Newbie first autofem blue dream journal

[Meesh]

I'm in Southern Cali. Just got some auto flowering fem blue dream seeds today. Tomorrow I will start the germination process. Starting with Black Gold Soil in 7 gallon cloth bags. Planning to water with RO at 6.5 ph level gonna add half strength Voodoo Juice to soil then plant seeds. Read somewhere to cover with saran wrap to germinate. All suggestions for this newbie hobbyist are welcome during this journal...

Gonna use 3 gallon bags on advice... Seeds are germinating now... Waiting for something to pop up... impatiently 6/27/2018

[Grower13]

I would think you could use a smaller pot....... 7 gallons is big for an auto imho...... never seen saran wrap used...... put them in a wet/damp napkin then in a sandwich baggie and place them on top of the fridge and leave them alone for 2 days........

[Meesh]

What size do you think is good? 5?

[Grower13]

3 gallon should be enough....... plant will only be in it what?.... 90 days max?

[Meesh]

Yep, Outside ... If they germinate on the fridge, how long until I plant them? As little sprouts or should I put in tiny pots first with starter soil until they get a few leaves?

[Meesh]

I am really trying to cut down the amount of watering outside. The RO takes forever. lol

[Grower13]

they should pop and be ready to plan in 2 or 3 days...... some may take 4 or 5 days to pop....... I think it is better to start in small pots.... easier to keep watered correctly....... and move to bigger pots as they grow...... starting in solo cups works well..... punch some holes in the bottom for drainage..... leave the soil about 2.5 inches from top of cup...... that'll leave space to add drip around the plant if it gets stretchy to start with..... also protect the young small plants from the moving air in the grow area.......

[Grower13]

I am really trying to cut down the amount of watering outside. The RO takes forever.

do you have city water or well water at your tap...... do you know the ppm of your tap water?

[Meesh]

I have crappy los angeles basin water. I haven't gotten into the ppm stuff yet cuz I'm new, but my tap water has a ph of like 5.2

[Grower13]

never seen water start at 5.2 from the tap....... can't help you there...... but you can expect flowering MJ to use lots of water....... you can't skimp there.......

[Meesh]

Haha! Wishful hoping! The plants I have flowering now take a lot. These are probably the saddest excuse for plants ever btw... first grow where I didn't just throw a seed in the ground and leave them alone. It's fun though. They are my experimental plants, I guess. Expensive hobby though. I at least want to enjoy smoking these darn things.
My water is really bad! EPA recommends drinking water at 6.5 - 8. This stuff will kill ya.

[Grower13]

pay attention to the weight of your pots with dry soil vs wet soil....... this will pay off big time as you get more confidence with growing...... it makes it easy to know when to water..... over watering is the biggest mistake by newbie growers.

[Meesh]

Thank you so much! I'm having fun picking your brain. Been reading books, doing research, but it is overwhelming.
What do you think of a simple fish emulsion and just supplements for outdoor? I am really trying to go simple this time until I build more knowledge and experience, without a lot of chemicals and such.

[Grower13]

sounds organic.......I don't do the organic fish stuff....... somebody will come along and help you with that I'm sure.............

[Dewb]

Fish emulsion is good for growing but not fruiting since it's high in Nitrogen. I would use it the first 30 days or until I started seeing flowers form. After that I'd use some molasses and/or top dress with some guano..

[cogitech]

I am also a newbie grower and my objective was to keep things as simple as possible, so I ended up with:

3-Gallon smart pots (fabric)
Super-soil built from ProMixHP, perlite, EWC and dolomite lime
Tap water (let sit 24 hours before using)
GO Box nutes

Did not test pH or PPMs, just followed the feeding schedule on the GO Box. Except during flowering I switched from CaMg to epsom salts. Only vegged for 3 weeks and ended up with roughly 80 grams off 2 small plants (although a good portion of that weight is seeds).

No health issues. Great growth. Perfect results (for a first grow).

[Meesh]

I was kinda gonna use a hybrid with the base nutrient fish and use like B-52 and voodoo juice etc... as supplementary. I thought since it's organic that I wouldn't have to worry as much about adjusting so many nutrient levels and would be less likely to screw it up. lol

[Meesh]

Germination Day 1: Planted the seeds today. Decided to start in tiny pots first based on advice given by @Grower13. However, I'm too paranoid to handle any sprouts so I started them in soil. Planted 6. Curious to see how many pop up. Didn't use the RO this time as I fear I don't grasp the exact nutrients and the amounts that need to be put back in that are removed by this machine. I heard it removes Calcium and Magnesium and I'm not yet comfortable messing with these yet. I will revisit this after more knowledge and research. Oh, I used Fox Farms seed starter soil.

[Meesh]

On a moisture scale of 1-5 when should I water? At 3? I bought a soil meter it's barely touching the yellow at maybe 3.8.

[Sunvalley]

Hey @Meesh throw up some pics if you can so we can get a better idea of your run. One thing i suggest if running the plants outside is keeping the pots cool by wrapping them in Mylar, Shade net or thick box cardboard. Heat stress can really throw you through the loop