New Grower First Journal: This is how we grow Moonijuana

[greenjeans]

I have a suggestion.

Consider this:

Go to a thrift store and buy a small bedside table with a drawer, or some similar piece of furniture. Cut out the bottom of your box, cut a hole in the top of the table, and let the pot sit down into the drawer. Seal it up together and make it look like that is where the PC belongs. This will give you more headroom. you could also just consider moving away from the PC case, and building the main enclosure out of a little bedside table or something. You clearly need more room.

That's just my 2 cents.

Good luck.

 

[greenjeans]

Another suggestion is that you pay closer attention to your size constraints. For instance, the Fantasmo Express is like a 4ft plant. You can't reasonably expect to keep it at 6 inches tall. There are plenty of dwarf strains out there that would suit this type of grow much better. Two plants that are designed to be 2-4 feet tall was just a bad choice, IMO. If it were me, I would choose a short strain, grow a single plant, and plant it ALL the way to one side of that pot, then force it to grow horizontally as soon as it hits 5 inches tall.

 

[TimeTraveler]

I appreciate the advice, but the cabinet and case idea isn't really feasible for my setup. The big problem here is the tiered planting stole a solid 4" of vertical space that turned out to be far more crucial than I'd anticipated; training alone isn't enough to offset that.

I'm really not aware of any dwarf varieties that are only a foot tall and mostly sativa dominant. I picked the strains I picked because the highs they're known for better fit my desired smoke, and with space and yield so difficult for me to come by, I can't really bother with strains that aren't going to be what I want.

Obviously growing two plants, in a tiered setup, without ever having tried this before, wasn't the best way to go at it. I'd already said as much. My next grow will be a SCROG setup so I can go with a taller variety and not have as many issues. I'm really more concerned with what, if anything, there is to do NOW.

 

[Wienerwoods]

A few thoughts-

I'd store seeds in a fridge if I had as many as you do. Dry storage is a no-brainer, sure, but my understanding is that you can extend the viability by years if you keep them cold.

I would also like to suggest simply reducing the size of the container. Less height means more space to grow, less volume means smaller plants. What strains you grow doesn't really matter either. Take a look at my last grow here and you see what I mean. Switching to flowering nutes early on is also a good idea to keep the plants smaller.

Keep fighting the growth, it's bound to stop any day now. This is where the good stuff starts to happen!

 

[TimeTraveler]

Man, I was super nervous opening the case this morning. Couldn't check on the girls Saturday or Sunday; I made sure they had plenty of water, but still...nervous about their growth more than anything.

I have to say, I have mixed feelings about what I saw today. Obviously, there's still some bleaching damage and I had to prune some smaller fan leaves. However, lots of budding sites and growth seems to be slowing a bit. The Sour Crack in particular is getting very dense and showing lots of promise in spite of this. Here are the pics. I'd just fed and spritzed them with water, hence the misty, wet look to the plants and the little droplets on the leaves. First, the Fantasmo Express:

Lots of branches, and the leaves that aren't dying from overexposure to the light are looking healthy. Next, the Sour Crack:

Maybe it's just because this is a shorter, denser growing plant, but I could swear it looks healthier. It is absolutely covered in fan leaves and bud sites, and it is extremely dense; there are a few buds and the like growing UNDER all those leaves, but no real way to see them without delving into the plant and taking shots.


As you can see, there's both healthy leaves, growing colas and pistils, and dead leaves and heavy bleaching/scorching.

So, both good and bad. I'm trying to be optimistic, and it does appear there will be at least some decent bud coming from this harvest, but man these plants are having hard time under the lights. I will definitely have to figure out how to incorporate a proper screen into my next grow; there just won't be any way for the yield to be what it could without one. On the plus side, no deficiencies showing up at this point. I fed them some RO water today, along with a pinch of all purpose nutes, some molasses, and more liquid kelp with chelated iron. Not a lot, just a little top-off to keep them healthy and feed the soil microbes a bit (I've heard great things about molasses added to the water, figured a little shot now wouldn't hurt). I really want the soil and roots to be as healthy and happy as possible to counter the stress the leaves are taking from the merciless BlackStar sun I've stuck them under.

 

[TimeTraveler]

Plants seem to be looking better today; less bleaching and spotting, though there is some still, it's hard to tell if it's new or just what's already been there. I watered them and top dressed with some of my homemade super soil I've been cooking. The soil had settled pretty far down from the top after so many waterings, so it seemed like a good idea to dress it with something rich and healthy. No pictures today; I couldn't get to my plants for a bit longer than usual, and they seem a bit lackluster from thirst. Hopefully pics tomorrow when they've had a chance to drink and get strong and healthy.

 

[woody]

Glad to hear they're starting to look better tt

 

[TimeTraveler]

Well, things are looking...up, I suppose.

The Sour Crack is doing well, but the Fantasmo Express looks odd...spindly and with mostly small fan leaves, I'm worried it's not doing well, but the pistils are looking better and better as the buds form. I'm not sure how overall it's doing, but I'm still optimistic. My next grow will definitely be SCROG trained, and between that and the plug planting instead of tiered, those extra inches may be enough to ensure a healthy plant instead of the strained duo I have now. Here's the latest pic, Sour Crack on the left, Fantasmo Express on the right:

 

[TimeTraveler]

Oh man, you guys. Trichs are showing up! Trichomes, you guys!!! It's happening!

I think another issue was the ceramic heat lamp: coupled with the mylar, I think it was just too much heat and creating hot spots; it's been a couple days since I unplugged it altogether and it seems to have helped. I may simply not need the climate control where I'm growing indoors (it only seemed to kick on after waterings when the case was open anyway).

Here's some pics of the Fantasmo Express:

And another, close up:

Next, here's the Sour Crack:

Look at those orange hairs, those sugary leaves! Man, I'm so excited that this is apparently working!

 

[Papa Munch]

I feel your joy! I also got trich's for the very first time last weekend! WOOT! Now I just hope them buds GROW! It is and has been fascinating to go through the process and witness each phase of the grow, not quite knowing what to expect or how it is going to happen.

Nice Job!!