My First Grow - Grow Journal

[cosmostrobes]

Hello all, first and foremost I'd like to say I'm new to these forums and I'd like to say thank you to any and all who provide input on this for me. my seeds have not come in yet and I have an idea of how this grow is going to go down with what I've already purchased but I'm not sure of all my grow specifics. Basically I'm gonna use the community to help me as much as I can and hopefully it helps anyone in the future.

Setup in a nutshell:
Strains: Short Ryder and Blue Mystic (nirvana seeds)
Indoor or outdoor: Indoor.
Soil: Ocean Forest Fox farm, more than likely a 3:1 ratio of perlite.
Lights: undecided. going for an LED light more than likely though.
Also I will more than likely build my own tent.


Anyway I've been doing a number of research now on these forums and elsewhere.. and for my first grow I chose nirvana seeds for my seedbank and I'll be growing blue mystic (blueberry x northern lights) and short ryder. this is basically gonna be an indoor grow and I think I'm gonna build my own tent for this op. they're both autofem seeds and I have five of each. They haven't come in the mail yet as I've just ordered them but basically this whole little operation will take place by the next two weeks once I get them.

anyway I'm going to go for a soil grow and I'll be choosing ocean forest fox and probably use a 3:1 soil to perlite ratio. any other additives I'm not sure if I should use.. such as lime.

I'll probably also probably get a ph balancer to make sure my plants are getting the proper water they need and nutrients.

Also, at this current time I have not picked a light. I was thinking about getting some sort of LED lights. So if anyone has any recommendation on what lights I should use that would be great.

Another thing I haven't bothered to decide on is the size of pots I should get for each plant. I'm not sure how tight my space is gonna be but I'm basically boiling it down to either the shed (more heat.. but more space. I'm sure the inline fan and another fan would keep everything at a good temp. but I'm also afraid of bugs.)
or I could go with a closet grow which my closet is a basic closet with two sliding doors. I wouldn't have to worry about bugs as much more than I would outside. Maybe I should stick to the closet grow for now since the humidity and heat tends to fluctuate as I live in florida. at least for now.

Anyway any thoughts on my grow set up I'm about to go with?? anything I'm missing?? I'm very excited for this to be my first grow especially with the effort I plan on putting into it. I hope this grow journal ends up very successful and helps any and all in the future. I will be editing and updating this post as time goes on and subtle changes happen.

 

[Katatonia]

Hey,
good luck with ur first grow , people say 3 gallons pots r fine ,and if u have enough space then 5 gallons
I'm no expert but u have my support and i'm following ur journal

 

[Lick]

Welcome cosmostrobes!! I'm a first time grower as well and only have the knowledge from studying this magazine. I think the closet is your best bet but you might need to lay down some plastic and wipe the walls with some bleach water then as a preventative pest measure, spray it down with some Neem oil. Are you going to grow all 10 plants or just a couple? My suggestion would be 3 gal. smart pot or fabric pots also I've read and seen that the Fox Farm Ocean Forrest is a really hot soil for seedlings but it works wonders if they get past that stage. I believe there enough nutes in them to go the whole 9 yards with auto plants and just using ph'd water. Not positive though, just going by what I read. I have read several journals that grew auto's and used that lighter soil mix Happy Frog, also from Fox Farms and it wasn't as hard on the seedlings. Mars hydro is a sponsor on this site and if you contact Sara, I believe you get a discount on your purchases. Don't quote me on that. I was going to go with the Mars 1200 when I was going to use my spare bedroom closet but decided to just use the spare bedroom instead so I went with the air cooled 600w HPS. It was only $171.00 and came with 2 HPS lamps instead of a Metal Halide bulb. It was delivered in a few days. Anyway, just a few things to ponder. Good luck on your grow. I'll sub to your journal for yet another learning experience. Keep the bowl green side up, Lick

 

[cosmostrobes]

Thank you both I'll definitely consider using Happy Frog for my grow. I haven't ordered the soil yet as I don't have any good hydro stores near me that sell actually good soil for plants like this, but I'm not positive which one I'm going to go for yet. On my end I've heard that ocean fox farm is great for supporting the plant for its first month or so as a seedling so I would've figured it'd make for a great soil to use. Overall I guess we'll see. My seeds should come in anywhere from one week to four from now (hopefully asap) so until then my options are a little open but once they come in I'll be sure to get this journal rolling

Also, indoors or outdoors I was definitely going to go with a built tent. I would purchase one but I realize it's cheaper to just build it myself

And I was thinking of growing four of the plants unless I go for the shed. the shed will have more of a heat problem if anything but I'm thinking the inline fan and another fan would keep things managed. it's only a worry for me because of the florida heat obviously. I ALSO HAD AN OUTDOOR GROW ONCE AND I THINK THE STORMS DEMOLISHED MY PLANT!! R.I.P strawberry cough they were bag seeds anyway but I knew the strain at least. but either way the extremes of where i live definitely will not do for an outdoor grow

 

[cosmostrobes]

Okay so update:
I'm doing a DIY grow tent to stick in my closet. Dimensions I'm not too sure of but I already have the Mylar reflective film. I just need pvc or a way to make a box to make a tent and get the mylar in as walls for said box.. any ideas on how I should go about this? I ought to go to home depot or lowes tomorrow to pick up materials for this. Also, I purchased FFOF soil. My seeds came in the mail and yes Nirvana seeds are trustable! Was very happy with my order and took two weeks to deliver to the U.S.

I also purchased a Mars Hydro 300W LED grow light. I'm just waiting on the light to come in and we should be good to go. as for a fan I'll probably find one around the house somewhere and use that, an inline fan is something I currently don't have the money for but as the season gets colder and with the A/C already blasting cold air in my room I don't think temperature will be too much of a problem.

 

[cosmostrobes]

So far I've germed the seeds.. or tried. some of them didnt seem so germinated so I went for it anyway cause I didn't want to waste the seeds. like a dumbass i've been dissecting around the soil trying to see progress and yes they seem to be germing in the soil itself. also I tried germinating seeds with the paper towel method rather than the water cup method (my first choice), one seed germed perfectly! but the tail seems to have separated at some point with the seed.. I think that seed might be a failure..? planted it anyway in high hopes.

anyway they havent sprouted yet so I'm pretty damn anxious.. but I'm trying to get 4-6 plants growing. hopefully it'll work out.

 

[cosmostrobes]

Update time: Lost my phone. couldn't take much pics of the younger days for these plants. but oh well.

PLANTS:All autoflower
3x Blue mystic
2x Short Rider
2x Green Crack

Green crack is my favorite strain and honestly I'm exciting about this one. purchased through bonza, fast buds green crack. As well as nirvana seeds for the rest.
I've been using regular water thus far ph balanced to about 6-6.5, no nutes yet. FFOF should suffice for now. Had a bit of nute burn on one of the short riders but I fixed that.
Also, one of my blue mystics is going under a lot of stress but I think it'll recover. I topped it but it was an accident, but I think it'll work out.
I also recently added a regular house fan to the mix till I can get a better fan etc. I'd say the plants are already loving the fan as the fan leaves stick out more.

Also, I don't have twisty ties since they're in the mail, but I have been using fake bobby pins to LST my plants. it's working out slowly but surely. One of the plants has amazing progress from the LST, which would be a blue mystic.

Pics for now, will update on how the grow has been so far later. Gotta go to work. any input welcome.

 

[cosmostrobes]

also, some of these pics were taken from different days. I'll make indivisual replies about each indivisual plants later. gotta go to work for now

 

[Rifleman]

My $0.02 worth. Don't use the thumbnails. A medium pic linked to the original is quicker and easier to see, yet adds the ability to look much closer if needed. It's a time saver for those of us (me, <grin>) that follow a hundred threads or more and might not have the eyes of our youth. Natural light pics are best for diagnosing problems, taken right before/after the light goes on/off.

Other than that from what I can tell it looks good so far. A few droopy, heat, over watered ? The one with spots on it......? Hard to tell in the light. Hope the charts below can help you also.

 

[cosmostrobes]

will keep that in mind on the pictures and I believe I've found that chart elsewhere. Im positive i know where all the damage that has been done as i've said, also was only trying to upload images as soon as possible. you can click them if you need a better look, but i'll probably just selectively choose my pictures from now on and just make them bigger in the forum.

The drooping is most likely the way the plants are from being put in a training position though. they arent exactly standing up straight right now. my training ought to work better when i get my actual ties in.

as always thanks for any and all input.

 

[David Bowman]

Hope all is well in your world.

Is this grow still alive?

We would love to be updated with some pictures and info.

How about posting a 420 Strain Review?

If you need any help with posting photos, please read our Photo Gallery Tutorial.

I am moving this to Abandoned Journals until we get updates.

Sending you lots of love and positive energy.