BenHerb
01-26-2011, 05:45 AM
Hello everybody. I sort of stumbled into my first grow when I went to visit my favorite dispensary. They started selling plants, so I bought a clone (Mazar-I-Sharif), and 2 weeks later another (Mango). Here are the details and pictures that cover my first month.
HOUSING: I made the housing out of the Amazon boxes my goods came in, installed it into the closet using a packing tape, then layered the inside with 2mm Mylar.
LIGHTING: I started with a box full of small cfls while i waited for my 150 watt Hydro Farm cfl to come in. I soon after added 3 45 watt and 2 68 watt cfls. In all, it's a little over 380 watts right now. I'm thinking I can add more as needed...
VENTILATION: I added the oscillating fan to stir the air around. My biggest concern now is the ventalation at night when the closet doors are shut. Last night I cut a hole in the closet ceiling sheet rock hoping the hot air would rise out. I'm looking at getting a wall-to-wall fan installed to release the hot air exhaust. That seems like the best option at the moment. I found a wall-to-wall at Lowe's for around 60 bucks. The temp is anywhere from the low-mid 60's in the coolest part of the evening and can get up to the low 80's the warmest point of the day. I think I can regulate this a little better with the a fore mentioned fan.
Medium: I'm actually trying two types. I put the Mango in a 3 gallon pot of Sunny Girl Garden Mix I bought online for 30 bucks with shipping. Sunny Girl says that the 2 layer medium is completely self contained with no ph testing needed. According to videos I saw of the product, it's legit. For the Sharif, I went to the local garden center and bought the best quality organic top soil they had, organic chicken & cow compost manure, and perlite. I mixed them by eye about 60, 20, and 20% respectively. The 4 gallons of mixed soil had a nice consistency when I dropped contents of the 1/2 gal starter bucket in. A few days ago I ordered the tri-pack of Fox Farm ferts. I've been giving the Sherrif a 1/4 recommended dose of VF-11 a week.
Because it's my first grow and I'm learning as I go along, each plant has gone through a little more stress than they probably should have, but they seem to be stabilized and headed in the right direction. Now to introduce you to the little ladies:
This is my first, a Mazar-I-Sharif (Indica). I brought her home and started her on a 17/7 hour light cycle and within a few weeks, I noticed all the hairs. This issue gave me a reason to visit my dispensary. I left with some good knowledge, another plant, and good herb. The 'Plantman' told me that the Sharif had started flowering and to get her on a 24 hour light cycle. Baby clones think they're adults and cannot be treated like seedlings. Clones can flower when you put them on dark cycles. So here we are almost several weeks later and shes slowly starting to turn back to a healthy veg state.
This is my Mango (Indica). I bought her around the 15th of January. Since, she's been over trimmed, over ferted, and transplanted. Needless to say that these plants have shown much patience with my beginning ways, but it shows how virile these weeds really are!
Since I'm having so much fun doing this, I thought I'd make a time line that starts 1/1:
Day 1 (1/1/11): Who shot the Sharif? Ya, I'm a Marley fan just like you. Here's my scrawny Sharif on her first day home.
Day 9 (1/9): That's the inside of a Mylar balloon (not foil)!
Day 9 (1/9): Notice the hairs starting to form...
Day 12 (1/12): I believe I hooked up the 150 watt cfl around the 12th. At this point, I was beginning to think the hairs were a little unusual...
Day 15 (1/15): This is the day I went to the dispensary to ask advice about the Sharif. I came home with a Mango...
Day 15 (1/15): I trimmed the Sharrif's top 3 or 4 nodes and bottom 3 to leave a total of 4 or 5 main on the stem. I should have been logging the details from the start... The bottom clipping was a nice little prospect clone, but it's demise was due to my cloning inexperience. Since then, I've seen some really great homemade cloning tools online that were made from water and soda bottles. I figure I'll learn in time.
Day 15 (1/15): I trimmed the Mango up pretty good too. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't have touched a pair of trimmers until a week or two into transplanting.
Day 19 (1/19): You can see all the new growth in less than a week on the Mango...
Day 19 (1/19): You can definitely see the beginning of flowering here. The Sharif is now 4 days into 24 hr re-veg.
Day 24 (1/24): A few changes here. Transplants were on the 20th (Mango) and the 22nd (Sharif). I also installed the 2mm Mylar and osculating fan on a few days ago. The Sharif is looking full and ready to go full bore into veg state for another couple weeks or so! If you're a beginner and have an affinity for Indica as I do, try out this strain. It's VERY hearty.
Day 24 (1/24): Here's the Mango today, 2 days after transplant. She was in a bit of shock (you can se the crippled looking leaves it sprouted a few days ago), but is recovering nicely. I've noticed that the Mango is a more delicate strain than the Mazar-I-Sharif. I guess that makes sense since the Sharif's native habitat is the hot and cold climate Afghanistan.
That's all I have for now....
HOUSING: I made the housing out of the Amazon boxes my goods came in, installed it into the closet using a packing tape, then layered the inside with 2mm Mylar.
LIGHTING: I started with a box full of small cfls while i waited for my 150 watt Hydro Farm cfl to come in. I soon after added 3 45 watt and 2 68 watt cfls. In all, it's a little over 380 watts right now. I'm thinking I can add more as needed...
VENTILATION: I added the oscillating fan to stir the air around. My biggest concern now is the ventalation at night when the closet doors are shut. Last night I cut a hole in the closet ceiling sheet rock hoping the hot air would rise out. I'm looking at getting a wall-to-wall fan installed to release the hot air exhaust. That seems like the best option at the moment. I found a wall-to-wall at Lowe's for around 60 bucks. The temp is anywhere from the low-mid 60's in the coolest part of the evening and can get up to the low 80's the warmest point of the day. I think I can regulate this a little better with the a fore mentioned fan.
Medium: I'm actually trying two types. I put the Mango in a 3 gallon pot of Sunny Girl Garden Mix I bought online for 30 bucks with shipping. Sunny Girl says that the 2 layer medium is completely self contained with no ph testing needed. According to videos I saw of the product, it's legit. For the Sharif, I went to the local garden center and bought the best quality organic top soil they had, organic chicken & cow compost manure, and perlite. I mixed them by eye about 60, 20, and 20% respectively. The 4 gallons of mixed soil had a nice consistency when I dropped contents of the 1/2 gal starter bucket in. A few days ago I ordered the tri-pack of Fox Farm ferts. I've been giving the Sherrif a 1/4 recommended dose of VF-11 a week.
Because it's my first grow and I'm learning as I go along, each plant has gone through a little more stress than they probably should have, but they seem to be stabilized and headed in the right direction. Now to introduce you to the little ladies:
This is my first, a Mazar-I-Sharif (Indica). I brought her home and started her on a 17/7 hour light cycle and within a few weeks, I noticed all the hairs. This issue gave me a reason to visit my dispensary. I left with some good knowledge, another plant, and good herb. The 'Plantman' told me that the Sharif had started flowering and to get her on a 24 hour light cycle. Baby clones think they're adults and cannot be treated like seedlings. Clones can flower when you put them on dark cycles. So here we are almost several weeks later and shes slowly starting to turn back to a healthy veg state.
This is my Mango (Indica). I bought her around the 15th of January. Since, she's been over trimmed, over ferted, and transplanted. Needless to say that these plants have shown much patience with my beginning ways, but it shows how virile these weeds really are!
Since I'm having so much fun doing this, I thought I'd make a time line that starts 1/1:
Day 1 (1/1/11): Who shot the Sharif? Ya, I'm a Marley fan just like you. Here's my scrawny Sharif on her first day home.
Day 9 (1/9): That's the inside of a Mylar balloon (not foil)!
Day 9 (1/9): Notice the hairs starting to form...
Day 12 (1/12): I believe I hooked up the 150 watt cfl around the 12th. At this point, I was beginning to think the hairs were a little unusual...
Day 15 (1/15): This is the day I went to the dispensary to ask advice about the Sharif. I came home with a Mango...
Day 15 (1/15): I trimmed the Sharrif's top 3 or 4 nodes and bottom 3 to leave a total of 4 or 5 main on the stem. I should have been logging the details from the start... The bottom clipping was a nice little prospect clone, but it's demise was due to my cloning inexperience. Since then, I've seen some really great homemade cloning tools online that were made from water and soda bottles. I figure I'll learn in time.
Day 15 (1/15): I trimmed the Mango up pretty good too. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't have touched a pair of trimmers until a week or two into transplanting.
Day 19 (1/19): You can see all the new growth in less than a week on the Mango...
Day 19 (1/19): You can definitely see the beginning of flowering here. The Sharif is now 4 days into 24 hr re-veg.
Day 24 (1/24): A few changes here. Transplants were on the 20th (Mango) and the 22nd (Sharif). I also installed the 2mm Mylar and osculating fan on a few days ago. The Sharif is looking full and ready to go full bore into veg state for another couple weeks or so! If you're a beginner and have an affinity for Indica as I do, try out this strain. It's VERY hearty.
Day 24 (1/24): Here's the Mango today, 2 days after transplant. She was in a bit of shock (you can se the crippled looking leaves it sprouted a few days ago), but is recovering nicely. I've noticed that the Mango is a more delicate strain than the Mazar-I-Sharif. I guess that makes sense since the Sharif's native habitat is the hot and cold climate Afghanistan.
That's all I have for now....