First Grow - Stardawgs from clones

TheIceCreamParlour Hi Everyone! First time grower and complete horticultural novice. I am a studier however and whilst I've been slowly buying all my kit to get started I've been researching like crazy on best methods etc. Setup: Budbox Pro XL White 2.4 x 1.2 Pitched Tent 3 x Maxibright 315w CMH lights 8" Hyperfan Extractor with Carbon Filter Mother Nature C02 Generator Ram Floor Fan 20l Propots 60/40 Canna Coco/Clay mix BioGreen Nutes Soft tap water (always left overnight in butt) Run to waste trays 9 litre humidifier Week 1 obtained cuttings locally and planted into 4" rockwool blocks to start. Watered with just 2ml/l X rooting for first 7 days as per feed chart. Humidity kept high between 70-80% initially set them under 1 light. 1 plant was very sick when I got it and took a good 6 days to come round. It is now slow but healthy. I am planning on topping these to keep the height down as the 315s are very powerful and with my trays I can really only grow up to around 1.5-1.7 feet tall otherwise the plants will be too close to the lights. In my haste and stupidity to get this flourishing fast I put them under 3 lights at day 7 and they responded badly. Curling dry edges and stunted growth so immediately switched back to 1 light. Now on day 10 they are looking much better but still very slow. Will update next week and hopefully they will show some growth!

TheIceCreamParlour Hey guys, week 2 and things are going very well! I pretty much left them alone for the first 4 days of the week. Just basically giving each plant a small amount of nutes and a foliar spray each day right as the lights came on to avoid burning them. However I've been to the British MotoGP this weekend and I had to leave them untended for 4 days so gave them a good 3 litres of nutes each on Thursday before I left. When i got back the lights were off in the grow space and the temps were down at 16'c!!! Its clear that with the unexpected cool weather weve been having one has suffered some cold shock so I've now added a small oil radiator into the tent that will come on for 15mins every hour while it's dark. Hoping this stops it happening again untill I can afford a climate controller. Despite that when I got back i was presently suprised to see they had all nearly doubled in size! Enough so that I've started training them. All have shown great progress since topping. I've also now switched to full 3 lights as the healthiest plant has really stretched in search of the sun. I'm taking this as a sign it's time they are ready. As a newbie grower I'm always researching and learning but I've found you can only read so much and sticking to strict feed charts isn't ideal so ive upped the nitrogen once again and the strength of my feed has increased to 1.5 EC which is around a week in front of my feed chart. Since supplementing the canna nitrogen they have shown significant improvement in colour and leaf size. All in all a very successful week with some minor teething problems but this is a great learning curve and I'm positive these girls will continue to grow strong.

TheIceCreamParlour Hey! End of week 3 at the parlour. My girls are 21 days old today. In short I think they are doing very well. obviously as they are from clones they are much bigger than most I see at 3 weeks old. No real problems this week. Oil radiator has improved temps which now haven't dropped below 22'c. At the beginning of the week I noticed some green alge on the surface of the coco so decided to 'nip it in the bud' and bought a gnatmix to cover the surface. I also trained each plant with the green soft wires this week as the elastics weren't quite doing the job. As of tonight though I have taken them off to give the stems a chance to lift up a little bit. Fed them every 3 days with about 6 litres each. Enough to flush the pots to a runoff EC of 1.8 which I'm happy with. I think I'll give them a couple more weeks to grow before i flip them.

TheIceCreamParlour So guys, end of week 4 at the parlour and my first ever grow. Possibly the biggest boom in growth so far down to a few small changes and keeping a close eye on the conditions. Lamp distance unchanged since week 2 and i think it's in the sweet spot as the plants are very bushy and reluctant to stretch too high. This week I've not solely focused on laying every branch down flat and let them find a natural path to the light. Only the biggest have been flopped over the sides of my pots. Feed wise they have only had 1 good flush and feed. Last week I couldn't get my run off EC below 2.8 so I left them 4 days unfed then flushed each with 6 litres of 5.6ph water. After that I made up a lighter 1.4ec nute mix and gave them a further 6 liters each. This in combination with improving my drainage sytem meant I managed to bring my run off EC to within 0.3 difference on each pot. Last feed was Friday evening and they have exploded since. I knocked the extra N on the head this week also as some leaves were showing minor toxicity. Plenty of new growth which is looking very healthy. As the weeks go on I'm learning more and more and with the help of some Growdiaries members the girls are looking very comfortable. I'll give them until next Sunday then decide based on thier size weather or not to flip them over to flower! Thank you to everyone input so far it is very much appreciated.

TheIceCreamParlour End of week 5 - Day 35 On day 33 I switched the lights off for 24 hours and back on to 12/12 yesterday so they are now officially on a flowering light schedule. This week has seen another massive boost in growth. Conditions pretty much unchanged from last week however I have changed the layout in the tent. As this is my first grow it's been trail and error up to now but I think I've got it pretty much bang on. Moved the humidifier above the smart pots so they aren't getting any moisture other than the feed. Also moved all the plants further down the tent and away from the heater. I've added a video this week so you guys can get a proper look at the set up and advise me accordingly. Includes the air moving fan and natural Co2 generator. Lights have been moved around the filter so that they can be kept at 18" from the tops of the plans. I have had to move them 3 times already this week as some dominant colas are shooting up. Final training of tallest colas happened tonight. I topped the tallest 2 on each plant hoping that they now wont stretch too high during the first 3 weeks of flower. Head space is a bit limited in my tent. I think as of next week they may benefit from some defoliation lower down but I'm hesitant to do too much at this stage while they transition from veg to flower. Nutes wise I've now introduced BioGreen X-Bloom as per my feed chart. They seem to like a slightly stronger feed than the chart suggests at around 0.1 - 0.2 higher. Run off EC and PH has been within 0.3 again so I'm taking this as a nice equilibrium. I have been feeding on a wet and dry schedule of every 3 days while in veg. I'm led to believe that at this point every other day would now be needed and after 3 weeks switch to every day feed? As always your guys feedback would be great as each part of the grow is completely new to me. Hoping I've got things right up to now and confident these girls will produce some really nice buds! See you next week!

TheIceCreamParlour Checking in. Today is 7th day on a flowering light schedule and my girls are just about to show me their flowers. Vegetation is changing shape and a few pistils are growing on each site. I was struck by thrips the day after my last entry so spent the first few days sorting that problem and really giving them some attention. A simple smoke bomb has rid me of the thrips and in addition I've also given them 2 lost of foliar soap spray which I will continue to do weekly. Despite the thrips my girls have been very happy once again. Feed wise I dropped the nutes down below the recommendations on the feed chart. Feeding 1 in 2 days at around 1.6 EC where the chart suggests 1.8-2.0 EC. As of this week they will now be getting fed every day. I defoliated about 15 large fan leaves off each plant twice this week but they just keep kicking back and within 2 days the canopy is thick with vegetation. I also managed to take a few photos of the second largest plant outside of the tent so you guys could see how my training method has shaped them. Only reason I chose this one as it's the easiest to get out of the tent safely. It measured roughly 18" tall and 40" wide. Another good week but I'm now nervous about encountering problems as we move deeper into flower as I know they don't cope or bounce back like they would during veg.

TheIceCreamParlour Day 49 - 14th Day of Flower I'm starting to really enjoy this part of the grow. That said the amount they have stretched is crazy! My lights are maxed out height wise and they are only just 18" above the tallest colas so I really hope they finish up stretching soon. Nutes: I added PK13/14 for fridays feed and they seem to have responded really well to it. They have been fed every other day as they aren't quite drying up in 24 hours. One thing I have noticed this week is the smell! They have become incredibly pungent. Everytime i go in the tent I have to change my clothes as they just smell so much. The fan leaves around the bud sites are becoming sticky! I have taken the smallest one out to photograph this week. It was sick when i got it as cutting so wasn't topped as early as the others. That said it seems to have grown into a really nice shape and has lots of buds developing. No problems really this week. Just a bit of mild light burn which I kept on top of. They will have 1 more defoliation this week and then I'll leave them be.

TheIceCreamParlour Week 8 and day 21 of Flower. I'll keep it short(ish) and sweet this week. Nothing much has changed in the tent other than the immense stretch. My 315's are as high as I can possibly get them and the tallest colas are less than 10" away. Despite that they aren't actually showing any heat stress. I think its partially down to the fact I've got my wall fan blowing directly across the canopy. Feed has stayed the same only slightly increasing PK13/14. All responding well to it. Much less nutes than recommended. Feeding 6 litres every other day still at 1.6ec and 5.6ph. No extra training just some removal of the lower tiny buds and fan leaves as they approach the end of their stretch and growth stage. My 10 seeds are also doing well if not a little lanky! How do I keep them short?? Final note from me this week: I've have included a couple shots of the calyxes Can someone put my mind at ease and tell me I dont have a tent full of hermies?? Happy growing and thanks to everyone's advise up to now I'm really starting to find my feet with it.

TheIceCreamParlour Day 63 - 28 of Flower Changes this week include adding a 4th Maxibright 315w lamp and Agro bulb. I wanted to run 4 but originally could only afford to buy 3. These retail at £250 each per kit so theres now £1000 just in lighting. A huge improvement to overall light spread around the plants and more light penetrating the canopy to the lower bud sights. I've also spent the weekend insulating my space for 2 reasons. Obviously temperature fluctuations being one. I found the temps were anywhere between 17 and 31 degrees throughout a 24 hour cycle and wanted to get a more consistent day and night temperature. With the extra light it needs to be cooler too. 2nd reason was humidity. With the great British weather being as damp as it is the night time humidity has been over 75% some days which now we are deep into flower could quickly lead to bud rot. Insulating the space and running my exterior AC unit has now got that figure to below 56% at all times. I'm very happy with that. Feeding ratio remains unchanged this week. I'm going to continue running the PK13/14 for at least another 7 days or untill the buds finish fattening out. Still feeding 6 litres every other day. No further training at this point just pulling a few colas out of the way of the fan and one main cola from directly under a lamp as it was burning. Also stretch has now finished which is a massive relief as I've no headspace left in the tent at all. I didn't have time to take many photos of the buds in the dark but the ones I have put on show just how frosty these stardawgs get! Really living up to their name considering they are only half way through predicted flower time. The only further upgrade I would like at this point is a proper co2 with digital regulator. I have however read that they dont benefit much from extra co2 from this point onwards?? What is everyone's thoughts on that? Obviously I have my natural co2 generator and will leave it in untill the end of the grow. I realise I really underestimated the size of these plants and 6 sativa dominant species is a stupid idea. The tent is just too packed so on the next run I'll opt for less and go with a scrog. Thanks for checking in! I cant wait to see how the next week plays out.

TheIceCreamParlour End of week 10 - Day 70 / 35 of flower Another good week at the parlour. A lot of hours spent in the tent yoyo-ing the biggest colas. Half way through the week nearly all of them had fallen over so I had a full evening trying to make some space and hanging them up. I messed up a feed at the beginning of the week and over fertilised them with PK which can be seen on some leaves. For the last 3 feeds they've been on only 0.5ml per litre to try and reverse a bit of the damage. After today they come off PK completely and onto the BioGreen X-Blast. Obviously with this being my first grow I have nothing to properly compare too just other diaries. Only 1 or 2 of my friends grow their own medicine but regardless I've never seen weed like this (in person) in my life. The frostiness is next level. Even with the lights on you can see just how many Trichomes these have produced. It's looking like they will only need another 3 weeks. Plan is to carry on following the feed chart for for another 2 weeks and if I see any signs of cloudy Trichs I'll start to flush them untill they are 50/50 cloudy and amber. I really hope these keep going strong. I just cant wait untill I can pack a bong and take a rip of my very own home grown weed!

TheIceCreamParlour Sorry for the really shitty pictures this week! I just went up to take some photos for the diary at my usual time and realised that the lights are already on due to the clocks going forward an hour here in the UK 😂 Schoolboy error! I'll throw some more up tomorrow. Struggled with cold again which seems to have turned the leaves purple throughout. I've done my best to keep it around 20' but every now and then it gets down to 10'. I'm going to get on top of that before the next lot of plants are moved to this tent. Plan is only 2 more nute feeds which will be tomorrow and Wednesday. I'll then start to flush them from Thursday for 10 days. If I'm happy with the trichomes next Sunday (11th Nov) then I'll pull them down. If they arent quite ready ill continue for a couple more days untill they are. Wish me luck as I move into the final phase of growing! What a fantastic experience it's been so far!

TheIceCreamParlour Week 12 over! Cant believe how fast this last 3 months has gone! My 6 ladies are powering on and just keep getting bigger and bigger. They have had 2 nute feeds this week and now 2 flush feeds. Planning on going with a 10 day flush. I will continue to upload pictures throughout the week as I'll be asking for a experienced opinion on when to chop. So far I'm seeing literally 1 or 2 amber trichs on the biggest of the 6 but no anywhere else. I'm thinking this is a good sign that my target of cropping next Sunday is still on track. That would be exactly 13 weeks. Buds are looking so so dense. Hard to get a photo that does them justice but the biggest colas are 75mm thick! If your here then please also check out my new diaries where I'm running 3 FastBuds strains. These will be going in my environment as soon as the stardawgs are jarred up.

TheIceCreamParlour Hey guys, it's been a great journey but I've finally hung my Stardawg out to dry! Yesterday was their last day totalling 8 weeks on flower. Realistically they could have benefited from a further week because the lower buds are somewhat underdeveloped but then I would risk losing the preferred sweet high smoke of the top buds. With this being my first attempt it's been a great learner not only for how to care for the plants but also the environment. As soon as these went into flower and started stretching I knew that putting 6 in a 2.4 x 1.2m tent was a bad idea. They just got so big which is the cause of the lower sites not being as good as the top colas. Despite that I'm really happy with the outcome and I'm hoping ive got 30oz+ of real good quality nugs. All of the top colas have turned a gorgeous violet colour too which you can see on the pictures and I absolutely love. For my next grow I've gone with 6 fastbuds strains which hopefully will go under a scrog. Check back next week for the harvest and weigh in!

TheIceCreamParlour Great first experience. I think I've learned so much from the problems I've faced during this grow. Managing the environment has been a big challenge with limited equipment. Also this strain (in photoperiod) isn't suitable for small spaces like mine. It grew far too tall for my tent which meant I couldn't give the lower bud sites the light they needed. Despite all this I really enjoyed the challenge and will take the experience into my next grows.