Beginner growing for fun

[afternoon blazer]

What up 420SA

Sorry. But this is going to be abit of a long 1.

Just out here tryna start a basic, budget, Covid-19, winter grow while confined to the spaces of my home.

So i tried growing once before. Failed. Had alot going on. Didnt try again until now. When we are on lock.

Anyway. Since i have not figured this shit out yet. I am going to be messing around with bag seeds until i get somewhat of a useable plant.

I am basically just trying to grow as a hobby. As something exciting to do while chilling at home.

Not expecting amazing yields. Or the best looking plant or anything like that.

I just want that rewarding feeling of growing my own plant from start to finish.

So anyway. It is winter. So abit of a challenge. 

I did manage to germinate in a shot glass and then paper towel. Roughly 36-40 hours.

Tap roots were about 12mm long.

 

Got my hands on some coco(R40)(cheap stuff-brick form). Rinsed it out. 

Got me a small bag of perlite(R20).(tons of videos and mixes i have seen have perlite. Never used it before.)

Added abit of bone meal(about R40)and root starter pebbles(lying around) to the coco and perlite. Just for a sprinkle of nutrients. Until i manage to get my hands on some easily accessible (walk-in-store) "cal-mag" / "cannabis growing soil" 

So after mixing them all together. I potted in some 1 liter lunch tins that looked cool and were R10 at a discount store close to home.(i did drill a bunch of holes for drainage.)

So i wanted to start with this coco mix( as alot of people say coco is the easiest for new growers to get started). And either transplant and keep the same mix. And add the cal-mag supplement needed for coco. 

Or 

Get a right kinda soil. And when ready to transplant. Use the soil.

You guys can advise.

 

So now since its cold as B#$%S  these days. I decided to get some cheap LEDs

20w each. 1670 lumens each. 6000k each. (from the same discount store - R100  for 3 lights. With fittings)

Lux meter reading below with the plants about 50mm away from soil

For the seedling stage and to just extend the daylight hours at the moment. I thought it would be a good idea to have those.

So the plan is . Keep the plants in the sun between 9am, bright and warm until 5pm, still considerably bright and warm.

And the rest of the time it could be under the 3 lights. 

I am still gona figure out how much of darkness to give them. 

You guys could advise on that aswell please.

I am starting with 5 bag seeds.

I am expecting to end with atleast 1 plant or 2 at most.

 

So potted the germinated seeds on Tuesday evening.

 

Really impatient. Hope i get something to grow. Bored as hell in these troubling times of ours.

Sorry about the long message. Lockdown is getting to me.

Please give me as much direction and opinion as you like. I am open to suggestions. Ask questions and for pics if needed.

[oldsandals]

That's s very cool light meter!

I'm not sure which root starter you added but coco/perlite/bonemeal will not be enough basic nutrients for the plant to grow healthy. You can use that mix you made but I would add either compost which you can find anywhere, or worm castings which is better but harder to find. You want to have about 70% your mix to 30% compost/worm castings. You also should add some dolomite lime to it for cal mag, this is also easy to find. Then you will have a decent mix and will have some success.

 

The biggest mistake new growers make is to have a heavy growing medium that doesn't drain well and then over watering the plants. With your medium drainage will be fine. Water every 3-4 days.

For when the plants are growing without making buds this is called the vegetative stage. During this time they need 18-24 hours of light per day to stay in this phase. When the plant is big enough you can switch the amount of dark and light to 12/12 and it will trigger the plant to flowering mode and it will start to make buds. Fast plants will take about 8 weeks flowering to finish. Slower plants usually up to 14 weeks unless you got landrace genetics then it can go indefinitely long some times.

Another way to do it would be with plain coco and bottle nutrients specialized for coco grows. As you learn you will find your way.

Good luck!

[afternoon blazer]

@oldsandals @oldsandals howzit bro. Thanks for the feedback. Much apreciated. 

 

Dowloaded the lux meter from the play store.

Can i perhaps cha ge the medium when i am transplanting? Sin e they potted for now.  Maybe i could wait for the 1st couple of sets of leaves?

Also where could you reccomend i get the  dolomite lime from? Local walk in store

Was thinking of getting bottle nutrients when the plant has developed alot more.

I do however have a 1 liter " seagro " 

That i was advised by a couple of friends to mix in with my water for when i do water. 

Pics of the root starter and seagro attached.

I am hoping that the current mix is enough to get me through 2/3 weeks in these containers. With just watering with seagro maybe. 

Just need something to start growing.

 

[oldsandals]

Hey. Thanks I will download that and check it out. 

Seeds come built in with about 2 weeks of nutrients stored in their first leaves called cotyledons, so they will grow regardless. But using some seagro which is an acidic fish emulsion will work fine to add the nutrients that are missing from your mix. Always start with 30% of the label dosage and work your way up to stronger doses as you see the plants coping. Quite often these labels ask you to use way too strong of dilution.

[afternoon blazer]

@oldsandals ok sweet. Thanks alot. Will give it ago. Watered yesterday with some run off. So will wait a couple of days. Doesnt really dry out much due to temps at the moment. 

 

Also would the pic below work for the dolomite?

[oldsandals]

That seedling starter is NPK of 2-3-2. It similar to the bonemeal you added. You may be adding too much P with both bonemeal and this seedling starter, but not sure of the amounts you added, probably going to be fine.

[oldsandals]

Yep that's the lime you need

[afternoon blazer]

Very little of each. Didnt want to add to much of stuff and screw up the seed roots

[CreX]

1 hour ago, afternoon blazer said:

@oldsandals ok sweet. Thanks alot. Will give it ago. Watered yesterday with some run off. So will wait a couple of days. Doesnt really dry out much due to temps at the moment. 

 

Also would the pic below work for the dolomite?

Wait until the pots are light light again. 

You can dig your finger into the meduim a bit when you think it's a bit dry to feel if the coco is in fact dry... 

But I like a feel weight test... Lift the pot up... If it's light... Give a tiny bit of water... The plants haven't even sprouted yet so they need practically zero water... One cup a week should be more than enough at this stage. 

They will grow well in the full sun. 

As soon as they break the surface I would remove those humidity domes and let them get full sun. 

 

[afternoon blazer]

Put them out at 9 today. No domes. 

Roughly 19 degrees now. Warming up

[afternoon blazer]

@CreX thanks for the watering tips. Will see how it goes. 

[afternoon blazer]

Morning all.

So its day 3 since potting. 

No sprouts yet. 

 

Quick question. 

Should i be leaving the seedlings in darkness until they pop up??

[Prom]

You keep seeds in the dark.. if you glass them, also, warm but dark cabinet is best. Temp around 25 degrees to give em a little energy burst. Don't glass for longer as 12 hours or your seeds start to drown.

If they pop, nice fresh seeds, I plant for fems about 2cm deep, for autos 1 cm deep. Not yet popped seeds I prefer to plate after glassing. Is just preference.. and no need to really do that.

Most important, keep your soil warm.. 20-25C.. and moist but not wet. If your soil drops below 12 degrees, they get a cold shock.. below 10 they are most likely gone, if not, very very slow. Autos.. that is your first fuckup and your yield will be 1/3 of the originally expected. 

Germination has only two things to keep in the needed range. Temp and moisture.. if you work with fresh seeds, 48 hours after glassing they should break surface. But can also take three days to pop. Strangely, the slow poppers are not always slow growers... but in general they are. If your seeds pop after 12 hours in a glass.. you can put on a fat smile.. good fresh material.

[Prom]

On 6/25/2020 at 6:09 AM, afternoon blazer said:

So now since its cold as B#$%S  these days. I decided to get some cheap LEDs

20w each. 1670 lumens each. 6000k each. (from the same discount store - R100  for 3 lights. With fittings)

Lux meter reading below with the plants about 50mm away from soil

 

Sorry bro, you can trash that meter if you got it for plants.. Lumens and LUX are measuring units for our (humans) visible spectrum range. Plant see different.. a lot different. You use a PAR meter. It measures the photosynthetically available radiation (PAR). What the plant can actually use. If you want to read up more detailed, check this article:

https://growguru.co.za/blogs/hydroponic/plant-lighting-demystifying-lumens-lux-and-par 

 

And when you look for LED lights, look to be in the 3000k range and have some 660nm infra red inside.. plants love it for flowering

Edited June 26, 2020 by Prom
Added the LED info

[CreX]

24 minutes ago, Prom said:

Sorry bro, you can trash that meter if you got it for plants.. Lumens and LUX are measuring units for our (humans) visible spectrum range. Plant see different.. a lot different. You use a PAR meter. It measures the photosynthetically available radiation (PAR). What the plant can actually use. If you want to read up more detailed, check this article:

https://growguru.co.za/blogs/hydroponic/plant-lighting-demystifying-lumens-lux-and-par 

 

And when you look for LED lights, look to be in the 3000k range and have some 660nm infra red inside.. plants love it for flowering

He is using a free app on his phone - decent enough to give a basic idea about the light intensity. 

5000lux is quite a bit on the low end though... It will keep the plants in veg... But won't be enough for decent veg or average veg. 

So the basic guide from the phone tells him that his lights are too weak, regardless of par. 

Not everyone can afford an apogee ay

[Prom]

2 minutes ago, CreX said:

He is using a free app on his phone - decent enough to give a basic idea about the light intensity. 

5000lux is quite a bit on the low end though... It will keep the plants in veg... But won't be enough for decent veg or average veg. 

So the basic guide from the phone tells him that his lights are too weak, regardless of par. 

Not everyone can afford an apogee ay

I agree, is expensive.. I just want to point out, Lumens is the wrong unit to look at in regards to plants. 

[CreX]

Agreed, it definitely is the wrong unit to measure in... 

But it is still a great indicator as to how intense your lighting is... 

One thing par and lumens have in common is the further away from the light source you go, the lower your reading becomes. 

And I really doubt you will be hitting high par, with a low comparison lux reading. 

Just saying it's an indicator

[Totemic]

Yeah if you want to attempt to use lumens as measurement, aim for minimum 30k-50k lumens for veg, 60k-120k for flower. 

The sun as lumens is about 1k on an overcast day, 20k in the shade on a sunny day, and max about 120k lumens in midday summer sun.

Again not much is useful as it's not PAR we're talking about, but to give you an idea just how much more lumens you need.

[afternoon blazer]

Morning all.

So its day 3 since potting. 

No sprouts yet. 

 

Quick question. 

Should i be leaving the seedlings in darkness until they pop up??

 

 

Thanks for the advise @Totemic @Prom

 

The seeds have already poped a taproot and then i potted them in the containers above.

 

With regards to the lights. I totally understand where u guys are coming from with correct lumens and PAR instead. 

And the different intensities for different stages. 

However. Would really appreciate some advise on how to make a grow work with the shitty stuff i have currently.

 

As mentioned before. Right now i am soley interested in getting a grow completed. Regardless of yield being low with the stuff i have. 

Once i feel confident enough with a shit grow to know WTF i am doing. I domt mind spending a few bucks on the proper shit. 

 

I do know i have crap to work with currently. But if can get a grow going with crap. I feel i would be ready to grow some proper good shit.

 

It is abit difficult to keep temps where it needs to be now since its winter. But i will try.

 

And yeah the lux meter was just something of play store to get an idea if i atleast have a basic minimun light to get a grow going.

Also. I did use bag seeds for now. To make sure i dont waste my hard earned Madibas. 

Cheap experiments before the expensive under taking

[Totemic]

I totally understand where you are coming from, but you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

1. Bag seeds. Its random and has an extremely high chance of being a hermi. So trying to save R100 on a seed purchase, to spend all that money on electricity for at least 2 months before you realize this, will cost more.

2. I mentioned the minimums with regard to light as its crucial. You are trying to emulate the Sun indoors. Plants have minimum requirements to grow, and giving them any less is again a waste of electricity, and the plants will fail to thrive and die or hermi.

We all have to start somewhere, and it's a bit expensive to startup, but skimping now will honestly just be an expensive disappointment.

I started out with just a small veg area, and utilized the sun as much as I could. I still do this. I have plants veg indoors, and flower them outdoors this time of year. You can do this in summer to if you are keen on a non negotiable routine of carrying them indoors and out daily at exactly the same time. That way you just need a ventilated darkroom as a start...just a few suggestions, as there are many ways to skin a cat.

Edited June 26, 2020 by Totemic

[Prom]

4 minutes ago, Totemic said:

I totally understand where you are coming from, but you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

1. Bag seeds. Its random and has an extremely high chance of being a hermi. So trying to save R100, to spend all that money on electricity for at least 2 months before you realize this, will cost more.

2. I mentioned the minimums with regard to light as its crucial. You are trying to emulate the Sun indoors. Plants have minimum requirements to grow, and giving them any less is again a waste of electricity.

We all have to start somewhere, and it's a bit expensive to startup, but skimping now will honestly just be an expensive disappointment.

 couldn't agree more.

 

You will end in disappointment if you do not provide enough for a decent result. Most of us started with small cabinet installations. And you learn from those..

I can predict very easy the outcome. Your plants will have extremely fluffy buds. Due to no substance, they will dry very quick and so have a rather harsh taste of fresh hay when smelled and smoked.

You have to cure those for a few weeks to get a smooth smoke.. potency will be very much on the low, so do not expect a coucher, even you do a late harvest. It needs energy to form substance. Light is beside water a key factor, not enough is just not enough.

Only way i see your setup work is with a Autoflower.. she will do her thing as much as you starve her on energy (run those lamps 24/7, no need for a timer). I still would invest the Eskom bill into a bag of weed from the corner. You need a lot more light...

[Prom]

Lets make a constructive change to your setup ^^

If you get 1.. just one Quantum Board 288 IM301B diodes, 3000k 660nm version (alibaba, aliexpress, where ever you find it cheapest (diodes are made from Samsung, you just pay the soldering ^^)), with heat sink and the fitting driver, around 120$ plus shipping.. you have enough light for your little setup. If that works and you are happy and you want to expand the space.. add another QB. 

Having a good light doesn't mean you will not kill the plant(s).  But your path to the final product will be way smoother, beside, the final product is something you most likely will enjoy if you used a quality seed.

 

 

Edited June 26, 2020 by Prom
typo

[Ill_Evan]

I don't think a single QB288 even needs a heatsink on its own. You could just even use a flat piece of aluminium if you really really wanted to mount it onto something, or install a little pc fan on the back. 

[CreX]

@afternoon blazer yo dude! dont get disheartened!

these guys have all been where you are and are just honesty trying to give you a realistic view of what will happen.

@Totemic raised a very important note about being religious with taking the plant inside everyday and outside everyday - at the same time everyday - for the remainder of the plants life.

if you give them as much sun as possible during the day and an area that does not get disturbed by light AT ALL EVER at night

you should end up with something that will be a bit better than your average corner shwagg

and do yourself a flavour - buy even just one seed of a particular cultivar - even the cheaper seeds are better than bagseed.

i would keep your seeds going none the less, give them all the sun you can possibly give them. and then into darkness at night.

the days are pretty short currently which is fine for flowering. i would even consider not running a veg period.

what this means for you is a shorter day period and a longer night cycle. probably close to 10:14 . 

if i were you, i would take your plants inside at night and keep them pitch black from tonight even.

the plants will be smaller, but will still be decent enough to be proud of.

[Prom]

Just now, Ill_Evan said:

I don't think a single QB288 even needs a heatsink on its own. You could just even use a flat piece of aluminium if you really really wanted to mount it onto something, or install a little pc fan on the back. 

Fair point!

If you look at it.. when I started growing, my first light nearly ruined me financially .. and compared to what we get now, starting to grow indoors was never cheaper.