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Excited to get my first grow going. Chose my favorite strain Granddaddy Purple. I've been wanting to do this for a long time, been reading all about the ins and the outs and just trying to find that sweet spot in what everyone claims is "best".
Placed seed in a glass of water for like 15 hours then into a damp paper towel in a plastic bag (not completely shut). Germinated seed went into the starter pot on 5/30/24. Soil is Fox Farms Happy Frog. Considering going straight into the 5 gallon on my next grow?
The plant was transferred to a 5 gallon fabric pot on 6/13/24. Soil is Fox Farms Happy Frog with the bottom 1/3 of the pot Fox Farms Ocean Forrest. The plant ended up a bit off to the side, told myself it would help with LST to come.....
I didn't plan on doing a diary or I would have taken more progress pictures weeks 3-5. I did crop the plant one time and did some LST to try and maintain a somewhat even canopy and let the lower branches catch up.
Flipped to 12 hours lighting 7/9/24. Someone suggested that if I was done doing any training there was no reason to wait on flipping to flower (otherwise I was going to wait until it hit that blue tape in the tent). Seemed like good advice so I went for it. For nutrients I eased into the recommended dosing amounts. The plant didn't seem to have a strong need so I didn't want to push my luck.
Was worried the plant was not stretching as much as I expected, but it seems this strain is naturally on the shorter side from what I have been reading, and I'm sure there is more to come through week 2/3. It was only until this past week I was confident that the bottom auto wick watering system was working. Seems soil isn't the best approach with such a system? I've still been feeding the nutrient mixed water from the top and doing a basic top water when I refill the basin. Did some pruning of the lower leaves/off shoots that didn't have direct light access. It stressed me out doing this part hope I didn't wait too long, but at this point I am done doing any more pruning. Excited to start seeing the buds form!
Ran into some uncertainty with whether or not to add nutrients to the basin at each fill up. I understand the reasoning behind alternating with soil, so that the salts don't concentrate at the top through surface evaporation. That same logic doesn't apply with these bottom watering systems. At first I was feeding nuts at all times and it seemed like the plant the was fine and had no signs of nutrient burn, but I really don't to push things, so I did start alternating nuts and no nuts with each fill of the basin (which is like every other day with how much the plant is drinking).
Things seems to coming along nicely. I'm a bit worried about how much extra foliage there is, but just trying to keep air flow up and moisture levels down. On 8/12/24 I noticed that the tips of the upper leaves were yellowing (see close up photo). It was suggested that I cut back a bit on the nutes a bit so I'm thinking the next time I fill the basin with nutes (have been alternating) I will do 2 liters of water with 5 ml of the each (before I was doing 7). I put a twist tie gently around the base of the photographed leaf so I can get a one for one comparison as to how things play out.
As a result of the yellowing of the upper leaf tips I cut the nutrients in half. I did find a number of forum posts with people saying they also had to use less of the advanced nutrients 3 part. I intend on doing a flush before harvest, so now I am just trying to wrap my head around the proper timing of that. I was thinking of doing a 10 week flower, but the plant may have other plans.
8/19/24 - Ended up installing the trellis net because two of the side colas were starting to fall over. While attempting to use the plant ties to hold them up, I noticed the whole plant was starting to lean to the side. Figured the trellis net was my best bet for all around support.
Thinking this will be the last week with nutes, followed by a two week flush before the chop (10 week flowering period overall)? I'm seeing some signs that perhaps I dropped the nutes too much after the yellowing of the tips. This is the sort of thing I hope to get a better feel for in future grows.
Still planning on beginning a two week flush starting on 9/3/24. Also decided that I am going to do a wash on the bud after harvest due to all the small hairs I have been noticing, plus it will be good practice for any outside harvests.
Not sure if the discoloration on the sugar leaves is normal or resulting from maybe too low ph or I swung too low on nutes after the leave tips started going yellow. Regardless, it is something to think about for the next grow.
Last week, planning on giving it the chop next weekend. Someone told me the sugar leaf discoloration is normal when flushing, but it started happening early, which still makes me think I wasn't using enough nutirents befrore starting the flush. Plan on doing a wash with the three bucket approach (one with baking soda and lemon juice).
9/14/24 : Was going to wait another week but decided to just send it. Harvested, washed and hanging to dry now. Tent is in the basement which is at a fairly constant 70 degrees, aiming for 60% humidity.
9/21/24 : Did 7 days of drying and then trimmed. I prefer a more rustic hand trim than auto-trimmed. Next, placed the buds in "terploc" bags to cure. Humidity in bags looks good ranging from 58 to 62%. Ended up with a little under 3.5 ounces dried. I'm pretty happy with that, was hoping for 4, but not bad for a first try. Will test it out in two weeks.
11/26/24: This grow ended up going herm. I'm a bit discouraged thinking it was something I did, but perhaps it isn't so bad. It smokes nice and I have enough seeds to last me for years..
TugMasterson
