[First Grow!] Northern Lights

Flowerboy_Taj I have to say, there was a huge moment of shock when my plants first popped out of the ground. Im use to seeing my food come out of the ground, but my weed?! Simple but profound moment that may have changed my life–I'm a long time stoner and designer who often works in close proximity to the cannabis industry but has never grown. I was actually waiting for my LEDs to be delivered and was using a low wattage CFL for the first few days. Since this is my first grow I've already made a lot of rookie mistakes, among which are: using outdoor soil I use for my yearly veggie garden, using a shallow container, keeping them in a room that is not the optimal temp/humidity (~68F), using a weak light and having the light too far, and probably like a bunch of other crucial things lol. But other than that, theyre doing great!

Flowerboy_Taj So my grow lights still didnt come in this week. Theyre under some super low watt cfl. Thats probably why theyre stretch so much. Hopefully as soon as I get my LEDs and can shorten the distance without burning the plants everything will be better. Also, Im learning that the current closet I am growing out of is too cold and dry because the leaves are looking thick and waxy.

Flowerboy_Taj This was a near fatal week. I put the new 300W LED up and a fan in the closet that I am growing out of (this is at a friends house as well so I am not in constant proximity with the plants). At some point in the beginning of the week, the fan fell over and began blowing directly on the seedlings. Luckily I caught it within a day of this happening but even then, the blown over stems looked thin, brown, and sickly. When I found the plants I also realized that the outdoor soil I was using was not tilled well enough and the plants were having a tough time securing strong roots in the soil. I decided to stop being neglectful and made the risky decision of getting new topsoil and transplanting the babies in actual cups. When I was transplanting I was literally putting young damaged taproots with no rootball or soil protection straight into new potting soil (do not do this lol). By the end of the week, 5/6 seedlings had survived and were growing again. 😛

Flowerboy_Taj End of Week 4 (still seedlings) and the babies are looking so much better. They were given nutrients that I bought as a starter pack from General Organics. Theyre meant to be hydroponic nutrients but they work the same in soil. I've read online that you shouldnt give your plants the recommended dosage from the manufacturer. All the listed nutrients were given at 15-20% strength with the exception of the BioRoot which was given at 50% (encouraging new roots in new cup). Some of the leaves are coming out stunted but this is expected considering the considerable stress they went through last week.

Flowerboy_Taj This grow will probably end up becoming an example of how you can f*ck up so badly in the beginning and still make it out okay. Its week 5 and Im starting the week off with some nutrient burn. This week I've decided that I'm going to partner up with one of my homegirls (Ill refer to her as LSD), who is a bioartist/neon artist, and move the plants to her place, which is warmer and more humid. She is also pretty committed to being sustainable and organic and makes her own vermicompost and water culture, which is maintained by some fishies. We transplanted all five into ~10 gallon plastic pots. The babies are thriving post transplant and look like completely different plants now. Its crazy how much humidity, temperature, and some TLC can effect your plants. Note: These are no longer seedlings, considering this the official first week of veg.