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This is our second run with photoperiods and we've jumped to the big game! We have our large 4x8 Spider Farmer tent set up and ready to go in our basement. We cleaned up and disinfected in the basement, it has tile floors, drywall and ceilings. It's a mostly finished basement with one back room open to the foundation which game me concern. So we got 6 mil plastic (that's the minimum for vapor and mold containment!) and Gorilla Glue all weather tape to seal that room in. We covered the entire door frame leading in and slowly wen't around the plastic to with the guerilla tape to ensure no air holes or leaks formed. For extra OCD protection we sprayed concrobium in that room before hand, then after sealing we sprayed around the seal, windows any where spores could hide and turned the finished basement sterile! For extra protection we even invested in an AC Infinity Air Filter box for our intake filter, and MERV 13 HEPA Filters for it. MERV 13 is the minimum rating for mold spores, bacteria, even sneeze nuclei....that one made me giggle a little but they are rated for hospitals and affordable! I recommend Filtrete it's a trusted brand. The intake and exhaust are both Spider Farmer 6 inch intake fans with ducting, the exhaust is the Smart fan and the intake and Exhaust will both be on it's smart controller to keep our environment where we want it. We have two AC Infinity 4x4 trellis nets ready to go when the time arrives. We also have a dehumidifier set up near the air filter box for when we need humidity to drop later on or on a really rainy day (new england, go figure). An AC unit is also installed in the basement window and will help regulate temps when needed, it will be set to a low setting for flower as we like to bring out the colors later on but It isn't necessary right now, it's only May and only 1 light will run for veg until the girls are bigger and the tent stays a steady 75 to 77 degrees F while the lights are on. Our lights are both Vivosun VS64500 4x4 lights and since they have a heavy draw they are on a 30 AMP RVGuard extension to my 30 amp Dryer Outlet, also be safe with your wiring folks! If you aren't sure about wattage look these things up or ask an expert it's extremely important. And you can not simply swap out breakers do not ever do that! Your best bet is to find a dryer outlet, alot of basements have them and they are generally 30 to 40 amps. We are growing in Promix BX with 30 percent Perlite and saying goodbye to Ocean Forest (i'm sorry, super soils are just not for me). We will be sticking with Advanced Nutrients this run, same as last time. We have heavy hitting genetics starting here, Ethos Genetics, Exotic Genetix and Atlas Seed all in the run. Running 2 of each for 3 of them, but 1 Blue Dream for Wifey and 1 Citradellic Sunset for me (I love Ghost Train Haze..) but our family members will enjoy the extra bulk from our doubled up varieties....also we are hoping the enter a flower competition in september! Betting White Wedding will be the entry so far. All seeds were soaked for 24 hours in distilled water in darkness before planting straight into their first pot, they will be transplanted once when the time is right, into 7 gallon fabric pots.
First week of veg went well. It's our first time germinating and vegging under a light like this, a high wattage bar. So we set it about 3 feet up, it's about 6 inches higher than their website recommended but at 50% dimming the PPFD was hitting 400 or just over in the middle and high 300s on the sides and did not want to stress the babies. They seem to be doing good, and we are keeping an eye on the leaves for signs of tacoing (too much light). They didn't stretch really I'd say they were about 2 inches tall at the most I didn't think to measure the sprouts this time. They got their first feeding as well, Promix BX recommends adding food after a week and I let them germinate about that long before I consider the first week of veg starting. I followed Advanced Nutrients calculator for the PH Perfect Micro Grow Bloom, Vegetative cycle, Advanced level instructions and started the base nutes at 1 ml per liter. All additives are at the standard 2ml per liter. With the first week watering was roughly light, and I focused the waterings in a ring around the seedlings to encourage the roots to reach out... but allowing a little dribble in the middle for their tap roots. They were fed only once this week, and we are considering whether to split the feeds into twice a week like last grow, or stick to once a week for this grow. Decision will be in next weeks entry. Towards the end of the week they got their first full watering instead of a ring of water.
I'll be adding name tags to the soil this week so the next entry will be easier to tell who is who.
I forgot to mention in last week that I had to cut the nutrients with extra water to get it to 400. I had to as well this week. The dosages are correct for the full week, but I feed every watering with 2-3 waterings a week so I used 1/2 to 1/3 the recommended dosage. AN is pretty concentrated and I most likely got the dosage wrong and am ordering syringes for next week to make the dosing more accurate.
Our plants our looking good though! The girls are getting bigger daily and the baby white wedding is catching up. No transplant this week but am expecting to be doing their transplant this coming week as the leaves are just reaching the edges of their pots. We had some trial and error in watering with the Promix BX, even with the added perlite one girl didn't dry out fast enough, then needed water bad when she did. We've learned to not let Promix dry out completely between waterings, we are used to soil and are trying soilless this time. We let it get fairly dry but still damp now. If the surface is dry till it's light brown then it's too dry.
Adjusting the lights this week to about 60% power at 30 inches resulting in PPFDs of 300-400 and they seem happy still as we raise the intensity each week, while watching for tacoing. They receive 300-400 PPFD depending on position from the center, resulting in a DLI of 19-25 depending on position at 18 hours of light. No training yet but may wait to top until 6 or 7 nodes are formed.
A good week and the girls have gotten much bigger, some signs of deficiency has shown but it wasn't severe. The lightening between leaves went away after the bump in nutrients, It's our first soilless grow and i'm guessing either magnesium or nitrogen. The only signs the remained were on a bottom leaf on Apex and i'm leaning towards it was magnesium. I cut the doses from the calculator in half for each feed as I feed every watering 2-3 times a week. Instead of a full half cut though, the additives remained full strength of 2ml per L and the Advanced Nutrient calculator wanted 3 ml of Micro, Grow and Bloom for week 3 of Veg but instead of half of that, I went with 2ml per L which is a little more but I didn't want to stray too far from the calculator with the signs of deficiency. Theres some signs of burnt tips so I don't want to do the full Week 3 dose and worsen it. it doesn't seem bad right now. Currently we only have a Vivosun TDS meter and can't get another for now so I will watch them closely, we think it's reading wrong after the last grow and I'll check it in distilled water soon. The PPMs read high with a full week 2 dose of everything, initially reading 1300-1400 PPM, but after a half hour or so it settles to 1000-1050 PPM even if I stir it up. From what I've read that can be a little high. The E.C at first is about 2.5 up to 3.0. Once settled it's around 2.
Transplants to their final 7 gallon fabric pots came on the last day, and took hours we were exhausted please pardon the mess I cleaned it after of course lol. We can tell the plants like the Promix BX with perlite but transplanting was difficult. They were partially damp, not freshly watered and not dried out but the only ones that were the easiest were 3 who were nearly root bound. We hope to go organic soil next run. Instead of lowering the light further this week we kept it at 30ish inches and left at 60 percent dimmness while they recovered. The following day we will bump it to 80, followed by 100 percent light towards the end of the week. Topping will most likely be done towards the end of next week as well and some LST work.
The girls have been doing great and we've increase their base nutrients to 3 ml per liter. Most are around a foot tall and we've topped them all on the last day of the week and defoliated the lower sections of leaves and small sucker branches that will be covered later as it will all be under the net. The girls look good and further defoliation will be held off until they are a little taller, we are guessing at 18-20 inches above the pot the net will be set. As they heal this coming week we will use some light LST to bend down the main shoot and any of the taller side shoots to begin training the canopy to be more even and flat. The 7 gallon fabric pots are being watered with roughly a gallon each every 2-3 days. We feed every watering so I've kept the base nutes (Micro, Gro and Bloom) behind by 1 week on the schedule instead of half doses. We saw signs of magnesium and potassium deficiency in some leaves. We will keep an eye to see if it persists after defoliating the affected signal leaves.
Update: 6/24- Girls look great! 3 ml per L each feed twice a week seems to be doing it
A great week for the girls, started with some defoliating after figuring out where our net would be. Mostly the lower leaves and lowest sets of bud sites that would be popcorns or larf later. Also took a couple larger fan leaves to open them up for the light, and tied down the freshly healed topped main stems to even out the canopy. The diary was extended 2 days (and our diaries are late lol, birthdays) as we are flipping on the first of July, the net is around 70% full or more as of dropping it and tucking some branches. I'll probably shift them slightly, they'll be in the same spots but moved to give Blue Dream some extra tucking space. She's Sativa dominant and likely to stretch the most along side Apex and possible Citradellic Sunset but the journal's i've seen her stretch wasn't as severe lol. With extra tucking space, and being next to the taller hybrids it should help keep the right side canopy balanced. Both sides have their own 4x4 light. Bud Ignitor has been added on the last day. We will continue defoliation for the first two weeks of flower focusing on the under side of the canopy where it's shaded, and removing any suckers we find.
There were signs of a Ph imbalance on Citradellic Sunset which is my own error, tap water Ph vs Nutrient Ph, not in soil anymore! lol But she has recovered happily and is growing vigorously.
Still no new TDS meter so we stick close to the feeding schedule from Advanced Nutrients with some tweaks. We feed twice a week, Feed/Feed/Water. So instead of the full 4ml of base nutes we use 3ml each watering and they seem happier. 2ml of the additives but most are only added once a week except for Sensi Cal-Mag, Bud Candy and now Bud Ignitor (we also will use Big Bud, Nirvana and Overdrive twice a week). The final watering is PHd to be the same as the feed watering. Max strength base nutes have always burned the tips of my plants, I almost backed off to 2ml of base nutes twice a week as 3ml gave slight tip burn to the smaller Say Less and White Wedding but they have adjusted to it and new growth is healthy. I will most likely edge up to 3ml more gradually next grow. We are still new to scrog but I feel we are off to a better start this round, last time the net was completely full and I don't want a second net.
A great first week of flower, the girls have the net nearly filled by the end and we expect it'll be full by the end of next week. We plan to focus tucking on the biggest, fastest growing stems and trying to keep it as even as possible as we learn more about Scrogging this grow. We defoliated a smidge later then we wanted but the girls kept on growing well, filling and and sprouting new growth and leaves above the net. We will hold off trimming any suckers till about the end of next week, which is just before week 3 flower as alot of guides seem to recommend a final trim then for suckers and leaves blocking budding sites. Not going for a full Shwazzing or anything like that. No signs of deficiency or the pesky Ph imbalance we had prior and the girls look happy. Power for the lights is at 80% and has been lowered to 18 inches. We tried 100% at that distance but some slight tacoing in the leaves told us to back off a little for now as they adjust. The humidity has been high though especially at lights off and we are working to remedy that by blocking off the rest of the back room (storage space) with 6 mil plastic to make the room smaller so the humidifier can more easily control the humidity. It is early still but there are hints of almost floral citrusy notes, my guess is it's White Wedding RBX (strongest by her, and can be smelled with our White Wedding mini tent). Her packaging listed her Terpene profile as PUNGENT (All caps lol) and well, I believe it smelling her even a little so early on.
Girls have been growing great this week, a couple taller tops were tucked but we are pretty much out of net space now. Still new to Scrog but the canopy seems even for the most part but not perfect. They look great though and the net works much better for us than regular LST. Big Bud and Terpinator were added this week. I began defoliating at the end of the week and got half done but am now feeling under the weather. Right side defoliating I'll finish early this week, week 3. And trimming small suckered we find beneath the net. The lights are at 100 percent and have been lowered down to 14 inches. Humidity has been a problem and is a great concern right now in high 70s when lights off and 60s with them on. We live in the north eastern US and humidity in our area has been very high. Defoliating even more important now
Although still weak the smell is increasing in the tent.
Overall it was a rough but good week. Battling upper respiratory slowed me down and our nutrients were delayed a few days in shipping. One feeding early in the week had fox fas Grow Big hydroponic added for temp base nutes until they arrived, they'd already had a plain water day. Initial Ph check was normal 5.8-6 but I believe it dropped the half hour it sat before watering and I think the Ph dropped (I blame being sick) but the combination didn't make it easy. High temperature this week (averaged 83 to 84 F) during the day and humidity in the upper 60s most of the week. The new larger dehumidifier arrives this week and that should be dropping very soon. Weather has certainly made things harder on the girls but for the most part all that considered they are doing great. Except maybe Citradellic Sunset; the rust discoloration between leaf veins and crispy tips happened in veg when the Ph was off so I'm thinking the temporary replacement dropped the water Ph too far. I wish I had double checked but she looks good otherwise. They were a little taller so we backed up the light. Citradelic does have some tacoing in areas some I'm leaning towards it's a mix of the Ph being off and environmental stress. Her last two watering were with the proper base nutes and Ph was correct so there shouldn't be any further spread to other leaves I hope. I heald off snipping some leaves blocking ingredients good tops until tomorrow as I don't want to stress her. Overall they are looking good this week though and am keeping a close eye on Citradelllic
It's been a good week for the girls, bud sites are starting to get bigger each day. The smell is also getting stronger, especially White Wedding and Blue Dream, they definitely are getting a strong smell 🌲🔥. The new dehumidifier has helped alot and average humidity averaging 55 - 60% between waterings with lights on and it hovers mid 60s to 60% when off. Right after watering it hits up to 71% which is 10% better than before so I think it'll continue to improve. The drop in humidity has helped Say Less alot as she was cupping herself with her fan leaves pretty hard. She did this when lights were off and it was cooler so I had a feeling it was that. The rooms AC needs a new drainage hole or two as well and we'll be doing that immediately as it most likely hampering the humidity and adding to higher temps. Temperatures I prefer closer to 80 with lights on. This week was especially warm at night with a heat wave in my area and day temps hit 88 then 90 on one day but have dropped to the usual 84-86 range. The AC is older and needs cleaning too so I'm confident that will resolve the rest of our environment issues.
The high temps that day actually dried the girls out just a little faster than normal and some light damage to lower fan leaves was noticed. They were thirsty and a bit hungry with that dry peat moss and perked up right away with a good watering/feeding. All things considered they are doing very well and going into Week 5 strong. Looking forward to the Terps getting stronger and the buds fatter 😁🌲
A big shout out to @FrontRowAG_BrianG for all the help and info supplied. Definitely appreciate it bro, and learning about VPD dropped my anxiety a little with the environment issues
We've had another good week as we watch the girls filling out their buds. Some are definitely ahead of the rest most notably Apex R1#1, Blue Dream and Citradellic Sunset. Still hoping they are all ripe at roughly the same chop as we need cut them all at once and hang dry in their tent. We will see in the coming weeks; my guess is we'll have a couple couch lockers with some extra amber, some in the middle and 1 or 2 plants with mostly white trichomes and little amber. That's okay with me!, getting some from both ends of the harvest period isn't bad, as long as none are immature lol.
The two Apex R1 are different phenos almost certainly; different tint of green to the leaves and #2 is far harrier while #1 is just like her pictures on the pack. Both smell of lilac diesel, some skunk and other smells coming along they both seem great but so far I favor #1. Also Whote Wedding seems to be as well; different tints to the leaves and differences in bud structure but they both smell amazing and similar, White Wedding #1 appears to be the same phenomenon as the one from my White Wedding mini tent diary. So far the 2 Say Less appear the same.
Conditions: Humidity still high averaging 60-65%, 10 more than I would prefer but still lower than before. It shoots towards 70 after watering and I believe the rooms AC unit to be the culprit; back water log fixed with new hole drilled on outside section.. but it's still dripping from the front inside the room. We will be pulling it out and giving it a thorough cleaning in the front, the case must be opened and condenser coils cleaned so it can properly evaporate the water in the air and function better. With dirty coils/fins thos can't happen, water builds up inside and leaks out and humidity starts to rise (growing weed you learn random things about stuff you normally didn't think about lol) We need the humidity to drop for the last couple weeks so that's a must do this week. That MERV13 certainly working hard in our intake fan and was replaced last week with a clean filter.
The aromas are building nicely, some are very pungent most notably White Wedding and Blue Dream but the other girls are getting strong too.
Some yellowing on Blue Dream has us concerned as we keep an eye on feed levels tp ensure it's not a deficiency and that it doesn't continue. I don't believe it is the lights at this time and temps have not climbed above 86. The other possible culprit is our humidity issues as I doubt it fading already. It's been most prominent on Blue Dream, the other girls mostly Apex have some very light marks on lower leaves but Blue Dream is the noticeable one. It's on top and bottom leaves so if it's a deficiency I'm thinking either P or K and will consider bumping base nutes to 3ml per liter if it persists. None of them are droopy or wilted and seem happy otherwise throughout the week and theirs buds are filling in nicely!
ShadowGrows
