B.B.B.B’s Official Grow Journal (my first grow)

[Adrjon99]

Hello all. I’ve made a couple of post with questions regarding my plants, but I feel it’s only right to start an official grow journal for my first quadruplet of plants. For simplicity and shits and giggles, I decided to name them Bertha, Betsy, Brunhilda, and Beverly [in order of oldest to newest]. Bertha was planted March 21st, Betsy was planted March 25th, Brunhilda was planted March 28th, and Beverly was planted April 1st, Bertha and Betsy started out rough, with very inadequate lighting from the cesspool of lights that is my bedroom for their first week of life, and then incubated under another measly 50W bulb for another couple of days until my light cables came in. I got my grow room set up enough to put the plants in March 30th. My first set up was just two 100W daylight bulbs, which I eventually added a third a few days later. I also accumulated a humidifier, fan, hygrometer, and have a pH/TDS stick and a SF1000 coming in the mail as we speak They are in FFOF (I now know it was a bad move to start seedlings off in this) and have FF trio, but have only used a small drop on Betsy and Brunhilda when they were growing slowly, which they had no reaction to at the time. Humidity started out low at 65% (before humidifier) and is now at 75%. Temperature also started out low at around 65° F, but are a stable 73° F once I added a heating blanket under them (don’t judge me, a heating mat will come) and I cannot seem to get it higher without skyrocketing my utility bill. My next moves are to buy a bag of FFHF and replant them all into slightly bigger pots so I can bury them deeper, and of course set up their first beneficial grow light the millisecond it gets here.
Without further ado, here they are, in order from oldest to youngest. I’m open to any and all suggestions, and I’ve kept a very detailed plant journal on my phone of any information I could get, so feel free to ask any questions. Currently, Betsy, Brunhilda, and Beverly are very stunted, but Bertha is doing great (and is also a little stunted). Any theories on how I can help them would be great. Aside from replies to this thread, my next update will be after I have a chance to monitor their health after the new light is set up and their pH is corrected.

Forgot to add, Betsy was broken in half on April 6th and is taped, but she has still grown, just extra extra slowly.

Are twisting leaves a bad sign? I have no idea what could cause it, but it’s slightly happening to Bertha too.

And despite being 11 days old, Beverly had not shed or cracked her seed. I’ll see her out for a while, but if growth proves to be this slow during the whole process then I may scrap her. It all just depends.

[Adrjon99]

Final side note: Only Bertha is in a 2.2 L planter, while the rest only on 570 ml planters. The only reason they’ve stayed is because my FFOF got moldy

[Adrjon99]

Turns out the water I was using for the plants has a good PPM of 225-250, but a horrible pH of 7.8-8.2, which is probably why they’re looking a little rough, especially Betsy. The meter I bought today actually came with some packets of balancing powder, so I have some water made and set aside for when the lights come on tomorrow. Next step after that if the plants don’t show any improvement is to give it some CalMag, bc the only deficiency I can find that’s similar to what they’re showing is Calcium deficiency.

[Jaysittinback]

Hi, did the shell come off Bev yet. Keeping it wet eh, softens the shell.
I got same challenge keeping seedlings warm, and costs low. I put a ceiling (scrap lumber) over my plants so there’s a 1 - 1.5’ space between their shelf and the light. Small fan circulates air around. Also cut the diffuser off them bulbs for more light you can.

[Adrjon99]

She still hasn’t cracked her seed, but I’m hoping that the new light I have coming in will help take care of that. This is a good idea though, so I’ll keep it in mind for emergencies, thank you

[Borderryan22]

You can put a drop of water on the one that hasn’t shed her shell, to try and help her push it off. If it’s too dry, there’s a chance the membrane will be stuck on the cotes. I’ve had to use fine scissors to snip the membrane, and not cut the cotyledons.

[Adrjon99]

I’ve spritzed her with water once or even twice a day for about a week, she just has a very resilient shell apparently

[Adrjon99]

Outside day!!!
Because I have absolutely nothing to do today, and to celebrate them getting an actual fucking grow light tomorrow, I’ve decided to give the plants some natural sun for a while and see how they do. I put a dome over Betsy for humidity, since it’s really dry out, I also repotted Brunhilda into a 2.2 L planter. I’m holding off on repotting Betsy even though she’s older until she heals up completely, so I don’t shock her even more into dying. There’s no other update to the plants, other than Betsy is deteriorating pretty fast. Beverly is STILL IN THE SEED. Brunhilda starting standing in her own before replanting, and Bertha is living up to her name compared to the rest of them.

the pink cup is vinegar to keep away bugs

[Adrjon99]

Today, I woke up to find Beverly has damped off I went ahead and tossed her out, but silver lining is I don’t have to waste space and resource nursing her. She already had dud genetics, and I would rather her die than any of my more healthy ones. Still sad to see though.

[Adrjon99]

Finally got and installed my SF1000 light. It’s small for 3 plants, but it’s good enough until they get a bit bigger and until I can get another one. Also, Betsy is looking a bit better, but still rough. The brown/purple coloring on the new growth is reducing, and she’s growing a bit faster now. Tomorrow or the next day she’s due to water again, and I’ll bring the pH and few points lower to try to bring the soil pH to a solid 6.5. The other two are also due for a water in the next day or two, and I’ll do the same for them. Bertha is getting close to being able to be sexed, which is in fact necessary because these are bag seeds and the genetics are unknown.

[Jaysittinback]

Nice going! Good you skipped the blurple phase and got a real light hey its not the best brightest but its a real grow light. Bit of effort tying bending shaping and moving plants around and itll grow 3, thats how I use mine. Always adjusting the canopy

[Adrjon99]

That’s true. The stunted growth will actually come in handy because that buys me more time to save up for another light for them lol. I’ve also already planned out my next grow, this time I know the genetics (Platinum OG) and I’ll be running a plant per light like I SHOULD be in the first place

[Adrjon99]

Here’s an update anyways, because I’m excited as hell for what’s to come. For the first time in like 2+ weeks I feel like I can finally stop stressing about my plants. I repotted Bertha into a 3.5 gallon pot, but only filled it up about half way. My space is already at max, so that’s a little stressful, but I still have quite some time before they outgrow their environment and I need to buy another light. In just 24 hours under the new light their growth has jumped, and Betsy’s color has also changed dramatically almost overnight. She still looks very unhealthy, but a dark green color is better than a purple/brown color, and she’s growing a little bit faster. Brunhilda is happy, her new leaves are pretty much standing straight up lmao. I also taped foil to cardboard and made a little stand lol. Anyways, here they are, feel free to leave any input on if you think I’m doing anything wrong, or if you notice anything I don’t that’s wrong with the plants. Thanks for reading, y’all.

Betsy

Bertha

Brunhilda

One of Brunhilda’s leaves is almost nonexistent, it’s either genetics or a bug got to it, but I’ve only seen one fly in this room and I’ve killed it, other than that I haven’t seen any other bugs.

[Jaysittinback]

A small fan, some airflow. Looking good

[Adrjon99]

I forgot to mention I do have a fan blowing on them on low, about fix feet in front of them

[Adrjon99]

Plants are growing good, Bertha is healing(?) she’s both looking better, but also looking worse at the same time. She’s definitely growing though. Brunhilda is looking really good, and has a funny little 4 leaf mutation. Bertha is starting to droop, but I did water her yesterday, and I think I may need to put more/bigger drainage holes on the bottom of her pot. I put quite a bit, but couldn’t get much runoff from watering. I’ll let her dry out a bit, but if she doesn’t perk back up soon I’m gonna have to get a hand drill or something and make those holes bigger. I’ve made a full wrap of foil covered cardboard, with a small gap open for airflow that also blows in the mist from the humidifier. Bertha also showed signs of light burn, but I did have them at 100% power at like 14 inches. I raised the lights to 16” and dimmed it to 70%. Betsy’s stem is also almost fully healed, about another week and I’ll remove the tape. I think Betsy’s issue is stemming from lack of nutrients, she is 3 weeks in a very small planter (570 ml). She will be repotted as soon as I can take that tape off and bury her up to her cotyledons to prevent that broken area from breaking again. And also supply her with fresh nutes. Anyways, here they isssss

Brunhilda and her mutation

Bertha and her saggage

Betsy’s various displayings of “what the hell”
Does anyone have any better input on them other than my terrible diagnostic skills? Any knowledge would be very appreciated

[Adrjon99]

The girls are looking good!!! They’ve been a bit droopy the past couple days, but I’ve been focusing on keeping the humidity and temps consistent and making sure the pH is right, and my work seems to be paying off. Bertha and Betsy are healing from their deficiency/excess, and standing tall again. Brunhilda is looking good, but will not stay upright, and will even wiggle her way out of her spike and lean in the complete opposite direction, which I find very weird. Here in a few days she’ll be repotted to fix this. I added as much of a roof as I could to my “tent” to keep in temp and humidity.

Bertha

Brunhilda

Betsy

[Adrjon99]

Plants are looking even better today. Forgot to add yesterday that I took the tape off of Betsy and replanted her in a 1.1 L planter with new FFOF to heal. I also put more FFOF around Bertha and her pot is now nearly full. I’ve found the sweet spot for the light is about 18” at 50%, but I suspect that will change soon. Can anyone tell me how long they have until they enter the vegetative state, or are they already in it? And second question, is when should I flush to start introducing Grow Big nutes, or should I even bother until the soil runs out of natural nutes? Thanks in advance for the newbie questions

[Jaysittinback]

They are in vegetative growth stage, I declare mine in veg around third set of new leaves. Usually around two weeks for me. Also around transplant time.
Dunno about the flush, testing, and feeding. Ballpark figure for 5gal pots 4 weeks. You’re using smaller pots than usual so I’d move the schedule ahead. I’d hope my roots would completely fill 2L in 3 weeks so that’ll be an issue if they have small root system from cool wet soil.
I would put them through a couple more dry-wet-dry cycles keeping an eye on the greeness of them and very soon start testing and feeding

[Adrjon99]

Thanks for the feedback. I’ve been careful not to overwater, and have probably stressed them out more due to a lack of water than anything (besides very unfavorable conditions for the first couple weeks of life), but they seem to be on the rebound now and on track to catching up with what they’re supposed to be. I’ve noticed that Betsy and Brunhilda have started to catch up in size to Bertha, slowly but surely. As a follow up question, when should I expect to start seeing their sex? I’ve been keeping a keen eye but honestly don’t know the early stages of what I’m looking for.