I'm not sure about posting a grow journal but I will post what I've done so far.
Basically they had been in those red party cups up until yesterday (was and still is 2 parts FF Ocean forest per 1 part perlite) I was using a small digital scale to weigh them so I would know when they got close to their dry weight and needed water (every 3 days), and I would water them until they were double their dry weight (which was basically when they would start leaking the water out the bottom a bunch). I have been using untested distilled water. After awhile they wouldn't hold as much water and lost their weight quickly so I was advised to start soaking. Gave them 1/4 strength Grow Big watering once, they've been watered twice since then (the most recent was yesterday a couple hours before they were transplanted into the bigger pots). The biggest plant on the left I have removed its 2 lowest sets of leafs because they dried and yellowed and had some black spots coming in (don't believe they were bugs looked more like some kind of bruise). The one plant the lights leaned over and made contact with the top for an hour or 2 a couple days ago. Yesterday i went to the store and got a water ppm/ec/temp pen, pH up/down, Super Thrive, a cheap soil pH stick thing and one that was a moisture meter (which reads dry the same day as a watering so I think that is broke), an analog rh meter, and vial/drip liquid pH test kit. I tested the distilled water and it was only around 5.75 pH (if i did that test right...), and according to the 8$ soil pH testing thing the pH of the soil was just under 6.5. I have always given each of the plants the same treatment. They have been growing in a mrgrowpro pc grow box (4 24w 6500k cfls) have kept them between 1-2 inches off the tops. I give each a turn just behind the intake fans, rotate them in place, etc. Given them all the same amount of water and everything. The seeds were supposed to be bag seed from decent/good stuff and I tried to pick seeds that looked the same. The biggest popped first, sprouted first, etc. Then the 2nd biggest, and then the smallest. In this picture its 1 on the left/alma, 3 in the middle/Abby, and the 2nd biggest/oldest on the right. The ball shaped one has always looked like that, and the lowest pair of leafs have only started yellowing on the 2 smaller plants for a couple days (the big one has had problems for a week and a half.
So basically I am wondering what the heck is going on! Am I over watering? No watering enough? Need to fert more? Feed Super Thrive every watering? I can't figure out what is going wrong because each one is reacting so differently to the same conditions. The biggest is droopy and apparently had some kind of infection or fungus, the 2nd largest is spread out but leaves are curled in at the edges a bit (has been that way for about a week but hasn't really gotten worse (but not better either), and the smallest is a freaking fist of leafs. Please I need some help guys, I am growing these for my aunt. She has had leukemia, breast cancer, chemo, etc. Takes lots of hard pain killers that don't work well, barely eats, etc. Its perfect for her and she tried it recently in Britain and it worked wonders. This is for her, thanks for any advice!
12/28/09 began paper towel germination sometime around 6?
12/29/09 planted 2 popped seeds in the morning, added them to tower with light*one was definitely ahead of the other
12/30/09 planted 2 more seeds, added to tower with light following Friday
1/03/10 added water to the only seed that hasn't sprouted above ground yet, looks like tap root dried up crisp and green? Gave everyone a spray in the evening, 3rd seed has risen out of the soil
1/04/10 3 seeds seem to be doing fine and have sprouted out well, 3rd/latest is still unfolding first leaves?, 4th probably dead
1/05/10 added dirt to Alma to make her cup more like the others and watered each to the same weight, will adjust dirt levels to the same as possible on each later on, Abby looks like she might have some sort of problem, otherwise everyone looks good this morning, little growth
1/08/10 added dirt to Berri to make all the cups more even
1/12/10 I waited an extra day to water this time and it took a lot more effort to get them up to almost double the dry weight (faster draining). Abby's 2nd pair of new leafs are coming in far more slowly than they did for Alma and Berri. However Berri's 2nd set seems to have come in faster than Alma's had (even though in overall size she is a couple days behind). This leads me to believe that they may each be a different strain. Inspecting Berri while weighing her for the second time today, I can tell she is developing differently than Alma had (could being under one of the bulbs instead of half way between 2 have made this difference?) she seems to be shooting off more leafs before her first couple pairs have even grown to a fair size, where as Alma had her first 2 pairs of leafs grow fairly large before she started to rapidly start new ones. Even Abby with her small leafs seems to be branching off more at once, though she is as small as Alma was on her 4th day (she is branching off in a way that Alma didn't until her 7th or 8th day). So I am almost certain that there are at least 2 different strains in here, unless Abby is somehow a runt and not a 3rd strain.
1/13/10 Alma's round baby leafs seem to be fading away, they are turning a yellowish color. But everything else is fine and at some point this is supposed to happen anyway. Got back from work and Alma's little problem doesn't seem to be any worse, although her baby leafs are definitely farther gone (not a problem).
1/14/10 Alma's problem doesn't appear to be spreading or have gotten significantly worse. Berri is definitely not growing up as much as Alma has for how many leafs shes spreading out (Berri is quite flat topped but shooting leafs in many directions). Abby seems to be shooting of her 3rd and 4th pairs before her 2nd have even unfolded completely (let alone gotten as large as Alma and Berri's had before they shot off 3rd and 4th pairs).
1/15/10 Alma's first pair of leaves with the dieing tip parts, the whole pair of those 2 leaves is starting to yellow/fade in color compared to the rest. Perhaps I waited too long to water everyone, solid drains super fast now. Berri's baby leafs are quite yellow this morning, don't recall them seeming yellow last night. Experienced grower says I need to start applying nutes and should upgrade to a bigger pot size.
1/17/10 Soaked Alma in a pot with 8 cups of water and an 1/8th teaspoon of grow big, watered Berri and Abby with the leftover water to a more regular watered weight
1/24/10 Combination of bulbs leaning down one way and Berri growing over night grew up and touched the bulbs, now has some brown spots on leafs, looks more like paint than burn marks. Evening- burns don't appear to be changing, lower pair of leafs on all plants (2 on alma) still yellowing, not much worse. Forum help suspects there may be a pH problem or too much humidity.
1/25/10 Soaking with untested plain distilled water, gently pulled the lowest dead leafs off of alma. Transplanted each into bigger containers 4 hours after being watered
Alma is in the lead, Berri appears to be about 2 days behind Alma, and then Abby is 2 days behind Berri and 4 days behind Alma
Basically they had been in those red party cups up until yesterday (was and still is 2 parts FF Ocean forest per 1 part perlite) I was using a small digital scale to weigh them so I would know when they got close to their dry weight and needed water (every 3 days), and I would water them until they were double their dry weight (which was basically when they would start leaking the water out the bottom a bunch). I have been using untested distilled water. After awhile they wouldn't hold as much water and lost their weight quickly so I was advised to start soaking. Gave them 1/4 strength Grow Big watering once, they've been watered twice since then (the most recent was yesterday a couple hours before they were transplanted into the bigger pots). The biggest plant on the left I have removed its 2 lowest sets of leafs because they dried and yellowed and had some black spots coming in (don't believe they were bugs looked more like some kind of bruise). The one plant the lights leaned over and made contact with the top for an hour or 2 a couple days ago. Yesterday i went to the store and got a water ppm/ec/temp pen, pH up/down, Super Thrive, a cheap soil pH stick thing and one that was a moisture meter (which reads dry the same day as a watering so I think that is broke), an analog rh meter, and vial/drip liquid pH test kit. I tested the distilled water and it was only around 5.75 pH (if i did that test right...), and according to the 8$ soil pH testing thing the pH of the soil was just under 6.5. I have always given each of the plants the same treatment. They have been growing in a mrgrowpro pc grow box (4 24w 6500k cfls) have kept them between 1-2 inches off the tops. I give each a turn just behind the intake fans, rotate them in place, etc. Given them all the same amount of water and everything. The seeds were supposed to be bag seed from decent/good stuff and I tried to pick seeds that looked the same. The biggest popped first, sprouted first, etc. Then the 2nd biggest, and then the smallest. In this picture its 1 on the left/alma, 3 in the middle/Abby, and the 2nd biggest/oldest on the right. The ball shaped one has always looked like that, and the lowest pair of leafs have only started yellowing on the 2 smaller plants for a couple days (the big one has had problems for a week and a half.
So basically I am wondering what the heck is going on! Am I over watering? No watering enough? Need to fert more? Feed Super Thrive every watering? I can't figure out what is going wrong because each one is reacting so differently to the same conditions. The biggest is droopy and apparently had some kind of infection or fungus, the 2nd largest is spread out but leaves are curled in at the edges a bit (has been that way for about a week but hasn't really gotten worse (but not better either), and the smallest is a freaking fist of leafs. Please I need some help guys, I am growing these for my aunt. She has had leukemia, breast cancer, chemo, etc. Takes lots of hard pain killers that don't work well, barely eats, etc. Its perfect for her and she tried it recently in Britain and it worked wonders. This is for her, thanks for any advice!
12/28/09 began paper towel germination sometime around 6?
12/29/09 planted 2 popped seeds in the morning, added them to tower with light*one was definitely ahead of the other
12/30/09 planted 2 more seeds, added to tower with light following Friday
1/03/10 added water to the only seed that hasn't sprouted above ground yet, looks like tap root dried up crisp and green? Gave everyone a spray in the evening, 3rd seed has risen out of the soil
1/04/10 3 seeds seem to be doing fine and have sprouted out well, 3rd/latest is still unfolding first leaves?, 4th probably dead
1/05/10 added dirt to Alma to make her cup more like the others and watered each to the same weight, will adjust dirt levels to the same as possible on each later on, Abby looks like she might have some sort of problem, otherwise everyone looks good this morning, little growth
1/08/10 added dirt to Berri to make all the cups more even
1/12/10 I waited an extra day to water this time and it took a lot more effort to get them up to almost double the dry weight (faster draining). Abby's 2nd pair of new leafs are coming in far more slowly than they did for Alma and Berri. However Berri's 2nd set seems to have come in faster than Alma's had (even though in overall size she is a couple days behind). This leads me to believe that they may each be a different strain. Inspecting Berri while weighing her for the second time today, I can tell she is developing differently than Alma had (could being under one of the bulbs instead of half way between 2 have made this difference?) she seems to be shooting off more leafs before her first couple pairs have even grown to a fair size, where as Alma had her first 2 pairs of leafs grow fairly large before she started to rapidly start new ones. Even Abby with her small leafs seems to be branching off more at once, though she is as small as Alma was on her 4th day (she is branching off in a way that Alma didn't until her 7th or 8th day). So I am almost certain that there are at least 2 different strains in here, unless Abby is somehow a runt and not a 3rd strain.
1/13/10 Alma's round baby leafs seem to be fading away, they are turning a yellowish color. But everything else is fine and at some point this is supposed to happen anyway. Got back from work and Alma's little problem doesn't seem to be any worse, although her baby leafs are definitely farther gone (not a problem).
1/14/10 Alma's problem doesn't appear to be spreading or have gotten significantly worse. Berri is definitely not growing up as much as Alma has for how many leafs shes spreading out (Berri is quite flat topped but shooting leafs in many directions). Abby seems to be shooting of her 3rd and 4th pairs before her 2nd have even unfolded completely (let alone gotten as large as Alma and Berri's had before they shot off 3rd and 4th pairs).
1/15/10 Alma's first pair of leaves with the dieing tip parts, the whole pair of those 2 leaves is starting to yellow/fade in color compared to the rest. Perhaps I waited too long to water everyone, solid drains super fast now. Berri's baby leafs are quite yellow this morning, don't recall them seeming yellow last night. Experienced grower says I need to start applying nutes and should upgrade to a bigger pot size.
1/17/10 Soaked Alma in a pot with 8 cups of water and an 1/8th teaspoon of grow big, watered Berri and Abby with the leftover water to a more regular watered weight
1/24/10 Combination of bulbs leaning down one way and Berri growing over night grew up and touched the bulbs, now has some brown spots on leafs, looks more like paint than burn marks. Evening- burns don't appear to be changing, lower pair of leafs on all plants (2 on alma) still yellowing, not much worse. Forum help suspects there may be a pH problem or too much humidity.
1/25/10 Soaking with untested plain distilled water, gently pulled the lowest dead leafs off of alma. Transplanted each into bigger containers 4 hours after being watered
Alma is in the lead, Berri appears to be about 2 days behind Alma, and then Abby is 2 days behind Berri and 4 days behind Alma
