Manny’s Grow Log- an amateur attempts to grow cannabis

Thanks very much Bozo, Nameless, Palindrome, and Bush. I appreciate each of you chiming in with the great advice.

I am still getting the hang of my picture sharing websites, so hopefully the quality of this thread will continue to improve, along with the quality of my grow.

I will defenitely take that suggestion to remove the carpet, in to consideration. It makes sense to me, i just need to convince the wife to let me do it.

MedicalManny said:

It makes sense to me, i just need to convince the wife to let me do it.

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The result of continual grows, is your most likely end up having to buy a new carpet. Compared to removing a few panels, roll it up on a PVC tube. Store it in a cornor of the room, looking at the tarp. It don't seem like, you plan on have plants in the whole room anyway.

If it's a single grow, to give it a try. Keep it and give it a good clean, when you take the grow down.

Hello All!!

A quick little update on my personal medical grow.

I got myself some of the Black Gold seed starter mix and got some more seeds sprouted in them.

DC3- these are the last of the Douglas County Heirloom seeds that I was gifted. I am very excited to grow them for two reasons. (1) they are from a grower who has been growing nearby in this state for over 40 years, so I’m confident that they will be great for this years outdoor light depo that I want to do in my backyard, and (2) the grower who bred and produced these seeds is an old time grower, and my stepdad actually taught him how to grow, way back in the 1970’s.

Some Aquatic Ape and Tenderheart by Cannabis Family seeds have germinated and split, but not quite broken the soil. Very excited about those too.

Up next in the lineup I have some TW8 germinating (Thanks EK and TW!!). The Lineage of the TW8 is (White Nightmare x Blue Lime Pie)

Also germinating: Crazy Horse, Turtle Island, and Stellar Dream x Freedom Express by Cannabis Family Seeds


Observation: today, I checked the pH of the water that I had adjusted down to 6.2 last week. When I checked it today, the pH had risen back up to 7.0

Not sure why it did that, but I will definitely have to get in the habit of checking the pH every single time I water the plants.


This might seems like common sense and easy stuff, but I really need to try and limit my actual time in the garden as much as I can. I can’t stand up without locking my knees in place, so after 15-20 minutes of standing in one place, I’m already in extreme pain. I really can’t lift anything very heavy or carry anything very far either, that’s why I’m going to try to just do dwarf plants in a confined space.

MedicalManny said:

This might seems like common sense and easy stuff, but I really need to try and limit my actual time in the garden as much as I can. I can’t stand up without locking my knees in place, so after 15-20 minutes of standing in one place, I’m already in extreme pain. I really can’t lift anything very heavy or carry anything very far either, that’s why I’m going to try to just do dwarf plants in a confined space.

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Maybe you should think about a reservoir and automatic watering, then you can focus on the pH and water chemestry sitting down.

I have issues with my back, not as bad as your knees, but still bad enough. That I won't do my watering, but will let a pump on a timer do the "lifting"

Palindrome said:

Maybe you should think about a reservoir and automatic watering, then you can focus on the pH and water chemestry sitting down.

I have issues with my back, not as bad as your knees, but still bad enough. That I won't do my watering, but will let a pump on a timer do the "lifting"

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I think ebb and flow would be great, but to tell you the truth, I’m not very mechanically inclined at all, and constructing those systems is like rocket science to me. If I can convince one of my nearby friends to help me with construction/setup I will totally give it a go.

Yesterday and Today were like major breakthroughs for me because yesterday i was finally able to construct an efficient working manifold for my 5gal bucket aero cloner, and today I was able to mix up a nutrient solution that was actually at a desirable pH and ppm.


I am also working with a very limited budget, so everything I have is either “hand me downs”
Or the cheapest deal I could find...

Today’s update:

All sprouts got their first feeding today.
I am using the Nectar For the Gods Nutrient. A bunch of sample bottles that were given to me by my good friend TumbleWeed.
They have been sitting for a couple years, so I asked around if they were still any good. One friend told me to smell them and make sure they still smelled minty. The guys at Oregon’s Constant Gardener told me to give them a good shake and listen for any solid particles.
Most of the bottles still smelled minty when I opened them, and none of them had any solid particles.
At first the ppm was too high (above 1000) and the pH was too low. All I had to do was dilute it down with some more tap water and that brought the ppm down and the pH right up to 6.0.

I do still need to start aerating my water before I mix up my nutrient solution. Setting that as a goal for next time.

I transplanted my 3 lavender sprouts in to the seedling mix that I bought. Hopefully they will be able to recover and improve, now that they are in better soil and separate cups.

MedicalManny said:

I think ebb and flow would be great, but to tell you the truth, I’m not very mechanically inclined at all, and constructing those systems is like rocket science to me. If I can convince one of my nearby friends to help me with construction/setup I will totally give it a go.

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Ebb n Flow is not that complicated, but make sure you get the diamentions right. So you don't get root cloging, that can be a problem with this type of setup.

Im aiming at a drip system for pots on a flow table, simple, easy and no clogings.

Damn man i wish i came sooner. I start in regular potting mix and dont water often. I use 1 gallon ziplock bags or sandwich bags to start seeds. You were overwatering the first ones. If i plant in one gallon food storage bags it takes 2 weeks before i need to start watering and sandwich bags one week. Remember these things are small and can be overwatered easily. I then can grow half to one ounce plants in the gallon food storage bags i tear off the bottom corners for drainage right after the bag is full of potting mix. I never ph water or measure ec but i guess no pics of any of my grows would make anyone doubt i can actually grow and harvest like a champ using simple grow methods. Im just saying its not as hard as some make it for themselves

Hi Folks, not too much new going on. Got some sprouts going but they are all starting to stretch a little too much. This is telling me they aren’t getting enough light.
There is just enough room for 3 of the little LED light fixtures I have to fit on each level of shelving. So, I will bring down the 2nd LED light fixture from the top tier, and see how they like that. If they still continue to stretch, then I will bring in a third.

Here in the tray I have:
DC3 (Douglas County Heirloom)
TW8 (White Nightmare #2 x Blue Lime Pie #5)
Tenderheart (Cannabis Family Seeds)
Aquatic Ape (Cannabis Family Seeds)
Turtle Island (Cannabis Family Seeds)

...coffee stirring straws make good stakes for weak and wobbly seedlings.

...don't use wooden skewers or anything similar as wood absorbs water and attracts mold which will kill the new babies.



peace, bozo

justanotherbozo said:

...coffee stirring straws make good stakes for weak and wobbly seedlings.

...don't use wooden skewers or anything similar as wood absorbs water and attracts mold which will kill the new babies.

View Image

peace, bozo

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How does the coffee stirrer support them? Will the sprouts lean against it on their own? Or do i need to try and use something to attach it?

...i try to place the straw so that the seedling is propped up but i also sometimes use a twist tie, like from a loaf of bread, i'll try to find a pic.

...here we go, this pic shows the twist ties in action.



...another option is to use multiple straws to prop the seedling up, with maybe 3 straws strategically placed around the stem, sometimes the twist ties are a pain to manipulate and young seedlings are very fragile for a few weeks and i have killed a few fumbling with the twist ties.

HTH, bozo

Looking good Manny! Give them plenty o' light, and keep that coco running off and you'll get some monsters.

When my seedlings look this way I lower the light. With enough light they should support themselves without stakes. Increasing wind will also stiffen then stems.

Kaskadian said:

Looking good Manny! Give them plenty o' light, and keep that coco running off and you'll get some monsters.

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Thanks!!! I plan on increasing the lights as more funds become available.

SoCoCrow said:

When my seedlings look this way I lower the light. With enough light they should support themselves without stakes. Increasing wind will also stiffen then stems.

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Thanks for the pointers. I just brought the second light fixture down a little lower and turned on the smaller fan to increase airflow.

2-17-2018

Update:

Well, there are still a few sprouts still living, so I guess I haven’t completely failed yet.

Earlier in the week, I forgot to water for a couple days, and half of the sprouts I had going, shriveled up and died on me. I’m not sure if that means the remaining survivors are drought-resistant strains, or just hardier pheno’s.
Either way, the weaker starts have been culled, and these sprouts are all starting to develop more leaf sets. So I am going to wait a few weeks before I start to germinate any more seeds. I guess this is the first time gap between rounds. I’m trying to time them 8-9 weeks apart, so that I can eventually get in to a cycle of perpetual harvests.

The sprouts seem to be a lot happier since I brought the second LED fixture back down next to the first one.

They’ve just been getting straight water since the first feeding and I will probably give them their next feeding in a couple of days.

I used some old cut-up zip-tie pieces as support stakes because I had them laying around and didn’t want to spend more money on coffee straws.

Surprisingly enough, the Douglas County Heirlooms are showing the most vigorous growth. Keeping my fingers crossed with those- it would be great to be able to keep them around for a future breeding project and return some of the same genetics to my stepdad. He’s not big time like he was back in the 70’s, but he still has a small medical grow


Note: I recycled some of the starter soil for my resurrected Hawaiian Ti plant. A few days later a cannabis sprout pops up out of the soil. It’s out by the back door, so it gets the inside heat, but still gets some of the morning rays of sunshine. I’m gonna keep it and see how it does, even though there is no way of telling what strain it is now...

Hello everyone,

Sorry it’s been a few weeks. I have been kinda busy with the home life. But I do need to keep my grow journal updated, even if it is only for my own record keeping.

I transplanted 6 of my plants in to bigger pots, a little over a week ago. I couldn’t find the quart-size pots that I was looking for, and the next size up that I had on hand was the tall 3 gallon. Another rookie mistake...

As soon as I transplanted them, I put them under a bigger light. The 6 teens are now under a CrX Sunny 1000w LED. It says 1000, but it’s probably actually only giving off about 300-400w, which is still good enough for my needs

I have been giving them the NFTG nutrient line, I need to go down to Constant Gardener and grab a couple things soon, cuz I have 8 out of the 9 of their Greek God themed line. Another buddy of mine recommended that I only use NFTG pH adjusters while I am using that product line (cuz the GH stuff I got might mess with the microbes...)

Under the advice of another friend, I started to do foliar sprays. They get the (Floralicious + Super Thrive) 2x a week. They get the (Dr Bronners Peppermint Soap + SNS 211) once a week.
It’s been kinda tricky getting the pH adjusted to where I like, cuz the kitchen sink water is usually up around 8.2 and the bathroom sink (where the plants are) is down closer to the low 6’s.

A few of the younger sprouts that I had started dried out and died. I’m kinda bummed out about that because one of the Cyber Grape x Midnight Express seedlings was displaying the 3branch per node trait that I have been searching for.

I need to look in to some of the older grow guides or threads here on the forum. Half of the teens have the leaves pointed down at the tips. I know that’s a specific deficiency, but I cannot remember which one it is. My best guess is that the plants may not be absorbing that specific nutrient because they’re not quite happy with the pH that they are at. I’m gonna cut back on the feeding and try and just focus on getting the water pH more precise.

After I transplanted the 6 into their big new pots, I waited about a week to water them. The reason for this, being that I used two different soil mixes and the bottom soil (filthy rich) was a lot more damp than the top layer (black gold starter mix).

On a side note, I have my soil base sitting in two kiddie pools in my shed, waiting to be amended. Working with what I already had on hand, equal parts: Coco Coir, Sunshine Mix #4, and large chunk Perlite.
I’m going to read through the Rev’s TLO Book again to get my amendment recipes

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Hello hello, garden gurus and greenthumbed friends. Another quick little update to my grow journal. I finally got some help and lifted up my light fixture about a foot higher, because some of the leaves in the canopy were starting to get a little burnt. The one Aquatic Ape that couldn’t fit below, was kinda scraggly so it had to be sacrificed to save the shelf space.

None of the big ones have died yet, so I guess I’m not Doing too bad. They really seem to be responding well to foliar sprays, and all the bending and low-stress training, especially the Tenderheart in the far back corner.

They still aren’t showing sex yet, but I am keeping my fingers crossed. Just 5 more weeks of veg time, and it will be warm enough for me to place them outside for this year’s Summer Light Dep.

Hey friends!!

Another update.
I took some clones about a week ago, they aren’t really looking too well. I would have liked to have been able to use my aero cloner bucket, but I didn’t really have the space for it, and honestly I was kinda lazy to put all the parts together.

I have had my soil mix cooking outside in the shed for about a week and a half. I was able to get the contractors to dig four deep holes for my plants, when they replaced our fence last week. Those 4 holes are each 2ft deep, 1 foot in diameter. I have another wider hole a little further back, about the size of a kiddie pool.

Side note: when the contractors hauled away the yard debris, there was nice layer of composted plant matter on the ground, where the oldest pile had been. (Not sure how long it was there composting, that pile was already there when we moved in last year).

I have most of the rest of the equipment purchased for the bigger veg and flower areas that this extra bedroom will be made in to.

Plants aren’t too happy with me right now. I gave them rain water that had collected in our kiddie pool, but didn’t check the pH on it or anything, cuz i thought straight rain water was like as good as it gets. So now I’m waiting just gonna try and get them to calm back down a little by giving just water for the next couple weeks, but will pay a lot closer attention to the pH of the water.

Side note: i thought it would be a good idea to keep a premixed bottle of water and pH down in the grow area, for last minute minor pH adjustments. Today, I observed some kind of thin film floating on the surface of that water. It smelled kinda like aloe (not really rancid or stinky).


Forgot to post this last update so

I will just add today’s entry to it.

About a month ago, I noticed some yellowing and browning around the edges of some of the lower leaves, on all plants. I’m not sure if this is a sign of lockout or burn, but I think my ppm was a bit too high, my first few feedings. So for the past few weeks I have tried to flush them out a bit with just water. A few days ago, I gave them a bit of hygrozyme and microbe life yellow stuff.
(Shout out to the Homey’s at Oregon’s Constant Gardener for the free sample size bottle of microbe life)

None of the clones survived. Definitely going to use the aero cloner bucket setup next time.

I flipped the seedlings into flower about 10 days ago. 3 of those revealed their sex as male, so they got the axe (not a complete waste leaves went in to the juicer, and stalks went in to the compost)
This leaves me with 3 females :
1 CraZy Horse (by Canna Fam Seeds)
1 Tenderheart (by Canna Fam Seeds)
1 Douglas County Heirloom (locally sourced)







-it would be way too much time and effort to pull tarp every day, Doing a light depo for just three plants. So I’m just going to finish these three off in my bathroom.

Which leaves me kinda empty handed for the outdoor long season.

So I popped a few more beans, tossed them outdoors and crossed my fingers.

There are:
4 Beldia (Morroccan Heirloom indica)
8 Toxic Healer (a pheno thAt is supposed to have a ratio of 1:1 THC to CBD)

And a few others, courtesy of the PIF Seed Bank:
1 critical impact x Hash Bomb
1 Grape Skunk x (Casey Jones x Purple Urkle)
Hash Bomb x Bubble Gum

4 of the beldia are in holes in the ground, because if they turn out to be males, I will be saving their pollen for breeding purposes. All the other new sprouts are in small pots in the backyard