Lighting My First Grow...Amused to Death

[Papa Munch]

Howdy fellow AFN'rs. This is my second attempt at a journal of my very first grow. I had the first journal removed due to thoughts of spying Major League Baseball satellites and Leprechauns but I want to give it another go.

My grow: I have 5 lovely ladies <does anyone else hear the Brady Bunch theme song?> of different strains. #'s 1-2 are Bubblelicious, 3 is a Northern Light and 5-6 are Blue Mystics. 1-2 & 3 are on week 3-1/2 while 4&5 are at 2-1/2 weeks.

I am growing in 3 gal. Pots with Happy Frog and TOO much vermiculite. I will NOT be using the verm. again as it takes forever for the pots to dry out, about a week. Noob mistake #1. The had a rough first 2 weeks as temps were very high, averaging 90-92 with low humidity at around 22 RH. I believe that the heat and low humidity caused their stunted growth. Noob mistake #2. BUT....they are growing still and Papa wants them to grow up to be big strong Russian Weightlifters!

I am using nutes and a MarsHydro 96x3 Reflector and I have added 4-5 23W CFL's for supplemental lighting.

#1 is doing good. She has started showing her first pistils and starting to get taller.
#2 is doing okay. She almost drowned last night as noob me overwatered and they all were looking pretty low and droopy. Overnight, they have all perked up...thank god. She also got an attempted FIM 3 days ago. I don't know if I did it right but hey....Faded makes it look so easy, I had to try.
#3 is my mutant. As you see in her week one pic, she started with 3 leaves. She is only about 3-4 inches tall and bushier than hell down below. I can't even see her stem when I lift her skirt. I can't wait for her to get some vertical growth.
#'s 4-5 are doing better as they have had some cfl help early on while the others did not.

Here are pics. They are inserted as week one, week two, week three and then today, week 3-1/2. (4&5 pics are weeks 2, 3 and today)

Thanks for looking. I look forward to your advice, comments and question.

(seems I have a rogue attached file I can't get rid off. It's #4 after she was born)

#1.


#2.


#3.


#4.


#5.

 

[faded187]

im subbed and following along bro. yeah if you can brother try and get your humidity up. it plays a very big part right now at their ages. but they look great to me. don't look like they been stunted to me either. I say keep doin what you doin. its workin.

 

[faded187]

oh yeah couple more things bro. do you have liquid ph meter, soil ph probe. ec meter? did you check the starting ph of your soil? which fox farm nutes you got? just a few ? so we can see the best way to help you get a few jars full.peace.. if you can afford bro I recommend ordering or picking up a accurate 8 soil probe. they like 50 bucks but best tool in the cabinet.that way you always know exactly what your soil ph is. and you can adjust easier.

 

[Papa Munch]

Thanks Faded. My humidity lately has been about 30 low and 60 high. I put a bucket of water in the tent (2x4) and it seems to be helping. Did you see the attempted Fim?

 

[Papa Munch]

I've got the Accurate 8. Soil is at 6.5-6.8. I have an Ec/ppm tester and a Eco testr ph2. nutes include grow big, big bloom, tiger bloom, sledgehammer, cha Ching, beastie blooms and flowers kiss. I also have cal/mag from botanicare.

 

[Papa Munch]

im subbed and following along bro. yeah if you can brother try and get your humidity up. it plays a very big part right now at their ages. but they look great to me. don't look like they been stunted to me either. I say keep doin what you doin. its workin.

Dude! Compared to yours...their stunted! Lol

 

[faded187]

holy shit dude. you got the whole package. looks to me like 3 comin out top where you cut.no? it take couple more days for you to tell. a few more for anyone to tell by pics but either way you got the tools to make some monsters. thanks for the complement on my grows my friend.

 

[Papa Munch]

Yay! My weekend is here!

As some of you know, I have been having an issue with my pots not drying out. It can literally take a week and a half as I initially added too much vermiculite. I watered them Monday eve. A couple of hours later I went to check on the girls and the 3 biggest plants hated me! (I used less than a gal for all 5). They were all droopy and very sad. I honestly didn't think #2 would make it but she pulled through. So I have a few concerns.

At this time, I can't follow any kind of weekly or bi-weekly feeding schedule. As they nearly drowned Monday eve, they won't take any water till probably Sunday....if that. Last week, I made more holes in the pots as well as placing a small fan down near the drain holes to hopefully aid in drying them out. They're still heavy this evening and when I use my accurat8, it shows them as being wet....still. I have been trying to think of a solution and I am trying something tonight. I cut some straws, cut some holes in said straws and using a wooden BBQ skewer, I pushed the straws into the soil, pulling out the skewer. I did 2 per pot on my big girls and have one more girl I want to do tonight. In my mind, theoretically, this would provide air to the soil, helping them dry sooner. My only concern was not damaging any roots in this procedure. What are your thought and opinions on this? Think it will work?

Take a look:


I fear Root rot!!! On my bushiest girl, some of her lower leaves look wilted almost which I believe is a sign of potential root rot. I know she doesn't need water. I am hoping it's just because they weren't getting much light. I tucked under the big fan leaves to give them more light. Hope this helps. What can you recommend I used to get rid of, or to help so I don't get root rot? Anything in particular I should be looking for? I don't want to lose these girls as they're finally starting to grow. Also, I know that as they grow, they'll drink more which will help.

i also added a humidifier to the tent as my RH has been hovering around the low 30's.

Thanks for looking and as usual, any advice, questions or comments are much appreciated.

Papa.

 

[Anthropolis]

Is it possible you're using just way too much water per watering? I was drowning mine at first too haha, it takes a while to get a good routine figured out. My 3gals just drink a cup or two every few days, 2gals a bit less, but the 5gal is always thirstier. Ya might just have to experiment some more to dial it in. Plus, with time and more leaf area, they'll evaporate more. You're on the way though Next grow you could try fabric pots and see if that works for ya, but those take time to dial in too as they evaporate differently.

 

[Papa Munch]

Thanks Anthropolis. As far as too much water......probably. Of course, the noob and reading all I could, the general consensus I found was to water till runoff. Nope...not anymore. With my 2 smallest girls, I just water a bit, a cup or so and they're doing great. Again being new, I wanted to make sure ALL the roots got fed. Making sure all the soil was moist. I just need them to dry out and then it's going to be a more controlled feed/water. If they need more....they'll tell me.

I do plan on getting fabric pots for the next go. Also coarse perlite and no verm.