Newbs 1st grow! Complete failure or a "by the skin of my teeth" documentary 🤔🫣

[Skinnypuppy80]

I have one other thread that has documented my current setup w tons of help from the community. Decided I'm pretty much done with that phase(still could use pointers though, like a LOT!) I immensely appreciate all that participated in helping me get this far!

My setupis a 5x5 ACI tent, 4 13gal rdwc sites, mammoth mint 8 led, 4 S2 6" fans, 6" charcoal inline exhaust, a T7 humidifier, and a 69+pro controller along w essential pens. Currently using 8" nets w straight hydroton but will switch to 4" after this grow. The hydro system is the PA hydro fallponics system customized for the space in my bedroom. Also includes a 55gal drum fed by 5 stage ISpring RO system. I also squeezed in a 7gal dwc.

In the DWC I have a freeb auto pine that stretched on 1/8. She's been mishandled her whole life but couldn't toss her, at least not yet. In the rdwc I have 4 photo white widows(thanks to the VG) that sprouted from the 1/13 through1-15. All of them went in the tent by the 20th.

Been keeping temps around 80, RH around 70%, PH between 5.7-6.1, and 130 ppm for the baby's, 340 for the flowering auto.

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

Pictures show diff stages of the auto.
Most recent one

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

Also, water temps r 75° and looking at chillers... any suggestions? I'm running hydroguard but I still wanna minimize any sort of rot and get the whole system dialed in to the t to get maximum effort from those beautiful ladies

 

[SSHZ]

Quick notes......

Water temps should probably be at 68-72 degrees or below. Above that, like mold and bacteria issues can happen.

And plants like a constant pH, not one that fluctuates up and down. Find the sweet spot,probably 5.8 for your methods, and keep it there.

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

Quick notes......

Water temps should probably be at 68-72 degrees or below. Above that, like mold and bacteria issues can happen.

And plants like a constant pH, not one that fluctuates up and down. Find the sweet spot,probably 5.8 for your method, and keep it there.

The difference of ph was between the 2 systems, 5.7 for the dwc and 6.1 for the rdwc which I've kept pretty constant. I'll try to dial them into the 5.8 Thanks for the advice sir
That being said, any suggestions on a chiller for a 50ish gal rdwc?

 

[SSHZ]

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[freezeland]

Only a suggestion…I’d keep a small waste can nearby instead of piling those trimmings on the bucket lid. Don’t want any of that or particles from it accidentally entering your system.

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

Only a suggestion…I’d keep a small waste can nearby instead of piling those trimmings on the bucket lid. Don’t want any of that or particles from it accidentally entering your system.

Good suggestion. cleanliness is godliness in this is what I hear. I deserve that technical foul.

 

[MiGrampa]

Quick notes......

Water temps should probably be at 68-72 degrees or below. Above that, like mold and bacteria issues can happen.

And plants like a constant pH, not one that fluctuates up and down. Find the sweet spot,probably 5.8 for your methods, and keep it there.

You can freeze plastic soda or gatorade bottles filled with water. Toss in your reservoir to help bring down your water temperature. It's not as controlled as using a chiller but it can get you by until you're able to purchase one.

RH at 70% will be too high for your autoflower now that its flowering. It's still early so you have some time ... but you'll risk mold/mildew issues with your humidity that high.

In your other thread, @moe.red was mentioning how every parameter change can be a trade-off effecting something else. If it were my grow, I'd be making one of those parameter calls on the humidity being so high as that flowering plant fills out. Again, it's early but you'll soon have to make that decision ... and it will probably be before you're done vegging your babies.

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

You can freeze plastic soda or gatorade bottles filled with water. Toss in your reservoir to help bring down your water temperature. It's not as controlled as using a chiller but it can get you by until you're able to purchase one.

RH at 70% will be too high for your autoflower now that its flowering. It's still early so you have some time ... but you'll risk mold/mildew issues with your humidity that high.

In your other thread, @moe.red was mentioning how every parameter change can be a trade-off effecting something else. If it were my grow, I'd be making one of those parameter calls on the humidity being so high as that flowering plant fills out. Again, it's early but you'll soon have to make that decision ... and it will probably be before you're done vegging your babies.

I was waiting for that, having a matue one w babies and the difference of the climate each one needs to thrive. I'll have to look into getting it relocated or just get it out of the way and focus just on the little ones. And sooner than later that plant(Xerxes,) will block the "sun" w a different ending for the little Spartans I'm assuming. Thank you for your response and will be looking into relocation/funeral arrangements soon

 

[MiGrampa]

I was waiting for that, having a matue one w babies and the difference of the climate each one needs to thrive. I'll have to look into getting it relocated or just get it out of the way and focus just on the little ones. And sooner than later that plant(Xerxes,) will block the "sun" w a different ending for the little Spartans I'm assuming. Thank you for your response and will be looking into relocation/funeral arrangements soon

My response is we don't live in a perfect world, and plants usually don't either. If you dropped the humidity to 55%-60% your vegging plants will still grow just fine and you won't have nearly as much chance of mold/mildew issues with your flowering plant.

If you're going to grow plants in different stages, tweak the variables so both vegging plants and flowering plants are happy. You can do this without sacrificing a plant.

 

[freezeland]

My response is we don't live in a perfect world, and plants usually don't either. If you dropped the humidity to 55%-60% your vegging plants will still grow just fine and you won't have nearly as much chance of mold/mildew issues with your flowering plant.

If you're going to grow plants in different stages, tweak the variables so both vegging plants and flowering plants are happy. You can do this without sacrificing a plant.

One thing I would add about growing flowering and vegetating plants. You wouldn’t want to do that with all photo period plants. An auto in flower with vegging photos can work. Good observation and suggestion about the rh. It’s a workable compromise to get that auto across the finish line without rot.

 

[MiGrampa]

One thing I would add about growing flowering and vegetating plants. You wouldn’t want to do that with all photo period plants. An auto in flower with vegging photos can work. Good observation and suggestion about the rh. It’s a workable compromise to get that auto across the finish line without rot.

That's the nice thing about auto-flowers ... they aren't photo period dependent.

The other thing about running your RH at 70% with a room temp of 80F during the day ... your RH would be high enough to condense on the side of the tent when the temperatures drop at lights out. Use your ACI UIS system to counteract that. You may be toggling back and forth between humidifier/dehumidifier/exhaust fan to keep humidity under control at all times. Your UIS system will do that nicely if you have it set up right.

 

[freezeland]

That's the nice thing about auto-flowers ... they aren't photo period dependent.

The other thing about running your RH at 70% with a room temp of 80F during the day ... your RH would be high enough to condense on the side of the tent when the temperatures drop at lights out. Use your ACI UIS system to counteract that. You may be toggling back and forth between humidifier/dehumidifier/exhaust fan to keep humidity under control at all times. Your UIS system will do that nicely if you have it set up right.

Also easier to keep independent spaces for veg and flower. Especially for perpetual growing.

 

[MiGrampa]

Also easier to keep independent spaces for veg and flower. Especially for perpetual growing.

I use several tents myself. I have designated starts/cloning area, vegging areas and several flower tents. I rarely use it all but I always have more than one area growing plants. About 1/3 of my basement is designated as the grow area.

I'm not sure @Skinnypuppy80 has the space to have more than one grow area though. His current setup is in his bedroom. It's food for thought though.

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

I use several tents myself. I have designated starts/cloning area, vegging areas and several flower tents. I rarely use it all but I always have more than one area growing plants. About 1/3 of my basement is designated as the grow area.

I'm not sure @Skinnypuppy80 has the space to have more than one grow area though. His current setup is in his bedroom. It's food for thought though.

Umm... DAMN!! Only a third? Ur third is like multiple times larger than mine unless I put up a cot in the kitchen and move all my personal shit into a shared basement I have a smaller tent I can veg in for a month? maybe at best? I still have to figure out where to hang em, probably the tent. By the time the photos r done, I plan to have a house w a finished basement, then watch me go(grow!)
I appreciate ur words of wisdom as well as @freezeland
My plan was to keep the auto as long as possible to help hone in a little my plant husbandry like trimming, fimming, scrog, and lst
W/out this community and sweet ppl like u 2, I'd b lost in a pile of crap, Thanks! I'll be updating my progress/regress at least a few times a week... get ready to b annoyed if u follow lol

 

[MiGrampa]

Umm... DAMN!! Only a third? Ur third is like multiple times larger than mine unless I put up a cot in the kitchen and move all my personal shit into a shared basement I have a smaller tent I can veg in for a month? maybe at best? I still have to figure out where to hang em, probably the tent. By the time the photos r done, I plan to have a house w a finished basement, then watch me go(grow!)
I appreciate ur words of wisdom as well as @freezeland
My plan was to keep the auto as long as possible to help hone in a little my plant husbandry like trimming, fimming, scrog, and lst
W/out this community and sweet ppl like u 2, I'd b lost in a pile of crap, Thanks! I'll be updating my progress/regress at least a few times a week... get ready to b annoyed if u follow lol

In most cases, people don't fim or top autoflowers (scrogging should be fine). They are a different plant that finishes on an internal clock so they typically don't do well with removing vegetation. They don't have time to replace the vegetation that was removed before the plant finishes.

Photos are different. You can do a lot of things to them. However one common mistake with photos when people start topping/fimming is they don't wait long enough for the plant to replace the vegetation that was removed before flipping to flower. Just a heads up on that. If you're going that route, wait a couple of weeks. That gives your plants time to recover and produce lateral shoots of enough size that they stack and you have a heavier yield when finished.

Or you can do it my way ... I don't usually top my plants. I use a lot of LST and super cropping to shape my plants to my space.

Hang dry - That's only 1 method. It's tried and proven so its a good way to do it ... but its not the only way. I wet trim my plants and dry my buds on cookie sheets that have parchment paper on them. It takes up less space and I can dry them on a shelf that's in a closet under the stairs in my basement. Temperatures are already in that sweet zone for drying and curing year round. Once dried, I cure them in Grove bags.

Back to autoflowers ... Others might disagree but there's nothing wrong with having an auto or 2 growing with your photos. They usually finish a month to 6 weeks sooner than their photo period cousins so they will give you an earlier harvest. It also opens up space for the photos to mature those last few weeks.

 

[moe.red]

Also, water temps r 75° and looking at chillers... any suggestions? I'm running hydroguard but I still wanna minimize any sort of rot and get the whole system dialed in to the t to get maximum effort from those beautiful ladies
View attachment 88316

My advice is don’t. Let’s get you thru a solid grow with what you have. A chiller will add leak points another pump (noise) a significant power requirement and will add heat to the lung room.

75 is too high tho

Remind me if you are auto topping off the res thru a float valve from the RO tank. If you are put a fan over the res to encourage evaporation. You need the rh up anyhow and evaporation removes heat. Make sure you are bubbling well too.

If the roots on the seedlings are not thru the net pot yet you will need to top water preferably several times daily. It’s one of the reasons I use 3” netcups. Roots hit water much faster.

I’m a little worried the light needed for the auto and the seedlings is not compatible. Let’s watch those seedlings close for signs of stress. Your cotyledons should stay nice and green. High light and no roots is tough for the babies.

 

[moe.red]

In most cases, people don't fim or top autoflowers (scrogging should be fine). They are a different plant that finishes on an internal clock so they typically don't do well with removing vegetation. They don't have time to replace the vegetation that was removed before the plant finishes.

Photos are different. You can do a lot of things to them. However one common mistake with photos when people start topping/fimming is they don't wait long enough for the plant to replace the vegetation that was removed before flipping to flower. Just a heads up on that. If you're going that route, wait a couple of weeks. That gives your plants time to recover and produce lateral shoots of enough size that they stack and you have a heavier yield when finished.

Or you can do it my way ... I don't usually top my plants. I use a lot of LST and super cropping to shape my plants to my space.

Hang dry - That's only 1 method. It's tried and proven so its a good way to do it ... but its not the only way. I wet trim my plants and dry my buds on cookie sheets that have parchment paper on them. It takes up less space and I can dry them on a shelf that's in a closet under the stairs in my basement. Temperatures are already in that sweet zone for drying and curing year round. Once dried, I cure them in Grove bags.

Back to autoflowers ... Others might disagree but there's nothing wrong with having an auto or 2 growing with your photos. They usually finish a month to 6 weeks sooner than their photo period cousins so they will give you an earlier harvest. It also opens up space for the photos to mature those last few weeks.

You give good advice.

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

In most cases, people don't fim or top autoflowers (scrogging should be fine). They are a different plant that finishes on an internal clock so they typically don't do well with removing vegetation. They don't have time to replace the vegetation that was removed before the plant finishes.

Photos are different. You can do a lot of things to them. However one common mistake with photos when people start topping/fimming is they don't wait long enough for the plant to replace the vegetation that was removed before flipping to flower. Just a heads up on that. If you're going that route, wait a couple of weeks. That gives your plants time to recover and produce lateral shoots of enough size that they stack and you have a heavier yield when finished.

Or you can do it my way ... I don't usually top my plants. I use a lot of LST and super cropping to shape my plants to my space.

Hang dry - That's only 1 method. It's tried and proven so its a good way to do it ... but its not the only way. I wet trim my plants and dry my buds on cookie sheets that have parchment paper on them. It takes up less space and I can dry them on a shelf that's in a closet under the stairs in my basement. Temperatures are already in that sweet zone for drying and curing year round. Once dried, I cure them in Grove bags.

Back to autoflowers ... Others might disagree but there's nothing wrong with having an auto or 2 growing with your photos. They usually finish a month to 6 weeks sooner than their photo period cousins so they will give you an earlier harvest. It also opens up space for the photos to mature those last few weeks.

Thanks for all that info!!! I barely know anything about this game and I highly appreciate it. That flowering auto I fimmed, after like 5 shoots? probably a good part of why it's so short. That and other bad husbandry. I tried to germ autos just so I could use em as trial and error plants b4 growing my photos

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

My advice is don’t. Let’s get you thru a solid grow with what you have. A chiller will add leak points another pump (noise) a significant power requirement and will add heat to the lung room.

75 is too high tho

Remind me if you are auto topping off the res thru a float valve from the RO tank. If you are put a fan over the res to encourage evaporation. You need the rh up anyhow and evaporation removes heat. Make sure you are bubbling well too.

If the roots on the seedlings are not thru the net pot yet you will need to top water preferably several times daily. It’s one of the reasons I use 3” netcups. Roots hit water much faster.

I’m a little worried the light needed for the auto and the seedlings is not compatible. Let’s watch those seedlings close for signs of stress. Your cotyledons should stay nice and green. High light and no roots is tough for the babies.

I'm not that far into automation yet. Bubbling in my res? Should I have an air stone in it? Should I not have a cover on my res? 2/4 r through the 8" pots. I saw a white slime on them though. Could that be good shit though from the hydroguard? Don't wanna h2o2 if so

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

My advice is don’t. Let’s get you thru a solid grow with what you have. A chiller will add leak points another pump (noise) a significant power requirement and will add heat to the lung room.

75 is too high tho

Remind me if you are auto topping off the res thru a float valve from the RO tank. If you are put a fan over the res to encourage evaporation. You need the rh up anyhow and evaporation removes heat. Make sure you are bubbling well too.

If the roots on the seedlings are not thru the net pot yet you will need to top water preferably several times daily. It’s one of the reasons I use 3” netcups. Roots hit water much faster.

I’m a little worried the light needed for the auto and the seedlings is not compatible. Let’s watch those seedlings close for signs of stress. Your cotyledons should stay nice and green. High light and no roots is tough for the babies.

Yeah, I'm was worried about the compatibility but gonna try till it's detrimental. The auto stretched on the 8th, the photos broke through the VG on the 16th and went in the tent the 20th. May work?

 

[moe.red]

I'm not that far into automation yet. Bubbling in my res? Should I have an air stone in it? Should I not have a cover on my res? 2/4 r through the 8" pots. I saw a white slime on them though. Could that be good shit though from the hydroguard? Don't wanna h2o2 if so

Yes bubble the res.

I only seal my res if I am injecting o2.

Slime should not be white more clear. Maybe post a pic.

 

[moe.red]

Yeah, I'm was worried about the compatibility but gonna try till it's detrimental. The auto stretched on the 8th, the photos broke through the VG on the 16th and went in the tent the 20th. May work?

Not really about the dates it’s about the plants.

Pick the worst looking seedling and post a clear close up. Roots too please.

75* water temp will accelerate microbe growth. It will also limit DO. The microbes we want are O2 loving. The bad ones are anaerobic. By raising temp and lowering o2 you are tilting the scale towards growing bad microbes. You may still be fine it just gives you a smaller window with less wiggle room.

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

I hadn't checked on the roots for a few days, they are all through the 8" pots now. I hope these r clear enough and close enough, if not, I can try again


The first 3 are of the runt, didn't c any slime. 4th pic just overview, the runt would b bottom left. 5th was of the mediocre roots of top left. Couldn't really c the slime though. When I thought I saw the slime, it was clear

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

Thank you soo much for advising not to get a chiller yet! Yeah, $300 in the whole scheme of the setup isn't that much, but DAMN! I have more than doubled my initial 2k budget when I first started looking into hydro. Super worth every last penny though Every time I look into the tent, I get a smile on my face as if I was a chunky kid who just found a piece of candy in their pocket lol(major Payne reference)

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

In most cases, people don't fim or top autoflowers (scrogging should be fine). They are a different plant that finishes on an internal clock so they typically don't do well with removing vegetation. They don't have time to replace the vegetation that was removed before the plant finishes.

Photos are different. You can do a lot of things to them. However one common mistake with photos when people start topping/fimming is they don't wait long enough for the plant to replace the vegetation that was removed before flipping to flower. Just a heads up on that. If you're going that route, wait a couple of weeks. That gives your plants time to recover and produce lateral shoots of enough size that they stack and you have a heavier yield when finished.

Or you can do it my way ... I don't usually top my plants. I use a lot of LST and super cropping to shape my plants to my space.

Hang dry - That's only 1 method. It's tried and proven so its a good way to do it ... but its not the only way. I wet trim my plants and dry my buds on cookie sheets that have parchment paper on them. It takes up less space and I can dry them on a shelf that's in a closet under the stairs in my basement. Temperatures are already in that sweet zone for drying and curing year round. Once dried, I cure them in Grove bags.

Back to autoflowers ... Others might disagree but there's nothing wrong with having an auto or 2 growing with your photos. They usually finish a month to 6 weeks sooner than their photo period cousins so they will give you an earlier harvest. It also opens up space for the photos to mature those last few weeks.

So chalk up another tick on bad husbandry(fimming the auto) lol I appreciate the insight though! Do u just use one layer of scrog or multiples? Probably just 1 assume. If anyone hasn't told u today, U ROCK

 

[MiGrampa]

So chalk up another tick on bad husbandry(fimming the auto) lol I appreciate the insight though! Do u just use one layer of scrog or multiples? Probably just 1 assume. If anyone hasn't told u today, U ROCK

I usually use large tomato cages inside. I've used single and double layer nets but nets make it hard to get to all the plants unless you can open your tent and get to your plants on at least 3 sides.

I've been growing for years. However, I will be the first to tell you that I very successfully do my own thing when it comes to my grows. So much of what you will find on the internet is bro science ... which isn't science at all. You're better off checking in here at Bud Builders if you have questions. So many other places will lead you astray.

 

[moe.red]

Those pics look good carry on.

Your timing may be a challenge. By the time you get to the 4th node on the smallest plant the decision to flip to flower is close. That auto will still be flowering.

When you flip to flower your plants will typically shoot up called the stretch. I predict you are going to struggle with a scrog in flower over photos in the stretch. If you want to try to finish that auto make sure you are training it with the net to minimize interference with the other 4 as they grow. Best case is your photos shoot up and create the canopy and the auto stays in the shade imo.

 

[smoke]

75 is too high tho

75* water temp will accelerate microbe growth. It will also limit DO.

I use a chiller, temp set at 68