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Starting my 3rd grow, 2nd in soil, 1st 1:1 CBD strain
I've had these seeds in my refrigerator for about 4 months. I dropped 2 into a cup of RO water on 7/20. On 7/21 I put them in damp paper towel in a ziplock bag and put it on top of my PC to stay warm. On 7/22 they've germinated.
I'm reusing soil from my last run, FF Ocean Forest with whatever leftover organic amendments are still in there. I cleaned out large roots and junk from the soil and broke it all up. It's been sitting dry for several weeks. I took a couple of cups of soil and mixed in 1 tsp of Great White and wetted it to field capacity with 2 cups of RO water with 1 tsp of Clonex. I gently packed the soil into 2 large styrofoam cups about half full. I had popped drainage holes in the cups with a drill bit. I dusted the germinated seeds with Great White before planting about 1/4" - 1/2" deep and lightly topped the hole with soil. I sprinkled some additional drips of water from a paper towel then placed cling wrap over the cups. The cups are now next to my PC where the temp is about 84F.
7/24/21 Update
They've both broken the soil this morning. I sprayed some RO water in with a mister to raise the humidity and put some rubber bands on the cling wrap to keep them sealed. I moved them from next to the PC and now I'm using my LED Aerogarden for lighting/timer. I still need to clean out and prep my tent so this will work for now. Temperature will be in the mid 70s in that area. I checked the light with a PAR meter, looks to be about 200 PPFD.
I'm using the foam cups because I had them laying around and because it allows me to create an individual little green house. The soil is only half full so I have several inches of vertical growing space before that becomes the limiting factor. My past grows were more indica dominant, this one is about 60% sativa so I'm interested to see if they stay as compact as the others. I'm pretty good about providing enough light so they don't go leggy.
Week 1 veg will begin when they've produced the first set of true leaves.
7/26 - First true leaves have been out for a couple days. 2nd set of leaves barely visible.
Not much for me to do for now. Lights are set. Cling wrap is over the cups making a little greenhouse. I'll just check them daily to see if I need to mist in some more moisture.
I moved the light down a little more. They should be getting 230-250 PPFD.
Not sure of the humidity but it's high. There's water droplets on the sides of the cups and the cling wrap is moist so probably 90%+
8/2 - Week 2 is starting decently. I'm a little concerned over the yellow leaf edges I'm not quite sure what would be causing that. I started these with FF Ocean Forest that I had used in my last run. It may be low N? Or possibly a lockout from the high P&K that I used to finish flowering in the last grow? I didn't do any amendments for these cups, I was planning to add some organic nutes into the soil when I transplant.
I watered with a pinch of GS Plant Foods Amino Power 13-0-0, a couple drops of CalMag, and a few drops of a 1-1-1 root booster.
8/6 placed the cups into the tent last night. The Mars Hydro TS600 heats up my little tent. It's been between about 77-81 depending on if the air conditioner is running. I go by VPD so I've got a humidifier in there and I'm aiming for 77% RH for now.
PPFD is 375, might be a little high but they've got roots beginning to poke out the bottom of the cups so I'm not too concerned
Any insight on what may be causing the yellow edges on these seedlings?
I'm reusing FF Ocean Forest that I used on my last grow. I didn't amend the soil in these containers as I didn't expect they'd need anything before it was time to transplant. pH was good at last harvest.
8/9 - Beginning this week strong. The new growth looks very healthy. Looks like the previous issue may have been some minor nute burn. 6th node is sprouting up. Roots are popping from the holes in the bottoms of the cups. They'll need to transplant soon. I'll be finishing in an EarthBox container with some amendments from Build A Soil.
I'm currently watering with Clonex and Great White in RO water. Tent temperature is about 79 and I'm keeping humidity high for now at about 75. I use the AC Infinity Cloudline 4" automatic fan system and set RH based on VPD. This system holds the environment pretty stable.
I fimmed the tops. This is my first try at fimming, always topped before. Tent is only 62" so with the fan, filter, and light I don't have a ton of vertical space and I'll lose a lot more when the Earth Box goes in. I plan to scrog.
These may be some skunky girls. When I opened the tent there was a slight pleasant odor.
8/11 - Not much for me to do for now. After fimming the branches are beginning to grow out more, the tops haven't done much yet.
8/14 - Fimming didn't seem to take properly. Maybe I didn't cut enough off? The cut leaves were growing out so I just went ahead and topped them like I normally would have. Branches are growing out strong and my Build A Soil amendments should be here today so I'll get the Earth Box planter prepared to transplant.
8/16 - Beginning of week 4 since popping out of the soil. Plants are looking great. Nothing much to report for now. The branches are coming up and the plants are fairly compact and dense. I've got all the amendments and everything needed to get the Earth Box set up so I'll be transplanting ASAP. They're drying out these little cups pretty fast now. I'm interested to see how the roots look when I pull them.
8/19 - Transplanted into the Earth Box the evening of 8/17. I re-used the FF Ocean Forest from my last run. pH was a little low, shut 6.0 so I mixed in about a pound of dolomite. I mixed in some Malibu compost, Great White, Recharge, EM1, Kashi Blend, and liquid silica. Dusted the roots with Great White and Recharge when transplanting. The roots were strong and filling the cups well. It was good timing on the transplant, had I waited any longer they'd of been totally root bound. I followed the Earth Box instructions and made a little fertilizer trench and filled it with manufacturer recommended amounts of GS Plant Foods Amino Power (13-0-0) and Down to Earth Seabird Guano (0-11-0) and Langbeinite (0-0-22). I then topped with Kashi Blend.
The Kashi Blend took off quick. It was showing growth the next morning. I'm getting a nice mycelial mat growing in.
8/27 - I tried some super cropping and may have been a little aggressive with it but nothing died off. I crushed fibers a little too much but they seem to have healed up.
It's been a crazy week and I'm headed out of town on vacation for over a week so hopefully everything takes care of itself and the reservoir doesn't run dry. I topped it off with spring water moved the light up for some additional growing space. I'm either coming home to dead plants or giants.
8/31 - Returned home to monsters! The Earth Box seems to be working great. Looked like the reservoir was dry but the soil is still moist. I could see some roots down the water tube so they've grown down to the water. I topped off with about 2-1/2 gallons of spring water before it overflowed. I super cropped and bent branches down some and pinched a few of the lowest suckers off the lower branches. I also pulled the lights up higher and added the 2nd light, just been running one so far but they need two now to cover the veg.
I'm headed back out of town again. When I get back I'll move into a larger 2x4 and then I'll add SCROG netting.
The tent will start getting hotter. I've got the air con set warmer while I'm gone and the addition light will get pretty warm. The new tent and cooler lights I've got on the way will help a lot.
I was back out of town for a bit and these girls just kept going. I think I'm going to stick with the Earth Box for a while. The growth has been amazing and it's so simple. When I set it up I added dry organic nutes in a "trough" per the directions along with mycorrhizae and Bokashi. It's dead simple, I'm not having to mix up nutes or water constantly. This is about as close to set it and forget it as you can get.
If you haven't watched any of the Build a Soil videos on YT you can check them out for some info and his experience with the Earth Box. Plus it's just a great channel with lots of good info.
They're outgrowing my little tent. I have a Spider Farmer 2x4 (real size a little larger than 2x4) ready for them that I need to make some space for and get set up soon. I'll SCROG them once they're moved into there. Luckily my new ChilLED Tech Growtech X3 kit was shipped today so it'll be ready to go in with the new tent soon.
I need to do some trimming and lollipopping, they're going feral right now. I do feel like the topping and super cropping worked out though. All things considered the canopy is fairly even and consistent.
9/11 - set up the new tent and light. Top dressed with chopped up leaf trimmings, Malibu compost, Bokashi, mycorrhizae, and amino acids. PPFD looked to range from about 600-800.
Looks like they're close to flipping to flower. I'm expecting some stretch with these girls.
I trimmed more lower branches that were too far below the screen.
Would you flip these to flower now or fill out the tent more first? I have a feeling these will be a little stretchy but I've also got good vertical space to work with.
Personally, I'd flip within a week, two max.
In the end it's up to you, as they will inevitably stretch; and the flowering time will remain the same either way.
Depends on your goals- do you want two weeks worth of nodes of bud? Can your light supply the energy needed for those extra nodes?
One week since flipping to 12/12
Continuing to tuck branches. Also defoliating below the screen and snipping off small lower branches that are below the screen.
I maybe should have completely defoliated below the screen. That would make it easier to keep it clean and pinch out new growth.
The Earth Box system is working great. I'm filling with a gallon of water every day or two. The reservoir usually goes dry by the time I fill it. I'm not sure if I should keep it more full more often, but I'm not getting any plant drooping.
I'd put worms in when I set it up. I've not seen them at the surface but I can spot them down in the water reservoir. Poor worms are getting drowned down in there when I top it off but I'm glad to see they're still alive.
I'm chopping cuttings and adding them back on top. I top dress with compost and Bokashi as well about every week or two.
It's an easy grow, pretty stress free and on auto pilot. I'm confident that if I needed to leave for a couple of days I could water it heavy and it would be fine. The 10 gallon fabric pots I've used before would dry out much faster. And this is super low maintenance compared to hydro.
I'm just filling with RO water. Sometimes I'll add some molasses, EM-1 innoculant, and recharge.
The growth is moving fast and the net is about completely full.
I'm really liking this ChilLED X3 light. It runs so cool. With the aircon running the light-on temp is often a little too cool, dropping into the low 60s. I've got the driver sitting outside the tent, I might put it inside just to add back a little warmth. I really like the dimmer, makes it much easier on the eyes to tend the plants.
10/2 update. I was out of town last night. The previous night I filled the reservoir with 3 gallons, tonight it's empty. They're getting fast and drinking a lot now. They're looking great. Some tops are taking off so the canopy isn't as even as I'd prefer but it'll be fine. Everything looks healthy and leaves were pointed up praying. You can see in the photos that the tallest branches are growing around an inch a day.
10/4 - everything is going great! Last night I filled the reservoir with a mixture of water, molasses, recharge, and a sprinkle of aminos.
Tonight I defoliated more of the lower stuff below the screen. The tallest branches were getting within 2" of the light so I did some more tucking to level out the canopy a bit more.
Buds are sprouting and it smells nice. I'm not yet noticing any particular smells (skunk, cheese, fruit, etc) it just has a generic cannabis smell but it's getting stronger and I expect it'll express more and more as they mature.
Leaves are looking healthy and the upper leaves continue to pray and point upwards. Bud site are beginning to stack.
This has been a really easy and forgiving grow so far, I'm hoping it stays that way.
Nothing much to comment. They're continuing to stack up buds. Stretching has slowed down. I moved the lights up about 2 inches. PPFD varies, it's over 1500 in hot spots, most areas seem to be 900-1200, on the edges it can drop to 500.
I top dressed with leaf trimmings, some Malibu compost, and Bokashi. Then I misted the fresh top dressing with a water and EM1 mix.
When it runs dry I can water 2.5-3 gallons. It needs watering every 2 to 3 days now. RO water has gotten to be too much hassle so I'm using filtered tap water. I'm filtering with a cheap inline RV filter on my garden hose run into a 5 gal bucket. I try to let that sit at least 24 hours with an air stone bubbler in it and I'll usually add a little molasses because it's supposed to help lock up the chloramine.
Looks like the sugar leaves are beginning to get frosty!
Still going smooth, putting on weight. Beginning to see some hairs turning orange and pulling back.
It seems like the plant on the left has darker green leaves then the one on the right. The right one has leaves that are slightly more lime/light green and there's some reddening on the leaf edges.
They're taking about 2-1/2 gallons every other day. Straight water that's been run through an RV filter, sometimes I add some molasses.
I'm continuing to snip small branches and pull off yellowed leaves. I'm chopping them and tossing back and adding Bokashi now and then. I also spritz the mulch with water mixed with EM1.
I dug down a little and the mulch layers have composted. There's feeder roots about 1-2 inches down.
Still just growing along on easy mode!
I'm watering with nearly 3 gallons every other day. Keeping the RH around 60% but I may start dropping that. PPFD varies a lot. I've got the lights fairly close hoping to penetrate a little lower so some tips may be getting 1200 or more while the edges and down at the screen are 300-500. The ChilLED X3 runs super cool so burn hasn't been an issue. Daytime temps might push to a high of 81 at times but generally more around 78. Nighttime temps are 68-72
Lower leaves have been yellowing more and starting to see a little fade in the canopy.
I've been adding molasses, mammoth P, recharge, great white, and top dressing with Bokashi, compost, and leaf clippings.
It's starting to smell more as the buds fatten up. Trichome production is going strong. My 4" filter can't keep up 100% but it does pretty well, there's a faint odor around the place.
The smell in the tent is sweet and somewhat fruity, they haven't turned very skunky yet.
I'm guessing harvest will be somewhere around Dec 1ish
Just discovered these little black bugs. I don't think they're flying. They're mostly on the soil. Some were on the stalk but they don't seem to be on the leaves and buds. I'm growing indoors in organic soil. Not sure if these are a problem or if they'll regulate themselves.
11/1 - Bugs!
Thrips? I don't know. I started using a new compost 2 or 3 weeks ago and I'm assuming they came in with that. They're in the soil and now they've started to fly and I've found some up in the buds. I found and removed about 20 or so from the canopy. I piled up DE around the stalks and dusted it on the grow box cover and on top of the soil. They're not too out of control at this point and hopefully I can keep them in check. I should be no more than 3-4 weeks to harvest.
The buds are looking super frosty and they're starting to get more dense. They're super sticky and smelling great. Still a little sweet and not super skunky.
11/3 - Pretty sure the bugs are rove beetles. The upside is they're not harmful. They're a predator and will control harmful bugs. The downside is they do fly and they're attracted to the light. They seem to get stuck on the trichs in the buds.
Here's a link to a video posted on Dude Grows. This is exactly what mine look like.
https://youtu.be/3RqMyjQwziE
Starting week 8 of flower.
Bugs are under control
They're drinking less water now. I was giving them about 2.5-3 gallons every other day and now they're lasting 3-4 days.
Smells good but not super skunky. Buds are trich'd up nice and frosty. Hairs are turning orange and pulling back.
It's time to start putting trichs under the microscope soon.
12/2 drying done, went in to jars to cure. It's super crystally. The buzz is nice. With the high CBD it's fairly mellow, not too heady.
15 ounces dried and manicured. It's mostly little popcorn buds but those will work great in the rosin press.
theWilly
