New Grower My First Grow. Finally. Feedback appreciated!

[indicalla]

I tried using the Grow Journal feature, but I really just prefer a linear thread, so I'm going to move my first grow stuff here.

Lights: Mars-Hydro SP3000 (300 watts, Dr. Coco sold me on this)
Tent: 2x4x6
Air Movement: AC Infinity Cloudline T4 (passive intake, AC infinity carbon filter), two Hurricane clip-on fans
Soil: 4:1 Fox Farm Ocean Forest / Fox Farm Light Warrior
Pots: Two 5-gallon cloth pots, one 3-gallon cloth pot
Nutes/additives: Just Fish Sh!t to start, will consider adding FF nutes after three or four weeks
Water: I'm starting with bottled purified water, but I want to transition to filtered tap water, see below
Strains: Vision Seeds White Widow autofem / Seedsman Purple Punch autofem

I'd planned on starting with two plants: Vision Seeds' White Widow and Fast Buds Northern Lights. I figured it made sense to start with classics. Unfortunately my Fast Buds are lost in the mail, so I'm substituting Purple Punch from a few freebies I got. I later decided to go with three plants, as I mention below.

Saturday, April 3
So much second guessing! I had originally planned to just germinate my seeds in the soil, but because my Fast Buds didn't come and I'm planting a freebie, I thought it would be better to germinate in paper towels just to make sure they pop. I soaked one Vision White Widow and one Seedsman Purple Punch overnight in cups of distilled water.

I've been reading some of @Mcdee's, @WildBill's and @TekkoN's posts and I'm now inspired to record my misadventures here on AFN.

Sunday, April 4
It's funny -- there are so many videos about how to germinate seeds in paper towels, and none of them seem take the same approach. Maybe that just means they pretty much all work. I went with this one, but later in the day, after watching some others, I decided my paper towels were too wet. I swapped them out for less-wet paper towels, and I think it was the right thing to do. I'm germing them in a closet and the conditions are in the image below.

Monday, April 5
No movement on the seeds. I'm second guessing the idea of closing the bag on the germinating seeds, as I don't really see that in other places than in this video, so now I've unsealed it. The baggie is still puffed up though. I've probably fucked with them too much. I'm leaving them alone now, will just check in on them every 12 hours and hope they pop.

I've decided to grow three plants instead of two -- I feel like my 2 x 4 x 6 and SP3000 can accommodate comfortably -- and for the third, I'm doing it in a 3-gallon cloth pot instead of a 5-gallon like the others. So for this grow I'll hopefully have:

Purple Punch (Seedsman): germinated in paper towels, 5 gallon cloth pot
Purple Punch (Seedsman): germinated in soil, 3 gallon cloth pot
White Widow (Vision Seeds): germinated in paper towels, 5 gallon cloth pot

If both PPs are successful, I'll probably try to let one them go a bit longer to have a higher percentage of amber trikes so I can really test the difference. I like a good night-cap bud.

I've watered the 3-gallon pot with purified water to runoff, let it settle for a few hours, and now I have a bean in the soil. Same mix as the others: About 4:1 FFOF and FFLW, with a cup or so of Light Warrior in the top center for the seed to germ in.

I really want to be able to use my tap water for this grow. Maybe eventually I'll try RO, but I've maxed out my budget at this point. I believe I would be okay if I leave it out for a day or two to dechlorinate and then PH it down. I'd love any feedback on this water report from my utility board. Can I get by with a TDS PPM of 205? Anything you'd be worried about (other than the accuracy of the report)?

I've decided to just use my SP3000 lights as Mars Hydro suggests. Some guy online suggests 100% at 36", but MH says to germ at 30% 12"-18", so I've got the lights at about 14" above the soil and 30% and will see how things go.

Today I added some risers to get the pots off of the concrete floor and give them some air underneath. I have the 3-gallon pot at the same height as the bigger ones. I also added a Hurricane fan to get air moving, and I've figured out the Cloudline T4 inline fan. I read where some dude somewhere said cloth pots should really be elevated above the tray so that when watering to runoff, the bag doesn't reabsorb the water. He said it's waste and should be removed. I assume that is not the case now, before the plants are growing, but I'd love to get some feedback on whether y'all do this or not at any stage in your grows.

Here are my current conditions. My Cloudline probe and my Govee hydrometer are within a point of each other in both metrics, so i feel confident I know my tent conditions. I feel pretty good about them, and my basement stays remarkably consistent from season to season. I'm going to shoot for 78 degrees and 60-70% humidity during the seedling stage, and I think I can swing it with periodic use of my humidifier and that Cloudline keeping it in check. I've seen a lot of differing opinions on humidity range during the seedling stage, but I'll give this a go and adjust if it seems necessary.

One last thing. I currently have my extraction going into my basement where my tent is located. It's a really big basement (like 25' X 50', totally open with no walls, air conditioned), so i don't feel like it would really be recycling extracted air too badly, but I'm still planning on building a window insert to extract it outside to a window that is not visible from outside of my privacy fence. Would you do this, or not bother, given the size of the space?

Anyway, I'm in a prohibition state and have nobody to talk to about this -- my wife is tired of hearing about it, I think -- so hopefully some of y'all will chip in some advice for this genuine newb along the way. More posts to come....

 

[McDee]

I tried using the Grow Journal feature, but I really just prefer a linear thread, so I'm going to move my first grow stuff here.

Lights: Mars-Hydro SP3000 (300 watts, Dr. Coco sold me on this)
Tent: 2x4x6
Air Movement: AC Infinity Cloudline T4 (passive intake, AC infinity carbon filter), two Hurricane clip-on fans
Soil: 4:1 Fox Farm Ocean Forest / Fox Farm Light Warrior
Pots: Two 5-gallon cloth pots, one 3-gallon cloth pot
Nutes/additives: Just Fish Sh!t to start, will consider adding FF nutes after three or four weeks
Water: I'm starting with bottled purified water, but I want to transition to filtered tap water, see below
Strains: Vision Seeds White Widow autofem / Seedsman Purple Punch autofem

I'd planned on starting with two plants: Vision Seeds' White Widow and Fast Buds Northern Lights. I figured it made sense to start with classics. Unfortunately my Fast Buds are lost in the mail, so I'm substituting Purple Punch from a few freebies I got. I later decided to go with three plants, as I mention below.

Saturday, April 3
So much second guessing! I had originally planned to just germinate my seeds in the soil, but because my Fast Buds didn't come and I'm planting a freebie, I thought it would be better to germinate in paper towels just to make sure they pop. I soaked one Vision White Widow and one Seedsman Purple Punch overnight in cups of distilled water.

I've been reading some of @Mcdee's, @WildBill's and @TekkoN's posts and I'm now inspired to record my misadventures here on AFN.

Sunday, April 4
It's funny -- there are so many videos about how to germinate seeds in paper towels, and none of them seem take the same approach. Maybe that just means they pretty much all work. I went with this one, but later in the day, after watching some others, I decided my paper towels were too wet. I swapped them out for less-wet paper towels, and I think it was the right thing to do. I'm germing them in a closet and the conditions are in the image below.

Monday, April 5
No movement on the seeds. I'm second guessing the idea of closing the bag on the germinating seeds, as I don't really see that in other places than in this video, so now I've unsealed it. The baggie is still puffed up though. I've probably fucked with them too much. I'm leaving them alone now, will just check in on them every 12 hours and hope they pop.

I've decided to grow three plants instead of two -- I feel like my 2 x 4 x 6 and SP3000 can accommodate comfortably -- and for the third, I'm doing it in a 3-gallon cloth pot instead of a 5-gallon like the others. So for this grow I'll hopefully have:

Purple Punch (Seedsman): germinated in paper towels, 5 gallon cloth pot
Purple Punch (Seedsman): germinated in soil, 3 gallon cloth pot
White Widow (Vision Seeds): germinated in paper towels, 5 gallon cloth pot

If both PPs are successful, I'll probably try to let one them go a bit longer to have a higher percentage of amber trikes so I can really test the difference. I like a good night-cap bud.

I've watered the 3-gallon pot with purified water to runoff, let it settle for a few hours, and now I have a bean in the soil. Same mix as the others: About 4:1 FFOF and FFLW, with a cup or so of Light Warrior in the top center for the seed to germ in.

I really want to be able to use my tap water for this grow. Maybe eventually I'll try RO, but I've maxed out my budget at this point. I believe I would be okay if I leave it out for a day or two to dechlorinate and then PH it down. I'd love any feedback on this water report from my utility board. Can I get by with a TDS PPM of 205? Anything you'd be worried about (other than the accuracy of the report)?

View attachment 1304356

I've decided to just use my SP3000 lights as Mars Hydro suggests. Some guy online suggests 100% at 36", but MH says to germ at 30% 12"-18", so I've got the lights at about 14" above the soil and 30% and will see how things go.

Today I added some risers to get the pots off of the concrete floor and give them some air underneath. I have the 3-gallon pot at the same height as the bigger ones. I also added a Hurricane fan to get air moving, and I've figured out the Cloudline T4 inline fan. I read where some dude somewhere said cloth pots should really be elevated above the tray so that when watering to runoff, the bag doesn't reabsorb the water. He said it's waste and should be removed. I assume that is not the case now, before the plants are growing, but I'd love to get some feedback on whether y'all do this or not at any stage in your grows.

Here are my current conditions. My Cloudline probe and my Govee hydrometer are within a point of each other in both metrics, so i feel confident I know my tent conditions. I feel pretty good about them, and my basement stays remarkably consistent from season to season. I'm going to shoot for 78 degrees and 60-70% humidity during the seedling stage, and I think I can swing it with periodic use of my humidifier and that Cloudline keeping it in check. I've seen a lot of differing opinions on humidity range during the seedling stage, but I'll give this a go and adjust if it seems necessary.

View attachment 1304358

One last thing. I currently have my extraction going into my basement where my tent is located. It's a really big basement (like 25' X 50', totally open with no walls, air conditioned), so i don't feel like it would really be recycling extracted air too badly, but I'm still planning on building a window insert to extract it outside to a window that is not visible from outside of my privacy fence. Would you do this, or not bother, given the size of the space?

Anyway, I'm in a prohibition state and have nobody to talk to about this -- my wife is tired of hearing about it, I think -- so hopefully some of y'all will chip in some advice for this genuine newb along the way. More posts to come....

You're on you way bud, it's all downhill from here lol.

 

[DCLXVI]

Sounds like a solid start. You should definitely get some risers for the fabric pots. Put the pot on a riser and stick that in one of those plastic plant dish runoff things you can get at home depot or lowes. Definitely don't let your plants sit in runoff. It also helps with making sure the bottom doesn't get moldy from being constantly wet.

Just google some plant risers and see what you like. I personally use grit guard bucket inserts as I had them lying about. They are really sized well for 3 gallon pots. I'm not sure what to recommend for the 5 gal bags.

 

[DCLXVI]

Oh, do you have a ph and ppm meter? My tap water is similar to yours. I get 7.8-8.1ph and 212 ppm. I cut mine with distilled water from the store to bring it down to 100-ish for just watering. I also use distilled water only when mixing nutrients in. I always check ph, I know some don't.

I didn't think a ppm/ec meter was necessary but, it turns out if you want to keep your nutrients in an acceptable range and not burn your plants up... you'll need it!

EDIT: I still manage to damage mine. Tis' tricky to resist.

 

[indicalla]

Oh, do you have a ph and ppm meter? My tap water is similar to yours. I get 7.8-8.1ph and 212 ppm. I cut mine with distilled water from the store to bring it down to 100-ish for just watering. I also use distilled water only when mixing nutrients in. I always check ph, I know some don't.

I didn't think a ppm/ec meter was necessary but, it turns out if you want to keep your nutrients in an acceptable range and not burn your plants up... you'll need it!

EDIT: I still manage to damage mine. Tis' tricky to resist.

Excellent, thanks for the feedback! Will get the bags lifted straight away.

I do have a PH reader. I’m at 8.1 out of the tap, a bit higher after dechlorinating for a day, so it really does seem like we have similar water. Are you dechlorinating your tap water before cutting it with distilled water?

 

[DCLXVI]

I'm a new-ish grower so my advice is definitely to be taken with a serious bit of consideration. There are some real pros on here but the whole site is extremely helpful.

That said,

I have two pitchers I fill with water and let stand for at least 24 hours. I have been adding ascorbic acid, aka Vitamin C, since my tap water is treated with chlorine and choramines. Chlorine will dissipate after standing for a day or so but chloramines are persistent. I learned from @Mañ'O'Green that adding a little ascorbic acid will eliminate chloramines. If your city does not treat water with them and uses chlorine only then there is nothing to worry about.

I pH all water and water/nutrient mixes prior to adding them to my grow. I add nothing that has not been 'just' pH'ed. The values can change depending on what you use. You should take your water, let it stand, then add nutrients to the correct ppm/ec that you want, then adjust pH.

I find that my tap water is so high in ppm that I need to cut it with distilled water from the store. I try to aim for 50/50 tap/distilled because that leaves me with 7.2ph and 110ppm water for days I add water only. You will need to adjust your mix for your water.

If I am mixing in nutrients, I use just distilled water. If I am going with 1L of water I realize now, add nutrients until I am just shy of the ppm/ec number I want so I have room to adjust ph. I find distilled water is 0ppm and ~7-ish ph. Most nutrients I have tried raise the ppm significantly and drop the ph really fast.

The ph meter is essential and the ppm/ec meter is critical to not overdosing/over feeding your plants. Some guys get away with insane numbers and never checking but I am too new to understand how they pull it off. Water is extremely variable plus you have growers on here from the West Coast of the US, to the UK, to Australia plus the variations in grow style and soils used or available.

Ok so thats a book worth of reading... uh, sorry. Hope its helpful.

-Kostas

 

[420Forever]

ppp

 

[indicalla]

ppp

Piss-poor planning? I’ve sure put a lot of time into it and feel prepared to give it a go, but there can be information overload when you’re trying to put the pieces together. I know I’ll make my share of mistakes along the way, but I’ll learn from them.

 

[420Forever]

Piss-poor planning? I’ve sure put a lot of time into it and feel prepared to give it a go, but there can be information overload when you’re trying to put the pieces together. I know I’ll make my share of mistakes along the way, but I’ll learn from them.

hey, it'z all about -> grow, learn, grow again oh, and above all.....

:smoking: ppp

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

@indicallaWelcome to AFN I hate the paper towel method! Plant them right in the dirt! FFOF is too hot for autos even diluted by 20%.

Your RH% will climb out of the acceptable range in no time when the plants are bigger. You need to vent to the out doors unless the RH out there is too high causing the fresh air coming in to be too wet. In that situation you will need a dehumidifier. Regardless you need fresh air at all times to keep the Co² levels up.