My first grow - journal w/ pics

Prestoned · Post by **Prestoned** » Sun 14th Nov 2010 11:12 pm

ZBeebs, where are you placing your thermometer?

Good article hear

http://www.thcfarmer.com/forums/article-view-847.html

ZBeebs · Post by **ZBeebs** » Mon 15th Nov 2010 04:41 am

I have the sensor at the height of the top of the leaves, directly under the light. Since the reflector is now sealed, there is little radiant heat and I am reading 74.0 degrees after turning it up to 600watts about an hour ago. I can put my hand directly under the bulb and it's barely warm. The fan moves a lot of air, but it better for what I paid. I don't think I will have any problems with heat going forward, even after adding the filter.

Humidity is at 40%. Do I need to add some humidity to the room? I've misted the walls with water, but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. Will one of the small personal humidifiers work?

So far I've watered them with nothing but distilled water. Is there any benefit to using distilled water throughout the entire grow?

Here they are after returning from vacation, 18 days since planting...they've grown a little...

They have all been grown under similar conditions and have turned out so different so far, it's surprising. Especially the first five, since I expected them to be similar since they're all vanilla kush seeds from the same pack but thats not the case.

Here's a larger picture of the second one (vanilla kush) - do the spots / coloration mean anything?

Cal X · Post by **Cal X** » Mon 15th Nov 2010 04:55 am

40% humidity isn't crucially low but you can put a small humidifier on a timer, check it often at first to keep it at around 60%. I think the spots are from drops of water that had been on the leaves, they are fine, try not to let that happen to much it can burn them. It's not unusual for different strains to grow at various speeds. I think they look pretty good.

Stanky Danky · Post by **Stanky Danky** » Mon 15th Nov 2010 01:38 pm

ZBeebs wrote: do the spots / coloration mean anything?

Look's like lingering effects from the heat stress.

Prestoned · Post by **Prestoned** » Mon 15th Nov 2010 08:05 pm

Dont worry about a humidifier. They say 40-60% during veg and under 50% during flowering. Save your coins and get it a bottle of SuperThrive.

Stanky Danky · Post by **Stanky Danky** » Mon 15th Nov 2010 08:35 pm

I've been noticing your soil looks bone dry in most of the pics. You shouldn't let the top of your soil dry up for too long before watering. I'm guessing your plants are a little stressed from the lack of water too.

ZBeebs · Post by **ZBeebs** » Thu 18th Nov 2010 04:55 am

Stanky Danky wrote:I've been noticing your soil looks bone dry in most of the pics. You shouldn't let the top of your soil dry up for too long before watering. I'm guessing your plants are a little stressed from the lack of water too.

Someone mentioned earlier that it looked like I overwatered, but I had taken the pics immediately after watering so I didn't think so. Since then, I've been taking pics just before watering, that might explain it. I have no idea how much water is right...any easy rules of thumb?

ZBeebs · Post by **ZBeebs** » Thu 18th Nov 2010 05:04 am

Three weeks ago today I planted the seeds.

Every now and then, I start to worry, and feel a little nervous. A car will drive down the street late at night, and the thought pops into my head - what if it's the cops coming for me? I'll be driving home from work, and my mind will wander - what if I come around the corner and the cops are at my house? Thoughts like, maybe the electric company noticed the spike in usage for exactly 18 hours a day, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out what I'm doing...what if they're waiting until I've got a pound of weed laying around so they can put me away for years instead of for a couple tiny little plants? The house is actually in my wife's name...If I ever got caught I'd take 100% of the responsibility, but would they let me? Am I putting my wife at risk too? I could always say she didn't know whats in the locked room in the basement!! I don't know if I could live with myself if she had to suffer because of me.

I realize I'm probably being paranoid, but does anyone else worry about this stuff? Does it go away after a while? How do you deal with it? What do your wives/husbands/significant others think? My wife knows what I'm doing but I think she pretends it doesn't really exist. She doesn't come downstairs or show any interest, and when I've asked if she wants to take a look, she looks at me funny and says no.

ZBeebs · Post by **ZBeebs** » Thu 18th Nov 2010 05:15 am

Oh, and here's some pics, three weeks from planting.

Cal X · Post by **Cal X** » Thu 18th Nov 2010 08:04 am

There won't be that big of a spike in electricity consumption with one 400w or even a 600w. Plus It's getting cold and consumption goes up any way. There can be a lot of reasons for using more wattage, like electric heaters or electric stoves. The Utility companies don't really pay attention to that; unless there was a really extreme difference. Also, you can't tell anyone, except your wife, about you operation. And, when smell becomes an issue invest in a small carbon scrubber, and smell masking products. As long as you take care of business you'll be fine.
By the way I think you said that you bought a hydrometer. Use it after you put a little water in wait about 5 minutes and check the moisture at different levels of the pot, keep filling a little until the moisture level reads full toward the top. Those are big pots and the roots are short right now and gravity keeps the water low, so use the meter; or put your finger in the side of the pot to check for moisture. If these are 5 Gal pots, 1/4 to 1/2 Gal should be plenty of water. Let the soil at root level, probably 4 or 5", dry out pretty well before you water again, you don't want to over water.
Overall, it looks like the plant's are growing pretty well ZBeebs, keep up the good work.

Cisco · Post by **Cisco** » Thu 18th Nov 2010 08:49 pm

I think iv only been really paranoid about other things rather than the feds !! timers etc . If you have the right equip and have kept schtum you have nothing to be para about ! (apart from a basement full of Mary Jane

)

ZBeebs · Post by **ZBeebs** » Mon 22nd Nov 2010 04:40 am

Here they are, 25 days from seed. Two pics of each plant this time.

So, how do they look? What do you guys think?

Stanky Danky · Post by **Stanky Danky** » Mon 22nd Nov 2010 05:25 am

Looking much better now that you've got the temperature right.

Cal X · Post by **Cal X** » Mon 22nd Nov 2010 06:22 am

There looking good Zeebs, by now you should be using a nitrogen rich fert of some kind,if your not already. Also keep using the Micorrzae to keep the roots healthy.

ZBeebs · Post by **ZBeebs** » Mon 22nd Nov 2010 06:51 am

Cal X wrote:There looking good Zeebs, by now you should be using a nitrogen rich fert of some kind,if your not already. Also keep using the Micorrzae to keep the roots healthy.

I was under the impression that with the Fox Farm, I could go until flowering before needing any nutes.