Hello all, my 1st grow... Thoughts

[Mcsketcher]

Just became legal here... I'm 47 and this is my 1st grow. Lifelong dream... So, my eyes were bigger than my stomach or something like that. 36" x 20" x 63" tent ... That's 3 plants. 2 Big Bud strain(I don't know why I did 2) and a revolver strain on the right. I'm thinking I might use the rings on the tomato cages to create multiple canopies... I don't know... Pruning? I'm open to suggestions

 

[Mcsketcher]

Incidentally, 6 weeks and 1 day

 

[ImpulsiveGrower]

Nice grow you got goin. I personally would defoliate those big fan leaves that are casting shade over other branches. Also would do some low stress training to keep the canopy even. What lights you running?

 

[Shayne010944]

Wish it was legalised in Australia

 

[Mcsketcher]

Nice grow you got goin. I personally would defoliate those big fan leaves that are casting shade over other branches. Also would do some low stress training to keep the canopy even. What lights you running?

So, I've kinda done both. The plant on the right is a lot shorter than the other two. I got rid of a bunch of fan leaves a week and a half ago. Then I read you're not supposed to do that shortly before flower. At this point, I've pulled the main stalks to either the front or back of the tent. I'm taking the branches on the backside and twisting them around so they grow the opposite direction. Hopefully, if my theory pans out, the canopy will grow itself level. I actually have two 1000 watt led grow lights in there. At the plants current height I've managed to get the lights positioned to where every one is getting 1000 par pretty evenly, even with the height discrepancies. + Or - 100 on the above #. Because everything is so crowded I put some 20 watt grow light bars around the sides just as a nudger and I've since put a couple 35 watt lights pointed at the bottom of the canopy. Hopefully that mitigates my inability to provide an even canopy. It looks like I'm getting pretty good light penetration though. I don't know. It's not jacking my temps up and its not costing any more than 2 of my 14 aquariums... So.. I don't know

 

[Frankster]

I would get them going soon, so you don't loose control of the grow. That would be my advice.

Have they been flipped?

 

[JSH1973]

Looking really good, you are on your way to a very positive first grow/harvest experience

 

[SSgrower]

Down here in Texas I want the right to grow myself, nice plants, welcome to the farm.

 

[Mcsketcher]

Actually, I'm high.. I didn't fully explain what I meant earlier. I want 1 side/corner of the canopy higher than the other. I want it even, but not level. If the canopy sits at an angle it increases the area you can expose to light. LEDs are pretty focused at their center point but par falls off dramatically as you move away from that point. But, I smoke pot and I've never done this before... But they look happy... I think

 

[Mcsketcher]

I would get them going soon, so you don't loose control of the grow. That would be my advice.

Have they been flipped?

What do you mean? All the way around... I have no idea what I'm doing

 

[Frankster]

What do you mean? All the way around... I have no idea what I'm doing

Yea, lots of people stoned here, I get it.. lol. Alright, so ones on the right look like auto flowers, one's on the left look like photoperiod.

flip means turning lights 12/12, so you can create flowers.
We need to get you a few fundamental reads to start out with, while you chill and smoke another joint. Get that "grasshopper" Vīrya going...

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HOW TO WATER COCO FOR BEST RESULTS.

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Autos or photoperiods - What do you prefer?

Hey all! Lots of different opinions and the only right answer is the answer that is right for you. So I'm curious if you were at the seed counter and found a strain you love, would you go for the auto flower version or the photoperiod version? I personally like photoperiod because you can clone...

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[ShrederTHC]

Id get an extra tent for those photoperiodics, your tent is rammed.

or at least keep doing 18\6 until those autos finish up

if you do 12\12 on autos, you'd be leaving a lot of yield and potency on the table

i'd defoliate all big fan leaves

with coco, make sure you get 20% runoff daily

dont go over 750 ppfd (par), most strains can handle this intensity pretty well, but above that you're in the diminished returns zone, which just means lower yields.

you can water more than once per day for optimal results

good luck man

 

[Fuzzy_Buzzy]

The plants look healthy, thats a WIN for the first grow.

Altho I'd never buy a 63" tall tent, it leaves very little room for vertical growth, considering exhaust systems, grow lights and container height also limit the potential of a plants height.

78" tall or more would give you very little, if any, restrictions.

 

[Mcsketcher]

So, I had been doing some reading in addition to these (thank you). The 1 on the right is autoflower... On the left is supposed to be big bud strain the "fast" version. I read that some people just blast em all 24 hrs and some 18/6 the entire time. I actually just switched the timer at your suggestion. It will now be 12/12.

 

[Mcsketcher]

Id get an extra tent for those photoperiodics, your tent is rammed.

or at least keep doing 18\6 until those autos finish up

if you do 12\12 on autos, you'd be leaving a lot of yield and potency on the table

i'd defoliate all big fan leaves

with coco, make sure you get 20% runoff daily

dont go over 750 ppfd (par), most strains can handle this intensity pretty well, but above that you're in the diminished returns zone, which just means lower yields.

you can water more than once per day for optimal results

good luck man

Ok, so I'll switch back to 18/6. That was my plan originally. I thought the auto was going to be quicker

 

[Mcsketcher]

Ok, so I'll switch back to 18/6. That was my plan originally. I thought the auto was going to be quicker

I shouldn't have done 3 plants

 

[Mcsketcher]

So here's what I did start to current... 2 big bud strain(left) 1 revolver strain (right). Planted in fox farm soil with nothing else added. I have a blumat watering system installed. I'm giving them aquarium water that I pH down to about 6.7. I have 2 1000 watt lights. One is more full spectrum and the other is one of the blurples. I've got an intake fan that pulls in 215 cfm. My outtake fan is only a 4" 205 CFM but I attached a 6" 265 CFM booster fan so my tent is negative pressure and temperature isn't an issue. I even have some low wattage LEDs pointed at the bottom of the canopy. At 3 1/2 weeks I bent some of the big bud branches hoping the damage would slow them down a bit to give the auto flower some extra time. I think it worked. At 4 weeks I added a couple gallons of soil to each plant(they only had about 3 each). Before doing so I slathered it with worm castings and then a dose of dr. Earths tom and herb mix. Also some of like a bottle of thing by Dr earth. I also did some pretty extensive pruning... Only fan leafs though. At 5 weeks sprayed with more Dr earth in the bottle. At 6 weeks I just dosed with 0-10-10 Alaska morbloom. It is now 6 weeks and 2 days.

 

[Mcsketcher]

So here's what I did start to current... 2 big bud strain(left) 1 revolver strain (right). Planted in fox farm soil with nothing else added. I have a blumat watering system installed. I'm giving them aquarium water that I pH down to about 6.7. I have 2 1000 watt lights. One is more full spectrum and the other is one of the blurples. I've got an intake fan that pulls in 215 cfm. My outtake fan is only a 4" 205 CFM but I attached a 6" 265 CFM booster fan so my tent is negative pressure and temperature isn't an issue. I even have some low wattage LEDs pointed at the bottom of the canopy. At 3 1/2 weeks I bent some of the big bud branches hoping the damage would slow them down a bit to give the auto flower some extra time. I think it worked. At 4 weeks I added a couple gallons of soil to each plant(they only had about 3 each). Before doing so I slathered it with worm castings and then a dose of dr. Earths tom and herb mix. Also some of like a bottle of thing by Dr earth. I also did some pretty extensive pruning... Only fan leafs though. At 5 weeks sprayed with more Dr earth in the bottle. At 6 weeks I just dosed with 0-10-10 Alaska morbloom. It is now 6 weeks and 2 days.

So pruning is definitely in order then????

 

[Mcsketcher]

The plants look healthy, thats a WIN for the first grow.

Altho I'd never buy a 63" tall tent, it leaves very little room for vertical growth, considering exhaust systems, grow lights and container height also limit the potential of a plants height.

78" tall or more would give you very little, if any, restrictions.

I haven't really lost too much in height with my set up. They sit low to the ground because I went wide instead of deep with the pots and I only have a 4" filter that sits right at the top. The lights sit above it's lowest level. All told I've got about 50"-52"s of vertical grow space. Not perfect but I thought indoor grows were inherently shorter for some reason

 

[Nate_in_AK]

Hey welcome to the family! :)

I was born with a black thumb and have been slowly working on re-coloring it. My first 2 grows were sad, the 3rd went OK, now the 4th is finally growing pretty well. If you have problems or kill your plants you will not be alone, there are lots of us who struggle, but so far it looks like you're doing pretty well. Nice work!!

I started out with some auto-flower seeds, and I'll never buy them again because they started flowering way too early. People say stress makes them start flowering early. If that is true, they are the wrong seeds for a newbie, haha!

Like others said, the photo period plants are likely to get MUCH taller once you switch the lights to 12/12. I have a 60-something inch tent as well, and I have to put the light all the way up by the end of flowering growth. Last grow I didn't plan well enough and some of the colas got kind of "burned" from growing all the way up and touching the light (LED). Nets/screen really helps a ton.

Keep us posted on how things go, and good luck!