Day 9: Plant 4 clearly showed pollen sac pre flowers. I removed it from the garden and replaced it with GG4. Plant 3 is looking root bound and unhappy while the rest look very fine. Plants on the tray (two that are left) haven’t made it obvious if they are male or not. One of those plants (see previous journal entry) the middle one looks like its female and is stronger than plant 3. So I removed plant 3 and transplanted the middle one. ((( FOR NOW ON PLANT 3 IS THE MIDDLE PLANT FROM TRAY))). I assumed more would be male so I’m expecting the other two on the tray to grow pollen sacs. If not oh well I transplanted the strongest.

10 days ago

Day 1: First thing I noticed today is that the reservoir was empty. Before filling it up I had to see where it went. Turns out the Blumat in plant 4 was set too high. If I hadn’t bought such deep trays I would’ve had a serious flood inside the tent. Thank you Grodan! I had to detach the water line, carefully slide the heavy pot off the stand without spilling it. The tray was too full to pick up. I had to scoop water from a cup into a bucket until it was low and light enough to dump without spilling. Cleaned up the inside, replaced it, and cleared the water lines for air. Tightened the Blumat on pot 4 and pH the tap water to 6.4. I didn’t have any distilled. (I ordered late) after that I switched the AC Infinity ai smart controller to flower around 10am. The new humidifier is working great. The two plants I transplanted are still not as healthy looking as I’d like. Some nutrient burn maybe. The other plants look fine.

18 days ago

Day 27: I noticed the soil was drying yet the Blumats weren’t engaging. So I turned each one, one full spin around until each rested on the red mark. Theoretically, the water should flow because the soil is dry. As expected the water began to flow. Previously I never noticed the water dripping from the rings. I only calibrated using the Blumat itself. I’d stop it at hanging drip. Now I’m beginning to think that’s wrong. One thing I don’t like about this system is how long it takes to get dialed in. I’ll give it 24hrs and see how things are doing. ***UPDATE 4:46pm*** I glanced at the water level and it was empty! That quick! I adjusted each pot until plant #3 was the culprit. It was pour water. When I tried to adjust it, there was resistance but I got it into position. I may need to replace that one. If plants 1,2, and 4 don’t remain consistent I will return them to my original setting (mental note: go one rotation counterclockwise)

19 days ago

Day 26: transplanted plant 1 & 2 then I chopped and dropped the cover crop. I left plant 3 & 4 because I think they are male. I think GG4 is the only other female and the rest male (4 out of 7). Watered all of them. Used Rootwise, aloe, fish stuff, cal-mag, Clonex Seedling Solution, and BuildaVeg. pH to 6.5. Raised the lights and turned intensity to from 50% to 75%. Sprinkled Mycrobe Complete when transplanting. Top dressed build a flower compost, Kashi Blend flower, and covered with straw. A few days ago my humidifier stopped working and was leaking. After cleaning it I refilled it some and tried to make it work. Nothing happened. I switched the cord and nothing happened. While talking to support I checked on the cable and it burned me. So I unplugged it and put a standard humidifier inside the tent. Later I figured out that the broke. humidifier works in manual mode. Support is sending me a new upgraded humidifier. I’m so happy.

21 days ago

Day 22: After cleaning things I’ve been monitoring the reservoir. So far the only odd thing is that when I put my pH reader in the tank it reads high. Then I stir the water and it lowers. I can’t find online why this happens. Luckily, it’s all within 6.1-6.5 pH. I had to hand water all seven plants today. Each got 1.5 cups of solution. I used everything. Then I foliar sprayed the Clonex Seedling solution. I double or triple dosed it and spray it every once and awhile. So far no issues. New leaves looks normals some minor purpling of the stems on a few plants. I think the GG4 is a male. I think plant 1 & 2 are female and idk about plant 3 & 4. I can’t tell for the two on the tray. I flip to flower in a week.

24 days ago

Day 19: Either microbes shouldn’t go into a water reservoir, I used too much (I added 2tsp instead of 1), or I shouldn’t have used microbes with organic nutrients like BuildaVeg. Idk but by the end of the day yesterday, there was a bloom, a could rotten egg smell, and a mess. The mess came from the second air hose slipping out from the bucket and spilled water. I checked for leaks and I’m good. The smell came from the microbes breaking down the organic matter from the BuildaVeg most likely. I checked the pH and it went from 6.3’ish to over 7. So I brought it down using pH down and let it be. I’m fairly certain it isn’t a bad algae bloom or something gross. I am concerned that it’s going to make the lines dirty. I don’t think I’m going to do that again. Only liquids for now on. ***UPDATE*** I called Sustainable Village and asked about the bloom and had questions about their filters. He told me that I shouldn’t put anything in the water besides 10-15mL of peroxide. Nutrients and microbes should be manually. So I bought a 3 gallon tank sprayer to make it easier to not damage my soil moisture sensors. Also, I had to thoroughly clean the entire system. I uninstalled the water lines and soaked them in water with lots of vinegar. I dumped the water from the reservoir and cleaned the inside with peroxide. I refilled with tap water as I’m low on distilled water. After reconnecting everything I cleared the lines of air bubbles. I added 15mL of peroxide into the tank for good measure. I learned arbitrarily that the system came with a water level indicator. I wasn’t sure what the purpose was until today haha. Now I don’t have to open the lid to know the water level. I was told by sustainable village that adding oxygen to the water can make the water anaerobic and will create a bloom. He said to think of it like drinking water. We don’t aerate our drinking water tanks. Hopefully this time I won’t have any problems like I did before. I’m not adding a thing; not even aloe. No air stone.

a month ago

Day 18: Checked on the garden today and it seemed like the plants needed water. Pots felt a little light and the manual soil moisture sensor was showing green but near red (red being dry). Decided to whip up a gallon of goodies. Aloe, microbes, enzyme elixir, & BuildaVeg. Each plant got about two cups of water. Only light run off from the plants sitting on trays. Worm life is still booming particularly in plant #3. Fan leaves were too big and covering branches trying to reach the light so I gave them a trim of top large leaves. Refilled the reservoir with about 1.25 gal. and added just 2 tsp of Pure Protein fish aminos & about 1 TBS of BuildaVeg to it. pH to 6.3. I put the second air line into the reservoir hoping it would ventilate it better. I doubt it but worth a shot.

a month ago

Day 12 of Veg: trimmed up cover crop. One of those seeds makes big old leaves. I’ll have to research what they are. They are the hardest to keep alive while allowing my main plant to thrive. The dry back took weeks from nearly 50% in all four pots. I got them all near 20% and then I filled bucket up with distilled water with nutrients and microbes. After a day or so the reservoir was really low. In just a few days, I refilled it twice with plain pH water. Originally I thought they’d drink the water fast so the solution won’t stay in the reservoir long. When I added more water I thought the dilution would help too. Today, I began to second guess using BuildaVeg because it’s grainy bits and I got worried that putting microbes into the water would cause some bad bacteria to grow. So I added peroxide but I added too much. One ai said I could use up to 8oz but another ai said that could damage the root zone. So I emptied the reservoir and filled it with tap water pH’d with Cal-Mag & Enzyme Elixir and 15mL of peroxide. I’ll order more distilled water later but for now this will do. I trimmed the plants under sides a bit. I left four nodes on each plant. One plant is a bit of a runt and showing discoloration. I think it’s a weak link. I still have fungus gnats regardless of the dry back. Time to order some stuff to kill them.

a month ago

Day 3 of Veg: I noticed that the plants may need water so I created a solution with Clonex Seedling solution plus Aloe. I forgot to check the soil before watering (smh). There was little to no run off from the plants in the tray and I gave them all the same amount of water. While doing so I saw that some of the cover crop looked like they had nutrient burn. I’ll have to look this up. Besides those two deformed plants, everything looks great.

a month ago

Day 2 of Veg - yesterday I played with the lights to raise my DLI to the 20 range. Next week I’ll raise to 30’ish. I started by increasing the intensity to 100% but the heat climbed very fast. Without a dedicated AC, I decided to decrease the intensity back to the lowest setting and then I lowered the lights until the DLI was ideal. The three plants sitting on a tray are higher than the ones in pots so their DLI was near 30. The plant in the middle in the tray seems to be the most robust plant out of all 7. Hopefully I’ll know which plants are male, if any. The dry back of the pots is taking a long time. It’s been a week of no water at all (system turned off) and the pots are only just now starting to get close to a soil moisture reading of 25%. At 25%, it’s time to water and attempt to reach 35% and maintain that level. It’s going to take some trial and error to dial in. Added the red wigglers into each pot and watered just a tad where the worms were. I put about 4 or more in each pot. I have some more coming in the mail. Noticed fungus gnats which is weird because I’m doing a dry back and the top soil (inch down) is dry. I’m going to invest some organic fungus gnat killer. Also, two plants have deformed leaves. I’m not sure if that’s due to the foliar spray, spray+air circulation, or something else. I’ll need to research this further. Luckily, I only need four strong plants out of seven. Hopefully all of these are female and I’ll have more to choose from. These images were taken before I trimmed the cover crop.

a month ago

Checking on the garden today. Did some maintenance such as: clean and sanitize the water reservoir, air stone, and air pump tubes. I’m waiting for a dry back to reach 25% before I turn on the waterlines. I’m going to have to reset my carrots (Blumat carrots) since they’ll likely get drained of water. The seedlings are growing fast. Especially the middle plant on the tray. Hopefully these plants will show their gender next week. With such a short run, I’m unsure how well I can fill the canopy. I may just top once if that. This is more of an experiment run. I checked DLI and everything is within range with the center being slightly higher. Tomorrow I figure out if I’m going to have lights low or just brighter.

2 months ago

The cover crop needs chopped but I’m not ready to just drop it as mulch yet. I want the plants to grow and extend their roots deep into the soil. I had to clear the foliage near the rings. I made sure there weren’t any plants growing inside the rings. I noticed the soil was dry for all the seedlings so I created a special solution. I got some distilled water and added Clonex Seedling solution (10mL/L of water). I added 1 tsp of aloe. Next I pH the water to 6.2. I poured the water (about 1-2 cups) into a watering pitcher then sprinkled a small amount of Mycrobe Complete. After pouring the same amount of water into the plants sitting on the tray I noticed a little runoff from one of the plants. Idk if it got more water than the others or what but I wanted to note it so I can adjust next week.

2 months ago

Noticed that a few plants had discoloration; P1 & far left on tray. Sprayed all seedlings lightly with Clonex Solution. Stopped the flow of water from the reservoir and waiting for a dry back to 35%. ***UPDATE*** 01/20/25 The two discolored plants are doing ok along with the rest. Second pair of leaves has gotten somewhat bigger overnight for all plants. Lightly sprayed Clonex Seedling Solution. Next watering I’m going to give them some Pure Protein to add nitrogen.(Pure Protein is a water soluble nitrogen product that’s made from fish)

2 months ago

This morning I checked on the garden. I had a hunch to check online sources for ideal soil moisture percentages for Ecowitt when growing cannabis. Various sources indicated ideal range is between 25%-45% with the target being 35%. Clearly I’ve been overwatering hence the reason I had to refill the reservoir twice with only cover crops growing. I adjusted each Blumat dripper so they dripped then I turned it to the red line. Now I wait for a dry back. If they don’t slow down soon I’ll shut the lines and force it to dry back. I’m going to use the time it’ll take for the seedlings to be ready for transplanting to get the soil into a perfect condition. I re-amended some soil with worm castings, Craft Blend, Mycrobe Complete, Freeze Dried Aloe, and Enzyme Elixir. I transplanted the seedlings into the re-blended soil, watered lightly (with Clonex Seedling Solution) and put straw on top of the moist soil.

2 months ago

Day 4 and Stretching: Checked on the girls today. Looks like they are stretching so I turned up the light to 75%. After that I checked out the DLI and they were getting way too much much light so I turned it back down to its lowest setting (50%). Re-checked DLI and it was at the highest amount of the ideal range. Then I checked out my water reservoir and found bacteria growing. I disconnected and cleaned with soap and alcohol. I reconnected the lines and purged the old water and was good to go. I checked online about how to keep the water clean and it said peroxide is a good cleaner that is safe for plants and soil. Another alternative is aloe and I just so happened to have some freeze dried aloe. I put it directly into the reservoir. It distilled so fast I couldn’t seeder any traces that I added it.

2 months ago

Finally germinated the seeds. The mycelium bloom didn’t have a negative effect. All 7 GCxGM and 1 GG4 germinated. One of the GCxGM just popped out of the soil for the second time!! Hopefully this time it will stay in the soil. It had a 2 inch tap root.

2 months ago

Sowed cover crop yesterday & set up gravity irrigation system today. Installed new ai smart controller and so far so good. I used Build a Soil 12-Seed Cover Crop and straw for mulch. Starting with some random freebies and some bag seed. London Pound Cake from SeedsHereNow, Sloppy Joe OG by SeedsHereNow, Gelato by Nirvana, GG4 bag seed. After soaking the seeds in water for 24hrs, I put them in damp paper towels. I placed them on plastic containers and warmed them with a heating mat. I’m ready it’s go time!

2 months ago

I thought it would be wise to put a heater in the lung room to warm things up in the tent. Temps were around 70°F yet VPD was somewhat high but within range (.8-1.0kPa). But after 24hrs of keeping the heater on with door closed, temps got to 80°, which I thought was ideal, yet the VPD was way too high. The only thought I had was to turn off the heater, open the tent for a second, and open the door to the lung room. Temps are finally dropping and VPD is lowering getting closer to reasonable ranges for seedlings. I want my cover crop to sprout before my cannabis. I figure it should take another hour or so to correct it. I’m surprised the ai didn’t think to ventilate the tent in order to drop temps.

2 months ago

Went to set up the other two soil moisture sensors and I noticed a few things. The water was visibly lower so some of the pots have been using the water. My next step was to check that something with the calibration hadn’t changed and sure enough it had. Idk if it moved on its own or if I did it wrong but they were off and I remember setting them yesterday. Either way, on of the pots that was reading high moisture had an improper Blumat carrot setting. So I fixed it and decided to give water to all the pots until they read 50% or so. I over shot it by accident for a few of them. It’s all good the worms will love it and it’ll be good for all my cover crop seed. So I fixed the carrots, top watered, and topped off the reservoir.

2 months ago

Went to check on the plants today. I had appointments this morning so I was late getting to them. The temperature was too high from the heater I turned on last night. (Mental note turn off heater in morning). I opened the window, lung room door, and tent doors until it cooled off. I checked on the seeds. All but one was still warm and moist. None have started growing tap roots. I’m beginning to think they are all duds or I did something wrong. Maybe two more days then I reset.

2 months ago

Still nothing from the first set of seeds. They must’ve been bad. This time I’m using what I think are more viable seeds, Gelato Cake x Grease Monkey. I soaked them for 24hrs then placed them into BAS Heady Soil that I amended with Rootwise Mycrobe Complete, Rootwise Enzyme Elixir, and Aloe. I put three seeds into paper towels. They were floaters that wouldn’t sink so I’m skeptical they’ll pop but just to try I put them into a paper towel. If none of this works I need to reconsider how I’m storing seeds and acknowledge which seeds are likely no good anymore.

2 months ago

Four out of seven seeds that were put into the soil yesterday popped their heads out of the soil. This is the kind of germination rate that I’m used to…… the London Pound Cake has a tiny tap root. I’m going to see if I can get it grow further

2 months ago

Went to check on the girls and found a bloom of microbes. I think that’s what it is because I mixed in microbe complete directly into the soil as a dry amendment. The humidity likely got too high inside the dome. Not certain what I should do and wanting to save my seeds, I spooned out the white fuzz. Next I noticed that I hadn’t planted some of the seeds deep enough so I carefully made a better hole for each of them. All seven germinated some with bigger tap roots. After that I sprayed a few drops of water on them and back to some they went. This time I’m not going to pour water in the tray. Cover crop is growing quickly. I noticed pot #4 was very dry on one side. The soil was puffed up like I had disturbed it and never patted it back down. Idk. Poured a little water on it and zipped the tent back up.

2 months ago