New Grower Auto#1 DWC, Blackstar 180W LED & 150W HPS

[chuck3101]

First attempt with autoflowers. Using a 2x2x5 DR60 tent, waterfarm with air stone, BlackStar 180W LED and 150W HPS. I have also threw in there my T5 as this little girl is getting quite bushy and lower buds are lacking light (2000 - 3000 lumens max).

The strain is auto auto#1, dwarf hybrid from LowRyder. Pics attached are at day 30, she's 17 inches and growing a couple inches every day. Overall very healthy except for some recent heat stress on the top fan leaves.

Since this is my first time growing an auto, I had planned using this girl as a trainer. But now that things are going so well, I don't want to mess up too much and stunt her while she's blooming. I have done some LST as she is really compact and leafy.

Would you recommend defoliating to increase light penetration, aeration and reducing risk of mold on lower buds? Or is this going to stunt her? Any other strategy to increase light penetration on the lower buds?

 

[illbethere]

I feel like I have to give you some rep for this!

very nice first grow! I do spot some heat stress at the top what are your temps?

 

[chuck3101]

Thanks illbethere. Room temps stay between 68 to 76 degrees. I lowered my hps a little too close to the top leaves which is why you see heat stress. Thankfully I was able to spot that within a couple hours and increase the distance. She fully recovered within 48 hours. So glad I picked that strain as I was told it is very resistant to stress. I had a real bad case of pythium in the first 2 weeks and was able to bring her back to life. She's probably only a few days behind schedule.

Her Xmas tree shape makes it hard to get lights close enough so lower buds can thrive while not creating too much heat stress to the top cola. That's why I've hooked the lights in a V shape. I was thinking adding 3 more T5 panels with 2700k bulbs and build a square frame that would provide more light to the inner/lower buds. Just not sure if this is really worth it. We're talking $120-130 plus an extra timer. That's why I was wondering if defoliating her a little would do the job.

 

[illbethere]

I would say that it's worth it but.. for 1 plant no probably will be more waste of energy then anything. If you're still growing (wouldn't expect otherwise) after this one and you're growing like 2-3 that extra light might be useful and less of an energy waste.

Personally I wouldn't defoliate with autoflowers. I would LST but idunno how strong her stem is already and you wouldn't want to snap her!
As far as I can see you didn't really LST her but just bend her. LST is more then just pulling down a little it's more of a sience of tricking her into shifting the highest point so she redirects the hormones to another part to grow faster. I dunno if you know that you seem very prepped so might be explaining something you already know.

 

[chuck3101]

I've actually tried to spread her up a little so side branches and inner buds could get more light (these are the cords you see around the base of the waterfarm). It's still not enough: I see some many inner buds without proper lighting (1000-2000 lumens). I wasn't planning LSTing the top: her life span is quite short (60-70 days max) and I was told this could stunt her growth. I finally bought the 3 x T5 with 6400 and 2700k bulbs. When you fall in love, money is no object haha.

I plan on putting those around the base and alternate blue & red bulbs (6400-2700-6400-2700) if that makes any sense. I read blue spectrum is good with HPS. Hopefully I get those within a couple days. Will post a pic as soon as I get those hooked!

 

[illbethere]

Seems like you know what you're doing! I can't see how LST'ing would stunt her tho. High stress training is what stunts plants like topping and fimming and all that stuff.

Do you know how big this strain gets? And if that 60-70 days is what the seed bank or seedshop told you add 2 weeks to what they said.

Now maybe an important question is you said first attempt with autos but do you have experience with photos or is this your very first grow in general?

 

[chuck3101]

According to the seed bank, this dwarf strain can reach 30 inches in the right conditions. I thought it was a wise move to pick a smaller plant while learning the right techniques and getting the right tools. I wonder how tall she'll get: 18 inches at day 31... She showed sex around day 21-22 and has being growing crazy since then. Aquashield, Voodoo Juice and Piranha made a huge difference in keeping her happy: I struggle with my reservoir temps, without those products I get root rot.

As far as schedule, I don't expect her to be done in 60 days. You are probably right when you say to add 2 weeks. I am not in a hurry anyway, I enjoy seeing her grow and taking care of her. Just what I needed during those long cold winter days in Canada

To answer your question on my growing experience, I have grown outdoors several years ago without much success. I barely knew what I was doing and didn't really care to be honest. Things have changed: I want to grow 1-2 plants max and get the best product possible. If you have any tips to maximize bud sites and growth, do not hesitate and share!

Here's one question for you: I keep my ppm around 450-500 (feeding her with GH Bloom, GH micro, Voodoo Juice, Piranha, Big Bud, Cal/Mag and small doses of molasse). Should I increase ppm during the blooming phase? She doesn't seem to have any nute deficiency but 400-500ppm seems to be on the low side vs other posts I have read. Any nutrient I should add/remove?

Thanks!

 

[illbethere]

I would slowly start to go up. I don't know much about ppm tho :/ I do think you have to increase ppm during flowering from what I've read.
Also depends on each strain probably so you might want to try and see how much she can take without stressing her too much.

tips:
- don't, I REPEAT DONT start feeding flowering nutes until flowering (when vertical growth stops)
- I don't know what your light shedule is but you could give them a 24 hour cycle once or twice a week.
- try uploading pictures in natural light every once in a while, with the lights it's hard to diagnose anything.


I don't know much tips to give ya since you're doing almost everything right :')

 

[chuck3101]

Just took her out of her room for a photo session. I still see heat stress on top fan leaves although I have raised both LED and HPS lights. Room temps are 74-76 so this should resolve pretty quickly. I see some yellow spots on lower leaves, wondering if this could be a magnesium or a nitrogen deficiency. Any idea?

As for the bud sites, as you can see I will probably end up with an average size main cola (it's a dwarf strain after all... She's 18 inches and I highly doubt she'll reach 24 inches) and several lower buds. This is why I think building a frame with 4 T5s and focusing on those buds could make a difference between airy tiny buds vs dense nugs. Stay tuned, we'll know in 30-40 days

Things with hydroponics happen so fast: last night I went to check her up and all the young and top leaves were drooping. This morning she seems fine. Is evening/night drooping normal? It happens quite often right before lights go off. Since I've been dealing with pythium on week 2, I get quite nervous everytime I see drooping..!

As far as light schedule, I do 21hrs on 3 hrs off. Seed bank recommends 20/4 or 22/2. As you can see, I couldn't decide so I went with an average haha.
Too late for the flowering nutes, I started feeding her with GH Bloom on the first week of transition (I'm doing Grow-Micro-Bloom at equal parts). Could this stop her vertical growth?

 

[illbethere]

Just took her out of her room for a photo session. I still see heat stress on top fan leaves although I have raised both LED and HPS lights. Room temps are 74-76 so this should resolve pretty quickly. I see some yellow spots on lower leaves, wondering if this could be a magnesium or a nitrogen deficiency. Any idea?

looking at your new growth I can tell that she's got a lot less N then she used to. (or that the amounts of N need to be raised some)
Could be N deficiency, Maybe add a bit of cal-mag and some N see how she responds!

As for the bud sites, as you can see I will probably end up with an average size main cola (it's a dwarf strain after all... She's 18 inches and I highly doubt she'll reach 24 inches) and several lower buds. This is why I think building a frame with 4 T5s and focusing on those buds could make a difference between airy tiny buds vs dense nugs. Stay tuned, we'll know in 30-40 days

Things with hydroponics happen so fast: last night I went to check her up and all the young and top leaves were drooping. This morning she seems fine. Is evening/night drooping normal? It happens quite often right before lights go off. Since I've been dealing with pythium on week 2, I get quite nervous everytime I see drooping..!

YES during the night leaves will start hanging since she's focusing the energy she stored from during the day into feeding and growing. so she'll let her leaves hang since there's no light to direct them at and it saves her energy she can use somewhere else.

As far as light schedule, I do 21hrs on 3 hrs off. Seed bank recommends 20/4 or 22/2. As you can see, I couldn't decide so I went with an average haha.
Too late for the flowering nutes, I started feeding her with GH Bloom on the first week of transition (I'm doing Grow-Micro-Bloom at equal parts). Could this stop her vertical growth?

It could yes I've seen quite a few people around here make that mistake (mostly new growers) you should start blooming nutes when vertical growth stops. this is also probably why your new growth looks so yellowish she's not getting enough N which is needed for growth, blooming nutes have lower amounts of N because N in too high amounts is bad for yields and focusses more on P which is good for yields.

As far as I can tell you don't have to worry too much just try to remember next time. She's fairly big I've seen people switch nutes and induce flowering which ended them up with plants as big as a banana so no worries you're already way past that!