First grow journal

Whoo hoo! I'm starting my first plants in many years. I've grown outside and inside before, but only budded outside. I just gotta grow my own now because I can neither afford or find the high grade strains I need to kill off some serious pain (hence my screen name above). So agrowing I go!!

Now I am going for a small sea of green garden. I've read everything I can find, including the "bible"--Ed Rosenthal (but my copy is old).

I can't promise to post daily cause I work a lot. I can promise to put up pix from time to time. I also don't have the expert grow setup. Instead, I have a metal hallide mounted to a table that was used for computers (so it will stand the heat). I made a curtain for it, put out a long tray and give it lots of water. I used organic dirt, perlite, blood and bone meal. Mixed with some real dirt (non-organic). I think it'll be fine without further nutrients, but I might get a little for periodic fertilizer.


Today, I have two sprouts! One you can sorta see; one isn't pictured. The sprout is an aurora indica.

I have planted AI, Afghan, Ice, Sweet Bud, and some miscellaneous seeds I've been keeping a while. What fun!

im glad for you and i hope it works, i would have done them in seperate jugs , problem with that u got there is if u put nutes its impossible to flush , really easy to over water because theres no drainage and its not very deep

Thanks for the message and information. I'm still in the early stages and I can split them up into separate pots. Will post new today.

After about 4 days, I now have 7 sprouts. One is a little anemic, so we'll see about that one. Those which are happy and healthy, I think I will repot into their own pots. It will be easier to move, relocate and control.

I'm thinking of getting a grow cabinet. I'd like more anonymity, though I think I'm controlling things well. I'm an almost 30 yr stoner, so I'm naturally a little paranoid!

Today's pix, from left to right: (Ice, afghan, ice, everybody)

After 14 days and trying to germinate 12 primo seeds and 12 moderate seeds, 8 of the 12 goodies came up and none of the moderates, which is fine. The better the bud, the better life is.

They are growing beautifully, no problems. I planted 4 more good seeds, two blueberry, two AK-48. One of those sprouted in two days and is growing quite nicely.

Today, I'm starting CO2 and a little fertilizer, though I don't really think it needs too much; good soil and bone/blood meal already there. I might just about one every 3 weeks give it a week miracle grow solution for just a little bit of boost.

I solved the temperature problems I was having within a day; great information on this site. I'm still thinking of a more secure enclosure--tax return's coming. They are beginning to lightly smell, so soon I'll move the air purifier upstairs; may purchase a stronger one. The Ice plant, the largest leaf one I have is very exciting--it's leaves are beginning to have a whitish sheen. No bugs or fungus, so this should be good. Hope I'm all done by the end of March, so I can start a reflower for the late summer.

I think of what has sprouted so far that I have 3 boys, which I will quickly destroy. Those with the pointest leaves that aren't broad at any point I'm thinking are boys. Sorry to have to murder you guys. Can you grow them to any size and smoke any part of them?

Here's some pix.

After 28 days, I've got some great looking plants and some which are struggling. I turned the box and the ones in the back are tending to burn a bit. I am going to work on raising the light to an appropriate height, which will solve the problem. I'm also going to try to fan the heat away from the plants more so they are cooler. I think they'll be ok. I'm only using 16 hrs of light, so I'm hoping I'll be able to start flowering in another 5 weeks, at least for the sweetbud which is growing fastest.

As much as I don't want to, I know I also have to repot these into individual pots because they are growing at different rates now, and I'll be ready to flower some earlier than others. Some I can probably flower at the window soon because it's about 10 hrs of daylight. As much as I want an air cooled light, I just can't afford it now. So I'll have to make do with metal hallide and hope for the best.

Here's some pix. First pix is a smaller sweet bud; middle picture is ice, aurora indica and afghan. third picture is largest sweet bud, blueberry and ak-48 on far left.[/quote]

Jeez. I stressed myself and my plants. I think 8 will be OK and I might end up starting new ones. What the F--- did I do?

I decided to split them up into their own pots as some suggested. I also put a darker cloth around (inadvertently raising the heat!) which cooked some. I raised the light, but not enough. So the long and the short is that the vigorous plants I had last week are in bad shape.

The good news is that they are all making new leaves. Some didn't burn at all. Others freaked out. The ones in the back will be fine; I think they all will be eventually, especially after I raise the light again. I am keeping them cooler and more exposed. I guess I set myself back a month for harvest now. I was only doing 16 hrs of light anyway.

Of course, I really wished I had not repotted them. It was just too much of a shock. I'm hoping at least 6 of them will live. I will start new seeds after I raise the light. Jeez!

Well, I survived the move for the most part. Lost another one to some bud-booster (i was measuring wrong). Got very blessed--only one male outta 8 plants. So I still have seven good one. I will set five to blooming next week; two I will set in the window to keep growing in natural sunlight until they are bigger and ready to bloom. I used some Humboldt Cty bloom booster; am going to give them one more weak little shot before I start flowering next week.

I also changed lights. After about 2.5 mos under metal hallide 1000 watts in a too small space (which I finally figured out), my babies just couldn't take it anymore, so I changed the light light--invested in a HPS 400 watt and a nice reflector. The babies were exceptionally happy at the light change. They have been going about six weeks under the new light and are much better; beginning to smell. I going to start flowering them next weekend. They will have been going for 97 days. Should be a good time to start. Wish me luck out there.

A.S.