First Grow: Dance World

This is my first grow ever. I was a stoner back in ye old days but haven't used THC in 30 years. I chose Dance World due to it's low THC (13%) and high CBD (11%) and the fact that it is a mostly Sativa (75%) hybrid. It also tends to not have a strong smell. I live in a legal state and thought it might be fun to do a grow, so here I am. I have a friend in a legal state that has been doing this for years (3rd bedroom is the farm, the closet is the clone room) and is giving me advice.

I will start off with an equipment list.
2x4 Gorilla Grow tent
Viparspectra Reflector 600W LED
Vivosun 3gal fabric pots
Root Naturally Endo Mycorrhizae
Soil: Happy Frog
Neem oil as needed

I will germinate the seeds in a keg cup using the soil from the grow. I will not use the soak or paper towel methods. I will then transplant them (using mycorrhizae) when the leaves start to get to the edge of the cup.

I will then build a SCROG net and follow the standard SCROG method. The plan is to top twice. I will use PH-friendly water, but the plan is to use no additional nutrients.

My plan is to veg for 4-6 weeks (at 18/6). I will then gradually transition to flower and flower for 8-10 weeks (at 12/12). Harvest will be when around 50% of the trichromes are amber.

Finally, as this is just a grow hobby, the final step is to sell the flowers to a local dispensary rather then consume them. Yes, I know!

Stay tuned and watch my progress.

Well, my first go at it failed.

I germinated two seeds each in it's own keg cup in the dark in soil on a Sunday. There was nothing until Wednesday morning and they were about 1.25" tall with shells still attached.

I then moved them to the tent, put the light on "Veg" for 18/6 and dropped it to about 12" above the cup. I then poured a good deal of water to help the seedlings and noticed right away, that was probably a bad idea. The seedlings started to droop. I went to work.

I came home that evening and noticed that the seedlings were drooped over and not moving. The shells were still attached. I left everything for a few days and nothing happened except the stalks appeared to turn into threads. So, I took these out.


I did a good watering of the keg cups before I planted the seeds. However, the water just pooled on top then drained to the base holes. What this means is the water found one or two routes to the drain and left the rest of the soil dry. I think it is the fact that the soil (Happy Frog) was too dry to begin with. That's why the water pooled and didn't go through evenly.

Here is my second try. (Yes, I'm posting all this on the same day)

I watered the keg cups, stirred the soil so all is moist, watered again and let them sit for a day. I am thinking this is the best way for the soil to get moisture.

I then planted the seeds on a Sunday and had nothing until Saturday morning, when they were found to have ~1.75" stalks. I slowly put them into a sunny window (instead of the harsh light) and let them sit there for a couple days. They never lost their seed shell, so I was a little concerned.

Sunday evening, I put them into the tent on the 18/6 schedule, lightly spraying the top layer. I have a light desk fan blowing the air around. Eventually #1 lost the seed shell, but #2 had trouble. #1 seems to be going fine, while #2 is twisty. By that time, the stalk was about 2" long and the leaves are unwieldy. So, I made an X with toothpicks to rest the stalk and that seems to help. I also added some dirt (there was about 1" from the dirt to the edge of the cup) and this seems to help as well. I did moisten the surface before I placed the extra dirt, then moistened the extra dirt and let it all be.

They have been there since. To date #1 seems to look like a baby plant where #2 is struggling to shed the seed shell and the main leaves are twisty. I have a feeling that the cups are too dry, but I'm afraid to over water them, so I just mist the top, mainly the edges of the top. Either I have no patience, or these are growing quite slowly. Regardless, I have to say that I have had 4 out of 4 seeds germinate. They are Royal Queen seeds from cannapot.

I did notice that the leaves are quite dark. This may be because of the lighting situation, including the Zotron glasses I wear.

Here is a picture of both as of today, 17 days since seed planting.

As of Friday, October 20. 20 days since seed planting.



Humidity has been pretty low. In the 35-40 range, so I added a small humidifier. Not sure if this will help, but it is winter here and it will only get dryer.

I have been spraying the top layer of soil daily near the start of the light cycle. I try not to get the center wet as I am concerned about stem rot, so I try to spray the edges. The cups feel a bit light, so I may have to give them a good watering soon. My concern is with the resistance of the soil to absorb moisture. Maybe I'll soak the top, wait then keep soaking the top, making it a slow watering.

Why are you spraying them with water every day? Just water it once then leave them for a week

Because on the first try, I overwatered them and they died. I think your suggestion has merit, though. I used the spray bottle to really soak them and will do this every other day. If I just dump water, it pools, takes forever to drain, then it just drains one line to the drain holes. I think the soil is too dusty to allow weeping.

As of now, Halloween night.


As you can see, Righty is much more healthy than Lefty, and Righty was the one I was afraid wasn't going to make it!

I will top Righty soon. Lefty will be topped when the time comes. Yes, they will be in different schedules, so Righty will get more sun i

My friend said to get them out of the keg cups and into 6" pots. I had planned to go straight from the cups to the 3gal clothpots, but I'll take advice. I didn't have any 6" pots and the hardware store is out ("Don't you know that winter is coming?!"), so I found these pots and watered them in.

I also raised the light to give them a little stretch. The node is too close to pull off.

As of Friday, 11/10.

Just a bit more about the repotting.

I had dampened the soil a couple days before, and this was a chore because I had to keep stirring the mix because of the water resistance of the soil.

At repotting time, I created a hole about cup size and sprinkled a few pinches of mycorrhize in the hole. Removing from the keg cups was fairly straight forward except that the soil was so dry, I had to be careful to keep everything in tact while placing into the new pots. I eventually got them in, put a little more soil on the tops and sprayed the top.

It is now week 7 (day 49) and the girls look like this. I think they look healthy but small. They are shorter because I kept the light as close as possible. Since I repotted and moved the light up, Righty has stretched, but Lefty hasn't. And, the leaves certainly haven't gotten much larger. The stems seem to be pretty firm and woody, which is good. I have a small desk fan blowing around them as is standard.

You may be able to see that I topped Righty. I did this last Wednesday, November 15, which means day 45. Unfortunately, I not only got the apex, but I also got one of the cross leaves that were supposed to be spared. Hopefully, it won't matter much. I think I will be able to top Lefty this week. When I topped Righty, the apex smelled wonderful. I considered using it as a cologne.

Here we are at two months (9 weeks). Lefty, which started out so promising, isn't doing as well as Righty, which started out slow. Lefty has been topped, but even with the light further, doesn't seem to be stretching.

Since I topped Righty, I haven't seen dramatic growth in two directions, as the typical SCROG dictates. Maybe it's too early. Anyway, I will have to start working on the SCROG screen soon. I'm thinking one more month of veg, then switch to flower. I'm in no rush for harvest, and I understand that more veg time is better for the plant.

I have been having watering problems. I haven't been sure of over or under watering, so it's all experimentation and learning on this first grow. I'm not sure if the watering issues have been the cause of the slow growth. Generally, I pour some water, let it seep through, then pour some more when that has absorbed. I do this until I get a little coming out the bottom then let it sit. I try the soil every day and when it seems dry, which is about every 2 or 3 days, I will water. This fine-grained soil seems to dry out fast, and after speaking to my buddy, he thinks that I got a bad bag. Lesson learned: get a new bag when the dealer gets his new batch.

Approximately 45 days since planting the seeds. It's time to move them from the mid pots to the 3-gal cloth pots.

As you can see, Lefty is doing well, and has been secondary-topped.


I created the SCROG screen, but I think the legs are too long. I guess I'll just wait for it to grow up into the screen. It's hard to tell, but there is about 4" from the tops of the plants to the screen.

Here we are, 3 months after the seeds were first planted. One month longer than planned, but I am not in a rush. It is now time for flowering and I just switched to 12/12 for 6pm to 6am.

No flower indications at the nodes yet. Since the seeds are feminized, both should be female, but I will be checking, especially for hermies.

The smell is very slight right now. Kind of a light humid plant smell. This tent is in a bedroom with no other plants, so there is a hint of something. Since it is so cold here, it won’t make sense to vent outside, so I might have to install a filter.

I closed the lower-back panel used for ventilation because it was a light leak. Then, I installed a small desk fan venting out the top, which will pull air in through the vent holes, which have long sleeves.

As you can see, Lefty is still well below the screen and Righty is just starting to grow through.

My friend made a comment about comparing Lefty to Righty and I think the comment may have some truth. As you may be able to see, Lefty looks more Indica and Righty looks more Sativa. Hmm. Makes sense, though the are both supposed to be Dance World, which is a hybrid.

I am anticipating a lot of stretch, so we will be able to fill in the holes on the screen. I am planning on 3 months of flowering and no additional nutes.

Here we are at 9 days after switching to flower (12/12). As you can see, both are doing well and stretching for the lattice. The reason for todays post is to mention that, even though I switched to 12/12, I forgot to turn on the Flower portion of the LED light. The light has two switches, one for veg (mostly blue) and one for flower (mostly red). Now, I have them both on, and I'm sure we will see more stretching.


Also, I want to mention the small humidifier in the back, left corner. This is a small thing I got at a local Korean market. I don't know the brand, but it is labeled "MISO" and has a label that claims that it is "No.1," so it must be good. You fill a water bottle, and it comes with various tips for different water bottles. I have to fill the bottle once every other day because I got a larger one.

Do not try to get to fancy this run, just keep it real simple , you are having a few of the same problems I had when I started years ago , I can't help but chuckle remembering some of my experiences ,
ALL soil mediums need garden lime added, perlite added to your mix will lighten the soil making it absorb better adding air to the soil also.
Garden lime pH the soil and will not let it go above 7 and adds a little extra calcium to the soil .
Good luck

If you use a good soil you not need to add any lime perlite ect ive used canna pro plus for years never added a thing all i can say is change the soil and if the shell still on when they come up then help it shed it tweezers ect as leavin it on will stunt the seedling and maybe even kill it most times need any help just holla Peace

In fact, I've noticed that the drainage of this soil is better in the larger pots. I think the surface tension is spread out more on a larger surface. I tend to water with a big pour three times, letting it soak in after each pour. At the end, there is some water drainage from the bottom, but not a flood. There is a little pouring out of the sides of the cloth pots, but not much.

Here is an update, 51 days since planting the seed and 21 days since into flowering.


Notice that Righty is stretching pretty well, while Lefty is still struggling. Lefty does have one branch into the screen. As I push Righty's kolas along the screen, I have noticed new growth at the nodes. This growth looks more like new branch growth rather than flowers. I have seen some indication of female flower growth in both Lefty and Righty, but I think it's too early to tell. I'm on the lookout for male flowers, though.

In hindsight, the screen is way too high. I knew this when I first built it, and should have shortened it then. Live and learn. If that's the worst of my problems, I'll take it.

Here we are at day 30 of flower, 120 days since planting the seed. I opened the tent to find a lot of yellow leaves. Upon further inspection, I also noticed a lot of purple stems (the main trunk is green & woody). Though the yellow leaves didn't appear to have the nitrogen deficiency the veins were not green, I headed off to the grow shop for some nutrients. Speaking to a grow master, he said that the yellow leaves and purple stems are normal as the plant is concentrating its energy on the flowers. I considered a flower boost, but this time, I'm just sticking with the soil.

I told him that I was using cloth pots and I seem to be watering them quite often (every two days or so) and that is normal as well, because the pots create a lot of evaporation and air to the roots. My problem with overwatering/underwatering is pretty much solved. It has been underwatering.


They are still pretty small, but growing...stretching. The smell, though not strong, is enough to consider a filter. I can imagine what a diesel might smell like. It is fairly pleasant and slightly pot-like. As you come into the room, you notice it, but eventually, you get used to it. One of the reasons for this strain is the lack of a strong smell, but it is present.

Two more months (?) to go!

Blakey said:

If you use a good soil you not need to add any lime perlite ect ive used canna pro plus for years never added a thing all i can say is change the soil and if the shell still on when they come up then help it shed it tweezers ect as leavin it on will stunt the seedling and maybe even kill it most times need any help just holla Peace

Click to expand...

What's a bag of garden lime cost at Lowe's? 5 bucks,
All kinds of problems from many soil growers because of poor PH,
Fox farms especially ocean forest with alot of sea shells can straight screw up some plants, you will know it does not do it all the time , always add garden lime always always always be pro active in preventing problems and never be reactive to problems.
Do not let bad things happen , when they do as they will happen from time to time learn from it and don't let it happen again,
Do preventative maintenance on everything ,
Spray with h2o2 once a week , keep mold and mildew from ever taking a hold, keep your shit clean, trim up the bottom of the plants, it keeps bugs out, do not use orange or red grow containers as they draw bugs, change your filters , don't be lazy.
Put dicotimus earth around the base of your plants if you grow in dirt, treat around the outside foundation of your grow with time released bug detrrants and killers , pray around the foundation if you want, keep them out never get them then you do not have to be reactive to a problem.
Your grow can go straight to shit with just one little problem, really fuck your production up, you do not want your plants to stall and you want them in perfect health at all times.