So here’s the situation: if I’m counting from the day this seedling sprouted up anything green, today would be day 20 (is that the right way to count or should I be counting from the day it got it’s first real leaves which would be more like day 18? lol) Anyway, this is what I have (check out the above pics). It’s a feminized white widow which I got from ILGM. Medium is soil, pH is around 7 (I think, I honestly have no idea if I’m checking it correctly).
The lights I am using vary, because I’m trying to find the right cocktail. I have both CFL bulbs (usually 2-3 64 watt bulbs on the plant) and I also have a 400 watt HPS/MH lamp (so far only set to as high as 50%). The reason I mention this is because when I turn on the HPS (which is currently using a MH bulb), it gets super hot in the grow tent and sucks most of the humidity of the air. I finally got my inline fan (correct me if I’m wrong, but this is the fan that sucks the hot air OUT of the tent right?), but I had to put it through a bottom duct for now because I haven’t had time to stabilize it to a wall higher up (that thing is heavy as hell). Long story short, if I keep the doors of the tent/cabinet open - I can use the HPS light but at night I’ve been using the CFL’s cause I can’t constantly check the plant while I’m sleeping lol. WOW this is a long-winded post lol…
I started using the Marijuana Booster System about 4 days ago (that’s when I got it in the mail). Take a look at the pics and tell me what you think! P.S. the first leaves look burnt on the tips but that’s old and I solved that problem a week ago. I was underwatering and having lighting issues. I believe the newer leaves are looking ok.
I do have to mention a concern as you are growing in soil, and I have seen a trend lately where a lot of new growers are growing seedlings in too hot of soil, or soil that has too strong of nutrients/fertilizer to start a seedling in and the seedlings quickly burn, shrivel and die, but as your pics do not appear to have any burnt tips on the new top leaves I don’t think there is much to worry about. Overall, I’ll trust your assessment of the burnt leaf tips as the new leaves do look healthy.
The days of growth on schedules should be taken very loosely. Even more so when starting the date growing from seed. I always say, when in doubt, give it up to an extra week, so the difference of a couple of days as when you want to start counting the “vegetative” start won’t make much difference overall, especially in regular photo period strains. Most people mainly start tracking as precisely as the exact day only after initiating 12/12 flowering, as the vegetative period in many strains can virtually be maintained indefinitely.
As the above is the case, most usually only count the “days of flowering”, starting on the first “day” with a full 12 hour night. And even with a relatively universally accepted way and as exact and precise a way of determining a time frame of that first 12/12 hour day as being “day one” of flowering, I still say give most seed bank schedules up to an extra week or two to finish. More intense light, less intense light, higher average temperatures, or lower, adding CO2 or not, etc. can all change the overall growth rate, as well as many other factors contributing to the behaviour of your plant in its exact environment. Usually these variations won’t be outside a few days so normally a week buffer is more than enough.
With autoflowering strains, I’d have to defer to Robert or someone that has more experience with a particular autoflower strain and how it behaves under various conditions.
Yes, most people operate their grow tent/closet/grow box – made nearly air tight and have the fan exhausting hot air out of the top of the tent, with a filter to remover odor placed before the fan as this also keeps the fan’s blades clean of dust, creating a negative pressure which sucks cold fresh air through the seams and/or vents at the bottom of the tent/box/closet and thereby drawing this CO2 rich fresh air past the plant’s leaves. Some HID lights can be in a closed system that has fresh air pulled straight through the light’s duct-ed housing enclosure and this air is then vented and the light’s air never mixes with the air in the tent. An alternative way of running this light is with the filter and fan before the light to keep dust and other things in the growing room from coating the hot lights and venting the hot pre-filtered air out of the room.
Okay, so based on that (and the pictures I’ll provide today) I’m going to say that this White Widow plant is about to start it’s 2nd vegetative week. Thanks for the great advice.
I think I solved two of the problems I’ve been having:
- My 400 Watt HPS bulb was too close to the plants (12-18in), I had to pull it up and now it’s 2.5ft. above the plant.
- pH levels were a bit high, I mixed some pH down solution into the water/nutes and watered the plant. After a few minutes checked pH again and seemed a bit better 6.5-6.2
I’m noticing over the last couple days, the leave tips are ever-so-slightly curled and today I noticed small-medium blotchy, mottled purplish? dark spots on some of the leaves. Not sure what that’s all about. I do know that it can take a few days before I see any of the affects from the changes I make.
Still struggling with low humidity, getting another humidifier today.
Added more Perlite for aeration. 
Looking good. Yes, improvement will take some time to show in the plant. Damaged leaves will not necessarily become full green again, the damaged spots will likely remain. New growth should look healthy and vibrant reflecting the improved environment in the root zone.