LSD Auto LED grow

This is my 2nd run of autos under my QB96 V2 LED boards. Setup: - 2x4x6 tent - HLG Elite 360 LED fixture (2 x QB96 V2's) - 1 x 24w Sunblaster LED - 1 x 23w Sunblaster T5HO - AC Infinity Cloudline T6 6" exhaust fan - Can-Filters carbon filter - 8,000 btu portable A/C unit Medium: -Fox Farms Ocean Forest - 50% -Black Gold Container Mix - 40% -Perlite - 5% -Permier manure compost - 3-5% -Vermiculite - 3% -Gaia Green 4-4-4 dry amendment fertilizer - 1 tbsp/gallon of soil -Gaia Green 2-8-4 dry amendment fertilizer - 1 tbsp/gallon of soil -Myke Herb & Vegetable mycorrhizae - 2-3 tbsp/gallon of soil Day -4: - Soaked 3 beans in distilled water for 18hrs Day -3: - Transferred to damp paper towel/plate inside of propagation tray with heat mat set @ 21c Day -2: - All 3 seeds showing taproot Day -1: - Planted seeds in 5 gal fabric pots with cloches (humidity domes) - Lights on 24hrs - 6500K lights at 12" above plants - QB96" @ 20%, 3ft above plants Day 1 (Sept 3): - 2 seeds sprouted by morning time. - 3rd seed sprouted by evening. Days 2 & 3 - watered very lightly once per day with plain, de-chlorinated tap water - Temp: 74-82F - RH in tent: 54% - RH in humidity domes: 76% Day 4 - watered lightly with plain, de-chlorinated tap water - removed humidity domes - installed humidifier - Temp: 72-81F - RH: 58-60% Days 5 & 6: - light watering once per day - Temp: 73-79F - RH: 63-67% Day 7: - increased light intensity of QB96's from 20% to 25% - raised 18W Sunblaster LED up to 18" above canopy - Temp: 70-79F - RH: 62-67% - Plants getting an estimated 11k to 14k lux - Exhaust fan set to 20%, constant on. - Light cycle: 24/0

Here we go... week 2! Everything went pretty smoothly during germination and week 1. I'm starting to think about nutrients, as i do plan to start feeding, VERY lightly, sometime this coming week. I figure my soil should probably be okay for 3-4 weeks but i'm going to be feeding only 2 of the 3 plants starting in week 2. I'll start feeding the 3rd plant in week 3. I want to see if there's any difference or problems that arise. Day 8: - Temp: 74-80F - RH: 68-71% - no water, reduced exhaust fan speed to 10% at night due to colder outdoor temperature. Day 9: - Temp: 72F-79F - RH: 62-69% - lightly watered with de-chlorinated tap water Day 10: I've now desgnated the plants as "L-1", "L-2" and "L-3", based on their germination and seedling stage growth, with "L-1" being the most vigorous. - Temp: 72-76F - RH: 65-68% - Lightly watered "L-2" and "L-3" with a very weak nutrient mixture using Remo Nutrients' "Micro", "Grow", "Velokelp" and "MagNifiCal". Remo's feeding chart recommends 6ml/gal for week 2. I used .5ml/.5gal... 1/6th the recommended dose. - "L-1" was watered with just dechlorinated tap water. - Both adjusted to pH6.5 Day 11: - Temp: 69-76F - RH: 62-68% - No water - added sticky traps for fungus gnats, which have afflicted one of my girlfriend's orchids in our house. We've quarantined the orchid and will be giving our houseplants a few doses of BTI. Crossing my fingers that they don't cause me any issues in the tent! Day 12: - no signs of fungus gnats in tent - Temp: 69-77F - RH: 62-68% - No water Day 13: - no signs of fungus gnats in tent - turned humidifier off - ambient RH is about 60% - Temp: 69-77F - noticing leaf edges curling. Possibly due to high RH and/or over-watering. - Calibrated pH meter. Was off by +0.3 pH. - Watered lightly with pH adjusted tap water @ 6.4pH Day 14: - No water - Replaced the 24" Sunblaster T5HO fixture with a 24" Sunblaster LED, which now makes two of them. I plan on switching the 6400K T5 bulb with a 2700K bulb in the T5HO fixture. Once flowering starts, I'll pull out the two 6400K LED fixtures and put in the 2700K T5 fixtures (I still need to pick up one more T5 fixture so that i have two, which i'll be placing at either end of my 2x4 tent as supplemental lighting). - Distance to canopy (24w Sunblaster LED): 12" - Distance to canopy (HLG Elite 360): 24" - Elite 360 Light Intensity: 35%

The 2nd week saw a couple of challenges arise, including over-watering, fluctuating temperatures and a fungus gnat scare. For week 3, I'm switching to a 20/4 light schedule, raising my pots off the floor on wire racks, doing some low-stress training and lightly feeding. Day 15: - lightly watered with Remo Nutrients, at 20% recommended strength, pH'd to 6.4 Day 16: - no water - started some light LST on #1 Day 17: - no water - continued LST on #1 The short inter-nodal length makes it a bit of a challenge to train. I suspect the two 6400K Sunblaster LED's have contributed to stockiness. - topped #2 I decided I'd do LST on 1 plant, top 1 plant and let one plant grow naturally to compare the differences. Day 18: - watered with de-chlorinated tap water, pH adjusted to 6.4/6.5 - pots felt very dry when lifted, prior to watering. I think i can combat the soil water retention issues by keeping them on wire racks. - continued LST on "#1" Day 19: - no water - no training Day 20: - no water - increased QB96's light intensity from 40-45%. - LSD#1: continued LST, leaf tucking - LSD#2: LST, leaf tucking, trimmed off 1 lower branch that was under-developed. - LSD#3: no training Day 21: - watered with 5ml/l (80% recommended strength) Remo Nutrients: Micro, Grow, Velokelp, MagNifiCal. - leaf tucking on all 3 plants (minimal on #3)

Week 3 is behind us. All 3 plants have recovered from the early over-watering issues but i'm still seeing minor deficiency issues that I'm hoping will improve as i increase the nutrient schedule. I'm really hoping week 4 brings some substantial growth, as i doubt i'll get a 5th week of veg before pre-flower pistils start showing up. You can start seeing the difference between the 3 different training techniques I'm using. LSD#1 - Aggressive LST LSD#2 - Topping & LST LSD#3 - No training Day 22: - no water - continued LST on plant #1 Day 23: - no water - signs of deficiency... Possibly Cal/Mag? Day 24: - signs of deficiency worsening. - new growth appears "spindly" (thin, weak) - watered with 50% strength of just Remo Nutrients' "Micro" & .5 tsp Plant Prod's "MJ Spike (CaMg)" per gallon. - water pH'd to 6.5 Day 25: - no water - signs of deficiency worsening. - new growth is very spindly - leaf discoloration worsening I could use some advice here growers. Am i looking at a Cal-Mag deficiency? Manganese? ...Zinc?? Could there be some lockout issues happening here due to over-fertilization of, say, Nitrogen?? Feel like i'm stabbing in the dark in all directions here. Day 26: - Flushed plants #1 & #3 with 6.4pH dechlorinated tap water. - Run-off pH was 6.5 and was relatively clean looking. - Assuming Nitrogen toxicity, combined with minor light burn. - Moved 6400K Sunblaster LED strips up to match height of QB96's at 24" from canopy. - LUX measurements at canopy range from 16K along perimeter, to 28K. Day 27: - Plants #1 & #3 looking slightly better - Flushed #2 with pH 6.3 water Day 28: - Hoping things are improving! - No water - RH: 64% - Temp: 66-75F - I think it's safe to say, the girls are about to start week 1 of flower!

Starting week 5! I feel like things are getting back on track. Still seeing signs of nutrient deficiencies but i'm hoping that switching to flowering nutes will give these girls what they've been asking for. Some changes for this week: - removed one of two 6400K SunBlaster LED's. (The 2nd one will come out in a few days as I increase the intensity of my main light). - added two 2700K Sunblaster T5HO lights, one at either end of the tent for supplementary lighting. As a reminder, I'm experimenting with 3 different growing/training methods with these autos: - Plant #1: LST, defoliation - Plant #2: topped, minor LST, defoliation - Plant #3: natural, only some minor "leaf tucking" to help expose branching and bud sites. Day 29: - watered with 5.5ml/gal Remo Nutrients flowering combo. - water pH'd to 6.3 Day 30: - no water - cooler outdoor temps causing tent temps between 64-73F. Adjusted mix of intake sources to limit some of the outdoor air intake. - raised Elite 360 LED fixture to 26" above canopy, increased intensity to 55% - raised Sunblaster 6500K LED to 26" above canopy. Will be removed by end of week. Day 31: - no water - pots are dry but not quite light enough. - the untrained, natural growing #3 plant seems to have been the thirstiest since her pot is lightest. Day 32: - watered with dechlorinated tap water, pH adjusted to 6.3/6.4 - continued LST on plants #1 & #2. - did some minor defoliation of lower branches on plants #1 & #2. - turned on small heater in room - tent temp: 70-78F Day 33: - no water - room heater set to turn on during lights off period (4 hrs) and twice during lights on period (for 4hrs ea) to help keep temperature swing within 67-77F - turned off 6500K Sunblaster LED - moved 2700K T5HO's up to approx 8-10" above canopy, at ends of tent. - LST on main stem of plant #1 Day 34: - watered with 6ml/gal (approx 75% recommended amount) Remo Nutrients: Micro, Bloom, Astroflower, Nature's Candy, VeloKelp. - added 8ml/gal (100% recommended amount) of Remo Nutrients' MagNifiCal. - water pH'd to 6.2/6.3 - defoliation on all 3 plants - Temp: 68-76F - RH: 59-65% Day 35: - plant #1 showing progressing mag def - Temp: 72-81F - RH: 58-64%

Day 36: - watered with dechlorinated tap water w/ 1/4 tsp epsom salt per gallon. PH adjusted to 6.4. - plants continue showing deficiencies Day 37: - no water - light defoliation/lolipopping on all 3 plants - lowered plant #1's pot to provide approx 24" to QB96 fixture - Light Intensity (QB96's): 65% - moved up Sunblaster 2700K T5HO's up to approx 10" above canopy at ends of tent Day 38: - watered with 5.25ml/gal (55% recommended amount) Remo Nutrients flowering line - pH'd to 6.4 Day 39: - no water Day 40: - no water Day 41: - watered with dechlorinated tap water w/ 1/2 tsp epsom salt per 4 gal water - water pH'd to 6.4 Day 42: - no water

As a reminder: Plant #1: received LST on regular basis during veg, moderate defoliation. Plant #2: topped, occasional LST, light defoliation Plant #3: occasional light defoliation only Plants #1 and #3 continue to show moderate nutrient deficiencies. I suspect possible lockout but my runoff tests at pH 6.4-6.5. Plant #2 is the healthiest looking of the 3 but is very dark green... excess N? Day 43: - watered with Remo Nutrients flowering combo @ approx. 60% recommended strength. Day 44: - no water - increased QB96 light intensity from 65-70% - moved lights up 1-2" to maintain distance to canopy - plants #1 & #3 continue to show deficiencies Day 45: - no water - I might flush these plants later in the day today but I'd like the pots to be a little more dry before i do. I've put a small, 9-inch fan at the bottom of the tent to circulate more air around the pots. Day 46: - Picked up some new pH calibration solution & calibrated my pH meter... which was off by 0.4pH! - watered/flushed the plants with approx. 2 gallons of 6.2 pH-adjusted de-chlorinated water each. - runoff testing at 6.8/6.9pH, which is exactly 0.4 higher than i was testing it at, due to the calibration error. - plant #2 is not nearly as badly afflicted as #1 & #3. Day 47: - no water - temp spiked above 82F for 4 hrs Day 48: - no water - temp spiked above 82-84F for 4-6 hrs - A/C hose hooked up to tent, replacing the "room intake" duct to provide more reliable cooling. Outside air intake enters at bottom of tent, A/C duct enters at top and is pointed at QB96 light fixture. Day 49: - lightly watered (.5 gallons ea.) with a very light nutrient mixture (20% recommended amount) using only Remo Nutrients: Bloom, Astroflower, Nature's Candy and MagNifiCal, pH adjusted to 6.2. - trying to avoid adding too much Nitrogen

For week 8, I've gotten my pH back on track and I've picked up an EC/TDS meter to better track my nutrients. I'm hoping that the lockout/deficiency issues are improving. Day 50: - no water - increased Elite 360 light fixture intensity from 75-80%. Day 51: - no water Day 52: - watered with Remo Nutrients flowering combo @ 700ppm - pH adjusted to 6.3 Day 53: - no water - symptoms appear to be worsening, bottom leaves curling and dropping off Day 54: - watered with dechlorinated tap water, pH adjusted to 6.2 - runoff testing at 600ppm, pH6.5 - raised Elite 360 fixture and increased intensity from 80% to 90% - temps: 68F-78F - leaf symptoms appear to be worsening, lower leaves falling from plants #1 & #3. #2's symptoms aren't nearly as bad and is showing much better bud growth. Day 55: - no water Day 56: - no water

We've struggled with this grow since day 1 and now those struggles are showing their effects. Plants #1 and #3 have taken the worst of it, which i find interesting. Plant #2 was the one that i topped and it's handled the stresses much better. Day 57: - flushed plants with pH6.2 dechlorinated tap water, approximately 3 gallons of water through each plant (5 gallon pots) - Runoff from plants #1 & #3 reading TDS levels of 1400ppm! (tested first 500ml of runoff) - Runoff from plant #2 testing at 650ppm (tested first 500ml of runoff) - Plants #1 & #3 looking very rough, lots of yellowing/browning and dying leaves. Day 58: - no water - removed dying leaves from lower branches - it's possible that the flush *might* have helped... still early to tell. Day 59: - no water, soil still damp to touch - increased lower fan speed from 1 to 2 - removed 4" intake duct connected to A/C unit. The outside air intake has been sufficient to keep the tent cool, even a bit too cool during the night. - increased light intensity from 90 to 95% during the night to help off-set colder outside air temps. Day 60: - watered with dechlorinated tap water, pH adjusted to 6.3/6.4. Day 61: - light intensity at constant 95%, 18/6 cycle. - removed dead leaves from lower half of plants. - plant #1: buds look the weakest of the 3 plants. - plant #2: showing more trichome production. Plant seems a bit further along than the other 2. Bud density seems to be improving, but very slowly. - plant #3: buds still seem relatively healthy Day 62: - no water - noticeable increase in smell Day 63: - watered with tap water, pH adjusted to 6.4 - measured first 100ml of runoff. Plants #1 and #3 showed TDS levels of approx. 400ppm. Plant #2 was approx. 250ppm

With lowered expectations, i'm still hoping these girls put on a bit more bud weight. They've had a rough go the last few weeks but they're still showing progress so hopefully this week is a good one! Day 64: - watered with pH 6.4 tap water Day 65: - no water - Plant #2 buds getting very dense. New bud growth noticeable. - Plants #1 & #3 appear much further behind Day 66: - watered with pH 6.4 tap water - Plant #2 is getting a very strong smell - removed small, dead leaves, mostly from plant #1 and #3 - Temp: 64F - 75F - swapped spots of plants #2 and #3 Day 67: - no water Day 68: - watered with pH 6.3 tap water - trichomes are noticeably increasing on plants #1 & #3, finally - trichomes increasing on plant #2 as well - removed more small, dead, dry leaves from all 3 plants Day 69: - no water - forgot to set the A/C timer, had a temporary heat spike, 89F for approximately 2-3 hrs. Day 70: - lightly watered with pH 6.2 tap water

Well, i think i'm going to wrap this grow up. These plants suffered pretty badly the past few weeks. Plant #2 has produced a good amount of trichomes but plants #1 and #3 aren't nearly as frosty and the buds aren't nearly as developed. Day 71: - watered lightly with pH 6.3 tap water Day 72: - no water - This will be the last day of lighting for these girls. After today, i will be giving them 48hours of darkness before chopping and hanging branches to dry. I will likely wet trim because of the state of the damaged and dried leaves. All 3 plants will be used to (hopefully) make some dry ice kief. Day 73: - no water - no light Day 74: - no water - no light Day 75: - chopped plants - removed fan leaves - Plants #1 and #3 still have a lot of green leaves and could have used another week or two of growth. - hung branches in tent - Temp: 68F - RH: 63% - exhaust fan set to 20%, maintaining negative pressure and drawing in outside air

Despite the mistakes during this grow, these "Barney's Farm LSD Autoflower" plants showed a lot of potential and a lot of promise. If we had been better able to maximize their potential, i have no doubt these plants would have been monsters! I think the plants could have benefited from another week of growth, but we ran out of time and have to temporarily dismantle the grow area for home renovations. We dried 2 of the 3 plants for 5 days at approximately 65F-70F and 60% RH. The 3rd plant took an extra day. The buds are pretty wispy, but should work well for making dry ice hash. Plant 1: 85 grams Plant 2: 120 grams Plant 3: 95 grams Overall, we had a lot of fun with this grow, learned a lot and hope that our next grow will be better. Thanks to all the GrowDiairies.com members who've left comments and helped us get through our issues. Without you, things would probably have gone much worse... we really appreciate it!