hey guys, long time no talk. i went away for work and when i got back, i was so far removed from the first grow, i didn't feel like talking about it anymore. but, my second round is almost ready for harvest and it took me back to this site and thread. so, this is my wrap up.
shortly after my last post on 9/14 is when i went away for work. actually, it was just over a week after my last post. my plants were at ten weeks exactly when i harvested. i don't think they were entirely ready, but i was going to be gone for a while and there was no way i was leaving the end care and harvest of the plants up to my husband who has spent a total of about an hour in the plant room since i started this journey. so, i harvested early and i paid for it. i think an extra week would've done nothing but good. i wound up with just over an ounce from the two plants together. here's a couple pics.
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the buds dried and cured for about three weeks while i was away and i will say, it smoked beautifully. both plants were great. i gave some to a friend and she tried to pay me for it.
so, in the end, i made a trillion mistakes. i planted four seeds and only two of them made it all the way to "harvest". i used free shed dirt and shitty lights. i got fungus gnats and couldn't ph my water to save my life. i under-watered and over-watered and, quite honestly, i'm glad to be done with the first round. it was definitely a learning experience.
i now have six plants going in different stages of life. i'm less obsessive and much more zen. i'm also more daring. not only have all my new plants been topped, but i also tried a little HIGH stress training (by "breaking" the stems instead of just tying them down) on a couple of them with great success. i've read that autos shouldn't be put through high stress, but i have a strain called Low Girl and she HATED being tied down. honestly, one day i got so frustrated, i was like, "experiment time!" and figured if i killed this plant, it'd be part of the learning experience. also, i had three other plants going at that time, so fuck it. i "snapped" a couple stems to see what would happen. well, it whipped her into shape. maybe she got scared and decided she should start cooperating with the crazy, snapping woman.
on top of that, i upgraded the plant room and all my equipment. i now have a wide range of lights (but, obviously, they'll always continue to get upgraded). i got myself a cheap ph reader, which was a game changer. i'm using fox farms happy frog.
i'm still fucking around with nutrients. i had the five pound bag of Nature's Living Soil Super Soil Autoflower Concentrate. i just finished using that with my last planting. i really loved how easy that stuff was. you just mix it in and use ph'd water from there. but, i want more yield, so i also bought the sample box from Oregon's Only Nectar For the Gods. someone mentioned it on one of your journals and i thought it sounded like a good deal. turns out, it's an incredible deal. for $38 (the sample box is free. you just pay whatever it costs them to ship it to you) i got a sample case that comes with a quart of Gaia, Medusa, Zeus, Demeter’s, Athena’s and Herculean Harvest, as well as an 8-ounce bottle of Khaos and Olympus up. it's a HUGE amount of nutes, guys, considering you use, at most, two tablespoons of each product per gallon of water. i haven't used it yet. it comes with a feeding schedule, but it's specific to photos. i don't know how that translates to autos, so i'll have to contact them for help with that one.
SIDE NOTES: Jolene is still small. we've estimated her birthdate to be 8/14 which puts her at 8 1/2 weeks old. she's the sweetest, most rambunctious baby i've seen in a long time. she can play for hours, but then she always crawls on my lap for her naps. she sleeps next to me under the covers. i think she likes me
) here's a picture of her i just got up and took.
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okay, my friends. that's it
i would call my first grow a failure except for the fact that i DID wind up with some lovely smoke and a LOT of learned lessons.
on the next, on on to the next one...
CHEERS!!
ah, but the "crystalz/mushroomz" as u call them, or -> actual trichomez (correct name) are exactly what u'll be lookin for to turn cloudy, then amber as they degrade 
fwiw, i meself like to call em "lil fencerowz of golfballz on teez" 
ppp
ppp
yup, ya crazy, snappin woman, u have now officially paid the "price of admission" to the auto club, lol 
and now, as u say, it'z on to the next one 
it'z too bad bout havin to do the early chop, but oh well, u did at least get sumthin to smoke that u grew urself & that'z all that countz when the day is done 
UP THE IRONZ!! 
