Sureves' First Grow - Indoor Cabinet Soil - 2011 - Bag Seed

[sureves]

Welcome to my very first grow, and as such, my first grow journal. A friend suggested I make a journal of my grow, but I had no idea there was a whole forum for such things! I look forward to sharing my growing experience with all of you, and getting tips in return!

Here's the low-down of what I've got goin' on:

What strain is it? Bag Seed, two types. First strain, I have no idea. Second strain is reportedly a cross of Cheese and Northern Lights.
Is it Indica, Sativa or Hybrid? What percentages? I'm fairly sure both are hybrids, but no clue about percentages.
Is it in Veg or Flower stage? Veg.
If in Veg... For how long? 3 weeks.
Indoor or outdoor? Indoor, custom cabinet
Soil or Hydro? Soil
If soil... what is in your mix? Jiffy Seed Starting Mix, perlite
If soil... What size pot? just transferred to 6"
Size of light? 26 Watt 6500k CFL
Is it aircooled? Uh, no?
Temp of Room/cab? 72, 41% humidity
Any Pests ? Not that I have seen.
How often are you watering? When the soil is dry; which has been pretty much daily.
Type and strength of ferts used? Just some miracle grow I picked up at walmart.

Here's some background about me and my grow:

First off, I started smoking only about six months ago. I'm 23 years old, and I've never grown anything before. However, after stumbling onto (and subsequently purchasing) Ryan Riley's Growing Elite Marijuana: The Complete Guide, I decided that I would try to grow my own bud. I started with some seeds from a pretty good bag, and got 5 to germinate. Unfortunately, I showed my brother how to germinate the seeds, and a few days later, I had five more seeds for a total of ten plants. *sigh*

The four of the five 'Strain X' plants sprouted on February 28th. I named them Michaelina, Sam, Donna, and Curly. The next day, one more sprouted; thus Leap Baby was born.

The Cheese x Northern Lights (supposedly; I plan to call them this unless someone can identify them) seeds all sprouted March 3rd. They are called Gillian, Mary, Emma, Skye, and Jane.

The dimensions of the cabinet that I started in are 2'x1.5'x2'. I began with the plants in small dixie cups, with one 26 watt 6500k CFL.

The plants are now three weeks old, and I have since swapped the pots out for 6" pots (the biggest I plan to go due to my small space). I have also rigged up a grow cabinet so that I can split my plants between both spaces. I still have the one 26 watt CFL for the aforementioned cabinet; the new cabinet is rigged up with two 26 watt CFLs, with a space blanket attached to the walls for reflectivity (I cannot find mylar anywhere in my town. wtf?), a chill mat installed into the back wall, and an additional fan on the inside.

I will be posting pictures as soon as I take them. For now though, I have a couple questions.

There are two things that I currently have questions on. The first is, how often should I be watering and how much at a time? I have been watering every day because the soil is dry every day. I wonder if perhaps I am not using enough water? (The Grow Guide I have cautioned that overwatering was the most common rookie mistake, so I have been cautious as to how much water I give them at a time.)

The second question is, how often should I be fertilizing? I have Miracle Grow in both 25-10-15 (for veg) and 15-30-15 (for flowering) formulas. Yes I realize Miracle Grow is not organic, but it was easy to find in my small town. :/

Thanks for your time, and hope everyone enjoys my journal!

 

[dragontoker]

Re: Sureves' First Grow(Indoor Cabinet Soil) 2011--Bag Seed

You should water it in the morning, and afternoon. For as how much you should be watering it, that all depends water EVERYTHING. Especially the edges. Make sure there's holes in the bottom so excess water can be released. Also, something you can do is pick the pot up when you havent watered it and then pick it up after its been watered and see the weight difference so in the future you'll know if its watered enough or not by how heavy it is.

3 week old plants in soil and you recommend watering twice a day? This sounds like a bad idea to me.

My suggestion, water when the soil is dry, not just dry on top. I wait till mine are dry down to as far as my finger can poke down through the soil. When my plants were 3 weeks old this equated to roughly every 3-4 days. I would water so that roughly 10% of the water came out the bottom. You dont want to water lightly and more often, which promotes bad root development. You want to water less and have run off out of the bottom of your pots. The water that is in the pan under the pot,,,,I remove so that my plants feet arent sitting in it.

 

[sureves]

Re: Sureves' First Grow(Indoor Cabinet Soil) 2011--Bag Seed

When my plants were 3 weeks old this equated to roughly every 3-4 days. I would water so that roughly 10% of the water came out the bottom. You dont want to water lightly and more often, which promotes bad root development. You want to water less and have run off out of the bottom of your pots.

My pots being dry every day makes more sense now. I have been using a spray bottle and pretty much just moistening it I guess. Nothing has run out of the pots. I will start watering more at a time, and less often! Thanks!

 

[sureves]

Re: Sureves' First Grow(Indoor Cabinet Soil) 2011--Bag Seed

What about the fertilizing? How often should I be doing that? Or at all, yet?

And do I let the fertilizer run out of the bottom, too?

 

[dragontoker]

Re: Sureves' First Grow(Indoor Cabinet Soil) 2011--Bag Seed

Just like watering it depends on your soil mix. I dont know yours but if it has nutrients in the soil you can wait 3 weeks from seed before you add any.

When watering, your soil matters too on how frequently you water. Thats why you check soil condition before watering.

If you read the how to grow section of this forum,,,,,everything you could possibly have a question about can be answered there.

I asked no questions, I am also new at growing......I read the grow room threads backwards and forwards.......I'm happy with the way my grow is going.

 

[sureves]

Re: Sureves' First Grow(Indoor Cabinet Soil) 2011--Bag Seed

Just like watering it depends on your soil mix. I dont know yours but if it has nutrients in the soil you can wait 3 weeks from seed before you add any.

When watering, your soil matters too on how frequently you water. Thats why you check soil condition before watering.

I did check the soil conditions before I watered; mine indicated that it needed water every day. I didn't realize you were supposed to use enough water at each watering to cause it to run out of the pots.

If you read the how to grow section of this forum,,,,,everything you could possibly have a question about can be answered there.

I asked no questions, I am also new at growing......I read the grow room threads backwards and forwards.......I'm happy with the way my grow is going.

I have read over 750 pages of a Grower's guide. I know the gist of what I'm doing. I apologize for going for the direct route with my questions instead of scouring a HUGE section of the forum. My book was a little foggy on the points I asked about. I had seen other people ask questions in their grow journals and get terrific feedback. Is that not what these are for? Perhaps there is an etiquette that I missed.

 

[dragontoker]

Re: Sureves' First Grow(Indoor Cabinet Soil) 2011--Bag Seed

I have read over 750 pages of a Grower's guide. I know the gist of what I'm doing. I apologize for going for the direct route with my questions instead of scouring a HUGE section of the forum. My book was a little foggy on the points I asked about. I had seen other people ask questions in their grow journals and get terrific feedback. Is that not what these are for? Perhaps there is an etiquette that I missed.

I was just trying to help.

If you step back and open your eyes you might be able to see that there is a sticky in the grow room forum. This one post has links in BIG BOLD LETTERS to everything one needs to have a successful grow. There is no wading through tons of stuff. Good luck with your grow.

 

[sureves]

Re: Sureves' First Grow(Indoor Cabinet Soil) 2011--Bag Seed

Oh, no, puff, I appreciate the help. I just thought you were trying to tell me not to ask questions. I posted this journal so that I could benefit from the experience that everyone seems to have - and there's great info. I did check out that thread you reference - I've covered most of it on my own, but for some reason the book I have didn't go in-depth about how much water to give. It just said, don't over-water.

And I definitely didn't give them too MUCH water.

I've been waiting to post pictures until I find my camera, but I think my cell can do them justice at this stage.

Off to take pictures.

 

[sureves]

Sureves' First Grow(Indoor Cabinet Soil) 2011--Bag Seed

First pictures! Here's hoping they come out well.

I paid $30 for this cabinet because I thought it would work perfect for a grow cabinet. Couple broken drill bits and saw blades, and a TON of swear words later, it's finally finished. Moral of the story: Cutting reinforced metal SUCKS, especially when power tools aren't exactly a skill I possess. The outside looks super rough, but I'll paint it after this grow.

I don't like how I have the fan situated - I've been playing with it since last night. I will figure something out. Meanwhile, a 15.4" Chillmat is getting air into the cab and circulating it. Temps holding in the low to mid 70s with humidity around 50%.

I've got five plants in here at the moment; I could fit six if I had to. I've got a total of ten, and the other space is smaller, so I might do a 6/4 split until sex is determined.

The five plants I have inside the computer tower compartment of my desk. I moved the light there last night, but I'm going to try to rig it up to the top of the cab so the plants get better lighting.


I will get closer photos of the plants later; headed to the gym atm.

 

[sureves]

Re: Sureves' First Grow(Indoor Cabinet Soil) 2011--Bag Seed

Don't worry about asking questions, this is exactly what your journal is for. And of course to keep track and share Yes water just like was mentioned above ^ water until there is run off and then let the run off sit in a run off container for about 10 minutes often times it will all be sucked back up, if not toss it out. Every 3-4 days sounds about right try and note how much water you are giving, say like 2 full cups or whatever makes it start to have runoff and then next time you will know. You probably don't need any nutrients yet depending on your soil, pictures would be nice. WHen you do add nutrients you will still feed until it runs off.

Great info. Already you guys have been a huge help; I'm glad I posted!

You are bound to have some males so that will clear up some room in your grow and then you will want to transplant into bigger then 6" pots. Your going to need way more lighting, or you do need it right now. When I was using CFL's I had 8 x 23w 6500k CFL's on just two plants. 2 CFL's will not be even close to enough. Good luck

I need bigger than 6" pots? Damn. lol, I was hoping to keep this grow really small. The book I have has good guidelines, but it's kinda wishy-washy. One of those, you can do this, or you can do that, but do this, but if you do that other thing, it's ok... And really, I need more lights? holy cow...I got these huge reflector things; will those maybe decrease the need for 8 lights? Cause no way can I fit another big reflector in the cab...

Well as I was writing you added pictures! Your going to need a bigger space man!

Not that it matters, but I'm a girl.

Edit again: oops sorry didn't see that there was two spaces. The last pic looks like the space would be ok for a couple! Or maybe it's the pictures. what is the width measurement?

Ok, so I measured the metal cabinet...it is 3 ft tall, 3 ft across the front, and a foot deep. The desk cabinet is 15.5" across the front, 21" tall, and 27" deep. You think the desk cab is a better place to grow than the metal one will be?

 

[sureves]

First Plant Photos!

We will start here with actually the younger plants. They will be 3 weeks on Saturday. These plants will be three weeks old on Saturday, and are the ones that I keep in the metal cabinet. I was told the bag these seeds came out of was Cheese x Northern Lights. The leaves look pretty fat, so I'm guessing Indica-dominant? idk, definitely no expert!

Mary, 3/22

Gillian, 3/22

Emma, 3/22

Skye, 3/22

Jane, 3/22
This possibly might be my favorite plant at this point.

Curly, 3/22
This is one of the older plants. I have no idea They were three weeks old on Tuesday. They have been pretty droopy; I'm thinking because I haven't been watering enough? Thoughts?

Sam, 3/22
Pretty droopy, huh?

Michaelina, 3/22

Leap Baby, 3/22
This plant was a day later than the rest sprouting. Since then, she's had a rough time of it. When she was still in her Dixie cup, my light fell down while I was gone and burned her and her sister Donna. Both plants now have new growth on them, (it's been about a week since they were burned) so I'm hopeful. Will be watching both of these plants very carefully.

Donna, 3/22
My other burn victim. This plant hasn't recovered quite as well as Leap Baby, but again, I'm hopeful.

 

[sureves]

Re: Sureves' First Grow(Indoor Cabinet Soil) 2011--Bag Seed

Well sure you could leave it at 6" pots but they can easily get root bound depending on how tall you let them get and the growing style you do. I and many others on here have plants in 2L bottles but we intend to keep them small and shoot for a single massive cola. There's really no way around not having more lights regardless of reflectors because you need a certain amount of lumens. You can go to home depot and buy Y connectors. 3 for each light fixture. What you will do is screw one into the socket and then screw the other two into each end of the Y! Now you will have 4 bulbs in each socket and nice to know, always good to have some girls around! Hmmm you could prob do different grow styles in each cab. You can LST or scrog in the shorter one and those methods always help when using CFLs

What are the consequences of the plant becoming rootbound? I realize stunted growth would be likely; however, as this is somewhat of a desired quality, I'm not too worried about it.

I will go out and look for those Y connectors.

I was reading up on LST but I still am unsure as to the proper time to begin this. Are my plants too young for this? And when would you top or fimm if you were going to?

 

[sureves]

Post-Watering Photos

Here are some pictures I took of each plant with a REAL camera this time, and not a cell camera! Temps are at 76 with 56% humidity right now...I'm excited to see what they look like tomorrow now that they will have been watered properly!

Mary

Skye

Gillian

Jane

Jane again, from the top view

Emma

 

[sureves]

Re: Sureves' First Grow(Indoor Cabinet Soil) 2011--Bag Seed

Yes certainly limiting growth and not allowing the plant to get to its maximum potential. This of course depends on growing style like I said, 2L bottle being example. You can still get great quality and quantity, that's the name of the game. There's not really a time that's to early for LST like the name implies its low stress and promotes branching. LST/FIM around 6 nodes or so.

To clarify (I have a feeling I will be doing that a lot), a node is each new set of leaves, right?

I'm sad I can't let my plants reach their maximum potential, but it's just not gonna work with my space. Heading out right now to get those Y connectors though!

Thanks again for your help!

 

[sureves]

Re: Sureves' First Grow(Indoor Cabinet Soil) 2011--Bag Seed

Proper watering makes a huge difference! Several of my droopy plants have perked back up.

 

[Doc Bud]

Re: Sureves' First Grow(Indoor Cabinet Soil) 2011--Bag Seed

Thought I'd drop by since you left a nice comment on my journal.....

1.)Looking good for a first grow!
2.)root bound is good in a small space like you have. It limits the size of the plants.
3.)watering:

Try to let the pot dry out to the point where it feels very light to lift and the soil seems very dry.....but NOT to the point of the plant wilting! Rootbound plants might need daily watering, especially at the height of bloom.

If you're in very small containers and rootbound, a great technique for watering is to mix up the water/nutrients in a bucket. Dip the pots in the bucket and force them down so the soil is under water, but the rim of the pot and the top of the soil stays dry. They'll float like a cork until the water wicks in and saturates the medium.

You'll start to see water appearing on the top of the soil when this is almost done.

At this point, I lift the pot up and pour feed water from the top and then let it all run out the bottom of the pot, tilting the pot this way and that to get as much water out as possible. This can take a couple minutes.

Now your medium is saturated and the roots are happy!

Use those Miracle Grow salts at 1/2 strength!

More is almost never better....too much is almost alway way too much.....less is almost always more......

Don't love them to death!

 

[sureves]

3/24

Plants are still moist today, so no fresh water for them! Actually, I think I am going to try fertilizing them tomorrow; here's my dilemma: I've noticed most people that frequent this site prefer organic grows. Should I exchange my Miracle Grow for something else? If I'm not mistaken, the reason that an organic grow is advantageous is because the overall taste of the final product will be better than with a chemical grow, right? I am strongly considering attempting to find some type of organic nutrients for the plants, but I'd prefer something that was simple to use, and not a bunch of different products. Thoughts? Meanwhile, I will be researching further on this matter. And might take some photos later for you guys.

 

[sureves]

Re: Sureves' First Grow(Indoor Cabinet Soil) 2011--Bag Seed

That's not saying you won't have great plants, it's just likely they will get root bound. I think you would have room for 10" pots and just LST them around the rim of the pot Just my thoughts!

That sounds like a great idea for LSTing them. I will consider the 10" pots; I'm gonna take a look at them next time I go to the home improvement store (no Home Depots here so it's a little tougher lol) and see how big they actually are in person.


Thanks so much for your help and tips.

 

[sureves]

Re: Sureves' First Grow(Indoor Cabinet Soil) 2011--Bag Seed

Thought I'd drop by since you left a nice comment on my journal.....

1.)Looking good for a first grow!
2.)root bound is good in a small space like you have. It limits the size of the plants.
3.)watering:

Try to let the pot dry out to the point where it feels very light to lift and the soil seems very dry.....but NOT to the point of the plant wilting! Rootbound plants might need daily watering, especially at the height of bloom.

If you're in very small containers and rootbound, a great technique for watering is to mix up the water/nutrients in a bucket. Dip the pots in the bucket and force them down so the soil is under water, but the rim of the pot and the top of the soil stays dry. They'll float like a cork until the water wicks in and saturates the medium.

You'll start to see water appearing on the top of the soil when this is almost done.

At this point, I lift the pot up and pour feed water from the top and then let it all run out the bottom of the pot, tilting the pot this way and that to get as much water out as possible. This can take a couple minutes.

Now your medium is saturated and the roots are happy!

Use those Miracle Grow salts at 1/2 strength!

More is almost never better....too much is almost alway way too much.....less is almost always more......

Don't love them to death!

for visiting my journal!

I've read about that trick with the weight of the pots - I will definitely be trying this! Your bucket tip seems extremely helpful; I'm not sure what constitutes an EXTREMELY small pot, but I'm currently in 6" pots for all 10 plants. I'm also considering swapping the MG salts out for an organic fertilizer, but I'm a little more confused with organics. I read that I need a mix with a higher N rating than P or K and one with a higher P for flowering. (Mine are 24-8-16 for veg and 15-30-15 for flower.) If I stick with the MG I will make sure to heed your advice about the strength.

Thanks again for visiting!

 

[sureves]

Re: 3/24

Most people will strongly reccomend not to use any miracle grow product not just because of them being chemical. As far as nutrients everyone here loves blue planet nutrients and they have a great organic line, look here:

Blue Planet Nutrients

The owner is also always on this site and sometimes offers discounts in exchange for putting BPN in the title of your thread. Of course the discounts are up to him! I'm using it and love it but I'm using the chemical version.

$20 for 3 quarts? I think yes.

Can I use the MG until they get here? I just found on my soil where it said that it contains enough nutes for 2 weeks, and mine are at three.

Though, now that I say that, I did just transplant last week, so they should be good for another week.