First Ever Grow, Obviously

Hello All!

This will be my third attempt at creating a grow log. The first one was posted in the wrong section and the second log was lost when I hit submit and the server was down. Doh!

Anyways, do not be deceived by my grow log composition. I am in fact a newbie and if it were not for Weedhound, Pharmacan, and MVP I would be even more clueless than I am now. So, here's to you guys and gal! :jointsmile:

Basics:
Aeroponic (sprinklers x3)
400w HPS
2 Atomic Haze (F1 Atomic NL x Haze)
6 Arctic Sun (F1 Whitewidow x Skunk #1)
Botanicare ProGrow
Botanicare ProBloom
Botanicare CalMag

For the first 18 hours of their lives, my babies were sitting in my tap water that came out at 8.6 ph and 400 ppm. Eew!

I am now running RO water with the calmag and either ProGrow or ProBloom at a 1:1 ratio. Thanks for the tip Weedhound!

I vegged the babies for one week before flipping the light schedule to 12/12. Need to flower early as I am attempting a SCRoG grow.

29 November 2007 - "Planted"
6 December 2007 - Started flowering

Tomorrow I am completely flushing my system (15 gal) and switching nutes over to ProBloom. The ppms will be 500 calmag and 500 probloom with a total of 1000.

I will also try and edit this post tomorrow to add pictures to this log from my posts in the "Plant Problems" section. Unfortunately I have spent much more time in that section than any other haha.

I wish I had my gf's camera to upload some pictures; these girls are to the point where I want some confirmation that they look and are developing alright.

My sativas seem to develop buds and grow slower than my hybrids. Is this normal?

cmasfca, good to see you getting your Grow Log on... I finally did the same but have yet to bring in the plants! I'll stay tuned and chime in when something catches my eye.

MVP :jointsmile:

Are these clones, cmasfca?


Shov

Shovehandle,

Yes, they are clones bought from a club in San Francisco, CA.

Today I did a full res flush and added 500 ppm calmag and 500 ppm probloom to ro water. Waiting to see the results :)

So I am going to try and get a camera from my roommate today so that I can post new pictures for you guys :D

Today I have removed much of the lower foliage that wasn't getting much light and removed a couple fan leaves that were covering bud sites.

PH is 5.8 and ppms is 1010. 77 F and 60% RH

Pictures! I borrowed my roommate's camera. Sorry for the quality, I haven't gotten used to all the buttons on it yet :jointsmile:

How do they look?

One more, this one is a little better.

Wow! Those are really starting to go....yes yes switch them over and up their numbers!! They look GREAT!! Good work. :thumbsup:

One tip.....go easy on the pruning...too much of it WILL slow down the plants growth and if you do WAY too much (as I did once.....WAY WAY too much) it compromised the yeild of my plants quite a bit.

Weedhound,

Thanks for the advice. I have kept it in mind while pruning and I am done with pruning under the screen for the most part. The only other pruning that will need to be done is when bud sites are being covered by leaves coming out of the bud; or so I read.

One thing to note for beginners or at least beginners in terms of aeroponics...

Check the reservoir level! When I flushed mine last time I was ready with three 5 gallon bottles and I only filled 1.5 up with water! The scariest part is that right before I flushed I added at least 2.5 gallons, so that means there were only around 5 gallons in my 15 gallon reservoir! Luckily there was enough so my pump didn't burn itself out, but I need to be better at checking res levels...I am pretty sure that was starting to cause volatile ppm and ph levels because it is super stable now with 15 gallons...

What do you think? Thanks for all your help!

Here are my babies when I first put them in the system, this was on 28 November 2007. The new pictures above are from today, 19 December 2007.

So for three weeks of growth, how do they look? I have no comparison, because this is my first time!

Yes its easy to forget that they drink alot of water....and yes.....it certainly WILL mess up your numbers. ;)

I finished my semester! No school for a month! This means my ladies get my full attention for 4 weeks; that should take me right up to curing stage! Besides working and sleeping, I will be staring at my ladies! No more herb though until harvest :( Well at least right now; that means that I have been smoking roaches and taking resin hits. Maybe that is why my throat is a little sore :(

Sorry to hear that they are drinking too much. If you wanna solve that problem you can just bring them over to my place sometime and I'll take care of them for you... really no problem, I'm generous that way!

MVP :jointsmile:

Haha thanks for the offer MVP I'll keep that in mind :D :jointsmile:

Would it be stupid to mail weed in a bag that is inside of a coffee jar that has coffee in it?

yes

That is an individual decision. I don't recommend it but if you must, use Fedex than using the USPS for ALL sorts of stuff (including meds) since they are the most reliable outfit when it comes to shipping IMO. Also drop it off within 10 minutes or so of their cutoff time so that it gets into transit immediately. Personally I like gifts of coffee, cologne, and sweatshirts with the smell of freshly dried laundry with lots of dryers sheets. How is that for an xmas gift list....

I have a friend growing medicine up in norther cali and I guess it will be better to just drive up there than to risk mailing it :jointsmile:

yes....drive.....you'll be happy you did....not worth getting caught over and get attention focused on you or your friend....that's one of those things that once you appear on the radar you'll never get off.......

Someone awhile back had a great saying......it's the paranoid ones that will be visiting us in jail.....i try to live by that since once the mistake is made you can't take it back. ;)

which gets me to wondering ......my hydro guy sells something called "bear proof camping gear" guaranteed to hide any smell completely....odor proof plastic bags...has to be vaccum sealed to work etc.....that's the ONLY thing I would consider getting by a drug dog with ANY sort of confidence......and I'd STILL worry......

When I am thinking about doing something illegal, I plan for the worst case scenario. So, when they bring the dogs in to sniff, I will assume they will smell it through the trunk. Hence, I don't carry any more than I am legally allowed to which is 1 oz.

I'm ok with swapping ounces with my buddy :)

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Pictures! I borrowed my roommate's camera. Sorry for the quality, I haven't gotten used to all the buttons on it yet

How do they look?

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Pretty good! just "fiddle" with the buttons some more. LOL

Shovelhandle

One piece of advice, if you care for that sort of thing. Don't take off so many leaves. The only time you should remove a fan leaf is if it is blocking the light from a bud, or it is in the way of you being able to get your hand to the back of your grow underneath the screen. Plant's grow much better/faster if they have leaves, the more the better.

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Originally Posted by cmasfca

Pictures! I borrowed my roommate's camera. Sorry for the quality, I haven't gotten used to all the buttons on it yet :jointsmile:

How do they look?

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Was your avatar pic taken with the same camera? Both the pics seem to have that dark yellowish color.

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Originally Posted by Weedhound

which gets me to wondering ......my hydro guy sells something called "bear proof camping gear" guaranteed to hide any smell completely....odor proof plastic bags...has to be vaccum sealed to work etc.....that's the ONLY thing I would consider getting by a drug dog with ANY sort of confidence......and I'd STILL worry......

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That won't do it. Those dogs have something incredible like 700,000 times more nerve endings in their nose than humans, and each nerve ending is 7 times more powerful than humans' are. Just the fact that you touched a piece of weed, then later in the day touch the plastic bag, is enough to send the dogs into a frenzy.

A friend tried to mail me a coffee can package like you described from Jamaica, and I never got it. Nothing happened to my friend.

Opie you know damn well those dogs bagged it, tossed the dope and kept the coffee (and a drip press) for themselves....:D

OK so I don't have a camera available but,

The girls are doing awesome! Ph is 6.1, up from 5.9 about 24 hours ago. The ppms have gone from 1010 down to 970 in the same time period. I am thinking of adding 5 gallons of RO water and then upping the ppms to 1200, but I won't do anything until I hear from you guys :)

Thanks for the advice opie. The only reason I cut those leaves was because I read somewhere that in a scrog grow they will wilt and die and could potentially harbor mold because they are under the screen and not too much light penetrates the canopy.

There are trichomes starting to form and it smells so good! I am bummed I have to go home tonight for Christmas lol but next time I check on them they should be even bigger. I will try to get a camera so I can show you guys :D

Merry Christmas!

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Originally Posted by cmasfca

OK so I don't have a camera available but.....

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Dude, I sure hope you get a digicam for Christmas! We want pics!!

MVP :jointsmile:

Cm.....I'm glad you asked me that question. I WOULD take them up to 1200 if I were you but then what I'd like to have you start doing .......starting around week 3 of flower is to start backing off VERY SLOWLY on your Cal Mag. You want to keep them on a 50/50 mix through the second week of flower while they do there big burst thing.....probably what you are seeing right now. Then they start slowing down on the height and making buds. This is when we will want to ease back on the CalMag and introduce more of the Pro Bloom. By week five we'd like a 65/35 ratio of probloom/CalMag. .....topping out at 1200 (perhaps more if they continue to eat like such pigs but we'll wait and see) until the eighth week or so and then flush. If they need to go longer they can just go off ph'd r/o water until they are finished.

Capice? :D

Weedhound,

Sounds good! I am going to add 5 gal of RO water today after work then up the ppms to around 1200 with a ratio of 60/40 probloom to calmag. Then next week I will do a full flush and have ppms of 1200 with the ratio of 65/35 probloom to calmag.

These babies are sticky! When I am moving fan leaves out of the way of other buds my hands get so sticky! The aroma is very strong as well and I love coming home from work and smelling them haha :)

Thanks for all your help Weedhound, you definitely have contributed more towards these girls' health than I have, and that is for sure :D

I am going to get my girlfriend's camera on sunday night, so hopefully on sunday or monday I'll post pictures of these beauty queens :jointsmile:

Ha ha thanks for saying so but in all honesty the only work I have done here is type....oh my exhausted fingers.....:D I was NOT the one carrying 30 gals of water around and running out to buy them new nutes.....;)

PS....not at ALL hard to get addicted to growing these plants is it. :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by MVP

Sorry to hear that they are drinking too much. If you wanna solve that problem you can just bring them over to my place sometime and I'll take care of them for you... really no problem, I'm generous that way!

MVP :jointsmile:

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Wow, I sort of wish I was a plant right now. :jointsmile:

luv, I've heard he takes his plants for long walks along the beach......:D

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Originally Posted by Weedhound

luv, I've heard he takes his plants for long walks along the beach......:D

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He lives in alaska! Beaches are cold in alaska! Beware!

That is just the flag that I fly... try SoCal by the beach

When can I come visit? :)

At least twice I remember having walked past airport drug dogs (german shepard) without setting 'em off. This was before 9-11, so they were not bomb dogs. I had small amounts in my jean pockets. Once I was working on a manlift while the dog and handler were snooping through the cargo in the airport customs warehouse.

Lucky!

Shovelhandle

Shov I think thats about asking the dog where to search. They don't hit on just anything......the handler directs them where to look. If you were standing close enough to a drug dog searching (I'd imagine within a few feet) you could be considered part of the search. Otherwise you have a much better chance of not being noticed by the dog who is concentrating on the area directed by the handler. ;)

Your supposed to throw decoy drugs in the opposite direction you're going.

wow, nice grow for a 1st log!

stick with WH, she's great. and has lotsa friends with answers, like MVP and Opie!:thumbsup:

keep it goin and get that digicam goin!


as far as dogs, you guys gotta get a copy of "never get busted again" (nevergetbusted.com)
its awesome.
lotsa stuff you already knew, and some stuff u need to know.