First Grow In 6 Years - Chemdog, Berry Ryder, Northern Lights

Backstory - I've dreamed of growing my own dank ass weed since I was about 15. Had one failed attempt at ~16 yrs old and haven't tried again since. Here we are 6 years later - This is my first 'true' grow and I invite you all to be a part of it. I'm in a position now where it's legal (got my MMJ card) - at least on a State level - my fiance is starting to be more tolerant of it (she's not a big fan) and I've got some extra time and money to actually put in some dedication and turn this passion into a reality.

After reading this forum for years you'd think I'd have a good grasp on marijuana cultivation - turns out I probably don't lol. I started this grow on 7-1-14, and have made several rookie mistakes already - but the girls are pulling thru and everything's back on track.

Thanks for stopping in - all feedback, comments and questions are welcomed and appreciated.

Strains:

• 2x Auto Seeds Auto Chemdog - Planted 7-1-14
• 2x Auto Seeds Berry Ryder - Planted 7-1-14
• 3x Nirvana Northern Lights - Planted 7-3-14

Setup:

• 1x Apollo 600 MH/HPS Ballast
• 1x 480 CFM fan
• 1x 32" x 32" x 63" Tent
• All organic soil composition
• Dr. Earth nutes - all purpose for grow, bloom for flower
• Milwaukee PH Meter, PH up, PH down, calibration fluid
• 1x Oscillating Tower Fan
• 1x Big ass carbon filter
• 1x Hygrometer / Thermometer
• Well Water

I'll take pictures with a better camera when there's actually something worth looking at. Just using a shitty phone camera for now.
Got some Gage Green Genetics "bastard series" seeds on the way - gonna pop those a couple months into this grow so I've got a jump start on the next batch. Probably should have started with photos but something about autos peaked my interest.

I'm riding shotgun.

I was interested in that auto chemdog so I'm glad your letting us know about it.
I ordered some berry ryders last year but my package got snagged and I didn't have the guarantee.

I think that starting with autos is a great way to learn. You get to see the whole life cycle of a cannabis plant in condensed form. I still run them every summer.

Good luck with it. Have fun.

Polo

polo the don said:

I'm riding shotgun.

I was interested in that auto chemdog so I'm glad your letting us know about it.
I ordered some berry ryders last year but my package got snagged and I didn't have the guarantee.

I think that starting with autos is a great way to learn. You get to see the whole life cycle of a cannabis plant in condensed form. I still run them every summer.

Good luck with it. Have fun.

Polo

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Hey polo - good 2 have you along for the ride bro.

Not sure what's going on with Chemdog #1 - any guesses about the first set of leaves? It's the only one in the tent with leaves curving to the side like that..


Chemdog #2 is ahead of the pack - biggest n the tent so far.

Day 7 from sprout (10 from seed) for both Chemdogs.

Everyone took well to the transplant - still looking good as far as I can tell:

Noticed these girls aren't growing vertically...like at all. Just fatter longer leaves. I thought big temp differences from dark/light period caused stretching normally but they are changing from mid 80s to mid 60s n won't grow legs ...looks like a little phosphorous lockout on 2 of the northern lights - getting stunted growth n dark purple new growth. I'm switching to 24/0 light until I find a way to heat up the night temps n calibrating the ph meter right now to find out if it's a ph issue contributing...got heat stress on a few as well - light was too close. Moved it up a couple inches n threw another fan on.

Here's one of the NL that I think is getting phosphorous lockout - hard to tell from the pic but the new growth is definitely dark purple n this one is lagging way behind the rest. Let me know if you guys have any suggestions

water ph was way too high (7.7). Gonna let them dry out real well for a couple days then hit it with a nice dousing of 6.5ish water.

The berry ryders and chemdogs are doing great besides a little water/heat stress. Just 2 of the northern lights that are having issues (possible phos lockout from cold nights).

Looked like a little water stress going on too, trying to tune shit in. Hopefully this thread doesn't end up being a big disappointment lool. With 24/0 photo they won't get nearly as cold at night so the minor lockout issue should be addressed for now. Got my ph meter calibrated n I'll actually be adjusting the water from now on. Growth has been pretty slow for the first week of their lives so hopefully I can dial it in and get them to thrive soon or the yield on these gals is gonna be realllly weak. Fingers crossed that herman doesn't show up.

Definitely going to keep an eye on this grow. I feel like I have a similar story to yours, grew once at 17 in 2007 when I joined RIU, super small yield but still succesful. Now I am putting together...slowly...a grow, but it is happening. I'm very interested in the NL beans, are they feminized??
Best of luck with your grow man!!

Careerforacityboy said:

Definitely going to keep an eye on this grow

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Welcome to the thread boss.

Careerforacityboy said:

I'm very interested in the NL beans, are they feminized??

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Yessir. Nirvana Northern Lights Autos (feminized). Out of the three strains I've got going the only one without a bunch of grow journals out there is Auto Seeds Chemdog. Quite a few on the NL and BR. Nirvana had an issue with their NL autoflower strain not autoflowering real well several years back but it's supposed to be more stable now n there's been quite a few good journals on it here n at other forums. Dont think it'll be dissapointing - supposed to be great for beginners.

Careerforacityboy said:

Best of luck with your grow man!!

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Appreciate it man I'm sure I'll need all the luck I can get lool.

polo the don said:

I ordered some berry ryders last year but my package got snagged and I didn't have the guarantee.

Polo

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Sorry to hear bout ur beans - br is supposed to be a pretty nice smoke. From what I've seen in other journals it's yields are fairly small but good quality. Got a package of some others strains on the way that's taking longer than expected to update the tracking. Hopefully it didn't get picked up by customs :/ paid for guarantee but still dnt wanna deal with all that

ayr0n said:

Yessir. Nirvana Northern Lights Autos (feminized). Out of the three strains I've got going the only one without a bunch of grow journals out there is Auto Seeds Chemdog. Quite a few on the NL and BR. Nirvana had an issue with their NL autoflower strain not autoflowering real well several years back but it's supposed to be more stable now n there's been quite a few good journals on it here n at other forums. Dont think it'll be dissapointing - supposed to be great for beginners.

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Yea interested in that Chemdog as well, I always look for a current grow with some seeds I am about to buy.

Plus I know who I'll be asking for help.

ayr0n said:

Sorry to hear bout ur beans - br is supposed to be a pretty nice smoke. From what I've seen in other journals it's yields are fairly small but good quality. Got a package of some others strains on the way that's taking longer than expected to update the tracking. Hopefully it didn't get picked up by customs :/ paid for guarantee but still dnt wanna deal with all that

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Well, if it does get snagged, make sure to take pix of the unopened package WITH the green tape so you can email them to the seedbank for your reship. Hopefully that won't happen.

I can't tell from the pics but if you have your pots directly on the floor they will be much colder than if you elevate them just a few inches. I learned that the hard way. My house is on a slab and the floor in my growroom is tile. I use it to my advantage in summer but come winter I raise everything up a lil bit with some plastic crates that 2-liter sodas come in at the store. They are about six inches tall. I have a bunch of them. I know this dude that works at a gas station. I gave him a half O and he brought me about 50. More than I can use.

Careerforacityboy said:

Yea interested in that Chemdog as well, I always look for a current grow with some seeds I am about to buy.

Plus I know who I'll be asking for help.

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Yeah I was hoping to find one on the Chemdogs cuz they sounded real nice but nothing came up when I searched so I figured I'd give it a shot anyways. There's a lot of grows for AS's other strains and they seem to be good autos so hopefully the Chem follows suite. I've smoked other breeders chem strains n they were fire - fingers crossed this is something similar.

polo the don said:

Well, if it does get snagged, make sure to take pix of the unopened package WITH the green tape so you can email them to the seedbank for your reship. Hopefully that won't happen.

I can't tell from the pics but if you have your pots directly on the floor they will be much colder than if you elevate them just a few inches. I learned that the hard way. My house is on a slab and the floor in my growroom is tile. I use it to my advantage in summer but come winter I raise everything up a lil bit with some plastic crates that 2-liter sodas come in at the store. They are about six inches tall. I have a bunch of them. I know this dude that works at a gas station. I gave him a half O and he brought me about 50. More than I can use.

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Yeah the smart pots are right on the floor - the girls are elevated a little right now because they started in the solo cups that are sittin on top of the smartpots. It's definitely colder down there - especially n this basement. Gonna see if I can't find some of those crates you're talkin' about or summ similar. Threw a timer on the fans to shut off when lights go off so some of that hot air can stay in there for the dark period n reduce the temp change from night/day. Not sure if it's good to stop exchanging air for 3 hours but they made it last night lool.

Chemdogs and Berry Ryders are 12 days from seed, Northern Lights are 10 days from seed:

Morning 7-13-14:

Chemdogs:

Berry Ryders:

Northern Lights:

Night 7-13-14:

Chemdogs:


Berry Ryders:

Northern Lights:

Throwing a timer on the outtake fan to have it go off when the lights went out changed my day/night temp difference from up to 25f down to like a 12f difference. Still not the "optimal" conditions but a helluva lot better!

Chemdog 14 days from seed (11 from sprout):

Berry Ryder 14 days from seed (12 from sprout):