First Time Grower - 3 Auto Strains

[iSmokes]

Updates: It's my birthday LOL
But seriously, Updates: Blueberry got a haircut today because her fan leaves were getting very hard to tuck under the side branches, they were completely blocking the way so they had to go. The Siberian is AWESOME, she's stretching and loving her new 3Gal pot. La Diva is doing her thing, she's a petite girl, very sexy nonetheless.. She's growing pistils all over and side branching is starting to show good strong growth. Annnnd finally, 3 little sprouts all doing great. One thing I noticed about the B.Lee automatic was that her first 2 leaves don't look that healthy, but I'm not too worried about that, La Diva had the same issue and she turned out just fine.
I started germinating one Big Devil Automatic, just to have a baby born on the 16th lol, iSmokes Jr.

Stand by for pics! I took quite a few

 

[iSmokes]

Trans Siberian:

Blueberry after her haircut:

 

[iSmokes]

La Diva:

AK Automatic:

Flash Babylon:

B. Lee:

 

[iSmokes]

I was trying to get a picture of La Diva's pistils, I don't know how clear this is but here goes:

 

[iSmokes]

One last thing:

Today is the end of week 3 for my 3 older babies. I will feed at 1/4th strength to La Diva and Autoblueberry. I'm leaving the Siberian alone for now because she got transplanted into fresh FFOF. I'm giving her an extra week to suck some juices from the soil. They are all demanding water more frequently. It started as once/week to ~/5days to ~/3days now.

 

[iSmokes]

Babies just had a 1/2 tbs/gal FF grow big on the rocks.. now to watch how they respond. I understand this might sound very dilute, but better safe than sorry I guess? I don't know, I noticed tons of people had nute problems with autos in FFOF.

 

[spring2012]

I am interested in the results from the FF nutes!

 

[iSmokes]

No nute burn whatsoever. Plants seem to be doing fine.
Next feeding: I will up the dose and do both grow big and big bloom.
Also, I will be buying FF's sledgehammer. I'm removing the humidifier and trying to figure out a different set up for the pots. Any idea of draining fabric pots that doesn't take space? I like my lil setup, but I'm wasting space with it.

 

[iSmokes]

ok, I did a little rearranging to help better accommodate the girls. Things are looking good so far, I feel kinda bad for putting them in 2Gal containers. Now I have 5 plants in 2Gal's and 2 plants in 3Gal's. Here's a couple of pictures of the happy family:

 

[spring2012]

Nice set up! Looks very much like mine. I love how you did the fixture. very smart. Plants look nice and bushy! Your in a tent? what size?

 

[iSmokes]

Thanks spring! I'm actually loving the fixtures for 2 reasons:
1- CHEAP lol
2- VERY practical. With a couple of strings I can adjust positioning in almost any way I want.

And yes it's a tent, it's a 2'x4' tent, 5' tall. Very cheap as well, I got it off amazon, and it's rather good. Definitely exceeded my expectations for a $90 tent.

I'm kinda worried about the trans siberian. The plant is showing very strong and healthy vegetative growth, but no sign of sex so far. That little node thing where the balls/pistils usually emerge have female characteristics. They're slim and pointing upwards, but no sign of pistils so far. Kinda anxious, but then again a little happy that she's growing big before starting to flower. I don't know, any thoughts?

 

[spring2012]

Thanks spring! I'm actually loving the fixtures for 2 reasons:
1- CHEAP lol
2- VERY practical. With a couple of strings I can adjust positioning in almost any way I want.

And yes it's a tent, it's a 2'x4' tent, 5' tall. Very cheap as well, I got it off amazon, and it's rather good. Definitely exceeded my expectations for a $90 tent.

I'm kinda worried about the trans siberian. The plant is showing very strong and healthy vegetative growth, but no sign of sex so far. That little node thing where the balls/pistils usually emerge have female characteristics. They're slim and pointing upwards, but no sign of pistils so far. Kinda anxious, but then again a little happy that she's growing big before starting to flower. I don't know, any thoughts?

My Trans Siberian (Kamilla) The only of my plants with a name is doing the exact same thing. It resembles a female but not sure. We should be OK? Feminized autos! The growth is healthy and is bushing like crazy. She Is by far the strongest of the 4.

Loove the tent!! Im doing that 2nd week after I move! I am considering doing 1 or 2 300 watt CFL's. With a few for support. Maybe not though. Still researching.

 

[iSmokes]

She seems very feminine you're absolutely right. The sex part is not what I'm worried about. I'm just worried about when the ruderalis (spelling?) genes will kick in. I saw a few journals with autos that didn't quite "auto" lol. They still yielded good dense bud, but they had to switch to 12/12. This thought is kind of scaring me, because that means the plant will have to be sacrificed .. I can't put my other autos under 12/12 for the sake of one plant that flowers on a photoperiod.

I'm sure a tent will make life easier for you lol. It does a good job at directing airflow and, of course, containing lumens. My solution to my heat problem was as simple as closing all the passive intakes except for one 6" that's close to my living room door. I connected a 2-foot flexible duct to that vent and tossed the other end on the floor in the living room (barely peaking out of the bedroom door). That spot happens to be the coldest in the entire apartment , I got lucky there, the tent is maintaining a nice 77 degrees for most of the day.
I'm giving that example to try and explain how tents provide a more-or-less controlled environment. And as noobs, cutting variables is what we should be looking for.

 

[iSmokes]

Thanks for following with me Spring. I was going crazy before I started this journal lol. I was serious about making this a strictly one person project, and not having people to talk to about every single detail was insane.

 

[Korloin]

She seems very feminine you're absolutely right. The sex part is not what I'm worried about. I'm just worried about when the ruderalis (spelling?) genes will kick in. I saw a few journals with autos that didn't quite "auto" lol. They still yielded good dense bud, but they had to switch to 12/12. This thought is kind of scaring me, because that means the plant will have to be sacrificed .. I can't put my other autos under 12/12 for the sake of one plant that flowers on a photoperiod.

I'm sure a tent will make life easier for you lol. It does a good job at directing airflow and, of course, containing lumens. My solution to my heat problem was as simple as closing all the passive intakes except for one 6" that's close to my living room door. I connected a 2-foot flexible duct to that vent and tossed the other end on the floor in the living room (barely peaking out of the bedroom door). That spot happens to be the coldest in the entire apartment , I got lucky there, the tent is maintaining a nice 77 degrees for most of the day.
I'm giving that example to try and explain how tents provide a more-or-less controlled environment. And as noobs, cutting variables is what we should be looking for.

Hey there ISmokes!

Happy Belated Birthday!!

28 was one of my favorite ages. Old enough to know better, but young enough to not pay it too much mind.

I do pop in a read your updates when they come, just so you know. I've just had nothing to add other than praise. You seem to be doing fantastic on your grow! Much better than my last week or so has been, but mine are coming back around now.

As far as putting the Trans under 12/12. I don't see why that would affect your other autos, being they're not dependent on photoperiod. It might even encourage greater root growth!

If she is a sativa dominant hybrid, it would make sense to me that she is taking her time.
They need a little more than and indica usually anyway. Usually a couple extra weeks of flower with regular seeds.

I wouldn't be rash right now, and just ride it a bit longer.

Just this noobs 2 cents.



Korloin

 

[iSmokes]

Hey there ISmokes!

Happy Belated Birthday!!

28 was one of my favorite ages. Old enough to know better, but young enough to not pay it too much mind.

I do pop in a read your updates when they come, just so you know. I've just had nothing to add other than praise. You seem to be doing fantastic on your grow! Much better than my last week or so has been, but mine are coming back around now.

As far as putting the Trans under 12/12. I don't see why that would affect your other autos, being they're not dependent on photoperiod. It might even encourage greater root growth!

If she is a sativa dominant hybrid, it would make sense to me that she is taking her time.
They need a little more than and indica usually anyway. Usually a couple extra weeks of flower with regular seeds.

I wouldn't be rash right now, and just ride it a bit longer.

Just this noobs 2 cents.



Korloin

Thanks for the wishes Korloin, and for following up with me! I'm glad you like the girls, and I think you're right about the siberian. I'm hoping she'll show pistils by her 1-month mark. I just don't want to cut down to 12/12 because autos will yield less if not given enough light. They already yield very little as it is lol. I'm going through your journal right now, good stuff man! I was mainly following Auto grows.

 

[iSmokes]

Updates: Regular healthy growth on the siberian. She's stretching and branching very rapidly. Blueberry is about the same size but she's drinking a lot of water and her side branches are all forming pistils on their tops. I guess it's the flowering thirst kicking in. If I could change one thing, that would definitely be my pot sizes. Just start with a minimum of 3Gal pots and finish in them. As soon as I gave the siberian more medium to grow in, she stretched and branched much heavier than her sisters (but then again they're different strains so who knows). La Diva is focused on growing pistils these days. I notice new strong pistils almost every day. I went to the seedbank's website, and it says La Diva should be ready in 45 days from seed to harvest , fast little ones these autos.
The seedlings are doing great. B. Lee looks very much like the siberian at 7 days old. Flash Babylon is the fastest growing seedling right now, she already started on her 3rd set of leaves (?) [seed leaves being #1]. Big Devil still hasn't sprouted yet. I'm expecting a sprout by tomorrow.
That's pretty much it, regular growth, and the biggest difference is the watering. They're asking for drinks every other day. I'm using fabric pots tho, that's definitely a strong reason too. I'm expecting to be watering every day when in full flower mode :-/..

 

[iSmokes]

Oh, one last thing, I'm thinking of dumping the HPS and going for another LED panel. My grows will mainly be CFL's and LED's. Still debating the thought, but I'm really leaning towards LED's. I guess we'll see, all it really depends on is the $$ . It's funny, I'm still a long way from finishing my first grow and I'm already thinking of my next.

 

[spring2012]

LED looks real interesting. I have been researching heavy. Do it if ya can! My Auto#1 just started showing Pistals. Is this normal for a little over two weeks old?

 

[iSmokes]

Yep! That's exactly when my plants showed pistils.
And about the lights, I just did today. I sold off my little HPS and got another 300W LED panel. Let's see what those little diodes are capable of lol.
Here's a couple of pictures that I took today.