Gasan's - First Grow - First Journal - White Widow - Hydro Grow In Personal Grow Box

GASAN

420 Member
This adventure actually started back in late October. I ordered the grow box and and researched strains and decided on White Widow for my first attempt. I used rock wool cubes to start in the net pots and I made LOTS of mistakes in the beginning. I started keeping a journal because I didn't want to repeat mistakes. I originally followed the instructions that came with my grow box and also used the nutes supplied. Should have done more research. LESS IS MORE. My plants were in vegetative state for about 6 weeks-I now know I can speed that up a bit. I went to 12/12 on December 4th after much frustration and adjusting ph. Had tons of ph issues and experienced leaf burn as a result of nutrient lockout due to extremes in ph. It's well worth investing in the proper tools to manage your garden. All of this is a big investment in both dollars and time but it is so worth it. I'm about three days away from harvest now but I will fill in my journal to chronicle my ups and downs during the flowering phase. I have tried a few different products as far as nutrients go but one thing is certain. Less is more. And I learned to always always always check ph when changing nutrient solution. I used a hydro grow system with a bubbler( had to buy another one-aquarium stores sell them) Using two bubblers increased the overall health of my plants. I didn't change my nutrient solution every week either. I changed it out every two-three weeks and my plants have done fine. My box is supposed to be for 6 but there is no way 6 healthy plants could have remained healthy. I ended up with 3 and they filled the box. More to come. And yes, I took tons of pictures. Still anxious to taste my efforts but I have also learned that patience is a real virtue.
 
Re: Gasan's - First Grow - First Journal - White Widow - Hydro Grow In Personal Grow

So I'm back to essentially begin the process of recounting what/how it all went. Dec. 4th 2015. Numerous nutrient and ph issues. Aggressive monitoring began at +- 4 weeks. Switched from RAW to Flora Grow Micro and Flora grow. At 12/12 change in light cycle, I switched to Flora Micro and Flora Bloom. Usind steam distilled water and General Hydroponics Ph products to test. TDS not yet tested-waiting on calibration fluid. Checked hourly from 1600hours until 1900 hours when lights go off. Ph was over 7!. Adjusted by added three drops of Ph Down hourly and retesting each time. By Dec. 7th, Ph down to 6. Changing hydro nutrient solution out.


Tested Ph on nute mix. Too low around 5. Added 2 drops of Ph up and let sit for five minutes before retesting. Still too high. Added 2 more drops and retested. Ph slightly down around 5.5-6. Added 2 more drops and retested. Ph steady at 6. Leave it for an hour and retest before plants in. Plants in and will check in an hour. Yikes! Ph too low. Ph at 5 after one hour. Added 2 drops. Will check in half hour. Ph at 6. Bed time.

December 8. Ph tested at 1648. Dropped to 5! Added 2 drops of Ph up. Retest at 1750. No change. Added 2 more drops. Rechecked at 1950. PH still low. Added 2 drops. Lights out.

December 9th. 1545. Ph still 5. Added 2 drops Ph up. Check in an hour. 1645. Still low. Ph at 5. Added 2 more drops. 1745. Ph still at 5!!. Added 2 drops. 1830. Added 2 more drops. Ph at 5.5. Seems to drop over night. Goodnight plants. Looking good with 21 bud sites. I made a half assed attemtp to SCROG. Definitely helped plants branch out. Will do better next time. Learning curve and all. No trimming except severely burned lower leaves. Not too many thankfully.

Just realized-my bad- My setup is the Dealzer Cash Crop 4.0 Stealth Grow Box. I just used everything "out of the box" as it came. And I learned. Stay tuned for more soon. I will be posting pix as soon as I can.
 
Re: Gasan's - First Grow - First Journal - White Widow - Hydro Grow In Personal Grow

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.

:Namaste:
 
Re: Gasan's - First Grow - First Journal - White Widow - Hydro Grow In Personal Grow

Okay. I'm back. Sorry gone so long. Started second grow after building a larger box on my own. Took up a lot of time. So back to the journal. I continued the cycle of checking ph and adjusting ph and I read a ton about this strain. Lots of comments regarding WW being a bit temperamental but well worth the effort. Now that I'm into my second grow with two strains(WW and Dieselicious) I see exactly how temperamental WW is. BUT-even though my yield was not staggering, the quality is pretty great. But I'm getting ahead of myself. WW seems to like the Flora Grow mixture I've been using. It took constant monitoring of ph because the ph seemed to drop overnight every night. Changed nutrient solution on December 26th. 1/2 tsp Flora Grow Micro and 1/2 tsp Flora Bloom. I had switched light cycle to 12/12 on Dec. 4th. That was after 6 weeks of seedling through veg. So far, everything was looking pretty good. Ph was very tough to manage. Missed one day of testing for a funeral and the ph dropped all the way to 4. Had to add 4 drops of Ph Up every hour on the hour throughout New Year's Day. After 2 days of monitoring hourly or close to it for Ph to be at 6-6.5, Ph was shaky dropping overnight every night to close to 4. I only use distilled water when I top resevoirs off. I was extra careful to clean pipettes thoroughly between each testing. I rinsed each testing vial out with distilled water each time I tested. I maintained, to the best of my ability, constant conditions so I could monitor what worked, what didn't and what caused my girls to stress. I have lots of pix but I'll have to check the tutorial on how to load. By January 12, some pretty great buds were popping. I didn't trim or top or really do any grooming of the plants except to remove totally dead fan leaves. That happened early on in the 12/12 cycle as I struggled with Ph issues. Trial and error and constant monitoring got me through. By January 14, I have gotten a jeweler's loupe to be able to clearly see the trichomes. Holy crap there is a miniature world going on there and you'll miss it if you don't have one. I read a lot(remember this is my first grow) and I learned that everyone has a preference as to what trichomes should look like and what the percentage of clear/amber/cloudy should be before harvest. I also read a ton about maturation expectations. I followed my gut, my eyes and the calendar but most of all, the plants themselves. After looking at countless pictures, and counting the days I harvested on January 29th. I forgot to mention that I invested in a large (1gallon)Ona Pro gel with a fan that fits right on top. It's great and smells like a freshly cleaned house. Which you will need once you start growing. When I harvested, I had built a nice drying rack and followed all rules about proper drying and curing in glass mason jars. I have been rewarded in a huge way. WW really does look like it has been dipped in sugar. Make sure you have a nice grinder( I love my Diamond grinder) and use tweezers when handling the fruits of your labor. You won't want to waste any of it. So about the high. Cerebral, creative, productive, effective, happy, hilarious, intense. WW lived up to the reputation of being a favorite in Amsterdam and around the world. I have read about the heredity of the plant and I ordered my seeds from Amsterdam. I don't know about the purists out there as I have read there are many hybrids and claims as to the origins of the original WW. All I know is that for a first grow, I was rewarded and despite struggling with all the pitfalls a novice can fall into, I found WW to be forgiving for the most part and the reward was worth it all. I spent over 1200.00 between the box and the trial and error with nutrients. But I found inspiration. I've built a second, larger box of my own out of a salvage cabinet. The balance of the parts totalled about 250.00 total. And this time around it's going really well. I will start a round two journal soon. My pix are amazing. And I'm kind of proud of my design as I have a lot of flexibility moving my lighting around in the box to reach those little babies trying to bust through the canopy. I'm still afraid to cut anything but I have some rooting hormone and I'm feeling brave for round three in a couple of months. In the meantime, I'm about to go all 12/12 on these girls. Stay tuned. I'm going to try to post some pix.
 
Re: Gasan's - First Grow - First Journal - White Widow - Hydro Grow In Personal Grow

Pix posted but I don't know how to link to my journal. Fruits of my labor so worth it.
About to switch to 12/12 with my second attempt. Three different strains. Looking great so far.
 
Re: Gasan's - First Grow - First Journal - White Widow - Hydro Grow In Personal Grow

There are several ways to embed photos into your posts, they are explained in the Photo Gallery Guide - How to Resize, Upload & Post Photos

Personally, I use the "My Photos" button at the bottom left side of the text input window to embed photos in my posts. I hope that helps.
 
Re: Gasan's - First Grow - First Journal - White Widow - Hydro Grow In Personal Grow

Hi, New to the posting thing...I did finish this journal, albeit a bit slow going due in part to my partaking of the fruits of my labor. ;) I posted pix to the gallery and did a strain review. Not sure how to link my pix to my completed journal but I did link them with my strain review. My second grow is now a week and a day into 12/12. A little wiser and more efficient this time...stay tuned as I am trying two new strains in two separate hydro boxes. Love this site. Great info and a wonderfully supportive community!
 
Re: Gasan's - First Grow - First Journal - White Widow - Hydro Grow In Personal Grow

Still learning how to post efficiently but thought I would link my first grow photos from the gallery so y'all can see how it went. Feeling accomplished as I'm halfway through my second effort! Here are the pix from the WW grow. Also, I entered a strain review for those interested. WW has wonderful medicinal qualities! Amazing plant.
 
Re: Gasan's - First Grow - First Journal - White Widow - Hydro Grow In Personal Grow

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Update on the second grow. Had a power outage due to high winds. Down for 7 hours. I was panicking but I remembered my LED camping lanterns and I grabbed those and lit up my babies with only a 2 hour delay. I adjusted timers to get them back on the 12/12. Temps were dropping and it got down to 55 in our house before the power came back on. Since my grow space is boxed, I wrapped the box in blankets. I know-maybe a bit overboard but so much work and effort and time... Thermometer read 67 in the box when the power finally came back on. The girls had some ph issues and a little leaf stress on some of the edges. Worked very hard to balance that ph. This all happened over the last 72 hours. Everything seems to have settled down. My second attempt at SCROG is working beautifully. The thing is, I designed and built this box using a surplus cabinet. I used tension rods for my light bars and also for the screen. It allows me to strategically move my lights up down/side to side to get max exposure. I will be posting pix of the box with all that beautiful green inside. It was an easy build and I doubled my space.
 
Re: Gasan's - First Grow - First Journal - White Widow - Hydro Grow In Personal Grow

Update. Checked on bud progress with jeweler's loupe today. Excellent trich development starting. Beginning to show sugary appearance. Changed nute solution this past weekend using 3/4 tsp. micro and 3/4 tsp bloom per gallon of distilled water in both boxes. ph always drops after mixing. Added 2 drops at a time of Ph up to bring up to 6.5 before changing solution. Plants really perk up and intensify growth in the week after nutrient change. I've been waiting two weeks to change as during my first grow I found weekly change stressed the plants and constant hour to hour ph monitoring was needed for 2 days min. After reading many many different posts, I was finding that in general, less is more so long as you are attentive in monitoring daily and adding pure distilled water as needed to keep levels at bottom of hydro baskets. Will post more pix soon. The SCROG effort this time was MUCH more efficient and effective. The effort is clearly paying off.
 
Re: Gasan's - First Grow - First Journal - White Widow - Hydro Grow In Personal Grow

Is there any particular reason why you switched your grow box from the dealzer 4.0 I'm purchasing one for my 1st gro? I'm just curious.
 
Re: Gasan's - First Grow - First Journal - White Widow - Hydro Grow In Personal Grow

It was a little small for the strain I grew. Even though it says up to 6 plants it was tight with White Widow. So I didn't abandon it. Just reduced plants to 2 healthy SCROG plants and went to larger DIY box for 4 more. Worked just fine. I also modified lighting set up by using tension rods to suspend lights. It allows me to move lights around to reach the plants much more effectively. Yield this time is exponentially better. I have posted some pix of this and if you want some more I'd be happy to post. I'm still using the Dealer 4.0. Just not for 6 plants. If you check out pix I posted you can see how I secured lights to tension rods with zip ties. Worked great. And my resevoir is bigger to accommodate roots of 4 plants.
 
Re: Gasan's - First Grow - First Journal - White Widow - Hydro Grow In Personal Grow

It was a little small for the strain I grew. Even though it says up to 6 plants it was tight with White Widow. So I didn't abandon it. Just reduced plants to 2 healthy SCROG plants and went to larger DIY box for 4 more. Worked just fine. I also modified lighting set up by using tension rods to suspend lights. It allows me to move lights around to reach the plants much more effectively. Yield this time is exponentially better. I have posted some pix of this and if you want some more I'd be happy to post. I'm still using the Dealer 4.0. Just not for 6 plants.
 
Re: Gasan's - First Grow - First Journal - White Widow - Hydro Grow In Personal Grow

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.

:Namaste:
 
Re: Gasan's - First Grow - First Journal - White Widow - Hydro Grow In Personal Grow

Sorry I've been away. If you could move this journal to completed journals instead of abandoned. I will be starting a new one as I'm about to attempt to clone for the first time with my third grow. Had great success with Dieselicious strain. Would highly recommend and I will def. do a strain review. :Namaste:
 
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