Niwashi's First Grow

Niwashi

Well-Known Member
Hello 420 Magazine Forums!

Long time smoker first time grower. I have wanted to run a grow forever, but never felt the time was right. All of that changed when I was home for Xmas in a rec state and got a great bag from a friend that had one nug loaded with seeds. I hung onto the seeds for the 1500 mile ride home and that's where this story starts.

Day 1 12/29

I started by placing 20 seeds in a glass of bottled water.

Day 2 12/30

After 24 hours, the taproot popped out on 3 of them. At this point I moved all of the seeds into wet paper towel that I placed into a 1 Gallon Zip-lock bag.

Seeing the taproots motivated me to buy some gear. I picked up some Jiffy peat pellets kits with mini greenhouse locally and ordered the following items on Amazon:


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Day 3 12/31

The taproots are now visible on 5 of the seeds. One of the sprouts is way ahead of the others and no sign of life on the remaining seeds. I decided to hydrate 5 of the peat pellets and planted the 5 germinated seeds taproot down. The remaining seeds will stay in the paper towels for a few more days to see if anything happens. I then placed the Greenhouse in my windowsill, hopefully the sun will provide adequate heat and light until the small LED lamps come in next week.

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Now time to decide soil or hydro! Any suggestions? I am fairly technical and would like to incorporate a Raspberry Pi controller to handle light and fan control as well as watering and nutrient mix. Right now I am leaning towards a simple aeroponic setup as it does not require the same volume of water as DWC. I am however open to changing paths as I haven't bought any parts. Automation is my main concern because I have to travel a few days a month for work and want to be able to no worry about looking for a plant sitter or wondering there is enough moisture in the soil.

Thanks for reading!!

:allgood: Niwashi
 

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Day 4 1/1

Found some more seeds in under the seat of my car :) threw em in some water to see if they pop. I found five and two look like they might be viable. The peat pellets had sucked up all of the water so I added a bit more to the bottom of the tray, but the sprouts haven't poked out yet, should see them in the next day or two.
 
@JustMeds and @Mosspb welcome aboard! I've subbed to both of your grows!

Day 5 1/2

Just got home from work and one of the seeds has sprouted! The one that sprouted is the one that showed the most progress during germination. I moved the lone sprout to the other "greenhouse" and placed it uncovered under a florescent in my kitchen because my seedling lamp has not arrived yet. I re-covered the ones that have yet to sprout and placed them in warm, dark cabinet. I still have aprox 15 seeds soaking, one looks like its about to pop but if I don't see any action by Friday I'm going to pitch them.

In other news the 1500w LED King Grow Light arrived today. I also have a 1200w that arrived because I didn't realize that the amazon flash deal on the 1500 made it cheaper than the 1200w that I ordered first :) I will return that one tomorrow unless you guys think its useful to have hanging around. I was planning on getting another 1500w so I can have even coverage of the entire 4x4 for future grows when I am running more plants. Is there any benefit to having both a 1200w and a 1500w grow light on hand?

Also, would it be better to place the sprout under the 1500w at a distance, or keep it close to the single fluorescent like it is now?


And now for pics :)

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I'm just here to keep an eye on JustMeds. He shouldn't be left unattended.

In answer to your question, I'd leave the young one on the florescent for now. She won't need any more than that for a week or so.
If you can return the 1200 and get another 1500 for cheaper that would be your best choice too. Covering a canopy with mismatched wattage is a pain in the ass.
 
Cool, thank you both for the feedback!

@Scrogdawg I totally agree with the logic on miss matched light. The 1500w isn't on flash special any longer, but it's only a $25 difference so I might as well :)

Do you guys think that 2x1500w lamps are required to properly fill a 4*4 if I wanted to run a full tent in the future, or if I could get away with one?
 
Ok, not to stir the pot, but I have a question that I have not been able to find a solid answer to.

Light Cycle :)

Am I better off...
1) keeping my little ladies(hopefully all ladies :) ) under the light 24hrs a day, until it's time flip to 12/12 for flowering.

2) 24hr light Cycle for 7-14 days, then flip to 18/6 for the rest of veg then 12/12 for flowering

3) 18/6 for seedlings and Veg then 12/12 for flowering.


....and now for a quick update

Day 6 1/3 (AM update)

No further sprouts overnight but hopefully there will be when I get home from work. Our lone sprout continues to drive upwards, I will be keeping her under a 34w "warm white" GE flourescant 24hrs a day untill I hear different from the peanut gallery in regards to my question above :)

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I'm not sure theres a wrong answer for your lighting question. Personally, I do 18/6 through veg and 12/12 through flower. Others have success with the different options you've mentioned. No one has ever run away with a grow because they've used one option over another. It just boils down to growers choice I believe. Pick the one you feel most at home with and run with it.
 
@Scrogdawg thank you for the feedback!

Day 6 1/3 PM update

Got home from work and our sprout is starting to open up. She's a little yellow/brown on the tip, not sure if this is from the light or that she's just starting to produce chlorophyll and it hasn't made it way to the tip yet.

No one else has fully sprouted but I brushed back some of the dirt, and the seeds are definitely pushing up.

I checked out both batches of soaking seeds, and another one from the fist one popped. Going to move her to a peat pellet as soon as the pellet is done hydrating :)
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I will ride along with you Niwashi, and keep an eye on SD & JM...:biglaugh:

I would suggest Coco Coir as your first medium, its very forgiving to over watering which seems to get first timers in trouble with soil...Hydro is also a good choice, I run a homemade RDWC for my first run along with coco and did pretty good with both, I guess its down to how much $$$ you want to invest.

You will like the King Plus, I am running 2 1200's and they haven't skipped a beat and will be shining down on the 3 grow soon.:goodjob:
 
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