WaywardGarden
Herbalist and Certified Master Gardener
Hey y’all! I’m a lurker turned poster. Didn’t want to post til i saw this thing thru. I’m hooked, new fav hobby. I’m an avid gardener and herbalist and even though I considered myself very knowledgeable on plants and how they work, nothing has taught me more about plants than this project.
I kept things super basic in case of failure. Didn’t want to spend all my money. I figured if it goes well i can eventually upgrade.
Materials:
-cheap 2x2x3 tent from eBay
- mars hydro eco 49 300 watt. (I’m confused about lights and i know this wasn’t a great light but i got such a good deal on it.)
About a few weeks before it was time to harvest i switched to this random offbrand cob light thing from amazon: UFO Led Grow Light, Growstar 300W Full Spectrum Plant Light with Cree COB for Indoor Greenhouse Garden (300 watt). Here is the link if anyone wants to check it out: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07315FTRS?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title
I had been reading about how incredible cobs are but it’s all so confusing and overwhelming sometimes! Also, expensive!
-ocean forest soil that i mixed extra perlite into
-Alaska fish fertilizer, Fox farm big bloom, seaweed+aloe supplements, Monty’s big bloom. A few of these are supplements i already enjoy on the rest of my garden so i just decided to bring them inside.
-for my water i just kept jugs of tap water out and let them off-gas for a minimum of 24 hours before using them for watering.
-small floor fan
NO ventilation.
I really enjoyed lurking on this website. I read and read and read and read before i even started my seed. Then i kept reading and reading and reading. I felt nervous to start, but my own intuition from years of experience growing other plants and herbs + the info i gained here made this a wonderful experience for me. I didn’t keep a grow journal as i was growing but i was able to remember a bit so I’m gonna share it here.
First seed i tried to germinate didn’t do anything, just ended up rotting. So the second seed i decided to scarify by rolling it around in the palm of my hand with some soil. Then i soaked it for a few hours, then i put it One of those small jiffy peat pucks that had already been saturated + expanded with warm water. Then that went inside a mixing bowl, covered with Plastic wrap and few puncture holes, then on top of a warming pad.
One week after popping the seed in is the first picture. I took photos every week on Sunday, because Sunday was the day i started the seed.
The plant had some issues in the beginning- after initial germination i transplanted it into a small pot (which i shouldn’t have done) and then transplanted again into its final pot.
I kept the plant pretty small on purpose. I was nervous to have some big mama that i didn’t know how to handle.
I used a nursery pot that i drilled holes into all around for better airflow to the roots. I’m not sure how big the pot was but i think it’s only about 3 quarts!
I had issues with extremely high heat because the orignal location of my tent was the laundry room which is an uninsulated part of my home. Temps were in the upper 90’s all the time, usually 98. I feel like this high heat stunted my growth.
Then some freakin mice got into my tent and crawled into the pot thru some of the drainage holes and are roots and dig out a bunch of soil.
After the mice, i said fuck it, and brought the tent into our home. It’s in a discreet location but i had been avoiding bringing it into the home originally cause my partner is a little weird about it and i didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, but i don’t think he cares now that he’s seen how much fun I’ve had. Moving it inside to the ac is one of the best things i did for her after the rough start and as i continued to mess with her too much.
Then i decided to have a go at topping! I believe i did it too late- i did it at the fourth node but it was basically in the 5th week of life.
Then on the 6th week, while she was already flowering, i decided now was the time to train. So i did that lol. I snapped a branch almost completely off at the base of the stem but i used twist ties and secured it close to the stem. It healed fine and produced good buds. (I tried this again on a second grow and was not so lucky, but in this case i had snapped it clean off.)
As flowering progressed, i started noticing nutrition issues that I’m pretty sure were potassium deficiency. This was such a Frustrating time because i never felt like i could keep up with it. Every day there would be more damaged leaves. And then as i tried to combat the potassium deficiency, it started to look like she had too much nitrogen!
I found a jewlers loupe insufficient for looking at trichromes so i got a computer miscroscope i saw recommended on here. I am disappointed with the image quality but it was still enough to see.
I NEVER saw any amber trichromes which i was looking for because i like sleepy weed. I gave up on using the trichromes as a guide to harvest and instead began to look at the orange and white pistols and the entire plant, holistically.
About 4 weeks before harvest i got that other cob light i mentioned. I started a second plant so at first i was trying to run the cob light and the eco mars hydro at the same time but it was bringing my temps into the upper 90’s again and giving me even more issues with humidity. I noticed that when i run just the mars hydro, my humidity levels are better. When i run just the cob light, my humidity stays really low.
At this point i committed to just using the new cob light bc I’m pretty sure it actually puts out more light and more spectrum than my eco mars hydro. It could have been coincidence in timing because this is totally an offbrand product but i felt like my colas fattened up When i started using it.
I harvested about 10 weeks from starting the seed. I was going out of town the DAY i harvested so i hung it in my bathroom where the relative humidity was 45. I was to be gone 5 days which i thought was perfect because i read you let it air dry for a day per ten degrees of humidity, plus one day. But i think it actually was 1-2 days too long because when i put it in the jar to cure, overnight it only came up to 56 RH. I thought it was supposed to be 60-65.
So now I’m just letting her hang out in the jar to cure and develop taste and aroma.
I got ~22 give or take grams off of her.
All in all, I’m hooked. I’m obsessed with this hobby and I’m growing a second AF Kush freebie from seedsman. I’m trying to take weekly pictures of that as well because it helps me learn.
I’m open to any suggestions, advice, encouragement that y’all might have. Thank you for taking the time to read and look at my Pics!
I kept things super basic in case of failure. Didn’t want to spend all my money. I figured if it goes well i can eventually upgrade.
Materials:
-cheap 2x2x3 tent from eBay
- mars hydro eco 49 300 watt. (I’m confused about lights and i know this wasn’t a great light but i got such a good deal on it.)
About a few weeks before it was time to harvest i switched to this random offbrand cob light thing from amazon: UFO Led Grow Light, Growstar 300W Full Spectrum Plant Light with Cree COB for Indoor Greenhouse Garden (300 watt). Here is the link if anyone wants to check it out: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07315FTRS?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title
I had been reading about how incredible cobs are but it’s all so confusing and overwhelming sometimes! Also, expensive!
-ocean forest soil that i mixed extra perlite into
-Alaska fish fertilizer, Fox farm big bloom, seaweed+aloe supplements, Monty’s big bloom. A few of these are supplements i already enjoy on the rest of my garden so i just decided to bring them inside.
-for my water i just kept jugs of tap water out and let them off-gas for a minimum of 24 hours before using them for watering.
-small floor fan
NO ventilation.
I really enjoyed lurking on this website. I read and read and read and read before i even started my seed. Then i kept reading and reading and reading. I felt nervous to start, but my own intuition from years of experience growing other plants and herbs + the info i gained here made this a wonderful experience for me. I didn’t keep a grow journal as i was growing but i was able to remember a bit so I’m gonna share it here.
First seed i tried to germinate didn’t do anything, just ended up rotting. So the second seed i decided to scarify by rolling it around in the palm of my hand with some soil. Then i soaked it for a few hours, then i put it One of those small jiffy peat pucks that had already been saturated + expanded with warm water. Then that went inside a mixing bowl, covered with Plastic wrap and few puncture holes, then on top of a warming pad.
One week after popping the seed in is the first picture. I took photos every week on Sunday, because Sunday was the day i started the seed.
The plant had some issues in the beginning- after initial germination i transplanted it into a small pot (which i shouldn’t have done) and then transplanted again into its final pot.
I kept the plant pretty small on purpose. I was nervous to have some big mama that i didn’t know how to handle.
I used a nursery pot that i drilled holes into all around for better airflow to the roots. I’m not sure how big the pot was but i think it’s only about 3 quarts!
I had issues with extremely high heat because the orignal location of my tent was the laundry room which is an uninsulated part of my home. Temps were in the upper 90’s all the time, usually 98. I feel like this high heat stunted my growth.
Then some freakin mice got into my tent and crawled into the pot thru some of the drainage holes and are roots and dig out a bunch of soil.
After the mice, i said fuck it, and brought the tent into our home. It’s in a discreet location but i had been avoiding bringing it into the home originally cause my partner is a little weird about it and i didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, but i don’t think he cares now that he’s seen how much fun I’ve had. Moving it inside to the ac is one of the best things i did for her after the rough start and as i continued to mess with her too much.
Then i decided to have a go at topping! I believe i did it too late- i did it at the fourth node but it was basically in the 5th week of life.
Then on the 6th week, while she was already flowering, i decided now was the time to train. So i did that lol. I snapped a branch almost completely off at the base of the stem but i used twist ties and secured it close to the stem. It healed fine and produced good buds. (I tried this again on a second grow and was not so lucky, but in this case i had snapped it clean off.)
As flowering progressed, i started noticing nutrition issues that I’m pretty sure were potassium deficiency. This was such a Frustrating time because i never felt like i could keep up with it. Every day there would be more damaged leaves. And then as i tried to combat the potassium deficiency, it started to look like she had too much nitrogen!
I found a jewlers loupe insufficient for looking at trichromes so i got a computer miscroscope i saw recommended on here. I am disappointed with the image quality but it was still enough to see.
I NEVER saw any amber trichromes which i was looking for because i like sleepy weed. I gave up on using the trichromes as a guide to harvest and instead began to look at the orange and white pistols and the entire plant, holistically.
About 4 weeks before harvest i got that other cob light i mentioned. I started a second plant so at first i was trying to run the cob light and the eco mars hydro at the same time but it was bringing my temps into the upper 90’s again and giving me even more issues with humidity. I noticed that when i run just the mars hydro, my humidity levels are better. When i run just the cob light, my humidity stays really low.
At this point i committed to just using the new cob light bc I’m pretty sure it actually puts out more light and more spectrum than my eco mars hydro. It could have been coincidence in timing because this is totally an offbrand product but i felt like my colas fattened up When i started using it.
I harvested about 10 weeks from starting the seed. I was going out of town the DAY i harvested so i hung it in my bathroom where the relative humidity was 45. I was to be gone 5 days which i thought was perfect because i read you let it air dry for a day per ten degrees of humidity, plus one day. But i think it actually was 1-2 days too long because when i put it in the jar to cure, overnight it only came up to 56 RH. I thought it was supposed to be 60-65.
So now I’m just letting her hang out in the jar to cure and develop taste and aroma.
I got ~22 give or take grams off of her.
All in all, I’m hooked. I’m obsessed with this hobby and I’m growing a second AF Kush freebie from seedsman. I’m trying to take weekly pictures of that as well because it helps me learn.
I’m open to any suggestions, advice, encouragement that y’all might have. Thank you for taking the time to read and look at my Pics!
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thats quite an intro and first grow experience 
22g first time out the gate is a good effort 
