4 Auto Strains, LED, First Grow

K

kaymen667

New Member
Just started my first grow. I decided to start with autoflowers this first time around next time I will go photoperiod.

Grow room is a 4x4 closet I lined with a double layer of mylar space blankets.

Soil: Happy Frog ph 6.5 (Slurry test)
Nutrients: Nectar for the gods spartan regime with ph neutral water feeding at 6.3ph
Lights Tao tronics 32w bulbs x 2
3 gal pots

Strains
Girls Scout Cookies auto Indica, Sativa, Ruderalis
White Widow Auto Mostly Indica, Ruderalis
Gorilla Glue Auto
West Cost OG Kush Auto Mostly Indica, Ruderalis

Planted via direct sow 4/3
Room Temp 68 - 72

I will add some photos as soon as they sprout.
 
4/9 First seeds have popped. So far white widow and Gorilla glue have popped and just started to break through the surface. It's been unusually cold in Massachusetts for this time of year and i'm having a hard time keeping the back room temp up. it's supposed to be in the high 60's, 70's and low 80's this week some I'm hoping the rest break through in the next day or two.
 
white widow is looking good, it was the first to sprout so it's about 2.5" tall, gorrila glue is just behind it and the girl scout cookies has just broken the surface. West coast OG is just starting to come up. The first week it was cold in Mass, this past week it has been as warm as mid 80's and thats made a big difference.

Figured I should give them some names so, Mrs. Walter White AKA white widow, GiGi, AKA Gorilla Glue, Cindy (AKA girl scout cookies), still working on the west coast og.

The great thing about all these sites is there are so many people who have advice, the bad part is there are so many people that have advice. So one person says use cfl, someone else says use led or hps. I've decide for this first year i'm going to try a different method for each grow. That way I can figure out what works best for my situation. I went back and forth with how I was going to germinate, in the past with other kinds of plants I have done it between paper towels and direct sow. This first grow I went with direct sow and it took a long time, on the other hand I think it protected them from the unexpected extra cold week we had. Next batch i's starting in paper towels.

I need to order a second led bulb, not getting enough coverage. Going to grab a pic when the lights are off, the magenta light really messes with the camera.
 
Looks like I need to go get a small heater. The white widow plant is still doing okay but it's growing slow as is the gorilla glue. I lost the west coast og and the girl scout cookies is way behind. I have checked everything else the only issue I seem to be having is temperature. It was in the 70's and 80's this weekend and now it's 40 again. when it's warm they grow quick then they just stop when the temp drops. Damn old houses with no insulation and new england spring. Started my back up cherry bomb seeds going. I soaked them over night and have them in-between damp towels.
 
You may definitely have to buy a small heater so you can keep your temps more stable and you will see better growth, I have 4 auto white widows on day 13 I'm thinking of starting a journal not only for my personal records but all the help on here, people on here are great. Think I will follow your journal if it is alright, best of luck to you
 
You first grow is first off a valuable learning experience. I grew for years in MA. One of the biggest factors was humidity being too low in veg. Now i grow far away from there an have all the opposite challenges lol.

Your environment is very important. Focus on trying to maintain 78 day temp (lights on) and around 72 night temp (lights off).
High humidity (50-70%) for veg and lower humidity for flower (30%). Your lighting is the next in the order of importance. As the plants grow you will need increasingly more lumens available for the plant to use for photosynthesis. There are many different routes you can go with lighting. None are right or wrong (except the cheap leds) but one is the best for your individual needs.
I have used HID for years and currently still do for part of my grow but COB led has proven to be the best for my particular circumstances. Both will grow big healthy plants with big resinous buds but one may be better for your environment than the other.
Learn as much as you can and pay close attention to what the plants are telling you. Remember consistent, ideal environment is first in the order of importance.

Also, when popping seeds in the damp paper towel what I have found works best in those cool New England temps is to place the paper towel on a plate and place the plate on a heating pad set on low. Then I place another plate over the top to keep the paper towel from drying out. It holds in the humidity. Be careful not to have the heating pad get too hot. You just need a little warmth. I have found that turning it on and off as needed works best. And don't leave it on unattended. You don't want to cook the babies.
 
Thanks Tom! I got a heater and it has already made a huge difference. I did loose the girl scout cookies and the west coast og but I have a couple back up seeds I started. The closet is hard to heat up but the good thing is with the layer of space blankets I have in their once heated it holds the temp for hours.
 
Thanks Jay! MA is a challenge for sure. It's warming up but their is always a chance for snow in april lol. Thank you for the info. I am treating this grow as a test run and plan some adjustments for the next run. Lights are going to be the next purchase. I personally like the idea of LED. I work as a videographer and use LED lighting systems and they are really easy to deal with. Of course some of their good points are also their bad points like the fact they cause almost no heat is great when I don't want to worry about running lights for 18 hours and burning the house down but the fact they throw no heat is also a pain trying to grow in a massachusetts spring. Humidity has been great so far but i'm sure in a little more than a month thats going to be changing. It's been really rainy here last couple of weeks but we are in a 5 year drought so things may dry out soon. Thank you for the advice.
 
Yes I know all about that lol. Cool rainy springs.

If you go with led check out the COB leds and you can build your own light for a reasonable price. That's what I did recently and will be building a couple more soon. You can get a pretty wired kit with the heat sink and ballest and then just build a frame to soot your specific needs. I used one inch angle aluminum and some nuts and bolts I got at the local hareware store. Also what I really like about them is the ability to dim them. I can run them low for seedlings and clones and increase the power as the plants get bigger. They are full spectrum too. Worth checking out if your looking at leds. And where you currently use leds you understand them already.

As far as heat what you can do to bring up heat a little when it's cool is add a few cfls as supplemental lighting.

Happy growing :)
 
Glad to hear you are doing a lot better, I am also wanting to build my own light in the near future a lot of people are building their own light with great result, I just think it would be so cool to build your own light and watch it perform. I love led they are getting better and better. Good luck on your new babies you started
 
thanks for the link, getting very interested
 
Oh and Kaymen, to post pics you have to be on the website (can't do it on the app, or at least I can't lol)
Go up to the toolbar and click on "gallery", then scroll to the bottom and click "upload photos". When you have uploaded the photos you want you can add them by clicking on the "my photos" box (bottom left hand corner) when you are posting.
Hope that helps
 
Finally got a pic. This is from last friday about 3 weeks from when it first broke the surface. Gave it it's first real feeding last week with the nectar for the gods spartan regime. Grew a good solid 2 inches over the weekend. I'm starting Low Stress training this week using the tie down method.

IMG_189428.JPG
 
just started low stress training last night. Hopefully maximize all the available light. I'll post a new pic Friday to see how it grew over the course of the week. Gorilla glue is finally growing at a decent rate and the cherry bomb is doing good. I started my last replacement see called electric fruit auto. it's almost ready to plant.
 
4 Weeks out and here is a pick of the white widow auto that I started tying down this last week, already has new growth coming in where its bent and a couple other places. And a pic of the gorilla glue auto 4 weeks out. They had the final early veg feeding tonight and I'm going to up the feeding to the mid stage feeding mix for the next feeding.
FullSizeRender167.jpg
FullSizeRender_1_42.jpg
 
built a co2 generator this weekend, I wanted to see if a little co2 boost would make any difference. Like all things grow related some claim they work great others claim they do nothing guess we will find out. Also upped some of the nutrients as per the Nectar for the gods instructions. It's finally supposed to be warm here so i'm hoping for a good week. Plant are looking good I will post pics later this week.
 

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