HeavyChevy59 - First Grow - Mars II 400W - Happy Frog/Ideal 420 Soil - 2015

[HeavyChevy59]

What's up everybody thanks for checking out my first grow journal, this is also my very first grow so I definitely need a lot of help. My temps have been up & down and so has my humidity, plus I think my 3 plants may have powdery mildew and one of them has some really weird growth going on, I'll post pics later and we can get into that then. Its been a little over a week since they've sprouted, so I'll start this journal right then break everything down into sections and explain what I've done so far.

What strain is it? Bag seed
Is it Indica, Sativa or Hybrid? What percentages? N/A
Is it in Veg or Flower stage? Veg
If in Veg... For how long? 1 week
If in Flower stage... For how long?
Indoor or outdoor? Indoor
Soil or Hydro? Soil
If soil... what is in your mix? Happy Frog/Ideal 420 Soil
If soil... What size pot? 3 gallon
Size of light? Mars Hydro-Mars II 400w
Is it aircooled? Has built in fans
Temp of Room/cab? 85°F day-76°F night
RH of Room/cab? 45% day-53% night
PH of media or res? N/A
Any Pests ? Powdery mildew maybe
How often are you watering? 2-3 days
Type and strength of ferts used? None

GROW ROOM/SETUP
I have a lighthouse hydro grow tent, it's 2.5'x2.5'x7', it's located in a walk in closet in my bedroom. I have a 4" inline fan and carbon filter, but it's currently not up and running since the hot air gets vented into the closet it doesn't help My temps so I figured I would just save it till flowering. I had a humidifier going for a little while but it was taken my temps even higher, so I cut it off and just left the reservoir setting in the tent which has helped a little bit. Now my RH stays about 45% with lights on and around 50% with lights off. I have the light 36" from the plant tops, my temps usually don't go over 85° with lights on and drop to about 75° with lights off. I keep the closet door shut to keep the RH up and to stay stealthy, because of that I have to keep the tent unzipped and open when the light is on to keep temps under 85°.

GERMINATION
I chose the 6 best looking seeds and threw them in a bowl of water for about 18hrs, nothing happened so I put them in rapid rooters. A couple days later(3-23) the first seed sprouted and within 18-24hrs 2 more sprouted. 2 of the 6 seeds cracked but no new growth after that(I may have dampened them off not sure tho), and 1 seed didn't crack open at all. I named my 3 seedlings Groot, Mary Jane, and Scarlett. They sat in the rr's for about 18hrs after they sprouted, all 3 had tap roots coming out the bottom and almost from underneath.

Placed in new homes
I placed the seedlings in 3gl pots on 3-24 this will be their final pot. I am using happy frog soil and ideal 420 soil, since 420 soil can be too hot for seeds and seedlings I put it in the bottom half of the pots and filled them up with happy frog soil. I mixed each pot at different ratios for a few reasons 1. I don't know how long it will take the roots to grow into the 420 soil, 2. I don't know how much of the 420 soil the plants will need, 3. I want to save as much of the 420 soil for future grows with high end seeds. I didn't measure anything I just eyeballed it, Groot was placed in about a 50/50 mix, MJ was placed in about a 70/30 mix(hf/420 soil), and SC was placed in about a 85/15 maybe 80/20 mix. After I filled the pots I gave top of the soil a good misting and have been watering every 2-3 days since.

Well that's it for now I'll get back on later to explain and post pics showing the issues and problems I'm having with these plants.

 

[HeavyChevy59]

What's up again everyone, it's time for an update. I noticed Groot was stretching a little bit so I dropped the light about 6", the temp is 83°F and the RH is 47%. Now for the next part of this journal.

After placing the plants in their new homes Groot and Scarlett took to the soil really well, but Mary Jane stop growing for 2-3 days and when she did start growing her second set of true leaves they came in deformed. Her second set of true leaves started out lookin wrinkly with both sides rolled inward, they opened up as they grew but still look wrinkled and deformed. The third set of leaves are coming in fine for the most part, there's also a bunch of tiny white hairs on the stem and leaves of all 3 plants, I'm not really sure what this is so take a look and tell me what you think.

Here are some pics of MJ from a few days ago

And some showing the white hairs on MJ

 

[NewBoy420]

Hey that's weird. I hope some one here can help you. Im a newbie here. But I will be following to see what happens. Best of luck to ya.

 

[HeavyChevy59]

Hey that's weird. I hope some one here can help you. Im a newbie here. But I will be following to see what happens. Best of luck to ya.

Thanks NewBoy I definitely appreciate the support.

 

[HeavyChevy59]

Ok I guess I should introduce my other 2 babies Groot, and Scarlett, both of them have been doing a lot better than Mary Jane but they also have white hairs on them. Remember Groot is in a 50/50 mix of Happy Frog/Ideal 420 Soil, Mary Jane is in a 70/30 mix, and Scarlett is in a 85/15 mix.

Up first is Groot who is the most vigorous of the 3

And here is Scarlett, she is about the same size as MJ but looks a lot better

I'm just loving that purple glow

Finally an updated pic of MJ

 

[HeavyChevy59]

Just wanted to post a quick update and pics. The light is off till 5 but I did peek in on the kids, the temp is 77°F and the RH is 57%.

My lil setup

Groot

Scarlett

Mary Jane, the third set of leaves are looking a lot better than the second set.

 

[HeavyChevy59]

I'm mainly using this grow just to gain some experience with growing and training. I'm thinking I will just top and lst but I might try super cropping one. I will definitely be needing some help with all of this. So if someone could let me know when I can start doing all of this and give me any tips and advice I would appreciate it.

 

[Subnoise]

Subbed. I usually wait till the 5th set of leaves and top above the 3rd. Lst you can do whenever the nodes are strong enough to take some bending without breaking. Your mj is looking better, not sure why it did that but I would keep doing what your doing new growth looks good.

 

[HeavyChevy59]

What's up everybody, I was checking on the kids today and I notice some new growth where the nodes and stem connect. Now my question is, is this where bud sites will form once I flip to 12/12.

I also have a question about watering, I've been doing the finger test to feel how moist the soil is. But the thing is I'm not sure how moist the soil should be. It feels cool and kinda moist, but when rub my fingers together they feel pretty much feels dry.


Just to show what the soil looks like

 

[HeavyChevy59]

Subbed. I usually wait till the 5th set of leaves and top above the 3rd. Lst you can do whenever the nodes are strong enough to take some bending without breaking. Your mj is looking better, not sure why it did that but I would keep doing what your doing new growth looks good.

Thanks subnoise, just to make sure I understand you right. Your basically chopping the plant in half, making the cut just right above the 3rd node. Also is there any kind of special care needed for the wound. I forgot to mention at the beginning of the thread that the light was a little too low when I first put them in the soil, I thought I doubled checked it but I guess not. I thought that might explain the weird growth from MJ.

 

[Subnoise]

You are in luck buddy I just topped my White Voodoo this morning. The new growth you are seeing is the nodes and yes they will form your bud sites. Use some rubbing alcohol on your scissors and just cut it off no extra care required the plant will heal itself in a few days. After that you notice your left with 2 tops and 4 lower nodes. To close of leds can cause stress to little ones that very well could have been your issue. Hope this pic helps.

 

[HeavyChevy59]

Thanks again subnoise I definitely appreciate the help. I still have about a week or so till the plants will be ready, I'll post a before and after update when it's time.

 

[HeavyChevy59]

What's up everybody, I got my exhaust fan hooked up and the closet door open, so now my temp is staying around 77°F and the RH is staying between 50%-60%. I also dropped the light a little more, it is now about 18" from the top of my tallest plant. The plants are about 2.5 weeks old so I figured I would post an update and ask some more questions.


Finally getting it dialed in

First up is Scarlett who has had some weird growth since my last update. As you can see in the pics, one of her 4th set of leaves was stunted while the other one continued to grow.

The leaf that was stunted eventually split into two separate leaves.

Most recent pics, I'm actually loving this deformity cause now all those little nodes can get a lot more light.

 

[HeavyChevy59]

Up next is Groot, the biggest of the 3. The only problem he/she has shown is half of one finger on one leaf has turned a yellowish greenish color. Its been like that for a little while now, but the rest of Groot looks great. I plan on topping him/her soon, I just wanted to know if it matters how big the nodes are that will form my new tops, I would think they would at least need to be growing on their own stems. I've read that it is more beneficial to water shortly after the lights come on, so it made me wonder if there was a more beneficial time to top and stress the plants.

 

[HeavyChevy59]

And the last of my three Mary Jane, she started out deformed and just looked beat up but I believe it was due to light stress. MJ is looking a lot better now, except for one leaf, it seems to be showing the same discoloration as Groot but hasn't spread any further than this. Im not sure if I'll top her... just yet at least, she is looking like she will be short and bushy already. I think I will just do some LSTing and some super cropping since I read that when you just barely break the stem it forms a knuckle and causes the plant to draw in more nutrients to those bud sites.

 

[HeavyChevy59]

Thanks in advance for the help and support. I'm learning a lot thanks to the family. I plan on makeing this a short grow, so I will probably only veg for a month, giving me about a week and a half till the light flips to 12/12. Like I said before I'm just trying to get a feel for growing and using different training methods. I think I will order some seeds after this grow, I'm really interested in one of our sponsors Mid Week Song seedbank since they carry Fast Buds Seeds, they have a pick & mix option, prices aren't too bad even shipping with the insurance option is pretty reasonable. The problem is I'm the type of guy that likes to read facts, and I can't seem to find any reviews about this sponsor, so if anyone has made a purchase from Mid Week Song seedbank please tell me about your experience with them.

 

[HeavyChevy59]

What's up everybody, I hope everything is growing good in your world. I'm just a little over 3 weeks in veg, I decided it was time to do a little LSTing on Groot. Groot is 10" tall so I gave him about a 90° bend at the top and clipped off a couple fan leaves that were blocking the nodes. Oh and my pup also clipped off a fan leaf lol.

Before

After

 

[Black Thumbs]

Your leaves are looking a bit droopy in the last pic,it's looking great so far but maybe over watered? I found if it's just the leaves that droop it's over watered but if the leaves and the stems droop it's under watered.Im like you though in this being my first grow in so long I've forgotten everything so I'm starting over as well

 

[HeavyChevy59]

Groot was under watered here, I was gonna water the plants yesterday but I figured it would be easier to pull Groot down when the stem was a bit more flexible. I'm not sure if it makes a difference but I figured why not.

 

[Subnoise]

Looking great so far brother. I haven't used midweek but I like how they give you the options for what free seeds.