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SO! I'm starting this diary at week 3. I decided to document this for myself as much as anything, since I've been growing for about a year and I wanted to upgrade my methodology. I've been reading non stop for months and this grow is me investing a little and doing everything as close to (what I know as) perfect as I can. Criticism is still more than welcome, if not specifically appreciated.
Seedling - I just have one going, as it was my last one and the new batch got delayed in shipping. Right now the plant is in a 2 gallon pot full of Ocean Forest, topped at 4 nodes, and LST with some small metal hooks to spread it out in preparation for Scrogging. I want to let the final pots soil sit while moist for a week as is recommended. NOTE: I actually germinated 2 seeds for this grow. Both took FOREVER to pop up, and one made it above the soil and died for seemingly no reason. The surviving seed is way shorter than normal. Not sure what happened but its otherwise very healthy.
Soil - My soil is made by following the recipe from BuildASoil. 1 part Sphagnum moss, 1/3 part compost (mine is Compost/Manure from a local place) and 1 part perlite. Next is 2 cups/gallon of Nutrients from the BuildASoil Pre-Mixed Kit, and 4 cups per/gallon of Minerals from the same kit. I'm also using the Clover mix cover crops.
Pot - I guess I could have maximized further by using an expensive Smart Pot, but i opted to save my hard earned cash and use a 27 gallon storage tote. LOTS of holes, garden cloth, ~2in layer of rocks, and another layer of garden cloth. This might be overkill but it wont hurt it.
The plan is that since I only have one plant in a 27 gallon container, ill let it veg for way longer, I'll basically play it by ear, but I'm considering let it go up to 2 months total, and hopefully not need to add nutrients all the way through to harvest. If I need, I can top dress or make a tea to keep it healthy.
Watering - for a few more weeks it will be by hand, but I'm working on setting up an automated drip/sprinkler with some nifty mini-sprinkler heads I found on Amazon, a branch off my water hose, sprinker timer, and an an RO filter!
Wish me luck!
Week 3-
What I did - Transplanted into the final pot, a 27 gallon storage tote. lots of drainage, BuildASoil recipe, plus Clover mix cover crop. Watering at 10% water by soil volume, so roughly 3 gallons, every ~6 days.
The Good - plant has really taken off since the transplant + light defoliation. its grown ~ 3 inches in a matter of 2 days. The pictures may not show it, but that's because I pulled the top 2 branches over with more hooks. The Clover has sprouted, and the soil is staying moist for far longer than I figured. EDIT: I'm also seeing a good about of Fungai cropping up onto the top layers of soil, which if my knowledge holds true, is a good sign!
The Bad - I'm seeing a PH reading on my in-soil meter of ~7.1. I've moved it around just to be sure, and double checked with run-off. So when I watered I PH'd to 6, and the run-off read 6.5 on the pen. I'm a little concerned the mix came out too Basic, but we'll see moving forward.
Going Forward - Honestly, I'm considering topping a second time. All of the branches are working on their 4th nodes, I've got the time to let it fill out, and I could end up fully filling out the Scrog net if it goes well. Thoughts?
Do any indoor growers have experience with topping more than once? Given that I'm going for a far longer Vegetation cycle than normal with a 27 gallon pot, it seems like a feasible option for me. Thoughts? Warnings?
Having a bigger pot CAN absolutely trigger a later flowering period. Ive had it happen myself but there are a lot of variables (taproot depth, temp, light, genetics). What I will say is normally you hit 4 weeks and it flips almost like clockwork, so do not bet on the larger pot theory as its not consistent. I only top once and thats how I prefer to do it. Two tops would likely stunt them too much and cut your yeilds.
Hold on brotha, having a bigger pot won't extend your veg period with an autoflower, this bitch will flower withing 2 to 4 weeks regardless of what you do (unless you just kill em but that dont count), so taking this into consideration, top it only 1 time and count the ammount of side branches (dont count the fan leaves just the branch above them), each of those branches will be shooting right up there next to the main 2 tops, these side shoots are just like tops in some strains, but in others they may not develop as much as the other 2 who will start acting as new tops.
Check my LP1, pictures are not easy to take in my space atm but you may be able to notice the difference between the LP2 and the LP1, LP1 was topped once, LP2 wasn't, result is 1 big bud in the LP2 with some side buds, results for the LP1 is about 10 tops.
Good luck growmie, since ur growing autos if u need anything just let me know, i gladly donate my time to solve other people's issues when i can, but i don't know everything so i can't help out with everything, but if u got any issue i might hold the answer.
Stay lit growmie.
Nothing to report last week, I was away for Christmas and dad kept watch on it for me. He did some training to keep up with growth. SPEAKING OF GROWTH! Holy moly it exploded. I was expect it to take so much longer!
The nice part about 'water only' is that I don't have much to write here; we started training it into the net, and watered it with 6.0 PH water twice in 15 days.
I'm kind of curious about how much it'll produce now...😳
thhumper
