First Grow: Wedding Cake Auto

DAY ONE Both seeds I attempted to germinate via paper towel/baggy method about 2 days ago grew a nice taproot after 1-2 days, about 3cm each. My grow tent has been taking forever, so unfortunately I had to ghetto-rig a grow closet until then. So I went ahead and planted them this morning anyways. I put them in a solo cup each in a mix of a little organic coco coir and vermiculite, with mostly Fox Farm Ocean Forest. I was hesitant to put the little fellas in it, since I had heard it can “burn” them. However, I couldn’t find anything better in a pinch. I was nervous to leave them too long in the paper towels. So I figured I would just give it a shot, since I had heard people say it worked fine in different forums. I was able to test the pH of the soil I used, which was about 7.0. The meter I bought is crappy, so I will look into buying a better one. I did not test the pH of the CVS distilled water I used (fingers crossed) but I didn’t use a lot anyways. I put enough to make the soil moist, then put the seed in a shallow hole with the tap root down. I then very lightly watered over the seed, literally drops from my fingers. I am using four small blue/red LED grow bars, each with a supposed wattage of 10W. They are cheap ones I bought on Amazon, which I planned on using as supplemental lighting for the sides of my grow tent, but figured they would do a fine job for the first week alone, or when I am able to set my tent up. All of them are on, but at 50%, and about 10-12 inches from my soil. Concerns: Soil “too hot”. Lights too close/not strong enough (or the inverse). PH of water not optimal. Too much or too little water. DAY TWO 1200: I hooked up my bigger LEDs (32W each) in replacement of the small LED bars last night when I got home, but still not in my grow tent🤬 Hopefully that will arrive soon. They are about 2 feet from the light. I noticed the humidity was dropping, about 31% when I saw it this morning, at 70 degrees. So I decided to put a bag over them for now. It’s been an hour and it’s a back up to 40% now and rising. The temperature is also 77 F at the moment. I also realized I never gave them any darkness, so they went over 24 hours with light the first day. I figured it’s no biggie, I will just give them 4-6 hours of darkness now. 1700: I gave the plants some darkness, about 5 hours. Just turned the lights back on. I removed the plastic baggie that was over the plants after only an hour, and put a small humidifier on low right next to the plants. My grow tent finally came in, so I will be setting it up when I get a chance, most likely tonight. DAY THREE 1600: FINALLY set up my grow tent. It took me a while with all the delays, but I have it basically set up all the way. I just need to invest in some hangers, since I didn’t buy enough for my needs. Then I will be able to set my lights up correctly. For now, I still just have the two LEDs hanging about 2.5-3 ft from my two seedlings. One has sprouted up pretty fast and tall, while it’s sibling had just started to expose its self from the soil. I again watered them very lightly and carefully. I also poked small holes in the bottom of the solo cups. They are on top of a box to get them closer to the light, since I don’t have enough hangers. I do not have the exhaust in-line fan going, nor is my main light. I do have a little 4” oscillating fan going at low. Temp is around 77 with a humidity around 50%. I gave them about 4 hours of darkness this morning. 2100: 81 F and 40%H. A little bit ago I had got temporary hangers until mine arrive, so that the two LEDs are hanging about 22” from the top of my taller plant now. My next step will likely be attaining higher quality hangers so that I can have all three of my lights set up correctly. DAY FOUR 1200: No changes made, really. The soil looked dry this morning so I gave them a good watering with the same water. Temp was about 83 with 40 humidity. I’ve been giving them their darkness period between noonish and fourish. I would like for it to be when it is actually dark out to keep it close to natural as possible, but this has been working for me. Both plants are out of the soil with their first leaves exposed. 2100: I tried to set up my Sun System 315W LEC earlier but it seemed to get too hot too quickly. It went from like 80 to 90 in a matter of minutes, with my fans going full speed. I was impressed with how bright that thing is, but also how hot it was. So I have my two LEDs back up, this time with a little 100W LED 5000K bulb as support in a clip light. I have an evaporator humidifier on its way, along with a few other small items. That will include some 5 gallon fabric pots for me to transplant the two girls into. As of now, I have the two LEDs about 21” from the top of the plants, with the single LED bulb kind of at an angle from the side/top about the same distance away. The temp is high 70s with humidity around 50%. I noticed my smaller plant had yellow on the tip of one of its leaves, almost looks like it’s starting to turn to brown now. I’m definitely keeping an eye on it. Both plants have had the same conditions up until this point. I am hoping it is not the notorious FFOF “burn” that I was reading about. DAY FIVE Both plants look pretty much the same as they did before, just slightly bigger. The smaller one almost caught up in height to its sibling, though. It’s yellow tip on the leaf has completely turned to brown, but the rest of the plant seems healthy. I have been keeping an eye on the soil and watering carefully about daily at this point. Temperature stable around 80 +/- 3 degrees. Humidity stable at 41%. I would like it higher, but the humidifier increases my temperature beyond what I prefer. I am already at the max of my preferred temperature, really. I have ordered a few items/supplies for my tent, including an evaporative humidifier to replace my warm air humidifier. Hopefully that’ll increase humidity without increasing temperature. The lights are all the same distance and such, as are the fans. No changes have been made to these. Im still feeling bummed that the heat from my LEC 315W increased the temperature too drastically. I was really hoping to see what she can do. I am hopeful that I can change the location of my tent somewhere more suitable for temperature and humidity management. That being said, I am considering alternatives in case I am unable to solve that lights heat problem. DAY SIX The taller plant is starting to grow another pair of leaves. Otherwise, it appears as healthy as yesterday. The other hasn’t changed much either. I watered them again a little more this time. I lowered the lights an inch or so. I added an evaporative humidifier, we will see how that affects temperature and humidity. Otherwise, I haven’t changed anything. Been doing about 20 on 4 off. DAY SEVEN The evaporative humidifier has been working great. The temp has been down a bit and the humidity is up a bit. I may attempt my LEC 315W again. For today, nothing too different. Same lighting, darkness period, watering, etc.

DAY EIGHT It seems to be going well, I think. The temperature and humidity have been right about where I want them; 79 F and 60% plus or minus a few. I added a DIY LED I made from the small bar LEDs I had initially used for germination. Not very pretty but any added wattage is appreciated. This will only be temporary. I also added a bit of coco coir to each cup topped with ocean forest. DAY NINE Plants look healthy, a little droopy but it was after dark period. Gave them some water. No real changes. DAY TEN Plants are looking good. I did not water them today because the soil seemed okay. Humidity and temp are stable. I posted a video to show off my ghetto lighting system. DAY ELEVEN No adverse changes noted. Watered them well after their dark period. Temperature has been averaging about 81 F with 65% humidity. I haven’t changed the setting of the fans, lighting, or humidifier. DAY TWELVE No changes made. I gave them a light watering and lightly compacted soil a bit. I plan on transferring them to 5 gallon pots soon. DAY THIRTEEN I gave them 24 hours of light (not by design) before I transplanted the two girls from their solo cups around 3 o’clock this afternoon. I decided to put them each into 5 gallon fabric pots with a base of Fox Farm Ocean Forest. I gently cut the bottom rim off the solo cup using pruning scissors, then cut straight up the side. I was able to pull the cup apart without disturbing the roots and soil hardly at all. I did not loosen the soil at this time, as I was afraid to touch the roots at all. I had a small spray bottle with spring water and two tbsp of Dynomyco dissolved in it, which I sprayed half the contents onto each of the root balls. I also sprinkled a bit into the soil and mixed. I basically have the bottom third of my 5 gallon fabric pots a pretty even mix of Fox Farm Ocean Forest, vermiculite, perlite, and coco coir. Then the rest was 90%+ FFOF soil. I put a bit of vermiculite on top of the soil around the seedling to give it some support. As far as watering, I gave the soil a bit of spring water when the pot was halfway full, enough to dampen it. I then watered it again once the plant was transferred a pretty good amount, probably 16 ounces or so of spring water with a bit of aloe in it. Now they will sit in the dark for 4 hours, and I will keep the temperature and humidity around 78F and 65% give it take a bit. DAY FOURTEEN They don’t look they are dying; I guess that’s a good sign. They seem okay in their final pots. Temperature slowly dropped to 70 F for a couple hours when I was out earlier. It’s back to its stable 79ish. No adverse findings.

DAY FIFTEEN I watered it well, otherwise nothing to report. DAY SIXTEEN Nothing. Just seems to be growing slowly since transition panting it. DAY SEVENTEEN I got a new light; the Mars Hydro TSW 2000W. I replaced the two cheap LED lights with it, as well as my DIY LED bar. I kept the clip on LED bulb because I figured it wouldn’t hurt since it’s a 5000K. I will most likely add the LEDs back as support lights when the plants are bigger. I have the TSW2000 about 16” from the plants at 80% power. Humidifier still on auto; keeping humidity between 60-70. Exhaust fan at medium speed. Oscillating on low, hitting top of the light. The temperature went up a bit, so I added a small fan outside the tent, to help push cool air into the tent, aiming at one of the floor vents, which is also hitting the plants a bit as well. I will see how the plants respond to all the changes in the next couple days hopefully. DAY EIGHTEEN No changes. DAY NINETEEN No changes. DAY TWENTY Noticed they are curled down a bit. I put the oscillating fan away from them more and the lights up. I watered one plant a good amount and left the other alone. I will see how they are in the morning. DAY TWENTY ONE The plants didn’t really respond to any adjustments. I noticed the tips of some leaves are clawing.

DAY TWENTY TWO The curling hasn’t gotten worse, and the plants appear to be continuing to grow, albeit at a slow rate. #1 is at least. I have been making sure to stay on top of watering them. At this point, I might start experimenting, as this grow is a learning experience. I gave them a healthy dose of worm tea. DAY TWENTY THREE No noticeable changes. DAY TWENTY FOUR #1 is well ahead of #2 in growth. I haven’t noticed any curling of the leaves. I did notice some of the leaves have a faint bright green on the tips. DAY TWENTY FIVE I know I’m late, but I tried my hand at low stress training anyways. I was nervous to do it after transplanting them and kind of hesitated, but we will see how it goes. I’ve never done it before so I was pretty nervous. I think the first one I did was more high stress than it was low stress since it’s bent pretty good. The other plant (which was the taller one) I was more cautious with. I also trimmed a couple leaves and the lowest bud sites of each plant. I used Velcro strips to tie them down mostly, which worked great because I could attach them to the sides of the fabric pots easily. I am going to water them with half strength cal mag and see how they respond, since I have pretty much been using just water up until this point. Also, I did this pretty much just after their dark period. DAY TWENTY SIX I was unable to give them a dark period today but I’m not too worried about it. They looked decent before I left this morning. The taller one looked a little spazzy but we will see how they are when I get home tomorrow.

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I never even weighed out my harvest, but it was almost 3 mason jars stuffed full. I actually never smoked it either; I rosin pressed every gram of that $hit. Definitely better quality than the dispensary concentrate I’m used to. I’m very happy with my results, considering it’s my first run. They went through a lot like I moved halfway through, the plants lived I am unventilated closet for a bit because my tent wouldn’t fit and had to buy/wait for a new one, then had to deal with the winter cold in my environment too and all that. It was really fun and a huge learning experience. Hard to rate the strain considering it was my first grow, but again, considering everything I put these plants through, I give it high rating. I would recommend.