New Grower Grow #1- White Widow and 60 Day Wonder

[chsmo]

INTRO
Since joining 2 months ago, I've been reading and studying up and finally feel ready to give my first grow a try. I decided that keeping a journal would be the best way to learn from this experience as well as introduce myself (finally) to this amazing community.

THE GIRLS
VisionSeeds - Auto White Widow
DNA Genetics - 60 Day Wonder

GERMINATION METHODS
6/28- Both went straight to the soil in their final containers. Didn't want to risk transplant shock. I soaked the 60DW for 5 hours until it sank and then planted it. Didn't do this for the White Widow.

SETUP
Unused Bathroom, in the tub
3 gallon pots, (1) Fabric and (1) Plastic
Glacier Filtered Water, using Airstone for O2
FoxFarms Happy Frog Soil and Perlite
(14) 23W CFL, (10) 2700k and (4) 6500k- 20/4 Light Schedule
Plan on getting some thermal blankets for the front of the tub to reflect light back in, just not sure how to hang them yet.

Not much to take a picture of yet, but I went ahead and took one just for reference. White Widow is on the left, 60DW on the right. Took the pic yesterday and at that time, neither seed had sprouted. Woke up this morning to the 60DW peeping her little head out of the soil. I've lowered the lights to about 4 inches from the new sprout.

No signs of life from the White Widow, but it's still early. I think I should have used more Perlite in her container.

That's all I've got for now. Looking forward to the advice and help from you guys on this! :group:

 

[TaNg]

Hay man welcome to AFN and good luck with the grow.

 

[chsmo]

Thanks TaNg! Excited to see how this goes

 

[RebelRoy]

Welcome chsmo styles rasta grow karma sent your direction bud :smokebuds:

 

[Mrbubbles87]

Bathtub sounds like a great idea! Easy drainage and access to water. Think the fire blankets would hang well on a shower rod. Not sure if that'll work but that's immediately what I thought of lol

 

[chsmo]

Bathtub sounds like a great idea! Easy drainage and access to water. Think the fire blankets would hang well on a shower rod. Not sure if that'll work but that's immediately what I thought of lol

I was playing with the shower rod idea too, but since I haven't bought them yet, I'm not sure how large they will be and how it would cover the area. It might take a couple depending on size. Since they're so cheap, it won't hurt buying one for a test. Eventually, I'd like to go Mylar, but I'm on a very tight budget with this grow.

 

[bud head]

why not just use the bathtub for a hydro grow ..then all you have to do is pull the plug to empty the water..

 

[chsmo]

why not just use the bathtub for a hydro grow ..then all you have to do is pull the plug to empty the water..

Lol, the idea of going hydro scares me right now. I'm not even sure I can get through the seedling stage without killing the girls as it is. :no:

But I may give it a try after a few grows under my belt. I read one thread that broke it down in such a way that it didn't seem overly complicated.

 

[chsmo]

Day 4

The White Widow decided to join the party overnight. I was a little worried I messed this one up. First, I didn't pre-soak the seed at all. Secondly, I didn't pre-water the soil before planting. I just shoved her in flooded the pot. And thirdly, I shoved her in pretty deep, I think. A little over 1/2 inch. What can I say? I'm a virgin grower and got a little too excited!
:bone:
Could somebody give me a little advice about Lime? I'm thinking of top dressing the soil around day 7 with it because I forgot to add it to my soil. Even though Happy Frog is suppose to have a good Ph, I've read on other threads it can sometimes be a crapshoot. I tested my runoff at planting and it was 5.9, give or take a little. My water was 7.1

Am I wrong to think that top dressing it now will help avoid future issues? Am I worrying too much?

 

[chsmo]

Day 8

Decided to go with the "Don't Fix what's Not Broken" approach and skip the lime dressing for now. I'll cross that bridge if I need to in the future. I did switch the pot positions. The WW seems to be growing a little slower than the 60DW and I wonder if it has something to do with the CFL bulbs directly above the 2 plants. I have 4 6500 bulbs in the center of the grow light. The WW is very close to those while the 60DW is closest to the 2700k bulbs. I'm going to watch the growth over the next few days to see if switching positions changed the growth rate and if it does, I may re-arrange the blubs in the hood.

Also been researching nutrients and preparing for a feeding schedule after the 2nd week. I decided to go with Advanced Nutrients and they should be here sometime next week.

All in all, I'm happy so far. They seem to be going the right way, as far as I can tell!