Grow Mentorship

[T-ray]

Great posts @Gl1tch

The problem I have is a product of some mistakes made in the beginning of this (first) indoor grow. The bigger plant was waterlooged a seedling in a small plastic planter. She was transplanted to a 7 gallon fabric pot. she recovered nicely, and I don’t have 12" to the light. the main cola is getting beat up a bit but the next layer buds look good. This plant is 7.5 weeks into flower.

The smaller plant was a RQS Blue Cheese Auto bean germinated in water and planted directly into a 7 gallon fabric pot with dry FFHF . it is really stunted but is flowering decently. I’m trying to balance intensity so both plants get the most benefit. Light is an ACI IONFRAM 280W.

[Gl1tch]

Do you have picks of the plants and space. Right off the top you could tie the tallest stuff over a little so the branchs bend just a little. Not too much or you risk super cropping(Not the end of the world just not ideal). Low stress bending is much better than heavy light stress. That might buy you an extra few inches to the light. Then you can boost the shorter one up on a milk crate or something to bring it’s canopy up to an ideal distance from the light.

[T-ray]

I don’t think I should cut on the bigger plant, or the smaller one for that matter. I measured again - the all plant (auto) is about 10” from the light.

[Gl1tch]

The little one looks like it’s very close to chop time. I wouldn’t cut anything on the big one just bend the tallest branches over to the side and tie them to something solid so stay leaned over. A lot of times I stick a safety pin through the pot and use that to tie to but sometimes I can’t get a good bend that way and have to get creative.

[T-ray]

I’ll put something under the runt and hopefully she will respond. Thanks man

[Gl1tch]

Any time, I’m happy to be helpful

[T-ray]

you are

[dbrn32]

NEC code requires the 80% load calculation. I no longer work with code regularly but 6 months of preparing for 8 hour test in 2007 tells me section 310.15, there should be a series of tables and explanations within that section explaining.

Basically, you can’t load a circuit to run at 100% of it’s capacity regularly.

[Gl1tch]

310.15 only applies to sizing conductors . 310.15(B)(16) is the wire sizing bible. 210 is for sizing whole branch circuits not just the wire. I dread having to do code update class every three years. That’s a lot of time I’ll never get back.

@dbrn32

6 months of preparing for 8 hour test

The journeyman exam is the hardest test I’ve ever taken, and I’m a pretty exceptional test taker. It keeps me going back to do code update just so I don’t have to go through that nightmare again.

[dbrn32]

That’s what nearly 20 years will do to a stoner . I was thinking it was 200’s or 300’s and i couldn’t get 310 out of my head. Blah blah table of ampacity. I’m very thankful that i can read the code book, but even more thankful I no longer need to.

[Gl1tch]

after 20 years of not using it The ampacity table service calcs is probably all I will remember too

[Quivln]

Here is an update on how my garden is going. With some photos. I got a MARS Hydro TSW2000 (300W) and setup in the flowering tent. Keeping it at about 50% right now.

Been doing some HST on the vegetative plants, trying to encourage them bushing out more. Adding some twine to help promote the stalks to spread out more on the largest of the OG Kush. 1 plant is consistently having gnat issues. I think it’s pot doesn’t drain very well? I am treating all water for all the plants with Mosquito Bits and h2o2. Gnats aren’t abundant, and appear mostly limited to just 1 plant.

The flowering plant (USA Gorilla Glue) is looking pretty good. Lots of large buds, plenty of growth. Some yellowing and browning of a few leaves. I think I overdid it a bit on light intensity and followed suggestion of raising light. The top leaves were starting to show a little curling and what looks like heat or overexposure? I got 4 different readings of the PPM & PH of the runoff.

PH = 5.9-6.1 (varied, but was fairly consistent)
PPM = 1450 (average, a couple high, a couple low)

Moved the other older plant (White Widow) to the flowering tent. She’s gotten rather tall and I’ve already gotten some clones from her. Wanted to get another plant started on that cycle if possible to keep a consistent crop coming through and don’t want too much light going to waste. Average of 3 runoff readings below
PH = 6.3
PPM = 950

I am planning on moving the 2 smaller OG Kush plants to the flowering tent soon and cloning the healthy/strong OG Kush plant. Not sure if I should wait for the little ones to get bigger, or just push them to flower and to make room for other crop coming through.

I need to make some more soil. I’ve gone through the whole bag of FF Ocean Forest I had and am beginning the process of trying to figure out how to make more soil. I’ll need fresh soil for the clones from the OG Kush. The other 2 Kush plants I am transplanting and will use the last of my MG soil on their larger homes.

Considering getting another bag of FF Ocean Forest. Adding perlite, blood meal & Wakefield Organic Compost Biochar + Myco Fung.

This would be after they’ve spread their roots ( 2 weeks or so after clip and stick).

Last time I used clone dome cups w/ rock wool cubes on top of clay pebbles for the cloning process. Soaked the rock wool in water, added a bit of honey to the stems of the clippings and dipped in GardenSafe - Take Root hormone. Was considering getting Clonex this time. Last time, the roots took a while and weren’t very abundant. Added Myco Fung when moving them from clone dome to soil.

[Quivln]

Here is another update. Garden is doing well. I’m becoming more neutral to the whole process. Instead of focusing so much on negatives, and trying really hard to ‘make it happen’. I’m trying to just observe the girls, spend time with them, and just be present instead of getting flustered. Thanks for all the help and support y’all have given me.

Gorilla Glue (GG1) (5 wks flowering) is looking healthy. I remove some of the leaves as they turn yellow. Try to keep her top cola from getting too close to light, but don’t want to use too much bending/stressing at this point. She’s still growing nicely, and is due for a feeding soon. Will give her a rather heavy feeding since this might be her last feeding before flushing. I got some new nutes and look forward to trying them out. Planning on giving her a cocktail of:

FoxFarm Big Bloom (FFBB)
FoxFarm Tiger Bloom (FFTB)
FoxFarm CalMag (FFCM)
FoxFarm Microbe Brew (FFMB)
FoxFarm Bembe (FFBM)
FoxFarm Beastie Bloomz (FFBZ)

Lot of stuff to put together. Will try to use low amounts. PPM 1400 max. I’ve heard of people going up to 2000. Not sure if that’ll even help or just give nutrient burn.

The White Widow (WW1) (1st wk flowering) got a solid pruning and heavy feeding. Has not started to develop any buds yet, has been in flower for about 1 week. Fed half the heavy dosage of: FFBB, FFTB, FFCM, and FFMB + FFBoomerang. The feeding water PPM was 1200, PH of 6.2. the runoff was 1050/6.4. I’m hoping the Microbe Brew helps her take in all the extra nutrients she’s getting. The Boomerang is supposed to help with stress. I think all the pruning and changing of schedule is stressing, hoping that helps. Took 3 more clones of her since I was trimming some pretty quality stems. Not sure if they’ll make it, but she’s been a good mother and her other babies are strong.

OG1 was looking a little too dark, getting droopy, and the tips of the leaves were starting to curl. Looks like she got a bit of the claw in her. I used FF Sledgehammer, and it almost cleared it up instantly. The next day she was looking vibrant and strong again so I cloned her. I really just needed to get her trimmed up for flowering and thought this was a good opportunity to make some clones.

Took 8 cuttings from the lower branches. I’ve heard different opinions on where to cut from. Some say lower branches have rooting hormones, some say the top growth has more growing hormones. Since I wanted to lollipop, they came from the bottom. I might take some top clones as well though, she’s been a strong specimen.

All clones are in rockwool cubes resting in clay pebbles. They are in humidity domes. I water the pebbles 2/day and spray the inside of the dome. The water contains a little FF Root Drench, PPM 200, PH 6.0. Four of the clones were given Garden Safe TakeRoot and four clones were given Clonex. Interested to see the comparison.

OG2 & OG3 are both very light green, almost yellowish. They had drainage issues and the worst of the gnat problems. I’ve managed to get the gnats almost all gone and under control, but these 2 have struggled. I transplanted OG2, and botched it pretty bad. Cut about half her roots off. She recovered nicely though. Fed them recently with FF Boomerang. Hopefully they get healthier soon and can be ready for flowering.

The 3 WW clones (WWc1,WWc2,WWc3) are all looking strong and healthy. They’ve gotten topped, and have been growing well. They are 3 weeks old now and I’m considering when they will be pushed to flower. They got 3 new little sisters. Might have to invest in another grow tent for just clones.

More seeds on the way. Looking forward to different strains, but want to make the most of the girls I’ve got now. I’m still very fresh, but it does appear some seeds give better/stronger plants than others. Looking ahead, if this holds true, I want to get a mother tent to keep some of the bangers around. Seems like a good idea to try 4 or 5 seeds of a given species, find the strongest plant, and keep her as a mother. Build up 4 or 5 solid mothers, and just clone them in batches when you need a new crop.

[Gl1tch]

@Quivln

I’ve heard of people going up to 2000. Not sure if that’ll even help or just give nutrient burn.

Remember the law of the minimum. A plant’s growth is limited by the most deficient nutrient. Adding more fertilizer will only harm the plant if you don’t add the correct elements in proper amounts. The same is also true of the other necessary parameters like temp, humidity, light, moisture and air content of the soil and CO2. These all work together to determine how much of any resource a plant can use and therefore how fast and healthy they will grow. Focus on keeping them happy. Then you can start thinking about how to optimize one input at a time. Pics will help diagnose issues too.

@Quivln

Adding perlite, blood meal & Wakefield Organic Compost Biochar + Myco Fung.

Be careful adding organic amendments if your going to continue using synthetic nutes. It can make dosing nutes more difficult since you will have to factor in the breakdown of the amendments. It’s usually much easier to pick a path and stick with it since organics work on very different principles than synthetics.

@Quivln

it does appear some seeds give better/stronger plants than others.

This is the basis of cannabis breeding. You can get many different genotypes from a single set of parents. Taking clones allows you to preserve that particular set of traits with out the roll of the dice and hunting required to find a similar set of traits from seed. Keeping moms for an extended period of time can be tricky though. You want to keep her healthy so she produces healthy clones, but you also want to keep the growth slower so she stays manageable.

[Quivln]

I do need to focus more on one method or another. I suppose I’m grabbing at different things, trying to find what fits right. I will try making some soil for an all organic grow. I’m going to read up on some of the journals of the organic growers here to get a good idea on how to get some going. It sounds like once you get the right mix, you just need to water and watch.

I do like being involved a bit in the process (so far), as I am retired and have plenty of time on my hands to tend to the crop. They don’t take much time I’ve noticed, but I do like hanging out with them. I don’t mind mixing the nutes and playing ‘chemist’ with what I’m giving them.

I’ve got 8 clones coming up now, maybe I can do organic soil/compost on 4 of them and the other 4 go with basic soil with nutrients?

[Gl1tch]

Build a soil is a great resource for all things organic cannabis. They have great articles on their web site and the youtube channel is great as well. To a degree you can make organics as easy or complicated as you want. There are a lot of really cool extra hobbies that can come with organics like tea making, ferments, composts, and worms to name a few. There is lot’s of stuff to keep you entertained if are interested in making your own inputs. You can also just buy a few items off the shelf and focus your attention on training and plant management or different grows. I would caution against trying to do too many plants or techniques at once. It can get confusing and expensive to do too many different methods at once until you have some experience to build on and provide context. It can take some time to build up all the gear you might want too. I generally like organic methods for soil and synthetic methods for soiless media like coco or peat. IMO that really plays both methods to their strengths, but plenty of people grow fine kind in soil with synthetics. I imagine it would be pretty tricky to grow organically in soiless media, but I think there are some hydro guys out there doing it.

[Quivln]

Howdy all, here is another update to my grow.

GG1 (6 wk flower) is looking strong and healthy. Gonna just stick to water with her for the rest of the way. I removed all ties and strings I had trying to train her growth. Rotated her pot to give some of the back buds a bit more direct lighting. Looking forward to what she produces. She’s started to get loud and I’m trying to not let myself get too excited.

WW1 (2.5 wk flower) is going through quite the growth spurt. I trained some of her branches down, but the main 2 made a ‘splitting/cracking’ sound when I tried pushing them apart. I’m just leaving the main 2 alone and hoping they don’t get too tall. She didn’t seem to have any serious side effects from the stress, but I’m not going to risk it. Still trying to control the stretch on her other colas to spread out more. She’s getting lots of taller looking bud sites. Similar formation to Gorilla Glue, we’ll see as her buds come in.

OG1 (1wk flower) has been moved to the flowering tent. Gave her another trimming after the bud sites became apparent. She’s been exploding and I’ve been trying to maintain her growth with lots of twine and clips. She only has 4 main colas, but I was really able to stretch them far away from the center, and now she’s got 8 of the smaller sites really soaking up the light, and almost as tall as the colas. I’ve heard the colas are really the main grab, but with how bushy this OG Kush is, I’m wondering if I can get some solid mid buds from her.

The Gorilla Glue & White Widow appear to have much taller growth, lots of it being focused on the main stems. The OG Kush is bushier and more spread out. Gorilla Glue had fewer, larger bud sites. White Widow has more, small bud sites, all packed very close to the cola. OG Kush has many bud sites, very spread out, and many little branches extending from the main stems with decent looking sites. Fascinating how the different strains grow differently. I’m assuming conditions matter a lot as well. I’ve set the OG Kush on a basket to make her just as tall as her flower sisters.

All 3 flowering plants are in the same tent (3x3x6), getting 12/12, temps between 77-85, humidity 50-55. Keeping the light about 18 inches from the OG1&WW1 canopies, usually at 80%. The GG1 is just too tall, so she’s off to the side a bit. Trying to get the temps down, planning on installing a window AC in that room once I can get the circuit upgraded. However, cooler weather is coming, so I can crack a window in the evenings.

The 3 WW clones are all doing well. Did some topping on them, and trying to do lots of LST. Clones grow very different than seeded plants. At least, these are. The leaves and branches at the bottom of the clones are very messy and cluttered. It’s almost like a totally different growth pattern than the seeded plants had. One of them has basically 2 arms sticking way out to the sides. I think when she was in her clone dome, those branches were getting pushed down and now she’s growing very laterally. It might just be deformations from their initial environment being a cramped clone dome, but they are really spreading out more than their mother did. Trying to take advantage of that and really focus on an even canopy with LST.

OG2 has really recovered and is going strong. Needs a trimming, but I’ve been very busy with work.

OG3 is still struggling. Very yellow, some brown spots on the leaves. I think it’s a drainage issue? She had gnat problems, they are all gone, but maybe the gnats were an indicator of another issue. She’s the only one who had issues like that. Her sister got gnat a bit, but she got out of it very easily. I think I need to transplant OG3 to get some better drainage and care for her roots. I’m just worried because when I transplanted OG2, I ripped like half her roots off! She recovered though.

I took a few more clones of the White Widow, brining the total up to 10 clonelings. Unfortunately both of them showed signs of mold. White, fuzzy spots on their main stem, black spots on the leaves and an off putting aroma from their clone domes. I had sterilized the other 8 clones, but I lapsed a bit on sterilizing these since they were an afterthought, and it costed them their lives

I scrapped them to avoid contamination. 8 clones is probably still too many for me, but I’m trying to overshoot, assuming a few don’t make it. Just out of caution, I cleaned & sterilized their tent, sprayed the other plants with neem oil solution, and all the clones were moved to new, sterilized domes. They’re about 1 week old now, no signs of roots yet. They rest in a rockwool cube, supported by clay pebbles, in clone cups with dome that I mist daily. I had been keeping the light on their side of the tent low. Trying now to pop their domes off a little bit in their mornings to air out their cups and give them some more direct light. I might move a few to soil to let them take root there instead.

I got a new tent. Just put in a 4x4x7 tent. Here’s a breakdown of the new setup:

4x2x5 - Clone/Veg tent
Farmlite 240
VivoSun R4 inline
VSA6" tent fan

3x3x6 - Flowering Tent
MARS TSW2000
R4 Inline
VSA6" tent fan
4" USB Fan

4x4x7 - Full Crop Tent
2xVS1000s
VS AeroZesh T6
2xVSE6" tent fans

I’ve been a fan of the VivoSun products that I’ve gotten so far. The specs aren’t amazing, but worth it for the price and convenience. I tried a couple other similar price brands offerings and preferred VivoSun. So, I had to try their growhub. It’s all setup on the 4x4 now, so the lights/fan/exhaust are all automated. We’ll see how well it delivers, but I figure it’ll be a hassle to adjust all those things manually in a bigger tent like that.

Lastly, (geez this is a long post), I started building my own soil. Did a lot of research on buildasoil.com and watched several of his videos. I picked up some earthworm castings, bio-fiber & lava rock from a local nursery. I know there’s issues with bone/blood meal, but I’ve already got a bunch, so I’ll probably use that. I have some myco to put near the roots. Need to find out more about getting minerals. I don’t quite trust the stuff from Home Depot.

Soil Recipe - 15gal - (so far)
2 gal earthworm castings (12 lbs)
3 gal bio-fiber
3 gal lava rock
1 gal compost (mostly eggshells, banana peels & tea leaves)
3 tbs blood meal
3 tbs bone meal

Any suggestions on how to modify is appreciated. I definitely need some more amendments, but trying to tred lightly. I will probably try a couple different 15 gal recipes and see how they perform with the new clones.

Anyways, that’s enough for this update. I’ll try to get some pics up soon.

Thanks y’all, much love.
~Q

[Venturi]

@Quivln

I’ve been a fan of the VivoSun products that I’ve gotten so far. The specs aren’t amazing, but worth it for the price and convenience. I tried a couple other similar price brands offerings and preferred VivoSun.

Their specs are no more or less amazing than any other brands I’ve studied. The design and build-quality of the Vivosun products I own impresses me. Their E42A controller does a good job of automating basic tasks without requiring proprietary cables that look like USB-C but aren’t.

[Gl1tch]

@Quivln

I trained some of her branches down, but the main 2 made a ‘splitting/cracking’ sound when I tried pushing them apart.

It happens sometimes. check to make sure you didn’t split anything. If you do break or split a branch you can usually fix them with a some honey to close the wound, and some Teflon tape. Cannabis is pretty resilient when it’s healthy which makes training a lot of fun IMO. There is just so much you can do.

@Quivln

maybe the gnats were an indicator of another issue.

Often they come from over watering, but I would have to see the plant to make a real determination.

@Quivln

I’m just worried because when I transplanted OG2, I ripped like half her roots off!

Did you try to transplant her when she was wet? It’s easiest when the soil is ready to water then you can water in the new pot. Wet dirt sticks to the pots and the extra weight increases risk of root damage. Some growers will actually hack the roots
on purpose to Moms to keep them from getting too big.

@Quivln

I scrapped them to avoid contamination. 8 clones is probably still too many for me, but I’m trying to overshoot, assuming a few don’t make it.

Exactly, it’s not a bad idea to start some extra seeds or clones so you can pick the best. Just don’t get so attached to the lesser ones that you don’t want to cull them when the time comes. 8 plants is a lot of work and a lot to manage for a new grower. I run 6 and it can be too much sometimes
I’ve had quite a few Vivosun products and I’m not their biggest fan, but thats just my experience which is exceptionally bad compared to most of what I have seen others report. Of the many products I’ve gotten from them(probably 20 or so) the only thing I’ve been happy with was the first exhaust fan I got that I still use. I bought a second one because I liked the first one I got. The second one got the death rattle in a couple weeks. Attempts to warranty their equipment have always led to me throwing my hand up and saying F@#$ it, it’s not worth my time. To me they are like harbor freight tools, they are probably the best cheap available option, but I’m usually quite happy when I can spring for some nicer stuff.
I’m not familiar with bio fiber, I just use Canadian peat. This last round was my first successful attempt with home mad soil, but I cheated. I used BAS 3.0 amendment with 1 part aeration (70% pumice/30% rice hulls) 1 part compost(50% fish compost, 50% EWC) and 1 part peat moss. I think I’m adding some extra rock dusts, bio char, and bokashi too it when I re amend. I started struggling with some micro deficiencies in mid flower . The bokashi (Microbes) and less often rock dusts(Minerals) can also be used to top dress also if you not trying to go water only.

[Quivln]

@Gl1tch

If you do break or split a branch you can usually fix them with a some honey to close the wound, and some Teflon tape. Cannabis is pretty resilient when it’s healthy which makes training a lot of fun IMO.

I will try the honey & Teflon. There is a slight crack in the crotch of those two branches. She’s not leaning or separating anymore, but I will ensure she doesn’t have issues from this. I agree 100% on the training. I’ve been trying to dive more into that, really study the plants up close and figure out how to train them and still let them thrive.

@Gl1tch

Did you try to transplant her when she was wet?..Some growers will actually hack the roots on purpose to Moms to keep them from getting too big.

I think she was wet. I totally forgot how to transplant and tried to rip it out top, from the edges, instead of pouring her out or working her out on her side. Didn’t squeeze the pot and break all the roots loose first. There was a sizeable nest of roots stuck to the bottom that just ripped off. I did transplant the other plant today, and remembered how to do it and did it outside where I wasn’t so concerned about spilling a little dirt. Went much smoother.

That is an interesting idea. I’ve been considering how to make moms last longer in veg. I also wonder if the dead root matter can attribute to more enzymes and microbes in the soil if you mix it back in? Almost like composting? That’s what I did with that root mass, just worked it back into the soil she was transplanted into.

@Gl1tch

Just don’t get so attached to the lesser ones that you don’t want to cull them when the time comes.

Oh geez, I hadn’t even considered that. A very wise point indeed. I do need to pay attention to plants that are being a bit more finicky and troublesome and cut my losses. That thought alone is enlightening and empowers me to evolve my efforts. Thank you!

@Gl1tch

I’ve had quite a few Vivosun products and I’m not their biggest fan

That is a shame to hear. Sounds like you have gotten a rough ride, but really experienced a lot of their offerings. I will take your experience into consideration when looking for my next big purchase. Mine are limited, and extremely short term. I do wonder about the longevity of some of these products and seen some discouraging reviews.

I’ve been wondering how to get targeted nutrients for life cycles. Sounds like bokashi+rock dust will give enough nutrients through watering to bump up the right nutrients at the right time? Have you tried compost tea? Does that give them a nice boost?