New Grower Grunt's Third Grow

[I <3 AFN]

Today is Wednesday April 11th, 2018 and things are getting going around my indoor garden for my third grow. This will be my first documented journal and I hope that I can do updates every other or every third day, at least until things really start to get going! Feel free to comment, ask questions, etc. and I will do my best to respond, please try to keep it relevant though! Also, I am not a representative of any company or product that I am using, and you will probably all laugh by the end and not want to use any of this stuff anyway. So, manufacturers be aware that your sales may suffer as a result of my lack of skills. That said, anyone in the Salem, Oregon area I strongly encourage you to see Jakob at Legacy Grow Supply for any of your needs, he is a top notch guy and carries a great variety of products.

Anyhow, back on track and to backtrack a tad... I have done one outdoor grow using Fox Farm's Ocean Forest and Happy Frog (good results for first grow), one indoor using Happy Frog (good results), one indoor using Pro-Mix HP+Myco (issues, though I persevered), and now about to start one using my own blend as listed below:

9 gal's Black Gold Seedling Mix
2.5 gal's Perlite (washed, sorry to steal your colander, babe)
Earthworm Castings at the rate of 1 cup per gallon of seedling mix
Half strength 0-5-0 Bat Guano
Full strength powdered Azomite
Full strength granular Endo Mycorrhizae

These items have been in a blue plastic moving tote (DWC bucket) on top of my dryer for about a month being stirred every couple days. Except the granular myco's which was just added a few days ago. I have enough kids that the dryer is used quite a bit in my house, so this soil has been nice and warm the whole time and feels and smells pretty yummy! Now that I am ready and soaking seeds I decided to also wet my final pots to get them going with microbes and what not. I "made water" today, as it is called around my house. I use tap water, except on tiny babies, but it has set out for a day being aerated so the chlorine goes away (though that isn't really too much of a problem around here). I use Nectar For The Gods Olympus Up and Hades Down to get me to 6.5 to start. Then, I added water soluble silica, full strength Fox Farm's Kangaroots, half strength Dr. Earth Seaweed, and some Blackstrap Molasses. This water was then readjusted to 6.5 and continuously aerated for several more hours. I also warm the water by submersing their jars in a sink of hot water until they hit about 73F, as that is a degree or two above my ambient air temp in tent with both switches on. I divided my soil into 3 gallon plastic pots, shaking out any pockets of air. Then watered 1L per pot to get things moist. My PH of soil prior to watering was 6.8, after watering it is right on 6.6, the Myco's will get it just right well before transplant! I believe with these gentle ingredients, and used sparingly, that I should not have any problems with nutrient burns. Also of note, I have my Viparspectra Reflector 600 LED grow light going with both switches on to keep the temps up until all seeds are sprouted and in their Solo cups of soil, even though it will not be providing the light to the littles, they will be under a different light as noted below. Also, this will help keep the soil ambient temps up in the 3 gallon pots which also helps regulate the atmosphere inside the tent. On cold days this winter I would set up to 6 half gallon Mason jars sealed shut full of 120F water, this helped keep the temps up close to 70F even on the coldest days! I will try anything that seems feasible.

At the same time, I have soil that is a tiny bit different mixed up and placed in Solo cups, it consists of the following:

1 gallon Black Gold Seedling Mix
1/2 cup Earthworm Castings
15% perlite (only the finer stuff)
Full strength powdered Azomite
1/2 strength granular Endo Myco
1/8 strength 0-5-0 Bat Guano

I watered these with 6.5ph spring water with 1/2 strength seaweed. Same as above, this is a very mild blend of nutrients in a form that the Myco's will help break down and make even more gentle. I really don't feel that I will have any issues, but I have a batch of this mix without the castings and guano, just in case the plants don't respond well for some reason. Of course, as seedlings, they will probably just die if it is too much, but I have more seeds and can always do it over with gentler soil!

Now, those solo cups are in a modified 2 gallon bucket, it has 3/8" holes drilled all over the bottom for drainage, and towards the top for my two micro fans to create swirling breezes through and some air exchange. They have a 5000k LED in a 10" reflector overhead to provide the gentle early growth. I also have a CFL bulb that could be used in 6500k, but the LED is about twice as bright according to my light meter (though it is a cheap one). So, I am going to lean towards the 5000k LED even though I have not used one before, I just think it will help keep things from getting leggy and be easier to manage with varying height seedlings underneath it for a week or so, where with the CFL I would need to work a bit harder to keep the canopies even, even with tiny plants, as it has poor light penetration comparatively.

The seeds are all Royal Queen Seeds Auto's and currently in cups of spring water, labeled by strain. The cups are on top of a Corelle dinner plate, with a hood made from a box to keep things in the dark, this contraption is actually on top of my grow light as the temp there is sitting on 74F. There are two Quick One's, one Bluematic, and one Northern Lights. All will be grown in the same medium, and under the same light, though they will be supplemented with nutrients as needed for each of their unique set of needs. The plan is to LST the NL around the pot. The other three will probably get some LST as well, but maybe not as extreme as the NL. Two of three Auto Mazar from my last grow had to be super cropped as they got way up into the lights, they responded well to it, so that is also always an option to control height, at least in my opinion.

Happy growing all, I will post a few pics as well to keep things colorful!

 

[I <3 AFN]

Last of three Auto Mazar being hung to dry.

Just starting to cure, smells of Blueberry Coffeecake.

Mixing and getting ready to fill some pots.

I added way more drainage holes below. The bigger holes up top are for tying onto for LST.

Labeled with strain, sprout date, and estimated finish date, to help me stay organized.

Bubbling away and about to get some molasses added.

Just getting them going ahead of time with some microbes and what not.

My funky/custom seedling start spot, which is now in it's proper home inside the tent. The microclimate in there is pretty sweet and inviting for some sprouted seeds.

 

[AutoWonders]

Looks like you are well organized, now lets snag a huge yield and blow us all away.

 

[jingo]

Alright congratulations, third time's gonna be big [emoji16]

What I'm growing​

 

[I <3 AFN]

I am honestly not too concerned if the yield is huge, I'm all about quality over quantity. Just healthy plants doing their thing is my main concern. These will/should all be done mid to late June, then on to cure, which is about perfect timing to start growing a few in the yard, those will bring the weight! My last grow was only about 4.5 ounces from 3 plants, but one was a small pheno (Ruderalis leaning I believe) that only put on like .5oz. The first plant harvested was about 2.5oz dry which has mostly been consumed and cooked into butter, then cookies. The last plant was harvested five weeks after the first as I succession planted them all about two weeks apart, and the one starting to cure now is looking to be about 1.5oz dry, it is way more choice than the others, so it will be reserved for burning

 

[I <3 AFN]

Quick Update:

4/12/18 Both Quick One seeds had a tail this evening, so off they went into solo cups where they will reside until I see roots at the edge of the container. I put about 30ml of water in the solos in a small circle around the seeds, as the micro fans were able to dry out the surface layer in almost exactly 24 hours. The Northern Lights seed was cracked and starting to show white, but I will wait until morning to move her over. Also, the Bluematic appeared cracked as well, but no whites showing. Fingers crossed for good things in the AM. Sorry for no pics, I see lots of pics of seeds with tails but don't think it is proper handling. Maybe when I'm an old pro, but not now. It's like steelhead fishing, you handle the ones that you are putting back quickly, carefully, and minimally so they have the best chance of survival.

 

[I <3 AFN]

Good morning all! Another quick update:

Bluematic and Northern Lights both had tails and were moved to solo cups just now. They share their birthday with my wife, so I thought that was kind of cool! And here is a picture of yet a different flower, though hopefully it is a good omen of things to come.

 

[I <3 AFN]

4/15/18 All four seeds have broke the surface of their solo cups. Northern Lights was first yesterday evening, Quick One's both popped up this morning, and the Bluematic finally crept through this afternoon (I have heard the Blueberry cultivars can all be slow growers, and Trainwreck, so I'm being patient!). I decided my starts spot in the bucket and under the CFL just was too much effort to keep the humidity up inside of, so I put the solo cups without bottoms into the soil in the final pots and added 1L coke bottle bottoms humidity domes on them. Say that ten times fast...

Also of note, I turned a space heater on to maintain temps, it of course is not inside the tent for safety's sake. The temp inside the tent was 77F at 6am the morning, and is currently 79F, been staying pretty evenly at 50% RH, maybe a little cooler than some say it should be, but they are all growing quickly aside from the Bluematic. Once the plants have three or four sets of leaves on them I will turn off the heater and let my house temp manage the rest. The house is all tile flooring, where my tent is sitting was part of the garage, so it is tile on concrete, pretty nice even temps except the hottest of days, but I won't be growing past maybe the last week of June, at least not indoors! Anyhow, I am stoked that the little plants all popped up and are doing their thing. Here are a few pics...

Notice the back right solo cup is offset close to the rim, this is the Northern Lights and I will be training it around the edge of the container, the best I can, so I figured may as well start out a bit closer to the edge! Quick One's are in the tan pots on left, Bluematic is bottom right.

Cute little baby Northern Lights!

One of the Quick One's. This was from this morning, you can barely see the first true leaves growing there, they are already like 5 times that size and probably larger than the cotyledon's by the morning, or else close.

The second Quick One.

And a close up of one of the Quick One's, just thought it looked cool when I cropped it. If only I had a better camera, seeing the up close detail is pretty interesting to me, hopefully it intrigues many of you as well, happy growing!

 

[I <3 AFN]

4/16/18 I had a feeling that the Bluematic was moving along a bit slow. It tried breaking the surface overnight, but where the coty unfurls from the stem it broke right off. As slow as it was going I was worried, so I threw a freebie Seedsman Kush Auto Fem seed in a paper towel the other night and it sprouted quick. This morning I moved it and it's solo cup into the place the Bluematic had been and time will tell what happens next.

 

[I <3 AFN]

Couple of updates:

1. Seedsman freebie seed popped up but isn't making progress, at least nothing like the Quick One's and the NL. So, sprouted a RQS Jack Herer Auto and it will be taking over. Third time is a charm for what was supposed to be a Bluematic to begin with!?!

2. Bash away if you want! I have seen the results of early LST so I am already pulling the seedlings over, gently of course. The stems are handling it no problem and the tiny plants show absolutely no signs of being unhappy. I am sure the roots are currently blowing up as topside growth is slow but environmental factors are staying pretty spot on (55-65%RH and 77-81F), the plants are adjusting themselves to being bent over nearly immediately by turning up to the light, stems thickening visually through the day, and second leaf sets just starting to grow but totally visible with the loupe.

3. My original point here was deleted, as it was actually me being brash and not realizing the power company never sent me a bill last month and it never got paid, therefore my bill simply appeared to double. So, I guess my plans of total world domination will steam ahead, as long as there are no blown head gaskets or seized muffler bearings along the way

Happy grows y'all!