5dollah's Grow Journal

[5dollah]

Hi!

I'm new to this forum, and new to growing. I've toked for about 3 years, just in the weekends when i feel like having a nice cosy night, with or without my friends. I considered growing for about a year, but i never got started …

At first i was thinking about a closet grow, but I soon realized that I cannot fit it in my apartment, due to the stealth issues… My parents keep dropping in, as well as many of my non-smoking friends. I did buy a 400W cooltube kit but i lent it away to two of my friends who is starting a closet grow.

I was first looking for a PC cabinet, but i couldn't find one. I then found a junction box that i figured i could use. The space is small, but it should work.

Growbox;
125W CFL (single bulb) - 2700k and 6400k
2 x intake fans 92mm
1 x exhaust fan 120mm
Reflective windshield material(for cars)

Strain and grow;
Bagseed
Seedling(started from seed 1,5 weeks ago)
Indoor, closed room
Soil for germination - then hempy bucket
Hempybucket with 100% perlite - 1,9 gallon bucket
RH - between 30-55%
Temperature - Between 71 and 84 Fahrenheit
Advanced Nutrients micro, grow, bloom
No Ph measurement equipment


Now its time for some pictures!

Im pretty sure my plant is sick A couple of days a go, the leave edges began turning purple and they are curling down. Im guessing the curling down is a result from over watering, but i just cannot figure out the purple edges!

Anyone got some tips?

 

[Nine44]

Soil looks too wet.

You need some perlite in that soil or something or just transplant into your hempy.

Purple is probably phosphorous deficiency but I would start by fixing the over watering situation and then start with watering with correctly pHed water

After that then we can work on deficiencies

 

[5dollah]

Allright, transplant coming up in two days(let it dry off)! Should I fill my hempy bucket with only water, or should i start with 1/4 of AN micro, grow, bloom(1-1-1)?

Another question, i want the plant to be as small as possible; how much of the stem can i plant in the hempy? 1 inch from the first leave? Im going scrog because of my height issues!

Thanks for your wise words!

 

[Nine44]

Did you poke holes in your bottles for drainage?

I'm not on nutes until the third node most of the time. Tap or rainwater pHed to the correct level for the medium your using, which in the hempy would be 5.8 and a bit higher in soil.

Having your ph in the right range makes all the nutrients readily available for uptake and at this stage in the plant that is more important than nutes. The soil will have some nutes and the water unless filtered will also.

I'm no expert, definitely not wise but I've been doing a bunch of reading lately.

One thing it's taught me is the search function is very finicky so it makes it hard to find information sometimes. Putting your search terms in Google then site:420magazine.com is the best way I've found of searching our forums.

Good luck with your grow as far as transplanting you can bury as much as you want as far as I know. I buried the first node in my hempy with no ill effects.

 

[Antics]

Welcome to

You don't need to scrog. Just top it, and use LST. Cover the sides of your containers with dark tape or something. Light is not good for roots.
Definitely water them less. Keeping the soil wet invites root rot, fungus gnats, stress, mold, mildew, and plant death.

For your next grow, I'd focus on 1 plant, instead of 2. That'll let you fill the area and give all the light to one plant, and quite easily exceed what 2 crammed in plants will produce.

This plant that I'm finishing now was grown with CFLs, is right about 14" tall, and is holding at least an ounce on her:


This link will have tons of great info for you: How to Grow Marijuana Everything You Need to Know

 

[5dollah]

Thanks for the reply guys! At first i wanted grow with just one plant, but with two plants I have a bigger chance of getting a female. Remember that im growing bagseed, and cannot buy seeds online(due to customs and afraid of getting caught) ... Plan is to get a female, then clone for future grows.

Yes, i have poked holes in the bottom, but i have not covered it for lightning(even tho i read that i should). Dont know why i didnt do it, but i will do it when i transplant the sick one. As for LST and ScOG, I was initially thinking about doing LST at first, then switch over to scrog, just to have full control of the height. I guess its easier to figure this out when it has truly started growing?

Will fill the hempybucket with tapwater(sat in a room for 24hrs), then start with nutes at a later state. Pictures will come tomorrow

 

[Antics]

I suggest topping and LST, with the scrog being optional. It depends how big you grow your plants.

I have a 14" tall plant finishing now that was only grown using a FIM (similar to topping) and LST.

 

[5dollah]

Transplanted the sick plant today. Wasnt that many roots to it, and i even managed to break off three roots. I just hope that the plant will recover from the transplant and grow nice and wide!

Yeah, the cup is covered in tape, but I did it after taking the photos ...

 

[5dollah]

Time for a little update;
Plant has recovered and its showing new growth! What a relief!

As one can see in this photo, both paper towel and perlite has a brown discolouration. Im pretty sure that it was light stress, so i lowered both plants. This is going to be a major problem when the plant is blooming, because of my limited height!

And here is the other plant which is growing slow and steady.

 

[5dollah]

Was away this weeked, which lead to a shock, due to the fact that they have grown abit. One of the plants have funny fan leaves! But she still grows and the roots is reaching the bottom of the bottle.



Temps are abit low, so I switched off one of the intake fans.

Also decided that i want these alot bigger! Going for closetbuild the next few days, using 400W MH/HPS(+125cfl). Temprature is going to be an issue; its getting colder and the plants will be in the garage. With 1-2 *c, it cold be a problem.

 

[Antics]

They look a lot better!

You won't need to run intake fans as long as you have exhaust fans.

 

[5dollah]

They do look alot better! Im most excited about the plant which is showing weird growth. About the intake; we had some warm weather, and if i didnt use the intake fans, temperatures would be in the high range(30-32*C). Now its getting colder, which means i can shut the fan off! Ive noticed that the plants have started develop a smell, which is nice, but my GF is not too happy about it(which is the excuse to move to a bigger space in the garage/shed).

When i was away this weekend i got new two new bagseed, as well as 2 from another strain when i got home. After my new closet is up and running, im planting the 4 seeds, and hoping for at least one plant. When i first started seeds this time, I used 8 seeds and got only 2 plants! The others would not spout. One did spout after 7 days, but it didnt grow when i put it in soil.

Ordered some new stuff; AN Big Bud, AN Overdrive, magnifier(30x), CloneX, mylar and ONAGEL for the smell. Later today im buying the closet and stuff to build it. Pics will come, probably in the weekend! Focus on stealth with this closet.

 

[Antics]

Where are the fans? top? bottom?
Usually people will use fans to vent hot air, and allow the cooler outside air to come in naturally.

The smell isn't bad for most people, but it seems some don't like it, or need some time to get used to it.

For sprouting, did you try scarifying the seeds? People will take a small match box, and line the bottom with sand paper, about 320 grit. They place the seeds inside, and shake them around for a few seconds. This wears down the outside shell of the seed just enough to allow water inside faster.

Looking forward to see your updates!

 

[5dollah]

My current box has two air intakes, one on the bottom, and one at the top(this is closed with tape). The air exhaust is at top.

No, I didnt try the sandpaper trick. Will do that next time though! I simply cannot have the smell around because of visitors now and then. They cant know about my babies!



Did FIM, which i regret. Should have waited alittle longer. Having fingers crossed for new growth, but I doubt it. The stem has begun getting thicker tho, which looks nice !




My wardrobe! Mylar is on its way, other than that, it is pretty much ready. I do have a problem with the ventilation. Its waaaay too much noise. I can barely hear the fan, but the airflow/wind coming out is reeeally loud! Anyone has a nice and cheap design for sound reduction? Carbonfilter on exhaust maybe?

 

[5dollah]

Allrighty. Transplated "Hurdydury", my favorite. Toobad i overwatered it just the day before transplant... she will not get any attention from me for the next few days, just gonna let her dry out. Dont know how big the pot is, but it takes up most of the closet. Mix is 50/50 perlite/soil. Dont like the soil tho, looks like mud after watering it!

My other kid, "Levee", is doing just fine in its passive hempy. Roots are getting more massive, and my FIM has begun growing, but im not sure if it was a success

Using Advanced Nutrients - Nutrient Calculator as a guideline for feeding, micro grow bloom. Waiting for more nutes and mylar to arrive. Still not sure of gender, but they are still my bitches, just hoping they will not turn out to be transvestites.

 

[Antics]

If It doesn't FIM, it will end up as a top, which isn't bad either.

For the smell do a forum search for DIY odor control. There were several versions made, so you can see which works best for you.

Nice wardrobe!
To fix air turbulence: remove anything in front of or directly behind the fan that is limiting airflow. If nothing is blocking it, this noise is being created from the air blowing over the fan housing itself, and can't easily be fixed directly. A filter on the fan will help, but does so in decreasing airflow a little.

Definitely let the soil dry out for a while. Do you have any perlite in the soil?

 

[5dollah]

So, this is my setup. Didnt include measurements, but its a regular closet, height is about 6 feet/1,8m. The blue box on top is a muffler im planning to make. I have two issues;

My Fan is noisy.
- At first i a flexible pcv duct, but i changed it to flex steel. As you can see, there is only one bend, and short length of duct. The noise is not inside the wardrobe, but outside, with the exhaust! After i changed it to steel, i tried to insulate it with dynamat(car audio thing), but it didnt help at all, about 1dB. Ive measured the noise to be 60dB, both high pitch and low pitch noise.

After putting together a fast and cheap muffler, picture below, the high pitch noise went down to about 42dB, but high pitch is still way too high - 55dB. Thinking about building the muffler you can see on the first pic, at the top.



Second problem is night time temperature
- Currently my lights are on 24/7, and my babies are about 2 feet up in the air. Temprature here is fine, but if I go below, the plants will be cold. This is because my shed/garage is poorly isolated, and tempratures will go below 22 fahrenhet/0*C when winter comes. This will not be good when i start 12/12 lights. Thinking about buying a oscillating fan heater i can place at the bottom...


Update on plants - Hurdydurdy first - He is doing fine, but will not reciving any water for a couple of days.
Soil and perlite - 50/50, decided to not have any perlite on the top for some reason !


Levee has been overwatered. I cant help it, when ever i see them i want to water them. Looks like I just topped her What i cant understand is the passive hempy thing. They say that it is impossible to overwater?? Ive watered her every third or second day, and this is how she looks;

 

[5dollah]

I dont like the way my plant in hempy evolves. Lower leaves are yellowing and dying. Upper fanleaves doesnt grow wide. Stem looks weird compared to the one in soil. Why does the lower leaves yellow and die? Ive used nutes, and flushed it just a couple of days ago. Dont look like its been topped either!



Just did a FIM on Hurdydurdy aswell.




Decided to get some new seeds in a couple of weeks. Auto`s, because this is goooing way too slow for me! Thinking about getting 10-15 auto seeds and maybe 5 regular. All ferminized so i dont need to throw em out either. I dont have much faith in my plants now, but there is hope for hurdydurdy!

 

[PeytonManning]

Not sure what's wrong with your hempy, mine never do that. I also water mine everyday with full strength nutes. I'll go back and read from beginning to see if I can help any

 

[Nine44]

Hey bud

Haven't noticed any mention of ph.

My plant looked like that when I was giving her close to ph4 water and she was only absorbing iron making her stems really red and the lower leaves sucked of their nutes.

I would check your water make sure it's 5.8 going in and should be similar leaking out of the hempy.

PH is very important to make sure you're able to absorb nutes.

Good luck