Nate_in_AK
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My first growing experience has been a bit of a mess.
Feminized auto-flower seeds from seedsman.
1 x Blackberry Kush
1 x Bubbagum
Germination in paper-towels went perfectly, and both sprouts were 'planted' into rockwool on Feb 11th. Both sprouts popped up from the rockwool on the 13th, but on the 14th the Bubbagum sprout was looking sad and wilty:
View attachment 949609
That problem was caused by over-soaked rockwool, but the little guy recovered well enough once I got it dried out a bit.
Feb. 16th they both looked much better:
View attachment 949610
The next few days were awesome!
Feb 23rd, still going strong:
View attachment 949611
Then came Saturday morning, February 29th!!!!
View attachment 949614
My Blackberry Kush looked like the Evil Jolly Green Giant farted on it, and pH was suddenly way up; the test kit showed green.
I learned two things that day:
I corrected the pH, and setup a humidifier. After some tweaking got the tent to 75F @ 75% humidity. (RH had been around 20% before!!)
- VPD is a thing and I should care about it.
- I need to keep a close eye on that pH!
By March 2nd the BBK had perked right up, but was showing some damage:
View attachment 949628
For the next week it was difficult for me to be patient, and I suspect I jumped the gun when I topped both plants on March 6th.
Looking back, I realize growth had been slowing down prior to the topping. Once I chopped them, growth damn near halted immediately., and while things didn't look terrible to me, something seemed wrong. Here they are on March 8th:
View attachment 949631
(Blackbeery Kush on the left, Bubbagum on the right)
Having a deficit of patience, I decided this looked like a deficit of nutrients. My first nutrient load was around 30% of the vendor recommended potency. It was about time to change the water, so I mixed the new load at 100%. This too, was probably a dumb rookie move.
On Monday I figured out what had really been wrong. My air pump was not making any bubbles. My poor babies were drowning. I corrected the issue and things have gotten better over the past few days, and here are current pictures:
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Grow info:
I think that about covers everything so far. I don't know if I have a specific question, but wonder how this looks from an experienced viewpoint. Are things going well enough for a first timer? Do these plants look about the right size for their age? Can someone tell me it's all going to be OK? HAHA!!
- 4' wide, 2' deep, 5.5' high tent.
- DWC (no top drip)
- Delicious Alaskan tap water (really, it comes out of the faucet at 6.5pH and tastes great!)
- Phlizon 900W LED, at least 24" above plants
- Active Aqua 15L 4 port air pump - 2x stones per bucket
- Growth Science Nutrients Base + Solid Start
- pH tested daily with color drop kit
- EC/ppm on order
- AC Infinity fan controller w/ humidity and temp + charcoal filter
- One tent flap is about 1/2 open for air intake
- Water level approx 1" below bottom of pots.
- Roots slightly tan. No odor, no slime. I assume just nutrient staining.
- There is an ultrasonic humidifier running full time, as well as a small fan to keep air circulating. The fan is NOT blowing directly on the plants.
- I never spray the plants with anything.
- Target temp = 75F
- Target RH = 75%
Thanks for the feedback! Since I don't have an EC/PPM meter, I am off to a bad start.Once I get the meter I'll be checking this regularly for sure. I was considering thinning out the nutrient mix, but am trying to keep myself from changing things haphazardly. I don't see anything that looks like nutrient burn...would I be rushing to start thinning the mix anyway?
pH has been mostly stable, I've only had to tweak it twice and the 2nd time it was a minor tweak. I'm keeping a close eye on the roots each day when I check the pH. Does stable pH indicate anything good or bad?
New pictures from when I had the pot lids off to thin the nutrient mix. I should have used an extra light, the bleeding blurple seems to be throwing the color off.
Bubbagum seems to be doing OK...
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I'm a little concerned about how short and wide it is growing... seems like it should be taller by now?
BB Kush is still plodding along, not dead yet!
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She's short and squat too.
Nutrients should be around 50% manufacturer suggested potency now. I'll check the pH again in a few hours to make sure it doesn't run away.
> Are you planning on using a scrog net?
I've had so many hiccups, I didn't get that far. To be honest, I'm a bit confused about the net process, because in all the pictures is LOOKS like the screen is incidental. Is the screen load-bearing to help support the limbs/branches?
Just a bit? lolExactly! If things go according to plan your tops will be so heavy they will need additional support.I am finding that the trick seems to be to get it set to the right height for the particular plant being grown. I am on my second grow using a net. It helped, but it was still too low.
As you can see i mis-judged the correct height by just a bit...
Those girls look tall enough to be in the WNBA!
I read that Indica strains are generally much shorter? Mine are both Indica dominant. Either way, I'm also having a hard time figuring out which screen to order for my 2x4 tent. They all seem to be square, so I'm leaning towards 2 screens of 2x2 size.
Early on in my growing research I read somewhere about how it's called "weed" because it's so easy to grow anywhere. I'm starting to think that was sarcasm that flew over my head.
Those girls look tall enough to be in the WNBA!
I read that Indica strains are generally much shorter? Mine are both Indica dominant. Either way, I'm also having a hard time figuring out which screen to order for my 2x4 tent. They all seem to be square, so I'm leaning towards 2 screens of 2x2 size.
Early on in my growing research I read somewhere about how it's called "weed" because it's so easy to grow anywhere. I'm starting to think that was sarcasm that flew over my head.
(stealth edit) I thought you could reduce vertical stretching by keeping the light lower to the plants. Didn't seem to stop them in your case!
They are in a small tent, water temp same as air temp.What is your rez temp?
Frozen water bottles. It's a hassle but effective.Gotta thank user ru_knuts for asking about water temp. I realize now I was making an assumption that the tent and water temperature would coincide. I can't buy a chiller right now, so I'll do some research into what I can do to drop the water under 75F. I'm reading that 70F would be better.
I think I'll try it.Frozen water bottles. It's a hassle but effective.
pH was up this afternoon. I cut the nutrient strength in half again and fixed the pH; should now be about 25% of vendor recommendation.
As requested - root pictures.
BlackBerry Kush:
View attachment 950227 View attachment 950226
Bubbagum:
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As previously stated, the roots don't smell odd to me, and they don't feel slimy at all, so I'm hoping there's no issue with the discoloration.
We're 4 weeks out from seed germination today. I feel like they should be doing better, but I gotta give them credit for surviving my abuse at all.
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