Growing cannabis is easy. Cannabis is a fast-growing plant. It literally grows like a weed. Even beginners will have a hard time screwing up growing cannabis because it can grow under not-so-ideal conditions. Most marijuana strains only need 4 months to transform from seed to smoke-able product.
This grow journal is a recording of a novice’s attempt to grow feminized White Widow from ILGM for the first time.
Grower: Ryoken
Location: USA
Yield: 11 ounces (dry)
Seeds: White Widow
March 13th
Just a recap, this grow started with 4 plants which sprouted last February 1st.
For the first 2 weeks, the plants were in Fox Farm Happy Frog, 25% Perlite, sprouted in Rapid Rooters. After receiving ½ of the recommended GoBox nutes, the plants were religiously pH-ed at 6.7 to 6.8 with runoff at 6.3.
Before they 6th week tomorrow, the girls were transplanted to 7-gallon Smart Pots using Fox Farm Ocean Forest.
Other than a couple of bad leaves here and there, they seem to be growing nicely. All 4 were being trained to some extent. They were topped after producing 6 nodes and they were bent over using pipe cleaners.
The grow room is 3’ x 4’. It’s obviously too small for 4 plants but this shouldn’t be that much of a hindrance to success. This set up also contains 600W Solas Tek air-cooled MP/HPS setup with 6-inch fan pushing through with a Gal Force fan, and a 4-inch ceiling fan for room exhaust. The heater is self-controlled. Once the tent temperature reaches a certain temperature, it shuts off and kicks on when it needs to.
CO2 is supplied by ProCO2 tub.
By far, the biggest issue is the pH idiocy that went on earlier. Keeping the room at appropriate temperatures is also a full-time job. So far, day and night temperatures are 68 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit but with lows and highs of 58 and 95.
Grow Bible
- Grow with my Quick Start Guide
- Discover secrets to Big Yields
- Avoid common grow mistakes
March 16th
Watering has been consistent twice a week, about once every 3 days. They seem to be really thriving on this schedule and there’s not sign of nutrient burn or anything.
March 20th
They’re 7 weeks old now and 2 feet from the soil. A fair amount of pruning was done on the lower parts of the plants.
March 23rd
The hood and ballast were relocated to the attic tonight. It’s positive pressure from the soffet at the rear of the picture, and the duct at the front of the photo is the exhaust that goes out an unused bathroom exhaust fan roof outlet.
Moving the ballast and fan is a great move of relocating and removing heat. Some small adjustments are all that are needed to give good results. Learning by doing is the biggest investment return in the world.
March 26th
It’s 5th day after transitioning to flower and the girls are due for their water tonight. The only watering they had on 12/12 was their last veg/transition watering. They were supposed to start their first feeding with Bloom and Bio Bud but the other day, one of the tops and a few random fan leaves showed a bit of nute burn even while on the ½ strength feeding of the GoBox.
So tonight instead of feeding, they’re getting straight pH-ed 6.5 water. Runoff has been 6.4 during the last 4 or 5 waterings.
Check out these photos of girls taken out of their small space for a night out on the town!
March 31st
Humidity is starting to become an issue. This new humidifier was installed. So far, it’s not overly impressive.
It’s pretty out of control in the grow space with lots of top growth, and pistils popping out. As it turns out, this is only a 2-plant closet!
It looks like they’ve grown 3 to 4 inches ever since they were placed under 12/12 lights 10 days ago. They’ll be ready to go under the screen soon.
April 9th
Today marks the 19th day ever since their light cycle was swapped. They were watered today and they’re out for probably the last time.
Just a minor bit of bottom trimming and they’re back in the tent. The screen is already installed and once they were under it, a couple of the tops were poking through. Most buds have 4 to 8 inches to get through.
April 17th
Day 27 of flowering and everything looks cool but the stretch is a bit disappointing, maybe an inch the last week. They were a bit dry in these photos because they were only watered 5 minutes before. They seem to be gulping water big time.
Humidity is pretty steady at 40% to 50%.
Fingers crossed, this grow should produce very minor lower loss. Haven’t been trimming much since flowering just the real low sprouts.
When you walk into the room, you’d really smell them. Just curious to see how the buds are developing. It’s literally an explosion! And while hand-watering is surreal and cathartic, it can also be really annoying.
Looking at these photos, the ladies seem to only have 4 to weeks to go.
April 18th
Here’s a photo of one of the plants after working on the art of LST.
April 22nd
Nothing to see here other than the buds at 32 days old!
April 26th
The girls are looking really good right now. Leaves still look really good just a few dropping off at the bottom. Most of the fan leaves have good color and no issues.
The buds are starting to fatten up some but it looks like the net should have been 6 inches lower. They’re not growing any taller these days.
Harvest Guide
- Time your harvest for Perfect Taste
- Get THC levels for a Perfect High
- Don’t waste any Precious Bud
April 30th
Lowered the SCRO net today. Glad it was done because some buds were flopping around and needed some support.
May 8th
Take a look at these 48-day old buds!
They’ll get about another 10 days of nutes followed by a 2-week flush.
June 8th
Unfortunately, the girls were harvested at 9.5 weeks of flowering. This was 10 days premature but the results were 12 stuffed wide-mouth quart mason jars.
They hang for about 10 days at 60%. The final dry weight from the 4 plants is 11 ounces!
Grower: Ryoken
Location: USA
Yield: 11 ounces (dry)
Seeds: White Widow
Earlier in the grow journal, the grower claims to learn by doing. These words are true for novice cannabis growers. As you get your hands on more strains of cannabis and you learn more cultivation methods, you learn and become even more competent in your cannabis endeavors.
What learning method would you suggest for newbie grower?