1st Grow Ever (Crit Purp, Kush XL) Auto

6/11 - My seeds finally came in the mail and I got to soak them this morning. With the start of the soaking I also took the time to mix my Fox Farms Happy Frog Potting Soil along with my nutrients. I wanted to make sure my ratios are a little balanced but slightly heavier on the all purpose fertilizer to start out. In my first feeding I might go a little heavier on the Bud & Bloom than with the All Purpose depending on when I think they need to be fed and how close they are to flowering. Perlite was added to the soil to make sure there was good drainage and I will be using 5 gallon fabric pots. I’m planning to do some LST along with possibly topping/FIMing the plants just to see what comes of it, so I’m excited for that. This is my very first grow and I’m not much of a gardener (yet) so any and all input and advice would be very much welcome thanks 🌱🌱🌿 PS - Sorry for the angle the video the next ones will be correct. 6/14 - All three seeds popped over the two days the spent in the paper towels! Finally putting them in the soil feels good. Going to keep the soil above the seeds moist with a handheld sprayer using distilled water every few hours until the light shut off for the night. I forgot to take pictures of the seeds before planting them. From here I’m hoping to get at least one of them to pop through the ground in the next couple of days. Of course, I’m still looking for tips and input. 🌱 6/16 - All three seeds have made it through the soil so that is more step forward. The critical purple has a shell still on one of its leaves so I’m hoping it pops off on its own in a day or so otherwise I may try to gently tap it off. Currently, the grow lights are about 24 inches away from the seedlings. I think I might keep them at this distance until I notice stretching or leaves curling.

6/18 - Two of the three are seedlings are doing very well so I’m pretty happy about that. Unfortunately, KushXL (2) is not doing very well I’m not sure if it’s going to pull through to be honest but I am keeping hope. Kush XL (1) is doing very well and Critical Purple is growing the best out of the three. Critical Purple is what I’m most looking forward to during this grow so we’ll see how it goes. If anyone can tell me what’s going on with Kush XL (2) please let me know, and if it’s a lost cause also just give me a heads up. Other than that I’m gonna keep giving it some water and sunlight along with the others. I will continue to provide updates this week. My next log should be either tomorrow or the day after 🌱 6/20 - The Kush XL (2) did not make it. Thanks to everyone who responded to my question about what was going on. I know exactly where I went wrong. I got overzealous when the sees came and prepared everything while the seeds were soaking and the pots & soil were just chilling in the dark for a few days. It had not crossed my mind to protect it but now that I’ve learned the lesson I hope to not make the mistake again in the future. I also took the advice of the people in the comments and toned the watering down a little. I don’t feel like it was too much water but what’s the point of using the diary if I can’t take the tips. Any more are welcome. I’m hoping to get a decent grow still from these two plants. I’m really happy that I still have 1 of each strain currently going. I got some extra freebies from Grower’s Choice so I soaked a spare seed yesterday and think I’ll give it a go and just toss it in a pot on the balcony. I’ll make a different diary for that one once it has been dropped in the soil. 6/22 - Not really much to report today I’m just sticking to watering the plants whenever they get dry. They seem to be growing pretty strongly. Right now I’m committed to taking two pictures every two days or so That way I can show how much they grow without flooding the diary. But once they're more interesting I will for sure be adding more and better pictures. I’ve decided to add what day of growth that the plant is on in the picture just to make a little easier. I started counting the days from when popped out of the soil. But just for my own sake I will be keeping the date at the end. An update on that bonus seed. It popped a pretty strong root and I ended up tossing it into a small plastic container so it can sprout. When it does pop through the ground and get pretty strong I might add it with the others or may just keep it outside. I’m leaning towards doing that one seed on my balcony just to see what it’s like. Not really sure I’ll be doing a diary on that one probably not since it’s just a little side project. 6/24 - Things are going well and no problems yet. Just watering when top soil is dry. Started adding CalMag it the water and PHing to ~6.5. 6/25 - Started giving the plants a little more water today because it’s been warmer the last few days. Nothing new to report. The CP. is growing very well and is already getting started on its next set of leaves. The Kush XL is still a tiny little thing but it’s coming along. The leaves look like they’re going to be thick. 6/28 - Its been pretty warm the last few days and I’ve had a little trouble keeping the temperature down in the garden even though I’m only running the lights at night. I’ve resorted to leaving the tent door unzipped at the bottom to help some of the warmer air around the plants flow out. Three fan currently in the tent: one on light, tall standing oscillating in corner and one blowing warm air from tent to outside of door. I’m planning to buy a tiny ac for the tent next week. If anyone has any recommendations of how they keep the temperature down please share. Day 13 (6/29) - Tomorrow is day 14 since sprout and the last day of this week. Looking forward to starting Week 3. Had some issues with slight wilting and some light discoloration on a few of the leaves. With some helpful advice I got a humidifier to bring the humidity up to about 50% and the plants jumped right back up. Special shoutout to @Fruitgrower for the tip. I had let my humidity drop too low not thinking the issues would show up so quickly. Now I know for future reference. Other than that the grow is going well and both plants have some growth coming in underneath.

Day 15 (7/1) - I missed day 14 but here are some hopefully good pictures of Day 15. First day of week 3 since sprout! I decided to FIM the CP just because it was growing so much taller than the XLK. I added a picture if the result. The FIMing actually took place on Day 14 so these photos are 1 day after. The XLK is staying low and getting a little bushy under rather but it’s still thriving so far. I still have not fed the plants anything other water with calmag added then PHed out so far. I think this one is going to be really compact. I don’t want to star real LST on it yet due to its low height. It’s about 4-5 inches. CP is thriving the day after its FIM session. The growth looks good to me..?? I don’t honestly know or have any experience to go off of. It grew a little taller and I was able to adjust the tie on it so more underleaf was exposed. This all took place on day 14. These pictures are the result. I like how much new green I see under after just one night. Day 17 (7/3) - Provided a few updated pictures. I won’t be able to provide another update until Sunday night so I will be posting another video at that time. FIMing has produced a lot of new growth in the lower nodes as I read it should do. I’m glad that it seems like the process went well. We will see how much they’ve grown on day 19. Day 20 (7/6) - I was away from the grow for a few days longer than I thought I would be but they still seem to be doing their thing. The soil was dry but that’s only about two or three days worth of drying out which is completely fine and the humidity was a little low but when I got back I refillEd the humidifier and everything seems to be going smoothly. Tomorrow will be the last day of week three and then after week four. I hope to see some height from these cause the tallest is still at about 6 inches due to LST.

Day 22 (7/8) - First day of week four. Gave both plants a drink of water this evening and Took some time to LST the branches as well as tuck larger leaves behind younger growth. I thought maybe I smelled something when I open the tent but it disappears quickly so I think I was just imagining things. Both plans seem to be doing well and I’m looking forward to the start of week four. Day 24 (7/10) - Nothing to report. Haven’t watered since Day 22 and plants are showing new growth every day. A second top on the CP has r3ached the main branch so I’m happy it that. Trying to readjust LST daily. Still haven’t fed the plants. Waiting another week probably. Day 26 (7/12) - Both are starting to fill out at the top. Been having a little trouble with heat and humidity so I leave the tent slightly open at night when the light is on. I am starting to notice a SLIGHT smell. Not able to place it yet but for sure get a small whiff of something when I open the tent. Pistils have also begun to pop here and there on the CP. Tomorrow I’ll try to get a picture of them when they are showing a bit more. Day 27 (7/13) - XLK has caught up to the CP in height and size but the CP is starting to show pistils. I hope XLK isn’t too far behind. Next week will be the start of flowering. Re-adjusted the LST but the plants have now reached a height of 8 inches. I’ll be putting in a net soon to help keep them low.

Day 29 (7/15) - First day of Week 5 and first week of flowering. Both flowers are finally showing pistils but the CP has a lot more showing right now. When the plants get around 12 inches I’ll add the net in the tent to help with the branches. They still have some space to expand out and up. Gave the plants a watering a day or two ago with some added Calmag. Some leaves were showing a slight deficiency so I wanted to make sure I got that to them. Day 30 (7/16) - Watered the plants earlier this evening when the lights came on. They grew nearly 2 inches last night. I ended up re-adjusting the ties on one of the branches and super cropped the top two nodes on the CP. They were already back up straight in like 2 hours. When I finished I could feel stickiness on my fingers and a slightly sweet smell. XLK (XL Kush) has gotten much bigger. It has caught up and maybe even passed the CP in size. I couldn’t find much on this strain so if anyone has grown in before let me know. I’d like to know what to look forward to.