CannabisMeds' CBD Grow - Pennywise - Dawgfather - Rawdawg - Soil - LED + CFL 2013-14

CannabisMeds

New Member
I'm attempting to grow some high CBD strains for medical use. Starting out on a budget.

This will be an organic grow.

My growing history:
First grow in over ten years.
Prior experience includes two small outdoor grows and 1 indoor grow. All successfully flowered and harvested.
I'm basically starting over and having to relearn everything as I go. Now that I can grow legally, I am more dedicated to doing it right and I won't hold back on spending some money on proper lighting down the line.

Strains:
TGA: Pennywise ( High CBD strain - Harlequin x Jack The Ripper )
Alphakronik Genes: The Dawgfather ( supposedly high CBD )
Alphakronik Genes: Rawdawg ( regular )
Blue Cheese Clone: ( regular )

Medium & nutes:
Fox Farms Ocean Soil: 75%
Perlite and Vermiculite: 25%
Roots Organic Buddha Grow
Will probably stick with Roots Organics for this grow.

Lights:
180 Watt LED UFO ( 9 band spectrum ) draws about 83 watts. ( I think it's geared more towards flowering )
Late addition is 4 23 Watt Sylvania 6500K CFL bulbs - draws about 96 watts.

I will be adding lights as needed. I plan on purchasing a much larger light for flowering if I can get there.

Backup: 150 watt HPS unit that is designed for lighting up your driveway. Bought it years ago at Lowes or HD. Used it once to flower a plant.

Environment:
Veg space is about 20" x 4' long. ( closet is 6 " and I can expand the space later )

Flower space will likely be a tent, which I will setup in another room. I will also get a new light for the flower tent, maybe in about a month.

Goal:
To establish a perpetual grow to supply high CBD plants for making oil, extracts, juicing and occasional smoking.

Garden Status:

Started growing the Pennywise 1 in a 1 gallon fabric pot from seed. This was put under the UFO along with the Blue Cheese clone. A week behind or so are the other seedlings. 2 x Rawdawg are the oldest. 3 x The Dawgfather second oldest by a day or two. And another day behind is the final Pennywise seedling.

I soon realized that the Blue Cheese ( which honestly wasn't a very stout clone to begin with ) was stretching quite a bit under the LED. Also, one of my seedlings, which was off to the side, started yellowing a bit on its new grow. I freaked out a bit and decided to quickly build a CFL rig to get some cool 6500K white light to these young seedlings. On 12 /6 they were all looking pretty good and enjoying the new light!

That night, temps here dropped very low, so I put a fan heater in the room in there and I put a dome over the seedlings. This seems to have been a mistake. The next morning it was really hot in the room and even hotter in the dome. All the seedlings were drooping a bit. I then decided that the small 4"x4" pots were just too small to manage the water properly, and they weren't getting good drainage. So I mixed up new soil and got some 6" square pots and tried to carefully transplant them. 2 of them are doing fine, the the others are drooping even more today and I think they are suffering from some transplant shock now as well.

I am letting the soil dry out for at least another 24 hours and then I may try adding some Mycorrhizae ( thanks to a suggestion from another member here ) to try and help stimulate the roots and stop the root shock. Hopefully they will all make it!

room_top01.jpg


plants_lights.jpg


lights_view.jpg


PW1_12_8.jpg


She's a bit lanky, due to the light situation. I've topped her and started a little LST. This one is more of an experiment. She arrived with red stems and has had red stems throughout. She had a deficiency and I gave her some Buddha Grow and it cleared it right up.
BlueCheeseClone_12_18.jpg


Most of the seedlings were looking pretty alright just a couple of days ago, except for the yellowing runt.
seedlings_12_6.jpg


seedlings_12_8.jpg


Here you can see the major droopage, post transplant yesterday. I'm holding out at least another day to water them. I'm not sure if they are needing water or had too much, to be honest.
seedlings_droopin_12_8.jpg


This little one is hurting. Not sure why she yellowed like that. She was always the runt and had a hard time shaking off the seed casing.
seedlings_runt_12_8.jpg


So, there you have it. My first journal entry. I hope I can salvage as many of these seedlings as possible.
I welcome feedback and suggestions.

Thanks for looking and reading! :Namaste:
 
Re: CannabisMeds' CBD Grow - Pennywise, Dawgfather, Rawdawg - Soil, LED + CFL 2013-14

just found your journal,
may i ask where you obtained your ufo? 9 bands should be full spectrum i think, maybe you could drop it a few inches?
i would think it was a sufficient light for your small area but i am no led expert perhaps a veteran will step up
that little yellow one shouldn't need nutrients so perhaps it is way off on ph? maybe it didnt like the ff soil? some strains act finicky
was it like that before your heater fiasco?
all in all if they are still trying you should keep up your hopes
i will be checking back later =)

take care and good luck
 
Re: CannabisMeds' CBD Grow - Pennywise, Dawgfather, Rawdawg - Soil, LED + CFL 2013-14

Thanks wildbill and yuyo!

I got the UFO from Ebay. It is full spectrum, but it is heavily more red than blue. I think it would do alright for flowering, but it's just not the best in veg. It's about 1 foot over the canopy right now. I can certainly bring it down a bit.

I added the CFLs because I really wanted to keep the node length on these seedlings short.

I'll add the Michorrhizae stuff tomorrow evening, most likely. Maybe the little ones will respond to that and look better in a couple of days.
 
Re: CannabisMeds' CBD Grow - Pennywise, Dawgfather, Rawdawg - Soil, LED + CFL 2013-14

1 foot doesn't seem too high,its not always easy to tell from the pics
if you do lower the light i do not think more than 2 inches and keep close watch,
i think adding the cfl was a good idea they seem to work well as supplement to led from all i have seen and read
i have been watching ebay myself lately and i am very interested in an led light
i have a very small space 2'x2.5' or so and think one of those ufo might fit it and my budget =))
 
Re: CannabisMeds' CBD Grow - Pennywise, Dawgfather, Rawdawg - Soil, LED + CFL 2013-14

Yuyo, the camera I'm using is an action camera and it has a very wide angle, so it sort of distorts everything a bit. Gives it almost a fish eye effect.

I lowered the LED 1 inch last night.

As for the LED, I paid 100 for it with free shipping. However, you may want to look at the 3w x 48 reflector type because it has a switch to turn off the extra red LEDs used during flower. It would be fewer lights overall, but it might suit your needs. I guess it depends on what you'll be using it for. I definitely think the CFLs are helping to supplement this light.

My only complaint about the light is that fan seems a bit noisy, but I don't have another quality light to compare the sound to. I'm not sure if it's ball bearing or not. My guess is, for the price, it's probably not ball bearing.

Quick plant update. Just checked on the garden. A little bit of good news is that the one that was yellow is turning green! Slowly but surely. ( I wonder if it is due to the light or the little does of nutrients I gave it... probably the light. ) The other three droopy ones are about the same. But at least they aren't worse.

It's hard, because I want to water them tonight ( and give them the Micorrhizae ), but I also don't want to over water them.
 
Re: CannabisMeds' CBD Grow - Pennywise, Dawgfather, Rawdawg - Soil, LED + CFL 2013-14

yellowing could be a sign of nitrogen deficiency
could be don't hold me to it lol
subbed
 
Re: CannabisMeds' CBD Grow - Pennywise, Dawgfather, Rawdawg - Soil, LED + CFL 2013-14

Thanks wildbill and yuyo!

I got the UFO from Ebay. It is full spectrum, but it is heavily more red than blue. I think it would do alright for flowering, but it's just not the best in veg. It's about 1 foot over the canopy right now. I can certainly bring it down a bit.

I added the CFLs because I really wanted to keep the node length on these seedlings short.

I'll add the Michorrhizae stuff tomorrow evening, most likely. Maybe the little ones will respond to that and look better in a couple of days.

Newbie does not begin to describe me so please take any advice given with a grain of salt... but on that note if I were you I would drop the lights a bit:thumb:
 
Re: CannabisMeds' CBD Grow - Pennywise, Dawgfather, Rawdawg - Soil, LED + CFL 2013-14

the medium looks dry on the top, you do the soak and dry method right?
if its dry down to your second knuckle i think you are safe to water,
being such small seedlings i didn't think it would be a nitrogen def
different strains react differently but all of them have what they need for the first 2 weeks of life i think
anyway like dennise i am newby too, just do things in small steps and keep a vigil
perhaps an led veteran could chime in
take care and good luck
 
Re: CannabisMeds' CBD Grow - Pennywise, Dawgfather, Rawdawg - Soil, LED + CFL 2013-14

Thanks cannafan!

Welcome Chronichempdog and Dennise!

Yeah, I was surprised to see the yellowing at only about 1 week in. I figured the soil would be too hot, if anything. So for it to be a deficiency already, that's surprising. And only really on that plant. It seems to be liking the CFLs though, as some of the green is coming back.

The soil is dry on top because I just transplanted and I didn't water the new soil that got put on top yet, for fear of over doing it. ( I had to water them early before I could remove them from the smaller planters )

I considering giving them a full watering later on tonight, with the Great White Micorrhizae. I have a good feeling they will respond, eventually. As long as they are standing straight up and are green, I think they have a chance to recover. Thankfully it will warm up a bit here over the next couple of days. That should help manage the temps a bit better in there.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions so far. I'll see how they are doing tomorrow before I take any more pics.
 
Re: CannabisMeds' CBD Grow - Pennywise, Dawgfather, Rawdawg - Soil, LED + CFL 2013-14

Nope I wouldn't say any deficiency, it's too young. Just keep an eye on it and don't worry it should start picking up at the next set of leaves and it's good sign that it's already getting greener. Most small LED should stay about 7-9inches from the canna-opy ;) and that one light COULD do that whole space but the more light the better. I would throw the 150 HPS in anytime. It works surprisingly well for veg and from what I hear helps develop a strong root system.

Subbed :)
 
Re: CannabisMeds' CBD Grow - Pennywise, Dawgfather, Rawdawg - Soil, LED + CFL 2013-14

Hey J189RFC, thanks for the feedback and for the suggestion about the HPS. I've been afraid to really point that at them, because I didn't want even more stretching.

But if it would help, I'm sure willing to give it a shot!

Also, sounds to me like I should lower that LED even more. Thanks for the tip. Is this true of all 3W LEDs or only because there is a small number of them? ( 60 on this light )
For example, if I had a really big 3W chip panel with 4 x as many LEDs, could I still keep it that close, or would I have to keep it higher?

Only downside to keeping these things so close is that there is substantially less coverage.

I saw a killer deal on a large 3W panel, but I believe a 5W chip panel will give better penetration and also won't have to be so close ( this will be for flowering only ).
 
Re: CannabisMeds' CBD Grow - Pennywise, Dawgfather, Rawdawg - Soil, LED + CFL 2013-14

also not when using led's don't think in terms of lumens think in terms of par
theres a short explanation to that somewhere in my journal
 
Re: CannabisMeds' CBD Grow - Pennywise, Dawgfather, Rawdawg - Soil, LED + CFL 2013-14

Ok, thanks Chronic, I'll look for that when I check out your journal.

Quick update: I intended to purchased Great White, but they wanted 36 bucks for 4 oz. which was out of my budget today. Instead I got Oregonism XL by Roots, which is cool, because I'm using Roots nutes. It was $16 for 4 oz.

I treated ALL of the plants with the Mycorrhizae ( and other bacteria and stuff that is apparently in there! )
Plus, I mixed just a little in a gallon and watered everyone pretty thoroughly.

I LSTed the Blue Cheese clone a bit more and I gave her some new topsoil. She only got a little bit of water. I'll thoroughly water her with nutes on Wed.

Oh, and amazingly, the light green run is now completely dark green! Amazing color change in 24 hours. I did give it a tiny tiny bit of nutes a few days ago, so maybe that along with the light has saved it. It's still drooping, but I think it will make it.

I wonder how long it takes for this Oregonism stuff to do it's magic! Anyway, so now I wait and see what happens. Maybe everything will look different tomorrow.

Maybe some pics tomorrow. I also need to setup some better ventilation for that closet. I have the fan and timer, I just need to rig it up. usually I keep the closet door open, but I've had to keep it closed to keep the heat in there lately.

That's all for now. Have a great evening everyone.
 
Re: CannabisMeds' CBD Grow - Pennywise, Dawgfather, Rawdawg - Soil, LED + CFL 2013-14

Also, sounds to me like I should lower that LED even more. Thanks for the tip. Is this true of all 3W LEDs or only because there is a small number of them? ( 60 on this light )
For example, if I had a really big 3W chip panel with 4 x as many LEDs, could I still keep it that close, or would I have to keep it higher?

Only downside to keeping these things so close is that there is substantially less coverage.

I am on my first run with LED so only a few weeks more experienced than you, but, the advice I was given by one or two LED growers on this site was to raise the lights more than 24" (mine are at 37") above the plants and let the buds grow up to the lights, which I have done and all is OK, not very-scientific opinion, I 'think' having them really close, as I did to start, slows the vegging down.

Good question about the size of panels relating to the distance from the plants, the Guys using the Closet grow Kits don't have the LEDs really close, but closer than the large panels.

Sorry I can't be more definite,:passitleft: yet, why not raise the LEDs for a few days?
 
Re: CannabisMeds' CBD Grow - Pennywise, Dawgfather, Rawdawg - Soil, LED + CFL 2013-14

Hey Ajagunle, I've had the LED a varying height so far. When it was up higher, I felt like the clone was stretching way too much and I wasn't happy with the node length. I'll see how things look after a few more days. I think this current light is ok, but I figure it will do much better for flowering a plant than for vegging it. I'll be getting some new lights in about a month or so, so if I can just keep my plants happy until then, all will be well!
 
Back
Top Bottom