- Joined
- Oct 8, 2012
- Messages
- 28,241
- Reputation
- 10,068
- Reaction score
- 84,773
- Points
- 0
- Website
- www.autoflower.org
Hey everyone this is my second grow and it's been a shining beacon of my ineptitude and wonderful habit of throwing money away!
I started a journal on this one, but I am a master procrastinator and rarely finish anythi
Okay so if you got the above joke, we're on the same wavelength ;-) So without further adieu, my second grow:
Seeds:
All seeds were ordered from Attitude. Have had awesome luck with this company; I always order the discrete shipping and so far everything gets to me (overseas) within about 2 weeks.
Strains (all feminized):
(5) Pyramid Seeds Tutankamon
(7) Seedsman Seeds White Widow
(1) Dinafem Auto White Cheese (freebies)
(2) Dinafem Blue Widows (freebies)
(1) Delicious Seeds Critical Jack Herer (freebies)
(1) G13 Labs Pineapple Express (freebies)
Germination Method:
Paper towel method. Soaked paper towels and wrung them out, folded them into squares, placed seeds on squares and put into bottom drawer of my dresser (dark and consistently warm.)
Not a single Seedsman Seed White Widow popped. Several of the seeds were very tiny (runty looking.)
Not a single Pyramid Seed Tutankhamon popped.
However, I think this is where I messed up. I'm pretty sure I water logged them. I was so worried about them drying out that I kept a small amount of water on the plate that they were set on, so the paper towels were always sitting in maybe a centimeter or so of water (not drowning, but always wet.)
So I don't want to say it was the seed company by any means (and I'm sure someone can correct my mistake on here?), but I do find it weird that those two strains were the only things to consistently not pop.
Grow Tent and Equipment
Grow tent - My grow tent is a 4 foot by 4 foot by 6.5 foot tent with three 6" intake/exhaust ports with several mesh windows with flaps that close on them.
Lights - A 1000W MH/HPS switchable with a hood. I also have a 400W MH/HPS switchable w/hood as a backup light, and two 125 CFL lights w/ hoods. I am only running the 1000W fixture currently.
Cooling - I'm using 6" flex duct tubing to bring cool air in from a nearby window. The duct flexes to the tent, where I have a 6" 240 CFM inline fan blowing cool fresh air into the bottom port on the tent.
My 1000W HPS is setup like this; I have one 6" 240 CFM inline fan sucking air from the tent into the hood, and another 6" 240 CFM suck the air out through 6" duct and then exhausted outside the tent.
It was recommended to me to try to bring fresh air into the hood instead of sucking the warmer air in from the tent, so that's going to be something on my list to fix.
Smell - Bought a 6" carbon scrubber. It's F'ing MASSIVE. Had no idea this thing was so big before it got here. It just recently came; it's not installed yet but is going to be VERY soon. Unfortunately, all I have to pull air through it is another 6" 240 CFM fan, which I'm reading is possibly not enough to be fully effective. I hope it's better than nothing at this point, because I'm having some smell issues (see below.)
Soil - Alright, feel free to cringe here. Miracle Grow Potting Soil. I don't have access to hydroponic stores locally nor do I want to order soil via the mail. I've actually had some great luck with my MG soil's, but I do understand in terms of 1-10 where this stuff rates compared to other brands. Cost and availability are my limiting factors here (looked at other soil mixes and pooped a little when I saw the prices per cubic foot.)
Nutrients - I've been using SuperThrive on most of my waterings and have not really seen any ill effects.
I bought the General Hydroponics GO Starter Kit box. Found out very quickly that mixing the full strength amounts suggested (by General Hydroponics), I could very quickly nute burn the shit out of my plants!
So now I use them at about 1/4 to 1/2 strength and avoided a lot of nute burn compared to what I had before.
The Grow Journal
Day 1 - Planted germinated seeds in jiffy peat pots (under a humidity dome) repurposed seed/clone veg box. Took an old surround sound stereo box and lined the entire thing with mylar and rigged up a 125 W CFL light in the box, hung with wires to adjust it if necessary. Mixed up a water can of a tiny bit of SuperThrive and water and bottom watered the peat pots in the tray, draining off the excess water in the tray. Turned on CFL and will let run 24 hours a day.
Day 2 - Watered tray w/ leftover Suprthrive water. Left lights on 24 hours again.
Day 3 - Watered again in the AM and sprayed the inside of the humidity dome with a spray water to try to keep the humidity up. Feels very warm in the box. Checked on the box again at noon and the Auto White Cheese has sprouted. Cracking the box open a little to vent it; feels too warm. Should have put thermometer in here.
Day 4 - Soil in seed box still moist. Did not water. Growth in 4 seeds so far.
Day 5 - No watering needed still. Have 6 our 17 seeds cracked and growing. Not a single White Widow has taken off. May check seeds again and try germinating them in wet paper towels to see if they are late in germination.
*edit while writing this, it's amazing to read this stuff and see how anxious and paranoid I am. Probably where the mistakes come in!*
Day 6 - No more seeds have popped out. Took spray bottle with tap water and misted peat and seeds again.
Day 7 - No new seed growth. I noticed the seed hulls on some of the plants were binding the two starter leaves together and what appears to be pinching the stems.
Day 8 - No more seed growth. Said fuck it and started germinating the last five Seedsman Seeds White Widows I had. Will give these other seeds a few more days and regerm them. Took a tweezers to the stuck seed hulls. Read you shouldn't do this. Did it anyways. Removed the hulls and BAM instant leaf growth over the next 12 hours.
Day 9 - Misted water on seeds in the tray. Huge fat leaves on the Auto White Cheese.
Day 10 - Going camping. Filled water tray and took off (left lights on 24 hours.)
Day 11 - Only 4 plants doing well, the Auto White Cheese, Critical Jack Herer, Blue Widow, and Pineapple Express. Germinated my last 5 White Widow seeds and have tap roots. Planting them and praying. Noticed I have a green algae growth growing on my soil tops. I guess that's what I get for using soil I left outside all summer.
And now massive time leap forward for lack of documentation but a quick recap:
Day 12 - 34 - All the White Widow seeds died. Rot. The leaves with the attached seed hulls look like they are pinched at the very tops and quickly fell off. My four strong plants were transplanted into 4 and 5 gallon pots with a mix of miracle grow and heavy on the perlite. I took 1/4" PVC pipe and drilled holes every inch or so on all 4 "sides" of the pipe and cut them to length for the pots to use as watering tubes, to help getting water down to the middle and bottom roots as the plant grows. So far doesn't seem like dirt or perlite it getting stuck in the holes, so it seems to work pretty good!
Day 35 - Plants stink. Plants stink a LOT. My entire basement reeks like growing MJ. On my first grow, I had a small problem with smell (during veg only though, couldn't smell a thing during flower, is that weird?) On this one though; with these far superior strains than my bag seed; holy balls. STINKY. I just received my 6" carbon scrubber recently so that's getting installed today or tomorrow. Need to get that smell under control.
The plants are looking GREAT. The Auto White Cheese is showing a little nute burn I think (leaves are little curled around the edges, but I think I accidentally splashed them while watering (need to get a water can with the long spout instead of the rain shower head.) The Blue Widow (photo strain) is MASSIVE. Every time I open the tent I say "holy shit look at you!" Then it looks up at me, winks, gives me the middle finger, and says "I'm the reason your basement stinks!"
The Auto White Cheese, the Pineapple Express (photo), and the Blue Widow (photo) are all doing VERY well, at least compared to my plants on my first grow. Incredibly leafy and bushy. The Critical Jack Herer is looking kind of wimpy. Think it's just a weak seed/plant. Will see how she does I suppose.
The Auto White is already starting to pre-flower!
I'll try to get some pics of the girls when I get my carbon scrubber installed! Thanks for reading if you read all this; and hopefully it will continue to do well! Looking forward to suggestions on fixing some of my blunders!
I started a journal on this one, but I am a master procrastinator and rarely finish anythi
Okay so if you got the above joke, we're on the same wavelength ;-) So without further adieu, my second grow:
Seeds:
All seeds were ordered from Attitude. Have had awesome luck with this company; I always order the discrete shipping and so far everything gets to me (overseas) within about 2 weeks.
Strains (all feminized):
(5) Pyramid Seeds Tutankamon
(7) Seedsman Seeds White Widow
(1) Dinafem Auto White Cheese (freebies)
(2) Dinafem Blue Widows (freebies)
(1) Delicious Seeds Critical Jack Herer (freebies)
(1) G13 Labs Pineapple Express (freebies)
Germination Method:
Paper towel method. Soaked paper towels and wrung them out, folded them into squares, placed seeds on squares and put into bottom drawer of my dresser (dark and consistently warm.)
Not a single Seedsman Seed White Widow popped. Several of the seeds were very tiny (runty looking.)
Not a single Pyramid Seed Tutankhamon popped.
However, I think this is where I messed up. I'm pretty sure I water logged them. I was so worried about them drying out that I kept a small amount of water on the plate that they were set on, so the paper towels were always sitting in maybe a centimeter or so of water (not drowning, but always wet.)
So I don't want to say it was the seed company by any means (and I'm sure someone can correct my mistake on here?), but I do find it weird that those two strains were the only things to consistently not pop.
Grow Tent and Equipment
Grow tent - My grow tent is a 4 foot by 4 foot by 6.5 foot tent with three 6" intake/exhaust ports with several mesh windows with flaps that close on them.
Lights - A 1000W MH/HPS switchable with a hood. I also have a 400W MH/HPS switchable w/hood as a backup light, and two 125 CFL lights w/ hoods. I am only running the 1000W fixture currently.
Cooling - I'm using 6" flex duct tubing to bring cool air in from a nearby window. The duct flexes to the tent, where I have a 6" 240 CFM inline fan blowing cool fresh air into the bottom port on the tent.
My 1000W HPS is setup like this; I have one 6" 240 CFM inline fan sucking air from the tent into the hood, and another 6" 240 CFM suck the air out through 6" duct and then exhausted outside the tent.
It was recommended to me to try to bring fresh air into the hood instead of sucking the warmer air in from the tent, so that's going to be something on my list to fix.
Smell - Bought a 6" carbon scrubber. It's F'ing MASSIVE. Had no idea this thing was so big before it got here. It just recently came; it's not installed yet but is going to be VERY soon. Unfortunately, all I have to pull air through it is another 6" 240 CFM fan, which I'm reading is possibly not enough to be fully effective. I hope it's better than nothing at this point, because I'm having some smell issues (see below.)
Soil - Alright, feel free to cringe here. Miracle Grow Potting Soil. I don't have access to hydroponic stores locally nor do I want to order soil via the mail. I've actually had some great luck with my MG soil's, but I do understand in terms of 1-10 where this stuff rates compared to other brands. Cost and availability are my limiting factors here (looked at other soil mixes and pooped a little when I saw the prices per cubic foot.)
Nutrients - I've been using SuperThrive on most of my waterings and have not really seen any ill effects.
I bought the General Hydroponics GO Starter Kit box. Found out very quickly that mixing the full strength amounts suggested (by General Hydroponics), I could very quickly nute burn the shit out of my plants!
So now I use them at about 1/4 to 1/2 strength and avoided a lot of nute burn compared to what I had before.The Grow Journal
Day 1 - Planted germinated seeds in jiffy peat pots (under a humidity dome) repurposed seed/clone veg box. Took an old surround sound stereo box and lined the entire thing with mylar and rigged up a 125 W CFL light in the box, hung with wires to adjust it if necessary. Mixed up a water can of a tiny bit of SuperThrive and water and bottom watered the peat pots in the tray, draining off the excess water in the tray. Turned on CFL and will let run 24 hours a day.
Day 2 - Watered tray w/ leftover Suprthrive water. Left lights on 24 hours again.
Day 3 - Watered again in the AM and sprayed the inside of the humidity dome with a spray water to try to keep the humidity up. Feels very warm in the box. Checked on the box again at noon and the Auto White Cheese has sprouted. Cracking the box open a little to vent it; feels too warm. Should have put thermometer in here.
Day 4 - Soil in seed box still moist. Did not water. Growth in 4 seeds so far.
Day 5 - No watering needed still. Have 6 our 17 seeds cracked and growing. Not a single White Widow has taken off. May check seeds again and try germinating them in wet paper towels to see if they are late in germination.
*edit while writing this, it's amazing to read this stuff and see how anxious and paranoid I am. Probably where the mistakes come in!*
Day 6 - No more seeds have popped out. Took spray bottle with tap water and misted peat and seeds again.
Day 7 - No new seed growth. I noticed the seed hulls on some of the plants were binding the two starter leaves together and what appears to be pinching the stems.
Day 8 - No more seed growth. Said fuck it and started germinating the last five Seedsman Seeds White Widows I had. Will give these other seeds a few more days and regerm them. Took a tweezers to the stuck seed hulls. Read you shouldn't do this. Did it anyways. Removed the hulls and BAM instant leaf growth over the next 12 hours.
Day 9 - Misted water on seeds in the tray. Huge fat leaves on the Auto White Cheese.
Day 10 - Going camping. Filled water tray and took off (left lights on 24 hours.)
Day 11 - Only 4 plants doing well, the Auto White Cheese, Critical Jack Herer, Blue Widow, and Pineapple Express. Germinated my last 5 White Widow seeds and have tap roots. Planting them and praying. Noticed I have a green algae growth growing on my soil tops. I guess that's what I get for using soil I left outside all summer.
And now massive time leap forward for lack of documentation but a quick recap:
Day 12 - 34 - All the White Widow seeds died. Rot. The leaves with the attached seed hulls look like they are pinched at the very tops and quickly fell off. My four strong plants were transplanted into 4 and 5 gallon pots with a mix of miracle grow and heavy on the perlite. I took 1/4" PVC pipe and drilled holes every inch or so on all 4 "sides" of the pipe and cut them to length for the pots to use as watering tubes, to help getting water down to the middle and bottom roots as the plant grows. So far doesn't seem like dirt or perlite it getting stuck in the holes, so it seems to work pretty good!
Day 35 - Plants stink. Plants stink a LOT. My entire basement reeks like growing MJ. On my first grow, I had a small problem with smell (during veg only though, couldn't smell a thing during flower, is that weird?) On this one though; with these far superior strains than my bag seed; holy balls. STINKY. I just received my 6" carbon scrubber recently so that's getting installed today or tomorrow. Need to get that smell under control.
The plants are looking GREAT. The Auto White Cheese is showing a little nute burn I think (leaves are little curled around the edges, but I think I accidentally splashed them while watering (need to get a water can with the long spout instead of the rain shower head.) The Blue Widow (photo strain) is MASSIVE. Every time I open the tent I say "holy shit look at you!" Then it looks up at me, winks, gives me the middle finger, and says "I'm the reason your basement stinks!"
The Auto White Cheese, the Pineapple Express (photo), and the Blue Widow (photo) are all doing VERY well, at least compared to my plants on my first grow. Incredibly leafy and bushy. The Critical Jack Herer is looking kind of wimpy. Think it's just a weak seed/plant. Will see how she does I suppose.
The Auto White is already starting to pre-flower!
I'll try to get some pics of the girls when I get my carbon scrubber installed! Thanks for reading if you read all this; and hopefully it will continue to do well! Looking forward to suggestions on fixing some of my blunders!
It sounds like you like you have a kickass setup! 
. 
