top layer of soil if it's dry
Type and strength of ferts used? None yet - Dutch Pro starter kit ready and waiting (separate A + B for flower/veg, multi total, explode, take root)
I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve and the girls aren't even up and out yet! I am hoping for a proper little stem when I open the tent at 4 - it looked all bent around and hadn't broken the soil earlier. I can imagine this feeling will intensify over the next couple of months I think I was addicted before the equipment even began to arrive! I have done a lot more research since we placed the orders, so I think we've probably been ripped off to a certain extent, but we wanted to get started as soon as we could, and while the setup is small it doesn't look too crappy to my novice eyes...will try and get some pics uploaded soon!
Other details/concerns:
Grow space - we didn't have a room or cupboard which could be closed off from visitors or properly blacked out, so we bought a small tent (60x60x140cm). We considered using a wardrobe or constructing something ourselves, but our only wardrobe is too small to properly fit our clothes in and lightproofing it would have taken some serious work. Wood seems to cost an arm and a leg here, so we figured the £40 tent would be cheaper than buying materials. It's a little small to work in comfortably, but should see us through a few grows if the weed god is kind, and should make a passable mother/veg tent if we go perpetual. The main gripe with the tent is that there are a lot of tiny pinholes around the stitching at the edges, and some light escapes through the zip. This is only really noticeable when the lights are off in the room and on in the tent, but from inside the tent you can discern some tiny pinpricks of light. Opinion seems to be divided on whether this will stress the plant if there's not enough light to illuminate the tent. I reckon we'll chuck a blanket over it throughout flowering to be on the safe side.
Ventilation/Temperature - we set up the fan & filter at the top of the tent. They were included in the same kit, but running them directly attached to each other barely fits along the top edge of the tent. We have some of that silver flexible ducting attached to the fan output, running through the roof vent. This creates a pretty dodgy angle, but the alternatives were worse; the other vents are at the bottom left/right, and we did originally have the ducting going down there, but the outside of it was warm and raised temps in the bottom of the tent. Putting the fan outside would have created either the same duct heat issue or even more 90 degree bends running the duct through the top of the tent and to a fan on the floor. There is still a tangible airflow through the ducting, and we have it running upwards towards an open window (ducting/tent are not visible from outside).
However, when we switched our light on and had the tent closed, temps rose to 35C even with the fan on. We had a 6" desk fan for circulation, and placing this in front of the side vent lowered temps a couple of degrees, but only if the vent was open - with the door open too it's about 28C. We both work similar 8-hour days, and want them on 18/6 veg, so there's always some time in the morning & evening when the lights run with nobody home to open/close the tent. We had the lights running at night to combat incredibly high daytime temps (pushing 30C in the UK - this is madness!), and also to avoid having them on in an empty house as much as possible.
So, I used some card from the many boxes our parcels had arrived in to bodge a very makeshift light trap duct type thing, which actually seems to work. A tie (yes, clothing) around the join between duct and vent closed off any further leaks. We later bought another 6" fan and made another duct for the other side. A closed tent now reaches 31C max, but this should decrease as the plants get stronger - we have raised the light while they're small, and when we lower it it'll sit directly in the path of both intake fans, which cools it more effectively. And it probably won't get that hot, as the door will be closed for max. two hours with the light on at a time. 12/12 will be simpler, as we can open/close it within minutes of the light turning on or off. I'm also hoping that the red bulb will be cooler (not sure why, the light just looked less extreme when we tested it out of the box).
Right now, we have the light, exhaust and one intake fan on a timer, and the second, slightly more powerful intake on 24/7 to supply fresh air and resistance for the stems. The fans are angled up, so the seedlings will grow into them gradually. I know, pictures would help. I'll work on it, if anyone's still reading who hasn't been zombified by the terror that is Far Too Much Information. And we're not done yet!
Humidity - during dark times when the tent is closed, it can reach 70% RH at the floor of the tent. I think our intake fan reduces this slightly. Lights on dropped humidity to 30% when it was too hot. To combat the temperature and raise humidity, my better half suggested filling a crappy pot we'd bought and written off with wet soil (I read Perilite works best, but we don't have any). This helped somewhat and we're hoping that the plants will add moisture as they grow. When we upgrade to the bigger pots we can ditch the humidity pot. We do also have a sponge in some water which was added early and is still there, although I don't know how much good it does. I'm happy that not all the fans run all the time - we can use more later in the grow to reduce humidity for flowering.
Light - this is a worry as we only have one 125w (not equivalent) CFL under a polished reflector mounted on yoyo hangers, which is apparently a pretty poor surface for maximising lumens. The CFL is bright but I'm pretty sure that we'll need to implement some kind of LST or add side lighting if we're to get a decent yield off two plants. The light does pretty much cover the floor of the tent, so it's well suited to the space in that sense. There was a 150w HPS on offer with our tent/fan package for the same price including ballast/reflector, but I was worried about the temperature in the enclosed space and after seeing the rise caused by the CFL I'm glad we made this choice. Plus, we don't have much vertical space to work with, and the reported stretching during veg with HPS along with the additional clearance required would have made things pretty difficult. I just hope the yield doesn't suffer for it; I know some people get great results using CFLs but they usually have more than one, and often seem to use hydro (didn't fancy that much complexity first time round - although some seem to think it's simpler?).
Seeds - we bought three feminised seeds online. I won't say where, as I don't think it's a sponsor, but they were delivered relatively quickly, hidden inside a PC game style case. We have a Blue Cheese and a Cali Jack planted, and a Brooklyn Mango waiting for the end of this grow, or possibly sooner if we have any mishaps. We've also got a collection of dodgy bag seed which came out of a quart of 'Spanish High' picked up by a friend - never heard of that one. Not the nicest thing I've ever smoked by any means, but it does get you battered. We found these seeds after ordering online, or would probably have done a dummy run first.
Germination Method - at first we were going to use the plate method, as my girlfriend had used it before to grow vegetables, but after reading about the damage which can be caused to the root I got the willies and talked her in to soil germination to avoid trauma, figuring that if they didn't pop we could always return to the soaking or towel method later. We did try some bag seed between two plates with cotton wool, but the only thing to sprout so far there was a bit of mould. We removed the offending seed, but I'm paranoid about the spores invading the grow area...
We looked at 4pm, and Winifred (blue cheese - we did indeed name our 'official' seeds, not prematurely I hope) had bent up a little more, but her little leaves were still beneath the soil. I wanted to flick off the top bit of dirt and set her free, but my girlfriend insisted that she must come out alone. She's probably right. I recall reading here recently that if you are in doubt, don't do it. I guess if she's still stuck tomorrow I might help things along...Eulalia (Cali Jack) still hasn't made an appearance, but we're holding out hope.
pH - we're hoping that this won't be an issue as many soil growers seem to neglect their pH, but we have ordered some very basic litmus test strips. I know these are highly inaccurate and a total pain in the arse, but I figured it'll at least let us know if things are in the right kind of range. If the values look totally wrong or we have an otherwise inexplicable problem, then we'll invest in something a little more technical. The soil we have is around 6, if I remember rightly...will check next time I'm upstairs. Anyway, I remember thinking it seemed a little lower than recommended soil values, but my area does have soft water which I think I read has a neutral or slightly alkaline pH. I'm hoping it will all balance out; we did water the pots a couple of times before planting, to try and normalise everything. I realise I'll have to account for the nutes when they start coming in, too.
Soil/Pots - I'm hoping the Canna Terra won't prove too hot for the tiny seedlings. As detailed above, we watered the pots a couple of times before planting, so hopefully this will have removed some of the excess nutes. I'm also hoping it contains an adequate amount of Perilite for drainage. Small pots with no inhabitants under the light seemed to dry after 2-3 days, so hopefully this will be all right. Both the current & bigger pots have holes in the bottom for drainage. We've drilled side drains on the small pots and plan to do the same with the bigger ones before transplanting.
Watering/Feeding - the seeds were planted in soil which had been saturated two days previously, then broken up again. Water was then sprayed on the top layer of soil, left to soak, and sprayed again. This was repeated approx. 5 times. We have since only sprayed when the top layer feels dry to the touch. I'm really paranoid about over/under watering them. I know that I should be saturating the pot until I get runoff, then waiting for it to dry before watering again, but only when the plant has reached a certain size. I'm worried that they'll dry out or drown before they get this tall!
We plan to begin feeding at the 4th/5th set of leaves, or when the plant shows deficiency. Starting at 1/4 the recommended dose and working up slowly if there are no issues. We have a couple of supplements - one is a root booster called Take Root. The package states to use this from the outset, but then introduces the regular feeding plan sooner than most here would recommend. Would it be safe to use the root supplement on the first watering, or should we wait until regular feeding commences? We bought a soft water soil Dutch Pro starter kit. Has anyone used this brand?
Decisions - we can't really afford any more lights for some time. I have got my eye on some cheap sockets with a 3-pin plug already attached, and we could just get some 27w baby CFLs to go in them, but it might be a more effective use of space to go for some LST - SOG or SCROG (and cheaper - extra lights would cost maybe £40-50, but I don't really have this right now). Then again, I don't want to over complicate things on a first run through. Has anyone employed these techniques on a first time grow, or do any frequent users think it's a good thing to attempt on a maiden voyage?
Some people report success using a home made CO2 generator, made from yeast, sugar and water. Others state that it's a waste of time unless you already have optimum conditions and a totally sealed environment. Since we don't have a great light and run an extractor the whole time the plant's using CO2, would this be a waste of time and airline tubing? And if it is worthwhile, is it necessary to have a separate bottle used as an airlock?
Breaking news - a tiny bit of Eulalia's stem has broken ground, and Winifred's already shaken off her clump of dirt. By lights off in the morning they'll be proper little seedlings! This time it was her turn to shriek like a banshee. I thought there was a spider upstairs at first
Aside from all the stuff mentioned above, we've got the following to aid us in our quest:
Secateurs (will probably need some better ones for trimming eventually)
Twine
Soft-coated wire
Saucers to fit each bucket size
Aluminium tape
Thermometer/hydrometer (or whatever a humidity meter is called - the square black and white 2 in 1 with clock that most growers seem to have - although we use Clippers, not Bics)
Watering cans (unfortunately not lidded, and no spray heads)
Name tags
Syringes and airline tubing for measuring nutes
Large bowl for catching runoff while watering/flushing
Tarp to save the floor
Scoop for soil
Spray bottle
I know we'll likely need some kind of loupe to inspect the trichomes later, but is there anything else glaringly obvious missing here? A better camera would be nice, as any pics will probably be shocking due to phone cameras, but that's gonna be a few harvests away!
I can't think of anything else to write at the minute, but if anyone has any input it'd be greatly welcomed. Aside from trying to be less stupidly excited and rambling on when there isn't a sniff of bud yet, that is
and obviously the dearth of pictures. I'll see if the lovely lady will help me later. She did roll her eyes somewhat when I asked if she minded me writing a journal...ah, she does suffer!
Thanks for reading this, and for having this place available to share and learn. I'm not going to be that active elsewhere on the forums until I have some experience and input, as right now I can only parrot the words of wiser members, but anyone is welcome here.
Zabka
My girlfriend and I (she's been smoking regularly for a few years) are pretty skint and an old friend let on that he'd bought a CFL and reflector to grow a monster he had vegging in a cupboard at his place. He said we should give it a try...right now we pay around £240 on the ounce at best, so after some extensive Googling we ordered a bunch of stuff for around £300. If this grow survives and succeeds, we'll need about 1.25oz to return our investment...here's hoping!
During research (and that was crazy indeed, reminded me of cramming for exams in school, reading so much so quickly), this place cropped up more often than any other site; the people appeared friendly and helpful, knowledgeable yet open minded, and as soon as I'd read my first couple of grow journals, I knew I wanted to get one on the go.
We'd set up our tent in advance to get a feel for the conditions, and our seeds arrived last of all, so after a couple of days anxiously waiting I spotted a tiny green bent thing in the middle of one of our pots this morning before work. We'd gone to check, found nothing, and she left the room. I picked up the pot for a better look, then shouted the house down in excitement until she came back to see
I never thought 1ml of green could make me so happy! Anyway, I figured that was a good excuse to get started - stops me from hanging around the tent until lights on at 4, and I won't have to suffer the embarrassment of beginning a journal only for the plants not to show. Guaranteed they will die now, of course Overly long and pointless introductions out of the way - now, down to the good stuff...
What strain is it? 1 x Cali Jack/1 x Blue Cheese, both fem
Is it Indica, Sativa or Hybrid? What percentages? Both hybrids, unsure
Is it in Veg or Flower stage? Yet to show/Seedling (kind of)
If in Veg... For how long? N/A
If in Flower stage... For how long? N/A
Indoor or outdoor? Indoor
Soil or Hydro? Soil
If soil... what is in your mix? Pre-mixed Canna Terra
If soil... What size pot? ~4", with ~10" (about 9L) waiting in the wings (both round)
Size of light? 125w CFL (have blue right now for veg, one red for flowering later - hopefully) with reflector
Is it aircooled? Yes - 4" inline fan/filter, two 6" desk fans for intake/circulation
Temp of Room/cab? High 30C, low 23C
RH of Room/cab? High 70%, low 40%
PH of media or res? 6-6.5, if I remember rightly
Any Pests? No
How often are you watering? Light sprays with tap water which has sat out for a couple of days - just enough to moisten the top layer of soil if it's dry
Type and strength of ferts used? None yet - Dutch Pro starter kit ready and waiting (separate A + B for flower/veg, multi total, explode, take root)
I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve and the girls aren't even up and out yet! I am hoping for a proper little stem when I open the tent at 4 - it looked all bent around and hadn't broken the soil earlier. I can imagine this feeling will intensify over the next couple of months
I think I was addicted before the equipment even began to arrive! I have done a lot more research since we placed the orders, so I think we've probably been ripped off to a certain extent, but we wanted to get started as soon as we could, and while the setup is small it doesn't look too crappy to my novice eyes...will try and get some pics uploaded soon!Other details/concerns:
Grow space - we didn't have a room or cupboard which could be closed off from visitors or properly blacked out, so we bought a small tent (60x60x140cm). We considered using a wardrobe or constructing something ourselves, but our only wardrobe is too small to properly fit our clothes in and lightproofing it would have taken some serious work. Wood seems to cost an arm and a leg here, so we figured the £40 tent would be cheaper than buying materials. It's a little small to work in comfortably, but should see us through a few grows if the weed god is kind, and should make a passable mother/veg tent if we go perpetual. The main gripe with the tent is that there are a lot of tiny pinholes around the stitching at the edges, and some light escapes through the zip. This is only really noticeable when the lights are off in the room and on in the tent, but from inside the tent you can discern some tiny pinpricks of light. Opinion seems to be divided on whether this will stress the plant if there's not enough light to illuminate the tent. I reckon we'll chuck a blanket over it throughout flowering to be on the safe side.
Ventilation/Temperature - we set up the fan & filter at the top of the tent. They were included in the same kit, but running them directly attached to each other barely fits along the top edge of the tent. We have some of that silver flexible ducting attached to the fan output, running through the roof vent. This creates a pretty dodgy angle, but the alternatives were worse; the other vents are at the bottom left/right, and we did originally have the ducting going down there, but the outside of it was warm and raised temps in the bottom of the tent. Putting the fan outside would have created either the same duct heat issue or even more 90 degree bends running the duct through the top of the tent and to a fan on the floor. There is still a tangible airflow through the ducting, and we have it running upwards towards an open window (ducting/tent are not visible from outside).
However, when we switched our light on and had the tent closed, temps rose to 35C even with the fan on. We had a 6" desk fan for circulation, and placing this in front of the side vent lowered temps a couple of degrees, but only if the vent was open - with the door open too it's about 28C. We both work similar 8-hour days, and want them on 18/6 veg, so there's always some time in the morning & evening when the lights run with nobody home to open/close the tent. We had the lights running at night to combat incredibly high daytime temps (pushing 30C in the UK - this is madness!), and also to avoid having them on in an empty house as much as possible.
So, I used some card from the many boxes our parcels had arrived in to bodge a very makeshift light trap duct type thing, which actually seems to work. A tie (yes, clothing) around the join between duct and vent closed off any further leaks. We later bought another 6" fan and made another duct for the other side. A closed tent now reaches 31C max, but this should decrease as the plants get stronger - we have raised the light while they're small, and when we lower it it'll sit directly in the path of both intake fans, which cools it more effectively. And it probably won't get that hot, as the door will be closed for max. two hours with the light on at a time. 12/12 will be simpler, as we can open/close it within minutes of the light turning on or off. I'm also hoping that the red bulb will be cooler (not sure why, the light just looked less extreme when we tested it out of the box).
Right now, we have the light, exhaust and one intake fan on a timer, and the second, slightly more powerful intake on 24/7 to supply fresh air and resistance for the stems. The fans are angled up, so the seedlings will grow into them gradually. I know, pictures would help. I'll work on it, if anyone's still reading who hasn't been zombified by the terror that is Far Too Much Information. And we're not done yet!
Humidity - during dark times when the tent is closed, it can reach 70% RH at the floor of the tent. I think our intake fan reduces this slightly. Lights on dropped humidity to 30% when it was too hot. To combat the temperature and raise humidity, my better half suggested filling a crappy pot we'd bought and written off with wet soil (I read Perilite works best, but we don't have any). This helped somewhat and we're hoping that the plants will add moisture as they grow. When we upgrade to the bigger pots we can ditch the humidity pot. We do also have a sponge in some water which was added early and is still there, although I don't know how much good it does. I'm happy that not all the fans run all the time - we can use more later in the grow to reduce humidity for flowering.
Light - this is a worry as we only have one 125w (not equivalent) CFL under a polished reflector mounted on yoyo hangers, which is apparently a pretty poor surface for maximising lumens. The CFL is bright but I'm pretty sure that we'll need to implement some kind of LST or add side lighting if we're to get a decent yield off two plants. The light does pretty much cover the floor of the tent, so it's well suited to the space in that sense. There was a 150w HPS on offer with our tent/fan package for the same price including ballast/reflector, but I was worried about the temperature in the enclosed space and after seeing the rise caused by the CFL I'm glad we made this choice. Plus, we don't have much vertical space to work with, and the reported stretching during veg with HPS along with the additional clearance required would have made things pretty difficult. I just hope the yield doesn't suffer for it; I know some people get great results using CFLs but they usually have more than one, and often seem to use hydro (didn't fancy that much complexity first time round - although some seem to think it's simpler?).
Seeds - we bought three feminised seeds online. I won't say where, as I don't think it's a sponsor, but they were delivered relatively quickly, hidden inside a PC game style case. We have a Blue Cheese and a Cali Jack planted, and a Brooklyn Mango waiting for the end of this grow, or possibly sooner if we have any mishaps. We've also got a collection of dodgy bag seed which came out of a quart of 'Spanish High' picked up by a friend - never heard of that one. Not the nicest thing I've ever smoked by any means, but it does get you battered. We found these seeds after ordering online, or would probably have done a dummy run first.
Germination Method - at first we were going to use the plate method, as my girlfriend had used it before to grow vegetables, but after reading about the damage which can be caused to the root I got the willies and talked her in to soil germination to avoid trauma, figuring that if they didn't pop we could always return to the soaking or towel method later. We did try some bag seed between two plates with cotton wool, but the only thing to sprout so far there was a bit of mould. We removed the offending seed, but I'm paranoid about the spores invading the grow area...
We looked at 4pm, and Winifred (blue cheese - we did indeed name our 'official' seeds, not prematurely I hope) had bent up a little more, but her little leaves were still beneath the soil. I wanted to flick off the top bit of dirt and set her free, but my girlfriend insisted that she must come out alone. She's probably right. I recall reading here recently that if you are in doubt, don't do it. I guess if she's still stuck tomorrow I might help things along...Eulalia (Cali Jack) still hasn't made an appearance, but we're holding out hope.
pH - we're hoping that this won't be an issue as many soil growers seem to neglect their pH, but we have ordered some very basic litmus test strips. I know these are highly inaccurate and a total pain in the arse, but I figured it'll at least let us know if things are in the right kind of range. If the values look totally wrong or we have an otherwise inexplicable problem, then we'll invest in something a little more technical. The soil we have is around 6, if I remember rightly...will check next time I'm upstairs. Anyway, I remember thinking it seemed a little lower than recommended soil values, but my area does have soft water which I think I read has a neutral or slightly alkaline pH. I'm hoping it will all balance out; we did water the pots a couple of times before planting, to try and normalise everything. I realise I'll have to account for the nutes when they start coming in, too.
Soil/Pots - I'm hoping the Canna Terra won't prove too hot for the tiny seedlings. As detailed above, we watered the pots a couple of times before planting, so hopefully this will have removed some of the excess nutes. I'm also hoping it contains an adequate amount of Perilite for drainage. Small pots with no inhabitants under the light seemed to dry after 2-3 days, so hopefully this will be all right. Both the current & bigger pots have holes in the bottom for drainage. We've drilled side drains on the small pots and plan to do the same with the bigger ones before transplanting.
Watering/Feeding - the seeds were planted in soil which had been saturated two days previously, then broken up again. Water was then sprayed on the top layer of soil, left to soak, and sprayed again. This was repeated approx. 5 times. We have since only sprayed when the top layer feels dry to the touch. I'm really paranoid about over/under watering them. I know that I should be saturating the pot until I get runoff, then waiting for it to dry before watering again, but only when the plant has reached a certain size. I'm worried that they'll dry out or drown before they get this tall!
We plan to begin feeding at the 4th/5th set of leaves, or when the plant shows deficiency. Starting at 1/4 the recommended dose and working up slowly if there are no issues. We have a couple of supplements - one is a root booster called Take Root. The package states to use this from the outset, but then introduces the regular feeding plan sooner than most here would recommend. Would it be safe to use the root supplement on the first watering, or should we wait until regular feeding commences? We bought a soft water soil Dutch Pro starter kit. Has anyone used this brand?
Decisions - we can't really afford any more lights for some time. I have got my eye on some cheap sockets with a 3-pin plug already attached, and we could just get some 27w baby CFLs to go in them, but it might be a more effective use of space to go for some LST - SOG or SCROG (and cheaper - extra lights would cost maybe £40-50, but I don't really have this right now). Then again, I don't want to over complicate things on a first run through. Has anyone employed these techniques on a first time grow, or do any frequent users think it's a good thing to attempt on a maiden voyage?
Some people report success using a home made CO2 generator, made from yeast, sugar and water. Others state that it's a waste of time unless you already have optimum conditions and a totally sealed environment. Since we don't have a great light and run an extractor the whole time the plant's using CO2, would this be a waste of time and airline tubing? And if it is worthwhile, is it necessary to have a separate bottle used as an airlock?
Breaking news - a tiny bit of Eulalia's stem has broken ground, and Winifred's already shaken off her clump of dirt. By lights off in the morning they'll be proper little seedlings! This time it was her turn to shriek like a banshee. I thought there was a spider upstairs at first
Aside from all the stuff mentioned above, we've got the following to aid us in our quest:
Secateurs (will probably need some better ones for trimming eventually)
Twine
Soft-coated wire
Saucers to fit each bucket size
Aluminium tape
Thermometer/hydrometer (or whatever a humidity meter is called - the square black and white 2 in 1 with clock that most growers seem to have - although we use Clippers, not Bics)
Watering cans (unfortunately not lidded, and no spray heads)
Name tags
Syringes and airline tubing for measuring nutes
Large bowl for catching runoff while watering/flushing
Tarp to save the floor
Scoop for soil
Spray bottle
I know we'll likely need some kind of loupe to inspect the trichomes later, but is there anything else glaringly obvious missing here? A better camera would be nice, as any pics will probably be shocking due to phone cameras, but that's gonna be a few harvests away!
I can't think of anything else to write at the minute, but if anyone has any input it'd be greatly welcomed. Aside from trying to be less stupidly excited and rambling on when there isn't a sniff of bud yet, that is
and obviously the dearth of pictures. I'll see if the lovely lady will help me later. She did roll her eyes somewhat when I asked if she minded me writing a journal...ah, she does suffer!Thanks for reading this, and for having this place available to share and learn. I'm not going to be that active elsewhere on the forums until I have some experience and input, as right now I can only parrot the words of wiser members, but anyone is welcome here.
Zabka
but haven't commented anywhere but here yet...I plan to, but want to get a few nodes under my belt first! I was happy to see how your plant responded to the LST - I was considering it as we only have one large CFL and a level canopy looks like a good plan, but was worried about overcomplicating the first grow...having read your thoughts and experience, I do feel a little braver.
I might look in to fitting PC fans directly in my cardboard ducts, but I really suck at wiring and stuff.
I guess you can't go wrong shaking a matchbox...
