First Grow - 2 Fem Swiss Cheese from Seed 120W LED + 125W CFL 2700k + 125W CFL 6400k

Iceauron · Feb 16, 2013

Well I've been reading some journals and have got some inspiration to start my own grow.
Sadly I didn't document the first week (Apart from 2 little pics) of their lives so today is day 7 for them and where I'll be starting my Journal off from..

Grow Area:
I'm using a 60cm X 60cm X 140cm LxWxH grow tent.

Lights:
1 X 120W Prakasa LED 7 Spectrum Light
1 X 125W CFL @ 2700k
1 X 125W CFL @ 6400K

Fans:
1 X floor standing 9" fan
1 X 12v 120mm pc fan for exhaust (this will be replaced with a RVK extractor fan with 4" Rhino filter in around 2 weeks time (roll on pay day!!!))

Medium:
70 / 30 Coco / Perlite mix.

The grow room stays around 24-27 degrees atm which I'm quite happy with.

I made up my first feed today, used 10l of water and mixed in 2ml of Jungle Juice Grow. I PH'd the water to 5.8 and fed each pot 2 liters of water. The run off PH'd at 6.1.

My second set of leafs are just starting to pop out which I'm really excited to see!

As this is my first grow, I'm open to advice / suggestions / criticism

I have no idea what sort of yield I can expect. I'm really hoping for around 4-5 oz total but I'm not confident I'll get it! Any guesses?

Until next time, take care and smoke a J :bigjoint:

BlazedUpPanda · Feb 18, 2013

Hey Iceauron, big props on the set up bro!
I'd say your yield will be pretty dependent on you veg period.. With your tent dimensions id definitely 100% recommend a scrog to really maximise on product, if not LST though a scrog would probably be easier.
Looking forward to seeing how this one plays out. Sub'd and watching
Panda

Iceauron · Feb 19, 2013

Thanks for the kind words BlazedUpPanda!

Day 10

I still haven't given them another feed, the coco still feels moist around 1 inch down. I have moved the plants closer to the lights to try and get some penetration.

I currently have the LED a 1 125W 6400k CFL going. Temps have raised a bit and get to a max of around 29 (if my bedroom window isn't open full). I've decided to keep it open 24/7 but it's a bit of a pain in the ass!
I've got 2 2700k cfl's waiting to be plugged in once they switch to flower.

I'm hoping to try the SCROG method to maximise my space, I'm not sure how well this strain will respond to the training though. I suppose we will have to wait and see!.

Aaaaaaanyway, some pics

They seem to be growing too slow for my liking, what do you guys think? The last 3 days I've only had a tiny bit of growth. One of my friends think this might be because I put my seedling into 11l pots after they sprouted. He said they will not grow too much until the roots have started to hit the sides. Any opinions here guys?

Also, I've had conflicting information given to me about the watering schedule for coco/perlite mix. Some people are telling me to water ever other day (at this stage), others are saying to wait 2 weeks.

I have a feeling my plants might have some issues with either under watering or over watering. I'm not sure which though, they are defiantly drooping, from touching the leafs I can't make out if they are dry or wet.... First time growing is a real learning curve lol!

Iceauron · Feb 20, 2013

Day 11 - Not doing so great.

Well I'm not too sure what's up with my plants. I gave them a feed yesterday afternoon using 2ml of Jungle Juice Grow in 10l of water, I gave each plant 2 liters of the water which PH'd @ 5.8. The run off was 6.1.

This is what they look like around 18 hours after the feed and 8 hours after lights on.

I'm not sure what to make of it. Seems like I have dark spots, some patch of white and something on the tips too. They seem a little droopy as well.

I think my problem might be my nutrients. I'm using the JJ Grow when I think i should be using it with a combination of JJ Micro as well as some Cal-Mg (I've ordered both of these products to as I'm sure I'll need them at some point).

I also need to get some Coco flush fluid and maybe give them a good flush.

Any ideas / suggestions guys?

BlazedUpPanda · Feb 20, 2013

Iceauron, sorry to hear youre having trouble. Dont worry though, marijuana is an extremely resilient plant and they will probably make a full recovery if we can get them back on the right course. ;-)

If the plants were going great then you fed 2L of water with nutes and the plants have reacted like this is is certainly not under-watering that the plants are suffering from. We can assume that the problem is as a result of the watering so the question is: is the problem nute or water related? Looking at your most recent photo I think it may be both.

Remember they are still only very small, at this point the droopyness will most likely be as a result of water saturation. The root hairs will not be able to absorb anything, water or nutes, if they are submerged or there is too much condensing moisture; furthermore if they are left in that condition for too long they will start to rot. It's slightly different because I am doing a soil grow but my plants are 6 weeks old but i only water about 1L per plant every 2 days.

In terms of nutrients if you're growing in a 30% coco mix (and the medium was properly mixed in) then for the first couple weeks the plants should be able to get any nutrients they do need from the coir since coco contains a full nute spectrum. There is zero chance of your plants having a whole set of deficiencies (as the multiple types of discolorations would suggest) this early in the grow. Flushing is certainly not necessary at this point either if you only added 2ml of JJ to 10L of water and only watered 2L each. That puts your total nute content per plant at .4ml of JJ, not enough to remotely cause salt build up or anything like that. I will ask though whats the NPK and advised usage of the JJ nute solution you are using at the moment? Personally i think the discolouration looks like nute burn, your ph is bang on for nutrient absorption and with the plants being so tiny they just cant handle so much food.

This may be the hardest advice to take but I really do recommend that you dont do anything for at least a day. You need the water content in the coco and perlite to subside so that the roots can get some oxygen and start taking up water again. A good test is to put your finger or thumb an inch into the growth medium, if it is damp its not time to add any more water yet. Also next time you water, water a lot less - maybe only a couple hundred mils - and leave out the nutes. Also remember to let the water you plan to use sit in an open container for at least 24, ideally 48 hours before using it so that any chlorine dissolved in it can evaporate; or even better if available use water from a reverse osmosis filter. See how they respond and put up a couple of photos if things dont improve.

I am 99.99999% sure that the only problem is over zealous watering though hopefully someone with a bit more experience in hydro will confirm my suspicions. In any case dont panic, most likely the only problems you'll experience are at the start of the grow and you've been doing most things really well and precisely. I hope they can get back on track soon and good luck.
Panda

Iceauron · Feb 23, 2013

Day 14

Thanks for the kind words again Panda! Due to growing in Coco it was highly unlikely to be over watering unlike soil you have to put nutes in coco from the very start, I just didn't put the correct nutes in.

So I got some help in the sick plants forum. It was suggested that they were suffering from deficiencies (due to growing in coco and not using the correct nutrients). I flushed my pots and fed them with the correct formula of 2ml of each Micro, Grow & Bloom jungle juice in 10l of water, I then fed each plant until I got around 15% run off. The water ph'd @ 5.9 and the run-off was 6.3.

I'm extremely happy with their progress, all the new leafs look very healthy and the number of darks spots have significantly reduced.

Here are some updated pics of the babies.

Iceauron · Feb 25, 2013

Day 16

They seem to be getting even more healthier. Color is really nice and the nute deficiency seems to be clearing up nicely.

I've still not given them another feed as the coco feels nice and moist still.

Some bud porn for you all

BlazedUpPanda · Feb 28, 2013

Glad to see they are coming along so nicely Iceauron!
Also cant believe I called it so completely wrong.. put it down to stoner error i guess :eyesmoke:

.. i am surprised that they had such bad deficiencies so early though!
Quite amazing that whatever nutes you did add left them so unfed - was that which led me to think it must have be nute burn instead..
any thoughts on veg time?
anyways good luck and keep the photos coming.
Panda

Iceauron · Mar 2, 2013

Pics from day 20:

Panda: I'm thinking around 4-5 weeks more veg time, I'm not really planning on growing monsters

Speaking of which, the growth is coming along nicely. They have also started to smell a little.

I took a crap ton of photos so enjoy the show

Iceauron · Mar 10, 2013

Day 28:

It's been pretty smooth sailing this past week. I had one of my 6400k CFL bulbs fail on me yesterday so I need to pop to the stores to pick up some more. I've ended up putting one of my 2700k cfl in there for the time being, just for the heat. Without the cfl my temps stay at around 19 degrees which is not nice for them!

I've been feeding every 2-3 days in 750ppm water, using jungle juice micro,bloom,grow and sensei cal mg @ 5.8ph. The run off is measuring in @ 6.5ph.

I'm really happy with their growth in the past week.

Any thoughts?

BlazedUpPanda · Mar 14, 2013

Looking really good ice! Coming along so nicely, with 3 or 4 weeks more veg youll end up with some serious plants :mrgreen:

Keep the photos coming
Panda

Iceauron · Mar 16, 2013

BlazedUpPanda said:
Looking really good ice! Coming along so nicely, with 3 or 4 weeks more veg youll end up with some serious plants
Keep the photos coming
Panda

Thank you very much for the kind words again Panda. I'm hoping to only have to veg for another 2 weeks. The girls are 6 weeks old today from seedling. The original plan was to switch over to flower after 8 weeks. Do you think I'll be switching too quick?

My camera is bust so I can't add any pictures today but I'll have one back tomorrow so i'll ad some later.

I gave them a flush last night and I've switched up my nute mix, I'm following a slightly modded version of the lucas formula. I made up my mix this morning with 1 Galon of water with 2ml of cal mg + 6ml of JJ Micro + 9ml of JJ Bloom. The original ppm value of the water before any nutes was 320, after the 2ml of Calmg it jumped to 470, after the JJ Micro + Bloom it went up to 1,100. I finally ph'd the water to 5.7 and gave them 2 liters of the mix each.

They have put on some nice growth since last week so I'll try my best to get some pics up tomorrow.

Any input from others would be greatly appreciated, I am a little worried that my girls aren't putting out much vertical growth but they are so dam bushy!!! Also, is it normal for them to be stinking at this stage? I've got my carbon filter hooked up so it don't smell outside the tent at all, as soon as you open the tent you get a real strong smell of cheese... I was under the impression they don't start letting out odour until flowering?

Until next time, roll it up!

Iceauron · Mar 23, 2013

Day 42

There has been a couple of changes, I managed to get hold of a DR90 tent so the new dimensions are 90cm X 90cm X 180cm WxDxH. I've been feeding them the same mix as before but I've been giving them 500ml twice per day. Once at lights on and one around 12 hours later. It seems to be doing the trick. I get around 20% run off each feed. I've been doing some trimming too to try and get some of the branches to stretch.

I've decided I'll give them at least another 4 weeks till I switch over as I'm ideally hoping for 2oz per plant

Anyway, my camera is sorted now so here are some pics of the ladies I took today. Enjoy

Day 34 (Pre Trim)

Day 35 (Post Trim)

Day 42 (1 week after their trim)

Iceauron · Mar 31, 2013

Well I can't believe how fast she got really bushy again!

I've given them both another trim:

Day 44 (Pre Trim)

I trimmed on day 47

Day 49 and they seem to be recovering nicely

Some comments / tips / advice would be greatly appreciated

Iceauron · Apr 13, 2013

Well it's been a while since an update due to a really busy life.

So today is 9 weeks exactly from first putting the seeds into a paper towel. They got a total of 7 weeks veg time. The bigger of the 2 plants is standing at 13 inch tall and the smaller is 9 inch. They are both much smaller than I was anticipating.

I've switched to the flower cycle today.

Here are some updated pics

Iceauron · Apr 19, 2013

Day 5 of flower and I've got what I think are my first pre-flowers

any thoughts?

Iceauron · Apr 27, 2013

So today is exactly 14 days since I made the inital switch. The girls are comming along nicely. I've switched their nutrient ratio to 4.5ml micro / 9ml Bloom / 2ml ClaMg per gal of water. They seem to be enjoying it.

Iceauron · May 3, 2013

Day 20 of Flower and the girls seem to be doing well.

I've changed the nutrient ratio again to 3.5ml Micro / 9ml Bloom / 2ml CalMg per gal of water.

Enjoy the pics