MM Noob Grow #01 (Can I Outlive the Plants?)

Quite a time indeed.
I am the Jabberwoky and as such there will be an occasional trip down the rabbit hole from time to time. I hope visitors to my little journal enjoy the ride as much as I.

I saw a friend in the hydro store today. There was a split second where my brain scurried to find an explanation for my presence there. It wasn't like we were running into each other in the grocery store after all. I could have pretended to be a newly converted Mormon attempting proselytize the owner but he knows me too well for all that. Plus I wasn't dressed for the part. I could have said, "about a month ago I purchased what I thought were tomato seeds from this establishment but all that has sprouted so far are weeds," but my friend is not a gullible man.

I had no intention of letting anyone in my life know I was licensed to grow medical cannabis but it would be nice to have someone locally who I could learn from. There is so much to learn.
It was good to see you again old friend. We'll have to get together so I can pick your brain over lunch or coffee sometime. Perhaps around my harvest time, health permitting. Do keep in touch.

Here are two leaves from that temperamental Dutch Passion. The tall one that yellowed and browned the most during the deficiency period. One photograph with flash one without. Now I think I have some nute burn here. I had fed the foliage Jacks 20-20-20 and it responded very well to it. I mixed one tbsp of Jacks into 5 quarts of water and a couple days later she began showing some brown spots. The following watering I used no Jacks. Just a tsp of CalMag and 2.5 teaspoons of high phosphorus 0-10-0 bat guano. I plan to use only water next time. If the brown spots continue to spread after that I will flush.

Day 23 (bloom)

Next time I'll get some pics under the white led light right at lights out so everything isn't yellow from the HPS. I need a better camera too.





THERE ALL GOING TO LAUGH AT YOU! Lul. I was able to go shopping and I saw this 23 watt Cool White (4100K) "1600 lumens" LED spotlight on sale. I couldn't resist. I'd like to try a single plant grow with this light above and two Cree 6.5 watt bulbs on the side. I like to read the low watt - low investment grow journals. A spotlight isn't ideal but meh, it hits a bud or two. I'm growing more plants than I should under a single bulb. Honestly I didn't think this many would survive. I could use a lot more supplemental lighting. I could bring the 400 MH into the tent but I don't know if it'd be worth it, especially with the extra heat it would produce.

I could have started with the smaller grow under a couple low watt lights but that would have been sane and rational. Those things don't appeal to me. Not to mention I don't have any medicine. There are no dispensaries nearby. Had I started with a low watt one plant grow I would run out before the next grow was finished. We can't be having that. No I will be doing the 1 plant low watt experiment grow on the side while still being well within my plant limit.







See the dark areas? Those 2x4 support beams don't help.



I ordered five 8 gallon bags. Only two arrived. I contacted the seller and he was nice enough to ship the remaining 3 plus a free one. Now I have 6 of my 7 plants in 8 gallon breathable bags. I bought these because they are said to last longer and to be made in the USA. I may have been fine with the 5 gallon plastic bags but now I don't have to worry about root lock. I was so fast and gentle when I transplanted they didn't even seem to notice. As for me I got really sick for about 30 hours from the work. Totally worth it though.



Handles ftw.



I want a hepa or Phresh intake air setup but that would involve more electricity and more money than I want to spend right now so I've devised this in the meantime. Sunleaves DuraDuct Defender 6". This one was missing the thin adhesive Velcro slabs. I used the larger ones for the outer netting.



I don't know if two provide enough air coming in. The sides of the tent are sucked in pretty good. Too much negative air pressure for my liking. I may need three or even possibly four, in which case I probably should have just gone with the Phresh intake air filter and another in-line fan and fan adjuster. Too late now.



With the flaps closed I can be in the basement after "lights out" in the tent because no light will enter the tent through those flaps. You can kind of see how the tent is being sucked in. Hopefully it will be okay until tomorrow when I'll add more intake ducts.



I almost lost consciousness and fell into my pants a couple times trying to water my girls from exhaustion and trying to stand after kneeling. Now that they're bigger it's hard for me to reach the ones in the center too. So I began researching irrigation systems but decided to use watering wands. I purchased a couple inexpensive wands, an RV hose approved for drinking water, and a 1/4 horse pump. IT IS SO FREAKING NICE! I had no nutes to mix this time so I was able to merely set the pump into the primary water reservoir. With the nozzle set to "shower" I was able to evenly water all the plants in a fraction of the time it would have taken to do by bucket and cup. This is one very pleased Jabberwoky.



The fan on top of the tent is exhausting straight up into the rafters. I've been concerned that debris would fall into the fan turbines ruining the fan or worse, starting a fire. So I purchased a bug net thingy to go over it. No filter just the net. It is a bit harder for it to exhaust now. Between that net and the two filters + nets over the air intake ducts I hope the life of the fan won't be too greatly effected. I do have it at half power on the fan speed adjuster.



What to do with all these clipping? I can't set them in the trash outside the tent. They smell. Do I dump them in the yard then run them over with the lawn mower? Will the neighbors be able to smell them? Perhaps I should dig a hole. Yes I think I'll do that. I'll bury the bastards. Where can I dig? This is not something I'd want to be doing in the snow. Why not just throw them away in the zip-lock bags they're in now? Those bags aren't bio-degradable and they cost money. I'd rather use them over and over.



I need an industrial sized dehumidifier for this basement due to it's size but for now I'll have to make due. Sadly I cannot put it in the tent because it produces too much heat.



Jack likes my plants. You like my plants don't you Jack?

26 days into 12/12 a light frost has developed. I think this is one of the Dutch Passions. I hope they put on some mass once they settle into their new bags. I don't want a bunch of little popcorn buds. Next time I won't trim so many leaves.
I ordered some yo yo's just in case I should need them. I hope I need them.

Day 30! Both the plants and I are still alive.

37 days

I switched to GH MaxiBloom and the brown necrosis spots returned. I will not be using GH MaxiBloom again. The most affected one is the best Dutch Passion. Not cool.

Pocket microscope is on the way. I'm going to have to buy another tent, fan, carbon filter. I might get a cheap dry rack for the trimmings.

I think the runt that I left in the five gallon bag has run out of room for the roots to grow. The leaves don't perk up any longer. I'm glad I purchased the breathable 8 gallon bags.

I bought another in-line fan and filter. I got the phresh filter this time. I'm not all that impressed. It does decrease the smell significantly but it still stinks up the house. I had to purchase the ONA gel too. I keep it away from the plants. You open that tent door and you get a nice slap across your face. I step inside and I have to put my clothes in the wash immediately when I'm done working.

This 91 Chemdog x Deathstar has the most dramatic leaf change so far.







That GH fert really messed them up. They don't look all that pretty. I'm trying not to let it get to me. I need to remember how amazing it is we've come this far. The odds were not in our favor.

Besides I'm growing this just for me. I'll be happy no matter what. What a cool journey. I can see the finish line from here. In my experience, this is usually when tragedy strikes.

Bad news. I started trimming a couple buds from two plants and found seeds. Looks like that runt I was suspicious of was a male after all. I'm kind of devastated. I managed to make every mistake in the book. I rounded all the bases.

See the seed in there? How embarrassing.



So much energy spent on producing those seeds instead of producing buds Oh well, happy holidays everyone.





Bought a 4x8 tent for drying. I trimmed half of two plants today. Seeds or not I'm going to have enough medicine to last me a long while when all is said and done. I have the trim in paper bags. How long until I can make cannabis infused butter? Does the trim need to dry first?

Hold on now...
this is the plant I thought was a male. But the internet is saying males don't grow big buds. Well this plant grew quite a few decent buds for it's stature. How did my plants get pollinated? Could this runt have been a hermi? I certainly didn't look anything like the male I pulled out really early in bloom and killed. That one was definitely a male. I didn't see anything like that on the other plants.