caliponics
Member
This did not start off as a serious grow. I will give a summary up to this point so you can see where I am at. I just recently got my green card and never actually planned on growing my own. I apologize for the wall of text that follows.
I will also explain the mistakes I made and my attempted remedies. These will be marked by a "*".
I am totally new at this so bear with me. I will ask lots of questions and post pics when I can. Thanks in advance for all your help!!
Day 0 - Planted 3 seeds in Miracle Grow Organics soil and watered with tap water.
*There are much more effective ways of germinating seeds. Most commonly I see the "Paper Towel" method advised.
Day 3 - Woke up to 3 sprouts - placed them under reptile heating lamp for a few hours. Watered heavily
*Over watering is a common problem which I abused many times. Watering every few days is much more effective. The soil should be almost dry before watering again. Also containers with no drainage are prone to fungus and bacteria and will likely cause root rot.
*Heating lamps are an incredibly poor choice. They produce more heat than usable light and are more likely to burn your plant than cause it to thrive. Do research on your lighting BEFORE ever starting a grow. There are MANY options and each suits a different type of grow so be sure you get the one you want. There is a fine line between budget and quality so see what will work best for you.
Day 6 - Transplanted the sprouts intoplastic. Changed lighting to six 27w 2700K CFL's. Put them on 18/6 light cycle
*The plastic cups I used were a solid color. This is a better choice than clear cups as you want to avoid getting much light on your roots if you can help it. Also 2700k lights are much better for flowering than for vegging. I was unaware of this at the time but know better for the future.
Day 12 - Transplanted plants into a large rubbermaid container. Started using a weak mix of Miracle Grow Liquid Houseplant food (8-7-6.)
*The rubbermaid container has no drainage just like the cool whip containers. My roots were slimy rotting due to lack of drainage. I didn't know at the time that they were damaged but in retrospect I was killing my own plants. This kind of grow would work ok, but drill holes in the bottom and set it on some sort of tray to make sure the soil doesn't just rot your roots and kill your plants.
*Miracle grow and other generic fertilizers are not really customized for this type of application. Definitely invest in something better and make sure you have separate nutes for veg/flower.
*The rubbermaid tub was still a bad choice. The plants flourished for a while due to the added area to spread their roots, but again with no drainage it causes the soil to clump together tightly. My plants became rootbound and were stunted because they could not spread their roots through the compacted soil. Mix soil with other mediums to keep it loose and increase aeration.
Day 15 - Switched the lights to flowering schedule 12/12 after reading about grows using flowering from seed. I have limited space and thought this would be a good choice.
*Having never finished a grow I can't make a decision on when to flower YOUR plant. Some people don't believe in 12/12 from seed, others swear by it. I would maybe recommend NOT trying 12/12 from seed as your first grow simply because the vegging is more forgiving for a first time grower, but research both methods for the future and see what suits you. You WILL make mistakes your first time but the more informed you are the better prepared you will be to recover from them.
Day 18 - Plants showing zero growth except for straight up.
*Having your lights too far from your plants will cause them to stretch. My growth was also stunted by more poor soil/root/fertilizer combinations, but the stretching was preventing them from gaining any weight whatsoever.
Day 21 - Plants showing no change for days except to become yellow a little at a time. By this time I was researching alternate grow methods.
*Cannabis grows at a pretty steady rate. For 2 or 3 days you may notice nothing but my plants were obviously sickly and I knew something wasn't right. If something is wrong you will know as it is visibly obvious in my experience. Plants that look healthy generally are.
Day 23 - Bought the following supplies for DWC bubble bucket
-10 Gallon rubbermaid tub with 5 holes cut for 4 inch net pots
-PH tester
-PH up/down
-Dyna-gro Liquid Grow(7-9-5)
-Dyna-gro Liquid Bloom (3-12-6)
-Air pumps for a pair of 10 inch bubble stones and a 5 inch bubble stone.
-150 watt HPS
I PH tested my tap water for the first time ever to find that it was at a PH of about 8.2. AHH!!! Lowered the bucket to 5.8 and let it run overnight. Set up everything for a transplant the next day.
*Do your research and get EVERYTHING YOU NEED! I am 100% sure that my water PH had locked out almost all nutes to my plants as they showed multiple deficiencies.
Day 24 - Transplanted plants into 4 inch net pots with hydroton. Set them in hydro bucket with water PH at 5.6. Gave them a mix of flower and bloom nutes to try and get them healthy. Remember that they are still on flowering schedule as I think re-vegging them would over stress them.
Day 25 - Woke up to HEALTHY GREEN PLANTS!!! Two are showing female colas!!! 24 hours and they have turned back to a healthy green and had identifiable flowers. HUGE DIFFERENCE!!
Day 27 - Flowers and leaves are growing rapidly. Checked PH this morning to be startled by it at 8.0. Opened lid to find mirky gross water with floaties. Pretty sure it is bacteria infection. Checked water temp - it was at 84. Removed plants, washed bucket, bubble stones, etc. with diluted bleach. Cut a cardboard piece out to cover the entire lid while holding the pots still - this was an attempt to lower water temps drastically and ensure that light cannot enter my bucket. These plants have been stressed enough.
*Make sure your temps and PH are always steady. These two issues have likely caused 90% or more of my grow issues. Especially in a hydro grow keep the roots and water cool and in a dark place.
So thats where I am at. The next post will house some pics from where they are now.
I will also explain the mistakes I made and my attempted remedies. These will be marked by a "*".
I am totally new at this so bear with me. I will ask lots of questions and post pics when I can. Thanks in advance for all your help!!
Day 0 - Planted 3 seeds in Miracle Grow Organics soil and watered with tap water.
*There are much more effective ways of germinating seeds. Most commonly I see the "Paper Towel" method advised.
Day 3 - Woke up to 3 sprouts - placed them under reptile heating lamp for a few hours. Watered heavily
*Over watering is a common problem which I abused many times. Watering every few days is much more effective. The soil should be almost dry before watering again. Also containers with no drainage are prone to fungus and bacteria and will likely cause root rot.
*Heating lamps are an incredibly poor choice. They produce more heat than usable light and are more likely to burn your plant than cause it to thrive. Do research on your lighting BEFORE ever starting a grow. There are MANY options and each suits a different type of grow so be sure you get the one you want. There is a fine line between budget and quality so see what will work best for you.
Day 6 - Transplanted the sprouts intoplastic. Changed lighting to six 27w 2700K CFL's. Put them on 18/6 light cycle
*The plastic cups I used were a solid color. This is a better choice than clear cups as you want to avoid getting much light on your roots if you can help it. Also 2700k lights are much better for flowering than for vegging. I was unaware of this at the time but know better for the future.
Day 12 - Transplanted plants into a large rubbermaid container. Started using a weak mix of Miracle Grow Liquid Houseplant food (8-7-6.)
*The rubbermaid container has no drainage just like the cool whip containers. My roots were slimy rotting due to lack of drainage. I didn't know at the time that they were damaged but in retrospect I was killing my own plants. This kind of grow would work ok, but drill holes in the bottom and set it on some sort of tray to make sure the soil doesn't just rot your roots and kill your plants.
*Miracle grow and other generic fertilizers are not really customized for this type of application. Definitely invest in something better and make sure you have separate nutes for veg/flower.
*The rubbermaid tub was still a bad choice. The plants flourished for a while due to the added area to spread their roots, but again with no drainage it causes the soil to clump together tightly. My plants became rootbound and were stunted because they could not spread their roots through the compacted soil. Mix soil with other mediums to keep it loose and increase aeration.
Day 15 - Switched the lights to flowering schedule 12/12 after reading about grows using flowering from seed. I have limited space and thought this would be a good choice.
*Having never finished a grow I can't make a decision on when to flower YOUR plant. Some people don't believe in 12/12 from seed, others swear by it. I would maybe recommend NOT trying 12/12 from seed as your first grow simply because the vegging is more forgiving for a first time grower, but research both methods for the future and see what suits you. You WILL make mistakes your first time but the more informed you are the better prepared you will be to recover from them.
Day 18 - Plants showing zero growth except for straight up.
*Having your lights too far from your plants will cause them to stretch. My growth was also stunted by more poor soil/root/fertilizer combinations, but the stretching was preventing them from gaining any weight whatsoever.
Day 21 - Plants showing no change for days except to become yellow a little at a time. By this time I was researching alternate grow methods.
*Cannabis grows at a pretty steady rate. For 2 or 3 days you may notice nothing but my plants were obviously sickly and I knew something wasn't right. If something is wrong you will know as it is visibly obvious in my experience. Plants that look healthy generally are.
Day 23 - Bought the following supplies for DWC bubble bucket
-10 Gallon rubbermaid tub with 5 holes cut for 4 inch net pots
-PH tester
-PH up/down
-Dyna-gro Liquid Grow(7-9-5)
-Dyna-gro Liquid Bloom (3-12-6)
-Air pumps for a pair of 10 inch bubble stones and a 5 inch bubble stone.
-150 watt HPS
I PH tested my tap water for the first time ever to find that it was at a PH of about 8.2. AHH!!! Lowered the bucket to 5.8 and let it run overnight. Set up everything for a transplant the next day.
*Do your research and get EVERYTHING YOU NEED! I am 100% sure that my water PH had locked out almost all nutes to my plants as they showed multiple deficiencies.
Day 24 - Transplanted plants into 4 inch net pots with hydroton. Set them in hydro bucket with water PH at 5.6. Gave them a mix of flower and bloom nutes to try and get them healthy. Remember that they are still on flowering schedule as I think re-vegging them would over stress them.
Day 25 - Woke up to HEALTHY GREEN PLANTS!!! Two are showing female colas!!! 24 hours and they have turned back to a healthy green and had identifiable flowers. HUGE DIFFERENCE!!
Day 27 - Flowers and leaves are growing rapidly. Checked PH this morning to be startled by it at 8.0. Opened lid to find mirky gross water with floaties. Pretty sure it is bacteria infection. Checked water temp - it was at 84. Removed plants, washed bucket, bubble stones, etc. with diluted bleach. Cut a cardboard piece out to cover the entire lid while holding the pots still - this was an attempt to lower water temps drastically and ensure that light cannot enter my bucket. These plants have been stressed enough.
*Make sure your temps and PH are always steady. These two issues have likely caused 90% or more of my grow issues. Especially in a hydro grow keep the roots and water cool and in a dark place.
So thats where I am at. The next post will house some pics from where they are now.
