Okay dudes....welcome to my grow journal. Here's a
link to my semi-introdcution to the AFN community. I’m totally inexperienced in growing cannabis plants. This will be my very first grow ever. I’ve had some bonsai’s in the past and I enjoyed the hobby but that was years ago. While researching about autos I found myself getting the same excitement that you get when you got your first bike as a kid and you couldn’t wait to ride that bad boy. This feeling for me is a good thing because I’m a person who gets bored easily when something is just not that interesting to me or challenging enough.
I try to live a healthy, relaxed and green lifestyle. For example in terms of my diet I try to consume mostly organic, natural and sustainable products. So there was not even a slightest doubt that if I decided to start a grow that it would be 100% organic.
Now about which strain to grow. I couldn’t help myself falling head over heels for the Think Different grow from Seymour-buds. I’m a dude and for me saying I fell head over heels, well..that has to mean something I guess (now I’m imagining myself wearing heels, can you imagine how much that would hurt? Other than the fact of the disappointing look I would get from my significant other?). But back to the topic on hand. So yeah, it’s not the fact that he produced an awesome yield, but more the vibe that was spewing out of his journal and how passionate he was about his grow. The way he looked, took care and “talked” of his girls was something really special I found. That was some inspirational poetic Shakespeare stuff right there. I came across his journal from the beginning of my research and that impression I got just stuck to me like caramel without wrapping paper. Because the Think Different strain was the girl that was responsible for the creation of the journal that more than 3 years later went on to inspire me (and I’m pretty sure other growers out there too) like when the ice cream truck came through the neighborhood inspiring you to run like hell to be the first in line. So I decided to dedicate my first grow to Think Different and hope to do it justice.
What ever became of this grow?
I must be honest. I’ve never really written a journal or diary before since I came out of my mother womb, crying like a baby that just got slapped for doing nothing at all. So I’m just going with whatever pops up in my mind at the moment, keyboard-stroke by keyboard-stroke hoping to make a proper and understandable grow journal. I’ll appreciate any advice, tips, comments, questions and critics you may have. If I’m doing anything wrong or inappropriate please don’t hesitate to correct me whether it is about my grow or about forum etiquette as I will always take it as a mean to learn and better myself at the trade of raising my girl proper with the care and respect she deserves and how to properly share that relationship with the AFN community.
One more thing, I’m accustomed with the metric system but I will try to add the imperial values as well for the ones that feel more at home with that.
So here goes. My setup:
- Mammoth DR60 Pro 60 x 60 x 160cm (23,6”x23,6”x63”) (The tent is in a closet I modified for a more stealthy and quiet growth)
- 2x Prakasa 90W UFO LED Grow Lights – seven spectrum (They guarantee a power consumption of 90W each. I didn’t measure it though) so a total of 180W
- Ruck RK125L 330m3/h (194 cfm)
- Rhino 100m3 (176 cfm) carbon filter
- Acoustic ducting
- Passive intake, but I do have a small 190m3/h (112 cfm) tubular fan I could use as an intake should it be necessary/helpful, but it is a bit loud though if running on 100% power
- Small clip-on fan for circulating air in the tent
- 15L (4 gallon) Smartpot
- Garden Highpro thermo & humidity meter
- Milwaukee pH 600 tester
- Will be making a scrog soon
Medium & Nutrients:
- Biobizz All-Mix
- Biobizz Light-Mix
- Biobizz Bio-Grow
- Biobizz Bio-Bloom
- Biobizz Top-Max
- Organic Fairtrade Pure Blackstrap Molasses
- Magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt)
- Apple cider vinegar as a pH-
And not to forget the hopefully soon-to-be girl in the spotlight (or LED-light I should say), Dutch Passion Think Different. I will be growing only one plant as i think that will be enough for me as my first grow. Also my growtent is not that big and reading that Think Different is a bigger plant than the usual auto, one plant would suffice.
I first put the seed in plain tapwater for 12 hours and then into a moist folded kitchen towel wrapped in plastic wrap. After 24 hours in the wardrobe the seed cracked but had no root tip coming out. So I put it back.
On the Biobizz website it states that for the All-mix you have to moisten the substrate and leave stand for 36. This will give the active fertilizer and the microorganisms it contains a chance to start working before the plant goes in. So I thought it would the perfect time to fill up the smartpot with the All-mix. I did however leave a bowl-shape space in the middle of the pot where I could fill it with the Light-mix. I read this tip somewhere on the forum which you can plant the seed directly into her final home without the mix being too hot.
Here the pot is filled with only the All-mix. I hope these pics are clear enough as I’m just using my smartphone for snapping these.
Here the pot is filled with the Light-mix in the middle.
I moisten the substrate with a pHed water of 7. The reason for this is the following. On the Biobozz website it states:
“With Biobizz® soil and liquid products, the EC and pH value do not need to be adjusted or balanced, as should when using a mineral medium. Biobizz® organic mediums and nutrients are not made of mineral salts but organic bound elements, which are not measurable. The medium has a natural pH form; this will keep the soil in balance by itself….
The most ideal pH-value for the soil where your plants are, is between 6.3 and 6.5. Biobizz® earth already possesses this pH value. That means that under normal circumstances, you do not have to adjust the pH value of your water. It is not the level of pH in the water, but the pH of the soil that determines your success. Just let the Biobizz® products do their job for you!…..
If the quality of the water differs too much from the standard pH value of 7.0-7.3, then you can use apple vinegar or citric acid to reduce the acidity of your water. Try to reach a value between 6.8 and 7.2. The best is to reduce the pH-value a little, until it reaches the correct level, and only then to add the Biobizz® nutrient.“
My tapwater has a pH of 8,5. So I have to lower mine. For every 1,5 Liter (0,4 gallon) I used ¼ teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to lower the pH from 8,5 to 7,0. Now I lowered the water to a pH of 7,0 because that is what Biobizz advices to do. If you gents or ladies have any advice on this, please don’t hesitate to drop some lines.
After watering the substrate I measured the pH of the runoff and it was 6,2. Okay, I don’t know where to place that yet. I guess that is not strange at all seeing that the substrates have a pH of 6,6 (all-mix)
and 6,2 (light-mix).
But at which pH values of the runoff is it a red flag? And what would cause that pH value?
What I don’t understand is that biobizz states that organic bound elements are not measurable, but still they put an EC value on the bags (see pics above). I should read more about this.
And so the smartpot was placed in the growtent with 20/4 light schedule.
24 hours after the seed cracked there was a white root tip coming out the seed which I then proceeded to carefully, with surgical hands (my hands were more or less twerking to be precise), plant it in the light-mix about 5mm (0,2”) below the surface. I didn’t water it seen that the substrate was moisten just 24 hours prior to this. The smartpot with seed is now in the growtent.
Both lights are on (2x 90W) and are 71cm (28 inches) above the substrate surface. I decided to play it safe and keep that height and after a few weeks maybe lower it little by little to about 16”-20”. This is just based on the information I gathered of other growers using LED. Again, if any of you have any input about this, you know what to do.
The temp with lights
on is about 25,1C (77F) and the RH about 74%.
The temp with lights
out is about 22,9C (73F) and the RH about70%.
For seedlings I read this RH is in the perfect range. But this is just a “coincidence”. I have a studio apartment so everytime I cook or take a shower the RH raises and just in these 2 days I have seen it reach 80%. But after opening a window it indeed drops to about 68%. So I should make sure there’s a window open at least while cooking and taking a shower. Skipping showers and buying take out?? But what about the RH during the flowering stage? I read that about 45-50% would be better and making the risk of getting mold smaller. However sufficient air circulation in the tent is of the utmost importance. I’ll definitely keep an eye on the RH and see how it will be as the weather progress towards wintertime.
I guess this is enough for now. It’s been a long time since my keyboard got worked like a hooker working a corner. I know this is a very long first post and I hope it was not a boring read. About the pics, I don’t have a camera, so my smartphone will have to suffice. I’ll see what I can do to take better pics in natural light. Especially when it comes to diagnosing deficiencies and the calmag issue that seems to arise when growing under LED.
Thanks guys for your time (that is if you made it so far down my post without the urge of learning how to make a hangmans’s knot). And if there is any room for improvement anywhere I would like to read all about it.
As you were.
RYGB....
I like the systhematic and methodical art you have. I am a pretty inexperienced grower so i am not able to give you suitable advises. 
