600W LED Speed Bud Auto CabGrow First SoG LO.OKING for General Tips

This thread is open to everyone. May not heed everyones advise, but I've got a very specific set up for specific reasons. With that said, all members welcome to chime in.

I've done a few CPU grows that didn't amount to much more than a headache, but a few years ago I decided to step it up to a Cab Grow. I created a 'fish tank stand' or 'bar area' which now doubles down as a 'catch all' in my office. When I started a few years back I was running a 250W HPS which led me to heat problems and it became a money pit. After a few failed attempts at Autos and 12/12 SoG I hung up my hat.

However, a few weeks ago me and another grower were talking about LEDs which I've never tried. Since I spent over 1k on this custom set up I decided to give LEDs a try and hopefully turn my 1k failure into a success.

Getting back into it took some work. Had to fix the temp issues because it was more of my design than the light, but I am currently happy with my LED as it did decrease overall temps, size allows for more growth, and gave me more options for adjusting inside the box. Thanks to some great minds @VenomGrower6990 , @coreywebster , @HydroRed , and a few others really helped me out with several issues I had. If anyone wishes to read that thread here is a link on all the work I had to do and the issues I had with heat. There were a few novice mistakes while others were design flaws.
Link: https://www.rollitup.org/t/need-help-temp-problems-not-sure-why.916357/

My beans came in on the 1st so after doing all that work I was excited to get them in water. Unfortunately, though, nothing has sprouted as of yet. When I wake, if there is still no activity I am going to pop three more in a different tuberware and chalk those up to duds. Crossing my fingers at this point, but it doesn't effect me really. Let's get to the actual business:

GOALS:
KEEP AN UPDATED JOURNAL, LUSH HEALTHY PLANTS, 20+G PER PLANT, PERPETUAL SOG, 3 FLOWERING PLANTS IN 2 GAL, 3 SEEDLINGS IN 1 GAL(4 WEEKS IN), SPEEDY 8 WEEK CYCLE, LST FROM 2 GAL, LOOKING FOR A GOOD EXPERIENCE WITH GOOD SMOKING BUDS/HASHISH, COMPLETELY SEALED WITH NO LIGHT LEAKAGE

SET-UP:
CabGrow 36x18x36in, 600W LED HYDRO MARS, Fem Auto Speed Bud from attitude seeds, 3.5 inline 170 cfm exhaust with carbon filter, 4inch reducer, 120mm CPU intake fan, 1x oscillating fan, 5x stats (2x digital and 3x white non-digi), 18/6 light schedule, and controller for exhaust for 'night' time.

Sadly I don't have any lady pics yet, but I've got a few of the set up and such. Hope you enjoy and check back for my updates! Thanks in advance for any advise, help, and tips given. I am a novice, so I appreciate everyone's opinions.

Day 1: Germ is on the way. Put them in water around 8:30pm. Box is 70% complete.
Temp: Top Canopy (No light) 91, Mid Canopy (Direct) 85, Lower Canopy (No light) 84, Sides (Direct) 86
Hum: 35% - 59%
Light: 18/6

Day 2: No results on germ yet. Box is 80% complete. Concealing light is now a priority.
Temp: Top Canopy (No light) 92, Mid Canopy (Direct) 88, Lower Canopy (No light) 86, Sides (Direct) 86
Hum: 27% - 61%
Light: 18/6

Day 3: No results on germ yet. Box is 90% complete. Last 10% is light leaks in front, mylar inside, conceal intake with panty hoes/durag.
Notice: **Was testing half var on exhaust fan controller and over tested by accident**
Temp: Top Canopy (No light) 98, Mid Canopy (Direct) 90, Lower Canopy (No light) 89, Sides (Direct) 90
Hum: 23% - 55%
Light: 24/0

Day 4: One bean just started to break. I put them inside by box since the temps in there are higher than where the line exhausts. Hopefully that'll bring up their temp and get them germ'd. If I still don't see any progress I'll drop more beans.
Temp: Top Canopy (No light) 92, Mid Canopy (Direct) 86, Lower Canopy (No light) 84, Sides (Direct) 84
Hum: 29% - 55%
Light: 18/6

Looking like you got a much better wrap on things now. I wish you the best in your new grow! I'll pull up a chair for this one.

Xander said:

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Subbing here too. Just my opinion but you will have better results germinating your seeds if they are in the dark until the tap root emerges and then plant in your medium and then start your light cycle. I usually soak my seeds in water for 24hrs and then place them in a folded damp paper towel and into a zip lock bag and place them in a warm dark place for 24hrs and i usually have a tap root within 2 days of soaking them. Just how i do it and it has worked well for me so far. Like HydroRed said i wish you the best.

Looking a bit different in the Cab now! I also germ in the same way VenomGrower said. Many ways to skin a cat though!
Good luck Xander, fingers crossed you have full success this time around.

I've had near a hundred percent with: between two damp paper towels, inside a tupperware, in a warm space. However, I didn't have any paper towels last Monday so I figured a wash cloth would work just as well. Something in my head said 'no', but I did it anyways. Not sure if it was the wash rag, the cold temps/water, or if maybe the light was seeping through the rag. I didn't put them in the box till around 4 days of being outside with the exhaust blowing on it. However, every time I checked on them the water was cold and the condensation effect wasn't taking place due to low temps. Then I started them in the box to raise the temps and didn't place anything over them because I guessed the lid and folded rag would conceal the light. Could have been a mix of all three dunno. I don't have an area other than outside that's over 74 in my house. Use to use the top back of my desktop but that's gone.

However with that said, I placed some in a new Tupperware on the 6th and fixedly mistakes or what I believe to be mistakes and got some ladies in the dirt tonight. Starting my journal over at day one tonight.

Day 1: Top canopy (no light) 90, Mid canopy (direct) 86, Lower canopy (no light) 84, sides 84.
Hum: 27% - 54%
Light: 18/6

Ladies just hit soil.

Day 2: Top canopy (no light) 90, Mid canopy (direct) 86, Lower canopy (no light) 84, sides 84.
Hum: 35% - 45%
Light: 18/6
Named the three ladies E, L, and I. E has sprouted, L is half way done with seed and solid stem, but no sign of I coming up yet.

Day 3: Top canopy (no light) 92, Mid canopy (direct) 88, Lower canopy (no light) 86, sides 86.
Hum: 30% - 48%
Light: 18/6
E has a solid stem, starting first set of fans, and has lush starters. L has a fairly solid stem and green starters as well. L still need to look upward and remove part of shell. I was growing the wrong way. Corrective action was taking by flipping him the right way. Cracked seed is now showing above soil. I does not have starters yet.

Day 4: Top canopy (no light) 90, Mid canopy (direct) 86, Lower canopy (no light) 84, sides 84.
Hum: 27% - 54%
Light: 18/6
E has started to stretch so I will be putting them in the box today. No sign from I yet but maybe this will help.

Day 7: Top canopy (no light) 90, Mid canopy (direct) 86, Lower canopy (no light) 84, sides 84.
Hum: 36% - 56%
Light: 18/6
E is still displaying great growth with solid stem. L is small in height with smaller fans. Looks a bit stunned or small genetics effecting it. I is no longer with us. Other have been transplanted into 2 gals.

Day 21: Top canopy (no light) 86, Mid canopy (direct) 84, Lower canopy (no light) 84, sides 86.
Hum: 29% - 53%
Light: 18/6
L has showing a promising amount of growth. However not as much as E. Even though L has doubled in size, E is branching out on all cylinders with bud sites attached. Super proud dad today! I doubt L is far behind her sister.

I know I am going to start running nutes in the water for E, but should I do it for L as well? Would it help her 'catch' up?

Also, I've got a FoxFarm organic mix and an ample supply of rabbit droppings and eggshells with various other organic waste. Any recommendations on what I should do/use? Also, I am not looking for the SuperExtreme Organic Juice 3050 just yet, but if you have a good reference of nutes with an efficient regimen for autos please inform me! Otherwise, is there anything I can do with what I have? I will post the nute measure later on tonight.

Xander said:

Day 2: Top canopy (no light) 90, Mid canopy (direct) 86, Lower canopy (no light) 84, sides 84.
Hum: 35% - 45%
Light: 18/6
Named the three ladies E, L, and I. E has sprouted, L is half way done with seed and solid stem, but no sign of I coming up yet.
View attachment 3784290
Day 3: Top canopy (no light) 92, Mid canopy (direct) 88, Lower canopy (no light) 86, sides 86.
Hum: 30% - 48%
Light: 18/6
E has a solid stem, starting first set of fans, and has lush starters. L has a fairly solid stem and green starters as well. L still need to look upward and remove part of shell. I was growing the wrong way. Corrective action was taking by flipping him the right way. Cracked seed is now showing above soil. I does not have starters yet.

Day 4: Top canopy (no light) 90, Mid canopy (direct) 86, Lower canopy (no light) 84, sides 84.
Hum: 27% - 54%
Light: 18/6
E has started to stretch so I will be putting them in the box today. No sign from I yet but maybe this will help.

Day 7: Top canopy (no light) 90, Mid canopy (direct) 86, Lower canopy (no light) 84, sides 84.
Hum: 36% - 56%
Light: 18/6
E is still displaying great growth with solid stem. L is small in height with smaller fans. Looks a bit stunned or small genetics effecting it. I is no longer with us. Other have been transplanted into 2 gals.
View attachment 3784291 View attachment 3784292 View attachment 3784293 View attachment 3784294
Day 21: Top canopy (no light) 86, Mid canopy (direct) 84, Lower canopy (no light) 84, sides 86.
Hum: 29% - 53%
Light: 18/6
L has showing a promising amount of growth. However not as much as E. Even though L has doubled in size, E is branching out on all cylinders with bud sites attached. Super proud dad today! I doubt L is far behind her sister.
View attachment 3784295 View attachment 3784296 View attachment 3784297

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Really nice to see things are progressing forward for you. You have put a lot of time and effort into this and its nice seeing you getting results.

VenomGrower6990 said:

Really nice to see things are progressing forward for you. You have put a lot of time and effort into this and its nice seeing you getting results.

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Thanks bud. I appreciate your company through this grow. I have put a lot of time and money but the end result is so worth it. The process has felt like renovating a house. Half the time you're working on it, it's barely functional, then you get to the point where it nearly is, onto the point it actually works for you, but there's always things that can be done, fixed, etc. I do have quite a bit more to get done actually but it's appearance.

Also I do have an upgrade for ya as well. Sorry for the delays and restarts everyone but I do have some bud porn for everyone finally.

Day 32
pH: 6.8
Temps: Top-86 Top Canopy-84 Mid-84 Sides-86 Soil-86
Light: 18/6

E is getting lush and large. Showing nearly 30+ bud sites. Very steady stem for auto. Looks a bit droopy today but hasn't had h2o in 2 days. Think she'll perk up after tonight's mix. L has nearly doubled in size. Still very lush green and showing over a dozen potential bud sites.

Overall looking good in growth and potential. Some yellow spots showed up the tips of their fans. Thinking either too low pH last watering or craving N. Thus before able to get any nute advice, completely my fault, I had to mix up some. I followed the Fox Farm Peace of Mind Organic Mix 3-8-8 by adding it to their soil then watering. However I may have added too much. Said two tablespoons per bulb. I added around four or six per plant. I know it's a weaker mix however if anyone knows how much to feed them with this product is love to hear it. Other possible organic material, or even a water based nute system I'd love to hear those as well. Any advise would help at this point because this is the first time I've got to the point to use nutes xD !

Another important update since the weather change is upon us. I started to vent out the nearby window. Pros: lower temp in room overall. No blowing used air back into room. No smell and they are smelling with door off. A hint with it on if in room for a while. Cons: noise can now be heard outside and it's loud. A vent visible out a window facing my crack head neighbors house/porch. Possible cops could see it from their porch etc. Personal opinions here. I did come home to 86 inside the box and has been at 78 open. It'll only get colder from here with the window open. Love that aspect, but not sure if it's worth the risk. Let me know what you think.

Right now, just hoping I didn't over feed to the brink of death.

Xander said:

View attachment 3790992 View attachment 3790993 Day 32
pH: 6.8
Temps: Top-86 Top Canopy-84 Mid-84 Sides-86 Soil-86
Light: 18/6

E is getting lush and large. Showing nearly 30+ bud sites. Very steady stem for auto. Looks a bit droopy today but hasn't had h2o in 2 days. Think she'll perk up after tonight's mix. L has nearly doubled in size. Still very lush green and showing over a dozen potential bud sites.

Overall looking good in growth and potential. Some yellow spots showed up the tips of their fans. Thinking either too low pH last watering or craving N. Thus before able to get any nute advice, completely my fault, I had to mix up some. I followed the Fox Farm Peace of Mind Organic Mix 3-8-8 by adding it to their soil then watering. However I may have added too much. Said two tablespoons per bulb. I added around four or six per plant. I know it's a weaker mix however if anyone knows how much to feed them with this product is love to hear it. Other possible organic material, or even a water based nute system I'd love to hear those as well. Any advise would help at this point because this is the first time I've got to the point to use nutes xD !

Another important update since the weather change is upon us. I started to vent out the nearby window. Pros: lower temp in room overall. No blowing used air back into room. No smell and they are smelling with door off. A hint with it on if in room for a while. Cons: noise can now be heard outside and it's loud. A vent visible out a window facing my crack head neighbors house/porch. Possible cops could see it from their porch etc. Personal opinions here. I did come home to 86 inside the box and has been at 78 open. It'll only get colder from here with the window open. Love that aspect, but not sure if it's worth the risk. Let me know what you think.

Right now, just hoping I didn't over feed to the brink of death.

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Those look like they may be getting overfed too much nutrient. Hard to say under the blurple light, but the leaves look really dark and the tip of the leaves are exhibiting the "claw" which is a sign of too much N fertilizer. Also, the yellow tips is another sign of over fertilization. As of now all signs are pointing to overfeeding nutrients. Autos are more sensitive to overfeeding nutrients than photoperiod plants too as far as I know. Keep in mind that more nutes doesnt mean bigger better plants. Can you get a pic of them under normal light?

Okay so I've got a few pics without light. I didn't think it was over feeding because it was happening before I added the nute mix.

It is slowly getting worse. Affecting about 3-5 bottom leaves on E and maybe 2 leaves on the bottom of L. Let me know what you think please.

This was two days ago so I'll get some newer pics uploaded tonight.

looks like high N, shouldn't be *that* dark green. You should see a nice gradient of green going from the growth tips down to the older fan leaves.