First Grow

[dragoneye1]

What’s up brothers and sisters! I’m dragoneye. New here and on my first grow. Hope to meet and learn from all you.

I planted my first 3 seeds of Zour Zkittles autos on April 4th, 2021. I got the seeds from SOFEM and I used the cup of water method for germinating. All three seeds sprouted a tail but after planting only 2 seeds broke through soil. I may have damaged the root planting it. Both plants that sprouted grew well. I tried experimenting with one by placing it outside mid-May, so it was about 6 weeks old and about 10” tall. I should say before this I think I may have over watered and stunted both of them for the first few weeks.

I’m using the BloomPlus 1500 grow light and I have no complaints so far. I used a cheap stick light to start the seeds for the first 4 weeks or so until I got the BloomPlus and they shot up twice as big the first week. I also have a Vivosun tent kit I just ordered so I’ll have an update when they get settled in.

Side note:
I used kokoloco mixed with worm castings. I’ve also been using Fox Farms Big Bloom and Grow Big supplements as prescribed by Fox Farms. It’s working very well but I’d like to get everyone’s thoughts on those products compared to more organic compounds? I’ve also only been using distilled water but I just ordered the supplies to dechloronate tap water.

Back to the plant I put outside. It went into flower mode two days after moving outside and didn’t look like it was doing to good. I moved it back to the grow room and it’s doing much better but it’s basically flowering at about 14” tall so it won’t yield much, however the other plant is doing very well. They’re going on 9 weeks old right now and vegging pretty good.

2 weeks after starting the Zkittles I planted a Blood Banana using the same soil mix and methods as well as just starting another Blood Banana just last week. The older plant is growing well and already almost as tall as the Zkittles.

I’ll post again a couple weeks after getting them into a tent. I plan to do some photo fems as soon as these are harvested. Whachall think?!

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

@dragoneye1Welcome to AFNI think your lights are a limiting factor in your grow but the plants will reward you with something and I am sure you have learned a lot to even get this far in your first grow .

It looks like you may be watering in a small circle. This can slow or stunt a plants growth. A cannabis plant's tap root can grow 9 inches in 3 days and the laterals are not far behind. A root will not grow into dry soil. What you need to learn about watering will come with practice. Here are the basic rules: Never let the soil dry out. Soil and or coco can become hydrophobic if allowed to dry. This means it repels water. This in turn will create dry pockets in the soil and roots there will die. If your soil - coco have accidentally dried out use a surfactant to help re-wet it. I like yucca powder. Don't let soil remain soggy by watering too much too often. Root rot, damping off, molds, fungus gnats and other problems start in soggy soil. When you do water water the entire pot. How to learn when to water starts before you plant the seed. Fill your container with fresh soil/coco and weigh it (heft it) this is the lightest weight and consider it a dry pot. Now slowly water until the soil/coco will no longer absorb the water and run-off begins; weigh the pot (heft it) this is the maximum water, the wettest the pot can get. The difference between wettest and driest is the maximum water weight, for ease of explanation lets just say the water weighs 20 pounds. When the pot loses 10 pounds (half of the water weight) it is time to water again. There is an art to watering.

Have fun!

 

[dragoneye1]

@dragoneye1Welcome to AFNI think your lights are a limiting factor in your grow but the plants will reward you with something and I am sure you have learned a lot to even get this far in your first grow .

It looks like you may be watering in a small circle. This can slow or stunt a plants growth. A cannabis plant's tap root can grow 9 inches in 3 days and the laterals are not far behind. A root will not grow into dry soil. What you need to learn about watering will come with practice. Here are the basic rules: Never let the soil dry out. Soil and or coco can become hydrophobic if allowed to dry. This means it repels water. This in turn will create dry pockets in the soil and roots there will die. If your soil - coco have accidentally dried out use a surfactant to help re-wet it. I like yucca powder. Don't let soil remain soggy by watering too much too often. Root rot, damping off, molds, fungus gnats and other problems start in soggy soil. When you do water water the entire pot. How to learn when to water starts before you plant the seed. Fill your container with fresh soil/coco and weigh it (heft it) this is the lightest weight and consider it a dry pot. Now slowly water until the soil/coco will no longer absorb the water and run-off begins; weigh the pot (heft it) this is the maximum water, the wettest the pot can get. The difference between wettest and driest is the maximum water weight, for ease of explanation lets just say the water weighs 20 pounds. When the pot loses 10 pounds (half of the water weight) it is time to water again. There is an art to watering.

Have fun!

Thanks for the info, ManOG! Yes I only watered the seedling like that since I had just transplanted it, but I didn’t know the roots grow that fast. I’ve learned a little bit about watering in just the last few weeks mostly from overwatering. I’m watering about every 3-4 days right now giving the bigger plants about a liter each. I’ve been getting most of my tips from Mr. Canuck’s channel on YouTube. I’ve definitely caught the grow bug. I’ve even planted a bunch of fruit trees around my yard and built a little veggie garden.
Thanks again, brotha!

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Thanks for the info, ManOG! Yes I only watered the seedling like that since I had just transplanted it, but I didn’t know the roots grow that fast. I’ve learned a little bit about watering in just the last few weeks mostly from overwatering. I’m watering about every 3-4 days right now giving the bigger plants about a liter each. I’ve been getting most of my tips from Mr. Canuck’s channel on YouTube. I’ve definitely caught the grow bug. I’ve even planted a bunch of fruit trees around my yard and built a little veggie garden.
Thanks again, brotha!

There is nothing more satisfying than growing and raising your own food and medicine. I lived in the countryside when young so farm animals and crops is part of me. I will be 70 in a few weeks; I recon I was growing/raising some kind of food 45 of those years. I have indoor and outdoor gardens. I talk to my plants but they only get music when Ms. MOG is playing it .

If you can grow potatoes where you live, plant some white, red and gold potatoes and "rob" them when they size a little bigger than a quarter. Prepare and cook right away. That is some of the best eating there is. Another one is Silver Queen sweet corn (old fashioned ) Tastes like corn not sugar. Pick the ear when just ripe, peel (husk) and eat within 2 minutes. It turned cold after I planted my peppers this year and I will loose a lot of them - farming!

 

[dragoneye1]

I’ll definitely be making a few more big planters for potatoes. So far I have about 15 tomato plants, a row of carrots, watermelon, chives, and basil. I grew up in a small mining town in a canyon so there wasn’t much farmland at all but I did help my grandpa with his vegetable garden as a kid. My goal is to be as self-sustaining as possible. I live in the Phoenix area so the ground and heat aren’t the best. I plan on moving to northern AZ in the next year or two.

 

[Bill.de.Cat]

Damn, us old people ain't that ambitious anymore. 3 peppers, 3 tomatoes, some flowers.