Tri_Cho_Me's First Grow & Grow Diary

[Tri_Cho_Me]

Hello everyone!

So excited to start this thread finally. Everything is ready and in place. Seeds should be here in the next week. Strawberry Kush and Sour Diesel (ILGM seeds). Thinking I'm gonna go with the Kush first since Indica is an easier plant to grow. Or so I read.

The below is what I currently have, or in the nutrient/water area (since Im not currently growing) what I plan to use.

Media:

• Fox Farms Happy Frog - 26.4 Liters or .93 cubic ft.
• Fox Farms Ocean Forest - 42.5 Liters or 1.5 cubic ft.
• Perlite - 3 dry quarts (both HF and OF already had some)
• Earthworm Castings - 1 cup (OF already had some)

*This was all mixed in a large Rubbermaid, and will be used as needed.

Pots: 5 gallon smart/fabric pots (seeding in solo cups)
Water: Tap water pH'd & left out overnight
Nutrients: MaxiBloom in veg / Fox Farms Tiger Bloom in flower (molasses with every feeding)
Light: Advanced Platinum Series P450
Grow space: 2x4x7 mylar tent / 4in. intake, 6 in. outake with charcoal filter / Two small 2-speed fans

Don't hesitate to comment or make any suggestions.
Can't wait to get this party started!

Tri_Cho_Me

 

[chomsky]

im followin...

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

im followin...

Don't lead me astray!

 

[chomsky]

I'll do my best to help. I'll start by letting you know that thermometer sitting on top of the light will give you very inaccurate readings. Get that situated near the tops of plants during your grow. In a tent with limited space I may stick a dowel rod in a pot and tape the thermometer to it moving it up as plants grow. Just one suggestion. And I know we touched in it but DEFINITELY don't go from the solo cups to the 5 gallon pots. Id go solo to one gallon to three then five. I must say 5 gallon pots seem pretty big for that tent. Remember, quality not quantity throughout your grow. Bigger doesn't always mean better.

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

I'll do my best to help. I'll start by letting you know that thermometer sitting on top of the light will give you very inaccurate readings. Get that situated near the tops of plants during your grow. In a tent with limited space I may stick a dowel rod in a pot and tape the thermometer to it moving it up as plants grow. Just one suggestion. And I know we touched in it but DEFINITELY don't go from the solo cups to the 5 gallon pots. Id go solo to one gallon to three then five. I must say 5 gallon pots seem pretty big for that tent. Remember, quality not quantity throughout your grow. Bigger doesn't always mean better.

Haha! I knew someone would say something about that. I had just gotten the light up and got excited and threw the thermometer on there for the picture. I'll have to tie it because it's magnetic and there is nowhere to hang it like that.

Have you seen the 5 gallon Smart pots? They're tiny. They actually fit really good in there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arKEsS_ESSk This guy is using a 15 gallon smart pot in the exact same size tent.
Also, I would rather go from solo cup to 5 gallon. than transplant all those times and keep stressing my plant out.

Tri_Cho_Me

 

[chomsky]

Haha! I knew someone would say something about that. I had just gotten the light up and got excited and threw the thermometer on there for the picture. I'll have to tie it because it's magnetic and there is nowhere to hang it like that.

Have you seen the 5 gallon Smart pots? They're tiny. They actually fit really good in there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arKEsS_ESSk This guy is using a 15 gallon smart pot in the exact same size tent.
Also, I would rather go from solo cup to 5 gallon. than transplant all those times and keep stressing my plant out.

Tri_Cho_Me

Ok but again I assure you it's difficult to properly water a new root system from a solo cup to a 5 gal pot. Transplanting doesn't have to be stressful for you or the plants. Actually, I enjoy doing it. I get to see firsthand the health of my root system and I notice my plants jump to life immediately following a transplant. It also gives you an opportunity to sprinkle mychorrizae on the root system which is incredibly helpful and beneficial to the plants. If you decide to go ahead and transplant directly into 5 gallon pots I'd be very careful and pay very close attention to what you're doing when watering and feeding.

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

Ok but again I assure you it's difficult to properly water a new root system from a solo cup to a 5 gal pot. Transplanting doesn't have to be stressful for you or the plants. Actually, I enjoy doing it. I get to see firsthand the health of my root system and I notice my plants jump to life immediately following a transplant. It also gives you an opportunity to sprinkle mychorrizae on the root system which is incredibly helpful and beneficial to the plants. If you decide to go ahead and transplant directly into 5 gallon pots I'd be very careful and pay very close attention to what you're doing when watering and feeding.

It will be a learning experience for us both!

Tri_Cho_Me

 

[chomsky]

Hard to lead you astray if you don't take my advice. No worries though I totally understand. And I changed my mind. I think you should plant directly into 5 gallon pots. The best way to learn is by making mistakes. That being said it's likely you will do just fine and the plants will be just fine however, it is wiser and better practice to step up.

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

Hard to lead you astray if you don't take my advice. No worries though I totally understand. And I changed my mind. I think you should plant directly into 5 gallon pots. The best way to learn is by making mistakes. That being said it's likely you will do just fine and the plants will be just fine however, it is wiser and better practice to step up.

Whats the fun in just being a robot and doing everything someone is telling you to do? I guess that's why I said it will be a learning experience for us both. Chill out man. Don't take stuff so personally.

Just because I ask for advice or suggestions from someone on a forum doesn't mean I need my hand held. I have gardening experience, just not with cannabis.

Tri_Cho_Me

 

[chomsky]

You private message me asking me to follow your journal then on your journal you asked me not to lead you astray then you tell me to Chill out? Ok.... Grow on bro!!!

 

[Fiddynut]

Looking good bro. I have a 2x4x7 that I will be using for veg and a 3x3x7 for flower. The 3 plants I have late in flower are a perfect fit for the 2x4x7. when I take them out to water ant take pics they fit better in the 2x4 than in the 3x3.
Maybe 3 plants would make it easer to fill your space.
Don't overdue it on the molasses and be sure to get the right type, some molasses has bad stuff in it like sulphur and roundup I have heard. You are defiantly on the right track.

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

Looking good bro. I have a 2x4x7 that I will be using for veg and a 3x3x7 for flower. The 3 plants I have late in flower are a perfect fit for the 2x4x7. when I take them out to water ant take pics they fit better in the 2x4 than in the 3x3.
Maybe 3 plants would make it easer to fill your space.
Don't overdue it on the molasses and be sure to get the right type, some molasses has bad stuff in it like sulphur and roundup I have heard. You are defiantly on the right track.

Thanks again, man. Seeds are the only thing left before this show gets started.

Thanks for the molasses tip!

How do you grow your plants? I plan to scrog the two together and make an even canopy. If I werent scrog'ing, I could see exploring three plants.

Tri_Cho_Me

 

[Fiddynut]

Thanks again, man. Seeds are the only thing left before this show gets started.

Thanks for the molasses tip!

How do you grow your plants? I plan to scrog the two together and make an even canopy. If I werent scrog'ing, I could see exploring three plants.

Tri_Cho_Me

I just let them grow natural on this first grow. I would have topped them but I was letting them catch up to a bag seed plant that was a week or so ahead of them. In the end it turned out to be a male and I shouldn't have let one plant dictate what I was doing with the other 3. Live and learn. I will always be topping them a couple times in the future. I did top the one with the funny cola almost 2 weeks into flower to slow it down because I was afraid it would outgrow my hight.
I like to do my watering and plant inspection outside the tent so you are more adventurous than I am with scrog'ing. I'm just growing for me to puff so I am not as concerned about yield but just want to learn how to grow higher quality than I can get other ways.

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

I just let them grow natural on this first grow. I would have topped them but I was letting them catch up to a bag seed plant that was a week or so ahead of them. In the end it turned out to be a male and I shouldn't have let one plant dictate what I was doing with the other 3. Live and learn. I will always be topping them a couple times in the future. I did top the one with the funny cola almost 2 weeks into flower to slow it down because I was afraid it would outgrow my hight.
I like to do my watering and plant inspection outside the tent so you are more adventurous than I am with scrog'ing. I'm just growing for me to puff so I am not as concerned about yield but just want to learn how to grow higher quality than I can get other ways.

I agree. This is all personal for me as well. I am looking for quality, but I am also looking to harvest more than a quarter.

Yea, this first run I plan to veg and flower in my tent space, as well as top and scrog. I am going to try and keep everything as even as possible canopy wise. I don't want to be forced to raise the light an extra 6 inches above everything else because of some rogue bud or two.

I am hoping with just two plants, it allows me to really focus on the details. Take my time and do it right, rather than have too many plants and do it messy.

Thanks for all the feedback!
Tri_Cho_Me

 

[Fiddynut]

I agree. This is all personal for me as well. I am looking for quality, but I am also looking to harvest more than a quarter.

Yea, this first run I plan to veg and flower in my tent space, as well as top and scrog. I am going to try and keep everything as even as possible canopy wise. I don't want to be forced to raise the light an extra 6 inches above everything else because of some rogue bud or two.

I am hoping with just two plants, it allows me to really focus on the details. Take my time and do it right, rather than have too many plants and do it messy.

Thanks for all the feedback!
Tri_Cho_Me

You have a solid plan and it sounds like you have done your research. I'm sure you will have a great time and grow some killer. Watch your girls closely and they will tell you what they want. Keep a daily log every time you do anything with them. It will make it easer to go back and see any changes that co inside with plant health. That soil mix you have should be great and you probably won't need many nutes in veg. The ff nutes are said to be a good choice by many on icmag and elsewhere in the cannabis comunity.
Looking forward to seeing you get this one going. What is your method for sprouting the seeds?

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

You have a solid plan and it sounds like you have done your research. I'm sure you will have a great time and grow some killer. Watch your girls closely and they will tell you what they want. Keep a daily log every time you do anything with them. It will make it easer to go back and see any changes that co inside with plant health. That soil mix you have should be great and you probably won't need many nutes in veg. The ff nutes are said to be a good choice by many on icmag and elsewhere in the cannabis comunity.
Looking forward to seeing you get this one going. What is your method for sprouting the seeds?

Yea, I don't plant on starting nutes until like week 3 in veg or something. And even then it's going to be half strength.

I think I am going to paper towel them for 24-36 hours and see what happens. Then into the solo cups they'll go for a week or two. Then from there, I'm gonna go right into the 5 gallon, finishing pots.

Tri_Cho_Me

 

[Fiddynut]

Yea, I don't plant on starting nutes until like week 3 in veg or something. And even then it's going to be half strength.

I think I am going to paper towel them for 24-36 hours and see what happens. Then into the solo cups they'll go for a week or two. Then from there, I'm gonna go right into the 5 gallon, finishing pots.

Tri_Cho_Me

Sounds like you have it covered. Lots of people use paper towel to sprout and have great success. Be carful with those sprouts. The more drainage holes in the beer cups the better, I started in cups and didn't drill enough holes so watering was problematic until I transplanted into 6" pots. There are techniques for watering young plants in large pots but it's not something that I have researched.
Good luck and happy growing!

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

Sounds like you have it covered. Lots of people use paper towel to sprout and have great success. Be carful with those sprouts. The more drainage holes in the beer cups the better, I started in cups and didn't drill enough holes so watering was problematic until I transplanted into 6" pots. There are techniques for watering young plants in large pots but it's not something that I have researched.
Good luck and happy growing!

Thanks man! I have heard a lot of people will start their seeds right in the finishing pots soil. If they can do that, then I don't think a solo cup to 5 gallon should be a problem. I'll make sure it has plenty of established roots before I transplant.

Tri_Cho_Me

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

Update

Update

Hey all,

Wanted to provide a quick update. The only thing left are the seeds. Should be here by the end of the week, or early next week.

Until then, I wanted to get your opinions on my scrog setup. I currently have two attached. A lower one and a top one. Both are made from a plastic, snow fence material and attached with zip ties to the tents four corner pipes. This makes it tight enough to hold in place, but flexible enough that I can move them up and down as I wish.

The lower scrog I left pretty much as is with the holes the fence came with, but also cut a handful of larger holes.

The top scrog has quite a few more bigger holes than the lower, and I tried to center them a bit more. I figure with as close to the light as this one might get, why not steer the bud towards the lights optimal footprint in the center.

So what do you guys think? Anything I'm not thinking of?
I appreciate all your guidance and for following my diary!

Tri_Cho_Me

 

[crazar]

So for my first grow, I had one plant that I topped i think it was 3 times. It stayed nice and buschy. The other plant that I only topped once and didnt take too many side branches off, grew about a foot taller than the other and was thinned out. I made a frame out of a 2x4 that i split in half with my table saw. Attached that to the wall and then ran the string.
Anyways....

If you top her a few times and keep her shorter, you'll have much thicker steams to keep them upright as they produce flowers.

The plant that I topped is far ahead of the other one. Which seems weird to me but the only that grew tall and that I scrogged, it will def have a lot more flowers. I hope that it'll just take more time?

Once you get those seeds, everything will fall into place as the grow progresses. Are those scrog's you put up easily removable? I'd let your plants grow some first and see how they grow.