Widow/Rhino Seed to Smoke...First(ish) Time Growing!

Hello everyone thanks for stopping by! any comments, suggestions, recommendations, advice, or just plain envy is greatly appreciated!

Setup
400w switchable ballast MH/HPS
DWC 5 gallon buckets with airstones
Hydroton with rockwool cubes
Flora 3 series GH
Homemade C02 2L bottle

I started a few weeks ago with 2 bag seed test subjects which I am going to abandon. They are doing ok: 1 plant has some yellowing of the lower fan leaves and I am pretty sure what I did to make that happen...the correction will follow on my actual serious attmept to grow serious smoke. The plant with yellowing leaves I topped just to see if I could do it correctly...4 new growth shoots! 2nd plant looks a little healthier than the first one but you can tell its got too much of something lol...however it is responding extremely well to a 1st attempt at LST so overall I am pleased with my results! more importantly I am super pleased with the knowledge gained thanks to you kind folks and hours upon hours of endless reading of posts here at RIU!

So here we go! W/R (widow/rhino from here on out) seeds show up and after about an hour of some shock, disbelief, and joyous tears I put them in water exactly as the GHS co. suggested on the breeders pack...after about 12 hours both were bottom feeders! immediately placed in between moist paper towels on a saucer using a bowl to cover the paper towels...I would say within 12 hours both had sprouted...I kept in for about another 6 hours maybe and the R had a nice root going and the W just barely had one out of shell...I placed both in rockwool cubes (root down) with some water (just a splash) in the bottom of a humidity dome covered with towel in the warmest place I could find...24 hours in the dome and the R has taken off it is about to lose it's case already! the W which had the small root is working like mad to bust from the rockwool!

My rockwool cubes: presoaked 24 hours in water, I then slipped off the plastic, flipped it around so it would cover the seed hole and sliced an X in it for the plant to grow through (from what I read this will keep down algae, will I have this problem with my hydroton too? which, for now is uncovered...

I will have photos and since I am hooked already on this grow stuff...this will be an extensive journal! I am thinking of doing some AF's with them too which will also be included. I am gonna go with Sweet Seeds Speed Devil AF...told ya I was hooked! This is all I have for now so you will get a start to stoned journal here! Thanks kindly in advance for any and all feedback!

Ok. it's been a few days and I did some experimenting which may have stunted me a few....the R is about 2.5 inches tall sprouting nicely with the first set of fans shimmering with little droplets of R/O humid dome goodness...about to drop her in the system...now my PH is at 5.9-6.0 gonna get that to 5.8 before she goes...I made a very weak solution of nutes (my tap water is about 110-120ppms) I have put a half teaspoon of each M/G/B GH Flora 3 into my 5 gal buckets which are filled to 3.5 inches from the top which leaves it an inch in the bottom of my 6" net lid/pot...after adding the nutes my ppms are at about 100-110 ppms above the tap water...so I am ranging 210-220 ppms...now I still have time to rinse and repeat for these girls so if this is a bad idea (I have read both that start with around 100ppms and start with just water...I made a management decision...not set in stone!)
The W is coming out of its shell slowly seems to be shy...not out of the rockwool yet but within the next few hours I suspect she will straigthen up and say hello to the world! after a few she will go in a DWC 5gal. with the same exact set up PH/PPMs...Please STOP me if this is all stonered up!
Thanks kindly in advance for any input!
P.S. the experiment that stunted me (pay attention to this part and learn from my newb mistakes) after the R sprout looked solid and had some baby fans showing...I set the dome out in some light and let it play out for a day...I am almost certain this stunted...due to the fact that within 48hrs of dropping R seed into germ I had C-dons! so here it is: from ALL the research and hours of reading I simply broke rule #1 of almost any post/grow guide...PATIENCE! almost anything I have read which is a LOT...simply states if you want good weed you have to have patience...I am learning as I grow! (pun intended)...

update bag seed plants: plant #1 with yellowing fan leaves and necrotic spots on the lower ones...are turning GREEN again still have the necrosis though and it will stay I am sure...but it seems to be recovering ok from jacking nutes up 800+ PPMs in 3 days span HAHAHA another learning point...also my topping seems to have produced 2 new shoots!
plant #2 is looking pretty good still a little too much N after the onslaught of nutes and the tips are curled under but is doing exceptionally well to the LST!

psst...I also ordered Short Stuff's seed mix pack...20 seeds...not sure of ratio but said it included all there strains plus some surprises so if anyone has experience with these would love to see a journal of yours...links here would be cool! hell cuss me out for all I care just as long as it includes some knowledge I can gain! LOL

quick update...the R is still sprouting like its on fire...the W I may have screwed up toiling lol...too early to tell yet...seems like she wants to grow...anyways I have prepared the bathroom for this grow and some AF's thought I'd share some info on what I have done and intend to do here...
I am using the shower/tub for my grow...I measured across at 28" cut some 2x6 I had laying around outside...then the base of a 5 gal bucket is 10 1/4" across from my board edges I measured in 2" to keep my buckets off the wall and this gives me 4' on the board in between both buckets...I centered a bucket on my board and traced the radius onto the board...the with a skilsaw I notched out the trace lines about 1/4"-1/2" depth on the saw (I did this so my buckets would "lock" onto the board and there wouldn't be any front to back play in them on the boards) with this set up I can do at the least 8 buckets resting comfortably spaced on the boards and with some photos growing with my AF's those can always drop down in the tub and maintain the same distance from light...many options to upgrade and advance this...I am thinking of getting some mylar and just make a shower curtain out of it! so here is some photos for you all to see...test plant #1 the Cdons have basically crumbled to the touch I have smoked this plant bad lol but the topping is still going very well just bottom part of plant is burnt...test plant #2 still responding great to the LST but definitley dark green paperish fans at the bottom burnt this too lol...

not sure why the pics loaded up in my text...anyways I also sanded the weather off the boards and the edges for comfort alone...the 2x6 are greenplated lumber so very resistant to uglies...the only problem I may run into here is side branching too close to the shower wall but this is a flexible system which can have a board added/taken out whatever the situation calls for...overall personally I am pleased and very excited to get this going UP! If anyone has any advice or comments please feel free...and thanks as always in advance for any time commited...

Sadly, I had a 17 hour power outage and my seedlings died...test subjects I yanked as soon as they showed male...they worked out well for learning purposes...so now I just have a AF Speed Devil going...and 2 unknown short stuff seeds are in humidity dome day 2...I think for now I am going to stick with the AF's and wait until I get money for a tent so I can have 2 grow areas for a photo plant...was thinking about the 400 watt complete kit even though it comes with soil and buckets and nutes for soil I am going hydro in it...should I ever get the $600 dollars may have to wait for a few AF harvests first...so my one plant which is a speed devil at day 17!

OK! finally an update...geez stuff takes forever it seems...ok so the rhino/widows died and some AF seeds didn't survive the humditiy dome...my first plant is a sweet seeds speed devil that I have put through hell LOL...nute burns, 17 hour power outage killed a few things but not her!...anyways she is flowering like mad as you can see not sure what day I am at or even care just going by feel...she is in plain water for final flush...about 12 days left for that she is currently 28 inches tall (breeder states 31.5 inches max height) seems to be doing well calyxs are swollen and their pistil are almost all amber...the stigmas are clear and creamy still...this is the whole plant... Flower spots!!! main cola so far (fatten up please!!!!) and this plant is the Short Stuff Mix personally I think its the Blue Himalaya because the blueberry smell is overwhelming! and I am not sure what the deisel strains smell like yet...anyways she is currently 17 inches tall and about 1 week behind speed devil...she is in the strectch right now and has stigmas shooting everywhere!
hopefully soon I will have harvest/smoke report....including....dry weight, etc etc...
as far as my Short Stuff plant this thing has been a prize winner as far as I am concerned considering all the errors I made on the speed devil...I did grow nutes for about 2 weeks from germ as soon as she went in bucket I have 50-100ppm in it after first week added another 100...then went to flower nutes and right now she is at about 500ppm's no burns no problems whatsoever with this...patience and just watching the plant closely has helped me tremendously as far as lacking or too much or what have you...also this Short Stuff has grown in I think the lowest and for a while the most consistent PH was 5.2 even when I try to increase the PH a few points she drops it back down after a few hours...seems odd...any way you can get exceptional information here on growing and what to look out for and what not to do...however actually growing it and feeling what to do seems to be a working approach for myself...

I also am growing a 3rd Short Stuff seed still just busting roots from bottom of net pot...and I put another germed one in rockwool tonight under 42 watt CFL really close to humidity dome top under bathroom sink...had about a 1/4 root from shell...the first one in the system and under HPS light since I am doing auto's overlapping not even bothering with the MH bulb...is growing oddly it seems...right now at about 200ppms which might be a little high...pale near petiole and inner leaf...I was thinking more nitrogen but I didnt want to burn it just yet so I rearranged so it was much closer to the light...hope this works if not...more food!