White Widow rebirth

smurgrow This is another shot at White Wido genetics. We're growing two plants, the one that this diary applies to will make use of CFL lights by night during veg and sunlight by day. The other plant is using same soil, nutrients etc but lives in a fancy grow room with LED lights With germination I discovered and corrected some mistakes (planting seeds too shallow in the jiffy pellets). One seed took three attempts to germinate (first in jiffy pellet, then in wet paper towels, finally when about to give up 3 days after first one sprouted i cracked the seed shell and forgot about it). Much to my surprise cracking the seed jumpstarted germination despite the fact that the towel died out more than I would prefer. That seed is one tough cookie! This time I topped up the soil until the seedling is buried up to the cotyledons. Photo is from day4 after germination. Will add some more at end of first week.

smurgrow This week was wet and windy so the plant stayed indoors and under lights for much of the time. Generally it gets 20hours of light due to supplementation with CFLs. In my first grow plants only got about 6hours of direct sun. Second grow (different strain) at this stage was supplemented with a single 85W CFL with suboptimal distance and this one is under a setup with about 500W CFL with good distance. The difference that this makes is almost a week of headstart which for autoflowers makes a big difference. No nutrients yet.

smurgrow Another easy week. The plant is growing very nicely and supplemental lighting is helping with adverse conditions outside (wind and rain)

smurgrow This was a great week! I made my first attempt at plant training and the plant is responding very well. Two sets of secondary leaves are getting most of the benefit. Feeding 1ml of BioBizz grow per litre and supplemental lighting is also helping.

smurgrow This was a good week. As result of the training i'm seeing multiple additional colas and secondary growth is much more rapid compared to my other grows. Struggling to find good ph balanced water so spending lots of time making adjustments. The tap water here as ph of 8 !?!?! Added some additional photos to show what I'm doing in terms of training. Also removed two fan leaves to let more light through to specific areas that were developing slower. I know defoliation is not recommended with auto flowers but I believe the stress would be offset by the benefit of allowing an additional cola to break through.

smurgrow Great week.This plant started flowering slowly and is responding to training and supplemental lighting very well. Added bloom nutes to the mix from this week on and at increased dosage compared to previous grows.

smurgrow Another good week for this plant. As result of the training there are 6 strong colas that should produce decent sized buds. I've been applying very light defoliation to optimize light getting to secondary leaves. In terms of pest control I'm using diatomaceous earth and light wipe of leaves with copper soap.

smurgrow This was another easy week. I'm no longer applying supplemental lighting during bloom after moving to a spot with better sun exposure and less risk of pests The training continues to make a difference.

smurgrow Another easy week. The buds are starting to fatten up nicely! Hoping to harvest in 3-4 weeks. Powdery mildew is still an issues but I'm controlling it with spray of individual leaves every couple of days with diluted organic soap based on rosemary essential oil and vinegar.

smurgrow In the final straight now. I've started flushing and planning to harvest on Sunday before a flight. Looks like powdery mold is finally under control for this plant after some aggressive defoliation and painstaking daily wipe of individual leaves with foliar spray. The main cola is awesome!