the first grow, trying to do it right

Here are some more pics. Check out the overall growth in the past day
The basil starting to look alive. Cilantro too but a little less. I tasted some of the basil today, not the best. Whatever. It was still good.

0 Hours:




17 Hours:






26 Hours:




This stick was an inch taller than the plant yesterday:



check out the attached photos for more

Plants are startin to get nice and bushy!
Feeding 1 Tbsp per gallon of blackstrap molasses
Fed 3 gray and 3 blue their first flowering nutes tonight
Will feed the others as they get hungry
Except for maybe 1 blue i might skip, she looks a little nuted out for a week or so



Check out Blue 3. She's a goin strong!



With plenty of flowering parts

Looks like you're on your way to a nice harvest soon!
Are you letting them dry out a little between waterings?

Reiss said:

Looks like you're on your way to a nice harvest soon!
Are you letting them dry out a little between waterings?

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Harvest hopefully in a month to a month and a half!

I water a day or so after the pot feels like all the water is gone (weight test)

weight test is the right way to do it. So many first time growers go nuts and overwater, glad to see you've done some research.

Very nice first grow.. keep it up.. subscribed...

Great job there going to subscribe keep it up. Those lights though are a bit on the yikes side. does the 1000 watt kill your light bill I run a 250mh,hps/2 54 watt florescent side lights and mine is pretty descent. Are you going to fim or is that not in the cards with a auto flowering strain? never did one so I'm in the woods with that. Far as your nutes what is your schedule with that is it every watering or twice a month etc? only reason is with your christmas deadline I would hate for nute build ip or any other nute issue to surface. This is your first grow so homework done or not try to find other threads where you might find people that have used your strain, nutes or both to asses their results. Now alot goes into growth characteristics but the knowledge will be beneficial. I'm an Organic guy myself but I'm not an anti nute crusader just a guy that wants people to push healthy stuff anyways keep doing your thing peace

Glad to see a couple of new folks here! To answer your questions:
@Reiss: Thank you. I read a lot that overwatering is one of the common noob mistakes. Whenever I'm just itchin to give the plants some water, I wait a day!

@samstevens: Running 1000w over 16 sq feet is kinda ballsy. If its 60-70 degrees outside it can be hard to keep the temp in that 80-85 range. I noticed about a $20 increase in my energy bill, well worth it. Now that its getting cold out the room stays nice and cool and the light keeps my house in the 60's. As far as nutes, I'm kind of playing it by ear. I gave them all 2 doses of veg nutes, if you check out this journal I've tried to document when. Now I'm switching to flowering nutes, although only 2 have gotten it so far. Theres some slight burn on 2 of the plants (more on that next post). I'm using all organic FF materials. I am only using Grow big and tiger bloom nutes, the others are superflouous according to my experienced friend. I won't let nute build up bog me down, I'm going to start flushing about 2 weeks before harvest, with increased frequency as it draws closer.
Finally, and Reiss will back me up on this, I've heard that its not a good idea to FIM or top an auto flowering strain, because there will not be enough time for it to veg back. You will get 2 main colas, but their combined weight will be less than if it was just let be. Also, it being my first grow and all, I dont want to get toooo fancy.

and @ thedifference: thanks man!

Some slight burns on some of the leaves.

These are from blue 1:





And these are from gray 3:






Note that its only these two or three leaves on each plant, otherwise the rest of the leaves are normal. Some of the tips on new growth at the top are very light green as well.
Its most likely from splashing while watering. anyone got a good way to eliminate this problem?

dtownscience said:

Its most likely from splashing while watering. anyone got a good way to eliminate this problem?

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I mostly meant the spotty part on gray 3. the burns are also on the lower leaves which is why I think its splashing. I've read that if you water right before they go to sleep then it gives them enough time to shed water. I need to start doing that.
right now i'm using a paper towel and DELICATELY and lovingly brushing off the water if it splashes, but i try to aim for the dirt.

there is a burn on a higher leaf on blue 1, so my watering theory does not work for that

some pictures from day 28

hey man ur ladies r look n good im a first time grower too and i too have some burns on my leaves. ill keep watch n ur grow cause i cant wait to c ur harvest

Overview, and a close up of Blue 3 and Gray 3. I don't like the curling of gray 3's s

Also, I've added a new rotating tower fan for extra airflow. I also saw one or two gnats, so I added some gnat paper.
I also finished adding the first round of flower nutes to all the plants. going to play it by ear from here, not necesarily giving nutes every other watering. Definitely giving molasses every watering though, about 1 tbsp/gay (I don't measure i just add it in)

The curling on the leaves hasn't really gotten better. Its only the auto AK's that are doing it. I've tried moving the light up, this hasn't solved it. I also watered the biggest AK, didnt fix it either. The canopy temperature is always about 82, never goes above 85 though

Blue 2 is budding up NICE

Quick question, how far away from the tops of the plants is you lamp?

maxwelljr said:

Quick question, how far away from the tops of the plants is you lamp?

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Tallest plant is 22 inches below light, shortest is 35, most are around 28

Cool, ok it seemed further away.
Would it be in your best interest if you raised the other plants up to the level of the tallest?
Maybe on a couple books or what have you?

maxwelljr said:

Cool, ok it seemed further away.
Would it be in your best interest if you raised the other plants up to the level of the tallest?
Maybe on a couple books or what have you?

Click to expand...

Yeah, the lowest one is the one with the leaf problems. I wasn't sure what it was but it appears to be too much nitrogen. I had it further away, incase it was too much light/heat.
Good point though.

The plants are all about the same level now, which is no more than 2 feet and no less than 1 foot from the light. nice n close. canopy temps are still a stable 80. I have flushed the two over nitrogened plants with plain water and then fed lightly with molasses

Buds are starting to thicken, lower leaves are starting to yellow.
the flush seems to have cured the over-nitrogen'd plant.

Its good to see the plants under some different light every now and then, plus I have to move them to water the ones in the back