PlanetaryHerb's Soil Grow - LED/HID - Multi-Strain

[PlanetaryHerb]

Hi there,

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted on here and around 7 years since I was last able to grow. I’ve recently moved into a new place where I’ve been able to break out all my old grow equipment I’ve been hauling around with me for the last 7 years bidding my return. I learned a lot on this site through other members and reading different grow journals way back when so I felt it was only right to start a new one as I know a lot has changed/improved on the cannabis cultivation front since my last grow. For this grow, I’m starting out using feminized seeds in Fox Farms Ocean Forrest soil. I have not purchased any nutrients yet. This journal will follow my journey from the start and as I build my grow space back up into something I’m proud of.

Strains: (Ordered from North Atlantic Seed Co.)
Larry OG Kush (Fem) x 3 - The Cali Connection
Blueberry Cupcake (Fem) x 3 - Humboldt Seeds
Apple Fritter (Fem) x 1 - Blimburn Seeds
All Gas OG x Gelato x 1 - Humboldt Seeds
Poison OG (Auto) x 2 - The Cali Connection
Mystery Seeds x 1

I ordered 1 x 6 pack of Larry OG and 1 x 5 pack of Blueberry Cupcake and the rest were freebies. I originally had around 40-50 seeds I had collected over the years. Some were probably over 10 years old. I attempted to germinate them all last month. They must of gone bad by being exposed to too much heat or cold at some point. Out of all the seeds I only managed to get one to fully germinate after weeks. That is the one mystery seed listed above. Fingers crossed for a female!

Grow Space:
2x4 Gorilla Grow Tent
4x4 Gorilla Grow Tent

I currently have the seedlings set up in the 2x4 tent under 450 watt LED. I unfortunately cannot remember the brand name, but it’s just a Chinese made LED. I plan to eventually upgrade this grow to be 100% LED lighting. I’ll be moving the seedlings the 4x4 tent soon and adding a 400w metal halide paired with the LED.

Larry OG Kush (The Cali Connection) - 1 Week

They’re not much to look at yet and kind of hard to see under the LED, but they’ll get there. The seedling on the left is lagging behind just a little bit. And unfortunately 1 seed failed to germinate there in the back right cell. The only seed that failed to germinate.

Blueberry Cupcake (Humboldt Seeds) - 1 Week

All 3 seedlings starting out strong!

All Gas OG x Gelato (Humboldt Seeds) - 1 Week - Back Left
Apple Fritter (Blimburn Seeds) - 1 Week - Front Righg

All Gas OG x Gelato is lagging behind a little as well.

Poison OG Auto (The Cali Connection) - 1 Week

Here is one of the Poison OG Autos. I started these ladies in 3 gallon pots. I read they don’t like to be transplanted. The soil is Ocean Forrest mixed with some worm castings. I’ve grown a few autos I. The last without much luck, so we will see how these go. I will also likely be moving these outside in the near future.

It won’t let me add any more photos to this post so I’m going to wrap it up here for now.

 

[bluter]

good start brother.

get that tent off the concrete if you can. putting it on some foam board insulation or even an old piece of carpet will do it.

concrete pulls heat and energy away from whatever sits on it. bad for your plant roots. you shouldn't even place car batteries direct on concrete.

also you have to account for the environment the tent is in. garages can be hit and miss. normally they are not part of the house hvac, which make them a hard control.

next is the light. sigh. it'll be ok for seedling and not much else. i hate to break it. it's not a 450w, it's crap. and that tech is really really outdated.

there is immensely better tech out there. we need to help get you into a proper white light led. you'll just hate your choices oitherwise.

 

[PlanetaryHerb]

good start brother.

get that tent off the concrete if you can. putting it on some foam board insulation or even an old piece of carpet will do it.

concrete pulls heat and energy away from whatever sits on it. bad for your plant roots. you shouldn't even place car batteries direct on concrete.

also you have to account for the environment the tent is in. garages can be hit and miss. normally they are not part of the house hvac, which make them a hard control.

next is the light. sigh. it'll be ok for seedling and not much else. i hate to break it. it's not a 450w, it's crap. and that tech is really really outdated.

there is immensely better tech out there. we need to help get you into a proper white light led. you'll just hate your choices oitherwise.

Hi bluter

Thanks for reply! This is exactly what I was looking for when I decided to make this journal. I know my knowledge on the subject has a lot of catching up to do. I also realize this is far, far from perfect right now. Just using what I already had on hand. I appreciate the tip on the concrete. I’ll look into finding something to remedy that. I’m also currently working on the garage itself to get it sealed up better. And I have plans for temperature control down the road.

As far as the LED goes, I know it’s not very good or as you said, crap lol. That’s why I’ll be pairing it with an HID soon. Proper USA made LED’s are at the top of the list for first major upgrades. My whole system will eventually be getting an overhaul, but for now I’m working with what I got.

 

[PlanetaryHerb]

Yesterday (5/26/23) I moved the seedlings into the 4x4 tent and added a 400w MH to pair with the LED panel. Also the first of many upgrades arrived! I got a 6in AC infinity oscillating fan. I can already tell the plants are enjoying these improvements .

I also started to prepare the 2x4 tent for when I plan to take clones in a month or so.

I’ve also ordered another major upgrade for the grow space that I can’t wait to share once it arrives.

Hope ya’ll are having a great weekend!

 

[PlanetaryHerb]

Quick Update: Day 11

The seedlings are growing nicely and working on their second set of true leafs. It’s been 11 days since the seeds were planted. I can already see where the roots are beginning to come out of the bottom of the seedling cells. I plan to re-pot all seedlings into 1 gallon fabric smart pots later today or tomorrow once the soil has dried out.

This Poison OG auto is growing quickly!

The rest of the ladies are looking good too.

 

[PlanetaryHerb]

Day 13

I forgot Monday was a holiday and the store was closed and I was busy all day yesterday, so I had to wait until today to transplant the seedlings. I moved them from their seedling cells to 1 gallon fabric smart pots with fox farm’s ocean forest soil mixed with some worm castings. My 400w MH bulb also went out this week so I put in the 600w MH. Otherwise, all the ladies are looking good.

Group shot

Autos

The rest of the bunch

 

[Roy Growin]

Looking good, and I'm all for using what you got to get going
@bluter is on the money though, pro LED grow lamps better reward you for your time
Things I don't like about MH/HPS is the wasted energy on heat and single point source in the middle
You clearly make a decent set-up so I'm interested to see which lamp you go for

 

[PlanetaryHerb]

Looking good, and I'm all for using what you got to get going
@bluter is on the money though, pro LED grow lamps better reward you for your time
Things I don't like about MH/HPS is the wasted energy on heat and single point source in the middle
You clearly make a decent set-up so I'm interested to see which lamp you go for

Hi @Roy Growin, thanks for joining in! I’m definitely looking forward to the day where I can retire the HIDs for good. It was something I had wanted to do way back when I was growing before and now it’s at the top of my list of things to get done this time around.

Speaking of which, I actually couldn’t pass up the Memorial Day sales this past weekend and splurged on the first LED that is to become my dedicated veg light eventually. I went with the SolarSystem 550 by California Light Works. I got the controller as well so that I can adjust the spectrum. I’m looking forward to its arrival .

 

[PlanetaryHerb]

Week 2 Update

It’s officially been 2 weeks since the seeds were planted. A big difference a week makes. You can actually see the plants in the pictures now! Lots of new leafy growth this past week and I expect it to really accelerate after they fully recover from being transplanted yesterday.

All seedlings looking good. The Poison OG auto in the front has really taken off. Very interested to see how these both end up doing.

Here are the 2 Poison OG autos at 2 weeks from seed. These were the first 2 seeds to germinate and the one picture first is the biggest plant by far. The second plant almost has no base stem showing above the soil, but otherwise is doing just as well as the rest of the seedlings.

Here are the 3 Blueberry Cupcake seedlings at 2 weeks from seed. All 3 almost identical. I guess that lends to the quality of the seeds. Excited to see how these turn out.

Here are the two Larry OG Kush seedlings at 2 weeks from seed. One with slightly thinner leaves than the other.

Here is the mystery seedling at around 5-6 weeks from seed. This thing took forever to germinate and I have been babying it for some time just to get to this point, but I think it’s finally really establishing itself. It had some good looking roots when I transplant it.

Here is the Apple Fritter at 2 weeks from seed. Doing fine.

Here is the All Gas OG x Gelato at 2 weeks from seed with it’s one crazy cotyledon. Also doing fine.

 

[PlanetaryHerb]

It’s here! My new California Lightworks LED arrived today along with the programmable spectrum controller. Half way to being full LED! I can’t wait to get these set up. This will eventually become my dedicated veg lamp, but I’ll be using it in the flower tent until I can purchase another bigger LED as my dedicated flowering lamp.

I will post another update when I get these installed in the tent. Until then,

 

[PlanetaryHerb]

Holy shit! This lamp and controller are incredible! Far beyond the lights I’m currently working with. I can adjust the intensity of the individual red, white, and blue spectrums. I can program it to mimic sunrise and sunset with fading capabilities. And I can program it to mimic the changes in the sunlight through the year . For now I have it set to the recommend veg settings at 50 red, 99 white, and 99 blue. This things is bright! Can’t wait to see how the plants respond over the next couple of days.

I’ve also ordered some grow nutrients. I decided to go with General Hydroponics Biothrive grow. I’m trying to keep this grow as organic as I possibly can. Depending on when the ladies dry out I might give them their first light feeding with their next watering.

New lamp. SolarSystem 550 by California Lightworks.

New programmable spectrum controller for the SolarSystem 550.

The HID has been sidelined for now. Due to make another appearance come cloning time. Here is the tent with the new light installed. This light is rated for 4x4 flower tent, but for now I’m going to keep my old panel in there as well for a little supplemental lighting. Can’t hurt, right?

Here are some pics of the different spectrums turn on and off on the old LED.

Here it is with the new LED on. It’s hard to show case in the pictures just how bright this thing is, but you can see how much of the visible red light coming from the old LED it’s eliminating in the pics below.

Here is a pic of the controller set for the time being.

Overall, I’m very pleased with my new lamp so far. Hopefully it performs as good as it looks. I’ll post more pics of the ladies tomorrow for their 3 week update.

 

[PlanetaryHerb]

Update: Week 3

Today marks 3 weeks from seed. The ladies are looking good and loving the new LED. Lots of new growth since last week. And I’m looking forward to seeing how they do this next week with the improvements to the grow space.

I rearranged the grow area a little bit so that I can better connect both tents to the same 6 in in-line fan in the coming weeks. I also added a proper 6 inch intake at the bottom of my tent with some extra 6in ducting I had lying around to help keep the sides of the tent from sucking in too much. Not perfect, but it’s a start.

Here are the 2 Poison OG autos at 3 weeks from seed. I can’t believe how big these are already, especially the one in front. Its stem is almost the size of a pencil already! And already lots of branching starting. 3 weeks ago today it was a seed!

Group shot of photoperiod plants.

Apple Fritter at 3 weeks from seed.

All Gas OG x Gelato at 3 weeks from seed.

Mystery plant at 3 weeks from seed.

2 x Larry OG at 3 weeks from seed.

3x Blueberry Cupcake at 3 weeks from seed. I accidentally squished the one pictured front left just a little while moving things around the other day. You can kind of see in the picture its first true leave nearest to the camera has been bent down. Growth slowed a little, but she’ll catch back up.

Here is another picture comparison of my old LED vs the new LED. Much brighter!

 

[PlanetaryHerb]

Set the ladies out for a little natural sunlight today.

 

[PlanetaryHerb]

Had a few more items come in for the grow space. Some popsicle sticks to better label all the plants. A 2-way 6 inch duct splitter to cool both tents off my one 6 inch in-line fan. Much needed temp/humidity readers. Now I can more appropriately adjust the temps. I think I was letting the tent get too hot during the day. Still working on keeping temps up at night. I also added some cardboard underneath the tent to insulate it a little from the concrete floor. The plant seem happier and I’m happier. The grow space is coming along nicely.

Quick shot of the group.

The first pre flowers have shown themselves on the larger of the Poison OG auto plants. Not sure if it’s actually beginning to flower or if autos too get pre-flowers before going into the flowering stage. These autos came as freebies and I couldn’t find much info on the strain online so I’m not sure what to expect as far as a timeframe from seed to harvest.

 

[PlanetaryHerb]

Update: Week 4

Here are the ladies at 4 weeks from seed. Still working on getting temps under control as well as waiting for my grow nutrients which was delayed in transit an extra week. It should be here Monday though. The ladies need their first feeding. Next on the list is getting my PH levels under control. I have a PH meter coming in on Monday also.

2 x Poison OG autos at 4 weeks from seed.

Apple Fritter at 4 weeks from seed.

All Gas OG x Gelato at 4 weeks from seed.

2 x Larry OG Kush at 4 weeks from seed.

3 x Blueberry Cupcake at 4 weeks from seed.

Mystery plant at 4 weeks from seed.

 

[PlanetaryHerb]

Had a few more long over due and much needed items arrive today. The General Organics BioThrive grow and some ph up and down as well as a testing vial. I have an actual ph meter coming on Monday. Now I can actually monitor my ph levels as I have honestly not been doing so up to this point. I checked the ph of the water I’ve been giving them yesterday and it looks to be right around 7, which is slightly higher than we want, but not terrible. I will also be topping and defoliating at some point over the next few days. This is my favorite part of growing! Getting to train the plants to become bushes with many colas!

 

[PlanetaryHerb]

I couple more items arrived over the last couple of days. My ph meter and space heater. The space heater can be control via wifi and should help with the dropping temps at night. However, after some trial and error and more research I figured out that it wasn’t the necessarily the low temps at night that’s been affecting my plants negatively. I now think it’s my humidity levels. I noticed them get as low as 13% and my leaves look similar to that of pictures of plants reacting to low humidity levels. Leaves drooping and edges curling. I’ve been misting the tent, which has helped a lot, until the humidifier I order arrives tomorrow.

 

[PlanetaryHerb]

Update: Day 34 from Seed
I decided to top and defoliated all the plants this morning, other than the 2 Poison OG autos obviously. They’ve since been out enjoying the Colorado sun on this beautiful day.

Apple Fritter - 34 days from seed before and after topping and defoliation.

All Gas OG x Gelato - 34 days from seed before and after topping and defoliation.

Larry OG Kush (#1) - 34 days from seed before and after topping and defoliation.

Larry OG Kush (#2) - 34 days from seed before and after topping and defoliation.

Mystery Plant - 34 days from seed before and after topping and defoliation.

Update to be continued…

 

[PlanetaryHerb]

Update: 34 Days from Seed continued…

Here are the 3 Blueberry Cupcake plants. They seemed to be the most affected by the low humidity levels.
Blueberry Cupcake (#1) - 34 days from seed before and after topping and defoliation.

Blueberry Cupcake (#2) - 34 days from seed before and after topping and defoliation.

Blueberry Cupcake (#3) - 34 days from seed before and after topping and defoliation.

Group photo after haircuts.

Here are the 2 Poison OG autos at 34 days from seed. They’re looking pretty good as far as I’m concerned.

 

[PlanetaryHerb]

Update: 5 Weeks from Seed

Just a quick update week 5 update. Not gonna post too much since I made a big post yesterday. The plants have responded great to the topping and defoliation. You can already tell how much bushier they will become now. The Poison OG autos are doing good. One seems to have entered into the flower phase and the other is still growing.

Group shot of the photoperiod plants at 5 weeks from seed.

Poison OG autos at 5 weeks from seed.