NEW SUBMISSIONS WILL CLOSE JAN 31, 2019. All who wish to participate may post their entry now with a comprehensive support ticket detailing their grow op, materials, and genetics.
The quality of your entry will set the tone for everyone’s expectations for your grow.
Keep in mind and use the grow-off off-topic thread called 2019 Grow Off “OFF TOPIC” Discussion for side chitchat. There will be no discussion of participant grows there. The grower you help will be disqualified.
This contest is open to ALL ILGM members;
there are NO restrictions at all on environment / equipment / method, only the container size. (The primary rule being that roots must remain
entirely inside the 5 gal. maximum size container at all times).
The true purpose of the contest in my eyes is to drive participation and cooperation on the site and bring members together in a spirit of sharing knowledge and experiences of growing.
RULES
Read Closely
All participants will use their own skills to grow. No outside help! If you are caught cheating you’ll be dismissed. ( So having a deficiency you have to figure it out.) Remember this is a grow of skill.
All participants will use seeds of any Cannabis variety female.
Specify strain/hybrid/breeder lineage in as much detail as possible.
Participants can enter up to 5 plants (one plant per 5 gal pot), and will choose the one to be judged just before they flip to flower, or for autos must choose their entry prior to flower, preflower is okay.
Seeds will be germinated at the starting date Jan 1, 2019, but late germination permitted until the end of Jan.
There will be no entries accepted after Jan 1. If you submit your entry Jan 1 and plan to drop seeds later that’s fine. But after Jan 2 no new tickets will be received. UPDATE: NEW ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTRD UNTIL JAN 31
All roots must remain inside the 5 gal container for the duration of the challenge and may require trimming. Any type of feeding is allowed, but if roots grow out the bottom/sides of the container they must be trimmed immediately.
Harvest, dry, cure, pictures and smoke report must be completed no later than July 31, 2019.
Keep your photos and grow updates one per week at least. Missing 3 or more weeks of updates disqualifies a participant. So, keep up steady updates for maximum participation and to be considered in the winners poll.
It is expected of all participants to keep a good attitude in the spirit of community and sharing of knowledge and experiences. Let’s all have FUN.
Completed Grows will be judged by the ILGM community in a poll upon completion
of the contest.
Finished grows will be judged on:
1.) Quality of the information given
2.) Frequency and presentation of updates
3.) Quality of photographs and / or videos (linked from youtube)
4.) Explanation and details
5.) Design of the grow and training concepts
6.) Smoke report
7.) Answers to questions about the grow
8.) Quality and Quantity of the harvest
Entries close Jan 1
Germinate by Jan 31
The Grow Off ends July 31, 2019.
Wow I was gonna start a grow Jan 3 anyway, I’m in. Should be a good one, I don’t have to flower after only 25 days now on a short time window with my grad school break.
Strain:
-Moby Dick by Dinafem, Photoperiod.
probably will only fit 3-4 plants but if 5 is the rules I’ll do 5 fem seeds. My grow method is pretty simple and totally organic. Adding some new bacteria and a few supporting lights this time around.
Nutrients:
-Nature’s Living Organic Super Soil (1lb per 5 gallon pot). Subcool’s mix with a few tweaks.
Other Equipment:
-Inkbird Humidity Controller w sensor
-Gallon tank Humidifier
-Vivosun 6” duct fan
-Fan speed controller
-Door flap and Weather stripping to seal grow room, double wrapped air vent.
-SCROG Net …
Seeds have beend dropped directly into 1L containers. No funny business, no soaking overnight, just watered the 1L pot filled with fox farms ocean forrest Soil, dropped and covered the seeds in a tiny, knuckle-depth hole, and covered with cling film. They should be up and alive within 72 hours, and live here for about 10-13 days before being transplanted into four 5 gallon hercules pots and one 5 gallon air pot. I will check ever 6-12 hours or so to ensure soil is still moist.
1/22/19, Day 2,
exactly 24 hours after cracking open, and I pulled the plastic wrap off. All 5 Moby Dick seedlings are healthy, except for this guy!
Fully purple first leaf set, yet a green stem and green coty leaves. Never seen this before, where with fungus normally the stem would be drooping, streteching & unhealthy, this stem is green, sturdy and not stretching in the slightest. I can only think I left the plastic on, And deprived them of light and or fresh air? Too much moisture after cracking? I think I left the wrapping on 24 hours after cracking, I checked pretty often during the 48 hour time in the pots to the time I discovered it purple. Hopefully tomorrow some drying out and air flow will help the situation, keeping a sharp eye and I’ll toss one before I let all 5 get ruined.
1/23/19, Day 3,
Ok so Just a strange start, but all is well with the 5 moby dick plants. The purple gal has been relieved of her strange color.
1/29/19 Day 9
Plants look happy, already roots have totally established themselves. I have now begun to water as the soil dries out, no more micro watering.
My intention is (on Jan 1st) to grow ILGM’s Super Skunk fem. The Super Skunk strain is a child strain of Skunk #1. It was created specifically for Skunk lovers by crossing the hybrid Skunk #1 with the genetics behind Afghani Indica. Sensi Seeds created this strain to produce thick, dense buds good for both body pains and reducing stress. It may be the very “first hybrid breeding project with Afghani roots.”
Insect/fungal preventative measures. I use 1/2tsp. Clove oil, 1/2tsp. Cinnamon oil, 4tsp 3% peroxide, 2tsp 71% isopropyl alcohol, mixed in 1 quart of distilled water. I only use this spray (if needed) during veg and very early flowering, never mid or late flower. Fact is, if your treating your plants early enough, you won’t have insect issues during the latter stages. My gnat preventative is the simple yellow sticky cards. https://www.amazon.com/Trapro/b/ref=bl_dp_s_mw_14964808011?ie=UTF8&node=14964808011&field-lbr_brands_browse-bin=Trapro?tag=greenrel-20
Update: Dropped a single seed on 1/1/19. Mixed 1oz of distilled water with 10 drops of 3% peroxide in a 1oz shot glass. Soaked seed for 24hrs in total darkness.
Update: After 24hr soak, placed seed between two wet paper towels (wetted with same solution for the soak; 10drops 3% peroxide to1oz water). The “seed sandwich” is placed into my DIY germination box for an additional 24hrs. Box is basically just a Tupperware box with so much duct tape covering it, no light can penetrate. I wrap the box in a black tshirt so it will absorb the heat from the lights in my grow tent.
Now I carefully pick up the seed with my tweezers and place seed (root side down) into the root riot plug then put the plug into a starter pot and placed it into a jiffy tray with humidity dome. I then put it under 2 Phillips 23w 6500k CFL twister bulbs at about 14in on a 24hr light cycle. After 36 hrs, my baby was born.
Here’s a link to the root riot plugs and jiffy seed starter tray with humidity dome. Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BX4QW4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_VlRmCbZSGX13Y
The humidity is near 100% and temp is 76° for this stage of growth. No nutrients are given, only distilled water for now. Update: After a few days from birth, when I see the the first set of true leaves get about 1/2in. long, I transfer the plug into this small starter pot with a mixture of jiffy organic seed starter mix, perlite, and vermiculite.
Update: After 12 days in starter pot, roots are beginning to show through the bottom holes in the pot. It is then transferred to 5gal pot with roots organic soil. Still using the Viparspectra 300w at 12in., 18/6 cycle, and now regular tap water ph’d to 6.4.
If you can’t tell from the photo, when I water my seedlings, I keep the water in about a 4-5in radius around the seedlings so as to force the young roots to spread out in search of the water. This helps promote a large healthy root ball.
It should be noted that my tap water is well water, it has no chlorine and from the tap it tests at 23ppm and 5.5ph (always). I would suggest a reverse osmosis system or just rain water if your not lucky enough to have this type of water running from your tap. There are dechlorinators on the market if your forced to use city water, just look in your local fish store or Walmart in the pet supplies/fish tank isle.
Here’s some advanced growing techniques like topping, fimming, and super cropping, just to name a few, that Bergman’s lab has outlined. Very helpful read for noobies and vets alike!
Update: Day 21. Still giving tap water ph’d to 6.4. Viparspectra 300w at 12 in. which equates to just below 600ppfd (according to manufacture’s info) 18hrs on 6hrs off. Humidity at 50% and will now remain at this range till flowering. Temps: lights on 75-79°, off 65-69°.
I don’t know if my grow is going to be in my DWC tent or my RDWC tent because I have plants in both tents. I know I am going to drop Gold Leaf seeds for the challenge, but I have no idea what the setup is going to be.
I’ll probably grow it outside of the tents in a make shift DWC set up until there is room in one of the tents. Here are the details of what I do know.
: Strain: Gold Leaf
Breeder: ILGM
Type: Hybrid 60% Indica/40% Sativa.
Grow Space/size: 32x32x63 grow tent in my garage.
Lights: One 1200W Phlizon LED
Medium: Hydroton Clay Pebbles in 6" net pot.
Nutrients: Tap water using Lucas Formula with GH Micro and Bloom in addition to CalMag, Armor SI, Liquid Karma, and Dechlorinator even though it’s not a nutrient.
Grow Techniques: RDWC System or DWC using 5 gallon buckets with 6" net pots while using two 4x2 airstones connected to a 793 GPH air pump.
Training: Topping or FIM with a possibility of scrog or LST or all of the above.
January 24th - such a slow grower but roots are coming in now so I hope she takes off soon. Her first set of leaves never looked quite right, but new growth looks fine. So it’s a waiting game to see how she grows.
.10. My GL dropped Jan 23 didnt germ and sprout right, fail. But i dropped a new critical purple auto before the end of Jan
And my GL from jan 1 is finally happier with the humidity up. Its taken a while and i had to put an evaporative humidifier in tent, takes up so much space
Feeding with 1/4 strength nutes
.9. Well… I killed the new sprouting goldleaf. It was a comedy of errors. My Jan 1 drop GL is surviving and still growing slowly here she is
Low humidity and low temps really slowed her down. Now I have an humidifier and heater going.
.8. I dropped another gold leaf seed Jan 23. Its germinating in a cup of promix. Hopefully itll outgrow its older sister
.7. Hey again. Today is Jan 23 and my little seedling remains in seedling stage. Likely due to root trauma early on when I repositioned her in the pot and disrupted her roots. She is grow but I can see she is spending lots of energy on her roots. So i turned down the wattage of my light and put it at the top of the tent to remind my little girl she is suppsed to be vegging out, not putting down roots all the time. Humidity is low and not going to get much better. Temp is low and seems to fluctuate based on my light settings. My seedling has 4 nodes but is very compact. The branches are almost the same size as the grow tip. Shes not putting out size. but quality? I’m happy with. Thats ilgm genetics. Good stuff. Pics to follow
.6. Hey all. I haven’t been updating here because I am having growing pains. My little girl is so beautiful but she has been afraid to let go of herself and let her leaves down. I finally got tough on my environment and jump started the house humidifier. Happy to report much improved rh. Next I will address the temperature
.5. Hey all. I’ve read through everyone’s update. I made note of some growers have been absent. But it can be hard to find this thread and we r just gonna check on them. @garrigan62 what do u want to do? Do we need to send a reminder message to absent growers before they are disqualified? Heres my gold leaf today Jan 16 dropped Jan 1
.4. More turntable seedling porn jan 8
.3. Turntable seedling porn jam 7
.2. I’m going to number my entries so you all can keep things in order in my journal. Right now my seedling is just starting to spread her leaves. Temp is mid 70s, humidity too low at 30. I have the hlg 135 on the still flowering critical purple it’s in it fourth month of flower and i have a small daylight cfl with reflector an 1nch or two from the seedling. Its worked in the past
And I havent successfully started any seedlings off my hlg so I’m nervous. Ok? Get off my back. That’s my update. See you all later. Do i have to post pictures?
.1. Ok friends it is time for me to submit my support ticket style entry to the grow off.
Firstly I will be using a 2x2x4 tent and maybe a 4x4x6.5 tent. I have a 4 inch inline fan with carbon filter soon to have 8 inch fan filter instslled, add-on. I have a dehumidifier in the grow space outside the grow tent. Inside I’m running passive air flow, negative. An hlg 135 v2 3000k self assembled light run on full output with stock voltage. I have some fox farms soil I may or may not use. An a large bag of promix biofungicide, mycorrhizae. Incidently the additives may not be compatible with my nutes, but I digress. I have a timer on the light. 24hrs per day of exhaust. I use purchased RO water with salts added for flavor about 150ppm. pH to come.
Temp ranges from 73-77
RH ranges 48%-74%
Using copper wires with insulation for branches tie down. Small tip pruning clippers. Apera water testing kit combo meter pH ppm
Apera Instruments PC60 Premium 5-in-1 Waterproof pH/Conductivity/TDS/Salinity/Temp. Multi-Parameter Pocket Tester, Replaceable Probe
Always stored in 3M KCl solution.
I have known concentration and pH solutions for calibration.
pH up and down.
CaliMagic
Superthrive
Aerogarden all in one, pH adjusting, supergrow liquid plant nutrient
Ff trio
Flawless finish
Crystal farms feminizing spray (untested)
Megacrop full line
Perfect mix “grow” “bloom” “micro”
Sierra natural science SNS 604B buds-flowers
Sierra natural science SNS 604A roots-vegetation
Plastic irrigating syringe
Dropper
Measuring cups
Digital scale accurate to .01grams
3 gallon and 5 gallon fabric pots
And of course black out all the windows
I will be growing one of 5 different seeds
ILGM gold leaf or blueberry photos
Growers choice seeds !!!critical purple!!! or Blueberry autos
Blue Dream can’t remember the breeder
I’ll pick which I’ll submit for competition before I flower.
I’m not going to upload pics of everything. If there is something specific you want to see ask and I’ll get it. But I want to leave more to the imagination.
BTW I had a cheapo pH pen I tossed but now I wish I had it, so… FYI
I have my turntable and it works perfectly.
Until then. Everybody, thanks for participating in the grow off, and thanks all for being involved. Not everyone could participate who wanted to, but they are here with their grows sharing in the experience. It’s so cool this event is happening. This is so cool guys. Sappy…
WE ARE CLOSING THE DOORS FOR NEW SUBMISSIONS JAN 31, 2019.
So if you want to participate get your info in by Jan 1 and drop your seeds by the end of Jan, 2019.
OK then! Some new purchases have gone through, and here’s my preliminary entry ticket:
Container: Autopot 2XL SmartPot system with 2 5-gallon fabric pots and a 12.4 gallon tank. I’ll get a recirculating pump, which I don’t yet have, and use an aquarium heater to keep the irrigation water at a reasonable temperature. Environment: 2x4x6.5’ Gorilla Lite Tent in outdoor shed (cold) Light: QB 260W V2 and Advanced Platinum P300 blurple Growing Medium: Coco coir Nutrients: Most likely Advanced Nutrients Coco Bigger Buds line Temperature Control: The big question. I’ve got space heaters but used an insane amount of energy last winter doing this. I may get a portable heat pump or at least an oil filled heater. I’m also hoping to add at least some insulation around the tent. Plants: I’m thinking photos - Gelato and Sour D. I’d love to take some clones off of them before I switch to flower and grow those outdoors all summer. We’ll see about that. Autos are another option, probably would be Bubblegum and Jack Herer.
January 2nd
Dropped two photos: Sour D and Gelato. Let’s roll.
January 4th
Two tails present. I moved both beans to coco/soilless mix in cups and misted. Soil temperature set to 70F with my mat and probe.
I cleaned my tent today and shopped for insulation. I have yet to find the solution that seems “right” for my setup.
Still, progressing.
January 8th
I’ve insulated my tent! At least to some degree. Photo below. Also, both girls have broken through the coco mix and have been moved into the insulated and cleaned tent in my shed. Moving along.
January 9th
Everything went well overnight. The tent stayed at 68°F without heat. So far, so good. No pictures worth posting but it’s important to note that being stoned is pretty great. That is all.
January 11th
Seedlings getting a little stretchy so I’ve been lowering my light. I put some herb seedling pals in there, too. I’ve mixed up my soil in the 5 gallons Smartpots and will be connecting the Autopot system before long (but leaving it turned off for the first 10 days after transplant).
January 15th
All is going well. Light has stabilized at the correct height. First true leaves are sizing up. I’m still at least a few days from potting up to the 5 gallon pots. The tent is staying plenty warm with my insulation. All in all, the grow is starting well.
January 18th
I’ve potted up. I’ll be top watering for 10-14 days before turning on the Autopots. Roots were nicely spaced around the perimeter of the cup - my timing to move them out of the cups was good.
January 23rd
Progressing slowly. Definitely spreading a bit, but don’t have any full leaves going yet. Still top watering for another 5 or 6 days, then I’ll turn the autopot on.
February 3rd
Autopots have been on since the last update. I love these things! Easy stuff. I had a pH debacle early but that’s fixed. Currently feeding at 800ppms and about to bump. Fimmed three days ago, and I appear to have four tops coming on both plants. Once I’ve established four solid tops, I’ll likely flip to 12/12. I’m not shooting for high yield in this grow, just good quality and a test for my new indoor setup.
I think my light has been too low. Node spacing is really tight and those slightly downward facing leaves on Sour D tell me she’d like a little less cooking. So I’ve raised it another 6" today. We’ll see.
Here we go folks strain: edit ilgm jack herer , monster cookies grow space 2x6.5 wall cavity secret room what ever you wanna call it. Passive air, air controll 8500 haier ac/dehumidifier/filter fan, 2x 10 inch 3 speed fans 1 at light fixture level cooling lights 1 on the ground blowing through canopy lightingas of right now …veg 175 mh (will he building custom EB board 135 watt 5x 1120z 35 4000 cb3 CANT WAIT!!
FLOWER 2x 400 hps 2000k nutrients
VEG. Flora nova grow
Cali magic
AN Rhino Skin
SLF-100
Flower. Flora nova Bloom
Cali magic
AN Rhino Skin
SLF-100
AN Bud Candy
AN Flawless Finish growing media - Fox Farm Ocean Forest…
veg
Fox Farm Strawberry Feild… Flower
3gal plastic pot
pesticidesince I’m in an out door shed I will be Introducing a few lizards into the jungle to keep bugs in check … had 3 or 4 living in there 4 months this grow not a flying bug in sight but right out side the room in the rest if the outdoor shed tons … and they were wreaking havoc on my clones aphids drooping leaves like crazy making it really hard to get this round up off the ground
Grow Space Flower: 2 x 4 x 5 tent with 14 LED’s 2700K 13 watts pulling 221 watts from the wall and one Hipargero COB pulling 205 watts from the wall for a total of 391 watts from wall.
strain, Jamaican Berry super Auto by Flash seeds/Stitch
*medium self made soil (details with grow journal) made in early Oct, 2018 ok here are some details on soil i made 70 gallons
4 2.8 cu ft bags of local made potting mix (canadian sphagnum peat moss,composted bark,vermiculite ,perlite and mycos ) 12 lbs earth worm castings,2.5 lbs bone meal ,2.5 lbs blood meal,2.5 lbs bat guano,3 cups alfalfa meal ,2 cups kelp, 1/2 cup epsom salts, 2/3 cup dolomite lime,1 cup azomite 1 tbl spoon humic acid and 1 large bag perlite mixed and stored in 2 32 gal trash cans and 2 7 gal containers ,for 6 weeks at least (still using it) this is off my list but i have other things im sure i threw in to use up lol.
Vessels: 5 gallon fabric
PH of Water 6.5 using GH ph up or down
Indoor yes
light system mutiple cfl/starter / veg Advanced Platinum p600 @ 390 watts /wall //vipar spectra r900 @410 watts/wall/ ,flower TBD new 2x 288pc Samsung LM301B LED Grow Light 3000k 260W Meanwell HLG QB288 V2 Quantum on the way
JBerry is under the QB 240 watts
grow space up stairs whole room (some where in it)
*nutes… only cal mag ( tap water is ppm 20) may sneak in some Molasses end of flower
*ventilation three 6 inch 400 cfm 1 5300 cfm swamp cooler 2 windows also can be used
tools blue labs ph and ppm pens ,
The grow, 01/01/2019 dropped Jamaican Berry Auto in h2o/h2o2 at 9:30 am
Lights : Seedling-veg CFLs, Flower - Mars hydro 480w(207w actual i believe) It’s due for delivery this week.
Medium : 5 gallon fabric pots and non MG dirt.
Nutrients : Fox Farm Trio
Seeds are just ordered, So… I’ll drop as soon as they arrive. I’m growing just 1 I think. Not sure yet. This is my second grow, there is a lot of winging it still, but my Green Crack ladies look pretty good.
Did I get everything?
1/9/19
I got shipping confirmation from ILGM yesterday. Will drop my seed as soon as it gets here.
1/11/19
They are here! 1 Super Lemon Haze in water/peroxide.
2/4/19 I guess I’m out. Claudia died and I had another SLH seed popped, but it isn’t doing anything. Maybe it will, but I am taking it as a sign that I need to finish my other plant and do some rearranging and renovating of my grow space. WHICH wasn’t going to happen if the tent was occupied.
YYYHere’s my entry,
Strain: Chocoloupe
Breeder: ILGM
Pot: 5 gal fabric pot,
Medium: Bushdoctor Coco Loco
Grow Space: 4 X 7 grow room
Lights: 3x Phantom 315cmh
Nutrients: Fox Farms nutrient line, plus Terpinator, and Hurclean Harvest.
Will be using scrog method.
1/02/2019: dropped my Chocoloupe seed, Ph water, plus a little H2o2, in solo cup
01/05/2019: Chocoloupe is in the dirt, along with his grow buddy Blueberry(not for contest).
01/14/19: I have been taking the bag off her head for about an hour every day, then spray the inside of bag with water before putting back on. I am on 24hr light, only feeding Ph water right now, as the medium has plenty of nutrients in it to start.
Update 01/17/2019
Chocoloupe is doing well, pulled off bag this morning, had some moisture spots on some leaves, will leave cover off from now on, seem to be no issues with adolescent stretch right now. Gave her just PH water with a little wholly Mackeral.
01/24/2019
I have been lightly feeding with PH water with a little Wholly Mackeral every other day. Mist with water couple times a day, plant looks a little sad, raised the light 6 inches. Still growing good, looks good except for water spots from their bag when newbies.
Update 02/06/2019
Two feelings, and one water day since last feeding, gave Fox Farms trio plus Wholly Mackeral. Water in between the feedings.
Topped on 02/02/2019
Update 02/14/19
Two feedings this week with one straight water in between, one gallon each time. I did some twisting and bending of the branches this week, and I fimmed today. Will not be long before the net is needed.
Here is my official entry ticket for my upcoming grow. The grow-off will be incorporated into my “assembly” line grow which is currently tracked in my ongoing grow journal. I currently cycle in a new set of plants in every six weeks - either from cloning or seeds. The purpose of the assembly line is to quickly establish a variety of sativa and indica strains with various effects, medical or otherwise. This grow-off will be the fourth wave of the assembly line grow.
Material list:
Many of the materials I have noted below are here on my Amazon list. I put some commentary for each item. Give it a look over and a like if you want.
Strain:
Fem Chronic Widow from ILGM, order 339087. Four seeds will be initially germinated for the grow-off
Germination Technique:
The seeds will be placed in 6.5pH tap water (180ppm) for a 24-hour soak before being moved into individual solo-cups. Heat mats will be used through the early vegetative phase.
Medium and Vessels:
Roots Organics, an amended coco-based soil-less medium, will be used for the entire grow. The solo-cups used for the post-soak planting will be sliced four times down the side and halfway through the bottom of the cup. The slices at the top of the cup will be taped to hold the whole thing together. This facilitates drainage and ease of transplant. When roots are detected in the solo-cup, the plants will be transplanted into a 5-gallon fabric pot. Milk crates will be used in late flowering to facilitate drainage.
Lighting:
Various lighting will be used depending on the life-cycle phase. All watts recorded here are wall draw. Seedling Phase: a 45W (wall draw) Unifun LED lamp will be used for the first two to three weeks out of the grow. This light has red, blue, UV, and IR LEDs. I find the young plants respond nicely to this low-cost, low-wattage light and do not stretch. Vegetative Phase: an HLG 304 quantum board with 4000k range, run on a 150w/1050A Meanwell driver, will be used for the next three to four weeks of the grow. Early Flower: a 280w 1500Wchip “blurple” LED will be used for the first five to six week of the 12/12 lighting cycle Late Flower: two HLG 288V2 quantum boards with 3000k range, run on a 240W/2100A Meanwell driver, will finish off the ladies in flower. Depending on the circumstances, the 280W blurple may supplement this phase as well.
Indoor Grow Room:
During the seedling, vegetative and early flowering stages, the plants will reside in a 24x24x48" tent. If the plants outgrow the tent during early flowering, they will be moved to a temporary spot within the late flowering rooms. I may upgrade to an 80" tall tent during this grow, if the budget allows for it, to avoid this. Once the plants move to late flowering, they will be relocated into a “mylar’d” converted shower that is about 33x47x78" Each grow room has a 120CFM exhaust. A dehumidifier and three fans will be used in the flowering room, as needed, to keep humidity at 40-50RH and adequate airflow moving around the plants. I will attempt to keep temps between 70-80 degrees using a thermostat. In winter, only a heater is needed to keep temps over 70.
Expected length of grow and lighting cycles:
ILGM says CW needs about 65 days of flowering. I am therefore expecting about 18 weeks of growing - a two-week seedling phase at 24/0, a four-week vegetative phase at 18/6, a two-week transitional phase at 12/12, and a ten-week flowering phase at 12/12.
Watering techniques:
5.8pH will be used for water and nutrient solutions. Once the plants are established in the 5-gallon pot, watering will generally occur every other day to significant runoff. During the seedling and early vegetative phase, I will water at my discretion to avoid over-watering. Generally, I reduce the frequency here, but still water to runoff. While in grow tents, the plants are moved to a bathtub for watering. In the flowering room, the plants sit on milk crates to facilitate drainage.
Run-off pH and maintenance technique:
Run-off will be monitored to be in the Roots Organics recommended range of 5.8 to 6.3. PPMs will be maintained under 2000, which is the runoff of fresh Roots Organics soil.
Nutrient usage and technique:
I am using Flower Power ILGM nutrients. For grow and flower nutrients, I will use 1/4 to 1/3 dosage of the posted schedule - adjusting based on the run-off ppms being high or low. I typically don’t need to use the seedling nutrients because the Roots Organics is amended. For foliage spray and boost, I will use the full recommended dosage.
Training and topping practice:
Two plants will be topped at the fifth node. Two will be fim’d at the fifth node. The best plant will be chosen as the final contestant the onset of 12/12 cycle. Minimal training will be completed after to fan out the cola sites. No scrog will be utilized.
Harvesting/Drying/Curing technique:
The plant will be harvested based on trichomes - mostly cloudy with a chance of amber. Once harvested, the plants will be cleaned in a peroxide solution, rinsed in water, and cut into reasonably sized branches that fit in large paper grocery bags. Fan leaves will be removed and the buds will be manicured to removed sugar leaves. The trimmed and manicured branches will go into the bags, about a row and a half of branches per bag, for about a week, or until smaller branches snap from dryness. Once dry, the buds will be removed from the branches and placed in 1 qt jars and burped for two weeks, or until satisfactorily aromatic, and then closed up until use with 62% bovedas.
Smoking Analysis:
My wife 's the true judge of my grow quality and she isn’t shy. I’ll include her feedback. We both are fans of the water bong. It’s due for a cleaning.
January 27, 2019 It started with a thousand points of light…
OK, maybe not a 1000 points, but how about 528 squares of light! Today, was a big day in the assembly line and my grow-off effort. The grow light for the middle phase of the line was built. Using materials that included four QB134 3K V2 boards, an HLG-240H-C1750A driver, three four foot angle bars, #6 nuts&bolts, 18gauge wire, wago connectors, and power cord, I built a customer light for a 2x4x5 grow tent. Here’s some pictures of the effort and final product
Power & Light !
Tools and materials
Measuring off the boards
Cutting the frame - about 3.125" were cut off the end. This centers each board over each foot of the four-foot length of the tent. Two 11.875" pieces were cut for both connecting the board frame and mounting the driver. The ends are sharp and need to be sanded a bit. If you are starting to think my house is messy, it is.
Drilling the frame - I didn’t do such a great job here. They say measure twice, cut once, and I failed to follow that. My holes didn’t quite line up well, but I was able to get things together.
Mounting and wiring - I mounted the boards on the screws such that the screws go down through the board. This way, if I need to set the light on the ground, the screws suspend the QB boards above the ground.
Let there be light! - I am pleased with the final product, which will be used for a late veg/early flower. This light gets me a nice canopy of light, over 800ppfd, that should set my plants up for success until they move into the third phase of the assembly line grow. Here are the specifics of my ppfd assumption:
A 2x4 footprint is about 0.75 square meters. The HLG website doesn’t have umole per joule data for the QB132 V2, so I am going to assume 2.5, which I think it conservative. At 61 watts per board, the ppfd is:
(61watts x 4boards x 2.5umol/j)/0.75sq meters=813 umole/second/sq meter.
The Drop
I dropped 4 Chronic Widow Fems today in 6.5pH’d tap water. They were dropped about a week behind schedule as I have been away from home for about a week on a system emergency.
I prepped four solo cups. I like to slice my solo cups down the side and almost to the middle of the bottom. This has a couple of advantages. First, it allows for great drainage. Second, it gives me a little peek inside so I can see when the plant roots reach the side. Last, it allows for easy removal from the cup - I just remove the tape, carefully pull down the sides, and slide the soil into its next container without disrupting the roots too much.
Last, but not least, they were filled up with Roots Organics Original potting soil and heavily watered with 5.8pH’d tap water. They will sit on a heat mat overnight for tomorrow’s planting.
January 29, 2019 Update
Seed Progress
Last night, I assessed the four seeds to make a decision on whether or not I would plant them in solo cups. There were no signs of tails on any of them. Today, three had distinct tails showing and the fourth looked like some white was poking out. The solo cups, which are sitting on a heat mat, were slightly dry, so I lightly watered the Roots Organics original potting soil with some 5.8 pH’d water to the slightest runoff.
Each seed was planted and tonight they rest quietly under the canopy of my Maui Wowie clones on their heat mat.
Next Steps
I need to set-up the 2x2x4 tent for the fledglings for when they make it out of the soil. There is no change to plan at the moment - they will go under a 45W blurple for about two weeks on 24/0.
Pictures
Tails, plantings, and new homes
February 5
Two of my chronic widows are established. One is struggling to push out of the ground. I loosened the soil. Maybe it will work out, maybe not. The fourth has no signs of life. I’ll cross my fingers. All four needed a dose of 5.8 pH water.
February 10
Update
Well, it seems official. I only went 2 for 4 on successful germination. Of the two that didn’t make it, one sprouted roots but never made it above ground and was stuck in its shell. The other one never made it out of the seed. Next time, I am going to investigate the use of peroxide to help soften the shells. Others seem to have had success with this.
The remaining two plants are healthy. One was transplanted to a 5 gallon contained with recently watered Root Organics Original potting soil at 5.8pH. The plants roots had reached the edges. I did not have enough soil for the second plant, so she will stay in the solo cup until tomorrow when I pick up a few more bags. The second plant was dry and watered slightly with 5.8pH water.
The QB304 V1 4K lamp was put into action today about 16 inches over the top of the ladies. I’ll need to watch this carefully as others have had issues with QBs too close to seedlings.
Next Steps
Tomorrow I will transplant the second plant. Next weekend, they will transition from 24/0 to 18/6. I am still two weeks from considering a nutrient dosage.
What is changing from my original plan?
After researching the Aurora website that sells the Roots Organics Original potting soil I use, I bought some Oreganism, which is a microorganism supplement. I am thinking next weekend, when the plants are more established in their new containers, I will begin the regimen according to the websites recommendation.
I am also trying a lung concept out. A grow tent contains a humidifier and a small space heater. The humidifier runs on low constantly. It is insanely low humidity in my house right now with the cold winter weather. The space heater plugs into a thermostat with a probe in the seedling tent and kicks in at 70 and off at 74. I have a controller for the humidifier on it’s way.
Pictures
February 14 Quick Update and Picture
Both plants are in their final 5 gallon pots and really soaking up the QB304 V1 4K board. Compared to the pics from 5 days ago, I think they’ve taken off. The lamp is at full power on a 1050a driver and about one foot above the plant tops. There no signs of any light burn.
February 18th #freebtb
Update
The 5th node is making it’s way out of the tops of my Chronic Widows. Today, they were watered to slight runoff with 5.8 pH’d water. I made a solution today of 2T of Oregonism, a microorganism supplement, in a quart of that water. This is something new I am trying and each plant got about a cup and a half of the solution post-watering. I need a humidifier running full time to get the the RH over 50%.
What’s up next
In the next day or two, I will top one plant at the fifth node and FIM the other. The plants were supposed to go on 18/6 today, but the timer I got this weekend from Amazon didn’t work. So that is something that needs to be taken care of in short order this week.
What’s changing
My plan was to move these two Chronic Widow plants to the second stage tent under 4-QB132 V2 3K lamps at six weeks, and then to the final room under 2-QB288 V2 3K and a 1500w blurple at twelve weeks. However, I am going to skip the 2x4 tent and go directly to the QB288 room. I want to see what QB134s can do for flowering the Maui Wowies in there now. I’ll also keep the WPM infection with those MWs isolated there. Once the Gold Leafs currently under those QB288s are harvested, I’ll do a thorough bleaching there to eradicate the WPM. Then I’ll bring in the Chronic Widows with a new start in a clean environment for hopefully a WPM-free life.
Ok, Grease Monkey wants in on this too. I will be using my the last of my seeds purchased here at ILGM .
(Next purchase Sativa and Patriot Mix packs)
This grow will be (3)Northern Lights Autos.
Grown in a 5x9 foot grow room ,unheated basement, so kind of a chilly grow. Last year it was tough to keep a steady 77* temp.
Lighting will be T5 flourescent to grow HPS to flower/finish.
3-gallon fabric pots.
Nutes will be 100% organic grow from Aurora Innovations.
My first two plants out of this strain were ready in only 93 days.
I believe knowing that, I will do more LST to slow this grow a bit.
All the info I’ve got for you guys until something pops. Update due in 36 hours and ten minutes at 01/01/19. 00:00:01 hrs.
1/18/19
Updates got blown away while I was attempting to move them into proper format. Hopefully this works out.
1/21/19
Most recent pix of Mo, Lily& Shirley. I Switched them over to permanent homes and changed nute program to a sample kit of Suite Leaf that I forgot I picked up at a Canna Convention. ( a disorganized grow room will do that to you.). I’m shooting for better tasting smoke. I’ve been growing in guanos and still can’t grow reekingly tasty smoke. Figured I’d try something different.
Update Jan 24,2019
Just a comment for today. Some may have noticed the awfully chunky “mulch” I’ve decided to use. That is chopped coconut shells for those who don’t know. I utilize quite a few soil amendments during my grow, and find that previously, using standard ground coir to keep the lights from drying the soil out, by the time you mixed the add ins a few times the coir would get homogenized within the top soil. These chopped chunks are nice, you just rake them aside add your stuff and push them back over. They also hold moisture for juvenile plants better as well. Something to look for in the grow store.
Update Jan26 Sunday
Three pix update
Maureen (Mo)
The fan box tipped and she took a hit. Kinda did some of her own LST!
Next up Lily (Larry) Little runt Lily is making not only a great comeback, but it looks as though she’ll be smoking past her sisters! image|666x500
Finally Shirley (curly) Shirley is currently playing the bushmaster.
Next up, tie down time.
January 29
Nearly a month from seed drop and here we are. My LST plans are sort of on hold. I’ve got some shrubs coming up that have been taking their time spreading out first.
Some things have changed since my initial post of intent.
Going back and editing a few bits I realized some details about this grow were left out.
It is said that autos grow best in 3 gallon pots. I decided to use 5 gal pots in order to achieve my 2" top layer of coco chunks. So, a little over 3 gallons of soil under neath
Another thing I hope to show is my pix are all going to follow the same format until “the one” is chosen. I will always introduce the plant and any changes in the sameorder. I am also going to pay close attention to the “clocking” of the plants so you can watch the progress and growth (Eruption?) The plants should grow before your eyes as you scroll through.
I figured I’d do it this way not only for the effect, but my iPad simply won’t take a picture any further away. I really wanted a wide angle pic of the whole set up. They best Ivan do is a family picture first, and then the today’s update.
Say hello, hellooooo, Hellow! To Moe , Larry and Curley’s sisters, Maureen,Lily and Shirley…
First up Maureen
Mo,s recovering quite well from the crash.
Second we have what started as the runt, Lily. She has not only caught up, but surpassed her sisters. She might " be the one" .
And finally, We have Shirley, who is really bushing out.o
I would like to enter the community grow off so here is my entry I will be growing 2 white widow fem from ilgm I will start in root riot in a heat mat dome when the roots come out the bottom I will go to a 5 gallon fabric pot bottom 2/3 roots organic soil the top one third will be a Tera Organics potting soil that is more gentle the grow room is a 20x 30 coat closet covered with Mylar blankets a vita spectra 460 w led grow light nutes will be molasses and GH FLORA trio as needed well water ph down to 6.5 I will submit pics as things happen I hope this is a fun and happy grow for all
dropped one seed into a root riot and a heated germination station it is a white widow fem happy New Years and good luck . Ticket 31. Well it’s the 12th and I am a murderer installed seed to deep seed germinated and couldn’t break surface my bad I am starting over today
The seeds are ILGM
Ok …Welcome too Garrigan’s Grow and this is what i’m starting with.
2 Gold Leaf , 2 Gorilla Glue and
1 Granddaddy Purple and here they are as of 4:15 am Tuesday January 1st 2019
Grand Daddy Purple (fem)
Feminized Grand Daddy Purple marijuana seeds, with free and discrete worldwide shipping. Bergman guarantees delivery, germination and 24/7 expert grow support.
Luxrite LR20215 (2-Pack) 65-Watt High Wattage CFL Spiral Light Bulb, Equivalent To 300W Incandescent, Warm White 2700K, 4100 Lumens, E26 Standard Base - - Amazon.com
Now the lights i’ll be using for Vegg and Flower i’m upgrading and will post a little later on.
January 1st 2019 they were placed on there plate with paper towels.
2 GOLD LEAF
2 GORILLA GLUE
1 GRADDADDY PURPLE
1 1/2 Day’s later January 3rd at around 4:30 am I found that I was the
proud dad again with 5 new girls
These 3 have their heads poping through this morning. I should see the other two sometime today or tonight. And they did.
I now have 5 new girls… i will update with a pic later so you all can see them better.
Well today one of my girls didn’t make it. The Gorilla Glue gal .But that’s ok I still have 4 plants to choose from. I will be posting picks of the new girls in town in the morning of January 7th est
UPDATE. JANUARY 7th 2029 @ 3:51 est
They are 3 days old today and growing fast. Had to put some soil around them today. I 'll adjust the light a little closer tonight.
The girls are doing great and will be transplanted into there new and final homes. Pictures will follow just after…
AND HERE THEY ARE JANUARY 11TH 2019
They will say in these pot till it’s over. I really don’t think that these pots look like or are 5 gal pots Something doesn’t look right and if don’t feel right then it’s most likely true …
But they stated on the site that they were 5 gal pots … YA RIGHT. IF YOU WANT TO REPLY ABOUT THE POT’S GO TO THE OFF TOPIC THEARD OK THANK YOU
They don’t seem to want to grow, maybe just growing roots. I’ll tell you what To see what the last grow looked like that I grew that go to.> off topic*
__________________UPDATE 01/28/19 -------------------------------
Still not much has changed. Very little growth. humidity 70 to 80%
Light is 300 watt
Here are two pic’s
The 4 girls have been placed into a 3x3x76 grow tent along with a 400watt hps. Now to vent the heat with out light escaping into the flower room. Pic’s to follow after Dr. Appt.
Update as of 2/28/19
As I said, when these gal’s take root watch out and here they are. From seed. 59 days old
May I join too?
!
. Ticket 31. Well it’s the 12th and I am a murderer installed seed to deep seed germinated and couldn’t break surface my bad I am starting over today 
