2nd Indoor Grow with Auto Strains

So I germinated some seeds on the 22nd after my kitty broke in to the grow room and hoggishly ate everything.

I'm growing four different strains; Buddha Seeds Red Dwarf, Quasar, and Syrup, and Sagarmatha Seeds Smurfberry. I planted five smurfberries, and one each of the rest. One seed of Smurfberry did not germinate, and one seed, which I've named Smurfette, is intensely sick and not growing any leaves at all. At this point, I've given up on Smurfette. *sad face*

So far, Syrup, who I've named Maple, is heads and shoulders above the rest. She is days away from showing her sex, which will let me know how well Buddha Seeds has any good procedures when ensuring their feminized seeds are actually feminine. Maple is so big, she's bigger than the rest of the plants -combined-. She's also throwing out her first set of shade leaves. I'm so, so proud.

The nute mix at this point is a root booster mixed with vegetative growth booster, and a healthy dose of pure molasses. So far, everything seems so good.

We've increased security in the grow room to keep the cats out, so hopefully my whole medical crop won't get eaten again.

My conditions have been slowly deteriorating, so... this crop can't come in fast enough. I just spent $400 on an ounce a few days ago, and it might not last me the rest of the week. This pain... I'm done with it. I don't know what I'm going to do, but this pain is.... so constant.

Anyway, so far, I'm definitely impressed enough to by Syrup again.

Wow, thats a bad kitty! My cats started chewing on my leaves so now they are banned!

Prices are insane that is for sure. It is the same reason I decided to look towards growing.

I hope this round goes better!

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This is Syrup. The other plants aren't nearly as big.

I fear I've killed two plants, by getting nutes on their leaves. They've discolored just a little, and they're wilting. Is there any way to fix this? Just wait it out?

Syrup is still leading the pack and setting an example for explosive growth. It seems like every morning I go to check in on her, she's got a new set of leaves. A friend of mine asked why her leaves were so much fatter than the rest of what I'm growing, and I said "Because it doesn't have any Sativa in it".

I'm hoping for a good yield from Syrup, and am definitely interested in both growing it again, and breeding it.

The three plants that had mild discoloration and wilting on their leaves have all perked up. I've increased the growlight on-time to 22/2. I'll post more pictures once I get my camera working again.

That's that for now -Lucky

Just took a couple photo's of the girls after some Jerry rigging. The bottom leaves on Syrup were a little droopy, and this came to mind as filler until I can get a 1000W HPS with XXXL 8" reflector. I plan to shine the HPS from above, and the grow light I'm using now from behind.

This hobby is addicting. It feels like I'm going to the hydro store every other day, even if just to window shop. One day, I hope to make a business out of this for medical patients like myself.

Keep in mind, these were all seeded at the same time, in the box they're in right now. No jiffy peat pellets. They've all been getting the exact same food and the exact same water.

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The first image, with the biggest plant, are all my Buddah seeds, with Syrup towering over Quasar [the left] and Red Dwarf [the right]. The second image is my three Smurfberries.

I've decided that since this will be my first successful grow, I'm not going to mess anything up by trying to do something I've only seen done on videos. I know nothing about cloning, and I don't have a propagation tank or heater mat to properly clone much of anything.

All the plants have perked up. I need to get a pair of trimming sheers though, to clip off the bottom leaves that are drooping from lack of light. I put up mylar, and even jerry rigged putting some of it on the soilless mixture. The water is in a reservoir on the bottom, so I think when I have time, I'm going to make a mat so shine the extra light back up at the bottom leaves.

These plants are my best friends [sad, I know]... so thinking about clipping off the bottom leaves is, to me, like clipping off my child's toes.

I need something for bloom, as it's about to exit the vegetative growth stage. I want to use something natural, like Peruvian Sea Bird Guano mixed with Mexican Bat Guano and a heaping serving of earth worm castings. I'm keeping up with the molasses regiment, though.

I think when this grow is over, I'm going to put in another 2 air stones with a higher output pump in the reservoir. I'd do it right now, but the reservoir is under my soilless mixture which is holding my girls, so it'd be a huge pain in the ass to do that right now.

Any idea's on maximizing yield? This is... my only source of medicine that isn't off the black market. This has to last me from the end of curing, until I finish curing the -next- crop, so.. the more flowers the better.

Also, what's a better time to harvest for medicinal use? I'm using mostly indica, and a few have about 20% sativa in their genetics. Should I harvest them when they have clear trichomes, milky ones, or amber ones? I want something that will lock me to the couch, but won't lurch my stomach [I'm kind of sensitive to taking one too many puffs of Indica, usually ending with me calling to my domestic partner "Honey, get me the bucket *blargh*"]. However, I'm not opposed to the soaring, uplifting high that gets me to actually work and function.

In other words, any advice [at all] is welcome, wanted, and appreciated :)

So I decided if I want to learn anything the right way, that's the hard way. So I jumped head first in to cloning. I went to the hydro store and bought some clippers [I was going to wait till harvest, or until the bottom leaves needed pruning], cloning gel, rock wool, and a spray/mist bottle.

I took some clippings, mostly off Syrup [she had a lot of droopy branches underneath that weren't getting much light], and some off my Smurfberries. I've been keeping them properly misted, and I'm excited to see if any roots get thrown out in the next two weeks. I'm not hoping for much, as it's my first time. But, at the very least, this is a learning experience.

Pictures to come later.

ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting - This picture was taken right after watering/misting, which is why the plants are all shining and gorgeous.

Started out with an aggressive regiment at the seedling phase one month ago today. We had 8 seedlings, and now we're down to the final five contestants. The fifth is in the back right, and not growing as fast as I'd like her to, but she's waiting for a new home with someone who -isn't- trying to bloom.

The three on the right, including the one that's getting adopted, are Smurfberries. The two on the left are Syrup [in the back] and Red Dwarf. Quasar was only up to her second node, and hadn't even really started showing her sex yet. We're 4 weeks in, and 4 weeks from harvest; I don't have time anymore to nurse ailing plants back to health. She didn't want to grow? I cut her at the base and she's getting pressed in a book to hang up on my wall as decoration.

We just started using a compost tea of Peruvian Sea Bird guano, Mexican Bat Guano, and a good handful of Worm Castings. We cooked it at a low heat [about 100*, where most bacteria thrive] for an hour in two gallons of water. We also mixed in a nice amount of raw molasses to help give the plants a shot of carbohydrates.

Had to get an ozone generator; the smell was incredible.

We're entering the blooming stage relatively quickly here, so I've begun switching out the bulbs to a bloom bulb, as well as making sure there's the right mix of nutrients for the plants to thrive. Here's hoping everything works out!

If you are growing auto strains you should not clone. :thumbsup:
For cloning you need to be able to keep the plant in the vegetative phase. This can't be done with auto strains because they automatically enter the bloom phase on their own.

I've heard arguments going either way, I figured I'd try and see for myself. I think the best way to learn is by diving head first. I tried something, and it didn't work. What did I learn? What will I do next time? What won't I do?

Some asshole I had over got in to my grow room and mistreated Smurfette, and she got snapped at the point where the main stalk meets the root ball. I went to prune her, and she fell right over. I thought she had started to get droopy from being lightly misted twice a day. Imagine my surprise when I realized she was DOA. Down to three and a half plants. Lets... see where this goes from here?