Hello my fellow smokers and growers! I am fairly new to all this so please go easy on me. I plan to start growing my own MJ plants (specifically Dark Devil Auto-flowering and Bloody Skunk Auto-flowering)! As you can probably guess, this will be my first time ever growing cannabis. I have done TONS of research into growing, and for the most part have formulated a sort of “grow plan.” As the name suggest, its my plan to grow my very own Auto-Flowering cannabis plants! But, with my lack of hands on experience, I seek the wisdom of highly skilled and experienced growers in the community to critic and hopefully improve upon my grow plan! I have not yet purchased seeds or equipment, but am very close to doing so. I will link any equipment mentioned in my grow plan. I appreciate any advice, criticism (as long as its respectful of course!), tips & tricks, or anything really! And thank you in advance! My Grow Plan: Germination: - Place seeds in a cup/container of water for ~24 hours. - After 24hr, tap seeds. If the sink to the bottom, they’re ready to be removed. - If seeds don’t sink, let seeds sit in water and check every 30 min until they sink. - Place in wet paper towel for ~24 hours. After that I wager they should be ready to placed in the medium! I plan on using 100% Perlite in a 3 Gallon Air-Pot. Preparation: - To fill pots, I’ll take perlite and press it onto the sides of the pot to prevent as much perlite from falling out as possible. - Fill a 4-6 gallon bucket with water, then balance the Ph to between 5.5-6.5. (I am not sure if at this stage to add growing nutrients to the water/perlite) - Then pour the water into the pot of perlite. All of the water, to flush the perlite and make it wet. The idea is that since perlite is Ph nuetral, that this will balance the perlite to the Ph that is ideal for growing. Once preparation is complete, place seeds into pots about and inch into the soil. I’ve seen some growers cover and not cover the seed after being potted. Unless someone give me reason to, I don’t plan on covering the seed. Vegetative State: - Immediately after planting the seeds, they will be moved into a grow tent that is 48x24x60 inches. It is small, but I only plan on growing 2 plants at a time (for now at least *wink). - The grow room will have 1 300W LED Grow Light Full Spectrum for Indoor Plants, 2 4 inch inline duct fans with air filters One to bring in fresh air, the other to take out the old air. And 2 5” clipper fans, one above the plants and one below the plants, to keep the air moving. (I don’t have any experience with air ducting at all so any advice is greatly appreciated) - The plan is to water once a day with Ph balanced water and nutrients for growing. - In between watering, I plan to pour any run off from the plants back into the perlite to keep the soil from drying out too much. I read the Air-Pots dry out quickly. - The plants would be kept on a light cycle of 18/6. I heard Autos don’t need a light cycled, but I also heard a light cycle helps, so cant hurt to have one. Right? Next is to just maintain this process until the plants start blooming buds. Since they are Autos, I read that they start to bloom between 2-3 months depending on various conditions and such. Of course making any necessary changes to Ph, amount of water, nutrients, and pesticides if needed, etc. In the early stages of growing, I wont be trimming any of the leaves. Instead I saw a method of tucking the lager leaves under the smaller branches to encourage growth of the smaller branches. I heard about training the plants, but that seems a little too advanced for me. Blooming Stage: - Once they begin to bloom, I plan to change the light cycled to 12/12. Again, Autos shouldn’t need a light cycle but hey, if it works it works. - The nutrients will be changed from grow nutrients to bloom nutrients while maintaining Ph of 5.5-6.5. I plan to main this until harvest. Harvest/Washing: - To tell when a plant is ready to harvest, I read that you look at the trichomes. If they are majority a milky white with a few amber colored ones here and there, then they are ready to harvest. - After trimming off all the leaves of the plant leaving nothing left but the buds, I plan to wash my buds in a 3 part washing: 1st – 32 oz of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide, and about 2 gallons of water. 2nd – ½ cup lemon juice, ½ cup baking soda, 2 gallons of water. 3rd – 3 gallons of just water. The water must be room temp. I 110% believe that washing your buds is necessary in the growing process. You wont lose any HEALTHY trichomes and you wash away any dirt, bugs, pesticides, mold, mildew, etc. and keep your buds from rotting or growing mold or stuff like that. - Let dry for ~2-5 days. Then have a smoke sesh with your friends! Products I’ll be using: Inline duct fame w/ filter - VIVOSUN 4 inch 203 CFM Inline Duct Fan with 4"x 14" Carbon Filter Odor Control with Australia Virgin Charcoal 5” clipper fans - O2COOL 5" Battery Operated Clip Fan - Adjustable, Rotating, Tilt & Swivel Feature Portable Fan | AA Battery | 2 Speed | for Camping, Outdoors, Travel, Office Desk & Dorm Room Grow Tent - VIVOSUN 48"x24"x60" Mylar Hydroponic Grow Tent with Observation Window and Floor Tray for Indoor Plant Growing 2'x4' Cal Mac Xtra (micro-nutrients) - Advanced Nutrients Sensi Cal Mag Xtra Plant Nutrient, 500 mL Perlite - QUALITY PERLITE FOR SEED STARTING/MEDIUN FINE/ NURSERY/POTTING,GARDEN, PLANTS BY DMARKETLINE (1, 3 GALLON) Air-Pot - (2) Superoots Air-Pot 3 Gal Equivalent Garden Propagation Pot Planter Containers Grow Light - VIPARSPECTRA Reflector-Series 300W LED Grow Light Full Spectrum for Indoor Plants Veg and Flower Macro-nutrients Trio -FoxFarm FX14050 Big Bloom, Grow Big & Tiger Bloom Liquid Fertilizer Nutrient Trio Hydro-Formula, 3/32-Ounce Bottles Ph Up/Down - Hydroponic pH Up and Down Control Kit (All products are found on Amazon) Thank you all who took the time to read through this. And a double thanks for input/criticism/advice. I really appreciate it!!! Stay Stoned Edit: I forgot to mention, the temp inside the grow tent will only be controlled by the fans (the tent itself will be outside). During the day, all fans will be set to low, to keep temperatures higher. While at night, all fans will be set to high, to keep temps lower. I had read that colder nights and warmer days help encourage purpling of the buds and leaves! (As both strains are a purp strain).
I see a few potential issues. First, your lighting is not enough and not the best kind. I’d suggest a look into quantum board or COB LEDs. Maybe even a 450 watt HPS/MH combo. Autoflowers are harder to grow than photo plants. Their clock is set from the beginning so any mistakes you make as a new grower will greatly affect yield. With a photo you can overcome mistakes by added veg time with little no ill effect 100 % Perlite is a high maintenance hydro system when handwatering. Unless you set up a drip system, I see problems from not being fed enough and drying out too much. I would suggest coco/perlite instead sonit holds some moisture. What are you thinking about washing your fresh buds? This is absolutely a horrible idea. Just trim and hang or hang then trim. Never wash your buds unless loaded with mites or webs.
Am I the only one that thinks you just plant like Mother Nature does it? My grow plan would be get a pot. Put dirt in it.put seed in. Water it. And harvest.
I agree with Soil2Coco on a couple things. You don't have enough light - that light only pulls 135 watts - you will need at least 2 of them. Rule of thumb on lights is 40 watts per sq. ft. of grow area for crappy led's - that's 320 actual watts needed. If you're using 100% perlite - why not just use regular buckets and do a Hempy bucket with a two inch reservoir in the bottom? Lastly, I hope you're one of the few beginners that can grow a plant from start to finish without problems, because autos have a predetermined life and any slow up in growth will greatly affect yield. Photos for beginners is a better option. Good luck and welcome to GC.
Well i just read all that and was preparing a speech but mick and coco have covered it all. Id definately say the most likely thing to give you issues in the handwatering straight perilite. The 3 gal pot will only hold 2 or 3 litres so need to feed it numerous times a day to keep it wet. Let it dry out and the roots will die! Just happened to me was told not to feed em that way but done it anyway as an experiment and got 2oz per plant. My usual number is closer to 20 so im a little dissapointed to say the least. Autofeed system of some sort is a definate neccesity imo. And yeah, sorry to say but your lights pretty poor. I use similar quality lights buts theyre twice the power and i use 2 of them per metre so do not bad with em. Sent from my SM-J330FN using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I missed this on my first read. You're growing hydroponically, the pH should be around 5.8, certainly no higher than 6.0 - at 6.5 you will probably get lock out.
Hello everyone! Thank you all so much for the advice, I really do appreciate it a lot! I've read through all your comments and tips/trick. Taking the advice, I wont be growing autos for my first time growing. Instead I'll be growing the following strains: Godberry Feminized, and Stilton Breath Feminized. I am also changing the lighting system and medium. Light - King Plus 1200w LED Grow Light Double Chips Full Spectrum with UV and IR for Greenhouse Indoor Plant Veg and Flower Medium - FoxFarm FX14101 Coco Loco Potting Mix, 2 cu. ft. As well, I am opting to not wash my buds. As much as I may think its a good idea, I am only but a student and will take the advice of the masters! Again, thank you all who took the time out of their busy day to assist a newbie. Any other advice would be greatly welcomed! As always, stay stoned
Bump (don't know if that works on this forum or not, lol) Just wondering of there is any other advice any experienced growers might have?
Yeah 6.5 is where i start seeing the stressmarks. Long as i go 5.7-6.3 i dont get any issues. Sent from my SM-J330FN using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Just had another flick through that mate. Go easy on the nutes. Less is best. Dont follow manufacturers feeding schedules, theyre fuckin horrific and fry the plants every time. Sounds unlikely but try it and youll see lol. Find someone who does well with your nutes and ask them what to do. Also you can only use the run off if it comes out at the same strength it went in. If it comes out stronger (which it almost definately will) then youll end up frying them. Its extremely unlikely youll manage to get your feed that accurate on your first grow so i wouldnt try it. Get a ppm metre though (tenner on amazon) and youll be able to check it. Oh and also ive just realised your using fox farms and coco loco. If fox farms is what i think and its soil with nutrients in it then pick one or the other. Coco is hydro and should be treated as such. Soil is a different kettle of fish altogether. Good choice on the budwashing too, thats an outdoor growers thing that. Shouldnt be any mud or beasties flying about your tent so no need. And lastly, that king led is about 250w. Need 2 of them per square metre for a decent result Sent from my SM-J330FN using Grasscity Forum mobile app