Indoor #2 surprises abound!

So very little budget, first cloning attempts, bagseed, lots of trial and error, and lots of learning!
Started with 12 seeds from a small stash that I've kept when I find one. Some are over 5 years old! But its rare to find one and i hoped to grow one day.
10 germinated, 7 survived until I was able to ID the lady plants.
2 looked similar and one was very different, like what I grew outdoors in the 90s. I learned I had 1 obviously sativa(dominant?) and two indicas(dominant?) I don't remember smoking anything with buds like this sativa, but who knows what I got. Lol I wouldn't have kept the seed if it was trash weed!
Not knowing what I had, I didn't want to take a chance on finding a fire ass plant and not able to have anymore after one harvest, I decided to try cloning. So these three plants were kept on 18/6 lights for about 6 months as I kept working on trying to clone( I actually ended up using two cups and seedling soil for individual clone chambers)
Anyway, by the time I figured out cloning (somewhat) once I was able to keep 4-6 of each alive for a month, the original plants were just getting too big for my space so I decided to flower them separately and let the clones grow to take more clones, and hopefully get a perpetual harvest going if one plant turned out to be good enough to grow again.
Well, 8 weeks after switching to 12/12, I'm impressed how different the sativa is from the other two and I know I could have done better, I'm not going to cry. I the two indicas are growing beautiful buds and the sativa had so many buds im upset I made a rookie mistake about week three and caused a nutrient lockout ( diagnosed with a huge help from my horticultural background) in all three plants because I made two batches of fish fertilizer and because I didn't label them, grabbed the one that was too strong and happily fed my babies poison. 3 days later I was about to pout. A good flush with plain tap water and three days later a regular watering with a tbsp of 3 percent peroxide to a gallon, and the the next day 1/4 strength of 10-10-10 with a little extra calcium and magnesium along with 1/2 tbsp of black strap molasses the following feedings. At week 5 I was confident they would live and I learned my lesson. I figured out the sativa was happy with half of what the indicas were getting but happy with an extra bit of water. I started giving a bloom nute then and thats where things got extra hairy. Started with half strength for indicas and 1/4 strength for the sativa. Now in week 9 since flip, the indicas are putting out very few new pistols and showing mostly slightly milky trichomes and clear with no amber that I've found.i started flushing them today.
But this sativa is obviously undernourished yet obviously not done flowering. Even the sugar leaves seem to be all turning yellow. I fed her today with a little extra N hoping to keep some green bit ill just have to wait and see how she goes. Live and learn.
I quick dried some from all three plants knowing they weren't ready quite yet 6 days ago and me and a buddy tried them through the day. Not very strong but all 3 promised more. The sativa obviously hit us both in the head! Lol . Pics soon.

So here's pics of my three babies. Yes, they are having a rough time, but call them ugly and we can't be friends. Lol
I know what I have done right and wrong, but let me tell you, if there ever was a perfect anything, it was an accident. I'm lucky enough to have experience with other plants and had a good idea what to do.
Turned out trying to keep up with 3 different plants, two of them close enough in needs that it was hard to dial both in, and 1 plant that was different enough that it was , is, like trying to grow potatoes and tomatoes in the same box.
I have 4 or five clones of each ready to go, I just hope plant 3 makes it to its full potential. Since nutrient lockout and burning it slightly before that, its leaves have steadily died slowly. But its still producing some sugar leaves each day so I'm trying to give it a bit of N without overdoing it again.

Is that sand on top of your soil or the soil itself? What are you using for soil and nutes as they look like they aren't real happy in that.

Got them to the finish line tho and that's a great start!

As for soil, I have a big pile of used potting soil from my wife's flower pots and a compost pile next it, that also has red clay mixed in from removing it from our garden, and play sand from cleaning out the sand box, so I'd call it a soil mix filled with lots of organic goodies. All my veggies love it. Lol
Anyway, there's about 2 inches of clean play sand on top of each pot because I had a pesky fungus gnat problem develop as soon as I transplanted them to the buckets.. I didn't want to use pesticides if I didn't have to, and sand makes it near impossible for those asshats to lay eggs. A nice dusting of diatomaceous earth and a few sticky traps solved the problem in about two weeks I'm sure there was some damage done in that time, however they kept growing like crazy, but they stayed in veg another two weeks so I could make sure they were healthy enough to flower.
Until week 3 of flower they were healthy happy girls after that. Thats when, still giving them 1/8 strength MC I thought to give them a little extra P and K.
Being distracted while mixing that up I realized I made it way too strong, mixed another batch and still grabbed the wrong jug and like an idiot poured my girls a drink. The next day, I could tell something wasn't right. By the third day I was heart broken. I rummaged my brain trying to figure it out. Then it hit me and sure as shit, I immediately grabbed jugs and started pouring water, trying to stop the damage, flushing till I was happy that short of repotting, there was nothing more to be done except say sorry and tell the girls I still love them.

Part of todays harvest. I'm going to take a few each day to see how it is. Hate to call it trash if it only needed a few more days.

Never use outdoor soil/compost for indoor plants and always measure twice to pour once. I use ProMix HP for my base and add manures and other organic goodies to it but it's sterilized stuff from the hardware store. I used lots of our own compost in my outdoor patch last summer but that's fine out there. I add DynoMyco to both grows to keep the roots happy and healthy.

To supplement the organics I use AN 3-part plus other goodies like Big Bud, Epsom Salts, etc etc.

Any harvest is better than none.

@OldMedUser , would you mind explaining why I shouldn't use the soil I'm using? I've used it to grow veggies indoors for a few years. The biggest problem I've had was the fungus gnats and I've learned to handle that pretty well. I did forget to mention that before adding the sand to the top of the pot, after making sure the soil was dry, I watered with about a tbsp. of hydrogen peroxide to a gallon of water.
Epsom salt and molasses I use to grow other things and are for me a must have for me anyway, so they were included in the "things I can find" collumn.
My budget was less than 50 bucks. I built a small tent to clone and veg in for less than 20 bucks with what I had around the house and dollar store/thrift store finds.
It's nice to be able to have the nicest of things, but this grow is about using what I have or can get for nothing. After spending 15 bucks on two timers, and another 15 on parts for a grow light, ( a family member used to own an electric outlet store, and rummaging through his garage I found a bag of sockets that I used) and ended up making two grow lights from LED bulbs with trays that hold plastic two liter bottles as the frame.
So, it's about optimizing what I have. I would say ill end up with at least 3 ounces of decent weed which cost about 600 bucks here. I feel like it's a win here.
Considering I have four clones of each plant ready to put in flower as soon as these are finished and am confident I can take enough clones of these, I can keep a crop going and harvest about every 2 1/2 months. And if I have to start over, I get to see whats inside a few more beans I've discovered in a bag here and there.

Highonmysupply said:

@OldMedUser , would you mind explaining why I shouldn't use the soil I'm using? I've used it to grow veggies indoors for a few years. The biggest problem I've had was the fungus gnats and I've learned to handle that pretty well. I did forget to mention that before adding the sand to the top of the pot, after making sure the soil was dry, I watered with about a tbsp. of hydrogen peroxide to a gallon of water.
Epsom salt and molasses I use to grow other things and are for me a must have for me anyway, so they were included in the "things I can find" collumn.
My budget was less than 50 bucks. I built a small tent to clone and veg in for less than 20 bucks with what I had around the house and dollar store/thrift store finds.
It's nice to be able to have the nicest of things, but this grow is about using what I have or can get for nothing. After spending 15 bucks on two timers, and another 15 on parts for a grow light, ( a family member used to own an electric outlet store, and rummaging through his garage I found a bag of sockets that I used) and ended up making two grow lights from LED bulbs with trays that hold plastic two liter bottles as the frame.
So, it's about optimizing what I have. I would say ill end up with at least 3 ounces of decent weed which cost about 600 bucks here. I feel like it's a win here.
Considering I have four clones of each plant ready to put in flower as soon as these are finished and am confident I can take enough clones of these, I can keep a crop going and harvest about every 2 1/2 months. And if I have to start over, I get to see whats inside a few more beans I've discovered in a bag here and there.

Click to expand...

Any bugs in outdoor soils tend to have a population explosion once they get indoors where there's no natural predators to keep them in check is why I say not to use it indoors. Fungus gnats aren't that big a deal if taken care of but up here thrips and mites are all over and I'm dealing with both atm. Couple more sprays and will have them dealt with.

I'm a big DIY guy myself and have made lots of things for my grows but have also spent a lot of money on gear the last 20 years. Much more than I can use at one time and a lot was used and fairly cheap when I got it.

I got a couple pounds of pot to make into medicines so blew some coin on a new still and some lab gear to help with the processing.

Growing your own bud is so much better than buying it even if it is getting almost cheaper to buy it here in Canada now.

Good luck and good growing!

The day it becomes legal to grow here, I'll be the first to pop a seed in the ground. Plants were meant to grow outside and even in crap weather I believe are happier in the Sun. Fortunately, where I live has humid but otherwise fair climate for growing what you love. I just like fresh tomato and cucumber sandwiches, even in winter, hence my indoor vegetable projects. One day, I'll try one of those fancy hydroponics systems.
I've had bug problems from just about every brand of soil you can grab a bag of at the store here. Neem oil, diatomaceous earth, sticky traps, and good watering practices with proper ventilation seem to help the most. Of course I've thrown out entire plants over the years.
Couple of pounds? That's awesome, man. Can't never have enough!
Thanks for the info man. Happy growing.