New Grower First Grow - Iranian Autoflower (fem) in hydro

[swampman]

thanks low for the insight at watering just gave my babies a drink and the run off is at 4.7 blahhhhhh ...ill aerate the water then mix for the ph right before they drink .........they tapped the party cup cause my tier is poking through the bottom gonna just transplant them here shortly i gave them a drink of ph up at 8.0 only a 2 oz drink of that ....thanks agin for the wise words

 

[low_and_slow]

Just checked my res in my WaterFarm and it was at like 6.7 pH. I had her right at 5.79 when I set her up this afternoon around 1pm. 8 hours later and she's up a whole point. I dropped her down to 5.55 and I'll check again tomorrow morning to see how that changes overnight.

 

[low_and_slow]

pH was up in the mid 6's this morning, so I buffered her down to 5.55. Got home from work...mid 6's, so back down to 5.78 she went. This is a bit frustrating...I don't mind checking twice a day, but it seems like something is wrong. I also flipped my lights to 18/6, I'm going to see if that doesn't relieve some stress. I spoke in very "legal" generalities with the guys in the local hydro shop and despite seeming to know quite a bit about autoflowers, they insisted that 18/6 was better for the plants. I know conventional wisdom here is 20/4, but I'm pretty stumped these guys have been growing indoors/hydroponically for over 20 years, so I guess it's worth a shot.

Edit: I also want to see if the IAF throws pistils at 18/6...I lollipopped her and basically got her all ready for flowering, if she starts budding up at 18/6 I'd be really stoked since it would be a good middle ground to allow everyone to finish without having to go all the way down to 12/12.

 

[low_and_slow]

I very lightly massaged the leaves of the PJEM at about the 4th node to assess scent. She's skunky...very much a "sweaty soil" smell right now. I washed my hands with fragrance free soap and did the same with the taller of the 2 PAK. She smells very similar, but with a distinct hint of red berries, almost a tart currant-like smell. Very impressed...I think I'm starting to see some female parts on the larger PAK...that'd be nice, it's about day 16, so that's right in line with what other people are seeing. Should know more by the end of the week.

 

[low_and_slow]

Now I'm getting a sweet cream/instant coffee smell from her...bizarre how it shifted in just a few days. Crystal production is much heavier, I'm really stoked. She won't yield much, but she'll be nice, I can already tell!

 

[low_and_slow]

Okay, my impatience is getting the better of me, I'm going to switch lighting to 12/12 and let the IAF flower...she's getting big, and if I let her go another 3 months (notionally based on the age of the autoflowers in my tent) she'll be HUGE when she stretches. There are 2 very healthy plants in 1 pot right now, both were lollipopped last week, so I tied them down to pull them apart a bit for room to stretch and bud. All plants got 1/4 dose of GO nutes this morning, approx 1-1.5 liters per plant @ 6.5 pH (the PJEM got 6.3 since she's still a little sweet). PAK is probably the most startling example of different phenos you could imagine. one has 4 nodes, almost a dozen leaves, and is barely 1" tall! The other is reaching for 5-6" and has the same amount of leaves....they've been at identical height under the lights the whole time, just one is reaching for the heavens and the other is glued to the soil...bizarre!

I'll be compromising a bit of yield from the autos, but I'd rather see the IAF finish and flower by September than have to wait until February next year to let her bloom!

Unfortunately my camera isn't cooperating, so I don't have any pictures, I'll try to borrow one from my GF at some point to keep you guys up to date.

 

[low_and_slow]

For those following along, today is a sad day...the healthiest plant in my whole garden showed signs of pollen sacs this morning. So, like a deranged ex-wife, I killed him and chopped up his body into hundreds of unrecognizable pieces, only to be discarded somewhere safe where no one will find him. That was my healthy PAK, day 24 since breaking soil.

The other PAK is not showing sex yet, which is reassuring because I'm told females sex later than males...but still, she's not even 2" yet and he was almost to 8" tall. Such a senseless waste, if only I had a dedicated pollen room...

As far as the Iranians go, it's been 3 full days of 12/12 and they're already showing pistils...so yeah, I'd say she's an early strain Their soil was dry, so I gave them 2 liters of 6.47pH water. Everyone else is still mostly damp. The hydro PJEM is recovering from some initial nutrient miscalculations and starting to grow her second node.

PJEM number 1 is in full on crystal production mode, but doesn't look like she'll produce more than a few grams of dried bud...she's about 14" tall and only has a few satellite bud sites, everything is pretty much growing off her main cola...oh well, lessons learned. I give her (based on watching other peoples' grows) probably another 4-5 weeks until harvest.

 

[getafix]

messed up some Iranians earlier this year due to weather and me doing other stuff. Iranians arent looking hot on my end but the Endless Skiy variety is tough as nails. Will get some pics of them when they're flowering

 

[low_and_slow]

Awesome man, yeah I'm not sure how these are going to work out...I had them vegging along nicely, all their brown spots and leaf brittleness healed up. Then I gave them some pH'ed water the other day and they showed lots of spots all over within 12 hours. I gave them a gallon of pH balanced water tonight (6.47) and it ran out in the 5.4 neighborhood...yikes! I'll see how they do over the weekend. At this point the Iranians are drinking about 1/2 a gallon a day, so I'm needing to water every 2 days. I'm laying off all nutes on her until I see some kind of change in what's going on; she's in HF so she should be able to cruise for a while, especially since she's been getting organic nutes which take longer to break down and absorb.

 

[N.W.]

Hey Brother.... Just droppin by to check out your PAK... Looks like you have been having a few minor issuses and your doing your best to get too grips with them....
Subbing in now my friend and ill catch up with your work so far soon.....