New Grower OGbaby - The Second Genesis

[OGbaby]

What's up AFN! I finally got a grow going, ...or surviving but I would love to share my experience with you green thumbed bastards. :Cool:

All jokes & dramatic titles aside, this is my 2nd grow, "Technically". I lost two girls my first time around - they seriously just vanished after they germed. Planted them about a half-inch or so into soil, then poof. Long story short, that was a No Go and time came and went. So, now were here. smh lol "The SECOND genesis, round 2.

The Setup:

• Two Plants - Auto HighRise Mix & Grape Pat Med
• Grow Medium: OF, Happy Frog, & Plant success
• Trio (Nutes)
• 5h x 2w x 1 Tent
• [FONT=&quot]26W 27k CFL bulbs (4x)[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]26W 65k CFL bulbs (4x) [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Oakton EcoTester pH2 (calibrated)
  [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Mini Clip Fan[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]3 gallon pots(?)[/FONT]

The Grape came thru on Oct 30th, around 9am - I didn't even peep until maybe 9:30 -10am. To be frank, I wasn't expecting it either since I planted them a week or maybe 4 to 5 days previous. Seeing as the avg norm is a couple days, I just taught this was another lost cause. Although, I should probably mention I decided to setup a mini heater outside the tent (Oct 29) because I figured it could be a warmth problem. When I open the tent - she was there, in all her deflated glory. I had turned the lights off completely after reading a post by Muddy, so she was born in a dark and cold world lol. I was so excited I almost walked off without turning them on at all!

(BTW, the post was something pertaining to someone's conditions being too intense or humid, too early, with the lights on for the soil/seedling. As long as its warm and misted it should be fine without..or something like that. My soil would dry too fast, though I never watered str8 through)

:tiphat:I do have to couple questions for all you AFN bad-asses tho:

1. My water pH is 7.3 avg (was 7.0, idk wtf happened) and I checked my RO at 4.7! I have this bit of info somewhere in my notes, but can't find it. Should the ideal Soil PH (or Soil RO) be 6.5 ph? Is my water ph too high going in?
2. As for three days in, I'm concerned she (Grape) might be a bit small (since I have nothing to compare it to, the Highrise mix is still playin hide & seek) due to yesterday's (Oct 31st) dehydration issue. It was depleted and laying flat across the grow medium until I watered it until Runoff. It then sprang back to life in 20-30mins. Any thoughts?

Thanks for joining me! Wish me Good vibes. Would love any feedback, critiques are welcomed. I need to learn this shit! :





P.S. The germed seed is the HighRise Ghaze x C99 that went Houdini on me. Not wasting any more seeds till I'm confident I can grow lol

 

[OGbaby]

No takers? Interested in hearing you guys thoughts. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[briman]

Hey OG!! Ph in should be 6.5 going in with the OF/HF medium. Temps in the low 80's with lights on and a 10* drop with lights off. Maintain ph and temps and 45% humidity. I call those your CONTROLABLES. As far as water schedule is concerned, I would only water 5-10 ml. every other day and not use any nutes for a while. Environment-Environment-Environment!!!! CONTROLABLES!!! I wouldn't mist, but i would get a temp/hygrometer for your setup. cost ya a few bucks at petco, or Walmart. Before you plant anything next time, I would get it all set up and run it for a few days with no plants, just pots dirt and whatnot, to make sure your environment is good with lights on and off, then I would water your soil and run your setup for a day or two and lift your pots, to see the weight difference with a watered and a dry pot so you learn WHEN to water. Then, after a few days, you have the gist of your CONTROLABLES!! Hope this helps, and there is a great FOX FARMS feed schedule on the search bar. Hope this helps.

 

[OGbaby]

What's up Briman! how's everything? Thanks for dropping by and giving me a hand here, really appreciate it bro.

So, the pH is 6.5 going in. Alright, I'll make those adjustments today since I have to water her today. I know I had that bit of info somewhere in my notes, but I couldn't find it what so ever. What about Soil pH runoff? I read it was important to know the pH of everything (i.e, water, soil, & water+nutes?) Do you know what the ideal soil runoff is with 6.5pH water going in?

Controllables - you are on point with that, I always taught of it as such. I just need to pick up a temp/hygrometer this week or so. The temps and humidity don't seem to fluctuate in my grow environment but I'll be better off with concrete evidence/numbers. As for the weight when watering, I'm starting to guesstimate and have a feel for the difference. I've always been observant when it come to things of that sort but I know accuracy is going to come with experience. So I try to lift them up throughout the day without manhandling and touching the plants to much.

Watering - I should be watering slowly and evenly till I see runoff, everytime, correct? So I should only water every other day or when the plants look thirsty and the pots are feeling light/dry, but should only stop when I see runoff at the bottom?

Feed - I actaully have a feeding schedule based on that and personal schedules of others on AFN that I've merged beforehand. The schedule leans on the side of caution and flexiblity depending how the plants are looking. Thank god I don't have to make all those calls by myself tho, I have the AFN fam to look out when I need it. goodshit.

 

[OGbaby]

lol, so I was diggin in my notes again and I found it. This is what I wrote and completely forgot about:

"Your pH should be in the 6.3 - 6.5 range when watering your plants ALWAYS, unless you are correcting a pre-existing pH problem."

 

[CGR]

OGbaby.......:smokebuds:i'm a hydro grower so i'l be no help at all..lol..but i am sub'd up for the ride and i'l help as much as i can:stylez rasta smoke:

 

[WEEDOSHI]

Hi,

I'm a soil grower, so might be able to help you.

I've never seen a seedling turn sideways like that, first time. Stop misting the seedling. I never recommend misting (imho). Just water the plant normally when required. Plants use the water to convert it into a form of energy using the root system. The leaves do not use the water. I've never misted and all my plants have been healthy. The only time i mist is if a seedling has risen with its seed stuck to it: in any other case, i highly do not suggest misting.

Try to get your ph levels on-track, but do not stress it. The only time a grower should over-stress about ph is if it's a hydroponic system or dwc system. Soil is a lot more tolerant and easier to ph spikes and whatnot. Try to fix it, but don't over-stress it unless you notice it is effecting the plant.

For a 3 day old plant, that's an excellent size, no issues with that.

Grow looks excellent, pot-size is good. Light systems are ok. CFL's loose their power very fast when they are further away. Try to get your cfls at least 1 inch or 1.5 inch close to the seedling so it can absorb maximum power and use that power to grow bigger and faster. Your CFL's look at least 3 inches away which is not good. CFL's don't generate too much heat which is generally excellent and near-impossible to burn your plant with CFLs. So have those babies as close as you can to the seedlings (but not too close)

 

[OGbaby]

Goodlook CGR :smokebuds:

I need all the help I can get! Any experience and tricks/habits you picked up that you don't mind sharing would be awesome. I want to learn enough to be able to give back some of that knowledge when another youngin/newbie needs it...and grow some of my own quality herb so good that instead of asking guests who come visit if they want a drink and pulling out shot classes - I can pull out an already pre-rolled joint and say "that's yours, take your time"! lmao

 

[CGR]

Goodlook CGR :smokebuds:

I need all the help I can get! Any experience and tricks/habits you picked up that you don't mind sharing would be awesome. I want to learn enough to be able to give back some of that knowledge when another youngin/newbie needs it...and grow some of my own quality herb so good that instead of asking guests who come visit if they want a drink and pulling out shot classes - I can pull out an already pre-rolled joint and say "that's yours, take your time"! lmao

...no doubt .....i got you ...you'll be giving me advice in six months...lol....:five:

 

[OGbaby]

Hi,

I'm a soil grower, so might be able to help you.

I've never seen a seedling turn sideways like that, first time. Stop misting the seedling. I never recommend misting (imho). Just water the plant normally when required. Plants use the water to convert it into a form of energy using the root system. The leaves do not use the water. I've never misted and all my plants have been healthy. The only time i mist is if a seedling has risen with its seed stuck to it: in any other case, i highly do not suggest misting.

Thanks chad! I read to mist frequently but wasn't entirely sure whether that was great info to follow up on. Unfortunately, I have been misting since it showed face...:Stones slap:Briman also mentioned not to mist so, I will opt-out on misting all together from now on.

pH - As for my pH levels, Seraphim19 is helping me to get back on track now. So far, I have adjusted my pH water going in to the ideal 6.5 pH range and watered her today. I will continue and give her another round Monday (Next water feed) and check to see if the Runoff has rebounded. He also mentioned getting a soil pH probe to pair with my pH meter, so I should be looking to pick that and a temp/hygrometer this week or so.

CFL Light Distance -I also taught the distance between the plant to cfls might have been a bit too spacey so I did bring the pot with the seedling up a bit. You can't really tell in the pics above, but it's slightly raised. I'll take another pic to put things into perspective, maybe with a better look you can tell me if she still sitting a bit short.

For a 3 day old plant, that's an excellent size, no issues with that.

Thanks bro, she's my 1st and with an empty pot sitting next to her. I really have nothing to compare her to ..well except for you guys. so you can see why I thought she was small. lol