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I initially had some rookie trial and error problems with germination, and butchered a strain I really wanted to grow, CBD Blueberry, but decided to forge ahead with the other 2 I got, Northern Lights, and Harlequin, and killed a couple more of those, as well.
I started out following the directions from the company and didn't get any success whatsoever: Soaking in water, pouring onto plate with paper towels, etc.
The seeds initially showed sprouting, but then lagged and did nothing.
Afterwards, I tried again with the strains here, using the paper towel method BUT also in the Ziploc bag. I put a paper towel in the bag, quart sized, and sprayed it a couple sprits with distilled water, until the towels were damp, but not wet. Put the seeds in, and within 24 hours had some good sprouts. Took another day for the other to come out, but they all looked very healthy.
After a good root was showing in the germs, I put them carefully in jiffy peat pellets, which I put in the center of some jiffy pots filled with my own soil I made.
Soil was a combo of store bought organic compost, worm casings, perlite, peat moss, and measured amounts of humic acid, gauno, bone ad blood meal, Mycorrhizae, and other organic supplements. I mixed these thoroughly in a large container, and let them all cook for a few weeks, mixing every couple days, keeping the container closed, in my garage where it was warm (summer) during the process.
As the title implies, this is my first cannabis grow. I have grown veggies, chilis, and hops (for beer) in the past with great success, but I did not go into this with any preconceived notions. I was ecstatic every time I checked on them and saw them continue to grow.
I watered with tap water that I treated with a measure amount of pure vitamin c to eliminate chlorine and chloramines, as well as lowering the pH a bit. I didn't measure the pH and trusted the water report and the math on the amount of vitamin C (2.5 grams per 5 gallons of water).
At first I was using a pair of 24-inch GE full spectrum growing lights, that were about a foot from the plants. I think this was way too close, as you can see some tip burn and wavy leaves, so I moved them a bit further away. I also started reading up and watching videos on cannabis and light, and decided to move on to 2 VIVASPECTRA P1000 LED grow lights, rigged together, and kept about 18 inches away, at just under 25% output during the first few weeks. I figured the higher output of the lights, as well as turning them down and moving away, would keep the direct light burn issues, and it worked out. I would keep the lights the same distance and turn the light output up bit by bit every couple days as the plants grew more.
I initially noticed that one of the plants looked different than the others, and was excited at the possibility that one of the Harlequin seeds I thought I killed ended up taking. It was still difficult for me to notice at this time, as I'm still new to this, but it became more and more obvious as time went on. I took a guess, initially, during the seedling stage, as to which was which, and I picked right, because I wanted the Harlequin to do better than the NL, as the strains I initially picked are for medicinal purposes more so than recreation.
I used a similar method to when I was growing hops to grow these. for the Harelquin, I used a self wicking bucket system for all plants. 3 gallon soils bucket for the Northern Lights and a 5 gallon soil for the Harlequin. My reasoning was that I wanted more space and food for the more "important" of the strains. All the plants were doing well, BUT I started to get fungus gnats, so I picked up some Neem Oil and sticky traps to help curtail them. A big con of using soil. Probably won't do soil again in the future.
Having 3 plants in my small tent eventually became an issue, but I'll discuss that more on a later week.
It started to become very obvious that one of the Northern Lights plants was a little runty compared to the other. I also noticed some potential nutrient burn on the Harlequin. Just to be safe, I did a soil flush just to be safe, then left it without any water in the reservoir after for a few days, before returning to normal conditions. It worked out okay, as the plants grew just fine.
This week I did some initial trimming to remove some of the larger fan leaves, and I decided to remove the runt plant form the tent, as it wasn't the same as the other, and it was pretty light on the pre-flowers, so I moved it outside and have pretty much ignored it. I check on it every couple days just to see what it's doing.
The 2 remaining have really taken off at this point and I was starting to get very excited. I upped the light level, and raised the lamps as well.
Explosive growth. Great aromas. Happy plants.
Transitioned to 12/12 this week. End of week I did some more pruning to get rid of some smaller branches and fan leaves, but not all. Growth was amazing and the first flowers made me really happy to see. The smell has started to get strong, but not a ton, yet.
This is the current week. So many changes are happening. More flowers. More growth. More aroma.
I had to move the exhaust to vent to the outdoors as the aroma was getting very strong, which I don't mind / enjoy, but I figured best not to saturate my entire house and wardrobe in the smell.
The pants look extremely happy, and have been very thirsty at this point. Flowers look good. Leaves all have a good color. The lamps are as high as I can get them and at about 75% output each (2 P1000 LED lights), so it's plenty bright and there doesn't seem to be any complaining. Every update at this point will be live.
I let the lights get a little too hot considering how close they were and got some tip burn at the start of this week.
Plants are still doing nicely though. Almost there!
righteous_fire
