Corytheghost's Soil Bubba Kush Grow Journal: Oct 2020

[corytheghost]

Hello all!

I'm recently joining as I am realizing the plethora of knowledge I will need to find in order to grow quality cannabis plants. Thank you all for having me in this forum and I hope to help any other budding new members like myself with this grow journal.

I am new to growing and I have acquired many items in a DIY attempt of a tent. For a quick breakdown of everything I was able to be found please find it below. I tried to buy used/local/cheap and I was able to save some $$$.

I have so far killed 4 seeds that I was successfully able to germinate using the paper towel method. I have lost a Sherbet which was a bag seed but looked really promising until I overwatered it and then dried it to death with my lamp. I lost my picture of this guy but he was just growing his next couple set of leaves after the initial 4 and he drooped over with very green leaves. Since then I have lost a White Widow and an AK-47 seed after planting into my medium with after some time and uncovering the soil the roots looked shriveled and dried up either from too much water or not enough. I have a humidifier which will hopefully stop the root from drying out.

This brings me to my current seed which is a brand new Bubba Kush seedling I purchased from a reputable legal source.

Over the course of time, since I accidentally popped my Sherbet seed, I have acquired a lot of equipment for the cultivation of Cannabis. Here is my breakdown of this equipment:

QB288 LED (I think it's 240 watt, it gets blinding bright):

I'll post pictures of this board. I was really fortunate for finding this. I was shopping for LED's and I stumbled upon an advertisement for a light which he sold to a friend but he had 1 of these qb288 boards and sold it to me for 130$.

1 x 1.5x1.5x4 mylar grow tent:

I purchased this for 80$. The lady who sold it to me, she said her girl outgrew the tent and I was really just trying to get my accidental bag seed seedling up and going.

2 x vivo sun 4" in-line fans and a 6 inch clip fan:

These were 45$ combined on Amazon.ca which was a quick and easy buy to get some air circulation in the tent. I purchased the 6-inch clip fan for 20$ before I was able to get the in-line fans as I wanted at least a little air circulation.

1 x vivo sun speed controller:

I got this for 20$ so I can control how much air I want to push out. Right now the tent gets more air in than out to keep a slightly higher temperature and humidity.

FosPowerDigital Timer:

26$ on Amazon, I set it to turn on the fans and light at 5am and turn them off at 11pm. 18-6 light settings which I believe you turn down the hours when it is time to bloom to 12-12.

ProMix Organic Starting Potting mix:

Mostly peat moss/humus, coco fibre, perlite, lime, and organic fertilizer(not sure what)

Little Extras that I found to be necessary:

Found a thermometer/hygrometer for 20$ which connects by Bluetooth, so easy to monitor outside the room. I also bought a .5 gallon Honeywell humidifier for 40$ from Walmart.


Alright, enough of the set-up.

My current seed has just sprouted from its seed and I was honestly a little worried it wouldn't, like the last. I'm so glad that finally learning to leave it alone and trust in a regimented morning water cycle with humidity in the 60%-70% range has helped a ton. I find that I struggle with my humidifier having such a small tank that it's easy for my humidity to drop down as low as 30% if it has been off for a bit.

I will post updates every week or two with the progress of the plant and leave you with lots of photos for this post. You'll see where I positioned the intake and exhaust fan as well as my light setup in more detail. I've yet to look into any fertilization or nutrients as it is still so early to be feeding in this little seedlings stage. I will continue to water with a light mist spray bottle once a day or if it feels dry up to my first knuckle.

I am worried my tap water is too strong for my plant in terms of Ph. I do let it dechlorinate a bit by letting it sit for 24 hours. I have bottled spring water, but I recently purchased some distilled water I think I might use for a little bit before I switch to bottled spring water.

My current container is a little 3-3.5 inch cup from a soap company that has been washed clean. I plan on transporting into some previously used 3 gallon fabric pots, but I might buy some new ones as I don't want to risk any type of bad juju from the old soil bits stuck in the old ones I received for free.

Currently I am continuing to moderate the temperature at 23-25 Celsius and humidity at 60-70% to help insure growth of the seedling. I think I turned my light on too bright last night as it got to 30 degrees Celsius and I think I may have cause some light damage on one of the leaves. I lowered the light power and have been looking into PAR meters but to find one suitable for LEDs has proven to be difficult. I might buy the Dr. Meter LED Light Tester but I worry about inaccuracies.


Anyways, after all of this thought and tribulations with so many dried out taproots either due to lack of oxygen or moisture.. I have a good feeling about this one.

Thank you for reading me and joining me on my Cannabis growing adventure. Please don't hesitate to comment and reply to my photos and/or written journal log.

 

[corytheghost]

Here's a spec of a very similar board to mine with very similar MeanWell driver and Samsung diodes. I think they are 120-130 watt.

 

[PK]

promix has lime which will reduce the ph of your water to around 6ish. You don't have to worry about ph adjustment, but i do understand if you want too. in fact, do find out what the ph level is and make sure to calibrate your ph meter.
your temps and humidity is good. I wouldn't water it to much, just spray some over it and the soil. Having a bit of water in a catch can while the pot is in it would do you good. also make sure the pot has holes in the bottom and the sides. This will help for the extra water to scape and it does help the soil to have more areas to get air.

 

[PK]

By the way, winkyface

 

[corytheghost]

I'm going to test the pH of my tap water (should be around 7.2-7.6) the pH of bottled spring water.

I have holes punched out in the bottom but I agree some on the side will help out with aeration. Do you always let water sit in a catch tray? Should I do that with fabric 3 gallon pots when I transfer my little potted plant? Do you think a 3 gallon pots is too small for 1 whole lifespan of a plant? I plan on just running one at a time.

 

[MochaBud]

A little advice there Cory if you're going to continue using HP Promix. I suggest a good PH pen, some cal-mag, some nutrients, some PH up and PH down...You're growing in a soiless medium, with no buffers (for PH)

Your water, whether it be tap water, or store bought spring water, needs to be PHed to 5.5 to 5.8....after adding cal-mag and very small amounts of nutrients...that is why your plant is going yellow...it can't eat until the water is at the correct PH
Good luck

 

[Sparkey224]

Welcome to 420 mag Cory. looks like you are off to a great start bro.

My biggest advice would be the Wet/Dry cycle. She likes to be almost completely dry before feeding/water ( almost limp esp. in Veg stage) then completely saturate the container when you water/feed her. This will eliminate a lot of problems. Good luck
Welcome to the party
Cheers

 

[StoneOtter]

Welcome Cory!

 

[corytheghost]

@Sparkey224 @MochaBud @stoneotter

Thank for the warm welcome and appreciated advice.

I'm using an organic starting mix made by pro-mix. I am not sure I'm going to move to pro-mix HP but I heard good things about it. I know my options are somewhat limited up here in Canada. I have been wanting to grow only using organic materials and medium to grow in but pro-mix HP might be my best bet for my wallet and skill level

Eventually I'll be able to make my own supersoils, but for this plant I'd like to focus more on making sure I'm feeding her right and using store bought things.

I'm considering pro-mix HP, some calmag, and maybe some advanced nutrients bundle with a syringe for measurement and mixing.

Looks like this morning my little seedling is starting to show some green on its yellow leaf. I think it was my LED's being turned all the way up on this sensitive girl. I need a PAR meter so I can make sure I'm feeding her a solid amount of photons.

I water her once a day with spring or tap water. I usually let the moisture drop down to 30%-40% for an hour or two in the early morning to let my medium have a chance to air out a bit. Also my humidifier tank runs out. Damn .5 gallon Honeywell, it holds enough water for 5-6 hours at best.

I think the lime in my medium is helping out with the pH more than I know. I wonder is that lime juice or like actual bits of lime??

Haven't watered her yet today. Going to wait until it's dry dry. I don't want to set root rot from it being too moist all the time.

I really want to take some tweezers and pull off that little seed helmet sticking to the nice and lushious green leaf. My better half is holding me back to let nature do it's thing.

Thanks for reading and all the advice. I really do appreciate all feedback.

 

[StoneOtter]

I really want to take some tweezers and pull off that little seed helmet sticking to the nice and lushious green leaf.

Hey Cory, a drop of water on the helmut a couple of times makes it better to deal with. You might have to get tweezers but may not.
Also here's a good watering tutorial for young starts. Not that you're doing anything wrong, it's just a good read I think.

The Proper Way To Water A Seedling In A Large Final Container

In the beginning, you may even want to start your seed directly in the final container, simply by putting it one inch deep, pointy end down. It is surprising to some how often this works, even though mother nature does it all the time. If you go this route, lightly mist the area around the...

www.420magazine.com

 

[corytheghost]

Thanks for the suggested reading. I will read it because nothing is better than being well equipped with information.


I did put a little spit on the seed when it was carried by the root out of the top of the soil... Next 24 hours it was out of its shell. I think spit would be bad directly on the cotyledons so I'll try and use the tweezers to carry a couple droplets of water to the helmut.


Cheers!

 

[corytheghost]

Just a quick little update. The yellowing on the leaf has really lessened, which is great. I also applied a droplet of water to the seed casing.

It did seem quite dry up to my first knuckle so I gave her a little spray in a ring around the edges and then a light mist in the center to bring a little moisture there as well. It seems my inline fan is pushing the little marijuana leafs but I don't think it's a bad thing for now as the humidity is staying stable in the low 60's

 

[PK]

cory when you say you feed her once a day, how much do you feed?

at this stage it doesn't need feeding but just tap water. also, you don't want to water it everyday. Like sparky mentioned, you'll get best results when the plant is on the dryer side. always pick up the pot and feel how heavy it is.

 

[corytheghost]

I don't feed her any nutrients or anything fertilization at the moment. I'm pretty sure I'm watering with spring water but it might be tap water I let sit out for 24 hours. When it comes time to refill my spray bottle I might mix distilled water with spring water 1:1

I water usually in the morning about 2-4 hours after it turns on at 5am. I always wait until it feels quite dry though. Maybe I could wait a little bit longer before watering. Once every 2-3 days instead would be better do you think?

I don't want to dry er' out but I also don't want to overcare. Before, I was watering 2-3 times a day with the light blasting full power and it was like 30-35°c in there with a humidity of 30-40% which was definitely an environment to destroy my 4 seedlings that I tried to grow before this Bubba Kush.

 

[Sparkey224]

I don't feed her any nutrients or anything fertilization at the moment. I'm pretty sure I'm watering with spring water but it might be tap water I let sit out for 24 hours. When it comes time to refill my spray bottle I might mix distilled water with spring water 1:1

I water usually in the morning about 2-4 hours after it turns on at 5am. I always wait until it feels quite dry though. Maybe I could wait a little bit longer before watering. Once every 2-3 days instead would be better do you think?

I don't want to dry er' out but I also don't want to overcare. Before, I was watering 2-3 times a day with the light blasting full power and it was like 30-35°c in there with a humidity of 30-40% which was definitely an environment to destroy my 4 seedlings that I tried to grow before this Bubba Kush.

You going to do great bro, fast learner I can tell. I love plastic pots btw. Also, look under the plastic pot holes to see how the soil looks..if she’s still wet/ moist wait. She will tell you when it’s time.

 

[PK]

follow these informations. also, i would leave some water in the catch can and let the pot sit in it. don't spray her under light.

 

[corytheghost]

Wow, this is some awesome information!

You going to do great bro, fast learner I can tell. I love plastic pots btw. Also, look under the plastic pot holes to see how the soil looks..if she’s still wet/ moist wait. She will tell you when it’s time.

Thank you for the compliment, I won't let you down. Very smart idea to check the soil at the bottom. I wasn't sure if it was a big deal to remove my plant from my grow tent but it's good to know I can briefly.

follow these informations. also, i would leave some water in the catch can and let the pot sit in it. don't spray her under light.

I did some research and found that those little droplets on the leaves can magnify and burn my plant. Thanks for the callout. I will remove my plant from my grow tent when I spray it and let it dry off for 5-10 minutes before putting it back in there.

I'll start putting some water in the tray too. I can see why a water pH of 5.8 is so important now! Look at all of those beautiful nutrients you would miss out on...

As for soil pH I'll have to look into how I can monitor and keep that at around 6.5.

I think 25°c and 65% humidity is bang on. It's crazy to see all the nasty things that can happen over 75% RH


If I misunderstood anything please let me know! Communication through writing can sometimes be confusing and hard to clarify. At least as humans we can be malleable and adapt to understand.

Time to roll up the last bit of my Death Bubba. I bought an oz of some chocolate kush shake to save some money only to find half of it was trimmings

Here's a pic of my last failed seed and all the trimmings I cared to pull out of the shake when I received it. (Now I just pull out the big leaves and stems and mush it in my grinder with some Death Bubba to add a kick to it

Really appreciate the support. I expect there will be some progress tomorrow with "Bubba" to share.

 

[corytheghost]

As promised, here is my update on this plant. I have moved the humidifier into the grow tent because the 60%+ humidity in the room was messing with my electronics and I couldn't use my PC.

I noticed like a burning or burnt smell that was really strong and unpleasant when I opened my office that has my tent in it. I also noticed a chalky white powdery dust substance clinging to everything including my makeshift carbon filters for cleaning dust and other bad stuff from entering/leaving the tent.

I have a hunch it's the chlorine from the moisture coming out of the humidifier and tap water in its tank...

 

[Sparkey224]

Wow, bro. I would really look into all that dust. Ive never used a humidifier, so im bad with insight on those.
With me being upstairs, humidity has never been my problem in Veg and the lower humidity is what im after in flower for trich production.

Everything looks great from here buddy. When you do water her next really saturate that soil. Watering her very slowly. As mentioned above, spay bottle works great at that age, just spraying the soil.
When she gets a little older, waterings/feedings from the catch tray first, then from top (really builds up the bottom roots/increases yield imo)i
Always Saturate and dry out. Get that down bro and we are cooking with some grease..lol..

 

[Sparkey224]

Excuse my ramble, sometimes i leave out information..lol..
My goal with waterings/feedings is to saturate the entire container of soil with barely any run-off out of the bottom of the container.
Think that was it