How am I doing?

[Firefly]

Total newb here…Day 12 of first time grow. Friend gave me 3 Bruce Banner Auto seeds which I germinated using paper towel method - all popped fine so here we go.

I am not a plant scientist so I decided to stay away from all the mixing and nutrient stuff and simply learn to water properly first. I did invest in a proper starting environment to eliminate that problem - purchased a 4x4 tent, Viparspectra P-2000 light, exhaust system and filter and some fans.

For pots I bought a few 3 gallon self watering containers but only do top watering with water set at 6.5 ph. I opted for a basic premix soil (Miracle Grow potting soil) as I wanted to provide some level of nutrient without killing my plants by mistake. I give 1 litre of water to each plant every 2 to 3 days or when top inch of soil is dry. Plain water - no nutrients added.

My light is set 16" from plant top and at 75% on an 18/6 schedule. So far all I do is water when needed and nothing else. So - how am I doing so far ? - without getting too scientific should I do to correct anything if needed right now?

Thank you !!!

[Chasworks]

Welcome, your off to a great start. What type of Medium you growing in? How do you plan to feed her?

[Firefly]

Thanks ! Like I said…Im a complete newb…lol. As far as grow medium I just chose to play it safe and stick with a general purpose potting soil (Miracle Grow ) for my first attempt so I didnt get in trouble trying to mix all kind of stuff together.

As far as feeding any nutrients that depends on what my plants tell me they need.during veg and flower stages…and probably a minimal amount at that. I’m looking for a first “successful grow” rather than a mega yield. Kind of want to walk before I try to run lol. Next grow I will definitely step it up with a better medium and nutrient regimen.

This forum is an amazing wealth of info for growing. A lot of it is still way over my head but with time and patience I hope to get better.

[Justrying (Mik)]

Keep learning looks like you going the right direction. I am also a first timer 17 days in and completely nervous about messing it up.

[Joelc (Joel)]

I am a newbie too, I am seven days in and I am so afraid of messing this up. I haven’t given them any nutes yet because my plants are still quite young just moistening the soil around the plants.I hope my plants look like yours in the picture in 12 days. Right now I am trying to get my humidity up to 75% but I just can’t get it up past 60% runs between 53% and 60%. Any suggestions or do you think where it’s at OK

[Firefly]

I planted my seed sprouts directly into its main growing pot and covered with a small clear dome to keep the moisture in and humidity high until the first sign of the seedling poking through. As I understood at that point the dome should be removed so I ran a small humidifier at around 78% in the tent or so for a few days until the first leaves begin to sprout. I removed the humidifier and my humidity settled down to more in the 50’s / low 60’s %.

Its my understanding that the leaves will absorb some moisture through the air which is fine but you want the roots to develop and take in moisture from the medium - too high humidity after leaves develop will hinder that process. I would say humidity between 48% and 60% would be fine during veg…but definitely shoot for lower during flower.

This is just my thought process so I would definitely fact check my advice with a more experienced grower.
I’m still nervous as hell myself…lol. Things can change very quickly if you make the wrong decision. First grow for me so I’d be happy as hell if I only got a few joints to smoke that I actually grew myself.

I’m sure I will face a problem at some point… I will update my experience in a few weeks with more current pics…

[laf6502 (Robert)]

Looks good… In the 3 gallon pots just stay ahead of your feedings so you don’t find yourself chasing deficiencies later on.

If you are going to start watering in nutrients you can start pretty early with an auto…Just keep an eye on the tips of the fan leaves for nutrient burn. For a first grow, watering in could be a bit more difficult than say an organic strategy with dry ammendments. Your plants will certainly be more sensitive to nutrients being watered in as they are being forced into the plants.

If I were going the route of watering in… I would feed in micro-nutrients every 2 weeks with some type of water soluble until I got into flower. For Macro - I would go an organic/vegan based water soluble. Probably 2-10-5 from BAS or equivalent. And bottom water at least once a week.

More likely, even in a small pot I would top dress dry ammendments right now and the should be broken down within a couple weeks for the plant to start feeding heavier. I would make my own from a blend of ammendments but if I was a first timer, I would go organic craft blend for top dress. I would use the BAS of course or equivalent. It has basically every thing your plant will need to get through flower in 1 bag.

If you didn’t leave room, just scrape some soil out without raking out the feeder roots and throw it in and cover it. You’re pretty much done except for water only the rest of the way unless you want to throw in some microbial support for the soil every now and then (Composts teas, sweetness, etc)

Autos go fast so you will not have a lot of time for correction if they go deficient. My advice is always to make it as easy as possible for a “newb” to have a successful grow and put some quality meds in the jar.

[laf6502 (Robert)]

Anywhere above 40 is going to be fine and the plant can transpire easily at that level of rh even with fairly hot temps. Of course, it is ideal to dial in the VPD by keeping temps and rh in the ideal ranges. My tent runs pretty much year round a between 30-50% and they have no problems with robust growth. Generally I run closer to 50 but there are times in my climate that it is 10% rh and I can barely keep it over 30 rh. They rage at 30 just like they do at 50 if the soil is perfectly watered.

One thing I like about autos is running perpetual mixed runs with young and old plants. Then you always have mature plants in the tent keeping the rh up. This is one way to get around arid climates if you grow autos.

[Firefly]

Thanks Robert ! Again Im new and taking it slow - the “less is more” approach. I was able to get a hold of a product called Arbor (npk 3-2-1) that Im thinking of using at about half strength at every other feeding to start with…Guy at the garden store said it worked pretty good. Thoughts? and thanks again for your help !

[SlingShot]

After my first grow, which did not go well, I switched to Mixasoil from Mixasoil.Com.

Like you, I wanted to eliminate as many variables as possible. I also have a roof water cistern to catch rainwater.
I live up in the N. Ga. mountains and the growing conditions are ideal.

I don’t ever monitor pH or soil conditions. I don’t add neuts (except for a black molasses tea at the end).
My first two years were autos, which is what I recommend. I now do fem photos.
I tent grow from fall till spring and use the greenhouse to start the summer crop in mid-March.
Photos require a little more attention and are a challenge, but the rewards are fun. I have 4 beasts in the garden (actually in 5 gal bags in the garden). They are over 3’ and I suspect will be over 5’ before they flip in the fall. I just hope I can bring them to harvest outdoors since they will probably NOT fit the tent. With the greenhouse, I’m covered. Will be my first time to bring a photo all the way using the natural seasons.
I did bring two into the tent 2 weeks ago. I’m running low on stash and decided to flip them early. They are coming along and I hope to pull them at the end of the month.

[laf6502 (Robert)]

Im hoping to build the pad for my green house this year then construct it next year. but I need to hook solar power to it for electricity so I can heat it on the cold mountain nights.

I would love to just grow my autos in the tent year round but be able to do a photo run in big beds outdoor in a green house.

[Chasworks]

That sounds like a good plan

[Victor (Brian Ballard)]

You might get some grief for using Miracle-Gro, but that’s all I use anymore. My plants are super potent. I’m sure I could get more yield with something else, but I’ve got a 2x2 tent, and I can barely grow two autos at a time. No messing with feeding, just add water

[Firefly]

Lol…yeah Miracle-Gro doesn’t seem to be the house favorite… but I really cant complain so far. Here they are at day 16… Plain water at 6.5 ph - nothing else so far. Of course as a newb I’m still trying out new things with extreme caution.

Next grow I will move to only 2 plants in 5 gal.cloth grow bags and use Happy Frog, coco, and perlite for medium. Probably go with a recommended nutrient system for feedings. I also purchased an additional ViparSpectra P-2000 light to fill out my 4x4. I would like to see if all the extra special care really makes a big difference.

[SlingShot]

I don’t measure anything. I’m using rainwater and I have checked that a couple of times and the pH 6.86 and the TDS is < 20. IOWs pure water.
As stated above, I use living soil.

I have 6 plants going. They started in 1 Gal pots but as they grew, I migrated them to 5 gal pots. I was short of MixASoil so I cut it with coir and black cow. I guess I hit it right because they have been growing like weeds!!! LOL

I have two in the tent flipped and expect to harvest in 2 weeks.
The other 4 are in the garden and I will let them run full season. I expect them to be north of 5’ by then.

Fotos are a challenge but much more fun.

[Firefly]

UPDATE : Day 26 of Bruce Banner #3 auto’s for newb. Nothing but Miracle Gro soil and 6.5 ph water. I gave two 1/2 strength feedings of Arbor 3-2-1 along the way but nothing else.

Two appear to be hitting pre-flower as of this morning except for the “runt” lol. This little girl appeared strange looking since day one…I was going to pull it out but since I have had zero problems with any of the grow so far I’ll let it go and see.

Next grow I will be using only two 5 gallon fabric pots with FFOF medium, FF nute trio, and adding a second ViparSpectra P-2000 to my 4x4 tent. Now that I have learned to water correctly ( I think lol ) I will move on to a slightly more advanced grow. I will be anxious to see if there is truly a difference between the forbidden “Miracle Gro and Water” approach as opposed to a more structured grow environment.

All in all I think my first ever grow has been fairly successful this far… I attribute that mostly to reading this forum. A lot of info is advanced but just the same it is great knowledge and will be invaluable down the line.

For now as a newb Im gonna stay in my own lane and continue to learn as I “grow”.

[laf6502 (Robert)]

There are a lot of nutrients that will grow potent flowers. Just remember you’re consuming the end product. You are what you eat.

I prefer to know my meds are grown with natural organic amendments mitigated for toxins/heavy metals and broken down for uptake by healthy microbial activity and red wigglers.

Personally, as a connoisseur of cannabis for over three decades, there is no comparison in the quality of the smoke, complexity of terpenes, cleanness of the high, and of course potency.

But then again, I wouldn’t even take an aspirin. If your okay with it…knock yourself out :).

[laf6502 (Robert)]

H
Looking great!!! Into the stretch/preflower is aways an exciting time and when things start going really fast.

For the next grow… with OF your autos will just need water only until they stretch. You will want to start adding nutrients by end of week three including micros. If you want to make it super easy…. Leave a couple inches from the top of the bag and just add one big top dress and cover it with some worm csstings / top dress blend.

Then you’ve basically achieved water only for the entire grow and don’t have to mess with ph.

On your current grow… I’d dump the trellis as they just make things more of a pain in the… and you just don’t need them with autos so why give up mobility or access to the plants. I know all newbs do it but definitely not necessary.

Next stage for an auto…. You need to train /massage the satellites away from the main stem and other satellites. You’ll want to clean them up by end of third week flower. In 3 gallon pots, my preference would be to keep no more than 8-10 satellites…. If two are growing like main stems I may hack a couple more of the weakest. I’d most likely limit branching and clip most the lower nodes at or below the bottom third f the tree. Foliage- I’d clip sparingly starting with lower leaves and those growing towards the middle.

From there, it’s pretty much done except water till harvest time.

[Firefly]

Excellent… Thank you ! Trellis is gone now… it was on my necessary equipment list so I thought I was supposed to use it at some point. Guess not lol.

I will follow ypur grow plan with my next grow. For now I’ll follow your advice on remaining current grow and hope for at least decent first timer harvest.

Question : I have an additional ViparSpectra P-2000 light… Do I really need 2 of these for only two 5 gal bags in a 4x4 tent ? My grows are only for personal use so I dont (nor do I think) I will ever be doing more than maybe 3 plants at any point in time.

Thank you for your advice !

[frogyrogy (Chuck)]

@laf6502

There are a lot of nutrients that will grow potent flowers

This is very true. Keep in mind though when shopping for nutrients that organic vs chem salts is for the grower’s benefit not the plant.

The plant doesn’t know or care that you grow organic as the nutrients the plant uptakes are identical whether sourced from worm castings in dirt or through chemical process in a factory. The only difference is that you can hit the correct NER with salts a heck of lot easier than you can using teas, composts, etc.