LaOtis 1st Grow Journal

Peace to all!!

I hope during this unprecedented time you are all safe! This is my first grow and I am super extra over the top new to the growing game. Definitely not new to the various utilizations of this beloved plant!
Here is a link to my introduction post, where I explain the abnormal way I got into this project.

That gives you a backdrop and here is a list of items I either have purchased or plan on purchasing(** **means i have yet to buy...feel free to save me from error). As you will see I got a good amount of stuff at auction for super discounted prices. I am hopefully a lucky man! Please excuse any errors in this. It ended up being a lot!

I have a 3’6”x3’8”x8’1” bedroom closet positioned next to a window to start with. I plan on converting this into a veg room with the goal of having an 8x4x7 tent(or something a lot crazier) in my basement by flower. I'm definitely shooting for a perpetual grow situation.
I want to start slow and easy on the growing medium front. FFOF slightly amended with perlite.
I plan on mixing around 1/4 ratio perlite to FFOF on super basic vibes.
For planting Ive been considering mixing Happy Frog(for the mycorrhizae) and FFOF/perlite, followed by a transplant into the FFOF perlite mix.
Hoping no need for nutrients for a couple months but will be testing soil. Eventually I plan on using Fox Farm Trio starting a week before flower.
Again you'll see ** ** next to anything I am planning on purchasing in the next handful of days. Theres time to interject!

To pull off the closet I purchased the following and will start with 6 plants.
VIVOSUN 4’ x 100’ mylar film - $39.99
VIVOSUN Black and White Panda Film 10’x10’ - $16.99
VIVOSUN Insulated Spiral Pipe Wrap 6”x25’ - $9.49
VIVOSUN peel and stick zipper 7' – $8.99
Strenco 2” Adhesive Black hook and loop tape 3’ - $13.64
Primacare HB-10 Emergency thermal blanket (10 Pack - $9.33)
Aluminum Tape – 1.9” x 150’ $10.99
PVC screw cap (Pack 10) - $19.99
PVC 1”x2’ (2) - $15.99

Total: $145.40

For the ladies I purchased/am purchasing the following

Bloom Plus LED grow light - $25 (auction)
AC Infinity in-line fan - $35 (auction)
AC Infinity Carbon Filter – $64.99 (amazon)** **
Rabbit Air BioGS 2.0 - $25 (auction)
Vogvigo warm/cool mist 6L smart Humidifier – $18 (auction)
Also got 2 honeywell mistmates .5gal for $10 (auction)
Trade 7 Gallon square nursery pots (6pack) - $29 (auction)
MEDEELA 6 pack of 15” plant saucers - $25.99 (amazon)** **
VELCRO 45’x1/2” plant ties - $10.49 (amazon)** **
Smith Performance 2gal compression sprayer - $20 (auction)
AC Infinity 6” duct - $21.99 (amazon)
Govee wireless thermometer hydrometer humidity sensor - $15.99 (amazon)
HoneForest water quality tester - $14.99 (amazon)
Kensizer soil tester 3-in-1 moisture light ph - $14.99 (amazon)
Holmes Lil Blizzard oscillating table fans (2 pack) - $30 (auction)
-Cable Matters 2 pack hanging light cords 15’ - $13.99** **
-Sylvania CFL 2700k 100w bulbs 6 pack - $26.89** **

Total: $402.31

Fox Farm Ocean Forest (5x40lb bags) – $159.99 (amazon)** **
Fox Farm Happy Frog (4 cubic feet) - $64.99 (amazon) )** **
Fox Farm Trio - $44.46 (amazon) ** **
PVP Industries Perlite 4 cubic feet - $42.94 (amazon) ** **
GH up/down - $21.99 (amazon) ** **
Cal-Mag - $18.56 (amazon) ** **
Recharge - $29.95 (amazon) ** **

Total - $382.88

---------

$930.59 Total

Sensible Seeds – 5 pack RQ Fem Wedding Gelato + 1 free Gorilla $63.75 ** **
3 pack R-Kiem Haybro $30
+5 free SS fems
Total: $93.75 ** **

Later purchases(in the next 2 weeks)

TimberGrow lights – Redwood VS - $799** **
Timber shipping - $92.98 = $891.98 ** **

2 air-pots to experiment - $59.29 ** **

Total total - $1,975.61






While I wait for my Timbers, which I would assume may take 3 weeks based on recent posts, I want to germinate and start with my 3’ utility cart under the Bloom Plus LED. Once they start growing, I can supplement with hanging 100watt CFL 2400k lights until the Timbers are loaded if necessary. Potentially can use these CFL’s under the plants during flowering any way it goes. I will be topping but only tying down to a minimum based on the height i have to grow. Hoping to get great coverage and a bountiful harvest!

Sorry for the long read! Hoping some of ya'll join on this journey!

_Otis

So any update on how things are going?

Flatrate said:

So any update on how things are going?

Click to expand...

Hey Flatrate! Thanks for checking in brother. Let me fill ya'll in

I acquired a MarsHydro TS 1000 at auction and am currently working on seeds from SensibleSeeds. I took advantage of some of their deals which allowed me to pay for 6 seeds and get 22. Im working on 2 OG, 2 power plant primo, 1 old man socks and 2 barneys farm pineapple chunk.
Soaked the seeds for 18 hours and transferred to paper towel. I got 100% germ rate which was very exciting.
Last week when i was linking with my local dry herb provider he brought me a sample of a higher priced strain. First thing I noticed was this particular bud had a seed so I took it and dropped it into a shot glass with water. Hoping it's a female but enjoying the ability to get a seed germinated so quickly.
Hindsight i spent money on stuff that wasnt necessary for this run but will allow me to create a grow environment at any point. I managed to pick up a Galaxy 1000watt ballast which really opens up my options moving forward with lighting.

Fast forward to today and this is where Im at with it.

So far just FF/perlite with pH'ed spring water in 1 gal containers. I'm honestly still on the fence about my timelines and goal with maximizing potential of closet space. I have 3 gallon round pots and 7 gallon pots i could use for replanting. I didn't think I'd be so successful germinating so now I have 8 plants at SORTA close stages to deal with. I plan on starting another set of seeds in a month and working on that perpetual grow. I'll clip clones next time around since i have so many seeds.

Ive ran into growth stunting being, I believe, a tad impatient with getting those starter leaves out of the seed casing(shouldn't fight nature) but they seem to be healed and back on track.

Aside from this I also procured an EarthBox from auction and am considering doing 2 plants in it to get my feet wet(pun intended) in hydroponics. Been considering using the Gro-Kashi when i do execute on it which likely wont be this run.

Thats all I have for now but here are some pics i took over the last little bit

Again, thanks for checking in

Things are looking solid man, thanks for the update!

Flatrate said:

Things are looking solid man, thanks for the update!

Click to expand...

Thanks! I'm trying to be like you as i continue down this path! You continue to grow(pun intended)

Lately I've been growing a lot of males lol, but I am getting my act together!

***MAYDAY MAYDAY***

So my 2 OG kush plants have been in the struggle boat for a week. They popped out soil 24 days ago. I added some cal mag to the water last 2 feeds and they seem to maybe be doing a little better. I can tell by the weight of the pot that earlier this week they weren't drinking. Its blowing my mind a little that they would have issues when all the others that popped at the same time are doing well. Maybe this strain runs through soil nutrients faster? Ive only watered the ladies with pH'ed spring water. The soil is FFOF and perlite.

Im close to transplanting these ladies from their 1 gallon pots. I was originally going to do 6 plants in 7 gallon pots but since i now have 8 I was thinking of using my 3 gallon pots for space sake.

My original stunted girl has started to catch up and my 2 power punch are going bonkers
I successfully popped the seed from my buddy's exotic strain he brought for me to try. It's doing well and luckily is a female.

Im considering a switch to HPS using my galaxy 1000watt ballast since I have so many plants in this space. I really am curious how this grow is going to turn out. Should i be topping? They're all in slightly different veg stages which may come to bite me in the end but I'm in it to win in

Looking good man.

**GHETTO CLOSET ALERT**
Well it has certainly been a while! Almost 2 months since my last post. My landlord decided to sell the house I was living in which gave me 30 days to vacate. It wasn't technically a legal move with COVID but it afforded me an opportunity to look for a better suited living situation. When he gave us the notice I almost chopped the ladies down immediately with the fear I would be getting surprise pop up visits/viewings which would result in not only legal issues but guaranteed loss of security deposit. I communicated my discomfort with the consideration of having a young daughter, a pandemic and not wanting random visits. Long story short one of my oldest friends and I(both in our 30's) were blessed to find a way better house in a better part of town with WAY more space and privacy(although expensive).

Project: evacuate the plants in a moving truck; was enacted and I got them out and the closet cleaned literally 10 minutes before twat satchel did a walk through!

Now to where we are. I flipped to flower September 9th which means I'm wrapping week 6 of flower on Wednesday, barring any transfer issues. I lost my 2 OG's. They crisped up and eventually died. I'm working with 2 pineapple chunk(barney), 2 power plant primos(sensible) and 1 old man socks(sensible). Maybe one of you experts can confirm. Things shuffled so much I lost track of the strands. Old man socks is one lanky bastard! Its been tough to level the canopy. I installed a Waterdrop G2 RO system and am using FF nutes. Ive only fed them with nutes 3 times in the last 3 weeks. Based on my understanding I'll be leaving out the grow big and focus on Tiger Bloom and Big Bloom. Any suggestions are welcomed. I'm at the point it seems most beginning growers get to where the temptation to chop a bud or 2 is in full tilt I believe I'm of strong will but some of the cola's look so developed I'm going to make a much prettier setup for my 2nd grow

Closet has the ghetto reflective film door but also the actual closet door shuts and the ladies are on the same relative schedule as the sun inside my room so light leak is a basically non-existent issue. Occasional mistakes.

Continued shots