First 400w MH/HPS Grow (90% Organic)

Hey Rollitup!

It's mostly for my own enjoyment of the process, but I've been taking photos of my current grow. I'm new to the forums and have been wanting to do a Grow Journal so feel free to comment, question, and advise as I document my journey.

For some context: This is only my 3rd grow, but I have a lot of non-cannabis cultivation experience. I have never used HID lighting since my prior grows were super-stealth CFLs with very small yields. I'm hoping for a larger yield and better quality buds by correcting past mistakes and building off successes, as well as, utilizing an inherited + modified grow set up.
First off, I want to outline my...

General Setup:
2 door utility closet. (Dimensions: 65 inches high x 32 inches wide x 16 inches deep)
400w MH for Veg and 400w HPS for Flower
8" Inline Fan w/ Air Scrubber (unknown manufacturer)
Passive Intake
Accessories:
Cool-Mist Humidifier (10-18 hour)
Tower Fan (air circulation)
Medium Gauge Copper Ground Wire
Plastic Duct + Dryer Vent



Soil:
Mostly Organic custom "Holistick" mix (60% Organic Potting Mix with Mycorrhizae, 20% Organic Vermicompost (worm compost), 10% Organic Cactus Mix , 10% Perlite)

Nutrients:
Organic Worm Castings
Worm Compost Tea
Aurora Soul Synthetics "Grow-N Nitrogen Supplement" (8-0-0)
Aurora Soul Synthetics "Bloom" (1.5-4.5-3)
Atami "Bloombastic" (0-20-21)
Mad Farmer PH adjusters

As I mentioned above, this kit was mostly inherited. A buddy of mine had the bare bones in a duffle bag for 3 years and had never even opened it. This includes the light setup, fans, and nutrients. My pervious grows have been makeshift CFL setups with subpar ventilation and poor planning so I wanted to take a shot at a HID lighting system in a newly designed box and aim for a mostly organic operation. For now I grow for my own personal use so I wanted to experiment with more "Holistic" approaches and try and attain the highest quality herb possible. (Not focused on grow length as much)

While aiming for the best tasting buds I will be utilizing the fertility created by my closet vermicomposting (worm composting) bins and add material from that as a top dressing throughout the grow to supplement my feedings. My goal is to limit the use of my Soul Synthetics (contains some synthetic materials) to a once or twice a week basis. On top of this "mostly organic" practice, a buddy of mine suggested running a copper wire from an ordinary ground socket to the soil medium itself. This is supposed to simulate the constant electric charge present in earth's crust. Since the ground socket is embedded in the ground outside, the charge should now be present in my growing medium.

I know it may sound odd, but I believe the end harvest quality has a lot to do with the way plants are raised. Utilizing a more holistic approach to cultivating weed, I want to see if my highs are more fulfilling.

Thats it for this update I look forward to posting more soon! (Since I have a backlog of photos I might post a few at once)
Day 08 (Jan 09)


Day 25 (Jan 30)

So for my second update I want to quickly acquaint you guys with my general techniques for this grow. First of all I'm not 100% sure what I'm currently growing as my seeds came from a dealer friend. He believed that they were a cantaloupe kush strain mixed with a random bag seed. He said one of his plants hermied and pollinated some of his cannalope and that's where the seed came from. I used the same seed in my last grow and it revealed some of their nature. Of 6 seeds planted, all 6 germed. Of those 6, they were all female. It isn't 100% foolproof but I'm hoping this indicates these seeds are feminized. I also could not really know what I'm talking about but in that grow we didn't have any hermies although the harvest was rushed to do errors in planning.

Overall the plants have been low and bushy rather than tall and spindly and have led me to believe they are a higher percentage Indica than normal Cannalope Kush. This could be do to either false identification of my seeds or the bag seed influence from a generation earlier.

With my pervious grow, the 6 plants quickly outgrew my space (I had anticipated much less favorable germ rates and female to male ratios). So for this grow, I opted to cultivate a single plant and try and go as large as possible. To do this, I have been utilizing both the FIM and TOPPING techniques and started the process very early on with my seedling. Since then, I've FIMMED each Meristem twice so I have a very dense growing canopy.

Due to the density of my growing points, I opted to experiment with the highly controversial "Defoliating" technique. My research on the subject has intrigued me to try and create a more well rounded plant and not necessarily the largest tops. To achieve this, my defoliating occurs every 5 days or so preferably a day or two after a feed or water. I defoliate larger fan leaves along the bottom and sides of the plant to allow more airflow and I defoliate the top most fan leaves to create more light penetration (more obvious in photos below).

I hope you enjoy this update as I've included all my photos up until the present stage of my grow. Let me know if you have any questions about defoliating or organic techniques!
PS: my day count is from seed planting! (day 5 - germination)

Day 25 (Jan 30) - 5 days after repot to 10" pot


Day 29 (Feb 3) - FIM/TOP 3 times


Day 36 (Feb 10) - 3 days after first defoliation and 1 more TOP session


Day 43 (Feb 17) - Before 3rd defoliation (repotted in 5 gallon)


Day 43 (Feb 17) - After 3rd defoliation


Day 48 (Feb 22) - Before 4th defoliation (roughly 5pm)


Day 48 (Feb 22) - After 4th defoliation + LST (wiring) (roughly 5:20pm)


Day 49 (Feb 23) - Morning after 4th defoliation (roughly 7:50am) INCREDIBLE!


Day 52 (Feb 26) - Before 5th defoliation (sorry no after pic)


Day 54 (Feb 28.) - 2 days after 5th defoliation (roughly 8:00 pm)


Thats all I got for now guys. Hopefully throwing her into flower soon! (I really hope she's a girl -_- )

I could only upload 10 at a time so here is one last Image showing my main stem at day 52