I was gonna wait 'til i finished my first grow to post a blog, but I see that posting my mistakes may be more useful than my successes, so gonna start now. The grow journals here have taught me a lot. My goal is to grow an oz or so per month of primo ganj for personal use. I'm gonna be a legal beagle and stay within the new NY law by planting just 2 small autos per month. Once I have 6 plants, i won't plant 2 more until i chop 2. I'm looking for quality, not quantity.
Before I found this website I looked up reviews of seed suppliers that ship to USA. Since then I've found a lot more seed recommendations here. I searched for smaller auto strains with high THC. My first grow is Northern Lights Auto from Growers Choice.
Thanks to various member here who've inspired me, provided tech advice, and put up with a lot of stooopid questions.
Before I found this website I looked up reviews of seed suppliers that ship to USA. Since then I've found a lot more seed recommendations here. I searched for smaller auto strains with high THC. My first grow is Northern Lights Auto from Growers Choice.
Thanks to various member here who've inspired me, provided tech advice, and put up with a lot of stooopid questions.
day 1
May 11 I soaked 3 Northern Lights auto beans for 18 hours.
May 12 I poured them on a folded up paper towel in a dish. I put it on a shelf in the office, under my fedora to keep it dark(78°F).
May 13 the beans busted tails:
I mixed up some dirt: 3GL of last year's slightly used compost, 3GL of new compost made from leaves collected last Fall, 3GL peat moss, 2 GL perlite, and 3GL rainwater.
(mistake #1: i didn't have a good pH meter, so my soil pH is a little high at 7 or 7.2).
I put 3 gallons in each container: 2 milk crates lined with burlap and a 3GL fabric bucket:
420Forever saved my sprouts from certain destruction when he reminded me to lift one edge of my domes for air circulation. A wooden mousetrap, a piece of wood, a chunk of tree bark, and a fan did the trick.
(mistake #2)
I only buried the tails and left the helmet at ground level on advice of some old video somewhere, so the next day the helmets were already 1/2" high.
I finally got a decent pH meter (Thanks, Mark). My soil is 7.2, but i don't want to drown my sprouts so just sprinkled some rainwater with a smidgen of pH-lower around the domes. When it's time to water, I'll lower the pH of the rainwater to 6 or so I suppose?
On day 4 I noticed one sprout keeled over and separated from her root. I buried her remaining 3/4" of stem up to her neck just in case she can muster a new root. If she survives I'll call her Greta, for the 2nd person inside an old love of mine who has multiple personalities.
On day 5 I noticed that Plant #2 (Hilda?) is missing 1/2 a cotyledon. A couple hours later 1/2 a tiny leaf was also bitten off.
(mistake #3: I didn't sterilize my homemade compost). One out of the 3, Heidi, is whole. RH is a lot higher with the dome on:
That's it so far. If any of these girls miraculously survives, I'll post weekly porn. Else I have some backup seeds to soak.
May 12 I poured them on a folded up paper towel in a dish. I put it on a shelf in the office, under my fedora to keep it dark(78°F).
May 13 the beans busted tails:
I mixed up some dirt: 3GL of last year's slightly used compost, 3GL of new compost made from leaves collected last Fall, 3GL peat moss, 2 GL perlite, and 3GL rainwater.
(mistake #1: i didn't have a good pH meter, so my soil pH is a little high at 7 or 7.2).
I put 3 gallons in each container: 2 milk crates lined with burlap and a 3GL fabric bucket:
420Forever saved my sprouts from certain destruction when he reminded me to lift one edge of my domes for air circulation. A wooden mousetrap, a piece of wood, a chunk of tree bark, and a fan did the trick.
(mistake #2)
I only buried the tails and left the helmet at ground level on advice of some old video somewhere, so the next day the helmets were already 1/2" high.
I finally got a decent pH meter (Thanks, Mark). My soil is 7.2, but i don't want to drown my sprouts so just sprinkled some rainwater with a smidgen of pH-lower around the domes. When it's time to water, I'll lower the pH of the rainwater to 6 or so I suppose?
On day 4 I noticed one sprout keeled over and separated from her root. I buried her remaining 3/4" of stem up to her neck just in case she can muster a new root. If she survives I'll call her Greta, for the 2nd person inside an old love of mine who has multiple personalities.
On day 5 I noticed that Plant #2 (Hilda?) is missing 1/2 a cotyledon. A couple hours later 1/2 a tiny leaf was also bitten off.
(mistake #3: I didn't sterilize my homemade compost). One out of the 3, Heidi, is whole. RH is a lot higher with the dome on:
That's it so far. If any of these girls miraculously survives, I'll post weekly porn. Else I have some backup seeds to soak.
NL at 3 weeks, BG at 2 weeks, PK at 1 week
I watched some videos on light, importance of, measurements (PAR, PPF, PPFD, DLI). So I installed a free app that measures PPFD and calculates DLI to see if my girls are getting what they need. No wonder they're behind schedule, they needed a lot more light! I had been putting them inside under LED boards when it was rainy or cloudy out. Now it's a routine: full sun when available (8am-8pm), and 130w of LED's @14 inches to complete an 18/6 light/dark schedule. Here's the daytime setup:
Heidi, miss Northern Lights Auto, is 3 weeks old today. She seemed a bit stunted compared to what I've seen on other journals. She seems to be liking the new 18/6 light schedule though, so she might catch up. I might up it to 20/4. I gave her a Greek Oregano companion plant. Her pH was up to 7.5 yesterday, even though I watered her with pH 6.0 on Tuesday. I sprinkled the soil with 1 tsp. of "fast acting sulfur" to see if that helps get the pH down. All the girls will get water today. I've been gauging water status by sticking my finger in the dirt to see if it feels moist. The burlap soil enclosure seems to dry out the soil pretty quickly even though the plants can't be using much water yet:
Hannah, miss Bubble Gum Auto, is 2 weeks old today. She has been on the increased light intensity and schedule most of this week, so maybe she's ahead of Heidi (NLauto). She's due for a good watering, which I hope will uncurl the lower leaves:
Magnolia, miss Purple Kush Auto, is 6 days old today. I'll round it off to 1 week, since I started this journal based on weekly posts about her older sister:
Here are the ladies at their night job under 130w LED's (2x65) at 14":
That's all for now. I'll continue to post weekly, if life endures. I don't know what happened to the posts for NL day 7 and day 14. They've disappeared. Was it something i said? Or maybe I put them in the wrong place? I've been clicking "add page" for each weekly update...
Heidi, miss Northern Lights Auto, is 3 weeks old today. She seemed a bit stunted compared to what I've seen on other journals. She seems to be liking the new 18/6 light schedule though, so she might catch up. I might up it to 20/4. I gave her a Greek Oregano companion plant. Her pH was up to 7.5 yesterday, even though I watered her with pH 6.0 on Tuesday. I sprinkled the soil with 1 tsp. of "fast acting sulfur" to see if that helps get the pH down. All the girls will get water today. I've been gauging water status by sticking my finger in the dirt to see if it feels moist. The burlap soil enclosure seems to dry out the soil pretty quickly even though the plants can't be using much water yet:
Hannah, miss Bubble Gum Auto, is 2 weeks old today. She has been on the increased light intensity and schedule most of this week, so maybe she's ahead of Heidi (NLauto). She's due for a good watering, which I hope will uncurl the lower leaves:
Magnolia, miss Purple Kush Auto, is 6 days old today. I'll round it off to 1 week, since I started this journal based on weekly posts about her older sister:
Here are the ladies at their night job under 130w LED's (2x65) at 14":
That's all for now. I'll continue to post weekly, if life endures. I don't know what happened to the posts for NL day 7 and day 14. They've disappeared. Was it something i said? Or maybe I put them in the wrong place? I've been clicking "add page" for each weekly update...
NL at 6 weeks, BG 5 weeks, PK4 weeks, GL day1
This week Northern Lights Auto (Heidi) started to pre-flower. Today she's 42 days old. She was yellowing, so I gave her a liter of 1/4 strength FloraGro/FloraMicro and a day in the sun, which seemed to help. Maybe next week give her some FloraBloom? The bottom leaves are bright yellow and about to fall off. The main cola is still bent over by the white wire, which needs adjustment every day. The milk crate is tilted on a 4" block to get the lower branches closer to the light:
Bubble Gum Auto (Hannah) is 35 days old, and may be getting ready to flower. I gave her a liter of 1/4 strength FloraGro/FloraMicro a couple of days ago. Her top is still tucked under the black wire to let the branches catch up. She's also tilted with a 4" block to get the branches closer to the light:
Purple Kush Auto (Miss Magnolia) is 28 days old. She's had nothing but water so far. That's her top tucked under the white wire. She's also tilted on a 4" block to get more light to the lowers:
I went ahead and soaked 2 Gold Leaf Auto seeds on Monday, trying to get on schedule for a continuous grow of 3 plants. Today the twins are both off to the races on the sprouting shelf I use for my veggies, with 2 LED shop lights above them @ 4":
I'm am-bare-assed about the state of my new basement grow room. I promise I'll finish it soon so I can actually keep it clean and get healthier airflow. This week I had a plague of huge black flies. I had to replace the fly paper several times because it got full. They seem to be dying down. Humidity is too high, and the little ivation dehumidifier i got yesterday only got it down by 1 or 2%:
That's it for this week. Thanks to @420Forever's crew in the Live Stoner chat for bailing me out of every crisis.
Bubble Gum Auto (Hannah) is 35 days old, and may be getting ready to flower. I gave her a liter of 1/4 strength FloraGro/FloraMicro a couple of days ago. Her top is still tucked under the black wire to let the branches catch up. She's also tilted with a 4" block to get the branches closer to the light:
Purple Kush Auto (Miss Magnolia) is 28 days old. She's had nothing but water so far. That's her top tucked under the white wire. She's also tilted on a 4" block to get more light to the lowers:
I went ahead and soaked 2 Gold Leaf Auto seeds on Monday, trying to get on schedule for a continuous grow of 3 plants. Today the twins are both off to the races on the sprouting shelf I use for my veggies, with 2 LED shop lights above them @ 4":
I'm am-bare-assed about the state of my new basement grow room. I promise I'll finish it soon so I can actually keep it clean and get healthier airflow. This week I had a plague of huge black flies. I had to replace the fly paper several times because it got full. They seem to be dying down. Humidity is too high, and the little ivation dehumidifier i got yesterday only got it down by 1 or 2%:
That's it for this week. Thanks to @420Forever's crew in the Live Stoner chat for bailing me out of every crisis.
NL week7, BG week6, PK week5, Gold Leaf week1
Northern Lights is 49 days old. At 8" tall, she's probably a bit stunted, but trying to flower. That's the main cola on the right, held down by the white electric wire. The other branches are now almost the same height:
Bubble Gum Auto is 42 days old, hasn't had anything but water. The top cola is on the right, tucked under the black wire. The lower branches have caught up. Maybe early signs of pre-flower:
Purple Kush Auto is 35 days old and pushing out lots of pistils. She's only had a little bending of the main cola to get the branches up to a level top. That's the main cola on the right, being pulled down with a hook of #14 white electric wire:
These 2 babies are Gold Leaf Auto, both a week old. They're in line to replace whoever finishes first and 2nd. They've had full light from day 2. I'm pushing them with max light to try and get 4 nodes before day 20, in which case I'll top at least one of them (per @budelee's work on HST here at AFN).
Here's a wide angle of all 5 midget ladies in the basement grow room (a work in progress). That's (2) 100w QB's and a 65w. Top row: Northern Lights Auto, Bubble Gum Auto, Purple Kush Auto. The two Gold Leaf Auto babies are in front:
Humidity was way too high, so I got a 22 cup dehumidifier (GE). It got RH down from 80 to 50 pronto. I got tired of emptying the tank every 6 hours, so I got a condensate pump. It has a little tank under it with a float switch, so every time it collects a quart or 2 of water the pump comes on for a few seconds and empties it out. The blue hose drains the dehumidifier to the condensate pump. The white pipe (3/8" PEX) runs along the ceiling to a laundry sink:
I'll move the girls back outside while I upgrade the exhaust from 6" to 8" when ACInfinity delivers my new exhaust fan this week. I still need to stucco the bare clay wall behind the dehumidifier with ferro-cement, install a filtered air supply, finish sealing the perimeter with reflective mylar, install a 2nd 15-amp electric circuit, etc. That's all I have to report this week. I intend to continue to post updates every Friday. Thanks for all the help from @420Forever and the gang at Live Stoner IM chatroom.
Bubble Gum Auto is 42 days old, hasn't had anything but water. The top cola is on the right, tucked under the black wire. The lower branches have caught up. Maybe early signs of pre-flower:
Purple Kush Auto is 35 days old and pushing out lots of pistils. She's only had a little bending of the main cola to get the branches up to a level top. That's the main cola on the right, being pulled down with a hook of #14 white electric wire:
These 2 babies are Gold Leaf Auto, both a week old. They're in line to replace whoever finishes first and 2nd. They've had full light from day 2. I'm pushing them with max light to try and get 4 nodes before day 20, in which case I'll top at least one of them (per @budelee's work on HST here at AFN).
Here's a wide angle of all 5 midget ladies in the basement grow room (a work in progress). That's (2) 100w QB's and a 65w. Top row: Northern Lights Auto, Bubble Gum Auto, Purple Kush Auto. The two Gold Leaf Auto babies are in front:
Humidity was way too high, so I got a 22 cup dehumidifier (GE). It got RH down from 80 to 50 pronto. I got tired of emptying the tank every 6 hours, so I got a condensate pump. It has a little tank under it with a float switch, so every time it collects a quart or 2 of water the pump comes on for a few seconds and empties it out. The blue hose drains the dehumidifier to the condensate pump. The white pipe (3/8" PEX) runs along the ceiling to a laundry sink:
I'll move the girls back outside while I upgrade the exhaust from 6" to 8" when ACInfinity delivers my new exhaust fan this week. I still need to stucco the bare clay wall behind the dehumidifier with ferro-cement, install a filtered air supply, finish sealing the perimeter with reflective mylar, install a 2nd 15-amp electric circuit, etc. That's all I have to report this week. I intend to continue to post updates every Friday. Thanks for all the help from @420Forever and the gang at Live Stoner IM chatroom.
NL 8wks, BG 7 wks, PK 6wks, GL 2 wks
Northern Lights Auto had issues this week. Some leaves turned white overnight, after just having a few white spots. I cut off a sick leaf and looked underneath with a 50x bluetooth microscope and found these critters. Those specks of dirt are motorized:
I guess it's some kind of spider mites. I was freaking, thinking that my first plant was a goner. I cut off the sickest leaves, and sprayed the bottoms of the others with 3 t. citric acid crystals and 1/2 t. Castille soap in 1 liter of water. I didn't see any more bug activity, but sprayed again a couple days later just in case. I sprayed the other plants and my cucumbers too while I was at it. Northern Lights Auto has had a hard life, but she seems like a survivor. The white snow on some leaves is the remaining damage where the mitez chewed the green out of the leaf from below. Her main cola is mostly horizontal to keep the canopy flat because my lights are small and don't have much penetration. She had no feeding except the compost in the soil until , but now I've fed her twice with GH flora trio flowering formula (1cc FloraMicro, 1cc FloraGro, 1.5cc FloraBloom, in 1 liter of tapwater). I think she was weak from hunger, and that let the mites get out of control:
Bubble Gum Auto is 49 days old. I thought she was about to flower, but instead, after a light feeding, she added nodes on all her branches. Some branches stretched to 12" tall, above the main cola. I tied down the taller branches so i could keep all the bud sites at a similar distance from the 100w QB. She's had 2 light feedings with GH flora trio veggie formula (1.5cc FloraMicro, 1.5cc FloraGro, 1cc FloraBloom in 1 liter of tapwater). I begged a 7cc syringe from the nurse at my doctors office to measure cc's with. I'll continue light feedings every other watering from now on, and occasional citric acid spray under her leaves, in case the mites come creeping. The main cola is at center right, held down with a copper wire:
Purple Kush Auto is 42 days old. She's had a 2nd light feeding of GH flora trio flowering formula. She'll get it again once a week. I think she might finish before her older sisters. The white wire at top right is pulling the main cola down while the branches catch up:
The Gold Leaf Auto twins are 15 days old today. One is a node ahead of the other, but both are showing branches. I'm thinking to cut off the 5th node on the bigger twin this week. They had a first feeding this morning of GH Flora veggie formula:
The girls have been nomads this week, spending time on the sun deck and on a temporary shelf in the basement while I work on the grow room. I've been trying to keep them under 265w of LED's as much as possible (65w+100w+100w). Here they are in the unfinished grow room:
Clockwise starting on the left, from oldest to youngest: Northern Lights Auto, Bubble Gum Auto, Purple Kush Auto, Gold Leaf Auto (x2). I'm working on upgrading the exhaust from 6" to 8", fabricating an intake filter box, and other upgrades as time allows. Being retired is busier than you'd think. I barely get a chance to park my butt in the rocking chair. Thanks to @420Forever, @Fermented_Fruitz, @RastaDaniel, @Kyote, @LoveDaAutos, @ShadyGrove, @PlatinumGrows and all the crew at Live Stoner Chat. Will update next Friday, if life endures.
I guess it's some kind of spider mites. I was freaking, thinking that my first plant was a goner. I cut off the sickest leaves, and sprayed the bottoms of the others with 3 t. citric acid crystals and 1/2 t. Castille soap in 1 liter of water. I didn't see any more bug activity, but sprayed again a couple days later just in case. I sprayed the other plants and my cucumbers too while I was at it. Northern Lights Auto has had a hard life, but she seems like a survivor. The white snow on some leaves is the remaining damage where the mitez chewed the green out of the leaf from below. Her main cola is mostly horizontal to keep the canopy flat because my lights are small and don't have much penetration. She had no feeding except the compost in the soil until , but now I've fed her twice with GH flora trio flowering formula (1cc FloraMicro, 1cc FloraGro, 1.5cc FloraBloom, in 1 liter of tapwater). I think she was weak from hunger, and that let the mites get out of control:
Bubble Gum Auto is 49 days old. I thought she was about to flower, but instead, after a light feeding, she added nodes on all her branches. Some branches stretched to 12" tall, above the main cola. I tied down the taller branches so i could keep all the bud sites at a similar distance from the 100w QB. She's had 2 light feedings with GH flora trio veggie formula (1.5cc FloraMicro, 1.5cc FloraGro, 1cc FloraBloom in 1 liter of tapwater). I begged a 7cc syringe from the nurse at my doctors office to measure cc's with. I'll continue light feedings every other watering from now on, and occasional citric acid spray under her leaves, in case the mites come creeping. The main cola is at center right, held down with a copper wire:
Purple Kush Auto is 42 days old. She's had a 2nd light feeding of GH flora trio flowering formula. She'll get it again once a week. I think she might finish before her older sisters. The white wire at top right is pulling the main cola down while the branches catch up:
The Gold Leaf Auto twins are 15 days old today. One is a node ahead of the other, but both are showing branches. I'm thinking to cut off the 5th node on the bigger twin this week. They had a first feeding this morning of GH Flora veggie formula:
The girls have been nomads this week, spending time on the sun deck and on a temporary shelf in the basement while I work on the grow room. I've been trying to keep them under 265w of LED's as much as possible (65w+100w+100w). Here they are in the unfinished grow room:
Clockwise starting on the left, from oldest to youngest: Northern Lights Auto, Bubble Gum Auto, Purple Kush Auto, Gold Leaf Auto (x2). I'm working on upgrading the exhaust from 6" to 8", fabricating an intake filter box, and other upgrades as time allows. Being retired is busier than you'd think. I barely get a chance to park my butt in the rocking chair. Thanks to @420Forever, @Fermented_Fruitz, @RastaDaniel, @Kyote, @LoveDaAutos, @ShadyGrove, @PlatinumGrows and all the crew at Live Stoner Chat. Will update next Friday, if life endures.
NL 9wks, BG 8wks, PK 7wks, GL 3 wks
Here's an overview: Clockwise from top left: Northern Lights auto, Bubble Gum auto, Purple Kush auto, Gold Leaf auto twice, gold leaf clone, GG4 auto day1:
Northern Lights auto is packing buds at 9 weeks old:
closeup of a bud:
Bubble Gum auto is still not flowering at 8 weeks. If she doesn't start to flower in a couple of weeks I'll set her out on the deck to see if that will flip her into flower mode:
Purple Kush auto is packing buds at 7 weeks old:
Here's a bud shot:
The 2 Gold Leaf auto sisters are 22 days old: The bigger one was topped on day 19, the smaller one was not. The amputated top was dipped in Clonex and put in the dirt 3 days ago. I know it's a long shot, but I had to try:
This is day1 for GG4 auto. I soaked the bean 4 days ago, put her tail in 3GL of dirt yesterday (2GL homegrown compost, 1/2GL peat, 1/2GL perlite):
When I started out I hoped to use only my own compost, but everybody said the girls looked hungry, so I've started feeding every week or so with the HG Flora trio in the recommended proportions for veg and flower. I've been spraying every week with 3t citric acid crystals and 1/2t castille soap in 1L water to keep the mites away. I hope it will rinse out of the buds at harvest. I added a 2nd fan at floor level because the humidity down there was high. Here's my nutes. I'm measuring cc's with a medical syringe:
That's it for my first 5 grows. I hope my first harvest will be in a few weeks. Thanks to @420Forever, @Fermented_Fruitz, and all the crew of live stoners chat. Thanks much to @Mossy and @Jraven for the reputation points! I hope to post progress again next week.
Northern Lights auto is packing buds at 9 weeks old:
closeup of a bud:
Bubble Gum auto is still not flowering at 8 weeks. If she doesn't start to flower in a couple of weeks I'll set her out on the deck to see if that will flip her into flower mode:
Purple Kush auto is packing buds at 7 weeks old:
Here's a bud shot:
The 2 Gold Leaf auto sisters are 22 days old: The bigger one was topped on day 19, the smaller one was not. The amputated top was dipped in Clonex and put in the dirt 3 days ago. I know it's a long shot, but I had to try:
This is day1 for GG4 auto. I soaked the bean 4 days ago, put her tail in 3GL of dirt yesterday (2GL homegrown compost, 1/2GL peat, 1/2GL perlite):
When I started out I hoped to use only my own compost, but everybody said the girls looked hungry, so I've started feeding every week or so with the HG Flora trio in the recommended proportions for veg and flower. I've been spraying every week with 3t citric acid crystals and 1/2t castille soap in 1L water to keep the mites away. I hope it will rinse out of the buds at harvest. I added a 2nd fan at floor level because the humidity down there was high. Here's my nutes. I'm measuring cc's with a medical syringe:
That's it for my first 5 grows. I hope my first harvest will be in a few weeks. Thanks to @420Forever, @Fermented_Fruitz, and all the crew of live stoners chat. Thanks much to @Mossy and @Jraven for the reputation points! I hope to post progress again next week.
NL 10wks, BG 9 wks, PK 8 wks, GL 4 wks, GG4 1wk
Here's my weekly update on my first 5 grows. Here's a panorama showing the 2nd 20x48" shelf added this week:
The oldest, at top right, is Northern Lights auto, now 70 days old:
These trich shots are from the node 1 bud at bottom left. Showing some amber:
Bubble Gum auto hasn't flowered yet at 63 days old. The Live Stoners' consensus is that she's not an auto. She had only circle training since day 17 to get a flat canopy. The main cola is at top right, lower than the node1 branches. As of last night her new home is on the sun deck. We'll see if 12 hours per day of natural light will flip her into flower mode. She had 20/4 and 18/6 under LED's for the last month indoors. She might be busy adding another node before she can flower:
Purple Kush auto is 56 days old. She had minimal LST from day 15, bending the main stem clockwise and tucking leaves to sun the lower bud sites. I think I did not succeed in breaking "apical dominance," because the main cola is much bigger than the others. She's been flowering since day 25. Very sticky buds. The skunky bouquet of last month has turned to a heavenly flowery scent:
She's showing some amber under a 50x bluetooth microscope jammed into the node1 bud at bottom left:
The Gold Leaf auto twins are far from identical even though they're both 29 days old. #1 was topped above the 4th node on day 19 and has a completely flat canopy of 8 colas. #2 was topped above node 4 on day 25, and the lower branches haven't caught up. I pulled down the 4 upper branches of both with jute twine poked through the edge of the fabric pot with a sail needle. #1 is already starting to flower. The tops I tried to root are not doing anything, but I'm going to leave them alone in case they're growing roots underground:
GG4 auto by GGstrains, via Hembra Genetics, is 8 days old. I took the dome off on day 2 and she stalled for a day. She's back on track now. In the future I'll make sure the first leaves are fully deployed before removing the dome:
I've been giving a light feeding of General Hydroponics Flora trio plus CALiMAGic every other watering. The bigger plants are using a liter every day or 2. I water when the $10 moisture meter gets in the red. That's all the news for this week. Thanks @420Forever, @Fermented_Fruitz for keeping me on track. Thanks @Mossy, @Jraven, and @runxtc for your encouragement. Thanks @Waira for sage counsel. Much love to all the Live Stoners. I intend to continue weekly updates on Fridays, as long as I remain above ground.
The oldest, at top right, is Northern Lights auto, now 70 days old:
These trich shots are from the node 1 bud at bottom left. Showing some amber:
Bubble Gum auto hasn't flowered yet at 63 days old. The Live Stoners' consensus is that she's not an auto. She had only circle training since day 17 to get a flat canopy. The main cola is at top right, lower than the node1 branches. As of last night her new home is on the sun deck. We'll see if 12 hours per day of natural light will flip her into flower mode. She had 20/4 and 18/6 under LED's for the last month indoors. She might be busy adding another node before she can flower:
Purple Kush auto is 56 days old. She had minimal LST from day 15, bending the main stem clockwise and tucking leaves to sun the lower bud sites. I think I did not succeed in breaking "apical dominance," because the main cola is much bigger than the others. She's been flowering since day 25. Very sticky buds. The skunky bouquet of last month has turned to a heavenly flowery scent:
She's showing some amber under a 50x bluetooth microscope jammed into the node1 bud at bottom left:
The Gold Leaf auto twins are far from identical even though they're both 29 days old. #1 was topped above the 4th node on day 19 and has a completely flat canopy of 8 colas. #2 was topped above node 4 on day 25, and the lower branches haven't caught up. I pulled down the 4 upper branches of both with jute twine poked through the edge of the fabric pot with a sail needle. #1 is already starting to flower. The tops I tried to root are not doing anything, but I'm going to leave them alone in case they're growing roots underground:
GG4 auto by GGstrains, via Hembra Genetics, is 8 days old. I took the dome off on day 2 and she stalled for a day. She's back on track now. In the future I'll make sure the first leaves are fully deployed before removing the dome:
I've been giving a light feeding of General Hydroponics Flora trio plus CALiMAGic every other watering. The bigger plants are using a liter every day or 2. I water when the $10 moisture meter gets in the red. That's all the news for this week. Thanks @420Forever, @Fermented_Fruitz for keeping me on track. Thanks @Mossy, @Jraven, and @runxtc for your encouragement. Thanks @Waira for sage counsel. Much love to all the Live Stoners. I intend to continue weekly updates on Fridays, as long as I remain above ground.
NL 11wks, BG 10 wks, PK 9wks, GL 5wks, GG4 2wks
Here's what the grow room looks like today, running 3x100w and 2x65w:
Northern Lights Auto is 77 days old today. She's stunted, but pushing out as much bud as she can:
Her trichs are looking milky:
Bubble Gum (freebie from GrowersChoice) was supposed to be auto, but at 70 days no pistils yet. She's was reduced to 12 hours of light per day a week ago. She's in the grow room 9am-9pm, and in a darkroom the rest of the time (12/12). I changed my grow room light schedule so the lights are off from 9pm to 3am, so if I'm late getting her to the darkroom it won't matter:
Purple Kush Auto is getting close to harvest at 63 days old:
The Gold Leaf Auto twins are doing great, but #1 is a lot bigger than #2. #1 was topped on day 19, but #2 wasn't ready 'til day 22. I hemmed and hawed for a couple more days about what to do with her. I finally topped her on day 25. Her twin sister was already starting to flower. They are my first 2 attempts at topping above node 4. They are each starting to build 8 colas. I'm liking the results and will do it again:
The baby GG4 is 15 days old. She put out 2 sets of single-lobed leaves before a 3-lobe, so I'm not sure which is node 1. Since the 2nd set of single-lobe leaves is growing branches, I'll call that node 1. I'll top or fim above node 4 if she's ready by day 20. I'm about to soak another GG4 bean to keep her company, and will continue planting every 2-3 weeks.
That's it for this week's update. Thanks to all for the help and encouragement!
Northern Lights Auto is 77 days old today. She's stunted, but pushing out as much bud as she can:
Her trichs are looking milky:
Bubble Gum (freebie from GrowersChoice) was supposed to be auto, but at 70 days no pistils yet. She's was reduced to 12 hours of light per day a week ago. She's in the grow room 9am-9pm, and in a darkroom the rest of the time (12/12). I changed my grow room light schedule so the lights are off from 9pm to 3am, so if I'm late getting her to the darkroom it won't matter:
Purple Kush Auto is getting close to harvest at 63 days old:
The Gold Leaf Auto twins are doing great, but #1 is a lot bigger than #2. #1 was topped on day 19, but #2 wasn't ready 'til day 22. I hemmed and hawed for a couple more days about what to do with her. I finally topped her on day 25. Her twin sister was already starting to flower. They are my first 2 attempts at topping above node 4. They are each starting to build 8 colas. I'm liking the results and will do it again:
The baby GG4 is 15 days old. She put out 2 sets of single-lobed leaves before a 3-lobe, so I'm not sure which is node 1. Since the 2nd set of single-lobe leaves is growing branches, I'll call that node 1. I'll top or fim above node 4 if she's ready by day 20. I'm about to soak another GG4 bean to keep her company, and will continue planting every 2-3 weeks.
That's it for this week's update. Thanks to all for the help and encouragement!
BG 11wks, PK 10wks, GL 6wks, GG4 3 wks, JR baby
Here's what the grow room looks like today:
I think I'm done collecting lights, now 4x100w and 2x 65w (that's 2 HLG100 3k, 1 HLG100 4k, 1 Yuson 100w, 1 HLG65, 1 Yuson 65w), so i guess that's 1 light per plant, since my goal was 6 plants.
I harvested my first plant this week, Northern Lights Auto, chopped on day 81. I probably let her dry too fast. After 2 rinses in spring water she hung in front of a fan for an hour, in a paper bag for 1 day, then in a jar with lid off and Govee hygrometer in. So far the buds are weighing in at 17 grams, but I didn't trim the sticks off, and I did smoke a few bowls, and it will dry a little more. It will definitely last 'til my next harvest this week:
Here are my 6 girls:
Purple Kush auto is an old lady at 70 (days). I took off her training wires, and she stook up her main cola to reach 10" tall. I trimmed the shriveled leaves off, and could chop her any day now. She dropped so many leaves she has almost trimmed herself. I smoked my first bowl of her undergrowth while I was taking these pictures and I'm as high as a kite rn. Actually I only had 3 tokes before I forgot what I was doing, and the pipe still looks full. Woohoo!!:
Bubble Gum (not auto) is 77, finally starting to flower (I hope) She goes into the grow room after 8:30AM, until after lights out at 8:30PM, then in an empty homemade tent in the attic overnight. I didn't want to reduce the light on the autos, they're still getting 18/6. I hope she'll be worth waiting for:
The Gold Leaf auto twins are looking good on day 43. #1 is bigger, more mature, and has a ton of bud sites. #2 was a slower grower from the start, but she has her merits. #2 had some top leaves curl down this week. Maybe I let her dry out too much and then over-watered? The soil of #2 is also more dense than her sister. Maybe #2 got a separate batch of dirt with too much compost and not enough peat and perlite?
GG4 is 22 days old. The plan was to top her above the 4th node by day 20. On day 20 node 5 was so small, I'm not sure if I topped her or if I missed (FIM). Here she is getting topped a couple days ago, and today after a little skirt-tucking to expose her lower branch tips to the light:
New baby girl! She's a freebie Jelly Rancher by Humboldt. Thank you HembraGenetics. Here she is deploying her first set of solar collectors:
That's my 6 girls. I'll soak a Vanilla Latte Auto to take the place of the old girl that will hang out to dry. Thanks to @420Forever, @Fermented_Fruitz, @RastaDaniel, @ShadyGrove, Doña @Mossy, and all the Live Stoners.
I think I'm done collecting lights, now 4x100w and 2x 65w (that's 2 HLG100 3k, 1 HLG100 4k, 1 Yuson 100w, 1 HLG65, 1 Yuson 65w), so i guess that's 1 light per plant, since my goal was 6 plants.
I harvested my first plant this week, Northern Lights Auto, chopped on day 81. I probably let her dry too fast. After 2 rinses in spring water she hung in front of a fan for an hour, in a paper bag for 1 day, then in a jar with lid off and Govee hygrometer in. So far the buds are weighing in at 17 grams, but I didn't trim the sticks off, and I did smoke a few bowls, and it will dry a little more. It will definitely last 'til my next harvest this week:
Here are my 6 girls:
Purple Kush auto is an old lady at 70 (days). I took off her training wires, and she stook up her main cola to reach 10" tall. I trimmed the shriveled leaves off, and could chop her any day now. She dropped so many leaves she has almost trimmed herself. I smoked my first bowl of her undergrowth while I was taking these pictures and I'm as high as a kite rn. Actually I only had 3 tokes before I forgot what I was doing, and the pipe still looks full. Woohoo!!:
Bubble Gum (not auto) is 77, finally starting to flower (I hope) She goes into the grow room after 8:30AM, until after lights out at 8:30PM, then in an empty homemade tent in the attic overnight. I didn't want to reduce the light on the autos, they're still getting 18/6. I hope she'll be worth waiting for:
The Gold Leaf auto twins are looking good on day 43. #1 is bigger, more mature, and has a ton of bud sites. #2 was a slower grower from the start, but she has her merits. #2 had some top leaves curl down this week. Maybe I let her dry out too much and then over-watered? The soil of #2 is also more dense than her sister. Maybe #2 got a separate batch of dirt with too much compost and not enough peat and perlite?
GG4 is 22 days old. The plan was to top her above the 4th node by day 20. On day 20 node 5 was so small, I'm not sure if I topped her or if I missed (FIM). Here she is getting topped a couple days ago, and today after a little skirt-tucking to expose her lower branch tips to the light:
New baby girl! She's a freebie Jelly Rancher by Humboldt. Thank you HembraGenetics. Here she is deploying her first set of solar collectors:
That's my 6 girls. I'll soak a Vanilla Latte Auto to take the place of the old girl that will hang out to dry. Thanks to @420Forever, @Fermented_Fruitz, @RastaDaniel, @ShadyGrove, Doña @Mossy, and all the Live Stoners.
BG 12wks, GL 7wks, GG4 4 wks, JR 1 wk
The grow room is down to 5 plants (Left to right: Bubble Gum photo, Jelly Rancher photo, GG4 auto, 2 Gold Leaf autos:
Northern Lights auto final weight was 14g. Purple Kush auto final weight was 24g. Might have been a little more, but I been smoking both and gave away a fat spleef of NL. They're both quite sticky, so I've been smoking them in a hash pipe. Last night I rolled a Northern Lights spleef and smoked it late evening. She's a nice light get-up-and-go high, but I didn't get any further than the hammock, and slept like a baby. The purple kush put me in a heavier, hornier frame of mind. I'll continue comparing them as they cure, but I think PK is my fave. I haven't been smoking any more mersh! I'm smoking (and sharing) my own first 2 harvests and loving them.
Bubble Gum freebie is 84. She's been getting 12/12 for 3 weeks. Maybe done by New Years:
The Gold Leaf auto sisters are 49. Little sister was showing some clawing of new leaves, so I paid a visit to the Autoflower Infirmary and learned that I've been giving them all too much nutes. Thanks @elcoloan and @Mañ'O'Green for the diagnosis of "nitrogen toxicity." I'm growing in soil, but was feeding as if in coir. Man'o'green has an amazing tutorial on nutrients. Here are the Gold Leaf twins:
GG4 is 4 weeks old. I topped her on day 20, but "fuck I missed." Now I have 2 little branches growing out of where the top was. I'm going to leave them to see if they catch up to the node4 branches. Let's see if I can learn what FIMming is all about:
Jelly Rancher, fem freebie by Humboldt, is one week old. I started her now in case she gets too big and I have to release her into the wild before summer is over. She's my first 5 GL grow, all the others were 3 GL:
Vanilla Latte auto by Humboldt just popped a tail this morning. I'm about to go cook some dirt for her to get planted in tomorrow:
That's all for this week. Thanks for all the help and encouragement from @420Forever, @Fermented_Fruitz, @Mañ'O'Green, @RastaDaniel, @Mossy, @Kyote, @PlatinumGrows, and all the Live Stoners. I'll post again next week, if life endures.
Northern Lights auto final weight was 14g. Purple Kush auto final weight was 24g. Might have been a little more, but I been smoking both and gave away a fat spleef of NL. They're both quite sticky, so I've been smoking them in a hash pipe. Last night I rolled a Northern Lights spleef and smoked it late evening. She's a nice light get-up-and-go high, but I didn't get any further than the hammock, and slept like a baby. The purple kush put me in a heavier, hornier frame of mind. I'll continue comparing them as they cure, but I think PK is my fave. I haven't been smoking any more mersh! I'm smoking (and sharing) my own first 2 harvests and loving them.
Bubble Gum freebie is 84. She's been getting 12/12 for 3 weeks. Maybe done by New Years:
The Gold Leaf auto sisters are 49. Little sister was showing some clawing of new leaves, so I paid a visit to the Autoflower Infirmary and learned that I've been giving them all too much nutes. Thanks @elcoloan and @Mañ'O'Green for the diagnosis of "nitrogen toxicity." I'm growing in soil, but was feeding as if in coir. Man'o'green has an amazing tutorial on nutrients. Here are the Gold Leaf twins:
GG4 is 4 weeks old. I topped her on day 20, but "fuck I missed." Now I have 2 little branches growing out of where the top was. I'm going to leave them to see if they catch up to the node4 branches. Let's see if I can learn what FIMming is all about:
Jelly Rancher, fem freebie by Humboldt, is one week old. I started her now in case she gets too big and I have to release her into the wild before summer is over. She's my first 5 GL grow, all the others were 3 GL:
Vanilla Latte auto by Humboldt just popped a tail this morning. I'm about to go cook some dirt for her to get planted in tomorrow:
That's all for this week. Thanks for all the help and encouragement from @420Forever, @Fermented_Fruitz, @Mañ'O'Green, @RastaDaniel, @Mossy, @Kyote, @PlatinumGrows, and all the Live Stoners. I'll post again next week, if life endures.
BG 13wks, GL 8wks, GG4 5wks, JR 3wks, VL 1wk
My house is full again with 6 plants (L to R: Jelly Rancher fem, Vanilla Latte auto, Bubble Gum fem, GG4 auto, Gold Leaf auto #2 and #1):
Bubble Gum freebie is 91, on 3rd week of flowering. The Yuson 100w QB light footprint is not as even as the HLG lights, so I raised the perimeter branches to get the same light that the center is getting. So canopy isn't flat, but the branch tops are all getting close to 1,000 PPFD:
I got a new LUX meter that hooks up by Bluetooth to my Android "PPFD Meter" app. It works a lot better than the light meter in the phone. It has a built-in diffuser with a dome shape to detect light from various angles. I don't burn my eyes out from the QB's reflecting off the phone screen. The app comes with presets for this specific sensor: https://www.ebay.com/itm/323328445456
The Gold Leaf twins got cooties this week (two-spotted spider mites). I didn't want to spray while in late flower stage, so I've been sponging the bottoms of the bigger leaves with my home remedy mixture (3 t. citric acid and 1 t. Castille soap in a liter of water). Of course it's not total eradication, but it does seem to reduce the population by 90%. They haven't started munching the trichs on the flowers, but if they do I'll harvest early. After the first sponging, the only ones I found were hiding in the valleys between veins on the bottoms of the bigger leaves, so I sponged again. I will keep after them til harvest, and will spray the other plants before flower stage. I'm also considering Adamax (per Nebula Haze) or predator insects (per @Fermented_Fruitz):
Here's Gold Leaf Auto #1 and #2 this morning (day 57), and a trichome shot of #1 a couple of days ago. I might taste some lower larf soon:
GG4 auto is 36. The 2 tops in the center are growing out of the attempt to top above node 4. I missed, so I'm watching to learn about the result of a FIM. It looks like apical dominance was indeed broken, as the 8 branches (2 from each of the 4 remaining nodes) are clearly dominant. I pulled the taller branches down with jute twine poked through holes in the fabric pot to get a flat canopy. The 2 middle branches from the FIM are just about caught up to the others in time for flowering. I don't mind if I FIM again!:
Jelly Rancher photo is 20 days old. Her node 4 is not quite an inch long yet. I hope node 5 will develop in the next couple of days so I can snip it off, per @budelee's work (RIP).
Vanilla Latte Auto freebie joined the room this week. Her 1/2" root was dropped into a chopstick-sized hole, and the dirt packed around it with the top of the helmet showing. She's in a 4 gallon plastic pot (50% compost, 25% peat, 25% perlite, moistened with a gallon of diluted GH Flora trio). I baked the compost at 175°F for 4 hours to kill mite eggs, sow bugs, etc. Surprisingly, I've still found some weeds sprouting! Yesterday morning her first true leaves were fully deployed, so I removed her dome. Still misting her a few times per day:
I received 5k of Mother Earth coco coir yesterday to try my first coco grow. I'll soak another GG4 seed soon to get on a schedule of planting/harvesting every 3 weeks. (https://www.ebay.com/itm/224241177673). I need to improve the size and frequency of my harvests. It looks like the jars of Northern Lights and Purple Kush will be empty by the time they finish curing. That's it for this week. Much love and spectacular karma to all who've helped me get this far.
(that's you @420Forever @Fermented_Fruitz @Mossy @Mañ'O'Green @elcoloan @ShadyGrove @RastaDaniel @CrookDog @Kyote and others)
Bubble Gum freebie is 91, on 3rd week of flowering. The Yuson 100w QB light footprint is not as even as the HLG lights, so I raised the perimeter branches to get the same light that the center is getting. So canopy isn't flat, but the branch tops are all getting close to 1,000 PPFD:
I got a new LUX meter that hooks up by Bluetooth to my Android "PPFD Meter" app. It works a lot better than the light meter in the phone. It has a built-in diffuser with a dome shape to detect light from various angles. I don't burn my eyes out from the QB's reflecting off the phone screen. The app comes with presets for this specific sensor: https://www.ebay.com/itm/323328445456
The Gold Leaf twins got cooties this week (two-spotted spider mites). I didn't want to spray while in late flower stage, so I've been sponging the bottoms of the bigger leaves with my home remedy mixture (3 t. citric acid and 1 t. Castille soap in a liter of water). Of course it's not total eradication, but it does seem to reduce the population by 90%. They haven't started munching the trichs on the flowers, but if they do I'll harvest early. After the first sponging, the only ones I found were hiding in the valleys between veins on the bottoms of the bigger leaves, so I sponged again. I will keep after them til harvest, and will spray the other plants before flower stage. I'm also considering Adamax (per Nebula Haze) or predator insects (per @Fermented_Fruitz):
Here's Gold Leaf Auto #1 and #2 this morning (day 57), and a trichome shot of #1 a couple of days ago. I might taste some lower larf soon:
GG4 auto is 36. The 2 tops in the center are growing out of the attempt to top above node 4. I missed, so I'm watching to learn about the result of a FIM. It looks like apical dominance was indeed broken, as the 8 branches (2 from each of the 4 remaining nodes) are clearly dominant. I pulled the taller branches down with jute twine poked through holes in the fabric pot to get a flat canopy. The 2 middle branches from the FIM are just about caught up to the others in time for flowering. I don't mind if I FIM again!:
Jelly Rancher photo is 20 days old. Her node 4 is not quite an inch long yet. I hope node 5 will develop in the next couple of days so I can snip it off, per @budelee's work (RIP).
Vanilla Latte Auto freebie joined the room this week. Her 1/2" root was dropped into a chopstick-sized hole, and the dirt packed around it with the top of the helmet showing. She's in a 4 gallon plastic pot (50% compost, 25% peat, 25% perlite, moistened with a gallon of diluted GH Flora trio). I baked the compost at 175°F for 4 hours to kill mite eggs, sow bugs, etc. Surprisingly, I've still found some weeds sprouting! Yesterday morning her first true leaves were fully deployed, so I removed her dome. Still misting her a few times per day:
I received 5k of Mother Earth coco coir yesterday to try my first coco grow. I'll soak another GG4 seed soon to get on a schedule of planting/harvesting every 3 weeks. (https://www.ebay.com/itm/224241177673). I need to improve the size and frequency of my harvests. It looks like the jars of Northern Lights and Purple Kush will be empty by the time they finish curing. That's it for this week. Much love and spectacular karma to all who've helped me get this far.
(that's you @420Forever @Fermented_Fruitz @Mossy @Mañ'O'Green @elcoloan @ShadyGrove @RastaDaniel @CrookDog @Kyote and others)
BG 14wks, GL 9wks, GG4 6wks, JR 3wks, VL 2wks, GG4 day2
I chopped a Gold Leaf Auto on the same day I planted another GG4 Auto#2, so still 6 plants in the grow house (L to R Vanilla Latte Auto, GG4 Auto, Bubble Gum Photo, Jelly Rancher Photo, GG4 Auto#1, Gold Leaf Auto):
Bubble Gum did not auto, but is in her 4th week of flowering at 98 days old. The curling ends on some leaves are not from nutes, they're the result of a stoned experimental spider mite treatment. I thought I might vacuum them off with the shopvac, but it's so powerful it sucked a whole cola 9 or 10" into the 3" pipe. It didn't break off, and didn't seem damaged, so I did the same to all the other colas. The next morning the ends of the leaves were shrivelled. I'm pretty sure it's windburn. Anyway, looks like she survived. She spends 12 hours in a darkroom every night while the autos still get 18 hours of light:
I chopped one of the Gold Leaf Auto twins a few days ago at day 61. It's already dry enough to put in jars, with the lid off. My first 2 harvests were 14g and 23g. This one should be well over an oz after a final trim and a little more drying. So far I just tried some quick-dried larf I chopped a few days before harvest. A little harsh, but definitely a loudddd smoke! I need to figure out a better curing routine, because drying at 90°F and RH 55-70% is hardly ideal. The smaller twin is still growing at 64 days old today. She has a couple of weeks to go I guess:
GG4 Auto is 43, and in the 2nd week of flowering. I'm looking forward to this smoke:
Jelly Rancher Photo is 21 today. In last week's journal I goofed on her age. She was topped a week ago, but I think I fimmed again because there are 2 little branches growing out of the wound, in addition to the 2 out of node 4. I did some leaf-tucking today to give more light to the ends of the lower branches.:
Vanilla Latte Auto is 13 today, and I can barely see the beginnings of node 3. I hope to top her above node 4:
I planted another GG4 Auto. Soaked Monday, planted Wednesday, I'm calling yesterday her day 1. The first set of leaves was pretty well developed this morning, so I took off the dome today. The coco surface felt hot, so I gave her a burlap skirt. She's my first coco grow, all the others were in soil. She's getting daily rainwater with CALiMAGic this week at pH 6. My Hanna pH tester is on the fritz, so I'm using GH pH drops. Will start GH Flora nutes next week. I rinsed out the coco coir in tapwater twice, soaked it overnight in CalMag to buffer it, then rinsed it again after I added the perlite:
That's it for this week's adventures. Thanks to all who've helped me along, @420Forever, @Fermented_Fruitz, @Mañ'O'Green, @Mossy, @RastaDaniel, @Kyote, @elcoloan, @ShadyGrove, @CrookDog, @LoveDaAutos, @mdabber, and all the other live stoners.
Bubble Gum did not auto, but is in her 4th week of flowering at 98 days old. The curling ends on some leaves are not from nutes, they're the result of a stoned experimental spider mite treatment. I thought I might vacuum them off with the shopvac, but it's so powerful it sucked a whole cola 9 or 10" into the 3" pipe. It didn't break off, and didn't seem damaged, so I did the same to all the other colas. The next morning the ends of the leaves were shrivelled. I'm pretty sure it's windburn. Anyway, looks like she survived. She spends 12 hours in a darkroom every night while the autos still get 18 hours of light:
I chopped one of the Gold Leaf Auto twins a few days ago at day 61. It's already dry enough to put in jars, with the lid off. My first 2 harvests were 14g and 23g. This one should be well over an oz after a final trim and a little more drying. So far I just tried some quick-dried larf I chopped a few days before harvest. A little harsh, but definitely a loudddd smoke! I need to figure out a better curing routine, because drying at 90°F and RH 55-70% is hardly ideal. The smaller twin is still growing at 64 days old today. She has a couple of weeks to go I guess:
GG4 Auto is 43, and in the 2nd week of flowering. I'm looking forward to this smoke:
Jelly Rancher Photo is 21 today. In last week's journal I goofed on her age. She was topped a week ago, but I think I fimmed again because there are 2 little branches growing out of the wound, in addition to the 2 out of node 4. I did some leaf-tucking today to give more light to the ends of the lower branches.:
Vanilla Latte Auto is 13 today, and I can barely see the beginnings of node 3. I hope to top her above node 4:
I planted another GG4 Auto. Soaked Monday, planted Wednesday, I'm calling yesterday her day 1. The first set of leaves was pretty well developed this morning, so I took off the dome today. The coco surface felt hot, so I gave her a burlap skirt. She's my first coco grow, all the others were in soil. She's getting daily rainwater with CALiMAGic this week at pH 6. My Hanna pH tester is on the fritz, so I'm using GH pH drops. Will start GH Flora nutes next week. I rinsed out the coco coir in tapwater twice, soaked it overnight in CalMag to buffer it, then rinsed it again after I added the perlite:
That's it for this week's adventures. Thanks to all who've helped me along, @420Forever, @Fermented_Fruitz, @Mañ'O'Green, @Mossy, @RastaDaniel, @Kyote, @elcoloan, @ShadyGrove, @CrookDog, @LoveDaAutos, @mdabber, and all the other live stoners.
BG 15wks, GL 10wks, GG4 7wks, JR 4wks, VL 3wks, GG4 9wks
Here's my setup as of this morning. I had to lower the left shelf because Bubble Gum auto was getting too close to the light (20" tall). The shelf hangs from 4 polyester ropes tied to the shelf with a "rolling hitch" (a sliding knot). From L to R: Vanilla Latte auto, GG4 auto, Bubble Gum photo, Jelly Rancher photo, Gold Leaf auto, GG4 auto:
Bubble Gum fem is 106 days old. Started to flower on day 71, a week after switching to a 12/12 light/dark schedule. Some leaf damage from my own abuse, but chugging along anyway. Her 3 gallons of soil is so depleted that even 2/3 Liter of water gives ample runoff, so I've started feeding as if she was in coco:
Gold Leaf auto is 72 today, a grizzled old lady. I'll chop her this week or next, and soak another to replace her. Her twin was much faster (harvested on day 61). Here she is with a trichome shot from yesterday:
GG4 auto #1 is 52, well into flowering. She's a little pale, probably haven't fed her enough. Her 3 gallon pot is compacted down to about 2 gallons, and it's a hard ball of roots. I'm able to water til runoff without over-watering now, so I'll be feeding more (GH Flora series).
Jelly Rancher photo is 29. She was topped above node 4 on day 15. I had to defoliate the lower leaves, because the canopy was a dome reaching all the way to the dirt, cutting off air circulation. Some bottom leaves were looking suspicious for mildew, so they're gone. I suppose I should cut her light schedule from 18/6 to 12/12 any time now to induce flowering, but then again the branches have barely grown enough to think about spreading them with some LST. Humboldt says she's a fast photo with "flowering time of 45 days..." So I guess that's counting from when she starts to flower.
Here's the side view so you can see the defoliation results: 
Vanilla Latte auto is 21:
She was topped above node 4 on day 19 with a surgical scissor: 
GG4 auto #2 is 10 days old. My first coco grow. Starting to see a 2nd node (not counting the first set of leaves). So far that's about the same growth rate as my soil grows. She's getting fed per Nebula Haze's schedule for General Hydroponics Flora series. For week 2 that works out to about 500 ppm so far (including 45 ppm from my rainwater). Measuring pH with GH drops, it's between 6.0-6.5 without any adjustment:
In my weekly microscope inspection I found a few 2-spotted mites on the 3 older girls, so I sprayed them with citric acid/Castille soap. The mites don't seem to favor the younger plants for some reason. My grow room temperatures have dropped from high 80's to low 70's, so I hope that will help. Waiting to see if growing in coco will help too.
I collect rain in (2) 100 gallon barrels and (2) 45 gallon barrels, but I have to empty them out by November so they don't freeze and bust. Thinking about draining some into barrels in the basement so I don't have to use tap water. Hmm, so lazy though, and my tapwater is not so bad at 125 ppm (from Lake Erie).
That's this week's report. I'll get the hang of this, if I live long enough. In my jars I still have some Northern Lights, Purple Kush, and Gold Leaf, but I've been burning through it pretty fast, even though I haven't been able to smoke as much as I'd like because of breathing problems. I've been sipping ganja tea, and giving some away to needy refugee stoners. Looking into pressing some resin and making edibles. Thanks to all who've helped me along, like @420Forever, @Fermented_Fruitz, @Mañ'O'Green, @Mossy, @RastaDaniel, @Kyote, @elcoloan, @ShadyGrove, @CrookDog, @LoveDaAutos, @mdabber, @PlatinumGrows, and all the AFN live stoners.
Bubble Gum fem is 106 days old. Started to flower on day 71, a week after switching to a 12/12 light/dark schedule. Some leaf damage from my own abuse, but chugging along anyway. Her 3 gallons of soil is so depleted that even 2/3 Liter of water gives ample runoff, so I've started feeding as if she was in coco:
Gold Leaf auto is 72 today, a grizzled old lady. I'll chop her this week or next, and soak another to replace her. Her twin was much faster (harvested on day 61). Here she is with a trichome shot from yesterday:
GG4 auto #1 is 52, well into flowering. She's a little pale, probably haven't fed her enough. Her 3 gallon pot is compacted down to about 2 gallons, and it's a hard ball of roots. I'm able to water til runoff without over-watering now, so I'll be feeding more (GH Flora series).
Jelly Rancher photo is 29. She was topped above node 4 on day 15. I had to defoliate the lower leaves, because the canopy was a dome reaching all the way to the dirt, cutting off air circulation. Some bottom leaves were looking suspicious for mildew, so they're gone. I suppose I should cut her light schedule from 18/6 to 12/12 any time now to induce flowering, but then again the branches have barely grown enough to think about spreading them with some LST. Humboldt says she's a fast photo with "flowering time of 45 days..." So I guess that's counting from when she starts to flower.
Here's the side view so you can see the defoliation results: Vanilla Latte auto is 21:
She was topped above node 4 on day 19 with a surgical scissor: GG4 auto #2 is 10 days old. My first coco grow. Starting to see a 2nd node (not counting the first set of leaves). So far that's about the same growth rate as my soil grows. She's getting fed per Nebula Haze's schedule for General Hydroponics Flora series. For week 2 that works out to about 500 ppm so far (including 45 ppm from my rainwater). Measuring pH with GH drops, it's between 6.0-6.5 without any adjustment:
In my weekly microscope inspection I found a few 2-spotted mites on the 3 older girls, so I sprayed them with citric acid/Castille soap. The mites don't seem to favor the younger plants for some reason. My grow room temperatures have dropped from high 80's to low 70's, so I hope that will help. Waiting to see if growing in coco will help too.
I collect rain in (2) 100 gallon barrels and (2) 45 gallon barrels, but I have to empty them out by November so they don't freeze and bust. Thinking about draining some into barrels in the basement so I don't have to use tap water. Hmm, so lazy though, and my tapwater is not so bad at 125 ppm (from Lake Erie).
That's this week's report. I'll get the hang of this, if I live long enough. In my jars I still have some Northern Lights, Purple Kush, and Gold Leaf, but I've been burning through it pretty fast, even though I haven't been able to smoke as much as I'd like because of breathing problems. I've been sipping ganja tea, and giving some away to needy refugee stoners. Looking into pressing some resin and making edibles. Thanks to all who've helped me along, like @420Forever, @Fermented_Fruitz, @Mañ'O'Green, @Mossy, @RastaDaniel, @Kyote, @elcoloan, @ShadyGrove, @CrookDog, @LoveDaAutos, @mdabber, @PlatinumGrows, and all the AFN live stoners.
BG 16wks, GL 11 wks, GG4 8wks, JR 5 wks, VL 4 wks, GG4 2 wks, GL newborn
Here's the panorama this week (L to R: Vanilla Latte auto, GG4 auto #2, Bubble Gum fem, Gold Leaf auto, GG4 auto #1, Jelly Rancher fem):
Bubble Gum is 112 days old. When I take her out of the darkroom in the morning i get a strong coffee smell. Seems like she's taking forever, maybe still a month to go. I need to figure out a basement darkroom or tent for photos so I don't be running the photoperiod plants back and forth between basement grow room and attic darkroom:
Gold Leaf auto is 78, and ready to chop this week, almost 3 weeks after her twin sister:
GG4 auto #1 is 57. She still has a long way to go:
Jelly Rancher fem is 35. I've been waiting to flip her to 12/12 til the branches could get long enough to spread. I'll flip her this week.
Vanilla Latte auto is 27. She looks like a hot mess because her 8 branches are too short to get their own space yet. I took off some bottom leaves that were almost in the mud. I hope she stretches a little more and starts to flower soon:
GG4 #2 is 16. She's my first coco grow. It looks like the 5th node is on track to be big enough to top in the next few days:
I sprouted one of the seeds I found in the larf from my first Gold Leaf Auto. There were about 10 seeds, but half got damaged going through the grinder, and the others didn't look completely mature. But this one sprouted. She lifted off today, in time to replace her auntie that's about to get chopped. I just looked and another sprouted and is ready for coco, so that will make 8 plants. I need to chop a couple to get back to 6:
That's all for this week. My stash is running low. I hope the coco grows will pump up production.
Thanks to all who've helped me along, like @420Forever, @Fermented_Fruitz, @Mañ'O'Green, @Mossy, @RastaDaniel, @Kyote, @elcoloan, @ShadyGrove, @CrookDog, @LoveDaAutos, @mdabber, @PlatinumGrows, and all the AFN live stoners.
Bubble Gum is 112 days old. When I take her out of the darkroom in the morning i get a strong coffee smell. Seems like she's taking forever, maybe still a month to go. I need to figure out a basement darkroom or tent for photos so I don't be running the photoperiod plants back and forth between basement grow room and attic darkroom:
Gold Leaf auto is 78, and ready to chop this week, almost 3 weeks after her twin sister:
GG4 auto #1 is 57. She still has a long way to go:
Jelly Rancher fem is 35. I've been waiting to flip her to 12/12 til the branches could get long enough to spread. I'll flip her this week.
Vanilla Latte auto is 27. She looks like a hot mess because her 8 branches are too short to get their own space yet. I took off some bottom leaves that were almost in the mud. I hope she stretches a little more and starts to flower soon:
GG4 #2 is 16. She's my first coco grow. It looks like the 5th node is on track to be big enough to top in the next few days:
I sprouted one of the seeds I found in the larf from my first Gold Leaf Auto. There were about 10 seeds, but half got damaged going through the grinder, and the others didn't look completely mature. But this one sprouted. She lifted off today, in time to replace her auntie that's about to get chopped. I just looked and another sprouted and is ready for coco, so that will make 8 plants. I need to chop a couple to get back to 6:
That's all for this week. My stash is running low. I hope the coco grows will pump up production.
Thanks to all who've helped me along, like @420Forever, @Fermented_Fruitz, @Mañ'O'Green, @Mossy, @RastaDaniel, @Kyote, @elcoloan, @ShadyGrove, @CrookDog, @LoveDaAutos, @mdabber, @PlatinumGrows, and all the AFN live stoners.
BG 17wks, GG4 9 wks, JR 6 wks, VL 5 wks, GG4.2 3 wks, GLS1 1wk
Here's the weekly panorama. Left to right: GG4 auto, 2x Gold Leaf auto S1 babies, BubbleGum fem, GG4 auto, Jelly Rancher fem, Vanilla Latte auto. Sorry about the colors, I forgot to turn off the QB's:
From oldest to youngest, here's the details. Bubble Gum fem is 120 days old. More roots than soil now, and water runs right through the root ball, so she's getting fed every day as if in coco:
Gold Leaf auto #2 got the axe on day 83. She was rinsed in distilled water (where the dehumidifier drains into a bucket in the laundry sink). She's been hanging for 3 days now. She hung nude in front of a fan for a few hours to get rid of the rinse water, in a paper bag now. I open or close the bag to keep RH around 60-62. Green weight was 206 grams. Maybe on oz or 2 of dry bud after final trim? I almost ordered a wedryer, but they wanted to charge me $28 shipping.
GG4 auto is 65 days old. The rootball doesn't hold much water any more, so feeding every day til runoff, as if in coco:
Jelly Rancher fem is 43. I flipped the lights 5 days ago for the whole grow room, from 18/6 to 13/11 to see if she'll flower. I hope it doesn't slow down the autos too much:
Vanilla Latte auto freebie is looking vigorous at 35 days old. As space opened up from the GL harvest, she moved from 65w to 100w this week, and got her branches spread out to even up the canopy. She should be about to flower:
GG4 auto #2 is is 24 days old. She's my first coco grow. She's getting fed twice daily til 10-20% runoff (about 2/3 liter). I'm using N.Haze's schedule for General Hydroponics Flora series (coco-coir-flora-series-schedule). She got topped on day 19. Fuck, I missed, there are 2 branches growing out of where I topped her. Oh well, maybe 10 branches will be better than 8. Here's today:
Here she is getting topped above node4 on day 19: 
I sprouted 2 seeds from the first Gold Leaf Auto, father unknown. I'm calling them Gold Leaf Auto S1. In coco. The first leaves are looking funky on the last one, might be a mutant, or maybe I abused her rubbing the membrane off the cotyledon so it could open:
That's it for this week. Thanks for the support and encouragement. That's you @420Forever, @Fermented_Fruitz, @Mañ'O'Green, @Mossy, @RastaDaniel, @Kyote, @elcoloan, @ShadyGrove, @CrookDog, @LoveDaAutos, @mdabber, @PlatinumGrows, @mohawk warrior, and all the AFN live stoners.
From oldest to youngest, here's the details. Bubble Gum fem is 120 days old. More roots than soil now, and water runs right through the root ball, so she's getting fed every day as if in coco:
Gold Leaf auto #2 got the axe on day 83. She was rinsed in distilled water (where the dehumidifier drains into a bucket in the laundry sink). She's been hanging for 3 days now. She hung nude in front of a fan for a few hours to get rid of the rinse water, in a paper bag now. I open or close the bag to keep RH around 60-62. Green weight was 206 grams. Maybe on oz or 2 of dry bud after final trim? I almost ordered a wedryer, but they wanted to charge me $28 shipping.
GG4 auto is 65 days old. The rootball doesn't hold much water any more, so feeding every day til runoff, as if in coco:
Jelly Rancher fem is 43. I flipped the lights 5 days ago for the whole grow room, from 18/6 to 13/11 to see if she'll flower. I hope it doesn't slow down the autos too much:
Vanilla Latte auto freebie is looking vigorous at 35 days old. As space opened up from the GL harvest, she moved from 65w to 100w this week, and got her branches spread out to even up the canopy. She should be about to flower:
GG4 auto #2 is is 24 days old. She's my first coco grow. She's getting fed twice daily til 10-20% runoff (about 2/3 liter). I'm using N.Haze's schedule for General Hydroponics Flora series (coco-coir-flora-series-schedule). She got topped on day 19. Fuck, I missed, there are 2 branches growing out of where I topped her. Oh well, maybe 10 branches will be better than 8. Here's today:
Here she is getting topped above node4 on day 19: I sprouted 2 seeds from the first Gold Leaf Auto, father unknown. I'm calling them Gold Leaf Auto S1. In coco. The first leaves are looking funky on the last one, might be a mutant, or maybe I abused her rubbing the membrane off the cotyledon so it could open:
That's it for this week. Thanks for the support and encouragement. That's you @420Forever, @Fermented_Fruitz, @Mañ'O'Green, @Mossy, @RastaDaniel, @Kyote, @elcoloan, @ShadyGrove, @CrookDog, @LoveDaAutos, @mdabber, @PlatinumGrows, @mohawk warrior, and all the AFN live stoners.
