WV Whitewater's First Foray - Soil - Mob Boss&Blue Dream&Applejack - Bio Bizz 11/2014

[WV Whitewater]

This is all a first for me. Growing weed, growing inside, joining a forum, LIVING WHERE I CAN GROW WEED!!!!

Welcome to my journal, pleased to meet you. I am pretty stoked. I love to garden, and have decided to put my first grow out here, so I can learn more and grow more. I am almost to the point of flowering, maybe just a few more days. But, that is getting too far ahead of the journal, in which I will try to describe the beginning of my grow to the best of my abilities. I do have a decent photo record of things though, which I am hoping will help me, since part of why I decided to do this journal is that my Blue Dream is just not a very happy plant, and I can't really figure out why.

I was given a Blue Dream and a Mob Boss plant just before (11/22) Thanksgiving this year. I had just moved to Colorado, and was planning on growing, but had had no time to set up, or prepare for, or know much about!, growing weed inside. But, I thought it was a leg up, the plants being good starts, well developed, and just said thanks for the plants! On the suggestion of a friend, I grabbed a 4' 4x54w bulb T5 light, and some 6400 K bulbs. All was well:

Looking back, I see the beginning of the problem I am fighting right now, and want help with. Some nutrient lockout or something is occurring that is affecting my plants, especially the BD. A week later (11/29), this is what they looked like:

Notice the clones I was cocky enough to cut... that failed pretty well, but that doesn't matter so much. Now about a week after the above photo (12/7 maybe), I transplanted them, and installed a SCROG screen (also the seedlings my girlfriend planted which I now know to be Applejack):

Mob Boss a little closer:

Blue Dream a little closer:

Herein lies my problem: this transplant occurred right on the cusp of me actually beginning to maybe know something I should have known... since I charged into it blind and only knowing enough to be dangerous, I put soil of questionable goodness in my pots. I will now attempt to fill in all the missing details of my grow:


I am growing one Mob Boss, and one Blue Dream under a SCROG, and three Applejack that I am going to flower while they are young.

I am still in the veg stage ( I think the MB and BD plants are about 2 months, Aj is about 4 weeks)

My soil (I think it is my biggest concern) I started with a generic (but organic) potting soil, added composted kitchen stuffs (it was nicely decomposed stuff) and some dirt from a pile. I did not add any more perlite, and I think the dirt I added has made my soil texture too tight. My pots are 5 or 6 gallon plastic pots. The Applejack are in 2 gal Smart Pots, filled only with Roots Organic soil and some of my compost. They seem to be quite happy!

I started with 4' 4x54w T5 fluorescent, now have a Platinum P300 led light. I am using the T5 to veg more Applejacks and my MB/ BD clones.

My grow area stays at about 66 degrees, with about 50% RH. I have my plants sitting on foam now, so the roots are warmer than the concrete floor.

I have only tested my soil a few times, both top and bottom, and because I am using tape, I get 7. Accurate, I am told, but it is certainly not precise.

I have been watering about every 4 days for the big pots, and about every 2 days for the 2 gal smart pots.
I mistakenly overfed my MB and BD plants for about two weeks, which I am fairly sure is the other part of my current problem (about 15 mL Bio Grow and 15 mL Bio Grow per gallon every other watering)

For the last two weeks I am still only feeding every other watering. I mix one gallon of water (tapwater set out to evaporate chlorine) with 3 mL of Bio Bizz Bio Grow per gallon, 1 tsp of molasses, 1/2 tsp Recharge. I am not feeding the Applejack, but have been adding the molasses and the Recharge at the same rates.

This is where I am tonight, considering flowering in a couple days, or maybe repotting. Looking for feedback from some experienced folks, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for tuning into my grow!

 

[WV Whitewater]

Re: WV Whitewater's First Foray: Soil Mob Boss+Blue Dream+Applejack w/ Bio Bizz 11/20

To show the complete progression,

Week 6 (12/14)

Week 7 (12/18)

Week 8 ish (12/27)

My concern is that my plant has never really seemed to bounce back to what I imagine healthy to look like. The leaves are too small, and there is still a lot of yellow, and some necrotic spots. I still think the Mob Boss (L) is happier than the Blue Dream, and I just cant figure out why. I am nervous to flip to flower with her in this seemingly precarious situation. I worry that she won't flower right.

 

[WV Whitewater]

Re: WV Whitewater's First Foray: Soil Mob Boss+Blue Dream+Applejack w/ Bio Bizz 11/20

And a video to spice things up a bit.

[video=vimeo;115748315]

[/video]

 

[Sharkbait714]

Re: WV Whitewater's First Foray: Soil Mob Boss+Blue Dream+Applejack w/ Bio Bizz 11/20

Hey WV,

Just wanted to say Hey to another Colorado grower. Our stories are similar and I'm looking forward to your journal.

Sharkbait714

 

[WV Whitewater]

Re: WV Whitewater's First Foray: Soil Mob Boss+Blue Dream+Applejack w/ Bio Bizz 11/20

Thanks! Hi Sharkbait. Welcome to my garden

 

[WV Whitewater]

Re: WV Whitewater's First Foray: Soil Mob Boss+Blue Dream+Applejack w/ Bio Bizz 11/20

I noticed I have omitted a rather important piece of info in my intro post...

I am lowering my pH of my water/nutes mix to 6.0, at least that is what the tape says. I am trying to counter the 7.0 reading of my soil, and wonder if I am doing enough. I feel like the plants are happier than when I noticed them at their worst, about a month ago. But, especially with the BD, I just feel like the overall color is off, with only a fraction of the plant being just a nice, deep green. The rest of it is too light green for my taste, unless I am way off base.

 

[PakaloloHawaii]

Re: WV Whitewater's First Foray - Soil - Mob Boss+Blue Dream+Applejack - Bio Bizz 11/

Aloha!

A few things worth noting. 66f is quite cold for your girls. 75-80 would be ideal.

Looks like things are turning around otherwise.

Before I started using the kit I had good success with minerals and microbes. 6-5-3 mix of calcitic limestone, soft rock phosphate, and gypsum. That's the minerals. As for microbes, T & J enterprises makes a great tea that works will with that mineral mix. Cost me less than $100 for those things and I still have enough for quite a few more plants.


Best advice I can offer is get your environment dialed in. Nothing makes a bigger difference!

That and get docs kit.

Good luck on your first grow. It won't be perfect, and you'll have a lifetime of tries to make it better each time. I'll pop in every so often to check up on ya!

 

[WV Whitewater]

Re: WV Whitewater's First Foray - Soil - Mob Boss+Blue Dream+Applejack - Bio Bizz 11/

Thank you! I tend to learn a lot from reading, and am usually pretty good at deciphering good from bad internet information, but sometimes, just asking people is soooo much easier!

If all else remains constant, or maybe an increase in temps, do you think it ok if I flip these ladies to flower? Or should I wait for another little while yet, and let some more (hopefully green and healthy) growth happen before I do that?

 

[gryzzly56]

Re: WV Whitewater's First Foray - Soil - Mob Boss&Blue Dream&Applejack - Bio Bizz 11/

Welcome WV, it looks like there coming back a bit but I think you have nute lock, time to really flush them babies good and maybe transplant, can you go to a hydro store and get some good soil? I would recommend fox farm mixed with 1/3rd by volume perlite, that should help you out from now, maybe invest in a 600w, hps bulb as well for the flower, good luck bro.

 

[WV Whitewater]

Re: WV Whitewater's First Foray - Soil - Mob Boss&Blue Dream&Applejack - Bio Bizz 11/

Thanks for chiming in gryzzly! That was what I was hoping for, but my journal has slipped from the top, I'm surprised (glad!) you noticed it...

The next update I was planning to post was to detail the Applejack portion of my grow, but my bigger girls are always my first concern, especially since I am worried about them. So, this update will be more about the tale of MB and BD, I will wait on the Applejack happenings.

So there I am, worrying for another day or so after my first posts, not getting too many replies, then going to the store on Saturday. I almost walked out and didn't buy anything, because I'm kinda broke, but my gut was screaming transplant. So, gryzz, your suggestion about transplanting was a good one ( as for the other: I can't buy another light yet), that was exactly what my instinct had been telling me to do. I finally listened to myself (and the plants) and transplanted them on Saturday. I bought Roots Organic Original soil and did not amend it, to keep the variables (and cost) down. I suppose it never hurts to add compost, but I am running low, and question the quality of what I have in my composter. Buying it was a no go, I only had enough for the soil and two 7 gallon Smart Pots.

I am so glad I went for it! It was about 26 days from when I upcanned them from 1 gallon to 5+ gallon pots, so I was quite surprised to have as much root growth for what I felt was minimal leaf growth... In fact, I was concerned that the root ball would not be well formed enough to pop out of the pot. You can see the soil I used, and my hack and slash unpotting method that I used on the BD. I was able to pop the MB out just like usual, without destroying the pot. I was really surprised to see the quantity of root mass I did:

Some root ball close ups. These are all of the Blue Dream:

Here is the Mob Boss:

I have seen some debates as to whether cannabis roots should be touched while transplanting, but I went with my Mom's tried and true method of taking the tip of my knife and gently tearing roots till a good many ends are frayed out from the root ball. I have observed no wilting at any point, so I don't think I shocked them too badly. I wish the Smart Pots were deeper, but I gained just over a gallon of space for the Mob Boss, and at least 2 gallons of space for the Blue Dream. I only want to veg them for just as long as it takes for them to start taking a turn for the better, so I figure that was a good enough increase in pot volume. I hope I can get it cleared up soon, I want to flower!

Here they are in their new pots, all watered in. I was leary of taking my SCROG screen off, but I knew it would make transplanting so, so much easier... With how I had them in place though, it was not too hard to remove them, nor to replace. I just did it really gently, and managed to line it up the way it was originally, so replacing the trained branches was not as difficult as I first feared.

Blue Dream:

Mob Boss:

Everyone at canopy level:

Everyone with the lights on for bad pictures:

This one shows my Platinum 300 light (and the 10 watt 4000K led work light I threw in there if for nothing else but taking better pictures):

I fed them each 3 gallons of water, two with food and one without. I used 1 tbsp Epsom salts, 1 tsp unsulphured molasses, 1 tsp Bio Bizz Grow, 1 tsp Bio Bizz Bloom, and 1.5 tsp Recharge per gallon of feeding water. I have some Fertilome Liquid Iron and wondered whether I should add some of that for micronutrients, but I have not yet. Any thoughts on that from anyone would be nice.

Right before transplanting:

And after:

2 hours later:

10 hours later:

46 hours later:

It may be wishful thinking, but I think they are happier already. I know it was the right thing to do, and I don't want to change too much at once. I think the nutes/additives were a good thing too, but I still wonder if I need to add that Liquid Iron.

Now that I have spent way more time messing around with this update, my Applejack update will have to wait. I want to go smoke one in the garden!

 

[WV Whitewater]

Re: WV Whitewater's First Foray - Soil - Mob Boss&Blue Dream&Applejack - Bio Bizz 11/

Well, here is my latest update in my saga. I think my big girls are starting to turn around. Lots of new developments, in growth, and in newly ordered equipment First, lets see the progression of pics detailing the turnaround of my grow. I tried to take a picture at least every 24 hours, sometimes managing every 12... with an oops or two here and there. The change in the plants over the last 11 days though, really is reassuring to me. So, the first pic after the last one posted which was on Jan 5:

I will just put the rest in order; like I said, every 12 or 24 hours (some closer, some farther) until the 12th:

And now for the oh so pivotal 12th. I decided to go with more of my Mom's methods, and the hell with those that say trimming is bad. I guess I will find out in the long run whether I screwed up or not, but it seemed right. I did what I called the nuclear trim: If it was below the screen, basically I cut it off. All the little leaves, any branch that I knew was never going to make the screen, and any fan leaf that was unhealthy, or just plain aggravated me. I left at least one good budding site in the middle of each opening in my screen, and basically just wiped the slate clean.

Mob Boss up close:

Blue Dream up close:

And a few more to take us through today:

It was two days ago, and now the girls are really starting to grow the upper growth, which is just what I wanted. Plus, they are looking better and better! The amount of green has gone right back up. I am feeling better about my grow, even with all the sudden moves I had to make, right when I had been hoping to flower. Now, maybe, it is actually just around the corner! Hopefully my patience has paid off.

This shows my new garden configuration. I got tired of kneeling on the floor to do everything, so I raised them up with milk cartons. Obviously, I had to raise my light, which was no big deal, but I am going to have to raise the bar I hang my light on, to give myself more leeway. Also... new stuff!!!! I have ordered a p450 to go with my p300. Soon, this place is going to be bright as hell And, I will be able to take some better pictures, with my led lights on, when I get my new filter for my camera! I actually got the clip on glasses, so I can wear them while working in the grow, to help protect my vision. When I want to take a pic, I should be able to shoot through one of the lenses of the clip on. That is my plan anyway. So, I have been working to light proof my flower side from the veg side of the closet I am growing in; I am almost there, so, I figure I will be flipping in just a couple more days. I feel like I have been saying that for too long, but I know that rushing it would not have been in my favor.

 

[WV Whitewater]

Re: WV Whitewater's First Foray - Soil - Mob Boss&Blue Dream&Applejack - Bio Bizz 11/

I promise, I will work on telling you guys about my applejack grow... I have been too busy finding a job, writing the occasional (and agonized over) update, but mostly, messing around in my grow. I love it in there, I spend hours everyday!

 

[GreenKitty]

Re: WV Whitewater's First Foray - Soil - Mob Boss&Blue Dream&Applejack - Bio Bizz 11/

Hi, just subbed You're doing a great job!

 

[WV Whitewater]

Re: WV Whitewater's First Foray - Soil - Mob Boss&Blue Dream&Applejack - Bio Bizz 11/

So, standard opening: skipping over my Applejack details, and on with the primary grow stuffs!

In the last two days, it seems like so much has happened... but really, the only thing that truly matters, is that I have flipped to 12 /12!!! We're growing dope ladies and germs At least, I hope that's what I'm doing!

I started getting my stuff that I ordered. I ponied up for a slick new ph tester: of course, I already have my nute problem back under control... but I have learned my lesson and will be much more vigilant with measuring ph of everything. Especially because I can:

I was messing with the light bar the other day, in anticipation of the new light, when I realized I had the perfect light adjusters waiting in the wings... I had scavenged these out of a friends barn:

With future lighting needs ready, I needed to focus on darkness needs... I had to lightproof the half of the closet where I am flowering. It is connected to the half I am vegging in, with a weird, useless tunnel connecting the two. Not sure about the thought process of whoever built it, I would have done it differently. Anyway, I took some rosin paper, and tape, and sealed off the panels I inserted into the closet to separate the halves. That taken care of, my next problem was sealing off the light coming out of the bi-fold doors. (I also would have done that differently... ) I came up with another rosin paper creation, almost like a big paint canvas:

With all that done at 3 this morning, I was able to make the first night for the ladies:

Those lights are off, timer set and door cover panel ready to go in. It's FLOWER TIME!!!!!!


These are the last couple progression photos of the Mob Boss and Blue Dream. (I'll get to the Applejack!)

And some under canopy shots right before the flip:

So, super cool, I also got these:

These filter out the color and the UV, protecting your eyes. Also, you can put it in front of your camera lens, and take much better pictures with led grow lights on. There is no comparison. It definitely wrecks my eyesight to play around under those lights for too long, and that is pretty much what I do every day! With the added benefit of taking better pics, I really like them. Some of the pics above were taken through the filter, some without. When you look at the pics taken with the lights on and no filter, they are much harder to make out, and the colors are just whacked. Once I get the second light in and on, the light should be more even across my canopy, for better weed, and better pictures.

I won't show yet, because I am not done working on it, but I have been doing a time lapse of one of my Applejack seedlings (number 1) since it was about a month old. I have about three weeks of pictures, taken once a minute. I wanted to do the timelapse of the flowering though, so once I got those filter lenses, I got to building something else:

This little gizmo is a base for my caseless (so it can be plugged in all the time) GoPro. I also glued a sheet of rubber to the top of it to stop the camera from sliding around; since the camera has no standard thread for mounting, I made that base so I can zip tie the camera to it, then mount it on my good tripod. Then, I took my gorrila pod garbage thing, and wrapped it around the tripod setup, to hold the filter lens. They just sit there pretty as you please:

Now, I can open the closet to work, grab the clip ons, and see better; they just slip back on, so no big deal to put them back when I am done.

Not sure if I have the Applejack update in me or not... been up all night! Gonna go stew on it, maybe start writing...

 

[Sharkbait714]

Re: WV Whitewater's First Foray - Soil - Mob Boss&Blue Dream&Applejack - Bio Bizz 11/

Hey WV,

This journal is looking awesome, and so are your gurls! You seem to be really "nailing it".
Carry on!

Shark

 

[WV Whitewater]

Re: WV Whitewater's First Foray - Soil - Mob Boss&Blue Dream&Applejack - Bio Bizz 11/

I have been slacking! My new job started on the 19th, and I have been doing only a bare minimum in my garden. I have lots of pictures to continue the story, and have been writing some entries in my head... Going to take the dog out for a hike, and come back with some grow journal action. The ladies are flowering, and looking good. I am so excited!

 

[WV Whitewater]

Re: WV Whitewater's First Foray - Soil - Mob Boss&Blue Dream&Applejack - Bio Bizz 11/

This update is not as packed with new developments, but still some really important milestones. The only real developments are my new P450 light (fairly huge) and at this point, beginning the third week of 12/12 flowering light, the flowers are a-growing!

1/18

And the biggie, the new P450! Let brightness ensue:

Here is the closet with the new arrangement, you can see my lights, the ratchets, and my plants but before I move the go pro tripod setup:

Now for a succession of photos that show how the grow is seemingly now in high gear

1/19:

1/20 Also shows the new (final) gopro tripod location:

1/23:

1/24

1/26:

Mob Boss

Blue Dream:

1/31 early:

Mob Boss:

Blue Dream:

1/31 late:

Mob Boss:

Blue Dream:

All in all, I am cautiously optimistic that the grow is going well. I am not too happy with my phone's ability to do macro shots of the flowers, so I am going to switch cameras, and go with something I can put on a tripod. I think my waterproof point and shoot that lives in my lifejacket will do the trick. Next update will be the proof. The filter lens really makes a stark difference in how the grow looks under led lights, compared to other light sources (daylight, fluorescent, white led) especially for the camera. Since I am holding the filter in front of my camera, it doesn't always work the best, but it still makes for so much better pictures, and I don't have to mess with my lights to get them...

I am wondering if I should do a preemptive Cal Mag application (common led grow problem yes or no?) or if it is now a case of not broke don't fix it. Will my Bio Bizz feed schedule with molasses added provide enough, or should I use some Epsom salts (or even the new jug of unused Earth Juice Cal Mag) to help my plants along through flower? I am also considering dropping to an 11/13 light/dark cycle. Any help or input is always appreciated.

 

[WV Whitewater]

Re: WV Whitewater's First Foray - Soil - Mob Boss&Blue Dream&Applejack - Bio Bizz 11/

Oh, and I shot another fly over video. I wish it were a little crisper, but I don't have the room to load another one to the Vimeo account, so it will have to do. I filmed this last night, which is the beginning of the third week of flower. There are many flower sites on each plant, I am really excited! I think I need to go through and do another clean up on my lower branches as well, but I question this. I know this is an often asked question, never resolved, and highly disputed: how much should I defoliate the lowest portions of my canopy? I feel like the stuff near the bottom (screen level maybe a skosh below) of the canopy is still getting decent amounts of dappled light. Will this be worthless growth deviating energy from awesome buds above, or good hashable (or edibles) trim? Ah... questions... and I doubt many will be answered, since I think only a couple people are checking in here

For those here, enjoy a quick canopy vid (and remember that there will be a go pro timelapse of the whole flowering process (teaser!!! ) ):

[video=vimeo;118387854]

[/video]

 

[WV Whitewater]

Re: WV Whitewater's First Foray - Soil - Mob Boss&Blue Dream&Applejack - Bio Bizz 11/

And, for throwback porpoises, here is a quick video from about a month ago, before proper nutrients, and the p450:

[video=vimeo;115750066]

[/video]

It really highlights how different everything is now. I want to keep these plants happy!

 

[WV Whitewater]

Re: WV Whitewater's First Foray - Soil - Mob Boss&Blue Dream&Applejack - Bio Bizz 11/

I am away from home for the week, and I miss my garden!