First Grow; Beginner; Outdoors; Nothing Fancy; White Widow

[Herbalist]

I prefer to put any of my plants into their permanent pot or place in the outdoor beds as soon as they outgrow the seedling pot, to prevent multiple transplants. But that’s just me. I’ve seen preferences for the opposite stated here as well.

[TimTheEnchanter]

About two weeks since my last update

Shall we just start with pics, let’s see 'em:

Now that we have seen 'em, lets talk about 'em:

The new set up:

First thing to notice, everything is inside. Why? It was very cloudy and dreary in southern california the last two weeks, it was rainy, and my outside plants were just not having a good time, they were droppy, and my indoor plant was just kicking all the asses. So, I am like finnnne, indoor it is.

Next, I am growing inside my closet, yes, I realize its stereotypical, and hilarious, and I am enjoying it.

My light: Roleadro LED 300W (but its LED so its really 124w±5%) Amazon.com
I got the yellow one, because it’s more like natural sun light, and I usually keep my closet partly open when I am awake for airflow, and I didn’t feel like having my room drowned in purple light, which is a little disco-y and obnoxious to me. I dont even notice the yellow light.

Oh yeah, I will probably put some plastic down just in case I drip water, don’t want my carpet getting funky.

The Grow:

I noticed my leaves are just a bit crinkled, I believe I made the mistake most new growers make, the light being too close, so I just put it up like 6 inches, see if that helps the crinkliness (the rope ratchet hanger made that super easy to adjust the height, good $5 investment)

I topped my plants just today (shown in the close up), as you can see my closet is very long, so Imma have to do some magic topping and super cropping to get the shapes I want.

Oh yeah, I put the bigger plants in 3 gallon pots because I saw roots coming out the bottom, I assume they want more room, so my babies get what they want (sometimes).

Let's do some math!

How much is this new light going to cost in electricity per month? 124watts±5% * 18 hours a day * 30 days a month /1000 watts in a kilowatt * .12599 dollars per kilowatt hours during summer = $8.43 ±5% for summer veg $7.76 ±5% for winter veg hours $5.62 ±5% for summer flower hours $5.17 ±5% for winter flower hours (similar calculations for the last 3 numbers, flower is cheaper because of 12 hours of light a day instead of 18, and in my area winter electricity rates are lower than summer rates)

Next, my plants are getting to that point where I am going to start adding Big Bloom to them, but how much?

@FloridaSon recommended 1/4 strength to start, and I have heard this advice echo’d before, so I think this is a grand idea.

Fox Farms recommends 6tsp per gallon * 1/4 strength * 1 liter of water that I use / 3.78541 liters in a gallon * 5 mililiters in a tsp =
1.98 milliliters or about 40 drops of Big Bloom per liter of water.

Annnnnnd, that’s my update, any advice is always welcomed, I have enjoyed my gardening adventure so far. Hope y’all have a good day

[bob31]

so I just put it up like 6 inches, see if that helps

Hey @TimTheEnchanter best wishes from the East to the west! Your indoor grow looks great!

So that light how many equivelant watts and how high is it now?

[TimTheEnchanter]

Hey bob, my east coast brethren.

It is a 300 watt equivalent, and it is currently 18 to 19 inches above my plants, which is funny because when I initially set up my light, I put it 18 inches above. But, plants grow, and pots get bigger. Maybe I should increase the height again?

[bob31]

Ok buddy I’m hearing 24 inches in veg is where you want to be and then 18 in flower. I’d go up to 20 anyway. That’s where mine is about 20 and I use a 300 as well.

Sweet looking garden! Keep up the great work!

[TimTheEnchanter]

Got out the old measuring tape and its now at a solid 20 inches, good looking out man. cheers.

[bob31]

She’ll be a little happier there for sure! Looking forward to the next update! Take care!

[TimTheEnchanter]

Another 11 days has passed. Let's talk about it

But before we talk about it, lets take a gander at the plants.

Things I did this week:

* Put the baby plant into a 3 gallon pot * Put some plastic down beneath the plants * Calibrated my ph meter * Started pH-ing my water * Added big bloom at 1/4 strength for one of the water-ings * Finally bought a Timer Outlet thing that automatically turns my light on and off on an 18 hour cycle

Things to notice

* Topping works! Look at those double tops on my plants. * There is some greenish-yellow discoloration on my little plant, I am not really worried about it, but someone should tell me if I should be. * Plants are beautiful

Things I learned

* Make sure your soil is actually dry before transplanting. The bottom of my soil was wet and sticking to my pot and I pretty much ripped out the roots at the bottom there. My plant looked so sad. * Marijuana plants are strong plants. My plant looked sad for about 45 mins, and then bounced back completely, amazing. * My tap/hose water has a pH of 8.2 and 500ml of it takes about 5 drops of ph down to get to 6.5. * My drinking water (Yes I buy drinking water for about 30 cents a gallon, yes I know it's annoying, and bourgeois, but I think it taste better and) has a pH of 6.9

Plans

Basically going to keep doing what I am doing, going to top my plants again, going to add some more fertilizer. Still need to nail down a consistent watering schedule, I just kinda do it when they look dry. Watered my plants today, and it looks like they drinking about 1.5 liters per plant, I will figure it out eventually.

Unrelated

Finals are killer, almost done though. Harvest time should be around graduation time. The dalai lama is speaking at my commencement, so that's cool.

Also, researching how to grow some magic mushrooms, I will probably start that grow next week.

As always, y’all have a great day, suggestions, advice, and comments are always welcomed.

[Niala]

Just found your topic @TimTheEnchanter…

Hey, what a progress in your description and follow up, good scientifical method , I really like it

So, it seem that you have every thing under control…

If you have any questions, please, just ask to anyone here, we all gone a do our best to answer…

~Al

P.s. you’ll most probably will like the Daïlama teaching, or suggestions

[TimTheEnchanter]

I’m glad you are enjoying the journal . Everything is going alright, knock on wood. Y’all are so helpful, I appreciate the kindnesses and welcoming nature of the forum.

[kabongster]

@Niala is right, you have a good format the way it’s set out, it’s a fun read and a healthy looking grow, dunno the light green streak on the one plant, sometimes a pH thing…watch and see if it gets worse?

[TimTheEnchanter]

Thanks man! And, I will definitely monitor the pH, and check the run off the next time I water.

[FloridaSon]

I’d love to grow my own 'shrooms, but my wife gets that pissed off look anytime I mention them.

Love the trip…

[TimTheEnchanter]

I know, I know, It's been a while. Let's talk about it (23 days later)

But before we talk about it, cue the pictures.  

A Myriad of Problems

Lighting:

My little plants were getting a little less little, so I had to space them further apart. But then they started bending towards the light. So I put in a 2nd 300 watt led (which is really 124watts±5%).

Nutrient deficiencies

If you remember from last post little plant in the middle (which has caught up in height) was experience some discoloration in the leaves. And anytime there is something wrong with a plant it is usually ph imbalance or nutrient deficiency that can usually be solved by cal mag.

PH Meter:
Which led me to wonder if my pH meter was calibrated correctly because I didn’t use DI water when calibrating it, because I dunno where to get DI water on the cheap, so when I calibrated it I used distilled water. Anyways I bought some solution that is pH 7.0, and my meter was off by .1, which isnt a big deal, but I am glad I know that its calibrated.

Resolution:
It really just fixed itself, I assume it was because I transplanted the middle one badly (ripped out half the roots), it wasn’t getting the proper nutrients, and it bounced back well enough.

Bugs!

Something was eating my leaves, I dunno where it is, what it is, I have never caught a glimpse of the bastard but he is somewhere, chomping away. Anyways, I got some neem oil mixed it with water, sprayed it during the night cycle so it wouldnt cook the leaves, and I dunno if it got the bastard but my leaves seem to be fine. I am still watchful though.

Watering

The plants are drinking a lot more. I haven't been the best on keeping on top of the watering, I woke up a couple days ago, and my plants looked soo sad, they needed the water real bad. Always amazed how quickly they bounce back. I have decided to keep on top of it better. I water every other day 1.5 liters. Which seems to saturated the 3 gallon smart pots.

Nutrients

My plant with the most tops has appeared to be stunted a little, and discoloration showed up in the leaves. I believe this was from my lack of waters, and my using 1/4 strength nutrients. I have upped my game to 1/2 stength, and it appears to be very happy now.

Plans for the future

I am graduating in like 8 weeks, and I am interviewing for jobs in Northern California, and Seattle, and a few where I am living. So I figure I should throw these into flower on Monday. I was hoping to get them to veg a little more, but such is life.

I hope everyone has been well. Have a great day!

[TimTheEnchanter]

45 mins later. Lets talk about it.

Haha, I forgot to add some stuff.

Training

My plant on the right (use the first picture in the previous post as guidance) has been trained the most, aka, had its branched bended the most. The further plant with the most tops couldnt really bend too much without feeling like it was going to snap. And the youngin in the middle has no training. Wild and free.

Topping and Fimming

I am still not completely sure of what fimming is, or if I did it correctly, But the middle plant has only been fimm'd once, and it looks like it has 5 tops. So, it worked pretty well. It still looks like the middle top is the main top though. I am not going to do anymore, since flowering is near.

Defoliating

The furthest plant has the most tops, and it was getting leafy as !@#$, which is the technical term I think. And covering a lot of the middle tops, so I trimmed some fan leaves away. I dunno if this is the proper move, but it makes me feel better.

I might think of most stuff to add. I didn’t really organize these posts that well. Haha. Oh well. I will try to post after a week of flowering. Catch ya’ later.

[TimTheEnchanter]

Another 10 days have passed. Let's talk about it.

But first, lemme hit you with the pictures.

Lemme know if there are any types of angles, or pictures you like to see.

We are officially complete with the first week of flower!

Some Points

• Everything is going good.
• Following the Fox Farm trio nutrients at half strength.
• Watering like every other day, or every other other day if I forget.
• Alternating between ph’d water, and nutrient rich water
• Its the first time I had to use ph up to get to 6.5, that tiger bloom be acidic.
• These are fem seeds, so sexing is not really a concern of mine, but I think they all look female. I may put up some pics near week to confirm once they are more mature and really showing.
• Isn’t my little closet grow super adorable.

Plans for the future

* I like the idea of cloning. And since I am already in flowering, I will probably be monster cloning around the 3rd week of flowering. (As Roberts article suggests)

• I also plan to use one of those semi-aeroponic clone machine thingys. They seem real self sufficient. I will put my reasoning at the bottom.

• Anyone know any cons to cloning plants that come from feminized seeds, or am I just trying to create problems. Haha.

• Hopefully, after I graduate I land a job where I will be able to see my clones through.

Unrelated

* In between school, and chillin with the homies. I have just bought some pens and started doodling, learning to shade, and add texture. Basic stuffs. Sometimes I just sit next to my plants, put on some music and doodle/practice, some real calming hippy shit. Haha, it is relaxing though.

• Mushroom project under way.

• Maybe I will try to make a better mobile game. I put one out for free a couple years ago, got like 50k downloads (It’s not very good game, haha). I should try to draw and program something dope.

• So many little ideas so little time.

Why the clone semi-aeroponic thing appeals to me (This part may be too detailed and boring, skip if you don't care :P )

• I am a bit lazy, and the whole humidity dome thing, that I have to monitor and may sure its good, seems like a bit of a chore.
• All that humidity seems like a great way to get mold.
• People seem to have trouble with it

Let’s do some maths. If I wanted to clone properly, I would need:

• Dome and tray
• rooting gel/powder
• Some sort of medium (rapid rooter, rockwell)
• A heating pad (some say this is optional, but we are trying to do this right)
• Perlite (which you would think I would have laying around, but, I don’t. I haven’t begun that journey of custimized soil, which seems like an interesting journey)

And, all this bought on amazon would be like $17 +$12.44 + $14.94 + $20 + $5 = $69.38

And I will give it - $10 to $15 dollars depending how good you are at amazon-ing, and what clone gel you prefer, and what medium you prefer. So you could probably do it at like $55-60, I will give you that.

The clone machine is $86 (really its $70 but $16 for shipping, which is the biggest nonsense, though on a different website its $80 all together, and I am going to see if I can get it from my local hydro store for less)

So, the cloner is $10 to $20 more expensive. So, what would I be getting for that extra money.

• The clone machine doesn’t have any consumable part to it. (You use up rooting gel, and perlite and rapid rooters, that need to be replaced.)

• The clone machine doesnt need to be tended to. (Kept at a high humidity). It just seems like an easy solution.

So, these are all my assumptions and reasons. They could be fantastically wrong. And I could come back to you in a couple months being all like “the cloning machine is stupid”. But I will keep you posted.

Thanks for checking in! Have a great day! Comments and advice are always welcome.