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First Barney's Growing Experience

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6 years ago
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Fission 300W Light Emitting Diodes/1000W
Custom
Fission 300W Light Emitting Diodes/1000W
Custom
Indoor
Room Type
LST
weeks Technique
Soil
Grow medium
1
Week 1. Vegetation
7 years ago
No Smell
Started off after sprouting most seeds in damp paper cloth / zip lock bag method. moved them into jiffy peat tablets, placed in coconut fibre pots and filled sides with additional potting soil. moved from 50W to 1000w lamp to ensure enough light is present for my plants. At the end of the week it seemed as if the medium was retaining too much moisture, yet plants seemed to take nicely to the new light despite the initial extra heat generated.
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2
Week 2. Vegetation
7 years ago
24 hrs
29 °C
No Smell
Nutrients 2
TNT Complex  - Hesi
TNT Complex 2.5 mll
Phosphorus Plus - Hesi
Phosphorus Plus 2.5 mll
Early in the week several plants started drooping their leaves, most notably the Critical Kush so I decided to transplant them to new pots and a better soil mixture. Ran out of aggregate after 2 pots -.-' so I made due with small stones I use for bonsai. This makes the pots really heavy, but still provide s decent drainage. I've since got myself Perlite and will likely transfer them as soon as reasonably possible, as I don't want to disturb the roots too much this early on. The other medium I used was expanded clay aggregate I had handy.
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1 comment
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3
Week 3. Vegetation
7 years ago
24 hrs
29 °C
No Smell
24 °C
Nutrients 2
TNT Complex  - Hesi
TNT Complex 2.5 mll
Phosphorus Plus - Hesi
Phosphorus Plus 2.5 mll
25 Aug - I checked the roots after having transplanted the girls to their new pots a couple of days ago to come to the conclusion they liked their new pots so much their roots are already sticking out the bottom... After learning about over watering last week, I find myself with a new challenge. Prevent my plants becoming root bound ! I've already transplanted Peyote Cookies #2 to a new and larger pot, but I feel I should invest in some proper potting as I underestimated their explosive root growth!
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4
Week 4. Vegetation
7 years ago
24 hrs
30 °C
6.9
Weak
24 °C
Nutrients 2
TNT Complex  - Hesi
TNT Complex 2.5 mll
Phosphorus Plus - Hesi
Phosphorus Plus 2.5 mll
Started my first attempt at LST and tied some of them down. However I feel growing them in a "spiral" might be more effective to keep them low. As of this week the bottom leaves on most of them started to look "bleached", turning towards yellow in colour. The top colas on all of them look as if they have burnt tips, Pineapple Express Auto and Peyote Cookies #2 are starting to get spotty leaves as if drying out. Moisture level has been good, so I fear my grow lamp seems too powerful / close to the plants. Considering switching from 24h light schedule to 18/6 or even less PH also feels a tad high on most of them (6.7 - 7), so looking for simple ways to make the soil more acidic
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5
Week 5. Vegetation
6 years ago
18 hrs
30 °C
6.1
Weak
24 °C
Nutrients 2
TNT Complex  - Hesi
TNT Complex 2.5 mll
Phosphorus Plus - Hesi
Phosphorus Plus 2.5 mll
Not much of a update for this week due to work/travel Performed a pH fix to make soil pH slightly more acidic as I felt 7.0-6.8 fluctuation was too alkaline and caused nutrient issues for the roots. they seemed to respond well to this and had decent grow, especially the autoflowers.
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6
Week 6. Vegetation
6 years ago
18 hrs
30 °C
6.1
Weak
24 °C
Nutrients 2
TNT Complex  - Hesi
TNT Complex 2.5 mll
Phosphorus Plus - Hesi
Phosphorus Plus 2.5 mll
Last week I did a mild PH correction which the plants seemed to respond well too. Sadly as I was gone for a couple of days for work, my ventilation system decided to shut down on me leading the temperature in the enclosed space to ramp up to 35°C when looking at the logs... so there's some certain heat damage there. to make matters worse when preparing the water solution with mild PH correction (soil was still at 7.0 - 6.9) I accidentally messed up and used double the amount I normally use which I only found out after I watered... my plants did not respond well to this as several leaves curled upwards during the night, however not on all plants. So today I ended up taking them out of the enclosure to flush them, leave them standing on the window board for a while to remove the excessive light / heat stress as they recover from the excess acidity in the last watering.
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10
Week 10. Vegetation
6 years ago
18 hrs
27 °C
6.1
Normal
23 °C
Nutrients 1
Phosphorus Plus - Hesi
Phosphorus Plus 2.5 mll
Getting back on track after repotting my plants into new pots, after they finally arrived. Wasn't able to upkeep my diary due to lack of time but hopefully I can resume as normal and continue the grow. After the last mistake where I damaged my plants with overly applying PH corrector most of them seemed to have recovered slowly and are settling into their new homes. I sadly had to say goodbye to my Peyote Critical as this little one never recovered from the acid shock.
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gellrin_greenthumb
gellrin_greenthumbcommentedweek 106 years ago
After closer inspection of my Blueberry OG plant that started to get spots on its leaves I noticed small silky threads and little black dots underneath the leaves. After some research came to the conclusion it was spider mite so I have separated the plant immediately and removed the spider mite with a water spray solution. Checked the other plants, luckily they hadn't migrated yet and my other plants aren't infected. Will continue doing regular checkups to make sure they stay clear.
gellrin_greenthumb
gellrin_greenthumbcommentedweek 17 years ago
First pictures of a new experience. The 4 plants that sprouted are :- Critical Kush Auto- Pineapple Express Auto- Peyote Critical - Blueberry OG Seeds were germinated with paper cloth in zip-loc method on 8th August, 2 days later significant seedling had sprouted. Potted seedlings into turf/soil pellet, placed in biodegradable pots, filled gaps with regular potting soil. After 2 days in current setup new leaves started to form already and plants seem to grow. 3 Peyote Cookies seeds were planted directly in turf/soil pellets on 11th August, to see if germination would be as successful as paper towel method. So far none popped up yet. I feel the growing light of 50W might be inadequate to grow my plants with great success. would an upgrade to 300 or 600w led lights be advisable for this amount of plants ?
JUNGLE_B4RNS
JUNGLE_B4RNScommented7 years ago
@gellrin_greenthumb, 50w for seedlings was perfect
ToadieK
ToadieKcommentedweek 17 years ago
seedlings look good. I'd say more light will be needed but I'll leave it to the experts to recommend how much. I went with 400w hps hoping the heat it puts off will extend my grow season into colder months since my tent is in the garage. I'll probably add a small heater if I need to, but the light has been great for running my first 4 autos, including 2 Barneys Pineapple Express
gellrin_greenthumb
gellrin_greenthumbcommentedweek 56 years ago
Once my new pots arrive I will perform some LST and tie them down in a spiral as the current pots don't really allow me to secure ties to them properly without cracking the plastic. That way they will be even further removed from the light source and have plenty of root space. Hopefully at this point the plants have recovered from the excess acidity and removal of brown/dry/shriveled leaves
Truro
Trurocommented6 years ago
@gellrin_greenthumb, this sounds great, chuck some rhizotonic in your nute mix if you havent already, it'll make a huge root system (now that you'll have extra space) and also help relieve plant stress. you should really see some improvements with these new changes you've made (:
gellrin_greenthumb
gellrin_greenthumbcommentedweek 46 years ago
switched to 18/6 and applied a DIY PH fix to the soil. Plants seem to respond very well to the new conditions
JUNGLE_B4RNS
JUNGLE_B4RNScommentedweek 47 years ago
Yep ... light is way too powerful ! Listen ... you’re killing your sh*t bro ... it’s a shame cuz these genetics deserve more than this ... ! From what I can see on your pictures ( bloody pink LED color btw ) your plants are suffering from too much light , too much water , too many nutrients ☝️ Back up your light ! Lift your pots to check the weight after watering, and water again when they become light ! And get an EC/TDS meter to feed your plants correctly !
gellrin_greenthumb
gellrin_greenthumbcommented7 years ago
But thanks for the feedback regardless. it's a learning curve going from Bonsai and kitchen herbs to growing my own bud. any advice is welcome, so I get to learn from mistakes made
gellrin_greenthumb
gellrin_greenthumbcommented7 years ago
The cheap 50W I had was just enough for 1 bonsai plant, but it felt very underwhelming for the amount of plants I had in this setup. I'm at a disadvantage since I can only elevate the lamp another 10cm, perhaps 15 at most. I do feel the lack of ventilation and total amount of light exposure are just making the area too hot. Would you recommend I switch to 18/6 or 12/12 ?in regards to watering, since transplanting them to the new pots including a soil mix with plenty of aggregate (Perlite) I water them thoroughly until I have runoff at the bottom, which I remove and then let the soil dry. I use a PH / Moisture meter for this
Truro
Trurocommentedweek 46 years ago
you're having nutrient problems, overwatering and light stress. be careful not too water until: (i) the top inch of soil is dry and (ii) the pot weighs very little due to lack of water. you should flush your medium too; get rid of any nutrient buildup at the bottom and finish with a light feed. don't water until needed. keep your LED atleast 12" away from your plants. they look quite small for their age but their is due to them being heavily stressed during early veg. ideal wait until you have a big BUSH before you switch to 12/12 (flower) - i would wait atleast another 4-5 weeks. otherwise you could potentially run the risk of potentially having a low yield.
gellrin_greenthumb
gellrin_greenthumbcommented6 years ago
thanks for the feedback, much appreciated. I have heightened the lamp as far I can for the moment and ordered new pots made of fabric (smartpot) as I can't find aeropots for a reasonable price around here at the moment. I don't see how over watering can be an issue at the moment though, I water them until I have 20% runoff in the tray (which I then remove so they don't remain in stagnant water with roots) and let them dry out over a couple of days until the top soil is 2 knuckles dry. my moisture meter reads right between "dry/moist" before watering again.
Truro
Trurocommentedweek 17 years ago
looks like you're off to a great start - what's the drainage like with that medium?
bobo420
bobo420commentedweek 17 years ago
Good luck with the grow ;)
gellrin_greenthumb
gellrin_greenthumbcommentedweek 17 years ago
pretty good, I need to double check but I believe the pellets I used to place the seedlings in after sprouting are just peat / soil. I places it in a coconut fibre degradable pot and filled filled the gaps below/side with regular potting soil. when I water the coconut fibre soaks a good amount up and keeps the sides moist and let's the runoff out on the bottom.
gellrin_greenthumb
gellrin_greenthumbcommented7 years ago
I believe I was wrong about the medium and it's drainage. I just noticed one of my plants dropping today, first thought it might be the new light I installed yesterday which is significantly more powerful but after some research looks like either over or under watering. Considering the soil and coconut fibre pot seem to retain a lot of moisture after all I'm going to try transplant it to a slightly larger pot with some lavastone pebbles mixed in the soil to allow for more oxygen to reach the roots.
Truro
Trurocommented7 years ago
@gellrin_greenthumb, sounds good - look forward to more updates! 😬
JUNGLE_B4RNS
JUNGLE_B4RNScommentedweek 47 years ago
Yes , switch to 18/6. Is it that pH moisture gadget made in China that you stick in the soil ?😄😄😄 Some models have an extra Lux meter 😄😄😄😄
JUNGLE_B4RNS
JUNGLE_B4RNScommentedweek 17 years ago
1000w on seedlings... it’s way too much ! You’re using twice the same thing , pellets and coco pots , pellets are much better than the coco pots , coco pots were good in the 90’s when pellets didn’t exist !
JUNGLE_B4RNS
JUNGLE_B4RNScommentedweek 27 years ago
FFS ... you really did it .... blasting seedlings with a 1000w LED ... on 24H ...
gellrin_greenthumb
gellrin_greenthumbcommentedweek 17 years ago
I've just managed to get a pretty decent discount on a 1000W LED lamp, should be arriving in a couple of days. Hopefully that won't make things too warm, else I'll have to knock out another shelf of my current setup and hang the light high enough. current distance of the lamp is approximately 30-40 cm. taking out a shelf for the new lamp should give me another 40-50 cm to play with. any suggestions on distance for a 1000w, so I don't end up scorching my first grow ?
xaviaskunk
xaviaskunkcommented7 years ago
You should be able to look up the reccomended heights for your LED to get the best spectrum for what your doing (veg,flower etc) so just have a look online at the manufacturer's reccomendations, Im running a 480W LED and that has to be atleaset 50cm away from the plants themselves (as seedlings) otherwise you can get light stress which bleaches your buds or foxtails them i find its better to have your lights a tad higher and then put your tray of seedlings on a stand and adjusted to the height thats best for your plants. :)
gellrin_greenthumb
gellrin_greenthumbcommentedweek 106 years ago
After closer inspection of my Blueberry OG plant that started to get spots on its leaves I noticed small silky threads and little black dots underneath the leaves. After some research came to the conclusion it was spider mite so I have separated the plant immediately and removed the spider mite with a water spray solution. Checked the other plants, luckily they hadn't migrated yet and my other plants aren't infected. Will continue doing regular checkups to make sure they stay clear.
gellrin_greenthumb
gellrin_greenthumbcommentedweek 47 years ago
updated Week 4, looking to elevate the lamp a little more, but I'm short on vertical space in the closet I grow them in. I feel I need more LST to keep them low as well. The spots on the leaves is what concerns me most. Anyone that can share advice on this phenomenon? Is this due to too much light or too much nutrition?
gellrin_greenthumb
gellrin_greenthumbcommentedweek 17 years ago
thanks @bobo420 any advice to share on lighting?
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