First Time Grower - 3 Auto Strains

[iSmokes]

It's awesome having you aboard Fluffy. I'm sure you're gona love your autos. They surprise me on a daily basis lol. They are super sensitive to nutes! I had to learn about that like everybody else and watch my plant wilt and dry. I think I'm good to go now.
Thanks for joining, I LOVE YOU ALLL!!!.. haha.. too soon?
I'm waiting for your autos to start Fluffz

 

[iSmokes]

Update: Feeding Blueberry and Diva today. Their cocktail will include a dash of Tiger Bloom.

 

[iSmokes]

Girls just drank up 1Gal including 1-tbs Grow Big, 1.5-tbs Big Bloom, 1-tbs Tiger Bloom.
Siberian is not being fed until she completes at least 4-4.5 weeks.
I'll keep you posted
Cheers

 

[iSmokes]

annnnd nute burn..

Blueberry seems fine, but Diva took a hit. She just got flushed with FloraKleen. I caught her early so hopefully she'll be fine.

For future reference for auto growers: I never notice yellow tips on leaves. I think that's a regular plant thing. Autos seem to burn a little differently. It was exactly like my Siberian. First set of leaves got crusty and very rapid yellowing. It took Diva from full healthy green to "half the leaf crusty yellow" in 1 hour. Auto burn seems to go through leaves one at a time rather that warn you with yellow tips all over.

 

[iSmokes]

My soil's pH is pushing to 7.0-7.3
Any thoughts?

 

[iSmokes]

It's 7.5/7.7 in the blueberry pot :-/..
I kinda felt she was falling behind. Nutrient lock up? The indicator is a lot closer to 8 than 7.

 

[spring2012]

Ouch that is a bit high. Your using FF oceans? Ill look around for a solution. I have not had this fun issue yet!

 

[iSmokes]

Yep! I never thought I would have to worry about pH with soil. But that thing was pushing real close to 8. My tap water is at 7. This is weird.

 

[spring2012]

I found this by searching lower PH in soil. A few heavy hitters weighed in.
Adjusting your pH when growing in soil damaging your plants!

 

[Fluffy Haze]

Fingers crossed iSmokes, and thanks for linking that thread Spring. I could come in useful later (although I hope not!).

 

[iSmokes]

Ok good news, after reading the link Spring provided I decided to check the ph on all of my plants. Why didn't I think of that earlier? saturday is usually a heavy toke day and... well you know the rest lol. I did this and my indicator showed a pH of 8 on some plants that I just sprouted in fresh out of the bag FFOF. Sooo.. shitty pH meter, false alarm, and much thanks for the support. I'm just going to let it be, La Diva showed pH 8 in her soil and she's growing every single day. I call BS on the meter.
Thanks for the link Spring, it was very reassuring. I always thought that soil wouldn't need pH adjustments, just think of the world that lives in there. There's a habitat supporting countless numbers of microorganisms (which makes the soil perfect). These microorganisms will adjust stuff to make sure their habitat is comfy simply because their lives depend on it.
All in all, I'm just gona let it be and watch my plants grow. Blueberry is taking heavier nutes than La diva, but I think I figured the right dose for each with minimal damage to the plants so I guess that's good. Siberian is scaring me with the feeding part. She looks so bushy and ready for some steroids, but she burned so easy. I can't stress enough on how dilute the solution was, and she barely took a glassful. It was left over and I thought, mehh, wtf, what damage can this little dilute solution do. But it does. They're rather sensitive for a plant that's considered a weed. Shit I think I might use some fertilizer to get rid of the weeds on my lawn
Cheers, and let's see how this goes.

 

[iSmokes]

Fluffy I'm loving your plants! And about the LED's they really do make for some good glamour shots lol! When I take pictures with the led's off, they seem so dull. And then that spectrum with the purple hues kicks in, and everything changes. I hope they're actually benefiting from this light as much as I think they are. They sure look happy with it, but of course, it's the buds I'm worried about lol. So I guess we'll see how this goes, 600W of LED's and 600W of CFL's in a 2x4 should show us how well these lights can perform. If they really never yield the dense bud that HID offers, then I think I'll switch to HID in my next grow. I sure hope my LED/CFL combo delivers, because they're just amazing with heat. LED's emit almost no heat (except for some radiant heat when you get too close [less than 5"]). Otherwise I'm gona have to buy a decent air cooled reflector and a good light system. I really don't want to fight heat, I did it for about 4 days, hated every minute of it.

 

[Fluffy Haze]

Fluffy I'm loving your plants! And about the LED's they really do make for some good glamour shots lol! When I take pictures with the led's off, they seem so dull. And then that spectrum with the purple hues kicks in, and everything changes. I hope they're actually benefiting from this light as much as I think they are. They sure look happy with it, but of course, it's the buds I'm worried about lol. So I guess we'll see how this goes, 600W of LED's and 600W of CFL's in a 2x4 should show us how well these lights can perform. If they really never yield the dense bud that HID offers, then I think I'll switch to HID in my next grow. I sure hope my LED/CFL combo delivers, because they're just amazing with heat. LED's emit almost no heat (except for some radiant heat when you get too close [less than 5"]). Otherwise I'm gona have to buy a decent air cooled reflector and a good light system. I really don't want to fight heat, I did it for about 4 days, hated every minute of it.

Bless ya, thank you sweetie! I'm glad you like my girl, she is a pretty one. I can't wait for the Royalmatic Autos to pop up, I know one has sprouted underneath the top (I peeked ). Be good to see what they do when they aren't in the running for primary attention.

Yeah, heat's a bitch. I did have a freak out moment with it to start off with. I managed to get it under control in the end, I just hope it continues OK. I actually stopped measuring temperatures etc, I was getting so fretful about everything I figured I would just sit back and let Ruby tell me what she needs. Seems to be going OK so far and fingers crossed future girls will be OK with it too. I think I chose right with an NL based strain as a first go. I believe the cool tubes work quite well if you do decide to go HID, although I heard some murmurings about them affecting the light in some way (although I haven't read up on that yet).

It is difficult when you haven't got a completed grow under your belt, constantly wondering if what you have got is enough. I am sure it is going to be much easier for us after our first harvest!

Keep going Smokes, you're doing a fabulous job!

 

[spring2012]

Ismokes great news on your bad PH meter!! I gotta agree on the Trans Siberian.. Man my baby is a bush! I'm thinking strategic cutting or minor LST if there is such a thing as minor low stress!!

I have been trying to make the rounds to all the subbed journals. This move of mine is almost over. Took my wife and I all day to properly move our fish tank. All off my adult African Cichlids made it fine and are happily in their new home. The 14 babies did not do so well. All of them went into shock and died. Sucks, but they went to good use. We placed them in our soon to be out door garden! I still have two adult females with eggs. They are mouth brooders so they transferred easily...... Shit is the Cichlid forum? LOL!!

 

[iSmokes]

Thank you fluffy! YOU PEEK TOO hahah? I thought I was the only one lol!

This strain is lovely for the impatient, La Diva, at day 26, under regular room (incandescent) light:

 

[spring2012]

She looks awesome!!!!

 

[iSmokes]

The older sisters:
left to right: Blueberry, Siberian, Diva

Now this update was dedicated to the young ones. I haven't uploaded much about them so here goes. They all seem to be doing just fine. The waiting is easier on the younger ones because the older ones are demanding a lot of my attention lol. Here are some pictures of the little girls:

Flash Babylon Automatic: (day 13)

Big Devil Automatic: (day 5)

B. Lee Automatic: (day 13)

Auto AK: (day 13)

 

[Fluffy Haze]

Howdy Smokey!

Well well well. Look at this little clan of yours. They look absolutely brilliant. All so healthy and happy and reaching for the sun.

You have definitely been instrumental in me having a go with the autos, and the more photos you show the more glad I am for that choice.

I think I might have to get a Diva as well...look at her go!

 

[spring2012]

Looking Good! The older ones are looking awesome and bushy!! Keep it up man! I'm waiting for new babies to arrive any time now!

 

[iSmokes]

Howdy Smokey!

Well well well. Look at this little clan of yours. They look absolutely brilliant. All so healthy and happy and reaching for the sun.

You have definitely been instrumental in me having a go with the autos, and the more photos you show the more glad I am for that choice.

I think I might have to get a Diva as well...look at her go!

You're too kind! Thank you so much. I'm glad I encouraged you to go with autos, I'm sure you'll LOVE them. When I was first debating what to do, this is what tipped the scale over to the auto deicsion:
1- FAST, I'm so impatient it's ridiculous.
2- Autoflowering, so that's one less thing to worry about as a first timer.
3- They take the same mixed spectrum throughout they're cycle. << This is one of the biggest advantages for me. You can have seedlings, young ones, and full on blooms, all in the same tent, under the same lights, same photoperiod.

I'll tell you the story behind La Diva lol. It shows how our impatience is not always a bad thing. I only had 3 seeds and 2 of them popped up looking great. La Diva stayed underground for over 5 days. She was buried a couple inches so it was too deep for her. During one of my "peeking sessions", I noticed the sprout already broke through the seed and half opened her leaves. But she was stuck and dying about an inch under the soil. I always called her the c-section lol. I dug around her and made room for her leaves. She was always the runt (if you follow pictures from earlier on). Ironically she turned out to be the fastest strain (I had no idea up until a few days ago). I'm going to give her all the time she needs, but by the looks of it, she looks like a real 45-day seed --> flower. She has blueberry in her genetics, I'm hoping for that light blue hue and a hint of sweetness. . Long story.. I know