Mr. Indica's First Grow - ILGM Hindu Kush (fem)

Hello everyone,

I’m at the very start of my journey and figured I would post up and get some advice from the more experienced as I work to figure all this out. Ideally, it’ll also serve to help folks that are starting up like myself.

The current setup:

Tent:

  • Vivosun - 36"x20"x62"

Lighting:

  • Horticulture Lighting Group - 100W Quantum Board Kit - V2 @ 4000K
  • Horticulture Lighting Group - 260W Quantum Board Kit - V2 @ 3000K

Ventilation/Filtration:

  • Welltop USB Powered 4" Oscillating Fan
  • Hurricane 6" Clip Fan (x2)
  • Vivosun 4" Inline Fan & Filter
  • Vivosun 4" Silencer

Grow Medium:

  • Rapid Rooter
  • Coco Coir
  • Perlite
  • Plastic Beer Cups
  • Felt Pots (1 & 5 Gallon)

Nutrition:

  • Distilled Water
  • General Hydroponics - Calimagic
  • General Hydroponics - Flora Grow, Bloom & Micro Combo

At the time of starting this, I have one seedling that’s recovering from light intensity burn and 2 seeds just placed in Rapid Rooters today. My backup to the current seedling didn’t germinate :frowning: I overwatered the first one that germinated successfully and learned the lesson quickly to not bank on one. This is clearly a numbers game with a hint of “natural selection” :slight_smile:

I currently have two TaoTronics Full Spectrum LED Grow light bulbs hanging at about 22" from the top of the seedling. In terms of ventilation, there is nothing going on right now at all. I have been tracking daily temperature ranges and relative humidity levels and am quite pleased with where things have settled, it’s right around 70° to 78° with about 67% - 79% relative humidity.

I purposely added a few cups with water in them to increase the environments humidity a bit without having the need to mist every so often or keep in a dome. She seems OK so far other than having her first set of leaves bleach due to light intensity. I had lowered the lights to 12" while still a seed to increase the temperature without needing a heating pad and forgot to raise it back up to 22" once the leafs started growing, doh!

She seems to have recovered nicely so far but I decided to add two more seeds in rapid rooters just in case as backups. My plan is to “mainline” and then SCROG her. A single plant in a small tent with a net. Likely too ambitious for a first grow, but hey, one can dream right? :wink:

Here’s a pic to get things started:

Any comments, suggestions and feedback is welcome!

Cheers :seedling:

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Looking good. I’m new to growing as well. I mainlined my first grow and my only regret was not letting them veg longer. My advice is to get her mainline the way you want it and let her grow wide, bushy and FLAT at least 30 inches tall before making the switch. That way when she stretches during flower she’ll fill out your space perfectly. Good luck!

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Hi @Kushheavy,

Thanks for your response. Regardless of first run or not, those buds look delicious! My understanding is that the plant will stretch out 100% after switching from veg to flower (Indica’s tend to double, Sativa’s tend to go even more). I’m not sure that with 62" of tent height, I would want to switch from 18 hours to 12 hours at 30".

Unless you meant set the SCROG net at 30" and keep tucking until after the 12 hour cycle stretch is over, then let her flower through the net?

On another note, the seedling has some pretty serious root growth going on in the party cup :tada: I put the rapid rooter in coco/perlite inside a clear party cup, as soon as a root was exposed to light I placed the clear cup into a shielded red cup to protect the roots from the light.

What’s great about having done this is I can pull the clear cup out of the shielded cup to check out moisture level and the root growth :slight_smile: I have not given her anything but distilled water so far and I’m wondering if the rapid root growth and slow top growth means she’s looking for nutrients.

It might be time to add some nutrients. Thoughts?

Thanks!

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I think it’s the light spectrum. I would use more white and blue. I’ve always seen that color during mid to late flowering using LED.

Nope. She is… ‘getting her legs under her’. Dont feed until those two lowest rounded leaves (cotyledons) shrivel up n fall off. Those are her ‘paper bag lunch’. They contain all the nutes a seedling needs for the first week or so. Once they go u may start feeding. Albeit VERY lightly. Most people start around 20% of manufacturing recommendations.
Also love the plan. Not too ambitious at all. I see some first growers with 20 plants. That is a headache for experienced growers. Lol. Good luck and im set to watching.

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@Kushheavy,

Thanks again for your response, these are the revised TaoTronics and are advertised as full spectrum grow bulbs, they should be able to handle veg and flower. Here is the chart they provide:

As I mentioned in my first post, I believe the bleaching was due to the fact that the light was too close to the seedling. I originally lowered the light to increase the temperature for the seeds to germinate and then forgot to raise them back up once she opened up.

I have two bulbs running right now at 22" and she seems to be happy :slight_smile:

@PurpNGold74,

Thank you for your response and advice! It echoes what I’ve read and what one of my good friends recommended. Water and nothing else until the cotyledons run out of juice, then slowly introduce nutrients.

Hahah I’m certainly not going to undertake high numbers as I want to be fully compliant with local grow laws. So I have up to 6 plants as my allowance and don’t plan on getting close to that anytime soon.

Quick followup question for ya, once she outgrows the party cup and it’s time to transplant, do you think it’s OK to move her directly to a 5 gallon felt pot with coco/perlite? Or should I step her into a smaller one first? I just want to make sure I don’t overwater due to oversized environment initially.

Let me know your thoughts on this.

Thanks!

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I would put it in its final growing pot. Too many transfers is stressful IMO. 3gl if short veg 5 or better for a longer cycle.

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@Kushheavy has the idea. As few transplants as possible if possible.

Great news on your recent liberation! Wishing for some more freedoms in my neck of the woods. But guerilla grows work for now

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@Kushheavy,

Thanks for the recommendation. I’m planning on a 5 gallon, not necessarily for a longer veg but to ensure that I can give enough moisture when I am away for a few days at later stages without worrying too much about feeding. I’ll go straight to 5 gallon from the party cup and ensure that I don’t over water.

@PurpNGold74,

I’m sure you hear this all the time, but your damn avatar has me in a haze. Appreciate the positive vibes man, definitely feel fortunate to be where I am.

Kudos to you for doing what you gotta do :+1:

Haha thanks. Sucks i cant root for the lakers this year but i can wear 24 :joy::rofl::joy:

Not me in the photo

Aurora is clearly enjoying the Chaupin :musical_score:

She’s still rooting and has extended the stem a bit past the cotyledons which still seem to have juice left in them, so no nutrients quite yet. It’s amazing how little water they actually need at this stage.

No wonder I suffocated the first one :dizzy_face:

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Haha! It happens man. ‘Dampening off’ is the not so scientific term. But alas. U live. U learn. N hopefully eventually u grow some righteous reefer

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Appreciate the words of wisdom :+1:

@Wildwest , @Whodat66 & @Drillbit Thanks for watching and look forward to advice and comments :beers:

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Nice! I’ll post something random so you can check mine out.

This morning I added 5 minutes of air flow for every hour while the lights are on. She seems to be enjoying it!

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Well, here she is in natural light. She’s rooted out even more and the cotyledons are showing signs of being used up.

The tip of the 3 finger leaves were also light burned when they were young so perhaps that’s why they are pointing downward, so the real answer to recovery will be with the next set of leaves.

What do you guys/galls think? Ready for nutrients?

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One of the cotyledons is pointd down. But ur other still looks fairly greenish yellow. I mean a light properly ph’d feeding wouldnt do anymore damage then tips. But id give her another day

Awesome. The cup still has a bit of moisture so I’ll prep a light cocktail for her and feed it to her the next time she’s asking for water, likely in the next day or two.

Thanks for checking in!

No problem at all. Stay green :facepunch:t5:

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