Autopots: ILGM Granddaddy Purple Fem

TheConstantGardener First RDWC run. All 6 ILGM seeds sprouted in rapid rooters, kept the best 4. Top watering with RO water until the roots hit the waterline, then adding nutes to the water. 15 gallons seems about right for the whole system. The Artisun kit seems quality, though the air pump they sent was undersized and I replaced it with two additional pumps, each running 2 air stones. The pumps are outside the tent and I'm hoping water temp isn't going to be an issue. I drilled holes in the back of each bucket for the air line.

TheConstantGardener I couldn't keep the water temps below 81 comfortably so I'm not going to bother with the RDWC right now - I bought more autopots and transplanted the rooters to solo cups in coco + perlite. I'll break the RDWC back out when it's cooler.

TheConstantGardener Transplanted to 5 gal coco/perlite 50/50. Seedlings were yellowing at 11 days from sprouting. Feeding greened them right up.

TheConstantGardener I decided to break the rules and turn on the autopots right after transplant when the seedlings were still tiny - 2" max. Worked great, no ill effects, don't listen to what they tell you. I don't think there's any need to wait until they're like 5" tall.

TheConstantGardener I turned on the autopots very quickly for these to see what difference it would make. I've noticed they've grown very quickly, but the plants aren't as stable in the pots. Maybe the roots didn't grow out because I didn't top water. So, they seem a little floppy and frail but it could just be the age or strain. I tend to underfeed, so I'd rather burn these than underfeed them. Currently at 600 PPM, elevating to 800 PPM this week.

TheConstantGardener Looks great, no signs of stress or yellowing, now it's just a matter of filling out the net.

TheConstantGardener These are filling out very well - this week I trimmed under the screen. I'm noticing some spots on leaves so I'm upping the TDS to 1100 and foliar fed using foop. I'll veg for another week or so and then go to flower.

TheConstantGardener I'm pretty happy with these so far. The stems aren't super woody - they remain pretty flexible. The leaves are big and healthy and rubbing the stems gets a strong odor. I noticed brown spots on low, large fan leaves on 3 of the plants. It looked like calmag deficiency to me, so I upped calmag from 4ml/gal to 5ml/gal and foliar fed with foop spray. It took about 5 days to slow then stop the spreading of spots. Things seem okay for now - no additional signs of yellowing or burning. Based on overfeeding my other grow, I'm going to back off the mix and run this one at 1,000 PPM until late flower to see what happens. Light is 100% now, so 660W.

TheConstantGardener Solid growth, no signs of distress. Staying at 1,000 TDS until late bloom unless something changes.

TheConstantGardener I think I'm getting closer to dialing in my nutrition and environment with this grow. Plant growth has been excellent. There's the slightest hint of nutrient burn on some of the tips, which probably coincides with me upping the feed above the GH recommended PPM for medium feed. I burned my other plants by going too hot and immediately switched back to following the max PPM on the chart on this grow. So far so good. The tallest stems are four feet tall from the surface of the coco, five feet from the floor. They're just a few inches from the lights. I'll need to reconfigure the exhaust on my tent to give them a few more inches - then I guess they're just in the lights at that point. I didn't expect them to get this tall with scrogging. No smell yet but rubbing the stems or even just brushing against them produces a strong smell.

TheConstantGardener Growth continues to be vigorous with more tops reaching 5'. I noticed slight burning on the tips of some of the leaves, so I backed down to 900 PPM and it abated. The smell is still mild.

TheConstantGardener More... stalks, I guess, are growing up to match the height of the first. They're all parking themselves a few inches from the light. I don't know if that's coincidence. Growth looks good - some purple visible. I hope that's the purple I'm looking for and not some deficiency.

TheConstantGardener These are growing really well - just boring, steady progress. I've dropped down to 800 PPM and all signs of early burn have stopped. I think staying on the low-mid end of the GH feed schedule is going to be just right moving forward. Deep, obvious purple is visible on some fan leaves, on the edges on others, and not at all on still others. The smell is mild but noticeable. So far so good!

TheConstantGardener Bud size is continuing to increase, all other growth seems halted. Height hasn't changed in a couple of weeks. Some yellowing and dying leaves - nothing I'm worried about. Bud density is improving - still has some ways to go. Trichomes are uniformly clear under a microscope, very sticky. Smell is nice and light, floralish.

TheConstantGardener The bud size has continued to increase and the density of the buds has improved a great deal. The purple colors are very vibrant now and the flowers have a strong, but not overpowering, smell when the tent is open. Inspection with a micrsoscope shows clear and cloudy trichomes with the first just starting to amber on sugar leaves. I think it's likely harvest is 1-2 weeks out.

TheConstantGardener I can't pick GH nutes on this site anymore. I'm using micro, gro, bloom, calimagic, liquid koolbloom, and floralicious plus. I follow the chart to the letter except I add 5ml/gal calimagic always. I'm staying on feed week 8, TDS 350 for the rest of the grow. I'm not planning on flushing of any sort. I was wrong when I said the buds aren't growing - they are and one I had to tie with nylon to keep it from interfering with a fan. Density is also increasing. Trichomes are cloudier and still haven't ambered on the buds, so I'm letting it ride. 1 of the 4 plants is clearly larger (right rear) and is also less mature at least in terms of the stigma color. Those stigmas are nearly all white while the other plants have started to brown nicely. I'm in no great hurry for harvest - probably another week or two.