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This will be my first time growing as well as my first grow diary so, Welcome to all passing by and please feel free to stick around to see how I get on. Any advice or pointers from experienced growers out there or even the not so experienced is gratefully received, even if I do not always follow it :)
Just to put this out there I am the one that usually ends up killing the houseplants, so if I manage to pull this off rest assured anybody thinking of giving it a grow should not have any worries. The past couple of years I have researched how to grow cannabis over a multitude of sites. I have also invested in the basic equipment I believe is required for a relatively stress-free grow. Time to put my newly acquired knowledge to the test and take what I have learnt and put it to practice. I am not looking for amazing yields or grower perfection I am just hoping to get from seed to harvest without too many issues or having to invest too much time. Hopefully, this diary may end up showing others that are thinking of taking the plunge that it is not as scary as they may believe.
I have decided to grow photoperiod plants to truly test my skills and have chosen Royal AK Feminized seeds from Royal Queen Seeds. Biobizz All Mix is my growing medium of choice and I will be using various other nutrients from the Biobizz range. I have a standard set up of a 1m² grow tent, 6" extraction with carbon filter and a 4" intake both with variable speed control, a couple of oscillating fans for air movement. A small humidifier, a small dehumidifier and a heater if needed along with a temperature and humidity monitor. I will be using a 200w 6400k CFL bulb for germination and the girls first couple of weeks of life then I will be moving up to a 600w Omega dual HPS for veg followed by a 600w Omega Super HPS for flowering. I only expect to run the HPS bulbs at 400w under a parabolic reflector.
Germination
Day 1 - After letting the beans soak for a few hours in a solution of Biobizz Root-Juice and good old tap water they were dropped directly into the soil about 1cm deep in seedling pots. The pots had each been pre-soaked with approx. 50/60ml of the Root-Juice solution then placed in a propagator under the CFL bulb for warmth. I will be keeping the remaining Root-Juice solution in a small spray bottle to use as needed to keep the topsoil moist. At this stage I am looking to keep the temperature range between 23/27°C and the relative humidity between 70/80%. Not much to do now other than wait and hope they all pop over the course of this week. Fingers crossed.
Day 2 - Pots are still moist from their pre-soak so nothing much happening here today folks. Over the past 24hrs the temperature range has been between 24.1/25.8°C and the humidity is sitting around 78%. Hopefully, the girls are doing their magic underground and will grace me with their presence over the next few days.
Day 3 - Gave pots a spray with the left-over Root-Juice solution a few times throughout the day just to moisten the topsoil slightly. Temperature range has been 25.4/27.3°C & humidity a steady 75% over the past 24 hours. After a quick look over the pots I've a good feeling I may well be tending to a couple of seedlings come the morning. EDIT: Going to be tending to at least one seedling in the morning. I currently have the CFL bulb about 10" away as I do not want the girls to get too hot being in the propagator, so I am hoping she does not stretch too much! 1 down 2 to go. I will not lie it is a little exciting seeing that first success :)
Day 4 - No.1 is up and out, she pushed through overnight and is standing proud at about 1cm high. She still has her sun hat on for now, guess it is a little extra protection from the new light as she starts her journey. The temperature inside the propagator had risen to just over 28°C overnight. I raised the CFL bulb up a little to bring the temperature back down to where I would like it as she does not seem to have stretched too much. I gave pots a spray to moisten them being careful not to get any water directly on my new seedling. This afternoon when I was checking the temp & humidity levels I could see a taproot growing up out of the soil in one of the pots. I probably should have left well alone but patience has never been a virtue of mine. I had a poke around and was correct in my thinking so I carefully flipped the shoot over as best as I could and lightly covered back over with soil. No.2 has made an appearance even if it was backwards, here is hoping I have not killed her off already. Temperature range over the last 24hrs was 24.9/28.4°C and the humidity has stayed a respectable 75%.
Day 5 - No.1 certainly is not hanging around she has shed her shell revealing her cotyledons and her first set of true leaves. She is standing tall at 3.5cm already. I was concerned she may be stretching a little as she has grown so quickly so I have lowered the CFL bulb as much as I could. It is now about 7" from the plants and I will monitor the temperature throughout the day. Temperature rose to 30°C from dropping the light lower so I switched on a small fan to blow between the top of the propagator and the light. Thankfully, this did just the trick and lowered the temperature the few degrees I wanted. I am sure I can now see both No.2 and No.3 about to break soil. No.1 is looking good, I think? she does not appear to have grown much taller and is standing beautifully upright. Temperature range for past 24hrs was 23.9/30°C and the humidity is hovering around 73%. After playing around sorting the high temperature it averaged an acceptable 25°C.
Day 6 – No.2 has sorted herself out and made a reappearance. I am happy to know I did not kill her off with my fiddling and impatience. No.3 has made it to the top of the soil I can visibly see the bean just sat there, she just needs to push a little further and I will have managed 100% germination. As the girls are mostly out of the soil I have switched on the timer for the CFL light set at 18/6 so the girls get some sleepy time. I did not anticipate the humidity rising so much with the light off and I’ve no idea what the humidity maxed out at today as my monitor only goes to 99%. Even if it were much over that is would not have been for long and I am now aware of the issue. I will remember to fully open the vents on the propagator just before lights out and see where we end up maxing out then. Temperature range for the last 24hrs was 19/26.4°C and once I dialled the humidity in, we were back around 75%.
Day 7 – End of week one and not much change today. No.1 is looking well and her leaves are growing. No.2 is showing no new growth and I am concerned for No.3. They both appear to be unchanged from yesterday and both seed shells look barely cracked. I am thinking I did not drop the beans deep enough in the soil to begin. First lesson learnt. To try and rectify this I have filled the pots up with soil. I did not want to interfere too much as I think flipping No.2 the other day left her on her side. Humidity still rose more than I care for during lights out today but I still have a couple of things to try that may resolve that issue. Temperature range over last 24hrs was 18.2/26.4°C and the humidity with the light on was 71%.
This could be a short diary but hopefully not. Things learnt this week.
Make sure you plant you beans deep enough
Watch your humidity when the lights go out
Nature is wonderful, I already knew this
Watching your girls will not make them grow faster, however they are great listeners
Success can be short lived
It is not failure it is a lesson learned
The way week 1 ended I was not sure week 2 was going to be a thing but thankfully here I am.
Veg. Week 1
Day 1 – Made up a fresh Root-Juice & tap water solution today and threw the old stuff away, not too sure how long it is good for? No.1 is still looking good, she is stood around 5cm tall now. No.2 has pushed back up through the soil already, but her hat is still very much attached. No sign of No.3. I gave the pots a spray with solution throughout the day when the topsoil was dry. Even with the propagator vents fully open and the lid left partly open the humidity is still higher than I would like during lights out, it is coming down, but it is a work in progress.
Day 2 – No.1 has started on her second leaves. No.2 is now looking like No.1 did when she first broke through. She is about 1cm tall, but she is still clinging on to her hat for dear life. No.3 is still a no show. I think I may have lost her due to my bad potting at the start. Today I have given the girls a heavy spray with solution but will not be giving them anymore until they have had their dark time. The thinking here is if I get the timing right then the pots will be that bit drier come dark time and so there will be less humidity??
Day 3 – No.1 is plodding along giving me no issues or worries. No.2 has finally got rid of that hat. She has some yellow dots on her cotyledons, I am assuming from the extra water spray I was giving to make sure the shell stayed moist. She is also showing her first true leaves. No sign of No.3. I forgot to check where the humidity capped out at yesterday so I am repeating my idea today with the one watering when I wake and then again after the girls have had their dark time.
Day 4 – No.3 has only gone and made it to the party after all. I woke today to not only find her up and out of the soil, but this girl has already cast off her hat and looks set to give No.2 a race. No.1 is doing her thing and already got her second set of leaves growing. No.2 has grown a little in height and seems happy to finally be rid of her hat. The humidity is still climbing during dark time but not as high as it was so I will settle for that.
Day 5 – No.1 is just cruising along stress free. No.3 has caught up in height with No.2 already, the only difference between them is No.2 currently has larger first leaves. The way No.3 seems to be growing I am expecting her to take over No.2 within days. Her stem already looks thicker than that of No.2. Watering at the times I am seems to work well with controlling the humidity. I have also realised that I am able to get the girls even closer to the CFL bulb as there really is no heat coming off it. I now have them approx. 6cm from the bulb, but there is the propagator lid between them and the actual bulb. Well keep an eye on them to make sure they are ok with being so close.
Day 6 – No.1 fills me with joy when I look at her. She looks like a textbook example in my eyes. No.2 has not shown any significant growth, but No.3 has caught up with No.2 in size. Both No2 & No.3 are showing they tiny second leaves now. I would go as far as to say No.3 is now in better condition than her sister due to her stem looking thicker and healthier. All the girls seem happy being closer to the light so I think I am going to leave them as close as I can unless I see any issues.
Day 7 – End of week 2 and no casualties. No change in the girls all 3 appear to be doing well am I am looking forward to seeing how much they grow this coming week.
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to follow my progress, hope you have a great day.
Veg. Week 2
Day 8 - No.1 is looking well and showing good growth. I can see her first set of three fingered leaves, I think. No.2 is not faring so well compared to her sisters. My initial abuse of this poor girl may have something to do with that. No.3 on the other hand has larger first leaves than No.1 but seems determined to grow diagonally? I gave all 3 a watering of 30ml Root-Juice solution today when the light came on, that will be all they get until they dry out a little.
Day 9 - Not much change for the girls today. All 3 have been given a drink of 20ml Root-Juice solution as the pots felt quite dry already.
Day 10 - I am thinking it might be about time to transfer No.1 into a larger pot as she is ahead of her sisters by nearly a week and is looking like she wants more room. All 3 were given a 20ml drink of Root-Juice solution today at lights on.
Day 11 - Today I made up a feed and gave all 3 a foliar feed at lights out. I noticed No.3 flopped over when I sprayed her so maybe her stem is not as good as I thought. After a little worrying about No.3 flopping over I decided to re-pot her and her sisters into 1.5l pots. I dropped No.1 a little deeper in her new home as she was taller than her sisters. I will do the same again next time I re-pot into bigger pots to try and bring their overall heights in line with each other. After potting-up I used the remaining feed I had made up to give the girls a decent drink. They received approx. 250ml each. I also changed the bulb to the HPS dual spectrum and set it at 400 watts rather than 600. I do not plan to increase the power and hope to run the bulb at 400 watts for the duration of veg.
Day 12 - The girls all look happy this morning and do not seem to be bothered about the light or pot change. I gave them all a slight damp down with plain old tap water and left them be.
Day 13 - The girls have settled well under the new light and I can now see new growth. No.3 looks more stable since potting up. I gave all 3 a good drink today of 200ml tap water just to be sure I had thoroughly wet all the soil in the new pots. This will be their last drink until they dry out a bit now.
Day 14 - End of week 2 veg. and all 3 appear to be doing well. No.1 is now about 7.5cm tall and showing the most growth, she was buried a little deeper when potted-up so about 1cm could be added to that height. No.2 is now the baby of the group and currently about 3.5 cm tall. No.3 is about 4.5cm tall with bigger leaves than her little sister, so she has already overtaken No.2.
Thanks for stopping by or returning if you are following my progress with my first grow. I hope everyone is keeping safe and well in these crazy COVID-19 times. World became a little messy but on the plus side it has allowed me the time to finally attempt growing my own medicine. Roll on week 3, I am looking forward to seeing how my girls continue to grow.
Veg. Week 3
Day 15 - All 3 girls were given a drink of 125ml plain tap water today. I am going to have to get used to the amount of water needed now there are in bigger pots. I also noticed today that No.2 is growing a little strange, it looks like she stunted on one side. She reminded me of Nemo from the film with his dodgy fin.
Day 16 - The girls looked dry today so I bit the bullet and gave them all a good watering with tap water. No.1 got the most at approx. 350ml while her sisters both got approx. 250ml. No other change today, just steady growth all round.
Day 17 - Nothing happening today. Not even a watering as all the girls looked good from their drench yesterday. No.2 has still struggled a little, today I noticed that on her third set of leaves she only has 4 fingers on the one side. Hopefully, she will right herself over time.
Day 18 - Just a watering for the girls today. All given plain tap water, No.1 sucked up approx. 200ml while her sisters managed approx. 150ml each. No.2 is showing better growth now.
Day 19 - 100ml plain tap water given to all 3 girls today. No.2 is looking more normal and showing much better growth despite still being slightly behind her sisters. All 3 girls seem to be growing quick and filling their new pots already.
Day 20 - Nothing happening today. No water today as I am trying to make sure the girls dry out some between watering. I think I may be looking to pot up again next week to make sure the girls have the required room to grow. I did notice some of the leaves had curled upwards slightly on the edges, I have assumed this is due to heat with having the light so close, so I have moved it further away to see if that sorts the issue out.
Day 21 - End of week 3 veg. Girls looked thirsty today and welcomed their watering. Each was given approx. 250ml of tap water. All girls seem happy and doing well after their drink. Feels like they are growing a lot quicker now so I will be moving them into 5l pots next week. No.1 has ended the week standing tall at 14cm with her sisters not too far behind at about 10cm tall now.
Hope everyone is well and as always, thanks for stopping by and taking the time to follow my grow and thank you to those that have wished me well. I am slightly late posting this week as I was lucky enough to get the Covid-19 vaccine in the week, but it left me feeling rough for a few days, but I am all good again now and grateful to have had the first vaccine. I am looking forward to seeing how well the girls grow once they go up a pot size this week and see if the growth continues as fast as it feels it has been so far.
Veg. Week 4
Day 22 – Nothing happening today as letting the girls dry out a little before potting up to bigger pots
Day 23 – Today the girls got potted up to bigger pots. Initially the plan was to go to 5l pots then increase size again but after a little thought and time restraints I decided to pot up to 8l pots for the following reason: I plan to flip to flower in the next couple of weeks so I decided to aim for a final pot so the girls have time to settle. Once transferred I gave all the girls a drink of 1l of plain water
Day 24 - Nothing today, just letting the girls settle into their new pots
Day 25 - The girls were given a feed today. I gave them all 1.5l which resulted in a little run off for each of them
Day 26 - Another day of nowt happening, just letting the girls do their own thing
Day 27 - Gave all 3 girls a feed of 0.5l each today and trimmed a few of the larger fan leaves off each of them to allow better light penetration throughout
Day 28 - End of another week. No.1 30cm tall. No.2 & No.3 approx 24cm tall and I think all looking relatively healthy
Hope everyone is doing good and as always thanks for dropping by
Veg. Week 5 - Day 29 / Day 35
This week was a bit of a mess. I didn’t keep track of anything very well. A visit to the dentist at the start of the week resulted in having 3 teeth pulled so I spent the week in pain feeling sorry for myself
I gave the girls a 0.5/1 litre feed every other day and trimmed the odd giant fan leave off here and there throughout the week but I really wasn’t feeling it this week. I didn’t even take any photos :(
If anything this week showed that minimal effort is required some of the time and the girls will happily tend to themselves and get on with doing their thing
End of the week and girls measured in at: No.1 40cm, No.2 & No.3 both 34cm
Sorry not much to see here for week 5 but thanks for dropping by all the same :)
Veg. Week 6
Life and work interfered this week and commitments meant I had to leave the girls totally on their own for a few days. After last week's poor performance looking after the girls and basically abandoning them this week I really am putting them to the test and asking a lot from them for a first attempt at growing
Day 36 - Nothing needed today
Day 37 - Nothing happening today. I am allowing the girls to dry out before a big feed to give them a good soaking before I have to be away for a few days
Day 38 - Final feed until I get back on Sunday. Girls were given 1.5l feed until run off to ensure pots were as wet as I could get them. I also trimmed a few more fan leaves off to allow the light to get through. Humidifier has been filled up and set. It won’t last the 4 days I am away but hopefully it will last a couple. I have all my fingers and toes crossed they survive.
Day 39/42 - Away
Day 42 - End of week. I got back today and the first thing I did was water the girls with plain tap water as they were starting to look pretty dry. Girls were all given 1.5l of water until a little run off. I left the girls to sit in their run off for a time to allow them to suck any water back up after their shock at being watered again. As expected the humidity dipped a lot lower than I would have liked at one point getting down to 32%, hopefully this was not for too long. Girls heights at the end of their vegetation period were: No.1 50cm tall, No.2 44cm & No.3 42cm
I am going to switch to flowering this coming week in the hopes the girls are ready for chopping by mid May. Thanks for stopping by and following my endeavors and I hope everyone is keeping well
Flower Week 1
Day 43 - Today the tent goes from veg to flower with the new 12/12 light cycle. A feed was made up for the girls and they each drank 1.5l allowing a little run off
Day 44 - Nothing happening today just allowing the girls to get used to the new schedule
Day 45 - So today I noticed some clawing on the girls and darker green leaves towards the bottom. Pretty sure I overdone it on the Nitrogen so I decided to give the girls a good drink of plain tap water, a partial flush I guess. I ran 3 litres of water through each of the girls allowing for a good run off. Plan is to dilute any feed in the soil down a little?
Day 46 - Took a few photos today of the leaves showing what I believe to be Nitrogen toxicity
Day 47 - Nothing happening today I am just hoping the girls recover well from my over feeding. Guess this is where the learning really starts with being able to read your plants :)
Day 48 - The girls were given another feed today but minus the Biobizz Grow as they hopefully still have plenty of Nitrogen to be getting on with. Each took just over 1l of feed
Day 49 - End of first week of flowering. No.1 is seeing week 1 out standing 60cm tall. No.2 & No.3 ended the week at 49cm tall. I am about half way through this grow and so far all the girls are still alive. I am sure I have made multiple mistakes already but the girls seem to be very forgiving
I hope everyone is well and as always thanks all for dropping in and catching up :)
Flower Week 2
Day 50 - The girls got a 1.5l feed today but with 50% less BioGrow to try to keep the nitrogen levels down a little
Day 51 - Nothing happening today
Day 52 - Gave a 1 litre feed today, this time with 66% BioGrow. The girls also received another trim today to remove some of the larger leaves to allow better light through. As well as the haircut I cut off a few side arms that clearly weren’t going to do any good. I am assuming this was from the nitrogen toxicity?
Day 53 - Nothing today
Day 54 - Nothing today
Day 55 - Girls had a 1.5l feed today. Again with just 66% of the BioGrow
Day 56 - End of week 2. The girls had a final haircut to end the week. No.1 is standing tall at 78cm. No.2 is now 63cm and No.3 is behind at 55cm
No.1 and No.2 look very similar but No.3 is definitely growing differently. She is shorter and bushier. I also noticed that at some time one of her branches split into two. Other than looking totally different to her sisters she appears to be doing ok, but to be honest as I’ve never grown before I don’t have anything to base it off other than what I have seen online. I hope as always that everyone is well and thanks for stopping by :)
Flower Week 3
Day 57 - Girls had a 1.5l full feed today
Day 58 - Nothing today
Day 59 - Nothing today
Day 60 - NOTHING!! Girls should have received a feed today but I somehow managed to totally lose a day this week
Day 61 - The girls took a big 1.7l full feed today and they wanted it. Noticed some fading of the leaves lower down on the girls today? Will keep an eye on it and see what happens
Day 62 - Nothing today
Day 63 - End of week 3. I gave the girls 0.5l of tap water today as they already looked thirsty. I went for plain water as I was worried about overfeeding them again. The week ends with the girls standing tall as follows; No.1 is 83cm, No.2 is 70cm and No.3 is only up to 58cm
Not sure how I misplaced a day this week but hopefully the girls will forgive my neglect once more. I hope everyone is safe and well wherever you may be and as always for thanks for dropping in :)
Flower Week 4
Day 64 - Girls got a full strength feed today of 1.5l each
Day 65 - Nothing today. The dying leaves are still dying but the rest of the girls look ok and appear to be doing well so I will just continue and see what happens
Day 66 - The girls got a 1.5l full feed today but not sure that they needed it? Just wondering if they are lacking in food hence the yellow leaves. I will continue to monitor them as other than some leaves turning yellow the girls in my eyes look to be ok and flowering nicely?
Day 67 - Nothing today
Day 68 - Nothing today as I want to make sure the girls have dried out a little
Day 69 - Girls got a 1.5l full feed today. Still some yellowing leaves/dying leaves but again it's on the lower part of the plants and up top looks ok? Also it isn’t spreading or doesn’t appear to be getting worse so fingers crossed it’s just from a previous mistake that I have now fixed?
Day 70 - End of week 4. Girls measure in at; No.1 is 87cm, No.2 is 74cm and No.3 is 60cm
I think all is going ok, could be better but good also be worse. I have no idea what is happening at times with the changing colour of the leaves but overall I think the girls are doing ok and the rest I will learn as I go. Hope everyone is well and thanks for dropping by :)
Flower Week 5
Day 71 - Gave the girls a full strength feed of 1.5l today
Day 72 - Nothing today
Day 73 - Girls had a 1.5l full strength feed today. I also swapped the dual spectrum bulb to the Super HPS bulb for the remainder of the grow. I wasn’t going to bother changing the bulb as the girls seem to be quite happy under there current conditions but I’ve brought it so I may as well use it
Day 74 - Nothing today
Day 75 - Gave the girls 0.5l full strength feed this morning a few hours before lights are due to go out to tide them over as I will be neglecting the girls yet again. I will be away for a few days from today but I do have a very good friend stopping by to give the girls a feed in my absence this time
Day 76 - The girls will get a 1 litre full strength feed each today. It won’t be a feed at lights on but I have had to adjust the timing to fit in with my friend that’s sitting for me. The light will still be on for a few hours before lights out so hopefully it won’t play too much havoc with the humidity?
Day 77 - End of week 5. Nothing happening for the girls today. As I am away this weekend there are no new weekly heights for the girls. That said I am not expecting them to grow much more in height now? Photo's this week are a few from previous weeks due to being away
Again probably not best practice to leave the girls unattended but needs must :( I am fortunate to have a very good friend that can look in on them for me, however I don’t advocate just asking your mate from the local bar to check in if you ever have to leave you grow unattended.
I hope everyone is keeping well and thanks for dropping by :)
Sideshoot
