SendWaves' 2x2 Soil Nigerian Sunshine Grow Journal, March 2020

[SendWaves]

To check out how I decided on equipment/general decision making process for my first grow attempt,, follow this link to my intro thread.

THE ESSENTIALS

I'm growing Nigerian Sunshine in a 2x2x5.3 ft grow tent which is set in my office at home. The clone for this inaugural grow was provided by a good friend of mine who owns an extract company and has an incredible depth of knowledge on everything cannabis.

Nigerian Sunshine is an indica/sativa 50-50 hybrid of Nigerian Landrace and Blue Moon Rocks. This strain goes way, way back...been grown for hundreds of years. It’s one of the few strains infamous for specifically targeting symptoms of PTSD. In a different life I was a paratrooper in the 82nd and have been dealing with the effects of PTSD over the last 6 years, so it spoke to me.

My light is a ViparSpectra Reflector Series 300w LED with a true wattage of about 130...I may add a 2nd during flowering. I'm from an area of the country where rising temps and elevated humidity is common this time of year, which played a big role in my set-up decisions. My exhaust system is outside-the-tent, handled by a 4-in 188CFM inline duct fan connected to a carbon filter. Depending on how the grow develops I may or may not install a better intake, right now it’s passive with just the screens open at the bottom of the tent to let air inside.

I wanted Fox Farm soil but I can't get it where I live so I went with Black Gold All Purpose Potting Soil. Two nutes: veg with Fox Farm Grow Big and flower with Fox Farm Big Bloom. I don’t know if it’s worth adding Tiger Bloom during flowering. My philosophy along those lines is less is best...but then again I’ve never grown weed so wtf do I know? My yield goals are modest as my intent is to just grow enough for personal consumption (hence the tiny set-up). I would consider 5oz from 1 plant a successful 1st grow, would also keep me medicated for a good while.

PRE-GROW STATS

Empty tent (no plants, no equipment): Over 5 days the temperature inside the tent hovered between 68-70 degrees. Humidity readings went as high as 70% and as low as 60%. I have a little thermo-electric dehumidifier to use when the time comes.

Tent with LED’s & ventilation running (no plants): Over a 36-hour period the tent stayed at about 72 degrees with 60-65% humidity. Titties.

DAY ZERO

Today I pruned and transplanted my little girl into a 5-gal fabric pot. I watered immediately after and the new soil soaked up about a gallon. Speaking of water, I’m using distilled so I can better control TDS and pH levels. For this first watering I just used a half teaspoon of Grow Big. After adding nutes the pH and TDS were at 5.3 and 220 respectively. I added a pinch of baking soda to bring the pH up to 6.3 and let her drink her fill.

She's currently on her first 18/6 cycle. I’ll post updates each week...well probably more like 2-3x a week cuz I have nothing better to do for the next 4 weeks. Thanks Coronavirus!

Comments/advice/critiques? Send it! I won’t be offended and if it makes sense I’m not scared to adjust my plans on the fly. Any experienced growers out there that have had success with this strain, I’d love to hear from you. I NEED HELP WITH A LOW STRESS TRAINING STRATEGY! Topping and training are what make me the most nervous about this grow...

Cheers!

 

[McRib]

Following your grow. Good luck with it. I'm sure you will do well with all the information and advice found here.

I probably won't be much help as I've only really grown outdoors but I'm gearing up for a small indoor grow in the near future.

 

[SendWaves]

UPDATE 1: The first section of my updates will be data collection from the time period observed. The second section will summarize items of importance, lessons learned, questions, etc.

March 28 - Day 0 - Clone transplanted

March 29-31 Averages
AM: 73 F, 55% RH
PM: 68 F, 55% RH

March 31-April 2 Averages
AM: 71 F, 55% RH
PM: 66 F, 67% RH

April 2 - Day 5 - Watering
1 gal distilled water + 1 tsp Fox Farm Grow Big
6.4 pH (originally 5.3 but elevated with pinch of baking soda)
550 ppm

April 2-April 8 Averages
AM 70 F, 57% RH
PM 67 F, 69% RH

April 8 - Day 10 - Watering
1 gal distilled water + 2 tsp FF GB
6.3 pH
1230 ppm

April 9-12 Averages
AM: 73 F, 53% RH
PM: 71F, 56% RH

ADDITIONAL NOTES

In the 5 gallon pot, water is retained waaaaay longer than I originally anticipated. Going into the grow I assumed I’d be watering every other day. Thank god for the moisture meter! Had it not been for that tool measuring 2-6 in. deep in the soil, I would have watered way earlier than necessary, probably on day 2-3 which could have been harmful? I see now why one of the biggest mistakes made by beginners is over-watering. I would have been THAT guy!

The pH meter and TDS sensor have also been crucial. I feel much more confident in my decision making when I can take and read specific measurements in water composition and make necessary adjustments. I know exactly what's going into the soil.

As you can tell from the 2nd pic (post-LST), I beat up this plant pretty good..but I think I used the right techniques and didn't snap off any shoots or branches (probably not the right terminology). We'll find out!

Unless I hear different advice from experienced growers, I’m thinking veg for another week for a total veg period of 3 weeks. As this was a clone, it was already pretty far along in the growth process and it’s size now seems close to being ready for flowering. I’m not opposed to stretching veg out 4 weeks instead of 3, it’s hard to find good info on how long a young clone needs to veg compared to growing from seed.

As always let me know what you think...Cheers everyone!

PICS

Pruning after week 1:

Pre-LST. April 12th:

Post-LST. April 12th:

 

[BudShark]

SendWaves, nice plant, did your friend give you any tips on growing your clone? Its seems to me that she is a Sativa leaning Hybrid and if left to grow without LST she would reach your light, LST looks good, what did you use to tie her down.? Just an observation, I think that your RH is fine at this stage, but might need to be brought down in future when she is in flower, what is nice about your setup is that you dont have to put the dehumidifier in the tent, lower the room, lower the tent. Like this plant, will do a bit of searching on it, Keep it up you are doing real good. Cheers

 

[SendWaves]

SendWaves, nice plant, did your friend give you any tips on growing your clone? Its seems to me that she is a Sativa leaning Hybrid and if left to grow without LST she would reach your light, LST looks good, what did you use to tie her down.? Just an observation, I think that your RH is fine at this stage, but might need to be brought down in future when she is in flower, what is nice about your setup is that you dont have to put the dehumidifier in the tent, lower the room, lower the tent. Like this plant, will do a bit of searching on it, Keep it up you are doing real good. Cheers

Thanks for the post BudShark! So my buddy grows outdoors and hasn't offered much insight in terms of training. Based on what you said I'm glad I did the little training I've done! I had thought about letting her grow as she pleased for my first grow. Those tie downs are garden twine but I'm not gonna use those again, too rough and hard to navigate around the plant when she starts getting bushy. You're right Bud the RH is going to creep up on me. I was proactive and bought a small dehumidifier that can fit in the tent if it comes to that...but I'll try your suggestion of running it in the room first and see what happens. Ive got a bit of time. Thanks again brotherman, be easy!

 

[SendWaves]

UPDATE 2

April 13-15 Averages
AM: 71 F, 53% RH
PM: 68 F, 60% RH

Freebie Sour Diesel from a grower friend that I planted 9 days ago sprouted on 13 April. First seedling I've ever planted to sprout. Just thought I'd share cuz I'm proud of myself.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Hey gang. I'm getting plant vibes that she's ready to transition to 12/12, like Usain Bolt on the starting blocks I can feel it! Tomorrow we'll start the change over. This week has been the most eventful since I put her in the tent and under for 18/6. I had a scare with a torn main stem that occured during my first real attempts at LST, I was too rough...she never says that. That's a joke. Anyways after posting about the problem in a different channel I elected to let the split make an attempt to heal itself and it appears to be recovering. I got some great feedback on other solutions that I'm keeping in the vault when that inevitably happens again. Then came mildewed soil. I woke up on Monday to take morning readings and discovered a ring around the edges of the fabic pot, about 2.5 in wide, of greenish-grey mildew on the surface of the soil and I about had a heart attack. I had a lady friend over who's a green thumb who gave a suggestion. I put together a mixture of 1/4 cup vinegar and 3/4 cups water in a spray bottle. Then I put on gloves and with a spoon carefully scraped off the layer of mildew and discarded, being super careful not to let the dirty scoops touch any part of the plant or other areas of healthy soil. After all the visible mildew was removed I lightly sprayed the areas that were effected with the vinegar solution. I might as well have been a doctor performing open heart surgery. NOT NOW CHIEF I'M IN THE ZONE! I realize that plants and vinegar do not mix, hence the delicate/surgical application. It's been a few days now and I haven't seen any new mold. Tempted to change my name to Hawkeye...just kidding.

Syncing with the start of the flowering phase I'm also changing out lights. I'm pulling the current ViparSpectra 300W and swapping it with a Mars Hydro TS1000 that has better coverage. The ViparSpectra will be used in a separate veg area that I'll be setting up.

That's all for now, thanks for stopping by. Shout out to @Northern Hydro @Stunger @Buds Buddy @AdaminCO for triage assistance this week and to @VanIslandConnoisseur @xllGHOSTllx for the Mars recommendation, thanks fam!

Be Well,

Waves

Guys look I took a picture with white light in honor of my "New Member" tag being removed.

Main stem split starting to heal

My first seedling to sprout!

 

[AdaminCO]

UPDATE 2

April 13-15 Averages
AM: 71 F, 53% RH
PM: 68 F, 60% RH

Freebie Sour Diesel from a grower friend that I planted 9 days ago sprouted on 13 April. First seedling I've ever planted to sprout. Just thought I'd share cuz I'm proud of myself.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Hey gang. I'm getting plant vibes that she's ready to transition to 12/12, like Usain Bolt on the starting blocks I can feel it! Tomorrow we'll start the change over. This week has been the most eventful since I put her in the tent and under for 18/6. I had a scare with a torn main stem that occured during my first real attempts at LST, I was too rough...she never says that. That's a joke. Anyways after posting about the problem in a different channel I elected to let the split make an attempt to heal itself and it appears to be recovering. I got some great feedback on other solutions that I'm keeping in the vault when that inevitably happens again. Then came mildewed soil. I woke up on Monday to take morning readings and discovered a ring around the edges of the fabic pot, about 2.5 in wide, of greenish-grey mildew on the surface of the soil and I about had a heart attack. I had a lady friend over who's a green thumb who gave a suggestion. I put together a mixture of 1/4 cup vinegar and 3/4 cups water in a spray bottle. Then I put on gloves and with a spoon carefully scraped off the layer of mildew and discarded, being super careful not to let the dirty scoops touch any part of the plant or other areas of healthy soil. After all the visible mildew was removed I lightly sprayed the areas that were effected with the vinegar solution. I might as well have been a doctor performing open heart surgery. NOT NOW CHIEF I'M IN THE ZONE! I realize that plants and vinegar do not mix, hence the delicate/surgical application. It's been a few days now and I haven't seen any new mold. Tempted to change my name to Hawkeye...just kidding.

Syncing with the start of the flowering phase I'm also changing out lights. I'm pulling the current ViparSpectra 300W and swapping it with a Mars Hydro TS1000 that has better coverage. The ViparSpectra will be used in a separate veg area that I'll be setting up.

That's all for now, thanks for stopping by. Shout out to @Northern Hydro @Stunger @Buds Buddy @AdaminCO for triage assistance this week and to @VanIslandConnoisseur @xllGHOSTllx for the Mars recommendation, thanks fam!

Be Well,

Waves

Guys look I took a picture with white light in honor of my "New Member" tag being removed.

Main stem split starting to heal

My first seedling to sprout!

Not sure if I have already told you, but you might want to hit it with some Calmag+ (2-0-0). I believe that’s why your so light on the shade of green.

 

[SendWaves]

Not sure if I have already told you, but you might want to hit it with some Calmag+ (2-0-0). I believe that’s why your so light on the shade of green.

Calmag+ alright I'll pick some up! I didn't even realize the shade of green wasn't as dark as it should be. Thanks Adamin!

 

[SendWaves]

UPDATE 3

April 15-19 Averages
AM: 71 F, 59% RH
PM: 74 F, 55% RH

April 19: ScrOG installed.
Watered after install: 1 gal distilled water, 1 tsp CalMag+, 1 tsp FF Grow Big, 1.5 tsp FF Big Bloom.
pH 6.0, 630 ppm

April 19-25 Averages
AM: 69 F, 62% RH
PM: 75 F, 56% RH

April 22: Watered with 1 gal distilled water, no nutes.
pH 6.3, 56 ppm

TODAY: Trained through ScrOG, pruned under ScrOG, defol'd to open up canopy.
Watered with 1 gal distilled water, 1 tsp FF Grow Big, 2 tbsp FF Big Bloom, 1 tsp Tiger Bloom
pH 6.3, 994 ppm

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Today marks 1 week since flipping Nigerian Sunshine to 12/12. I decided to live dangerously and try my hand at ScrOG. Since I got her as a clone (well along into veg) I did not have much control over topping. The experts will have to let me know whether this is a true ScrOG, I'm not sure it is. Again, I have absolutely no experience with this. Everything I've done has been gleaned from dozens of YouTube videos, grow journals and various online resources. I'd really like to get as much feedback as possible on this ScrOG and how jacked up it is, what I should have done, what I could have done better, etc. I'm also a little concerened that I went too heavy with the defol today (see before and after pictures). Looking forward to your comments!

@AdaminCO The CalMag+ seems to be working nicely, I'm using it 1x week.

 

[BudShark]

The scrog is a great idea, looks to be working good. How long before they take off the newbie tag. Looking good, all those videos on youtube did you good. Cheers

 

[DonkeyDick]

Hey waves
I like the sound of the strain you are growing. I think with the setup you have that your goal of 5oz is more than achievable, but I missed it if you flipped - are you going to stay in veg til you fill that screen?
I like it btw. I haven’t grown a scrog, but I notice everyone else tends to mount their mesh/net in a frame. No opinion, just obs. I wonder if the flexibility will be an advantage. Interested to see.
Oh, and hydrogen peroxide is handy to have about the garden. Unlike vinegar you can get away with giving roots a really good rinse with diluted h2o2.
Bring on the meds!

 

[SendWaves]

Hey waves
I like the sound of the strain you are growing. I think with the setup you have that your goal of 5oz is more than achievable, but I missed it if you flipped - are you going to stay in veg til you fill that screen?
I like it btw. I haven’t grown a scrog, but I notice everyone else tends to mount their mesh/net in a frame. No opinion, just obs. I wonder if the flexibility will be an advantage. Interested to see.
Oh, and hydrogen peroxide is handy to have about the garden. Unlike vinegar you can get away with giving roots a really good rinse with diluted h2o2.
Bring on the meds!

Thanks @DonkeyDick really appreciate your comments, suggestions and advice. So because I'm a newb who does newb things, I decided late in the game to ScrOG. I began manipulating her under the plastic netting a few days after the flip to flower. I realized that after all the LST I had been doing during veg (4-6 sessions of pinching/rolling shoots and bending her main stems over) it would be really stupid not to ScrOG this 1 plant...even though I was late. I'm working on Update 4 now and should have it posted tonight or tomorrow morning...its a doozy and will fill in alllll the blanks.

 

[SendWaves]

UPDATE 4

April 26-April 30 Averages
AM: 75 F, 57% RH
PM: 77 F, 59% RH
*watering notes
April 27: 1 tsp CalMag+ in 1 gal distilled water.
April 29: 1.5 tsp FF Grow Big, 1.5 tsp FF Tiger Bloom, 2 tbsp FF Big Bloom in 1 gal distilled water. 6.3 pH, 1400 ppm

May 1-May 5 Averages
AM: 72 F, 59% RH
PM: 77 F, 59% RH
*watering notes
May 1: 1 tsp CalMag+ in 1 gal distilled water. 6.6 pH, 437 ppm
May 4: 1 gal tap water, no nutes. 6.9 pH, 98 ppm

May 6-May 10 Averages
AM: 71 F, 58% RH
PM: 76 F, 54% RH
*watering notes
May 7: 1.5 tsp FF Grow Big, 1.5 tsp FF Tiger Bloom, 2 tbsp FF Big Bloom in 1 gal distilled water. 6.3 pH, 1308 ppm
May 9: 1 tsp CalMag+ in 1 gal distilled water. 6.4 pH, 280 ppm

May 10-May 15 Averages
AM: 75 F, 57% RH
PM: 78 F, 53% RH
*watering notes
May 12: 1.5 tsp FF Grow Big, 1.5 tsp FF Tiger Bloom, 2 tbsp FF Big Bloom in 1 gal distilled water. 6.4 pH, 1228 ppm
May 15: 1 tsp CalMag+, 1.5 tsp FF Tiger Bloom, 2 tbsp FF Big Bloom, 1tsp AN B-52 in 1 gal distilled water. 6.4 pH, 1300 ppm

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Hard to believe it’s the end of week 4 of flowering. The ScrOG has been filled nicely in my opinion, honestly I couldn’t have asked for a better 1st experience with the method. The canopy is relatively even aside from the main stem protruding up in that back right corner as I ran out of space. I managed to periodically manipulate branches under the screen as they grew, without breaking or damaging any bud sights. The only defol I’ve done has been underneath the ScrOG and removing discolored fan leaves that were blocking more than one of its neighboring budlets from the LED.

She’s looked super healthy throughout this stage. Beautiful white pistils are shooting out everywhere and it even looks like there are some brown trichomes coming in already. Every time I stick my face in the tent I’m blasted with powerful scents of pine that has almost an astringent tinge on the nose (in a good way). Hopefully this means fire is on the way. Keep the comments, critiques and suggestions rolling in. Life is good, I hope you are as well. Namaste.

 

[SendWaves]

So after the feeding yesterday I woke up this morning and found a bud grouping whose fan leaves have turned a bright greenish yellow. The leaves in this grouping had slight color variation already before the watering but today it is much more apparent/the color has brightened significantly. Is this due to overfeeding or a deficiency of some sort? I did introduce Advanced Nutrient's B-52 to the nutrient regimine for the first time. To recap, here are the numbers from yesterday's watering:

Mixed into 1 gal distilled water
Fox Farm Big Bloom: 2 tablespoons (30mL) 0-.5-.7
Fox Farm Tiger Bloom: 1.5 teaspoons (~7.5mL) 2-8-4
CalMag+: 1 teaspoon (5mL) 2-0-0
Advanced Nutrients B-52: 1 teaspoon (5mL) 2-1-4

Readings
6.4 pH
1300 ppm
Current tent temp: 77 F
Current tent RH: 51%

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

 

[BudShark]

Great looking plant, hard to believe there is just one in there, its spread out like there could be 2 or 3. Sorry to say I have no idea what could cause the discoloration of leaves pointed out. Not serious unless it spreads or gets worst. Like the format you use on your journal, Brief, informative and accurate, i have made a note of that somewhere in that noggin of mine. Cheers Keep up the good work
P.S. I did a bit of research on your plant, should be some very good smoke, how tall do you think it would have been without all your training and topping?

 

[BudShark]

P.S. Take a picture under the canopy, want to see how you managed that. Cheers

 

[SendWaves]

Don't know what the secret is but the marijuana gods are certainly pleased. Admittedly I've been meticulous and calculative during every stage of the grow and did my best to address issues immediatle when noticed, no matter how small I thought they seemed. I've treated this plant like a child.

Brotherman, I'm as surprised as you at how good the ScrOG turne out. Attached some pics and a short GoPro clip. You'll see I point out on 2 of the 3 main stems exactly where I pinched and rolled/stressed each one. I'm thinking it filled the screen so well because of the location of where I chose to stress her out. She worked super hard to heal and focus growth exactly where it needed to be, resulting in strong and resilient branches which in turn produced buds on buds on buds. Staying on top of light height, pH and ppm readings, really just the basics all helped tremendously too I'm sure.

The landrace genetics keep the plant pretty short with minimal vertical stretching during the first few weeks of transition. I think by now without the screen it might be 3-4 ft tall. I'm excited about the smoking experience but don't want to get ahead of myself, still another 4-5 weeks until harvest. I'm tickled by the success so far, thanks to the advice of yourself and others!

 

[BudShark]

Great, worked out well. Another tent in there and you wont get any work done, I mean office work. Lol Cheers 4 more weeks to go. Keep it up.

 

[SendWaves]

Found a really cool strain mapping database. This is Nigerian Sunshine's family tree.

 

[BudShark]

I think because this strain as such an early claim on being beneficial for patients of PTSD it could be in great demand by lots of patients looking for exactly that. Hope it works Cheers