Hello ILGM Forum people!
Since i started growing cannabis plants I have really enjoyed watching the progress. I thought i would share my first grow experience with you all. I am around 3 weeks into growing so this post will be the history of my grow so far.
I purchased the seeds from the brand Crop King Seeds at my local smoke shop. The reason decided on this strain because it was rated as easy to grow, a 60/40 sativa indica ratio, able to be grown outdoors and it is also an auto that takes around 8 weeks. They also sell felt pots cheaper than i could buy plastic ones in the hardware store so i bought two 5 gallon ones.
Following the germination instructions according to the packet I placed them in a glass of water for 16 hours and then transferred them onto a moist paper towel and left them at room temperature on the kitchen counter occasionally spraying with water.
Meanwhile i started on mixing up some soil to pant them in. I opted for a mix and picked up a brick of coco coir, a medium sized bag of Pro mix organic vegetable and herb mix and a bag of pearlite. The coco was soaked in water until expanded and mixed with the soil and pearlite in a 1-2-1 ratio also adding half a tub of the Gaia Green worm casting for some nutrition. Filled the pots and made sure they where suitably watered ready for the seeds and the PH was tested with a test tube kit and showed it was right on 7.
After 2 days the seeds cracked and the tap root appeared, by the next morning it had reached around 1cm and I placed them into the growing containers by making a hole with my finger to the depth of my first knuckle and covering very lightly with soil. 2 more days later they have broken the soil and the germination week is complete.
I am not able to grow inside and I don’t like the vulnerability of an outside grow so I went for the middle ground and bought a small greenhouse. In the local Red Apple store I found one for 33CAD it is the perfect size for 1 plant. It can have 2 in there while they are seedlings however i will need to buy another one when they start to take off. The hardware store had a temp and humidity meter combo to help me monitor the conditions inside.
It is the end of the first week in the soil and the seedlings are small but still growing. My watering method has been spraying the soil. They have gained a few cm in height, the stems and leaves have broadened. One seedling is a little taller than the other, it could be stretching from being on the bottom shelf of the greenhouse. They are also bending slightly to reach the south facing sun during the 6 hours of direct sunlight. To fix this I have swapped shelves to provide even amounts of light on both plants and rotate the pots to avoid them bending too far.
There was a spell of colder wet weather where I am living in BC this week with temps dropping to a low of 10’C. over this night I moved the pots indoors to the to be on the safe side. It has been mostly cloudy too so that may contribute to the lack of rapid growth. Periodically spraying the walls of the greenhouse has allowed me to keep the humidity higher for this stage of the grow. I gave the plants their first direct watering of 100ml of water however combined with the wet weather it seems this was a bit too much as i saw the very tips of one plant droop slightly. To remedy this i have not watered again for 3 days, the soil is still moist and the plant has returned to normal. I will go back to using the spray bottle. I have learnt my lesson, Patience is key.
You can see the beginning of the 2nd set of leaves sprouting from the middle of both plants, showing progress towards the next stage of growing.
I have also germinated another seed roughly one week behind the other plants to act as a back up in case of any problems. I can only only reasonably grow 2 plants and received 5 seeds so this is acting as a spare for my first batch, it is in a much smaller pot and will need to be transplanted later.
I decided on the nutrients i will be using when the time comes. I am going to do an organic grow to keep it as natural as possible. I have a bottle of Falling Leaf 5-2-2 fish emulsion for veg stage and bio thrive bloom 2-4-4 by general organics for flowering. I will also be adding molasses to promote soil health and epsom salts for magnesium and sulphur. Does anyone know an organic calcium option?
The Seedling have grown taller still and the top leaves have broken away from the cotyledons. the new inner leaves look as though they will have 3 fingers! They are loving the sun and are pointing up to soak it all in. I have been taking them from the greenhouse when I am around to let them feel the breeze and get the most light possible and placing them back inside when I have to leave to keep them safe.
Thats all for now folks! Hope you enjoyed and I will update again soon.
Peace!
