Wrapping up my first grow, one of two plants harvested already. Letting the second go a bit longer to get some more amber trichomes. Looking for a mentor to trade ideas with, ask questions, talk about autoflowers and growing them, etc. The usual stuff, I guess. One of the biggest sources of frustration, for me as a new grower, is seeking an answer or solution and coming up with too many possible “answers”, and not having a clue which route to take. Sure, sometimes common sense points to the obvious answer. But not always. This is one area where having a mentor would be so helpful.
I don’t want to take up too much time by laying out all the reasons I would like to find a mentor. But the TLDR is simply this: I want to be the best possible grower that I can, and I want to share this passion with an experienced and knowledgeable mentor that can help me grow, not just plants but also as a person. I find great relief and much therapy just spending time with my plants, so anything that improves that time spent, or helps make it more meaningful, benefits me as well as the plants.
I hope anyone that took the time to read all that will give it some consideration. If you think this could be for you, please send me a message, or reply here with a comment, or send smoke signals, something. Whatever. My hunger and desire to learn about this plant we all love grows daily. The more I read, the more I want to know. It’s reached a point of everything looking/reading the same on a given subject. So, here I am, searching for a real person who can help feed my hunger for knowledge through sharing their experiences, good and bad, with me. I want to learn as I grow, and grow as I learn.
Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and happy/safe holiday season.
Smoke em if you got em!
EDIT: I forgot to describe my setup when I originally made this post. It is worth noting that I will soon have 2 of the AutoPotXL plastic pots, which will replace 2 of the 3 fabric pots (5 gal) that I’ve used thus far.
Growing in soil, Michigan Made Mix (M3) “water only” super soil, with a Happy Frog buffer for seedlings. I do direct to soil germination in final containers. I add perlite and mycorrhizae (generously) when I mix up my soil, pre-plant. I have a bottle of cal/mag/iron and use RO water, but thinking about trying tap water, since mine isn’t too bad.
For lighting I use a Mars Hydro TSL-2000 because it’s got fantastic coverage in my 2x4 tent. The tent is a Gorilla Grow, so it’s got the 1’ extension, but I don’t use that yet. I keep the light about 40” above the soil until I need to raise it to keep a plant from getting too close. I keep the light on full power, running 20/4, and have both drivers outside the tent, but still close enough for radiant heat to affect the inside. For a fan/filter I run an AC Infinity T4 and the recommended filter by them. Filter sock is on. I have 3 small, non-oscillating fans down low, moving air all around and below the pots. The pots sit 4” off the floor on a wire rack.
Lights on conditions are typically 79 degrees, but go as low as 76 and as high as 82. The RH fluctuates more than I’d like, but stays within 5% of 50%, except on the day I water. Lights off sees temps go down to 62-65 degrees, and RH stays about the same as lights on. Hoping the AutoPots help stabilize this issue. I can add or remove humidity as needed, but prefer not to mess with setting that up.
I think that’s all the relevant information. I did recently pick up the dry amendments recommended for use with M3. It’s called PaPa’s Perfect Poop, or P3, and it’s a fossilized seabird guano based dry amendment. I plan to use that, as needed, as well as EWC tea and cal/mag/iron. Trying to stay as close to organic as possible, but the cal mag I’m using isn’t OMRI listed, so I’m looking for an alternative. Hopefully switching to tap water will be enough to right the deficiency, so maybe that will be my solution.
Lastly I’ll add that I currently only grow for my wife and myself. Our needs aren’t that much, really. I’ve set my mind to running a perpetual harvest system where I’ve got 1 plant coming down every 2-4 weeks. I’m confined to a single 2x4 tent, and only ever have 3 to 4 plants going at a time, plus maybe a small container plant for a grow-off or something. I do have my eye set on breeding, one day. But that’s a long way off. But that’s the direction I want to go, eventually.
Okie dokie. I think that’s everything. Hope to hear from you soon!
I don’t want to take up too much time by laying out all the reasons I would like to find a mentor. But the TLDR is simply this: I want to be the best possible grower that I can, and I want to share this passion with an experienced and knowledgeable mentor that can help me grow, not just plants but also as a person. I find great relief and much therapy just spending time with my plants, so anything that improves that time spent, or helps make it more meaningful, benefits me as well as the plants.
I hope anyone that took the time to read all that will give it some consideration. If you think this could be for you, please send me a message, or reply here with a comment, or send smoke signals, something. Whatever. My hunger and desire to learn about this plant we all love grows daily. The more I read, the more I want to know. It’s reached a point of everything looking/reading the same on a given subject. So, here I am, searching for a real person who can help feed my hunger for knowledge through sharing their experiences, good and bad, with me. I want to learn as I grow, and grow as I learn.
Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and happy/safe holiday season.
Smoke em if you got em!
EDIT: I forgot to describe my setup when I originally made this post. It is worth noting that I will soon have 2 of the AutoPotXL plastic pots, which will replace 2 of the 3 fabric pots (5 gal) that I’ve used thus far.
Growing in soil, Michigan Made Mix (M3) “water only” super soil, with a Happy Frog buffer for seedlings. I do direct to soil germination in final containers. I add perlite and mycorrhizae (generously) when I mix up my soil, pre-plant. I have a bottle of cal/mag/iron and use RO water, but thinking about trying tap water, since mine isn’t too bad.
For lighting I use a Mars Hydro TSL-2000 because it’s got fantastic coverage in my 2x4 tent. The tent is a Gorilla Grow, so it’s got the 1’ extension, but I don’t use that yet. I keep the light about 40” above the soil until I need to raise it to keep a plant from getting too close. I keep the light on full power, running 20/4, and have both drivers outside the tent, but still close enough for radiant heat to affect the inside. For a fan/filter I run an AC Infinity T4 and the recommended filter by them. Filter sock is on. I have 3 small, non-oscillating fans down low, moving air all around and below the pots. The pots sit 4” off the floor on a wire rack.
Lights on conditions are typically 79 degrees, but go as low as 76 and as high as 82. The RH fluctuates more than I’d like, but stays within 5% of 50%, except on the day I water. Lights off sees temps go down to 62-65 degrees, and RH stays about the same as lights on. Hoping the AutoPots help stabilize this issue. I can add or remove humidity as needed, but prefer not to mess with setting that up.
I think that’s all the relevant information. I did recently pick up the dry amendments recommended for use with M3. It’s called PaPa’s Perfect Poop, or P3, and it’s a fossilized seabird guano based dry amendment. I plan to use that, as needed, as well as EWC tea and cal/mag/iron. Trying to stay as close to organic as possible, but the cal mag I’m using isn’t OMRI listed, so I’m looking for an alternative. Hopefully switching to tap water will be enough to right the deficiency, so maybe that will be my solution.
Lastly I’ll add that I currently only grow for my wife and myself. Our needs aren’t that much, really. I’ve set my mind to running a perpetual harvest system where I’ve got 1 plant coming down every 2-4 weeks. I’m confined to a single 2x4 tent, and only ever have 3 to 4 plants going at a time, plus maybe a small container plant for a grow-off or something. I do have my eye set on breeding, one day. But that’s a long way off. But that’s the direction I want to go, eventually.
Okie dokie. I think that’s everything. Hope to hear from you soon!
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