By continuing to use the website or clicking Accept you consent to our cookies and personal data policy and confirm that you are at least 18 year old. For details please see Privacy Policy and Terms
This baby’s just popped! Looking forward to growing this as I love smoking this strain. Going to top it to get as much as I can!! Right now just RO water with a little Hydroguard (for root rot) and CaliMagic (because it’s RO!). Will get it up to about 150ppm of my grow regimen by end of this week. Same regimen will be followed all of vegetative weeks.
So far, so good! This plant is growing healthy so far, and I just have to be patient. Expecting to see roots over the next few days. Should see some more nodes and leaf growth, too! Looking forward to growing this strain! Keeping nutrients on the low side until the later part of the week. ~150ppm in beginning, up to ~200 towards end (depending on growth, of course). Still top-feeding, will continue through week 3.
Topped the plant late in the 2nd week. It’s still recovering but looks ok. Taking it light on nutrients for a few days until it perks back up. Roots look great!
PH was off for few days after meter busted. I removed some major fan leaves that were massive. It would be over 12” in diameter otherwise. Doing some training. Also, I topped it last week but turned out to be FIM because there is still a center stalk with two tops on it too. Between topping and the defoliation, the plant is likely going to be slowed by a bit. Should be fully recovered in a few days and hopefully start its pre-flower stretch!
Plant is looking healthy. It has recovered from the topping, but seems to have been slowed into transitioning to flower. Still overall nice and healthy. Doing some training and a bit of defoliation to open up Center. Hoping to see transition to flower this week.
Plant is going good. I think the topping and defoliation slowed it down. It’s still in veg mode, but looks extremely healthy. Great root system. Massive, green, healthy leaves. It’s just taking a while to really switch to flower. But, I’m giving it bloom nutrients because I know it’s right there. Pistils ready to pop. I flattened it as much as I could with training. Trying to keep it short and stocky.
I’m on day 41 and the pistils haven’t really appeared fully. They’re green and not white, and growing a lot of new foliage. It seems like it’s still vegging. Do I have a photoperiod? Should I give it another week? Isolate it and switch to 12/12? It healthy...but what gives?
Hi @Chi_Town_White_Boy! Well I don't think you have a photoperiod if pistils appeared under 18/6 schedule. I think you have a monster, and you slowed it down each time you worked on it (topping, defoliation, LST). You must know that breeder's schedule are always optimistic, you can easily add 2 to 4 weeks in a non-perfect environment. Judging by the impressive growth since last week, I think she started to stretch, meaning that pre-flowering has begun. Patience is the key, keep up giving her good care and much love, you'll be rewarded soon with a monster full of flowers 😎 I'll be around, keep us up-to-date and happy growing 👊
Plant looks super healthy, just taking a while to get into flowering. Pistols are visible, they’re just extremely small and thin. I’ve pulled all of the main branches away to get light in towards the center. All of the growth looks good. I may lollipop a little more depending on how the next few weeks go. For now, going to leave it alone and just keep it tied down a bit for Center foliage. We’ll see!
I’m not sure what’s going on with this right now. Is it a regular houseplant? It has these super miniature white pistols, it has 7+ leave fan leaves, and it’s still vegging below the canopy like crazy. I’m giving it week 1 of AN bloom schedule so I can hopefully ignite them buds. Not sure 🤔 Smells amazing though!!
This thing is a BUSH! It’s still slow to form buds, but it looks super healthy. I’m starting to see early budlets, I think. Once they start forming, I’m going to defoliate and lollipop. I’m just waiting for it to go fully into flower before I do so. It’s very healthy, very bushy, filled inside from top to bottom. Strange plant so far, but smells delicious and is very healthy!!
DAY 62: First lollipopping completed. VERY light defoliation at top. Pistils solidly visible. Budlets starting to form.
This plant is looking great! It's finally starting to form little budlets, and it is a monster of a plant! I did my first lollipop a few days ago, and I've plucked a few large fan leaves off here and there. I'm trying not to overdo the trimming right now because I had already slowed this plant down quite a bit early on in its life cycle. It smells amazing. The roots are INSANE! It seems like by the time this plant finishes, my entire bucket is going to be roots!
It's drinking nutrients up quick...taking up a ton of water. The leaves look really healthy except for a slight tip burn and some top leaf minor tacoing (I raised the light a few inches so that should heal). Loving this plant. It's a bit slow, but now that the plants it started with are being harvested, this girl is going to have ALL of the light for her flowering period. I have a feeling this plant is going to have a massive yield if I don't screw something up in the next few weeks!
DAY 68 UPDATE: Did a bit more lollipopping and defoliating to expose more bud sites. Definitely in budding stage.
Plant is healthy, but growing sluggish. Pistils are definitely present, but thin. I may take a few top large fan leaves (some near Center are HUGE), but am not doing any other defoliation or trimming. Hoping to see some bud development this week.
I ordered another grow tent today so that I can put this one on a 14-hour light schedule. It's just taking way to long and isn't forming substantial budlets yet. Anyone think this is a bad/good idea? Pistils are visible, but not much else.
I do think it’s a good idea. I have an auto I started at the beginning of April indoors. She never flipped to flower, so I put her outside in the middle of the summer. Once the daylight hours started getting less than 14 per day, she started flowering. She’s looking beautiful now. Hoping to harvest in 3-4 weeks now. You should be able to achieve similar results with a second tent. Good luck 👍
This plant might be a photoperiod, apparently. Im in the process of setting up another tent. That way I can switch it to a 14 hr light period. I figure after this is harvested, I might setup a SCROG in one tent while I grow DWC in the other. Ill be transitioning this plant to its new home this week.
UPDATE Day 80: Plant is in its new home. It is by itself in a 4'x4' tent set to 14 hours of light daily. I connected the two tents, minimizing light bleed, so I can maintain 1 environment. Hoping to see some bud development over the next week or two now that she's on a different light schedule. After I harvest this, I will likely use this 2nd tent to setup a nice SCROG.
UPDATE Day 81: new tent is steady environment-wise. It is identical to the first, which was the goa. Added 2nd light. Started supercropping to spread out canopy. Lights are on a 12/12 schedule.
This thing is a beast! I may have to get a 7 gallon bucket for this plant...the roots are so massive that they almost fill the entire bucket! I've been keeping this thing pH'd perfectly, giving her 12/12 light, and making sure she has plenty of water, water temps, and tent conditions. I've also been doing some light supercropping to bend the outer and lower stems away from the center -- that way they'll get more light and air movement between them. I'd really like to see some bud formation over the next week on this thing.
UPDATE DAY 92: Buds are definitely forming finally, thanks to a 12/12 switch.
This monster is finally producing buds! It’s early in flowering phase, but has tons of bud sites. I can’t even count! Super healthy plant. Drinking nutrients steadily. Drinking about a gallon of water (or more) every day. I might have to get a 7 gallon bucket just because the roots are so massive. Lovely smell, but not too strong.
This girl is cRaZy! This week I've switched her to a 7 gallon bucket. The roots are so massive that there was hardly any water in the 5 gallon. Now she has plenty to drink and tons of room to grow if necessary. I also did a lot of HST this week -- I wanted to bring the higher stems down to be more flat, an even canopy. I was able to do some weird double bends to get an 'S' shape that lowered many of them. For a couple I just did a 90 degree bend and let her bring her buds upright. She has done amazingly well with all of this training. I feel happy with the shape now: it's flat and about as big as I could get a single plant in my 4x4 ft tent without doing a SCROG. I'm pretty impressed with this plant, actually. Buds are forming all over the place. Looking forward to including some Blue Dream in my diet soon!
This girl is budding like crazy! Over the last week, buds have become very prominent. It's done a little bit more stretch, but overall it's pretty good. I picked up a new light that is double the output wattage. I'm a bit hesitant to switch lights in the last few weeks, but I really want to get some solid buds off this plant and think my lighting could go up a bit more. I'll likely be testing a new light on this next week -- wish me luck!
What is this white stuff on some of my leaves? I had very minor pH fluctuations. It got a little warm -- about 83 degrees F for a day or two. Water temps got up to 75 for an hour or so. Light is pretty close. Any ideas what this is?
Hi @Chi_Town_White_Boy! I think you just named it: pH fluctuations, getting worst very quickly because of hot roots and maybe light stress (your new lighting setup could be involved). You can tuck the most affected leaves to increase light & air penetration (they won't recover) and double check that your pH-pen is calibrated, while trying to maintain decent temperatures in the air / in the solution. The spots should not spread as long as your pH is fine. Hope this will help, keep us up-to-date and happy growing 👊
This lady has been quite a journey! This week she has been under a new light -- I'm using a KingLED 1200w on this 4'x4' tent. It was a cheap light and used a bit less electricity than my other 2 lamps -- which were 300w each. I'm hoping the additional light wattage will translate into bigger buds...we'll see. So far, she's had no problem with this new light. She's been putting on weight and drinking tons of nutrients. I tried to pluck most of the leaves that had that white/rust problem from the stress last week. They are just dying off -- but there doesn't seem to be any major effect with the other leaves. I'm going to give her another week of this Advanced Nutrients stage -- next week I'll likely swap out Big Bud for Overdrive and give her 2 weeks on that. I'm thinking at least 3-4 weeks on this -- possibly more. She smells great. I plucked the bad leaves and my hands were sticky until I used rubbing alcohol. She's coated in trichomes! Looking forward to get a nice big christmas bush for the holidays! I'm dreaming of a blue Christmas! 😊
Finally seeing the end of the grow coming soon! I think I've got about 2-3 weeks left on this. I switched it to Overdrive this week. She's really budding up nice! Buds appear to be really dense.... She's taken quite a while to get here, but I'm really looking forward to the harvest on her! Other than the ugly leaves from my pH issue a few weeks back, she's super healthy and happy!
Other than the fact that this plant went 20 weeks, I am really happy with this strain. It smells great, handled topping and training well, and it produced awesome lower and side buds. This is by far the densest plant I've harvested, and she looks absolutely beautiful. I've been convinced by growing this strain to dedicate this tent specifically to photoperiod plants. I really enjoyed being able to train this plant -- even if it went longer than I'd have preferred. Great smell, supposed to be the best strain of 2018, and I'm looking forward to trying it after a good cure!
Finally!! Harvested this lady at almost exactly 20 weeks. While she went longer than I expected, her yield looks amazing! Hoping to surpass 100g with this because she smells awesome! Looking forward to many nights of blue dreams! 🌲Will update dry weight and smoke report over next few weeks. THANKS to all who gave input on this grow! 🙏
SMOKE UPDATE: This strain is by far my favorite! It was actually smokeable right after it finished drying -- I always try them to see how they are. This was the first strain that I grew that I actually felt happy smoking right out of the drying tent. Of course, with a couple weeks worth of curing, the buds got harder and more dense. The nugs break up great, and they have this white look to them overall. Very asthetically pleasing and has a very strong smell. The easiest note of flavor/aroma to pick out is the blueberry, but it's hard to really describe it overall. Great taste, great smell. The high is quite a kick -- I smoke a lot, and many of the strains I have grown don't give you a kick right when you light it up. Sometimes I find myself feeling the high when I walk away after 10 minutes. But with this strain, I literally feel a head rush on my first toke. It's hard to finish sometimes! Love this strain; will definitely be growing it again next cycle. I might even grow an entire tent of this strain! It's that good! A+ 👌
The seed for this said it was an auto, but I had to put it in 12/12 to flower -- seeming to indicate that it's a photoperiod. The odd thing is that it doesn't seem to be able to handle nutrients at high levels like photoperiods normally do. Even at 550ppm max this plant got a little tip burn (very minor). It's strange to me because if it was truly a photoperiod, I wouldn't have expected it to drink so lightly on nutrients. Is this some sort of auto/photo hybrid? Maybe I screwed it up by topping?
@CRiSPrGrow, I just doubled the light wattage. I haven't started checking trykes yet just because all of the pistils are white. There's literally like 2 orange hairs on the topmost buds and that's it. I think it's got a long ways to go still...spent too long in veg.
@@Chi_Town_White_Boy, maybes up the light see if you can get weight going on her, she s got a faire few weeks inner ? have you started checken trykes or not yet?
I do think it’s a good idea. I have an auto I started at the beginning of April indoors. She never flipped to flower, so I put her outside in the middle of the summer. Once the daylight hours started getting less than 14 per day, she started flowering. She’s looking beautiful now. Hoping to harvest in 3-4 weeks now. You should be able to achieve similar results with a second tent. Good luck 👍
@@Chi_Town_White_Boy, I'd recommend trying 12/12, just to be safe. I'm not sure what causes autos not to flip to flower automatically. Maybe it was actually a photoperiod seed that accidentally got mixed up at the breeder. Or maybe that seed just didn't get enough of the ruderalis traits for some reason. Who knows. But I would anticipate flowering to take about 8 weeks. Good luck!
@DudeGrowsWeed, I moved her to her own tent. I have the timer set to 14 hours on. Should I go less? 13 or 12 maybe? I've never done photoperiod plants, so I'm not entirely sure what's recommended here. Also, how long should I anticipate the flowering period being? 4-8 weeks?
I also grow in DWC (bubbleponics, to be specific) and am looking over to autos, but would like to top and defoliate them if possible, so I'll be watching closely to see how it goes for you. All the best.
@@Chi_Town_White_Boy, thank you so much for the thorough feedback, I seriously appreciate it. I think I am going to switch over to growing a single auto plant that I top and LST in the two grow boxes I have (the second one's still being made at the moment). That'll only end up being next year, but I'm keen for the switch. I topped my current plants in week 2 and 3, so I should be good there. Any suggestions for defoliation tips and intensity for my future auto grows?
@JemGreen, I've definitely had success topping autos. I do notice that it tends to push them to the 11-12 week range for harvest, but I'm not having any problems with yield. I will also add that, using the same system, nutrient schedule, and setup, I am getting way more yield on the autos that I top than I am with the ones I do not. At least double the yield. I grew Critical Auto recently (did not have a diary for that one - though it is visible clearly in the tent photos from my Northern Lights diary) , and I topped it a LOT just as an experiment. The breeder said it is a "petite" yield -- and it seemed like it was going to be that way. My Northern Lights (which I topped only once or twice) was getting really, really bulky. However, when I ended up harvesting them, my Critical blew the Northern out of the water. I even had multiple tops on one primary stalk, and all of those turned out to be the biggest yielding stalks. I also harvested a Big Bang a couple weeks ago, which was not topped, and it had a very low yield. I'm interested to see how my 60-Day Lemon does, and expect to be harvesting that in 2-3 weeks. That one has not been topped, but has the full light of my tent right now because it is the only one beyond 4 weeks old.
In regards to defoliation, I lollipop all of my plants. Like usual, I get better development on the top buds. My 60-Day Lemon is really showing this right now -- all of the side buds are gaining significant mass. The only thing about topping and defoliating autos, as you probably already know, is the timing. I am topping my autos as soon as I can reasonably access the main stalk without damaging the two bud sides that I'm hoping will take over. That tends to be during week 3 for me (top feeding speeds up the process significantly!). I will top through week 5, or 6 in extreme cases, but never after that. Again, I will say that this seems to push the harvest back a week or two, as mine are never done by week 9. But, my yields are about 4oz with autos I top. Less then 2oz with autos I do not top.
I always do LST, unless I have no room left in my tent.
Would love to hear others experiences with topping and defoliating.
Thank you thank you @TOTEM! 20 weeks of my life....I feel like I could possibly be a responsible parent now 😂 I'll have to smoke and think about it 😱 I actually am glad I had this plant go so long because it let me kind of experience the photoperiod grow. I was never really interested in it because of the length they take to get to harvest, but now I realize that having a few extra weeks in veg means you have a few extra weeks to get her shaped properly for light penetration. That extra time gives you an option to top and have a good recovery. I ordered some Critical Jack photoperiods from Dinafem. I had to buy this 2nd tent just for this Blue Dream -- I didn't want to drop my autoflowers to 12 hours a day. Anyway -- now I've got a 2nd tent and I want to do autos in one and photos in the other.
Thanks for checking out my grow! I'll definitely have some updates over the next few weeks!
Hello Chi! Maybe take a pic without LEDs and flash on?
You got an auto photoperiod hybrid! Annoying if you wanted a quick harvest, but on the other hand, you will get a lot more buds!
I think she still has 3/4 weeks flowering and swelling left.
I'm seeing some weird white growth on the edges of a handful of larger leaves. I can't tell what this is. It doesn't really look powdery at all, like mold. It almost looks like its hardening or something. Almost like nutrient burn on the sides -- but it happened overnight. My temps did get up to 75 degrees F last night, and when I got home I dropped it down with some ice buckets. Is this from temp fluctuation/extreme temps?
Hey @Eauderay! Thanks for your comment and ideas. I agree with you that it's got at least 3-4 weeks left. Mostly all the pistils are still white...but it is starting to bud up decently (finally). I've got some 6500k lightbulbs at home....I'll pop them in the tent to get it pure white and then take some pics. It's hard to tell if there's still any issues. I've had the pH on spot for the past couple of weeks...but there appears to be some of the bleaching still. It doesn't appear to be light related -- the leaves are almost out perfectly flat with no clawing or bending downwards. There is no tacoing from heat. I really think this was pH or reservoir temps from a few weeks back. Plant seems to be growing just fine, it's just not as pretty as it was a few weeks ago.
Again, I appreciate your input!
lol that thing is huge how do u prepare the water before adding everything ? in what order? my tap is 8.7ph, when i drop it to 5.5, the water gets cloudy in 24h pleaz help
@Reaper, I definitely rinse the hell out of my hydroton. It seems to leech into the water anyway. I haven't tried cooking them; not sure if that's necessary. The jump immediately after new water is definitely going to be because of evaporation. Evap it for 2 hours with an airstone and that should help. The initial few days of each week you'll see more fluctuation anyway -- as nutrients are used up there will be a drift.
@@Chi_Town_White_Boy, thanks for the info the only thing else is the clay pelets (hydroton) i rinse and coock them then i put them in 5.5 water but again that water goes to 7.5 in few hours lol. maybe i have to evaporate it too . so frustrating i fisted my pussy
@CRiSPrGrow, the display is made by Nextion. There are plenty of samples of coding and it’s pretty customizable - touch screen let’s you make different information screens. Regarding the pH meters, I know there are two kinds - one that can stay submerged and one that can’t. The submerged type is more pricey. The only thing I could think of to reduce to price would be to setup a big, shared reservoir system. I never did that because I like growing various strains, but if you only had one batch to monitor then it’d be easier and cheaper to maintain, I think.
@@Chi_Town_White_Boy, very nice i like that display man , thinking about doing this, crazy about the PH sensors' price, any way to get that down? i tried my own sensors, but the "in soil EC" measurement is a bit tenuous.
@CRiSPrGrow, I made a little tent controller for myself. I used a plastic box that they sell at the hardware store for like electrical connections and stuff. Inside there's an Arduino that just monitors the sensors I attached. I have a sensor that tells me the tent's overall humidity and temperature. Then I have a sensor in each bucket to monitor the temps. I got too lazy to add pH and stuff, but it's been super helpful knowing when the temps in my reservoirs go above 68. Now that it's winter in Chicago though, I'm having a hard time getting my tent up to 70 degrees F! But, I have LEDs in the box that go red or green depending on if I'm within my specs. It's helpful just as an indicator if I have to do something or not. I can glance from 30ft away and know if everything's all good 👍 Arduinos are only like $15, and sensors are like 5 for $10. You can buy pH meters and stuff, too, but they're like $50 a piece.
Nice grow! I was curious on starting DWC soon, but ended up working with soil for now. Do you need a dripper for this? If not how do you keep the hydroton on the surface from getting too dry? Also how often do you change your water?
@BudStinkWeed, my RO is around 8.0. My guess is that we're filtering out most of the acidic stuff so it's probably just getting very basic. I try to shoot for 6.0-6.3 during veg, and 5.6-5.9 during bloom.
I'm still adjusting this though. Also, I use Advanced Nutrients, so if there is a high PPM solution, I would have to fight against the nutrients to get the pH where I want. So I only pH when I have a low PPM solution, otherwise the Advanced Nutrient "perfect pH" is kind of useless.
In that sense, I don't usually modify the pH during feedings. When the nutrients start to be used by the plant, the pH starts to fluctuate. Thats when I really need to watch the pH. Too low of a nutrient solution and the pH seems to drop and become very acidic. Most othertimes, the pH tends to drift up to a base.
Regarding water changes and nutrients, I tend to do that if needed. So, 2 weeks max I make sure I regularly clean my buckets and swap/clean out my air stones. I usually give nutrients once a week, but will add a bit more if necessary 3-4 days in. This lets me give a lighter load of nutrients and see if the plant is taking them or not. So about week 5 or 6 when my nutrient level is near its peak, I'll put about 550ppm of nutrients in initially, but when it drops down to about 100ppm, I push it back up to about 350ppm. That way my plants always have nutrients, my pH is somewhat regulated by the AN lineup, and I'm also not dumping 900ppm on it all at once. If I can get away without cleaning the bucket, I usually just pump out all of the water in my bucket and put a new week's worth of nutrients in. Again, anything more than 2 weeks is probably pushing it. But if I'm doing a second week with nearly the same nutrient lineup, then I try to save myself some time.
Glad to give my thoughts!
Yeah that is true. My RO PH is very high for some reason, using Ispring filters for high alkaline so I have to modify the PH for now sadly. What PH are you running with for veg/flower? And when adding nutrients how exactly do you modify the PH? (Do you keep it the same when adding nutrients or allow it to be raised by adding nutrients.) Also with added nutrients how often do you change the water?Sorry for so many questions! Really appriciate the help!
@BudStinkWeed, hey dude! Thanks for checking my grow! I love DWC! You don't need a dripper necessarily to go DWC. Any sort of top feed, however, does speed up the first 3 weeks significantly. I bought a $10 aquarium pump and some 1/4" water line from the hardware store (like you use for a refrigerator). I drilled really tiny holes in the 1/4" water line and then drilled holes around my net pot to run the water line through (picture: see week 3, day 17 root photo to see 1/4" tubing wrapped). Really crude, really simple, really cheap. Then I have a timer that I turn the power on the pump(s) for 5 minutes every 2 hours. That was the hardest part about the top feed without using a legit drip system -- finding out how long to pump and how often. My plants were droopy for a bit until I got it down.
In regards to hydroton being dry, that doesn't seem to affect anything. Once the roots grow through the net pot and hit the water, you are set. The bubbles from air stones are delivering humidity and oxygen to the roots -- and I would guess keeping the internal humidity of the buckets really high. The roots in the net pot that are too far from the water are probably getting moisture from the lower roots. I'm not sure -- but you don't really have to keep the roots wet near the surface. They seem to do that themselves with internal transport. After about week 3, the roots don't need top feed and almost seem to not like it. It's like they're getting too much water.
I change my water once every 1-2 weeks. If I'm in a veg state for a few weeks, I may let it go for 2 weeks. I will just pump the water out and pump new nutrients in. Just keep your eye on any growth on air stones or other algae (and definitely use hydroguard, hygrozyme, or some bacteria management). I clean my air stones and my buckets at least every 2 weeks. Buckets I spray hot water on everything and then use microfiber rags to dry them (I read that microfiber can grab 99% of bacteria -- not sure how true that is). For air stones, I boil them in plain water for about 5-10 minutes and then I blow air through them.
I will admit that DWC can be a bit of maintenance. If you notice, I try to get all my plants started around the same day. This cycle all of my plants popped on a Tuesday, so I have consolidated all of my routine maintenance to Tuesday nights or Wednesday afternoons.
I love DWC. It's definitely a challenge. Prepare to struggle a bit to figure out PPMs and any other issues, just like any other medium. But once you dial it in, you can get some really great control and results. I have 100% control over my water temps, water pH, water nutrient PPM, etc.
If you've done soil for a bit, DWC is a bit different but I think worth it. I seem to be getting massive yields even when I screw up!
Let me know if you have any more questions. Always glad to help -- and hear other ideas! Please give your two cents if some of my info isn't sitting well with you! Love the community!
@bobo420, that's a little forward isn't it!? jk hahaha 🙀
I'm stoked about this plant! Looking really good in its own tent. I'm hoping to learn a few things with this!
@@Chi_Town_White_Boy, seen this once before on this site, the dude didn t catch it for time, he did like 5 months... his only comment about the strain was "was not an auto so i can't really comment"... mr. diplomat like you haha idk
@CRiSPrGrow, no idea! Either I got a non-auto seed or all of my topping and pruning screwed up the genetics somehow. I'm leaning towards the former.... We'll see how she does in her own tent over the next week or two. As much as I really didn't need another tent (1 is big, 2 is HUGE) - when this girl comes down, I can now do some testing with SCROG or other methods. Hell, even just having the ability to do photoperiod plants is pretty cool! I got a lot to learn...feels like I'm starting new!
@nix_nix, Good catch! I should probably be more accurate with my nutrients. I basically follow the recommended portions -- so I'm more or less providing the Advanced Nutrient's schedule. What I mean to say is that I use double for Bloom/Grow than I use for everything else.
Typically, I use 3 gallons of water for my nutrient mix. That's usually more than enough to cover my 7.5" line I use as a reference for top water level (once roots have reached it, of course). So, here's what I do for a 3 gallon mix: 20ml of grow/bloom. 10ml of everything else. That's total for 3 gallons of RO water.
Depending on what week you're on -- some weeks in AN's schedule include more nutrients than others, which will naturally increase the PPMs. Generally, though, this 20ml base and 10ml everything else (per 3 gal) gets me around 650ppm. I usually will add a bit more RO water to it and mix it up to get it down to the level I want. So it'll take another quarter - to - half gallon to get me down to about 550ppm.
On the other side, if I'm changing two plants at the same time -- let's say they're in the veg state together (AN schedule doesn't change much during veg), then I might add two gallons to that 3 gallon mix and bring it down to something like 300ppm, which is usually good for plants that are 2-4 weeks old.
So, you're right -- I should be more transparent about my data so that others can learn from my mistakes. Hope this clears that up. I maintain AN's proportions, but then water it down.
You can cut the 20/10 ml in half to 10/5 ml and get around 300-400ppm, too. Play around with the numbers, but 600ppm is usually pretty hot for most autoflower strains. My goal here is to reduce the amount of wasted expensive nutrients.
Great questions!
stop with the nutrients. it's still in seedling stage. just keep water at 5.8 ph. do this for at least 1.5 weeks more. then introduce nutes at 1/3rd amounts. you will thank me.
@BeefWellingtons,I haven’t given any nutrients in a few days. I’m curious to try your suggestion. How long do you wait for nutes? What about yellowing? What do you use during this time - Hydroguard and cal/mag?
@BeefWellingtons, I'm using RO water and having it with no nutrients or supplements for 3 weeks seems a bit extreme, considering these plants are only supposed to live 9-12 weeks. I do avoid nutrients for the first few days and then add a little bit towards the end of each week. I'm still adjusting my nutrient schedule, but I feel a lot more comfortable measuring PPM than guesstimating 1/4, 1/3, or 1/2 -- like I see everywhere (even on nutrient labels). It seems like the first week should be ~75, the second around ~150, and the third ~300ppm. Keep in mind that my tap water is 150ppm out of the faucet. Some bottled water I tested is 250ppm! So under ~75 is, in my opinion, a bit too low of nutrients unless you're letting the plant grow its first set of true leaves. After the second start of true leaves appears, however, I think 75ppm is the lowest you'd want. Another thing I've found is that even if I start a reservoir at 50ppm, with Hydroguard, top feeding, and likely some effect by the air stone oxygenation, the PPM tends to slowly climb. If you add any pH Up or pH Down, that increases the PPMs too. So my logic here is this: do you want 150ppm from Hydroguard, hydroton runoff, and pH Up/Down products? Or do you want 150ppm of actual nutrients intended for the plant? It's definitely a trade off situation, and a balancing act to keep pH in range. I have found that Advanced Nutrients will maintain the pH as long as they are above a certain PPM (at least in my RO water -- which measures about 12ppm).
As of now, the plant is about 9 days old, is growing its 3rd node, and has roots appearing on each side of the net pot. I'm going to maintain a low PPM (probably around 150-175) over the next few days and will likely creep it up by next week's start. I'm going to follow your grows and appreciate the exchange of ideas!
@iMeus, thank you brother! 🙏 You’re right - I cant say the root mass is due to the 20 weeks because this strain grew a massive root system pretty early on. Certainly bigger than my other plants, I think. I wonder if it’s photoperiod/auto or strain-specific? I’m going to do another photo as soon as this is done drying. We’ll see how those roots develop!
Hi @@Chi_Town_White_Boy! I think you just named it: pH fluctuations, getting worst very quickly because of hot roots and maybe light stress (your new lighting setup could be involved). You can tuck the most affected leaves to increase light & air penetration (they won't recover) and double check that your pH-pen is calibrated, while trying to maintain decent temperatures in the air / in the solution. The spots should not spread as long as your pH is fine. Hope this will help, keep us up-to-date and happy growing 👊
Thanks so much @Stick! This popped up overnight and didn’t look like powdery mold - so I was scratching my head! My new light comes today - so I’m glad that if this happened, it happened now before I swapped lights and placed the blame incorrectly! I’ll double check pH and will recalibrate my pens. I think this is probably a result of 75+ degree water. It was probably there for 2-3 hours during the day and again during night/morning. The tent temp is too hot from overworking dehumidifier (Chicago weather is all over the place right now).
Thanks for confirming my thoughts on this! I appreciate it! 🙏🌱
Chi_Town_White_Boy
