First Grow

This is my first ever grow. Got fed up of crappy weed from people I don't want to be around - even if it is only 5 minutes a week. So I bought all the stuff I need after a tonne of research. Bought 2 seeds + 1 free, but the package didn't arrive after 10 days so the shop sent me it again + a load of freebies for the inconvenience, which arrived the next day along with the original order! Ended up with 26 seeds of 7 different types. I was only going to grow 3 in this 4'x2' tent which I know is pushing it, but decided I may as well try 5 different strains to see which I like best. I understand yield will be the same but that's fine. Hopefully by next week all 5 will have sprouted and I can start adding nutrients. Will just be using Cal-Mag and Advanced Nutrients' Micro/Grow/Bloom which I have at the ready. Wish me luck!

The Malana Bomb didn't make the germination stage. Total noob mistake, buried them all too deep. Replaced with a Critical Kush which is about 5 days behind the rest. Note to noobs: If using coco first time out and germinating into the final pot to avoid stress, treat like a rapid rooter or similar. Soak seeds in warmish water for a day or so. Plant just 3-5mm sub-surface and pinch the top soil/coco closed on it, No need to go 1" or more deep like some guides advise. Moisten coco/soil first before seeding (or your seed will be buried further after watering) and keep under a light for warmth. Should take 3 days max that way . From seed these were under a tiny 40w LED for 7 days, but it's too weak a light for the space created by 3 gallon pots. Will utilize that for solo cups and seedlings in the future. Last pic from this set is day 8 from seed end under a 300W led. The first day they have seen a "big light" after spending their first few days searching for it. I have another in reserve for 600W total in an 8ft squared space. - Yield expectations anyone? In a 2x4 with 600W total LED? I will add the other LED as the plants progress. Arthritis/Insomnia. Looking for the best strain(s) to cure those ailments. And a hobby.

This is really the end of week 2, not week 3 as the diary suggests. 4 were planted from seed straight into the 3 gallon pots 15 days ago, with the Critical Kush 5 days behind. Cal-Mag will be introduced from the next feeding, it looks like the LSD could be yearning for it already as it's starting to get a little pale and I have read multiple times LSD loves it and drinks like a fish. So far, so good. Only issue has been humidity on the high side, but that should be solved in the next few days as I have an inlet spigot fan arriving Monday to inject fresh air into the tent instead of having passive flaps open. I've given myself a target of 40g per plant for this first grow. 2'x4 'tent with 2x300W LED's, LSTing and maybe even put in a ScrOG after a few weeks to even the canopy - is this target realistic or am I way under-estimating? First grow so I have no idea what to expect. Any clues from experienced growers here would be very welcome. This is the first time I have grown anything at all my entire life, and I am already regretting not starting doing it a decade ago.

Added Cal-Mag at the start of week 3 at 1ml/l - increased to 2ml/l very quickly as the Tangerine Dream showed signs of calcium deficiency (yellow spots on leaves). New leaves showing no signs of discolor so this seems to haves been quickly rectified. Other than that, no problems at all this week. The LSD drinks like a fish but is slow to add growth, and the auto Blueberry seems slow, too. Hopefully they will have a spurt in late veg/early flower. Hopefully all the plants will be healthy and strong enough for a little LST in the coming week.

Added a small dehumidifier which has brought the climate into line with what I aimed for. It works perfectly for the size of the tent. Topped the LSD, Tangerine Dream and the Critical Kush 3 days prior to pics. Rather than do light stress training with wires etc, I am using a leaf-tucking technique which takes a lower toll on autoflowers. Started doing that today to expose more light to the lower branches which are growing nicely. Tangerine Dream the strongest plant so far, but to be fair the Barneys Farm plants are all growing the fastest. Hoping they veg for another couple of weeks and really pack on size before flowering.

Broke a branch off the Tangerine Dream when attempting LST, so I won't be trying that again this grow. Will stick to leaf tucking instead. Found out my PH meter was uncalibrated (DOH!) so instead of PH6.4ish so far, it was more like 7.4 they were being watered with. Calibrated now so I'm going to nail 6.0 every water until flush. Other than that, no issues at all this week and they are growing fast. Hoping they hold off for another week to bush out before flowering.

Just coming into flower. Major growth in the last 7 days, almost doubled in size. Heavy defoliation 4 days ago and already they have bushed back out. Defoliation also helped lower humidity - will do it regularly from this point on for max light exposure. On cruise control now. Plants are looking healthy, growing rapidly and have no signs of stress. I just water heavily when coco is dry, adding nutes every 2nd water. The Tangerine Dream is going to yield the most I would say at this point, even though I broke an arm off it last week.

Into the flowering stage without any issues. Plants look extremely healthy, although the LSD and ABB are on the small side compared to the Barneys Farm strains. Will do some occasional defoliation from here on in to expose as much buds to light, but other than that and watering every time they dry out they need no further attention. You can see now, even with only one 300W LED, how 5 3 gallon plants is going too many (as I figured) in a 2x4 tent. The canopy has filled out a lot in the last week of veg. 3 plants max in future, but this grow was more about variety than making the most of space.

Day 59 from germination for all plants but the C.Kush, which is on Day 54. Humidity has been steadily increasing as the canopy has bushed out. I have another fan arriving tomorrow to inject fresh air from outside the room into the tent and create a positive air pressure, as I have read this is a cheaper option than running a larger humidifier and will help with air circulation inside the tent, too. That's the plan, anyway.

Added the extra fan to inject fresh air into the tent as I said I was going to and that did the trick nicely, brought humidity down to less than 55% which is perfect. Added an extra 300W LED light, too, because why the hell not!? Right? The tent is now set up perfect with everything I need going forward for future grows. Looking forward to seeing how much I harvest from this first grow - as you can tell from the pics the tent now has a full canopy,

Added big bud which replaced Cal-Mag, and added a big bottle of Terpinator. Want to end up with just Terpinator + flush to end the grow when appropriate, since that is what the pro's seem to do on here. The LSD still hasn't flowered properly which is annoying. If it doesn't sort itself out in a week I'm going to chuck her to create more space for the other girls.

Four plants are about 2 -3 weeks away, but the LSD-25 still not flowered. I take full responsibility for her not flowering. She's been stripped to the main 4 branches to make space for the others to breathe, and hopefully to focus all energy on flowering in a last ditch attempt to salvage something. If it works, great. If not, I'll lose no sleep. I'll start flushing them individually when I estimate they each hit 10 days away,

Edging closer. Started flushing the Kush. Starting to get the feeling I will be hitting way more than my 150g total target on this first grow. There could be 2.5-3oz on the Kush alone, and the Tangerine Dream could yield even more.

Last few days for the Kush, been flushing for a week. Fully expect to start seeing amber trichs any day now, so will probably get the chop before the next update. Tangerine Dream is by far going to yield the most. She's starting to see her autumn colors come through, and is really stinking up the room when the tent is opened with a strong smell of, surprise surprise, tangerines. Will start flushing in a few days time. In the last week she's just been getting Terpinator and a bit of big bud coco. Blueberry isn't far off being flushed either. She's the smallest plant, but should still get an ounce or so off her. Will start flushing the same time as the TD. Pineapple Express is the furthest off, but still only 2 weeks or so away from finishing. She wasn't topped and has stayed smaller, whereas the other two from Barney's loved being topped and grew over a metre high. Lesson learned: Top all Barney's seeds in future. Looking forward to reaping the rewards of a lot of time, care and effort very soon!

Day 90 and I've just chopped 6.4oz of frosty, extremely sticky and trimmed wet bud harvested from the Kush. Hoping for somewhere around 2.5-3oz dry. Will update in a few days with pics. The Kush is now jarred up and curing. Finished with 72grams (2.8oz) which aint half bad at all. Here's my full review: I was initially impressed, however this feeling has grown since as the cure has developed. It was a lovely plant to grow to start with, but as the cure has developed so has the taste and effects. It's a classic indica stoned effect. I harvested a little early with trichs 70% cloudy, and I'm sure if left another week would have developed into leaving me locked in an armchair somewhere. Extremely smooth smoke now, too. No coughing whatsoever after a hit, which is a rarity. Could be as I flushed for 10 days and where I got it from before didn't? IDK. Result: A perfect plant for a noob to grow.

The Kush was chopped in the last week, and all 3 of these are in flush and will be chopped in the next 7 days. The Tangerine Dream just looks and smells awesome - can't wait to try it! 2.8oz dry was harvested from the Kush, but the T Dream is much bigger and the buds much firmer. Expecting well over 3oz from that alone, so if I end up with 8oz+ from this first grow I will be a very happy sob indeed.

80g of wet, sticky, and very smelly Blueberry goodness harvested. Will update after dry and cure. 21g Dry is all I got from her. Pretty decent smoke though, just a shame she stayed so small due to space constraints.

167g of wet, sticky and smelly Pineapple awesomeness harvested and trimmed. Will update after dry and cure. 31g dry, which is a bit of a disappointment. However, I feel if I had topped this plant it would have yielded way more - especially with more space. Update after cure: This is, so far at least, the best cannabis I have ever smoked. It gives me a wonderfully uplifting, "floaty" feeling like I'm almost out of my own body, yet still aware of my surroundings and motivated to get shit done. I could honestly get into trouble with this stuff, and smoke it all day every day. Well, try to, at least. One puff too many and it's goodnight Seattle for 10 hours. 10/10. Absolutely stunned at what I have just grown. I cannot believe it took me this long to start growing my own medicine.

So, here's my final entry for my first grow diary. Yield: Critical Kush: 65g Blueberry: 21g Pineapple Express: 32g Tangerine Dream: 65g Total: 183 grams from a 2x4 tent and 2x300W cheap LED's Target was 150g, so very happy with the final result. Positive I can increase this now I have more experience to 9-10oz per grow in future. Tips: Don't plant your seeds more than 1/2" deep if seeding in the final pot, and make sure you moisten the soil BEFORE popping your seed in. (Watering after you drop it in can bury it too deep. Pretty sure this stunted and slowed the growth a little.) LST is extremely important. I need to do more on future grows. When watering, saturate the pot to run-off and only water again when dry. Keep the plants' roots expanding by creating a wet/dry coco cycle. Dry trimming is hard. It's a better way to dry, but it takes much longer than wet trimming. Did I say dry trimming was hard? Trust me, it's a ball-ache. Just trim wet unless you have the patience of a saint. Conclusion: I will never buy weed again. The Tangerine Dream and Pineapple Express are absolute top quality cannabis, best I've ever smoked by a mile. The Kush and BlueBerry are not to be sniffed at either, as I'd be over the moon if I bought weed of that quality on the street. The BB is a great before-bedtime smoke, as it is by far the most potent of these 4 plants. The Indica high is so strong that 1/2 a joint will have you saying bye-bye. It has been an absolute pleasure to cultivate my first ever plants, and really enjoyed the work. Apart from doing a dry trim on the Tangerine Dream (which really, really sucked and took HOURS!) I loved every minute of growing my own stash, and have learned this is a great hobby as well as having all the other benefits. I will be growing my own for the rest of my life. To be honest, since I harvested the Kush 2 weeks ago, I've pretty much been stoned out of my skull ever since, and have already made my way through half of the first of 6 jars. I've enjoyed myself so much, I've already started my second grow. Planted a Mexican Airlines, Cookies and Cali Snow from Fastbuds. Peace.