First Grow: Tracking My Indoor and Outdoor Plants (photos, questions, mistakes, complaints, sweat, blood, tears, death)

[GrowinDownSouth]

Thanks for checking this out. I must stress that I know nothing about anything and nothing I do should be replicated. I am very open to critiques, advice, guidance etc.

My state is scheduled to legalize home growing in a couple months, but I am impatient and diagnosed with ADHD that gives me a laser like hyperfocus drive that cannot be stopped so I am starting a bit early...that and I am growing some outside and don't think it's a good idea to start outdoor grows in July.

Intro

Who am I? Just a dude that has always wanted to grow cannabis.

Grow Details

What seeds do I have?

• 5 Northern Lights Autoflowers from ILGM
• 10-15 Brisco Bargain Beans Black Banana Punch F1 (big black bananas x banana punch)
• 10 Pennywise x Uber Male regs (thanks for the recommendation to JBC btw) that came with some freebies I forget
• (the rest from GLG 4/20 sales, ty phenohunters for the sale post!) Bohdi seeds snow monkey
• Bohdi Seeds field trip
• Bad Dawg SFV x Bye Ya
• Twenty20 Snowcaine (fems I think?)
• Mosca Seeds Cheese-sus Christ (more fems I believe)

Setup

*Only growing ILGM Northern Lights Auto inside*
For indoors: a Mars Hydro kit with 2.3" x 2.3" x 5-ish" tent, their ts1000 LED board, inline fan and carbon filter, two 3gal smart pots and one 5gal pot. All grown in Fox Farm Happy Frog w/ added perlite at 10-20%ish. Tent size is what it is, can't go bigger right now due to wife and small apartment. Cant get another one either.

For outdoors: honestly idk yet. I've got 6 Black Banana Punch and 5 Pennywise in some cow pots right now. 5 15gal smart pots on the way to put a few of each in outside, A few will be planted at my family's mini-farm/big garden and then a few more around their yard in some random areas. I'm hoping to get some of those seeds from GLG out there as well.

Plan

If the autoflowers fail (which they all might idk), I will try the feminised seeds I got afterwards. I already have gnats in my soil (using fly tape) but 6 days into it is not very inspiring lol. Gonna be doing some LST, using different levels (within reason ofc) of the big 3 FF nutes for experimentation, defoliation testing...I think that's it.

Outdoors: since their location will be about 35 minutes from me, I won't be able to mess with them much which is good and bad. The bag seed I planted last year had incredible growth and really blew my mind so I'm hoping I can replicate that experience which requires me to not do a fucking thing! The smart pots are to keep some of the plants from growing into actual trees since I don't have the knowledge or capability of processing that much bud (what a problem to have lol).

Goal

To have a success rate of 50%, meaning 50% of the female plants will provide badass consumable bud from seed to harvest to curing. Giving cannabis away to 21+ folks will be legal, so a stretch goal is having enough to do just that.

Questions I have (more for me, no obligation to answer ofc)

What soil should I use in those outdoor pots (plz need to keep this not as expensive)?
Are those seeds I have "good"? Any I should avoid buying again or should absolutely only place inside/outside?
What do I need to tweak? Sprouts are stretching so I turned up the light a bit and lowered it a couple inches. I moved some soil around to support them more.
What should I throw out and buy instead for next time?
What am I missing? What mistakes am I on track to make that I'm not noticing?


Sorry for the length but a lot of it is for me to refer back to lol

TLDR; newbie is growing cannabis indoors and outdoors w/ some basic research knowledge. willing to take all tips/advice/knowledge from folks here. expecting the worst, hoping for the best.


^6 in top right corner all connected are black banana punch, disconnected 5 are pennywise (oh I forgot I dropped all the pennywise carrying them upstairs so that's why some are missing soil and stuff)




^fan rig is being reworked lol I am waiting on straps. carbon filter is intentionally not connected rn



^moved those back 2 closer together and to the light, turned brightness up to 55-60%. They wouldn't stretch if they didn't want to be closer to the light, right?


^if you made it this far, you get to see this insanely gorgeous place my friend is at right now in China. I'm very jealous lol.

 

[jaguarlax]

Thanks for checking this out. I must stress that I know nothing about anything and nothing I do should be replicated. I am very open to critiques, advice, guidance etc.

My state is scheduled to legalize home growing in a couple months, but I am impatient and diagnosed with ADHD that gives me a laser like hyperfocus drive that cannot be stopped so I am starting a bit early...that and I am growing some outside and don't think it's a good idea to start outdoor grows in July.

Intro

Who am I? Just a dude that has always wanted to grow cannabis.

Grow Details

What seeds do I have?

• 5 Northern Lights Autoflowers from ILGM
• 10-15 Brisco Bargain Beans Black Banana Punch F1 (big black bananas x banana punch)
• 10 Pennywise x Uber Male regs (thanks for the recommendation to JBC btw) that came with some freebies I forget
• (the rest from GLG 4/20 sales, ty phenohunters for the sale post!) Bohdi seeds snow monkey
• Bohdi Seeds field trip
• Bad Dawg SFV x Bye Ya
• Twenty20 Snowcaine (fems I think?)
• Mosca Seeds Cheese-sus Christ (more fems I believe)

Setup

*Only growing ILGM Northern Lights Auto inside*
For indoors: a Mars Hydro kit with 2.3" x 2.3" x 5-ish" tent, their ts1000 LED board, inline fan and carbon filter, two 3gal smart pots and one 5gal pot. All grown in Fox Farm Happy Frog w/ added perlite at 10-20%ish. Tent size is what it is, can't go bigger right now due to wife and small apartment. Cant get another one either.

For outdoors: honestly idk yet. I've got 6 Black Banana Punch and 5 Pennywise in some cow pots right now. 5 15gal smart pots on the way to put a few of each in outside, A few will be planted at my family's mini-farm/big garden and then a few more around their yard in some random areas. I'm hoping to get some of those seeds from GLG out there as well.

Plan

If the autoflowers fail (which they all might idk), I will try the feminised seeds I got afterwards. I already have gnats in my soil (using fly tape) but 6 days into it is not very inspiring lol. Gonna be doing some LST, using different levels (within reason ofc) of the big 3 FF nutes for experimentation, defoliation testing...I think that's it.

Outdoors: since their location will be about 35 minutes from me, I won't be able to mess with them much which is good and bad. The bag seed I planted last year had incredible growth and really blew my mind so I'm hoping I can replicate that experience which requires me to not do a fucking thing! The smart pots are to keep some of the plants from growing into actual trees since I don't have the knowledge or capability of processing that much bud (what a problem to have lol).

Goal

To have a success rate of 50%, meaning 50% of the female plants will provide badass consumable bud from seed to harvest to curing. Giving cannabis away to 21+ folks will be legal, so a stretch goal is having enough to do just that.

Questions I have (more for me, no obligation to answer ofc)

What soil should I use in those outdoor pots (plz need to keep this not as expensive)?
Are those seeds I have "good"? Any I should avoid buying again or should absolutely only place inside/outside?
What do I need to tweak? Sprouts are stretching so I turned up the light a bit and lowered it a couple inches. I moved some soil around to support them more.
What should I throw out and buy instead for next time?
What am I missing? What mistakes am I on track to make that I'm not noticing?


Sorry for the length but a lot of it is for me to refer back to lol

TLDR; newbie is growing cannabis indoors and outdoors w/ some basic research knowledge. willing to take all tips/advice/knowledge from folks here. expecting the worst, hoping for the best.

View attachment 62950
^6 in top right corner all connected are black banana punch, disconnected 5 are pennywise (oh I forgot I dropped all the pennywise carrying them upstairs so that's why some are missing soil and stuff)

View attachment 62951

View attachment 62958
^fan rig is being reworked lol I am waiting on straps. carbon filter is intentionally not connected rn

View attachment 62959 View attachment 62960

^moved those back 2 closer together and to the light, turned brightness up to 55-60%. They wouldn't stretch if they didn't want to be closer to the light, right?

View attachment 62962 View attachment 62963
^if you made it this far, you get to see this insanely gorgeous place my friend is at right now in China. I'm very jealous lol.

Wishing you the best of luck on your first grow! Congrats on legalization! Thanks for sharing your process with us.

 

[Gentlemancorpse]

Congratulations on your first grow man!

I think you made some great choices on the seeds. The Bohdi and Briscos especially, those are some killer genetics. Don't sleep on the Bad Dawg freebies either.

The Cheese-us Christ from Mosca are Fem Autos just fyi.

Overall sounds like your off to a good start. Only thing I'd say is that TS1000 is actually probably a little underpowered to go full term. Too late now but those complete grow tent kits tend to be overpriced. But it will get you to the finish line and you can either upgrade or add some supplemental light later.

Also, I'd only try to finish maybe 2 autos in that tent, not knowing how big they will get. I ain't gonna lie, I hate autos for small spaces these days. No control over the size. With photos you can just run 12/12 from seed and keep them small. Back when autos first hit the scene and they were all Lowryder genetics they stayed small so they were good for tight spaces and they still carry that rep, but over the years they've been crossed so many times some of them get huge now, and there's not much you can do about it. If I were you I'd flip flop the plan and put the autos outdoors and run some photos inside but that's just me.

As for soil, anything without time release fertilizer is fine. Personally I'd grab some basic topsoil and a bag of compost and mix my own. Also, AK Bean Brains was posting that Sunshine potting mix was on sale at home depot for $4.50 a bag which is an absolute steal. Mix that with some compost and you'll be rocking.

 

[BH]

If it was me and it was my 1st grow I would suggest a few things .
keep it simple and don’t focus on strains selection . Key is to not to have many variables to nutes or pest and mold Management/prevention and also simple process and cure.

let’s talk nutes , I would do a super simple top dressing method (applied every 1-2 weeks) with organics . a all in one grow base and bloom like roots organics terp tea , if using r/o water have cal/mag and ethier water choice I would suggest to ph it (of peat or soil I wouldn’t ph the water for organics )to the mediums demand

cheaper than most hydro store liquid and this all in one will defeat the process of being a little bottle shaker and mixing tons of stuff into your Rez . I have used uprising and terp tea for over 3 years now and I would back it for any level of growing or grower cause it’s so straight forward but also very balanced npk for cannabis and veggies . A 5 gal pot you just sprinkle 1/2-1 tablespoon every 1-2 weeks. Easy and will give you a “all in one “ starting base without all the confusion and also add some beneficals bacteria as well

a 20-40lb of terp tea would last ya multiple cycles no problem and it would eliminate any confusion and give ya a great organics start vs synthetics where it may work great but for many reasons if you aren’t on your game with knowing why a plant wants or does not want more nutes .

I just wanted to give ya a great tip to keep it simple aka on your nutes . Too many and companies wanna make the nutes into your gen into success but so many times it’s the reason for the Failure or worse yields .

terp-tea-grow — Aurora Innovations

www.aurorainnovations.com

terp-tea-bloom — Aurora Innovations

www.aurorainnovations.com

 

[GrowinDownSouth]

Wishing you the best of luck on your first grow! Congrats on legalization! Thanks for sharing your process with us.

Thank you!

Congratulations on your first grow man!

I think you made some great choices on the seeds. The Bohdi and Briscos especially, those are some killer genetics. Don't sleep on the Bad Dawg freebies either.

The Cheese-us Christ from Mosca are Fem Autos just fyi.

Overall sounds like your off to a good start. Only thing I'd say is that TS1000 is actually probably a little underpowered to go full term. Too late now but those complete grow tent kits tend to be overpriced. But it will get you to the finish line and you can either upgrade or add some supplemental light later.

Also, I'd only try to finish maybe 2 autos in that tent, not knowing how big they will get. I ain't gonna lie, I hate autos for small spaces these days. No control over the size. With photos you can just run 12/12 from seed and keep them small. Back when autos first hit the scene and they were all Lowryder genetics they stayed small so they were good for tight spaces and they still carry that rep, but over the years they've been crossed so many times some of them get huge now, and there's not much you can do about it. If I were you I'd flip flop the plan and put the autos outdoors and run some photos inside but that's just me.

As for soil, anything without time release fertilizer is fine. Personally I'd grab some basic topsoil and a bag of compost and mix my own. Also, AK Bean Brains was posting that Sunshine potting mix was on sale at home depot for $4.50 a bag which is an absolute steal. Mix that with some compost and you'll be rocking.

Thanks! I think I will only stick to two next time depending on how these continue to grow. I don't think the Northern Lights are going to get too tall or bushy and I've been doing frequent "LST" (can't really tell if I'm doing it right cuz I watch a video and go "yep I got it" then I look at my plants and think "ok idk where any of these ties go" lol). I did put one Northern Lights auto outside but it got down to 45 for a few days in a row and stayed cloudy/cold throughout the couple days so we'll see how she does. If any more of my outdoor plants suffer at hands of mother nature, I'll be putting out a few autos instead.

I'll be mixing my own soil next time for sure. Coco coir seems kinda fun as well but that's a big maybe. My buddy has a ton of compost so soil is more likely to happen.

If it was me and it was my 1st grow I would suggest a few things .
keep it simple and don’t focus on strains selection . Key is to not to have many variables to nutes or pest and mold Management/prevention and also simple process and cure.

let’s talk nutes , I would do a super simple top dressing method (applied every 1-2 weeks) with organics . a all in one grow base and bloom like roots organics terp tea , if using r/o water have cal/mag and ethier water choice I would suggest to ph it (of peat or soil I wouldn’t ph the water for organics )to the mediums demand

cheaper than most hydro store liquid and this all in one will defeat the process of being a little bottle shaker and mixing tons of stuff into your Rez . I have used uprising and terp tea for over 3 years now and I would back it for any level of growing or grower cause it’s so straight forward but also very balanced npk for cannabis and veggies . A 5 gal pot you just sprinkle 1/2-1 tablespoon every 1-2 weeks. Easy and will give you a “all in one “ starting base without all the confusion and also add some beneficals bacteria as well

a 20-40lb of terp tea would last ya multiple cycles no problem and it would eliminate any confusion and give ya a great organics start vs synthetics where it may work great but for many reasons if you aren’t on your game with knowing why a plant wants or does not want more nutes .

I just wanted to give ya a great tip to keep it simple aka on your nutes . Too many and companies wanna make the nutes into your gen into success but so many times it’s the reason for the Failure or worse yields .

terp-tea-grow — Aurora Innovations

www.aurorainnovations.com

terp-tea-bloom — Aurora Innovations

www.aurorainnovations.com

Thanks for the nutrient advice! I'm a sucker for fancy packaging, hype and having the newest thing but didn't fall much into the nutrient trap. It's so overwhelming and there are so many companies pushing a line of 10+ products for a grow that it puts off a scammy "as seen on TV" vibe, if that makes sense lol.

I'll be coming back to your comment after this tent is finished and I'll probably start putting that list together for the terp teas and top dressings now. It feels like the right thing to try next after these autos are done and the grows I've seen with teas all looked really good!

 

[GrowinDownSouth]

Sorry for the lack of updates! My cat hasn't let me get up 2 weeks

Got real busy but I'll post some photos and show what's been going on with all the plants.


Outdoor

• All have been taken out of the veg pod they were in and placed in the garden somewhere
• I had 12 in the veg pod but 5 were eaten by some leaf cutter caterpillar within a week! Wtf is that?! They were supposed to be protected in there lol they've been outside for a week and nothing even touches them 😂
  
• It got down to 45 with highs of 62 so they're wonky looking (fused blades(?) and stuff). It's ok though because they have a ton of time to bounce back or get chopped and replaced!
• Low effort, no worries 😎

Indoor

• Started LST a week or two ago and since I'm bad at understanding what is what on the plants, I'm not entirely sure where to tie but I think I'm getting it right
  • Also doing a lot of leaf tucking and I think it's working really well. I get to handle the plants to make em heartier, smell fresh weed, and the future bud sites seem to love it...what more could I want?
• Been watering with that method from that forum I can't remember the name of where the OP says to go slow and water in 3 stages
  • Added Big Bloom and Grow Big with pH around 6.2-6.4 each time. Big Bloom is weak enough where I just use half or 3/4 the serving size and Grow Big is 1/3 to 1/2. I don't even use the full 5L I mix up when I water them so they get what they ask for.
• I think the biggest one is showing signs of flowering in one or two spots
• No serious issues so far! Heat has been a problem because my apartment is garbage and old so I hooked ducting up to an HVAC vent that pumps A/C air into the tent when it's on. The room can be at 90 and the tent will be 81! Not ideal but it's all I got lol.

I think they're kinda small from some overwatering and heat issues initially, but since it's been corrected it should be ok. The leaf curling I'm chalking up to the heat, constant tucking and LST and something else I'm sure but I don't want to micromanage and will ignore it until I see some more signs of issues lol.
edit: I am noticing the curling is not nearly as subtle as I thought it was when comparing the older photos to these so I'll be cutting off nutrients and maybe doing a flush when they're thirsty until they straighten out. It's all I changed so I'm pretty certain that's it .

Thanks for the support and tips, everyone!

 

[spyralout]

Good job on research for your first grow, hang around w us and you’ll cut your learning curve in half. Already some great suggestions from @Gentlemancorpse and @BH. Your documentation is clear and on point. You’ll look back upon this journal and see how much it helped.