1st Grow...big or go home

Hey I was lucky enough to have a mentor help get me started. SO I felt like with that advantage I would go a little bigger. Here is my grow set up. On a side note I have already germinated and planted my seeds.

*tent: 4x4x7, with an attached 2x4x7 for seedlings and veg
*lights: 900w Mars LED, 2 T5 lights (seeds and veg) all lights are on a timer
*ventilation: 6" aux fan from the 2x4 seed/veg room to the bloom room, 4" inline fan with carbon filter
*seeds: amherst sour diesel, bubblegum, and random kush (seedbank). I also have 2 other strains on the way one is a IBL and the other is a F4
*nutes: Mykos, rock resignator, big bloom, kangaroots, microbrew, and a local shops tea
*medium: currently they are in a seedling like grow sponge with micro infused in but as soon as they are ready to transplant they will go in Fox Farm Ocean Forest.

Room temp is between 74 and 81 F
Room humidity is between 40-50%

Like I had mentioned earlier I have already received the seeds. I had ordered them and got them in about a week and a half, through cannabis seed bank. I germinated them in the wet paper towel method. I soaked the paper towels in water and kangaroots and they where cracked within a day and had 1-2" root tails within 2 days. The kush had already started to weave its way into the paper towel. After I planted them I put them in a greenhouse type setting and left them alone for a day. One seed started to stretch so much that it looked like it was trying to uproot itself. I eventually said screw the greenhouse and put them as close to the light as possible to keep the stretch from getting out of control. The one crazy stretch is 4" high and doesn't even have nodes yet. I plan on LST, scrog, lollipopping, super cropping. My mentor has always used HPS so we are looking forward to seeing how the LED does in comparison. If I missed anything or there are any questions then just ask. Sorry there are no pictures I have a google chrome book and havent really figured out how to upload shit on here. As soon as I get pics I will post them.

ok so today was the first day i watered them since i transplanted them into the plugs. i filled the trays up with water originally but i was nervous they would get over watered or drowned or root rot. dont know if that is actually something i needed to be worried about but i didnt want to take the risk. besides i like seeing my girls everyday. i uploaded pictures finally so this will give you an idea of what i'm working with. all the plants are right about 4" in stretch and i think they are done stretching for now. my mentor told me that when i transplant them into their veg pots that i can bury them up to the first node. anyways if you have any pointers then let me know...or any questions

so i had checked on them today, this was 7 days from the start of germ and no noticeable change since yesterday. like everybody else on here the first grow is the most impatient grow. don't really know if it gets any better though. i moved them even closer to the light and there isnt really to much heat there. in this stage the seedling or sprouts are in plugs under a single bulb T5...there really isnt that much heat coming off the bulb. i'll be watching for heat burns though.

earlier i said they were at about 4" but i measured them earlier and they're standing about 2.5-3" tall. once i transplant them i'll bury them up to about a inch under the first nodes. i'm alittle unsure about when i should transplant them into their gal pots to veg. also i'm wondering if i can turn off the inline fan and aux fan until the plants get into veg.

from now on i'll do weekly updates and load pictures when i do the updates. always open to advise, and of course if you have questions/comments/or concerns.

So today has been an interesting day. i went to the mentors house and had a talk today. i showed him the pictures of stretch, he recommended that i transplant them into a red solo cup and bury them up to the node...get them close to the light and let them fill out. while transplanting them several of them had roots growing out of the side of the plugs and growing out the bottom. i'm not sure if i should've went ahead and put them in veg or not. also in the process i dropped a ASD (amherst sour diesel) into the cup and it tipped over, it looked like it pulled the plant out of the plug about half an inch. i'll def be looking to see if it holds up or suffered severe root damage. i have my fingers crossed but i'm not holding my breath. the room temp is steady around 75-80F and RH is 50%. I'll upload pics also tomorrow ends the first week since planting.

i'm open to suggestions and of course as always if you have any questions/comments/concerns then ask ill do my best to answer

also i got my IBL and F4 in today...i'm pumped so pumped

What is the final pot size you plan to use? You can base your transplanting on that. For example if you plan to harvest in 5gal pots/buckets, you should transplant to a 1gal then 3gal then finally 5gal right before flower. Or you could simply transplant when the roots begin to form a nice circle around the pot. Your mentor sounds pretty old school because mine told me about burying the first node as well. Less transplants the better. Impatience usually will get your plants killed.

Just do what your mentor said. Bury them steams. Roots will come out of them. Keep the light as close as you can.

WindyCityKush said:

What is the final pot size you plan to use? You can base your transplanting on that. For example if you plan to harvest in 5gal pots/buckets, you should transplant to a 1gal then 3gal then finally 5gal right before flower. Or you could simply transplant when the roots begin to form a nice circle around the pot. Your mentor sounds pretty old school because mine told me about burying the first node as well. Less transplants the better. Impatience usually will get your plants killed.

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i'm ending in 7 gal fabric pots. right now i'm trying to bounce back from the massive fuck up that i've caused from the beginning.
i thought greenhouse would've been the best starting out...but he said greenhouse is better used for clones then seedling. he basically said what kiwipaulie said.

On a side not i fucked these girls up even more lol...i swear if they survive me then, they will be the strong plants in the world. i had personal mentioned earlier that i'm impatient being a first time grower and because of that i have been feeding them every day and the other day i over watered them. last night i went an checked on them and sure enough one of the symptoms i was worried about has presented itself. my fear was heat burn (i had them sitting 3-4" away from a 4 bulb T5 lamp), nute burn (because for the first week i had been giving them full doses of nutes...even a little more concentrated) and finally overwatering (i switched the plants out with fresh soil and moved them closer but i was giving them nutes on top of being in fox farm. he said get them out of the soil and just feed them straight RO water). 2 days ago i looked at the girls and i noticed that several plants were drooping and the leaves where pointed at the ground. on the last transplant i gave straight water (but my water is at a pH level of 7.8, that is my tap water) an just enough to absorb for about a day or 2. so carefully watching the plants to make sure they bounce back, i looked at them last night and the plants are bouncing back and perking up but i noticed something else...some plants started to get a gold tint to them and brown spots are popping up. so now its either heat burn (which i dont think it is) and/or nute burn (i'm leaning towards this issue).

i know i was going to do weekly updates, but now i'm in a bad spot. i'll upload pictures shortly and tell me what you think. any advice then i would appreciate it. i'm not experienced haha this is me being a newb.

blackflag_demo said:

i'm ending in 7 gal fabric pots. right now i'm trying to bounce back from the massive fuck up that i've caused from the beginning.
i thought greenhouse would've been the best starting out...but he said greenhouse is better used for clones then seedling. he basically said what kiwipaulie said.

On a side not i fucked these girls up even more lol...i swear if they survive me then, they will be the strong plants in the world. i had personal mentioned earlier that i'm impatient being a first time grower and because of that i have been feeding them every day and the other day i over watered them. last night i went an checked on them and sure enough one of the symptoms i was worried about has presented itself. my fear was heat burn (i had them sitting 3-4" away from a 4 bulb T5 lamp), nute burn (because for the first week i had been giving them full doses of nutes...even a little more concentrated) and finally overwatering (i switched the plants out with fresh soil and moved them closer but i was giving them nutes on top of being in fox farm. he said get them out of the soil and just feed them straight RO water). 2 days ago i looked at the girls and i noticed that several plants were drooping and the leaves where pointed at the ground. on the last transplant i gave straight water (but my water is at a pH level of 7.8, that is my tap water) an just enough to absorb for about a day or 2. so carefully watching the plants to make sure they bounce back, i looked at them last night and the plants are bouncing back and perking up but i noticed something else...some plants started to get a gold tint to them and brown spots are popping up. so now its either heat burn (which i dont think it is) and/or nute burn (i'm leaning towards this issue).

i know i was going to do weekly updates, but now i'm in a bad spot. i'll upload pictures shortly and tell me what you think. any advice then i would appreciate it. i'm not experienced haha this is me being a newb.

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I hope things work out. I would say for next time just use fox farm soil through veg, no nutrients at all. Then when you begin to flower give them small doses and work up to full strength. Two weeks before you plan to harvest, stop using the nutrients and feed just water(flushing) . That should give you some great bud depending on your strain of course. Take into account you should be aiming for optimal room temperatures and taking your own notes to keep track of what you may or may not be doing wrong. Post pics and I will help if I can. I've ruined plenty of plants by doing too much.

so below the pictures show a few issues that i am running into. keep in mind that this has all been in one week since they went from germination to the plotting plugs. my biggest fear is the amount of stress i have put on my girls. literally within a week they have been transplanted 3 times, drowned, OD on nutes...i feel bad for them. last night when i checked on them, the RmTemp: 78F RmHum: 66% (this is higher then it normally is).

Any and all help is highly appreciated, thank you guys.

WindyCityKush said:

I hope things work out. I would say for next time just use fox farm soil through veg, no nutrients at all. Then when you begin to flower give them small doses and work up to full strength. Two weeks before you plan to harvest, stop using the nutrients and feed just water(flushing) . That should give you some great bud depending on your strain of course. Take into account you should be aiming for optimal room temperatures and taking your own notes to keep track of what you may or may not be doing wrong. Post pics and I will help if I can. I've ruined plenty of plants by doing too much.

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yeah at this point i am scared to do anything dramatic or scared to alter them. i would like to keep them simple and grow amazing yields but the way everyone talks is thats not possible. you need nutes and boosters. I shouldve just started off as straight water and taken my time to properly manage them, then the more comfortable i felt moved with level of experience i had.

My problem (maybe a problem for a lot of newbies) is everyone gets on RIU and has different methods and techniques and it gets overwhelming. you start running different methods that contradict themselves and i end up hurting myself. i couldn't have done this without my mentor and RIU (he told me about RIU), i spend hours on here reading peoples stories and watching journals.

always open to suggestions/advice...and like always if you have any questions/comments/concerns feel free to join in

blackflag_demo said:

yeah at this point i am scared to do anything dramatic or scared to alter them. i would like to keep them simple and grow amazing yields but the way everyone talks is thats not possible. you need nutes and boosters. I shouldve just started off as straight water and taken my time to properly manage them, then the more comfortable i felt moved with level of experience i had.

My problem (maybe a problem for a lot of newbies) is everyone gets on RIU and has different methods and techniques and it gets overwhelming. you start running different methods that contradict themselves and i end up hurting myself. i couldn't have done this without my mentor and RIU (he told me about RIU), i spend hours on here reading peoples stories and watching journals.

always open to suggestions/advice...and like always if you have any questions/comments/concerns feel free to join in

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Looks like they will be fine. If you feel the need to use nutrients at least wait until a few sets of leaves have grown and they are in a bigger pot. Even then you should give it 1/4 of the recommended dose and build it up to normal strength as you feed. Getting big yields is achievable in a multitude of setups but you have to use whatever is best for your situation. Your mentor sounds like a smart fella btw. Im not experienced enough to mentor someone, but ive been through what you are going through and Im just suggesting what worked for me.

thank you, yeah i guess this is normal or alot of ppl go through this and experience amateur mistakes. i'm just glad i have ppl to get help from lol.

First time grow ! Im growing reggie && i was wondering should i get this into flowering scheduale , it actually starts to smell like weed when you smell some of the plants , but i doesnt seem to grow as much . i hope this is a female ?!?!!?!?! BUT SHOULD I GO INTO FLOWERING ??? Or (can i )

420 my bday said:

First time grow ! Im growing reggie && i was wondering should i get this into flowering scheduale , it actually starts to smell like weed when you smell some of the plants , but i doesnt seem to grow as much . i hope this is a female ?!?!!?!?! BUT SHOULD I GO INTO FLOWERING ??? Or (can i )

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You can flower it. Btw good etiquette is to either start your own thread or ask the OP if you can post your pic/question.

so today has been a good day for the girls. the bubblegum has grown and balanced out from the fuck up that happened last week. the bubblegum has definitely grown the most but all plants are stacking the nodes right on top of each other. no more stretching has happened and the plants are finally starting to get size. the roots are settling in and the leaves are growing larger. the burns on the leaves are a constant reminder to me of the damage that i did and although they are ugly i'm glad they are their to let me know about the importance of patience. i picked up some pH lower today and finally able to adjust the water level. our city water holds at 7.8 to 8.4 (crazy i know) but i have it down to 6.7 as of now. the droopy leaves from over watering have perked back up and are looking nice.

as soon as they are ready to clone i want to clone them and put the current girls in the actually grow tent under the 900w LED. and the clones will be set back under the 4 bulb T5. speaking of which, what would be the recommended time to wait until cloning? is there a certain height or time frame, node count? what am i looking for? i plan on doing a 2 week flush then slowly introducing nutes again.

any advice is welcome and as always questions/comments/concerns are welcome

blackflag_demo said:

so today has been a good day for the girls. the bubblegum has grown and balanced out from the fuck up that happened last week. the bubblegum has definitely grown the most but all plants are stacking the nodes right on top of each other. no more stretching has happened and the plants are finally starting to get size. the roots are settling in and the leaves are growing larger. the burns on the leaves are a constant reminder to me of the damage that i did and although they are ugly i'm glad they are their to let me know about the importance of patience. i picked up some pH lower today and finally able to adjust the water level. our city water holds at 7.8 to 8.4 (crazy i know) but i have it down to 6.7 as of now. the droopy leaves from over watering have perked back up and are looking nice.

as soon as they are ready to clone i want to clone them and put the current girls in the actually grow tent under the 900w LED. and the clones will be set back under the 4 bulb T5. speaking of which, what would be the recommended time to wait until cloning? is there a certain height or time frame, node count? what am i looking for? i plan on doing a 2 week flush then slowly introducing nutes again.

any advice is welcome and as always questions/comments/concerns are welcome

Click to expand...

Generally you want several nodes before you take clones but you also would like those clones to be about 4-6 inches long.

So today i checked on the plants and have seen good results. all the girls are very responsive and loo happy. they havent returned to their good deep green color yet but they are starting to and are making good growth. they are still being flushed with water and will continue this process for another week. i also have also started to spray the girls with water and they seem to enjoy that, although i have been spraying them for about 2 days now the humidity has dropped to 51% as opposed to the 55% to 60% it regularly hangs at. i cant explain that but i'm ok with it. temps have gone up a little bit and now hover around 79 F which i'm not sure if it is something to concern myself with yet or not but i have an aux fan and it is constantly running to keep things manageable. i have a kush and it has not shown any growth really and looks to be at the same stage as it was about 4 days after the plants started to grow. it has 1 node and a 2nd node popping through but its been like that for about a week now. it isn't showing signs of progress but isn't showing signs of it dying off either. i'm not really sure what to do with it. i will continue to treat it as the other plants but i'm wondering about it.

any advice is welcome and as always questions/comments/concerns post'em

leaps and bounds, thats really the best way to explain these girls. today i went to check on them and of course was expecting to see changes but not like this. so tomorrow is picture day and i'll upload pics but for now just a quick update.

2 of the 3 bubblegums are large their leaves are stretching almost over the edge of the cup. and the bubblegums are starting to smell. its not overpowering or super strong but they have started to smell.
1 of the 4 ASD is competing with the bubblegums, her leaves are stretching and has started to smell also.
several of the plants have pistils now and are also getting their deep green back.
the RmTemp is holding steady at 78F and RmHum is holding at 50%

i have 4 groups and the last group is a ASD and kush...the kush is the deepest green out of all the plants but is struggling the most and the ASD in Group 4 is the smallest out of all the ASD's. i don't know what is different about this group because they have been exposed to the exact same environment as the other groups.

color is being returned to the girls and the goldish color from the nute burns is slowly being pushed out. the nodes are stacked tight and continue to stack and sprout. looking forward to the day that the topping and LST begins. i have also continued to spray them with straight water, they enjoy that. i'll post pics tomorrow.

any advice is welcome, and like always questions/comments/concerns post'em

and here is the end of the week report

these girls have shown great growth and development. i am impressed. the colors are coming back to the girls and getting nice and deep. since i started to mist the girls there has been some environmental changes. temps have rose to 79F that used to hang right around 74F also the humidity went from 55%-60% down to 47% (today). the girls seem to really like the misting though. i uploaded some pictures, compared to the first week i would say that they are coming through nicely. tell me what you think!

the first 2 pics are project plants. in other words i'm testing things on them to see their reaction to different elements or nutes or feed.

this was a freebie kush dont know the specific strain

pic2- is a project ASD.

the rest of the pictures are the standard growing. water, and nutes. these are all bubblegum and ASD. the nodes are stacked tight and close. anyways this is my progress and i love these girls...they are my first so thats expected lol. so tell me what you think and i'm open to any advice...like always questions/comments/concerns post'em