Indoor Grow Journal: Auto White Widow & Auto Amnesia Haze (Closet Grow)

[ProfCrunk]

Hi everyone,
This is my first grow so I am a complete noob and would appreciate any advice when and if I need it. I am growing 1 Dinafem Auto White Widow and 2 Vision Seeds Auto Amnesia Haze.

Firstly I must explain that I am on a very tight budget so I am having to make some serious compromises when it comes to this grow. I am currently having to buy things as and when I need them so I am lacking some equipment. The main compromise being that I cannot afford a decent lighting system so I have opted to only grow from start to finish under a 250w HPS light. I am aware of the downsides of this but am trying to make the best of what I have. I am only growing for my personal consumption so I dont mind if my yields arent massive. When I get onto my second grow I will be investing in other lighting options.

Equipment:
250w HPS
2x 3 gallon pots & 1x 2.5 gallon pot
Soil: Plagron Grow Mix
1x 12inch desk fan
nutes: Plagron Alga Grow & Alga Bloom
Closet dimensions: 2ft deep, 4ft wide, 5.5ft tall

I decided to go for a 18/6 lighting schedule to keep down the costs. So far I am on day 6 of my grow and I will post an update of how its gone so far soon. Thanks

 

[Waximus]

Hello Prof, a 250 watt HPS is plenty to grow under, so no shame in that. My first grow was under a 4 bulb t5-less than 100 watts, and I got over an ounce from that first-mistake filled- grow. Subbing up on your journal, and looking forward to watching your progress. Best to you!

 

[ProfCrunk]

Grow Update

So far I am on day 5 from sprouting so I will just go through what I have done so far.
I soaked my seeds in water for 24 hours then used the paper towel method to germinate. All 3 seeds opened and showed the tap root after about 36 hours so I planted them directly into their final pots. At this point I had the light 3 ft above the pots to avoid heat stress. Temp 77degrees F, humidity 54%. After about 48hour my White Widow seed sprouted with the seed casing stuck on like a helmet and one of my Amnesia Haze seeds sprouted normally. The following day the other Amnesia Haze also sprouted.

I was getting concerned about the WW with the seed casing still attached but it did eventually fall off. After day 3 of all being sprouted I lowered the light to around 14inches as they seemed to be coping well with the heat. I also gave them a light watering on day 3 as the soil was pretty dry.
As of today they are still looking healthy although quite stretched which is obviously due to using an HPS light. So far the 2 that sprouted first are almost 3 inches tall and the later sprouting one is around 2 inches. Here is how they looked this morning:

To me they seem pretty healthy. You probably cant see the colour very well because of the light but they look a nice lush green colour.
As I'm only using an HPS light do you think I should skip the grow nutes and go straight for flowering ones to limit the amount of stretching? Not sure if thats even possible but as I said Im a noob and would appreciate some advice.
I will keep you posted in the next few days with their progress.

 

[ProfCrunk]

Thanks, Its good to know im not alone out there with my noobish mistakes

 

[Waximus]

Hey prof, I don't recommend nixing the grow nutes- the ladies will need the nitrogen, and they will be lanky for the first week or so. Once they have some roots established, they should fill out some, and you'll be on your way. The hardest past for me (and I'm dropping 6 seeds in soil today..) is the first week. They're the most fragile, and need the most gentle care. Just a bit of water to keep the roots moving down- roots are everything, and this is the time to just keep them moist enough to spread and prosper, but not too wet or they'll flounder. Keep us posted here. I am about to harvest 2 Dina AWW. Great strain!

 

[ProfCrunk]

Cool. I have been keeping a close eye on the moisture level especially as my light is drying the soil out pretty quickly. So far it seems pretty good. The soil Im using is pre-fertilized for the first 3 weeks so hopefully I dont need to do too much right now. I will update in the next couple of days. Thanks for the advice Waximus

 

[Waximus]

My pleasure, Prof! In my last grow, I let me seedlings get too dry, and 2 of them lay down in droop mode I cut two short pieces of a paper towel roll (the cardboard) and propped them up. 3 days later- happy seedlings and no noticable ill effects. So, never give up on the girls

 

[Roodels]

Looking good so far there bud , if your seedlings are drying and looking droopy due to heat , you may want to try this , I did this in my small cupboard grow , take a 2l coke bottle , cut off the bottom of it and remove the lid . stick it over your seedling , it acts like a make shift humidity dome and worked like a charm for me .

 

[ProfCrunk]

Update Day 6

Sup peeps

Quick update, Both my Amnesia Haze are looking really good. Gave them a light watering this morning and both are developing their second set of leaves.

However my White Widow isnt looking as good. She still looks healthy and her second leaves are showing but she having problems standing up on her own.
Im pretty sure this is down to my own mistakes and some unavoidable natural problems. The WW is extremely stretched which is likely due to her not shedding her seed casing for the first few days of growth. She stretched up to over 2 inches before she got her leaves out. Now she is close to 4 inches and struggling to support her own weight. The fault on my part is down to me placing her closest to the fan so she has been constantly blown around. She was dealing with this OK but then I turned her pot around so the fan just pushed her over. I tried propping her up with some card but she fell over again in the night. Ideally I would like to change her position in the closet to take her further away from the fan but unfortunately I tried and the other pots catch the fan and stop it turning.

So I have come up with my own ghetto solution. I put a piece of card on the edge of her pot to act as a kind of wind breaker just to take a little of the stress off her. Then I have staked her up using a chopstick lol and a piece of thin cotton. I only did this about an hour ago so I will be keeping a close eye on her to see how she fairs in the next 24 hours. Hopefully this will fix the problem.

 

[ProfCrunk]

Looking good so far there bud , if your seedlings are drying and looking droopy due to heat , you may want to try this , I did this in my small cupboard grow , take a 2l coke bottle , cut off the bottom of it and remove the lid . stick it over your seedling , it acts like a make shift humidity dome and worked like a charm for me .

Cheers Roodels,
At the moment I dont think its heat thats the problem as Amnesia Hazes are directly under the light in the hottest area of the closet and are not showing any signs of drooping. I will definitely keep this in mind if it does happen though.