LST'n a NICE Autofem Critical Jack!!!

SO HERE IT IS, FOR EVERYONE THAT WANTED TO SEE IT OR KNOW A LIL BIT OF AN OUTCOME OF AN ALL ORGANICALLY GROWN, LST'D AUTO!!!

THIS WILL BE UPDATED WHENEVER I GET CHANCES TO SNAP PHOTO'S OR SOMETHING IS GOING WRONG/RIGHT. I WILL ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ANYONE HAS THOUGH, AS I SKIM THROUGH MY THREADS AND OTHERS ON A DAILY BASIS....

HERE'S THE BASICS OF THE GROW, I WISH I HAD THE PICS FROM START TO FINISH (SEED TO NOW) BUT I DON'T HAVE THE PHOTOS.... SORRY!!

***WHEN I SAY PH BALANCED WATER, I MEAN STRAIGHT OUT OF THE FAUCET AT MY HOUSE WHICH COMES OUT AT 6.4 IRONICALLY. I STILL EITHER A: BOIL IT TO GET CLORINE OR W/E ELSE IS IN THE WATER OUT OR B: LET IT SIT OUT FOR A COUPLE DAYS. ALSO WHEN I SAY "DAY (W/E)" I'M REFERRING TO A FULL 24 HRS.***

EITHER WAY, WATER IS A GOOD 6.0-6.7 WHEN IT IS ADDED TO MY PLANTS MEDIUM OR USED AS A FOILAR SPRAY AND NEVER HAD PROBLEMS!

PLANT WAS STARTED FROM SEED ON DECEMBER 8th and HASN'T BEEN CHANGED ON A 20/4 HR LIGHT CYCLE!!!!

- Day 1: Seed was placed into a shot glass with tweezers that was filled with 1 drip of Superthrive per gallon of ph balanced H20.
- Day 2: Seed had sunk while being in the shot glass for 24 hrs and had split open all the way on one side.
- Day 3: Seed was pulled with tweezers and set in a tupperware container with holes in top - 2 sheets of wet/damp paper towel on bottom and 2 sheets the same way placed on top (I "sandwiched" split seed with damp paper towels)
- Day 4: I planted the seed (which after 24 hrs in the container was showing a good 1cm root) in an Organic Seed Starting Mix made by Mcdonald's Nursery and then LIGHTLY watered (in a HALF CUT "Red Dixie Cup").
- Day 5: Nothing yet, but a half cup of Organic seed starting mix.... I was nervous!!!
- Day 6: THERE SHE IS! She poked her little head out (seed) and was trying to shed it.
- Day 7: Looked about the same as day five BUT slightly taller, the medium was dry as hell and ready for a watering as well so I "shot" (more like misted) the seed poking out with a shot of PH balanced h20. The seed fell immediately off and there were the first two leaves, yay! Now it was up to me to keep this thing going!!!
- Day 8: Second set of leaves started to show, but things were yellowing... I started to think of transplanting and starting nutes (didn't think it was getting ANY N!!). I stopped that thinking immediately!! And decided it needed ATLEAST 3 sets of leaves before hitting the 2 1/2 gallon pot its in now.
- Skip 3-4 days: She was THRIVING, already had her 3rd set, working on 4th, green as hell and was getting a new set almost EVERY DAY! Decided to transplant - this thing needed some NUTES!

NOW I HAD TRANSPLANTED - HERE IS WHAT SHE WAS PUT INTO:

- A 2 1/2 gallon pot with a "plastic, deep, clear plate" (I guess you would call it?) for runoff. They sell the damn things for pots in the nursery! lol... not important! Anyways....
- The pot was filled with an Organic potting mix - also made by Mcdonald's Nursery (it consist of nothing but some type of peat moss/moss, organic perlite, bark from some tree and a couple other GREAT growing material lol. It had absolutely no nutes in it - NO NPK VALUE AT ALL!! FOR A FACT!)
- I also added some more organic perlite, organic peat moss, about a half an egg worth of egg shells, and A SPRINKLE (when I say sprinkle I mean a DAMN SPRINKLE) of Fox Farms Happy Frog (top dressing) ferts. It's a 5-5-5 fert, all organic and was used SO sparingly and spread out so well that I doubt it hardly did ANYTHING to the soil!
- I mixed everything up really REALLY good, to make sure everything was distributed evenly (I pretty much made Fox Farms Happy Frog Potting Soil after looking at it's ingredients)
- Next I proceeded to transplant...
- Wore gloves and transplanted by cutting the cup (the whole reason I use dixie cups, EASYYYY to transplant) so that the soil would stay together and I could just drop it into a hole I made for the rootball. It was perfect timing, the roots had just reached the bottom of the Dixie cup and were running down the sides! MUWAH! PERFECTION! (yea I'm Italian, foooget abouuut it!!!)

... From there on, eeehhh a week and a half? MAYBE 2.... she didn't veg long AT ALL, it showed its first 2 pistils and has been stretching like crazy! (that's when I started my LST'n as shown in the pics - sorry I don't have more or any of the ENTIRE PROCESS but I'll try my hardest to fill in the blanks with the pictures!!!) It was being fed the Fox Farm Trio, I started with the h20/ST to help its transplant. It gets pretty hot in my box, a high of about 88-90 F and 70-75ish F at night. So, with the high temps at times, the medium needs to be watered more often then not. All that being said, she got 2 doses of grow big (because I feed once a week (every monday) - that's all she could get before showing pistils!)

After that it's been on Tiger Bloom every Monday, Big Bloom every now and then (I just kind of throw it in there SOMETIMES replacing a watering) and H20 when the pot is light throughout the week.... I've also hit it with some H20/Organic Molasses twice (replacing a watering as well). It seems to be doing GREAT as far as growth spots and pistil/bud production. It has PLENTY of side branching due to LST'n. It's EXACTLY 5 week's old today from seed, 2 weeks in germination and veg and 3 weeks in flowering! It smells amazing in the box already... but I have NO IDEA what to expect from the yield! I'm going to flower it for as long as possible, LST it for as long as possible and just let it keep going....

I DO HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS THOUGH!!! FOR ANYONE THAT KNOWS ABOUT AUTO'S!!! IS THIS POT GOING TO BE BIG ENOUGH FOR THIS PLANT OR IS THIS THING GOING TO GO "ROOTBOUND"?! I HAVE A 3 1/2 GALLON POT BUT IT WILL REDUCE MY GROW ROOM'S SIZE BIG TIME! BUT IT IS POSSIBLE IF ANYONE THINKS IT SHOULD BE DONE!!!

ALSO CAN ANYONE HELP ME OUT WITH THE CURLING UP/YELLOWING TIPS OF MY FAN LEAVES? IT ONLY HAPPENS TO SOME OF THEM, BUT OTHER THAN THAT IT SEEMS GREAT!! THE PH OF THE WATER OR FERTS GOING IN IS ALWAYS A GOOD 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6 ETC.... AS I CHECK EVERY TIME! I'VE ALSO CHECKED THE RUNOFF OF THE PLANT AND IT'S ABOUT 5.5 OR LESS?? SOMETHING IN THE MEDIUM IS MAKING THIS THING RUNOFF ACIDIC, ALL'S I HAVE IS HYDRATED LIME (I KNOW NOT THE BEST THING TO USE, BUT IT'S ALL I HAVE!!!! BROKE!!!! AND BROKE AGAIN!!!) TO HELP WITH THE MEDIUM. I KNOW IT'S A "QUICK FIX" BUT SHOULD I DO IT OR DO THEY EVEN LOOK THAT BAD? I'M JUST SCARED TO ADD IT TO A STRETCHING, THRIVING, AUTO!!! SO ANY ADVICE, HELP IS ACCEPTED PLEASE. OH I ALSO HAVE MAGNESIUM SULPHATE IF THIS COULD HELP???

THANKS FOR CHECKING OUT MY GROW GUYS, SORRY I STARTED IT LATE BUT THAT'S EXACTLY HOW IT'S GOTTEN TO THIS POINT, ALSO SORRY FOR THE RAMBLING, JUST WANTED EVERYONE TO UNDERSTAND THE SCENARIO... HERE'S SOME PICTURES TO TRY TO HELP EVERYONE UNDERSTAND MY GIBBERISH!!! LOL!

Before the transplant and realizing this thing needed nutes!!!



First pistils... so I guess I DID START it on Big Bloom in a FULL SIZE dixie cup, sorry for the mistake....



Yea, def full size dixie cup with seed starting mix.... oops!



After the transplant and thriving, when I started to begin it on Tiger Bloom every Monday...



Stretching after catching onto the P!!!



First tie down of fan leaves using thick sewing thread with slip knots and then spun around toothpicks to shuve into the soil...



Here's the toothpicks and the way I stick them in the medium, as well as the way I get it around the stalk and/or side branching....







Starting to tie down main cola and stalk to an almost 90* angle....



Here you can see how thick the main stalk (bottom of it) is getting and how it is bent...



Here's how much of a bend it get's, don't worry though (that's the main cola) she'll straighten right back up after being under the lights for a day or so, then you tie down again... the next pic will show you what I mean!



SEE!!! This is only 24hrs later!!!



So I tie her ass down again, now that she's reached the outside of the pot, I'll begin to go around in a circle... look at all the grow spots across that main stalk!!!



On the backside (at the same time) I begin to tie down side branching (colas) wherever there is room....



It's just CRAZY in there!!!



Top shot!



AND NOW I'M JUST GOING TO POST PICTURES OF THE PROBLEM(S) I ASKED ABOUT THE LEAVES AND RECENT PICTURES OF GROWTH SPOTS AND SO ON.... I THINK YOU ALL GOT THE PICTURE! IF YOU HAVE ANY Q'S FOR ME, ASK AWAY!!!





















THIS IS WHAT THE PLANT LOOKS LIKE RIGHT NOW.....


ENJOY!!!!

looking like you have nute burn man i would cut done and give it more N and water every other day with N clye for a week

I don't really notice the typical burnt tips i usually get from nute burn, but wouldn't totally discount that. It's a pretty small plant to be getting nutes at all really, i would say.

What are your temps like? My leaves tend to curl up when i'm cooking them....

CalMag is your friend....it kinda looks like a deficiency. There are some kick ass diagnostic threads in the plant problems section.

Cheers,
SilverSerf

yeah now i notice the tips curling up it has to be the temps and some deficiency like N

Does not look at all like N deficiency, looks like mag deficiency maybe? Also check your temps and humidity.

The go in is 6.5 but the runoff is around 5!!!! Its ridiculous, I think I'm just going to hit it with VERY VERY little hydrated lime just to get that soil right... But then after that ill hit it with some mag. sulphate the next day. That's all I have, and can't find Cal/mag anywhere and couldn't afford it If I could! I was goin to 5 finger discount it but NO NURSERY carries it around here. Maybe ill even drop in some old egg shells and boil the mag sulphate with water?

I'm trying to put SOMETHING together! Do u think mag sulphate, egg shells, a LITTLE bit of hydrated lime and a LITTLE bit of Miracle Gro "for plants that love lime) all mixed together will help or worsen the problem. Remember this is an auto and how is it too small to get flowering nutes?! Especially at the low rate of FF's Tiger Bloom??

I don't put miracle grow anything near my plants...
Epsom salts is a good cheap source of magnesium. I actually have a big jug of it but have never used it. It should help with the absobtion of what calcium is available as well. I would start slow though and i like the eggshell idea. I use cal/mag and it DOES make a difference.

I didn't even think about the ph, i don't have a lot of eperience with soil ph.

Cheers,
SilverSerf

shotnva777 said:

Sooo after looking at the pictures... I really need this thing under control, to get those leaves green again!! Those leaves look terrible, but it can't be anything too bad!!! HAPPENED LATE IN FLOWER ON MY LAST GROW (look at aviator) BUT I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS NORMAL FOR AN AUTO?! It's only 3 weeks into flower and I was told 7 weeks of flower till harvest....

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was your avatar critical jack auto?

How often do you water? In all the pics the soil looks very moist. Are you letting it dry between waterings?

nice LST, hope your plant gets better.

d00d aviator kritikal jak otto wtf??? tricolored plant iz it normal wai u iz lst ??? and flush it iz nute burnt and haz many issues

Catchin22 said:

How often do you water? In all the pics the soil looks very moist. Are you letting it dry between waterings?

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The soil is completely dry and light WHENEVER I water and mute. ALWAYS. I just usually take pics when I water or right after a water.... She dries out, trust me. Or else I think those leaf tips would be sagging and not standing straight up like a 14 yr old at a strip club!

I85BLAX said:

was your avatar critical jack auto?

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No sir, strain was a photo period Fruity Loops Kush. LST'D that plant too and got two FIRE, DRY, PROPERLY CURED OUNCES OF SOME KILLA ILLA!

zo0t said:

d00d aviator kritikal jak otto wtf??? tricolored plant iz it normal wai u iz lst ??? and flush it iz nute burnt and haz many issues

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Wtf is right! ^^^ wtf! Google lst "d00d"!! And definitely not nute burn, Google that too and read full post before replying EVER AGAIN. Thanks!

sourtrees said:

nice LST, hope your plant gets better.

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Thanks bro!

I have to say MG lockout. I WOULDN'T add any more nutrients, you need to get that PH under control. Proper PH runoff for soil should stay near neutral 7 or slightly acid but never below 6.3... MG is unavailable starting at 6.5 and down. If you add more nutrients, you will further the problem. That is a large pot for that size plant, which is not bad, however with that much soil it you are not going to be nutrient deficient unless the plant is huge or the soil chemistry is off, IE PH...

So, to fix the problem, raise the PH. If you add nutrients, your ph will continue to drop, salts may build up, and you will begin to have more lockouts by nutrient conflict.

To prevent this problem in the future you need to PH buffer your soil prior to planting. I would mix dolomite lime in with the soil. Dolomite lime is great because it combats PH drop through out the entire grow, as a buffer. It works like this : soil is normal, plant uses nutrients, ph tries to drop, lime kicks in, you fertilize, plant eats the food, ph tries to drop, lime kicks in, and so on the cycle. Lime is also nice because when you do a mid growth salts flush it stays in the soil!

Get dolomite lime powder (not the prilled kind it sucks) I guarantee you will use it forever for soil grows. I used to grow in soil but switched to hydroponic. Now when my plant is saying something is wrong I just empty my reservoir and refill with fresh 1/2 strength nutrients ph properly and yay 24 hours later all good and away we go!

Internode said:

I have to say MG lockout. I WOULDN'T add any more nutrients, you need to get that PH under control. Proper PH runoff for soil should stay near neutral 7 or slightly acid but never below 6.3... MG is unavailable starting at 6.5 and down. If you add more nutrients, you will further the problem. That is a large pot for that size plant, which is not bad, however with that much soil it you are not going to be nutrient deficient unless the plant is huge or the soil chemistry is off, IE PH...

So, to fix the problem, raise the PH. If you add nutrients, your ph will continue to drop, salts may build up, and you will begin to have more lockouts by nutrient conflict.

To prevent this problem in the future you need to PH buffer your soil prior to planting. I would mix dolomite lime in with the soil. Dolomite lime is great because it combats PH drop through out the entire grow, as a buffer. It works like this : soil is normal, plant uses nutrients, ph tries to drop, lime kicks in, you fertilize, plant eats the food, ph tries to drop, lime kicks in, and so on the cycle. Lime is also nice because when you do a mid growth salts flush it stays in the soil!

Get dolomite lime powder (not the prilled kind it sucks) I guarantee you will use it forever for soil grows. I used to grow in soil but switched to hydroponic. Now when my plant is saying something is wrong I just empty my reservoir and refill with fresh 1/2 strength nutrients ph properly and yay 24 hours later all good and away we go!

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I am def investing in dolomite lime soon, I WILL mix it in with my next grow medium for sure and invest ordering some Cal/mag! No doubt, thanks for your info tho! Information and knowledge always accepted on my end!

That being said, here is what I did. Took 2 egg shells, grounded them down to a fine powder in a blender (for calcium), I then added about 1/4th of a gallon of pre diluted hydrated lime, the rest of the gallon of my "miracle mix" was topped off with mag. sulphate (again already diluted) The PH was around 7 going in, it ran off at around the same! It looks HELLA better today! It grew more and bad leaves were chopped, a SMALL (and I mean SMALL) amount of Happy Frog was scratched into the top of the soil, maybe a thumb/pointer pinch and that's it! Today, looks much better! I also raised the lights a bit and its ACTUALLY maintained about an 80-85 degree temp all day! I think its cuz the cfls are up around the intake and exhaust fans more but still close enough for the plant getting plenty of light, by all means..... That's the story, its what I had to work with and its starting to look much better as said already 6 times lol... Come'n its Friday the 13th, u know I'm fuuuucked up! Chyea! Xanax and weed, doesn't get ANY better... Trust me!

Here's some flicks for y'all.... Check em out and lemme know what u subscribers and WHOEVER thinks about my tactics...









AFTER LSTING SIDE BRANCHES TONIGHT AND TRIMMING HER UP!!!





OK... So the reason I added the Happy Frog is due to its low NPK rating of 5-5-5. I think it needed just a LITTLE bit more N, but I truly believe it was a lockout from the PH, Cal and mag.... I think I may have gotten this thing back on track but hydrated lime scares the shit out of me! Lol

I would suggest to allow leaves that are dying to stay on the plant until it decides on its own to drop that leaf or leaves, unless removal was for reasons other than cosmetic appearance and/or more important than the nutrient needs of the plant. The plant is moving nutrients from dying leaves to new growth before they are dropped. If your plant is already having problems with deficiencies removing leaves will only increase such deficiencies. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&biw=1280&bih=608&sa=X&ei=rM0RT7u6AY_yggeFmoS9Aw&ved=0CCIQvwUoAQ&q=deficiencies&spell=1

Internode said:

I would suggest to allow leaves that are dying to stay on the plant until it decides on its own to drop that leaf or leaves, unless removal was for reasons other than cosmetic appearance and/or more important than the nutrient needs of the plant. The plant is moving nutrients from dying leaves to new growth before they are dropped. If your plant is already having problems with deficiencies removing leaves will only increase such deficiencies. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&biw=1280&bih=608&sa=X&ei=rM0RT7u6AY_yggeFmoS9Aw&ved=0CCIQvwUoAQ&q=deficiencies&spell=1

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Thanks for the info, I usually only trim leaves that are 75% or more dead (what I was taught) and I DO remove A LEAF or TWO here n there during flowering because I like my bud spots to get light. I know that the leaves grab energy or whatever from the leaves but I've just always done it.... Guess I just like to see the buds lol. Nonetheless, thank u for the good info!

shotnva777 said:

That's all I have, and can't find Cal/mag anywhere and couldn't afford it If I could! I was goin to 5 finger discount it but NO NURSERY carries it around here.

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Go without if you have to steal it from the poor stiff trying to make a living at his nursery. I'm far from a saint but wtf everybody has to make a living. Good luck with your grow but thats bad Karma Dude. I have ripped off a lot of shit but that crap will haunt you. He may even be the guy who rips off your next outdoor grow.

Rottedroots said:

Go without if you have to steal it from the poor stiff trying to make a living at his nursery. I'm far from a saint but wtf everybody has to make a living. Good luck with your grow but thats bad Karma Dude. I have ripped off a lot of shit but that crap will haunt you. He may even be the guy who rips off your next outdoor grow.

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Haha I was just joking bro, I've snagged a lot of things in my younger yrs but have completely grown out of that phase of my life... I have a child, home, a grandmother I take care of and whole handful of other things that will ALWAYS make me think twice before going back to my juvenile ways! Just a joke, and I COMPLETELY agree with the karma thing. I'm going to eventually buy some Cal/mag but I think my "fox farms grow big" has enough of both, if the PH stays balanced enough! 2 out of the FIRST 6 INGREDIENTS are Magnesium Nitrate and Calcium Nitrate. At a 3-2-6 NPK rating on the grow big. Then again, I could be completely WRONG and this may not be enough of the two! One thing ull learn about me if u keep up with my grows is.... Im not a know It all (FAR from it! Always Take advice, just wish I knew how to rep ppl) or a thief, that's for damn sure! ***EDIT**** BTW MCDONALDS NURSERY IS FAR FROM A ONE PERSON OWNED NURSERY "STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE" TOO!! I STILL WOULDN'T STEAL FROM THERE CUZ THEY'VE HELPED ME A TON - BUT YOUR TALKING ABOUT A MULTI MILLION DOLLAR COMPANY. THEY ARE THE WALMART OF NURSERYS! Atleast in the DMV area!

If it ever happens again and no Cal/mag has been purchased yet, ill just mix up my magic potion of egg shells, lime and magnesium sulphate! Seemed to have worked on this plant (to an extent).... Still SOME brown spotted leaves, and still curling upwards towards the lights (I think this could be heat and maybe an insect problem). Well I know the curling is from heat and I'm working on correcting it, but how would u take care of insects on a mid flower plant without making the buds taste yuck?! Neem oil still? Or is there another trick of the trade? Keep finding these knat things.....