So a while back I had made the decision to start a small grow in a tent with my tax returns etc..... Unfortunately a little bit of life popped up and that money got burnt up with real responsibilities. I had already purchased the seeds and had a bit of equipment laying around, so I decided that I would play around a bit. I've taken 2 of the ten seeds I purchased and put them to germ just so I can get some relative growing experience under my belt. That was 35 days ago.
Since I wasn't planning on being super serious and am lacking a lot of more quality equipment and products that would make for a truly solid grow, I neglected to start a grow journal here. In retrospect I probably should have, if for nothing else than to have the prying eyes of the pro's upon my babies.
The strain I am running is Afghan from Buydutchseeds.com (photo and non-feminized). From what the site says, its a pure Indica strain that should only get about 2-3 feet max which is perfect for the closet space I have available (roughly 2'w x 4'L x 5'H) They are in one and a half gallon pots with a 70/30 mix of Happy Frog and Perlite. Unfortunately I do not have a ph pen as of yet but my tap water tested at 7 the last time I had it tested so I am keeping my fingers crossed. They are getting air bubbled tap water that has sat for at least 24 hrs prior to use.
I am currently running them under 5 fluorescent plant/aquarium bulbs that you can get at any pet store and two 23w cfl's on a 20/4 timer. The room is flat white with mylar coating on some of it ( my wife was able to find a bunch of mylar wrapping paper on clearance yay!) I am currently feeding them 1/2 dose miracle grow ( started at a 1/4 dose and am working up and yes, yes I know the stuff is horrible). Luckily the strain is noted for being particularly receptive to chemical nutrients and have yet to notice any serious chemical burn issues.
I started to LST them once they hit the fourth node and they seem to be taking to that particularly well. Trying to keep them short as to get the most out of the limited space I have. Its still winterish here so temps haven't been an issue yet, a box fan on low and an electric space heater across the closet have kept temps and air flow pretty good. Rarely reaches 80 F during the day (usually right around 75) and drops to roughly 65 at night. Once it gets warmer ill remove the heater and air condition the room the closet is in so the passive intake should help keep it cool.
Hopefully the attachments im trying to toss on here work and you guys can get a visual on all this jazz im talking about. I haven't had any major issues yet (knock on wood ) and can only hope the rest of the process goes as smoothly.
I do have a few questions though for those out there who may be familiar with the strain and photos in general. This is my first grow and I am unsure as to how long I should let these babies veg before I flip them to flower. The site I purchased the seeds from says they have a 55 day flowering time but I am assuming that means 55 days from preflower not 55 days total growth time. any information regarding that would be greatly appreciated.
Also while LST'ing is it ok to remove larger fan leaves that are shadowing the new nodes that are starting to grow upward (the nodes uncovered by the lst process that we are trying to get more light to in the first place)? Im not saying defoliate intensively just select pruning around shadowed nodes to improve light penetration through the canopy. Just wondering because (like an idiot before asking) I removed one fan leave that was majorly shadowing a growing node and two that were being pushed down onto the soil due to the lst process causing them to also majorly shadow two other nodes. I have only done this to one of the two plants so far. I just did this today so I haven't had time yet to notice any adverse effects.
If I have any other questions (and im sure I will) Ill throw them up here. Ill try to keep up with weekly pics from here on out the rest of the grow just to feed the need for bud porn hehe. Also a preemptive THANKS to anyone responding to my noobness, your experience is greatly appreciated. Everything I have learned about growing I have learned here on AFN.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by guys and heres hoping I can get a little bud for my time out of this. Even if I don't Ive had a blast so far with my little guys so I guess that makes it worth it regardless =)
Since I wasn't planning on being super serious and am lacking a lot of more quality equipment and products that would make for a truly solid grow, I neglected to start a grow journal here. In retrospect I probably should have, if for nothing else than to have the prying eyes of the pro's upon my babies.
The strain I am running is Afghan from Buydutchseeds.com (photo and non-feminized). From what the site says, its a pure Indica strain that should only get about 2-3 feet max which is perfect for the closet space I have available (roughly 2'w x 4'L x 5'H) They are in one and a half gallon pots with a 70/30 mix of Happy Frog and Perlite. Unfortunately I do not have a ph pen as of yet but my tap water tested at 7 the last time I had it tested so I am keeping my fingers crossed. They are getting air bubbled tap water that has sat for at least 24 hrs prior to use.
I am currently running them under 5 fluorescent plant/aquarium bulbs that you can get at any pet store and two 23w cfl's on a 20/4 timer. The room is flat white with mylar coating on some of it ( my wife was able to find a bunch of mylar wrapping paper on clearance yay!) I am currently feeding them 1/2 dose miracle grow ( started at a 1/4 dose and am working up and yes, yes I know the stuff is horrible). Luckily the strain is noted for being particularly receptive to chemical nutrients and have yet to notice any serious chemical burn issues.
I started to LST them once they hit the fourth node and they seem to be taking to that particularly well. Trying to keep them short as to get the most out of the limited space I have. Its still winterish here so temps haven't been an issue yet, a box fan on low and an electric space heater across the closet have kept temps and air flow pretty good. Rarely reaches 80 F during the day (usually right around 75) and drops to roughly 65 at night. Once it gets warmer ill remove the heater and air condition the room the closet is in so the passive intake should help keep it cool.
Hopefully the attachments im trying to toss on here work and you guys can get a visual on all this jazz im talking about. I haven't had any major issues yet (knock on wood ) and can only hope the rest of the process goes as smoothly.
I do have a few questions though for those out there who may be familiar with the strain and photos in general. This is my first grow and I am unsure as to how long I should let these babies veg before I flip them to flower. The site I purchased the seeds from says they have a 55 day flowering time but I am assuming that means 55 days from preflower not 55 days total growth time. any information regarding that would be greatly appreciated.
Also while LST'ing is it ok to remove larger fan leaves that are shadowing the new nodes that are starting to grow upward (the nodes uncovered by the lst process that we are trying to get more light to in the first place)? Im not saying defoliate intensively just select pruning around shadowed nodes to improve light penetration through the canopy. Just wondering because (like an idiot before asking) I removed one fan leave that was majorly shadowing a growing node and two that were being pushed down onto the soil due to the lst process causing them to also majorly shadow two other nodes. I have only done this to one of the two plants so far. I just did this today so I haven't had time yet to notice any adverse effects.
If I have any other questions (and im sure I will) Ill throw them up here. Ill try to keep up with weekly pics from here on out the rest of the grow just to feed the need for bud porn hehe. Also a preemptive THANKS to anyone responding to my noobness, your experience is greatly appreciated. Everything I have learned about growing I have learned here on AFN.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by guys and heres hoping I can get a little bud for my time out of this. Even if I don't Ive had a blast so far with my little guys so I guess that makes it worth it regardless =)
Just wondering since these are my first and would like to confirm or reject my suspicions. Also remember these are photos not autos. 
