My first grow

StalCair 1st grow so please feel free to give advices and throw questions. I am aware this is not the best time to grow especially because of the heatwave still stricking here. But it's a Sativa dominant autoflo strain so i am confident it can make it through. Germinated in EZ-plugs after wet towel to make sure the seed was viable. I used a propagator with a 23W CFL 2-3 inches over the plant for a few days until it was ready to be transplanted. Directly transplanted into 6 liters pots in Plagron light mix. Used a fan during hot days to get the temperature between 23 to 30 degrees and spray it several times a day with room temperature water. Watered it twice that week, first a day after the transplant with just a glass of pure water ~250ml and later that week with a root stimulant using a liter per plant. There was no signs of overheating the first week and growth seemed normal and healthy. Since it is my first grow i won't check the pH and conductivity of water. I use regular tap water. pH 7 to 7,5 540 uS/cm

StalCair Second week the temperatures are rising and it becomes much harder to keep the plants cool. First signs of overheating. 1st plant is curling up more than the other but stays strong and straight at night while the second doesn't curl as much but the leaves tend to drop at night. The second plant has a brown spot on the cotyledon but the leaves show no discolouration. To fight this i keep the plants inside (24°C) for an hour between 1pm to 2pm and spray water on the leaves every hour or so depending on the temperature. My fan blows constantly on the plans keeping a temperature between 27 and 33°C in the area around the plant. Direct sunlight temperature is between 40 to 55°C during the day and i keep the plants inside at night to avoid having too much temperature difference since nights are between 15 and 20°C. I watered the plants once so far and will do it again before week 2. 4ml of grow and 1ml of root nutrients. Since i don't really know what the growth rate is for that strain i can't really tell but the growth is not stunned and leaves continue to appear at a steady rate.

StalCair A little late posting this entry. Quite happy with how it goes. Considering the temperatures it went through, especially so early in their development, the damages seem minimal. The kitty took a bite or two into the plant but fortunately doesn't like it. The heat wave is finally over so i don't have to ventilate them anymore. The plants grew a lot and the stem finally is a bit stronger so i am considering starting LST right before flowering. Surprisingly the plant smells already. If i am to judge the future quality of the buds from that original smell it's going to be good. I might have made a mistake but i watered the plants only once this week to favor root growth and facilitate better water absorption for the future so that i can have a more efficient wet/dry circle. There was a few insects trying to settle on the plants like spider mites but i was quick enough to remove them.

StalCair Hey everyone. Thank you all for your answers. Again a little late in this entry, pre flowering seems over now and the stretch is in full force. It gained almost 10 cm in a week. I started to increase watering, will stabilise the amount and start blooming nutes as soon as the soil gets dry again. The first plant is a little shorter than the other and the internodal space seems shorter. Still no infestation, even though a few insects liked a few bites on fan leaves here and there. See you next week, thanks again for the support.

StalCair I usually start the entry at the end of the week but i have a question and can't post one before a few days still. So excuse me to put it that way. I will put two pictures up, can someone please help me identify this bug? Pictures are taken with my phone from a microscope at x60 enlargment. The critter is about 0.5mm. It looks like a thrip to me. Sorry about the colour but i used a toothpick to take it to the microscope. It is the only one i could find. If it is a thrip, there are very few leaves that present bite marks. On another note, the plants are getting smelly and we can even get a smell while walking by when its outside. Skuff is starting to be deposited on the leaves next to the future buds.

StalCair Late update. Tool the pictures but couldn't post them.

StalCair Images are placeholders from latest week. No pics go straight to the end.

StalCair Same as last week, go straight to the following week.

StalCair Sorry for the absence. Everything went well. Applied neem oil and black soap mix on the plants after a little thrip scare on week 6 twice that week after rain. Shortly after ladybugs started showing up and cleaned up the mess by week 8. I was afraid neem oil might fuck up the taste but the smell is gone from the buds now so hopefuly the taste will not be afflicted. Just gave the plants 5ml/l of Bloom nutrients twice a week as well and stopped using Root nutrients by week 7 or 8. I will stop using nuts now. Used a microscope and some trichomes are milky white. So i think maybe it is better that I stop the nuts a little early rather than a little late. I think they will be done in a couple of weeks. They look great. The few damages you see here and there are manual removals of leaf miners. On a side note: one week after i germinated the two plants i learned about solo cups. Figured i'd give it a try so I can practice LST without too much loss in case it went wrong. Pretty happy with how it went and how easy LST is especially considering i used no nutrient except the leftovers in the saucers of the main plants whenever it coincided with the watering schedule. I water it 3 to 4 times a week slowly increasing as time goes by since its needs go up.

StalCair Flushing the first week. Noticed white spots on the leaves so removed the leaves that seemed too attacked and sprayed all the plants with a mix of 1:7 milk:water. It worked well and by security i prolonged the treatment to last a few days. Good week nonetheless.

StalCair This was a first but not the last for sure. Had quite a lot of issues that i was able to identify quite fast thanks to you guys. I might have overdone it with fertilizers considering the poor light cycle and the huge stress the plants were under during both stages of development. I'll try to give the plants less next spring and we will see how it goes. That way also i might encounter issues i have not seen in this harvest, deficiencies. I didn't expect that many buds, but bigger buds. So already considering lollipopping and much earlier forms of LST. It's what i could do with a pot that's too small, with too little light hours, unfavorable weather(too hot during growth, too cold during flower, and while caring very little about the water. Thanks everyone, see you next year.