whatabud's first grow (soil/cfl/autoflower)

[whatabud]

Thanks for checking out my journal!

I successfully germinated 2 feminized easyriders (aka lowryder #2 x ak47, an autoflowering Indica/ Sativa/Runderalis hybrid) about a week ago using the paper towel method. Mary, and Jane, as I call them, are currently in 16oz plastic cups containing fox farms ocean's forrest soil.

They spent the first half of the week under under 4x27w daylight CFLs, then I added in a second set of lights, bringing the total to 6x27w daylight CFLs and 2x23w softwhite CFLs. They schedule has been 18/6, which I plan on continuing throughout the grow. Once they've started to flower, I'm going to ramp it up to a total of 8x27w daylight CFLs and 4x23w softwhites.

I think they're just about ready for a transplant, as I've noticed what I believe are a few roots poking out of the bottom of Mary's cup. She was the first to break through the dirt, so I'm not surprised she's ahead of her little sister. I plan on transplanting in the next few days. Should I transplant to the largest size pot I'd planned on using (1 gallon), or to an intermediate size (1.5qt) first?

The biggest concern for me is heat. After a long streak of ridiculously nice weather, the outdoor highs have been in the 100s everyday for a couple weeks now. My grow is located in a closet, where the ambient temp ranges from 75-83, and under the lights it goes from 75-91. I've improved the ventilation dramatically, but there's still a lot of work to be done to get the temps to a more reasonable level. There's a fan blowing on them constantly, which I hope is making it a bit more comfortable for them, but I'm worried that the constant motion caused by the fan might not be ideal.

I've been trying to be restrained in my watering, as overwatering seems to be a commonly reported problem. Before I added the 2nd set of lights, I was able to let them go for three days or so before watering. Now, it seems they're drying out a lot quicker and I'm watering about every two days. I've been using both the lift and the finger test, making sure that they're really in need before I give them anything. To me, I don't see any droop in the true leaves, although the seedling leaves have always seemed kinda droopy. The water I'm using is just aged tap water, and they seem to like it so far.

My grow room is about a third of a fairly large closet (about 180 cubit ft), lined on 3 sides with a mylar camping blanket, and a piece of panda film serving as a door. This makes a grow area of roughly 30 cubic ft. To keep the carpet clean and dry, there's a plastic tub on the floor. The lights are totally custom. There are three light platforms, each with two sockets. Each socket has a splitter, for a total of 4 lights per platform. The platforms are all suspended from chains hanging from a clothing rack.

The current (very less than ideal) ventilation system consists of a 1"x12" gap under the closet door, and a four inch hole at the top of the closet, which connects into the AC return. This means when the AC kicks on, I get very good airflow through the closet space, although it's not as effective as it could be, since the air is being pulled through the entire space of the closet, and not just the relatively small area containing the plants. My next addition to the grow room will be some ducting, to try to maximize airflow through the grow area. I think I'll also need to buy a fan, but I need to shop around to find a good deal on an inline. I'm also trying to work out a plan for odor control, although I think I still have a few weeks before that becomes an issue.

I haven't noticed any bugs on the plants, but there have been some insects in the area. Hopefully they'll stay off my plants!

I haven't used any ferts yet, but I plan on using all Fox Farms, starting with Grow Big after they've settled in to new pots, then Big Bloom once they start to flower.

How do they look? I guess it's only a week out, so there's probably not much to see. I'm surprised they're so short, which I guess could be good since it means they're not stretching for light. I'm also surprised at how thin the stalk is, since I thought the fan blowing on them would thicken that up. They're probably just waiting for bigger pots so they can explode!

Any questions for me?

The ladies under the lights


Mary @1 Week


Jane @1 Week

[DroJo]

Hey man congrats on having your first grow...
you're going to enjoy watching them grow everyday!!!
wish you the best of luck bro..


Nice home made cfl fixture.. +rep

[whatabud]

I think I've solved my heat problems. I picked up a cheap 70cfm bathroom exhaust fan and rigged it up to some 4" ducting. I strapped a cut-to-fit carbon filter on the fan, which hopefully will help when the ladies start to get stinky. Initially, the exhaust fan wasn't having much impact on the temps. But then I doubled the size of the inlet and the temps have been in the low to mid 80s ever since.

I also did my first transplant. I decided to just step up the size of the pots from 16oz to 1.5qt. I was a little worried because I forgot to water them before I transplanted, and there was some dirt that got displaced, but they've been doing great. Maybe I just got lucky. I figure they'll be ready for another move in a few weeks.

The stems are much stronger now and there's tons of new leaf growth. I think I'll try giving them a real weak dose of nutes the next time they're thirsty.

Mary @ Week 2

Mary's got a little bit of a lean going on. I'm not as worried about it now that the stem seems to have thickened, but is it something I should try to correct? I was kind thinking about LSTing them anyway, so maybe she's just doing some of the work for me.

Jane @ Week 2

[BigSmokie]

Looking good

[whatabud]

It's been going okay for the most part, but when I checked the plants recently, I realized there's quite a bit of yellowing on the lower leaves. The seedling leaves are totally yellow and almost falling off, which I was expecting. But I was surprised to see some of the fan leaves are also yellow.

I also let one of the plants get a bit too close to one of the lamps and she got burned a little. Doesn't look too serious.

From checking out Cannabis Plant and Pest Problem Solver, I'm thinking maybe the problem is Nitrogen deficiency? That seems so unlikely, but the older leaves are yellowing, from the tip back up towards the stem, which seems to fit.

In the last week, they got one water with very weak nutes, then one plain watering, and then one with approximately 1/4 strength nutes. All I'm using at the moment is Fox Farms Grow Big. I don't think it's getting any worse, so I'm hoping I'm right. I guess the leaves that are yellow are pretty much goners, right?

In odor elimination news, I hung a couple of those Gonzo Odor Eliminators. I hadn't really noticed any smell yet, but better safe than sorry. They smell great up close!

I'm hoping the yellowing isn't a serious problem, so that I can transplant them soon for flowering. I'm not 100% sure, but I think I can see some preflowers! I'll make sure I snap some pics for the next update.

Thanks.

Mary @ Week 3


Mary (Close up of yellow fan leaf) @ Week 3


Jane @ Week 3


Jane (Close up of yellow fan leaf) @ Week 3

[whatabud]

Week 4 and my ladies are clearly into flowering.

I'm still having problems with Mary's lower leaves, lot of yellow going on and a few leaves have crumbled/dried. Not too worried, since she's still got plenty of beautiful green up top.

I finally sucked it up and bought a pH test kit at the pet store. Turns out my waters at like 7.4+ or something. With the nutes, though, it was down around 6.4, which seems pretty safe. So, I'll be adjusting it as needed from now on.

Did the last transplant this weekend, into roomy gallon pots. They had a good amount of root growth, and seem to be enjoying their new digs. At the same time I transplanted them, I added the last set of lights, bringing it up to a total of 300+ watts, mixed daylight and softwhite.

The biggest disaster is that my digital thermostat is acting funny. For the second time if a month or so, I came home to find the fan on, but no AC. I think it needs new batteries.

I think the thermostat being on the fritz contributed to it getting a little extra warm in the grow closet, up to a record breaking 97 degrees. It didn't help that the CFLs were much too close to the plants, burning them in some spots. I raised the lights and gave them a drink of water, with a bit of bloom nutes in it.

4 weeks down, 4 more to go!

Mary (Lots of yellow)


Mary (Close up)


Jane (Close up)

[BigSmokie]

Looking good... keep up the good work

[whatabud]

Quick update this week, no pictures though.

Both the ladies are doing great, the main colas are getting bigger and there seems to be quite a few bud sites all around the plants. Hoping it turns out to be a nice crop.

I'm really happy with crappy ventilation system (70cfm bathroom fan with a cheapo carbon filter strapped to it, plus two of those gonzo odor eliminator bags). I can't smell anything until I pull open the panda film door to my little grow area, then I just get a mild bit of stink.

I'm having lots of problems getting nice close up pictures of the buds. Probably mostly cause I haven't read my camera's manual and I'm too lazy to pull the plants out or raise my lights. I'll try to spend some time getting some beauty shots for the next update.

Only thing that's been on my mind lately is getting something to check the trichs. I'll probably just go the safe route and grab a decent jewelers loupe, but I was toying with the idea of trying one of those cheap toy magnifier things you can hook up to your computer and stuff. The reviews say getting it focused is a pain and the colors can be way off, which sounds like it may be less than ideal. I've still got a couple weeks until I'll really be needing to check them, but I figured I could get an early start in case my house is infested with trich-goblins or something. Always got to keep your eye on those little monsters.

[Setting Sun]

Research, ingenuity, forethought and planning ahead, creative thinking, resourcefulness.

I'm in!

regards,

SS

[whatabud]

Everything seems to be going pretty good. I'm getting a few more yellow fan leaf clusters, but the majority of both plants are still nice, lush green, so I'm not too worried. It could be maybe due to the temps being a bit high again (max 93f), or maybe because I'm being more aggressive with the nutes (although I doubt it, I'm using half strength Big Bloom, which is pretty mild), or it could just be those leaves were a bunch of jerks.

I bought a jeweler's loupe and took my first peek at the trichs. Took a few minutes of trying to focus, but I finally managed to get a peek. Obviously, the trichs are clear at the moment, but I want to keep an eye on them so I can get a feel for how they change over time. Also, got to watch out for those trich goblins!

I took some extra time and got a couple of decent pictures this week. These were taken after a slightly extended break in watering (about 3 days or so, due to the temps, I'm usually watering about every other day), so you may notice some wilt.

Mary @ Week 6


Jane @ Week 6

[Setting Sun]

wow, those are nice now and gonna get nicer.



+rep


regards,

SS

[Andy Botwin]

This were looking good, how did this grow turn out?

We would love to be updated with some pictures and info!

We'll move this to Abandoned Journals until we get updates.

Thanks and hope all is well in your world!

Love and respect from all of us here at 420 Magazine!