A beginner writes...

... until now!

Idly browsing Twitch, I stumbled upon a cannabis stream which lead me to The Bud Lab. With my interest renewed, I pulled my finger out and slapped a couple of seeds between some damp paper towels and slipped it into a jiffy bag. That was yesterday morning.

Although I bought Euforia, I'm actually starting with a couple Purple Kush (also feminized and auto). The seedbank kindly threw them in as a freebie and as I'm bound to make some mistakes with my first grow, it seemed like a good idea to make them on something I didn't pay for.

We're having some unseasonably warm weather at the moment, so they were in a sunny spot during the day and I left them away from the window overnight. However, I thought they felt rather cool this morning so I slipped the package down my pants this morning, then back into the sunshine.  ? 

It seems that conditions in my pants are favourable and one of the seeds has "hatched"! Should I let it come on a little, or get it in a Jiffy pellet now?

I don't have a lot of cash to throw at this right now (work is slack, but the flipside is that I have the time to get on with it), so I will be buying the rest of my kit as I go along.

So after starting the seeds off I swung by my friendly, local growshop and left with enough to keep me (or rather, the plants) going for a couple of weeks or so: Jiffy pellets, Ph tester and a feed suitable for seedlings (I'll chop a plastic bottle in two, to make a propagator).

As well as the LED, I have a barely-used CFL from a previous stab at this which I'll use initially. Which bulb should I use?

So two days after germination began, this is where we're at...

The seed on the right has a radicle a good centimetre long and is ready to pot-up; the other seed was later to "hatch" and it's radicle is just over half a centimetre long.

I've boiled the kettle, mixed a litre 50/50 with cold tap water and left it to cool down to "tepid" for the Jiffy pots. I don't suppose I'll need that much water, but I'll test the Ph and using a measured litre makes it easier to scale-up as necessary in the future (although I'll continue to test until I'm confident the Ph of my supply is consistent).

Once the water has cooled, I'll make a decision as to whether the slower seed is ready for the pot or not.

I'll go and see if I can get a heating mat/heated propagator while I'm waiting for the water to cool: "kangarooing" the seeds down my pants (as I did all yesterday evening and am doing as I write this) has done the trick, but that won't be practical with a couple of pots.  ? 

Very cool, I cant wait to see some leaves popping up!

Looks like we are on our first grow together!

Rudy

Thanks man, me too!

Hopefully my experience won't be as traumatic as yours...

OK, so I got a little distracted whilst out on my mission to find a heated propagator yesterday and as a result the seeds didn't get potted up. So although the slower seed's radicle is now an ideal 1cm, the earlier seed's is 2cm: hopefully this won't be an issue.

What I did get was a Ph testing kit and a combined digital thermometer/hygrometer from my friendly growshop. No surprises to find that my water is rather alkaline (the water is pretty hard around here, you should see the inside of my kettle), but I won't bother to adjust the Ph until I start adding nutrients.

Anyway, a quick soak in tepid water for the Jiffy pots and I potted the seeds up without any mishaps. I'll chop a plastic bottle in two for a cover later, but in the meantime I've repurposed the packaging the thermometer/hygrometer came in.

As I couldn't buy a heated propagator yesterday, I've improvised with a thermal brick from an old storage heater which I warmed overnight. ? I have a number of these, so can rotate them as necessary.

Better get my CFL hung!

Posted by: hot for my age

Better get my CFL hung!

Oh shit! Adding another two ? 

After their first night under CFL things are going OK, but could be better.

With the lamp at 6" the temp was a little under 30c, so I raised it which scrubbed a degree or so off, but I'd be happier at 25c.

On the other hand, humidity is rather low. I added some water to the saucers, but haven't really seen an effect.

The problem, I think, is the rather small environment: a chopped-up plastic bottle. Having previously kept an aquarium, I know that the larger the environment the easier it is to regulate and stabilise it.

So I will get an actual propagator and see what that does.

Having said all that, the plants don't seem to be unduly effected, but I'll feel more confident once the "slow starter" is more established.

Meanwhile I was curious to find out more about what I'm actually growing!

And I like what I've found, the only downside being a rather modest yield, but that's fine: I'm just growing for myself.

Best of all, it's "...a very strong plant that can withstand large temperature, humidity and PH fluctuations and beginner mistakes will definitely not kill this plant." ? 

Posted by: hot for my age

Meanwhile I was curious to find out more about what I'm actually growing!

And I like what I've found, the only downside being a rather modest yield, but that's fine: I'm just growing for myself.

Best of all, it's "...a very strong plant that can withstand large temperature, humidity and PH fluctuations and beginner mistakes will definitely not kill this plant." ? 

 

"...a very strong plant that can withstand large temperature, humidity and PH fluctuations and beginner mistakes will definitely not kill this plant." 

PERFECT for a first grow! Now you shouldn't have to worry about your Temperature fluctuations as much. 

Yeah, after asking on Discord I was reassured that my readings were fine and I could relax, but it's good to know I've got a noob-friendly strain. ?

Well I got an actual, but very cheap, propagator to replace my chopped up bottle.

This has brought the temp down a little, but also the humidity.

I think the problem is the holes in the bottom of the tray, which are providing ventilation.

Not that my readings were, or are terrible.

Despite my tinkering, the seedlings don't seem to be suffering (too much): the stronger of the two looks fine and the runt of the litter is making some progress.

I hope it will catch up, so I don't end up with one in the Autopot and the other in the propagator.

Stay tuned for the next thrilling instalment...

So far so good! I wasn't able to keep my Humidity up much higher then 46 during my seedling stage either. 

I bought a new, better quality, propagator which has raised the humidity a little to around 50%.

Next time around I'll save myself, and the seedlings, a lot of faffing around and get some of those humidity sachets.

Meanwhile (a week after I potted them up), the current pair are coming along nicely! ? 

I suppose I should get my Autopot setup, as it looks like "big Sis" will be ready soon.

Posted by: hot for my age

I bought a new, better quality, propagator which has raised the humidity a little to around 50%.

Next time around I'll save myself, and the seedlings, a lot of faffing around and get some of those humidity sachets.

Meanwhile (a week after I potted them up), the current pair are coming along nicely! ? 

I suppose I should get my Autopot setup, as it looks like "big Sis" will be ready soon.

What propagator did you end up purchasing? 

Posted by: dR

 

What propagator did you end up purchasing? 

One of these: https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/sankey-electric-propagator-38cm/p/0445580

Just on the basis that it was what I could get locally, rather than any recommendation.

It is a considerable improvement though: rigid plastic, air vent, capillary matting and a heating element.

Ideally I'd like a Sunblaster Nanodome and one of their T5 Nanotech lights, but although the lights are available over here, the Nanodome isn't.

I'm sure I can jury-rig something with Sugru though.

Yesterday I got the seedlings into the Autopots: judging by the roots penetrating the Jiffy pot, that could have been done two or three days earlier.

A bag of 60/40 clay pebble/coir mix, three bags of pea shingle and some horticultural fleece later and...

Now that they're under LED, an exhaust fan was required and the growshop had a 4" Rhino for a good price...

Although it won't be needed for a while yet, I'll get a carbon filter on there shortly to damp the noise (hopefully).

The only issue I've had is with the height of the lamp: you can see from the photo above that the tips of the leaves are drooping a little, which I presume/guess/hope is as a result of having the light too low.

After a quick Duckle, I started with it at 30cm (12"). But they didn't look too happy, so I did some more research and eventually thought to check with the manufacturer (duh), who recommend 15"-24" (38cm-61cm).

The general idea, apparently, is to have the light higher during vegetation and getting lower as you move into blooming. On the other hand, the higher the lamp is, the greater the plant will stretch towards it. So as a compromise, I am currently trialling it at 48cm (19") and will see how that plants respond.

More pleasingly, the temperature has come down to 23°C and the humidity increased to 46%Rh!

The smaller of the two seems to be more sensitive than the other and the leaves were drooping. Having drained the excess water, I assumed the lamp was still too low and raised it to the maximum 24" recommended by HLG: this seems to have helped, although the surface of the leaves look a little rough compared to the other plant.

The larger plant is showing a little colour: exciting!

While I wait for him to get some cheaper filters in, the guy at my growshop loaned me a cheap PWM fan controller which has allowed me to turn it down quite a bit.

Not enough to let me leave it on at night, but I'll turn the fan around (so it faces away from my bed) and see if that helps, as it's the induction roar rather than the fan motor that is the culprit.

Temp. and humidity are now pretty good though! ? 

How do you like that Autopot System?? would love to see a review 😀

Yet to use it as anything other than a "pot". 🙂

After soaking the growing medium and transplanting, they recommend leaving it a week for the plants to establish, before switching on.