My First Ever Grow

[BTG1028]

This is my first ever grow, didn't know much about growing before I started but definitely had the smoking part down lol. So I pretty much went into this not knowing anything, just the basic process of growing a plant in general. Some dirt, some water, and some sun. About a week after planting the seeds and just breaking the ground, I went to my friend who knows his stuff about growing. Just asked him a couple questions just to make sure I didn't make any huge mistakes. Been doing some more research onlines on various other websites until coming across this one which seems to have what I need. Not expecting much from this grow, quality of the product should be decent. But I am hoping for a pretty high yield.Temperature in my area is about 75-85 on the norm during the day, and drops to no lower that 60 at night. Any advice is greatly appreciated, not really looking to spend a lot of money as these aren't top strain seeds and I'm mostly just doing this for the fun and some free smoke

Going into this grow I knew 2 things; I was going to grow them outdoors and I wanted to keep it organic. I like the theory, idea, what ever you want to call, that plants know how to grow by themselves as long as they have what they need. So I'm trying to stay away from any chemicals and that kind of stuff, which I'm almost positive that they aren't needed. But like I said, this is my first grow I don't know the art yet. So started off by putting 3 seeds in 1 small paper cup with some soil and water. All 3 seeds sprouted in one cup and 1 in each other cup to give me a total of five seedlings. Kept those in the cups for just over 2 weeks, which might have been to long and possibly slowing their growth a little. But last night I went to a local gardening store, luckily found a girl that worked there who knew exactly what I was up to when I asked for some soil either organic or with very little nitrogen (I had just read on here that the nitrogen might burn the seedlings if introdruced to early, didn't know what a good amount of it was. So I played it safe.) So I got some of the Natural Potting Soil (.10-.05-.05) that she recommended, saying that this is what all of the "farmers" buy when they come in. She also recommended AZOS, to maintain the nitrogen levels or something like that. Didn't get it last night because she I could find it cheaper online but I think I might go get some today, because the extra $5-$10 isn't worth it to order online. So that's pretty much what I'm going to roll with my entire grow. Some of that Natural Potting Soil, some distilled water, and some AZOS until I don't need it anymore. Not sure when or how long I'm supposed to use it, but I'm sure I can find a thread on here.

So that pretty much catches you up to where I am in my grow. About 2 1/2 weeks, almost 2 inches. So far, so good.

Week 2


Any advice, tips, or knowledge is greatly appreciated. I am always learning.




UPDATE 8/26/11 6:16 p.m. PT

When I had started my grow, my friend had also started 2 indoor seeds germinating in paper towels. It took about a week and a half before they cracked in there, and about the 2 week mark we planted the seeds in the soil. Left them in the cup on the window seal, one broke ground the next day but never saw the other one. The one that did start to grow eventually died a couple day later, but I figure it was from giving too much sun too soon and lost it. That was about a week ago, and with the cup still sitting in the window seal until today I finally emptied it out. Hoping to maybe find a seed that didn't crack or whatever, just hoping to find some sort of life, I found a very tiny seedling that had been growing IN the dirt. Looks like it might have been too deep or fell sideways, whatever the case may be, I found it today. So I very carefully took the little seedling from that dirt, put it in some of the soil that I'm using for my other plants and gave it a little water. It's been about 2 hours and it's still standing strong, it's very small and just by the looks of it probably at the same stage my plants were at the end of the day they broke ground. So this plant is almost 2 weeks behind, going to keep it outdoors with the other ones. I'm guessing they should be separated, not sure if matters at this stage of the cycle or not until later. I'm guessing not until the flowering stage will it actually matter.

Unlike the other 5 plants I have, this strain I actually know. It's Grape Ape, sativa dominant I believe, and you can see the end product of the grape ape from an indoor environment carefully taken care of by who I believe is a master grower. This was the 2nd best overall strain that I have smoked, the Chocolope grown by the same guy is by far the best overall. But just based on taste and looks, this Grape Ape is the best I have had. He did add some Welch's grape juice, but not sure when during the growing process. I think it was during watering, in the Flowering stage and then he flushed it with it. But I could be wrong. But the Welch's is definitely something that I would like to try with the Grape Ape and possibly other strains that I grow in the future. It definitely does give results, so if your reading this I would recommend it if you want to add some purple and grape taste to your plants. Not sure if there's an exact science to it, or if it can harm your plants but I'm pretty sure Welch's is all sugar and water so I don't see it doing anything bad. I'll this journal updated with the Grape Ape plant, I just hope I can keep it from dying. Pictures might be up tomorrow, was to small my phone couldn't really pick it up on the camera. So once it's big enough I'll post some.

 

[lee6]

nice plants, your plants are exactly as old as mine. Im watering mine with rain water because i read somewhere thats "its gods gift to plants" and tbh its working fine up to yet! Your also right about plants not NEEDING nutes.. i meen...plants dont get fed nutes in the wild and they grow fine. im starting my babies off inside under a skylight , and when they get about 1-2ft high ill plant them outdoors. Im going to give mine some nutes just to give them the extra help!
Goodluck man.

 

[BTG1028]

That's as natural as it gets, I think I might set out some buckets next time it rains. Was using sink water to start these off, didn't really think about tap water having all of those chlorines and what not in them. Good thing the water is pretty good out here. But I'm definitely switching to some distilled water, or rain water next time I get some! I'll probably get some Bloom and maybe give them a 1/4 of the recommended amount once they're a little bigger. I think I'm going to give it some molasses when it's time, been reading around these forums and I like the idea.

How big are your plants compared to mine?

 

[cranker]

They look good. You can use MG Tomato for nutes pretty much the whole run it has minimal N and higher on the P and K. You might need to check the ph at some point.

 

[313 Kronix]

Very nice. I'm also doing organic and I'm loving it way more than my 2 previous nutrient grows. The video I just posted today shows my babies at 39 days since I started germination. I couldn't be happier with how they are doing with only adding water.

Now I don't know anything about that AZOS stuff but what are you planning to add for flowering?

 

[313 Kronix]

https://www.rollitup.org/subcools-old-school-organics/

There is a lot of great info in there for organic growing. That's where I'm stuck to when I'm not in my grow room lol

 

[lee6]

if your going to use nutes use something high in N until they start to flower. Then switch to something lower in N and higher in P and K. Dont totally drop the N tho.

 

[BTG1028]

Very nice. I'm also doing organic and I'm loving it way more than my 2 previous nutrient grows. The video I just posted today shows my babies at 39 days since I started germination. I couldn't be happier with how they are doing with only adding water.

Now I don't know anything about that AZOS stuff but what are you planning to add for flowering?

Not exactly sure what I should be adding during flowering, lol, are you talking about nutes or something else?
I really need to learn some more.

BTW thanks for the organics link, definitely should provide me with some information that pertains to my plants.

 

[313 Kronix]

I mean like bat guano or something. I use subcool's super soil mix (which contains bat guano and many other ingredients) but there are many of different ways to do it. I'm still pretty new to this whole thing too and figured I'd give you the heads up that you're gonna need to add something when they go into flowering even with doing organic.

 

[BTG1028]

I mean like bat guano or something. I use subcool's super soil mix (which contains bat guano and many other ingredients) but there are many of different ways to do it. I'm still pretty new to this whole thing too and figured I'd give you the heads up that you're gonna need to add something when they go into flowering even with doing organic.

Ya just from what I saw today on some threads, maybe worm castings, bat guano, and seaweed extract. Gonna search on some more stuff tomorrow and then probably hit the garden store check out what they have.
And I'm guessing I should probably start giving them food once those 2 original leaves turn yellow right? Those are supposed to give them what they need for a good time.

 

[BTG1028]

Update 8/27/11 12:06 p.m.

So the Grape Ape seedling made it through the night. Gave them all water when I woke up this morning, probably going to cut down on the watering after some discussions on threads. They all seem to be pretty healthy, but I think I going to water in the mornings and then once again around 4 p.m. Probably going to work my way to a 3 waterings to 2 day ratio, and maybe fiddle around with it to see what works best. Definitely going to stop by the store today and get some food for them because the original leaves are starting to get empty on nutrients and whatever it provides the plants. Maybe some worm castings and bat guano. Other than that not much news on the front, here's some pictures from today though. Some new sets of leaves, definitely getting taller, and some pretty sturdy stalks on these little guys. There's also a picture of the Grape Ape seedling, extremely small and delicate. I propped it up with some of the soil because it had orginally started growing sideways in the soil as mentioned before.

 

[313 Kronix]

I don't think they should need watering that much. Especially while they are still that small. At that size they only have small roots still and can only transfer so much water. Basically you want to not use a watering schedule but rather a per plant's needs basis. You want them to dry out a little bit (you should be able to stick you index finger into the soil up to the first knuckle without feeling water) before you water them again. Those look to be 1/2 gallon containers correct? They should hold enough water in them for at least 24 hours.

Unless you are underwatering. When you water them does water drip out the bottom of the containers?

 

[BTG1028]

I don't think they should need watering that much. Especially while they are still that small. At that size they only have small roots still and can only transfer so much water. Basically you want to not use a watering schedule but rather a per plant's needs basis. You want them to dry out a little bit (you should be able to stick you index finger into the soil up to the first knuckle without feeling water) before you water them again. Those look to be 1/2 gallon containers correct? They should hold enough water in them for at least 24 hours.

Unless you are underwatering. When you water them does water drip out the bottom of the containers?

That could definitely be why I'm not under or over-watering them, since I do numerous small waterings. Because no the water doesn't drip out. So would that be what you recommend, once a day, giving them an amount of water so it starts dripping out the bottom? They probably don't have a very solid root system since they're getting water all of the time.

 

[313 Kronix]

That's what I'm thinking but I'm no expert at all lol

 

[BTG1028]

So it's been almost a week since the last update, all 5 plants are looking great. I've cut the watering down to once a day, in the mornings; So now I have a good watering schedule for them. A couple things happened in the past couple days. The Grape Ape seedling couldn't make it, BUT my friend found a Purple Cheese seed in one his nugs two days ago so I planted it straight in the soil and am waiting for it to break ground later today or tomorrow.

And then last night the same friend brought over his 1 1/2 month clone that was over at this other guys house, who wasn't the most accessible so we thought it'd be better to let me take over. I had never seen the plant before so I was expecting like a foot and a half plant since it was a clone, but to my surprise it was barely bigger than my almost 3 week plants. Now I don't know much about growing yet so my guess isn't that good, but I feel like the clone is an auto flowering strain which would give reason why it's pretty developed but pretty small. I was also told that the previous caretaker had topped the plant a couple time, not sure if that would be a reason why it's so small. Definitely possible I think.

Anyways, anything that anyone can tell me about this plant just by looking at the picture that would be awesome. I forgot to ask him what strain it was, but I'm pretty sure it's a good one. I think I'm going to transplant it into a five gallon bucket whether or not it's an autoflower, because I know it's better for them to have a lot a space to grow right from the get-go. The clone was indoors under some light for the 1 1/2 months, but it should be okay to move it outdoors since that's the type of growing that I'm doing right now.

Also I question I would very well like to know the answer to. Do I NEED to give the plants any food or nutes during the VEG stage? Because if not I'd rather wait until the flowering to start giving them some nutes and stuff.

 

[313 Kronix]

They are looking pretty good bro.

 

[BTG1028]

Update 9/20/11
It's been almost 3 weeks since my last update, here's some pictures. I also started another 6 plants, 5 cheese and 1 purple cheese. The older ones will be 6 weeks on saturday and the younger ones are 2 weeks old.


Here are the oldest plants, the first one I FIM'd last Sat. It worked but I only wanted to do one to see how much it produces. #2 and #4 are my biggest ones, about 10 inches both. #5 is the smallest and #3 is a different strain than the others. These are all in 5 gallon buckets that I water every other day.


#1 on these pictures is Purple Cheese, 2 weeks old. The other pics are of the cheese, 1 week old. They're already taller than the Purple cheese.

 

[BTG1028]

 

[BTG1028]

Update: So here's my ghetto setup that I made for my plants to sleep at night since it's starting to get cold and the days are getting shorter. Being a strictly outdoor grower and this being my first grow, I haven't acquired anything really to set up indoors. So I found some lamps, 1 being a regular 90 watt light bulb not sure what they're called and 20 watt compact fluorescent. I really only have this setup for a couple hours in the morning until the sun comes out and warms up, and then maybe for another hour at night to keep the direct light at 12 hours for my plants which are exactly 6 weeks old today. Woke up this morning to see white hairs on 4 of the 5 plants which put a big grin on my face



I also got bored today and decided to make a little stealth box. I really only made it big enough to hold vegging plants until they're about a foot. I have nice set of cabinets in my garage that I've really wanted to turn into a grow space since I moved into the new house. So that's probably where I'll put my plants once they're a foot tall. You can see pictures in the attached thumbnails.

This is only the 3rd night for bringing my plants in, but I plan on doing it until I finish these 11 plants. Then hopefully around Christmas time I can get a nice indoor set up going.

 

[BTG1028]

Hey everyone, just took some pictures this morning. 5 in flowering: 5 days (47 days total) as these have gotten older I've come to see that there are 3 different strains out of the 5. 3-1-1. Just some bagseed, hope it turns out well. I also have a Purple Cheese that is 25 days old, that one is in the clay pot. Looks like it will be a shorter bushier plant, but of course it could start stretching out later in it's life so we'll see. And the smaller 5 are Cheese (18 days), these things are getting ridiculously big compared to my other ones. These ones I'm really excited for. Started seeing some bugs finding my flowering plants. Killed a small white caterpillar this morning, didn't do much damage. Then while taking pictures I found a bigger insect wasn't sure if it was harmful to the plant, looked like it could kick some ass in the bug world. But better say than sorry so I got rid of him. Looks like I'm going to have to go find some organic bug stuff today, definitely going to have an insect problem outdoors here in the country.