coopexquisite
Well-Known Member
I'm a few weeks into the grow, but have been snapping photos along the way.
Guess this is as good of a time to introduce myself as any. Retired from the USMC in 2015 and currently working towards a Bachelors in finance.
I've been tossing around the idea of growing my own medication and finally decided to try my had at my first grow. Influences in my decision mainly stem to the fact that most strains appear to be regional and this allows me to grow different strains from other sources (found some African strains I want to try eventually!!!)
In an effort to minimize any disappointment, I decided to try and grow some bag seeds that I've been holding on to (glad I kept em!) instead of ruining some decent seeds.
So I guess that's enough of an introduction, lets get down to business...
Strain: Unknown, but definitely an indica domant strain.
Medium: Blend of Miracle Grow Soil (I didn't know any better) and coco coir
Environment: Indoor
Pot: 2 gallon smart pot
# of Plants: 2
Light: Galaxyhydro 300 Watt LED (170 watts at the wall)
Ventilation: 4" 190cfm fan with charcoal filter
Temps: 70-85F
RH: 40-60%
PH: 6.5
Nutrients: Fox Farm Big Bloom (entire cycle), Grow Big (veg), Tiger Bloom (flower). Feedings alternate between Big Bloom and Grow Big during veg, and Tiger Bloom during flower.
Watering/feeding: 32oz every 3-5 days
Expected Yield: 1oz/plant
Actual Yield: TBD
Let's start with the grow tent, a Topolite 2x2x4 space tucked nicely away in the closet. Material is thick enough for my liking. The frame had metal corners and everything snapped together super easy.
The light is a Erligpowht 45 watt led with an IPower 4" inline fan and charcoal filter.
Germination: April 21: Seeds were germinated in peat pellets on April 16th and broke ground in 5 days. This is before I was aware of using a wet paper towel or cup of water to germinate. But they took root!
Week 1: April 23: My ignorance led me to believe that these plants would be sativa, as they are known to grow taller than indica. What I learned was that my light was weaksauce and too high over the seedlings, causing them to stretch to get to some decent light.
Week 2: May 3: They went up too quick too fast! Those little stems were too weak to hold up even the first leaves! Used some string to help keep them elevated. If you look closely, you can see the plants are leaning over the string.
The light and fan have both been upgraded to something a little better. Light is a Galaxyhydro 300 watt led and the fan is an Apollo 4" 190cfm inline fan with variable speed controller. I upgraded because the plants were starving for some light and that little 45 watt thing wasn't up to the task.
Week 2: May 5: Amazing how much they grow in just a couple days! I'm so geeked over this whole experience! Almost strong enough that they don't need the support.
Week 3: May 10: Still need a little support to remain upright. The tips of some of the earlier fan leaves were damages so I heard it was a good idea to trim them to keep the plant from wasting energy. And you can notice the stems are pretty red. Let me explain...I figured distilled water would be better than tap water since it has no contaminants, which is true, but I wasn't aware of PH and how important it was to the development of the plant and uptake of nutrients. Distilled water has a ph of 7, so I think there was a magnesium deficiency going on.
Week 4: May 14: Topped the plants at the 4th or 5th node. I don't want to outgrow my space, so I wanted to top them early. I figure if I let it get to about 12" before I switch to flower it should hit 2-2.5ft.
Week 4: May 18: Got some nice growth coming in. I'm thinking these may be the same strain but not sure since I pulled it from a bag of collected seeds. Finally got a PH and a PPM meter so now I can better monitor what I'm feeding them. The last feeding was tap water with Big Bloom. PH was 6.5 and the PPM was 440 (290 is the base of the tap). Stems are looking better already.
Picked up a little macro lens for my phone. Not really practical for taking pictures of the plant since you have to damn near be on the plant to focus, but I think I can get a few decent pics with it.
Super excited to see how this turns out!
Also, I know it's only a matter of time before I'm going to want a faster turnaround, but don't think I'm ready for a 2 tent setup, so I ordered this Sun Blaster Nano Dome as a small veg area while they wait to go into the "big" tent.
Guess this is as good of a time to introduce myself as any. Retired from the USMC in 2015 and currently working towards a Bachelors in finance.
I've been tossing around the idea of growing my own medication and finally decided to try my had at my first grow. Influences in my decision mainly stem to the fact that most strains appear to be regional and this allows me to grow different strains from other sources (found some African strains I want to try eventually!!!)
In an effort to minimize any disappointment, I decided to try and grow some bag seeds that I've been holding on to (glad I kept em!) instead of ruining some decent seeds.
So I guess that's enough of an introduction, lets get down to business...
Strain: Unknown, but definitely an indica domant strain.
Medium: Blend of Miracle Grow Soil (I didn't know any better) and coco coir
Environment: Indoor
Pot: 2 gallon smart pot
# of Plants: 2
Light: Galaxyhydro 300 Watt LED (170 watts at the wall)
Ventilation: 4" 190cfm fan with charcoal filter
Temps: 70-85F
RH: 40-60%
PH: 6.5
Nutrients: Fox Farm Big Bloom (entire cycle), Grow Big (veg), Tiger Bloom (flower). Feedings alternate between Big Bloom and Grow Big during veg, and Tiger Bloom during flower.
Watering/feeding: 32oz every 3-5 days
Expected Yield: 1oz/plant
Actual Yield: TBD
Let's start with the grow tent, a Topolite 2x2x4 space tucked nicely away in the closet. Material is thick enough for my liking. The frame had metal corners and everything snapped together super easy.
The light is a Erligpowht 45 watt led with an IPower 4" inline fan and charcoal filter.
Germination: April 21: Seeds were germinated in peat pellets on April 16th and broke ground in 5 days. This is before I was aware of using a wet paper towel or cup of water to germinate. But they took root!
Week 1: April 23: My ignorance led me to believe that these plants would be sativa, as they are known to grow taller than indica. What I learned was that my light was weaksauce and too high over the seedlings, causing them to stretch to get to some decent light.
Week 2: May 3: They went up too quick too fast! Those little stems were too weak to hold up even the first leaves! Used some string to help keep them elevated. If you look closely, you can see the plants are leaning over the string.
The light and fan have both been upgraded to something a little better. Light is a Galaxyhydro 300 watt led and the fan is an Apollo 4" 190cfm inline fan with variable speed controller. I upgraded because the plants were starving for some light and that little 45 watt thing wasn't up to the task.
Week 2: May 5: Amazing how much they grow in just a couple days! I'm so geeked over this whole experience! Almost strong enough that they don't need the support.
Week 3: May 10: Still need a little support to remain upright. The tips of some of the earlier fan leaves were damages so I heard it was a good idea to trim them to keep the plant from wasting energy. And you can notice the stems are pretty red. Let me explain...I figured distilled water would be better than tap water since it has no contaminants, which is true, but I wasn't aware of PH and how important it was to the development of the plant and uptake of nutrients. Distilled water has a ph of 7, so I think there was a magnesium deficiency going on.
Week 4: May 14: Topped the plants at the 4th or 5th node. I don't want to outgrow my space, so I wanted to top them early. I figure if I let it get to about 12" before I switch to flower it should hit 2-2.5ft.
Week 4: May 18: Got some nice growth coming in. I'm thinking these may be the same strain but not sure since I pulled it from a bag of collected seeds. Finally got a PH and a PPM meter so now I can better monitor what I'm feeding them. The last feeding was tap water with Big Bloom. PH was 6.5 and the PPM was 440 (290 is the base of the tap). Stems are looking better already.
Picked up a little macro lens for my phone. Not really practical for taking pictures of the plant since you have to damn near be on the plant to focus, but I think I can get a few decent pics with it.
Super excited to see how this turns out!
Also, I know it's only a matter of time before I'm going to want a faster turnaround, but don't think I'm ready for a 2 tent setup, so I ordered this Sun Blaster Nano Dome as a small veg area while they wait to go into the "big" tent.
