LSD Feminized - Indoor - Soil - Cloning

What a journey dear farmers, what a journey. This was my first weed grow ever, so everything was new to me despite having a bit of knowledge and some support from a friend that grows for some years. This comment will summarize my experience and may be useful to others newbies that just like me are looking for a mini-guide on how to grow cannabis for the first time. Context: I have a small room that could be used to place the tent, far from the eyes of the people that live with me. Also, I was looking to yielding the most possible and to achieve that cloning was the way to go. So, it all starts here. 1. Tent: I had to choose one that fits in my space (55cm wide). The only tent available was the HS40 from Secret Jardin (40cm X 40cm X 120cm). 2. Lights: My budget limited my options and the lack of knowledge made me choose a lamp that is both for vegetation and flowering. So, I went with the Todo Grow Led, 60w. According to the manufacturer, it has enough potency for the area of the tent. 3. Strain: the hardest part was to find a strain that suited my goals: high THC levels and that doesn’t grow too tall because of the tent limitations. Surely, I could have used some LST or similar to work this limitation around but as a newbie, I didn’t have the skills nor the time to learn and apply the technique as the plant grows. In this scenario, I found Barney’s Farm LSD, after reading some reviews I decided to give it a try. 4. Pots and Soil: I started with a 7L pot for the mother plant and as a greedy newbie looking for cloning, I decided to put the clones in juice carton boxes of 1,5L. Why? These boxes had the right measure to place up to 16 “pots” in the tent, with little to none spacing in between. It worked but I could have improved that as watering carton boxes will damage its structure at some point. I cut two corners of their bottoms for draining purposes. For the soil, I went with a light-mix from Canaterra as I had the ferts and nutrients to be added during the process and it’s also recommended for cloning. 5. Ferts and Nutrients: I first bought a starter kit from Bio-Bizz but as Advanced products were affordable, I bought them too, after some weeks. I forgot to use bio-bloom as I should so the buds were not so fat as they could. Nooby type of mistake. If I had everything wrote in a clear schedule type of notes, it would never happen. 6. Cloning setup: the basic – root riot, clonex, and a heated dome. 7. Air Filtering: the basic: an extractor plus a carbon filter. 8. Conditions Control: Two termohygrometers, one on the base of the plant and the other up high so I could have a better reading of the internal conditions. A dehumidifier was needed during the process as well. 9. Extras: A PH test kit to check how my tap water is and then I decided to used filtered water. A microscope to daily check the trichomes. A water pulverizer. A fan for temperature control and/or drying. Seedling: I used the paper towel method and failed the first time. Too much water. The second attempt was successful. No issues to transplant the seed into the soil. Vegetation: No bumps at all here. The strain is very resistant and the place where I’m growing had no problems such as extreme temperatures, mold, bugs/flies, or anything that could bring issues to the plant. Topping has no secrets, successfully done (oh, really?). Defoliation was challenging at first because I was afraid of cutting too much, but after the first round, you know what has to be done. Watering (with and without ferts/nutrients) has no mystery, just had to learn how much water was needed in each stage of the plant. Cloning: Here’s where Youtube videos played an essential role. My biggest mistake was not cutting the branches the same height. The process of preparing the branches, sticking them into the root riot, using clonex, and the proper use of the heated dome went smooth. I initially planned 16 clones but I was able to get 15 from the mother plant and just one died because I made a mistake (held it by the branch and the root riot felt, destroying the roots). For a first-timer, 14 out of 15 is not bad. But if you are cloning, be gentle. And smart. Flowering: Due to my tight schedule – and a pity written plan – I couldn’t follow a strict watering behavior that caused a bit of overfeeding in some plants. The overall watering (plus the improvised pots) was poorly executed and maybe the final results could have been a bit better. As the written plan was weak, I almost missed the flushing window, so I had to do it all at once. Regarding the trichomes, I wasn’t looking for a dominant couch locking effect, so I harvested the plants on the very first signs of amber trichomes to be sure they were mature enough. The accidental samples I had (when I missed the spot during defoliation) were good enough to me so I was looking for milky/cloudy trichomes. Harvesting: Take your time. Really. A pleasant but time-consuming activity. Drying/Curing: I’m still in the process of drying the buds as I write and post this here. It will be 7 do 10 days drying and I’m trying my best to keep humidity below 60%. Curing will be another process but I know I’m going to smoke my buds before they are cured (partially/totally). Some minor considerations… Overfeeding: feeding a plant can be a daunting task. As I was using good soil, I didn’t have issues with underfeeding. Stick with the manufacturer's recommendation for a start and adjust it according to the results on your plants. When in doubt, less is more: use less than the recommended initially. Flushing: When I overfed my clones I had to flush two of them. Moving the plants from the tent room to the toilet was a nightmare. Smell all over the house, angry wife, etc, etc. If I was using a proper pot instead of a juice box, I could have managed to flush the plants in the tent room. Tools: Invest in them even on the minor ones such as one syringe for each fert/nutrient so you don’t mix or waste them. Don’t get a microscope that attaches to your phone by a clip, it was terrible to focus and I had to take 30 pictures to get a good one so I could analyze the trichomes. Bud cutters, sharp scissors, latex gloves, alcohol for cleaning. Myself: I smoke tobacco for over 20 years so I don’t have too much taste anymore so please just disregard my evaluation about how does the plant taste and especially because I tried a sample before harvesting, not properly dried and cured. One other thing is that my nose doesn’t work that well so I took some time to realize how much smell was coming from the plants. Final Thoughts Growing is funny. Growing is educational. Growing is a fantastic experience. Growing is kicking dealers’ asses. I wish I had started years ago and now I wish to have more space to keep growing non-stopping many different strains and without the domestic problems, I had (almost had my plants destroyed haha). Thanks to the few people who liked my diary and sent me supportive messages. A special thanks to “El Papito” who advised me from the beginning and that unfortunately is far away from me and won’t be able to try my buds (don't worry, I'll smoke your share). Positive vibrations and happy growing everyone!