Advice: First time, what variables to monitor?

[Maitland]

Hey everyone, this seemed like the most appropriate place to post this.

Intro: First time growing cannabis, we have a background in science. Looking to learn as much as possible while having fun growing. We want to get into proper experiments down the road, mixing strains, testing techniques and methods, but first we need to learn from observation. We are hoping to get male and female in our first run so we can see the full plant life cycle. Since we are looking to get to know our strain better, and growing in general, we were looking for advice on what to monitor.

Equipment: Besides a tape measure and our eyeballs, we should have access to:
-digital camera;
-unhealthy love of excel;
-digital kitchen scale;
-a digital pH meter;
-temperature and humidity meter; and
-a usb “microscope” (one of the $20 ones that cant really do slides, just looking super close at cool tiny stuff and taking pictures).

Advice needed: What variables or items should we be tracking as our plants grow to ensure the most efficient learning experience?

Budget: Low to non-existent so sending samples off for lab tests it probably out of the question.

I know this might not seem like something most people do for fun but we enjoy this sort of stuff. We are also looking to produce herbariums from the plants for wall decorations around the house(as well as reinforcing naming conventions). Watching it grow will be fun, but having data to track trends and progression will add the layer we are looking for. We are treating this like a university level botany lab where we are tracking plant growth over the “semester”.

Any advice on what would be best to monitor/study is welcome.

 

[Chris Scorpio]

Not sure what your plan is

Is this your first grow, or????


And welcome aboard

 

[Maitland]

First time growing cannabis. I've had experience with general gardening but not to the point where I dove in depth into the physiology and life cycle of a plant. I've been reading a lot on cannabis, so the theory side will be there, I was just looking for suggestions for things to track that will reinforce the theory behind the plant. Like how in a science class you would do labs to reinforce what you saw in the lecture/textbook. Plant height is an obvious one but besides that I am at a loss for things that would be beneficial to track.

 

[Chris Scorpio]

Well, science aside, ya need to understand and master keeping it alive

Lol

Sounds easy, but it can be a real struggle

How do u plan on growing it??

 

[Maitland]

Store bought potting soil, basic liquid fertilizer plant food, in a nice sized closet lined with tinfoil, grow light that can handle the size of the space. Small low powered heater and a fan. Temp and humidity monitor.

I know there are a million problems with the set-up (the tinfoil brings me shame), but cost was a major factor. Looks a bit like a little kids make-believe pillow fort they cobbled together out of what was lying around. It will improve down the road. First round will ideally be about becoming familiar with the plant, and hopefully bringing it all the way to seed (if we get a male and female).

 

[Chris Scorpio]

Remove the tinfoil, a white wall us much better, foil is no good

Ya need real cannabis nutes or you will have constant struggles

Since yer realllllllllllly into science, put that brain into growing a fantastic specimen to studdy

Have you ever grown veggies?

 

[Maitland]

Right now the grow set up is going to remain constant as a fixed variable. It is best to first observe the process, so in future iterations you can start manipulating variables. Right now I am looking for things to be monitoring over time, like distance between nodes, how many hairs per reproductive site, anything related to time. I've grown vegetables and fruit before, I am just not familiar with cannabis so I am looking for which things are the best to track to get the best learning experience.

 

[Gazoo]

Things I keep track of

I weigh my 1G starter pots each day to find the Sweet spot to water (Dry, just prior to wilt)
I monitor the ROOT BALL TEMP (corded temp monitor at root-ball after up-pot to final 10g pot
I monitor DAY & NIGHT temps and RH
I monitor the amount of liquid used and amount of Run-Off
i monitor BRIX Levels
I keep track of time and dates for SEEDLING STAGE, VEG STAGE, FLOWER STAGE
MOST monitor PH & EC I dont since not required when using Docs Kit