First time grower here in VA.

[wallywonks]

Hi everyone. Its my first time growing MJ and its been fun so far.
I went 1/3 FFOF and 2/3 FFHF soil and organic ferts/amendments for my first grow. Im using Dr Earths Organic feeding schedule.

Germination:

2 - Super Skunk photos
2- White Widow autos

1 of the Autos were stunted due to a bad cotyledon but I gave it a chance to live.
I used paper towel method. Then planted in Miracle Grow Seedling Mix in 3/4 gal nursery bags.
I'm using a 4X4 Grow Tent, AC Infinity fan w/carbon filter with 2 - 1000W Giixer LEDs.
I eventually upgrade to a 450W Mars Hydro dimmable light and add a 12 in exhaust fan with a temp controller.

 

[wallywonks]

At the end of week 1 I have one plant that was starting to get yellow. I determined it was light burn since the other plants were in same medium and got same amount of water without showing issues. I had them at 10" and then moved them to 20" and it stopped the issue.

 

[wallywonks]

This is the girls at around 1 1/2 weeks.
I transplanted them into 5 gallon Vivosun fabric pots that I had added grommets I bought from Lowes to them for LST training.
Although I tried but I didnt do it right so I just topped the 2 skunks and just going to let the Autos go into single because of the short time frame.

 

[wallywonks]

This is the girls at 2 weeks when I transplanted them.
I also put a layer of Earthworm castings at the bottom of the transplant hole and top dressed along with Dr Earths Tomato, Veg and Herb fert 4-6-3 scratched in
This whole time I kept humidity around 70-80% and temps around 80F and going down to 73F when lights were off.
I use the controller on the AC Infinity to regulate the temps and humidity along with a humidifier/dehumidifier.

You notice that the runt White Widow Auto is way behind. But never underestimate the runt.
Last pic is the runt. I gave a little worm castings only since she was so small still. But she is growing still.
Added tomato cages and bamboo stakes for support later.

 

[wallywonks]

Week 3.
I reduced humidity to 60-65%. Temps are running 77F lights on and 71-73F lights off.
I'm happy with the temp/humidity control I got going.
This one super skunk plant is just amazing. She is so strong. None of the plants suffered transplant shock.
She is bushing up real nice although I will be trimming most off soon to force the energy use to the tops.

I gave the Skunks 2 cups of the Dr Earths Pot of Gold. Its digested food materials I guess from animal stomachs.
Its highly acidic. My tap water is 8.0 pH. I added 1/4 to 1 gal per instructions and pH was still 3.3
It took 32 ml of pH up to get it to 6.6 pH. I pH all my tap water to 6.5 pH for watering.


My attempt to LST failed because I was trying to do it to one of the autos but found out later I mislabeled 2 of them when preflowers on the autos appeared.
Next grow I'll either go all Autos or all Photos. I got some Purple Kush photo seeds coming and plan on trying out hydro to see what its like.
Going to focus on mainlining 1 big bush of Kush that grow.

 

[wallywonks]

This is the feeding schedule I am going by. Although I believe I am off a week as I didn't know when Seedling stage was over and whether its considered Week 1 of growth stage. I also decided to buy the Metabolic Transformer in week 3 to use in week 4. Although after feeding the Pot of Gold 1-1-1 the leaves got darker green. I thought it was going to Nitro tox them. It was close though. I only gave the runt 1 cup only. The autos almost tox'd on me so I am done giving them feed until I see they need it.

 

[wallywonks]

Week 4
Temps and Humidity still running same as Week 3.
Only a couple days the dehumidifier had to run when humidity outside was 98% due to rainy weather.

I topped the amazing bushy Super Skunk plant.
Trimmed the single and 3 leaf nodes.
The runt is starting to preflower and the other auto is preflowering (when I found out I mislabeled 1 auto and 1 photo skunk.)
I released the LST training on the skunk and stronger auto. Going to FIM the other skunk beginning of Week 5.
I also watered once this week a mixture of Pennington Garden Epsom Salts in one gallon of water.
The new shoots in week 5 are nice and shiny green. The Super Skunk photos love it.

 

[wallywonks]

Week 5 (Current week)

My temp and humidity still in range 77F Day - 71-73F Night. Humidity is around 60% still.

I attempted to FIM the other Super Skunk. I think I actually topped it but there is some leaf pieces sticking up so I guess Ill wait and see what happens.
The other Skunk I topped is growing its 2 cola stems real nice now. No shock. Its like she never missed a beat.
Loving the strength of this plant. Definitely mother plant material for clones. Both skunks love to feed.

 

[wallywonks]

This is how big the runt got so far. Shes one of the White Widow autos. Shes showing Sativa dominance based on being less bushy and nodes are farther apart.
The other Auto is showing Indica dominance. The autos are 60% Indica 40% Sativa strain. More bushy and tighter nodes. The Super Skunks are of course 80% Indica and showing it.
Shes still at beginning of the flower stage now. Shes got 5-8 wks left till harvest.

 

[wallywonks]

My tent setup so far. Also prepping a RDWC fallponics setup for later next year. Got everything I need just finished drilling the buckets and installed the fittings.
Going to use the GH lineup for that grow.

I also made organic banana tea for flower stage feeding. High in Phosphorous and Potassium. Confirmed with a soil test kit I bought at Lowes.
I also bought 3 bottles of Brer Rabbits Blackstrap Molasses for mid to late flower feeding. I know its to feed the microbes in the soil but other say it improves the stickiness of the resin and flavor of the smoke. I'm not sure but Im willing to test it out.
I also got a nice block of Organic Promix compressed at Wal Mart for $12. I am planning on stocking up on some organic soil amendments as I am going to plant a garden outside next year as well. So I bought Gypsum, Dolomite Lime, Epsoma Soil Acidifier (34% Sulfur), Pennington Garden Epsom Salts, I am currently looking at Down To Earth products for custom soil amendments to the Promix base. Earthworm Castings, Powdered Banana Peels, Kelp Meal, Azomite, Langbeinite, Seabird Guano, Fishbone Meal, Shrimp Meal, Crushed Oyster Shells, Crab Meal etc.
Just trying to get a nice well rounded NPK. Then have a great mix of Ca, Mg, S and micronutes.

 

[Nepenthe420]

looks good, have fun!

 

[Treecutter]

I've snapped plenty of plants. Electric tape works wonders holding them back together while they heal.

If you lst when there full of water they bend easier. Another trick on bigger stems is to work from the bottom up holding the bulk of the stem in the palm of your hand and bend the top with index and thumb. Gives the main stem support.

You can check out some of my pics in my profile. These are autos that I topped and polenated. Under a 150 watt light in a 2x4