My First Forum Post — Grow Report, Setup & Lessons Learned

[craudiaoDaMassa]

My First Forum Post — Grow Report, Setup & Lessons Learned

Hey everyone, how’s it going?

This is my very first post here on the forum, so apologies in advance if I mess anything up. I’m genuinely trying to get it right and not get roasted right away.

Talking about my grow means sharing a bit about my experience with the plant. Writing here is a big challenge — I’m still figuring out how forums work. Ever since I started listening to the Casa da Fumaça OG podcast on YouTube, I’ve been more involved in following the community here. Now I’ve worked up the courage to post. Big thanks to @FPunk for the inspiration.

My Growing Journey

I’ve been into the plant since I was a teen, but I’ve been growing seriously for about 4 years now, always as a hobby. I’ve gone through 4 or 5 grow cycles, trying out different fertilizers and setups.

In my early grows, I didn’t even have air conditioning. I bought a lot of the wrong gear, following advice from all over without realizing how unique each grow method can be. The result? I was rarely happy with the harvests… except for one cycle that went well — but that’s a story for another post.

I live on the northern coast of Santa Catarina, Brazil. High humidity and cold winters are part of the deal, and mold is a constant challenge here.

Current Grow Setup

• Growbox: MDF box by HG Cultivo – 55x45x160 cm(If anyone’s interested, I can share more photos later.). Planning to build a second tent soon to run two separate spaces.

• Ventilation: 150mm standard exhaust fan, mini Ventisol fan

• Lighting: YXO LED Samsung LM301H 200W (35K + 660nm + UV + IR + FS), Meanwell driver
  

  

• Monitoring: Tuya sensor + Tuya camera

• Automation: Mini PC running Home Assistant
  

  

• Method: Indoor grow, super soil

Soil — My Main Investment This Cycle

After several underwhelming harvests, I decided to go all-in on quality soil. I used the Zion Farm Professional Living Soil Kit (50L). It comes with separate inputs that need to be mixed and “cooked.”

Base mix:

• Peat
• Coco coir
• Perlite
• Carbonized rice husk
• Worm castings
• Chicken manure

Added amendments:

• Azomite
• Bokashi
• Biochar
• Castor meal
• Natural phosphate
• Kelp meal
• Potassium silicate
• Agricultural gypsum
• Effective microorganisms
• Aloe vera extract + saponins
• Humic extract (humic acids)

For those interested:
Zion Farm Kit - Living Soil Pro 50L

The Plants

• Main seeds: 3 Dutch Passion - Tropical Tangie (photoperiod, feminized)
• Extras: 3 seeds about bagseeds(Prensado) for comparison

Current survivors: 3 Dutch Passion + 2 bagseeds(Prensado)
The idea is to finish the cycle with the strongest Dutch Passion plants, but if a bagseed surprises me, it stays in the game.

Germination

I followed the method recommended by @Cadu (YouTube):
1% hydrogen peroxide + 99% filtered water
So far, it’s been the most effective technique I’ve tried.

Grow Journal

June 22, 2025

• Seeds moved from water → paper towel → soil
• 500ml cups with drainage holes and a bottom layer of perlite
• Neutral base soil to avoid burning young roots
• Watering only when the cups felt light, using dechlorinated water
  
  

June 29, 2025

• Watered with solution of aloe vera extract + saponins (1ml/L)
• Adjusted PPFD to 260
  
  

July 1, 2025

• Separated one seedling that was sharing a pot
• Continued watering with plain water
• Cold weather slowing down growth
  
  

July 7, 2025

• Added 1 spoonful of “cooked” super soil to each cup
• Watering every 2 days with plain water
• Repositioned the camera to cover all plants
  
  

July 9, 2025

• Added rabbit straw as mulch to help retain moisture
• Still watering with plain water
• Monitoring growth and added yellow sticky traps
  
  

July 11, 2025

• Full clean-up of the grow space
• Watering only with plain water
  
  

Final Thoughts

That’s all for now.

I’ll keep this updated as the grow progresses. I’m still learning a lot, so any tips, feedback, or conversation is more than welcome. I really enjoy talking about this — no matter your experience level.

Thanks for reading. Let’s keep growing, learning, and harvesting together.

[Longtooth]

Nice log and great work putting together your rig/system . Good luck on your run!

[Virga]

Great job fude welcome… 200w for such small space, até you use the dimmer ? For the space i sour use only 65w or ,120w maximum, whatch out for heat and over ligth

[blowdout2269]

Great intro bud. Best of luck to ya!

@craudiaoDaMassa

Growbox: MDF box by HG Cultivo – 55x45x160 cm(If anyone’s interested, I can share more photos later.)

Color me interested.

[craudiaoDaMassa]

Thanks, man! I appreciate it. Let’s see how this run goes — I’ll try to keep the updates coming!

[craudiaoDaMassa]

Hey man! First of all, thanks for the comment. You’re right — 200W is quite a lot for my grow space.

The LED came with a built-in dimmer, but it started malfunctioning early in this grow and made the light too weak, so I ended up removing it. Right now, it’s running at 100%, placed at the top of the tent.

I measured the PPFD, and the plants are getting around 290 PPFD. Do you think I should move the light even further away? Or maybe closer? I’m using an app called Photo One along with a DIY paper diffuser. Have you heard of it? From what I’ve researched, it’s about 90% accurate.

As for temperature, it’s winter here, so the grow space doesn’t go over 29 °C (84 °F), and I’ve got an AC ready if needed.

Looking at the photos, do you think the plants are suffering from too much light? If so, I’ll buy a new dimmer as soon as possible.

[Virga]

No problem, since it’s at the top at 1.60m they won’t get burned… I thought it was a shorter grow box.

The PPFD is fine for this stage—just keep it going like that.

[craudiaoDaMassa]

Hey man, thanks a lot for the comment!

About the growbox, here are two videos — one is the unboxing and the other shows it in more detail:
Unboxing
Detail

And here are some photos I took of it today — check them out!

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Fala mano, valeu demais pelo comentário!

Sobre a growbox, aqui vão dois vídeos — um é o unboxing e o outro mostra ela com mais detalhes:
Unboxing
Detail

E aqui estão algumas fotos que tirei dela hoje — dá uma olhada!

Upper inner part

[BlindCatHermit]

Very cool setup!

[craudiaoDaMassa]

Thank you very much for the comment, my friend!

[TricHolmes]

Hey, welcome and good luck brother!
Really nice set up and first post.
I take a seat to follow along

[craudiaoDaMassa]

Hey folks,

Thanks a lot to everyone who replied to this thread – it’s really awesome to get support from people who really know the plant. Big thanks to those who are here to contribute!

Still going with the grow: 3 Dutch Passion and 2 bagseeds (from pressed weed, probably from Paraguay).
Funny thing is, the bagseeds are doing much better so far. They seem stronger, more adaptable… while the Dutch ones are kinda weak: thin stems, pale color, slow growth.
I won’t lie, I’m a bit disappointed, especially since they weren’t cheap. But maybe they’ll surprise me during flowering, who knows?

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Climate over the last days:

• Temperature: 19°C to 29°C (66°F to 84°F)
• Humidity: 43% to 77%
  
  

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Watering:

• July 12, 2025: Watered the ones with light pots.
  

  

• July 14, 2025: Same, only watered the dry ones.
  

  

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Quick question:

I noticed that one of the cotyledons on a Dutch seedling started yellowing.
Is that normal or should I be worried?
All plants get the same light, soil, and watering routine – only this one showed this issue. I’ve posted a few pics for you to check out.

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Cheers!

[craudiaoDaMassa]

Thanks dude! I’m already heating up the popcorn pot so we can enjoy the show together!

[FishWhistler]

Hey man, my plants were having the same issues until I pH’ed my water. If you have a meter or strips it would definitely be worth checking just to make sure it’s in a reasonable range. An OG member made the recommendation to me and it turned everything around, I also grow in soil.

[craudiaoDaMassa]

@FishWhistler

Ei, cara, minhas plantas estavam com os mesmos problemas até eu fazer o pH da água. Se você tiver um medidor ou tiras, vale a pena conferir para garantir que esteja em uma faixa razoável. Um membro do OG me recomendou e tudo mudou. Eu também cultivo em solo.

Hey bro, thanks a lot for stopping by! Great point, I’ll definitely look into checking the water pH. Funny thing is, it only happened with this one plant… so weird, right? Maybe it’s got some particular sensitivity. What pH level do you usually use for your plants? What would be a reasonable range for you?

[FishWhistler]

Ideally I would have my ph 6.6-7.1 for living soil. It doesn’t need to be exact for me, just in that range. Citric acid and phosphoric acid (pH Down) seem to be the most popular if you need to lower. My pH is usually around 7.8-8.0 out of my tap.

Here’s a really good article on water quality from KIS. His website and podcast are super informative in regards to growing organically, helped me a lot.

The Importance of Water Quality and Water Testing

[craudiaoDaMassa]

Thank you so much, my friend! I’m going to read that article right away and take the necessary steps. I’ll definitely look into it. Really appreciate you sharing!

[craudiaoDaMassa]

Hello everyone, back here with more updates from my grow.
Big thanks to everyone who took the time to read and/or comment on the post. Much love to you all!

Let’s get to the point:
In my last update, I mentioned a problem with the cotyledons of one of the plants. My buddy @FishWhistler pointed out something that could have been the issue — the water pH. When I realized it, all my pH meters were busted, and since money is tight this month, I’ll only buy a new sensor next month. But I did buy a few liters of water at the store with pH 6.8, so if that was the issue, it should be solved for now.

• July 16, 2025:
  Preparing a solution with effective microorganisms, 2ml/L. I made one liter
  
  

Did a top prune on the two biggest plants, both from brick weed

Here’s the photo

• July 18, 2025
  Inspired by a friend here at OG, @Senhor_Luffy, I started monitoring watering based on pot weight, but now using a precision scale instead of just guessing. It takes a bit of work, but it’s really interesting to see which plants are drinking more, and to water only when needed.
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• July 20, 2025
  The two biggest plants were showing signs of being too large for their pots — their leaf tips had been pointing down for a few days even with regular watering.
  I started with a layer of expanded clay, then a thin layer of perlite, and filled the rest with the prepared soil I made (more details at the start of this topic). I used a cup the same size as the pot to make the mold.
  I also took the opportunity to do a full clean-up of the grow room.
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

The transplant was smooth. The soil was very dry and the roots had no more space to grow.

Before:

After:

• July 21, 2025
  Watered the plants that were thirsty according to my pot weight monitoring. These were the ones with the leaf tips pointing downward.
  
  

[Senhor_Luffy]

@craudiaoDaMassa

Inspired by a friend here at OG, @Senhor_Luffy, I started monitoring watering based on pot weight, but now using a precision scale instead

Olha só! Pesar os vasos tem sido o mais seguro mesmo. Os sensores sei não… nada conclusivo mas desanimando com as leituras recentes. Aproveitando, estou com uma outra balança grande pra pesar adultos mesmo. E tem funcionado perfeito pra vasos maiores com 20kg ou mais. É a forma mais certeira pra regar pelo jeito.

[LampiaoExtraterrestr]

Damn boy, your setup is really cool, well measured… Regarding the soil, did you just mix it as described and wait for it to ferment?

And regarding the application of the KNF that comes in the Zion kit, did you find it necessary based on empirical evidence or was it a recommendation?

Wow, the scale tip is really good, I’ll definitely use it…

Also, this article about water quality is really cool too.

The preenseed standing out, I pulled up my chair.