First grow -- Sweet Tooth x Ruderalis

Hola!

I decided to start a grow journal because I was really excited when my seed sprouted. I'm gonna keep it simple.

Lineage: Sweet Tooth crossed with a Ruderalis (probably Kritikal Bilbo from Genehtik) - feminized.

Germination: in a glass of distilled water with a few drops of hydrogen peroxide.

Grow medium: organic soil. pH is fine. 11.5 L (3 gallon) pot. Autoflowers aren't supposed to be transplanted so I used this method:

...and I only water the cup in the first couple of weeks so the seedling will get the water it requires.

Space: about 1-1,5 square feet with plenty of head room. (one plant)

Lights: Currently a 45 Watt 6400K CFL at about a distance of 8-11 cm. I am going to add another 45 Watt 6400K CFL in a week or so and toward flowering I have five 25 Watt 2700K; I will be keeping the two 45 Watt during flower if space is sufficient. 18/6 regime.

Ventilation: Two PC fans pulling air out. I only keep one of them running at the moment, which is enough.

Grow room is a large plastic tub which I've lined with white paper.

A few pics:









Last one is day 3-4 (today). Now at this point I water using a spray bottle and distilled water about once a day. Do I need to worry about overwatering?

Thanks a lot and I am looking forward to your critique and suggestions

Yes, you need to worry about over watering. Your soil looks like theres no filler in it, just organic matter. It will probably hold water pretty tightly. Unless thats how you prepared it on purpose? The container your sprout is in is quite large so if you soaker down its going to take a long time for your root zone to reach its desired dry out period. So watch that, wet,dry. Not wet,wet,drowned and dead.
Also, theres no need for that sprout to be that wet. You dont need to spray the leaves for any reason that benefits the plant right now. Just water the dirt really lightly. I use a syringe at that size. I think its a hundred ml.
She does look really healthy for now though. All you can do now is fuck it up lol

I do have one question though. Why are you growing a ruderalis x with sweet tooth? Are you trying to keep it small? Is it an auto flower? Its just not a typical cross so i was wondering why :/

Hey Ninjabowler. I let the soil dry all day yesterday and all night. The result was the pic before the last. And the last pic is after lightly watering. I haven't really thought anything bad could come up from spraying the little leafs (I only imagined it would make them grow slightly fatter) but I'll keep that in mind! For now I only spray and later soak in the middle bit within the buried plastic container, that way I won't have big problems even if the soil mixture isn't 100% aerated (I admit I rushed it... big mistake).

Yes it is an autoflower and I do plan on keeping it small. Also it was the healthiest-looking seed compared to the other options. Anyway, I really appreciate the input and I find your sig quite inspirational Thanks!

Edit: according to seedfinder.eu it's not a Sweet Tooth crossed with a pure Ruderalis, but a Ruderalis hybrid. (Kritikal Bilbo Auto)

Thanks man, i put pearlite in my soil. It makes it drain better. I always want water to come out the bottom at waterings but i dont want to have a ton of water stick in the container either. Pearlite leaves spaces in the shit pile so water flows past it and out and doesnt stick around forever. Its like some cooked volcano jizz thats full of air and doesnt hold aqua. A small bag is like six bucks and theres plenty of time to take that smaller container out of the bigger one and mix some into the lower dirt and add it back. You can get it at a garden store, hydro store, or maybe even walmart, call first lol. But seriously, if your lower soil was better i think the plant would like it. GL

I would imagine it won't need perlite since it's got plenty of sand and rocks somewhere in there. But just to make sure I did take out the plastic container and I gave the rest of the soil in the pot a good stir. I'm gonna update in a week or so.

Well best of luck to ya. If you stick around youll read enough dirt grows to see what the rest of the guys use. Self amended soil mixes or ffof with added pearlite if you want to be lazy. Keep me posted on how she turns out.

Hi. No update yet. I've run into some issues with the power. I was wondering what effect would it have if my autoflower suddenly went on a 24 hour darkness period then resumed it's 18\6 cycle.

Put it in the window.

It's night time... Bummer.

EDIT: I should probably explain... by the time I realized the power isn't going to be back on for a while it was nearing the end of the 6 hour dark period and the sun was setting.

2nd EDIT: Nevermind I just got a call from my dad the power issue was fixed. dark period went on for an extra 2 and a half hours.

Hi. Quick update. Day 6-7:

I added a hood to the 45 Watt 6400K CFL which is basically an upside down tin foil tray and to my surprise it's been keeping temps down! My only worry is the stem looks a tiny bit purple and flimsy.

Could it be overwatering?

Ur fine, don't over think every little thing when that happens to the new grower death soon follows

Hell you might have some super fire there, it's managing to defy the fuck out of gravity it's obviously got something to it.

Thanks a lot for the kind words. patience is a virtue, yeah?

Btw I'm new here but really enjoying the RIU community

Purple stems are normal, along with over watering. If you can not freak out about everything, water right, and feed right, and not drop anything on your plant, youre way ahead of the noob learning curve
Edit...did you get that pearlite yet? Youll have a better chance to not over water, more room for wild roots, want it again for your next grow cause growings addictive, and just do it.

Hi Ninja. Thanks for sticking
I haven't gotten to buying that perlite. I could only find it online here in 10 kilo bags - the shipment would kill me and then there's those heinous university fees. Anyway I was thinking about this: go down to the beach, get some crushed seashells, clean em off with bleach water, stick em in the soil, mix it up and we're done. What do ya think?

grapefruitmarmalade said:

Hi Ninja. Thanks for sticking
I haven't gotten to buying that perlite. I could only find it online here in 10 kilo bags - the shipment would kill me and then there's those heinous university fees. Anyway I was thinking about this: go down to the beach, get some crushed seashells, clean em off with bleach water, stick em in the soil, mix it up and we're done. What do ya think?

Click to expand...

I've read of folks using rice hulls, you should be able to find those somewhere.

Mr.Head said:

I've read of folks using rice hulls, you should be able to find those somewhere.

Click to expand...

I'm definitely looking into that but what about the sea shells idea?

grapefruitmarmalade said:

I'm definitely looking into that but what about the sea shells idea?

Click to expand...

Don't see why they wouldn't work.

Here we go, quick update. This is middle of the second week since sprout. She's smelling nice and looking fine (to me at least)

Update
She's looking fine. done a lot of growing in the past couple of days. I might reward her with another 45 watts 6400K.
I would like to try LST. Any ideas on when I should begin this?

By the way, the edge of the leaves are curling upwards ever so slightly. Could this be due to high heat/low humidity?