Losing My Grow Virginity

[Kyu Maengun]

I almost forgot to add that I also picked up my soil tonight along with the fan which one could easily infer if you aren't 2 joints deep (I really wish I was right now).

Also my smart pots arrived today! I am debating whether or not I want to use the premium soil, nutes and smart pots on these Things or not. However, if they keep progressing well and I like what I see they just might talk me into it.

 

[Noob4x4grow]

Looking good Kyu! I would just transplant the girls when they were showing roots in your drain holes. You will just be doing it sooner because the roots wont have room. But, it should be ok. What size pot are you going to next?

 

[StillANoob]

I agree with Noob4x4 using less soil on the solo cups only mean that you'll need to transplant a little sooner, no need to cut the cups! And if you intend to keep the things going till the end there's no reason to not use the good stuff on them, the better you treat them the better the quality and yield when they finish

 

[Kyu Maengun]

Looking good Kyu! I would just transplant the girls when they were showing roots in your drain holes. You will just be doing it sooner because the roots wont have room. But, it should be ok. What size pot are you going to next?

Good to know. As far as pot size I may just transplant these Things to two of my 2 gallon smart pots. Unfortunately due to the constraints of the dimensions inside of the trunk I think I can only have up to two smart pots in there at a time. Otherwise I have 3 1 gallon nursery pots if I want to run three plants but I feel that is going to vastly limit yields and vegetative growth if I do that. For now this Krunk Trunk is a 2 plant pony.

I agree with Noob4x4 using less soil on the solo cups only mean that you'll need to transplant a little sooner, no need to cut the cups! And if you intend to keep the things going till the end there's no reason to not use the good stuff on them, the better you treat them the better the quality and yield when they finish

You are right. I should not half ass these Things just because they are rando, bag seeds of unknown strains. Thing #1 seems to have some cool coloring to it anyhow. I just hope these both don't turn out to be boys

That would make for an awkward sausage party. The premium beans I bought from the island across the sea are all feminized, and most of them are autos. I may need to find a larger, more permanent solution if I am to try for three at a time, which is more ideal for my situation as I am growing for my personal stock only and I am a moderate consumer when it is available.

 

[Kyu Maengun]

Night seven which concludes week one of this sickly experiment. Thing 1 and Thing 2 seem to be alright. They were both deathly dry and were craving hydration. I gave each a soak of the water that was in the humidity cup until slight runoff (roughly 10-20%). I also realized upon watering and it draining that here is a piece of peat moss in the bottom of each cup roughly an inch in thickness, so the transplant will need to happen on these Thing sooner rather than later. I am thinking around week 3 or 4 if the progress continues steadily I will implement Fox Farms nutes feed schedule as well as upgrade them to their new beds.

Tonight's quick snaps of Thing 1 and 2:

The Hurricane on blast:

Size#2 Smart Pot:

I really do think the Things are loving the cool breeze. It is keeping the temp range more manageable, however the relative humidity could definitely be higher. I'm just happy that they have made it to their first week of being alive! I was really tempted to germinate one of my premium beans so the Things could get a new neighbor but the size limitations inside the box pretty much forbid it.

***Edit*** I also purchased a bathroom digital scale but it seemed futile to try to weigh the light plastic cup with a small amount of dirt in it. I will have to try to find consistent objects to place onto the scale along with the soil cups so I can take the difference of the two weights and gauge how much the plants weigh. Another change I made was I switched the timer for the LED to be at 20/4 instead of 18/6. We will see over the next few weeks if this is well received by the things. They are certainly my guinea pigs.

 

[Noob4x4grow]

From what I remember reading somewhere, I can't remember where, but supposedly each gallon in pot size corresponds to height of the plant. I.E. 1 gallon=1ft plant 2 gallon=2ft plant. I'm probably oversimplifying things but I think its pretty spot from grows I had in the past. I hope that might help you a little with your planning.

 

[Kyu Maengun]

From what I remember reading somewhere, I can't remember where, but supposedly each gallon in pot size corresponds to height of the plant. I.E. 1 gallon=1ft plant 2 gallon=2ft plant. I'm probably oversimplifying things but I think its pretty spot from grows I had in the past. I hope that might help you a little with your planning.

I have heard that before two and I know that is likely approximation. I may attempt to top and/or LST these Things once they are further into veg. I also read that the smart pots allow bigger plants and yields than conventional pots. Either way I suppose this journal will be the proving grounds on if that saying holds water.

 

[dreadednorth]

looking good subbed

 

[Noob4x4grow]

Heck yeah Kyu! Experimenting is how we learn. I hope you kick some butt on this one!

 

[Kyu Maengun]

Thanks! I certainly hope so. This experiment with Thing 1 and Thing 2 is a bit of a gamble for the first few weeks until they show their sex since I didn't control the selection of seed. Time will tell friend.

 

[Kyu Maengun]

Update for the night.

Thing 1 and 2 are just past the 1 week since mark since sprouting. As you can see Thing 1 has a clear growing advantage over Thing 2, which is largely do to newbie over-watering (especially Thing 2).

The humidity is swinging between 36 and 51% and my temp range is from 64 to 79 since switching to 20-4 lights versus the previous 18-6.

Thing 1 is showing some slight droop but it also got a good soak last night. It may be just me but it seems bigger than this morning.

Thing 2 is also starting to catch up some.

A random shot of what I see when I open the Krunk Trunk

I think I am leaning towards topping above the third node of Thing 1 next Friday if the growth continues steadily. I should have nutes by then too so I can try implementing Fox Farms feed schedule from week 2; alternatively I may consider starting it off as if it were week 1 on the nute schedule (any experienced advice on this matter would be much appreciated)

 

[StillANoob]

FF nutes are good but can easily burn a seedling or young plant. I would wait a bit more to start feeding them to the Things, maybe only after you've transplanted and they are growing again in the new pot. And even then you can wait some more because the FF soil has good stuff in them. Sucks to wait, specially with that dirty dozen box winking at you but remember less is more

When it's (finally) time to feed them, remember to start at 1/4 of the recommended dose in FF schedule to see how the plant takes it and then start raising the nutes until full strength.

 

[Noob4x4grow]

I'm with Noob on this one. Less is more.

 

[Kyu Maengun]

FF nutes are good but can easily burn a seedling or young plant. I would wait a bit more to start feeding them to the Things, maybe only after you've transplanted and they are growing again in the new pot. And even then you can wait some more because the FF soil has good stuff in them. Sucks to wait, specially with that dirty dozen box winking at you but remember less is more

When it's (finally) time to feed them, remember to start at 1/4 of the recommended dose in FF schedule to see how the plant takes it and then start raising the nutes until full strength.

I'm with Noob on this one. Less is more.

Makes perfect sense. I can hear you thinking "Patience Young Padawan".

Well here is the Night 9 update. Thing 1 is 9 days old and Thing 2 is 8 days old.

Humidity and Temperature are staying fairly consistent. I may start spraying the Mylar walls with water to help boost the humidity some. Apart from that I am fairly content with the stability of it all. Thing 2 is leaning like a pimp however and I may need to do something to correct that soon. I have been giving the cups quarter turns anytime I pull them out and put them back in.

Photos:

Dr Seus Family shot.

 

[Noob4x4grow]

Great temps Kyu. I thought that was going to be an obstacle in this grow. Man, you're rocking it. I'm curious to see if spraying the mylar will raise your humidity. I can tell that I am going to have humidity problems, starting out, in my grow closet.

 

[Kyu Maengun]

Great temps Kyu. I thought that was going to be an obstacle in this grow. Man, you're rocking it. I'm curious to see if spraying the mylar will raise your humidity. I can tell that I am going to have humidity problems, starting out, in my grow closet.

Why thank you Noob4x4! I do have concerns that these will need to repot very soon. I can't quite tell where the roots are because the peat moss or what-have-you in the bottom of the cups doesn't allow me to really see through the drain holes. Thing 2's soil is showing that runoff took quite a bit away with it this last time. I am anxious to see what happens with that and what signs will indicate its time. I may just stick to repotting both of them at the start of week 2 regardless.

 

[Kyu Maengun]

Another question I was thinking of regarding this, is should I soak/moisten the soil before transferring as to not shock the roots so much or would it be better to wait a day or so and give them a light watering?

 

[Noob4x4grow]

I would wait until your stem is strong enough. I would say to wait at least until your plant is as tall as the cup or as tall as the height of your medium.

 

[Kyu Maengun]

I would wait until your stem is strong enough. I would say to wait at least until your plant is as tall as the cup or as tall as the height of your medium.

In that case Thing 1 is pretty close I would say. Thing 2 should stand a little taller before thinking about that

 

[Kyu Maengun]

Well here is the night 10 update:

Not a lot of excitement to report. I do have a concern on Thing 10 which was not well captured in tonight's quick snap shots. There is a slight light green tinge on two of the bottom most leaves. I have heard nutrient deficiencies, light burn, over/under watering and the roots hitting obstacles can all cause this. I am leaning towards the later half of those options based upon the shallowness of the soil and how tall Thing 1 has grown. I will keep an eye on it overnight and see if this is an issue in the morning. I may be repotting Thing 1 in the next few days.

One a side note I constructed a DIY filter to eliminate odors. I took a greek yogurt Cup (32 oz) and an egg drop soup container from Chinese takeout and drilled holes across both. The takeout cup is slightly more narrow with a taper than the greek yogurt cup so I took panty hose, pvc primer and pvc cement and combined them with aquarium charcoal in the gaps between: