GuardianRager's First Grow RQS Autos LED Soil Grow Journal 2024

[Bill284]

Two Weeks with Prīma: A Grower’s Journey

Hey Buds!

Tomorrow marks two weeks since Prīma sprouted, and I’ve already learned a few valuable lessons. Her growth has been rapid, and I’m pretty sure what I’m seeing is what growers call “stretching.”

Unfortunately, I broke the cardinal rule of growing—I wasn’t prepared. The grow tent stayed in the box until just two days ago, mostly because only one seed sprouted, which was a bit discouraging. But I decided to roll with it and gave Prima a temporary home in my version of a @Bill284 solo cup method of layering.

Now, I know autos aren’t supposed to be transplanted because their growth is so quick, and there’s not much time to recover from stress. But in this case, it was necessary. Prima stayed in the cup for about a week, and thanks to a mix of Perlite, MFFB, worm castings, and myco, her roots developed fast.

Even though the pots came with domes, I had to make adjustments. The weather here has been warm, so I added ventilation holes and attached a germination light.

I did my best to harden her up by gradually introducing her to sunlight and stimulating growth with some phototropism techniques.

For the first week, she got 24 hours of light under the seedling lamp.

Once the tent was finally set up, I prepped her forever home.

I was impressed by the root growth in her 5-inch pot, so I thought the transplant would go smoothly. After gloving up, I gently flipped her over, and everything looked intact. But just half an inch from being fully settled into her new pot, disaster struck—the whole thing crumbled apart.

I won’t lie, I panicked a bit. I was worried about root damage and stress. But I quickly stabilized her with some extra worm castings and MFFB, then drenched the soil with my Growganica King Crustacean and Microbes-infused water. Into the new tent she went, and now, two days after the transplant, Prima seems to be holding up well.

I’m open to any tips or advice you have to help her thrive. Thanks for reading, and happy growing!

Peace

Excellent work.
Next time fill the bag a bit more.
You want to stop just below those training holes.
Dome up a bit in the center.
She looks great Amigo.




Stay safe
Bill284

 

[GuardianRager]

Excellent work.
Next time fill the bag a bit more.
You want to stop just below those training holes.
Dome up a bit in the center.
She looks great Amigo.




Stay safe
Bill284

Thanks @Bill284. Wasn’t sure if I should fill the bag. All the guidance from @Royal Queen Seeds was their autos should have a smaller pot but I went with 5 gallons. About to fill her up tomorrow when I install her Tropf-Blumat top drip irrigation system. I’ve seen a lot of sips, wics, and other watering system acronyms. I had already chosen and purchased this one when I started doing research this time around. Not sure which is superior but it’s flexible for where I’m at in grow zone 9. You guys have any experiences with different watering systems? I figured with perlite and Fox Farms Blend the top drip irrigation should work well. Time will tell.

 

[GuardianRager]

Excellent work.
Next time fill the bag a bit more.
You want to stop just below those training holes.
Dome up a bit in the center.
She looks great Amigo.




Stay safe
Bill284

I did notice you said next time. Should I leave it alone as far as adding more dirt? How far from the cotyledons should the soil be? Thanks

 

[Bill284]

I did notice you said next time. Should I leave it alone as far as adding more dirt? How far from the cotyledons should the soil be? Thanks

My apologies yes by all means fill that top inch or so.
I hand water my girls, no experience with that system sorry.



Stay safe
Bill284