A Newbie's Comedy of Errors

[aintdedyet]

By way of intro: new to the forum … 1[SUP]st[/SUP] grow … 1st time contributing to a forum … a lot of firsts these days. Retired chemist with an R&D background and a passion for growing things. The better half is a brave survivor with a scrip … perhaps another motivator for me.

For reasons I won’t get into, I inherited a tent, a fan, and some funky lights I haven’t seen anyone mention. Also inherited some seeds of questionable repute. The rest of the stuff I’m using is listed below.

So being a “Hell, just go for it Roy!” (Tincup) type of guy, I’m growing 4 plants using what some might consider rather aggressive techniques for a first-timer.

Been visiting as a guest, and thanks to everyone who has helped me learn a ton. Decided to join to try and pay back a little. I thought how best to contribute and came up with the idea of a newbie’s comedy of errors, and what I’ve learned from them. I’ll highlight where I think I messed up, corrective actions, and how it turned out. We can all learn from our mistakes, and if we can’t laugh at ourselves, right? I’m also hoping I can count on your feedback along the way, and perhaps generate a little discussion, when I inevitably ask for help and advice from you … it seems to be a tradition amongst the members and one of the reasons I joined.

Currently in Day 3 of flower after a 57 day veg. All the ladies (and gentlemen?) appear to be doing well, despite my best efforts to kill them. Hope to at least recover costs during this 1[SUP]st[/SUP] grow, and of course some mighty fine bud!

Some key errors to date:

1. Failure to adequately pre-plan the grow, particularly given inherited equipment and seeds.

2. Took a long time to get a handle on light distances.

3. Took a long time to get a handle on humidity control.

4. Maybe waited too long between transplants during veg.

5. Snapped a main trunk on Jack 1 during manifolding.

6. Excessive defoliation?

7. Still don’t have a handle on runoff pH … stuck at 5.0 … incoming nute mix at 5.9

Some key learnings to date:

1. Hard to kill … don’t be afraid to experiment a bit … and don’t panic!

2. Try not to over-research or over-analyze … do a little homework for sure, but go for it!

3. Patience grasshopper … patience.

4. 3 strains on 2 different timelines in a small tent … not a good idea.

5. I have so much more to learn!


Apologies for being long-winded … had some catching up to do. Enjoy the pics and I’ll check back soon.

Thanks again folks!

Here's my stuff so far ...

Jack 1: Jack Herer (purchased, feminized) – manifolded to 8 cola

Jack 3: Jack Herer (purchased, feminized) – the “straggler”, topped once then LST only

Afghan: Purple Kush (?) - inherited, sex unknown – manifolded to 8 cola

Passion: Pink Passion (?) - inherited, sex unknown – manifolded to 16 cola

Soil: home-made mix of perlite, sphagnum, Promix Organic and the dreaded Miracle Grow

Reused store pots / 2 gal. plastic pots / 5 gal. hardware store buckets (all in saucers, elevated on racks)/ mickey mouse tomato cage/wire cola support structure

3’ x 3’ x 6’ tent

1 LED light: MW HLG-185H-42B – 184.8 W

2 LED lights: UFO (?) 150 W each

6” exhaust with carbon scrubber

10” desk fan + 2 x 6” clip fans

Mickey mouse home-made heat recovery and humidification system

Stanley space heater

AN pH Perfect Micro/Grow/Bloom/Ancient Earth/B52/Big Bud/Bud Candy/Flawless Finish

pH probe and cal solutions

Acu-Rite wireless temp./RH

Carson Pocket Microscope

Mickey mouse home-made nute mixing system

 

[D.A.A.S.69]

Looking nice, mj is a tough plant to kill,lol
I've tried many different ways to grow, and the best way for me is to keep it as simple as possible,
I'm glad you joined, bro, I'm sure you've got alot of valuable information to share !!
Welcome to GWE.
HappyGrowing

 

[KTM690]

Welcome to the show aintdedyet. Love the name and that was a blast to read I'm pretty sure you've covered the same mistakes and achievements we've all had. By the looks of things your on it pretty good plants look great I keep a journal of everything I do to them it helps a ton. Keep learning and always have this site for help. Your grow looks great and good luck I can't wait to see them in flower. Those jack herer are fun to grow I have 1 that 3 weeks from finish and has a great pine odor with super dense nugs

 

[starramus]

Your biggest error was discovering GWE too late. Stick around fella, and you'll become a master cannabis cultivator.

 

[aintdedyet]

Thanks for warm words of welcome. Three good take-aways so far in your responses:
1. keep it simple
2. keep a log
3. recognize/use this site as a valuable resource

Thanks again ...

 

[9fingerleafs]

Welcome, you seem to be doing great. I love how funny you made this post, I got two recommendations for you: first you could water at higher ph in order to rise runoff ph, try 6.2 or even 6.5. And he second and most important, when in doubt remember your key learning number 3 we gonna have so much fun in this journal I’m sure

 

[aintdedyet]

Thanks 9:
You've touched upon what is currently my greatest concern.
I selected the AN line of nutes in part because of their "pH Perfect Technology" … no need for pH adjustment.
Been consistently getting runoff pH of 5.0 with an input of 5.8-5.9. Soil was prepared using a goodly portion of sphagnum and have been wondering if that might be part of the cause. Using charcoal-filtered tap water with a pH of about 7.0 to prepare nute mix. Spoke with the nute dealer about adjusting pH up and he advised against it … said it could in fact do more harm than good. He's also the guys who told me he just cuts off any problem leaf tips , and thinks I'm crazy for attempting manifolding on a my 1st grow (although he may be onto something there! ).
Plants seem to be doing OK, but can't help but wonder if they could be doing better if I ignore his advice and adjust pH up with maybe just tap water and no nutes for the next watering or two.
Thanks in advance for any advice, particularly to those that may have experienced this with the AN line.

p.s. ironical (yeah, I made up that word) sidenote: on the day I was welcomed into this forum I was told that in all likelihood I have bladder cancer. Will let you know how that turns out, but in the meantime … I aintdedyet …

 

[Mr.furley]

Welcome to the perpetual circle of pot problems and perfect pictures of plants @aintdedyet
You by chance a Ohgr Fan?

So looking at your pictures I would first say if it ain't fixed don't break it, your plants look great for a new Grower and for now I would not change your PH.
If you start noticing spots or discoloration on your leaf then move it.

Sorry to hear about your bladder, that sucks! keep you chin up.

 

[RagWeedDWC]

Welcome, I'm going to have to figure out manifolding and all the trimming I see being done. Great thing about this site, is if you have a question, someone has already been down the road and can help.

 

[RagWeedDWC]

I use a DWC setup for growing but I had to switch ferts, because I could not keep PH stable using AN, seem like I was always feeding way to much N, Thanks to sage advice from alltatup and flushing saved the day.
I have a set of clones cuing up and will use AN at a different ratio then what is recommended. Less over all and in Veg, but a little more Grow, then during flower all but remove the Gro and increase the Bloom. Have not tried it yet, but finishing up a current set of ladies that Im trying something similar.
I also had a heck of time adjusting lights and blamed the curled leaves on lights, ended up being to much nitrogen.
Having said all that, yours look great and I could not recommend anything to improve.

 

[aintdedyet]

Thanks all …
Tried to follow the manifolding tutorial on this site … except for the part where I snapped Jack 1 right where it hurts, it went pretty well. Had to take Passion to 16 colas vs. 8 in an attempt to slow her (him?) down during veg. That didn't work out too well … it's a strong one!
Lots to consider … kinda like "if it ain't broke …", but adjusting the MGB ratio is a cool experiment to try ..,

 

[9fingerleafs]

Yes, and if you google “growweedeasy +any topic” you find the main site article and all the threads related to that topic, many things have been answered already

 

[alltatup]

Howdy ADY, keep up the good work, the sense of humor and the inventification of words like "ironical". I'm feeling a bit ironicalish myself today.

I'm taking a break from my AN nutes (have been using the ones you're using); for my hydro setup, the pH has always been balanced. But one of the things that concerns me about the self-balancing nute lines is that there's very little fluctuation in pH. I like to see it fluctuate so that the uptake is all along the spectrum.

I looked up bladder cancer and cannabis and tons of stuff came up. Here's what I thought was the best of the bunch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXPE_aqWjKQ
I say, absolutely saturate your ECS (endocannabinoid system) with THC and all the other goodies. Get it saturated and keep it saturated. There's a bunch of us older hippie-type folks on this forum (as I'm sure you've noticed) who use and worship Cannabis for all of its extraordinary medicinal/spiritual effects. And there's nothing in the world like your own home-grown bud.

 

[D.A.A.S.69]

Yeah, if it ain't broke ,don't fix it, from MrFurley, is great advice. So is everybody else's, .especially Alltatups, about loading up Your body, with the good stuff, she knows all about that stuff, and good luck .
Your doing great, keep it up !!
HappyGrowing

 

[alltatup]

That's nice of you to say D.A.A.S.69

 

[LurkingInTheGrass]

LOL - 'her'

you want them to all be 'hers' and 'shes', no Lola's

males sprinkle their pollen, and the ladies lap it up, then they make seeds. to make buds, you want frustrated females, with no male in site

until, you get to breeding (way down the road, from here)

welcome to the party, and subbed to your grow

 

[alltatup]

Lo lo lo lo lo la,

It's a mixed-up, muddled-up, shook-up world
Except for Lola, lo lo lo lo Lola

And they ain't frustrated: they get busy making amazing buds, glistening with trichomes. No frustration there.

 

[RagWeedDWC]

"older hippie-type folks" Well most anyway

 

[aintdedyet]

A belated Happy New Year to y'all! Thanks to everyone for their support so far, and to alltatup for the sage advice and link.

Been an interesting last few days. Day 8 of flower after 57 day veg., a few trials and tribulations, a new faux pas, and an old one come back to haunt me.
All the ladies (and gents?) were humming along nicely, and the most recent runoff pH has climbed to 5.3 after sitting at 5.0 for what I thought was too long, but I did nothing about. However, things are starting to get a little tight in the tent, and while trying to work my way around the pails, I snapped a cola on Jack 1 beyond repair … doh! Recall I had already snapped her right at the main trunk early on in manifolding. She seemed to recover, although hard to say whether or not her growth was slowed a bit given the 3 toppings she got. Be cool if the remaining (lucky) 7 cola made up for my blunder by increasing yield 1/8th each . For now Jack 1 has earned the nickname "Stumpy" …

Not my biggest problem. Been patiently waiting for the plants to show their sex … yeah, you know where this is goin'.
Wasn't worried about Jacks 1 & 3 … bought them as feminized seed, and saw pistils a few days ago. Can't tell with the Afghan yet (what a Newb eh?), but 2 nights ago I saw what I had been dreading for quite some time … Passion turned out be a male! Didn't really need by microscope, a loupe, or my phone to see the little buggers … little sacs visible to the naked eye as something not quite right … bummer! So my newbie mistake of using an inherited mystery seed comes back to haunt me … :frown:

So a couple of newbie questions. Why did it take so long for me to conclude definitively that I had a male? Any other signs I could have looked for? Pretty much used the info on this site to make the determination, can't help but think there's a better way to tell earlier than 60+ days.

Passion survived a comparatively massive defoliation with the first topping, and I manifolded him into 16 colas in a futile effort to slow his growth, to allow the others to catch up. Another newbie question: is this behavior strain related, plant specific, or perhaps gender related?

So what to do with Passion? Immediate removal from the tent was a no-brainer, but what then? I thought about misting him and setting him out on the deck, where the wind chill made it felt like a wee bit nipply -22C (-7F). But then I thought about all he had given me, his inner strength and resilience, the cute little way his colas liked to try and hide, the hours I had spent looking for those damn sacs! So I decided to move him into the garage, where he spent his last day at a rather chilly -5C (23F). Please DO NOT LOOK AT PIC 4 if you have a weak constitution or are member of a cannabis plant rights group. I'm sorry … it's what we do to stowaways here in the Great White North! :shock:

Anyhooo … he got a fitting send off … I took the skeleton as a trophy and pinned it to the wall … as a reminder of the dangers of mystery seed, and not a bad 1st try at manifolding. Interesting the way the outer cola seem consistently larger than the inner, despite the intent to uniformly distribute the nutrient flow. Could it be light related? Any thoughts?

Always look on the bright side right? Space concerns have been eliminated from the tent, runoff pH is on the rise, and visible confirmation that flowering has begun. The 3 remaining ladies (gentleman? …. sure hope not!!) have survived their period of mourning and appear to be doing well …

And now the ultimate newbie question … it was a male I froze to death …. right? :bawling:

 

[Mr.furley]

Yes that's a male.
It is a biological thing. I find that a male is most likely the last one to the party.
You can instigate preflower by putting your plants in the dark for 24 hours, or so I've heard. Some other voodoo tricks out there are crossed stipules = females.
Keep a good eye on your other plants.