Bianca Round 2 - Soil & Perlite - MH300 LED - General Hydroponics Nutes

[Iguana Man]

And here we go again. My second grow is now under way. Single Bianca (feminized from Amsterdam Seed Co.) in a small closet using just Happy Frog Potting Soil mixed with 25-30% Miracle Grow Perlite and eventually General Hydroponics Trio of nutes. Mars Hydro 300 LED 24" from seedling on a 18/6 schedule.

I'm already off to a better start since it took only 2.5 days to get her sprouted from seed in a Jiffy Peat Pellet. My first grow took several more days between the damp napkin to peat pellet to a sprout. At first I was worried since she looked bent and almost a pale yellow but one full day under the LED and she's green. I suspect she'll straighten out nicely real soon.

My goals this go around:

1 - Healthy plant start to finish.
2 - Do more LST and try my hand at Super Cropping.
3 - Defoliate better during veg
4 - Get a bigger buds with fewer popcorns
5 - Increase my yield

 

[Mars Hydro]

I'm in

 

[Iguana Man]

Anyone care to comment on when it's safe to begin giving nutes? A week? Two?

 

[swollen420]

I normally wait two weeks then start light nutes.

 

[KingstonRabbi]

With Happy Frog you shouldn't need any nutes for about 3 weeks. I don't use Happy Frog, but that should be true of any enhanced soil. I wait until 5th or 6th pair of leaves. Plant doesn't have enough mass to use extra nutes before then. Another guideline is active growth that shows plant is using all the nutes in soil and ready for more.

 

[Iguana Man]

Day 4 - Gave her a drink of ph correct water only. She's still alive so that's a good thing. Brought the light down to 21" from 24".

 

[Iguana Man]

Day 7 - Gave her 3 cups of PH correct water. More growth in 3 days than I thought after comparing this pic to the previous. The cotyledons are now covered by the new leaves. I'm fairly certain I under-watered my first plant during it's first few weeks because I was overly worried about doing what newbs generally do with their first grow . . . over-water. Then again, I had coco mixed in with that soil which helps retain moisture so I could be wrong. Regardless, I'm coco-free this time and with the extra perlite I'm trying to water a bit more this go around.

 

[KingstonRabbi]

2nd leaves open and healthy, always a good sign. So slow at this stage, sometimes only way to tell it's growing is by counting the leaves.

You've already heard the lecture on overwatering so I'll leave that issue alone.

Soil looks good. She looks good. Happy Growing!

 

[Iguana Man]

Day 8 - Lowered light to 20".

 

[Iguana Man]

Day 10 - Happy Thanksgiving Bianca! No turkey, sorry, just 3 cups of PH correct water. I hope those white spots in the second pic are normal. I don't recall seeing those on my first grow.

 

[Iguana Man]

Day 12 - Leaves are getting wider. She looks noticeably bigger from 2 days ago. Raised the light some to keep it @ 20". Those white spots aren't a problem from what I can tell so I'm not going to sweat it for now.

 

[Iguana Man]

Day 13 - Had my first real mishap although I'm hoping it's minor and she'll bounce back ok. I removed the snap on bottom of the pot she's in (it's for catching water runoff) thinking the exposed drain holes would allow for better drainage. Problem is, I didn't realize just how fast the roots grow and that they would find their way from this pot into the soil of the larger 5 gallon pot she is in. Yeah, I was trying to be clever and streamline the up-potting process. Hehe .... I'm still learning! Anyhoot, two roots escaped into the soil below. One was about two inches long so I cut it and the other with snips and put a plastic tray under it like it should have been from the get go.

This soil with all the extra perlite I put in drains quickly so I gave her two cups of water since she was looking kind of droopy today.

 

[KingstonRabbi]

She's coming along really nicely.

The minor root pruning you dd may actually be helpful in long run. It will encourage root branching and stronger root ball.

The spots on leaves are good sign also. They are tiny trichomes that cover entire plant. Usually too small to see. The fact that you can see them this early bodes well for future buds!

 

[Iguana Man]

Day 15 - This morning that far left leaf tip was down below the lip of the pot. Not in a droopy way either. Amazing how fast these things can grow in just a few hours. Got the temp up a bit and began alternating the fan on and off during 18/6. Something tells me this sencond attempt is going to be fun.

 

[Iguana Man]

Day 18 - 5 days since last watering. She's a droopy girl this morning. Still adjusting to life without coco and extra perlite. Two cups is all I gave her since I'm getting a fair amount of run-off from the 2nd cup.

That said, she's grown. Not in height but the leaves are really fattening up as well as the middle of the plant. I need to remember to add more soil to these pots so her canopy starts off above the rim.

Light was lowered to 18" yesterday.

 

[Iguana Man]

Day 21 - 3 Weeks of 18/6! I may have over watered! She's still droopy and under the LED, the two big bottom leaves have a slight yellow to them. Under normal light, it's less apparent but it's there. I'll let her go several more days until the pot feels light but I'm a little concerned it might be something else? Opinions are welcome, as always.

 

[KingstonRabbi]

I think she's ready for some light nutes, but stay the course and wait a couple days until she's ready for water as you said. Include some cal-mag (or whatever you use) in the nutes, just a little.

 

[Iguana Man]

I think she's ready for some light nutes, but stay the course and wait a couple days until she's ready for water as you said. Include some cal-mag (or whatever you use) in the nutes, just a little.

It's getting worse. Sigh... That perlite is the Miracle Grow kind with nutes mixed in. However, it's only .07 NPK. I'll try some CaliMagic first and see how she responds.

 

[Iguana Man]

Day 22 - As much as I didn't want to water, I felt I had to in order to get some nutes in her. I'm fairly certain I've got a Cal/Mag issue so I mixed up 1/2 strength dose of CaliMagic, GH FloraGrow & FloraMicro. One cup of water is all it took to get just a little runoff. I'm also considering up-potting but will give it another day or two to see if the nutes help first. So much for my first goal of my second grow!

 

[Iguana Man]

Day 23 - I now begin to wonder if the droopiness was from too much water or not enough nutrients. This morning all but the two original, big leaves on the bottom, have perked up. Overall color hasn't improved but she looks happier. She's also ready for a topping but I may wait until after I up-pot which will be in a day or two.