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My first grow, since Germany decriminlized cannabis. Quick overview of the law for international readers, because my grow revolves around it:
The law allows german adults, or people living in germany, to grow 3 plants in their homes/gardens for personal use. A "cannabis plant" is specified as a cannabis plant showing preflower (not a lawyer).
This means that seedlings do not fall under the three plant restriction. If a mother plant falls under it is somewhat unclear. It is legal to harvest up to 50g. If you exceed 60g per person, you enter criminality with possible prison sentences.
Therefore, i start with 4 RQS feminized Northern Light. Since this is my first grow, the fourth servers only as a buffer for my incompetence -- but it will eventually have to go.
Since this grow is my first, i want to keep it simple and build an experience baseline:
Use photos, transplant two times, no training besides defoliation for health purposes. Use plain tomato soil and tomato fertilizer.
Germination:
Soak seeds 3-4 hours in glass of water to kickstart the process, before dropping them into regular herb soil.
two out of 4 seeds aleardy showed radicl after just 3-4 hours. This type of germination makes most sense to me. Does not harm root with a paper towel, but doesn not run into the problem of a dry spot in soil.
All 4 seeds germinated perfectly.
Since this is my first time ever planting a seed of any plant -- its amazing :)
Again, i will keep this grow simple. Uppot two times, use non-cannbis marketed products only. Use normal herb soil for seedling stage, then fertilized tomato soil, tomato fertilizer once flowering hits and a product called "MyccoVital Wurzelfit", which is a Mykorrhiza for help reducing transplant shock available at any garden store.
Not measuring pH levels etc. until a problem occures. My philosophy in general is: only buy a tool when you need it to build something. Don't buy a bunch of tools you don't know how to handle or when to use them, you're just gonna break things.
Intervenal chlorosis built up in the lower leaves. I assume my soil for germination emptied out in nutrients. Im transplanting for the first time in hopes that the fertilized tomato soil naturally takes care of the problem. Writing this retrospectively.
It took 4 days until the chlorosis stopped getting worse (as can be seen next week). I'm assuming this is about the timeframe a plant needs for it to really get nutrients from the new soil after up-potting? Happy that as a beginner i stayed patient. Worked out.
Might germinate in regular nutrient rich soil the next time, or smaller plugs that get put into nutrient rich soil earlier then when i transplanted. Did not hit a sweetspot.
Intervenal chlorosis did not get worse. After a week (end of week 3) repotting again into the final pot which is 27cm diameter ( 6-7 litres of soil volume).
Very happy with how roots look. Even though this is my first time growing, i think this looks good and healthy and is well timed.
Note on light: 90cm (3feet) away from plant since seedling. I let the plant grow into the light.
Not doing anything but giving plain tap water when pots feels light and soil dry.
High humidity due to outside weather. Do not have airflow to window, just inside my appartment in a room near my door. Hope it will all work out in flowering. Not much i could do besides buying a dehumidifier.
First week of flowering. Ssome pics are maybe 1-2 days off into next week, not sure.
Next week will be slight defoliation to expose preflowers to light. Plan is to then lollipop once buds are really forming, mainly due to being worried about budrot, not increased yield.
So far no training whatsoever (want to see the natural plant as a first timer) and still no added fertilizer (tomato soil pre fertilized) for apparently 6 weeks. can spot no general defects so far.
From now on keeping lights 30cm (1 feet) away from canopy.
all pics end of flowering week 2
defoliated twice, very slightly. just a few fan-leaves to give more light to flower sites and a few tiny ones at the bottom. planning a bigger defoliation in 1-2 weeks to counter potential moisture issues.
feeding tomato fertilizer 5ml/L (half suggested amount).
stretching a bit more than i thought. hoping big stretch is over... hopefully do not have to place vent outside.
Only defoliation and watering with nutrients.
Going down the fertilizer rabbit hole for the first time. Did look at literature (see below).
People keep telling me my tomato fertilizer (5-1-2) is only good for veg, not bloom.
Literature seems to disagree surprisingly. If you average down the little results studies publish,
you end up at ~ 5-1-3.5 ratio, which is giving me confidence that i can finish this grow by relying solely on tomato fertilizer.
Fingers crossed.
Zheng, 2021 (1)
N 194 mg/L
P 59 mg/L
K up to 150 mg/L
Dilena, 2023 (2)
N 60-210 mg/L
Saloner and Bernstein, 2021 (3)
N 160 mg/L
Cockson, 2020 (4)
P 11.25 - 22.5 mg/L
Bugbee, 2022 (5)
P 25 mg/L
Saloner and Bernstein, 2021 (6)
K 60 mg/L
Yep, Zheng, 2020 (7)
K 150 mg/L (∼2:1 ratio with N)
-----------------------------------------------
N-P-K
⌀ [156] -[29.4]- [105]
~ 5-1-3.5
Only watering with tomato fertilizer same as last week. Slight defoliation. Will defoliate more radically once week 6 to fight possible mold.
RLH above what id like. Bought humidifier. Not the magical tool i hoped for but helping with peaks i guess.
Noticed browning/withering of pistils. Aware this is natural, but im curious if its "aging" too fast due to suboptimal conditions. I guess one of those things experience will teach you.
I underwatered once, maybe thats it. Or maybe its natural.
Else super stoked i got this far. Fingers crossed no major surprised for the next 4 weeks. Commited to my tomato fertilizer till harvest.
if anyone reads this let me know if anything looks off.
tips of colas a little brown, i think im underwartering. always struggling with hydrophobe soil when feeding. upping the frequency. still sticking to tomato fertilizer.
only really concerned with mold, not yield. fingers crossed i get to harvest in 3 weeks.
still just watering with tomato fert. only really worried about potential mold.
harvest now a major topic of research. again, not much i can do because i lack industrial temp/humid control lmao. so maybe ill harvest less based on trichome spectrum but instead if conditions are good to dry inside my tent. probably not later than 2 weeks form now on based on what ive read.
no changes. still doing the same. for last week only water -- dont want to waste my precious tomato fertilizer :^)
hopefully the buds will be great once dried. else a very happy camper!
eigenheit
