New Grower 4th Grow - Mephisto - Sour Stomper, Wizard's Apprentice, 3BOG

[touchingpenguins]

Hi everyone. I am posting my first grow journal on AFN. This is my 4th grow. The first three went pretty poorly, leaving me with a total of about 1 smokeable ounce (I live in Oregon, where I have smoked top shelf weed my entire smoking career, so my standards are stupidly high for my inability to grow).

I am growing in a 2x4x5 tent, inside my garage. There is a 240W Meijiu (spelling) QB hanging from the rafters, and an 8 inch carbon filter and fan to deal with smell. I don't have any way to get the air out of my garage, so i am pulling and pushing air from the same confined space. The garage isn't insulated, and I usually keep the door cracked during the day to hopefully improve air flow.

Here are the specs :

1. 3 Gallon fabric pots
2. ~15% perlite, ~60% Fox Farms Happy Frog, ~25% Fox Farms Ocean Forest (these are all approximate as I measured by eye... hopefully this isn't an issue)
3. There is a small layer of perlite at the bottom of each pot (for drainage? never done this before, but I was feeling risky when preparing my pots)
4. 240W QB
5. Am I missing anything?

The strains I will be growing this round are :

• Sour Stomper - Mephisto
• Wizard's Apprentice F4 - Night Owl
• 3 Bears OG - Mephisto

The seeds are currently in paper towels. Despite my poor results in previous grows, I have had a 100% germination rate so far!
The pots are currently filled with the soil mixture and are resting under the light (on low) in the tent. I intend to plant the seeds when I see a little bit of root action, in the next 48 hours.

I am really hoping by providing a lot of detail in this journal, you will all be able to help me with my first truly successful grow. I don't know what will happen next, but expect pictures in the next few days.

If anyone has any questions, ask away! Should be a fun time with some awesome genetics that I'm really excited to see through.

 

[rusty shanty☆]

This is a great place. Lots of folks here to help.
Those strains are all autos eh?

What happened the last few grows? Sickly plants or stunted?

 

[touchingpenguins]

This is a great place. Lots of folks here to help.
Those strains are all autos eh?

What happened the last few grows? Sickly plants or stunted?

Sickly plants, I believe. I am not really sure what happened. Good genetics, stupid grower, probably. I think most recently my problems were nutrient related. This last grow was close; I got some decent product but nothing too dense or complete. By day 70 or so all my fan leaves have been dried and gone, at which point the buds stop bulking and flavor seems to become compromised. I figure if I could get another couple weeks out of them with some healthy leaves I would be where I want to be.

 

[rusty shanty☆]

How do you count your days?
When breeders tell you "x" days I think they are referencing after ur girls finish sprouting stage.

Were you using same mix soil wise on previous grows? Your combo should give them what they need through veg I think. What nutes you use and when? Autos are usually given 1/4 strength and eased into higher amounts

 

[rusty shanty☆]

Calmag might help during flower
Also do u know the spectrum of your light?

 

[Garage_Grower]

Let’s see some garage growing! :smoking:

 

[touchingpenguins]

How do you count your days?
When breeders tell you "x" days I think they are referencing after ur girls finish sprouting stage.

Were you using same mix soil wise on previous grows? Your combo should give them what they need through veg I think. What nutes you use and when? Autos are usually given 1/4 strength and eased into higher amounts

I count my days from when the seedlings first pop out of the ground.
On my first grew I used straight Ocean Forest. I think it was a little nutrient heavy. On my second two grows I used straight Happy Frog, and I think I started feeding a little late? My plants never get very big though, so its hard for me to imagine that they were that hungry.
I have just been feeding with a little calmag and Sensi Bloom A+B, and in this most recent grow I added some Botanicare Hydroplex Bloom Enhancer in the last few weeks.

I haven't been too precise with the amount of water I use, so I am not sure if i have been using these nutrients at the correct strength, or if these nutrients are even sufficient to give my plants what they need. I usually just fill up a 5 gallon bucket half way and then start with an ML or two of each nutrient, kinda whenever I feel like they might need it. They have always seemed to do OK-ish for the first 4 weeks or so, but I have noticed that my growth isn't as perfectly lush dark green as I would like it to be.

 

[touchingpenguins]

Calmag might help during flower
Also do u know the spectrum of your light?

I don't know the spectrum of my light. I wanna say 3300, but im not sure if thats the right number and i'm not even sure if that is correct. It has some red in it but its mostly white LEDs. The lady on Alibaba (whose photo is hanging in my tent lol) recommended this particular version of the light. Not that she is credible...

 

[touchingpenguins]

10/30 Update :

All three seeds showed little tap roots so I proceeded with planting them. Pressed a sharpy a quarter inch into the soil and dropped the seeds in, root facing down. Then I dusted some soil over them and drizzled a little water over the seed area.

I have a question about watering from here on out. I saw a video where the grower watered in a ring on the outside of the pot instead of watering directly over where the seed would be. I believe he started watering this way after the seedlings popped. Does anyone else use this method? I think horizontal root growth has been an issue for me in the past; I believe my roots primarily grow downwards and never get an opportunity to grow outwards.

Thanks!

 

[touchingpenguins]

2 of the 3 seeds have popped in the last couple days. Wizard's Apprentice still hasn't... its not lookin good for the wizzy app; i may need to drop a different bean. Thoughts?

Anyway, here are the other two: