New Grower First grow - 2x4 tent, QBs, Megacrop, HST and LST, seeds from 00, Seedsman, Phoenix, GPS

[JS550Fan]

I assembled all my equipment a month ago, and I've been so excited to start, well, I may have germinated too many seeds. And I keep buying more. I'm addicted already.

Here's my setup:

• 2'x4' Apollo Grow Tent
• (Started with) Mars Hydro 300w LED
• (Upgraded to) 2x QB288V1 on a 240H C2100 Meanwell driver - custom
• 6" AC Infinity Cloudline exhaust fan

Tools:

• AcuRite 00613 Indoor Thermometer & Hygrometer with Humidity Gauge
• pH Meter
• TDS/EC Meter
• Chickamasa Garden Scissors
• AC Infinity 6" Flexible Ducting
• 6" Exterior Extraction Wall Vent
• Aldes 6" Spring loaded Backdraft Damper (for ventilation)
• Comlife Small Oscillating Desk Fan
• 24/7 Gardener 3G Fabric Pots
• Ming Wei 5G Fabric Pots
• Rapid Rooters
• Blue Planet Nutrients CalMag with Iron Liquid Supplement Quart (32 oz)
• General Hydroponics PH Control Kit
• Jarlink 30x 60x Loupe Magnifier
• Boveda 58% Humidity Packs - 8oz

That's Thomas, he's my helper. He loves laying in the sun, so he's also attracted to my QBs!


Here's what I'm running currently for photoperiods:

• Orange Blossom Special from Greenpoint Seeds
• Sky Dweller from Greenpoint Seeds

And the Autos I'm running - one of each:

• White Widow Express from Phoenix
• Bubblegum Auto from 00 Seeds
• UK Cheese Auto from Seedsman (it turns out that they sent me Cheese feminized photo period beans - but I didn't know until 1 month in!)
• Northern Lights Auto from 00 Seeds

IMG_20190505_213912

• JS550Fan
• May 6, 2019

The crew

I removed a male today (Orange Blossom Special 3) That plant had just been topped for 4 heads Mainlined when i noticed balls all around.
Another plant, Sky Dweller 3, has one lobster claw, so I took that out as well. It's going to be getting very crowded in the tent soon.

IMG_20190505_213813

• JS550Fan
• May 6, 2019

Orange Blossom - just Mainlined for 2

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• JS550Fan
• May 6, 2019

Sky Dweller 2, just Mainlined for 4

So, otherwise I've been very busy. I've decided to Mainline all of the photoperiod plants. They will probably all be going outside at some point, while I flower the autoflowers. I may then bring one or more into the tent to flower them after their stint outside, provided they aren't too big by then. Another reason I've decided to HST them is to elongate their vegging time.

The Bubblegum and the White Widow showing pistils everywhere. The UK Cheese has nothing yet. The Northern Lights has just begun to flower . As you can see, I've decided to use some LST on these plants, and I'm happy with the effect so far!

IMG_20190505_213707

• JS550Fan
• May 6, 2019

Bubblegum auto reaching high

After being transplanted into its current 3g home, the Bubblegum (above) has really taken off quick, very tall, very sativa. The White Widow (below) is the opposite - extremely short and stout, very close node spacing.

IMG_20190505_214004

• JS550Fan
• May 6, 2019

White Widow - very indica, bushy

IMG_20190505_213738

• JS550Fan
• May 6, 2019

White Widow auto from below - short node spacing - shows LST

I'm having a great time working with these plants and I can't wait for the results!

I am seeing some brown spots on the lower fan leaves of one of the photoperiod plants that had just been Mainlined for 4, so I'm wondering if I have a deficiency of some kind.

I'm posting to share my journey, and to garner advice from the vast experience on this forum. I've learned so much from reading threads here, and would also like to try to contribute!

 

[Grimm]

Hello and welcome! Nice setup, the girls are looking good. Best of luck for ya mate, sure it will get crowded in there soon.:smoking:

 

[Need4Weed]

Welcome to AFN and good luck with your grow!

 

[JS550Fan]

Thanks for the welcome! I've been enjoying this community and I'm happy to be a part of it. I'm so excited and glad I decided to begin growing. I only wish I began years ago!

The bubblegum practically exploded over the last 24 hours There seems to be 2-3" of growth!

I'm wondering now if I should transplant this - and perhaps the other autos - into 5 containers. Would it be worthwhile?

I gave OBS 1 and SD 1 their second toppings to mainline them for 4. No idea if I will go for 8 on these, but it's interesting to compare them, being different strains subject to the same training, environment, and nutrients.

Speaking of nutrients, the photo period plants that I am giving a heavier dose of nutes have much darker leaves than the ones getting less. I think the heavier dose is creating nitrogen toxicity in those plants, and that the lighter green is probably more preferable.
Finally, here are the roots of a male I put outside and transplanted into a 5g fabric pot:

 

[JS550Fan]

While I've been taking notes and pictures, I haven't updated here in a while so here goes!


I've moved two more photo period plants out of the tent to make room (as expected). In addition to the autos, there is one Orange Blossom Special (OBS 4 - mainlined for 4):

That is doing quote well, now the second tallest behind the Bubblegum Auto.

And one Sky Dweller (SD 2 - mainlined for 8):

This SD has fine something interesting: one of the nodes chopped when mainlined for 8 has grown back, in addition to the two new branches - giving three branches on that node:


The UK Cheese Auto is getting bushy. I've done some trimming on this one. It has preflowers, but hasn't really started flowering yet.


The Northern Lights Auto has recovered from its seedling trials, but is stunted compared to the others. But it is flowering:


The White Widow is doing well, very bushy and short, with some good flowers starting:


And the Bubblegum Auto continues to impress:

Here is a closeup of a bud, really starting to fill out:


I've been feeding the OBS and SD plants MC @ 4g/G. The autos have all been getting MC @ 2 or 3g/G, with BE @ 1g/G. They all seem pretty happy, and I think I'm doing it pretty well so far!

 

[JS550Fan]

So, funny thing on that Seedsman "UK Cheese"... I got curious about why it's not flowering yet, after over 45 days. It's not unheard of for an auto, of course, but the issue here is that Seedsman actually sent me Feminized Cheese seeds instead of UK Cheese Auto.

Not a huge deal, but good to know. Now I decide how long to veg this plant. I think it's going to be a long time (landing it outdoors in all likelihood), because my plan is to fully flower all of the autos in the tent first.

Or maybe I should let the autos flower outside now and flower the photo plants in the tent in the next couple of weeks.

Tough decision! Made tougher by the fact it remains quite cold outside at night. We are in zone 5a, and it's been unseasonably cold. I don't want to shock these pants in the middle of flower.

 

[JS550Fan]

I do actually have abother cab I could use, with a Mars Hydro 300w light but I would have to tighten up the light leaks, and of course the higher electrical cost..

 

[JS550Fan]

I forgot to add earlier, the OBS4, the one mainlined for 4 of course, is definitely

a girl!

 

[OregonBlackBear]

I love a nice organized little tent.

Did you do th build on your light yourself?

 

[JS550Fan]

Thank you. Yes, I did build the QB setup myself. I am considering breaking the two panels up so that I can change their height individually. But otherwise, it has been excellent!