New Grower A journal for my friends

[PeaceLove&Buds]

Day 3

I removed the Matrix covers because I’m assuming you don’t have one and we’ll water identically. Using the week 1 feed schedule (remember add and mix Armor Si first then add and mix FloraMicro before everything else) mix up a gallon and apply patiently and as evenly as you can. For now we are going to avoid fertigating approximately 2” around the stem and let the distribution happen from within. After going around the pot once wait a good 5 minutes before fertigating again. You should see runoff after two or three passes around, if not just keep going. A good habit to get into is to empty your saucers when runoff is complete to help eliminate mosquitoes and other pests. I have a Bucket Head vac cover that fits on a Home Depot bucket it’s super convenient.
That’s it for today

 

[PeaceLove&Buds]

Thank you @Heart of flowers

 

[PeaceLove&Buds]

Day 4

No action today, current tent conditions are 78f 42%r/h. Super low ambient humidity today and they‘ve been without the domes while I was at work but I’m throwing them back on now and will leave overnight and see what tomorrow brings. I’ll spray the dirt thats under the dome and the inside of the dome first. You can use a humidifier instead in this scenario but I’m not because I have an older plant in the same tent.

For a glimpse of our future here is a pic of my other plant at 34 days old. What a difference a month makes! She has been topped and is in training. We’ll be knee deep in fun at this point…

No action so a quick tip on lighting…because there’s many different lights with different capabilities you are not the first person to constantly wonder if your light is the right distance and set to the right power level. After this grow you will be way more confident trust me on that. To get a feel for where you’re currently at, first go to your App Store and get the Photone app. It measures ppfd DLI and a few other things, all of which I can tell you nothing about but when I started I had read that a good range for ppfd was
200-400 elementary school
400-600 middle school
600-800 high school
so I used the ppfd settings on the app to see what reading I was getting at the top of the plant. I haven’t tested in a while but I will for this grow to help keep us on the same page and keep you feeling confident that you’re on the right track. To be honest I don’t even know how my numbers will match to the chart anymore because I’ve evolved to a “grow by feel” approach, so if anything we may learn what we can get away with in comparison to industry recommendations. I’m gonna go check ppfd and see what we got….ok wow I’m actually surprised that my numbers are good we got 363 and 359 ppfd which is inside our elementary school range. So fiddle around with that and see what you got and you now know everything I know about the technicalities of lighting I’m guessing right about now y’all are realizing I’ve been telling you the truth when I say I don’t really have a clue how I’ve been growing these beautiful plants lmao! The only thing I know for sure is that we WILL have a badass plant when we’re done. See you tomorrow

 

[PeaceLove&Buds]

Day 5

Tent 76f 55% RH
Fertigated with the week 1 cocktail until runoff. Used maybe a quart or so per plant. Half on the first pass, waited 5 mins then the rest and that’s when the runoff started. Leaves looking level and healthy and the second set of leaves are just peeking out today. In about 6 days both sets of leaves should be about the same size.

 

[PeaceLove&Buds]

Day 6

Tent 74f 61% RH
Fertigated around the very edge of pots only. This “boring” stage is lovely if you’ve just completed a 5 plant harvest but it’s torture on your first grow so rest assured that if she looks just the tiniest bit more developed each day then you have a lot of action happening under her, the first sign that you haven’t fucked anything up yet! See ya tomorrow which will also be a an edge watering only but I’ll try to find something helpful to blab on about.

 

[PeaceLove&Buds]

Day 8

Today starts week 2 of the feed schedule. For two plants I’ll now mix 4 gallons for the week. Might not use it all but convenient to have on hand. Today I’ll do one circle around the stem about 2-3” away and then I’ll soak the edge of the pot with 2 passes. I’ll wait 10-15 minutes and if have any runoff then I’m done, if not then I’ll go one more quick pass ’round the outside like a buffalo gal. Like I said she doesn’t look like much but the tiny second leafs have actually doubled in length the last two days thus proving to us that we’re doing ok and the roots are finding moisture without being drowned.

I moved everyone to the 4x4, sprouts are 35” below the light and the light is set to 60% power. Sprouts are set to the side of tent where intensity is a little lower and are showing 480-490 ppfd now. A touch high by industry standards but many of the techniques used in my grow aren’t necessarily standard so I think we’ll be ok.

 

[PeaceLove&Buds]

Day 9

We are fertigating daily now. We’re going to avoid directly watering near the stem by 1.5-2 inches or so for a while. Our 2nd leaves are longer and developing fingers so we’re happy. The first set of leaves will have just a one fingered leaf, the second set will have 3 fingers and then it’s 5-11 fingers. Yours may a little bigger or smaller than these due to the bean or tent conditions, doesn’t matter.

I’m dealing with 31% humidity in the shed and tent so I’m plugging in my dehumidifier. It’s a Vornado whole room dehumidifier. Whenever possible I prefer to get the shed to the preferred tent conditions and the let the intake fan work with me and not against me. I had the domes on for the second half of yesterday and all last night but I don’t want to lose more direct light today so we’ll hook her up.

With just the sprouts in the tent you can use a smaller humidifier and turn your intake fan level down to 1 or 2. If I had just the sprouts in the tent I would use my small one inside the tent but I don’t want to encourage any sweating on the bigger kids leaves. That’s it for today, keep doing what you’re doing and I’ll see you in a couple days.

 

[PeaceLove&Buds]

Day 12

All signs pointing to success. Fertigating once daily avoiding the stem and any contact between nutes and leaves. It’ll leave spots leading to the “wtf is wrong with my plant” questions so avoid the hassle now. I have a tent fan oscillating at low speed below the level of the plants. AC infinity fans are great because they have 10 speed settings and you’d be surprised how you can utilize all of them. See ya tomorrow maybe

 

[PeaceLove&Buds]

Thank you @Heart of flowers

 

[PeaceLove&Buds]

Day 15

Starting Week 3 feed schedule today. We finally get to open our tent each day and see a noticeable difference. My humidity has been on the low side, around the mid 50s, so maybe they’re smaller than yours? It might make a difference but I’ve no idea how much. We’re pretty lucky here on the so cal coast so I tend not to use humidifiers/dehumidifiers too much, only when the ambient is like 35% or 70% in the garage.

I forgot to fertigate yesterday. No biggie. Every grow has me missing maybe 5 days of feeding due to whatever reason. Shit happens, don’t stress when it does.