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!

This week went pretty well for the Sour D. Auto. I am still feeding a mixture of Cal/MAG and Maxi Gro Powder. I started with an EC of 400 for the sprouts, and then increased the EC value by 50 points per day. So by the end of week 1, EC was 750, then 1100 by end of week 2, and then full strength of 1450 for veg by the end of week 3. I am planning to top the Sour D in the next day or two, she seems to be growing vigorously with very excellent internodal spacing which is exactly what I am looking for. Mars Hydro is about 2 feet above, and is running 18/6. So far everything is going pretty well, thanks for checking me out, and Blaze On!

I topped the Sour Diesel auto on day 15. She was still in her solo cup, as I was hoping she could recover there, and then I would plant her in her final 5 gallon fabric pot. While the Sour Diesel was in her solo cup, it was up to me to hand water several times per day. I learned pretty quick that hand watering in Coco Coir is a PAIN IN THE ASS. I am a firm believer that growing should be fun, and not a "chore." So, once I moved her into her final pot at the end of week 3, I set up a reservoir outside the tent, with a pump on a digital timer, that I set for feeding events of 1 minute each. I just ran 1/2 poly tubing from the reservoir into the tent, then just hooked up little ball valves for each plant, so I could adjust for each, then hooked them up to 9" halo's that sit around each plant. I am feeding them 4 times per day. 6AM, 12PM, 6PM, and 11PM. My lights are running from 6AM until midnight every day. I have read that with this type of setup, you must run drain to waste, meaning you need at least 10-20% runoff with each fertigation. This is to prevent salt buildup in your coco, which will seriously cause your lady to have a bad day. With this setup, they drain to waste EVERY feeding, and all I have to do is fill my reservoir every 3 days or so, and empty the drain bucket every few days and use it to feed my tomatoes. My self draining saucers took me half a day to build, but trust me, they are worth their weight in GOLD if you grow in Coco. The only real downside (that I can think of) to this setup, is that ALL the ladies get the same water/nutes, which could certainly pose challenges if growing different strains at once, but so far I have been lucky I guess. I thought I would be burning through a ton of nutes/water, but surprisingly since I feed so often, and the Coco stays so moist, I am only going through about 2 gallons of water per day for 3 plants, and I am pulling ALL of my water directly from my dehumidifier in the basement next to the tent. All the runoff then drains through gravity to a bucket, and when the water reaches a certain height, it activates a condensate pump which pumps all the runoff outside the tent into another bucket, which i use to water my outdoor tomatoe plants. (Which are blowing up by the way LOL). Thank you all for your help, encouragement, and for checking me out! Blaze On!

This week went fairly well. The Sour D reacted Extremely well to Topping, and also she is LOVING her final pot. I did up the feeding to 6X per say as this Sour D. is a Piglet....I am now feeding her approximately 1450 EC water I am pulling from my dehumidifier that starts out about 60 EC and PH of 6.5 and then mixing .5 tsp/gal Cal Mag and .75 tsp/gal maxi grow. My runoff is coming out right around 1500-1525 which I am loving and so is she. Still doing some last minute training, and trimming some lower stems to allow for more airflow and more nutrients bolster the upper canopy. I wanted to top her again, but this being my first grow, I am scared to top her again. I did notice some funk floating in reservoir about the middle of this week. I ended up letting the reservoir run almost dry through normal feedings, then I pulled the tubing off the pump, and took the reservoir outside and cleaned it with a water/bleach solution. I then hooked it back up and filled it. After doing some research that evening, I learned that Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide can make a big difference in preventing this type of growth, and will also have the added benefit of boosting Oxygenation in my solution. Sounded like a win/win, so I ordered a gallon of the 35% Hydrogen Peroxide online. Making alot of mistakes with my first grow, but having fun and taking notes! Thanks for checking me out, Happy Growing, and Blaze On!

I cleaned out the reservoir and switched from Veg to Bloom nutrients on day 36. My 35% Hydrogen Peroxide arrived, and that definitely makes a difference with keeping the reservoir cleaner longer, although I am still cleaning it maybe every 10 days or so, just a quick 2 min scrub with bleach/water, and then i run it through the pump and lines as well, then run plain water through it before hooking it all back up. The ONLY water I have used from my well this grow has been to clean my reservoir, everything else has come from my dehumidifer. I am now using some Cal Mag, Maxi Bloom, AND some Liquid Kool Bloom. I am running an EC of about 1450. My runoff from Coco is coming in around 1490 EC. Not seeing any issues with the ladies, just worried I may have waited a little too long to switch from Veg to Bloom Nutes, although I was adding about 25% Bloom for the past week or so. I guess we will see here soon if she gets some bigger flowers. Thanks for checking me out, and Blaze On!

This week went pretty well. I was worried about the flower stretch, and running out of room. I have a tall tent, 80" but with my huge 8" carbon filter, lighting, and automatic drain buckets I have the pots sitting on, I really only have about 48 inches of actual plant height to work with, which I originally thought would be MORE than enough room for Autoflowers, now I am not sure. This lady definitely almost doubled in size this past week. I am still on 18/6 light cycle, and feeding 6X per day in coco coir via a timer (drain to waste) with the runoff being discarded out of the tent via a gravity fed auto draining system I built. I started adding Liquid Kool Bloom this week to help the flowers start to thicken up, and I am also still using about .5 tsp per gallon of Cal Mag (for the Coco, not the plants) and dry kool bloom at about 1.5 tsp per gallon. I am keeping my EC around 1.5 and keeping my ph in a range from 5.7 to 6.2 Please let me know if you see something I am missing or should be doing better! Thanks for checking me out! Blaze on!

This week went pretty well, other than she stretched like crazy and I am now getting worried about running out of vertical space. I also had a few of my bottom leaves get a few brown and yellow spots on them. I did post some pics and asked a question, thank you for the responses, much appreciated! I am thinking about adding my Spyder Farmer LED 100 Watt light into the tent for the nebula auto because it is about 23 inches shorter than the sour diesel. I believe it would only raise my temp about 2 degrees, and possibly lower the humidity by one or two percent. I must say my dehumidifier has been a freaking stud, running 24X7 and not complaining. I should look into adding another unit, it has been in the mid 90's and muggy for about a week. So far I have to say I am super impressed and excited with this setup, the genetics, and with growing this wonderful plant in general. Already planning ahead to my next grow, and what I can do better. I have been enjoying myself and I really appreciate everyone who has taken the time to answer my questions! I am having a blast and am excited to see what this lady will give up in a few weeks!

This week went pretty well for my sour diesel auto. She Finally stopped growing vertically at about 48 inches to the top of the highest cola. We did have a serious heatwave and high humidity I been dealing with as well, but so far so good. The only thing I changed this week with nutrients is I raised my ec value to 1.6, at the advice of another grower, and the sour diesel took it like the piglet that she is. I am still on an 18/6 light cycle,which I plan to stay with the entire grow, and still feeding Maxibloom, calmag, and koolbloom. I am seeing some bright orange colored spots on the top leaves, but I am hoping it is just a little light bleaching. I have no experience with this as I have NEVER grown anything indoors before other than vegetable seedlings. I just wanted to say thank you to this community for all the advice, tips and encouragement along the way, very much appreciated all, and Blaze On!

Hey now, was a pretty good week for the Sour D, I didn't really make any changes as far as the nutes, still at EC of 1.6, with water from my dehumidifier, then cal mag, then maxi bloom powder, then liquid kool bloom. Only real issue I had this week was on day 58 I noticed her leaning a little bit, and I went to move her pot, and she almost toppled over. It really scared the crap out of me, so that is why you now see all the wire tires wrapped around her base. Definitely something I will be more mindful of in the future. Still dealing with high temps and humidity, but my dehumidifier has been a real Beast. I will also add that when I open that tent, the smell of Diesel Fuel, and Lemons smack me in the face like a 2x4. I have never smelled anything that pungent before. I am amazed at how well my Terra bloom carbon filter is doing, although I am sure it helps I have an 8x24" inch filter and Infinity T8 exhaust running on the lowest possible setting in my tiny little tent. Really hoping for some thick and sticky flowers! Thanks for checking me out and and Blaze On....

Hey now! This week went pretty well, I did notice my EC of my runoff was getting pretty high on day 65, it got up to about 1.9, and my nutrient solution going in was at 1.6. I ended up mixing a bucket of my normal fertilizer, and hand watering all the places my drip ring wasn't really hitting, and i got the EC back down to about 1.7. I also got a tip from MrJones to setup some type of support for the colas. I ended up tying some 550 (parachute) cord across the top of my tent poles, then I ties little loops around the colas with the same soft cord. I then used wire ties to attach the loops to the 550 cord. I also am slowly reducing my EC, as I believe I only have a couple weeks left. I am also going to be switching from Liquid KoolBloom to Dry KoolBloom at some point later in week 10. If anyone has any experience on the correct timing of this switch to ripening formula, please hit me up! I am still struggling a bit with heat and humidity, and am considering buying another dehumidifier for my next grow. As always, Thank you to everyone for all of your encouragement, support and tips!! Blaze on!

Hey now! This week went very well. I feel like she is finally done growing, and just starting to thicken up and ripen. I did switch from the liquid koolbloom to the dry, and within 48 hours or so I really started noticing the weight of the colas start leaning towards the floor. I did support the main colas last week, but this week I noticed several of the smaller unsupported colas started drooping to the floor, so i added a few support lines. I am thinking maybe she has two or three weeks left. I am not a big believer in an all out flush, as I do not wish to stress her out even near the end. Rather, I am gradually weaning her off the nutes over the next 2-3 weeks. She is starting to get brown tips on almost every leaf so not sure if this is just her being near the end or a bigger issue?? Any advice please hit me up! I'm still struggling with humidity issues, but she seems to be ok! Thank you so much to everyone in this community for all the love, support, and help with my first grow. Thanks and blaze on!

Hey Now, Was a great week, the Sour D. seems to be getting ripe and the trichomes are starting to get very cloudy with a spec or two of amber. The buds aren't nearly as dense as the other two, but there are quite a few flowers, so we will see. I have been gradually reducing the nutrients, as opposed to a straight flush, and I am now feeding her Cal Mag, Maxi Bloom, and Dry Bloom, at 600 EC. I think I only have a few days left total. I did have to tie a few of the smaller branches up this week, because surprisingly the popcorn buds are starting to turn into mini colas. I am still struggling with heat and humidity, but so far so good! Overall, I am very pleased with the growth this week, I feel like she is packing on a little more weight, (even tho the buds are really fluffy) and ripening. I also am looking to get another tent for drying, as i only have one other small tent. Thanks for checking me out and blaze on!

Hey now! So after 8 days of drying, and 6 days of curing, I just tried the Sour Diesel in a glass water pipe, and she is freaking amazing. She burns nice and slow, with thick clouds of smoke, and tastes exactly like she should, like a sour/citrus/fuel with a very nice aftertaste. I ended up with less than 20% of wet weight, but I am so ecstatic with the quality, I could freaking care less! I have a fantasy football draft on Saturday night, and I can't wait for the rest of my league to sample her! I had so much fun with this grow, from constructing the watering/draining system, to learning more about photography and video, to meeting everyone in this community, and finally to smoking Nugs that I actually grew! Until next time, be safe everyone, and Blaze On!!!