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Being my first grow this week has been both exciting and stressful. I may make a lot of mistakes but they should all be good learning experiences!
My setup is a little on the cheap and nasty side but I am getting so much experience already. It's one thing researching for over a year but to actually put this knowledge into practice already feels so rewarding.
I am using coco coir as my substrate amended with 75:25 Gaia Green 4-4-4:2-8-4 and 15% perlite.
My grow style is based on Mr Canucks Grow as I've always loved his results and it's an added bonus that it's a simple and organic way to grow.
Here's to week 2!
It's early in the week still, I think she's going pretty well so far for my first grow.
Since I am using dry organic amendments I have only amended the medium before planting and am going to try to hold out until mid week 4 to top dress the medium.
Around day 12 I noticed some yellowing. After sticking a pH test probe in the soil and the needle hitting the max of 8 alkalinity I knew what my issue is. I waited until appropriate to water and watered at 6.5. I hope I am doing enough to correct the mediums pH.
On day 12 I received a 36x20x60 Vivosun tent and transferred her over, hopefully this went okay. I would not recommend this process for new growers as inexperience may lead to mistakes through panic, it would be best to just wait it out for when there is nothing to go wrong.
I had my temperature and humidity display fall on my little girl and she did not want to stand up again, I piled a mound of dirt around the base to hold her up and it seems to be working.
My plant started to yellow due to alkaline soil, next time I watered it was done at 6.5ph. Is there anything else I can do to adjust the pH of the medium?
Also why is it growing toward the fan and but it's leaves bending backwards?
@Cheeezy Hi mate she looks good Dont worry about it bending it's normal
However i would try to lower that ph even further to about 6.2-6.5 You can use liquid sulphur sparingly to lower the ph Just add some to some water and water in But use sparingly my friend Hope This helps 🙏
At the start of week 3 she wasn't quite as big as what I would have hoped for but it looks like she is staring to turn it up a notch, for now I will just continue watering when dry.
Started LST on day 20.
Sorry about lack of photos on day 21.
I began the low stress training on day 20 and re-tied her on days 22 and 24. Everything is coming along great!
On day 23 I noticed signs of her revealing her sex! On day 24 a new top poked it's way up, I also noticed more of a grassy smell. By day 28 the smell has gotten closer to a weedy smell but is mostly grassy.
On day 26 I accidentally ripped off a branch while adjusting the LST, I started the cloning process but from what I've read since she's shown her sex I can't expect much/any vegative growth. I guess we will all see the results together!
In the morning of day 27 the humidifier was removed due to the limited control I have over it. Temperature and humidity controllers are on the wish list.
It's day 28 and I haven't amended the medium yet and growth is still great, let's stretch it out another week.
I've turned up the QB watts to 180 and now my temperature is at 25.9 and humidity at 37%. I don't want to use my humidifier because it's hard to keep it under 60%
I've also read lower humidity is okay and works better with higher temps.
I guess the question is Watts up or down?
Hey Cheezy if you turn the light up and the heat increases it will naturally drop your humidity a little lower. Since it is pretty low now you dont want it to go down any. 180 watts should be plenty for the plant the size it is now. I would just keep at it and see how well she grows over the next week or so before turning it up. She looks healthy and happy for now. You will definitely want to crank it up for flower. You can try to put a tray of water in your tent and it should bring your humidity up a little. Hope this helps. Good luck with her
Day 29 was pretty uneventful, no photos taken.
I adjusted LST on day 30, she is coming along quite nicely. I'm pretty sure I noticed the starting of a bud (pictured above), hence why I labelled this week as the start of flowering.
I watered on day 30, the pot was very light beforehand and the tips had slightly started drooping.
Day 31 was very uneventful, just watched her grow.
Readjusted LST on day 32. So many tops!
On day 33 I removed 5 leaves that were always partially resting on the medium, the last leaf that I removed was evenly yellowing from the stem which appeared to be the plant using the leaves stored nutrients. I then proceeded to top dress the medium with a 50-50 blend of Gaia Green 4-4-4 and 2-8-4 at 2 tbsp per gallon of medium. I will amend again in 3 weeks if all goes well, hopefully leaving enough time for the nutrients to be used before harvest.
I also removed a stubborn leaf that I could not tuck behind anything, hopefully I haven't stunted her too bad. I don't want to remove any more leaves as I've read that this can poorly effect autoflowers since they are on a tight time frame, does anyone have any opinions on pruning autos?
Day 35 and I think I've finally got a system in place to maintain the temperatures, unfortunately it means I get up twice a night to empty the AC. When I can work I will be getting a window unit for sure!!
The biggest change that I would make for next grow is either not LSTing for comparison or starting LST perhaps a week later
I was a little worried that I was starting to run into issues with the looks at my tips, this was mainly focused under the light so it turned out to be light burn. I raised the light. the first photo shows the tips of concern. I'm not too worried about the second photo after doing some research, it's normal for the tips of pistils to brown with age if they have been unsuccessful in being polenated.
Besides that growth overall looks really good and I think I am still on track for at least a harvest, I've definitely learned more than I expected so that's the main thing!
On day 37 I watered with aerated bottled spring water pHd at 6.6 to give her a bit of a treat (medium was dry).
Using the methods learned on Mr Canucks Grow has made this such an easy grow! All I've done is LST, water when dry and top dress around day 35.
She seems to be flowering nicely, I'm getting some trichome development and the buds seem to be getting bigger (slowly but surely).
It's interesting, I thought that I would have noticed an increase in odour when the leaves started to get frosty but I haven't noticed anything yet. When I touched the tip of a leaf next to a bud site my fingers smelled SOOOO sweet, like I had a drop of syrup on them so I am super excited about how she will taste!
The smell has progressively gotten more noticeable, now when I'm sniffing in the tent there is a faint smell. The smell has also gotten more dank then sweet, it has more of an earthy/skunk smell. Not very noticeable unless you smell your fingers after managing the plant.
For now I will continue to water when dry, pH'd between 6.5-6.8. Watered on day 44 and 47
From the start of the week there has been a lightly noticeable smell in the tent. After managing her my fingers were super sticky and smelled amazing! By day 54 the smell was noticeable as soon as the tent is opened.
She needed water on day 50, 52 and day 54. I will just let her go until harvest, watering when dry of course. I don't think there will be enough time to wait the 4 weeks after top dressing. If anyone has experience with Gaia Green feel free to give some advice :D
The fact that she is fading on day 54 is a clear indication that I should not top dress.
I wish she was bigger, but I'm still super happy with all of the gained experience! I should also have some high quality smoke after she's done, quality not quantity eh?
Late day 53 I noticed some leaves beginning to fade, this should mean that I have about 3 weeks left from what I've read but I'll be watching closely just incase. Mid day 54 and the fade has definitely begun!
I'm watering every second day at this stage, when she stops asking for as much water I'll know harvest is close. I'm also watching the trichs every day to make sure I don't miss their progression.
As soon as I open the tent there is a noticeable smell, it's amazing :D
Anyway, not much to do until she's ready.
Still watering once every 2 days.
I'm waiting for more amber trichs, I love being couch locked and apparently the more amber trichomes you have the more couch locking the high will be.
On day 64 my impatience got the better of me, I saw a popcorn nug that wasn't getting much light and snipped it. I'm drying it to sample early but I'm sure I'll be disappointed :P
Day 68 was the first day I didn't need to water on the second day, this slowing down in drinking may symbolise harvests approach
Any guess on how much longer until harvest? I'm aiming for 20% amber or more for the couch lock but I don't want to be waiting for trichomes that don't actually turn. Since this is an indica I'm sure I should see a transition from to amber it's just hard to tell if cloud or clear
Those girls look very frosty! Your getting very close. Keep checking them every 3 days. I use a 40 x led lighted jewelers loupe(Amazon.com) to check mine. A coin shop may have something similar. Using a cell phone then enlarging the photo doesn't always give the true coloration. Most guys take them with 5% to 30% amber trichomes. I personally take my Indica's just a bit more than 5% amber it gives me the best of both worlds a bit of head high to start then mellows out into a nice couch lock for the last 1.5 hours. Don't forget the trichomes keep ripening even after you chop them down.👍
I'm so surprised she is still going but sure enough there are still fresh pistils, they may have even popped up on day 71... Dark room is all ready for her 2 days of darkness and for the hang and dry.
Also sorry if there are a lot of the same kind of photo, it's late and I'll fix that in the morning.
On day 75 the sugar leaves have 1% amber trichs and the flower only has the odd couple starting to turn. I want to make more room for the new girls as the cheese looks like she wants more light. I will probably move her into darkness in 3 days when she's dry again as I just gave her a slight watering.
Put her into darkness before lights on on day 79. I plan on pulling her out and harvesting on day 82.
My grow is based on everything I've learned from watching MrCanucksGrow on YouTube, definitely check him out if you are interested in growing organically.
The grow was eventually moved into a 3x2 Vivosun grow tent. I have 2 4"inline fans pulling through a 4"carbon filter. I am using an HLG QB96 Elite V2 powered by a Meanwell HLG-150H-54A (somehow running at 215W (not even maxed)).
I started out by mixing up some Coco coir and my amendments. I use Gaia Green (Dr Earth works the same and if in Aus I was going to use thrive organics range(their npk is different though)) and since I am mixing the amendments in before planting I will be using 4 tablespoons per gallon of medium (this has recently changed to 2 tablespoons per gallon with Gaia Green). The ratio used was 75-25 of Gaia Green 4-4-4 all purpose to Gaia Green 2-8-4 power bloom. Since I used a 5 gallon fabric pot I needed 15 tablespoons of 4-4-4 and 5 tablespoons of 2-8-4.
After amending I added perlite to about 10-15% but use whatever you feel comfortable with up to 30% IMO. 50% is apparently great for cuttings and seedlings if your going to be transplanting but I have not tried this.
Using organic dry amendments in coco coir turns the growing method into more of a dirt style grow. You absolutely need to maintain the pH between 6.5 and 6.8 to protect the microbial life organic gardening promotes.
With all of that in place it was time to pop the seed directly into the dirt. You can germinate however you would like, be it; with a cup of water and then a paper towel when they sink, with just a wet paper towel and a baggie in a warm spot, or as nature intended straight in the medium. When germinating straight in the medium care must be taken not to disturb the seed as this is the most fragile stage of its life. Water with either a spray bottle or fill up the plants saucer so water can travel upwards with capillary action.
After 2-3 days she sprouts, keep her in a dome for a day or two to keep the humidity up and still take care while watering as it is far to easy to uproot a seedling at this age. -added later- don't use a humidity dome for seedlings, only clones. The extra humidity from the dome can promote seed death due to damping-off, just killed my first seed..
Gentle watering when dry, pHd between 6.5-6.8, is done for the first couple of weeks. Take the time to lift the container to get an idea of what it feels like dry as optimal watering will lead to optimal growth.
The plant is watered when dry with a watering can after the first couple of weeks, as soon as she can handle it this makes watering easier. Always pH!
When the plant has enough height feel free to tie her over, my LST efforts weren't the best but doing this gave me plenty of growth on side branches (my newer grows show better LST). I did this a little too early IMO on this grow, more height would have been nice.
On day 35 it was time to top dress! Because we are now top dressing we only use 2 tablespoons per gallon of medium, I will also use a 50-50 mix this time as we are in flower. 5 tablespoons of Gaia Green 4-4-4 all purpose and 5 tablespoons of Gaia Green 2-8-4 power bloom are used. If I had known that this was going to be the last feed I would have used 2.5 tbsp 4-4-4 to 7.5 tbsp of 2-8-4 to give her more phosphorus during flowering.
After this it was just adjusting lst when needed and watering (pHd between 6.5-6.8) when dry. This was done all the way up until morning 79 before lights on (trichs wouldn't amber) when she was then put into darkness until day 82 where she was then chopped down and hung whole to dry.
Now I wait....
This strain appears to stay small but if you spread her out she will develop some fat buds!
It appears to be resistant to fungus gnats once she enters flower as there was never any gnat movement on agitation of the soil when there was an issue on other younger plants. The terpenes themselves also appeared to have killed a couple of gnats when they decided to investigate her flowers.
Very easy to grow, follow your specific grows instructions and it will be a blast. All I had to do was water when dry (pH properly) and I top dressed on day 35.
My only complaint is how small she stayed, growing more of them in smaller pots will counter this.
What an awesome experience for my fist grow! I am super happy with making it to harvest! I do wish that she would have gotten a little bigger but it looks like that's a genetic thing for this strain.
The smells coming out of the drying room are just next level! I cannot wait to get into her!
The whole plant including stems and leaves is 119 grams.
Everything is going to be updated after she is dried and trimmed, hopefully in around 10 days but things don't always go how we would like. Had a massive change in the weather which reduced the dry rooms RH to 25%-30% from my original 45% which I was worried was too low.. So on the 4th day in an inexperienced panic I decided to trim and jar, at this stage I have 24gm of product.
For a full explanation of the grow check out week 12.
I'm a little disappointed in the weight but where she lacks in yeild she gives back in potency. I sampled the dryest of my small dense nugs after trimming and even though I was already high I could feel the added effect very soon after smoking some. I decided to sample a little more the morning after and this not a good choice of wake and bake strain if you need to be productive afterwards. I'm a seasoned smoker and after 2 hoots I could have easily gone back to sleep, something that hasn't happened in years.
The tastes are just amazing, it's so sweet and very herby/spicy. I totally get why it's called Sweet Afghani Delicious, it's sweet, it has that spice factor that I can imagine Middle Eastern food has (I'm new to Afghani weed :P) and boy is it delicious!
I have decided to start including this herb in our line-up after only 3 days of proper curing due to its anti nausea effect for my girlfriend, also because of its awesome effects for myself. I love the taste from these buds and I have only been having the small buds so far! Hopefully the 4 big ones will last the full curing time and I'll post more pictures then.
I would have probably ended up with closer to 21.5 grams of dried bud if I hadn't smoked any 🤪
There's also plenty of unweighted trim which will be saved up and then used for butter. I am also keeping the stems for tea and the roots for future experimenting with ginger beer :D
I would love to grow this genetic again but I will not be picking up the autoflower variety again due to the genetics small size but I will definitely be picking up their SAD S1 variety when I'm growing photoperiods.
I'm pretty sure this strain would do fantastic in a PC Case stealth grow, or grow in another very small area.
The smoke from this herb is lovely! Tastes so sweet and full of spices. Has a moderate anti nausea effect but will make your eyes dry and sore even if you are a seasoned smoker. Great for night time, locks you in the couch until you're ready for bed.
Thanks to everyone for following along! Keep an eye out for all my future grows!! Peace!
@Cheezy, Yes, I have! MrCanuck is the reason I started my first grows using Gaia Green. :D I like the idea of organic growth and less feeding times/maintenance via using time release nutrients. I must have watched all of his videos. Gaia Green should forward him some royalties/freebies. :D Maybe they have.
@Solarcradle, thanks heaps! I'm always keen for more information and advice. I will definately keep this in mind :)
Have you seen Mr Canucks Grow on YouTube? He uses Gaia Green in coco and his videos have such a high level of quality. He's pretty much where I've gotten all of my grow info from :D
@Cheezy, I'm new to this. Though, through my readings and my novice experiences, you are correct. Also, PH issues, either too high or too low, can cause mild to moderate signs that appear like nutrient overload/deficiencies. Imbalances in PH of the water can cause nutrient lockout/uptake issues in obtaining nutrients. In my reading, it is good to keep the water PH within a range of about no more than 0.5 less than the runoff. So, if a medium runoff is around PH 7.1 after a feeding, recommendations are to water with a PH of about 6.6 or so. I stick with 6.5 and have had no issue with my first grow strain.
However, a coco medium mixed with Gaia Green slow release nutrients become used up by the plant and runoff, and the soil starts turning more acidic as it gets closer to her next feeding time. It seems like a great time to lower her PH. so she can take up other nutrients that are easier taken up in lower PH ranges.
This is stuff I have read online and it seems to make sense with a Gaia Green grow medium :) Take what I say lightly. I'm a armchair google search grower. lol
@BucketBrother, LST has been super effective, highly recommended with autos!
When I can afford to add to my setup I want to get a mother started so I can play with training her clones. There's so much to experiment with! Making a manifold would be awesome!
@Cheezy, hehe no problem. Well im not an expert myself but i like the way you trained her.
I was planning to do a similar thing but i was also considiring a mainline, and thats whats going on rn at my G14 😁 topped her 2hrs ago.
Ttys,
BB
@BucketBrother, thanks man :D I really appreciate that you're following along!
Being a new grower stressful! It helps so much having this site with awesome people like you for a bit of reassurance that all is growing well :P
@Cheezy, On our website, we have a blog where you can see interesting cultivation articles. 😊
Also, if you have any questions with any of our strains or the cultivation of them, you can ask us at any time. 😋
Sweet smokes!
-Apolo
@Sweet_Seeds, this is my first time growing pot ever, so yeah :)
I think next time I'll try to encourage a little more stem stretching when it's a seedling so I have more ground clearance.
Is there any advice you might be able to offer?
Looking good there bud! Got yourself a hally and healthy lady. Wouldn't be surprised if she took off soon. Great work and best of luck the rest of the way.
@Denzul, cheers mate! Haha boy do I hope so, I've been waiting for it to happen and I don't think patience is my strongest trait :P I guess growing will improve that
Congratulations for finishing the diary!! 👏
A great harvest, with a super delicious appearance. 😍
Thank you very much for trusting our strains, and sharing your experience.
And thank you very much again for the score of 8 out of 10!! 👏😍❤️
We hope you enjoy the harvest 👌
Sweet smokes!
-Apolo
It's day 26 and I made a bit of a mistake this morning, while tying down the new growth I cleanly ripped off a branch.. I quickly treated the severed limb like a clone and cleaned up the base, halved the leaves and dipped the base in honey (growth hormone substitute). She's now under a humidity dome but I only had a small pot available, maybe I should transfer her to a solo cup in a few days.
My main concern is if I stressed the now mother plant too much as she is already on a tight time schedule. Also I ripped off what was going to be a prime bud site so I'm very sad about that, let's hope the hormones get redistributed nicely and I get many more in its place.
@HolySmoke, I don't use it but I was looking to pick some up. Both stores that I visited didn't have any bags of bat guano like what we have seen in Mr Canucks Grow.
I did a Google of Gaia Green bat guano and it came up with mineralised phosphate, which is fossilized bat guano. I would assume this is the same thing but I'll do more research.
Next time I'm in the store I will ask to see if it's just repackaging.
@Cheezy, Definately a nice macro lens would be great. Shoot some nice photos and enter one of the diary contests. Great photos win points with the judges.
@Philindicus, you definitely have. Thanks for the extra info also. A lot of the photos I've taken have been through a 30x loupe, I just assumed enlarging those pictures would give me the best view of the trichomes. I need a macro lens for my DSLR.. :P
@Cheezy I reckon they must be close mate
Looking really frosted Some strains wont go amber for ages and by that stage a lot of the THC may have degraded???
@Philindicus, thanks man :D I'm really impressed that there's a little bit of purple in there, I've been trying to dip the night time temps to promote it :)
That's good to know :) I just think it's crazy that she hasn't been fed since day 35 and is still going
@Puffer_Bill, thanks for all of your kind words! My fingers get SOOOO sticky after tucking the big leaves out of the way!
The smell is the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed, I can't wait for all of the pleasent aromas in my future :P
Cheezy
