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First grow ever. It's going to be lengthy but all ideas/comments/suggestions/questions are welcome. Also I'm writing this about a week after planting. Hopefully this is going to help some rookies like me so that they don't make the same mistakes.
Placed seed in a shot glass on top of a warm surface (PS4) for 18h. Used 1/2 RO water and 1/2 filtered water @ ~ 180ec. After 18h the seed was transferred to a paper towel. I kept the towels in between two dining plates on top of PS4 and re-sprayed with RO water a few times to keep them moist. After 39h in between paper towels the tap root was ~ 2cm (0.8 inches) long and I decided to plant it directly into the final 5gal/19L pot.
About the medium - I've rinsed and double buffered a few cheap bricks of coco. First buffer was ~ 1500 EC of Canna Cal + Canna Mg for 6.5h. Second buffer was ~ 1250 EC for 9h. After the buffer I mixed it with Perlite. Total weight of dry coco was 1.2kg (2x600g). According to the coco label 1 brick is supposed to make 10L of substrate. Added 5L of agroperlite and flushed the medium to 330 EC but could not get the pH down so it was fluctuating between 6.8 and 6.9 (I might have messed up here since I was flushing with all sorts of fluctuating pH attempting to reduce it to 5.8-6.3. Also the flush was a combination of filtered water, RO water, Cal and Mag and pH down's. Sometimes I flushed with pH of 6.5, sometimes with 5.8, I might have even flushed with 4' something pH in attempt to reduce medium pH. I've pretty much been flushing for a day or two and been getting so frustrated since it wouldn't go down - first time grower here).
Also, realistically, 2 bricks of coco that's supposed to make 20L/5gallons of medium made less than that after rinsing the small particles out. Furthermore, 5L of perlite should've been 40% of total medium. So now it looks like the medium is closer to 50/50 coco/perlite. I wasn't feeling like going through the whole medium buffering process again with another brick of coco (that I needed to rinse, 2x buffer, and flush to correct starting ec) so I just ran with what I made in the first batch.
Placed the pot in a tent and turned everything on. About 9h later I placed the seed in the medium (which was still really wet from all the flushing just 9h ago) and put a clear water bottle on top as a dome. The tent was sitting at 21.3C, 50% RH. After planting the seed I sprayed 50-100ml of humic/fulvic acids (12% humic, 3% fulvic) + kelp extract (27% Ascophyllum nodosum if anyone's interested). The solution was 1ml/l of humic+fulvic acid supplement + 1ml/l of this algae, as it says on the label. First day the temps and RH were around 22C (71.6F) and 45% respectively.
Light - Running at 30% power, hanging at 86cm (34 inches). Left it running the 24/7 to warm up the tent and to help the medium evaporate some moisture.
24h after planting the seed - temps and RH were ~ 22C (71.6F) and 55%.
48h after planting the seed (count as day 1 I guess) - seedling popped out of the medium.
For those reading - this is my first grow ever and it is mostly for my personal use - it's gonna be lengthy. All comments are welcome though.
Day 1 - Gently removed helmet from the seedling but one of the cotyledons has some placenta stuck on it. I left it like that. Also, I sprayed some water around (should not have done that I'm pretty sure) but not much, maybe 50ml (a shot glass worth). 5h later I was wondering why it's not growing at all so I sprayed some more water (I think I pHed it to ~6.3 and it had ~200ec from the filter). I also re-adjusted the light to 76cm. Plant is ~ 1.5cm tall (0.6 inches). Well...8.5h later - as a new grower and being impatient af, I was wondering again why this plant isn't growing so... I sprayed it with some water again (my initial thought was that I'm going to grow in coco and not soil since I've read that you can't overwater a good coco/perl mix. So assuming 60/40 or 50/50 coco/perl has good aeration and won't hold that much water I can just water freely - hopefully this helps some rookies looking through this as well). About an hour later I decided to check the water I have been spraying, if the ec/ph changed at all (I just assumed it could change but not by much). To my surprise, the water came out at 230ec and 6.8pH! So this got me stressin' and I mixed a new batch of water at 5.7pH 230ec. Lesson learned - use fresh stuff since the water ph can shift drastically rather quickly.
Day 2 - tent temp and RH in the morning - 21.8 (71F) & 62%. Plant height is ~ 2cm (0.8 inches). Mid day I re-adjusted the water to 5.85 pH and sprayed a bit around the plant. By evening time temp was @ 23.5 (74F), RH 68%. This is the first day I'll turn the lights off for 6h and will have it running 18/6 from now on.
Day 3 - morning time temp 22.5 (72.5F), RH 67%. Water pH increased to 6.3 over night and so I lowered it to 5.65 and wet the medium. Seedling is ~ 2.5cm tall (1 inch). I was wondering why it's growing so slow and 2.5h later I re-sprayed around the plant with GHE's Tri-Part @ 5.96pH and 346ec. Leaves are ~ 1cm wide. (0.4 inches). At this point I was begging to think that I'm overwatering since it looks stunted. Temps and RH stayed around 23C and 64% this day.
Day 4 - Seedling is close to 3cm tall (1.2 inches). Tent temp and RH @ 23.5C (74F) and 50%. Top of the medium looks a bit dry and light color, will feed with GHE Trio @ 354ec, 5.74pH. Used around 300ml water around the plant. The medium is still moist below after sticking my finger in it. Seedling has not grown from previous day. Increased light distance by 3-5 cm (1-2 inches). By the evening temps and RH were 23.5C (74F) and 63%.
Day 5 - morning temp 25.7C (78F) RH 38% (accidentally left the heater on through the night). Fed cal + mag at 3:2 ratio (Canna mono Ca & Canna mono Mg) (12% Ca % 7% Mg separately in bottles). Solution ended up being 430ec and 5.7pH. Increased light intensity to 40% at 76cm (30 inches) from the plant. The leaves don't seem so droopy anymore, they're pretty straight at this point. At this point I was thinking that I'm still overwatering since the medium just below the surface is still rather damp. Temps and RH were around 23.4C (74F) and 64% for the day.
Day 6 - morning temp 23.8C (75F) and 55% RH. The plant is stuck at 3cm in height (1.2 inches) but the leaves grown to 2cm wide. I'm not going to give it any water today even though the top of the medium looks dry. Will give it water tomorrow morning and see what happens. Increased light duration to 20/4 to keep the temperature from fluctuating between when the lights are on and off.
Day 7 - temp 23.2C (74F), RH = 54. Nothing has changed. Gave it 50ml of distilled water @ 6.1 pH.
Day 8 - Temp 23.5C (74F), RH 56%. I can see it growing but slowly. Gave the plant some de-chlorinated filtered water @ 300ec, 5.9pH and 21.8C (71F)
Day 9 - Temp 23.5C (74F), RH 58%. The leaves are not as green anymore so I'll feed it some nutes, maybe it wants some nitrogen. Fertigated the plant with 75ml of 475ec solution at 6.1pH. Solution consisted of 0.2ml Ca, 0.25 Micro, 0.25 Gro, 0.1 Bloom, 1ml humic, 1ml kelp per 1L of water (1/4 gallon). Plant seemed to like it and the leaves shot up.
Day 10 - temp 23C (73.4F), RH 51%. New growth is visible. Gave the plant 75ml of Tri-Part solution (same as day 9 minus the kelp & humic) at 465ec, 6pH.
Day 11 - Temp 24.1C (75.4F), RH 44%. RH lower since humidifier died overnight. Installed a new one mid-day. Growth is visible daily. Fertilized with 75ml @ 435ec, 6.14pH (same water from yesterday just re-ph'ed since pH increases overnight). Few hours after installing new humidifier - temp 22.3C (72F), RH 63%. Later in the day I lowered the light to ~65cm (25.6 inches) at 70% power - should be ~ 260ppfd. Light until now was hanging 76cm (30 inches) away from the plant and running at 40% power (Maybe ~ 100 PPFD).
I feel like it's growing a little too slow and the height is still pretty stagnant. We'll see how it reacts to the new light distance and increased PPFD.
Day 12 - 23.8C (75F) 39% RH in the am but went up to 65% in about an hour after a few adjustments. Fed the same solution from 2 days ago @480ec, 5.95pH.
Day 13 - 25.4C (77.7F) 47% RH. RH went up to 70% after about an hour after adjusting again.
Day 14 - 22.7C (73F) 74% RH. Sprayed around the plant 516ec @ 5.84pH in the morning. Medium looked dy by the evening so I fed it 570ml of 500ec, 6.2pH solution.
Day 15 - 22.1*C (72F) 73% RH. Fed the plant (mostly closest to the edge of the pot) 1L of 593ec, 5.77pH solution (0.4Ca, 0.1Mg, 0.2Micro, 0.2Gro, 0.2 Bloom). The hygrometer fell and completely smashed the plant while I was fertigating... Got about 1% runoff which came out at 645ec. The issue with seedlings in 5gal pots is the salt buildup since I don't think you can water til runoff. Should be fine though.
Day 16 - Seems that the plant is OK and growing. Temp 22.5*C (72.5F) 72% RH.
Day 17 - 24*C (75F) 54% RH. Fed the plant 1L of 650ec, 6pH solution.
Day 18 - 23.5*C (74F) 72% RH. Medium still wet so I'm not going to fertigate.
Day 19 - 24.8*C (76.6F) 66% RH. Fed 1.5L of 728ec, 5.7pH solution (0.6Ca, 0.2Mg, 0.6Micro, 0.6Gro, 0.4 Bloom). Got ~ 25% runoff which came out at 682ec. Increased light intensity to 80%.
Day 20 - 22.7*C (73F) 72% RH. Plant is growing nicely now.
Day 21 - 23.2*C (73.5F) 82% RH. Fed 776ec, 5.74pH solution (0.6Ca, 0.2Mg, 0.8 Micro, 0.8 Gro, 0.3 Bloom). Got approx. 25% runoff that's 886ec. Increased light intensity to 100%.
Day 22 - Temp 23.9*C (76.6F) 58% RH. Fed 1L @ 842ec, 5.72pH (0.4Ca, 0.1Mg, 0.6 Micro, 0.6 Gro, 0.3 Bloom). Got ~ 40% runoff (since I fed 1.5L yesterday). which is too much so I'll re-adjust moving forward. At this point I want to feed til 15-20% runoff to avoid salt buildup. Run-off EC 840 but the last few ml's came out at 800. A few hours before the lights went out I lowered the light to 46cm (18 inches) @ 80% power (should be ~ 418 ppfd).
Day 23 - 25*C (77F) and 65% RH. I don't like the leaf deformity on one side of the 3rd set of leaves so initially I thought it might be a Calcium deficiency but now I'm guessing it's genetic? If anyone has any idea - let me know.
Day 24 - 24.8*C (76.6F) and 62% RH. Fed the plant 1.55L of 900ec, 6.1pH solution. Got ~ 17% runoff @ 864ec which is a great sign that the plant likes the nutrient dosages since it's only slightly higher than the previous feeding EC. So far so good. I still think the plant is a little behind on size at this age which I think is a result of me stunting it early on. Plant is also ~ 7.5cm tall (~3 inches). Also, I increased the light intensity to 85% (~ 445 ppfd).
Day 25 - 25.6*C (78F) and 59% RH. Fed the plant 1L of 940ec @ 5.81 pH. Got 20% runoff which came out at 913ec which is perfect. The plant looks a little pale though, I feel like it's not bright green like it's supposed to be.
Day 26 - 28.1*C (82.5F) 55% RH. Had to move my tent for a day so environment got messed up. Plant looked fine though. Couldn't feed in the morning so I did it later. Fed 1L @ 1034ec 5.92pH (0.4Ca, 0.4Mg, 0.6 Micro, 0.6 Gro, 0.2 Bloom). Got 10% runoff @1660ec (I wasn't watering as much closer to the stem prior to today so the ec is higher because of that plus the temperature dried the medium too quick and salts started to build up). Runoff pH won't budge at all - Still @ 6.8 so I won't bother checking it anymore.
Day 27 - 24.1*C (75.4F) 65% RH. Increased light intensity to 90% (~470 ppfd). Fed 1L @1037ec, 5.73pH (0.4Ca, 0.4Mg, 0.7Micro, 0.7Gro, 0.3Bloom). Got ~30% runoff @ 1261ec. Last bit of runoff EC came out @ 1110. Did some LST but the stem is so thick it's hard to bend it.
Day 28 - Plant seems to be doing fine. Although I'm having difficulties with LST due to the stem being too thick and sturdy. It won't bend nicely. The plant is also short with big fan leaves which makes it hard for the light to penetrate to lower canopy. I'm hoping it will be easier to train her when the plant gets taller. Since it's my first grow I don't want to defoliate since I could stunt her even more. No feed/water today since the pot is still heavy (maybe 4/5).
Guys, if anyone knows, my coco runoff pH is coming out at a constant 6.8, should I pay attention to it? I feel like it should be lower and that's why the color is not as vibrant as it should be. Also, one of the leaves has a deformity, maybe it's genetic maybe it's my doing?
What PH are you going in at??
Coir with liquid nutes should be PH'd to 5.5-6.2
Coir with dry amendments should be PH'd to 6.4-6.8
Coir that has not been buffered will rob your nutes of its Calcium and Magnesium. Use a good feeding of CaMg if you got it and it was not buffered. Some brands come prebuffered.
The twisted leave looks fine, I would not worry about it, New growth is what matters most now.
As for the look of the coir. when dry it goes brown when wet is almost black. just mean the top later is staying to get used up.
Best of luck
Notes up til now - All is good although the only complaint I have is that the plant is a little too short and the stem is too thick (all of last week I had a fan blowing directly onto it since the stem felt a bit weak- rookie mistake) so it's hard to do any LST on her. Leaves look nice and green, she likes the nutes as well. I'll keep increasing EC and see how she takes it. My goal is to increase EC by 75-100 points/day. Fastbuds says that she likes higher EC so I'm hoping to push to approx. 1600ec. We'll see.
Day 29 - 26*C (78.8F) and 57% RH. Since I didn't fertigate yesterday I gave her 1.5L @ 1088ec at 6pH (0.6Ca, 0.6Mg, 0.8Micro, 0.7Gro, 0.5Bloom, 1.5ml Humic (12% humic 3% fulvic), 1.5ml kelp (27% Ascophyllum nodosum). Got ~ 10% runoff @ 1045ec (previous feed was 2 days ago @ 1035ec so I'm loving this runoff measurement).
Day 30 - 24.7*C (76.5F) & 64% RH. A couple of leaves got burnt by the nutes from yesterday, no biggie. Fertigated with 850ml @ 1046ec, 5.97pH. It's my first time using filtered & dechlorinated water (instead of RO) which comes out @ 300ec. (to make 1L I used 0.6Micro, 0.9Gro, 0.4Bloom). The problem with LST is that the side branches are not long enough for them to get the light they need but the stem is too sturdy to bend it more. Inter-nodal spacing is very short as well which makes it hard to train. I might defoliate a few leaves soon to let the light penetrate into lower canopy. Since it's my first grow I'm kind of skeptical about defoliating but it might be beneficial looking at the plant now.
Day 31 - 26.2*C (79F) & 69% RH. New growth leaves have yellowing on their tips (likely nute burn since I increased dosages of Tri-Part quite a bit). No water/feed today to see how the plant reacts.
Day 32 - 25.6*C (78F) & 70% RH. Plant looks happy, I applied another tie to the top of the stem and pulled it down to increase light penetration to lower canopy. I decided not to defoliate yet so I did some leaf tucking instead. I might have to lower the feed doses because of the yellowing of the tips. I'm thinking she's capped out @1100ec in veg. Fed 1.1L @ 1120ec, 5.66pH (still stronger feed schedule to see how she reacts) consisting of: Filtered & RO water + 0.2Ca + 0.2Mg (536ec) + 0.6Micro + 0.9Gro + 0.3Bloom (that's 1/2 strength of GHE recommendation). Got 0% runoff so I added another 700ml mid-day that came out @ 1119ec, 5.8pH. Got 20% runoff @ 1062ec. Lower runoff ec in comparison to feed ec makes me think that she's taking up all the nutes and I should increase the doses even further - maybe the "burnt" tips are from raising EC from tri-part too much in a single dose.
Day 33 - 24.9*C (77F), 72% RH. No feed & plant looks happy.
Day 34 - 26*C (79F), 72% RH. Applied a few more ties to spread the plant out. Fed 1.5L @ 1059ec, 5.83pH. Got 13% runoff (200ml) @ 942ec - I will up the feed next time.
Day 36 - 25.4*C (77.7F), 62% RH. Rotated the main stem + re-applied some ties. Fed 1.5L @ 1142ec, 5.7pH. Got 60ml runoff @ 1142ec. Plant 15cm tall (6 inches).
Day 37 - 25.8*C (78.5F), 58% RH. Fed 1L @ 1128ec, 5.76pH. No runoff
Day 38 - 26.3*C (79.3F), 63% RH. Rotated the main stem, applied extra ties. Fed 1L @ 1125ec, 5.76pH in the morning and 1L @ 1163, 6pH mid-day (solution mix - 0.5L filtered de-chlorinated water, 0.5L RO + 0.2Ca, 0.2Mg, 0.6Micro, 0.9Gro, 0.3Bloom). Got 90ml runoff (9%) @ 950ec. New growth leaves look like they're getting a little yellowish and the tips are yellow. I'm pretty sure it's a sign of overfeeding. I can see one or two white hairs on the main stem which are still tiny so looks like the plant is getting ready to Pre-Flower. Changed the location of inline fan to get better air extraction so hopefully the temperatures won't creep up anymore.
Day 39 - 24.6*C (76.3F), 61% RH. The light was ~ 36cm from the canopy at 90% power (676ppfd) which I think was a little too strong for the plants. I placed the light 46cm from the canopy at 100% power (~550ppfd). Fed 1L @ 1113ec, 6.08pH. Morning feed - 1L @ 1113ec, 6.1pH (0.4Ca, 0.3Mg, 0.5Micro, 0.6Gro, 0.3 Bloom) with no runoff. Evening feed 1L @1080ec, 5.9pH. Got 350ml runoff (35%) @ 873ec.
Day 40 - 24.6*C (76.3F), 67% RH. Rotated the main stem, did more LST. Fed 1L @ 1025ec, 5.9pH.
Day 41 - 24.7*C (76.5F), 65% RH. Fed 1.5L in the morning @ 1040ec, 6.08pH. Second fertigation mid-day - 1L @ 1040ec, 5.94pH. Got 242ml runoff @ 820ec. Nutrients per 1 Liter - 0.3Ca, 0.2Mg, 0.5Micro, 0.6Gro, 0.7Bloom). I'm also using 1:2 ratio of filtered water to RO water. Starting EC is around 160.
Day 42 - 23.3*C (74F), 68% RH. Each top has 2-4 white hairs sticking out. Fed 1.5L @ 1062ec, 6pH mid-day. Got 60ml runoff @ 605ec, 6.63pH (pH has dropped from 6.8-6.9 to 6.6-6.7 range).
Day 43 - I'll count this as first day of flower since the plant now has 2-4 white pistils sticking out. Temp 24.5*C (76F), 72% RH. Light was 37cm from canopy @ 100% (750+ppfd) so I re-positioned the light to 41cm (~650ppfd). Did some LST. Fed 1.5L @1034ec, 6.04pH. Ive been feeding in the 1000-1150 range and will continue to do so til the plant looks a bit more vibrant green ant healthier and when the tips won't burn anymore. Got 60ml runoff @ 1034ec, 6.66pH - looks perfect.
Day 44 - 24.7*C (76.5F), 73% RH. Fed 1.5L @ 1061ec, 6pH. Runoff = 90ml @ 770ec.
Day 45 - 24.6*C (76.3F), 73% RH. More LST. Light @ 39cm so I increased the distance to 41cm again since I can see a tiny bit of leaf curling at the top. Fed 1.5L @ 1015ec, 5.77pH. Solution - 0.3Ca, 0.2Mg, 0.6Micro, 0.3Gro, 0.9Bloom / 1L). No runoff.
Day 46 - 24.5*C (76F), 66% RH. Light @ 36cm with some canoe action going on so I put the light back at 41cm. Tallest branch is 34cm tall. Main stem cracked from previous LST but it looks like it's healing just fine. Fed 2L @ 1064ec, 5.87pH. Solution - 0.4Ca, 0.2Mg, 0.6Micro, 0.3Gro, 0.9Bloom. Got 72ml runoff @ 1225ec, 6.34pH.
Day 47 - 24.2*C (75.5F), 63% RH. Fed 2L @ 1157ec, 5.8pH (increased Mg from 0.2ml/L to 0.4/1L) to check if the stems wouldn't turn so purple since I don't think it's normal for this strain. Got 20ml runoff @1244ec, 6.6pH.
Day 48 - 23*C (73.4F), 59% RH ( I want to keep RH in the 55-65% range so I've been lowering it slowly). Light @ 37cm so I reduced the intensity to 85% (~720ppfd) Plant is 38cm tall. Fed 2L @ 1120ec, 5.83pH. Runoff = 23ml @ 1283ec, 6.42pH.
Day 49 - 23.5*C (74.3F), 61% RH. Plant looks healthy and a lot better then in pre-flower. I think the increase in Calcium and Magnesium helped. I'll likely be increasing the nutrient dosages next week. Fed the plant 3L @ 1061ec, 6.04pH. Runoff = 555ml @ 1215ec, 6.54pH.
Day 50 (day 8 flower) - 22.3*C (72F), 60% RH. Plant is 40cm tall. Removed a few leaves from the very bottom that were in contact with the medium and wilting. Fed 2.5L @1177ec, 6.1pH (1.2Ca, 1.2Mg, 1.8Micro, 1.2Gro, 3Bloom). Runoff = 200ml (8%) @ 1240ec, 6.47pH.
Day 51 - 22*C (71.6F), 61% RH. Moved the light to 36cm above canopy (14in) and turned it to 100% (~750ppfd). Fed 2.5L @ 1230ec, 6.02pH. Runoff = 33ml @1415ec, 6.5pH (fed later in the day, not in the AM like usual).
Day 52 - 22.5*C (72.5F), 67% RH. Fed 2L @ 1232ec, 6.1pH. Runoff = 100ml @ 1318ec, 6.57pH
Day 53 - 24.2*C (75.5F), 62% RH. Fed 2L @ 1282ec, 6.05pH. No runoff. A few leaves at the bottom wilted so I pulled them off.
Day 54 - 25.1*C (77F), 63% RH. Fed 3L @ 1205ec, 6.1pH. Runoff = 210ml @ 1434ec, 6.43pH. I'm probably overfeeding but I'll continue for now since the plant isn't showing any toxicities yet.
Day 55 - 25.2*C (77.2F), 63% RH. Fed 3L @ 1212ec, 6.05pH. Runoff = 192ml @ 1454ec, 6.53pH.
Day 56 (Day 14 flower) - 25.4*C (77.7F), 61% RH. Fed 3L @ 1219ec, 5.94pH (1.2Ca, 1.2Mg, 2Micro, 0.9Gro, 3.3Bloom per 3L). Runoff = 423ml @ 1418ec, 6.5pH. I fed a bit quicker than normal so the EC measurement could be slightly off. Therefore, If I fed slower like usual, I would've gotten less runoff. Plant height = 46.5cm (18.3 In.)
Note - She is really thirsty... Taking 3L/day (0.66Gal) with under 10% runoff.
Day 57 (day 15 flower) - 24.8*C (76.6F), 61% RH. LST'd two tallest branches. Fed 3L @ 1261ec, 5.98pH (1.2Ca, 1.2Mg, 2.4Micro, 0.9Gro, 3.3Bloom). Runoff = 390ml @ 1443ec, 6.44pH. Runoff vs feed is within 200 so it's fine for now but I might have to lower the feeds if runoff ec climbs higher.
Day 58 - 25.3*C (77.5F), 62% RH. Fed 3L @ 1211ec, 6pH. Runoff = 310ml @ 1449ec, 6.42pH.
Day 59 - 24.3*C (75.7F), 60% RH. Fed 3L @ 1213ec, 6.08pH. Runoff = 370ml @ 1491ec, 6.47pH.
Day 60 - 24.3*C (75.7F), 58% RH. Fed 3L @ 1207ec, 6.1pH. Runoff = 323ml @ 1576ec, 6.47pH. Light is 30.5cm from canopy (12in) (~1033ppfd) (the plant is in a living space so it should be getting more co2 than normal, I'm assuming she might also take higher ppfd numbers than usual).
Day 61 - 25.2*C (77.3F), 64% RH. Fed 3L @ 1172ec, 6.05pH (1.2Ca, 0.9Mg, 2Micro, 0.6Gro, 3Bloom) (lowered Mg, Micro, Gro, Bloom by 0.1mg/L). Runoff = 247ml @ 1496ec, 6.36pH. EC difference is 300+ so I'll keep the doses lower and see how the plant adjusts. Trichomes finally started to develop.
Day 62 - 24.5*C (76F), 61% RH. Fed 3L (3H later than usual) @ 1136ec, 5.97pH. Runoff = 212ml @ 1518ec, 6.35pH. I might have to fertigate more often since the runoff ec is still around 300 points higher than the feed ec. Ideally I want to keep it up to 200 points higher.
Day 63 - 24.5*C (76F), 61% RH. Fed 3L (5H later than usual or 2 hours later than yesterday - meaning the runoff ec/ph numbers are not as accurate as I'd like them to be) @ 1123ec, 6.02pH. Runoff = 210ml @ 1517ec, 6.39pH. Light is 29cm from the top canopy (~1100ppfd)
Notes - So far the grow is going good. This strain should've taken ~ 9 weeks from seed to harvest but the vegetation stage was longer than anticipated, maybe because I stressed the plant out in the beginning, maybe its a phenotype that takes longer. I'm not complaining though since the plant looks great. Scent from the trichomes is amazing - sweet but slightly spicy at the same time. They only started developing a few days ago so I'm curious and excited to see what's to come. I'll give it another week or two and then will start flushing. This NL looks great so far - no pest/insect/plant problems whatsoever. I haven't used any IPM tools, although once a week I mopped the floor around the tent with some mint or cedarwood extracts so I'm not sure if that helped.
So far I'm happy with this as my first grow ever.
Day 64 - 24.6*C, 54% RH. Fed 3L @ 1125ec, 5.97pH. Runoff = 324ml @ 1536ec, 6.4pH.
Day 65 - 25.4*C, 59% RH. Fed @ 1128ec, 6pH. Runoff = 254ml @ 1543ec.
Day 66 - 24.2*C, 61% RH. Fed 3L @ 1114ec, 6.07pH. Fed a lot later in the day than usual so runoff measurements are a little off. Runoff = 260ml, 1672ec.
Day 67 - 24.6*C, 60% RH. Fed 3L @ 1142ec, 6.08pH. Fed earlier in the day. Runoff = 600ml @ 1495ec.
Day 68 - 25.2*C, 61% RH. Fed 3L @ 1162ec, 6.1. Increased solution to 1.2Ca, 0.6Mg, 2.4Micro, 0.6Gro, 3.3Bloom. Runoff = 320ml @ 1498, 6.37.
Day 69 - 25.1*C, 62% RH. Fed 3L @ 1188ec, 6.02pH. 1.2Ca, 0.6Mg, 2.4Micro, 0.6Gro, 3.6Bloom. Runoff =413ml @ 1644ec, 6.43pH.
Day 70 - 24.1*C, 63% RH. Fed 3L @ 1116ec, 6.03pH. 1.2Ca, 0.6Mg, 2Micro, 0.6Gro, 3.3Bloom. Runoff = 170ml @ 1593ec, 6.3. Light hanging at @ 27cm away from canopy (almost 11 in.). Increased the distance to 28.5cm.
So far everything is going well. Runoff EC is higher than I want it to be but the plant seems to be taking it OK - some burn tips but it's not that bad. I might adjust the feed a bit to keep the feed vs runoff EC in the 300 range. On FastBuds' website it says that this strain flowers for 5 weeks so I'll start flushing sometime soon. Trichomes are all clear still so I'll wait for them to go somewhat cloudy and then I'll start flushing.
Day 71 - 23.5*C (74.3F), 64% RH. Solution - 1.2Ca, 0.6Mg, 2Micro, 0.6Gro, 3.3Bloom. Fed 3L @ 1126ec, 6.04pH. Runoff = 270ml @ 1606ec, 6.3pH. Fed @ 4pm.
Day 72 - 24.5*C (76.1F), 59% RH. Fed 3L @ 1151ec, 6pH. Runoff = 422ml @ 1678ec, 6.26pH. Fed @ 2:30pm.
Day 73 - 24.5*C (76.1F), 57% RH. Fed 3L @ 1114ec, 6.03pH. Runoff = 20ml. Not enough runoff to measure EC,PH. I've been slacking with fertigations, schedule is crazy busy these days. Fed @ 4:30pm
Day 74 - 23.5*C (74.3F), 59% RH. Fed 3L @ 1145ec, 6.12pH. No runoff. Fed @ 8:30pm. This is unfortunate but I've been too busy to take care of the plant properly.
Day 75 - 23.3*C (73.9F), 56% RH. Fed 3.7L (1 Gal) @ 1151ec, 6.12pH. Solution - 0.4Ca, 0.2Mg, 0.7Micro, 0.2Gro, 1Bloom per 1L. Fed @ 8pm - the lights turn on @ 4am so this is not an optimal time to feed her that late, but that's the best I could do this week. Runoff = 800ml @ 1556ec, 6.45pH.
Day 76 - 23.4*C (74.1F), 48% RH. Fed 3L @ 1230ec, 6.22pH. The RO filter broke without me realizing it. I only figured that out the next day. Runoff = 140ml @ 1845ec, 6.13pH. Fed around 10pm.
Day 77 - 24.1*C (75.4F), 50% RH. Fed 3L @ 1091ec, 5.91pH @ 7:40pm. Runoff = 200ml @ 2030ec, 6.2pH. It's time to start flushing tomorrow.
Week summary - The week started off well but I got swarmed with errands starting around Wednesday so I pretty much just fed the plant whenever I had a spare minute and did not really check on her besides that. Next week is the beginning of Flush since I got 2-4 weeks before I got to leave for a while. I'm hoping to flush for a week, dry for 2 and then maybe I'll even have time to cure for a week or so. So far I'm happy with the results, it's a resilient strain and it smells great as well. So far I'm happy with FastBuds' genetics.
Day 85 - 23.5*C (74.3F), 57% RH. Fed 4.5L @ 562ec, 6.1pH @ 10pm. Feeding later in the day lets me keep the humidity in a decent range without a humidifier - although it's likely not optimal for the plant. Runoff = 1.4L @ 734ec, 6.5pH.
Day 86 - 24.1*C (75.4F), 58% RH. Fed 4.5L @ 566ec, 6.1pH @ 9:10pm (Still feeding tap water ph'ed down between 6 and 6.1). Runoff = 1.75L @ 714ec, 6.56pH
Day 87 - 25*C (77F), 53% RH. Fed 4L @ 590ec, 6.1pH @ 8pm. Runoff = 1.33L @ 730ec, 6.58pH.
Day 88 - 24.4*C (76F), 53% RH. Fed 4L @ 560ec, 6.1pH @ 10pm. Runoff = 1.27L @ 721ec, 6.5pH.
Day 89 - 24.2*C (75.5F), 49% RH. Fed 4L @ 550ec, 6.1pH @ 9:45pm. Runoff = 1.28L @ 707ec, 6.5pH.
Day 90 - 25.1*C (77.2F), 48% RH. Fed 4.5L @ 365ec, 6.02pH @ 8pm. Runoff = 1.86L @ 707ec, 6.5pH.
Day 91 - 24.5*C (76.1F), 51% RH. Fed 4L @ 455ec, 5.95pH @ 4:30pm. Runoff = 1.6L @ 615ec, 6.5pH.
Week Summary - Trichomes are still not going amber. This is taking longer than expected but I'm hoping the end product is going to be worth the wait as this is my first grow. Also, the plant has some amazing purplish hue to it - it's mesmerizing and I hope the camera picks up a hint of it.
Day 92 - 24.3*C (75.7F), 48% RH. Fed 4L @ 319ec, 5.94pH @ 2:30pm. Runoff = 1.65L @ 515ec, 6.54pH
Day 93 - 24.2*C (75.6F), 52% RH. Fed 4L @ 299ec, 5.9pH @ 2:30pm. Runoff = 1.58L @ 510ec, 6.47pH
Day 94 - 24.4*C (75.9F), 48% RH. Fed 4L @ 236ec, 6.2pH @ 5pm. Runoff = 1.25L @ 481ec, 6.58pH
Day 95 - 24.2*C (75.6F), 40% RH. Fed 4.5L @ 247ec, 6.1pH @ 9pm. Runoff = 1.62L @ 442ec, 6.47pH
Day 96 - 24.5*C (76F), 47% RH. Fed 4L @ 75ec, 5.9pH @ 5pm. Runoff = 1.72L @ 398ec, 6.32pH
Day 97 - 24.5*C (76F), 49% RH. Fed 4L @ 75ec, 6.1pH @ 7:30pm. Runoff = 1.4L @ 356ec, 6.5pH
Day 98 - 24.7*C (76.4F), 48% RH. Fed 4.1L @ 35ec, 5.8pH @ 4:20pm. Runoff = 1.97L @ 400ec, 6.4pH - I think the ec measurement is higher because I let the runoff sit in a hot tent for a while. Usually lower temperatures show lower pH.
Week takeaways - This upcoming week is for sure the last one before chopping, I'll chop sometime before the weekend. I'm removing dead, wilted or crunchy leaves almost everyday now as well. I messed up the timing a bit so It's my third week of flushing in coco... Not great news but since it's my first grow, I'll pardon myself. I was recommended by Fastbuds to grow it for a few more days so that's what I'll do. There's still no amber trichomes but I'm hoping that some will appear as this week progresses.
Day 99 - 24.7*C (76.5F), 48% RH. Fed 4L @ 69ec, 6pH @ 3pm. Runoff = 1.58L @ 223ec, 6.6pH. Runoff EC has come down within 200ppm of the inflow - good news.
Day 100 - 25.2*C (77.3F), 46% RH. Fed 4L @ 37ec, 5.85pH @ 6pm. Runoff = 1.34L @ 216ec, 6.62pH.
Day 101 - 25.2*C (77.3F), 45% RH. Fed 4L @ 39ec, 6.14pH @ 4pm. Runoff = 1.68L @ 220ec, 6.52pH. This was the last watering, I'll let it dry tomorrow and will chop on day 103.
Day 102 - 24.7*C (76.5F), 44% RH. No water. Will harvest tomorrow. I'm positive that the runoff EC would've been under 200 and I'm fine with that.
Day 103 - 25.7*C (78.2F), 44% RH. The day has finally come. Chopped the plant early in the morning and hung it whole - won't remove any leaves for now. I'm shooting for a 10-14 day drying process. Plant is about 20.3 inches tall (51.5cm) from the top of the medium.
The plan for drying - First two days @ 50-55% RH @ 16-21*C (the lower the better). After a few days I'll probably start removing some of the fan leaves to avoid mold since the plant hasn't been defoliated at all during its growth and it's really bushy. I've managed to get the tent to 22.2*C (72F) and 49% RH in the first day. I'm hoping tomorrow will be better.
Day 104 - 22.1*C (71.8F), 44% RH in the morning. By night time it was ~ 21.5*C (70.7F), 49% RH. Still not optimal but controlling this is tough since I don't have the setup automated with a controller. Ambient RH is ~ 30-35% at the crib.
Day 105 - 21.1*C (70F), 49% RH in the morning - a bit better. 20.1*C (68.2F), 54% RH by the evening. Took off maybe 10% of fan leaves. Will continue to remove bit by bit, depending on conditions.
Summary - I'm excited to harvest the plant - now the most important part awaits - the drying process. I'm not worried about curing too much since I got everything I need to ensure a good cure. But controlling the temps and RH is critical now so I'm doing my best to keep them stable. the SF 1000 worked really well, the spectrum is 450-760nm. Studies show that 700-750 range is pretty important to increase the quality of your harvest and rarely any budget LEDs have wavelengths above 700nm. Late flower was receiving about 1200ppfd without bleaching. I went above 1000 just because the tent is in the living space so I'm assuming that the co2 levels were slightly elevated. Ran a DLI of 72+ with great results. Brightest day in the summer provides about 60 DLI for reference. Harvested the plant with ~ 5% amber trichomes. Regardless of the yield, if I'll be able to finish drying with no mold - I'll be more than happy.
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I don't want to create a whole new "flowering" week so I'll post the updates here until I harvest, trim and test the buds.
I'm still drying the plant so I'll update once I'm finished with the drying process. It's been drying for 9 days now and still has a bit to go. I'm doing my best to stabilize the temperature/humidity in the tent but it's definitely a struggle since it's my first grow. The room the tent is in stays at 37% RH so if I keep the tent open for too long the RH inside of the tent dips down quickly. So far so good though, no pests, no mold. The only downside for the drying process - it smells like wet grass - 0 terpene smell. It only started to smell like that since the chop so I'm guessing it's the chlorophyll breaking down. The first couple of days my temps were too high and humidity fluctuated too much. I got the environment relatively stable on Day 7. Whole plant weights 3.2lbs.
Drying Day 3 - Morning - 21*C (69.8F), 55% RH. Mid-Day - 20*C (68F), 42% RH (tent was open so it dropped down). Evening - 18*C (64.4F), 62% RH. Night Time - 20.2*C (68.4F), 43% RH.
Drying Day 4 - Morning - 17.7*C (63.9F), 67% RH. Evening -17.5*C (63.5F), 69% RH. Night Time - 18.9*C (66F), 38% RH.
Drying Day 5 - Morning - 19.4*C (67F), 58% RH. Afternoon - 20.5*C (69F), 48% RH. Evening - 16.8*C (62.2F), 67% RH.
Drying day 6 - Morning - 19.7*C (67.5F), 51% RH. Mid-Day - 19.5*C (67.1F), 46% RH. Evening - 18.6*C (65.5F), 64% RH. Night Time - 18.6*C (65.5F), 53% RH.
Drying Day 7 - Morning - 19.5*C (67.1F), 53% RH. Evening - 18.2*C (64.8F), 59% RH. Night Time - 18.7*C (65.7F), 60% RH.
Drying Day 8 - Morning - 18.5*C (65.4F), 55% RH. Midnight - 17.7*C (63.9F), 57% RH.
Drying Day 9 - Morning - 19.1*C (66.4F), 57% RH. Afternoon - 19*C (66.2F), 57% RH. Evening - 19.5*C (67.1F), 56% RH.
Drying Day 10 - Morning - 19*C (66.2F), 61% RH. Evening - 17.9C (64.2F), 52% RH.
Drying Day 11 - Morning - 18.6*C (65.5F), 58% RH. Mid-Day - 19*C (66.2F), 59% RH. Evening - 19.2*C (66.6F), 63% RH.
Drying Day 12 - Morning - 19.1*C (66.4F), 70% RH (it was raining outside so ambient RH rose from 34 to 46%. Mid-Day - 20.9*C (69.6F), 47% RH. Evening - 19.2*C (66.6F), 58% RH. Night-Time - 19.3*C (66.8F), 59% RH.
Drying Day 13 - Morning - 19.5*C, (67.1F), 59% RH. Mid-Day - 18.5*C (65.3F), 51% RH. Evening - 18.1*C (64.6F), 50% RH. Night Time - 17.6*C (63.7F), 56% RH.
Drying Day 14 - Morning - 17*C (62.6F), 61% RH. Finished drying @ 10am! I'm finally finished. The only thing left to do is the cure.
Thank you to everyone for following this journey! The results were nuts. Honestly, I would've been happy with 40g dry as this is my first grow. I DEFINITELY did not expect this outcome which is insane. This gives me so much confidence in my future grows and appreciation for the companies whose products I used.
So, now to the point - Dry weight - Top class buds - 176g, smaller buds - 32g, larf/leaves/scissor hash - 26g. To sum up - 208g of product you can smoke and 26g that'll go to edibles. First grow, 2x2 tent, 100w light, three-part fertilizer and cal
mag - that's insane, especially because I was expecting nothing more than 60g and like I mentioned, I would've been happy with 40g. I even thought my scale was broken or something went wrong, I still can't believe I pulled 208g of bud. It took 117 days from seed to smoke - that's disregarding the cure. Seed to flower in 42 days. Flower to harvest in 61 days. 14 days drying.
Thank you to FastBuds, I've sent them an email about the grow with some questions and got a speedy reply with some pointers towards the end of the flower. Also, I don't have anything to compare this grow with but I had 0 issues with pests which I was really happy about. I didn't have to spray anything on the plants, didn't have a single bug inside the tent. They mention on the website that NL is a very resilient strain so that might've been because of this specific strain. Spiderfarmer light did amazing too - 208g of bud from 100w light!. General Hydroponics did way better than I expected - there's so many companies with multiple bottles of nutrients that expect you to spend ridiculous amounts of money on their products while I got crazy results with just 3 basic bottles. Cal and Mag by Canna worked with no complaints.
Takeaways - seems like the runoff pH doesn't matter in coco - I could be wrong but I struggled with coco pH from the very beginning. Regardless, the outcome speaks for itself. Maybe the harvest would've been even better with an optimal pH but in this particular grow, I don't think it mattered much. Before starting this grow I've done A LOT of research and it looks like it most definitely paid off! I was panicking at first because of the slow growth. The plant also had some leaf deformities and the color wasn't as green as I've expected it to be. It was stressful at first, I think especially because I was constantly comparing my grow to someone else's. This specific LST method where I kept rotating the main stem clockwise every day or two paid off as well. The canopy was relatively even and new tops grew crazy fast.
The only thing left to do is to cure the bud. I had two 1.5L containers ready for cure/storing since I didn't expect to pull much but had to go acquire a few more "big boys" to fit all the product in, which is a good problem to have. I don't think that I'll be updating the cure here but the plan is to burp 2x/day for 15-30min each time for the first week and 1x/day for 15-30min the second week. After the first couple of weeks I won't be timing the burps. As of now, I've placed boveda 62% packs inside the containers to maintain a RH of at least 58% in the jars.
About the Northern Lights strain - the smell hasn't fully returned yet post trim, but it smells like sweet fruits with a hint of black pepper. You can still smell a bit of pine/grass but I think that'll be gone after the cure. Buds are covered with trichomes, they shine like diamonds when you take a better look. Also, the buds look a little airy but are still really dense when pressed. The smoke - It's a tasty, relaxing high. I get why people describe it as night time smoke but for me personally, it grounds me a bit and I can enjoy it anytime. Also, it burns white ash :))
P.S. This is a lengthy diary but I hope that people can learn some stuff from my notes shall they read them!
Thanks to everyone that followed the journey, showed support or just browsed through.
Happy Growing everyone!
Grower0
