Griff’s First Outdoor Grow Journal

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Hello everyone, and welcome to my first ever grow, and first ever grow journal! I’m new to the forum and excited to get started. I have every intention of being as detailed as I can, not only for myself but for all those who read this in the future. I’ve learned so much reading this forum and I only hope I can give something back, even if only by asking questions and letting the more experienced members answer them.

The status of my grow is 0% complete and 100% excitement. I ordered seeds that I expected Wednesday and I don’t have them despite the tracking saying “out for delivery” both Thursday AND Friday…not sure how that works but oh well…I digress.

I have 5 LSD and 5 Wedding Cake seeds on the way from Dr.Seeds, since ILGM doesn’t ship to Canada. The LSD seeds were bundled with kelp extract so I have that coming as well. Monday better be the day!

Since I haven’t started yet, but I will be soon, I just want to get my process out there and get some input and just in general start a conversation. I still have questions so they’ll be sprinkled in with the steps I’ve got planned. Here we go.

What I’ve bought:

  • 1x ProMix Vegetable and Herb - 85L
  • 3x Perlite - 9L
  • 4x ~30L Plastic Pots
  • pH/TDS pens & Root Farm pH test kit

Plan

  • 24hr soak in distilled water, then to paper towels to grow the taproots.
  • Move to red solo cups with lots of holes for drainage. These will be domed/misted until they outgrow the domes.
    • Distilled water only for the first week?
  • The soil mixture I’m doing will be the whole 85L of ProMix plus all 27L of perlite. This gives me ~24% minimum perlite, plus whatever the pro mix has in it.
    • Should I use the perlite mix for the seedlings or just regular ProMix? I’m guessing the perlite mix for drainage/less nutes?
  • I’ll be mostly relying on the sun but I plan to have a couple CFLs to help me with overall light levels plus extending the light part of the day to ~18 hours in the early stages.
    • Could this cause issues if they’ll be in less than that amount of sun outside?
  • Once I have decent roots they’ll be transplanted into the large pots (with lots of drainage holes) where they’ll stay outside as much as possible but I will move them in/cover them up if necessary. I anticipate them being inside for a little while after they’re in the pots thanks to completely unpredictable weather (15C a couple weeks ago, last 4 days we had snow)
  • I don’t have any plans for veg nutes at the moment. The ProMix has “feed for 3 months” which I’m banking on running out around flower. I will have a pretty long veg cycle and I think they’ll have more than enough time to grow big and strong and use up all that nitrogen.
    • Any issues with time release soil other than nitrogen being left over in flower? That’s the main issue I’ve seen.
  • I do plan on using some flowering nutrients. This is one piece of the puzzle I don’t have figured out yet and would like some suggestions on.
    • If I were to only get one bud booster, what should it be? I’m hoping to have big plants with a naturally big yield, so maybe more potent/tasty buds is what I’m aiming for with flower nutes…thoughts?
  • After harvest I’m thinking I’ll need to dry in my garage. I don’t really have a good room in my house, and I know neither me nor my fiancé really want the whole house smelling like weed. I’ll have to see what the humidity will be like around that time because I don’t want them drying too fast/slow. This is yet to be determined.
  • Top or FIM?
    • Is there a preference from the outdoor growers on here? My gut says topping 3ish times would be a good plan. I’ve also read not to do either.
  • LST
    • Is this necessary at all on outdoor plants? Any preferred methods for outdoor?
  • Defoliation
    • Should this be avoided on outdoor plants? Maybe just low/inside leaves later on? Also read bottom ⅓ every month-ish
  • Rain
    • I know it’s natural but I’ve read to avoid it if possible because it can cause mold and also get into recent wounds and cause infections (e.g. after topping)
    • Anybody cover up their outdoor plants from rain?

Sorry for the wall of text and all the questions…! I have more specific plans but I’ll talk/ask about them as this moves along. I also have water info and some ”scientific” data that I’ll be putting in a separate thread but linking here shortly.

Thanks for reading and hopefully following along. Looking forward to the journey.

@Skydiver @jjs @Otis @Raysvols69 @Interlu

I know there’s lots of regulars out there that I didn’t tag, hope you can come along for the ride.

Cheers,
Griff :v:

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Info on my water and pH, and using vinegar as pH down.

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Set to watch. :+1:

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@Griff very nice detailed grow plan

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@Griff how many cfl lights you have?

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@id like to tag along in journal to if that’s ok welcome to Ilovegrowingmarajuanadorum

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@kcj absolutely tag along, the more the merrier.

I have 3 23W cfl bulbs laying around but they’re really only for a boost on top of the sunlight, I don’t intend to go too crazy with a setup for them. Honestly I considered not using any lights but I read about those and thought why not.

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Glad to have you here!

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I’m in illegal state, so no outdoor growing for me. Interested in seeing how you do outdoors.

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@Oldguy you come recommended for northern outdoor grow advice, hopefully it’s okay to tag you here.

Also I think your in N.S. and just want to say you guys are in our thoughts. Such a senseless act of violence that keeps on getting worse…hope you’re all clear and safe.

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Yeah that’s rough. Hopefully you guys are all legal in the coming years! I’m pretty curious too, there’s a hell of a lot more indoor than outdoor on here so I’m looking forward to adding some diversity :+1:

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@Griff. Thanks. No probs on the tag brother. :wink:
More than willing to help if I can.
Ya. That incident is up to 16 or 17 dead already. And they’re still looking at a few more properties.
Could go higher yet.
Not good.
I’ve got you set to watching and following along. :wink::+1::v:

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:broken_heart::slightly_frowning_face: Heartbreaking news from up North @Oldguy …just hate to hear when something so senseless affects so many people ! :pray:t2: and loving vibes out to my neighbors to the North and all those families involved in that travesty…:v:

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Thanks brother. Appreciated. :+1::v:

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@Griff , you got a good plan in front of you ! Sounds well thought out .
I’d put a bet on your success . Really I don’t qualify to give out much advice , this first grow for me was like kicking a can out front of myself, learning experience for sure ! Looks like you’re hooked up with some good folks here already. Looking forward to watching your new adventures in growing. Best of luck Brother :v:

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Appreciate the confidence @jjs, I hope your right!
And as long as you’ve done it once then I’m sure you’ve made mistakes that I might make! That’s some of the best advice.

Hoping for the best with all these fine folks tagging along :v:

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@jjs you growing purple haze?

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Yes , almost at the finish line @kcj .

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I’ll be watching, I’ve been growing out doors for awhile now so I’ll be poking my name here and there.

Cheers on you first grow and welcome to the forum!

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Don’t forget to rinse your perlite first before adding / mixing with your base soil. Removes the small dust particles so it doesn’t create a barrier layer at bottom after watering awhile those dust particles will migrate to the bottom of pot. I just read this info posted by @Budbrother and learned something new. Also it was suggested by @LoCoRock to poke some small holes at bottom and lower sides of bag of perlite and run hose from top to flush it.

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