How are we doing so far (first grow)

[madams9]

I apologize for the general question. I have a grow diary on another site and I'm not really satisfied with the information I'm getting there. It seems they like to snap a judgement out there without asking any questions.

At any rate, quick review: I've got a single plant (my first, autoflowering Blue Dream) in a DWC hydro tent under a 600 Watt LED. Feeding Fox Farms Trio and some CaliMagic from General Hydro. We are currently in veg and the plant looks good, though it is small. We go to week 5 officially tomorrow and the plant is just under 6 inches tall from the top of the rapid rooter plug to the top of the highest leaf. It just seems small. I've only got 36" of vertical space in the tent, so small should work out for me assuming I get a good flowering stretch and growth is somewhere near "normal" for Blue Dream auto.

But it is healthy. PH, TDS/EC and temp in the res are good. RH is around 50% now, and the light is in veg mode - on 18/off 6. I've added some Grow Big and some Big Bloom. Getting ready to add some more nutrients to the mix. Also, had to had about 4 oz of CaliMagic. I've added several gallons of water over the past month. Plant shows no burned edges, spots, discoloration, etc. New growth has been abundant and it looks like we may be headed to flower very soon.

And now, some slightly better than potato quality pictures.

First, here's how she looked on Friday prior to a trim.



I elected to trim some large, older leaves off to get some light to bud sites. This is the second time I've pruned off a few leaves to expose the plant.





Next is a pic taken this morning. I've left as much green surface area as I think I can get away with while opening up the plant to light. It's all perky and green. Looks pretty happy.





Another angle.




And finally, here is what I'm seeing when I look closely at a bud site. This particular site is at that top of the plant. It's one of the nodes under the spot where I topped the plant almost 2 weeks ago. (It's just a cellphone pic. I have a usb microscope ordered.)



I'm guessing I'll see pistols by the end of the week at which point I will crank on my light's Flower switch, go 20/4 and add a dose of nutrients (including some Tiger Bloom).

Opinions? Helpful tips?

Thanks.


Mark

Edit: I meant to include a pic of the root ball. I don't really have enough space to get the cup up high enough to get all the roots out of the res AND take a pic with my phone with only one hand. I guess I need to make friends. But the roots are pretty massive.

[Mr.furley]

madams9
the plant is looking great so far, thanks for a real good description and pictures. I don't do Dwc or grow Autos so I will hold off on any advice, but from what I've seen your doing just fine.

[madams9]

Thank you sir!

[9fingerleafs]

Gotta agree with mr furley, the plant looks great, looks like it’s going to fight you with the training but you seem to know what you’re doing I don’t DWC either

[9fingerleafs]

Btw welcome. You gonna love this place. Everyone is nice and helpful, we love pictures and good vibes haha

[madams9]

I've decided I'm probably not going to do much by way of training. I may decide to spread it out a bit with some pipe cleaners and hot glue, but my inclination is to let my first grow just do it's thing and see what happens.

And I appreciate the welcome. This looks like a great place in terms of community and knowledge.

[9fingerleafs]

Ohh I see. Didn’t realized it’s your first grow, in that case yes don’t worry about more training, you already have several branches. Happy growing my friend. Don’t be afraid to ask away

[ZigZag]

Yeah, they are small but you want them that way, especially if you have only 3' to work with, you could still get an ounce or more of trimmed bud, even with an 18" plant. Depending on the strain they may double in height so some easy LST might help you avoid having the issue of dealing with light burn later when its more difficult to make adjustments and you either have to top or supergroup. Neither the best option during late flowering. Good thing is short wide plants don't usually stretch too much.
Roots looking fine. From my experience with short plants its a good idea to keep too many small branches from growing up between the main colas, that way those colas get nice and fat and get good air circulation. But from your pics it looks like you're doing well!
Cheers!

[Potted]

Your grow looks great but I agree with all when it’s said it much easer to bend down a small branch now instead of fighting with the same branch later on when it becomes woodie and harder to manage.
I would like to welcome u to a great site that u have found,plenty of experience here, just ask, as there’s no dumb questions your safe 👍

[ZigZag]

Yup, this site is the best. I've been on for a while now but not for about 6 months_ too many other commitments to make for a successful grow. But at least I'm back at it now!
Winter is my best grow season anyway, since I'm restricted to indoor grows. I had to super crop a "woodie" last time and totally freaked thinking I was going to kill it for sure but all worked out in the end. Thankfully! I love your quote..or did you come up with the yourself_ "the best weed has yet to be grown"! That's the incentive that drives me to try different something different with every grow. I miss out on being able to make comparisons over time but I get to try lots of different strains and techniques. Its fun as well as rewarding!

[Vitaminthc]

Hello madams, nice plant!

Looks healthy, judging my the growth coloration, node spacing and new growth colour I suspect I very slight nitrogen overload, maybe together your nutes are a bit hectic, try a slight cut down on your main source of nitrogen for slightly faster less darker growth!

it’s only small coz it’s auto, mine was like that too, then just shoots out like a beast you can’t control.

If you can’t be bothered training constantly your grow area looks perfect for a PVC pipe scrog setup, wait for the stretch to begin then guage the amount of stretch to the height placement of the scrog net and lights, make sure your led’s are at a reasonable distance to avoid bleaching and bobs your auntie

SCROG SCROG SCROG

[LurkingInTheGrass]

Looking great

welcome to the party 🍾

sounds like you have given your first grow some thought and planning (more than I did 😁)

Curious about your strain (to get an idea of what you are expecting)

give this a read, if you have a moment. Just to give you something to think about

https://www.growweedeasy.com/simple-cannabis-plant-training-guide

[SlowOldGuy]

she looks good madams.!!!

if u r wanting more/faster growth quit trimming off the fan leaves,
many growers think that fertilizer is 'food' for plants,
in fact fertilizer is more like vitamins, the actual plant food is chlorophyll,
the leaves act like chlorophyll producing solar panels and nutrient storage tanks, at first they power the plant with chlorophyll,
if there is a shortage of nutrients they provide them from their 'storage tanks' (major shortage causes deficient leaf symptoms)

healthy leaves filter very little light, the lower shoots will grow without having to remove any leaves,
if u want more bud sites, doing some LST or supercropping will provide more growth then trimming.!

being an auto, u r on a time line and growth will automatically stop and she will flower,
with auto's, the size right before flower will determine your yield.!!

[madams9]

Merry Christmas Eve all.

Thank you all for the input and encouragement. I do appreciate it.

Looks healthy, judging my the growth coloration, node spacing and new growth colour I suspect I very slight nitrogen overload, maybe together your nutes are a bit hectic, try a slight cut down on your main source of nitrogen for slightly faster less darker growth!

This seems helpful. The thing is, I've only fed this plant twice in the past 4 weeks. The last feeding was 10 days ago (12/14/18) and it was 3/4 oz each of Grow Big (6-4-4) and Big Bloom (0-.5-.7). As of last night, PPM(EC) was measured at 621(1.242). PH is around 6.2.

Do I still need to neutralize nitrogen content? How do I neutralize nitrogen content?

I'm planning on adding nutrient as soon as I shift into flowing mode. Fox Farms shows adding the two nutes above plus Tiger Bloom (2-8-4) for a PPM of 1120 - 1260. This may be crazy high, I don't know. I've been adding half the nutes recommended by FF. What numbers should I be shooting for? What should I be considering for my next feed. Flowers look right around the corner.

it’s only small coz it’s auto, mine was like that too, then just shoots out like a beast you can’t control.

If you can’t be bothered training constantly your grow area looks perfect for a PVC pipe scrog setup, wait for the stretch to begin then guage the amount of stretch to the height placement of the scrog net and lights, make sure your led’s are at a reasonable distance to avoid bleaching and bobs your auntie

SCROG SCROG SCROG

I've considered that, and the more I look at the plant, the more I'm inclined to start spreading things out a bit. The scrog is very popular and I'm looking at trellis netting. Not sure if I'll do it for one plant.

But I've got these 5 Northern Lights auto seeds.....

Much appreciated and happy holidays.

[madams9]

So, Merry Christmas all.

I have decided to start LST today. I'm using those long chenille pipe cleaners from the hobby section at Walmart and hot glue to secure them to the top of the res. I posted a long bamboo skewer to keep everything plumb and level. It's easy to undo and adjust, but I won't be checking the roots or rotating the cup anymore. But that's probably as it should be.



And still waiting on those pistols.

[D.A.A.S.69]

madams9 MerryChristmas to you and your family too.
Your plant looks great, great pictures too , nice training.
If she's an auto, you want be waiting very much longer, to see pistils, imo.
My experience with autos is if they start flowering early, like between day 14-22,they finish early, normally, and stay kinda small, some even finish in 65days, or so.
If it takes like between 25-40days, to show pistils, they get much larger, and can take much longer to finish, some even over 100days .
Your doing a great job, lots of fun ,growing isn't it. Keep up the nice job.
HappyHolidays
HappyGrowing

[Vitaminthc]

D.A.A.S is correct, here’s an example of the difference, here are my two autos, one is on day 58 and stretched months ago, has about 25% brown hairs but is flowering quickly and has already had a pk booster diet over a couple weeks, so I won’t over do it and end her feeding, start molasses treatment followed by a <1ppm water flush, should be ready by day 65-70 the other just stretched recently and definitely won’t be ready till 100+ days!

Last time growing autos, far too inconsistent

[ZigZag]

madams9_ I think you're going to have a nice full plant there. I used to drill holes around the outside edge of may planters and anchor my last ties to those but then I decided to try using binder clips and have been using them ever since. They are super easy to move, adjust and remove. I also use the large soft ties_ I just like them more and they're really easy to reuse next time around.
photo attached for reference in case you want to try it. Cheers! hmmm....I'll post the photo below, apologies.

[Vitaminthc]

[madams9]

Yup, I see your point.

[ZigZag]

OK, madams9_ here's the photo using the binder clips as LST anchors_

[madams9]

That looks good. I'm growing in a DWC hydroponic reservoir. I don't have any place to put binder clips or a suitable place to drill holes. But so far the pipe cleaners seem to be holding and doing just fine.

More as it develops.

[ZigZag]

Thats great then. happy growing and look forward to more updates!