Noob's First Grow: Indoor, Coco, 4 Plants

[The Bard]

That’s awesome Bard and those Maple Shortbread cookies sound like a winner! If you don’t mind sharing the recipe I would love to try them out! I’ve just finished making a big batch of Canna Coffee Creamer if your interested as well! It’s absolutely fantastic for the morning Wake’n’Bake!!

Happy to share....

Dough:
40 grams powdered sugar
165 grams all-purpose flour
1 TBSP pure maple sugar (basically dehydrated real maple syrup)
100g infused coco oil - chilled - broken/chopped into small pieces
Maple syrup as needed.

Glaze:
50 grams powdered sugar, sifted to remove any lumps
Maple syrup as needed

For dough, put all dry ingredients in a food processor with metal blade. Pulse to mix and break up any lumps. Add coconut oil chunks. Pulse food processor until coconut oil chunks are broken down, and mixture has a sandy texture. Add 1 TBSP maple syrup and pulse. Keep adding maple syrup in small amounts until mixture just holds together. Use as little syrup as possible, or else dough will fall apart in the oven. Shape into desired size cookies and freeze (they will spread less in oven if cooked from frozen). Bake on parchment lined cookie sheet at 325F until just golden around edges, about 20 minutes. Allow to cool. Make a maple glaze by drizzling maple syrup into powdered sugar and stirring to remove any lumps. Don't add too much syrup, just until thin enough to drizzle. You can either drizzle the glaze over cooled cookies, or dip them to cover completely.

Hope you enjoy... might go nicely with the Canna Coffee!

 

[The Bard]

Dude, I got to tell ya, you have a hell of a following here for a first journal. The talent level as far as coco growers is at its finest with the ones you have following. Just don't over think things and don't make the mistake I ran thru of feeling embarrassed if things go south. Show the good with the bad and holler for help and these guys will get you a great first grow.

I know! It is like all the celebrities I have been reading about on this site have all descended here!! I don't know what I did to deserve the attention and support, but I will take it, with great gratitude. Have to be honest... a bit of performance anxiety too. Ha!

 

[The Bard]

Hey Bard! I’ll tag along as well. Gonna go back and catch up on what ya got going! Welcome to the best community of growers on the line! Lol

Welcome! You are another grower/poster that I have been admiring from a distance on other threads/journals. Flattered to have you join in here.

 

[Dutchman1990]

Happy to share....

Dough:
40 grams powdered sugar
165 grams all-purpose flour
1 TBSP pure maple sugar (basically dehydrated real maple syrup)
100g infused coco oil - chilled - broken/chopped into small pieces
Maple syrup as needed.

Glaze:
50 grams powdered sugar, sifted to remove any lumps
Maple syrup as needed

For dough, put all dry ingredients in a food processor with metal blade. Pulse to mix and break up any lumps. Add coconut oil chunks. Pulse food processor until coconut oil chunks are broken down, and mixture has a sandy texture. Add 1 TBSP maple syrup and pulse. Keep adding maple syrup in small amounts until mixture just holds together. Use as little syrup as possible, or else dough will fall apart in the oven. Shape into desired size cookies and freeze (they will spread less in oven if cooked from frozen). Bake on parchment lined cookie sheet at 325F until just golden around edges, about 20 minutes. Allow to cool. Make a maple glaze by drizzling maple syrup into powdered sugar and stirring to remove any lumps. Don't add too much syrup, just until thin enough to drizzle. You can either drizzle the glaze over cooled cookies, or dip them to cover completely.

Hope you enjoy... might go nicely with the Canna Coffee!

Oh it’s going down! I’ll be sure to post how they turn out! Thanks Bard!!

 

[The Bard]

Oh it’s going down! I’ll be sure to post how they turn out! Thanks Bard!!

Excellent! When I have some time, I want to get back over to the edibles forum to post thanks to a number of folks who inspired me in my recipe development (which includes you). I thought I might share there an approach I figured out for decarb and infusing. Sous vide based... no smell at all, and really precise temperature control. Since I cook a lot, both for work and for fun, I have the vacuum sealer and sous vide machine. It was cool to get to use them for a different project.

 

[TheMadDabber]

I made it. Not sure I'm more flattered or surprised, but thanks for looking through my journals!

Based on the amount of research it sounds like you have done you should do great. I'm pretty busy with work but any time you @ me I'll get the notification and am happy to offer my 2 pennies.

If you dont mind me asking how far above your plants are those lights? I veg under a "300" watt Chinese led at 4 feet and between growth and up pot they end up at about 3 foot to 40 inches away. I only ask cause they looked a little low.

Everything else is spot on and you should do great with the support you have!


I'd also like to say


To the best forum community on the information super highway!

 

[Asesino85]

I know! It is like all the celebrities I have been reading about on this site have all descended here!! I don't know what I did to deserve the attention and support, but I will take it, with great gratitude. Have to be honest... a bit of performance anxiety too. Ha!

You said the magic word... quadline.

 

[The Bard]

I made it. Not sure I'm more flattered or surprised, but thanks for looking through my journals!

Based on the amount of research it sounds like you have done you should do great. I'm pretty busy with work but any time you @ me I'll get the notification and am happy to offer my 2 pennies.

If you dont mind me asking how far above your plants are those lights? I veg under a "300" watt Chinese led at 4 feet and between growth and up pot they end up at about 3 foot to 40 inches away. I only ask cause they looked a little low.

Everything else is spot on and you should do great with the support you have!


I'd also like to say


To the best forum community on the information super highway!

Thanks for the nice welcome. Yeah, I've done some reading up... I get kind of obsessed with new hobbies and spend a lot of time researching. The drawback is that I also jump into things, and then as the research continues, I realize I should have done some things differently from the get-go. Ah well, learning process at work.

To answer your question... I have three "1000W" LEDs running right now. The specs say that they actually draw 180-200W, but I don't have a way to measure (or understand, yet) the actual light output at the canopy level. I had just one of the units running when I had all four plants in solo cups, and I had the light what I thought was very close, about 10-12" above the leaves. I didn't have any trouble with light burn or drying out or anything. Lots of (indirect) air circulation - fans in the tent, but not directly blowing on plants. Once in a while a leaf or two will jiggle a bit from the breeze. However, I do think that my plants were/are really "flat" - hardly any height at all, but lots of leaves and nice growth. The tip of one lower leaf (on the Girl Scout, which is the largest plant right now) had a touch of brown on it. I will take a photo if that helps. But I think that might be excess nutrient related, rather than light burn? @Derbybud mentioned that he thought the leaf colour was a bit too dark green based on the photos I posted, also suggesting too much nutrient (nitrogen, I think?). The highest leaves on all the plants are all fine - no burn spots or anything. My understanding is that the highest leaves will show signs of light burn, as they are closest to the light source?

When I up-potted them this afternoon, I fired up the other two units, so all 3x1000W are now running - I figured since the bigger pots are now spread out, they would need the additional light. But I did raise the height of all three LEDs since the new pots are taller than the solo cups were. I just ran down to the basement to measure, and it is 19" from the top of the coir to the bottom surface of the lights. Based on your question, I'm guessing that is too close? I can certainly raise the lights some more, but if the leaves aren't getting burned, is there a reason to? I was thinking that the most light that they could get (without damage) the better? Not arguing, just curious to understand better. Sounds like you are super-busy, so appreciate your taking the time to pass by here as you can. Thank you!

 

[The Bard]

You said the magic word... quadline.

Magic indeed!

 

[TheMadDabber]

So you are correct. More light is better until up until a certain point. Really the only way to know for sure is a par meter. But in veg it's not necessary to blast them with too much. Mainly because in nature you have to imagine the plant having some cover from other foliage. Naturally seeds sprout in spring during cloudy moist rainy seasons, when there is plenty of light but not an over abundance. The plant is establishing roots now not trying to worry too much about converting light into energy, like it will for buds in flower. I asked because while derby saw nutes I immediately thought heat. The leaves have a tiny wrinkle to them.

The other reason they dont bes to be that close is because your lights likely have secondary lenses, which focus and intensify the spread of light .

As you mentioned you've done an awesome job with the environment so they are just fine but that extra distance will make any fluctuations far more forgiving, without costing you rate of growth.

And by all means in flower with a fan between the bud tops and light source you can get them pretty close. But I think veg requires only something like 600 ppfd for optimal growth I'm sure @Pennywise has the exact number.

Hope that helps. I guess my short answer is your not gaining much as your risking by havinging them closer than 2 feet in veg. Hope that explained it? Again everything looks really good and I'm not saying what your doing is wrong, but a but more distance could help if your climate gets outta whack for any reason.

 

[The Bard]

So you are correct. More light is better until up until a certain point. Really the only way to know for sure is a par meter. But in veg it's not necessary to blast them with too much. Mainly because in nature you have to imagine the plant having some cover from other foliage. Naturally seeds sprout in spring during cloudy moist rainy seasons, when there is plenty of light but not an over abundance. The plant is establishing roots now not trying to worry too much about converting light into energy, like it will for buds in flower. I asked because while derby saw nutes I immediately thought heat. The leaves have a tiny wrinkle to them.

The other reason they dont bes to be that close is because your lights likely have secondary lenses, which focus and intensify the spread of light .

As you mentioned you've done an awesome job with the environment so they are just fine but that extra distance will make any fluctuations far more forgiving, without costing you rate of growth.

And by all means in flower with a fan between the bud tops and light source you can get them pretty close. But I think veg requires only something like 600 ppfd for optimal growth I'm sure @Pennywise has the exact number.

Hope that helps. I guess my short answer is your not gaining much as your risking by havinging them closer than 2 feet in veg. Hope that explained it? Again everything looks really good and I'm not saying what your doing is wrong, but a but more distance could help if your climate gets outta whack for any reason.

Awesome answers and explanation back!! I will need to go exploring PAR and ppfd etc., as those are new terms to me. I didn't know about the wrinkled leaves as a sign of potential problems, so learned from that as well. What you shared makes perfect sense, and I will raise the lights in just a moment. I hope that in my last reply I didn't come off as disagreeable or stubborn. I was just more curious to understand "the why" behind what I was supposed to do.

Another question related to light intensity, for you, @Derbybud or anyone else that can help...

I was just reading Derby's journal, and there was a pic here, post #300. Derby mentions in that post that the plants are 12 days old. Mine are about 10 days older (I think today is day 22 since germination), and much shorter, less spread out. Is it possible that because the light was so intense that they aren't reaching/stretching for the light? Or am I counting days wrong? Or some other limiting factor holding my plants back?

Thank you!

 

[TheMadDabber]

That could be the case. I was gonna be lazy and ask about humidity but I see you have a fancy thing. That's soo cool. Anyways it may be your frequency of watering as well. With the light that close you would want to be watering those little solos like twice a day minimum. I would do two things if you feel froggy.... Set the lights at 30 inches above the tips of the plants. And see if you cant get the RH up a tad further. That to me is a recipe for success!

 

[The Bard]

Fantastic, thanks. The InkBird thing is pretty cool - it measures humidity and temperature, and has two separate electric outlets. One will turn a heater or AC unit on/off (depending on if you want cooling or warming) - I have that plug connected to my exhaust fan. It turns the fan on when the temperature gets above 75F, and the fan sucks in cooler room temperature air. The other outlet is driven by a desired RH level - so you can connect a humidifier or dehumidifier. I have my little humidifier connected to it. I have it set to turn on the humidifier if the RH goes below 50%. I actually bought the InkBird unit for work (charcuterie) but it works great for me in this application. As I recall, it was surprisingly affordable, given what it does.

 

[Pennywise]

So you are correct. More light is better until up until a certain point. Really the only way to know for sure is a par meter. But in veg it's not necessary to blast them with too much. Mainly because in nature you have to imagine the plant having some cover from other foliage. Naturally seeds sprout in spring during cloudy moist rainy seasons, when there is plenty of light but not an over abundance. The plant is establishing roots now not trying to worry too much about converting light into energy, like it will for buds in flower. I asked because while derby saw nutes I immediately thought heat. The leaves have a tiny wrinkle to them.

The other reason they dont bes to be that close is because your lights likely have secondary lenses, which focus and intensify the spread of light .

As you mentioned you've done an awesome job with the environment so they are just fine but that extra distance will make any fluctuations far more forgiving, without costing you rate of growth.

And by all means in flower with a fan between the bud tops and light source you can get them pretty close. But I think veg requires only something like 600 ppfd for optimal growth I'm sure @Pennywise has the exact number.

Hope that helps. I guess my short answer is your not gaining much as your risking by havinging them closer than 2 feet in veg. Hope that explained it? Again everything looks really good and I'm not saying what your doing is wrong, but a but more distance could help if your climate gets outta whack for any reason.

600 ppfd is plenty of light for veg, you can go up to 1000 ppfd in flower without co2. I usually run 300-500 ppfd in veg. Maxing out at 1000 in flower.

 

[The Bard]

600 ppfd is plenty of light for veg, you can go up to 1000 ppfd in flower without co2. I usually run 300-500 ppfd in veg. Maxing out at 1000 in flower.

Thanks again to @TheMadDabber for flagging light intensity as a potential issue, and for getting your help as well, @Pennywise. I didn't have a lot of time to research metrics for light intensity, but I did learn that ppfd is a unit of measure of light per area per unit of time. So sort of intensity/area/time combined, if I understood correctly. I also learned that it is hard (i.e. expensive) to measure LEDs' output as the purples require a more sophisticated instrument. So not as easy/inexpensive as a $25 pH meter! LOL. So how do most folks determine how much light is enough? Again, I'm asking from a "want to learn" perspective - I have already raised my LEDs clearance from plants based on Dabber's reco last night. This is a cool new area that I know nothing about at all! Thanks to you both for starting the education.

 

[Old Salt]

Without a PAR meter, it's trial and terror. What you can do is load a light meter app onto your smart phone, and measure the reading you get. You can use this in your next grow.

 

[The Bard]

Without a PAR meter, it's trial and terror. What you can do is load a light meter app onto your smart phone, and measure the reading you get. You can use this in your next grow.

Trial and terror - love that! A phone app is a cool idea - can you share the name of the app, and I'll go hunting for it. Thanks, Salt.

 

[Old Salt]

I don't have the app myself, but have seen it mentioned here as being available on Google Play for Android. I did a quick search and there are a dozen or more.

 

[The Bard]

I don't have the app myself, but have seen it mentioned here as being available on Google Play for Android. I did a quick search and there are a dozen or more.

Thanks!

 

[Pennywise]

They can take a lot of light, heat is the enemy.