AZ noob : Diary of first grow.

Well after seeing Paul Ts videos of him eating supers I just had to try some so I ordered a mixed box from a US grower.

I did eat a whole bunch but I ended up dehydrating them...after removing the seeds from about 4-5 of each...which was painful...don't ask

I planted about 6 seeds and 4 came up...after about 2 weeks of growth I put the biggest one in a nice new Powergrower.

Here it is after ~90 days.

And at 100.

And at 110 with first flowers.

And lastly from yesterday at ~120 days with first pods.

I must say it has been an incredible journey so far... I just hope its getting enough sun for the pods to grow and ripen...time will tell.

Cheers.

 

[Dreamweaver]

Found a cool google earth web app that shows you the arc of the sun throughout the year.
 
www.suncalc.net
 
As i feared...my arc is gonna get higher till the summer solstice...plants will be loosing minutes a day   
 

 
As mohammad won't go to the mountain...i might just have to bring the mountain to him  

 

[Dreamweaver]

Got my RO installed today and it has turned my 900 ppm nasty city water into 200 ppm mineral water (150 ppm + 50 ppm cal/mg).

It comes out as 8.3 PH...but after nutes it is 6.4 :cheer:

The only downside so far is it is slow...1G every 10 mins...but I just set the timer on my phone and go back after 25 mins.

Still growing...

 

[John1234]

Nice pods, the plant looks green and lush.
 
Good call on the RO, 900ppm out of the tap is insane! Although I guess it makes sense for AZ.
 
We're pretty spoiled here, somewhere around 30-50ppm. When I was on the Sunshine Coast it was <30ppm

 

[JJJessee]

Nice set-up and the plants are responding with gusto!
I'm amazed that they are so robust on that amount of sun. Pods even !

 

[Dreamweaver]

Thanks guys....yeah they seem to like the RO water and the 1,000 ppm nute mix.

Had another tier of flowers drop but they seem to just be unfertilized...got a fan oscillating across it now to see if that works.

If not I'm at a loss as to how to pollenate all these flowers without spending hours with a q-tip every night.

My Thai Demons have just sprouted the first true leaves which is cool.

 

[Dreamweaver]

Gonna stop the fan as it seems to be drying the plant out...small budlets are black, leaves look a little funky and flowers are still dropping unfertilized.

Will pick up an electric toothbrush tomorrow and try the buzz technique as it seems much easier and less damaging on the flowers.

 

[Dreamweaver]

Day 140 ish...
 
The Thai Demon took about a week to start its true leaves cycle...its under way now.
 

 
The bhut is shaping up nicely...second set of pods grew much faster...still nothing ripening :dry:
 
Have lost two tiers of flowers to being unfertilized...hopefully this will change this week.
 

 
Not sure how long i can leave them on there!!!
 

 

[Dreamweaver]

Dropped the grow from the nute mix to try and reduce the N...using 1 micro and 2 bloom per G.

This gives me a 5-10-9 mix at 800 ppm + RO at 150 ppm = 950 ppm.

PH of RO it 7.8-8.0 with nutes its 6.2.

Also ordered a 90W LED red UFO from G8.

Hopefully the flowers will like this new stuff...next tier might be setting will know in a couple of days.

 

[Dreamweaver]

RO system has improved over the week of use...its now down to 100 ppm + 50 ppm put back of Mg/ca. = 150 ppm total.

PH seems to have come down a little also now at 7.8 raw.

 

[Dreamweaver]

Added back the N after a few days as the plant completely stalled on only the 5% mix.

Back to 0.5-1.5-2 tsp/G of G-M-B.

To help with my flower drop and pod ripening my 90W LED bloom UFO arrived today...got it 20" above main canopy and on from 7-7.

Guess well see what gives in a week or so.

Other changes:

Turned up my ceiling fan and leaving the house AC a little lower means that the sun room maxes out at 80, which the bhut seems to be liking.

The misting once a week with Epsom Salts.

Put down a couple of trays with an inch of water next to the plants...think humidity went up a little...now at ~32%.

And i have been pollenating at night with a flashlight and finger...as the plant seems less stressed, you can see the pollen with the flashlight and the finger tip gives much more sensitively.

Results TBD but i have finally got some upper tier flowers setting after loosing three tiers...phew!!!

 

[Dreamweaver]

Thai Demon one week futher on...three leaves and some trunk growth.

Couldn't resist any longer...my very first home grown pod test...and yes it was a scorcher.

Very strong capsicum smell

Solid burn/hot coal for about 5 minutes

Looking forward to some ripe ones in a week hopefully.

 

[Dreamweaver]

Started the bhut on the maxibloom diet today...i dont think the flora series is tailored to chilli's.

One thing I noticed is its acidic...took my 7.7 RO water down to 4.5 with 1 tsp/G.

Had to get some PH up...it came out as 5.8 and 1200 ppm (water is 150).

 

[Dreamweaver]

Day 150.

The first pods are 4 weeks old now and beginning to bulk up...guess I've got any 8 weeks before they ripen ???

Day 1 of the maxibloom...tagged this tip to follow the progress.

Is it good practice to pick one or two unripe pods every so often to encourage the plant to set?

 

[Dreamweaver]

Quick update...here is the Thai Demon 5 weeks in.
 
Just starting to branch out  B) 
 

 

[Dreamweaver]

In the last ditch attempt to get ripe indoor pods we went all out with two G8 240Ws + the existing 90W UFO.

Day 1 for the Thai.

A non hydro sister seed of the Thai that went with dirt.

We'll see how the monster bhut likes the ~600W 6'x4' grow area.

High hopes and fingers crossed.

 

[Dreamweaver]

Well after only 3 days of the G8s my prayers have been answered

Guess it will take a few days for them to decide if they are yellows or peaches.

Feeling a bit sick today with a stomach bug but as I've got room for one more I might pop another one in the ground...I'm thinking a Bubblegum

 

[Dreamweaver]

Well it looks like I didn't end up placing that order for the BG so instead we have the Jamaican Red Mushroom.

 

[Dreamweaver]

Got me a little snack for after work 
 

 

[Pariah]

Very impressive setup! Love how you turned this into a science!
 
... and you made me realize what a retard I am in the process...

 

[Dreamweaver]

lol...i've just had bad luck with soil and my house plants so i decided to try a hydro alternative and the GH POWERGROWER is basically a pot with inert soil.
 
The rest is simply growing by the numbers and with the MAXI series it just 1 tsp per gallon then adjust PH to ~6.
 
Change it once a week and you done