“At the beginning of May I purchased a 5 pack of WW Auto Feminised seeds for a personal grow. They arrived super quick, in the usual discreet packaging. I immediately set about germing them with my usual kitchen towel/saucer method. After 2-3 days they were showing signs of popping so decided to leave them be till the next day, unfortunately only 3 of the 5 popped and had tap roots about 1cm long, so I went ahead and potted them hoping the others would sprout if I left them for another day or two? After 7 days I gave up on them as they were showing no signs of popping so I binned them and concentrated on the seedlings. After 4-5 days they finally broke the surface which was a huge relief as I was beginning to wonder if I was going to be unlucky and have a total 100% failure. After approximately 3 days on my windowsill I decided to put the girls under a CFL on an 12/12 cycle to try encourage them to establish a good root system. I left them on this cycle and continued to monitor them for 2 weeks before upgrading to bigger pots once I seen the roots protruding out the drainage holes. A further 2 weeks under the CFL and it was pot upgrade time again and as they each were well on their way to developing their 3rd node I decided it was time for them to go under the 600watt HPS on an 18/6 cycle. After a few tentative weeks of wondering if they were going to make it into strong plants, I could finally rest easy as once settled under the HPS they began to thrive. It’s been roughly 7 weeks since they’ve been on the 18/6 and the buds are really starting to thicken out now and look very healthy. I estimate approximately another 2 possibly 3 weeks and hopefully they will be ready to harvest?
So to cap it off. What started out looking likely to be a total failure has turned out to be a success, granted 2 girls never made it but law of averages 3 out of 5 is still a relatively good success rate in my eyes. I just have to bide my time now and be patient over the next few weeks checking them every 3rd day to give them a well earned drink. I may also say that I will not be giving them any additives or enhancers as I am a firm believer that providing you get the 4 basic elements right, Light/Air/Water & Earth you shouldn’t have to add anything else, after all Mother Nature doesn’t provide anything else, keep upgrading the pots every showing of roots through the bottom and they will have all the nutrients they will ever need from the compost, providing it’s a good medium and not too acidic.
They’re taking longer than I anticipated but I am not in any hurry and as the saying goes, if you wait long enough you’ll get your just rewards.”
