Indoor "Critical+ Autoflowering CBD" - Kush's Newest Ghetto Grow

[Kush]

Hi folks, Kush here with yet another DIY ghetto grow.
I will be growing Dinafem "Critical+ Autoflowering CBD" and Sweet Seeds "Sweet Skunk Auto" side by side.

The beans were soaked in water yesterday and today the Critical+ Autoflowering CBD showed a tap root and was placed directly in the 11 liter fabric pot.
The Sweet Skunk Auto was not showing any signs of sprouting, so I cracked it by hand. I hope I have not damaged it while I was cracking it open. Will know by tomorrow. If it turns out that I have killed the seed, I will soak another Sweet Skunk Auto bean.

Here is info about the grow:

Strains: "Critical+ Autoflowering CBD" by Dinafem and "Sweet Skunk Auto" by Sweet Seeds

Grow medium: Soil

Pots: White autopruning fabric pots

Lights: a DIY light fixture that was made by me from regular LED bulbs with their globes removed. A total of 15 bulbs, 9 Watts each = 135 Watts from the wall.
I can tell you, this thing puts out 65 000 Lux one foot away like a champ.
Currently I have cold temp bulbs on. Will replace them with warmer temp bulbs come flowering time.

Grow box: homemade out of three large cardboard boxes. Lots of labor and lots of glue involved. Size of the grow box is 150cm tall, 75cm wide and 45cm deep (approximately 5 feet tall, 2,5 feet wide and 1,5 feet deep). The grow box is lined with highly reflective Mylar sheets, taken from survival blankets.

Ventilation: I have two exhaust fans in this box. One is a PC fan that will be used for veg. And the other is a larger mixed flow fan with a carbon filter attached to it that will be used for the flowering stage. The reason I am not using the large fan from the very beginning of the grow is because the box is in my bedroom and that mixed flow fan is very noisy. I will only use it if it is absolutely necessary to filter out the smell.
No intake fans.

Light schedule: 20/4 for the first two weeks of veg and 24/0 for late veg and flowering (because the plant started to reek during the lights off periods, so I had to keep the system running 24/0)

Training: I plan to let them grow naturally. No LST, no FIM, no topping.


Check out 5 photos of my DIY setup below:





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[Kush]

Yes, sure enough, it turned out that I have killed the Sweet Skunk seed when I cracked it open by hand.
So I soaked a new Sweet Skunk bean. The new seed has been submerged in water for about 14 hours and now I moved it to a wet paper towel.
These Sweet Skunk beans are really hard to sprout. They have a very tough shell or maybe they are just too old and need extra time to show a tap root.. I don't really know.

 

[Kush]

Just three days after soaking in water and just two days after planting in soil, Dinafem's "Critical Autoflowering CBD" is already showing above the surface! (see photo below)
Its stem is very thick and robust for a 2-day old seedling.
I have never witnessed more vigorous and faster growth before.
Wow... fantastic genetics so far, Dinafem!

The second "Sweet Skunk" seed is still in a wet paper towel. It does not show any signs of life. Maybe it's too old and probably it is dead.

 

[Kush]

And only 5 hours later...

This thing is growing as fast as a mushroom.
I don't know why it is lime green, though... It could be overwatered.... or underwtered... it could be too hot... or it may be getting way to much light...
I need to find out what is going on.
Will start by turning 1/3 of the bulbs off. This will reduce the temperature and will lower down the light intensity.

 

[Kush]

After I upped the humidity and lowered the tepmerature by turning off 1/3 of the light bulbs, the little Critical Autoflowering CBD is looking much better now.
Still a bit of lime green can be seen on the leaves, but the cotyledons have recovered to normal green.

 

[Kush]

Critical Autoflowering CBD at 7 days from seed and at only 6 days from sprout.
The pictures don't do it justice. It is gigantic for a 6 day old seedling.






I abandoned the idea of growing Sweet Skunk and soaked a Barney's Farm Tangelo Rapido seed instead (which probably won't sprout as well).

 

[Kush]

Here is the Critical Autflowering CBD at 7 days from sprout.
The diameter of the fabric pot is about 30 centimeters, so the span of this 7-day-old seedling is almost 10 centimeters. This thing is huge for its age.
The guys at Dinamfem claim that this strain is Sativa-like in appearance. In my case it developed very broad leaves and a squat stature, so at least for now it actually resembles an Indica plant. Could this be because I am giving it 45000 Lux of light?

 

[Kush]

10 days from sprout.
Gigantic broad leaves that are lush, but drooping, and their tips are touching the soil (don't know why the leaves are not standing up, maybe they are getting too much light).

This squat plant is like inch and a half tall, but it already smells up the room: this is not good!
Also, today I noticed a gnat in the box. Never had any gnat issues with this soil before. Guess they have lowerd their quality control.

 

[Kush]

11 days from sprout and the plant is already showing a third set of true leaves!
I know that you guys don't give much shit about my little ghetto grow here, but I have a question to whomever is reading this:
Why is this plant so short and squat? Am I giving it way too much light? Or could this be due to genetics?

Another news: I placed an air freshener gel thingy on top of my light fixture and close to the exhaust fan. This product is not ONA Gel, but I assume it works in a similar manner.
For now it is keeping the weed smell down and is giving off a peasant fresh aroma.
See pictures below.

 

[Kush]

14 days from seed and 13 days from sprout.
This thing is very, very squat. It is no more than 2 inches tall. Looks less like hemp and more like lettuce, lol.
I really don't get it... according to Dinafem, it was supposed to be a Sativa-looking plant... So far it looks like an Afghanica strain.