first grow for the decade

[GROWING CONDITIONS] - VIVOSUN 36"x36"x72" Grow Tent - VIVOSUN 315W CMH + Vega Aluminum Hood - AC Infinity CLOUDLINE S6, Quiet 6” Inline Duct Fan - VIVOHOME 6 Inch Activated Air Carbon Filter - Tuck Tape Construction Grade Sheathing Tape (IMPORTANT, BEST TAPE TO USE) - 6 Inch HG POWER, 16Ft (enough for my intake and output) - 2 x OPOLAR F801 Clip and Table USB Fan - VIVOSUN Durable Waterproof Seedling Warming Heat Mat - 2 x Fosmon Indoor 24 Hour Mechanical Outlet Timer - ThermoPro TP50 Digital Hygrometer (clear reading of temp and humidity, the smiley face means your ratio is decent!) - Inkbird ITC-308 Temperature Controller 1200W (for when it's time to turn the fan on) - Fox Farm Ocean Forest Smart Natural Potting Soil, 42.5L - BudJuice 100% Advanced Premium Liquid Micro Organic Fertilizer & Nutrients, 1000ml - Coarse Perlite, 10L -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THURSDAY JANUARY 9 2020 * received as a clone, in rockwool cube from hydro grow, three weeks old * gave water, no nutrients, transplanted with mycorrhizae into fox farm soil with a little extra perlite * at first had it under 315CMH light, accidentally blew it, had it on 23h00 - 15h30 next day on (SAD Therapy) 5500k LED light FRIDAY JANUARY 10 2020 * received new 315CMH light, starting 24-0 for seven days - Friday January 17th (then change to 16-8 for three weeks) * humidifier added, maintaining between 45-55% humidity and between 23C-28C * in one litre of distilled water, added half tsp of budjuice (no directions -___-) and 1 tbsp of molasses from back home (🇧🇧). stir, then used ⅓ of this mixture and put it with 1L of distilled warm water, final pH before watering = pH 6.83 * BEGAN GERMINATION OF CHOSEN STRAINS - grapefruit (S), LA Ultra (I), and white widow (H) * soaked paper towel in concentrated fertilizer water, laid seed rolled up in mycorrhizae in the middle folded up in a sandwich bag, place on a heating mat (sitting on styrofoam, off the ground) and covered with a turned over cardboard box * set for 36hrs to germinate (or at least check) - sunday january 12 @ 8am SATURDAY JANUARY 11 2020 * had to work on sealing the area around intake cold air vent before storm comes, also intake cold air vent not intaking enough cold air, difficulty managing air pressure, humidity, and temperature. * problem area in the pictures, intake vent is from outside through sliding patio doors. venting isn't too powerful (not enough cold air venting in) and it's freezing out the rest of the room. * solution: build an insulating barrier that will force air through the tubing - step one - break down the box the tent came in. measure and cut to fit the open space. - step two - reinforce with duct tape, and tape up the perimeter - step three - insulation. cut open a garbage bag down it's long sides, use tape to make a tight seal, this grey piece towards the inside of the apartment - step four - duct tape to the window frame NOT THE GLASS BECAUSE IT WILL BE A MESS TO GET OFF. SUNDAY JANUARY 12 2020 * was worried it wasn't grow but yes leaves are really sprouting and coming in * definitely think that i've overwatered, new leaves have appeared but they are extremely shrivelled and plant is a little droopy looking. when i first got this clone i put it into a ceramic pot with only one drainage hole. i was starting to notice how curled up those new top leaves looked and that the top soil still looked pretty saturated. i decided to transplant the clone from the ceramic pot to a solo cup with drainage holes. i sprinkled mycorrhizae on the cube when i first transplanted it, and when i held the plant in my hands from the pot, a white clumpy (kinda moldy looking tbh) chunk of soil broke away. the roots looked okay still so i used the moist (read: damp) top soil and some "dry" fresh soil from the bag, and an extra hand of perlite. mix and repotted with a dash of mycorrhizae and a few sprays of water with a spray bottle just to set everything. then i took a pencil and made holes about an inch down to help dry out some of that overwatering. * i snipped off the two top curlies, i got too excited about training. The days after this were me learning that I need to be patient and relax and let the plants do their thing. I was being a helicopter parent and I'm embarrassed (but my self-esteem couldn't take me killing it so it was a catch-22). Out of the three seeds I put to germinate, only one did, the Grapefruit. I was a little hurt, I can't lie.

Okay so this week I really learned patience and to stop being so intense. I moved the Wedding Cake from the pot to a red cup (with drainage holes) at the beginning of the week, it was not fairing well in that pot it was drowning. I put the Grapefruit seedling in the soil with a sandwich baggie, misted with that nutrient mix water; it popped about two days later. Towards the end of the week I mixed a new batch of soil! I have a 3 ½ so this was done in a small living room, using a tarp avoids a mess. This is Fox Farm Ocean Forrest soil. You honestly don't need to add to this but I wanted to personally. I have soil from back home (apparently it's illegal to transport soil?? idk) and vegetable compost from my parents garden (they have a DIY compost mega bin) which I worked in, along with the perlite to make sure the soil was nice and airy (especially after the overwatering incident). I also transplanted the Wedding Cake and Grapefruit, with the same mycorrhizae on the root ball. This helps the roots get the nutrients available in the soil and provides your plant with a symbiotic relationship; nutrients for sugars! I gave the White Widow and LA Ultra ONE MORE SHOT, this time soaking them in a hydrogen peroxide dilution (this is how we do it home, because it's usually an outdoor grow with manure compost being used, to make sure you're starting clean) for 24 hrs and then planting them in these little tiny cardboard pots I got at the dollar store. Baggied and misted with the same nutrient water, after 2-3 days the LA Ultra popped, but the White Widow did not. It's rude, I really wanted the White Widow out of all of them! Oh well, you make plans and the universe laughs right? I've given up on this strain for now and I'm working with three plants. Essentially I'm only going to flower when the LA Ultra is nice and bushy. The seeds I have are guaranteed females and not auto or fast seeds, so I can decide how long to vegetate. In my experience, the longer you vegetate and create a bushy strong plant, the better in the end.

The LA Ultra LIVES!!! My tent currently is running a 24-0 light cycle, which means 24/7. It's running up my electricity bill, it's not extreme (read: it's less than what I overestimated for) but I'm not impressed either. Towards the end of the week I'm going to switch to 18-6, 18 hours on and 6 off, to give the plants a chance to rest and my bill as well. The Grapefruit plant is still a small baby, so I cut its cup and attached a baggie with a few holes in the bottom of the baggie, securing the mouth of the baggie to the severed cup. This is my mini humidity dome, this is still a delicate time and the humidity needs to be closer to 70%, aka a bit of condensation on the baggie. The Wedding Cake is loving her new pot. I'm pretty sure I topped the plant this week and started LST. I don't want to be too intense right now since this plant has gone through a bit. She's growing well, trying to get the plant to create more branches and bush out. About two days before the end of this week I transplanted the LA Ultra into a bigger cup to develop more roots. I waited way too long and kinda tore the cardboard away from the roots. Next time if this happens, I'll soak the cardboard with the nutrient water mister and plant it directly into the cup. I don't think the plant suffered from this violence, at least it doesn't show, the growth is still speedy. The last two pictures are right before the light was turned back on to commence the start of a new week.

So this week was pretty calm, I wasn't feeling that great and the smell of the nutrients was making me very nauseous. I gave the plants water, Vita Malt, and molasses from back home; they understood and did their thing. They smell when you touch them now. When I feel better I'll be repotting the LA Ultra in a 7 gal fabric pot like the other two, it's finishing its water fast. Wedding Cake - seven weeks old (right) Grapefruit - three weeks old (left) LA Ultra - two weeks old (red cup in the middle)

Okay I've gotten comfortable. Also way less pain this week. My plants no longer feel like babies that need me, there's less stress. As a friend told me, they call it weed for a reason LOL. The more I relax and treat it like my plants home, the better they look. The LA Ultra is drinking up all the water pretty quickly so I assumed the roots were ready for a bigger spot, and I was right. Again, mycorrhizae on the root ball and watered with the nutrient water. Doing your transplanting this way at the beginning of your light schedule is a great way to avoid stunting. I snipped off those leaves by accident off the Wedding Cake; they are about as big as my face (little hands). They smell very nice. I will spine them and use them as rolling paper. The Wedding Cake is bushing out beautifully. I've started taking off the smaller leaves closer to the stem and squeezed the stem. This helps it thicken up and more energy is guided towards the tops of the plants instead of on leaves that will never reach anywhere. I will also defoliate it which will increase the bushing. Some might call my defoliation intense, but I always give the plants a Vita Malt afterwards so it's not so much of a shocker. A Vita Malt is a malt beverage popular in the Caribbean that I've always been a fan of, high in minerals and vitamin B complexe. Pouring this in with the plant lowers the stress of defoliation and gives a nutrition shot. I'm kinda trying to get the two younger plants the same size as the Wedding Cake before flower, so the Grapefruit was topped at the beginning of the week. Because of this, the smaller branches are now starting to fill out more. Did a little defoliation at the lower branches. The LA Ultra was topped at the top of the week so it's just chillin for now, definitely no topping before the stem thickens up. Gave it a little push around though, pulled the leaves down to encourage spreading out. People might have something to say about me being in there barefoot, but my feet are clean (this is a socks and slides household). If you are growing in a tent YOU MUST KEEP IT VERY CLEAN. Please understand that you are creating a small environment for a plant to grow, in a humidity of 50-60% and 20C-26C, if you do not keep it clean (sweep and wipe down the walls of the tent, clean up any nutrient spills and remove standing water) you can end up with a myriad of problem. Nothing hurts like bud rot!

So the week has just started. I watered last week so these pots are still quite heavy. I check on them twice a day to make sure the branches are turned upwards and aren't touching the sides of the tent. Pretty much just gonna let it keep doing it's thing and training it.