Beginner Grow- falling in love

I began with only the most basic of tools- a seed and cheap soil. In the black lamp pictured is a small LED that I can change the color of. It is set on blue for the baby’s birth.


This was June 30th. When I planted her I thought I would just throw her in some cheap soil and see what happens. After reading many articles here, I was concerned about over-watering, so as I hope you can see in the picture, after one night of water germination I had put the seed in a ready pot and then put the ready pot into my larger pot so I could avoid transplanting. I quickly became attached to my little plant and then bought a grow light also pictured. The plant was doing very well for about the first week of its life and then it got sick. This next picture was taken on July 24th. It has been a struggle to keep her alive. You will see her pot is different as well as is her surroundings. Soon after the first picture was taken, I went and bought very good soil with worm castings and changed everything but the soil of the jiffy pot. I did not want to disturb her roots. However, my idea to plant her this way quickly turned on me. She developed a mag deficiency…and was locked into the jiffy pot with the cheap soil. The pot was not disintegrating as quickly as i thought it would, and her roots needed to get outside of it, and quick. So, she went through another change. I dug out the jiffy pot and slowly began peeling away the pot careful not hurt her roots. I had to leave some of the material, and put her back down into the good soil, and babied her. As you can see by the pic, it has been a very tough three weeks with little growth, but she pulled through! Now her growth takes off. I am very involved in her day to day affairs. I failed to mention this seed is supposed to be a dwarf auto flower of unsure genetics. She is now in great soil, has a new house with lots of lights, and has been on Espoma Organic Grow. You can see she likes this new regimen! this pic is from July 31. She is getting a little Espoma in every feeding, and about 20 hrs of light per day. Her growth is moving right along.aug 2nd, and now aug 4thshe is short but with lots of spirit. I can see the pistils, and have for a little while, but am unsure about the starting of the Espoma Organic Bloom. I reluctantly added some to her last night feeding. I did not want to start it too soon, and am unsure about where she sits on the flowering schedule. I don’t see any of the white balls like I see in other peoples photos. She is supposed to be a fast plant from seed to harvest, but since she had a terrible childhood, I am respecting her schedule. Finally I will post her todays pic, and await your advice and comments. I have to ad that I do not own ph tester, or anything like that. I am one poor puppy, so I trust in what I see. I watch her carefully, she drinks spring water with organic nutes, and lives in very good soil. She gets lots of side lighting as well as overhead. I monitor her temperature, and keep humidity at a healthy level.

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If anyone wonders what the red things are sticking out of the soil, they are very long straws that have a flared end. I thought if I put them down in the soil with the flair ends sticking out, the flair would catch a breeze from my fans and pull extra oxygen down into the soil. It can’t hurt right?

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Welcome to ILGM! @Tr33
Looking good👍
Very addicting hobby.

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I’m also a poor puppy using what I have. And, I’m old school :blush: Yep you can get real technical and spend lots of money, but sometimes it’s gut instinct and the power of observation that wins out!

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Thank you! Yes, when I planted her, I was like whatever, but as soon as she sprouted up I was in love. I am already planning the next grow:slight_smile:

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That’s how it starts. Before you know it you’ll be a pro. :+1:

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But blue is for boys! Weren’t you worried about a male? :slight_smile:

:sunglasses: my girl is color blind.

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She is looking great, I would say you should start to see preflower in a couple of weeks. Also I am not sure if you had just got done watering before the picture but it is good to let the soil dry out a bit in between feedings to let it oxygenate. I feed and water once the top inch or so of soil is dry, no worries of under watering as she will let you know she is thirsty when her leafs begin to sag. Happy growing.

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I had watered just the night…a few hours before pic. I do just as you said, I check the soil down an inch and a half or two. then I let the drain off sit for a few hours to see if anything gets sucked back up, lol. She usually is thirsty about every third day. Should she be switched to Bloom food yet, or is it too soon for that? I have read a lot of information, but as a beginner, it is hard for me to know.

I would wait on the bloom food until you see preflower pistils. Though honestly it wouldnt hurt much as the main difference between veg and bloom nutrients is the nitrogen and phosphorus levels.

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Nugs, there are little pistils sticking out of the branches, like that tell you if your plant is male or female. But that is all I can recognize of the flowering process. The Grow formula, and the Bloom has the correct N-P-K, but I added a little liquid gold for boosted N the past couple weeks.

You can also put coffee grounds on the soil to raise nitrogen. Way cheaper, and the plants get the caffeine boost :slight_smile:

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Thats a nice trick; thanks!

I thought I would share what a poor person does for their grow tent. First I started out by getting a couple of big moving boxes from the store and lined them with foil. That works pretty good, but I thought I would look around the thrift store for something better. I found a portable clothes closet for 8$ and used foil, and a couple 1$ reflective car window shades and covered the walls with it. It isn’t fancy, but it works until I can get something else. It has three bars along the top to hang lights from, and zippers, and is a good size. The frame is good, so maybe i can just pick up a replacement cover for it as it is likely the same size as many of the grow tents for sale. I will post updated photos tomorrow of my little greeny.

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here is my little greeny on Aug 8. I just gave her a mist. I let her get chilly last night…just a little, and she didn’t like it so this morn’n she gave me the down-turned shoulder…but after a nice song and a misting, she forgave me :slight_smile:

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The light you see in the picture is just one of her side lights, a 2700k led. It is small but puts out a nice light. My girls has a variety of lights. I will list them later after making sure the information on each is correct; I don’t want to list them wrong.

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I have one light overhead, it is KINGBO Reflector 45W LED Grow Light Panel 225 LEDs 6-Band Full Spectrum Roomplant lightit is only big enough for one plant i think and then i have a long red and blue plant light that is like a tube light but it is really LEDs.

I did not think it was that great of a light as it was 12 buck at walmart, but my plants seem to like it. What I was thinking I would like to do is eventually get three more and attach the other three on the corner posts like the one I have now is. Then I have a really big flood light type LED facing it from the front. I can adjust the level and closeness of it very easily. I have the small barrel looking LED you see in the pic from above that addresses the lower half of the plant. Then I have a pretty darn big cfl that is attached higher up to one of the corner bars. It is on a clamp with a reflective dome so it really gives off light. I have a small red LED that i leave on at night, kinda like a moon glow, just because. I don’t have the night picture yet for you. So, yep my set-up is quite the mash up of lights, but my plant is growing. If I can try and get another overhead, and the other three long bars for the corners, that would be nice for the plants I think. Feel free to laugh…it is the second best medicine I know of :wink::rofl:

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Pop the cover off that LED floodlight bulb. It will add tons of light!

:v::evergreen_tree::evergreen_tree:

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