1st Grow. Larfy AF!

Hey now community, thanks for checking out my first diary. I have been growing fruits and vegetables all my life, but this is my first attempt at Cannabis. I have been researching and planning this grow in my head for about 10 years. My goal starting out was to focus on Sativa dominant autos grown in Coco Coir, utilizing high frequency fertigation. One of my main focuses was to engineer a system that was ECO friendly, so I decided to use only water from my home's dehumidifiers to fertigate my ladies, and then utilize the subsuequent runoff to feed my outdoor vegetable garden. I also knew I needed an automated feeding and drainage system, because I often stay out of town overnight, and I needed something that could at least sustain me for a few days. I also wanted to experiment with topping autos, as well as Super Aggressive Low Stress Training. I am hoping to learn from my mistakes, and repeat whatever works. To start out with, I purchased a 60X32X80 tent on Amazon for $125, and a Mars Hydro SP250 LED light for $280. I was VERY skeptical about purchasing my first "real" indoor light for under $300 and expecting it to produce thick and sticky flowers. So far however, I am definitely impressed with the Mars Hydro SP250. There is a newer model of the SP250, but for now I am VERY happy with this unit. I also purchased an 8" exhaust fan by AC Infinity, I paid $200 for, and I HIGHLY recommend, because you can set it to kick on and off under any parameters such as high or lows in temperatures or humidity. This has made my life MUCH easier, and this fan is also UBER quiet.....your guests will not even hear it running. 8" is honestly overkill for my tent, but I prefer to run my unit on the lowest setting (1 out of 10) with a high quality carbon filter, just because of efficiency and odor control etc. My wife would flip shit if her family stopped by and the house smelled like Nugs..... After doing quite a bit of research, I decided on Coco Coir as my grow medium. I then built a gravity powered self draining system, (I bought all the supplies on Amazon for about $200) so I could fertigate multiple times per day whether I was home or not, and not have to worry about the excess runoff sitting in my tent and creating humidity/mold issues. So, my system is basically 2 saucers, elevated 6" from the ground with 2x4 blocks in between them that I cut to about 6" each and screwed together. I then ran 1/2 tubing (attached to a screen filter) to a catchment bucket that sits inside the tent. I drilled holes into the catchment bucket 2" from the bottom and inserted rubber grommets for each saucer/drain line. When the water in the catchment bucket reaches about 1.5" a shallow pan condensate pump inside the bucket automatically kicks on and pumps the runoff outside of the tent into a larger bucket, which is then used to feed my outdoor tomatoe plants (which are freaking MONSTERS by the way LOL). The system is great, I fertigate 6 times per day for 1 minute each, and from start to finish, the entire process takes about 3 minutes for the ladies to feed, and all the runoff to drain to the catchment bucket, and then pumped outside the tent. I also purchased a WYZE Camera on Amazon for $20. I installed it on an old baseball tee I had in my garage from when I coached. For $20 it was well worth it. It is definitely nice to have a live look in whenever working! Due to my plant(s) already being elevated in the saucers, plus the 8" filter at the top of my grow tent, I am somewhat restricted to about 48" of vertical height in my grow space. The Coco Coir I used I actually purchased at my local PETCO, as it is a substrate for reptiles called Zoo Med Eco Earth. I would NOT recommend doing this, the only reason I did was it was during the height of the COVID pandemic, so both of my local Hydroponics stores were closed, Amazon was running 6 weeks behind on shipping Coco, and I knew the Pet stores were all open, and sold Coco Coir Substrate intended for Reptile bedding. (I had a Savannah Monitor in college) I did flush the crap out of it, mainly to remove the peat/dust that was present. I then soaked it for 12 hours in 6.3PH and Cal Mag treated water..I then dumped the water, and repeated a second time with Cal MAG treated water. After the Coco sat for another 12 hours, I drained it, and flushed it until the EC of the runoff was approximately 400. I then mixed in 40% perlite and filled my solo cup. My friend gave me a few auto seeds he had left over from his last grow, and the one I am going to track in this particular diary is a Sour Diesel Auto by MJ seeds. My plan is to experiment and learn with these seeds, and hopefully do a full 4 auto grow with Orange Sherbet from FastBuds, or try the Jack47 autos from Sweet Seeds after this grow I placed the seeds in PH adjusted water in a glass, until they had 1/4 inch tails. (which took about 24 hours for the Sour D). I then placed her in a solo cup, which i had already burned some holes in with a glue gun to allow air/water flow, before filling with the 60/40 Coco coir/Perlite mixture. I have heard both arguments that you should start autos in their FINAL pots, because their shorter lifespan/transplanting shock etc. I however have found that by planting vegetable seeds in Solo Cups, they tend to ball up their roots fast, meaning they grow outwards and get thick, as opposed to just growing straight to the bottom of a large pot, and essentially chasing the water straight down instead of growing out. By developing a strong root system in my solo cup, it actually had the OPPOSITE effect of transplant shock, and she freaking took off the first 24 hours after being transplanted into her final pot. But more on that in a few weeks. The Sour Diesel Auto sprouted in the solo cup the very next day, and I was thrilled. I SHOULD have burned holes up near the top of the Solo cups to use for LST. I figured that part out AFTER I had to burn more holes in the solo cup while being careful not to burn the Sour D. I had to very carefully burn more holes in week 2 to attach my LST wires to. I hand watered 3X per day out of a spray bottle to runoff while she was in a solo cup. I tested the EC of the runoff about once per day to ensure it always stayed close to the original EC. My EC never went more than 50 points higher than my nutrient solution's EC value. I have been feeding with small doses of Cal Mag, and maxi grow powder. I started with an EC of 400 For week 1, I set my AC Infinity Fan to ONLY kick on when the humidity in the tent reached 70%, and it literally would kick on for about 5-10 seconds on the lowest setting, and that would be enough to drop the humidity to about 65%, and the fan would shut off. Then about 15 minutes later when the humidity got back up to 70% the fan would kick on for another 5-10 seconds, and the process would repeat. This was super useful, as I was able to at the push of a button, gradually lower the humidity levels as my plant developed a stronger root system,, and I was able to force her to absorb more nutrients through her roots and less moisture through her leaves. I set my AC Infinity fan all the way through vegetation in this manner, gradually lowering the humidity levels each week through veg by about 5% each week. However, by flower, I pretty much ran it non stop, but at the lowest setting 1 out of 10, and you literally had to put your face up next to it to even know if it was running. I felt it was necessary to run it nonstop to keep airflow at a maximum and humidity down, and hopefully prevent any mold issues. I also had a dehumidifier running right outside the tent, and it ran 24X7 just to keep the humidity around 50%. I am feeding General Hydro Cali Magic, and the Maxi Grow/Maxi Bloom powder, and I will also add General Hydroponics Kool Bloom liquid during flowering. I also tossed a CO2 bag in the tent which I purchased on Amazon for $25. Not sure if it is helping, because I have nothing to compare it to, but so far I think the girls are doing pretty good for the their age. This is my first ever grow, but so far, I am learning alot and having a great timet! Thanks for checking me out, and Blaze On!