White Widow Indoors - Second Grow - Wisdom Wanted

[MaineGreenery]

Having just put my first grow in the flowering tent I wanted to get something going to hit the tent when the first batch are done. I took a chance by using bag seed last time (and still haven't found out if they are boys or girls) so this time I decided to use some feminized white widow seeds. I am excited to apply the things I have learned the first time around and seeing if I can't improve my results, even if just a little.

Three seeds where started a few days ago in peat pellets with the soil kept at about 80. I placed a 2 x 2 t5ho light above them and put it on a roughly 18/6 schedule. After just 4 days they started popping as you can see in the pic below. I am happy the popped but I am a little concerned with the first one. In just a day and a half it grew to touch the plastic lid. I suspect I placed the light too far away and caused the stretch although I also wonder if it isn't just normal growth. Either way I decided to transplant that stretcher to a solo cup to give it more opportunity, above and below, to develop. I am also going to lower the light I am using by a foot or two.

After I replanted the first one I decided to just go ahead and replant all three. Each seed had popped and roots were poking out the bottom of the peat pods so It seemed reasonable. I am anxious to see how they make it through the night. Keeping fingers crossed!

Here is the seedling area

Here is what the pods looked like pre-transplant.

and then in their new homes with a little more light

 

[cpla]

What wisdom are you wanting? I'm sorry but I didn't see a question

 

[Mr. Krip]

That taller one likely stretched due to being too far from the light, as you had noticed. MMJ is kind of like tomatoes and peppers in that, when you transplant, you can plant them deeper than their starting pot and rather than the stem rotting, it will form more roots.

I probably would have done this when I transplanted the taller one to help it support itself, but not sure I'd risk digging it out of the soil, at this point, to do it. You may want to prop it up with some toothpicks (or the like) until the stem develops more strength. Next time you transplant, plant it a little deeper and it should be fine.

 

[cpla]

That and you're obviously gona move them again. So when you transplant you can put them deeper like he said. Also be careful with the toothpicks. I damaged my roots before. Mr. Krip pretty much gotcha

 

[MaineGreenery]

Thanks CPLA and Krip for the info. I will definitely plant the tall girl deeper on the next transplant. I am also going to put a small fan on them to get a little wiggle going and strengthen them up. I will post a pic later.

I water and fed yesterday. Not enough water to cause run off but enough to keep root mass moist. I fed three drops of miracle grow also but I ordered some FF and will switch when it comes in.

Light is about 3 inches above. I hope this isn't too low but I will adjust when I check them later if needed. I have tor run but thanks for the tips and enjoy the pic!

 

[cpla]

Miracle grow?? Someone is gonna roast you for that lol

 

[dr.h00k]

MG always gets a bad rap...lolool...h00k...

 

[Mr. Krip]

Miracle grow?? Someone is gonna roast you for that lol

MG always gets a bad rap...lolool...h00k...

Well, better in veg than in flower!

 

[dr.h00k]

To be honest...I've not used anything else(various flavors throughout) with good results until this season...now I'm running FF nutes and a cal/mag product...and I don't really notice a difference...butt...like when using MG...I always feed lite(maybe I could bump up dosage)...if anyone is on a budget...U do get more bang fer Yer buck using MG. and can get respectable results...I'm following some high Brix grows(Doc Bud Kits) and it seems quite intriguing...whether I follow thru' next season...time will tell...luvin' the hobby...wherever the path takes me...Cheerz...h00k

 

[cpla]

When growing outdoors, miracle grow works ok in my experience. But indoors is a little tricky. I'm using hi brix and foxfarm nutes indoors. Occasionally they get some cal mag.

 

[MaineGreenery]

Ha, I have been waiting for someone to give me crap for using MG but I am happy to hear that it does get a positive rap from some. I have ordered some FF nutes and am going to give them a shot but as has been said in the thread, MG is cheap and seems to get the job done. I am growing for fun and self supply so I have no crazy pressure to maximize yields. I also expect to make mistakes, that is the best way to learn.

After looking at a couple Mainline grows I am thinking of giving that a shot this time around. I have time to decide but the plants grown with that technique look really cool and the harvests seem very good. Also given the smaller space I have it makes sense. Checking in on the ladies later today, will post some pics then.

 

[MaineGreenery]

Not much to report. The plants all seem well although they are growing too slowly for me patience level. I had placed a fan on them yesterday for good airflow and to toughen them up. I am concerned that being so close is to stressful to them and moved them out of the direct line of fire. I also watered today. No nutes. Going to let them go on the compost in the starting soil. Grow please.

 

[cpla]

Is this your first grow? I was a little confused at the opening sentence. I'm asking because of your patience. Honestly, in my very first grow I was like that. But you can't make this a time consuming hobby. It won't consume much time. It's a plant. It grows. Slowly. Ridiculously slow especially when starting from seed. Take some clones and next time you'll move WAY faster. But even then, don't look to growing as a replacement for something like playing video games or reading a book. Those things take your time. Growing doesn't. You check humidity levels a few times during the day, maybe spray them to get the humidity up, and that's it. Too much love and attention is the number one cannabis killer.

 

[MaineGreenery]

This is my second grow but to be fair the first one is still in progress. I tried to put a link here to it but I am new to this so let me know if it doesn't work. So basically I still have the patience and excitement level of a newbie to be honest. My problem is that when I get interested in something I go 110% and immerse myself completely and want action yesterday. Often I lose interest in a fairly short time but until that happens it is just about all I can think about. I go to bed reading the Cannabis Encyclopedia... I have one 32 x 32 tent which I have had for a week and am already anxious to get a larger one or a second one. My challenge is keeping the wife on board and cool with everything.

 

[cpla]

I had that same issue. Stfu about it. Seriously. If they aren't thinking about it, they don't give you shit about it. It worked in my house. Also, once I got that first harvest and she saw how much money I saved, it was all over. She shut up quick.

I know you're excited. I was too. But if you show them too much attention, they're gonna suffer. If you really wanna spend some additional time with them, build a scrog and run your plants through it. You could mess with them like 2 times a day reworking them in the net. I love it. I built my own for about 10 bucks with pvc and some nylon. I can send pictures if you want.

 

[MaineGreenery]

I have to say she has been pretty cool with everything so far. Even though I have a MM card and its legit here, she doesn't and has no interest in it at all so I have to make sure the benefits outweigh the costs as much as I can. Like you cpla, I am focusing on the positive financial aspects of the hobby, i.e. money saved, potential income if I were to become a caregiver for others, without getting down into the costs incurred getting set up. I floated the idea of a second tent today and I might be able to get her behind that which would rock. Then I could have a mother plant and switch to home grown clones over seedlings.

Cpla I have been interested in scrogging but haven't gotten into it yet. I think it would be cool but I am also not loving the idea of having the plants fixed in a certain place or position. What if you have to remove the plants from the tent? Is watering tough? How about dealing with pests and problems, can you spray them in the tent if needed? If you do have a pic I would love to see your general set up

Checked in with the girls today.

It has now been ten days. I have some concerns still about one of the shorties. She has had these weird spot on her stem since she popped. Don't know if it is genetic or enviornmental but I really hope it doesn't hurt or slow it down too much. Here is the best photo I got of the weak spot.

She also has a small dead spot on the tip of her first real leaf. Will just hope for the best and check in tomorrow. If anyone has any idea what might be going on please let me know.

Be Well

 

[cpla]

Your small "dead spot" is probably caused be the seed. Sometimes the seed shell will cling to the leaf. If it's not removed soon, it stops that section of the leaf from getting light and air. You want to gently remove those shells as soon as it's feasible next time. Really it won't matter anyway because when the time is right, you'll probably prune that leaf anyway.

Scrogs are a trade off. As you can see in these pictures, my canopy is totally even. This allows for maximum light usage. You're already burning the electricity, you might as well use it to it's fullest potential.

No you can't really move the plant once it's in the scrog. I usually move them twice in flowering and it's a BITCH. But, fear of mold in my tent makes me do it. If I had an entire room, I wouldn't have to worry. But in a closed tent environment, humidity around 70% (during veg anyway), and my co2 bag growing mushrooms in it, it makes me worry. Probably for no reason but I'm a disabled veteran with nothing better to do anyway lol

In the second picture, you can see how much room. I have to water. I put the camera level with the top of the scrog so you can see the room I have. Now, the trick to scrogging that nobody ever talks about is moving the actual scrog. So as the plant grows, you can elevate the scrog day by day and the plant will adapt. You can do this until you're comfortable with the amount of room you have.

Being stuck in one position limits your air flow and sunlight right? No. Because you can use an outtakes fan that replaces the air 7 times a minute, and you can always open the tent in front of a window to get real sunlight as long as your grow op is in a position to be used that way. However, I'm using 2 300 watt led lights for two plants at a time. Drastic over kill to have that much light. But, with an even canopy, ot makes sense for light distribution. I have NEVER needed sunlight. Sunlight makes plants stretch because the light source is so far away. With the use of artificial light, you can control stretch, girth, and temps on the fly. The only reason you'd wanna go outside is for air. But you can use an outtake fan and a co2 tank or bag or mushroom farm like me, to create co2 artificially. There's really no need in moving the plant

 

[MaineGreenery]

I really like the idea of the scrog and think that I may end up working my way there in time but right now it seems like a bit too much to handle given my general inexperience with the plants. I was thinking earlier today about trying to rig up something with either tomato plant stand rings or maybe bent coat hanger that could serve as container specific frames for plants to grow into in order to maximize the smaller tent space I do have. I do want to try the manifold method this time though and am excited about that.

Here is a current shot of the ladies, now 13 days old.

I watered them lightly yesterday and left them alone today. The second set of leaves are gaining size and the third are just showing. Liking the momentum that seems to be building.

 

[MaineGreenery]

Things are going well.

The tall one is showing its third set of real leaves and I am beginning to think about topping and moving them to their final home. I am looking for thoughts on the best order of events for the topping and transplanting that I intend to do in the next week or two. Should I transplant and then top or the other way around. Right now I am thinking that it would be better to transplant, give it a couple days to recover and then top. I hope this will stress the plant the lease without limiting it's root growth.

I had the idea to put a piece of scrap wood under the two shorter plants to even out the heights. I feel dumb for not doing this before. Anyway, here are the ladies at two weeks.

 

[Mr. Krip]

I would top her and give her a week, then transplant. She should have plenty of room in that solo cup, so I wouldn't worry about getting rootbound. With the stronger root system in a week, she'll take the transplant easier, too.