Mephisto Cookies and Double Cookies

Starting this growdiaries late as my girls are currently on day 40, but I think I have the pictures and memory to fill in on what happened. Hello, I'm zugzug1133 and this is my first real attempt at growing cannabis. This grow is two Mephisto Genetics autoflowers, Forum Stomper and Forgotten Cookies x Forum Stomper, or what I've been calling Cookies and Double Cookies. They were germinated using the DVD case method and then put into 3 gallon Dirt Pots with 80/20 Fox Farm Ocean Forest and Perlite. For the first few weeks, they shared a Mars Hydro TS600 and were given only tap water PH'd to ~6.5.

These girls grew up really fast. My order of Recharge came in and I introduced that on day 10. I think I did a gram of Recharge mixed into 1L of PH'd water and then that was split between the two plants. On day 12 I decided that because the FCxFS was already starting to lean to one side I would go ahead and just LST it over. I'd never done LST before and ended up using way too much wire and probably did more damage than good. On day 13 I removed the hack job I did and instead used the wire for supporting the main stem. This is what I should have done from the start. Lesson learned.

Day 15 I decided to try LST on the Forgotten Cookies x Forum Stomper again. In retrospect it still might have been a little early, but she took it well. Day 17 It's still crazy to me how fast these things grew in the beginning. Leaves starting to curl up on the edges which I think was from wind burn. I might have adjusted the fan a bit in response but I think I was ultimately fine with them getting some wind. Did first LST on the Forum Stomper and a re-adjust for the FCxFS. I was really happy with how many bud sites I uncovered on the Forum Stomper. Already felt like my LST techniques were improving. Day 19 More LST adjustment for both. With how fast they were growing, I was adjusting the wires pretty much daily. Still just water and recharge up to this point. Day 20 36x20x62 tent enters the chat. Really happy with how well this fit into my closet. Fit right into the corner where the plants used to be (Week 1 has the first setup picture). AC Infinity T4, Genesis clip-on fan. Girls are doing great.

Day 22 More LST, I think. It's probably safe to assume there's been some LST done between the days. Day 23 A new challenger has appeared. The Meiju 240w. What an excellent light. The girls were just about to outgrow the footprint of the TS600 so this arrived at a perfect time. I think I set it to 18 inches away 150w at first. I didn't want to blast the plants immediately and I was also a bit worried about heat. Day 24 I gave the FCxFS nutes for the first time. It's been a bit ahead of the Forum Stomper the entire time and it's starting to form buds, so I figured it was time. I had been watering every 2 days up to this point. Day 25 Leaves on the bottom of the FCxFS are starting to yellow out due overwatering and/or the soil being too acidic. Mistakes are expected and hopefully learned from. Day 26 A bit more LST and the FCxFS is in its final shape for the most part. I wish I had done a bit more training to get it out of a half circle shape, but I didn't want to bend it too much while it was already starting to flower. Day 27 This picture hurts to look at. N tox on the left and probably the right as well. Both are overwatered. This is the beginning of an issue I've hopefully corrected since. I would water and instead of draining the runoff, I would let it soak back into the fabric pot over the course of a few minutes. I did this for a few waterings, and so you'll start to see the effects of salt buildup more and more. At night, the pots were drying up and the plants were looking a bit better. Day 28 . My plants are on 20/4, lights go off at noon and come back on at 4 PM. The lights were on for 30 minutes when we had a storm roll through and knock the power out. We were without power for 25 hours total, and so the plants had 29 hours of darkness. I think I lucked out in having them be due for a watering when the power went out. Had they been soaking wet from a recent watering, I think I may have ran into some issues. They looked real sad in the dark. I fanned them by hand for a bit because I was worried about mold or powdery mildew.

Day 29 The lights usually come back on at 4 PM. The electricity came back on at 5:30 PM and the first picture is just a few minutes after that. I watered them both with nutes I think. I may have given one of them Recharge instead. I should have started this growdiaries sooner, I'm sorry. Day 30 What a comeback. I felt a huge relief seeing them like this since I really wasn't sure what an extended dark period would do to them. Apparently nothing at all. Autoflowers are something special. Mangled the Forum Stomper with some LST one last time right before lights went out. Day 32 Plants are looking just okay. Forum Stomper is still recovering from LST. Day 33 Here is where some problems started to get worse I think. Plants were drooping, really wanting water. I watered but still wasn't collecting the runoff, so salt buildup is just going to get worse and worse. Plants definitely looked better in the evening though. Day 34 Bottom leaves are still yellowing on the FCxFS. Plants look decent to me though, look like they're yelling at me. Day 35 FCxFS is starting to get some orange pistils. Leaves are starting to look like a magnesium deficiency, again most likely due to nutrient lockout due to salt buildup.

Day 37 This is where I finally flushed the FCxFS. I ran PH'd water through the entire thing and then finished watering it with a 1/4 dose of nutrients. Forum Stomper was given Recharge. Day 39 Gave the Forum Stomper a foam riser so that the canopies could be even. Most of the yellowing has stopped for the most part. The Forum Stomper is getting some red or purple spots on the leaves. I think it's all related to not clearing the runoff. Hopefully it stops but either way I'm not worried too much. They've grown so well this entire time, I can't imagine not making it to harvest. And now we're caught up! They're due for a watering tomorrow and I think it'll be a full dose of nutes for both girls. Day 40 Girls are starting to fill out. In the morning I'm going to lightly defoliate a little more and then water. Still haven't decided if I want to do just ph'd water or nutes as well. Day 41 Alright, after watching way too many youtube videos I'm now thinking I've been giving my plants too much light. I've had the lights set to 236w for about a week now. It's so funny being a new grower because I have no idea what I'm doing and just about everything is a lesson. I finally ordered an Apera ph pen so I can stop using the drops. Also got a PPM pen and that should be here tomorrow. Hoping to test my tap water to see if I need to start supplementing calmag. I'm learning so much, I can't wait to start the next grow.

Day 42 Plants seem to be a lot happier under the dimmed light. I'll raise the wattage little by little but I'm happy I'm no longer killing them. I have the same feeling I got from my first grow, in that I want to start over already with the new knowledge I've gained from this grow. Day 45 It's pretty much confirmed that having the light turned up too high was the source of all my problems. It finally feels like I've got my entire setup dialed in. Unfortunately the mistakes I've already made are irreversible, but they're a reminder to do better next time. I finally ordered a few things that I should have bought a long time ago, a PH pen, a PPM pen, and a 100x magnifier to see trichromes. I fed the girls both 2 grams of Maxibloom to 1 gallon of water. Hopefully we can just coast to the finish line at this point. I'd be happy with an ounce off of each plant. Day 47 Feels like it's gonna be coasting to the finish line from here. Plants responding well to the nutrients and the light. Have certainly thickened up a bit since last week. They don't seem to be drinking anymore water than they were a couple weeks ago. Still watering every 4 days. I think I'd like to water every 3 days and I'm hoping that running 2 gallon pots next run will allow me to do that. Day 49 Final day of week 7. Girls got a gallon of ph'd water each today. Super stoked on them thickening up. Again, it feels like I've got everything dialed in finally. They're not showing signs of any new deficiencies, they're just maturing and that makes me really happy. Decided to run Strawberry Nuggets for my next run. Going to try and fit 5 in this tent lol. See you guys in week 8.

Day 52 This weed growing thing feels like such a balancing act. Still getting some weird colors again on the Forum Stomper, reds and yellows on the leaves. The FCxFS has continued to yellow out quite a bit. I trimmed off the dead leaves but it almost looks as if I've wet trimmed it right there on the plant haha. Trichromes are still half clear/half cloudy on both plants. I'm just gonna let them go until the trichromes are at least all cloudy, barring they don't completely die before then. I think I'm just trying to get to the finish line at this point. Day 53 Took some trichome shots. I think they're all from the Forum Stomper. Day 54 Getting closer and closer to harvest time. I'm watching the FCxFS closely to make sure the yellowing doesn't spread into the buds. A lot more of the pistils are turning orange and curling back in on both plants, and more of the trichomes are turning milky. I'm not looking for much amber as I don't really like to be couch-locked. It does seem like they're finishing fast, but maybe that's from me stressing them. Day 56 Gave them both a gallon of plain PH'd water. I'm checking the trichs everyday even though it seems a bit early. Inch by inch to the finish line. Looking to harvest this weekend or next.

Day 60 Watered with nutes and they're still looking good. Forum Stomper trichs are ahead of the FCxFS in terms of ripeness which is weird because the FCxFS was ahead of the FS for the entire grow. Hoping they'll be ready to chop this weekend.