1st Ever Grow, 8 Ball Kush

[Billpopy79]

Everything for my additional lights arrives today.
I have put it all together and got everything hanging in the 4'x2'.
By the end of the week I should have my heater and extraction fan so the girls will be moving into their new home.

For anybody interested the additional lights are made up of,
2x 3000k 1120mm long Samsung F series Led strips.
2x 1160mm long alu heatsinks.
1x meanwell 240h driver.
1x roll of heat conductive double sided tape.
2x wago connectors.
2m of single core wire.
1x plug.
They took around an hour to put together and at £130 cost way less than a manufactured equivalent light.
The main reason I went for a self build was to maximize the lighting whilst still using my blurple led.
With the new strips either side of the blurple I should get a great coverage.

 

[Billpopy79]

I'm now on day 16.
All 3 plants have grown a bit and seem to have gained a little height too.
Still a bit of weight so I'll probably check again tomorrow before watering.

The one I topped has a little new growth and I'm not really sure about the one I fimmed.
I've been running the light on its veg switch 20-4 once they go into the tent and I have room to raise the light I'll throw the bloom switch to give them even more light.
All 3 are looking pretty healthy to me and I'm thinking by the weekend they may need to come out of the 3ltr pots and into the 5 gallon pots.
Just waiting for my heater to arrive as I think the temps in the tent will be too low at lights off.

 

[Billpopy79]

So today the ladies have moved into their home where hopefully they will have the space to thrive.
They now have both LEDs over them running full spectrum.
I've added the little 120w greenhouse tube heater and set the thermostat to 70 so it
Should keep a consistent temperature.
Lights on temp after a few hours without the heater was only 68 so definitely needed the heater.
I'm thinking I might give them a couple of days and then transplant into the 5 gal pots.

 

[Billpopy79]

So I managed to get the heater nicely balanced so I've got 80f lights on and 72f lights off.
RH is still lower than id like sitting around 50.
This morning I went to water and found the plants not looking very well.
One in particular looking very bad.
They were bone dry so I think it could be lack of water.
I've given them a soaking and another 1/2 dose of nutes
They seem to have perked up a little but not fully.
I'm just hoping it's not anything more serious then underwatering.
Thinking about it they have had a big change, low RH more light and fluctuations in temperature.
I know for next time to have my tent set up and running how I want before I move the plants.

 

[Billpopy79]

So today the plants look better but they have yellow spots on the leaves.
After some helpful advice it could be my pH too high so I will drop pH to 6.3 for the next feed.
I have now set up a camera in the tent so I can monitor the plants with out disturbing the tent 300 times a day.

 

[Jdeck]

That DIY light looks awesome. I wish I was more experienced to help you with the spots on the leaves. I usually don’t pick up deficiencies until mid flower. The leaves look like they’re rolling up and in, could your light be a bit close? If anything gets worse, we can call in the pros. Cheers!!

 

[Billpopy79]

Thanks Jdeck. It should give me 50w per sqft for flower.
I've been advised it could be pH as I've been feeding at 6.9.
They have shown more new growth so nothing critical just yet.
I'll drop the pH and hopefully they should bounce back.

 

[Billpopy79]

Day 21.
They have not had the best week and the growth seems to have suffered.
I think it was either pH or too much light or even a combination of both.

I borrowed a lux meter and even after reading the light the tops were getting 51000 Lux.
I have raised the lights another 2" and have also changed lighting from 20-4 to 19-5 so they have a bit longer resting.

Pots were dry today so I have watered with just a 1/4 dose of biobizz grow pH dropped to 6.3.
Temp now sat at 75 lights on and 68 lights off.
RH seems to have settled between 55 and 60.
Hopefully everything is now optimised and I will start to see some real growth and perhaps even a little stretching.
I've learned a bit this week so. Sure my 2nd grow will be an improvement.

 

[Billpopy79]

So the ladies have been transplanted into 5 gal pots. 2 were not looking very clever.
After a bit of advice I think they have deficiencies.
I've given them a full dose of nutes, a half dose of Cal mag pH 6.2 and taken off some of the badly affected fan leaves.
As the plants are so compact the fan leaves were blocking light to a lot of healthy looking growth so hopefully I've done right.
One upside is the roots looked good when TransPlanting.

Fingers crossed with the extra feed, some fresh soil and room for the roots to grow they should start to take off again in the next few days.

I'm learning I need to read the plants need more rather than playing it over carefully with the feeding.

If all goes to plan they have 2 weeks from today before I need to flip to 12-12.

 

[Billpopy79]

Little update today.
They have responded well to the upped feeding and transplant.
I've not disturbed them today just had a look through the camera but I can see they have perked up and can see new growth since yesterday.

Im assuming it's going to take around a week for them to drain the 5 gal pots so I will probably give a little water and calmag for the upper roots in a few days.
Really hope they have a good growth spurt this week as I plan on a bit of lst.

 

[Billpopy79]

Day 28 today.
They have really improved over the last few days. Lots of new growth, so much so they are already over the edges of the 5 gal pots.

No signs of deficiency on any new growth but I think I can see a little nute burn.
As the pots still feel like they have water I've given them a small cup of water just to wet the top roots as I think they are still 3-4 days before they have drained the pots.
No time today but tomorrow I will start with some LST and maybe a little defoliation.

 

[Billpopy79]

So 2 of the 3 had completely drained their 5 gal pots.
They have each taken around a gallon of water pH 6.2 with a full dosage of bio grow and calmag.
I think the smaller plant will be ready for her water tomorrow.

I have done a little defoliation to let some light through and I'm planning on topping them again in a few days.

I've had a good look and I'm pretty sure I have 3 females so happy days.

I've lowered the light another inch as I think with everything looking good at this point a bit more light should help.

They are looking a bit droopy in the pictures as it's nearly their lights out time.

I have another 10 days I can veg before I need to flip so if I can keep them happy they should be big enough to give me a reasonable yield.

 

[Billpopy79]

The past 2 days growth has been unreal.
They have nearly filled the width of the 2x4 and are doing great.
The tips of the leaves on one plant have curled down but I'm not going to panic I'll just see what happens over the next couple of days.

I'm planning to flip to 12-12 in 7 days but if I see a lot of growth between now and then I may have to flip a little sooner.

 

[Billpopy79]

No grow update today.
Just a picture of my best ever boy Billy who passed today at only 2 years old.
Gonna miss him so much.

 

[Billpopy79]

Watered today, 4 1/2 day wet dry cycle.
Full nutes
10 ltr water total
Half calmag

 

[Billpopy79]

So after the worst week in my life I've neglected the ladies a little.
Decided today I needed to get sorted and switch to bloom.

They are looking pretty well.
A little nute burn but nothing I'm worried about I'll just knock the dosage down a tiny bit.

They are just about to have their first 12hours of dark and I'm going to water when the lights come back on.
The pots feel like they have been drained so they are drinking about 1.5 litres a day.

I'll also now set the dehumidifier to run constantly as I've only been running at lights out which gives around 55RH, I'd like to get it below 50 for budding.

 

[Jdeck]

So sorry to hear your pal passed on. I wish they lived longer. My family has English Mastiffs, they don’t live very long. Your plants look amazing. Looking forward to the flower show soon. Cheers!!!

 

[AzLaker]

Sorry to learn the passing of your Best Bud, Billy. Good looking dog. If you don't mine me asking, why did he pass away so young?
On a happier note, plants look really nice. Keep up the good work.

AzLaker

 

[Billpopy79]

So sorry to hear your pal passed on. I wish they lived longer. My family has English Mastiffs, they don’t live very long. Your plants look amazing. Looking forward to the flower show soon. Cheers!!!

Thank jdeck.
It's absolutely floored me to be honest.
Hopefully we should have some nice flowers soon.

 

[Billpopy79]

Sorry to learn the passing of your Best Bud, Billy. Good looking dog. If you don't mine me asking, why did he pass away so young?
On a happier note, plants look really nice. Keep up the good work.

AzLaker

Thanks AzLaker,
It's just to damn sad.
He had a suspected brain hemorrhage, fine one day and gone the next.
Got my grow to focus on now so it will take my mind off things a little.