1st Grow - Arjan's Haze #3 - 240w LED - Organic/Bio

After lurking in numerous grow forums for the past couple of months, I've finally determined to make a contribution. Here are the details so far:

• I strongly prefer "up" Sativa effects-- Green House Seed Company's description of Arjan's Haze #3 sounds right up my alley:
  • "Euphoric high, very social and creative."
• Ordered five feminized seeds, germinated four (soil germination) and gave one to a friend
  • 100% germination!
• Medium is standard potting soil, two different brands (one a bit "mulchy", one very non-descript)
  • I haven't measured pH-levels as I am lazy/experimental
  • If this grow is an abysmal failure, I will try again with more care about the medium
• Containers are two 65-liter plastic bins (two plants in each)
• Lighting is a single 240w Taotronics LED fixture
• Closet is a homemade 1m[SUP]2[/SUP] floor-area, 2m height rectangle-ish contraption made of cheap storage shelving and lined with plastic emergency blankets (very reflective, unfortunately not 100% opaque)
  • In addition to being lazy, I am cheap (except for the light-- that was a rare indulgence)
  • Unless the grow is a roaring success, I will probably not show any pictures of the "closet"-- it's appearance is quite embarrassing
  • If the grow is a great success, I will show many pictures. This will serve as a means of gloating over how much money I saved compared to a buying or building a proper grow-space.

• Ventilation is currently only achieved with the light's built-in fans, a small desk fan is currently en-route via the post
• Nutrients will be only organic and, according to my current plans, will only be added during flower
  • If the ladies begin to die before flowering, I will likely intervene
• Techniques employed will be selective defoliation and a bit of low-stress training
• Yield goal is 0.5 grams per watt (actual consumption watts, not the maximum draw of the LED's)
  • "Actual Power" listed on the light's product spec sheet is 128 watts, so yield goal is 64 grams
  • I like to set a low bar

And finally, here are the plants to-date (day number is from the date the seeds were placed in soil):

Day 10



Day 13



The first picture is from my mobile phone's camera (apologies for the low image quality). I will try to use a decent camera and lens from here on out but, again, I have some lazy tendencies. You might see some more cell phone pics.

You'll notice that in the second picture, there is some slight curling up ("cupping"?) of one leaf. My research led me to believe that this was due to the light fixture being too close to the plants, so I have moved it up a bit. Let's see if that takes care of the problem. Alternate theories are welcome.

That's all for now!

Looks like moving the light up is working! After only one day, the "cupping" is already decreasing. Here are some updated pictures from today:

Day 14

The "cupping" is almost completely gone. It seems that the light was in fact too close (8 to 12 inches). It is now approximately 36 inches above them and they seem much happier.

On a separate note, I can already tell that having two soil types is going to be something of a headache-- the slightly "mulchy" medium dries out at a significantly higher rate than the more typical potting soil (makes sense). So it seems I will have two different watering/feeding cycles. Oh bother.

Photo of the day:

Day 15



I realize that vegetating seedlings are not super exciting to look at and apologies for the unnecessarily frequent photo updates..
What can I say-- I am a proud parent!

Confession time.. I have only been posting pictures of my favorite gal. She is considerably more attractive than the other three, but now's the time for them to make their debut:

Day 16

Lady #1 (some slight downward curling of the leaf-tips)



Lady #2 (why is she so lanky!)



Lady #3 (this is the one who has been hogging the limelight)



Lady #4 (almost as nice looking as the previous, but a bit lankier)

This will be my last daily update. Unless there is a specific problem that I need help with, from here on out I will try to post an update every other day or so. Don't want to make the journal too drawn out..

Day 17

View attachment 2996424

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Maybe moving to every third day updates...

Day 19

I know, I know-- I said every third day updates. But they are just so beautiful to a first-time-grower! Plus, I threw in a shot under the eerie light of the LED panel.

Is this too early to start LST? Light defoliation? Do you see any problems that I haven't noticed?

Any opinions are very much appreciated.

Day 21

After some heavy defoliation. Check out "inkdot" and "bassman" in other forums for more on the technique.

Day 26

Here they are after round two of defoliation.

Day 29

Here is the latest. It looks like we have some significantly different phenotypes growing here. In the foreground of the first picture is my new favorite (the one I complained about looking lanky in an earlier post!). In the second image you can see that both of the ladies pictured are rather short and stocky. It is a bit of a shame that they are developing at such different paces and in such different ways-- I would switch the tall one to 12-12 lighting now, but looks like it will have to wait on the others to catch up.

Day 32