Long time consumer…since 76. Have never grown anything. About six months ago i came across videos on you tube of indoor grows in tents. So i started doing some research on tents and where I could get seeds. I tried several online stores but the payment process seemed like a scam. I finally found ILGM and ordered 5 Grandaddy Purple. No issues with payment and had seeds in about a week.
Seeds in hand I decided on the Spider Farmer 2 x 2 kit.
I should have done more research before starting but i was ready to get growing.
I got some Fox Farms happy frog and ocean forest. I germinated the seeds the first one opened at about 30 hours the second took 60 and looked a little sickly.
I wrapped them in a damp paper towel for another 36 hours.
Then not knowing any better i planted them directly into happy frog in 5 gallon grow bags. I later realized i should have used solo cups or smaller pots.
The first plant sprouted on day 4 the second 5 day later and proceeded to grow 3 inches in three days.
They both had multipoint leaves by day 8 after first sprout. I transplanted them to 5 gallon bags with about 80% ocean forest and 20% happy frog sprinkling mycorrhizae in the holes. They both responded well and thrived.
The first struggle for me was getting the ph right. I went through 4 different ph meters before i finally found one that one that calibrated properly and got consistent readings.
I was also afraid to overwater them. So i watered them lightly throughout the day adding cal mag with iron and liquid seaweed.
Vertical growth slowed but the leaves were expanding quickly.
About a week after tranplanting I topped both plants and removed some of the lower fan leaves.
I did not add extra nutrients because i had read ocean forest had everything i needed and had read that some growers had gotten nutrient burn from using…also why i added the 20% happy frog. I also did not know to add pearlite or something similar to the mix.
The tent kit came with a sf1000 100 watt light and I ended up buying a second one and the two fit perfectly in the tent. I will probably upgrade to a 300 watt mars hydro before I’m done.
I read several articles saying to do the hand test to see if your light is to close. I felt no noticeable heat but the top leaves looked a little bleached and wilted. I ended up raising the lights to 14 inches above the tops and they started looking much better.
The beginning of week 3 I gave them their first heavy watering and nutes. 1 gallon of spring water with ph at 6.3. 2 tsp grow big, 1 tbsp liquid seaweed, and 3ml cal mag.
Checked runoff ph 6.4.
The plants loved it. They started growing like crazy.
I waited two days and gave them just water and cal mag.
Two more days 1 gallon water, 3tsp grow big, 2 tsp big bloom, 1 tbsp liquid seaweed,
3ml cal mag.
Theses are not 4 weeks old yet and are bushes. Not sure if i shoul remove more fan leaves or just let it grow and try to start LST.