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

Greetings CannaFam,

I am currently resurrecting my medical grow, and I figured it would be a good time to start a grow journal. I think I have most of the basic principles down, but I am by no means an expert. This is the first garden that I am putting together in our new home.

The veg closet is pretty much setup and functional for my starters. However I still need to get my aero cloner bucket up and running.



The flower room is still a work in progress. I am still kind of debating on whether or not I should devote all my time and energy to getting my other LED light mounted, since I am planning on installing some HPS lights, an A/C, and some fans & duct when we get our tax returns




So, here goes:

Veg.

Lights: (2) 19w LED fixtures
Grow Medium: Coco Coir/Perlite
Genetics: GrandDaddy Purps


I put up a layer of cardboard on the windows before blocking them out with the panda film, to help with added insulation and light blockage. I also put up some panda film around the edges of the door, since I saw some light leaking out in to the (soon-to-be) flower room.



There was a single hook already mounted in the ceiling when we moved in, but i wanted to mount two lights, so I Engineered this little setup with an old fast-food tray and a single lightweight chain.


I have the lights mounted about 3 1/2 ft. From the grow cups (can’t really call it a canopy yet, lol).




The first bunch of sprouts died on me because it was too cold in there, so I put the radiating space heater in there and added a small fan to circulate air/heat

Today’s update:

I keep making the same rookie mistake. I pop a seed in some water, seed splits and a little tail comes out, i plant this little ‘tadpole’ in some grow medium and it slowly starts to grow. When the sprout reaches around 2” I try to “help” it by removing the seed/shell from the sprout. The sprout dies.



Rinse. Repeat.



As you can see, I just made that mistake with my GDP sprout and my Douglas County Heirloom. I can’t believe I’m still making rookie mistakes.

>>>>>>

Two new sprouts popped up out of the same cup that the most promising GDP sprout had been in. Those must be the Jilly Bean seeds that I planted about 10 days ago, but had all but given up on. The only crappy part is that they both popped up in the same little starter cup- another rookie mistake... this one wasn’t intentional, but it still leaves me in the same position



New Genetics: Jilly Bean

Hey folks, another update. Things are improving, slowly but surely. I spent most of the day trying to do some arts and crafts. I have the lid for a cloner bucket.

https://i.gyazo.com/befea2a116f11e540e191fada7affe27.jpg

I tried to fab my own manifold for an aero cloner, using spare parts that I had laying around from other planning and projects.

I also invested in a wire shelf. I’m going to try a do a 3-tiered veg area, to make more efficient use of my square footage. Trying to plan ahead so I can have some kind of constant rotation going




https://i.gyazo.com/41c06afc84774157c9d50f105ed75cc3.jpg

https://i.gyazo.com/d19b54ab0326e124b70e7f2ff358303f.jpg

First the height was wrong, then when I finally got it down to a size the I liked, nothing more than a trickle came out. I figured- too many holes, and not enough pressure. I think the water pump is only 48gph. So I made another setup with only about 4 holes drilled in it. It sprays well, but doesn’t really cover much area of
The bucket.

I ordered another, stronger sub pump. When it arrives I am going to try and see if I can attach it to a single sprinkler head, like the one in this video

https://youtu.be/t6uSAGHXQOo



Like this one right here

Forgot to mention, all sprouts are starting off on a regimen of GH rapid start rooting enhancer (1-0.5-1). 4 drops in 2L of water.

Get a small mister bottle and keep the hull damp. As long as the seed hull is damp, the seedling will easily shrug it off in time.

Looking pretty good, with attention to detail.

Rarely do I need to help remove a hull, as suggested keep it moist and it should shed on it’s own. Good luck

Douglas.Curtis said:

Get a small mister bottle and keep the hull damp. As long as the seed hull is damp, the seedling will easily shrug it off in time.

Looking pretty good, with attention to detail.

Click to expand...

Thanks!! I will try that out if any of my other sprouts have problems shrugging off their helmets

unregistered190 said:

Rarely do I need to help remove a hull, as suggested keep it moist and it should shed on it’s own. Good luck

Click to expand...

You're absolutely right. It did shed the hull on its own. I do tend to get a little patient with some of my grows sometimes. Dont know how many plants i pulled early cuz i needed smoke, lol.

Gotta work on that

*impatient

Howdy folks.

Here’s what I did today... really trying to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of my grow. I also wanted to make the best use of my grow space and I want to be able to run a continual cycle with seeds, clones, and teens all occupying the same space.

I got this shelf setup from the loca hardware store. They sold all the parts separately, with different sizes to choose from. I opted for 3 tiers. Height 72in., Length 18in., Width 24in.

I was even still able to utilize the hook on the ceiling to hang a light over the top tier.

https://i.gyazo.com/e7686118a1e0a456af2d63d408d995e0.jpg

The bigger LED light that I added to the lowest rack is the CRX Sunny1000

https://gyazo.com/a51d6577b1c2161b6393fb62b29b489c

I will probably get 1 or 2 more of the 19w LED fixtures for the second tier, since they can plug in to each other and all run off the same outlet; and they really don’t draw much power.


Here’s a shot of the top tier. The two Jilly Bean sprouts are all that are showing but there are a couple Northern Storm, And lavender sprouts that are also on their way.

https://i.gyazo.com/24e08482f2d2ece8c6f11f87f64e119d.jpg

Note to self. We are going to need a bigger fan for air circulation in the veg closet

sorry still trying to figure out the whole pic hosting thing

1-16-2018

Today’s update

There are a couple of sprouts that are still alive, but most of the seeds I have sprouted do not make it past Cotelydon stage.

The first hypothesis i proposed suggested that the cause of this was subpar genetics.

I popped some seeds of some quality genetics to test out this theory. Dark Star Kush by T H Seeds, Catpiss, Lavender, Northern Storm, Forest Green, and a couple more strains.

As of today, 1 Jilly Bean sprout and 2 Lavender sprouts remain.

-my grow medium dries out pretty quickly so I suspect that the daily waterings May not be enough.

-I have been procrastinating the whole process of checking the pH of the water I am giving my sprouts. I usually fill up a bottle with water and let it sit out uncovered, overnight so that any residual chlorine can evaporate on my own. I checked with a couple friends of mine who grow in the same town and produce some quality indoor, and they said the The water quality in our city is top notch, some of the best in the country. We are located right on the river pretty much...
-today I WILL go to the local grow shop and get my pH meter and TDS meter calibrated.

I know that a lot of growers use humidity domes with their clones, I am going to try getting a couple humidity domes to put on my grow trays and see if that helps the seedlings any. I’m just kinda worried that adding the humidity domes means that the sprouts won’t get enough air circulation.

Side note: I know I don’t have the best bud porn or coolest thread, but if don’t log all of my mistakes, then I will never learn from them


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-MM

On a side note, I am slowly preparing myself for the transition to TLO style fully organic growing.

I figure the first step in that is getting a compost started in our backyard. Nothing fancy, just the simplest kind of compost that I can think of, we have 3 or 4 piles started in a corner of the yard we have set aside for composting (it gets the most shade of the day and isn’t really ideal for growing...)
3 of the piles are just leaves that have been raked up from the trees in our back yard. The 4th pile has some banana pees, egg shells & egg cartons, coffee grinds, and carrot ends.

We cook rice pretty often and have a small shed out back too, so I am going to try my hand at brewing Some bokashi and labs.

Hello again friends. I was down in Texas for a week, attending a friend’s wedding, so I haven’t really been able to check on the garden, or update the grow thread. My wife was nice enough To give the sprouts some water while I was away.
I honestly thought that all my sprouts would be dead when I got back, and that I would have to start over from scratch.
Almost all of the other sprouts died, but the Lavender is still barely hanging on. Not sure if it’s because it is a hardier strain, or because I put the lid on the grow tray before I left, or because those seeds were started in an outdoor potting mix I had laying around instead of the coco coir, or a combination of all of these factors. One thing i do know for sure is that if the lavender has been this resilient to all the abuse it has taken, it is definitely one that i want to keep in my grow for a while. I had read that it was a great strain for beginners, and i can see for myself that is true.

I don't know whats wrong with me. I've read grow journals, and over a dozen grow books. But applying the information i've picked up, in to my own grow is a whole different story. Add that to the fact that my mobility and physical capabilities are in rapid decline, leads me to conclude that i should keep my grow as simple as possible. A few dozen dwarf plants will probably be easier to manage than 8 or 10 larger plants.

I checked the water jug that I feed the plants from, this morning, and the pH was a bit high (7.4). I feel like an idiot- I should have had the pH right from the get-go. So I adjusted it down to 6.2 and that is what the Lavender got this morning.



We noticed something strange on the sprouts that had died. All of the sprouts that had been in the coco-coir blend had this cotton-looking substance at their base. I heard that the “Santa’s beard” looks kinda similar, but I don’t think it’s the same thing because I’m pretty sure that the “Santa’s beard” or “Odom’s Beard” appear on the grow medium surface and not the plants, and I thought the the coco coir was pretty much sterile and inert. I think that it may have something to do with the microorganisms in the GH rapid-start I added to their water. I really can’t think of anything else it may be, I have no idea what it is. If anyone knows what it is, i would greatly appreciate the help.




Recommendations: should I switch up my grow medium and just root in a premade potting soil mix? Or should I just add some EWC or something to give my grow medium some added moisture retention?

Well, I almost feel like I’m starting over from scratch again.

But it’s all part of the learning process, right???

So I dumped all of the starter cups w/ dead sprouts in to a kiddie pool in the back yard to be recycled in to an outdoor grow medium.

Then I went down to Bi-Mart and invested in a bag of Black Gold Seed Starter Mix.


I also bought a bag of Filthy & Rich amended potting soil to mix with the rest of my coco coir. I was looking for the Gardner & Bloom Organic Potting soil that The Rev recommends in his TLO book, but they didn’t have any at Bi-Mart, so I figured that the Filthy and Rich was the next best thing- since it’s locally made in Eugene the microbial life in the soil is all from local flora and fauna (at least that was my train of thought)


I grabbed the last of my DC3 seeds to pop (Douglas County Heirloom) and put them in some water to germinate last night. I’m still trying to use all of my least desirable seeds first, while I dial in my grow and then move on to some of the elite genetics I have been hoarding...


Thanks for tuning in folks. Next update coming soon

yeah, i don't know how commited you are to the aero cloner, which can be a mite tricky to master, but if you run into any trouble you might consider the Walmart cloner (there is a thread inhouse i can point you to if you've a mind to checking it out).

...i recommend this elegantly simple wick-style of cloning for newcomers because it is brain-dead simple, VERY reliable, cheap as hell and passive so no need for pumps and such which can and occasionally do fail. (i personally decided to try this method almost 10 years ago and it worked so well that i put my bubble cloner away and have never looked back, if i get less than 80% rooted i feel like it was a bad run)





...with new seeds i don't bother with the paper towel method but instead i direct sow my beans into 9 oz cups of moist coco and where i tape a clear cup on top as a sort of temporary humidity dome.



...once the seedlings emerge from the coco i remove the 'dome' with the caveat that if the shell is still hanging on i will leave the dome in place to keep the shell moist until it either falls off or i remove it, this is delicate and usually takes both hands to pry the shell safely from the seedling without causing damage.



...anyway, welcome to the hobby and good luck, if you don't give up you are guaranteed to succeed as growing ganja just ain't that hard.

peace, bozo

i cant even look at the pics you posted up there, they are too big. but a dome sounds like good advice. seedling medium should never dry out.

if youre looking for a comprehensive water only organic soil recipe theres a link in my sig to mine. theres plenty of simple mixes in the organics sub thread too.

welcome to ic, and good luck!

As your working on your flower room, you should think about removing the carpet.
Over time it will most likely become very dirty, and soaked from spills. It will then become a great living ground for pests and fungi, so I would advice to remove it.

Everything else looks like your on point!

Happy growing

Palindrome said:

As your working on your flower room, you should think about removing the carpet.

Click to expand...