baby's first grow journal

[doublem]

Hey all,
first off, thanks for all the help in my earlier thread.
I've decided to start a running journal of my first grow to be updated weekly, though the first few entries will come all at once.
First things first, setup details:
#1 White Widow Auto
#2 White Widow Auto
#3 Amnesia Haze Auto
#4 Amnesia Haze Auto
4x4x6.5 Vivosun grow tent
400W HID dimmable digital ballast w/ wing reflector
6" Vivosun Exhaust fan, 440CFM w/ speed controller
Coco coir and perlite, 7gal fabric pots
General Hydroponics FloraTrio and CaliMagic

week 1:
16/1 seeds sprouted in jiffy pellets
150W MH @ 50cm, 18/6
19/1 #4 dries out and falls over, but recovers when given water
20/1 Lights increased to 400W
23/1 week 1 summary:
avg lights-on conditions: 28-30C° 40%
#1-3 have grown to ~3cm and two pairs of leaves
#4's growth stunted by severe shock

week 2:
24/1 Lights lowered to 40cm, plants rotated 90°
Avg Dark conditions: 18C° 60%
Avg Light conditions: 28C° 35%
Plants needed water every day in the hot, dry air
Leaves started to curl and droop, but #4 starts growing again

week 3:
31/1 transplanted to final containers (7gal pots)
Light schedule changed to 20/4
2/2 Light raised to 50cm to encourage plants to stretch
3/2 foliar feed at lights out w/ 1/8 strength solution
humidity has been closer to 50% since the addition of the fabric pots to the grow tent, and the girls look much happier in their new pots

and the adventure continues...
I'll keep y'all posted

 

[Canuck147]

Great start! Nice color. You plan on letting them grow straight up or?????????

What do you foliar feed them with?

 

[doublem]

I'm planning on putting the LST to them, but they're so short now, they're easily twice as wide as they are tall, barely a cm between nodes. I hightened the lights cause someone suggested to me that it might cause them to stretch more.

I just fed them with a weak nutrient solution, 1/6 ml/L each of FloraTrio and 1/3 ml/L of CaliMagic

 

[Colombo]

Doublem, Glad to see your putting the Journal together! There is "always" an interest to see another-ones Grow ! Keep it growing.

 

[doublem]

Week 3 update,
been keeping the temperature around 26C°, but I noticed that the bottom of the pots feels kinda chilly, tho that might just be evaporative cooling from the fabric and not the temperature of the actual soil. either way, I should be getting a fan later today to try and break up the hotspot. humidity with lights on is still a bit lower than I'd like (around 40%), but prolly ok. Only watered once, in the middle of the week, and foliar feed with the 1/8 strength solution three times. They finally got tall enough for me to feel comfortable LSTing them later today, and they're starting to smell goooooood...

 

[doublem]

after LST

 

[doublem]

week 4 update:
I got another solid veg week, temps about 26C°, RH around 50%. I rotated them and watered them twice with nutrient solution; I think the coir might be a little hot cause some of the leaves look glossy. I also added fans for better circulation.
I really got into the training this week, I tried a few iterations before I found out the Velcro I bought could stick to the fabric pots they were in

 

[doublem]

I just wanted to add that I think it's crazy how fast they're growing. I can't believe I worried about them being small; I can almost watch them growing

 

[doublem]

Week 5 update:
They just keep going...
My concerns about the hot mix were well-founded; I started to see nutrient-burned tips on a few leaves so when I watered them (I only needed to water once this week, right in the middle) I gave them a good hard flush with plain, pH 6.0 water. As they've gotten bushier the humidity has started to creep up to 70%, so I added a dehumidifier that seems to be keeping it under control for now; temperatures are staying down to 24-26C. Adding the fans to break up the hotspot has really helped keep the temps under control, tho I kinda wish I'd gotten an air-cooled hood...
The training has effectively split the dominance of the main top and they each have at least a half dozen main colas, plus a bunch of littler growth tips. Those will probably never bulk up much but I can make hash with that popcorn when the harvest comes.
I switched to HPS light today and raised the light to get them to stretch upward again, I'm hoping I can get them to add a few centimeters of height before the stretch ends (I'm not exactly sure when that'll be).
They're getting so big :3