CarlinistFellow's First Grow

So there sit my 6 sacrificial lambs. Barney's Farm Blue Cheese, Reserva Privada OG Kush #18, DNA Holy Grail Kush, G13 Purple Haze, Dinafem White widow, and a Kannabia Automatica Thai Fantasy. All fems.

I know, I know, 6 strains, 5 photos and 1 auto, first grow = headaches, disaster and heartbreak. But I just couldn't help myself. I put 3 into Jiffy Pods, and then decided I just had to try a couple more strains. Plus, I wanted to compare germinating in the Jiffy Pods compared to doing a water soak in a glass then straight to dirt. So far, the jiffy pod method is kicking the water soak method's ass.

but let's go back to the beginning.

6 days ago I soaked 3 jiffy pods in tap water. I put a the Thai Fantasy, Blue Cheese, and White Widow about an inch in. WAY TOO DEEP - more on that in a bit. The next afternoon, I got greedy and decided I needed 3 more strains to try, so into individual glasses of water (to keep the strains identified) went the OGK18, HGK, and Purple Haze. The jiffy pods and the glasses were kept in a dark cabinet above my fridge. About 18 hours later the water beans went into dirt, and I put the jiffy pods into the dirt as well (about a day and half after beans first went into the pods).

For the babies I'm using a 50/50 mix of Fox Farms Light Warrior and Happy Frog Potting Soil. I put some perlite in there too to keep things loose. I'm trying to avoid the nute burn/over-watering problems that seem to come with newbie status. We'll see.

I'm using 1 gallon fabric pots from Casa DePOT to start, though the Thai Fantasy is going into a 3 gallon smart pot today that I intend to be it's final home. Newbie lesson #1 - don't plant a bean until you've done some homework. My first visit to the Autostrain forum was AFTER I put the bean into dirt. Dumb.

So far, 4 of the 6 girls are enjoying life. I have them under a 2 foot 4 bulb T5, hanging about 4 inches above the dirt line. 18 on, 6 off. Since the dirt is about an inch under the rim of the pot, this is about as close as I can get it. I plan to add some dirt to cover up some the the stretch seedling stems in a few days. Temps and humidity in the tent seem to be good, running from 66*-77*F and 40-60% RH. The humidity has been running more along 40-50% the last day or two as I've gotten my fans and venting dialed in a bit more.

Here are the girls:

Blue Cheese:
Day 1 of Sprout..........Day 3 of Sprout



White Widow:
Day 1 of Sprout..........Day 3 of Sprout


Thai Fantasy (auto):
Day 1 of Sprout..........Day 3 of Sprout


OG Kush #18:
Day 1 of Sprout..........Day 3 of Sprout


And now the two that I've probably killed through butchery

Holy Grail Kush:
Day 1 of Sprout..........Day 3 of Sprout


Purple Haze:
Day 1 of Sprout..........Day 3 of Sprout


Here's what I think happened to the Purple Haze and HGK - I fucked about with the soil trying to uncover the beans a bit, worried I put them in too deep. I know I knocked the Haze about, and had to put her back into the dirt. I didn't think I hit the HGK the same way, but she's clearly not doing much compared to the others, and hasn't shown any movement at all in the last 24 hours. Bad beans? Maybe. But newbie lesson #2 - DON'T FUCK ABOUT DIGGING FOR YOUR BEANS 48 HOURS IN.

I'll give the two sickly ones another day to show signs of life, otherwise I'll chuck em. 4 is probably a better fit for my 4'x2'x5' tent anyway.

As for watering, after the initial jiffy pod soak, and the wetting down of the soil when preparing it for the pots, today is the first watering the girls have gotten. I'd say they each got about half a cup of tap water that's stood out for a couple of days. The 4 girls have a nice vibrant green color, no droop, so I didn't want to overdo the water, but the soil as getting pretty dry. I watered the whole area of the pot, not just the part near the sprouts, in an effort to get the roots to search about and spread.

That's all for now. When lights come back on tonight I'll check out the HGK and Haze and hopesully have better news to report.

Cheers to everyone here who answered countless questions from me. It was a huge help in setting up my grow. Hopefully I apply the advice well and can provide a fun ride for anyone who cares to follow along. And sorry for the color in the pics, I'm trying to get my camera dialed in to fluorescent lighting. If anyone has some tips on DSLR setting to take good pics under tubes I'd much appreciate it.

Cheers,
CF

Next grow, start out in a solo cup or something smaller.

Soil looks pretty dry. For now, focus around the plant, not the whole pot.

I would be careful not to burn them. I would move lights higher.

Try to fig a way to put a baggie over them to inc humidity.

How high would you aim to get the RH? Up above 60%?

I put my hand under the lights, there's no difference from the ambient temp, so I think there's a low likelihood of burn. When I switch over to the MH/HPS I'll be sure to put some more space between.

I've been paranoid about over-watering, that's probably why I let the soil hit the point it did. I watered right after taking these pics, so the half-cup I talked about above happened AFTER the photos. You think I should be a little more aggressive with the watering than that?

Thanks for the tips!

Ithink that is about right on rh. google it.

Until they have some true leaves they need very little light. You can burn the cots pretty easily.

Tiny seedling, big pot is hard for watering. You have the right idea about wanting it to dry out well for the roots to grow. But with all that soil and a seedling that drinks very little, it is hard to water the whole pot because of how much water it takes in relation to plant consumption. That is why I suggested watering close to the plant for now. With a solo cup, the proportions work out better to say every three days.

I'm currently growing white widow my self under your exact same t5 too...

dont move the lights higher ..Your gonna need to keep your plants small if your gonna flower under that light

reserva privada og was great pwerful smell great taste.... shitty bag appeal but great smoke

spartacus420 said:

I'm currently growing white widow my self under your exact same t5 too...

dont move the lights higher ..Your gonna need to keep your plants small if your gonna flower under that light

Click to expand...

Thanks for the pointers spartacus. From reading it sounded like WW was a good newbie plant, pretty forgiving. I have a 600W Mh/HPS ready to go for veg/flower, hoping that gives me the light power I need for decent yields.

Thanks for the help!

mr.maryj said:

reserva privada og was great pwerful smell great taste.... shitty bag appeal but great smoke

Click to expand...

These babies are just for me, so they can look like ass, as long as they smoke like heaven!

After 6 hours of dark and a few hours under the T5 the Haze and the HGK look like they may have some life left in them after all. Good color on the bits that are out of the soil, and the tap is a healthy white with no signs of rot. I'm going to give them another day and see how they respond.

The HGK and Purple Haze refuse to die:



And the rest of the ladies:

Thai Fantasy Auto



White Widow



Blue Cheese



OG Kush #18


This is day 4 from sprout, day 8 from putting the beans into the medium, and 4 of the 6 are showing the tiniest beginnings of their 2nd true leaves. Quite pleased with the whole thing so far.

So, question: Are these ready to chop yet? I'm jonsing for a smoke!

And a parting shot of all the ladies:

Look done to me! lol

Take good care of the HGK and the OG18, they are the two I would be looking at for something exceptional.

anyone care to share opinions on flipping from T5 to MH? My plan is to wait until I see the 3rd or 4th set of leaves, but is there a benefit to doing it sooner, or does that just increase the likelihood of burning the girls? Thanks as always for the help!

i would wait for a bit to switch lighting.
too much light will light burn them (bleach the leaves)