Paranoid about every little thing first timer Grow Journal

Hi everyone, I started germination on 1.28.19 so I’m about a month in already. Other journals have helped me out a lot so I thought I’d start one too!

Any and all comments and/or advice is appreciated. Since this is my first, my main goal is not getting a massive yield (although I’ll take that) but to learn as much as I can about the process of getting them to flower. I’m not afraid to make mistakes in order to learn, in fact for some of my plants I’m trying to make them so I can learn recovery or what not to do. Really excited though and thanks for checking this out!

-Dex

What strain, Seed bank, or bag seed:
Amnesia Haze Auto (4)
Blueberry Auto (3)
Northern Lights Auto (1)
Sour Diesel Fem (3)
Cheese Fem (4)

Method:
Seedling - Coco
Veg/Flower - FFOF w/ 25-30% perlite

Vessels:
Seedlings: Peat pots
Autos veg/flower - 3gal fabric bags
Fem - 2gal pails, then 5gal bags

PH of Water, Solution, runoff:
Tap water - 7.8ish
PH Down for getting to 6.3-6.8
(Haven’t had enough runoff yet to test…scared to drown them)

PPM/TDS or EC of nutrient solution:
Did FF nutes 1/2 power a couple times, but heard I should wait a little longer. Will test ppm then.

Indoor or Outdoor:
Indoor dedicated grow room. 3’ x 7.5’ with 7’ ceiling

Light system:
1000w HID. MH & HPS bulbs

Temps; Day, Night:
Temp control set to 70. Can get up to 77 w/light on

Humidity; Day, Night:
Humidity control set to 52, usually doesn’t go below 40

Ventilation system; Yes, No, Size:
195cfm intake (only runs when bringing humidity in. Humidifiers are outside room.)
193cfm outtake w/carbon filter

AC, Humidifier, De-humidifier,
AC unit
2 humidifiers

Co2:
No

I rarely talk to them, but they get classical music all day :grin:

Experience so far:
They’re alive :joy: really not too many issues.

I won’t be using the peat pots again because I don’t know if the roots are breaking out enough and don’t want to try removing the pots now and rip off any roots which have made it through.

Have a little issue which I posted earlier about with my Sour Diesel plants…they droop a lot towards the end of the day and it freaks me out. Still trying to get to the bottom of that, although I’ve been told it’s not too much of a concern. All other plants don’t do it, and because it’s all three of them I assume it’s something with the strain. I had them on an 18 hour day and they’d look back to normal in the morning, and I switched to a 20 hour day and they were still droopy in the morning…so perhaps it’s something with the climate? Not sure. I’ll try an 18 hour day again and see.

Here’s my setup:

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Looking good

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First off, nice set up for your first grow! I wouldn’t worry too much about the dropping. It’s probably just the plants resting. Look at some videos of plants at sleep compared to plants under light. See if that’s what your plants are looking like. Maybe post some pics of the plants when they’re dropping. Also I think you can move that light a bit closer.

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I definitely plan on SCROGing the SD and CHZ fems.

I’m trying different things with the autos. This morning I topped one (to fourth node) and started LST on another. Within a few hours the LST one was almost pointing right back up to the light.

One of my AH autos is staying really tiny. It’s preflowering, but doesn’t seem to be growing at all.

And one of my SD has developed some spots on it’s leaves today…I don’t think I’m too concerned because this also happened when they were babies and they went away, but if you know why they’re there I’d like to know!

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Thanks @anon46981397!

@GrowGorilla Thank you! I saved for a while to try and do it right haha.

Here’s the droop:

I’m not really worrying about it too much; it’s more of a curiosity as to the cause. I think they’re developing great otherwise.

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I’m thinking its heat stress from lights I’d consider going to 16/8 with lighting for a few weeks to see if they improve and bump lights back up gradually when they grow a bit more

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The AH looks like it may have got stunted somehow. Did it go any through any kind of stress?

How often are you watering, and are you using a spray bottle?

It did, but it was several weeks ago… I had them in seedling trays for a week, and when I transplanted that one I ripped off a bunch of the roots. I thought it would be a goner, but it’s stayed going. Would it experience this if I broke the taproot off? Because I probably did.

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That’s very possible it had something to do with it. Autos are very finicky they are on a timeline when that gets messed with they do their own thing so to speak. Might as well let it go see what you get out of her :wink:

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@GrowGorilla I water when just the bottom inch of the soil is right on the “dry/moist” line on the moisture meter. It’s been every few days so far. And I mist them lightly in the morning and a few hours before bedtime each day.

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Sometimes those moisture meters aren’t very accurate. That may be why they’re drooping towards the end of the day. You should try to go by the weight of the pot the plant is in and by sticking your finger in the dirt to the second knuckle and if it’s dry than they should be watered and or fed. your girls look big enough to where they really don’t need misting anymore. you definitely do not want to mist them when the lights are on it could burn the leaves. BTW your girls are looking good and you have a great set-up going :wink:

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Are those the Jiffy pots or whatever that are supposed to dissolve and let the roots grow through? Maybe they’re root bound, can’t get through the Jiffy pot? Also, make sure you have plenty of drainage in those buckets. You want the pot to be able to “breathe.”

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@Missiles Ohhh okay no more misting…I wonder if that’s what’s causing the spots on the SD? Hmm…

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@elheffe702 Yes…but I’m thinking it takes longer for them to dissolve than the roots develop, and also they need water to dissolve so doing the drought/flood watering keeps them from dissolving. I won’t be using them again for sure. It’s very possible they’re getting somewhat rootbound in there, but I’m powerless now since many roots have come through.

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And I’ll be getting the fems out of those pails soon and into the 5gal fabric pots. I did add perlite to the FFOF so hopefully they’re draining okay.

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I’m pretty sure @blackthumbbetty uses those, and had mentioned strategic watering to help those dissolve…maybe she can help out. I’ll put out the pot signal.

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That’s possible that it could be causing the spots. As long as your pH and ppm’s are in line I would Bank on the misting causing the problem.

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I use the peat pots on autos, with no trouble. Once you up-pot them, they actually do a great job protecting young roots from too much moisture.

I usually cut slits in the bottom of peat pots before burying them, dig a hole, pop in some myccorhizae and moisten the hole, and then bury in the peat pot. For about a week or two after transplanting, when watering/feeding, I keep the water liquid to the OUTSIDE of the peat pot, but right up against it. This ensures the peat pot stays moist, but the baby roots inside don’t stay too wet (they still benefit from the moisture wicked from the peat pot, though).

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Based on what we’ve seen in the past, I might suggest you go up in fabric pot size. Instead of 3’s and 5’s, do 5’s and 7’s respectively. We’ve seen issues with pot bound plants causing issues.

If you can; ditch using tap water while in veg and use distilled or R/O water only. This obviates the necessity to PH up or down, assuming no issues with the FFOF. Once you start adding nutes you will have to adjust PH.

Those soil moisture meters are nearly worthless. Most of us use the “pick the pot up and gauge it’s weight” method. Going all the way dry (almost wilting) is helpful to promote a solid root structure.

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