My Very First Growperation!

[leopot]

Hi you guys!

I have already found a lot of great information on this forum.
For my first grow, I got myself a 3'x3'x6' tent with reflective interior (got it for 20 bucks from a friend of a friend, yaaay!)
I plan on buying the Mars Hydro TSW2000. I don't have the time to DIY a quantum board. I think this light is a solid option for a beginner grow (ease of setup/use, relatively efficient LEDs and around 500w HPS equivalent, power consumption is ~300w, for less than 300 buckeroos...).
If you have any (non diy) alternatives, I'd love to hear them.
For ventilation, I would connect 2x200mm case fans (Thermaltake Pure 20) which run at 800rpm, around 30db max. and move around 130cfm. Those would suck in air at the bottom.
At the top of the tent I will install a third Pure 20 for extraction, connected to a 140 - 210 cfm carbon filter.
My thinking here is, that the slightly oversized carbon filter will handle the humidity better and have a longer lifespan...
I want to have a light upward draft without creating a vacuum in the tent.

In total this setup would come in under 500€ including shipping+tax.

I am looking to grow 6 plants in ~11l (3 gal.) pots with ScrOG method.
As for my first harvest, I am hoping for around 200-250g (around 8oz.)
As far as strains/nutes go I will just ask at my local growshop.

I would love to hear your opinions/critique of my planned setup. I just don't want to buy weed anymore, not knowing if there are any toxins in it....

Thank you for reading and thank you guys in advance for any and all feedback!

Have a great day!

 

[StoneOtter]

Hi leopot, sounds like a fine start. I run one of those Mars lights and it grows well. Welcome!

 

[Ycfro]

Welcome leopot, Your ready to go, sounds like you know what your doin but you can fill that space with 1 or 2 plants.
Dont get me wrong,, I say go for whatever ya think, its just that a couple plants would be easier to deal with under the screen and your yield shouldnt suffer.
good luck...

 

[leopot]

Thanks stoneotter and Ycfro for the quick feedback!
Really didn't expect any replies that fast.
I saw a journal with a similar setup on this forum. First Grow - 3x3' Tent - Soil - Mars 1200W LED
He had 8 plants and got great yields.
But maybe I'll start with 4 plants. I'll ask when buying seedlings how much room is recommended per plant for whatever strain I choose.
I'm also considering adding some normal LED bulbs (with the right spectrum) in the corners underneath the canopy for flowering. Since I've read that LEDs struggle with light penetration...

I'll document this grow and start posting a journal when the grow is up and running.

 

[PK]

Welcome to @leopot
looking forward to see your success!

 

[leopot]

Hey guys! It has been a while. My project was delayed due to time constraints and the whole pandemic thing. I also decided against training my plants during my first grow (again time constraints...).
I bought 3 seedlings and got 1 for free (Black Domina, Jack Herer, Bubble Gum and Cherry Queen (free).
I bought organic pre-fertilized (for 3 weeks veg) soil and for nutes I got the Plagron Natural set.
I already know that I definitely won't buy pre-fertilized soil again, it was very alkaline and over-fertilized. First 3 weeks I watered with pH ~6.4. I then measured soil pH (which was at 8.4!!!!). I tried to stay away from any drastic measures (less is more approach) and just watered with pH ~5.8-5.9 measured again 1 week later (when I started flowering) and pH was at 7.2 (much better, not perfekt) I continued watering around pH 6.0, going to measure soil pH again tonight.
When I started flowering I did a little bit of trimming around the bottom of my plants as well as some bigger fan leaves that blocked light. Started with the nutes at around 60% of the recommend dosage. I had some problems with powdery white mildew, used a water/milk spray which worked until now. I am now on day 23 of flowering. Around day 20 some leaves started turning yellow so I raised the light up a bit (it was a little bit below 12 inches over the canopy, now at ~14.5). The yellowing got worse the last few days and PWM came back worse than before. Humidity is actually on the low end in my grow space (usually 45-55%).
Sadly I haven't taken a lot of pictures so far, but I will post the few that I did.

As I said, I will test soil pH again tonight and maybe flush if necessary.

Pictures of yellowing leaves are below, I will upload some older pictures as well later on.

It looks to me like magnesium deficiency and/or light-burn. I'd love to hear from some more experienced growers what the problem might be in your opinion (I am a complete and utter newbie not only in growing cannabis but growing plants in general...).

I'll try to give regular updates from now on.

A wonderful day to everyone reading this and thank you guys in advance for any tips

*In the first picture the leaf looks almost a little bit red, but that's the light/camera combo. The second and third are pretty color-accurate.

 

[StoneOtter]

Welcome back Leopot! Glad you made it! Bring on the regular pics man. My garden gets yellow leaves in flower some grows.

 

[leopot]

Strains: Black Domina (BD), Jack Herer (JH), Bubble Gum (BG) und Cherry Queen (CQ)

Some more pictures:

Pic. 1 ~ day 2 In their new home.

Pic. 2 ~ day 6 in their new pots (except cherry queen, got her unexpectedly for free and didn't have a pot, plus all stores were closed...)

Pic. 3 ~ day 11 BD front, JH back

Pic. 4 ~ day 11 BG front, CQ back (with bigger pot)

Pic. 5 PWM at day 1 of flowering

Pic. 6 day 3 of flowering BD back left, JH back right, CQ front left, BG front right.

 

[leopot]

Thanks StoneOtter!
I'll post again tonight when the lights are on and I have tested soil pH.
Other than some yellow leaves and that damn PWM they look pretty happy in my opinion.

 

[bluter]

soil ph tells you nothing.
it's only your inputs that matter.

not a bad start at all. you should get a journal going.

 

[leopot]

soil ph tells you nothing.
it's only your inputs that matter.

What I meant is measuring run-off water right after watering, though I don't know if that is more valuable information than soil pH.

 

[bluter]

run off ph will tell you nothing.
it's only your inputs that matter.

 

[StoneOtter]

When we use a soil that requires phing, we ph the water after feed is added. If we think there's a ph issue then we go to a slurry test. That uses soil in the test. Are you treating the powdery mildew?
Love the ones you picked!

 

[leopot]

When we use a soil that requires phing, we ph the water after feed is added. If we think there's a ph issue then we go to a slurry test. That uses soil in the test. Are you treating the powdery mildew?
Love the ones you picked!

I pH correct the water when all nutrients are already mixed in. I testet soil with a chemical test, one of those long metal rod analog soil meters and run-off water. All measurements pointing to the same values (chemical test and soil meter dont give exact numbers, only a color-scale. At least not the ones I have...)
I sprayed the affected plants with milk-water mix. That worked and I didn't see any PWM for about 2 weeks, it's back since yesterday. Today I sprayed them with fertized water (vita race, ~4ml/L) which also seems to help. I'm afraid I might need a fungicide if it returns again...

I've already learned a lot with my first grow and am really looking forward to putting it into practice on my second grow.
Thanks, I chose BD because it's a wonderfully strong indica and JH is supposed to be a really uplifting sativa (never tried it before, really excited for it). BG and CQ are both hybrids and I mainly got those two to gather more experience on my first grow.

 

[StoneOtter]

I pH correct the water when all nutrients are already mixed in. I testet soil with a chemical test, one of those long metal rod analog soil meters and run-off water. All measurements pointing to the same values (chemical test and soil meter dont give exact numbers, only a color-scale. At least not the ones I have...)
I sprayed the affected plants with milk-water mix. That worked and I didn't see any PWM for about 2 weeks, it's back since yesterday. Today I sprayed them with fertized water (vita race, ~4ml/L) which also seems to help. I'm afraid I might need a fungicide if it returns again...
I'm going to start a journal, as @bluter suggested and post a link to it here.
I've already learned a lot with my first grow and am really looking forward to putting it into practice on my second grow.
Thanks, I chose BD because it's a wonderfully strong indica and JH is supposed to be a really uplifting sativa (never tried it before, really excited for it). BG and CQ are both hybrids and I mainly got those two to gather more experience on my first grow.

Ok then.

 

[MochaBud]

I pH correct the water when all nutrients are already mixed in. I testet soil with a chemical test, one of those long metal rod analog soil meters and run-off water. All measurements pointing to the same values (chemical test and soil meter dont give exact numbers, only a color-scale. At least not the ones I have...)
I sprayed the affected plants with milk-water mix. That worked and I didn't see any PWM for about 2 weeks, it's back since yesterday. Today I sprayed them with fertized water (vita race, ~4ml/L) which also seems to help. I'm afraid I might need a fungicide if it returns again...
I'm going to start a journal, as @bluter suggested and post a link to it here.
I've already learned a lot with my first grow and am really looking forward to putting it into practice on my second grow.
Thanks, I chose BD because it's a wonderfully strong indica and JH is supposed to be a really uplifting sativa (never tried it before, really excited for it). BG and CQ are both hybrids and I mainly got those two to gather more experience on my first grow.

Keep using the milk, mix 3 parts milk to 1 part water, and spray till dripping, spay with water to rinse off the next day, and repeat as necessary

 

[leopot]

Keep using the milk, mix 3 parts milk to 1 part water, and spray till dripping, spay with water to rinse off the next day, and repeat as necessary

Thank you for the amazing welcome, I already love it here!
I did hit report and ask for the post to be moved. However I just read How to Make a Grow Journal and decided to make a new post there with a proper title and structure.
I hope the reviewing Moderator reads this, should I report it again and give the info?

 

[leopot]

Heres the Journal!
Thanks again for the great introduction on the forum and I'm looking forward to learning from you guys!