My first 800w Medical Autoflower Grow Journal w/ Pics

Hey everyone! This is my first grow. I am making this journal with hopes to get some advice from you experienced folks and to leave a documented autoflower grow journal for anyone who wants to learn from it. I do have some grow experience from helping out some friends in the past. I have been doing a lot of research for many years and believe that I have the dedication and knowledge it takes to pull off a successful, and yes, legal medical grow. I believe I have a pretty optimal setup for the small space, small budget and short amount of time I have to complete this grow. The seeds just came and were planted september 29th. Im hoping to finish around December 1st- 10th. I move out of my current location at the end of the year, hence why I'm gonna give autos a try...

Goal: To get more than an oz per plant- a half pound would be nice

Grow closet: 2' deep x 7' long x 7.5'high- white reflective paint & mirror door inside

Lighting: Veg- 1x 100w cfl (5000k), 1x 100w cfl (6500k)/ Flower- 1x 400w & 1x 430w hydrofarm hps- The cfls combined put out 11,000 lumens, should be able to position them close enough to get 3,000+ lum/ft2.Between the 2 hps lights, there will be aprox. 105,000 lumens (400w= 50k)(430w= 55k) since the floor space is 2'x7' thats about 7,500 lumens per square foot. Most reading I have done recommends 5,000 lum/ft2 as solid coverage. This should do these plants well!

Medium: Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil and Fox Farm Happy Frog mixed 50/50 & Roots organic - 12”x12” square buckets- I am using 3 different soil combos. 2 buckets of mixed Fox Farm, 2 of just Roots Organic, and 2 of all 3 soils mixed. A little experiment for what to use in the future...

Nutrients: General Hydroponics- General Organics : Roots organic's OregonismXL, BioThrive Bloom, Hygrozyme, SuperThrive, BudBlood, BioBud, BioMarine, Diamond Black, and CaMg

Cooling and climate control: Vortex in line 450cfm fan w/ 6” flang connected to both hps lights, 1 oscillating wall fan, 1 tall oscillating fan, Small humidifier.- The external ballast and the exhaust filter are outside the closet.

Temp: Lights on- 79-87 /Lights off- 73-80

Humidity: Lights on- 45% /Lights off-50%

Strains: (I will be growing 2 of each strain)-

Samsara- Thunder bloody mary (Autoflower) Fem: The best properties of an excellent Mazar mother are cultivated in this variety with autoflowering pattern. This plant has even shorter growth period thanks to its rebred between Mazar and White Dwarf. Thunder Bloody Mary is an example how surprisingly nature can be. It would grow and bloom very fast within approximately 12 days giving us its best results within only 62 days since the germination and keeping typical Afghan flavor and fragrance. Indoor growth with 20/4 photoperiod and proper plant pot size could give us over 45 gr. yield, reaching almost 75 gr. Outdoor. Lineage: White Dwarf x Mazar
Genotype: 10% sativa 90% indica
THC: 21%

Short stuff- MI-5 : A new creation from the Autoflowering seed breeder ‘STITCH’ who says "Mi5 stands for My Indoor number 5 which is the highest selection of an AK47 cross borne after hard and long selection of breeding. The 5th cross was selected and is the final result of this hard work. Number 5 is very resinous plant, quite tall for an AK 47 plant cross, 50 to 110 cm tall. This plant has a very purple afghani bred into it so outside will go a lovely rich shade of purple.
Genotype: Indica dom./ Sativa hybrid
THC: High

Joint Dr.- Easy Ryder : This marijuana seed is an f1 cross between a Lowryder #2 and an automatic AK47 in which the two parents strongly exhibit their best genetic traits: high resin production, the fruity aroma (of a carefully selected Lowryder #2 phenotype), and the size and branching of the AK47 automatic. This poly-hybrid is fully autoflowering and matures in 70-75 days from germination, reaching optimal size if given enough light (intensity and time). The best conditions are 20 hours of light and 4 of dark during the entire cycle. Outdoors the best time is may-august, but it's easy to do multiple cycles per season, until November. 
THC Content – 14-16%


The seeds started off in rock wool cubes. I did this in hopes to cause as little stress as possible getting these babies started and for transplanting ease. Because they start flowering so early, only 12-16 days in sometimes, I want to make the transplant as smooth as possible as they can't afford any days of shock. I soaked my rock wool in a mixture of less than ¼ strength: hygrozyme, OregonismXL, and BioThrive. They were set on a tray with a clear plastic dome and left under the cfls to pop! At about 24 hrs, the cubes were given just a little regular water to keep the tops from drying under the lights. The Cfls are about 12-14in from the cubes.

I just checked on the room and 4 seedlings are starting to poke out! Btw, the clfs are 2x 100w grow bulbs at 50k and 65k. They are about 12in above the cubes. I will lower them when the plants start growing leaves. Since I am allowed to have 12 immature plants and 6 mature plants at a time, when I planted on the 29th, I planted a Strawberry Cough bag seed. The bud it came from was fantastic! I will post some pics of everything tonight or tomorrow when I have access to a better camera.

So just checked the babies today.. the same 4 seedlings are showing but the biggest 2 which have fully pushed their seed shell off, are a little brown on their under sides. Not just the stem(that should be a little brown) but up the leaves too. I was scared that my PH is to high. The cubes were feeling a little light so I watered them with water at a PH somewhere between 5.2-5.8. I'm using drops and a color chart to test Ph so I have to guess the decimal based on shade. Im hoping this will bring the ph down a little being that the water used before was closer to a PH of 7. Other than a little discoloration, they look strong!

Turns out it wasn't brown.. it was purple! Not purple like nute lock out or disease, but that dank deep dark bud purple! 4 seedlings all doin well still waiting for the others to break the surface.. I know one more is about to show, as it is pushing up on the little piece of rock wool I covered its hole with. Hope the last 2 come out soon!

Update...keep it going

Ok sorry its been so long.. So the ladies have been up and down the past few days. Unfortunately one didn't make it.. Not sure why but all the others look really nice.. The dead one was an mi-5 .. recent additions to the room are an air conditioner and a blue cheese bag seed. All the plants look really good.. http://s1131.photobucket.com/albums/m554/GreenGreen4/ heres some pics.. The newest of these these pics were taken about 4 days ago... Ill post new pics in a day or so... I've been having ph problems for a while but it hasn't done any visible damage.. and I think I finally got it straightened out.. also, ive had to water them about every 12 hrs because they soak up all the water from the cubes so fast now.. I left them go all last night and they started to curl under and wilt when I woke up today.. so I'm keeping a closer eye on them.. they were fed early today and loved it.. they look great! and i just checked them they went through about 85% of their water so I just gave them some regular h20 with the ph adjusted to 5. This brought the run off to about 6.7. Now everything should go smooth from here I hope They all look great i just expected to see more root growth out of the bottom.. it seem like the roots almost went back in when they saw the air..

Sounds like it's going alright, keep it up.
I think Autos are the way to go when your short on space...or impatient.
They are all I have ever grown until a little less than a month ago.
I have one Fem Mexican Haze from Simons going, MAJOR LST though.