Piña's 2020 Diary 3rd Journal

Piña Delores

Well-Known Member
Hey
:420:if you'll have me, I'd like to come back with another journal. Really I need to. Growing without one this last year hasn't been the easiest, man I struggle with keeping track of time. A journal leaves me in no doubt when something popped, flipped, fed, watered, or whatever else I need to keep track of.

Not to mention the huge pool of knowledge around here to tap into, the great advice, and just sharing with others who enjoy this hobby of ours:ganjamon:.

2019 wasn't the greatest of years for me, and whilst I kept growing, I really didn't feel like sharing, but that is all behind me.

My plans for 2020....

Well first let's get this beauty to harvest. The Kraken by Buddha Seeds

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Alright she's not that great, but she's a beauty to me. She was flipped 2 or 3 weeks ago (see, vague) and she should finish just after Easter(ish). I could have/should have vegged her longer but hey hoe, too late now.

She's in Bio Bizz soil, being fed Bio Bizz neuts, under my 160 watt cob light featured in my previous grow.

I defoliated her last weekend, and tied her down to get better air circulation. She's just starting to recover, I may have been a little too rough with her. :oops:

My second plan is to get these 2 to harvest.....

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Both Auto's, one's a Dark Devil (for sure), the other's a Blueberry (I think), but I'm not sure which is which :smokin:Today is day 1, the journal's already working.

The plan's to keep these 2 in my horrible tent upstairs for now, and then move them into the garden when they are more established. It's going to be another Bio Bizz grow, soil and neuts, but maybe my last one. I've been reading up on Hempy Buckets, and I'm intrigued, we shall see, that's for later.

The unusual part of this grow will be the supplemental lighting. While my yard/garden is a cool place to hang out during the Mediterranean summer, my plants are lucky to get 4 or 5 hours of direct sunshine. Not enough, I grew outside there last summer and ended up with tall, spindly plants, far from ideal.

I haven't decided what lighting, or how much. I'm also not sure for what length of time I can use this proposed system. Running the lights at night will work in May/June I'm sure, but might not come August. The whole thing's going to be an exercise in learning. Watch this space.

Another project I have going on is building a grow light for a family member. An Uncle has started growing for medical reasons, he has been diagnosed with Parkinsons.

I recently visited and got to see his set up, alas the poor man got fished in with a 600 watt ebay blurple light. I got him to upgrade to a 125 watt CFL, for the short term, but I can do better than that for him.

Right that's what I've got going on, any ideas or suggestions feel free to jump in.

:Namaste:
 
Time for an update (of sorts)

I have decided to give Hempy growing a shot. In fact I've spent the last few days reading through.....


and a informative read it is.

It all seems to good to be true, but the pictures speak for themselves :drool:

I'm waiting on an order of perlite, and clay balls, along with some pH perfect nutes. Hopefully they should arrive today and I can get the seedlings transfer to Hempy over and done with.

Not ideal transferring Auto's I know, but I'll be popping a couple more seeds in a few weeks, and I'm not overly obsessed with quantity. That's a bonus if the quality's there :)

The plan then is to sort out this grow space, (excuse the mess)

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As you can tell it's been raining, and I still haven't got rid of the pots from last years outside attempt. We don't use the outside much over the winter, but now Spring is springing, my mission over the weekend is to get it ship shape.

That small area where the cloth pots are gets the most Sun, but 5hrs at the very most at the solstice as I remember it. Not enough.

As you can see my first thought was to just hang lights under there as a supplement. The car sun shield was put there a couple of weeks ago as part of the thought process. The logistics of making the area light tight, with air flow available, soon became over whelming, and financially unviable.

So I found a Secret Jardin tent for 50e that I thought would fit under the shelf. It's on it's way but..... I measured the height wrong :oops:. I measured to the top of the shelf, not the underside :oops:, I'm 100mm out :oops:, so another location is needed. I'm gutted, lol.

The rest of the plan stays the same though, sunshine during the day, into the tent at night for a top up of light. As long as I can keep the temps good.

It's all an experiment, and we'll see how we go.

:Namaste:

P.S Although I'm gutted the tent won't fit as planned for the summer, I'm over the moon about getting a new tent. I really hate the one I use now. Bad zips, far from light proof, if this new one is as good as I hope, I'll have 2 new tents at the end of summer :)
 
Hola PD!
It’s a tough spot with only a max 5 hrs direct sun. Supplemental lighting does appear to be the way to go. A smaller quantum board (135W) would probably be sufficient for 4 plants. Cool and quiet too. Were you trying to fit them in the space behind the windshield shade?
 
Yep that was the plan.

Lift up and down, in and out, every morning/evening, with a 100w ish LED of some sort, running through the night. It's all an experiment, I figured I might be able to do 4 plants, with alternate nights in the tent, maybe. It's extra lighting after all.

I was going to test out the light I'm going to build my Uncle in there, and see what sort of temps I got, and maybe build one for myself :).

The plan might change now though, just looked and seen my order hasn't shipped. I'll contact them manana and see if I can change it.

If I can, I'll reverse my tent buying plan and get a replacement for the one I have now, now. You have no idea how much I have grown to hate this tent, and grow space.


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I know the shots blurry, but I tried to show of how it leaks. It's like a light house, no way that could go where I'm intending to put the new one. You could have a romantic BBQ out there by the light of grow tent. No Bueno.

Plus the zips are truly awful to do up, constantly snagging. I didn't realise how bad it was until I got a look at my Uncles a few weeks ago, his is constructed so much better.

The girl doesn't seem to mind though

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Shit just noticed I had to tape up one of the corners that broke, I'd forgotten that, man it is crap lol

So a new tent 600x600 outside with this light is now the new plan, if all goes well manana, won't be quite as simple as lift up/down but it'll be more than doable.

By the way the young ones are just out of shot, at the bottom, sheltering in the shade. They seem quite content. They have no idea of my plans :).

:Namaste:
 
Time for a quick update.

Things are moving along, but at a much slower rate than I had hoped.

Well first, the outside area has been cleared up, cloth pots are gone, along with all the old soil. No photo's of that, you'll just have to take my word for it. The yard is nearly ready for summer.

I managed to change the order for the new tent, and it arrived yesterday. I've cleared a space for it, and put it up tonight. First impressions lead me to believe it's a big upgrade, even though it's the same size. The quality is miles better. I have to cut out holes for the ducting, and cable entry, but they supply patches for if you want to move them later. :)

I've decided I'm going to put it on some shelves, so it's off the floor. It'll only be 600mm (2ft) or so up, but I'm fed up with working at ground level. The downside to this is it won't get done until Saturday, which means my present set of girls are going to have to slum it until then.

It also means the young ones won't get into their Hempys until Saturday either. I know this isn't ideal, but that's what you get for starting before you're ready.

No photo's tonight, you'll also have to take my word I haven't killed them yet.

Cheers for stopping by :Namaste:
 
Good evening all,
Spring really has sprung here today, 24c. Bit early for that really, I bet it won't stick around for the weekend

I decided I couldn't wait to get the babes into their Hempys, so they were transplanted to there new homes last night.

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They were not happy before they were transplanted, lanky, and not facing up correctly. Just figured it was best to get over with, so transplanted on day 11.

I put some tape over the holes in the pot, and filled them up. The pot sounded like a bowl of cereal for a minute or so. Then I tilted the pot, and removed tape to drain.

Then I re-watered to run off, with bubbled water. 1ml per litre of Advanced Nutrients base range, and 1ml of Bio Bizz Root juice (just 'cause I have it).

That's it, all seemed a bit easy.

They're still slumming it in the tent upstairs, and there'll be no more outdoor time until the weekend, but they looked far happier tonight.

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It might stunt them a bit, but they'll get over it.

Their pots are still heavy enough. I plan to re-water/feed Saturday at the same dose. I'll keep an eye on them, but for now they look fine.

The Kraken is chugging along. If all goes to plan I'll be able to give her a flush at the weekend, she's not the happiest, but she'll get there. It shows that I made no effort to use the space in the tent efficiently. :oops:

Lastly the final part for my Uncles light has arrived. Construction on that should start shortly. This wasn't the part I've been waiting on, but had a closer look at the bits tonight and

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It's going to go all the way up to 11

Cheers for stopping by :Namaste:
 
Evening
:420: Hope everyone is coping with the madness that's going on. Craziness in my neck of the woods, all sorts of restrictions on trade. Only allowed out of the house to shop for essentials, or go to work. That is if you have work to go to.

Luckily I managed to get to the DIY shop before the shutdown, to get the bits to finish the new grow area.

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The thumbnails show exactly how it's set up. Outdoor to the right, indoor to the left, with a wall between.

The outside area has been given the TLC it needed, and I invested in a few herbs to keep The Herbs company. I'm not really all that great with plants, so it might be a massacre. Fair warning to the squeamish.

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The indoor area is up and running, but needs some more work. Just want to redo the power supply/timers and also make it so I have the option of the LED driver being in or outside the tent. Could be handy with the changing of the seasons.

Here are the girls all settled in.

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I'm sure they're happy with their new home. I am over the moon with it :). The tent is lightproof, during the day you couldn't tell there was anything going on in there. At night there's slight bleed through the ducting. An easy fix, although a doubt I'll bother.

So on to the Hempys. I haven't touched them since Wednesday. I've kept an eye on them, but they haven't looked like they needed anything. I was planning on watering on the third day (yesterday), but my gut told me to hold off one more day.

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No harm done, I'd say the growth in 4 days has been respectable. I checked to see if any water remained in the bottom, but it appeared to be dry.

I ran 1.5ltr of bubbled water through each of them, and drained. I then gave each 1ltr of water with nutes in. Plenty of run off.

Fed them at the same strength 1 ml per ltr. That's half what their schedule recommends, but they look happy on it. Will go up to 2ml next feed, as they'll have entered week 3.

So far so good, I'm liking the Hempys. Still feels too easy, and somehow very hands on, and hands off, at the same time.

Cheers for stopping by

:Namaste:
 
I was planning on watering on the third day (yesterday), but my gut told me to hold off one more day.

I like to water more often - in order to bring fresh air into the roots. Since you can’t overwater a coarse perlite hempy, go for it!
During the summer, I found that an outdoor hempy really benefits from daily fertigation, especially in late afternoon, when it can cool and refresh the roots. But your actual need to fertigate will depend on the size of the pot/reservoir.
 
Evening all, and welcome.

Congrats on your new grow gear

Cheers man it's great. The new location really helps, I'm not used to having so much space. The only downside at the moment is the lack of light. Unbelievably. That will become less of a problem as the nights draw out. I don't like opening the tent with the lights on. I might blind a neighbour.

found you ! :cheesygrinsmiley:

Does that mean I'm it

I bet the person who sleeps in that bed hates it more ;).

Welcome Shed, it's a guest room. When my Sister visited I swapped to lights on during the day, and killed the fan for her overnight. Not sure she was grateful though, she was too busy complaining about the smell from the 2 plants I had in there :D.

Felipe my gut was wrong!!! lol

Time for a belated update, I've was busy in Hempy headquarters last night, as I've been having issues. Seriously if you're looking to learn about this stuff you need to go there, I'll put a link in my sig.

Unless of course it's twelve weeks or so in the future, and I've managed to limp these poor plants to the finish line. But even then you should checkout the headquarters first:volcano-smiley:

So this is the state I got them into last night.

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They were not happy campers. It seems 3 days between watering is too long.

Since then they have been watered to flood and drain 4x, once last night, and 3 times today. They're still not great, but they're fighting through and at least one is showing solid signs of improvement

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The consensus of opinion is, not watered enough. With the added problem of roots trying to break free of the cardboard pots and reach the res. Makes sense to me.

I'm going to repeat the treatment tomorrow. 3x waterings, with the nutes at 1ml a litre. Not going to up the strength until they show more signs of recovery.

All good lessons learned, going to be popping another seed this week sometime. There will be no cardboard or soil involved. Hempy all the way. With any luck I won't have these issues

On a brighter note the Kraken is trucking along

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by my reckoning she's got 3/4 weeks. I'm sure she's not growing to her full potential in my hands, but I should be able to get her to finish.

Thanks for stopping by

:Namaste:
 
Hey 420,
hope everyone's doing as well as they can, during these trying times.

Although I may be locked down, I managed to give the young ones their first taste of freedom today.

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I wish they looked happier about it. I've been running water through them 3x a day, and re-feeding. I've even managed to spoil them with rainwater, the weather's been so crap here. Todays the first bit of sunshine for 4 days or so, and I'm keeping an eye out. Sure it's going to shower.

Those cardboard pots must be giving them hell. The new growth keeps showing such promise, and then goes all sad on me. Poor things, at least all the other plants are happy with their lot, for now.

The lock down has given me chance to start on my Uncles light. I'm quite jealous of it so far. It needs to be plug and play, as I can't go and set it up. (not even sure how I can send it a the moment!) This means I can't cut any of the corners I would with my own gear. Here's the power supply unit.

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I'm making it so the power supply can be in or out of the tent, depending on heating needs. This is something I'll be doing to mine, when I can get the bits.

If all goes well it'll give him 150w of dimmable LED mounted on 2 of these.

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I found 4 of them in a skip, so I still have 2 for myself. They're a fair size so I'm hoping they're capable of passive cooling a vero29 each. I don't really want to install fans on them as that'll make the system more complicated. It's an option though.

The heatsinks are formed in such a way that they'll connect like this with 6mm threaded bar. As long as they have the required cooling capacity they're perfect :D

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As things stand it could be a while before I find out. I need to drill and tap a couple of holes in the heatsinks, and can't do that until I get back to work. Hopefully that'll be sooner than later, but at the moment that's hard to call.

Mrs P has been ill, so I'm isolating. Sure it's not been Covid, but it's been a bit scary. She's well on the mend now, and normally it would have been be far from a big deal, but there's not a lot normal going on right now.

Stay well all

:Namaste:
 
Hey PD :high-five:
You would do well to get them out of the cardboard cups. Seriously.

I think this grow will not be very successful if you continue with them blocking the roots.

Just pull the cup out of the perlite, and cut it off the coco/roots with scissors.
 
Hey PD :high-five:
You would do well to get them out of the cardboard cups. Seriously.

I think this grow will not be very successful if you continue with them blocking the roots.

Just pull the cup out of the perlite, and cut it off the coco/roots with scissors.


i pointed that out in the headquarters thread... there's a couple other things going on i was going to ask about ... :straightface:
 
You would do well to get them out of the cardboard cups. Seriously.

Done, cardboard pots removed.

The roots are now all naked down there as nature intended.

No photos, it was gruesome, and I for one am glad it's over. :D

there's a couple other things going on i was going to ask about ... :straightface:

What else have I been doing wrong? :D Seriously what do you want to know? All help greatfully received.

Cheers for the best wishes, she's doing a lot better. Bronchitis playing up with a bad cold. Not a good time to have it playing up is all.

I can tell she's feeling better, the nagging's starting.

:Namaste:
 
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