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First indoor grow - Swiss Cheese & Amnesia Haze

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    First indoor grow - Swiss Cheese & Amnesia Haze

    Greetings!

    I’m new to the world of indoor gardening. I’ve had success with several small outdoor grows over the years for fun, but never used any nutrients or other training and even used the dreaded miracle grow many of the times.

    However, this year was a different story. I had a difficult time getting any of my very old bagseed to germinate and finally had about 15 seedlings. Several didn’t make it and of the remainder that were mostly flourishing were either male or were eaten by deer. So, I finished the rest of the eaten plants and called them low grow #1 and low grow #2. Of the three remaining of the 5 that were side by side, I called left plant, middle plant and right plant. Unfortunately, the far right plant was a male that got away from me and ended up giving me a few seeds from a few of them. Middle plant was loaded with seeds, but the buds were still nice. This was actually my finest outdoor harvest and had I used any nutes, I would have had an even better harvest.

    I was very excited to have some new seeds since my 20+ year old bagseed supply was thinning and I had no idea about the genetics of any of them. I also thought it was cool that the male gave me some new variety over the three plants. All three were similar in height, with left plant being the stinkiest and smelled the best when you approached them. So far, only one seed from left plant. I figured I’d use the seeds from this year for next year’s grow since I have had success planting second generation seeds in the past.

    After meticulously following the great curing tutorials on this site (since I ruined most of my last year’s attempt by not following closely enough), I started reading other sections of the site and came across the ‘how to get seeds’ section. After a lot of reading and figuring why the hell not, I decided to follow along and order some fem seeds online. I chose mainly outdoor strains with high THC content and one with higher CBD content as something to try out for next year.

    While I waited for the seeds to arrive, I kept reading the section on indoor growing and started thinking seriously about an indoor garden. I knew I wanted next season’s crop to have a much higher yield and was studying proper nutrition and looking at ways to self-water, etc., and that got me thinking that maybe I don’t need to wait until Spring to grow again. I was sort of holding off about making a decision until the seeds arrived. If they made it safely, I might just go ahead and take the plunge. So, they did and here I am with the operational setup listed below.


    Genetics: Feminized Swiss Cheese (Nirvana seeds) & Feminized Amnesia Haze (Royal Queen Seeds – Freebie)
    Starting Medium: Soil (1/2 Fox Farms Happy Frog, 1/2 perlite)
    Final Medium: Soil (Fox Farms Ocean Forest)
    Grow Area: 3 ft x 3 ft x 6 ft grow tent
    Light: Platinum LED P4-XML2
    Base Nutrients: General Hydroponics Floranova Grow & Bloom
    Supplemental Nutrients: Advanced Nutrients Bud Candy & Cal-Mag, Sour-Dee, URB Natural, Mammoth P, Hi-Brix Molasses

    The seeds took a couple of weeks to arrive and I was still hemming and hawing about the size of tent, where I would put it, should I even invest in the an indoor garden, etc. Then I had a long conversation with a good friend (who actually passed away the very next day) who convinced me to go for it with the taller tent that I could make space for. I ordered everything I needed and thanks to Amazon, I had nearly everything I needed a couple days later. I got the tent setup and dialed everything in before the light arrived.

    With my friend’s unexpected passing, I decided to dedicate my first indoor grow to him. I was hoping to have his help and guidance form his past experience, so instead, I will rely on this great community for assistance and will celebrate my friend through my garden.

    I have done a significant amount of research on LED grow lights and was very excited to finally get it up and running. My light on arrived on 11/13 and seeds were placed in glass of water then into a paper towel for another day or so. With taproots growing, I then placed in a solo cup with 1/2 perlite, 1/2 Happy Frog with drainage holes in bottom and a plastic bag over each cup for added humidity. They popped 2 days later the same day as my friend’s funeral.

    It’s now day 9 from seed and the seedlings are 2.5 inches tall with a bit too much stretch for my liking, so I placed a box under the tray and added an oscillating fan in place of a non oscillating fan I had clipped to a corner pole. (I have a second corner pole fan up higher in the tent for additional circulation. I wasn’t sure when to turn on the inline fan, but I have had it running on medium+ and the tent is bowing in, so I know there is airflow cycling.

    I was originally all excited to try MammothP after my research until I came across something called URB Natural. I have been adding a small drink to the seedlings and trying to avoid overwatering. The light manufacturer recommends using the XML (boost) light for seedlings/clones until the first leaf set it formed, then switch it over to the VEG switch only until later veg state. I originally had the seedlings under the VEG only with a distance of 38” and they seemed to be fine, but after they called me back and suggested the white light only, I took their advice. However, with the stretch overnight, I think I might have been better off going back to the VEG switch. I’ll keep an eye on them today and see if being closer to the light helps. I think I’ll make the switch to VEG mode tomorrow.

    That was one thing I was having trouble getting a definitive answer on with regard to seedlings. When is she no longer a seedling? The consensus seems to that it’s in veg state and no longer a seedling when the first set of leaves are grown.

    I decided to get more light on them and changed the light distance to 24" with the VEG only switch for the last 5 hours of the light cycle last night and they seem to be responding favorably to the added light, URB and the oscillating fan.

    The biggest challenge right now is getting the temp/humidity to stabilize. I'm getting some dips to the high 40% RH even with the humidifier set to 65%, but it's in a basement and it's cold out now. I'm going to reduce the inline fan speed and see if that helps to keep more humidity in the tent.

    Day 11: things seem to be under way with the next set of leaves starting to pop out. I'm super excited, but am getting impatient, but I realize growth is slow as she develops her root structure. Still struggling with humidity drops, but it's only or a few moments and it bumps back up. I decided to turn off the upper corner fan and rotate the output of the humidifier to be right at the plants, which is inline with the oscillating fan. I'm hoping this helps to boost the humidity at the plant level.

    Thanks for reading!
    Last edited by gdogfunkly; 11-24-2017, 01:54 PM.

    #2
    Morning Gdog, and welcome to GWE, sorry to hear about your friends passing , alot of people use cfls on their seedlings about 2-3 inches away until they get established, then use their leds or other lights, but sounds to me like you've got it all under control, it's kinda hard to say about those leds, until you get used to them, but I'm sure you will do fine. Again sorry for your loss,.
    Good Luck
    Cfls for a week or two
    315lec for everything else
    Dug up Ms.topsoil, with perlite added
    36x36x63 inch tent.
    6inch - exaust - intake fans an scrubber
    Smart pots
    Molasses
    Autoflowers

    Comment


      #3
      Looks like so far so good. I know you'll do your friend proud!
      My first grow

      Comment


        #4
        Hey funkly, welcome to the forum!! Your growing history is really interesting. Wow, you had bagseed for 20 years: now THAT'S dedication!

        Very cool to dedicate the entire process to your friend who died; how lucky you were to talk with him before he passed. He's prolly still guiding you!!

        Your babies look awesome!

        Anyone can grow schwag. If you want to grow top shelf bud, study hard: https://www.growweedeasy.com

        Growing since July 21, 2016; pothead since 1967
        2 BCNL Roommate hydroponic grow boxes w/ 400w COB LEDs, Future Harvest nutes
        Grow # 18, Aug. 2023: Anesia Seeds: Imperium X, Future 1, Sleepy Joe, Slurricane

        Comment


          #5
          And a lot of reading it was. Welcome to the forum. Only one question - you have fans in the tent I assume, do you have a fan outside the tent moving the air out of tent?
          ​​​​​​3 X 3 gorilla. Promix soil . Green Planet Nutes
          Mars Hydro
          Vortex in-line 6" fan

          Comment


          • gdogfunkly
            gdogfunkly commented
            Editing a comment
            Thank you! Oh yes, I have a 4" charcoal filter inside the tent running to an inline fan that exhausts out the top of the tent into a modified noise trap for the exhaust air.

          #6
          Thanks everyone! I'm looking forward to high yields and amazing quality with the help of this great site!

          Comment


          • D.A.A.S.69
            D.A.A.S.69 commented
            Editing a comment
            You are very welcome, and i know you will do a great job, for you and also your friend., make him proud.

          #7
          Day 12: I believe I have solved the temp/humidity fluctuation with the changes from yesterday. I also bumped up the space heater outside of the tent since I read that growing with LEDs requires a slightly higher temp range. There's a little crinkling going on one leaf with each plant, not sure if that's cause for concern at this point.

          Comment


            #8
            Day 13: looks like they are finally starting to kick in. I believe I may have over watered several days ago and that may have slowed things down, but with a drink of water and URB yesterday, they are coming along nicely.

            Comment


            • D.A.A.S.69
              D.A.A.S.69 commented
              Editing a comment
              Keep it up Gdog, your doing great.

            • Jibblerjoe
              Jibblerjoe commented
              Editing a comment
              The first 2 weeks not a lot happens up top.

            #9
            They are ready to be transplanted. I wouldn't wait too long.
            ​​​​​​3 X 3 gorilla. Promix soil . Green Planet Nutes
            Mars Hydro
            Vortex in-line 6" fan

            Comment


              #10
              Day 14: went ahead and transplanted to 1gal cloth pots with ocean forest soil and watered with 30ml URB per the instructions. I read that is was better to transplant dry, but I think a little wetter would have helped me. I think they will be ok. Not the first time I've transplanted, but the first time using cloth pots. Hoping for some increased growth over the next few days.

              Comment


              • PaganRich
                PaganRich commented
                Editing a comment
                I`ve transplanted wet and dry mate and noticed nought difference...reckon it`s a strain issue if there is a problem. Enjoying this grow by the way...really up for seeing the SC grow/ yield

              #11
              Hey Gdog, yeah ,they look nice now, in a day or two they should start growing good, your not growing autoflowers are you, ?your gonna need larger pots or you could cut the bottom out an set them in larger pots if you don't want to transplant again.
              Anyway good luck with them, your gonna do a good job.
              Cfls for a week or two
              315lec for everything else
              Dug up Ms.topsoil, with perlite added
              36x36x63 inch tent.
              6inch - exaust - intake fans an scrubber
              Smart pots
              Molasses
              Autoflowers

              Comment


              • gdogfunkly
                gdogfunkly commented
                Editing a comment
                Thanks! No autoflowers this time. I actually just ordered some thinking if I start some photoperiods and autos after this grow for outside, if it works out I can hopefully have a mid-summer harvest before the fall harvest. I'm still reading up on autos. I have 3 gallon and 7 gallon cloth pots. I had planned on moving to 3 gal after some time and then to the 7 gal for the rest of the grow.

              #12
              Hey Gdog , your gonna love the autos, you can get 2 harvests ,in the time it takes for 1 photo.
              With autos ,they grow so fast you don't want to transplant if you can help it, cause it slows em down, right when they are growing good. And it takes a while to get growing good again. Some of em go from seed to harvest in 60-65 days, so you don't want to slow em down,or stress em.
              It ain't like that with photos, your gonna do fine with the photos, but your gonna love the autos. Later Gdog.
              Cfls for a week or two
              315lec for everything else
              Dug up Ms.topsoil, with perlite added
              36x36x63 inch tent.
              6inch - exaust - intake fans an scrubber
              Smart pots
              Molasses
              Autoflowers

              Comment


              • gdogfunkly
                gdogfunkly commented
                Editing a comment
                I've been reading up on autos and there seems to be some debate over what kind of soil. I have a supply of both Fox Farms Happy Frog and Fox Farms Ocean Forest. Would either of those be suitable for an auto grow? With your autos, do you top or LST or both?

              • D.A.A.S.69
                D.A.A.S.69 commented
                Editing a comment
                Hey Gdog, yeah either one will be fine ,the FFOF is stronger than the FFHF, so you want your seedlings in the FFHF an the FFOF on the bottom of your pot. I normally just bend mine over past 90degrees when they are young, that doesn't stress em at all, and you still get plenty of colas, just like you would if you manifolded them, but without slowing em down.But yeah you still have to tie em down ,so you can get a flat canopy.

              #13
              Day 15: transplant looks to be successful. Cloth pots are drying out a bit, but I think I'll hold off on watering until tomorrow to really let them dry out. RH has definitely gone up (61% versus 54%) with wet pots and more soil. I'm still using the humidifier and refill once a day (right now the biggest pain). Pretty happy with the current environment. Temp and RH seem to be in line so far. I'm anxious to try my first LST in a couple more weeks! My watering yesterday had Cal-Mag Plus in it from when I setup a few gallons of pH'd RO water. I've read you don't need Cal-Mag Plus quite yet, but it was already in the water when I added the URB. Seems to be fine so far.

              I've actually had mixed information about using RO water and pHing it. I ready that you need to add Cal-Mag to RO water since it strips all the minerals out and alter the pH down accordingly. The local grow shop guy said I don't need to pH the RO water all since I'm using good soil and that the soil itself with adjust the pH. I haven't watered enough to test the runoff yet, so I'll have to check and see what the soil pH is (with my handy 3-way moisture meter) and lookup what the idea soil pH range is supposed to be. Any thoughts on the grow shop info?

              Comment


              • D.A.A.S.69
                D.A.A.S.69 commented
                Editing a comment
                Yeah, you still want to keep your PH right.
                Soil does have buffers in it to help your ph, but how are you gonna know if you don't check your PH, it can easily get off, will all the nutrients and stuff your adding.
                It's a little different using something organic like KindSoil, that's awesome soil, all you do there is give em PHwater and that's it. No nutrients needed.

              • gdogfunkly
                gdogfunkly commented
                Editing a comment
                A friend of mine suggested that I start low dose veg nutes, but they seem kind of young for that. I've read that you don't need to add nutes for some time yet, as the soil has enough to supply the young plant. Any thoughts when to begin adding veg nutes?

              #14
              Day 16: soil is mostly dry except for near the seedling itself. Instead of a full watering, I opted for a foliage spray with some cal-mag and lightly spritzed the plants and dampened the top of the soil. I stuck my nose up to both seedlings and Amnesia Haze smells amazing at this size and Swiss Cheese doesn't really have much odor yet.

              While I have a long ways to go, one thing I've been reading on here is potential light leaks into the tent during flowering. I have a Vipar Spectra tent in a basement room that I have to walk through to get to my laundry room. I also have to turn a light on above a sump for my salt water aquarium to do water changes etc. I've attached 2 photos of the light spill from the ventilation flaps when the room is dark. When it comes time for 12/12, will light leak into those open flaps enough to cause flowering problems?

              Comment


              • Jibblerjoe
                Jibblerjoe commented
                Editing a comment
                Yes. Any light coming out means light can get in

              • Jibblerjoe
                Jibblerjoe commented
                Editing a comment
                Now you can take some flexible duct the same size as vent holes. Attach enough that you can bend it around like a letter C or n, so that light can't get around that bend in flexible duct. It's cheap an easy fix.

              • alltatup
                alltatup commented
                Editing a comment
                And any light leak will mess up the flowering hormones and confuse them.

              #15
              Sorry to say but are correct, lights leaks could lead to hermaphrodite. And it doesn't take much of a leak to cause problems.
              That's why I grow autoflowers, light stays on 20/4. No worries about light leaks.
              ​​​​​​3 X 3 gorilla. Promix soil . Green Planet Nutes
              Mars Hydro
              Vortex in-line 6" fan

              Comment

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