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?

I'm proud to say, there are some verified starts to flowers, and I'm excited. Pictures to come later today, after I get some sleep and maybe go canoing.

So sorry to read about Smurfette. What a bastard doing that to her, especially more so when your plants are for meds. I'd feel like snapping him off where his stalk meets his balls. At least you have the others though.
Did you go canoing? :)

No, going out after I post some pictures. I got up early enough to do the pictures first. I'm pissed because now I have to spend $400 to replace the potential ounce that I lost when Smurfette got killed. The sad part is she was a fighter. I was originally going to cut her back two or three weeks ago because he growth wasn't up to par, but then she just exploded. Now she's gone. Moment of silence.

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They're doing well. Preflowers are forming, thankfully. Still trying to figure out how to have a picture in my profile and get a signature. Oh well.

Side note: My canoe buddy just bailed on me. There goes the day.

Let us know how/if the clones work out I've got some baby auto's

Peace

The clones did not make it. Oh well. That's life.

Always a next time :D

That is true; there's always a next time.

I tied down three of the branches so they could get more exposure to the light source. It's a veritable sea of green. I'm three weeks away from the expected late-period harvest. The seeds all said <8 weeks, and I started five weeks ago. So, in three weeks, at the very latest, I shall be harvesting. I'm so, so excited.

On an unrelated note, I came home and my parking lot was swarming with cops. I sent a text message to everyone "Love you all, I've had a good run. See you in jail!" I thought I got narc'd. Still no idea why they were here.

So, I've had one hell of a night. Gotta go check the girls now. I started on a jury-rigged POS CO2 delivery system today. Hope it pays off.

Just switched over the last two bulbs from "Vegetative" spectrum to "Bloom" spectrum; now running four 24" bloom bulbs on my sunsystems T5. Preflowers are beautiful, and I can't wait for them to open up. Cutting back on nutrients being added to the soil or reservoir. Going to flush the system next week in anticipation of harvest.

I have a question for anyone who reads this: I'm running 4 Autoflowers, and the back of the breeders packs said it has a <8 week flowering period. Since it's an autoflower, does this mean <8 weeks from seed to finish? Or <8 weeks after it's done with it's alleged 15 day veg period? I have no idea, but the preflowers are making me joyous either way.

I started on the 22nd of April, and it's now the 28th of May. How long do I have left? If I was wrong, and I still have five weeks left instead of the three I think I have left, won't you please let me know?

Pretty sure 8 weeks from seedling to harvest..
I bought the 60 day wonder autoflower & when I asked if it was 60 days from seed to harvest they said yes..

Good Luck
Peace..!

Thanks Jack. The good news is I have three volunteers to help me with trimming, provided we all get to taste the end product together.

I went to a new hydro store today and picked up Sledgehammer to break up the fertilizer solids in my soil mix, and a pump to pull the nute mix out of the reservoir. By this time next week, the girls will be in their last two weeks of life. I read in this months High Times that if you want quality over quantity, you should flush out two weeks before hand. I've come to trust and respect HT's information, so this is what I'm doing.

My partner, when I told her how much I spent at the store today, gave me an exasperated sigh. "Is that -everything- you need till harvest?" And I had to restrain the urge to tell her all the other stuff I need. Apparently, this new store sells CO2 Boost and a product like CO2 Boost in that it creates CO2, but it uses decomposing mold spores or something. They're in a contained bag with a one-way filter, so no chance of infection. It's certainly a lot cheaper than getting a 20oz CO2 canister filled twice a day and using it like a bug bomb in the room. Stuff really works, my smallest and weakest plant that was quite literally limping along sprouted up two nodes in the 6 hours I had locked the room with the CO2 canister inside. Really wicked stuff.

I had to get some -support- trellis in place, because whoever killed Smurfette went after Papa Smurf too. After having some fellow growers over for a reasoning [Rasta ceremony], I noticed my one thriving adult Smurfberry had a broken arm. I immediately took one of the locking length plant yo-yo's that I was using to -tie- a plant down, and had to hold up Papa Smurf's broken arm.

I swear to God it would be easier if your enemies would just tell you they're your enemies. Someone is hurting my plants, and I don't know who or why. I'm not having anyone over that I wouldn't take a bullet for, for the next two weeks. Not until trim night, after the buds are in the drying rack so careless, evil fingers don't knock off resin glands.

I've got to say I'm incredibly impressed with both Syrup and Smurfberry; Syrup more so than the other. The reason for this is, in early growth, Syrup was incredibly explosive. Some plants were still on their seed leaves when Syrup was already working on her second node. I would definitely use Buddha Seed's [not to be confused with Big Buddha Seeds] Syrup again. Their Quasar seed did not germinate, and the Red Dwarf lives up to its name so far. It's only 8" tall, but it's got an incredible amount of nodes, all tightly packed, and all showing preflowers.

Smurfberry, though, was a case of good and bad genetics. I had two good beans, and one bean with the gene for retarded growth. It's only at five nodes, less than a half foot tall, and is trying to show preflowers. I'm expecting maybe a few grams off it at most; maybe enough to pack all my pipes and roll a cigarette. However, the other two were, and are, phenomenal. Smurfette was strong and healthy [until she was murdered, of course], and Papa Smurf has one huge main stalk, and six large arms covered in preflowers. I've been told I'm not crazy to expect an ounce and a half to two ounces of high quality dried bud from this one plant. What I like about Smurfberry more than Syrup is that Smurfberry [an autoflowering blueberry strain] is that it's not as dense and thick as Syrup is. Syrup shows it's Indica heritage in its fully developed leaves, which are often very fat and squat, and extend everywhere. Smurfberry, however, has Sativa leaves which are thinner and longer, and it's branches are better formed. However, I think this last bit was because of a bit of pruning on my part when Syrup was smaller. She was too bushy, and had to be cut back a little because she was shading out the Red Dwarf seedling.

I've got an ozone spray timer, and a gel-based odor controller. I hope between the two of them, they keep the skunk smell in my living space to a minimum. I don't need pesky neighbors calling the cops. Since I don't have the money at the moment for an Ozone Generator wand, this is one of those moments in life where you close your eyes and brace for impact, hoping you've prepared enough to survive.

It still strikes me as hilarious that in one of the more recent picture of my garden, there's three big, bushy plants, and one wee little one in the corner. It's time I get to bed. I just smoked some Blue Dream, and I'm hoping for some good, heavy sleep.

So my care taker came over and suggested we flush now because of how ripe the plant is looking towards blossoming. So far, so good. Had to wait 15 minutes for the Sledgehammer to permeate the water. Decided I'd let you know where we are.

We have a plan to build a jury rigged tent enclosure and get a carbon filter and an inline fan using a hula hoop and some reflective tarp.

Another plant attacked!:( Honestly mate, with friends like that who needs enemies. I'd not let another living soul near them.

I think a filter and fan will be essential for you with the smell, although I have no experience with auto's, they'll surely have a good strong whiff about them.
Hope poor ol Papa smurfs' arm comes good. They are very resiliant plants and I've wrapped a bit of tape around a branch on one of mine that got snapped accidentally and left it. Pulled it off a couple of weeks later and it was good as new no worries.

Yeah, there's now a lock on the grow room door, so nobody but me, my partner, and my caretaker can get in. I'm really sick of my girls not getting treated right. The flush last night wiped me out, hard core. We flushed three times with 2.3 gallons each time, and a teaspoon of Sledgehammer per flush to neutralize and dissolve all the salts. They're now on a strict freshwater only diet.

Me and my caretaker, while purging last night, thought "Well, what if we just left molasses as the only nutrient? Would the crop come out sweeter?"

Any thoughts? I'm not gonna do it without a go-ahead from one of you more experienced and savvy growers.

Just put a full canister of CO2 in the room, and let it leak out with a hose making the gas come out in the middle of the four girls. This helped give a boost to growth last time. I'm still on a 24/0 grow light cycle, seeing as they're autoflowers, and that's what everyone said to do. I might switch to a 20/4 in the morning, though. Growth seems to be stunted.

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A week or two till they harvest? Look at all those lovely preflowers.

So glad I'm using autoflowers.

So this is after turning the lights to 20/4, and that seems to have gotten their growth back up. 20/4 seems to be perfect for growing/flowering. Those packs were stupid for stating you should do 24/0 and get good results. 18/6 is too long, 24/0 is too short... 20/4 is just right :)

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Just took these two pictures a few minutes ago. Finally figured out how to work my camera.

Lookin good..!!

So I'm starting to get what I can best describe as jitters. I'm a paranoid-type schizophrenic, and I've got PTSD [to name a pair]... so... Eff. Eff me in the eh. Every time I hear a car door open or close, or hear a car pull up... I'm jumping out of my seat and checking for the effing DEA hit squad. My mind, so I've been told, is a dangerous place... and my imagination runs wild.

The worst part was yesterday, this SOB in the parking lot was having an altercation, and like... 4 cop cars showed up and I didn't know why they were there. I came in halfway through. So I saw four cop cars parked right outside my building and all I could think was "Welp, I'm gonna be someone's bitch in prison. Yeup." Went upstairs, sat down, waited. Nothing.

I can't sleep... My heart is racing... everything is making me jump... every time a cop car even comes within my eyesight I freak.

This is why I'm scared: I'm not scared of the police. I'm not scared of going to court. I'm scared of losing my medicine, of not being able to medicate because of probation with that year and a day bull hanging over my head. I'm in a constant, measurable amount of pain, both physical and mental. I need this medicine. This medicine is the only thing that works.

I've been free of hospital visits for a while now. I'm incredibly -proud- of how long I've stayed out of the hospital. All thanks to MMJ. I mean, I'm not selling, I'm not telling anyone who isn't involved in some way... I know I'm technically the fall guy because I am the grower but... I will quite literally die without this medication. Like... I don't want to get in to war or horror stories but... Marijuana is the reason I'm still alive. It's calmed me down and helped me step back from the edge so many times.... and now I've gotta worry about these DEA c*********s and local police and.... GAH!!!

How do you more experienced growers do it?! What keeps you from having a panic attack and just doing a slash and burn on your whole crop?

Honestly and obviously, this crop can't come in fast enough. I almost had to be hospitalized last night after having what I'm being told was a 'psychotic episode'. I quite literally snapped. Anyway :)

I came home today from my night of observation and when we came in, it smelled a bit like a party. I have to pick up the ozone generator in the morning, it just arrived in the post.

Preflower sites are covering Papa Smurf. Arm totally recovered after being yo-yo'd in place with a bit of a "It works... in theory" kind of idea. Had to die plants down towards their respective corner. Definitely sticking to the old adage of two's company and three's a crowd. Could have -just- fit three good girls in here, but I stuffed it with four. Next time, we're going to germ 5 and hope to end up with three strong plants. Narrowed it down to Afghan Kush Ryder from World of Seeds; 22% THC content.

Done with fert and foliar spray. Sticking to just tap water till harvest. Still no response from any of you about using just a molasses supplement in the last week/few days.

I've been thinking of contacting lowlife and asking them if they could cross their lowryder with Juanita La Lagrimosa, because CBD is such a wonderful thing.

What kind of lighting are you using on these girls..?

I wish i could answer some of your questions but they would prolly be wrong..lol

Good Luck Bro

Peace

T5 SunSystems 24" 4 bulb on a 20/4 cycle.

Attachment 276050

Had my life partner take this picture. She's amazingly supportive for an asthmatic who can't partake :smokin:

Planning to take June off for growing. Once this crop comes in, the grow set-up will go unused till July 1st. This is so I can make sure I have a freshly cured harvest just in time for my birthday :)

Edit: Yes, there is a glittery star in my garden. Only because I couldn't find a miniature pink flamingo or miniature lawn gnome.

LMAO awesome star..I swear if I find a minature pink flamingo I'll send it your way

Just T5's hey no halide or hps..?I might just go to the shop & pick up a kit they have there 4 24" bulbs with hood & reflectors for $200..Or I could go with the 4' for about $50 more..
Yah Im definatly going to go with CFL's & T5's I cant have any heat then gotta get fans & this & that & blah'n blah maybe if I was doing this to make a profit I'd go all out but hell I just want to make
some oil the stuff Rick Simpson makes for pain to be honest I dont even smoke it..But Ive heard/read so many good things over the years about using it for pain meds I figured why not nothing else Ive tried works..



Peace

$200? LoL! I got mine for $119 plus tax. Shop around for a better price. Oh my gosh, I just remembered I need to go get my Ozone Generator from the front office of my apt complex. Completely done under T5's.

In case you can't see some of my older posts, I actually am crazy. I live in a fairly constant amount of measurable pain. I'm not in it for the money, either. I'll -never- be in it for the money. Not even when I open my own co-op with my caretaker. It's about the medicine, pure and simple.

Me and my caretaker plan to get a self-contained 250w HPS grow light. 400W covers more area than we need. HPS is better for blooming, and MH is better for veg. HPS -is- better than T5, but T5 has worked for our needs so far. I think a HPS is best for autoflowers since there's only a 15-some day veg period. Anyway, try to get something that will penetrate the canopy. The lower buds will be happier for it.

Sorry whoops my mistake no its not $200 I was thinkin the HPS & digital ballast she quoted me yesterday..

The 2 foot 4 light hooded T5's are $130 & the 4 footers are $180ish

Yah that sounds better..lol

Apparently the website misquoted itself. I was told it covers a 5,500 square foot section... when the box says 5,500 cubic feet. So I got the super-duper extra good one for 110 plus $60 rush shipping. OZN-1. Amazingly powerful.

I find myself, more and more, sitting in my grow room talking to my plants.

The hardest thing I have to do at this point is wait for the g*****n preflowers to open up. Being my first successful grow [so far], I have no idea how long it takes for preflowers to open up and reveal their goodness, and pack on the resin glands.

My life partner will flat-out murder me if this goes wrong, but I'm going to see how well the ozone generator works against the smell of smoke :D Who's dead? I'm dead. Damn asthmatics.

Eagerly awaiting the distribution of The Attitude Seed Banks monthly newsletter. Got one letter from them on the first, but it was their promo for the month. I'm going to be in their newsletter this month for getting their logo tattoo'd on my left shoulder to celebrate both 4/20, and me taking an interest in my own wellbeing. This is just one grow out of the countless I plan to do. Never on a scale for sale, but just enough to keep me always floating five feet off the ground. Meds before profit

Good night everyone. Hopefully, by the time I wake up, I'll have a newsletter to read :) :) :) I'm on such good terms with TASB that I emailed them asking if I could buy a box of their lighters and rolling papers to lose at parties, and they just mailed me a box -for free-. I love having stuff to hand out to people, to try and lure them in to growing their own.

Death to Mafia growers!

So some a*****e slipped me a sativa when I said indica. Morning :D

Sat with my plants for an hour. Noticed amber hairs coming out near the pistils. Very happy to see those. Maturation.

I'm really enjoying your log even though you really are having a rough time of it health-wise. Hopefully the girls will help with that shortly.

You asked about molasses earlier and in my, albeit short, experience its fine to use right through to the end harvest if you wish. Personally I start adding it around week 3 and use it at the dosage of 1 teaspoon per 4 litres (about a gallon). It must be the unsulphured molasses. There's a good sticky here on the forum about molasses if you've not read it before.

Maybe your partner would be interested in baking with a bit of cannabis instead of smoking - if she wants to try it out that is? I don't smoke either but my cookies and cupcakes have given us a few hilarious weekend parties. Its an option anyways. There's a whole recipes section here with all sorts of ideas.

Keep safe :)

I am still on my amazing path of "no hospital visits", though it's getting harder. I almost spent last night in a crisis bed at a safe house for the mentally endangered. I went through a quarter ounce in a matter of a few days. I have this sinking feeling that this medicine I'm growing won't last me a month. I'm debating getting another earthbox, though that would increase my workload 100%, it would also increase my medicine output by 100%

Fortunately, I have almost everything I need to do another grow without purchasing any supplies, so my extra money can go back to purchasing more medicine for myself. This pain is constant, and unyielding. I want to harvest, if only because I have no idea if my plants are ready or not. The buds still look like preflowers to me, a mess of pistils and hairs and resin that in no way resembles the clipped plant material I'm used to smoking. If anything, it resembles the Barneys Farm LSD strain I saw in The Attitudes two-page seed ad in July's High Times.

I think if this keeps up, I'm just gonna turn it all in to hash.