First time - Indoor Grow

Hey Guys,

I'm starting my journal a couple of weeks into my grow, but I'm going to go over two different grows: my boyfriend's and mine

So I'm almost to my second week of my grow. I'm using an auto-flowering strain and put it in some potting soil. What originally was the plan was that my boyfriend and I were to set up something SIMPLE to see if we are cut to grow our own supply. Long story short, he went a little crazy and got some pretty nice stuff...hydroponics system, 4x4x7 mylar tent, 1K HID, pretty much the whole sha-bang! I, on the other hand, didn't do too much research and was feeling kind of cocky cause I had been gardening with one of my friends who is a plant fanatic and was "showing me the ropes."

We both germinated our seeds on the same day. He used rockwool and I just put my potting soil in a pot, made a 1/2" hole, covered and water it. Grant it, his seeds did sprout and broke the surface over 24 hours before mine did, this is where the story splits into two. My seedling has stayed under a 300w CFL 24-0 since it's sprouted and my boyfriend got a little too excited and moved his seedlings into his 5 gal (each seed had it's own bucket) bucket hydro set under the 1K HID at 100% for 24-0. My little baby has been slow and steady coming up on week two now and his seeds (we later learned) ended up getting shock and slowly started to die. We've transplanted them (dying seedlings) into soil, since he was ready to give up on them and I was not. I'm proud to say that at least two, possibly three, of the four seedlings are looking a lot better and might make a come back!

My baby has now been moved into the mylar tent and is still sitting under a 300w CFL, she's fed every couple of days and is left alone to do her thing. I've posted pictures and thanks for reading! Any feedback would be great and much appreciated!

IMO I didn't read everything but if ur starting off I wouldn't go straight into hydroponics. I think that's a bit advanced. I'm just a beginner and I'm growing in organic soil and I'm doing just fine but keep this updated I hope y'all grow some Dank

GKID69 said:

IMO I didn't read everything but if ur starting off I wouldn't go straight into hydroponics. I think that's a bit advanced. I'm just a beginner and I'm growing in organic soil and I'm doing just fine but keep this updated I hope y'all grow some Dank

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Thanks GKID, we found that out the hard way, but hopefully our soil grow will be more successful!

GKID69 said:

IMO I didn't read everything but if ur starting off I wouldn't go straight into hydroponics. I think that's a bit advanced. I'm just a beginner and I'm growing in organic soil and I'm doing just fine but keep this updated I hope y'all grow some Dank

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Hydro isn't as scary as it used to be. My first grow was hydro and as long as you go by the feeding schedule and change your res once a week, you should be fine. The biggest mistake hydro beginners make is to deviate from the schedule by dumping everything under the sun in there. If you start with a basic set like GH-Flora 3 part for your first grow, follow their schedule, and not use anything else for your first hydro grow, you will have success. You will then have a control to go by for future grows and be able to change things up using logic and experience instead of guesswork and over-enthusiasm.

Imo, hydro has a pretty brutal learning curve, some ppl get lucky but alot of ppl loose their first grow (sometimes several) to root rot. Dirt is much more forgiving if your not wanting to check on your plants several times a day, dirt or coco is they way to go imo. I would definitely let those 2 little ones dry out a bit and keep in separate cups so the roots don't grow together. hth

1itsme said:

Imo, hydro has a pretty brutal learning curve, some ppl get lucky but alot of ppl loose their first grow (sometimes several) to root rot. Dirt is much more forgiving if your not wanting to check on your plants several times a day, dirt or coco is they way to go imo. I would definitely let those 2 little ones dry out a bit and keep in separate cups so the roots don't grow together. hth

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Thank you for the input. Unfortunately, I've already lost one of the shocked seedlings, but one is making a come back and has sprouted it's true leaves finally! I'll be posting pictures shortly.

So it's been a while since I've last updated my journal. I'm almost to week four in my growing, my seeds are Candy Kush (1) and Pineapple Chunk (3). From my last journal, I wrote of my boyfriend initially shocking his Pineapple Chunk seedlings and wanting to throw them away. I'm happy to say that I saved three out of the four seedlings and they are happy! However, they're all growing at a different rate (all the seeds, even the Candy Kush, were germinated on the same day). Pineapple Chunks have been moved to their own pots (thanks 1itsme) and it's been an interesting journey with them. At first one pineapple took to the soil really well and began to sprout very fast. Her sisters took a little longer and one sprung up before the other. I've been reading different things regarding what can come from shocked seeds, from growth stunts to overall yield of the plant and possibly turning it into a herm. I am going to take this as a grain of rice and hope for the best right now. The girls have been getting their second and third week of GH Flora series (1/4 strength) once every couple of days. They are flushed with distilled water at least twice before the next nute soup. Everyone seems pretty happy, just the problem of all my babies growing at different rates. Luckily I do have a 3x2x5 tent that I plan to use for the veg state and have order a new 600w MH light with a digital dimming ballast and a 6in air cooled tube. I believe that the Candy will be flowering soon and hopefully will have another MH light I ordered come in before then so I can store the pineapples in the veg tent. My boyfriend ordered a portable a/c unit rated at 14,000 BTUs to keep the temps down. I thought it was overkill, but he explained that it will be circulated through both the flowering and veg tent.

I do have a question about odor. My candy is starting to smell, it's not strong but it's enough to make me do a happy dance when I walk in the grow room. Should I be looking into a carbon filter? I don't plan to grow more than 4-6 plants at a time.

Thanks for reading!!