Sawney Bean Grow Shows 2023 Bob's first go at a SOG - Sawney's SOS grown in BioTabs

[Bob's Auto's]

Hey Friends


Three days on and most of the seeds have germinated or at least have cracked. I started with a cleanup job which I should have done earlier, but then I'm lazy For the third time I'm reusing this soil and I just dumped the old root stubs with the leftover soil from last time in the tub with the leftover soil. Gave it a couple of good punches and this is what I was left with. I don't know anymore who asked me a while ago, but the roots don't have issues going through those pouches...

I mixed this old dry soil with the soil in the barrel...No need to add anymore amendments at this time as 50% of the soil is still unused and has been brewing for more then three months with the Startrex and Silicium Flash. When needed I can topdress the soil with the Silicium Flash as need be, but I don't think we'll need to be doing that

I filled up the 3.5L / 0.92gal pots with about 1/2L or two Solocups full of soil.

Then it was time to take out the big guns. For this round BioTabs provided me with two ten packs of them BioTabs.

I dropped one whole BioTab in a corner on top of the soil...I had been contemplating if I should crack them, but I decided against it and just dropped one whole tab in each pot.

Then topped of the pots until the brim. I didn't press the soil or anything. I try to keep it as fluffy as possible while the worms start to take hold in the soil.

Next up the seeds.
As I said, most seeds did germinate. About four weren't cracked yet. I've set them aside until tomorrow to check if more seeds did germinate. Anyhow, I had enough sprouts to sow into the pots.

Full house!!
I figured out it was easier to transfer the tray with the pots without first watering them, so there I went to the tent. Once there I had a bit of an issue getting the try into the tent as both are 60x60... An empty tray is easy, but filled with sixteen pots...Food for thought.
Some of you might have noticed, but I put some plastic tape around the pots to keep them together during transport. This has probably save my skin while squeezing the tray inside the tent...

Installed my trusty NodeMCU with temperature, humidity, lux and CO2 sensor drop in the middle of the table and slided the whole unit as low as I could get it so the lux sensor give an approx. value of the light intensity.

As usual just before watering I measured five teaspoons of Bactrex and dropped it into 5L of water.

Before watering the pots I dispenced one teaspoon of Mycotrex on top of the soil and worked that in with my fingers.

I'm trying to be very careful with the amount of water I'm giving these pots. First of the soil was already 'moist', not wet...though. I'll try to photograph how I water one of the next times...

Set the extraction fan to the below setting. I didn't have time to hack it yet, so this grow will probably be adjusted via this knob.

The TS-1000 on the other hand is completely controlled by my Blynk app. The blue light is the NodeMCU inside the plastic box.

And these are the values inside the tent after a couple of hours running before I placed the pots inside the tent and now an hour after placing the pots inside.
The temperature is a bit on the low side, so I'm going to adjust the light a bit from 66 to 75%, this will probably raise the temperature enough for the seedlings to enjoy it's heat and grow, grow, grow!!!
I've also ordered a 55x55cm 48Watt heating mat to put underneath the tray. This will aid me in the winter to keep the tent up to temperature without light poisoning my ladies. And since the values which my CO2 meter gives are a bit to high to be correct I've ordered a newer, bit more expensive (like 4 times more expensive) sensor.

Regards,

Bob

 

[Bob's Auto's]

Hey Friends

You guys know my posts as very honest and direct. And I always shared the good, but also the bad...Today is such a day...
After almost a week of waiting for the sprouts to emerge from the soil I started panicking...What did I do wrong?? Temperatures have been on the low side, so I ordered a 50x50cm heating mat to put underneath the tray.
Today I went to check up on the sprouts and still only four that were up... So I started digging and found one mush seed after another. Didn't notice the white specks until I started to take pictures, yuck...compost mites...AGAIN!!



Last year I had the same issue until I got rid of them. There are several way to accomplish that, but since I was and still am, growing organic and don't want to subside from that style, I ordered some nematodes (Steinernema carpocapsae). These little guys attack about any insect that causes trouble in or around your pots.
I thought that these guys were still in the soil, but it seems they can't handle cold very well. And the barrel with the soil had been standing outside the previous weeks before I took it in to acclimatize before being mixed with the old used soil.
Seems I gave these, otherwise harmless, mites the advantage by letting them roam free in the warm soil with all the dead plant material they could ever eat. Adding that freshly sprouted seed was just the cherry on top and a welcome dessert for these white mf's

Anyhow, I've just ordered myself a new batch of nematodes. More then enough to treat every plant in the house and then some, but there's a minimum order of 10million so... Guess I'll be in the opportunity to treat all my plants again...


Until I get this shizzle sorted out this grow is put on hold. I'm not canceling it, just a false start



Regards,

Bob

 

[Bob's Auto's]

Hey friends,

The soil is completely done with them pesky compost mites. Just came back from the tent and couldn't find any, but then the top layer of the soil was kinda dried out, so I've watered the pots and divided 2.5L/0.6gal water over the 16 pots. This isn't enough, I know, but that was all the water I had set aside. I've just filled the canister with 5L hot water. By tomorrow it's aired out and usable.

I've also resowed the remaining Spawn of Sawney seeds, twenty-two in all, which would give me six spares for any mishap from my doing...I have some GA3 I can use to give the seeds a kick in the back if need be, but I don't want them to be in contact with the product for to long...I only want that initial kick so the radicle gets that boost, so if I'm gonna add some (2ppm) GA3 it will be at day three...By then the seeds will have cracked open and it's then that the radicle will have the most benefit from the exposure.

The proven germination method my good friend Antonio thought me...Organic unbleached cotton pads, with each 4ml demineralized water and two drops of H²O², followed by the seeds spread out and topped with new cotton pads, water and H²O²... Then covered the plate with microwave foil, which has perforations that allow for some air movement or whatchamacallit...

And now...We...wait...

 

[Bob's Auto's]

Hey guys,

So I checked the seeds today and no need for GA3...See for yourselves.

But before I started, I first had a last look around in the soil...No critters to be found! Not that they're not there, but rather kept under control.

I plowed the soil a bit with a pencil, loosening it up for the coming sprouts..

Ready...Set...Go!!!

All the seeds have germinated and grown a nice tail. Except for one...

But even then, a small tail has already emerged, so 22 out of 22 seeds have popped after four days. I call that a succes buddy!!!

The sixteen prettiest sprouts were selected and planted in the middle of each pot. Each sprout had already lost or loosened it's pericarp, so I made sure the cotyledons received some light, by planting them near the surface...Gently compressing the soil around the sprout.

I was curious how each sprout would grow out, so I opted to plant the remaining six in the corners of randomly chosen pots...I can cull them later on, but for now they're allowed to emerge from the soil.
All that is left on the plate are the helmets of 21 seeds. I didn't want to remove the pericarp from the little one, as this was just to soon.

When I was done planting, I gave the remaining 2.5L of the 5L canister I made yesterday, to which I added 5 teaspoons Bactrex and 20ml Orgatrex.
This is a very time consuming way of watering, but somehow this calms me down after a stressful day at work, that and a nice spliff before I began

After a false start my SOG journey can finally begin. Will you join me in my adventures???

Regards,

Bob

 

[Bob's Auto's]

Hey Friends


Small intermezzo before the show starts again...

@Bob's Auto's here's the xmas bundle for UK. That's 19 seeds for $75. Store will be open Monday at 12pm gmt according to stan
View attachment 1545485

A while ago someone mentioned me that Mephisto had some great Holiday season deals...Sadly I live in Europe and Stan ignores the shizzle out of me, so I asked a good friend on AFN if he wanted to buy the Secret Santa Bundle and reship it my direction...He gladly obliged and them some!!!

Today after work one of my kids came running inside with an envelope in his hands..."For you daddy"

I had to calm myself and stop from opening the envelope there and then. It's cold outside and warm inside...Don't want to shock anything, so left it alone for half an hour. Then I couldn't hold it anymore and opened it. What I found inside really made my day brothers and sisters!!

A treasure-trove of fine genetics awaited me...And he even added the stickers. Oh Buddy, thank you so much!!! I ow you one, that's for sure!!

And it's like he foresaw the mishap with the SOS seeds as well...Because I again have enough to start my SOG grow. Yihawww

See you guys very soon with a continuation of the SOG grow and when that's done...I'm gonna run me some Mephisto crosses


Regards,

Bob

 

[Bob's Auto's]

Hey Growers,

It's been some dark times...Long story, so get yourself a joint or vape or whatever your poison and buckle in...



The third go didn't go as planned. I discovered that the last shipment of seeds went through the sorting machine in the post office and many got damaged. The seeds that did germinate didn't have enough energy to go the full run and by the time they did, I had about six seedlings left. Not nearly enough to do the SOG run.
I had now wasted more of his seeds then I've sown in the previous year. Shame became over me and I had to explain this latest failure to my mate
In the end he felt sorry that the seeds didn't ship well, but he is a top bloke!! and said it would be alright...A couple of days later a new envelope with another fifty SOS seeds from his latest harvest dropped in my mailbox. ♥ ♥ ♥

Anyway, I started this new attempt about a week ago and was waiting until I was sure they went through this early stage before posting here. If it failed I would have posted that to and that would have been the end of it...Short pain, if you get my drift.
But, and I'm holding wood while I'm typing this, but the seedlings look alright for now.
I went all in and sowed three seeds per pot, straight into the soil as Sawney advised me. "Let nature decide mate..." From those 45 seeds 35 made it up and I have at least two seedlings into each pot giving me the opportunity to keep the best one.
09/02/2023 - S.o.S. - not quite yet day one...

In the back left corner there a 2L tub with water in which a vaporizer was mounted. That thing lived for two days and then shorted out my usb wire, which got so hot, that I was lucky I noticed it in time, as this could have caused a fire...sure of it... I've ordered a new one which is made to run for 10hours straight and has two nozzles, which can be turned on in sequence allowing for continues use...Just need to remember to fill it up with water now and then...
Large Capacity Humidifier - T16

All the sprouts have emerged and have become seedlings
10/02/2023 - S.o.S. - Day 1

I raised the light from 25% to 30% and while the light is momentarily running 24/7 on, I will be starting to give the plants some dark time in the future, but for now I want them to get all the energy those little leaves can harvest so they can expand their root system
The temperature is alright, but humidity could be a bit higher. This will improve as soon as the new humidifier arrrives.

 

[Bob's Auto's]

I ran out of picture real-estate...So let's continue here...

We've arrived to Today and I'm doing my utmost best not to overwater the seedlings and today I'm directing the water I'm giving via the stem and the root into the soil. That way the taproot has to go deeper to follow the water and the entire height of the pot gets utilized before the lateral roots start spreading out.

The soil is also super airy, which means I'll have to keep watering with that small piece of tubing as not to disrupt or compress that airy fluffiness with the pressure of the water.

Just a mere scratch on the surface exposes a vibrant living organic and dark soil...Only the toplayer is drying out like this and that's a good thing. This will help keep pets at bay as those like to remain in the wetter parts of the soil...

I'm colorblind (Daltonism) so I have problems with greens and browns, oranges and so on. So if any of my buddy or AFN fam sees any discoloration in the next posts, please give me a tap on my shoulder, because by the time I notice it, it's probably to far on...I'm getting better though, thanks to software editing algorithms that adjust the colors so that it's easier for me to discern the good from the bad...But any help is always welcome

The runt on the right side most likely won't make it...

But that large one in this picture is probably to big and is growing to fast in comparison to the other seedlings. I want uniformity and by sowing this many seeds it's giving me the opportunity to do just that

 

[Bob's Auto's]

Hey friends

Life is good and everything is going great inside the tent. It's even starting to get crowded

So I took many pictures from before and after, but this resulted in about 48 pictures which is to much for one post...

So here are a few to show you I bit that bullet, and yes...it get's easier

I tried to select the seedlings that looked a-like, same growth pattern and didn't have any genetic deviations like the one below. I want an even canopy so even the biggest one got culled. This would have been a prime specimen for continuing inside the greenhouse, were it not that the temperatures would kill the sprout during it's first night...

One thing I delayed was inserting the BioTabs, I already wasted 16 tabs in the previous grow and I didn't want to do that again. Actually, them tabs aren't wasted as I going to reuse the soil inside the greenhouse. When the weather allows, I'm ordering myself some predatory Hypoaspis miles (Stratiolaelaps scimitus) to add to that soil. These should keep all population explosions under control.

The energy stored inside the culled sprouts will go to benefit the younglings...

I carefully opened up a hole with a teaspoon, dusted the insides with some Mycotrex. Then placed the crushed sprout(s) inside the hole...

Followed by the BioTab, which I pressed as deep as my thumb could go inside the pot.

Then covered up the crime scene and left it as if nothing had happened

Fifteen perfect sprouts...

...Same size and height...

This weekend I'm installing my relay to turn the light on/off. Doing that with the digital potmeter isn't healthy for potmeter itself...Something technical I'm to stoned for to explain, just trust me...A relay is needed...
But for now, the DLI is still based on 24/7 and that's maybe a bit high for these seedlings...What do you light guru's think?
Temperature is ok, not to hot...not to cold... Humidity on the other hand is way to low, but I've got a humidifier enroute, so I've slowed down the extraction as low as I can get away with, without stalling the motor. Once a day I manually run the extraction at 50% for about 5 minutes and once a day I'm at the tent to check on the sprouts. Both times there's more then enough air exchange to prevent things getting damp and molding off...

For those of you that know me...I like to make use of technology and time lapses are a key component in understanding how your plants grow. I feel it's as useful as a pH pen or humidity sensor...
Todays time lapse is from the last two days and run at 60fps. Please enjoy







Regards,

Bob

 

[Bob's Auto's]

Wicked stuff! High tech and low tech at the same time.

Thanks buddy! Always nice to have you around
Were finally off to a good start

And @Rick Dirte' & @Zaaboot, thanks for the rep guys!!

The seedlings are turning into real ladies you guys...Look at them spreading their leaves...♥

 

[Bob's Auto's]

Hey Friends

Day 9 inside the tent and all these younglings are looking really nice and on schedule

Nice green color, which indicates they are happy little campers.

I did have a feel at some leaves and some do feel leathery, so it's water only for the time being. I'm cutting back on the Bactrex until these girls are getting more hungry. The same for the Orgatrex as this is a powershake for the bennies...

I'm glad with the selection I made. All these girls are same sized and growing at the same speed dishing out new fan leaves.

The only difference there is at the moment is that the four inner pots dry out quicker then the twelve on the outside. This is probably caused by the fact that my heatbed is still switching on at night as temperatures fall during the night. I like to keep everything at around 23°C / 73.4°F for the moment and the combination of the heat emitted from the TS-1000 and the heatbed switching on to keep it there is just perfect. The only addon I'm planning on in the near future is a soil probe for the temperature. That way I can choose where to measure for the heatbed

Hey Mate, This one is reaching out for a hug mate Thanks for not giving up on me

I'm upping the light with another 2% today...So slowly the DLI will rise, but this weekend I'm installing a smart switch so I can turn it off completely. And then I'm going to do something special!! You wait and see

And to finish off this post, I've prepared a three day time lapse. The speed is 25fps...Please enjoy







Regards,

Bob






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