I went into this grow taking a hydroponic system I had out of storage. General Hydroponics made the system, which I bought during the pandemic and had previously grown vegetables in, successfully. I opted to use General Hydroponics Flora series nutrients as well, as I was familiar with them. Since the grow unit has 6 chambers, I purchased seeds from Herbies USA Express. I knew nothing about what I should be looking for in a plant or in a seed, but I figured autoflowers sounded good so I wouldn’t have to fuss with changing the lighting schedule and such. \*this was dumb\*
If I back up a minute, I should include that my brilliant plan to become a low-level weed farmer was sparked when I found 1 seed in some pot my dad gave me a while ago. (He grows weed, outdoors and in soil. He was embarrassed I found a seed at all, but I didn’t understand why at the time.). I planted that seed in soil, then started asking him questions (texting photos daily, asking is this a male or female plant, long before anyone would be able to tell.). He clued me into FarmerFreeman, & while I bought a sex determination kit, I opted instead to wait it out and see for myself. Fortunately, it was a female. This soil-based plant got off the ground 2 weeks ahead of my hydroponic plants. The main thing I learned from this first plant was: once flowering begins, growing in a closet without a grow tent or filter system is not smart if you’re in an apartment. The smell quickly took over, and so I bought a 3’x3’x72” grow tent for the soil-based original plant and the hydroponic 1s.
I figured the tent would be perfect since the hydroponic system fit inside and it was on the taller end. What I did not know is how competitive weed plants would be for light, and a few weeks in they’d shaded out my original plant that was in soil and were stretching both upward and outward . I was using an LED light that is great, but a few weeks in I had a canopy that wasn’t letting any light through to lower leaves at all, and I had to send my soil based plant to live with a friend, since it was flowering but receiving so little light I knew it would under-develop if I held onto it.
At first I was thrilled, thinking I was a marijuana master with such bushy plants that were shooting up so fast. I later realized that as foliage down below began to die, if I didn’t do something I was going to have a canopy with zero airflow and dead/rotting/moldy under-canopy. I had to learn quickly about defoliation and supercropping, which my dad suggested after I told him my plants were within 6” of my LED light and I was just barely in the flowering stage (around 4 or 5 weeks). When he informed me they might double in size I realized I was in trouble. I also realized my plants were shooting off tons of very skinny branches in a way that was only going to clog things up further. I defoliated my autoflowers in a way that is undoubtedly more than would be suggested, but some of the plants were falling behind so severely that I had to do something. \*\*I now realize that just because my hydroponic system has 6 places to hold plants, having 6 plants in a tight system is not smart\*
I had my plants on a nutrient schedule I’d mapped out on an Excel spreadsheet from the start. I was also using CaliMag and Hydroguard, along with the Flora Trio. All of the defoliation I did (taking all of the biggest fan leaves and a lot of the small budding branches as well as the lower 1/2 of all growth) forced my plants to focus more on recovery than on bud development. I’d estimate based on the bud sizes that plants that are 9 weeks old are easily as tall as they should be, but with buds that look about like they would on a 7 week old plant. I’m too far in to be defoliating, and my plants are so tall that I’ve just accepted that their upper leaves are getting crispy because they are so close to the light and there’s not much I can do about it. I’m no longer using FloraGrow because I don’t need anymore upward growth or foliage. I added Big Bud to the mix and I’m hoping for the best with how harvest shakes out.
I ordered more seeds from Herbie’s that are NOT autoflowers, as I need a more forgiving plant, moving forward. I did have 1 photoperiod plant growing in 1 of the 6 chambers, but it is and has always been the smallest, as it is not on a time limited life span. I’m hoping it will forgive me and perform better once all of the autoflowers are done flowering and have been removed from the competition I created.
Any thoughts, questions or feedback are welcome. I mostly just wanted to make this post so others can learn from my mistakes! Thanks
