Seedlings are sprouting in coco - what now? First grow!

[Guest]

Excellent news about the co2 for the future. You got growing skills...you might as well get the most out of your efforts. Can we get a look at the new setup???

Peace Brother -Cali

Cali, you got it gro bro. I by no means did this on my own. gaiusmarius is an excellent teacher and with his coaching and input from other growers such as yourself, NPK, IndicaSativa and many others, it looks like I might be successful beyond just simply reaching harvest without killing my plants. I may actually have a decent yield. Soon as I harvest these two I'll be pulling the veg and flower stages out of the closet and putting them into the larger room. Man these two plants are trees. The White Widow is, from the dirt in the pot, 4'6" and the Aurora Indica 3'6" - exactly a foot difference. They each have over a 3' wingspan.

As soon as I harvest these two and get the setup put together, I'll post some pics. I was going to put it together inside the closet but it's just too crowded. These are 25 days into flowering and I expect it to take another 30-40 days at least for them reach harvest stage. The Indica may get there first by the looks of her.


Peace and good growing Cali

mojo

The Widow






The Aurora Indica

 

[NPK]

Looking great man! I'd love a peek at your setup, too. Congratulations, it'll make your life easier.

 

[Guest]

Day 34 update. Trichs showed up about a week ago. This being my first grow, I'm not sure what the girls are supposed to look like but hey, they're my kids so they're perfect, right? Not sure how much they bulk up from this point forward but so far I think they're looking pretty healthy. The Widow has become a real tree and she's got bud tips and sites all over her. Not as fat budded, hehe, as the Aurora, but still looking good. The widow's top cola is stretched out more than the Aurora's. Widow is about 4'9" from her coco to her top.
Aurora's about a foot shorter. I'm really impressed with the Aurora. It's a shorter, bushier plant and her buds are really thickening up. Flowers are whiter than the Widow's.

I really think I'll put them both back into veg after harvest so I can clone them. I'll pop some more seedlings to grow while they're re veging. I've got several different strains of seeds so I'll have to decide what to grow. I'm also going to set up the drip system in the center of the room so I'll have two areas for different stages of growth. Probably clone and veg in the closet for a week or so, then pull out and flower in the bigger area in the room itself. Drip system here I come. Hand watering is something I think everyone should try just to get a feel of really knowing your plants and what they're eating by having to mix and feed every day. But by all means, after you've tried it for a while, go ahead and set up a drip system and relax.

Anyway, here are some pics of the ladies. Go easy on me if they look retarded or something. It's my first grow, and I'm happy they've survived it.

The fact they've done as well as they have is due to 2 really important factors.

1st - Growing in coco is probably the only way I'll ever grow after having done it with the degree of success that I have. I can't imagine a better medium for its simplicity, ease, and forgiving qualities. I've made a mistake or two but nothing that wasn't fixed by a quick flush and the right nutrient formula. Once a problem is identified, with coco, you're literally about 10 minutes from having it corrected.

2nd and most important - gaiusmarius has been amazing in his stickability. He's stuck by me and this grow for the entire time and his experience and willingness to share what he's learned has kept this from being a nightmare. It took me about a week after the seeds popped to quit trying to control the grow by worrying about it. I had problems getting the seedlings off the ground as I put them into cups that were really too small but gaius coached me through it and once I gave up and listened to him, everything evened out. If you're reading this for the first time and haven't read some of the beginning posts in the thread, go back and look at the way I kept fucking things up and the way he kept reigning me back in. Really a remarkable guy, oops I mean gai, lol. I'm not to harvest yet but the fact that I can tend to personal stuff and leave the thread for a few days at a time now, indicates how my confidence has grown.

Finally my willingness to stick with the grow religiously and listen to what I was being told has had a lot to do with it. I've learned humility, if nothing else.

Here are some pics for anyone who wants to see.

The Aurora








The Widow









Peace bros

Edited to add this:

I've quit using 50/50 tap water due to its high ec. I'm now using reclaimed dehumidifier water with an ec of 0.02. I'm adding Cal-Mag+ at the rate of 6mL per gallon plus my canna nutes. Adding 5mL/gal of A+B, 6mL/gal of cannazyme, 2mL/gal of rhizotonic. Final ec is at 1.2 with a pH of 5.7-5.8. The plants seem to be doing great at this ec level and I'm trying to ease them back and keep them a little hungry. Haven't seen the first sign of lightening in color. It's amazing to me, that the Aurora absolutely does not blink and eye at anything I decide to toss to her. It has kept the same rate of growth and the same color the entire grow. It's the widow I'm really trying to put on the diet. I'd like to see her fan leaves lighten up a little. She's being stubborn too though about showing any signs of being hungry.

Keeping the humidity at about 45-50% in the closet. Exhaust fan has run 24/7 since putting plants in there. Lights and circulating wall fan go off with the timer. Fresh air flow is continuous though by using the exhaust fan pulling air through a Can carbon filter. Temp in the closet ranges from 75F-81F just before lights out. Night temps go down to 70F-73F. Started watering about six hours before lights out instead of about one hour before lights out. That has really helped eliminate the spike in humidity level I was getting for about three hours after lights went out. Night humidity levels would be more critical to the formation of rot I would think. Anyway, that's been my rationale for doing it.

Enjoy - Peace

 

[gaiusmarius]

Hey mojo,

nice to see the latest update. looks like you have things well in hand

your aurora and WW are both looking good, like you said the aurora is further along then the ww. but that is to be expected the aurora having more indica tendencies is faster.

i totally agree with your ideas about keeping the WW a bit hungry. i just wonder if it's not cruel and counter productive to starve the aurora too, lol. remember if she can take the nutes, she can use them too. still, follow your instinct with the feeding, it seems to be working tip top. if it ain't broke....etc.

keep on keeping on, i look forward to seeing you setup the whole room.

 

[highonthechroni]

High mojo!

Great thread, will be starting some plants in coco soon. Will be coming to you for advice!

Peace

 

[Guest]

i totally agree with your ideas about keeping the WW a bit hungry. i just wonder if it's not cruel and counter productive to starve the aurora too, lol. remember if she can take the nutes, she can use them too.

Good point as usual, Gdude. I'll mix up some heavier food for the Aurora and some "weight watchers" for the fatty, lol.

Peace grobros

 

[Guest]

What's up with this leaf? I originally thought it might be lack of nutes since I've had both girls on a diet. Then I thought maybe thrips, but couldn't see any on belly of leaf. This is off the Indica and it's not happening to all the leaves, just at a specific level at about halfway up the plant, then again right under the top cola. Widow is sitting so close to it they brush together and nothing on the Widow. Could it be that it is just far enough along in flower that it's time for the leaves to start going all funky on me???

Upped the nutes on the plant yesterday.
Went back to 50/50 ro/tap water.
pH is always 5.6-5.8 in the feed water
600W HPS is about 14 inches from plant
Plant is at day 37 in flower and buds are significantly further along than the White Widow
feeding 6mL/gal of A+B, 2mL/gal Rhizo, 5mL/gal cannazyme, and had some cal-mag+ residual left in the last two feedings from when I was feeding it straight ro

 

[Guest]

I've decided to flush with 5.8 water and feed with 25mL of A+B and 3mL of Rhizo per gallon. 50/50 mix of tap/ro water. No cal mag, no cannazyme. Keep it simple.

White widow's still not showing the same stuff, just the Aurora. And just the upper half of the plant. Anybody else got an opinion????

Did I piss everybody off??? Sure is quiet. I shower every day so I know it's not that I stink.

 

[gaiusmarius]

i'm afraid that isn't a issue that will be helped by the cure all "flush". to me it looks like you have spotted the first signs of mite infestation. shows you are paying attention, lol. on the other hand it means you have some how brought them into the grow. think about your routines and make sure you don't enter the grow right after being in the garden.

anyway, to confirm you need to check the under side of the leaves with the marks with a magnifying glass. you will notice little red or black spots that look like some kind of miniature crab, or spider.

before i go further i better look at those pics in full size mode, lol. don't want to put the proverbial foot in the shit.

ok after looking some more, it could also be an overdose of cal, as coco gives of tons of the stuff at this stage. so that could be causing an imbalance. but still check very carefully if you see any mites un the undersides of the leaves. it's not unusual for a plant to be attractive to mites while another strain stays free although right next to the infested plant.

how are the buds looking?

peace later.......

 

[gaiusmarius]

also have a measure of the run off ec? if that is through the roof, like over ec 2.5, then it could well be helped by a flush, lol. as long as there really are no mites, that needs to be eliminated as a possibility.

how far along are you again

 

[Guest]

Gonna run buy a magnifying glass. Be back in a bit. Plants are at day 37. I'll post some pictures when I get back. Be an hour or two. After I check for mites, I'll water and check the run off. If that's ok, I'll toss my 5 gallons of premix out and remix, 5.5-5.8, 50/50 on the water, 30mL/5gal of A+B, 10mL of Rhizo, and no Cannazyme or Cal-Mag. My ec should be at about 1.2-1.3 with the above. Mites, pH, and new nute solution, in that order.

Back in a bit

 

[Guest]

OK no matter how close I looked I couldn't see any bugs. I'm going to remix 5gals of nutes 50/50 tap/RO - pH 5.8. 30mL A+B, 10mL Rhizotonic and nothing else. Pour three gallons of the new mix through the 3 gal pot of the affected plant and hope that's enough of an exchange to fix the problem. Hate to move the plants as they're branches are up against the walls and I don't want to chance breaking them by lifting to put a pan underneath to give them a proper flush. If I still have the problem day after tomorrow, I'll recheck for bugs and place a pan underneath to catch the run off and I'll flush them with straight ro water to the tune of about 6 gallons each. Damn I wish I already had the drip system set up. Would be a lot easier.

Pics - some through the magnifying lens.

 

[gaiusmarius]

it sounds like you have not been watering till run off? otherwise you would have a catch pan under them, lol. you don't need to have run off every day, but at least every few days once. get yourself a huge syringe so you can suck up the water in the collection tray. you should be able to lift the plants a little bit without causing any damage, then leave the tray under the plants so you can have some run off regularly. you really need to measure the returning ec to know how to proceed from this point. those rust spots are a clear signal that some thing isn't quite right. it doesn't seem to be over salted as you would have burnt tips too, which you don't seem to have. in fact i have seldom seen a leaf look so good around the edges while being rusty in the middle. the only thing that comes to mind right now is the period of low feed combined with too much cal and maybe too much mg? get me those return ec values.

peace

 

[Guest]

You got it dude. Beg your pardon sir, but I water to run off every time I water Mr marius, sir - ya taught me better than to not do that. The plants are sitting on white plastic peg board and the floor underneath them is 1 foot square terrazzo tile. Edges of the closet floor are sealed with white silicone where the tiles meet the walls. Being the typical male of the species that I am, I view that as one huge catch pan. Am I wrong???? hehe. Hope the wife doesn't find out... she scares the fuck out of me. She told me once she was going to cut me off from sex as punishment but I told her she couldn't cause she didn't know where I was getting it, lmfao, just kidding. Besides, I've always operated on the premise that most of the time it's easier to get forgiveness than it is permission. She says I suffer from testosterone poisoning anyway. The female mind is a terrible thing.

I'll get back to you in a bit with the ec. Gotta wait a couple of hours for the sun to rise in the closet.

 

[Guest]

OK

Just watered.

Water going in:
1.25 gal
50/50 tap/ro
EC of raw water prior to additives 0.21 pH 7.2


pH 5.8 (took 1.125mL/gal of GH pH down to get it here) adds to ec
EC 1.3 (6mL/gal A+B, 2mL/gal Rhizotonic)


Water coming out:
1.1 gal - into pan with new plastic trash bag liner - watered 13 hours earlier just before lights out so plants didn't use much.
pH 5.8
EC 2.0 (dried salts on bottom of 3/gal pot may have contributed to level)

So what do ya think? EC is high, but I wouldn't think so high as to cause burn. And it doesn't really look like your typical burn that I've seen when researching it. pH is right on so no lock out. I'm gonna keep watering it with enough to get a 25%-50% run off a couple of times a day for a couple of days and I would think that would be enough to pull the ec back down, wouldn't you?

Thanks for the attention dude. Ya know I feed on attention, lol. Really, thanks for the help, man.

Here are some pics at day 38 of flower. Aurora's buds are thickening up a lot and the Widow's have begun to also. Trichs are getting heavier on both plants with the Indica the heavier of the two. Can't move the plants out of the closet anymore and risk damaging them so HPS will affect the pics. Branches are up against the front and back walls and touching the other plant in the middle. Clearance is about a foot from the wall on the Widow's end of the closet and 2" on the Aurora's end. Had to do that to the Widow and tilt the 400w light to keep the tip of the cola 8" away from the glass on the light reflector. Dude, a 7.5' wide closet and the plants only have 14" clearance. White Widow's 4'11" tall measuring from the coco in the pot to the tip of the main cola and the Aurora is 3'10". Laugh my fucking ass off. Whoda thunk it!



I'll try to do something with the exposure and color compensation on the camera to try to take care of glare and red color spectrum from the lights. If I hold my tongue just right, who knows.

White Widow













Auora Indica

















Couple of more questions. Is it of any benefit to prune so the lower buds/branches can get more light?

Is it normal at this stage for some of the smaller fan leaves on the very bottom of the plant to fall off?

Thanks and peace

 

[Guest]

Jeezus. Went kind crazy on the number of pictures didn't I.

 

[gaiusmarius]

lol ok man, that's good to hear. one more thing eliminated as a possible problem source. i thought you were cutting corners, when you said you had to lift plants to add a catch tray, lol. but yeah as long as the water stays there its a catch basin right?

well if you are certain that there are no pests sucking the juice from the leaves, then we have to look at what you have been adding, or not adding, to the nutrient solution. as the case may be. the period of no new food could have caused some problems too, but i think it is the cal that is overdosed due to it being provided by the coco as well as the calmag. if you are gonna add that stuff you only add it 1 to 3 times during the flowering phase.

another thing to check is whether the ph meter needs to be re calibrated? a high ph can cause problems too, as it will stop the plant taking up mg, which causes it to build up.

sorry to accuse you of not watering till run off LOL. i should have known that wasn't your style. wish you were coming to the 420.

peace

 

[gaiusmarius]

we posted at the same time, lol. it's cool to see how far along your buds are. makes those few rust spots less of a worry. indeed, you will not see those spots disappear, all you can hope is to stop it spreading.

anyway a few points, one the aurora is actually showing the beginning of burnt tip. meaning that those rust spots could well be due to the diet you put the aurora on. remember these thing take time to show up in the plant. i think ec 1.3 is just much too low for the aurora. you need to be giving her at least 1.6 you can see that she has slowed down a bit, while the ww has overtaken her by the looks of the colas.

yes at this stage it is totally normal for the lower fan leaves to get yellow and fall off. indoors a tree can't be lit up from top to bottom like outdoors as even a 1000 watt hps will not penetrate more them 1,25 meters of a canopy. this does not mean they will not grow buds lower down, just not such big ones, like in the top 1 meter of the plant.

no i wouldn't prune any branches off your plants. with a tree grow like yours that would be counter productive. some strains make nice buds even with low light levels and if they don't, they will still make wicked hash or oil, not to mention a good smoke when you have nothing else. what you can do is remove a few fan leaves here and there, where you see nice bud sites being shaded. but don't forget the leaves are the energy factories, while the plants makes a few more then it needs, if you take too many you can cause her stress. in fact fan leaf tucking is my preferred method when dealing with trees and not see of greens. definitely remove dead leaves from the bottom.

ah yes one last thing, you can really stop using the rhizotonic now as it is no longer needed. actually it might also be time to add another dose of pk as it looks like you are about 3 to 4 weeks from harvest. specially the aurora will appreciate it.

not using a zym product? not that it matters if you don't plan to re use the coco.

later
gm

 

[vhGhost]

great job Mojo ... with Marius at your back you can't go wrong.
I just picked up 2 bricks of coco... to give them a try. you never know i might never think hydro again lol....

 

[gaiusmarius]

Post Script

Post Script

oh yeah, ec 2.0 for the return is quite high indeed if you are only feeding 1.3, so i think a flush of 3 or 4 gallons each should bring the return ec right down again. with the aurora reduce it to 1.5, with the ww reduce it to 1.3 as that seems to be working well for her as an ec value.

so now i think i covered all the points you mentioned. if not hit me up.