Blue Dreaming of Gelato Greens

New grower and new green thumb in general. Really loving the process and science involved. The two strains are Blue Dream Auto and Green Gelato Auto. Contained in 5 gallon fabric pots using Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil mix. Setup in the Spider Farmer SF4000 tent kit with an added AC infinity inline filter, inline fan, controller, and auto watering bases. Using the Advanced Nutrients pH perfect Grow, Micro, and Bloom 3 part series supplemented with Voodoo Juice, B52, Big Buds, and Sensi Cal Mag. Also treating with a weekly dose of Microb LiftBMC after failing to conceptualize the dry cycle and getting some fungus gnats from the Forest soil.

Show the love. Keep the gate. Help me grow.

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Planted 6/21/24

All Sprouted 6/23/24

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1 week from plant 6/27

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1 week From Sprout

Started feeding with Voodoo at 2 ml/L. Each plant provided 0.5 L following finger test down to 1 inch checking for wetness.

*Note that apparently things can be drier than I realized or my wetness calibration is off. Did over apply in first week (every day and a half roughly) and started seeing fungus gnats. Seems like the typical 3 day watering schedule works ok but honestly the plants seem happier with even a little less. If you over water and are using a soil mix I’d recommend implementing 3 day minimum water cycle to start even if the soil feels close to ready from what I gather now a slightly drier soil is actually less problematic and easier to recover from. Personally purchased an auto watering base system because I know my tendencies and will continue to over water. Note that auto water bases require a plant roughly 2/3 size of the pot or with exposed roots in contact with the base to function without top feed amendments. Apply top feed amendments weekly until plants are of appropriate size to avoid under watering. Consider microb lift bmc as part of the top feed to potentially avoid fungus gnats (currently experimenting with this but seems like some people have had huge success).

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Looking good Growmie, word of caution and adding nutrients this soon. That FFOF will feed those plants for 6-8 weeks or longer in 5 gallon vessels. Best approach is to check the run off PPMs around week 4 and start feeding nutrients once that gets around 800 and maintain a feeding routine of 800-1000 PPMs with a PH of 6.5. Drench to drought for soil grows :love_you_gesture:

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2 weeks from Sprout 7/8 Full Suite of nutrients. Started 7/5 through bottom auto water feeder.

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Thanks! Yeah I only fed voodoo in the first 2 weeks and started the nutrient series in the third week from AC Infinity Auto water bases. Then I’m top feed once weekly with voodoo juice and Microb LiftBMC to act as a small nutrition wash. Our water is pretty high in calcium and I’m running the ph perfect series with added Cal Mag to help avoid burn and I’ve been seeing pretty good results in the first few days. This is great advice though and had similar concerns with how early but it’s a pretty low dose that I generated using the Advanced Nutrients AI and assumes the correct soil see below for reference.

To create a feeding schedule for autoflowering seeds grown in Fox Farms Ocean Forest topsoil using Advanced Nutrients’ pH Perfect Micro, Grow, and Bloom, along with B-52, Voodoo Juice, Big Bud, Sensi Cal-Mag Xtra, and Flawless Finish, follow this specialized plan:

Seedling Stage (Week 1-2)

During this stage, the plants are very delicate.

  • Voodoo Juice: 2 ml/L (8 ml/Gallon)

Voodoo Juice helps to promote root development, ensuring that your seedlings get off to a strong start.

Early Vegetative Stage (Week 3-4)

In this stage, start introducing the base nutrients alongside the beneficial supplements. Alternate between watering with nutrients and plain water (e.g., feed once, then water, then feed again).

  • pH Perfect Grow: 1 ml/L (4 ml/Gallon)

  • pH Perfect Micro: 1 ml/L (4 ml/Gallon)

  • pH Perfect Bloom: 1 ml/L (4 ml/Gallon)

  • Voodoo Juice: 2 ml/L (8 ml/Gallon)

  • B-52: 2 ml/L (8 ml/Gallon)

  • Sensi Cal-Mag Xtra: 1 ml/L (4 ml/Gallon)

Late Vegetative Stage (Week 5-6)

Increase the nutrient dosage as your plants grow larger. Continue alternating plain water and nutrient feed.

  • pH Perfect Grow: 2 ml/L (8 ml/Gallon)

  • pH Perfect Micro: 2 ml/L (8 ml/Gallon)

  • pH Perfect Bloom: 2 ml/L (8 ml/Gallon)

  • Voodoo Juice: 2 ml/L (8 ml/Gallon)

  • B-52: 2 ml/L (8 ml/Gallon)

  • Sensi Cal-Mag Xtra: 2 ml/L (8 ml/Gallon)

Early Bloom Stage (Week 7-8)

Shift focus to the bloom phase while still supporting vegetative growth slightly. Continue alternating plain water and nutrient feed.

  • pH Perfect Grow: 2 ml/L (8 ml/Gallon)

  • pH Perfect Micro: 2 ml/L (8 ml/Gallon)

  • pH Perfect Bloom: 2 ml/L (8 ml/Gallon)

  • B-52: 2 ml/L (8 ml/Gallon)

  • Big Bud: 2 ml/L (8 ml/Gallon)

  • Sensi Cal-Mag Xtra: 2 ml/L (8 ml/Gallon)

Mid Bloom Stage (Week 9-11)

Increase bloom nutrients to support budding, reduce vegetative support. Use every feeding until signs of nute burn develop.

  • pH Perfect Grow: 1 ml/L (4 ml/Gallon)

  • pH Perfect Micro: 1 ml/L (4 ml/Gallon)

  • pH Perfect Bloom: 3 ml/L (12 ml/Gallon)

  • B-52: 2 ml/L (8 ml/Gallon)

  • Big Bud: 2 ml/L (8 ml/Gallon)

  • Sensi Cal-Mag Xtra: 1 ml/L (4 ml/Gallon)

Late Bloom Stage (Week 12-13)

Focus primarily on bloom nutrients; decrease vegetative nutrients. Use every feeding until signs of nute burn develop.

  • pH Perfect Grow: 0 ml/L

  • pH Perfect Micro: 0 ml/L

  • pH Perfect Bloom: 4 ml/L (16 ml/Gallon)

  • B-52: 2 ml/L (8 ml/Gallon)

  • Big Bud: 2 ml/L (8 ml/Gallon)

  • Sensi Cal-Mag Xtra: 1 ml/L (4 ml/Gallon)

Flushing Stage (Week 14)

Use Flawless Finish to clean out any remaining nutrients in preparation for harvesting.

  • Flawless Finish: 2 ml/L (8 ml/Gallon)

Final Flush (Last 3-7 days of Week 14)

  • Use plain water only to flush the soil and remove excess nutrients.

Monitoring and Adjustments: Regularly check the pH levels to keep them within the optimal range of 5.5-6.5. Make any necessary adjustments based on your plants’ specific needs and environmental conditions.

I haven’t started pH monitoring yet to be honest, I still need to pick and order a probe it just happened to be an item on the other side of the new hobby budget. Hoping to get something going for that sooner rather than later though

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I would back off all those nutes except Grow, Micro, Bloom, and cal/mag. The rest are unnecessary and stacking extensive nute products can lead to problems.

Be sure that you are managing runoff PPM.

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I would assume the amended FFOF still has a Nutrient PPM level around 2500 plus. It’s your grow but I would recommend a water only feeding routine for several more weeks :love_you_gesture:

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Thank you both for the recommendations and definitely understood excess nutrients can cause some issues. The nutrients all fall within their designated beginner series (I actually left a few out worrying I’d cause issues) recommended feeding schedule and are at decreased rates from their standard rates and only fed in by wicking with a weekly top feed with no nutrients to act as a wash. So far the plants really seem to be thriving on the nutrients added but I’ll for sure pull back to just the base if I start noticing burn of any kind. Anything particular in the photos that raise concern? I’ve been pretty happy with the results so far and feel fairly happy with the regimen I’m on if there aren’t signs of issues I’m missing.

Pure marketing (snake oil,) sadly. Calling it “beginner series” is insane, particularly for new growers who already struggle to manage proper nutrient levels. I would stick with the base nutrients and leave all that extra stuff out.

Your plants look good.

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Good to know. Yeah I pulled up their whole list and thought no way this all helps so figured some was snake oil. I got the B 52 because they listed it everywhere and it seemed logical to help with veg, but it felt like snake oil out of the bottle honestly so not inclined to disagree and the Ed Rosenthal book I think I was reading new research showed the B vitamin stuff had little to no effect. So will probably cut that which honestly puts me pretty close to the recommendation.

I’ve got friends that swear by the voodoo juice and big bud though. Have you had negative experiences with them or just found them not to improve your own yields?

I don’t use them and don’t have personal experience with them. My aversion to them comes from watching growers who post here for solutions to problems that are generated by using them (generally pH and salt buildup problems.)

The 3 base nutrients cover all your NPK needs. The other products just aren’t necessary, particularly given the risk they pose.

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What series do you use? I was considering switching to their Sensi series for the next grow and was also considering going with their regular series and just use cal mag/ph down as needed. I’m watering with slightly hard well water so all the extra calcium they add for the ph perfect is probably unnecessary and honestly maybe a negative. Learned about the water in the new house after already ordering the series I’m using now and with a weekly wash doesn’t seem like the excess calcium should cause too many issues.

Jacks 321

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Recent Michigan transplant so definitely like the local and will have to give it a try. Just popped these so it’ll be next grow otherwise the wife will make me drink what’s left with how much it all costs. :joy:

That said been super happy with Advanced Nutrients and their customer support so far. May be avoiding the burn with the wicking feeder system since it only saturates the bottom third and their root zones are just getting there, who knows, but the Ladies have been loving it so far. Still have fingers crossed for green canopies and big buds.

Hey nothing wrong with adv. I started there in soil as well. Didn’t stay though. They do a great job of marketing a schedule and regimen. The routine helps new growers get on board. I started with Blue dream too!

That said, it’s a lot of product and packaging that takes your wallet through a bunch of steps as well as your plant. They do need specifics, but less than the marketing would have you think.

Here were my 2 most important learnings. Biggest key is get the light right. Next was the PH level, wish I had started here, the roots can’t pull in the food from the medium if the PH is not in the correct window. You can give them everything they need, if the PH is out they can’t eat it.

My girls down below on a light version of Jacks 321.

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Worth knowing Jacks (or other similar 3 unit powders) is way cheaper and way less effort to mix/feed. The plants don’t get a 17 stage rainfall in the wild, which makes one wonder if large nute lines are avoiding basic comprehensive mixes in order to sell a compartmentalized (more expensive) line up.

Hope that’s not to preachy, I get blown away by how easy it was once I found simple products and where I put to much time in.