New Grower First Grow - 4 different plants

[scrogster]

Hello all. I've been lurking here for a bit taking in info and planning my first grow. Well actually I started my first grow exactly 6 weeks ago and have already learned a lot of what-not-to-do, and some what-to-do.

First off I started with the what not to dos I started with too many plants in too big of pots for my tent size. I have a 32" x 32" x 72" tent and I have 4 plants in 5 gallon deep pots. It's a bit much and my tent is filling fast. I actually started with 6 pots but very quickly learned that it wasn't going to work so gave 2 plants to my business partner to grow. I don't think the 2 Mars Hydros cover the area for 4 plants during flower. In my newbie experience it seems 2 of the Mars Hydro 300s would be good for 2 plants and that's it. I supplemented the lighting by adding 4 60W 2700 CFLs.

I've heard mixed reviews of the Mars Hydro 300s but if you have only 2 plants in 5 gal, or maybe 4 in 2 gal I think they're good. My plants stayed very short with close nodes until week 4. There was absolutely no stretch and they were happy and healthy. I was actually worried they were too short and the nodes were too close until I read it was a good thing.

I think that originally I thought the autos were going to be small Christmas trees 14" high. Haha... nope. Not once I started to LST them. After browsing AFN I saw some serious plants and found you can get good yield from autos.

Once my plants were about 3 weeks old I started LST'ing them and I'm glad I started when I did. Right now there are numerous bud sites and I'll have numerous colas... I'm hoping. The canopy is pretty flat and have bud sites everywhere. This shit is addicting.

My grow setup.

• 32 x 32 x 72 tent
• 2 Mars Hydro 300s - Around 140 true watts each I've read.
• 4 - 60W 2700 CFLs (150w equivelants) for the back area where coverage isn't great during flower.
• 6" Carbon filter & fan w/ controller to dial it down

The plants

• 00 Seeds Bubblegum - Outstanding plant. Started flowering at 4 weeks and has been a vigorous grower.
• 00 Seeds Chocolate Skunk - It's looking good.
• 00 Seeds Cheeseberry - Slow starting but very healthy and kicked in at week 5.
• Pyramid Seeds White Widdow - It's kicked into overdrive at week 6

Soil & Nutes

• For my soil I'm using Fox Farms Ocean with 1/3 perlite. I've heard some say that it's hot but I haven't had any real issues with it. I did notice a bit of burn 3 weeks in but I just gave it 2 heavy waterings with pH'd water and it went away.
• Fox Farms Grow Big, Big Bloom and Tiger Bloom. Half dose on feedings. Started at 3 weeks.
• General Hydroponics CaliMagic (CalMag)
• Microbe Life Plus-C
• 2 waterings using Super Thrive at week 4 & 5

Environment

• The temp in veg was 82 to 85 degrees F at 65 RH. In flower I'm keeping the temps at 75 to 79 degrees F and trying to keep the humidity around 50 RH.
• The tent is in a large closet so I can open and close the door at varying amounts keep the temp dialed in.

Next grow will just be 2 plants in the tent so it's not so crowed, room to work and as a new grower it will make it easier to stay on top of their individual needs. 4 different plants is cool for variety but I'm finding that they each have their own little needs. The Bubblegum gulps down the water where the cheeseberry doesn't need that much yet. I have to totally rely on picking up the pot to see how heavy it is to know when to water and that took a few weeks to figure out.

My tent setup
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My 4 plants with a pretty flat canopy. I was amazed how well they trained with LST.
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Lots of buds starting
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I just dig this pic I took last week
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Thank you all for your great info to help me start my grow!!!

I'll upload updates in a few days when there's some change.

Peace all!

Looks great

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[kraigseder]

Day 42 today. The 00 Seeds bubblegum is starting to frost as the other 3 plants (Chocolate Skunk, Cheeseberry, White Widow) pass her in height. The chocolate skunk looks like it's going to have numerous tall coloas. My 32 x 32 tent is now about completely filled wall to wall but training them has kept the canopy pretty flat.

I'm guessing I'm 7 to 10 days away from starting the flush on the bubblegum. I've never flushed before but am I right that I start once the majority of the pistils start turning orange and the trichomes are starting to turn amber? Is a 7 day flush good? Any tips would be helpful on judging when to start the flush.

Lots of buds on the bubblegum.

Back left - White Widow
Back right - Cheeseberry
Front Left - Chocolate skunk
Front right - Bubblegum

 

[billythekid]

Looking really good...32x32 sounds like a perfect size tent for me. Where did you get it? Love the setup!

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[Yeatster]

I start giving plain water, for 7-10 days, when buds are done fattening up and most pistils are cloudy.

 

[kraigseder]

I start giving plain water, for 7-10 days, when buds are done fattening up and most pistils are cloudy.

Thank you Yeatster!

 

[kraigseder]

Looking really good...32x32 sounds like a perfect size tent for me. Where did you get it? Love the setup!

Thank you. I'm really happy with the setup. I was going for a low-cost hobby setup to grow my own and have some to share with friends. The tent is a 32" X 32" X 63" by Best Choice Products for $69.94 on Amazon. It's actually a pretty good tent for the price with all metal tubing and a lot of venting options.

I got the 2 Mars Hydro 300s for $130 and free shipping on eBay. The 6" carbon filter and fan I got on Amazon in the $130 range. It was a combo pack of carbon filter, fan and ducting. I got a speed controller for the fan so I could dial it down.

I did supplement the lighting in back of the tent with 4 60 watt (150 equivelent) CFLs. I wasn't confident the 2 Mars Hydros LEDs would have adequate coverage and the additional lights can't hurt.

I think that 4 plants in 5 gallon pots is a bit much for this tent but we'll see when I'm done. Right now it's looking like a sea of green in there because it's so tight but I keep tucking leaves. Next grow I'm only doing 2 plants in the tent with 5 gallon pots.

 

[billythekid]

Thanks for the info! Can't wait to see results please tag me in your next 2 , 5 gal pot grow! Check out my signature for my 2 girls in 5 gal!

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[Dudeski]

Great job bud! Just be patient at the end as properly ripe bud is what you are after.

 

[kraigseder]

Great job bud! Just be patient at the end as properly ripe bud is what you are after.

Thank you very much Dudeski! On my first grow patience is difficult but more than anything I want fully matured tasty buds.

 

[Dudeski]

I cut my first too early, beautiful buds that would barely give u more than a headache!