MrBlu journal #2 - 5 strains, LEDs, soil+coco

[Mrblu]

Except for 1 plant all the side branches are spaced around the rim of the pots, my hope is after the stretch I can thin things out and rotate the colas into place like a gear system. That's the plan for keeping them in a small space any way - fingers crossed. If I have to ill flower one separately at a different location....or turn it into a Christmas tree lol

[Sledrock]

Mrblu Looking good, MrBlu! I agee with John Emad: gonna get kinda crowded in you tent. I'm only growing 2 plants in my 3/3 tent and my "Bulldog" White Widow is hogging a lot of elbow room from my Pineapple Kush.

[Mrblu]

went through a light round of defoliation. lots of lst and some super cropping to maintain the canopy as flat as possible.



noticed some yellowing leaf tips, suspect slight nutrient burn. i am going to drop feeding down to once per week at about 3/4 strength instead of the 1/2 strength feeding twice per week.

they are getting thirsty, still watering every other day up to half gallon per pot now.
my wife had the genius idea of mixing everything into a 5 gal sports drink style dispenser. easy to add in nutes/pH and mix then conveniently pour into my watering can.

still have plenty of head room in my tent, haven't had to raise the lights yet just keep lowering the canopy. depending growth im thinking i will flip to 12/12 some time around the first week of January. so far shaping up to be a fantastic grow.

[JohnEmad]

That is going to be one packed little tent. Looking forward to watching your training. 

[Mrblu]

2' wide, 4' long, 6' high. Going to need to keep up on the lst and probably some super cropping to manipulate the canopy in my space

[SoOrbudgal]

Looks real cozy Mrblu. I love mixing my own soil blend too. How big is the grow tent if I may ask?

[Mrblu]

I feel it blended quite well. I wasn't sure what ratio I would go with initially, I made small portions played with until it felt and looked right to me. Basically it was 'light' soil, fluffy ish, not able to clump. Drainage is improved, as well as water retention (winter and very dry in my house this time of year). Next grow I may consider going 50/50 and begin migrating to an all coco grow.

[OlderNOTwiser]

does the soil blend, specifically the coco, replace the need for perlite?

[Mrblu]

Here goes round 2. im setting a goal of 1g/watt. my first grow was a single plant using a viparspectra v450 and i achieved .49g/watt. this grow i am upping it with more plants and more lights and some variety.

Strains (bag seeds): Grape kush, white mo, plushberry, random unknown strain, gorilla cookies
Grow medium: 60% fox farms ocean forest and 40% coco
Nutrients: fox farms - big bloom, micro brew, grow big, tiger bloom. + HTG stump tea
Lights: Viparspectra v450 (200 watts actual) + Parfactworks ra1000 (115 watts actual)
Start: 10/29/2019
Final yield: TBD
Full grow album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/JWh6TbxVsGG1afMa9 (updated regularly through end of grow)

starting this grow from bag seeds, except the 2 fem gorilla cookies i recieved pre planted in a pot from a friend 1 had already sprouted up the other had not. seeing as how these are all bag seeds that had been been stored in tupperware for an unknown amount of time i started by soaking my seeds in water for 24hr. none sank to the bottom but i transfered them all to paper towels and thin plastic plate on a heat mat. transferd them to jiffy pods when the tap roots were about 3/4" to 1" long. started under some EL cheapo LEDs about 16" away 18/6, got these lights second hand - no brand name, no wattage listed, nothing, my guess 50 watts each at best from the wall (my good light was finishing up the first grow). kept the jiffy pods moist using a spray bottle.

11/11/2019 i transfered all the pods into 3 gal ( 9.5" wide x 11" tall) fabric pots with 60% fox farms ocean forest + 40% coco (from a bag not a brick, dont recall the brand it was a mid grade price ready to use). switched over to the v450 and ra1000 lights. all are looking great! ended up with 2 plushberry , 1 white mo, 1 grape kush, 1 random unknown, 2 gorilla cookies.

11/12/19 started feeding nutrients using my fox farms line up according to the feeding chart adjusted to half strength, pH 6.1 - 6.8. i divided 1 gallon among all 7 pots. every tuesday i am using htg stump tea, there is a store near me bring something to fill 100% free on tuesdays. continuing to water every other day feeding 2 times per week at half strength. lights are at about 18" and scheduled 18/6.

11/25/19 all is going well and looking healthy


the week of 12/1/19 i began topping at the 5th node when each plant reach that point along with some minor lst on the stretchier plants. bringing us up to the current week, 12/8/19, i am now using 2 gallons divided among 7 pots, pH 5.8 - 6.4. i dont have a single 2 gallon container to mix ph and nutes at the same time. when using just ph water i adjust each container the same level. when using nutrients i water the first gallon/7 pots plain then the second gallon/7 pots w/nutes both containers adjusted to the same ph. ( does any one know if this is an acceptable way of watering? suggestions on other methods?). all plants are filling in nicely. so far no signs of males, all are filling very nicely. so well in fact that i had to transfer the runt of the litter, random unknown strain bag seed, to my father inlaws grow space to make some room in my tent. did and extensive lst through out maintaining a level, light filled canopy. i am also going to practice very strategic defoliation throughout this grow starting with only the largest fan leaves casting shadows and taking it slow from there. so far everything is going great and i will give regular updates. all comments and suggestions welcome.