First Grow: Single Plant Closet CFL - White Widow

[Hoppy]

Finally got everything in place for my legal 1 plant closet grow!

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Started germinated my single seed Sunday night, and only 36 hours later, I've got a strong, healthy looking tap root ready for planting. i soaked the seed in tap filtered water a few hours, then moved it to a wet paper towel, put a glass plate on top and covered it in a scarf and kept at around 80*f.

(Pic To Come Soon)

So i mixed up 75/25 coco/perlite mix, flushed it to get a proper Ph right around 6.4, and planted my seed, root down. I've got 4x45watt 6500k CFLs ready to veg once she sprouts!

(Pic To Come Soon)

 

[Hoppy]

Re: First Grow: Single Plant Closet CFL (White Widow)

Okay, week 1 update.

My seed broke the surface on day 2 of planting, quickly sprang up about an inch and put out first set of leaves. The next day, the second leaves came in. Then the past few days, nothing has really changed, no new growth. I think I'm having humidity issues and I was using too large a container. I transferred my seedling to a solo cup last night and she appears healthy but still no new growth. There is also slight amounts of very small crystals on the leaves, almost like dried salt, but I've been very careful to only use osmosis filtered water and my Ph is good.

Humidity: 30%
Temp: 75*f
Lights: 4x 45watt CFL a few inches from seedling
Medium: coco/perlite

Any other suggestions on why my growth stopped after the 2nd set of leaves? The seed germinated and sprouted so quickly, I'm a little worried now that the growth suddenly stopped for 3-4 days straight.

 

[Dresney]

Re: First Grow: Single Plant Closet CFL (White Widow)

Hi Hoppy

Welcome to and journaling!

Could the small crystals on the leaves be bits of perlite? Sometimes I get perlite or vermiculite on my leaves and it looks like that.

Coco/perlite is an inert mix, so you'd be aiming for a pH of 5.8 (soil pH goal is 6.5).

Could you take some pictures of your little one? It may be easier to spot a potential issue that way.

Also, sometimes we don't notice growth over a couple days because we're constantly looking at our plants. It's a great idea to snap a photo of your plant even if you don't plan on posting it. That way you have something to reference for comparing growth. There were many times when I felt my plants hadn't grown any, but once I compared pictures from the previous photo shoot I could see a lot of growth.

Happy growing!

 

[Hoppy]

Re: First Grow: Single Plant Closet CFL (White Widow)

Sad day today...

I tried everything I could think of, but my little seedling finally gave up today. The stem was so weak it fell over. I started germinating a new seed today, but this is very disappointing and I have no idea what went wrong.

Temp: 75*f
Ph: 5.9-6.5
Hum: 30%

Any comments on what went wrong or how to avoid this happening with my next seed? The first week she germinated and sprouted so quickly, then something went wrong after the 2nd set of leaves, and she never recovered, no matter what I tried. I tried boosting the humidity, I added a fan to intake more fresh air, I transplanted her into a smaller container, I'm totally stumped.

 

[Dresney]

Re: First Grow: Single Plant Closet CFL (White Widow)

Aw, I'm sorry to see this, Hoppy.

May she rest in peace.

I'm not sure what went wrong. Sometimes little ones just don't make it.

The stem looks kind of puny and discolored... was it maybe sitting in very damp, soggy medium?

Also, did you rinse the coco very well before using it? I've never used coco, but I've seen people say that it requires a thorough rinse before using. The roots look a little brown and people have mentioned rinsing coco until the water coming through is no longer brown.

Another thing to keep in mind is that R/O water has no magnesium or calcium so you'll need to add that. I think this seedling was probably too small for that to be the issue, but it's something to keep in mind for future grows.

Good luck with germing your next seedling!

 

[Hoppy]

Re: First Grow: Single Plant Closet CFL (White Widow)

48 hours later, new seed is germinated and in medium. This seed was even faster and looks strong. I germ'd it in wet paper towel for 24 hours, saw the taproot just starting to poke out. The taproot grew to almost an inch long overnight, which is longer than my first root ever got. I also flushed my coco mix and it's now draining clear and at 6.5pH.

I'm more confident in this seed, so hopefully we'll get further than my first attempt.

 

[Hoppy]

Re: First Grow: Single Plant Closet CFL (White Widow)

I'm a proud new father of this small babe!

 

[Hoppy]

Went on a holiday trip and had to leave my baby alone for over 5 days. She was bone dry when I finally got back, so I fed her only about 4oz of water, just enough to soak the coco again, not much drained out the bottom. I'm assuming the sagging leaves and slight yellow discoloration might be from lack of water?

I'm hoping she perks back up tomorrow. How much water do you usually use when watering 1-2 times a week?

 

[Dresney]

There are a couple ways to tell when to water. One is by weight of the container. A dry container should be quite a bit lighter than one with damp soil. Maybe fill another same sized cup with the same medium and keep it dry so you have something to compare to.

That method might be a bit difficult with a container so small though, so another method to use is just sticking your finger in about 1-2 inches deep. If it feels dry about 2 inches down it's safe to water.

What is the pH of your runoff coming in at? For coco/perlite you want it to be about 5.8.

 

[Hoppy]

3 week update!

I got a small humidifier inside my grow box, this is consistently keeping the humidity at 45-55%. I also lowered the pH of my water to 6 from 6.5 and my little seedling seems to be much happier! Before making those changes, growth had stopped at second set of leaves and the leaves started yellowing. In the past week, she's had a massive growth spurt, and I transplanted her last night, giving her a fresh new home, with 25% nutes.

Today, she shows no signs of stress from the transplant, and is happy in her new, bigger home! The root ball wasn't as big as I was expecting, so I think she'll stay in this 1gal container for the rest of her life. I'll start flowering at the end of this month since I want to be fully bloomed, dried, and broken down before I move from this apt in May.

Anyways, here's some photos!

 

[PerthPiper]

Subbed. Also doing a CFL grow

 

[Hoppy]

48 hours later and she's loving her new humid home! Visible growth every day, and her leaves are already almost to the sides of the new container!

My one concern is her base stem. What I started the seedling, my humidity was very low and my pH was too high. Since correcting those issues, she has sprung to life, but her stem is very dark purple, very hard, and not growing stronger. I fear if the stem doesn't start growing larger, it won't be able to support the rest of the plant in flower.

Is this normal or is there anything i can do to help the stem/trunk of the plant beef up?

(sorry about the head-turn pics)

 

[PerthPiper]

Just top up the soil a wee bit bro looking good

 

[Hoppy]

Been a great week! Added 2 more sets of leaves, growing very fast!

 

[Hoppy]

I did notice that the very last bit of the tips of the new growth are brown and curled down. I couldn't get a non-blurry close up shot, but you can kind of see it in the second photo. Is this cause for alarm? These new leaves that are showing the curled tips were the first new leaves since using nutes, maybe I went a little too soon for my baby seedling?

I don't think it will end up spreading or being an issue, but I'd like to be educated if anyone knows the cause!

 

[Dresney]

Lots of new growth!

How is her stem doing?

How many feedings have you done and at what strength?

What is the pH of your runoff coming in at?

 

[Hoppy]

Stem has grown slightly, but I'm much more confident in it. She's thin but she's strong!

I have not increased from 25%, going to have to water her in the next day or two. Was thinking another drink at 25% will do her good.

 

[Hoppy]

Just changed the lights out to 2700k and changed the timer to 12/12. It's time to bloom my baby.

 

[Hoppy]

My babe under her new warm lights...

I don't know why the images are upside down, the full size preview was fine...

 

[Hoppy]

Here's a right-side up picture! I watered her last night with bloom nutes, hopefully she drinks up today and perks right back up.

I pruned off the lowest branches. I also cleaned up the grow space. No need for a humidifier, the box naturally stays between 30-40%.