First attempt in 10 years

[Shaunx]

Hello Folks, first post for me here. Looks like a brilliant site..

 

I'm attempting a grow after only one successful attempt, 10 years ago now. Back then I grew a very nice photoperiod plant. Starting again I couldn't believe the wealth of youTube advice available now as well as the choice of seeds right down to THC to CBD ratio and beyond!

 

I also saw that autoflowering strains seem to have really improved so I thought I'd give them a go. I'm also getting on a bit now so thought I'd go for a 50:50 THC:CBD ratio so I've gone for Fast Eddy CBD auto from LSC (I think actually made by Royal Queen Seeds). LSC also very kindly sent me a free White Widow auto seed.

 

I have a small footprint, Secret Garden tent and invested in a new 250-600W variable ballast and 600W dual spectrum lamp from a really friendly hydroponics shop I discovered 5 miles from here on the banks of the Medway.

 

I germinated between cotton pads and then sowed 1 fast eddy and the White widow straight into large autopots (which I've used for tomatoes for years now). The other Fast Eddy into a medium regular pot; I live in Kent so I'm using rain water exclusively as our tap water is very hard. I'm setting PH to around 6.3.

Plants went under fluorescent initially and then into the tent with the ballast set to 400W. I'm in the 4th week in the tent now and I've posted the results below. The Fast Eddy (on the left) really shot up so I turned on the water supply (very weak nutrients) from the tank to it 5 days ago and it has really shot up even more since then. Just turned on the water to the White Widow (back right) too now and it seems to be drinking from the base.

 

I did try some LST on the fast eddy but didn't get any further than initially bending the main shoot horizontal, which does actually seem to have allowed more shoots to poke through, but I really don't know what I'm doing so stopped there.

Don't know how big these get so I guess I may have to move the White Widow out to the greenhouse soon as it's getting crowded in there. (The second Fast Eddy in the little pot was really just a backup anyway)

 

I'm watching temps as it's been hot recently and I turn down to 250W to keep tent temp down when necessary.

 

I could use some advice please. I've been running the light at 24/24 and the plants seem to love it. Should I stay with that or should I revert to 18/6 or even 12/12 for blooming ? Is it safe to do that if they're used to 24 ?

 

Many thanks in advance for any comments or advice

 

Shaun

 

 

[Shumroom]

Hi @Shaunx

 

Welcome and well done on starting to document your growing here on UK420,

you got past the photo uploading test  

 

 

Autos have definitely improved over the generations,

but I'd only really recommend(the majority of) them for outside under the big grow light in the sky,

or inside if there's some reason why you can't give photoperiod plants the conditions to run to completion  

 

As you'll see,

pot size is a big factor about when an auto begins to flower.

 

 

The big recommendation I'd give is to use a bulb rated at the level you're running the ballast at,

otherwise the colour spectrum given off will likely be shifted.

 

 

I know that @brock1 recommends finishing flowering autos on fewer hours per day for best results 

 

 

Good luck with the grow,

I'll start following this thread,

feel free to tag me using the @ function if you want to ask me anything.

 

 

I'd also recommend that you pop in to the New Members section to introduce yourself to the community,

don't worry were usually gentle with newcomers  

 

http://www.uk420.com/boards/index.php?/forum/10-new-members/

 

 

Make sure to include the link for this thread in your intro to get as many sets of eyes to help spot any issues etc.

 

http://www.uk420.com/boards/index.php?/topic/426625-first-attempt-in-10-years/

 

Atb

 

 

 

[brock1]

Welcome to UK420 

 

I would recommend staying on 24hr a few more weeks with auto's normally. However as its summer and looking at the curling on the edge of your plant's their getting to hot not this time. Only because of the heat. I would drop your light to 18hr or even 16hr to help with the heat by giving the dark period. Frozen bottle of water near you inlet will help with the heat also 

Edited July 10, 2023 by brock1

[Shaunx]

56 minutes ago, Shumroom said:

Welcome and well done on starting to document your growing here on UK420,

you got past the photo uploading test  

 

Thank you sir. (The DCS community where I'm active use an almost identical forum model so the photo upload test didn't take much passing

 

56 minutes ago, Shumroom said:

The big recommendation I'd give is to use a bulb rated at the level you're running the ballast at,

otherwise the colour spectrum given off will likely be shifted.

 

Thank you, I had no idea that could happen. Ok, so based on that, and @brock1 ' s advice on my curling leaf edges below, I guess I can either get a 400W dual spectrum and switch to 18/6, or, I already have a 250W dual spectrum, that's only been used for one grow (10 years ago!), which I could change to and continue at 24 hours ?. (The digital balast does have a 250W setting)

 

57 minutes ago, Shumroom said:

I'd also recommend that you pop in to the New Members section to introduce yourself to the community,

don't worry were usually gentle with newcomers  

 

I will do, thank you

[MoT]

Welcome aboard matey

[Shaunx]

1 hour ago, brock1 said:

Welcome to UK420 

 

I would recommend staying on 24hr a few more weeks with auto's normally. However as its summer and looking at the curling on the edge of your plant's their getting to hot not this time. Only because of the heat. I would drop your light to 18hr or even 16hr to help with the heat by giving the dark period. Frozen bottle of water near you inlet will help with the heat also 

 

Thank you very much for the advice.

[Shaunx]

3 hours ago, brock1 said:

Welcome to UK420 

 

I would recommend staying on 24hr a few more weeks with auto's normally. However as its summer and looking at the curling on the edge of your plant's their getting to hot not this time. Only because of the heat. I would drop your light to 18hr or even 16hr to help with the heat by giving the dark period. Frozen bottle of water near you inlet will help with the heat also 

 

Immediately reduced light to 18/6 with the 6 during the hottest hours. Thanks again.

[handysmoker]

Hi @Shaunx  .... welcome to our second home

 

I'm pretty new to growing (not smoking) was 2 decades since my last grow and like you, it was a minefield with all the new stuff out there. It's good to see someone join that has more than weed growing skills If you do need advice there are plenty of good guys here that will jump in .... my mentor @Shumroom has put me on the right path many times

 

welcome

[mysticriver]

hello mate

 

 

mystic

[Shaunx]

2nd day here and I'm already making changes

 

It's become apparent that my little tent isn't going to support 2 plants, let alone 3. I only really care about the big Fast Eddy (the other 2 being a freebie and a backup) so I've moved both of them to the greenhouse at the bottom of garden and hooked them up to the Autopot feed there which is usually for tomatoes and cucumbers (rainwater again). I've removed a glass pane from the back and leaving the doors open to improve air flow in the daytime. They either grow there or they don't, I don't have any other options.

a limiting factor I guess may be the smell. I'm not sure what to expect. We're quite secluded here except for one neighbour's house over the fence about 30 yards from the green house. They're pretty cool but might not be if their garden starts to smell like a Glasto crowd.

 

Plenty of room for my main plant now.

 

 

[Shaunx]

Hello @Shumroom, Help (I think)

 

The leaves at the top of the plant have quite suddenly started to droop. It's on an 18/6 schedule now for a few days now, temps are varying between about 21 and 24.5 degrees, humidity between 40 and 60 percent. I still have the bulb at 400W and it's about 650mm from the canopy (pretty much as high as I can get it).

 

Is this normal or do I have a problem ?

 

Thanks in advance

 

[mysticriver]

On 10/07/2023 at 3:30 PM, Shaunx said:

The DCS community

remind me what that is bro

 

 

mystic

[Shaunx]

Just now, mysticriver said:

remind me what that is bro

 

 

mystic

 

DCS World mate, it's a study level flight simulator

[Shumroom]

Is this at the start of the their day or is it almost bedtime? 

 

Have you checked that none of the pipes are blocked for the autopot? 

 

Atb 

 

 

 

[Shaunx]

Just now, Shumroom said:

Is this at the start of the their day or is it almost bedtime? 

 

Have you checked that none of the pipes are blocked for the autopot? 

 

Atb 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for replying

 

It was getting towards end of its day this morning about 09:00 (light then went off at 11)

Autopot level in the tray is normal.

 

I forgot, I actually did a tweak yesterday. I noticed that there seemed to be tiny yellowing patches right at the tips of some of the upper leaves. Tried to read up online and it suggested it might be nutrient burn, so, as the tank was half full I topped it up with rain water and checked PH around 6.4 so I guess I halved the nutrient percentage. Not sure if that could have had an impact ?