Cardboard Chronicles

[DamnItsARunt]

Creating my grow log has been long overdue. I still remember the day a couple of OG members came forward to send some seeds my way free of cost when I was in a bad spot 3 years ago. Thanks to the generous folks out here, I was able to start growing seriously (within my means).

My set up:

Tent: A 1.75x2x4ft cardboard box that once held a refrigerator. The inner walls are lined with thermal blankets for reflectivity.
Lights: A couple of 12W (1200 lumen) & 14W Philips LED bulbs with the plastic domes taken off totaling 110W. A couple of Chinese USB fans.
Soil: Coco, EWC, perlite, compost and a “general nutrition mix” from a local supplier, white vinegar for pH down.

I wanted my grow setup to be as cheap and disposable as possible. I wanted something that could be gotten rid of quickly without having to suffer a huge loss if shit ever hit the fan.

To date, I find the seedling stage to be the most intimidating and hard to master. I’ve killed quite a few seedlings. Some damped off, some overwatered, some who knows how.

2023, my first grow, I successfully managed to grow Dutch Passion’s Blueberry out of the seedling stage without killing it. Shoutout to @FieldEffect for the seeds.

It was stunted. Tortured. Hungry for feed. Slow to grow. Split in 2 at the topped node. But she was a trooper. This was one LONG grow. I erred a lot. I learnt a lot. I was happy to take her to harvest. She didn’t yield much and wasn’t a strong smoke, but she got the job done and satiated that grow itch I had. I enjoyed the fruits of my labor, or should I say, the flowers, for a good month and a half before I finished the stash.

Below are some pics from my first grow that lasted about 8 months (I know, crazy). She was vegged for about 108 days under 36W and flowered for 85 days under 96W.

I think the final dry weight was about 35grams. I also smoked quite a bit of flower before harvesting due to being impatient. I would pluck a nug or two every day, pop it in the microwave for a couple of bursts and roll a joint. Anyway, the goal was to grow and get high and get high I did.

[DamnItsARunt]

Some more from the first grow. The plant started showing burnt edges when the stem split. I guess stress signals. A zip tie came in handy. She healed up pretty okay at the end.

[DamnItsARunt]

[C_in_CT]

Thanks for starting a log! I’ll follow along.

@DamnItsARunt

Anyway, the goal was to grow and get high and get high I did.

My first grow was 38 grams and I tried to adopt a similar attitude about it.

[Gpaw]

@DamnItsARunt

A zip tie came in handy.

They can get the job done but if some cases, you have to keep an eye on them as they can really choke a growing stem.
Basically if it’s starting to bite into the stem cut it and reapply.

It’s amazing the amount of damage you can inflict and they just bounce back.

Cheers
G

[DamnItsARunt]

Took a break from growing for a year and some. Started it back this year. Originally popped 1 Blueberry, 2 French Macaron and 1 SLH.

BB & FM courtesy of @FieldEffect and SLH that I got from @DougDawson 's giveaway.

One FM damped off. The BB showed promise but suddenly worsened and died within a span of 2 days for reasons unknown. I’m guessing the water with vinegar got on to the leaves while I was watering her and she didn’t like that.

I was left with 1 SLH and 1 FM. They weren’t showing good growth. I knew I had to change up my coco and buffer it. The old stock was utter garbage. That’s one reason why my first grow went on for 8 months. Trash input = trash output.

Changed up the soil, added some neem meal, mustard cake meal, compost, myco and general nutrition goodies. After the transplant shock, both the plants took off. Good growth. Very few issues. My first grow with 1 plant had 100 issues. This one, may be 1 or 2. I know I’m getting better at growing.

SLH is a bit particular with her demands. The FM is an obedient, no fuss child.

Both were vegged for about 60 days. Flipped to 12/12 on Apr 26th. I use white vinegar for pH down and it’s working really well. No issues (AFAIK) thus far. A bottle of vinegar worth 50 cents lasts for 2 grows. I don’t have to spend on the expensive, proprietary pH down BS.

I feed them liquid seaweed, EWC topping and general nutrition mix from time to time. Gave both the plants a good top dressing of homemade banana peel powder a day before flipping. I plan to feed them some fermented mustard cake fertilizer tea in 2 weeks.

Other than that, it’s just water + vinegar and occasional seaweed fert thus far. Pretty low maintenance grow. I cannot complain.

What’s the yellow wire and rock beside the SLH you ask? That’s her pet rock.

I kid. That’s my DIY training wire harness and weight. I just use what I have on hand. Remember, no unecessary expenditure.

[DamnItsARunt]

The plants are stretching. Not desirable but expected. I could notice the start of flowering today. Tiny little wisps of white hair peeking through.

[DamnItsARunt]

SLH topped once at the 3rd node

FM topped once at the 7th node (topped way too late)

I’m loving the leaves on the FM. Big, fat leaves. The SLH has narrow, sharp & pointy leaves.

I will update in a week or two when there’s more progress with the ladies.

[DamnItsARunt]

I waited for 6 years to grow. I was happy that I could at least see it to completion after a long ass grow. Lol.

[DamnItsARunt]

True. I had my eyes on her like a hawk. I made sure the tie wasn’t damaging her further. I do remember cutting one off and retying to loosen the knot a bit. She was a hardy plant.

[DamnItsARunt]

No major update. Just a couple of beauty shots of the girls trying to flower.

Is the flower growth progress on track for 12 days since flip?

[DamnItsARunt]

Both of them are coming along nicely.

FM & SLH both on F18

[FieldEffect]

Glad to see you going the plants are looking great!

[DamnItsARunt]

Thank you my friend. Glad to see you back after a while

This grow has been almost without any problems thus far. Couldn’t be happier.

[DamnItsARunt]

Both on F22. The FM (black pot) seems a week behind the SLH (brown pot) .

I accidentally broke a branch of the FM while trying to tuck it down. Impromptu supercropping. Fixed her up with painters tape. Two days later I replaced the tape while taking a look at the healing progress. When I came back to it the next morning just before lights out, I noticed the tape had come off and the branch was bent way past 90 degrees due to the weight. I assumed the stem would die as it was cut in half.

I fixed her up with a fresh piece of tape at lights on. She healed up pretty well surprisingly. They are some hardy plants, I tell ya.

Had to even out the other branch too and ended up supercropping both the branches. This was a week ago.

Here they are today, still putting out flowers.

Just feeding pH water. Gave them a couple of granules of what I assumed were DAP but turned out to be NPK of unknown ratio.

I’ll hold back on feeding them any nutes for a couple of weeks as they’re looking healthy, a tad too green than I like if I’m being honest.

[DamnItsARunt]

Day 32 of flower. Top dressed the soil with a handful of banana peel powder each and pH’d tap water.

[DamnItsARunt]

Day F42. Fed with onion peel & mustard seed meal tea a week ago and today with pH’d water with liquid seaweed concentrate. I defoliate a couple of big leaves now & then.

The pistils on the SLH are already pretty orange. I’m unsure if this normal at this stage. I’m expecting to run these 2 for another 40 days or more.

No issues thus far. Pretty happy with how it’s going. Low maintenence for sure.

[Pannonian]

They look healthy
Good luck

[DamnItsARunt]

I just got back home from a trip. Found the plants to have fallen over due to the weight of the bud and the soil becoming loose where the stem meets the soil. This has happened for all the 3 plants I’ve taken to harvest (my first & second grows). Any tips on how to prevent this? I keep packing the dirt tightly around this part every time I water, but that seems to be working as well as slapping a band aid on a deep cut wound.

This is the part I dislike the most. It’s a constant struggle to align the plants, water them and place the cardboard box over without tipping them over again every other day.

I should be using stakes. Time to visit the local garden store. Hopefully they have something for my space.

And the house stinks! The corridor outside too. The weather’s been very gloomy and cloudy with intermittent rain every other day. I am fearful of mold. It’s a known issue, especially with perishables in my house during this season. I cannot afford a room dehumidifier. They’re expensive and rarely used here.

Pictures to follow when I’m well rested.

[Gpaw]

@DamnItsARunt

Any tips on how to prevent this?

Have a look at tomato cages, I’ve had success with them when dealing with floppy strains, they may work for you.

Cheers
G