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First medical marijuana grow ever.
I have gardened most of my life but marijuana is a whole different animal. I have organic bone and blood meal and tomato fertilizer (npk 4-3-8) that I was planning on using but my grow tent kit came with BioBizz Indoor Try Pack with Grow, Bloom and Top Max fertilizers. I think I may use my fertilizer on one and BioBizz on another to see which works best.
Wish me luck!
I was worried about the third one having yellow leaves so early, but after some reading, it’s seems that it’s fine since it’s the cotyledons.
I’m going stick with the plan to start nutrients in week three or four.
So far so good. Trying not to overthink things.
Week 3 = The Clown Show. I definitely transplanted too early into 14l pots. I also should have only started two seeds because this tiny tent is crowded now. I kinda freaked out when I saw what looked like nutrient deficiencies (calcium, potassium, I don't know) AND nutrient burn? I was so damn confused. I also realized not ph'ing was a dumb idea and quickly went out and bought a ph meter. I assumed since the tap water here is drinkable and not chlorinated, it's fine. But turns out it all comes from underground aquifers that are made of bedrock and every mineral that increases ph. I'm using lemon juice as my ph-down now and have figured that out pretty well. 1ml of it gets the water down to 6.0-6.3.
Anyway, I spent the weekend in YouTube University trying to figure out what mistakes I made. More experienced growers, please feel free to comment with tips. Just don't be an asshole.
I got a week and a half notice that I had to go on a work trip out of country for 10 days, so the clown show continued.
I was definitely overwatering them. Thanks @shinsimilla, I saw the difference after waiting a few extra days. Also, I definitely should have started LST at least a week earlier than I did.
Now for work issues: I found an old security camera that the cats had knocked over a million times and damaged. With a lot of tape, I got it working again and set up in the tent so I could see what’s going on while gone. Be warned, the photos are NOT good quality. I also looked up DIY self-watering systems. I needed it as simple as possible to reduce the risk of something breaking while I was thousands of miles away.
I found one where it wicks water up a cotton or wool string. Here's the link: https://youtu.be/P0hn5cKZ0Z0 I cut up an old 10K shirt that was made of cotton. I had just broken down my balcony garden since it’s already getting cold here. I took two long planters, lined them with a construction garbage bag to be the reservoirs. Even though the floor of the grow tent is waterproof and I put plastic between the floor and outside of the grow tent, I didn’t want to risk any water getting out while I was away. I was nervous y’all.
Basically, you wet the fabric then use a chopstick to run the it through the plant from bottom to top. It needs to be long enough to have a few inches sitting in the bottom of the reservoir. I filled each with 3L of water with the BioBizz nutrients mixed in and ph’d to 6.1.
More info in week 5.
I removed all tie downs and raised the grow light the morning I left and said a prayer.
It also looked like they were going into the pre-flower stage.
Well, it worked and I nervously watched from another country for 10 days. I knew a bottom feeding set up would be fine since my non-cannabis plants usually sucks up any water left in their bottom tray. I was more worried about the nutrients getting wicked up but the plants look ok.
I was still nervous even though everything was looking good on camera. All of them were growing quite well. But I was nervous until I got back and saw them for myself.
Got back on Day 42. Two are definitely in the flower stage. I was out of the country for 10 days for work. 😐 The self-watering system with water and BioBizz nutrients made it into the the plant. The reservoirs were almost completely empty after 10 days with 3L of water/nutrient in each. When I opened the tent, it was starting to smell and all of the plants had grown quite a bit while I was gone.
I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE THIS WORKED!! I mean, I can. I was just nervous being gone for so long with no one checking on them.
I'm going to keep the self-watering system in place. And I bought a better camera. I think this self-watering system will help me not over water so much. Also, since it's starting to smell, it's probably best not to open the tent too much.
And yes, I have another work trip in two weeks. To another country. 😩 But I'll have a trusted friend coming by to check on things.
Preparing for another work trip. I ordered CalMag. Number 2 needed it and is responding well. I have a better camera to check on things while I’m away and have a trusted friend checking it.
Nothing new to report. I’m away for work again. I had a friend check in the tent a couple of days ago and have been checking via the camera. The main two continue to grow strong and I’ve just let the little one keep growing to see how far she’ll go.
Nothing new to report. The camera I have is t HD, but the friend I have checking everything thinks I should flushing #1 in a week or two and #2 is only a little behind.
I’ll be back home on Day 70, so I know they should be near time for the big chop.
This is absolutely not how I expected my first grow to go as I planned to be home (and in country) most of the time. But two of three plants going strong is better than I expected.
We’re in the home stretch. I’ll start flushing #3 at the end of this week. #1 will get one or two more weeks of feeding before I start it’s flush
#2 is about two weeks behind #1.
Started to "flush" #3. I'm giving it .75L of plain ph'd water. It usually is dry after four or five days. So I'll do that for a couple of weeks and then it will get the snip. I'm trying to get better at taking photos of the trichomes.
#2 is the next up. These next two weeks will be its last, the flush and snip.
#3 is taking the longest but only has three more weeks of feeding. Maybe four. In my quest to not overwater, I let her get to dry a couple of times. So her being behind is likely my fault.
This is the final week for everyone. I had been “flushing” #1 and #3 for the past two weeks by just giving it plain, ph’d water. I finally got a jewelers loop and could see that #2 has almost all cloudy trichomes too so, she will get a flush at the end of the week and I’ll continue the same for at least one more week.
Glad to be in the home stretch.
The yield after a two week cure was 17g. I think that’s not bad since I was pretty raggedy this whole grow. I ignored ph the first month and half. The tap water here is non-chlorinated but has a kind of high ph (average 8.5). I also ended up having two unplanned work trips out of the country (2 weeks each). I definitely overwatered as well. As you can see, they all did their own thing. One was strong the whole time, the other had some issues (mostly caused by me) but came through and the last was a runt but I let it grow just to see how it would do.
I’m headed back to the US for the holidays soon, so the tent has been cleaned (5l water to 5ml bleach mix) and packed away and I’ll start again in January. I already have a dozen other seeds because I buy too many so I’m not sure which ones I’ll do next.
On the next run, I think I need to amend the soil a little since I use a store bought soil and it’s clear the npk they put on the bag is trash. But this is easier since I don’t own a car or have many friends here who do and it’s easier to get the bags delivered to my front door from a local gardening center. I used BioBizz grow, bloom and topmax nutrients and unsulfured molasses and still have lots left so I may just add their pre-mix on the next run. But also, since I’m going home and will drag tons of US stuff back, I may grab some things there to test them. I’ve just read a lot of good things about BuildASoil, Gaia Green and Dr. Earth but it’s stupid expensive to get it over here.
I’ve been a gardener most of my life but growing my own medicine is a whole different animal. But this was so fun and interesting!! I guess as a former athlete, you always need a challenge. Lol! I can’t wait for the next grow.
Honestly, this is one of the best wake and bake strains I’ve smoked. It also helps with some chronic pain I have from my sports days. Even though my buds didn’t look so good, the smoke was smooth and the high was mostly cerebral.
Hey,
Glad you have your pH issue sorted.
You can also give them much less water when they are so small. Overwatering often makes the leaves smaller and smaller instead of bigger as it grows. and can cause nutrient lockout.
The roots need air as much as they need water otherwise they drown.
Good luck!
@AfroBlooming420, oh, another tip is to water more around the sides of the pot.
Watering down the stem can overwater the roots while the sides are relatively dry.
Having the sides damp encourages the roots to grow toward the moisture (provided it's not too wet and anerobic).
Learn how heavy your pots are when wet vs dry and wait a few days for them to dry out before watering again.
Hey - good luck with your grow! I grew the same strain and it's absolutely lovely! And you're right... I, too, have been a gardener all my life but this is a COMPLETELY different experience... don't hesitate to ask questions - there is SO much to learn and you'll learn something new with every grow you do!
Good luck!
@GrowingGrannie Yeah, I followed a lot of growers and read a lot before attempting this first grow. I’ve prepared them all for the million questions I may have. 😃
AfroBlooming420
