Raelum's first grow - log

Hello everyone!

First off, I just want to say that I have read ALOT of posts here on boards.cannabis.com and learned a lot about growing the dankest. Thank you!! and keep posting!

Eventually, I want to go hydroponics, I would use an Ebb & Flow setup using those storage bins. However I wanted to grow the seeds using soil, since soil is more forgiving and this will allow me to learn more about the plant. Like what it needs and how it responds to different conditions. So my first grow is to find some good mothers and learn how to read my plants.

So here is my seed/cloning setup:
http://boards.cannabis.com/attachmen...1&d=1225033179

This is what I have so far. Some grow plugs, Olivia's cloning gel, Botanicare PureBlend Pro, Agway manure and humus, Perlite, spidermite killer, and a 4ft t5 stip light (when I received this the bulb was broken, steal dealing with plantlightinghydroponics.com to get this sorted, but I think they started ignoring me :( )

I germinated using a empty cigar tube/test tube (three seeds at first). Once burst out of its shell and germinated very quickly. The other two were partially out of thier shells (one has the taproot coming out, and the other only had the starter leaves coming out).

Plant 1 is the one that germinated first and appears to be doing well.

http://boards.cannabis.com/attachmen...1&d=1225033179

Plant 2 is the one that the taproot came out first. I later removed the seed shell myself (carefully).

http://boards.cannabis.com/attachmen...1&d=1225033179

Plate 3 never completely came out of its shell (taproot never came out) so after two days I decided I would try to remove the shell and broke one of the starter leaves. I assume this seed is dead?

I bought the seeds from hempdepot (joey's mix).

My question is, should I have waited for the seeds to come out of the shell themselves, or is intervention sometimes necessary?

Also I planted the seeds in grow plugs, will they grow enough of a root system so I can pot them? My concern is that the grow plugs don't have enough nutrients for a seedling and it will start to die before it has enough roots to be potted.

Lastly, I put a little paper tool around the stems because the grow plug holes were so big. I was concerned light hitting the taproot would cause a problem.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

reserved

You don't need the plastic cover over them. I would also move that light closer. about 2 or 3 inches from the plant. I am guessing thats a CFL daylight. Also you don't need any nutrients yet. They have all they need for a few weeks.

As for the shell. I would have used tweesers to get it off. The membrain sometimes gets stuck and you have to help it a bit. I don't know if you killed it yet just watch it and see.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bigworm1922

You don't need the plastic cover over them. I would also move that light closer. about 2 or 3 inches from the plant. I am guessing thats a CFL daylight. Also you don't need any nutrients yet. They have all they need for a few weeks.

As for the shell. I would have used tweesers to get it off. The membrain sometimes gets stuck and you have to help it a bit. I don't know if you killed it yet just watch it and see.

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Thanks for the reply! I removed the dome and moved the light closer, it does put off some heat and the room is about 75-80 degrees. I also removed the bits of paper towel, they were still damp and I was afraid it would encourage mold growth. I put a little piece of the grow plug material in its place.

Should I keep the grow plugs moist? like add a few drops of water every day?

Check the underside of the plug and make sure when you see the tap root you plant them in some seed starting soil. Also make sure you don't plant in to big of a pot. I would make sure to not over water them. I see you have some yellowing going on so you might be giving them to much water right now. I am still new also so hope someone that has some better info can help.

I have a grow log to check it out if you get a chance. Hope everything goes good for you. I will keep an eye on your grow.

Plant 1, the starter leaves have shriveled up a little but and the plant is kinda leaning sideways.. It also looks like the stock is narrower. looks like its dieing!
What could cause this? I thought i over watered it, so i didnt water ti the next day.. is the light drying it out too fast? I think the light was too close and dried it out, its a flourescent but it still puts off noticeable amount of heat.

Plant 2, the new leaves are bigger, other then that it looks the same

Plant 3, no change...

If you don't already have one, put a small desktop type fan in there blowing on your seedlings. It'll help keep them cool, and will encourage them to grow stronger stems.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Help_Needed

If you don't already have one, put a small desktop type fan in there blowing on your seedlings. It'll help keep them cool, and will encourage them to grow stronger stems.

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Hey, I got an extra computer fan and made a wall plug for it and set it up (last night). The plants at the time were looking a little better (starting to stand straight and not drooping). However when i woke up this morning and checked no them they shriveled up ALOT and the grow plugs were very dry. Looks like the fan dried them out.

Wow... growing is harder then I though it would be... I most be doing something wrong.

Maybe I shouldn't use the grow cubes next time. They just dry out too fast.

Too much humidity and not enough air flow leads to a fungus known as damping-off.
Lose the dome, add a couple drops of water whenever the plugs appear a big pale, add a fan, control your temps between 68 anf 78.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stinkyattic

Too much humidity and not enough air flow leads to a fungus known as damping-off.
Lose the dome, add a couple drops of water whenever the plugs appear a big pale, add a fan, control your temps between 68 anf 78.

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Thanks stinky! I just got home and looked up damping off and found the symptoms and tale tale signs of it. Decided to cut the obviously dead seedling's grow plug so i can see it. The top quarter inch of the taproot appeared to be spotted with brown and black (see picture).

This pic isnt of my actual plants, but my roots looked just like it (notice all the brown around the area where it breaks the surface).

http://www.ent.iastate.edu/images/pl....38pythium.jpg

So damping off.. My next attempt will be with bagseed, lol. Don't want to waste any more good ones yet.

Also, I sterilized the grow room and everything that touched my plants.. maybe the grow plugs are bad, I didn't do anything to those.. I might just not use them in my next attempt.

Hello!

So my first two germination attempts ended up with my little plants getting damping-off or root rot.

My first attempt, I germinated them in a test tube with room-temp water. They sprouted faster then I thought they would and were already completely out of the shell when I planted them in my grow plugs. Room temps were a little erratic because I did not have a heater yet. I also over-watered the little plants which didn't help. They broke the surface and spread their leaves but after day 3 both just died. After performing my autopsy it appears it was in fact damping-off, roots were covered with brown spots.

Second attempt I tried something completely different which didn't work out either. I decided to skip the grow plugs since they dry out so fast. I made a mix of perlite + manure and humus then dropped the germinated seeds (paper towel method this time, still waited too long they taproot were more then a cm long). Well this time the plants did not make it far at all, they just shriveled and died (day 2). It was either root rot, damping off or nutrient burn form the manure and humus.

The third attempt, I am on my last two seeds and decided to re-read everything again and do this right! I germinated in test tube again (warm water) for about 14 hours. I decided to move them to moist + warm grow plugs BEFORE the tap root came out. I turned on the heater and got the room temps in the 90's, I also covered the grow plugs with white paper to prevent light from getting to the roots and then turned on a florescent light (for additional warmth).

I checked on my plants about 10 hours later and they were already coming out! I left the white paper over them until they nearly broke the surface, then I removed it. Turned on desktop fan, moved light a little closer and dropped the temps down to the 75-80 range. Here's pics on day 3 after germinating the seeds!

DAY 5

I transplanted them into cups on Day 3, with a mix of perlite + manure and humus (more Perlite then usual, but I will keep a close eye on them).
So it's been two days and I just watered them for the first time since the transplant.

Both plants have strong purple stems and their new leaves are bigger then any of my previous attempts! One plant is a little shorter then the other, but it still looks healthy. Room temps are still on the 75-80 range, and I am moving the desktop (12cm) fan around at different angles to help strengthen them.

Here's some pics!

I also just bought replacement bulb for my 4 foot T5 fixture and a 400 watt HPS + MH lamp! So I am ready!

Day 7

Today I watered them. I let the water sit out for about 30 hours to reach room temperature; I also read that it allows the chlorine to evaporate and is better for the plants.

They are looking pretty good and there is nothing wrong so far that I can tell. I noticed that the stem is a dark red/purple and was curious if that could possibly be a P deficiency.

As far as lighting goes, I was planning on putting them under the 400 Watt MH light at week 2. I will also be adding a 54W T5 strip light tomorrow.

Here's the pics:

Hey Raelum, your babies look good so far this round.
You seem to be very passionate about learning how to do this thing.
I have a pointer for you that I'm 100% positive will help you.

This plant is a weed, it literally THRIVES in nature with no intervention from man...
They don't need a lot of help to do what they do. They don't need you to help them shed their seed shell... They've been doing it for thousands of years already :)

What I'm trying to say is that while I know it's really difficult to resist the urge to love on your plants, you really gotta just let them do their thing... That's what killed your previous attempts, not damping off or anything else... You loved them to death.
Here's the deal:

All they need from you is a comfortable temperature with good air cirulation, good dirt, clean water with a little nute added, and a nice bright light timed to the right schedule, and they'll do their thing.

Go get some real potting soil and lose the manure... it's too hot and will burn your babies. Adding perlite is good.

Don't overwater. Let the dirt dry out between waterings, so the roots can breathe in between meals... It doesn't need to be constantly soaked.

If you do these things and above all have patience, you will see good things happen... I promise.

Wanna see some nice plants? Check out my grow:

http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-gr...-grow-log.html

Best of luck to you Rae!

BEWARE GROWERS!

-Cat's like to eat things...


Yep, I was installing my new light in the grow room and my cat ran in and started eating away! I stopped him but he managed to eat 2 of the 4 leaves of the smaller plant.

So, I am down to one and no seeds left. Should I keep growing, or order some more seeds and get started on the next batch (now that I have germination down, I can probably keep most of the 10 seeds alive next time).

Day 19

Well, I looked everywhere for normal black plastic pots but couldn't find any. So I used some make shift pots, lol.

I will re-pot to a 5 gallon bucket once I pick a mother (if i get a female that is).

I got annoyed with my setup previously or lack of, so I went to the store bought a table, some chains, and a fan. Got home and reorganized the room, hung the chains, made some white walls that I could easily move around and I also started setting up my CO2 system.

My CO2 system is just a 20oz bottle of liquid CO2 attached to a paintball gun regulator and there will be a hose that runs to the plants with little holes in them. If my math is right I should be able to to bring the room to 1500 ppm about 40 times before the tank is empty and depending on how well my room holds co2 that could last me a week. My roommate can get me free CO2 refills.

Here's pics:

Kill the cat...(Jokin')

Grow them strong man! Try and catch my grow!

:thumbsup:

Well right before I repotted my plants the lower starter leaves turned yellow. I was hoping that repotting them would fix the issue (N deficiency?). Didn't spread for a day or two but now the next set of leaves are starting to turn yellow and the little starter leaves are turning brown on the tips.

I did add a little pure blend pro grow to the water today to see if it will take care of the possible lack of N. I also ran to the pet store and grabbed a PH test kit and tested the runoff of the watering, the kit shows the runoff being around ph of 7, and water before was around 6.2-6.6 so that means the soil itself is around 7.4-7.8? Which is in the 6-8 range so I don't think PH is the cause.

Day 21

Well, the yellowing seemed to stop spreading but not I am noticing something else wrong with my plant. I think it might be a iron deficiency? I have attached pics.

First and last pic are the bigger plant: I noticed that the leaves are curling up and a little brown on the tip. Also it is REALLY dark green compared to the other plant. Not sure what they is.

The other pics are the ones I am talking about, there are like little yellowish brown spots on the upper leaves. Iron deficiency? I was reading that it could be caused by high PH, so I am going to get an electronic PH tester as I dont really trust runoff.

Here's the troubleshooting form:

E-Indoor
E-Agway manure and humus + perlite
SCLR- 7
E - Tap (slightly acidic)
E - 6.8-6.4
E - 21 days
E - Pure blend pro grow
E - every 2-3 days (only used nutes once so far)
E- 400W MH, probably 12in
E-80-85 during the day, 75-80 during night
E-Air % Relative humidity - not sure
E- 24 hours
E-large fan on the floor blowing straight up, another fan blowing over the canopy, and smaller fan actually blowing on the plants
TR-Did you pre-soak your media in pH corrected solution? No

the one thing you didn't answer (relative humidity) is probably the culprit. as dooobster said, don't love them to death. if the pics are any representation of the yellowing you described, i wouldn't worry.

90% of yellowing leaves = Normal falling bottom leaves. Don't bother with that. Other than that like others said...Don't love 'em to death!

:thumbsup: