sinsemillasimon
New member
Hi everyone,
This post is in 3 parts, I have a lot of pics
PART 1
I've lurked on these forums for a couple years and have learned lots, now its time for me to share my grow with all of you! PLEASE BE AWARE, I have only completed one grow prior to this, (2 plants in a 4x4 tent 600w HID coco DTW w/jacks321), so I'm still a big newbie. I currently live in a state where it is legal to cultivate up to 12 plants per household for personal use. I live in a rented unit with limited space, so I grow in small tents where I can. Since I don't own the place, its not possible for me to install any kind of DIY/permanent ventilation, electrics, or plumbing, and setups must be able to be moved within a day. For now, I am using my own bedroom and a spare bedroom (in our 4 bedroom unit) as my grow space. I hope this will inspire people in similar living situations to attempt their first grow. I have lots of friends in shared/rented living that give me all kinds of excuses for not growing, from "I don't have any space" to "I think my landlord won't approve". It can be done, trust me.
First off, here are a couple pictures from my last grow, 2 Malibu Pie from Ocean Grown Seeds, vegged for ~3 months, ~9 weeks of flower (pic were cropped from instagram so they're kinda shitty):
First picture was right before flower, 2nd pic is ~week 8
The bud was decent and had a good smoke/high but wasn't crazy frosty or tasty, just kinda mellow and grassy. Malibu Pie is an excellent and stable strain, with great pineapple and lime flavors, I just did't quite grow it to its full potential.
I have changed a few things from my first grow at a previous residence that didn't have the limitations I have now. It has become obvious to me that given these limitations, having a perpetual grow where I can have multiple plants in various stages of growth, is essential to having steady harvests, while maintaining a low plant count. For instance, I can start 2 plants every months for 6 months, which would give ~4 MONTHS of veg time for every 2 plants, while staying under 12 plants. Obviously, vegging a plant indoors for 4 months is more or less overkill, but you see my point; grow out fewer plants per run, more often, larger plants, with more veg time. It was also necessary to switch from DTW coco to organic soil. Having to maintain reservoirs pH and EC, timer/pump irrigation, draining more runoff, and all the extra struggles that come along with hydroponics, made me decide to switch to soil. Another switch I made from my first grow was from HID to LEDs. It was extremely impractical for me to vent a 600w HID light in a 4 bedroom apartment and LED technology is great nowadays. If you're looking for reputable brands, I recommend Horticulture Lighting Group, ChilLED Tech, Timber Grow Lights, Spectrum King, and some old HID brands (Growers Choice, Gavita,etc) for great quality, high-output, efficient, full-spectrum LEDs. If you're on a budget, Spider Farmer and Mars Hydro have similar quantum board style models for cheap off Amazon. If you have experience building lights, try Pacific Light Concepts or Dank Light Co., both have DIY strip-style fixtures. My first grow was almost a proof of concept, just to see if and how well I could grow my own weed. Completing my first grow really helped me conceptualize the process, and understand better how to grow given varying circumstances.
Here's a thorough list of the gear I use:
Seeds: Ocean Grown Seeds, Dark Helmet and Alien Rift (6pks)
Tents: Viviosun 3'x3'x6' and 2'x4'x5', and Apollo 4'x4'x6.7'
Lights: Horticulture Lighting Group 260w QB V1, 100w 4k V2, and 2x 100w Sabers, California Lightworks SolarXtreme 250
Fans/Filters/Ventilation: AC Infinity T4 fan w/ Vivosun 4" filter (2x4 & 3x3), Terrabloom 6" fan w/ G-Hydro 6" filter (4x4)
Temp/Humidity Controls: Inkbird ITC-308, IHC-200 and ITC-608T. (running VPD)
Water: HydroLogic micRO 75gpd
Soil Mix: ~50% Promix AP, ~25% Perlite, ~25% Vermiculite
(amended with base nutrients)
Base Nutrients: Roots Organics Dry Nutrient "Uprising" line (w/foundation) 1/2-1tsp each/feeding following this schedule:
https://www.aurorainnovations.com/dry-nutrient-feeding-schedule
Supplements: Roots Organics Terp Teas Grow & Bloom, H&G Root Excelurator Gold, Pro-Tekt, SLF-100, unsulphured molasses, Hormex #16, and diatomaceous earth (for gnats)
Misc: Exhale 365 CO2, 2 daylight timers, a few small circulation fans, humidifier, space heater, Grodan 1.5 plugs and humidity dome for cloning, 3 and 7 gallon pots, saucers and trays
Now that I've covered what I'm working with, I'll get into the timeline of my current grow.
12 regular seeds were germinated in mid-January, 6 Dark Helmet, and 6 Alien Rift. Starting in the 2x4 tent with the HLG 260w, they were planted in Roots Organics Original. After establishing roots in solo cups, they showed many deficiencies. After transplanting into slightly larger containers with above soil mix, the plants recovered. Of the 12 plants 10 showed female, 5 of each strain, which was great, but meant I needed to find space for 10 plants quickly. When I started the seeds, I expected I would flower out ~6 females and start another run ~month later, but nature blessed me, and I got 10. The plants suffered stunted growth (fed tap water at ~8pH for ~1 week) until mid-late March, when they were all transplanted into 3-gal fabric pots. The DH was moved into the 3x3 w/ the SolarXtreme 250. I kept the AR in veg and began to train the DH into a trellis for flower. The DH was growing taller than the AR so I decided to flower it first. Heres what the looked like around that time:
At this point I realized I would need another tent for clones and seedlings to start another run, so I set up the 4x4 from my first grow and moved the AR into the 4x4. I also bought the 2 HLG Sabers supplementing the QB 260w to fill the 4x4. I bought a HLG 100w 4k veg light for the 2x4 along with the Sabers, but haven't used it in there because the clones fit in the 4x4 with the AR. The 4x4 tent may need to come down, so I'll be staking the AR instead of trellising. That way I can move them out when I need. Additionally, 4 AR were transplanted up to 7-gal fabric pots, the 5th, a mutant, was kept in the 3-gal to keep it in veg for longer without getting too big. Heres a picture of the mutant AR plant:
This post is in 3 parts, I have a lot of pics
PART 1
I've lurked on these forums for a couple years and have learned lots, now its time for me to share my grow with all of you! PLEASE BE AWARE, I have only completed one grow prior to this, (2 plants in a 4x4 tent 600w HID coco DTW w/jacks321), so I'm still a big newbie. I currently live in a state where it is legal to cultivate up to 12 plants per household for personal use. I live in a rented unit with limited space, so I grow in small tents where I can. Since I don't own the place, its not possible for me to install any kind of DIY/permanent ventilation, electrics, or plumbing, and setups must be able to be moved within a day. For now, I am using my own bedroom and a spare bedroom (in our 4 bedroom unit) as my grow space. I hope this will inspire people in similar living situations to attempt their first grow. I have lots of friends in shared/rented living that give me all kinds of excuses for not growing, from "I don't have any space" to "I think my landlord won't approve". It can be done, trust me.
First off, here are a couple pictures from my last grow, 2 Malibu Pie from Ocean Grown Seeds, vegged for ~3 months, ~9 weeks of flower (pic were cropped from instagram so they're kinda shitty):
First picture was right before flower, 2nd pic is ~week 8
The bud was decent and had a good smoke/high but wasn't crazy frosty or tasty, just kinda mellow and grassy. Malibu Pie is an excellent and stable strain, with great pineapple and lime flavors, I just did't quite grow it to its full potential.
I have changed a few things from my first grow at a previous residence that didn't have the limitations I have now. It has become obvious to me that given these limitations, having a perpetual grow where I can have multiple plants in various stages of growth, is essential to having steady harvests, while maintaining a low plant count. For instance, I can start 2 plants every months for 6 months, which would give ~4 MONTHS of veg time for every 2 plants, while staying under 12 plants. Obviously, vegging a plant indoors for 4 months is more or less overkill, but you see my point; grow out fewer plants per run, more often, larger plants, with more veg time. It was also necessary to switch from DTW coco to organic soil. Having to maintain reservoirs pH and EC, timer/pump irrigation, draining more runoff, and all the extra struggles that come along with hydroponics, made me decide to switch to soil. Another switch I made from my first grow was from HID to LEDs. It was extremely impractical for me to vent a 600w HID light in a 4 bedroom apartment and LED technology is great nowadays. If you're looking for reputable brands, I recommend Horticulture Lighting Group, ChilLED Tech, Timber Grow Lights, Spectrum King, and some old HID brands (Growers Choice, Gavita,etc) for great quality, high-output, efficient, full-spectrum LEDs. If you're on a budget, Spider Farmer and Mars Hydro have similar quantum board style models for cheap off Amazon. If you have experience building lights, try Pacific Light Concepts or Dank Light Co., both have DIY strip-style fixtures. My first grow was almost a proof of concept, just to see if and how well I could grow my own weed. Completing my first grow really helped me conceptualize the process, and understand better how to grow given varying circumstances.
Here's a thorough list of the gear I use:
Seeds: Ocean Grown Seeds, Dark Helmet and Alien Rift (6pks)
Tents: Viviosun 3'x3'x6' and 2'x4'x5', and Apollo 4'x4'x6.7'
Lights: Horticulture Lighting Group 260w QB V1, 100w 4k V2, and 2x 100w Sabers, California Lightworks SolarXtreme 250
Fans/Filters/Ventilation: AC Infinity T4 fan w/ Vivosun 4" filter (2x4 & 3x3), Terrabloom 6" fan w/ G-Hydro 6" filter (4x4)
Temp/Humidity Controls: Inkbird ITC-308, IHC-200 and ITC-608T. (running VPD)
Water: HydroLogic micRO 75gpd
Soil Mix: ~50% Promix AP, ~25% Perlite, ~25% Vermiculite
(amended with base nutrients)
Base Nutrients: Roots Organics Dry Nutrient "Uprising" line (w/foundation) 1/2-1tsp each/feeding following this schedule:
https://www.aurorainnovations.com/dry-nutrient-feeding-schedule
Supplements: Roots Organics Terp Teas Grow & Bloom, H&G Root Excelurator Gold, Pro-Tekt, SLF-100, unsulphured molasses, Hormex #16, and diatomaceous earth (for gnats)
Misc: Exhale 365 CO2, 2 daylight timers, a few small circulation fans, humidifier, space heater, Grodan 1.5 plugs and humidity dome for cloning, 3 and 7 gallon pots, saucers and trays
Now that I've covered what I'm working with, I'll get into the timeline of my current grow.
12 regular seeds were germinated in mid-January, 6 Dark Helmet, and 6 Alien Rift. Starting in the 2x4 tent with the HLG 260w, they were planted in Roots Organics Original. After establishing roots in solo cups, they showed many deficiencies. After transplanting into slightly larger containers with above soil mix, the plants recovered. Of the 12 plants 10 showed female, 5 of each strain, which was great, but meant I needed to find space for 10 plants quickly. When I started the seeds, I expected I would flower out ~6 females and start another run ~month later, but nature blessed me, and I got 10. The plants suffered stunted growth (fed tap water at ~8pH for ~1 week) until mid-late March, when they were all transplanted into 3-gal fabric pots. The DH was moved into the 3x3 w/ the SolarXtreme 250. I kept the AR in veg and began to train the DH into a trellis for flower. The DH was growing taller than the AR so I decided to flower it first. Heres what the looked like around that time:
At this point I realized I would need another tent for clones and seedlings to start another run, so I set up the 4x4 from my first grow and moved the AR into the 4x4. I also bought the 2 HLG Sabers supplementing the QB 260w to fill the 4x4. I bought a HLG 100w 4k veg light for the 2x4 along with the Sabers, but haven't used it in there because the clones fit in the 4x4 with the AR. The 4x4 tent may need to come down, so I'll be staking the AR instead of trellising. That way I can move them out when I need. Additionally, 4 AR were transplanted up to 7-gal fabric pots, the 5th, a mutant, was kept in the 3-gal to keep it in veg for longer without getting too big. Heres a picture of the mutant AR plant:
. I noticed they didn't seem to be growing as fast as the AR, and figured the HLG 260w was putting out more light than the SolarXtreme. I switched the lights, and DH growth increased. I later added the HLG 100w 4k to give them probably more light than they needed. Here are the DH when they went into the 3x3 (4/1/2020):
