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***Please ALWAYS read my content. This will be my first real grow diary and have no doubt I'll have a learning curve and make a few mistakes. I will however always make sure to put in the comments all the important info. As a background on me, now that it is finally legal to grow in my state, I've plunged head first into growing cannabis. Like a good portion of society I got a degree, but am now in a profession that I don't need to use that degree. Due to my degree being in botany, this starter hobby has quickly become an obsession of mine!
I started the seeds on 6/26, but only had time to take photos and make notes up until now. To grow, I was sent: 1)It's CBD Time (CBD/Fem), 2) Jack Herer (Fem), 3) VLC Critical Plus (Auto). Moving forward, for the most part, I'll be referring to the seeds as either their number #1, #2, #3 or by their names only abbreviated a bit (CBD, Jack, Critical).
The first thing in noted is that they came well packaged with cotton in the .2ml PCR tubes. A few seeds I have gotten so far are just loose and show the wear and tear from shipping. I included a photo of each seed from my digital microscope. Each one had great striping on it.
I germinated all three seeds in water for 36.5 hours in a dark environment (closet) at 76 degrees F starting on 6/26. On 6/28, I pulled them and saw that ALL 3 Cracked open!
On 6/28 I transferred the seeds into the wet paper towel and ziplock bag method. I put the seeds back in the dark environment at 76 degrees F. I checked them at 24 hours (photos above), but they weren't quite ready. I put them back and checked them again at the 60 hour mark (on 7/1). There was fantastic embryonic root growth measuring up to 2.5 cm long on #1 & #3.
Now that the seeds are ready for planting I'm trying out a method of 95% soil, with 5% germination mix. For the soil, I'm using Fox Farms Ocean Forest. For germination, I'm using a local nursery mix. As shown in the photos I fill a small pot with Ocean Forest soil, then make a small hole for the germination mix. My thought is that this helps me skip a replanting step, and allows the embryotic root to get some mild nutrients from the soil as soon as it reaches it, while giving it some growing room in the light germination mix initially. Then once the plant gets about 3-4 nodes I plan to transplant it into its final pot. I feel this will help reduce some plant stress.
Once I have the germinated seeds in the small pots, I covered them with a lid in order to create a warm, moist microclimate for the seeds to emerge in. I placed them back in the dark environment at 76 degrees.
The next day on 7/2, only 24 hours later, all three seeds had not only emerged from the soil, but #3 (Critical Plus) had shot up a full 4 cm out of the soil! Though I do not have much experience at all with growing cannabis yet, this by far has exceeded anything I have done in the past so far. All three plants cotyledons were starting to open as well.
At this point it will be a bit before I report much more due to all of the energy taking place in root growth. I'm starting to see baby true leaves on all three, however I have to wait until the plants are better established before I see more. I'll post a few more photos soon.
Though I am really behind on posting my grow diary, I've been sure to keep up my notes and photos so I wouldn't miss anything. As I am quickly finding out, not much to report on the first week of growth. I haven't noticed much growth on the "Its CBD Time", however the others have shown minimal growth in and now up to 5.5-6cm height range. I have been keeping these inside a window simply because it is too hot outside for them to be out there. No nutrients added to growing medium at this time. All three plants have already produced their first true set of leaves.
Though most of the energy is going into the plants roots, I'm still seeing better then expected above soil growth. All three have great color, and am also happy with the strength of stem on them as well. I'm not going to be adding nutrients until I transplant them into a 5gl pot. Allowing soil to go through wet/dry cycles to try and do everything possible for maximum root growth right now. I've included all pertinent information on growing specifics in the section above. I've been able to keep a very consistent growing environment so far.
Had some major growth this week! Jack Herer #2 is the clear winner at 8.5" in height. I still haven't added nutrients yet and won't until after I transplant. Plants are still indoor and on a sunny window that gets 16 hours of daylight. I am not sure why I thought this would be the case, but I am surprised that Jack Herer is the clear leader in height. My initial hypothesis was that the Autoflow would be the one in the lead by this point. More to come!
Exciting Week!!!!! Time to transplant! I'm using 5 gallon cloth pots. I planned to use Ocean Forest soil, however I had to change to Fox Farms Happy Frog soil instead due to what was available in my area.
This week I got a peek at more then just height. Jack Here is still the clear winner with a height of 10.75" in that aspect. It's CBD time however is the clear winner in root growth. As you can see in the pictures, it has some pretty healthy roots. Jack Herer does as well, but just not as impressive. VLC Critical Plus on the other hand had a lot less root structure then the other two.
Now that they are in the 5 gallon pot I have put them outside to allow them full access to the sun. I live pretty far north, about 100 miles (as the crow flies) from the Canadian border. Due to this, and how late in the season I got these seeds, I have some concerns on the amount of time they will have in veg prior to the daylight shortening enough to where they will begin to start the flowering stage. I think it would do more harm then good via stressing the girls out, if I were to change it to a indoor grow once daylight was short enough to make the veg/flower transition. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
I'm going to allow the plant to rest this week due to the transplant. Next week I will be planning on starting to add nutrients and microbes, and consider what type of grow techniques to use. I will probably use a combination of Topping and LST.
Because I am a nerd, I will begin monitoring as many aspects as I can. I will monitor soil moisture levels, exact temp and humidity levels as well. I'll post images of these trends as well for reference.
More to come. Happy Growing!!!
Dane_812
