Outdoor, Autoflower, Early Miss, GG#4, TrainWreck, N.Lights, Pacific NorthWest Region

[013]

Light leaks are an issue in flower, the 12 hour dark period must be uninterrupted pitch black darkness. Even a tiny pinhole of light can cause plants to reveg or turn hermie

 

[djashdj]

Light leaks are an issue in flower, the 12 hour dark period must be uninterrupted pitch black darkness. Even a tiny pinhole of light can cause plants to reveg or turn hermie

How do outdoor grows prevent that? Not that this is an outdoor grow any more... just curious.

 

[013]

Yeah same here on the indoors but hoping to drop a stealth plant soon. I know - right? Its pretty bizarre that street lights and the moon don’t interrupt but seems to be generally accepted that they don’t.

 

[djashdj]

I wonder if it's a light/heat combo. When they are warm and they get a little light that triggers the process. VS outdoors and colder at night... interesting.

Any idea on the yellowing that I'm seeing? I'll have new photos of the three all transplanted this evening with a little luck, and I'm thinking I might start new seeds to do a full indoor grow with the new kit, and if these three going now manage to survive long enough for the warm weather to arrive I might move them back outside and hope for the best. These three plus 4 new ones will not fit in the tent for sure, but these ones all look so weak... I'm just wondering if it's worth keeping them going if they will even keep growing. They seem uber sensitive but at the same time really resilient. Bit of an oxymoron.

 

[013]

How far is the light away from the plants? What are your temps? Do you have a hygrometer right where the plants are? I noticed you have cups stacked I guess the seedlings are in clear cups that are sleeved in opaque cups. Do both sets have plenty of air holes?

 

[djashdj]

The light is 28 inches from the plants. I just transplanted the smaller ones and yes they had holes and you are correct on the dual cups.

It is 42% humidity and the temp with the light off is 22.4(77f) degrees and 29.2(84.5f) degrees on the ground. I have an oscillating fan up top and a turbo fan pulling air out at the top. Here are some photos.

First photo is the basic setup. Fan up top, above it is the exhaust fan, light below, 28 inches down are the girls. I've just got the three in there. Close ups of them following this. 5GAL bags there. soil 3 parts foxfarm oceanforest, 3 parts peat moss, 2 parts perlite, 1 part vermiculite.

Top left you can't see here is trainwreck. top right is Early Miss, previously leaning on the cup. She's soiled up now and crooked but hopefully straightens out towards the light a bit. Bottom right is the Northern lights, IMO the best looking of the bunch if not the shortest.

Miss T (Trainwreck)

Early Miss, those spots are dirt I need to brush off from the transplant.

Northern Lights I have the biggest hopes for this one.

 

[djashdj]

I have just lowered the light to about 16" above them now.

 

[013]

Nice setup - everything looks on point!

 

[djashdj]

Oi!!! Did some googling and looking for confirmation.

Does this look like a lacking nitrogen issue?

First photo

Trainwreck: Transplated about a 2weeks ago to 5 gal bag

Northern Lights: Transplanted two days ago almost

Early Miss: Transplanted to 5gal pot 2 days ago. She had a weak stem and was leaning big time on her solo cup until I moved her here. She's holding herself up supported by the soil now and slowly tilting back towards the light. But her colouring as the others, is going yellow.

Soil is FoxFarm Ocean Forest 3 parts, 3 parts peat moss, 2 parts perlite, 1 part vermiculite.

 

[013]

Ok so that’s a light and airy soil mix which is good but I do see a small problem with ratios. FFOF is good soil, the peat moss is ok but peat by itself is inert meaning there are zero nutrients in pure peat and same for pure coco, both have zero nutes to sustain a plant. Same for perlite & vermiculite both are inert with zero nutrients, the perlite helps with aeration and drainage but the vermiculite retain water.

So you’ve got FFOF that’s really watered down strength wise - yes I’d say they look hungry. Remember this above so when you get down the road you won’t be afraid to add nutes to help your chicks along. Me thinks a light dose of ferts (1/4 to 1/2 strength) is in order, you can always add more later if needed but it’s hard to undo them

 

[djashdj]

Ok, I agree with what you are saying. It makes sense with what I'm seeing too. When I was up-potting the second and third girl it just... seemed like too much. Next run will definitely have less if any at all. There are some bugs that I've seen super attracted to the peatmoss as well when I'm doors mixing the soil.

So I live on a fairly remote island, and lockdown here allows me to go to a pretty limited area via ferry boat and the ferry's are basically only allowing required travel. We have a liquor store, grocery store, gas station, and hardware store So.. I was looking around the hardware store here for anything that might be good nutrients to put in the soil... PREFERABLY not miracle grow but that was all they had. Miracle Grow stuff that didn't seem to have the right NPK that I've seen posted here and there. 9-3-6 Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium(k). I was about to leave cursing myself for living here again, (seriously it's so beautiful here it's a short argument) Then... I saw this: CannabisRX. Label says .12 Nitrogen .11 Soluble Potash and phosphoric acid .16. Way off from the 9-3-6 but it's also getting sprayed ON the leaves not into the soil... so I thought... WTF let's see if it saves them as I have no other options. Also... I had no idea if Soluble Potash is the same think as Potassium but figured I had nothing to lose but 20 more dollars.

Looks like what I would imagine a "tea" would look like. So I googled it while in the store but my signal strength was nil. So I bought it and came home. About 20 bucks for 500ml. Says to spray it on the stems and leaves when they are NOT under light. Since my timer is set to 9pm to turn off the lights for the girls that seemed the best time to do it.

So last night I gave them a healthy spray all around. They ACTUALLY look better today! A bit. Well two of them do to me. What do you think?

Here are photos of the girls followed by what I sprayed on them (CannabisRx) and the label.

Trainwreck aka Miss T:

Early Miss: This one... big leaves not looking so hot... looking worse maybe. The new growth is looking a deeper green and more dense and it's finally starting to face UP after its rough life stretching for the sun via windows.

Lastly, Northern Lights. She's slow and consistent. Starting to recover it seems after the spray.

Here is the CannabisRX info and a link to their website. Which I've gone over now. When I googled info on them there were some people talking about, "fertilizer" but it's different from this spray. So... really is just a guess on what this stuff is and what is it doing, and is it actually good? etc. I really have no idea.

.

.

Thanks again for hanging on to this Journal @013 I think you are the last one. LOL. Thanks for coaching this noob. I'm already excited for my next grow after this one with all I've learned. Still so much to know though, I have to start looking into next steps. Trimming and all that. All I've ever trimmed is my beard and not very well at that.

 

[013]

I need to get you tuned into Nutty Professor. He makes a ton of soils, teas and homemade ferts from stuff in nature. BRB let me dig up a link. Crushed crustacean shells provide a little N along with calcium & mag epsom for more mag, another one is fish & brown sugar in equal weights. He cooks up all kinds of Nuttyness here ya go >>> NuttyProfessor

I’m excited you were able to skip out on the miracle grow!! That label looks good it’s just a very light foliar fert which is great.

Emilya has a recipe in her signature for homemade cal-mag & phosphorous from cooked egg shells. Aw shucks I’m no coach but I will try to help!

 

[djashdj]

I need to get you tuned into Nutty Professor. He makes a ton of soils, teas and homemade ferts from stuff in nature. BRB let me dig up a link. Crushed crustacean shells provide a little N along with calcium & mag epsom for more mag, another one is fish & brown sugar in equal weights. He cooks up all kinds of Nuttyness here ya go >>> NuttyProfessor

I’m excited you were able to skip out on the miracle grow!! That label looks good it’s just a very light foliar fert which is great.

Emilya has a recipe in her signature for homemade cal-mag & phosphorous from cooked egg shells. Aw shucks I’m no coach but I will try to help!

Ok that's cool. You don't have to drop all the knowledge here either if you see something (as you have done before) just dropping me a link for some reading that's been verified as possibly useful, is cool. There is so much freaking info and often times I find seemingly, contradictory information too so...

I feel like since cannabis legalization in so many places cannabis growing info on the internet is either drinking from a fire hose at times and other times trying to get that last drop of water in a desert wind storm.

We shall see how the girls react to the spray.

As for the nutrients from crushed crustacean shells... PERFECT.. I live a staircase away from a rock beach where crabs and baby crabs live/die and are eaten by seagulls, herons, hawks and other birds/otters. Lot's of different seaweed, and dead crustacean shells here. I bought FoxFarm "OceanForest" for soil because of the name (later learned it was preferred for a lot of soil growers). I basically live in a forest on the ocean. So the name had me thinking it was a good omen.

 

[djashdj]

Quick update:

The girls are officially 6 weeks old from seed to these photos.

• Trainwreck aka Miss T is looking solid these days. Photo 1:
• Early Miss: Looking really rough but like it may recover. Photo 2:
• Northern Lights: Shorty. Hoping she shoots up. Photo 3:

Read about topping and as soon as they are tall enough....

photo 1

photo 2

photo 3:

 

[013]

I hear you on the firehose! Yes, I remembered the remoteness you had mentioned so that’s where NuttyProfessors jadam gardening comes in, I think it’s an offshoot of KNF (korean natural farming) but using stuff in nature to make soils, ferts and teas is way cool.

Topping can be done on autos but the consensus is that it should be completed by day 21. Done wrong it can stall an autoflower, for these reasons lst is preferred. When you top a plant you break the apical dominance but there is a recovery period before the plant resumes growing, however lst also breaks apical dominance but there is no recovery period needed.

One problem that I see is the plants in pics #1 & #2 are already in flower - I don’t think its wise to top a small auto that has already started to flower. Lemme find a tutorial..... InTheShed LST tutorial

 

[djashdj]

I hear you on the firehose! Yes, I remembered the remoteness you had mentioned so that’s where NuttyProfessors jadam gardening comes in, I think it’s an offshoot of KNF (korean natural farming) but using stuff in nature to make soils, ferts and teas is way cool.

Topping can be done on autos but the consensus is that it should be completed by day 21. Done wrong it can stall an autoflower, for these reasons lst is preferred. When you top a plant you break the apical dominance but there is a recovery period before the plant resumes growing, however lst also breaks apical dominance but there is no recovery period needed.

One problem that I see is the plants in pics #1 & #2 are already in flower - I don’t think its wise to top a small auto that has already started to flower. Lemme find a tutorial..... InTheShed LST tutorial

I will give that a read tonight! It's an important time right now to figure out if I'm going to top it or not since they sprouted 41 days ago. Well beyond the 21 days you mention.

The the flowers coming out I don't need to switch the lighting from veg to flower NOW do I? I need to read.

Here are some photos of them currently. Check out how much the Northern Lights (photo 3) has JUMPED up since using that spray. It's almost caught up to Miss T(Photo 1) I clipped some of the dying leaves off of Early Miss(Photo 2) but left one yellowing one on.

Miss T Photo 1: Has some yellowing on the tips. Not sure what that's all about. Light too close maybe? It's about 18 inches above give or take an inch. Light is TS600

Early Miss Photo 2: Still so short, but I clipped off the bottom dying/dead leaves except for the one that still had some green but she's lopsided now with only that fan leaf on that side. I think it may just finish dying while the rest keeps going up. Not sure. She's now the shortest one and not the one I used to call "shorty!"

Northern Lights Photo 3: She has EXPLODED upward after adjusting my fans and since I've been adding those spray on nutrients at lights out. The one I formally called "shorty" is now just about as tall as

 

[djashdj]

ooops... extra photo of Miss T there at the end.

 

[Slammy Pajama]

Ok. Here is the "forecast" and a chart of the historical weather for this area. As I'm moving them outside. After reading a ton of Grow Journals now mostly indoor and some outdoor and reading about watering and pH and soil, and nutrients etc. Unless anyone looks at these charts and gives me a DON'T START YET! I'm probably going to germinate this weekend. Here is what the forecast looks like for March over here on Mayne Island BC. We have really high winds but where the plants are going to live it's pretty mild winds even when we are close to power loss levels of high winds. I "measured" with bubbles while playing with the kid. Blew some bubbles and watched where they went and how strong the winds were in the areas. Thankfully, pretty moderate winds.

First photo is where my outdoor grow area is going to be and what it looks like now at 9:40am on a overcast grey day (which is pretty common) I added airflow arrows, and some explanations of my plans for moving the plants during the day.

Second photo is the forecast and historical averages as far as temperature go. I feel like while these are hearty plants as they are autoflower with ruderalis so maybe they will be ok in the cold? Still having morning frosts right now. I've read online if your plant is under 15c shit's not gonna work. It won't grow, won't yield much, and likely will die. So... yeah... but then I read elsewhere that they are fine unless they go below 0c and it will just extend the grow cycle of the plant and increase the chances of mold. ??? So much information out there and often contradictory. I suppose this is because there are so many other variables. I've read about Seed Mats for heating and wonder if I was to get some of those strap them to the bottom of the cloth bags that end up in the mobile cart outdoors if that would keep them warm enough to keep them living. Again, with no tent. ?? No idea. Would keep the roots warm maybe but only if the roots had grown enough. Might even encourage root growth?

I know this is all big time overkill as I haven't even germinated yet but I'm killing time until I start and I want to document and plan as much as possible for other noobs and for me in my second year.

Also, if there is anything else anyone thinks I will 100% need to purchase to go with this grow please let me know since it takes quite some time to get things delivered to this island.

In regards to weather apparently the rain here hits multiple times of day for short periods typically. 70mm a month historically in March. Forecast, pic 3, kinda scares me with all the rain/cloud listed.

Lastly, after reading up here on the forums, I've ordered additional cloth pots. I'm going to now go from solo cup to 1gal, 3gal, 5al as the end.

Many amazing reads on here! My favourites so far are Emilya's! I'd probably pay for and recommend a book if you wrote it on watering/growing cannabis.

Pic 1:

Pic 2: (weather graph temp)

More weather for Month of March Clouds and Precipitation: Pic 3:

Ok time to get back to work. Thanks everyone for their opinions. Hopefully I don't have to wait another month, but good things come to those who wait I suppose?

If it's not too windy to snap them, they will grow thick strong stems making them monsters. This year was very windy in my region and it down poured often, strengthening my plants! I did have a very small baby break under heavy rain though. Just be careful for that frost!