New Grower First grow journal

[CappY]

A short introduction before I get the basics out of the way and get this started:
I am a Canadian who has been living in Asia for a few years now and -after a visit to Holland- have decided to take up "gardening" as a hobby. This is technically not my first grow, as I did a super casual grow a couple years back (what an experience that was!), but its certainly my first real attempt at getting a decent harvest.
Before I get started I should mention that proper supplies are very hard to come by here, so I am making the best of what is available. It's (hopefully) an ongoing project which I will continue to improve upon. With the help of some wise guru's here, of course .

So here's my setup so far:

Grow Space: 1mx1mx2m Grow tent (upgraded from a large box I lined with foil)
Lights: 400w HPS/MH bulbs and ballast
Medium: Soil. A mix of (dreaded) Miracle Grow potting soil and some unbranded soil and perlite mixed in. Also growing in a (vented) garbage pail because (shit you not) I couldn't find a suitable pot.
Nutrients: A bottle each of generic veg and flower foods
Seeds: White Diesel Haze Auto x 1

So far from ideal in several areas so I only planted one seed with plenty of hopes and dreams. It's been growing well so far (on day 27), but let me back up to the beginning of Salona's(rolls off the tongue better than 'White Diesel Haze Automatic) life (queue in whimsical harp and dream bubble).

Salona was soaked in a paper towel for a couple of days before being unceremoniously thrust into the dirt on Jan 24th, 2015. I almost immediately regretted doing so, as I would spend the next several days inspecting, shouting, cursing, staring, crying, praying and begging to see something more than what was essentially a garbage can full of dirt.
Finally, at 11pm on Jan 30, she makes her first appearance:



`you have to look close to see her in pic1.
pic2 is 12 hours later and pic3 is about
20 hours from the first.`


Looking back, I just noticed how yellow she looks in the second and third picture. I'm not sure if it's due to the lighting or if it actually looked that way. At the time, I was so happy to see the little baby sprouting that my love may have blinded me to any imperfections.

Salona spent a couple of days under an LED before being transferred to the 400watt HPS light (scaled back to 50% power)...

To be continued...

 

[oldster]

Welcome CappY, sounds like a decent enough setup. the plant looks better in pic 3 then 2 so hopefully it will come along ok. It could also be that the soil is too hot if so a flush may help but I would give it another day or so.

 

[CappY]

PART 2

I watered "Salona", and moved her to her first home; a crudely crafted, foil-lined cardboard box. Location is on a(n) (enclosed) balcony due to lack of places to hang the lights. I had no light timer yet, and was keeping the light on 24 hours to keep some of the winter cold at bay.


These pictures were taken on February 1st and 2nd.
You can see purple in the stem on the 2nd pic.

As you can see, the leaves are much greener looking in these pictures and she seemed to be off to a good start. Unfortunately, over the next few days, she developed a strong curve in the main stem. I don't know the cause, but I'm guessing either the low temperatures made her try to hug herself, or an over-invigorating watering tossed her off balance at the root (or perhaps she was focused on developing her roots). Whatever the case, Salona's progress seemed quite slow over the next several days. It was around this time that I started to do more research and decided to add a proper tent, and timer to my setup...


These 2 pictures were taken on Feb 5th and 9th.
Both clearly show the curve in the stem, and
little progress in regards to vegetative growth.


Will Salona recover and grow fat buds for all, or is she destined to be forever remembered as nothing more than a total failure and lesson to improve upon ?

Part 3 is coming soon...

 

[CappY]

Part 3

Part 3

Salona shriveled up and died. Oh well...

Joking of course. I moved my seedling into her new home and set the lights to an 18/6 schedule, turning them off during the warmest part of the day to conserve heat. She must have loved her new home, because she starting growing like a... plant that grows very fast.



These pictures were all taken about 24 hours apart from feb.10-14th.

Here she is another week later on feb. 21st:
As you can see, she is already starting to outgrow her pot. Next time I will make sure to fill it close to the brim with soil...
It's around this time that I decided to add some nutrients. Salona's next couple of watering's had the generic veg food at 25% recommended strength. She has continued her growth at a steady pace but I need one more post to update this journal to current events so...

To be continued.

 

[FreeBee]

wait you shittin me?

 

[CappY]

Part 5

Current Status

These past few days, I have been going back and forth on whether or not to trim or bend Salona. I have decided not to trim anything (though I am tempted to cut those first few leaves down at the bottom) and let that bush grow 'ou naturelle'. I did do a very minor re-arrangement to tuck a couple of the fan leaves under the side colas so they could get more light:

From this: To this:

It seemed to help as the colas quickly grew taller and greener when exposed to the light (though I suppose they may have anyways). It was around this time that Salona starting showing signs of her sex. I initially had thoughts of "she's too small!" and "it's too soon!" but I suppose it is right on queue for the average auto to begin its bloom. I suppose I have several more weeks to tend to her and help her grow ripe, juicy tomatoes for me to enjoy.
I have one last pic from last night (February 26th) showing her first pistils:


such a long way
she's come


And that's where I am currently at. Which leaves me with a few questions:
1)Temperature fluctuations are quite extreme for a tropical plant (lows of 15c highs of 28c), though I imagine the ruderalis genes help. Could the fluctuations have severe negative effects on her bud production ? It should become less severe over the coming weeks as the weather warms up so I don't want to do anything drastic as she seems fine, but if it severely hampers bud production I will take action.
2)The temperature fluctuations also make it difficult to maintain humidity levels. The climate here is extremely arid (<20%RH). Inside the tent it's either 40-60% with the light on, or 80%+ when the light is off. Adding ventilation means more dry, cold air circulates in so I don't think that's a good idea right now. Any suggestions ?
3)I have just started adding veg. nutrients. When would be a good time to switch to the flowering nutes ?
4)When would be a good time to switch to the MH light ?

If you have made it this far, a gracious thank you for following my first grow journal so far :clap:, I hope it was a worthwhile read.

 

[CappY]

wait you shittin me?

Haha, ya. I had to stop writing and get back to work for a few hours. Didn't expect it would be noticed. :xlaugh:

 

[oldster]

Hi CappY, plant looks great, autos can be set back by repotting so the next time you move her I would make it the final pot. Something about 3 gal or 10-12l would be good.

I would start veg nutes if you have not already done so, start at about 25% strength.

You are hitting the point in time when a lot of soils start to get a little acidic so watch your pH. If you can get a soil type pH probe like an Accurate 8 it will make life much easier. At the very least start checking the pH of your water going in and that of the runoff so you can make changes.

Atrain got a BOM nomination this month for a plant grown in MG soil so it certainly can grow quality plants

Happy growing

 

[CappY]

Hi CappY, plant looks great, autos can be set back by repotting so the next time you move her I would make it the final pot. Something about 3 gal or 10-12l would be good.

I would start veg nutes if you have not already done so, start at about 25% strength.

You are hitting the point in time when a lot of soils start to get a little acidic so watch your pH. If you can get a soil type pH probe like an Accurate 8 it will make life much easier. At the very least start checking the pH of your water going in and that of the runoff so you can make changes.

Atrain got a BOM nomination this month for a plant grown in MG soil so it certainly can grow quality plants

Happy growing

Thanks for the feedback. I never transplanted the container, just moved her to a proper grow tent. She's a roughly 12l bucket. I started on the veg nutes last week, at 25% strength.
At the moment a pH meter is something I will be frantically searching for when my plant starts dying...
I will try to get one soon as it seems to be mentioned as a necessity everywhere by everyone.

 

[oldster]

Thanks for the feedback. I never transplanted the container, just moved her to a proper grow tent. She's a roughly 12l bucket. I started on the veg nutes last week, at 25% strength.
At the moment a pH meter is something I will be frantically searching for when my plant starts dying...
I will try to get one soon as it seems to be mentioned as a necessity everywhere by everyone.

Yes, nutrient lockout caused by incorrect pH is probably the biggest issue we see here on the site