Long Time Grower, First Time Grow/Flower Journal

Hi RIU,

Hope you're All doing well. I'm new here and have enjoyed seeing everyone's Grows and reading about all of your experiences. I've been growing for personal use for about 10years now and have never made a Grow Journal so after seeing all of yours I thought you might be interested to see how I grow in a Country where the Marijuana laws are so antiquated we still have to grow in secret so as not to attract the attention of the Police/Law.

A little background so that you might understand why I'm growing in the way that I currently am. I live in a small 1 bedroom ground floor flat in a block of 4 flats with my Girlfriend and 1year old son. We can't have our grow in view of the public so the only place we can have it is in our bedroom where our son also sleeps. This obviously causes issues with bright lights and noise as it disturbs our son whilst he's sleeping so I've had to make adjustments to normal growing practices regarding the equipment I can use and the times I can have my lights on. I also work 12+ hour shifts 4 to 6 days a week so am unable to dedicate as much time for growing as I used to be able to before I took my current job a few years ago.

So here goes, this is what my grow entails....

Royal Queen Seeds Green Gelato and Fat Banana Cuttings
Plant Magic Soil Supreme
Plagron Bat Guano
Elixir Gardens Fish, Blood & Bone
Biobizz Bio Grow, Bio Bloom & Top Max
Dimmable Digital Ballast 250w to 600w with the appropriate Hps bulbs
X-Wing Reflector
Bud box 75 x 75
No intake or Extraction Equipment
1 x Oscillating fan

My cuttings 1st started showing roots on 09/07/20 and a few days later they were put in to 1.5l plastic pots and kept in them for 4 weeks to keep them small. They were then re-potted to 11l pots on the 06/08/20 and moved into the flowering tent last Thursday 13/08/20. My Pics are from Thursday, Pic 1 is the Green Gelato, Pic 2 is the Fat Banana, Pic 3 is a top view of the both of them (Gelato at back) and Pic 4 shows the 2 cuttings who are next to their respective Mums, which were grown from seed. My Girlfriend and I are terrible at conserving weed so Instead of having 2 to 4 plants ready every 8 to 10 weeks I like to have 2 plants ready every 4 to 5 weeks. It's not exactly to this timing, but approximately and we find it keeps us going much better.

I'm sure I've forgotten lots of other information but please feel free to post any questions, comments or criticisms. I've been growing for a while, but am always looking to learn more from Experts and Newbies alike. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy watching my Ladies grow. Cheers

Here's a few pics from today, Pic 1 is Fat Banana, Pic 2 is Green Gelato and Pic 3 is the full tent. Temperatures here have dropped so I'm on about 28C and RH is about 55%. Not perfect, but my cuttings have settled in nicely and are growing well.

Looks great! Super jelly of that banana!

StinkyBoots89 said:

Looks great! Super jelly of that banana!

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Thanks StinkyBoots, it's the 1st time I've run these 2 Strains so I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out. Appreciate you stopping by to take a look. Cheers

Nice little setup! You mentioned you've grown before; have you ever tried low stress training? In my small cabinet it really helps maximize space/yield. I know when I first tried I thought for sure I'd mess up but after years I've never had a single issue. Pairs well with topping or fiming and scrog. Looks like you do pretty well with your cuts though.
Can't wait to see how your clones turn out!
Good luck growing.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my Grow Killaki, I appreciate your comments. For sure, I used to use Lst quite a lot, its an Awesome way to maximise your light coverage with a more even canopy and think its a great technique. I dont use it at the moment because I'm in a job where I work 12+ hours a day so don't have a lot of time for gardening and I'm running a perpetuall harvest so am looking for the quickest harvest possible and I find with Lst that it just slows that process down a bit for me. I do top 2 or 3 times in veg and then some defoliation in week 3 flower though, but thats me done, lol. I'll post some more pics in a couple days, the Clones are blowing up.

Hi All,

It's been a few days so thought I'd post some pics. Temps have dropped here, but still warm and humid so only managing to run a 250w light. Temps are at about 28C and RH is at 55%.

The Cuttings are on Day 5 of Flowering and are doing really well. They are really starting to bush out and look healthy. They haven't needed watering since being put in the Flowering Tent. Pic 1 is the Gelato and Pic 2 is the Banana.

On a side note I made a mistake and haven't given my Big Girls enough N so they're looking a bit light. They were fed with 5l each yesterday, 10ml Bio Veg, 10ml Bio Bloom and 10ml Top Max. Should see some improvement over the next week. It's always difficult running new strains and trying to work out how they like to feed. At least I can learn from them and adjust with the Clones. Both are producing some lovely flowers, but the Banana is just charging away and leaving the Gelato behind, lol

Cheers

Hi All,

So yesterday the Cuttings had been in the Flowering tent for 7days. They're growing quickly and bushing out so it was time for their first haircut. Just took a bit off around the bottom to help with airflow and light penetration. Pics 2 and 3 are a Before and After of the Fat Banana and Pics 4 and 5 are of the Green Gelato.

It was also the Cuttings 1st Watering since being put in to Flower so both ladies had 5l of plain tap water. I was asked why just tap water and it's because I amend my soil with just enough goodies to get me through the first 3 to 4 weeks of Flowering and then I move to the Biobizz Trio so that I have a little more Control in the Final Weeks. My Soil is a 70/30 Mix of Plant Magic Soil Supreme and Canna Coco. For every 11l of soil I add 50ml Plagron Bat Guano and 50ml Elixir Gardens Fish, Blood and Bone. I normally also add 25ml Ecothrive Charge, but have recently run out.

Also thankfully my 2 Bigger Girls are slowly recovering after their recent N deficiency, the last feed has helped them start to get their Green colour back. Bud Growth on both, especially the Banana is really starting to move forward.

Cheers

That banana looks fire!
Have you always created your own nutrients/soil mixture?

Thanks Stinky, out of all the strains I've grown this Banana is by far the quickest flowering. It's super laden with crystals and smells amazing. Just got to keep my fingers crossed she tastes good too.

For the 1st couple of years of growing i fumbled about and experimented with different Nutrient Ranges and made lots of mistakes trying to follow the Company's feeding schedules. I realised after researching that it was easier for me and more gentle on the plants to just amend my soil and then just water with tap water. It's no Super Soil, but for someone who lives in a small flat like myself with limited space it works. If I had more storage space like at our previous home then I'd also add worm casts and kelp.

IndoBlazing76 said:

Thanks Stinky, out of all the strains I've grown this Banana is by far the quickest flowering. It's super laden with crystals and smells amazing. Just got to keep my fingers crossed she tastes good too.

For the 1st couple of years of growing i fumbled about and experimented with different Nutrient Ranges and made lots of mistakes trying to follow the Company's feeding schedules. I realised after researching that it was easier for me and more gentle on the plants to just amend my soil and then just water with tap water. It's no Super Soil, but for someone who lives in a small flat like myself with limited space it works. If I had more storage space like at our previous home then I'd also add worm casts and kelp.

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Nice! We are just starting with a bagged coco mix, and, after hours of research settled in basic General Hydroponics nutrients. I’m a country girl, so it’s a struggle for me to not want to use real soil & some chicken poo (like my pops did when he grew “tomatoes” 20 years ago) haha

thanks for posting your journey. It gives us total #goals!

No problem, it's nice to be able to finally show my Ladies off a bit and uf I can help or if anyone can help me then its been a good thing. Plus its a small grow on a budget so thougt it'd be nice to show that even like this with a bit of care and love you can still get some half decent results.

I think you're starting off the right way, with a tried and tested method and you'll there's lots of info/help out there that will get you great results. Think about your pops tomatoes and the chicken poop though. I love growing fruit and vegetables anyway and realised there were similar principles that I could apply to growing marijuana. Always worth a thought and I hope things are going well with your ladies and the new grow cabinet.

IndoBlazing76 said:

No problem, it's nice to be able to finally show my Ladies off a bit and uf I can help or if anyone can help me then its been a good thing. Plus its a small grow on a budget so thougt it'd be nice to show that even like this with a bit of care and love you can still get some half decent results.

I think you're starting off the right way, with a tried and tested method and you'll there's lots of info/help out there that will get you great results. Think about your pops tomatoes and the chicken poop though. I love growing fruit and vegetables anyway and realised there were similar principles that I could apply to growing marijuana. Always worth a thought and I hope things are going well with your ladies and the new grow cabinet.

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Totally gonna think about other options - maybe a few runs down the line. I’m just shocked that we are THIS far! Haha

cabinet is 4-6 weeks out. Since the OG one wouldn’t fit in the door, we are getting one made (surprisingly affordable). They’re going to put in a grated floor and drip tray underneath - and install fans. AND make it break down into 2 sections. A month ago we had no plans - now we have 6 babies! Haha

hope that banana smokes as good as it looks. I’m a sucker for anything banana strain, so that’s def on our weed list.

Hi All,

It's Thursday which means the Litte or Not so Little Ladies are now moving in to Week 3 of Flowering. They will Today need only their 2nd Watering since being put in to Flower and they're still looking Green and Strong so they'll just be getting 5l plain Tap Water each that has been left out overnight to let any Chlorine evaporate.

They've been growing quickly and as you can see from the Pics they're starting to produce budlets and are taking over the Tent. Also because it's Week 3 I'll be giving them a Final Prune and Defoliation to allow for better airflow and light penetration, with airflow being of high importance in my tent with just the one Oscillating fan and no Extraction system. I'll post some pics later after the Girls haircut. Temps here in the UK have dropped so I've been using my 400w Hps, Tent temps are averaging 26C, but it's raining here so RH is up to 60%, not good.

The Big Girls are doing well and are moving in to Week 7 of Flowering. They had a watering 3days ago, 5l each, 10ml Bio Veg, 10ml Bio Bloom and 10ml Top Max. The Banana is continuing to get Fatter and the Gelato is now starting to put on some Bud weight. The close up pic is of a Banana Bud, Crystaltastic. They'll probably need Watering tomorrow.

I also took 9 fresh Cuttings 2days ago, 4 Green Gelato and 5 Fat Banana. I'll also post some pics of that later today as I've had a couple friends ask how I take my cuttings and thought I might be able to help.

Have a Great Day.

Cheers

Here are the Pics of the Cuttings Before and After their Final Trim. Pics 1 and 2 are the Banana and Pics 3 and 4 are the Gelato. I trim off a lot of the lower growth as this will help to increase air flow, light penetration and the plant to concentrate it's energy on the top buds, although we don't mind a bit of popcorn bud. My Girlfriend adds it to our trim snd makes butters from it.

Quick Update Folks, it's a very sad day as I'm likely to be taking down the Banana a little earlier than expected as I found bud rot in one of the main colas this morning. I could just chop away the affected area, but the worry is that mould spores from the Banana will spread to my other ladies. This is why a good extraction system is so important in a grow. I can't wait to move somewhere larger next year and then i can get my Fans and Filters back out, yay.

IndoBlazing76 said:

Quick Update Folks, it's a very sad day as I'm likely to be taking down the Banana a little earlier than expected as I found bud rot in one of the main colas this morning. I could just chop away the affected area, but the worry is that mould spores from the Banana will spread to my other ladies. This is why a good extraction system is so important in a grow. I can't wait to move somewhere larger next year and then i can get my Fans and Filters back out, yay.

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Sad day- but sounds like the right plan. That is a gorgeous cola. You should be proud of all those crystals!

StinkyBoots89 said:

Sad day- but sounds like the right plan. That is a gorgeous cola. You should be proud of all those crystals!

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Thanks Stinky, she is Beautiful and I'm definitely proud of her. Just need to stop thinking about how many more crystals there would be in another week or so, lol.

IndoBlazing76 said:

Thanks Stinky, she is Beautiful and I'm definitely proud of her. Just need to stop thinking about how many more crystals there would be in another week or so, lol.

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Looks like there’s enough on it, that, when smoked, you won’t be thinking clearly for long

It's been a few days since the Banana Bud Rot was found and I'm still a bit sad about it, but I've cleaned out the Tent and had a move around so airflow is much better and because there is 1 less plant in there RH has come down. Temps in the UK have dropped so I've been able to use my 600w Hps, Temps are at an average 25C and RH is at 44% in the Pic its Gelato at Rear Left and Banana Front Left, with Week 7 Gelato in her own space on the Right.