First Grow - Looking for suggestions and advice

IHateBuyingWeed · Dec 4, 2013

That does make sense but my reservoirs are contained to each little system and they can only be filled with 4 gallons or the water line will go over the sprinklers. This system be so much easier to use if I could get my hands on a cooling mechanism to put in the reservoirs. The aero systems nor the drip are mine so I cant really modify them to hold a cooling mechanism anyways.

My next setup is going to be flood & drain. It seems so much more easier to maintain and the reservoir can be completely separate from the growing chamber. I am just hoping to harvest some nice bud my first go round but it is going to take some work with the temps. Hopefully I take something beneficial away from my first grow.

IHateBuyingWeed · Dec 7, 2013

***Update***

This is the beginning of week 3. I changed the reservoirs last night but I had to use Brita-Filtered water again because my RO system isn't delivering until Monday now.

I set the pH to 5.9 and ppm to 800 in all three reservoirs:

2 tsp/g Grow
1.5 tsp/g Micro
0.75 tsp/g Bloom

This morning the plants are looking green and healthy. (Pics Below)

IHateBuyingWeed · Dec 10, 2013

***UPDATE***

This is week 3 day 4 and my tallest are 7-7.5 in.

After 3 days the plants started showing what appeared to me to be a nutrient deficiency of some sort as well as the beginnings of nutrient burn. The tips started to look brown and slightly burned and some of the newer leaves on branches started canooing under. That made me think nutrient toxicity from over-fertilization.

The other issue was the beginning of small brown spots on some of the leaves. I mean they were tiny, but for all I knew they could've gotten larger. This appeared to me to be another boron deficiency. I checked the pH and it had increased to 6.5. I lowered the pH to 5.6 to account for inflation and figured I would just watch the plants for any severe signs of nutrient burn.

I got home from work today to see that the nutrient burn must've only been slight because the plants are really responding positively to the increased nutrients. They are looking green, healthy and almost all of the plants have roots growing out of their net pots now. If everything goes well I will start 12/12 this Friday night. I received my RO system so the water will be clean enough to eat off of lol. (Pics Below) Keep in mind my babies are about 2 hours from sleep in the pics so the leaves are laying down somewhat. On the next update I will take pics in the morning.

IHateBuyingWeed · Dec 14, 2013

***UPDATE***

I did a water change last night with RO water. I was amazed to find that the PPM of the RO water was 0. I began the "Transition to Bloom" nutrient regimen starting at 75% of recommended dosage as the light cycle has been switched to 12/12. The plants are now under a 250w HPS until I get a 400w HPS. (Pics Below)

IHateBuyingWeed · Dec 22, 2013

***Update***

This is basically the beginning of week 2 of 12/12 cycle. Seven of the 10 plants are male and have been pulled (pics posted below of male flowers).

Plants #1

Plants #2

Plant #3

Plant #4

Plant #5

Plant #6

Plant #7

First male pulled. No pics.

I trimmed lower growth off of the 3 suspected females in order to concentrate growth up top (pics below).

(Pre-trimmed plants)

(Trimmed plants)

Its kind of a bummer that 7 of the 10 were males. Nonetheless I am going to make these females the best they can be. :leaf:

banks dank · Dec 23, 2013

IHateBuyingWeed said:
As the subject admits, this is my first grow but it has been a dream of mine since I read my first High Times almost 20 years ago. Anywho, all the sap aside I am growing in a closet garden. I soaked some bagseed for 24 hours and then planted them in pre-soaked rockwool cubes. Once they sprouted (100%) I started them on wet-dry cycle, according to weight, to get the roots to stretch. I would dip the cubes' bottom sides in fresh, pH balanced water. Then, I came across a video that showed how to start seedlings in grow trays with oxygenated water. I switched to that method and the seedlings are now 10 days old (pics displayed). I gave them 150 ppm of Botanicare PowerPlant 3-1-4 and one of the seedlings showed nutrient burn on the ends of the leaf blades so I changed the water only adding 100 ppm of nutrients and everything has been fine so far. The seedlings are currently under a 2 ft. and a 3 ft. fluorescent light fixture with T5s on for 24 hours. Eight of the 11 remaining seedlings (some perished along the way) will go into two American Agritech Aero 4 Machines, which hold 4 plants each. The other 3 are going into a 2 gallon reservoir, drip system with hydroton as the medium. All will be vegged under a 400w MH and flowered under a 400w HPS. Some are showing promising root development, as the pics indicate, whereas others are kind of lagging IMO. Additionally, those with the fewest exposed roots seem to be suffering from over watering. I guess the lack of exposed roots is preventing the plant from getting enough oxygen. Those have been put back on the wet-dry cycle to allow the roots to stretch. At this point I ultimately need to know when I should transplant the seedlings into the systems? Also if I have or may very possibly do something incorrectly as a beginner, please feel free to correct me.

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Bagseed made me cry bro I hope you have better luck than me.

One word...hermie.

IHateBuyingWeed · Dec 25, 2013

Haha Thanks Banks Dank. The 3 suspected females turned out to be real females (pics below). I hope like hell none go hermie or I'm gonna die of a broken heart.

My next grow will definitely start from either clones or quality seeds.

Plant #1

Plant #2

Plant #3

They are a little farther along than these pics so I will post updated pics when they are showing copious amounts of flowers.

banks dank · Dec 25, 2013

Mine were females as well but hermied a few weeks into flowering...
Just watch out for balls...only one branch developed balls on mine, the rest was fine...also it was deep under a bunch of foliage so look VERY closely...

good luck

IHateBuyingWeed · Dec 25, 2013

banks dank said:
Mine were females as well but hermied a few weeks into flowering...
Just watch out for balls...only one branch developed balls on mine, the rest was fine...also it was deep under a bunch of foliage so look VERY closely...

good luck

Thanks again man. I'm going to order a 50-100x magnifier so I can keep a extra good eye on them. If I do find balls, would you suggest I trash the plant or branch it may be isolated to?

banks dank · Dec 29, 2013

Depends on how hermi it is, how far along it is in flower, and big of a deal possible cross pollination
is to you in your specific circumstance...try as best as u can to identify hermi outbreaks and renove them when Seen...
remove I mean snip the male parts off of the plant when u see it...
Its worth it to get quality genetics so u dont have to worry about this kind of thing...

good luck

IHateBuyingWeed · Jan 1, 2014

As of right now I am running out of head room for my babies. All three are currently 3.5' tall and I still have 6.5-7 weeks left of flowering. Either way, below are a few close-up pics of the flowers and the full plants, which are developing quite nicely I might add.

Just one thing though. I think I may have over fertilized. I switched from "Transition to Bloom" strength to "Blooming & Ripening" strength the week the first female flowers shown. A friend of mine with more experience than myself suggested that I should've stuck to "Transition to Bloom" strength for a few more weeks. He suggested that I flush the plants and scale back on the nutes, which I will be doing.

All three from afar:

Plant #1

Plant #2

Plant #3

IHateBuyingWeed · Jan 5, 2014

***UPDATE***

After changing the reservoirs yesterday, I pinched and bent the tops of all 3 plants. The plants ranged from 4' to 4.5' tall and I was out of head room. I pinched and bent them about a foot from the tops of each plant. All 3 tops (horizontal after pinch & bend) are now standing straight up along with the tops of the branches running along the now horizontal stems. They bounced back quicker than I had read or been told (pics below). I am also looking at about 20-30 possible tops now instead of just 3.

IHateBuyingWeed · Jan 11, 2014

***UPDATE***

I changed reservoirs today and reverted back to GH "Transition to Bloom" nutrient strengths to fight signs of nitrogen deficiency (bottom leaves are yellowing and falling off).

I have also observed root rot on various areas of the 2 root balls in the aerosystem. To combat this I have added some Botanicare stuff that came with the system. I started using this stuff a week ago (added once a week) and the roots are getting white again and growing longer. I ordered 2 Dewey Misters (one for each plant in aero) to replace my electric water pump because it generates heat in the water. I will also be adding Dutch Master Zone to the reservoirs, which has been recommended to me time and time again on this forum.

The plants are at the tail-end of the 3rd week of flowering (updated pics below).

Plant #1

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Plant #2

Plant #3

IHateBuyingWeed · Jan 22, 2014

***UPDATE***

I have 3.5 weeks left of flowering just based on time. However, I am buying a 60-100x microscope this weekend to check out the trichome colors. And BTW the trichomes are very prevalent on each of the 3 plants. (pics below)

Plant #1

Plant #2

Plant #3

IHateBuyingWeed · Feb 15, 2014

So the plants are beginning week 10 of the 12/12 light cycle and week 8 since the first female flowers started to show (not just the pre-flowers).

Below is a pic of a test bud I clipped from plant #2 a few days ago. Its been drying in a little cardboard box until today. I just tested it for my first smoke of the day and I am thinking the finished product is going to be very potent because I am sufficiently baked right now off of a few puffs.

The original weight of the bud was 1.96 grams and final weight of the dried bud is .3 grams and I only smoked half of that. The original smoke was commercial Mexican brick and I can honestly say that it took a hell of a lot more of the original to get me as high as I am right now.

Today I am starting the flush on plants #1 & #3. They are both showing roughly 90% cloudy trichomes with hardly any new flowers growing. Also the pistils are almost 100% orange and beginning to wither. They will be harvested next Saturday and I will post more pics at that time.

Plant #2 that the tester bud came from is going to go another week with nutes and then a week of flush because it is continuing to grow new flowers and the trichs are only about 60-70% cloudy with the rest being clear.

***After thoroughly checking plant #2, it is definitely ready to go into flush as well. Full harvest should be next Saturday***

I am getting super excited now!!

IHateBuyingWeed · Mar 2, 2014

Already smoking on the finished product. I finished with 6 ounces of some fairly sticky buds. Its not as strong as some hydro I've purchased on the street but it definitely gets the job done. I just placed a seed order so the next grow will contain solid genetics. I ordered Blackberry and Northern Lights and cant wait to get back in grow mode.

First Grow - Looking for suggestions and advice

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