first grow log.

These are my first pictures taken of my first grow -nostalgia moment- My step mother recently got the okay for a medical card so naturally I became the caregiver. So far everything seems to be going pretty well I'm a Bio major with a specialty in Chem so needless to say this hasn't been "rocket science" but, that being said I've done my fair share of research and have filled more than enough notebooks to not be around here flooding the place with redundant questions. So without further ado I would like to share my pictures and stats...

This is a indica/sativa side by side grow thai lights (I believe) and paradise seeds wappa... They were intro' to the vege stage on the first

For lighting during the clone stage I used a metal halide at 400w then approx a week and half in I switched it to an MH 600w.
my bulb is a grolux MH 600W combined with originally a 600w lumatek purple digital dimmable ballast to now a 1000w lumatek purple digital dimmable ballast running the same bulb.

I plan to step it up to a hortilux hps 1000w bulb in a couple of weeks or so as I have that plus a lumatek 600w HPS and another 400w (with that wattage it should hardly be a contender so brand isn't salient)... Input appreciated? This is my first >.< so maybe I'm completely off base?

They're in a DWC set up with a 35w industrial grade air pump originally which was split into two airstones, one per 20gal tub, then in the last week (after the roots were beginning to take over) added two more 40gal aquarium pumps (one for each res') with a 1ft airstone plus I have a water agitator in the Thai lights since I only had one of those...

I've been changing the water every week and scrubbing the res' at which time I refill the nutrients and add approx' 1ml per gal h2o2 ( I use tap ), the the air stones run it for 30min, set the net pots in then replace the nutrients in the next 30min-1hr.

My nutrients are the standard general hydro' micro, gro, bloom and I add a carb boost once per week in a small dose only after the 2nd week in vege.

I've worked them up slowly to approx' 600ppm and they've taken it seemingly begging for more and showing explosive bushy growth...

I've also been noticing my cal/mag has been low (potentially) so I've been gingerly adding doses of cali-magic to them as I see fit and I think we've come to a happy place for both res' and the minor fan leaf discoloration has been fixed and, more importantly, the new leaf growth is healthy.

The room temp is approx between 70-83F RH ~ 40% (dry state) Res' temp is usually about 75F but, I've been breaking the heat with about 8 frozen sanpelgrino bottles filled with water that I change out a few times per day which keeps the temps arouns ~70F...

I must have a vivacious personality or something because I keep getting 'free samples' at the local hydro stores since I've just been checkin' em' all out in the area, LOL so far I got 4oz of white shark, 500g of bud plus, 1lb of cha ching?, 10.5oz blossom plus, plus a few other things however I mention these because aside from the white shark I am at a loss at how to determine which one or combination I should use and at what stage/how do I know when to use it for flowering... any input would be greatly appreciated.

feel free to critique or add your two cents I'm sure I can use it.

swag

sorry the lights were on... I don't turn any lights on during night. pictures=hard to take at night lol

Looks like some healthy plants and nice setup . And in my opinion, sometimes more is less, you know?

Thanks orlando,

I have had, in the past, more interest in mycologology, lol, so this has been completely different and exciting. Thanks for the compliment on my setup I made it myself and these pictures hardly do justice to the quality of the fittings i've used, (ha ha not to brag or anything...). I've been collecting equipment like mad though

I must be dyslexic i meant less is more. Some people just use a single nutrient for hydro, i've seen just as good harvests as with complex nutrient systems. I was actually interested in mycology before botany. Very interesting stuff though none of my experiments never made it. Im not the psychedelic one anyway haha. I know what you mean with the bragging part, its impressive to build such a great environment for a plant to thrive

Lol, funny I read it less is more... Oh yeah totally know what you mean... I've been envisioning since I built it the crazy natural phenomenon that would have to occur in nature for this to be possible.

The roots on the left are my sativa plant and the ones on the right are my indica. The indica's roots are less extensive than the sativa but not by what these pictures depict as I have a large airstone in the back of my indica tank and I could see the roots dragging towards the back when I was taking the pictures. But if you see something wrong I'd love a heads up LOL.

Here's some updated pictures even though it's only been a day...







not quite sure how to tell when they're ready to be put into the flower stage anyone care to enlighten me please?

Hey Swagga,

Nice grow! No need to clip the leaf ends like that unless they were burned and you were getting rid of dead areas. Put them into flower at 8 weeks. You are going to run into a problem, though -- the different plants will grow to different heights. Growers like an even canopy, so that all bud sites get light and temps can be managed uniformly.

With one sativa and one indica, your sativa will grow closer to the light than the indica. If you light for the indica, the sativa will burn, and if you light for the sativa, the indica won't get as much light as it should.

I suggest raising the indica as time progresses so that it's top is in line with the sativa's top.

Use a basic nute (I use advanced nutrient's micro, grow and bloom right now) and get through the first grow. Then on the second you can experiment with a little of this or a little of that. But from what I've read from long-term growers, using the least amount of a basic series often brings the best yield.

Good luck!
KG

So far no burn on the fan leafs, I've just been trimming the leaves and pruning to expose bud sites to light and increase airflow (my thinking process of course, maybe not accurate) but if I don't need to I won't. I was curious about the height difference and I've been thinking of scrog-ing them.
kryptonite do you think scrog will improve the height issue or should I just let them be?

LST'ing them during the stretch will help keep the canopy the same height. With as much light as you have I wouldn't worry about trimming, the lights will have excellent penetration. Personally, I don't like to trim once I switch over to 12/12. From what I have read, the plant works like a solar panel. Taking off leaves seems counter productive to me, just my 2 cents.

Awesome, then for sure the next two things on the to do list are make a carbon filter and scrog these ladies... I was taking leaves off and trimming in my noob attempt to get the 'bud sites' (maybe I'm calling it by the wrong name) to stretch towards the light... I will for sure not trim any more leafs off though thanks for the heads up so I don't ruin my plants!

Your plants look great, very healthy! you should start a journal. Nice work...

Thanks Marc I appreciate the kind words. Once I figure out what a journal is I will definitely make one, lol.

swaggasuarusrex said:

Thanks Marc I appreciate the kind words. Once I figure out what a journal is I will definitely make one, lol.

Click to expand...

Lol, hit the forum tab then go down to journal. Start a thread there of your grow. Post pictures like every week so we can see the progress. I'd like to follow her till the end!

Lol, I think I figured it out... I'll post pictures all of the time if you want to follow it LOL

Those are some bushy motherfuckers you got there Swag, good shit!

lol thanks steezy, I wish I hadn't pruned the sh*t out of them before these pictures... I have like a 5gal baggie full of fanleafs LOL!

Yes, scrogging will help somewhat, but the sativa will still end up taller because during the flowering stretch she'll grow taller, too. A few inches won't make a difference, but 10 or 12 inches will. But worst comes to worst you can put the indica on a box.

I'm going to be scrogging on my current grow because I will end up with too-tall plants in my small space!

hmmm I do have 7ft ceilings... LOl... I've got two lumatek ballasts, do you think there will be enough difference to justify maybe running a separate 600w for the indica? ... Kind of was wanting to make another light hood anywho...

Well, I don't believe in spending money if I don't have to. I think a box is cheaper to install and run than a second light! However, if you plan on doing future grows with a mix of stavia and indica, then it could be a fine idea. You could also then do a rotation, where you're flowering indicas under one light while vegging sativas under the other, which means you'll be harvesting every 8 weeks or so.

Oui, this was a stupid noob mistake that won't happen again! lol, not sure why I thought it was a good idea what I began but oh well what's done is done and can't complain.