First Grow: Auto Blue Amnesia..... or La Diva... Let's find out!!

What's up guys? I'd been wanting to grow MJ for a while, and up until recently, was sort of intimidated by it; lots of factors, cost, etc... Regardless, a friend of mine locally grows MMJ and got me into it fairly quick after seeing his enormous hydro set-up with all of the high-end gear and results.. So I embark on my journey... I've been reading a ton of stuff on here and a few other forums to see if I can jive together information.. So far, I've received great advice from someone on a different forum, and I may model my grow more like his (top-feed aero/hydro/ebb-and-flow/recirculating hybrid)than a traditional DWC like I had planned...


So here it is..


Ministry of Cannabis Auto Blue Amnesia, or Delicious Auto La Diva. It's a mystery to me, as I had put the seeds in baggies, low-and-behold, hole in one of the baggies mixes seeds, so I've got just as good of an idea as anyone as to what it's going to be.


Currently, day 19 since germination. I'm using 3-23w 2700K CFLs and 3-45w 6500K CFLs for the first few weeks of "veg". I'm working on building an LED panel as supplemental lighting, but that may not be ready for this grow. I will end up pulling at least one of the 6500K bulbs out around the 3rd or 4th week of veg, and put in more 2700K and a 3000K I had kicking around to broaden up the spectrum. Light cycle is 20-4. The enclosure is something I built on my own, which is approximately 2ft x 2ft x 3.5ft. You can see in the pictures what I have, but like I said, it's going to change a little. I'm hoping to make the rest of the set-up this weekend, so I'll post pictures for those to see when it happens if they're interested..

I'm using GH Flora series and FloraBlend on a slightly modified recipe.. I'm also using Aquashield, Cal-Mag (when I eventually need it). Lots of stuff is a bit custom, mostly because of my mentor. I can try to answer questions to the best of my abilities, but I'm also looking for some feedback to see if I'm doing things right and to make sure I'm not making stupid mistakes.. If you have any questions about my set-up, my reasoning or of my sanity, feel free to shoot them this way!!


Let's see what we can do!!!!

This thing is starting to smell fantastic!! I figured that wouldn't happen until I started seeing some buds, but I'll take it!!!!


Edit: For some reason, it won't let me upload pictures, but that's fine.. It's starting to grow leaves under the already growing leaves.. Seems like a good thing to me!!!!

I tell you, everyday seems like a learning experience.. I suppose like any other newbie, I'm anxious for results, but I have the patience contrary to that of which dooms a lot of other new growers.. I feel like when I wake up in the morning until when I go to bed, this thing surprises me every second.. I know it's early, but I'm looking at the pictures of the node spacing on this thing, and I'm kinda blown away when I compare it to the hundreds of the grows I've seen you fine folks doing on this great resource!!! Mine wasn't leggy, and maybe it's because I learned a few lessons while reading the countless threads.. Maybe I got lucky.. Maybe.... Maybe.... Maybe... Aahhhhh, f- it... I'm not going to push my luck..


Against my better judgement, I used the hydroton to cover the top of the croutons and cube mostly because the local shop didn't have any more mini-cubes other than the massive case, which I don't have money for right now.. I'm sort of in limbo now, as to what I should expect next, as I've tracked the grows of a few other folks who have grown either of these strains.. I see their pics and their plants at this point in time were much more hearty, but fewer leaves and less growth, so I'm hoping the pheno I got just happens to be perfect for my limited grow space.. I'd be a liar if I said I kinda wish this wasn't a femme-auto for the fact I could clone it, but if this thing keeps going in this same direction, I'll have the shape I was hoping for without the addition of LST or ScrOG-ing.. I may still do those, but if this thing moves laterally, I'm going to have to buy some more lights!!!

The camera I have is... meh.... I think I need to work the white balance or maybe something else.. Those pictures make it look like the leaves are lighter, but from where I'm sitting, they are a nice, even green with no glossiness or spotting.. It's already skunky!!!





JT

So it's been a few days, figured I'd update this piece!!!


Little dude has really taken off in the last 48-72hrs! I'm truly amazed!! I kept having issues with humidity, so my roommate said I could use his larger cool-mist unit that is waaaaaaaaay more efficient. Turns out it was a great idea!! humidity stays at a perfect 50% with no fluctuations according to my monitor and from what my gf recorded for data while I was gone out of state for the weekend.. Temps have been a solid 77F as well, so I couldn't be much happier!! I changed the nute batch so now I'm sitting at about 322ppm and a very mildly adjusted pH of 5.9.. I'm going to be picking up stuff to make the beneficial tea this week and I will also be assembling the top-feed ring and poor-man's airpot in the next few days after finals.. The pictures I guess kinda speak for themselves..




JT

Odd turn of events this morning... Looks like I'm already starting to get pistils on this thing... Is that normal for the plant being this small?? Or an I way off?? If that's the case, almost sounds like I'm going to be germing some other seeds today!! Not exactly what I wanted to see in terms of total growth but I guess it could be worse..


I had thought to swap out one of my 6500K bulbs for a 3000K bulb last night since I'm nearing week 4. Was this a bad idea?? Is this something that might've caused that from happening? I'm thinking yes, but was hoping for some feedback...





JT

nice one, I'm subbed up

Thanks for stopping in!! I'm kind of at a loss as to what might have stunted its growth all together, but the leaves look healthy. I'm going to be introducing LEDs into the mix soon to see if that helps, since I don't think the CFLs I have alone will get me to where I want to me.. Off to the hardware store!!

I think I may have found my problem! I was scheming as to what might be the problem, and the one thing I haven't done with this thing is check the pH/ppm of the run-off as I water-to-waste with the rockwool for now until I get the top-feed done. The run-off ppm was right, but the pH was 7.5!!! Not sure what it's going to take to fix this, but I've been using a nute solution with a pH of 5.9 consistently throughout so I'm guessing this thing is NOT happy!! Should I be considering doing a mini-flush for the next couple days??

Flush it so you can get the pH perfect, and then just add in nuts as needed. Ive found that to be the best method for me at least, others might beg to differ

So I think I've got it down for good, or at least for now.. I've ran through a few gallons of distilled water and almost a gallon of nute mix trying to flush this thing down to an acceptable pH.. Right now, with a 5.5 nute solution of a 326ppm, the run-off is at a stable pH of 6.0 which I'm happy with for right now.. Yesterday it was at a 6.1 and drifted to a 6.4 overnight. I did a little modifying of the enclosure today to celebrate finishing this semester.. This gold laminate was free and it works pretty well as it's not a paper-based laminate.. 3000K bulb burned out (it was an old one) so I threw another 2700K in.. Growth is still occuring on this thing and I think it may be nearing time to re-plant to it's final destination: a 3-gal equivalent air-pot that should be here any day now.. Once I do that, the top-drip system will be in full-effect!! I'm going to be making the reservoir and drainage tomorrow along with the drip-ring.. I'm hoping to keep this whole thing relatively modular/compact so all of the hoses will be as short as possible and all of the connections will be zip-tied to ensure their sealing.. I'll have more pictures by the end of this weekend.. Peace...

Gotta admit, I'm feeling a lot better now than I did last week! This thing is growing and I'm liking the rebound it made!! I took out some CFLs because some small LED's I ordered came in, so I'm going to give it 24hrs and see how they do.. If they don't do much, then I might take out one and throw the CFLs back in.. It's freaking warm out today, compared to what it has been (about 85F) with not much humidity, so I've had to give up on keeping humidity stable since even the big humidifier can't keep up!! The enclosure it at about 82-84F, but it's already past the hottest part of the day, and it's supposed to be cool and drizzly, so humidity and cooling will no longer be an issue.. I was hoping FedEx was going to be so kind and deliver my air-pot today so I could use that instead of the poor-man's version I made, but we'll see.. I have a family emergency, so I have to leave tomorrow.. I've almost completely finished the top-feed set-up and I'll post pictures of it working, later on tonight.. The gf has been gracious enough to take on the responsibility of taking care of my little buddy until I get back this weekend, but with this recirculating top-feed, it's relatively effortless, as all she has to do is check pH, temps/humidity, ppm and make sure everything is still working properly.. The timer has it set to do a 15-min feeding once a day about 3hrs after lights-on.. Simplicity is key!! I hope these little LEDs help out, even just a little bit, since it'd be great to bounce back from the set-backs I had and actually get more than a couple grams of bud after this is all said and done!! I also need to find a new way to rig the clip-on fan, because I think it's hitting the top of the plant a little too much..




JT

Sooooo.... Been outta town for a few days and my gf was keeping watch.. She did a good job of recording all of the stats, and finally, I feel like I have everything dialed in, with regards to temp, pH, humidity, ppm, etc.. This thing nearly doubled in height, I swear, since I left!!!! when I came home, the res was low and I wasn't expecting my gf to mix up nutes or even have to pH water, since I didn't have time to teach her before I left.. Such is life, but when I came home, ~7gal res was down a little less than 2gal, which was good, but was also only down about 35-40ppm which I thought was odd, but anyway.. Lots of what I presume to be bud-sites all over this thing.. I switched the 6500K lights out with some more 2700K bulbs as well as re-positioned the LEDs and lights a little to get better coverage.. I have a feeling if I don't mess anything up, I could probably get a fair amount of successful growth yet!! I'm really maaaaaaybe close to halfway, maybe a little less.. Depends on who you talk to.. Some folks say 10wks, the manufacturer of the Blue Amnesia says 60-75 days, and I think the La Diva was about the same, maybe a little longer?? Anyway, I'm thinking closer to 75-100 days, just to play it safe.. I'm loving this recirculating top-drip!! My res temps have been steady around 67F without any chiller (it's still nice and cool outside here, so it helps a lot!) and the humidity and temps in the enclosure have been nice and firm in the 70F's.. I'm happy so far, but there's much work to be done..

Not a ton to update on, except for the fact that I cleaned up the inside of the enclosure a bit to organize the wiring a little better and to fit a smaller catch basin in. I'm still not happy with the lighting arrangement because I feel like I'm missing some spots, but what can you do with CFLs?? I've got 4 small LEDs at the top and with all of them together, it puts out a relatively decent amount of focused light. The leaves all appear to be healthy, but this thing is a scrawny one!! I'm not sure if that's because I left the 6500Ks in too long, or if maybe this thing was supposed to be waaaaaay more full, but since I stunted it a little, it didn't want to fully develop. There are bud sites forming all the way down to the base of the plant!! I'm not really doing LST in the traditional sense by tying stuff down. I have these bamboo skewers that I'm using to sort of push the fan leaves aside to bring more light into the middle of the plant.. I think ultimately, I may just use a larger LED panel (that I was supposed to be constructing, but at this point, it may be easier to just buy one) over the top of the plant and use either T5/T8 single-bulb fixtures on the corners for side lighting and just swap out color spectrums.. I don't know.. I feel like It'll take a while to get the set up exactly how I want, but it's getting there!

Did a nute change yesterday after 8 days, ppms were a little low as I had topped off with just pH'ed water for the last couple days. pH was 6.2 (still creeping up a little) but with the new batch, I pH'ed it to a 5.6 counting on a little drift. I also did a full switch to the bloom-heavy nutes with a ppm of about 480-ish to see how it reacts.. If it seems more hungry or if it starts to get fatter, I might bump it up a little with the next res top-off later this week.. Temps and humidity have been awesome and consistent so I'm hoping maybe another 4-6 weeks?? This is day 40 since sprouting, but they state this is a 60-75 day strain, so I figure it's a 75-90 day expected time.. Actually, I'm HOPING, just off the of the fact I hope this thing fattens up a bit!!!


My nutes are as follows:

25ml GH Florablend
25ml Botanicare Aquashielf
10ml GH Grow
15ml GH Micro
25ml GH Bloom
10ml Botanicare Cal/Mag+
10ml Botanicare Silica Blast
5ml GH Floralicious Plus
6gal distilled water w/ slightly varied pH between jugs, 6.1-6.6



Anyway, any comments, suggestions, questions?!?

This plant is just kinda cruising along so far; nothing too crazy to update.. The smell is starting to get more and more pungent!!! I brushed against the side of the brand when I was changing the water in the humidifier and my hand/arm STILL smell!!!! When I did the res change yesterday, ppm were at ~770 and pH was at a 5.7.. After this morning's feeding, ppm was down to ~640 and pH was up to 6.1, looking like the plant/rockwool took about a half gallon of water and a bunch of nutes!! The leaves are starting to get frosty and today is day 47.. These buds are starting to get a bit bigger.. I have to remind myself to stop staring at it because I feel like it's not growing, but when I go back and check out pictures from last week, it's amazing how much bigger it's got!!!

Anyway, here are some pics from a couple days ago.. It's really starting to fill out where it looked super-scrawny before.. I think I may end up getting a tent sooner than I thought because this enclosure may not be big enough to grow the size of plant I want, or I have to come up with a better way for humidity and get rid of this extremely large obstacle in the grow space.. I could get a good-sized ScrOG net going in there if it wasn't for the fact the humidifier is large.. I may see about modifying the back wall so that I can just pop that out to do water changes so I can leave stuff more stationary but my next grow will be more LED-centric and possibly use 2-4ft T5s as supplemental lighting.. I'm always scouring Craigslist and local ads for cheap and free stuff like lighting and anything that could make this grow more efficient!

Stanky is all I have to say!!! I haven't bought a filter yet but I really need to consider it!! lol


I guess I need to keep myself away from the plant for a couple days so I actually notice the difference between before and after.. I thought the plant was sort of just slowly bulking up but when I look at the pictures from about a week or so ago, the buds have become quite a bit bigger and the leaves are starting to get frosty!!! I'm still banking on another 3-4 weeks at LEAST before this thing is ready to come down.. I started getting a little nute burn at the tips of a bunch of the leaves, and I'm not sure if I'm using the term correctly, but kayaking, of the leaves, or where they seem to be curling the way they are.. I had switched to feeding twice a day with the top-drip at a ppm of 780 starting and a pH of 5.7.. There aren't any other spots or unusual marks of note, except a few leaves that have been too close to some of the lights and I've clipped off the dried-up/dead pieces.. I haven't taken the humidifier out but it hasn't been on in over a week, as the humidity has been relatively steady between 30-50%, depending on the time of day.. I've since stopped the twice a day feeding, but I was almost thinking that maybe if I cut the ppm back, I could do a twice a day feeding with a positive result. I do my reservoir changes on Wednesdays, so I was hoping someone might be able to answer that question. Otherwise, here are some pictures........

Not a ton to update, other than I finally got my jeweler's loupe and it isn't very good, but I tried to get a couple pictures to see if I could blow them up and check the trichome consistencies.. Starting to get some milky ones in there, and I think my estimates were close at another couple weeks. I've got my tent physically set up but tomorrow's adventure is to actually set up the lighting, ventilation and re-configure my reservoir, and fabricate a catch basin.. Got my 2nd batch of seeds in: Dinafem OG Kush x2, Dinafem Auto Critical Jack x2 and Dinafem Original Amnesia x2, plus another Afghan Kush Ryder seed (so now I have 2) and a Dinafem Auto Original Amnesia for free. I'm torn as to whether I should grow both of the same type at the same time, or if I should have some variety and grow a bean from each set for each 2-plant grow I do.. The OG Kush and the Original Amnesia, being photos, I may do only 1 at a time and try to LST/ScrOG the thing into submission, but like I had mentioned, I'm gonna wait another grow or 2 before I do that. I'm also going to try my hand at cloning at that stage, so it's important I can get a couple successful grows under my belt and have a solid technique. Out of the 2 Auto Jack seeds I had germinating, one of them is starting to show it's 2nd set of true leaves, but the other is this green nub in the middle of the rockwool. I'll get some pictures tomorrow, but I think I need a little more light, but hopefully after tomorrow, that's not gonna be an issue. I'm going to keep my enclosure here for now and use it as a veg-tent, so I can get these other seedlings started, so that when this other one finishes, I can throw them right over in the tent, and start another set.. I think it's possible to get at least another 2 full grows out of this year, and then at the turn of the year, the gf and I are moving out of this area, and we're trying to find a slightly larger place, so I would be then investing in a 2nd slightly larger tent for flowering and keep the one I have now for veg..


So much to do, so little time!!!