TNR's First Grow

[twonappyroots]

6 weeks ago Granny and I went to Home Depot so she could pick up some tomato plants to put in the empty pots littered around the property.

A few days later while smoking, I found a few seeds nestled within some "Top-Shelf" bud I received from a local dispensary. Hmm.... Top Shelf you say....

I took a bucketful of generic fertilizer we picked up for the tomatoes, watered it down, and stuck the seeds in it. I put it next to the newly planted tomatoes and... and they grew!! Wow! I don't know why it blew my mind that they'd grow, but I was so excited I threw myself headfirst into the experience. Since then, I've been lurking like crazy on this forum among others, doing everything in my power to keep the new seedlings alive and into a viable plant. New growers anxiety means that I watered it everyday and almost drowned my sprouts. I couldn't stand the thought of losing my new hobby so quickly, so when the babiest leaves started to turn yellow, I freaked! I ran to a not-so-local dispensary in LA County to purchase clones. I didn't know anything about clones (tbh, I still don't now that I have them), but I was infected by the possibility of growing my own plants!

Besides, the tomatoes were growing like wildfire it and I wanted to try my greenthumb on other things!

I brought them home, put my sprouts in the dirt outside taproot first, and planted my new projects in some Fox Farms pots, and here we are.

After watching all sorts of awesome grows [All you flux growers are so inspiring], witnessing the passionate supportive community, and discovering the wealth of information available on the internet and among my peers, am determined to have a successful crop from these two clones!


So I introduce.......
....

...

TNR's first grow!

Plants I'm journaling:

- 1 clone of Gorilla Glue #4, 1 clone BN (I asked for J1, I'm not sure what BN means)
- Gg4 is indica dom, BN is unknown

- I keep the plants Outdoor during day for natural sunlight. When the sun goes down if I'm going to be gone before I the sun will go down, They go indoors under lamps to maintain veg

- I use Fox Farms Ocean Grown cut with perlite ratio 3:1 in my pots. The clones came in rockwool. I broke a lot of the rockwool away before I potted and watered the clones in.

- Indoor light setup consists 24(17true)watt Apollo LED grow light and two 26W CFLs 2500K

- Temps are outdoor temps in the area. Grow zone 10b around now means highs around 87 and lows of 60.

- Humidity is something I know nothing about. I spray my plants with a fine mist waterbottle sporadically because I know it's pretty dry out here.

- My tomatoes had hornworms, an infestations I'm 80% sure I've eliminated by being vigilant. I doubt I'll have pest issues with these clones until much later in their lifespan

- When the soil is dry to the 2nd knuckle I water, roughly once every two days.

- I currently have no means of testing pH, so I'm reluctant to purchase nutes or ferts. Currently I just use tapwater straight from the faucet.​

This one is the GG4. That yellow bit was some light burn I got on my first day with the LEDs. le sigh.

The BN. I love it's vibrant forest green color. I have it in a smaller pot because I didn't have enough soil to fill two big ones. I'll transplant as she gets bigger.

A pic of my indoor setup. Apollo light is just outside the frame. It's painfully amateur, I know.


My goal is a 60 gram harvest from these two plants. I'm looking forward to the journey of discovery as I learn what it takes to conduct a successful personal grow.

Cheers!
twonappyroots

 

[twonappyroots]

Sept 14 7:36 am

Last night I showed my indoor setup to a friend and forgot to turn back on LED. My clones spent 10pm to 7am under just CFL. UGH. They're growing so slow I hope my neglect doesn't adversely affect their growth.

I took the plants outside this morning at 730.

Soil is still lightly damp in both pots so I'll water tomorrow. I want to know the waters being used.

1134am it's heating up and the GG4clone looks a lil drier. Either it's new grower paranoia, or its leaves are just barely starting to claw like it needs water. Whatever. I might just be anxious. I'll just water GG4 because it's been two days.
Also cut off a bit of light burn from fan leaves. The GG4 is a much paler green than the BN. I hope it's not something to be concerned about.

Do clones need special attention to get established, or can you treat them like any other plant?

 

[twonappyroots]

8:24 am
Had to take Granny to airport before sun came up, so they missed an hour of sunlight while I was gone. I watered BN thoroughly, as her leaves were starting to noticeably droop.

The trimmed leaf on my GG4 is looking better already, It's a lot more photosensitive now and turns towards the sun more readily.

I finally caved and purchased a Mars LED 300 grow light. It should be here in a few days. I'm excited to upgrade my indoor setup.

Since I don't have a means to regulate humidity, I just spray the plants with mist every time I peek at them. I wonder if it helps

 

[twonappyroots]

Sept 16
846am
I put the plants outside. Cloudless day. Last night I turned off the Apollo because I heard clones can't really take a ton of light before they get established.

Both plants look great. I'm pretty sure I'm seeing new growth on BN. So green, and the clustering leaves close to her stalk look promising. And that aroma ftw.

GG4 looks good too. I'm going to cut off the burned fan leaves so she can get more light to her growth sites. Not too many too soon though. Maybe one a day.



^^BN




GG4

 

[twonappyroots]

Grow Journal 2016

- 1 clone GG4, 1 clone BN
- Gg4 is indica dom, J1 Sativa dom
- Veg stage for both since I bought a week ago.
- Outdoor during day, indoor lamps at night.
- Fox Farms Ocean Grown cut with perlite 3:1
- Transitioned from peat pots to 2 2.5 gallon black plastic.
- 24watt Apollo Led, 17 watt Walmart grow light
- Temp of Room/cab?
- RH of Room/cab?
- PH of media or res?
- Any Pests ?
- When the soil is dry to the 2nd knuckle I water
- Type and strength of ferts used? Nitrogen and phosphate blend every Monday watering

Day 1.
GG4 has some concerning light burn on 2 of its clone leaf tips. Should I cut off the yellow? I don't think it's too close to the light, but I'll back it off.
BN clone is comparable in size, but no burn. Red discoloration on topsoil perlite.

I woke up and took both plants outside by 630 am, removing them from the light. They'll stay out here till around 7pm

Starting sprinking early so I brought them inside at 1030 under the LED CFL combo setup.

Window is next to the grow site so they get diffused sunlight too.
Gratuitous pic of me working on the set up last night

Replaced lower wattage bulbs with 2 26w cold 2500k

Sept 14
Last night I shower setup to Fernando and forgot to turn back on LED. They spent 10pm to 7am under just CFL. UGH.
took outside this morning at 730.
Soil is still lightly damp so I'll water tomorrow. I want to know the waters being used.
1134am it's heating up and the GG4clone looks a lil drier. Either it's new grower paranoia, or its just barely starting to claw like it needs water. Whatever. I might just be anxious. I'll just water GG4. Also cut off a bit of light burn from fan leaves

Sept 15 100pm

Watered BN in the morning. She looked like she was curling before but now she's perking up. Great green color.

It could be my paranoia, but I feel like GG4 is getting lighter and lighter every day. Def much paler than BN.

I read on 420Mag that an indoor outdoor combo grow kind of shocks the plants. Not really concerned, but something to take note of. Pics.

GG4

BN

Sept 16
846am
I put the plants outside. Cloudless day. Last night I turned off the Apollo because I heard clones can't really take a ton of light before they get established.

Both plants look great. I'm pretty sure I'm seeing new growth on BN for sure. So green, and the clustering leaves close to her stalk look promising.

GG4 looks good too. I'm going to cut off the burned fan leaves so she can get more light to her growth sites.

Pics

Sept 18th 847am

Looked back at my last post. It feels like so much has happened and it's only been two days.

I ordered a Mars Hydro light the day I made that post. My setup was cute, but I knew I wasn't going to see results.

I told my brother in law I was looking for a better light and he said he had a reflector hood and ballast for 1000 watts and I started to cringe. I just want a lil spot to learn the craft. I hit the forums and discover alternatives. They have IR and UV and multi panel siaiovihauwfdsfsofiojf I'm really not there yet. So many more types of LEDs it makes it hard to know what the absolute best decision is. I feel like I'm a hobbyist rnow. I truly don't know what I'm doing and I want to just plug and play.

So yeah. Mars 300 was less than a hundred bucks. Boom. Done. I'll pick up an extra shift at work for it.

I just wanted decent power that wasnt CFL, but I wasn't ready to invest in a 400 watt setup for my first go around.

So the light came in, and I spent most of the evening after I got off from that extra shift setting up my first grow area. Lol. It's so amateur it's endearing, I think.

Yo. Look at this stuff.

Picture of Mars 300 light

Potato quality macro view of my setup. The white lining is the white side of wrapping paper. I'm nothing if not resourceful

GG4 doing her thing. She seems so bare since I took off those burnt fan leaves

BN has some dense foliage for being a clone. I wonder if I should give it the trim treatment too.



8:20 pm

I left for work early, and I knew I wasn't going to make it back home before the sun goes down, so I left my plants under the LED to grow while I was gone.

When I came back, BN's stalks were hella erect, like its fan leaves were reaching for the light. I feel like the plants are very responsive to it! Good sign I hope.

 

[twonappyroots]

I read a really good question that I want to reframe and transpant on here for when someone finally reads this (or so I can remember to ask before it's too late).

I bought this FF liquid fertilizer Grow Big and some mycorizzae I put like 3 capfuls into my 2 gallon watering drum and watered ALL my plants with it. The Tomatoes. The Bell Pepper, my outdoor bagseed experiments. and my two little clones.

The next day I check the plants out, and every single plant is LOVING it. to the point where I'm kind of concerned. The Bell pepper wasn't showing her flowers yet, but when I looked the next morning I saw flower tips. My monster tomato plant is flowering like crazy all of the sudden. It is really working. and my clones have never looked healthier.

but to my point... What happens when my nutes run out. Am i required to go back and get more? Will the plants get addicted to the nutrient boost, and react negatively when there isn't an abundance of 6-4-4 in their water once a week?

Something to think about

 

[mouser]

Welcome to ! Its good to see someone with such enthusiasm One thing I have learned is that the plants will grow only as far as their limiting factor...short change them on light, nutes or water and no amount of the other 2 will move them into gear. If cost is an issue, run to WallyWorldMart and get a qt of Alaska Fish Fertilizer <$6 for a qt, $13.50/gal That will get you through to flower...you mix it at roughly 8ml/gal...and it will bring your pH down to boot..all good things.

for flowering they have a product called morbloom...also a fishy thing...add it to the mix. And most of all, dont stress. These plants LIKE to grow



edit: fixed typo 'pants' to 'plants'...trying to keep it PG

 

[twonappyroots]

Welcome to ! Its good to see someone with such enthusiasm One thing I have learned is that the plants will grow only as far as their limiting factor...short change them on light, nutes or water and no amount of the other 2 will move them into gear. If cost is an issue, run to WallyWorldMart and get a qt of Alaska Fish Fertilizer <$6 for a qt, $13.50/gal That will get you through to flower...you mix it at roughly 8ml/gal...and it will bring your pH down to boot..all good things.

for flowering they have a product called morbloom...also a fishy thing...add it to the mix. And most of all, dont stress. These plants LIKE to grow



edit: fixed typo 'pants' to 'plants'...trying to keep it PG

Thanks for the response! I'll definitely check into those products for my grow

And you're totally right! I feel like that's a cardinal rule of sorts. The chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, you know?

Sept 20 1:14pm
Today is nutrient day for the rest of my garden and i learned a valuable lesson about nutrient schedules, and why its important to not take your plant food lightly.

I added another few capfuls of Grow Big to my plants, looking forward to more growth. My Tomato plant is truly massive. It's nearing 4.5 feet tall and lightly tethered and has been showing flowers for weeks. Everyday I go out there anxiously looking for signs of fruit, but instead, the most promising flowers are the first to fall off dead, even though the plant is healthy as anything!

A little Google fu yielded this: BLOSSOM DROP!

"Blossom-Drop" is a condition suffered by tomatoes, peppers, snap beans, and some other fruiting vegetables where the plant blooms but fails to set fruit, the blooms die and fall off. It may be caused by the use of excess nitrogen fertilizers or dry windy conditions, but the most common cause is temperature extremes

By using a high nitrogen nute on my plant, even though it's been TELLING me it's ready to flower for weeks now, I have been killing off my fruit! :// and I only discovered my mistake after their drenching today! :// I'm so bummed. What am I going to do if my plant gets 6 feet tall and dies during the winter without giving me any tomatoes?? fuuuuuuuuuuu

I've been considering picking up some sledgehammer and rinsing the base of the plant. maybe it'll flush out my mistake. The plant is in the earth though and not in a pot, so I'm not sure how effective that treatment would be.


The silver lining is that I made this mistake on the oldest tomato plants and not on my clones. Sigh. What an adventure.

I'm headed to Lowe's to get a Temp/humidity gauge. I'll ask about the fish ferts too

 

[twonappyroots]

9.22.2016
9.19 AM


First day of Fall!

Surfing the forums here has got me imagining myself 3 grows in the future with 3 tents and a DocBud Hi-Brix setup. Patience truly is key though. I feel as if I've lived through a dozen grows just watching everyone work.

So, uh... plant update!

My clones have definitely taken. I see them developing almost before my eyes! I did some light defol on the biggest leaves that were the least photo responsive. It's my understanding that these leaves served a purpose on the mother plant, but here they've been scraping the dirt and blocking valuable light to new growth sites.

I went to Home Depot and they didn't have much in the way of fish ferts, but I copped a pH/light/moisture reader, a Temp/humidity reader, and some ties to begin training.

the pH read for my larger container comes in at ~6.2 while my smaller pot sits around 5.8 it's low precision (you get what you pay for!) so I have to eyeball it. I figure it's okay for a soil grow, but I'd want to improve my equipment later. I'll show you in a bit.
I've noticed that although the canopy/node structure is much denser on my BN compared to my GG4 (genetics?), it's seemingly growing slower.

I'm trying to listen more to my plants since my Tomato mistake, so I'm inclined to think there's a reason for it. I don't think it's container size because BN isn't rootbound. the pH is the obvious answer. I'll do a full flush on BN at next water and lay off the Big Bloom for a while.

Humidity seems to be okay. I was pleasantly surprised at the readings.

Transplanted a seedling from outside to a peat pot under the lamp. I was overwatering it and it started to fall behind. My other outdoor seedling is doing well though. I'm scared it's a male, but it's fun to watch.

Thanks for checking in. Pictures up next.

 

[twonappyroots]

Amateur league training. GG4 was gaining inches high, so I pulled down the top and that secondary stem started gaining vigor. Now the top leaves sit just above the rim of the pot and the bottom leaves sit just below. I adjust the ties daily.

Top View of BN. I love how dense the Canopy is rnow.

Two ladies and the runt

I can live with that.

 

[twonappyroots]

Can you Top a clone?

 

[Oful33]

Hi there buddy, it was really fun reading this, I can only agree what mouser said, very nice to see someone with so much enthusiasm Cant really answer if a clone can be topped, but there is a lot information in this forum or online in general. Same questions has been asked over and over again. If you just need any help let us know on hear or in a frequently asked questions section and someone will be sure to help! I cant really lecture or give any tips now, everything looks lovely and healty, so keep it up. Im in

 

[mouser]

Never actually seen the Fish ferts at HomeDepot. They seem to be a Walmart staple. As to topping, you can top anything as long as you have the time to let the new tops grow out...topping early in autos is key, with photos, you can top as often as you like...just leave it in veg a bit longer

 

[twonappyroots]

Never actually seen the Fish ferts at HomeDepot. They seem to be a Walmart staple. As to topping, you can top anything as long as you have the time to let the new tops grow out...topping early in autos is key, with photos, you can top as often as you like...just leave it in veg a bit longer

Gotcha. I'll check in at my next Walmart stop. I have a little Fox Farms left. If I buy the fert is it okay to mix the two? Should I cook them and pH test before I transplant my BN into its larger container.

And thanks for the info on Topping. Once I see a little more growth I wanna give it a try

 

[twonappyroots]

Sept 23 2016
11:07 am

Plants are doing well. I need to come up with a strict regiment for my watering and light to standardize my results. I've been reading a LOT of this extensive write-up and I think I'll be referring to it often.

Trained a bit more today and gave the lightest nute drizzle to the bone dry small pot.

Not much to report. Pictures to follow.

 

[twonappyroots]

BN Entire plant 9.23

BN Close up 9.23

GG4 Close Up 9.23

GG4 Entire plant 9.23

 

[twonappyroots]

The write-up I found on this site was very inspirational, motivating me to keep a paper journal of my grow, so if anything micro changes I can be aware of it. My memory only serves so well. Even though I don't post here every day, having this data will improve my technique for future grows. I can't recommend it enough.

9.25
7.33 am

Temps: Now 68 Hi 91 Low 68
Humidity Now 35% Hi 46% Low 22%

BN
Soil Moisture - 2.8
pH - Too dry for an accurate reading
Comments - Today I'm going to water BN, She's just barely starting to droop from dry ness. I think it needs to be transplanted soon too. It doesn't seem to be growing as fast as GG4, possibly due to pot size

GG4
Soil Moisture - 4.5
pH ~ 7
Comments - So Big! So Green! It's undergrowth is really coming along now that I've started to train it. It's original fan leaves are almost completely obscured now.

Feeding: Added 2 capfuls of Grow Big to 1.5 gal tap water. stirred and let sit for 10 min. pH was 5.5. The plants took a little over half a gallon before I stopped. My garden took the rest.

Pictures to Follow
Thanks for reading

 

[twonappyroots]

I keep the pad next to the grow area, so I can update it every time I check on them

BN 9.25
Even her leaves are smaller than GG4. I'm thinking pot size. I'm nervous to transplant her because I've started to train

GG4. Brought down that apical meristem, and now there's a carpet of green along her stalk. This clone is really booming. She'll finish a five-finger leaf to adult size in 2 days or less.

Pulled from the garden and put it under the lights. I'm hoping it's a girl.

 

[Stinky Snid]

It takes a while but we're all pilling in to watch the show. You've got to love happenstance grows. Just throw them in the dirt and... What do you know, a little seedling for you to take care of. For a Willy Nilly start they seem to be doing just fine. Good job so far and good luck, we're here for the long stretch.

KiG cheers

 

[twonappyroots]

9.27
12:39 pm
We've had the craziest heatwave lately and my girls are loving it!
I didn't realize how unhappy BN was until we got 100 degree temps with hardly any moisture in the air. She was drooping before, now she's standing tall!
It could be that, or it could be that I was lurking on here, wondering how healthy it was that my plants have never seen a night cycle in the 2 months I've had them. I know most of the best growers run 18/6, and I see 20/4 often too. I decided to experiment this morning. I checked on her, made sure her area was clean and clear, and I turned off all the gear. In retrospect, I should have left the fan on. Regardless they seem very healthy and are growing bigger by the day.
Temp now: 95. Hi104 low75
Humidity Now: 23% Hi30 Low16

I've decided against the soil moisture and pH tests daily. Every time I stick the probe in, my plant moves a little bit and I hear a crunch. I should probably stop stabbing my root ball.
Instead, I'll do water dunks, where I'll dunk each plant in it's feed, and collect some runoff to pH instead.

Thank you Snidrajsed. Your support means a ton.

A couple photos to follow