First Grow Diary

[Each Hit]

swim has taken the plunge into amateur botany in an effort to eliminate his dependency on the local dealers (who often have sub-par quality at overpriced rates). he is really psyched about this trial by fire he is undergoing and hopes it will eventually pay off in the form of "gourmet" buds on demand (which should eventually make up for the money spent on growing equipment). anyway, swim thought it could be beneficial to any others planning to begin if he kept a sort of mini-diary of his grow (or at the very least, provide a nice chuckle to the more experienced growers). here are swim's growing specs for his first crop:

strain: misty (nirvana seeds)
quantity: 4 seeds (only 4 in case swim botches the grow somehow)
room dimensions: 3ft(w)x3ft(d)x6ft(h)
lighting: 400w mh (veg) & 400w hps (flower)

swim bought miraclegro moisture control potting soil (composed of coir pith fibers, forest products compst, perlite, spahgnum peat moss, and a time-release fertilizer with a rating of 0.21%N, 0.07%P, and 0.14%K. swim has heard bad things about miraclegro, but it was the only option locally and seemed to be an okay choice. he took an extra risk and bought some organic nutrients online to hopefully help out if needed (fox farm grow big, big bloom, and tiger bloom).

swim soaked his seeds in water for about 15 hours (all 4 sank) and did his best to plant the seeds at the proper depth (about ¼") with the proper amount of moisture (sort of aimed for a moist but not soaked soil) and with the pointed end facing down. he is hoping he bought a proper soil that won't burn his seedlings but will help them get a healthy start. he just planted the seeds in soil this morning and was planning to begin lighting either tonight or tomorrow.

swim might try doing artificial lighting at night, to keep temps down since it can get chilly here, combined with some window lighting during the day, to save on the power bill. he could use some advice concerning topping, though. he has read conflicting results about topping (using the FIM method, of course) and was wondering if it might just be better to train the plants and trim only as needed rather than expose the plants to potentially useless stress. he has read reports that training is the only real way to improve yield and that topping/fimming should only be used to control plant shape and size. is this true, and if so, couldn't swim just tie large shoots down to control vertical growth??

anyway, this topic will be continuously updated over the course of swim's grow, and swim will try and get some pics up once the plants take root and begin to develop. swim is nervous about his first grow, but optimistic that he has prepared himself for it. stay tuned

[old hippie 56]

http://www.drugs-forum.com/growfaq/G...c%20Topics.htm

Might pick up a few tips

[Each Hit]

Originally Posted by old hippie 56

http://www.drugs-forum.com/growfaq/G...c%20Topics.htm

Might pick up a few tips

thanks for the link.

in fact, swim has been studying that guide for well over a month now (probably moreso than his classes), and he still reads portions of it daily to make sure he is preparing properly. without that guide, swim doubts he would have accumulated enough knowledge to be confident enough to even attempt this project. it is a veritable gold mine

[wednesday]

SWIM just dove into the world of botany several weeks ago just for the fun of it and is really having a good time watching the plants grow

[Each Hit]

5 days after planting 4 seeds, all have sprouted and look healthy. swim realized he might only get to do one good crop this year, so he planted 2 white widows in case he doesn't get another chance to grow until the summer and gets lucky enough to grow a female.

unfortunately, one of the widows got knocked over about 12 hours after the seed was put in soil. the seed did not come out of the soil, but it was exposed briefly, and swim is unsure how the fragile roots might have been affected. he gently replaced the missing soil and is hoping for the best. the other widow is beginning to pop to the surface and looks like it will sprout today or tomorrow.

swim will post pics later.

[old hippie 56]

It is amazing to watch plants grow. When swim learned how to clone, he cloned everything he had growing. Now, he got basil, and other herbs everywhere.

[Sklander]

SWIM has grown Misty from Nirvana before. That strain is straight up delicious...

[Each Hit]

Originally Posted by Sklander

SWIM has grown Misty from Nirvana before. That strain is straight up delicious...

now you're making swim even more impatient (and he has at least 3 months to go). his four mistys have sprouted and are beginning to grow a pair of leaves perpendicular to the first set (swim thinks of them as 'baby leaves'). one of the widows has sprouted and is growing its first pair of leaves, while the other (which had the mishap) appears to be slowly trying to sprout. it's popped above the surface and definitely has a root, but it seems slow to open up and is obviously behind the rest. swim would be thrilled if it managed to grow successfully.

by the way, swim has a question for the green-thumbs out there. is it normal for the base of the young leaves (where they join and where new growth is coming from) to be a bit yellowish-green?? all 4 of swim's mistys have a slight yellow tint where the new growth is forming, and swim wants to verify whether this is a nutrient deficiency/toxicity or simply a normal part of young growth. thanks.

also, when swim waters, should he saturate the soil until liquid begins to come from the drain holes?? should he then empty the drain pans or allow the plants to sit in the water to allow absoprtion?? sorry for the amateur questions, but the only plant swim has ever grown was a garbonzo bean in 4th grade...


EDIT: here is a pic of one of swim's mistys six days after being planted. this one is the tallest, though it was the 3rd to sprout. the rest look about the same.

[Each Hit]

well, the traumatized widow is now growing. it was SLOWLY rising above the surface, but the seed shell would not open up to expose the cotyledons, so swim gently squeezed the shell and pulled it off (only because he was afraid the seed was about to die). the cotyl-leaves (or whatever they are called) had white tips, like they were calloused or something, but they did open up and now widow beta (which is its pre-sex name) is trying to catch up to its companion plants. swim will edit this post with pics tomorrow and will only update on weekends from now on.

they grow so fast, yet so very slow...

[old hippie 56]

The slightly yellow tips are ok, sound like swieh is getting the hang of it. Just don't be bragging about them. If they grow too fast, they might fall over. It is ok to stake them with some cloth strips ever so gently.

[Each Hit]

Originally Posted by old hippie 56

The slightly yellow tips are ok, sound like swieh is getting the hang of it. Just don't be bragging about them. If they grow too fast, they might fall over. It is ok to stake them with some cloth strips ever so gently.

thank you for the advice. swim is just trying to find that balance between too much and too little. only one person knows of swim's grow, and that is swim's roommate (they have known each other for about 10 years, and he is a trusted friend). swim is growing strictly for personal use, so he feels no need to share knowledge of his grow with others. loose lips sink ships


EDIT: here's a current pic of the family. the two on the bottom are the widows.

[Each Hit]

swim could use some help. the older leaves on his plants (the 3-pointed ones) are developing dead spots on the tips and moving inward. is this normal or a sign of nutrient problems?? swim can post pics tomorrow if necessary.

[old hippie 56]

Is swim talking about the bottom leaves(shade leaves)? If so, is there new growth at top? If there is new growth on top, the plant is shedding the bottom leaves.

[Each Hit]

swim does not know the terms, sorry. the single leaves that were there when the seed opened up and the very next set (they had 3 points) are the ones affected. both have signs of new growth where they meet the stem, but the growth is relatively small. is the plant diverting nutrients to the new growth now, resulting in the shedding of said leaves??

[old hippie 56]

OK, how much does swim water, a lot of first-time growers over-water. Either they are drowning, burning from excessive fertilizer, or the bottom leaves are shedding. Without looking at them, it would be hard to tell.
On watering, swim lets the dirt nearly dries out before watering again, usually once a week. On feeding them, a weak solution bi-weekly.

[Each Hit]

thanks. swim will post some pics tomorrow. the help is really appreciated.

swim has had to water every 2 or 3 days as his plants feel very light by then. his plants are not (and have not been) drooping, which seems to be the biggest sign of over/under watering. one or two plants have leaves that sometimes tend to curl upward, like a u shape almost, and swim is having a hard time using the overgrow growfaq to decipher what exactly he might be looking at. perhaps swim is just an overcautious first-timer...

[Each Hit]

swim did some soil tests and his soil is heavy with nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. swim will flush his plants to try and fix the problem. once he gets this resolved, he wants to transplant. he would do it now to get some fresh, un-nuted soil around the roots, but he is afraid the shock combined with the nutrient saturation might really stress the plants (worse than they are now).

[old hippie 56]

Try flushing them first, don't move them unless necessary. Swim had that problem a couple of times. Flushing always helped.

[Each Hit]

well, the problem has, at the very least, stopped getting worse. swim does not want to move his plants, but they appear to be ready for transplanting to a larger pot. swim will delay this move as long as he can to allow the plants to recover. camera needs batteries, so no pics right now

[Each Hit]

well, it's been 30 days in the soil for swim's plants, and so far, they are all still growing nicely. after swim's initial over-fert problem, he has cut back the feeding to about once a week, and his plants seem to be doing well. there was an accident that occurred, forcing swim to top one of his widows. as a result it is showing increased secondary growth compared to the other 5 plants. swim has also noticed the first signs of pre-flowers. they are forming on the widows most noticeably, but they are still too underdeveloped to tell the plant's gender (swim has a 16x loupe he has been checking with). for now, here is a recent pic of swim's garden at day 28. swim will try to get pics of pre-flowers once they develop a bit more.


the two white widows are at the bottom left (the topped one is in the bottom middle). the plants are about 8 inches tall, now, by the way...

[old hippie 56]

Looking good, swim thinks your swim is doing a good job. Keep up the good work.

[Each Hit]

swim forgot to mention that he switched soils upon transplanting. he is now using a generic potting mix he found at lowe's hardware. he figures without the soil letting out time-released nutes, he will be able to better regulate what his plants get, how much, and when. since transplanting, swim's plants have shown no increased foliar damage and seem to look healthier and be growing with fewer problems. swim thinks perhaps time-release nute soils might do more harm than good for swim's growing style...

[Each Hit]

swim has identified what he believes to be a female pre-flower on one of his plants. the rest are either indistinguishable or looking a bit male. is swim correct in thinking this is a female?? it is taken through a 16x loupe, so sorry if it is focused poorly.

[Each Hit]

well, 1 plant is a definite female, 4 are looking very male (but still not 100% sure), and 1 has shown NO pre-flowers at all.

swim's plants are 7 weeks old. is it normal for the one to show no pre-flowers yet?? also, how long can swim veg potential males before he risks growing a bunch of seeds in the one plant he knows is female??

[Each Hit]

it's been a while since the last update, but a lot has happened. only 1 of swim's plants turned out female (one of the mistys). or rather, only one showed female pre-flowers by the 9th week. 4 looked decidedly male in swim's (amateur) opinion, and one still had shown no pre-flowers. unfortunately, circumstances forced swim to reduce his garden to only the definite female. he would have liked to have allowed them all more time, but there's always next time.

anyway, swim's plant showed some remarkable growth over the holiday while swim was gone. swim was having trouble with leaves yellowing and falling from the bottom of the plant and working upward. swim fed her well right after transplanting and this seems to have fixed the problem (likely a nitorgen deficiency) as most of the plant looks healthy (a few leaves fell while swim was gone but the growth has more than compensated). swim will edit this later to show pics. since he only has one plant, he thinks he will veg her until she is about 2-2½ feet tall. he wishes he could keep her as a mother and grow clones, but that would not be feasible at this point.

i've attached a pic of swim's girl. she's about 21" (or half a meter) tall. does she look alright so far?? swim plans to grow her to about 26"-28" before vegging. this would allow about 12"-15" for stretch in flowering. should swim flower sooner?? the absolute tallest his plant can get without causing problems is about 42". any advice??