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Using General Hydroponics rapid rooters I set up 2 GDP and 1 Gold leaf seeds in the seed tray, put them into the tent and used the Photone app the set the light to be around 230 PAR at the top of the seed tray. The light will be on 24/7 until they sprout at which point I will switch to 18 hours. The temp is 71 and holding in the tent. To hopefully increase the temp I removed the bin from beneath the seed tray and put it on a riser for a 5 gallon pot. This allows me to turn up the brightness on the lamp, but not by much.
Temp has been steady at 71 despite slightly raising the house temp and lowering the seeds. Humidity seems low almost 10% lower than the room at 47%. I have sprayed water the inside of the seed tray so it's not a problem, but something to keep an eye on. I raised the temp in the house and have the exhaust fan on the lowest setting.
2nd day. No shoots yet, but the temp has risen to 75 F inside the tent. I misted the seed tray lid this morning and evening. Did a test on the Happy Frog soil and got a ph of 5.5 and ppm of 1800. I'll flush the pot once before transplanting and make sure the first watering is near 6.5 ph to balance things out. I plan to go from rapid rooter to what I am guessing are 3/4 gallon pots and finally into their 5 gallon homes.
3rd day. The gold leaf sprouted this morning before work. By the time I was done all 3 had come up. I added a bit more mist into the dome, but opened the holes and will begin lowering the humidity slowly. Tomorrow starts week 1!
** So, my initial PAR readings were off. I had not calibrated the Photone app. They were off about 100 PAR. Then I discovered that I was taking the reading with the door open lol. So, once I closed the door and took the readings again, they were off about another 100 PAR. So, these girls started their lives under around 400 PAR instead of the 200 I was aiming for. This could be why the initial leaves are turned down. They were getting way more light than needed. **
Questions and suggestions are always welcome. Thank you very much for stopping by!
Day 4 - They seem to be growing fast. I am misting the dome a bit less, but I won't be able to use the dome much longer. Open water in the tent is not raising the humidity so I have ordered a humidifier. I'll need one for the winter months regardless. I will take dome off for about an hour today and add an hour each day until they no longer fit.
Day 5 - Taking the dome off 3 separate times today for an hour each. Rapid rooters are getting dry so added about 10 drops per plant. The soil for the new pots is ready and drying, but I want to see a few more roots and I hope the TPS - billions I ordered arrives before transplanting them into the larger pots.
Well, that's not happening as they need to be transplanted today. I got them into the new pots. I flushed the soil yesterday, so no water added as it was still very moist. I left the rooter exposed at the top to allow more oxygen to the roots.
Day 6 - No dome, but I have been misting them when i can. After checking on them they seem to be yellowing. Most likely this is from the new soil, but I have added makeshift humidity domes just in case.
Day 7 - More yellowing in the morning, but with misting and the domes by evening they were getting their green back. The gold leaf is showing a bit of nutrient burn, but neither of the GDPs are. Looks like I might not have known what I was signing up for and may need 2 feeding schedules. The TPS billions showed up today so I will begin adding that at the next watering.
Day 8 - They are getting darker still and growing again. I am continuing to mist them and keeping the domes on until the humidifier arrives.
Day 9 - They are visibly growing and the humidifier should be in tomorrow. Soil is still moist less than 1/4" down so no water yet.
Day 10 - The humidifier showed up finally. Domes are removed and tent humidity is set to 70%. I still have misted them every few hours to get them used to being out of the domes. Tomorrow starts week 2.
Questions and suggestions are always welcome. Thank you very much for stopping by!
Day 11 - They seem to be doing alright without the domes, but I will mist them every few hours just in case. Nice growth overnight in all except the Gold Leaf. It might be just a bit slower to get going because of the moist medium or slightly hot soil.
Recalibrated Photone app and found my light was a bit strong by possibly 100 PAR. Adjusted lights down a bit. The app is reading around 270, down from 380 after calibration.
Day 12 - All 3 are growing visibly over the day. The soil is still moist, so no water needed yet.
Day 13 - Growing steadily, not much else to report. Soil is moist about 1/2" down for both of the GDP, but the Gold Leaf is almost a full inch of Dryness. Since there is no drooping or any other signs, I will wait one more day to water it.
Day 14 - Still not ready for water. The Gold Leaf is 3.5 inches tall now and the GDPs are around 2.5 inches. GDP #1 seems to be the furthest along being the farthest on its 3rd set of leaves. I'm really enjoying seeing the amount of growth each day.
Day 15 - Plants are getting close to needing to be transplanted again already. Tomorrow morning will be first official watering. I'll record PH and PPM of runoff. Adding TPS Billions, Molasses, and balancing PH to 6.2.
Day 16 - Watered them this morning. Used about 1/2 gal. and tested the runoff. PH was between 5.5 and 6.0 and the PPM was very near 1500 for 2 and 1800 on the 3rd... Looks like no nutes next week unless there are problems. On inspecting the bottom when I removed it to water I noticed roots barely poking through the bottom. I ordered some diatomaceous earth as it is supposed to boost silica in the soil and can help with pests too. That won't be here for a couple days so I will wait for that since I would like to mix it into the soil for the 5 gal. pots. It has been a few hours since watering and they seem to be doing well.
Took evening photos and things are still good. Could not help myself and ordered a c02 bag.
Day 17 - Final measurements for week 2. The Gold Leaf is up to 4.5 inches, GDP #1 is up to 3.5 inches and GDP #2 is at 3.25 inches tall.
Questions and suggestions are always welcome. Thank you very much for stopping by!
Day 18 - Start of week 3. The Diatomaceous earth is arriving today, so it is time to transplant into the 5-gallon pots. For soil it will be FF Ocean forest on the bottom 1/4 with a blend of happy frog and ocean forest for the rest. I'll decide how much once I test the PPM of the ocean forest. I'll be adding a small amount of perlite as well as some diatomaceous earth as well.
The soil mix for the 5-gallon pots was 1/4 Ocean Forest in the bottom. Then 2 parts Happy Frog and 1 part Ocean Forest for the rest. I mixed about 15% extra perlite and 10% Diatomaceous earth. I broke up the bottom roots a bit and added TPS billions to the root ball and where it was being transplanted. After being placed back in the tent I watered them and adjust the lights to be around 300 PAR at their new height. This may lower the temp a little, but I don't think it will.
Day 19 - No signs of transplant shock and I see new growth from today. Adding the fabric pots with soil has increased the humidity 10% or more... I had to increase the exhaust fan to 2 to keep it near 65% Seems strange after I placed a dish with water in the tent and it did not help at all.
Day 20 - Nothing needed today. Humidity is still trying to stay near 70%. C02 bag should be here tomorrow. I am hoping ti will activate before I move it to flower, but in a 2x4x6 tent, I need to make sure they don't get too tall. For my first grow I am thinking just a scrog and some LST.
Day 21 - Noticed in the pictures small yellow spots starting over the last 1 -2 days. After checking into deficiencies and other possibilities it seems like bugs. I made some DE (Diatomaceous earth) water and sprayed the leaves top and bottom. Then after letting it dry for an hour, I put DE down on top of the soil as well. I noticed that the leaves got very droopy after being sprayed so it is not time for more water yet. These fabric pots dry out much faster than anything I've used before, but the center is still moist less than an inch down.
Day 22 - The spots still seem to be growing and there are small black spots under the leaves. I made a solution of 1 part DE to 4 parts water and sprayed the tops and bottoms of the leaves again. Then reapplied the DE to the soil. Hopefully this will keep them off the plants. C02 bag is in. A little of the substrate had gotten into the top, but that is probably good to get this going a bit faster.
Day 23 - I watered them by dunking this morning. PH is still a bit low around 5.7. PPM was showing 550. The spots on the leaves have seem to have slowed now and I can see dried DE on the bottom of the leaves so I will monitor them for the next 4 to 5 days and then give the tops of the leave a bit of a rinse.
Day 24 - No more pest activity that I can see so far. There is slight yellowing of the lower leaves of the Gold Leaf which might be nitrogen deficiency. I will make a foliar spray and see if that helps a bit until I can water them again.
It's looking more like calcium deficiency now. I used Flora micro in a foliar spray (3 drops in 16oz). It does have some calcium in it, but i may need to feed a tad early.
** Considering the amount, the roots had grown at the time of transplant I am thinking I will go from seed tray to 3-liter air pot and then to the 5-gallon fabric pot. This will give them a bit more time between transplants and the air pot will help stop the circular wrapping of the roots. I also saw these interesting pots called Octopots. Basically, it's a hydro-soil hybrid and I am wondering if anyone has experience with them and if they work as advertised? **
Questions and suggestions are always welcome. Thank you very much for stopping by!
Day 25 - Going by the pictures from the end of week 3 I am guessing a calcium deficiency now. I applied a Flora Micro foliar spray. Hopefully that helps until I can feed them.
Day 26 - The foliar spray might be slowing things down, but they are still a bit too wet to feed.
Day 27 - No negative signs on the GDPs thankfully, but the Gold Leaf is still getting worse slowly. I made some nutrient solution tonight and will feed them in the morning.
Day 28 - I fed them this morning and checked the runoff. The PH is showing around 5.5 for all of them. The PPM is between 1950 and 2100. So the problems with the Gold leaf are most likely lockout. The PH of the nutrients before feeding was 7.5 and the PPM was around 550. I was hoping there would be a change because of the higher PH, but the runoff had the same PH as last feeding despite the 7.5. I may need to try lime or baking soda. They are still steadily growing and should need another feeding in 3 or 4 days. For now I will continue with the foliar spray. I may need to make it slightly stronger. First I will try applying it twice a day.
Day 29 - The signs of lockout have pretty much stopped so I am hoping the higher PH water helped. Neither of the GDPs have shown any problems yet either. No nutes for a few weeks though. 😅
Day 30 - I can't really believe it's been 30 days. I'm looking forward to the next 30!
Day 31 - Still watching for deficiencies. There is still probably 2 days before I can water them.
Brown spots with light yellowing. Possibly calcium deficiency? This is only happening on the Gold Leaf. Neither of the GDPs are showing these signs. This has happened over the last 2-3 days.
Day 32 - Noticing Nitrogen toxicity (not surprisingly 😏) now that the PH is hopefully a bit better. They are not ready for more water yet. They will need a flush soon.
Day 33 - I can water them tomorrow morning. Going to flush and get new PH and PPM readings.
Day 34 - Watered this morning. (6 Gal. PH'd to 6.5, nothing else added) I was suspicious of my PH/TDS meter readings, so I got a Blue Lab soil PH pen. After calibrating it I noticed the cheaper one was a bit off. It is not off by much. The runoff showed a PH of about 5.5 for all 3 and slightly different PPM readings. The Gold Leaf was just over 2150 PPM 😕. GDP #1 1850 PPM and GDP #2 at 1350 PPM. After work I tested the soil PH and it was between 5.3 and 5.5. My last watering was a PH of 7.4, but it did not seem to change anything. I will need to do the same again. The GDPs are also now showing signs of what I think is Nitrogen toxicity.
Day 35 - They are showing their sex now. I added pictures. I am guessing 2 more weeks before I flip them to flower, but this is my first time and I can't even use the scrog net yet, so we'll see.
Day 36 - 3 plants might be a bit too much 😆 The Gold Leaf is 18" tall now and both of the GDPs are right around 14". I plan on flipping them when they reach 25". The Gold leaf will get there first and so I may try super cropping. Either way I plan to start scrogging around 20".
Day 37 - The Gold Leaf just hit 20". Trellis net goes up tomorrow night.
Day 38 - Decided not to put up the trellis net so that I can do one more dunk feeding before they get locked down. The Gold Leaf will be ready for water in the morning, but the GDPs are still a bit heavy. I did say feeding, but this will just be PH'd water with nothing else. The PH is 8.4 This time because 7.5 did not change anything.
Day 39 - Watered the Gold Leaf today by dunking it. 8.4 PH going in and 6.3 for the runoff. The PPM was only 500 or so, but I'm guessing it is because of the dunk. The soil test was still 5.3 on one side and up to 5.7 on the other. I checked right away so maybe it has gone up. GDP #1 seems to need water, but GDP #2 will need another day. The Gold Leaf is reaching the 25" limit for flipping, but the net should help show things down a little so the other 2 can catch up.
Day 40 - Both GDPs needed water and got dunked. PH was 8.5 and the runoff showed 6.2. A soil PH check came back at 5.9. I am hoping that the small jump will help. I realized I would not be able to test the runoff with the stand and saucers I was using so i got new ones. This lowered my potential flipping height, but with the SCROG I am hoping to keep the goldleaf down long enough for the GDP to catch up.
Day 41 - The Gold leaf is tall enough to bend down and the GDPs are almost there. I'm anxious to see how many bud sites I can get through the net before I defoliate and flip to flower. I don't think I should wait much longer with 3 plants in a 2x4 and the gold leaf getting close to 25 inches.
Day 42 - 2x4 is too crowded so decided to order a 5x5 and move them over before I flip to flower. The gold Leaf is dry again. Watering with 3 gallons to try and get the PH up and the PPM down. The PH of the water I am using is 7.5
Day 43 - Watered Gold Leaf today. Going in the PH was 7.5 and the PPM 250. The runoff showed 5.9 and the PPM was 870. The soil test after work showed on one side as 6.1 and the other 6.0. Getting better, but I want to be closer to 6.5 before I flip them. The 5x5 tent will give me the room needed for that.
Day 44 - Watered the GDPs today. The water going in had a PH of 7.5. The PPM was around 255. The runoff had a PH of 6.2 and a PPM of over 850. Both were very similar. At least one more week without nutes unless there is a problem.
The ladies all seem to be showing a bit of magnesium deficiency. I started using a foliar spray for now with 1ml cal mag in 500ml of water with a PH of 6.5. Might need to add cal-mag to the next watering. The 2x4 is way too crowded with the 3 of them in there together. Hopefully the new tent shows up soon.
Day 45 - The Gold Leaf is getting worse. It looks like lockout again. The other side of the spectrum this time. Probably too alkaline... 😒 From now on I will be feeding with water with a PH of 6.5. For now I added a few drops of micro and bloom to the foliar spray and applied it once more. It seems like it will need more water in a day or two so that should help.
Day - 46 The Gold leaf is going downhill fast. I think I will need to water it again in the morning with the PH at 6.5. I am hoping this doesn't cause overwatering, but I don't think I have many more days left. The GDPs are both showing some on the lower leaves, but it is much slower and they should be fine until the next watering.
Day - 47 and 48 The foliar doesn't seem to be slowing things down. They are still wet, but I will need to do an emergency feeding. The PH is above 6 so it must be lack of nutrients. Hopefully I am right. 😓
Day - 49 Watered them all today with a PPM of 600. I do not see signs that things are getting better yet, but I'll check again in the morning.
Day - 52 After the last feeding the PPM was still low so I removed the trellis and did a dunk feeding with a PPM of 600 plus the 150 from my tap water. They definitely need tto be flipped soon, but I do not want to defoliate until this problem is resolved.
Day 54 - After the dunk feeding I could not do anything else. 2 big feedings almost back to back had me worried about root rot. The good news is that I think they are starting to get their green back. The GDP's PPM PPM was over 1000 so no nutes next feeding, but the Gold Leaf was still only 800 so it'll get a normal feeding. I was able to get them back into the trellis and if they are really getting better I will need to defoliate tomorrow and flip by day 57 or 58. If the Gold Leaf doubles in size it will reach the light.
Day 59 - They started getting their green back, but started to also show signs of manganese deficiency. After a lot of research it seemed like this was from the foliar spray so I have stopped that and I think more green is coming back. I did some lolipopping on day 57, but after going over the canopy they will need more. I am going to wait until the second week of flower and then clean them up again then and every week until week 6 of flower. Day 61 will be the start of the 12-12 schedule.
Day 60 - Had to flip to flower while they are still recovering. It might still be having a problem with manganese. Since it is included in the Micro formula, I have to guess that there is too much iron in the water or from the foliar spray. Everything I've read suggests it can take a week for things to start getting better so I will feed normally and watch for worsening symptoms.
Day 64 - tied down the tops again because they are clearly taller.
Day 71 - Feeding with water with a PH of 6.9 and molasses and Billions. They seem to be greener already. The runoff was still betwen 6.1 and 6.3 so I will continue watering with a PH of around 6.8 for the next 2 feedings.
Thank you for visiting! 😎
Day 73 - Only 11" to the light and they are just starting week 3 of flower. I am guessing there will be more stretching so my only option will be to remove the inline fan. At least that will get me a few more inches. 😅
Thanks for stopping by! 😎
Very close to harvest. They are looking amazing and I can't wait to try them out. Of course that is exactly what I'll have to do. Wait. 😂
Well, growing 2 strains at once was not the best idea for my first grow, but they made it through. I expect the GDPs to finish up this week while the Gold Leaf may need another week.
Thanks for stopping by! 😎
Tops finished first so I decided to harvest in waves. I'll have to wait for dry weights, but I'll add them. The rest of the GDPs are coming down tomorrow. The gold leaf will need a few more days before it catches up. For now here's some pics from GDP2
Old soil purchased from Amazon made both of my first runs very difficult. I did a slurry test of the soil after I removed the roots. The beginning ph was 5.5 the ending ph was 5.6. don't but dirt off of Amazon. Get it from a local place that gets a decent amount of business. Because if this i decided to go rdwc from now on.
Wow, for your first grow you're doing it like a pro already! Great work. I'm growing out 4 of the GDP's from ILGM myself right now - probably going to chop in the next week or two. I'm looking forward to seeing how these turn out for you!
@Comtelko, Thank you! I won't be throwing in the towel yet. There is lots of room for improvement, but I've decided to go RDWC and have a setup ready to go in as soon as I finish my second run.
Gdubgrows
