1st Tent For A BAG

CherokeeJ

New Member
Morning folks. Posting this for my own benefit, as well as any others that may or may not gain from it.

I'm a BAG. A "Born Again Grower." There was a day, many, many moons ago, when I operated a small indoor set up, running 800 watts of HID lamps on a rotary mover, CO2, drip watering, all of it. Ran into the occasional problem, but for the most part, grew some seriously fine product for several years.

That was then, this is now. Today, I have cancer and spinal stenosis, and a card in my wallet that says I can grow and use cannabis for medicinal reasons. Thank you voters. But I digress...

Back at the beginning of April, I went to a provider, and purchased some clones. Brought them home, transplanted them into 3 gallon pots using Rockwool croutons, and put 'em out on the back patio. They almost immediately went into budding stage. Grew some fine buds, but the plants were tiny. I'm thinking there were two problems. 1st, the shorter days in April. Second, the slam to the photo-period. The clones were rooted at the club using an 18 hour photo-period. I bring them home, and put 'em out into a 12 hour day. Wham. That's fine if you want to harvest 14 inch tall plants. And it turned out to be some really good medicine. There just wasn't enough of it.

My buddy has been bugging me to get a grow tent. Well, our local city council says they don't want cannabis grown outdoors any more. OK. I'll move inside. That way, I no longer worry about the neighbor's teenaged kids. To that end...

As of Sunday evening, June 1, there's a Mother Keeper grow tent in the spare bedroom, running some 232 watts of fluorescent grow spectrum tubes, on a 18/6 photo-period. Circulation fan, exhaust fan, all on a master 24 hour timer. CO2 to follow. (I still have the gas equipment. Need to go visit my local soft drink bottler, and see about a small cylinder of CO2. Soon. Very soon.) Nice set up. Bought the package deal from the supplier. So far, I'm happy with it. I feel I received good value for my investment $$.

Two clones each of three strains, Dream Queen, Green Ribbon, and Infinite Euphoria have been transplanted into 6" pots using the little Rockwool croutons. Water pH here tests a little high, so they get a little pH Down with the water, with 1/2 teaspoon of FoxFarm Grow Big per gallon, every other watering. (That will increase considerably once they're well rooted, and I hook up the CO2.)

As of this morning, the clones are looking happy and healthy. Had to raise the lamps a taste. That's good. Grow, dear ladies, grow. :thumb:
 
The Dream Queen strain is truly impressive. Yield from the plants budded in April was excellent, considering the size of the plants. Full grown, they were only about 14"-16" tall, but the buds were as big as my wrist. And I'm a fireplug kind of guy. Cured yield was just a taste under 2 oz. I can only imagine one of these 6 feet tall, and, more importantly, 6 feet wide. We'll see what happens with the current crop.

Because it's a very bushy strain that branches well. Nodes are close together, and many. Should pinch and bush out well. I plan to keep the tent on an 18 hour day, and once the tent is full, I'll transplant into larger pots, and put 'em outside. That should be some time around the beginning of July, (sooner if I can locate a reasonably priced CO2 bottle) and should put 'em into bud. Time will tell.
 
FF strength is up to 2 Tsp/gal. Plants growing well, appear very healthy. Both the DQ and the GR are branching well, lot of new growth. The IE is looking healthy, just not as bushy as the others. Moved the lights up again. Rotating position of the plants in the tent, playing musical pots.

Unplugged the exhaust fan for an hour. Temp increased 14°F. Plugged fan back in. Temp amongst the foliage is holding at 82°F with the fan on steady and the rear vent fully open.

So far, after one week, I'm pleased with the tent. But adding CO2 could be problematic. It's mighty small. And with the need for constant venting, gas use could be excessive. May have to investigate thermostatic control for the exhaust fan to implement CO2 enrichment.

Picking up 3 more well-rooted teenage clones next week. Will transplant into 3 gal pots, and put outside to see if they bud or continue veg growth. They've been inside, on an 18 hour light cycle. We'll see what the photo-period delta will do in June.

Off to do some research.

Grow, dear ladies, grow.
 
I've made some... adjustments. Can't find the timer/thermostat I want. Augmented circulation with a high velocity circulation fan, and unplugged the exhaust fan.

Added "poor man's CO2." Clean milk jug, boiled water, sugar, and some yeast. It's bubbling. A little vinyl tubing, some tape... CO2 enrichment implemented.

Go in and run exhaust fan for 5 minutes, about every 2 hrs. Lower vent open approx 25%.

Temps running 91°F in the foliage, w/o exhaust fan. Feed @ full strength next watering. Plants looking good, but lower leaves appear to be losing some of their green, possible slight nute deficit. Need some N. Plants branching well. Lot of new growth.

Can't complain. About the tent or the clones, anyway.

Have to see about taking and posting some pix. Looking forward to tasting the GR. :thumb:
 
Tee-hee, tee-hee. They're made out of water, fertilizer, light, and the tiniest little bit of the right DNA... :circle-of-love:

Day 9. All plants received a good dose of FFGB, 3Tsp/gal, yesterday evening. Had to raise the lights again. What a shame.

The shame is that I think the "poor man's CO2" is a waste. Cycling the exhaust fan allows the temps to climb a little higher than I would like, so the fan remains on. For now. Been thinking about a piece of flexible duct, formed and attached to the top of the reflector, to house the top of the fixture. Add a small 4" exhaust fan and duct that to cool the fixture itself. I need to get some of that heat out of there, leaving the CO2 behind.

Ah, challenges.

Down to my last bud of the early harvest Dream Queen. Tasty. Mighty tasty. :tokin:
 
I just realized...

Reading others journals, some still call the Dream Queen by its original name... "Green Cr*ck."

The providers here where I live have decided that name is rather "politically incorrect." So, they renamed it.

Just so you'll know...
 
Hey Cherokee I just read your journal and it sounds like you got some nice strains and a cool setup going. Congrats on returning to the brotherhood of growers!

Post some Pics!
Uploading Photos

I hope you don't mind that I make a suggestion. For only 6 plants in a tent that you are needing to temp control I would say that CO2 is not really necessary. It may boost your yield a bit but I think the battle between temperature and CO2 saturation levels will be more of a headache than it's worth. Just getting the temp and RH% to balance will create a lovely environment for your plants to thrive in. But if you nail it down then more power and trichomes to you! I personally believe CO2 can benefit large scale enclosed system growers that have the funding and resources to control every aspect of their environment. For small scale "tent" growers I believe CO2 systems are like a rich sailor installing a putting green on his tiny sail boat. It'd be cool for sure but at what cost?
 
Thanks for the welcome, Calyx.

Please, feel free to comment, add, bend, fold, spindle, and mutilate as you see fit. If you see me screwing anything up, slap me up side the head, and straighten me out. I am, by far, NOT the last word in growing anything, let alone our favorite crop. But I do have some past experience, so I'm not a complete novice.

I agree. Trying to implement CO2 enrichment in an environment that small is fighting the tide. And the plants are growing so well without it.

But in my defense, I used to tend a nice 8' by 8' room on a daily basis. Then one day, I came home, and there's a box on the front porch. The ups man has been by. I kiss the wife, and tell her I'm headed to the welding supply. Came home from work the next day and almost had a vapor lock. The effects of the gas were very immediately apparent.

Well, when the tent arrived, I went looking for my old master timer, and lo-and-behold, here's the regulator and flow meter with it. Still have a lot of my old stuff.

Dang. Wish I had room for 16 five foot plants again. Those were the days.
 
Heading out to see my buddy today. Pick up those other 3 clones. As of last night, plants in the tent are looking sweet. Happy, healthy girls. Grow, darling ladies, grow. :thumb:

Gotta love it when it works. :love:

Exhaust fan is on with the lights. Temps running 82°F, 42% RH inside. Can't complain.

The poor man's CO2 cost about a nickel. Be nice to have, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

Working on the picture posting thing. I have a little digital camera, but it doesn't like this Win8.1 box. So I have to use an antique laptop and a stick drive to get pix to this box so I can post them. It's a PITA. Gee, I wonder why I want to punch Bill Gates in the nose. Thanks a lot, MicroBrain. The more you improve it, the worse it gets.
 
Lights came on, went in and said good morning to the ladies. Nice drink of water, rearrange the seating a little, raise the reflector a couple inches. 82°F, 42%. Fans running.

All the plants are looking very healthy, very green, with the new growth coming right along. But one of the GR's, while it looks really good, and is reaching for the lights... The two lower leaves are drooping hard, and appear to be curling under just a little. The rest of the tent looks fine. Hmmmm... They just got a nice drink of FFGB yesterday, @ 3 Tsp/gal. Too much? Not enough?

Off to see the Wizard. The wonderful Wizard of Grow. My buddy. Pick up those clones, and share some meds.

Everyone have a wonderful day. I know I will. :tokin:
 
Picked up those other three clones yesterday. But they aren't as big as I was expecting. So I put 'em in the tent with the others. Think I'll leave 'em there until the solstice, then move 'em outside to see if a 3 hour slam to the photo-period will put 'em into bud. If they stay in veg outside, no loss.

Looked in on the girls yesterday evening, and it's looking like time for them to be tied over. Might pinch a few sites, too. Help 'em spread.

Gimme a day or two, and I'll see about posting some pix. It's a PITA with this Win8.1 box, but I'll see what I can do. Cam is on the charge.
 
Need to get the picture posting thing down. But this computer really doesn't like my camera.

I've run into a problem. Yesterday morning, everything was looking a little dry. So I watered. A few hours later, I checked in on the tent, and found one of the DQ and one GR plant with all the leaves curled under badly. They look very wilted. It certainly isn't from drying out.

Since they all received only H2O in a while, I went ahead and gave 'em some FFGB @ 3t/G in the early afternoon. As of just before the lights went out last night, they were still looking pretty poorly. Going in to check on them this AM, see how they're doing. The new clones I got from my buddy may stay in the tent, and these two may come out. If the problem is a disease, I don't want it spreading.

Been reading on here. One explanation is too much nutes. I don't see how that's possible in this grow. These plants are in nothing but Rockwool. There are no nutes in there that I don't put there. And I don't think I've been giving them all that much. Excess nutes should burn the edges, and I'm not seeing that.

AAARRRRGH!!! One day. Go from happy to very depressed. Out of meds. And my babies are sick.

Going to bring the two sick plants outside and transplant into larger pots this morning. Give 'em a good rinse, and keep reading. Looking for an answer.
 
Photo of some sick plants. Not a very good photo. I'm no cameraman. This is post-transplant this morning. Note the turned under leaves. In person, it looks even more wilted than in the pic.

I transplanted them this morning, and put 'em out here. Soaked the new croutons with FFGB @ half strength, and the plants are looking like they're perking up a little. One is very damaged. Has some heavily wrinkled and dry-looking leaves.

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I sure hope they perk back up. Hate to think I hurt my girls.
 
Got to wondering last evening... Not enough, or too much? So I went out and rinsed those 3 gallon pots with massive quantities of pure water. Get the excess nutes out of there. Looking at those two plants this morning, it's difficult to tell. The DQ really looks like it's trying to perk back up. The leaves aren't as curled, and the color has lightened up just a touch, getting back to green. The GR is still pretty bad looking. One single very dry leaf, cracked, and the others are not only curled, but very dark in color. Deep dark green, with an undertone of almost purple. If they keep it up, they'll turn black.

Plants in the tent are looking good. Had to raise the fixture up a bit again. I may have mentioned that I did a little pinching the other day. Just a few sites on the taller plants. Get the spread started. Gonna tie 'em over, too.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open. Please. I have another one of those <multiple expletives deleted> cancer treatments coming up in November. Absolute Hell on Earth. And the side effects last 5 weeks. I'm going to need some meds. And please believe me... The herbal solution is FAR SUPERIOR to the pain pills they give me. I can't take that crap. It makes me sick as a dog, and makes me stupid. I take just one of those pills, first I lose my lunch, then all I can do is sit and drool. Can't even work the remote for the TV. Cancer doesn't kill. It's the cancer treatments that kill. That's first hand knowledge.

Any and all help is very, very greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks, budnoob2. The green medicine does help. It helps a lot. Beats the daylights out of those pills they give me.

I may have figured it out. Been reading and reading. Read so much my eyes are crossing. This is a big site.

Nutrient lockout due to high pH. VERY high pH. Looks like the city kicked the pH up even higher than it was. If I didn't know better, I might think they did that on purpose.

I doubled up on the pH down to two tsp/gal, cut the FFGB to 1 1/2 tsp/gal, gave 'em a good drink, and am waiting. Looks like the Dream Queen is really coming back. The Green Ribbon however, has significant damage, and I don't know if it will be saved. I'll pick up a test kit on Monday.

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads.

Luckily, I think I'm just in time to keep this from happening to the rest of the grow.
 
Okay. Went to the hydro store yesterday, and had a nice long talk with a gentleman there. Learned somethin'. I made a selection, and brought home my new electronic pH test pen. (Less expensive than I expected for something like that. For my old eyes, beats those dip strips hands down. Turns out this old fart is blind in one eye, and can't see with the other. Who'da thunk it?) He calibrated it for me, and told me to bring it in once a month, and he will keep it calibrated for me. Nice folks over there.

What is weird is that the water from the tap at the store read 6.9. I get the tester home, about 3/4 of a mile away, and my water tests at 8.5. So I checked it again. Sure enough, 8.5. One side of the boulevard it's 6.9, and on the other side of the boulevard it's 8.5. City water. Who knows? I have better things to do than try to figure that one out.

Now that I can PROPERLY test and adjust the pH of the city water, I can quit killing my plants! Gee, how special.

Status report...

The first two plants that got sick have been transplanted and put outside. The DQ has come back, looking pretty, and is showing some nice new growth. The GR is coming back. It's showing a little new growth. I think these two will live out on the patio until late Sept, early Oct., see how they do.

Now for the bad news... Down to 4 in the tent.

As of last night, they were still looking happy and healthy. And they got a good drink of properly pH adjusted water yesterday.

Unbelievable. The water was basically poisoning the plants. 3 are almost dead, and not expected to come back.

I blame no one but myself. Please take me to the wood shed and beat me senseless.
 
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