JohnQPublic1917 Finishing up my first attempt at Auto Flower. Just discovered the site and am looking for feedback. I will start by outlying my tent setup.
1x Vivosun 2-in-1 36x48x72 inch Mylar tent
1x Vivosun 8" 740 CFM in-line vent fan
1x 1500W equivalent LED (full spectrum)
2x 1000W equivalent LED (full spectrum)
1x 8" high velocity fan for airflow & low stress training
2x 5 gallon fabric pots.
1x STC-3028 Temperature & Humidity Hygrometer/Thermostat Controller
1x Light Timer
1x 1 gal cool mist humidifier.
Tent is vented outside. I don't use a carbon filter because it's legal here and doesn't stink up the house venting outside.
The STC-3028 hygrometer and thermostat device keeps my tent pretty steady. I left the variable speed selector on the Vivosun blower at high and, and wired a plug in outlet to a Leviton wall light dimmer switch to control the ventilation blower. Using a dimmer switch gave me the flexibility to use the alternate leg for auxiliary control to wire into the temperature relay on the STC-3028 thermostat. This let's me kick the exhaust up to 100% when temperature exceeds 86°F (30°C), then brings the exhaust speed back down to my preset level when it gets back to 77°F or lower.
Likewise, I have the Hygrometer relay wired up to a wall plug outlet, and this controls the humidifier. If anyone is curious about my setup, please ask!
I've adopted an 18/6 light cycle. I sprout directly in the 5 gallon fabric pots by fully saturating the soil and then just barely pushing the seed under the soil. I then cover the fabric pots with white translucent plastic bags and put them under the grow lights for greenhouse effect. They will stay under the plastic until the first couple of nodes branch out, keeping the humidity at 100%. This saves the need for running my household-grade humidifier at levels it wasn't designed to run at.
Nutrients are all Fox Farm's basic trio: Grow Big, Big Blooms, and Tiger Bloom. Using Fox Farm Happy Frog soil. Added about 1 solo cup of perilite per 5 gallon pot of soil to retain moisture. Plan to give give nutrients every other feeding. Following FF's soil schedule.
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Used method
Directly In Substrate
Germination Method
3
Week 3. Vegetation
4y ago
1/2
30.48 cm
Height
18 hrs
Light Schedule
24 °C
Day Air Temp
6.5
pH
450 PPM
TDS
100 %
Air Humidity
22 °C
Solution Temp
22 °C
Substrate Temp
22 °C
Night Air Temp
18.93 liters
Pot Size
0.95 liters
Watering Volume
45.72 cm
Lamp Distance
Nutrients 3
Bush Doctor Cal-Mag
1.302 mll
Grow Big
3.906 mll
SUPERthrive
0.391 mll
JohnQPublic1917 Plants uncovered for about a week. Left under plastic for 2 full weeks to get good maturity in high humidity environment. Seeing 4 nodes already. Plants are genuinely thriving. Watering hasn't needed much because I've got the humidity cranked up to 85%.
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4
Week 4. Vegetation
4y ago
45.72 cm
Height
18 hrs
Light Schedule
24 °C
Day Air Temp
6.5
pH
450 PPM
TDS
70 %
Air Humidity
22 °C
Solution Temp
22 °C
Substrate Temp
22 °C
Night Air Temp
18.93 liters
Pot Size
0.95 liters
Watering Volume
45.72 cm
Lamp Distance
Nutrients 4
Bush Doctor Cal-Mag
1.302 mll
Grow Big
3.906 mll
Big Bloom
1.302 mll
JohnQPublic1917 Feeding every other cycle with Nutes. I've cut the normal Fox Farm Soil feeding schedule pretty much in half, because I'm using their Happy Frog Soil.
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5
Week 5. Vegetation
4y ago
1/4
71.12 cm
Height
18 hrs
Light Schedule
24 °C
Day Air Temp
6.5
pH
450 PPM
TDS
70 %
Air Humidity
22 °C
Solution Temp
22 °C
Substrate Temp
22 °C
Night Air Temp
18.93 liters
Pot Size
1.14 liters
Watering Volume
45.72 cm
Lamp Distance
Nutrients 4
Bush Doctor Cal-Mag
1.302 mll
Grow Big
3.906 mll
Big Bloom
1.302 mll
JohnQPublic1917 Already noticing some buds starting to form! They warned me autos bloom quick, but I thought I'd have a week or 2 more with them in veg! Time to start introducing the flowering nutes...
They are going through more water and every time I open the tent it's like they've grown another inch.
Noticed the other plants in the tent (not journaled in this diary) are starting to curl at the tips. Research points to nutrient burn, so cutting the nutrients in half.
My brother-in-law is growing in a tent right beside me, and he's amazed at how tall my autos are compared to his. Granted, his are different stains, but I attribute this all to me covering the plants during the first 2 weeks until I saw 2 nodes, then keeping the humidity super-rich and SLOWLY tapering it down to about 65% over the course of 5 weeks. Plants seem to like it. Afraid to top these beauties, don't know what the protocol is for topping on autoflowers. Next batch I'm going to top at week 4 and see if I can get that candelabra effect that all the growers seem to be having amazing results with...
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6
Week 6. Flowering
4y ago
1/2
106.68 cm
Height
18 hrs
Light Schedule
24 °C
Day Air Temp
6.5
pH
450 PPM
TDS
70 %
Air Humidity
22 °C
Solution Temp
22 °C
Substrate Temp
22 °C
Night Air Temp
18.93 liters
Pot Size
1.14 liters
Watering Volume
45.72 cm
Lamp Distance
Nutrients 4
Bush Doctor Cal-Mag
1.302 mll
Big Bloom
1.953 mll
Tiger Bloom
1.953 mll
JohnQPublic1917 Defoliating some leaves to keep my canopy even. I didn't try topping because I was afraid to freak out the auto, I'm beginning to wish I had.
Really getting some good purple buds. Thought it was a trick of the lighting but through the uv goggles I realized it's real. This shit looks alien!
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7
Week 7. Flowering
4y ago
1/3
114.3 cm
Height
18 hrs
Light Schedule
24 °C
Day Air Temp
6.5
pH
Normal
Smell
450 PPM
TDS
70 %
Air Humidity
22 °C
Solution Temp
22 °C
Substrate Temp
22 °C
Night Air Temp
18.93 liters
Pot Size
1.14 liters
Watering Volume
45.72 cm
Lamp Distance
Nutrients 5
Bush Doctor Cal-Mag
1.302 mll
Grow Big
1.302 mll
Big Bloom
1.302 mll
JohnQPublic1917 The stretch is over, bushing out now and the buds developing. She's looking very Purdy. Note the ones on the left are sour dark devil
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8
Week 8. Flowering
4y ago
1/5
114.3 cm
Height
18 hrs
Light Schedule
24 °C
Day Air Temp
6.5
pH
Normal
Smell
450 PPM
TDS
70 %
Air Humidity
22 °C
Solution Temp
22 °C
Substrate Temp
22 °C
Night Air Temp
18.93 liters
Pot Size
1.14 liters
Watering Volume
45.72 cm
Lamp Distance
Nutrients 4
Bush Doctor Cal-Mag
1.302 mll
Big Bloom
1.953 mll
Tiger Bloom
1.302 mll
JohnQPublic1917 Getting pretty close, but the hairs are just starting to show up white. This is the last week for nutes.
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9
Week 9. Flowering
4y ago
1/8
114.3 cm
Height
18 hrs
Light Schedule
24 °C
Day Air Temp
6.5
pH
Strong
Smell
450 PPM
TDS
70 %
Air Humidity
22 °C
Solution Temp
22 °C
Substrate Temp
22 °C
Night Air Temp
18.93 liters
Pot Size
1.14 liters
Watering Volume
45.72 cm
Lamp Distance
Nutrients 1
flush - no nutrients
1.302 mll
JohnQPublic1917 This brings things up to present day. I am 3 days into cutting out nutes for flush. Have a scope, things are pretty clear still on the trichromes. Hairs still white and stems show no purple lines yet so I figure this will be getting closer to ready in the next few days.
I've had to copy this from notes, because I just found this site last week. I'm going to try my next round with just 2 plants in the tent instead of 4.
This is my 2nd grow ever. First I had a male pollinate before I knew exactly what I was looking at. The weed came out good, but seedy. I can only imagine how they would have turned out if they would have stayed virgin.
I'm looking forward to these feminized autos. I didn't chart the other in a separate diary yet, but the other strain growing along side is Blueberry X Big Devil by Papa G Genetics.
Will post next week if still in Flower and haven't harvested.
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10
Week 10. Flowering
4y ago
1/14
290.32 cm
Height
18 hrs
Light Schedule
76 °C
Day Air Temp
6.5
pH
Strong
Smell
450 PPM
TDS
70 %
Air Humidity
72 °C
Solution Temp
72 °C
Substrate Temp
72 °C
Night Air Temp
18.93 liters
Pot Size
1.14 liters
Watering Volume
30.48 cm
Lamp Distance
Nutrients 2
Big Bloom
3.906 mll
Tiger Bloom
1.302 mll
JohnQPublic1917 Seeing more yellowing of the water leaves. Water uptake slowing down to 1 quart every 2 days. Humidity at 44% and Temps at 24°C. Been flushing for about 5 days now. Giving it another week...
On day 70 I was told by someone that about 5 days worth of flush is all you need, and not to start flushing until I see some amber on the trichromes. Still no trichromes, so I am giving them another couple of weeks, and gave them some fuel. Thinking I want that really in-the-couch narcotic effect, so I'm going to shoot for 30-50% amber. Next week hopefully I'll start seeing some amber. It's hard to tell because of all that glorious purple. I'm shooting my photos through a UV lens and the microscope is bright white LED, so what you see is pretty accurate. I'll take some better pics once I pull them out of the tent for harvest. This is the purple sticky. Really resiny. Hope it tastes half as good as it looks. Alien weed!!
Also, I put my grow tent on a kill-a-watt meter and discovered my actual power consumption including humidifier, fan, thermostat/hygrometer, and lights draws 440W total. Not much more than a computer, and 2 monitors running 24/7. I've updated my lights to reflect the actual power consumption. They said on purchase that they were 1000W and 1500W, but I'm honestly grateful they don't consume that. Electricity is fairly expensive in my area.
Edit: rearranged the tent a bit, so I had the chance to take some pictures under normal light. Day 73
Based on this week's pictures, does anyone have a guestimate for approximate time to completion? I'm monitoring it closely, checking trichromes every other day...
They look about ready.. maybe another week if you want some more amber, sedative type high.
Can you do another post without that red light in the background of the pics? That’d help tremendously
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11
Week 11. Flowering
4y ago
1/10
107.44 cm
Height
18 hrs
Light Schedule
24 °C
Day Air Temp
6.5
pH
Strong
Smell
450 PPM
TDS
52 %
Air Humidity
22 °C
Solution Temp
22 °C
Substrate Temp
22 °C
Night Air Temp
18.93 liters
Pot Size
0.76 liters
Watering Volume
30.48 cm
Lamp Distance
Nutrients 1
flush - no nutrients
1.302 mll
JohnQPublic1917 Day 77: Still no amber on the tricrhomes. Leaves starting to yellow out a lot, flushing the nutrients thinking it's probably burning it up. I know it's supposed to go yellow towards the end, but this is ridiculous. Temps steady at 25C, Humidity at 53. Things should be wrapping up soon, but the other strain that's growing with This Dark Devil, planted at same time, still has mostly white pistils, so maybe the 9 week timeframe old dude gave me was just a WAG (wild-ass-guess).
Day 79
Keeping at it. Waiting to see some amber development. Uploaded some pictures of the plant to show how much the water leaves are yellowing. I think she's ending her life-cycle in beautiful fashion. Flushing.
Day 82:
Uploaded some trichrome porn. Thinks are looking a little more ripe. My leaves are all yellowing out because I've started my flush. The tent-mate plants that are in here are ready, and my tent is the only place I really have the room and environment right to dry in, so I guess it is getting time to cut the lights.
A buddy of mine recommended I turn the lights off for a couple days before cutting and hanging. Think I'm going to follow his advice. The lights go off tomorrow at normal time and the sun never rises on these wonderful ladies again. 2 days of dark will put me into Day 1 of week 12 as cut day. Going to just chop and hang, no defoliation until trim time.
Planning on curing in the tent, lights removed and with fan on high and humidifier controlled at 52%
This plant surprised me by turning such a brilliant shade of purple early on. Haven't weighed her yet, as of this posting it's on day 4 of hanging out upside down drying out a bit. Doing a dry trim. Low Temps at 52% RH in the same tent I grew them in.
Well.. verdict is in. Didn't pull as much as I hoped. 1 ounce off 2 plants. Bit the bud us beautiful
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Spent 65 days
Ger Veg Flo Har
21.26 g
Bud wet weight per plant
2
Plants
12 m²
Grow Room size
Normal
Difficulty
Height
Day air temperature
Air humidity
PPM
PH
Light schedule
Solution temperature
Night air temperature
Substrate temperature
Pot size
Lamp distance
1/11
JohnQPublic1917 I enjoyed growing this strain, and still in love with the purple colors. A little concerned because my leaves all went yellow at the end. The seeds were from Papa G Genetics out of Payson, Arizona. I would share their website but it's currently down.
I've got 2 more seeds, planning on trying another run to see if I can get better yield with low stress training and ph balancing the soil out with compost and worms.
These plants had another stain grown in the same tent, so my square footage was divided between 4 plants, and kind of crowded. Next grow I'll only do 3. Lesson learned.
I will amended this with better pics once I take them off the stems and get the buds cleaned up and on a scale. Thanks for all the awesome input.
Please note these weights are wild-ass guesses at this point. More like prayers. I'll list dry weight after 11 days of drying on stem and a good trimming. - day 4 of drying. Plants cut at 12 weeks to the day.
02-22-2022 Update: pulled 1.5 ounces off this, and off the trim extracted 3.6g of shatter. The weed is still curing and haven't even smoked any yet... but the shatter I just did 3 hits off a vape pen and it came out phenomenal from a denatured alcohol
evaporation run. First time ever making shatter, but I'm very pleased with the taste and quality of high is absolutely amazing.
Gave a sample bud to get tested by a commercial grower. Will report back my THC percentages.
Can someone explain what these oily sites are popping up all over my buds 4 days into drying? They looked like beads of water, but upon further inspection they are thick sticky oil?
Haven't trimmed any leaves off yet...
I had the same thing happen to me if you look at my grow questions. its called guttation. this thread eased my mind about it https://www.thcfarmer.com/threads/literally-oozing-with-resin.102285/
I just completed my first grow with Happy Frog Soil. Soil PH is high after the grow. I'm experimenting with dropping it down to 6.5 after. Right now I'm using coffee and earthworms in 2 of the 4 fabric pots.
Do you recondition soil, or replace w/ new soil?
I am not crazy about Happy Frog to begin with. I get better results with Ocean Forest and find it to be a much better product for the entire grow including sprouting.
If you are growing properly there really should not be any "soil" left to reuse. At the end of a grow my pots are a solid block of roots. I can work hard and maybe get 10 or 20% of soil stuff out but it is totally spent. I would NOT recommend reusing soil or trying to freshen it up or rejuvenate. Spend the small amount of money and use fresh for every grow.
You can recondition your soil, but it is a process. I believe it's cheaper then buying new also. You can find directions online. I prefer new soil and use my used soil in my lawn and garden.
Nice clean run. Great show of patience. Maybe 18hrs of light/day delayed the ripening? Curious to see what they look like after a couple days of darkness.
