Meffa's First Online Journal: 8-Ball Kush, Vanilla Kush, Aurora Indica & Peyote Gorilla

meffa

Well-Known Member
Hi Everyone! I have two grows under my belt (one indoor, one outdoor), and currently one in flower and one in veg. I'm going to journal the grow that's in veg and use some knowledge that I have from the ladies that are in flower, as I'm growing a couple of the same strains. This is going to be an organic soil grow. I'm going to try and get the formatting down with entering the information, but please feel free to critique anything you feel like.

Strains
8-Ball Kush (2)
Vanilla Kush
Aurora Indica
Peyote Gorilla

Hardware
4'x4' tent
200W LED
1 Tower Fan
Intake w/hepa filter and Exhaust fans
Custom made lazy susan to rotate plants for easy access. This was worth every penny!

Soil
FFHF in solo cups
FFOF in 1gl fabric pots
Coast of Maine Growers Mix for future up-pots
Added to FFOF when moved to 1gl pots: EWC, Perlite, Neem Seed Meal, Kelp Meal, Mycorrhizal, Geoflora veg nutes,

Temps are 78-80 and I'm exhausting when the humidity hits 65%

I have 8-Ball Kush, Aurora Indica, and Peyote Gorilla in flower in my 4x8 tent and am hoping to use what I've learned to help these ladies flourish. All were topped once.

8-Ball Kush has been by far the easiest to maintain. It's very compact and uniform in height. Peyote Gorilla has been a little finicky but not bad. Aurora Indica seems more susceptible to PM but not too crazy. I don't have any experience with Vanilla Kush so we'll how that goes.

These plants were moved to soil (paper towel germination) on Dec 5th. I'll post better pics in upcoming updates.

They all seem happy at this point and I'm excited to go through an organic grow from start to finish.

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Today is 31 days since these girls were moved to soil after germinating in a paper towel. I watered all plants today with an aerated compost tea I've had going that contains EWC, Silica, and Plant Magic @1/3 strength. The previous watering was 5 days ago on 31-Dec-2020.

I'm impressed at how long they went between watering since they're in 1gl fabric pots. This is my first time growing with fabric pots indoors, and with this being an organic grow I believe I need to not let the soil dry out quite so much. They weren't begging for water but I could tell they were ready. Leaves were just starting to look limp and the pots were rock hard and lightweight. Temps are pretty steady at 78-80F with r/h controlled at 65%. I need to get better figuring out how to water without getting a lot of run-off. These fabric pots are great but I think it makes it a little bit more difficult.

I plan to top these twice using Nebula Haze's method. On my first grow I topped twice but I don't recall if I ended up using that exact method. I counted nodes yesterday and they're between 3-5. I start my node count at the first node that has a full set of true leaves, 7 fingers for these ladies. Am I doing that right? I hope so because that's what I'm going with!

I've foliar sprayed a few times with fulvic. kelp, and silica and the plants seem to love it. I got into foliar spraying a few weeks ago with this mix when the grow I currently have in flower needed some help. It could have been coincidence but the plants that were hurting all recovered really quickly. I'm guessing it was a combination of several things that needed attention. Since I have the products bought and I'm only seeing good things I figure I'll continue using it.

The temp and humidity pic was taken after the tent was open for a bit. I think a couple of the plants were suffering from a deficiency early on, but several nodes later all growth looks happy and I'm not seeing any signs of stress.
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These ladies were watered two days ago and they seem as happy as can be. These photos are shortly after I foliar fed with fulvic/kelp/silica. I read a lot of folks removing their plants from the grow area to spray, but I've been doing it in the tent and everything seems fine, though I do clean up any overspray. I haven't noticed any pest issues, at least not any excessive pest issues. I see an occasional fungus gnat, but in my first grow they were much more of a problem. I used SNS on the plants that are in flower, which worked great and I'll use that on these girls in their final pot if fungus gnats become an issue.

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It's been three days since the last watering and these ladies are dried out again. I'm still getting used to fabric pots indoors and trying to thoroughly water without a lot of runoff. I watered all plants with the same aerated compost tea I've had going that contains EWC, Silica, and Plant Magic @1/3 strength that I've had going since the last watering.

When these ladies hit the flower tent I'm planning to put them on some closet wire rack that I was using to hang stalks from after harvest. I built a drying setup in a dedicated 4x4 tent that has pullout racks, so might as well put these racks to use. I'm planning to elevate the racks using 3/4" plywood strips that I have and will use 3 pieces stacked which will be perfect so I can slide the saucers in and out without having to move the plants every time I water. They're eventually going to be in 7gal fabric pots and not having to move those around will be a welcome relief to my back!

Aurora Indica seems a little fussy, not sure exactly what's going on but it may be sensitive to too much nitrogen. The tips of the leaves are clawing downward a bit. I have an Aurora in flower and she's been a little disappointing. I may cut her loose in a week or two if the other four are kicking butt over her. The node spacing is a little lanky compared to the others as well. I'm in a basement which is great this time of year because it's easy to control the temp and humidity, but my height is limited.

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Yesterday I removed all lower growth up to the first true node, which I believe to be the first node with a full/true fan leaf. I decided to clean up the lower growth ahead of topping to spread the shock out a bit, and today they look as happy as can be!

I have two 8-Ball Kush and noticed today that one has 7-finger fans and on has 9-finger fans. The one with 9 fingers is a little bigger and appears to be a bit more energetic.

It's been three days since their last watering and they were pretty dried out again so I watered today. It's been two weeks since they were moved to these 1gl fabric pots and I'm hoping they're ready to be topped later this week.

I mixed GeoFlora organic nutrients into the soil when I moved them to their current pots and I top-dressed right before todays watering. I added silica and Roots Organics Elemental to the water, as well as vitamin c powder to help with any chlorine/chloramine. It takes a bit to get the Roots Organics Elemental to dissolve, so I added that yesterday and agitated really well and put a couple of air stones into the bucket to help. I left this overnight to dissolve and gave it a good mixing today prior to use. I bought a paddle mixer that attaches to a drill and that has worked out great.

Pics aren't the greatest but I don't really want to take them out of the tent just to photograph. I will if I encounter issues that I need assistance with, but for now all pics will be from within the tent.

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Yesterday I removed all lower growth up to the first true node, which I believe to be the first node with a full/true fan leaf. I decided to clean up the lower growth ahead of topping to spread the shock out a bit, and today they look as happy as can be!

I have two 8-Ball Kush and noticed today that one has 7-finger fans and on has 9-finger fans. The one with 9 fingers is a little bigger and appears to be a bit more energetic.

It's been three days since their last watering and they were pretty dried out again so I watered today. It's been two weeks since they were moved to these 1gl fabric pots and I'm hoping they're ready to be topped later this week.

I mixed GeoFlora organic nutrients into the soil when I moved them to their current pots and I top-dressed right before todays watering. I added silica and Roots Organics Elemental to the water, as well as vitamin c powder to help with any chlorine/chloramine. It takes a bit to get the Roots Organics Elemental to dissolve, so I added that yesterday and agitated really well and put a couple of air stones into the bucket to help. I left this overnight to dissolve and gave it a good mixing today prior to use. I bought a paddle mixer that attaches to a drill and that has worked out great.

Pics aren't the greatest but I don't really want to take them out of the tent just to photograph. I will if I encounter issues that I need assistance with, but for now all pics will be from within the tent.

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Beautiful garden my friend.
 
Today is Friday Jan 15th 2021 and these ladies have been in soil for 41 days. I moved all five to 3gl fabric pots yesterday and used Coast of Maine's Platinum Growers Mix. I added EWC, Perlite, Neem Seed Meal, Kelp Meal, Mycorrhizal, and Roots Organic Elemental to the mix.

I'm not sure if it's an illusion with the larger pots, but these ladies look extremely happy today! I'm hoping to top soon, possibly this weekend.

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Today is Jan 17 2021 and these ladies are 43 days old. Today all 5 ladies received a hair cut above the third node. They look so naked afterwards but it's for their own good, and the right thing to do with my limited height. I read it's ideal to time a topping with watering, kind of like I'm sorry I just cut your head off so here's a drink, but these ladies aren't due and there's plenty of moisture in the soil for them to get what they need. Even still I felt bad I couldn't give them a drink so I foliar fed with fulvic/kelp/silica as a small gesture

I'm helping a friend along with his first indoor grow and took some clones for his next run.

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After topping all of the plants yesterday, today I tied the nodes down with some soft plant tie material. Now's the time to point these ladies in the direction I want them to grow.

The next few days should be hands off for the most part. I moved the plants to larger pots 4 days ago and the soil was fully saturated. I packed the soil in pretty good to these 3gl fabric pots and I couldn't get over how heavy they were. My plan is to move them to 7gl and I can only imagine how heavy those will be. For watering I confirmed the way to go with organic soil as well as fabric pots is to take your time and water just until runoff, and let them sit in the runoff for ~30 minutes and by then they should have sucked everything back up. If I can get away from lifting plants and dumping trays my growing life would be a whole lot easier! I'm limited in height so having a pull-out tray system for runoff isn't really possible as it'll take up precious inches, and this saves a little by keeping them right on the trays. Win-Win!

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Today is Jan 20th and these ladies are 46 days old. It's been 3 days since they were topped, and 2 days since I pulled their nodes down with soft tie material. I like taking pics every few days to catalog their growth. They've grown a little bit in the last few days and are turning upwards towards the light. This is good news as they seem to be handling their haircut just fine.

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Today is Jan 23rd and these gals are 49 days old, and it's been 6 days since they were topped. I watered all plants today with RO water that I bought at a local vending type dispensary. It's 25cents per gallon. I ordered an inline filter for my tap water and will use the RO until it arrives.

These girls were moved to their 3gl fabric pots 9 days ago and today was their first watering since the move up. I'm trying to read the plants in addition to picking up the pots to feel the weight. Last night I thought I noticed a slight droop and the pots were noticeably lighter, though I wouldn't exactly say they were light, just not as heavy as when I moved them over.

I added silica, humic acid, kelp, and coconut water to the water. I used 3gl and there was slight runoff on most of the plants that got sucked back up really quickly, and one appears to have more runoff than the others. I'm going to give it time to see if it gets sucked up.

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I've been reviewing my first journal that I hand wrote to try and guesstimate timelines for their second/final topping, when to up-pot to their final 7gl pots, and when to flip to flower.

My first grow was 18 days between the first and second topping, which puts this next topping date around Feb 4th. I waited 3 weeks between the final top and flip to flower during my first grow, so that puts my expected flip to flower at around Feb 25th. So somewhere between Feb 4th and Feb 25th is when I'll move them into their final pot. I want to give them 7-10 days after transplanting into their final home before flipping to flower, which puts the final transplant date around Feb 15th-18th. This assumes similar growth rates to my first grow, and recalling my first grow there was some serious nutrient burn going on that delayed things. At this point in the grow I'd say I'm leaps and bounds ahead of where I was compared to the first grow both in terms of plant health and my own knowledge.

Upcoming Planned Events

Feb 4th - Second/Final topping.

Feb 15-18 - Transplant to final 7gl fabric pots (currently in 3gl)
Feb 25th - Flip lights to 12/12 to initiate flowering :cheer:

9 weeks from flip brings us to April 29th for harvest. :yummy:

My first harvest was June 15th and I do not want to go anywhere near that late as it's just too warm!
 
Today is Jan 26th and these ladies are 52 days old. I tightened the nodes down again last night with the plant tie and they busted right out of it by morning. They had their first haircut 9 days ago and I'd say they're back on track. As a reward for being such troopers I doubled the lighting (2x200w LED) and have also been supplementing Co2. From the looks of it they seem to like the extra boost. The extra light adds needed heat to allow the Co2 and LED's to work together. Raising temps to 85F minimum is needed to take advantage of the intense LED's and allow for better Co2 absorption.

My first grow was filled with ups and downs and I still was able to produce some kickass hooch, so I decided I should at least try to replicate the environment from that first grow. I had Co2 going all through veg and I know a lot of peeps think it's a waste, but I have the gear and it's relatively cheap to run so why not. :ganjamon:

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8-Ball Kush
 
Today is Friday Jan 29th and these girls are 55 days old. I just watered all plants with RO water. It had been 6 days since their last watering, and they had gone 9 days before that. They went 9 days without watering due to being topped and not drinking much for a few days after, but they're back to growing and drinking and I expect 6 days between watering will probably turn to 5 or 4 next time out. The tent is also a bit warmer with the extra light and Co2 going.

Fungus gnats are mounting a charge! I have GNATROL WDG BTI and SNS209 on order and will use which ever gets here first. The yellow sticky traps are doing a pretty good job in the meantime.

The clones are showing pretty good roots and I'll probably pot some this weekend. I took these for a friend I'm helping along, but it's so tempting to say what's one more plant if I keep it small and tuck it in somewhere! I have Peyote Gorilla in flower right now and she's gorgeous with lots of frost to the point where it looks like velvet, and the color is just spectacular. If I were to keep one Peyote Gorilla would be it!

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8-Ball Kush
 
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