My first real (cheap) grow w/records

Okay here goes my first real grow. I was saving back some seeds from the past year of "reggie" smoking. I ended up with two kinds of seeds. Not sure what they are, but one was really light and green, heady fast buzz. The other : brownish, body high, kinda chemical taste.

I started these in a mixture of simple soil mix

1part Miracle grow potting soil (3month feed)

1part Miracle grow perlite (enriched)

I didnt know how the time released soil would bite me later, but this was a FIRST real grow. Aside from the stupidity of WAY over fertilizing them, things went smoothly. Worst was getting the temperatures in the tiny 3x3 room right.

I also learned the hard way, you dont need 2' of room under you 400hps if its vented in a DIY cooltube powered by a cpu fan. I ended up with a plant thats almost 4' tall!! The spacing between the leaves is rediculous . I know now you can get your plants as close at 6-10" under my setup!

Rather than bore you with all my details, I'll attach my spreadsheet. You want awesome records? I got em! A beautiful account of a noob totally over mothering plants. Cause and effect. Least now when i get my second grow on the way, I'll know what NOT to do. So here's my pics and spreadsheet.

Harvest time oct 10th, I dont care if they are ready or not, they gotta go, I got bigger plans in the works! I like the heady buzz anyhow. Hit me up with any questions. Im a noob, but I am no stranger to the cheap method. Yes, trial and error on the cheap! Damn I need a better camera..sorry guys

I started back on the nutes (2-7-7). I'm about 4-5 weeks into flowering, and i think its going to take another 3-4 till harvest.

I have been flushing them regularly and they love it! I plan on Flushing in a week, and adding nutes one last time (if I dont see any suspected nute burn like last time i tried). Then after another week, I'll flush and allow them to start getting clean for harvest. I plan on minimizing watering for the last two weeks also. I heard that the resin rises to the surface if you allow them to dehydrate a tad? Anyhow, A couple pics and spreadsheet converted to notepad.....i know it sucks.

I got a yieldmaster II supreme reflector coming. Those DIY cool-tubes are awesome, but Im going to use the hood for that 400hps,until I get my 1000hps up and going. Damn expensive fans...gna be a while! Hoping the hood will help get my budz denser as harvest time comes closer.

Ive been reading about making a standard ballast power a MH bulb. I may try to run a MH in that old 400 cool-tube. Hell, I may try to run a MH on that Digi 150 ballast I got too. Figure with a 1000hps and 150/400 mh, I should get good yield next go around....

I just hope for maybe 1/2 oz out of this (my first) grow. Man that would be so cool to toke my own shit!! Smoke around here sucks, and I cant bring myself to pay import prices!

Anyhow, gotta finish this grow first, gettin ahead of myself. Ill keep you updated, let me know if you've any hints or questions. Smoke one for me!!

Newest update.

I got the Hood in and it is damn awesome!! The light on the plants has probably doubled, and the room is cooler. Not to mention I can see now cuz the light is aimed down!

The budz are filling out nicely! I think the light has more to do with that than the nutes, but oh well.

I watered the plants yesterday with reg tap water ph6 no chlorine, and the went back and soaked em in 1/2 power nutes. Im using shultz cactus fertilizer, and I havent noticed any burns yet. Since Ive nuted them both waterings since flush, Im looking for that nute burn to show up. Kinda just testing the plant food actually. I'll flush next time they need watered, and probably NOT give them any more nutes.

I have a jewelers loupe 45x coming ($6 clearance), so hopefully they will be ready for harvest a couple weeks after the next tap water ph6 flush, and I'll know it.. I had to top another 6" off a plant. I hate cutting the cola off, but theres so many buds that want to be closer to the light!! I figure, lose a bud, gain 10 fatter ones! I never though I'd have a problem with the bud getting too tall! Ive come far from my last 4" then dead grow attempt! Ive also pruned back a lot of the fan leaves. I know everyone says not to, but some were just shading too much. I guess we'll see if the plant goes in to shock. Sorry about the color of the pics, but hps does that. I have misted the hell out ot these plants, you can see the shine on the leaves.

Well, time to pack a bowl of this crap weed going around and blissfully dream of the upcoming harvest!!! Honey oil anyone?

The babies seem to be growing a little slower now. I had a small issue with ph, and my meter was out of calibration, so I upped it WAY too much and one of my plants seemed to suffer some leaf discoloration. Since then Ive been watering with plain tap water, the ph of it is actually 6.7 (which is great!). I have been inspecting the trichomes, and they are all still clear.

A few of the babies are turning a tad orange on the buds, and I can now see some red hairs. Being my first grow thats gotten this far, I have no idea how much longer. I hope 2 weeks or less, I need the room for my others in veg .

I foliar fed them last night, with 2-7-7 cactus food, right before the lights went out. I only added 2 drops per 1) 8oz bottle. I'd guess thats around 1/4 strength? I wasnt going to fertilize them , but their fan leaves are yellowing from top down, very quickly. Since the trichmes arent changing yet, Im assuming the plants need food still. This is a bag seed strain, so I really am having a hard time estimating harvest. I want to stop the nutes 7-10days prior, but i havent a clue when that is.

I installed a new carbon filter I made for only $30. The damn things works perfectly, and all I got pulling thru it is a computer fan. Actaully, my room is staying in the low 70's, so more exhaust would only make the temps go too low. Bigger light soon, so cold wont be an issue. Ive two different types of seed in this grow.

Anyone have any clue to whether they may be indica or sativa? Any ideas on yield or harvest time? I have 3 of the bigger plants, who's budz are looking full of trich's and pretty good size. My other 2 seeds ended up being slow growers, with few trichs and light airy buds. As I recall, the 2 are from some bag seed that was really light green in color, and light buds. The 3 I got were from a bag of some pretty good dank commercial. Also, I'm assuming the discolored plant is from my ph shift. It started on the top of the one plant, and hasn't carried much. My other plants seem unaffected, cept they are turning a glorious yellow from top down...uniformly! Is this the look of PH issues? The yellowing may be nitrogen lack?

Ive kept awesome record, but I have the habit of changing too many things at once. Any ideas/answers/suggestion please? If you need any more information just ask, Ive been pampering these fuckers twice a day their entire life! Thanks for the interest...... feel free to check out my other current grow. https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/248835-cristal-paradise-budget.html I love to help, although I'm a noob, perhaps a different brain on the case wouldnt hurt! Hit me up sometime, I'll keep this updated.

you got it going dude

Early harvest tasting. Very light in flavor and smell. Fast onset of buzz, with good visual disorientation. Very little body effects, and buzz did not linger. Not extremely potent, good party buzz. Im hoping as the rest matures, there will be a noticeable difference.

Shanus said:

Early harvest tasting. Very light in flavor and smell. Fast onset of buzz, with good visual disorientation. Very little body effects, and buzz did not linger. Not extremely potent, good party buzz. Im hoping as the rest matures, there will be a noticeable difference.

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those are looking good man looks like another week or two are the trics still clear? This is prob the reason it doesnt actually get you high yet also because it is not properly dried and cured so it will be alot better when its all done and dried

Yep, trichs are all still clear. I think my early trimming sent the plant in to shock, seems like budding has slowed a tad. Thanks for the compliment. I am so ready to get these harvested. As the season changes, so does the temp requirements in the basement. Gna have to fiddle before next planting..

Everything is going well. Im a little shocked that the majority of my plants arent ready for harvest yet. I actually added some earth juice to em last watering cuz they look like they are going to be a while. I seem to notice that the accelerated growth is over, and most of the growing now, is taking place in the buds. The buds are swelling, and the leaves continue to yellow as they run out of nutes?

I pulled 1 plant today. It was the shortest, and the darkest green by far. It could've used another week or two probably, but it was so far away from the light, and shaded. I decided to whack it a tad early to allow the best plants all the room they can handle.

I have been fiddling with my homemade carbon filter d.i.y. style. I have upgraded my light to 2 big ass cpu fans, and 6" hose. This is up from 4" and 1 small fan. Getting ready for that 1000hps! I had it ready to hook up, and learned that it takes a $19 cord +$13shipping, to plug in to a P.L. Lighting Systems Ballast. Argg, the damn details. Seems it will run cool enough, but won't know until I plug the beast in. Hopefully the last week before harvest, these 4 i got left will get some last minute swell power.

Anyhow, I'll update with more pics and a newer spreadsheet soon.

Ha. I like the pc fan/filter combo. I did the same damned exact thing. Works like a charm. Too bad I originally had a piece of shit inline duct booster fan in it to begin with. Waste of $30. PC fan was $12 shipped off ebay for 133 CFM.

Great stoned minds think alike. I actually got these fans off ebay for about $3.50 ea, shipped! Ive been toying with the $100 inline fan idea, for the room, but hell, these fans probably run about 60cfm each. I figure 1 pulling, 1 pushing and thats still at least 60cfm thru the filter. My room is only about 200-250cfm, so thats 1 evacuation per 5minutes thru a filter. The smell is non-existant, and the air comes in passive thru a window. Considering its cold outside now, I actually have the house hvac helping keep temps in mid 70's.

I figure with the 1000w installed rather than the 400, perhaps I can remove the house hvac, and the fans will keep temps normal. I have a heater on standby waiting in case the room temps go too low once the lights go out. Never thought I'd worry about too cold! I guess rather than use a heater, I could always make the intake come thru the basement, which stays at least 65deg. Once I get that damn ballast cord, guess I'll know.

Anyhow, the fans are working great, really cheap, really quiet, and pull no juice. Perhaps I'll end up cheaping out and NOT buyin a big exhaust can fan. Why heat a room when the air is gone every 60seconds?

Well, they are ALL finally harvested.

I can say that I got a little bit of good smoke, and learned a TON of stuff to take with me on the next grow. I started these bag seeds just to see if I could use them to get a setup going. In the end, I actually harvested them and am smoking with a smile.


This is the last update on this grow because the budz are in my jar getting pulled and toked one at a time. I now have new stuff in with an entirely new game-plan.

In hindsight, I would have NOT used the miracle grow soil. Adding nutes to time released soil ended in burned leaves. Or, I would have not added nutes until way later. Also, I would have made DAMN SURE my lights stayed closer to the plants during their entire lives. Too much stretching. Since I had minimal problems with these plants, I wouldnt mind saying that this cheap grow was a success, and could easily be mimicked for cheap later.

The Budz ended up with tons of cristals and fine red hairs. The trichomes never did get old enough to turn amber, so its a wonderfully heady high that leaves you motivated. I wouldnt say the smoke is skunky. It actually smells like cucumbers with just a touch of that familiar sour weed smell. The buzz is mostly a visual buzz when you smoke yourself stupid. Since I never compressed any, they are also really light, and burn easily. I love the fact that theres no cleaning. I trimmed the budz prior to drying, so its a "pull-and-pack" bowls ordeal. Lastly, even though there isn't much smell in the bag, once it burns........get out the air freshner.

I would easily compare this bud with some of the $50-$100 nug bags around here. A friend offered me $18 a gram because it smoked and looked better than what he just purchased. Even though i aint selling ANY, i can say the harvest was about $1000 worth. I never thought the weed would turn so good. I got these seeds from some $6 per gram crap, and treated right, it became twice the stuff.

So, there's hope for you broke ass mofo's that only have random crap seeds! Genetics play a big part, but obviously so does the growing care!

Now it's time to try to grow some dankity dank!!!!! Hope this record logg helps someone.

Yeah, you know im fishing for rep.... gotta get it now, cuz my records are slowly becoming less detailed.........

How much (approx) did u end up getting?

Was it just the one plant?

Looks like you had some good sized buds there. Did u trim for the extra colas?

Congrats on your harvest.

Looking at your one leaf there I would have to say they are indica.

Heads Up said:

Looking at your one leaf there I would have to say they are indica.

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You are probably right. They seemed to take right at 10weeks to flower out, and probably could have used longer. Don't indica's grow taller and finish late?

lightsgreenaction said:

How much (approx) did u end up getting?
Was it just the one plant?
Looks like you had some good sized buds there. Did u trim for the extra colas?
Congrats on your harvest.

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Thanks!

my grow log may answer your questions. I ended up with just under 3oz for 5 (less than perfectly treated) plants. Biggest tree = 1oz

Nope, I dont recall trimming these. My current grow was a trim/lst test. I wont be trimming anyomre thats for sure. I did trim fan leaves, and shouldn't have. Also in the grow logg.

You've confused Indica for Sativa.

looks dope

DaveCoulier said:

You've confused Indica for Sativa.

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I do believe you are right.

jakethetank said:

looks dope

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Thanks!