First Time Auto Grow(er) GDP and 9LB Hammer

[JaPinkman]

Thanks, it sounds like I'm not too far off with that soil. I'll probably go with what I have and I'm using organic ammendments only after nute -locking a plant last year with fertilizers. I don't need to ever do that again. Just greed for yield. I like your advice and just in time.
Thank you so much

Hey @JaPinkman. I hope all is well. I use a premixed soil from BAS. It has 1/3 aeration in rice hulls, pumice, and biochar. Most recipes also call for 1/3 aeration. I am not familiar with a coco and soil mix, however. I am copying a couple guys who I have learned a lot from who may be able to speak specifically to that combination you are asking about, what say you @hecno and @Eyes on Fire ?

 

[JaPinkman]

Hey Pinkman. Yeah, I would say most outdoor auto growers plant in the ground or use bigger pots than we are using. I plan to run two photos and two autos this summer. I will plant the autos in May sometime, and try to get two runs from them this summer. I will plant the photos in June when day hours are maximized.

I need to use pots so I can move the plants in case of company neighbors etc. it’s legal to grow indoors but they can complain if smell gets strong outdoors. I will probably use bigger pots for the photos as I think they got rootlodged in the small pots last year. My 3 gallons should work for the autos and short runs. I will get a good feel for how much less I need to water with Organic soil. It’s always about learning for me. Having fun and smoking a lot while I do it though!

good luck brother!

Thanks man, I really appreciate that. I'm going to grow a Big Bud photo again this year (got a bit over 1.5lb) but I think I'll bag it to try and keep it more manageable, and go organic. And, I'm going to try some Autos. I just started a free seed, Cookie Wreck, mostly because I couldn't wait any longer and I wanted to start with a seed I didn't care too much about. Then I'm going to try an auto Critical Purple, and hopefully a Nine Pound Hammer (questionable genetics) auto and a Grandaddy Purple. I'll post some pics. Colorado.

 

[Iriee Vibez]

Right on, man! Yeah, I hear you about not wanting to wait to put a seed in the ground. I started my outdoor autos a few days ago. Weather is till a bit dicey, but I am hoping it settles in for the transplant next week.

Put it in and give it a go. As long as you keep the microbes happy and healthy in the soil, you will be alright. Keep the soil moist and rich, but don’t overwater or over amend. Less is certainly more I am learning again.

 

[Growtogrow]

Thanks for the input on the seed vendors. I hope you're wrong also The beans for those two strains were nearly nowhere to be found through my efforts so I was worried about that. I'll keep you posted......all the while wondering how I'll ever know at this point.


You pretty much just answered a lot of questions I had
Two questions for you please:
So do you like feed your soil root systems with tea, or with soil amendments, or both?
Can you add horse or cow poop straight into soil without making it to hot?

Hey sorry for the delay getting back to you. . I don't seem to get the the pushes that I used to get when someone is calling.
I mix my amendments right into the soil weeks before planting and sometimes at the time of planting.
I always feed the microbes. It's all about the microbes. If you can feed the microbes they will feed your plants.
I don't do much measuring with most products for most things Epsom salts Garden lime about the only two things that I really think about measuring humic acid to. But for the most part I'm just a grab a handful of whatever and stirred in well add a bit of water and put the plant in it kind of guy.
I really don't have recipes for soil. Above statement applies.
I throuw a lot of things in the soil.
I try to be easy on the Mexican bat guano and Indonesian bat guano as they are both pretty high in nitrogen. Jamaican bat guano good guano for flowering. But for the most part I really don't pay attention to all that.
Using teas in the soil and as a foliar spray . I also use Rainwater as much as possible. I try to stay away from City water or well water. But in a pinch you got to do what you got to do when it's dry. Vermiculite is it real good source of natural silica. And is a natural air raid for your soil. Cannabis plants need a lot of silica and so it'll double benefit for your grow operation.

 

[JaPinkman]

Hey Bro, no problem. I'm still trying to learn my way around this forum and you are one of the few people to respond so far. Anyways, you are doing exactly the kind of growing I want to do so I'm thankful for your input. I'll probably look to you for help if I can find you, hehe. I'm pretty much copying your style I'm already sold on the tea and I used bat guano for the first time today. I didn't realize that there were so many types. I added it and some worm castings and some Humic acid top dressed today and she got some good color.
I ended up started some free seeds to see if I could make it work. One Cookie Wreck and a Hindu Kush. I successfully used rockwool for the first time and like it but couldn't figure out how to water it in a 5 gal fabric pot. It actually took off and was ahead of Hindi when the sprinkler went off soaking half of it with very high ph water, really cold. It damn near killed it and I just couldn't save it. It was looking like a dwarf.....stunted already so now I'm down to one, the Kush and it's looking okay but small. I'm at the beginning of week 3 and it's a 3 in inch tall baby with pilots and one true set of leaves. I'm not really set up with good lights so they (it) are outdoors in the day and in at night. My germ rates are sucking already so I think you guys are right about Pacific Seed Co. So I have 3 seeds soaking and a 9# hammer ready to go into a rapid rooter tomorrow. I think I'll do better with that when watering in the early stage.
Do you use solo cups?
Rockwool, peat plugs, or right into the soil?
I'm not giving up on this, and it's harder than I thought it would be. So, I'll plant a photo just in case and keep plugging away. I think it will be a lot easier when the weather is ready !! I just couldn't wait.
Thanks GTG

 

[JaPinkman]

I was recently considering getting those strains, 9 lb Hammer and GDP and some others, from Pacific seed bank.
But I was suspicious, because those strains are hard or impossible to get auto versions of, so I did some research.
Turns out none of the breeders they claim to use have any google hits, which most likely means they are made up names.
There have been posts on other forums claiming that some of the Pacific strains didn't turn out to have the expected traits.
And that the seeds didn't come in breeder packs.

There could be an innocent explanation for these fake breeders, but I doubt it.
Most likely Pacific is using some basic strains, and re-labeling them as popular strains.

I hope I'm wrong, because most of those auto strains sound amazing.
I'll be watching your thread to see what happens, and might even take a chance and try one of their strains myself.

I ended up starting with some freebies to see if I could even grow an organic autoflower. I will say that the (GDP) seeds looked to be similar but who knows. The seeds from Pacific looked old and a few were cracked and light in color I'm seeing around a 50% germ rate and I suspect that you are totally right. Unfortunately, I just started learning where to buy seeds after I had bought this year's seeds. Anyway, I just soaked one 9lb seed and it opened and is now in a rapid rooter. I've got two GDP seeds, both opened but they seemed slow to do it.
Thanks for the input and I'll post some pics if I can grow them out.

 

[JaPinkman]

Right on, man! Yeah, I hear you about not wanting to wait to put a seed in the ground. I started my outdoor autos a few days ago. Weather is till a bit dicey, but I am hoping it settles in for the transplant next week.

Put it in and give it a go. As long as you keep the microbes happy and healthy in the soil, you will be alright. Keep the soil moist and rich, but don’t overwater or over amend. Less is certainly more I am learning again.

Hey Irie, I don't know if you'll ever see this but I couldn't wait for the weather to warm up either so now I'm really wanting to make some tea but I don't think it's warm enough. So, How else can I keep microbes happy? Voodo Juice?

 

[Iriee Vibez]

Hey JaP, I hear you about not wanting to wait, man. I am like that too, whether it’s waiting for the weather to warm up in Spring or cool down in fall, I find myself taking a chance. So I know how it is. It sounds like you are having some challenges, but we all did and do. It’s all par for the course. Very rarely do folks start off raising monsters, but more times than not we will something to smoke! Hang in there buddy, and tweak things as you go. You will be fine.

I don’t think it’s too early or cold to make teas at all. You may have to brew for 48 hours instead of 24 to make sure it is activated, but the microbes will love it. You can also drench with water and recharge or EM-1 to get things going also. I have used bothwith no complaints.

I have tried the paper towel, rockwool, and rapid rooters in hydro, but since I moved to to soil, I have kept in simple. Soak for 24 hours with a little touch of a microbrial inoculate like rechargeor EM1 and then directly to the pot. I just put a pocket of starter soil so the little roots aren’t hitting the supercharged soil right away. With the plants I am going to do outdoors, I do the same but start in solo cups in the cabinet until they are mature enough to better handle the elements outside.

 

[JaPinkman]

Soak for 24 hours with a little touch of a microbrial inoculate like rechargeor EM1 and then directly to the pot. I just put a pocket of starter soil so the little roots aren’t hitting the supercharged soil right away. With the plants I am going to do outdoors, I do the same but start in solo cups in the cabinet until they are mature

Thanks for getting right back to me, my lucky daySun is out, I have my first actually 'growing fine' outside now. She's been inside at night but I want to leave it out now, past frost. Hindu Kush. She's at the beginning of week three and is only about 5 inches tall pushing out the second set of true leaves now. Seems pretty small.... but healthy. Good news is that I just put an opened 9lb Hammer into Rapid Rooter, and just put two Critical Purples into a paper towel for a day and into the plug tomorrow. I'm going to try solo cups.
I'm off to start my first batch of tea (for only one plant, hehe) I guess I'll share it with the house plants and raspberries. I was worried about the evening temps being too cool but I'll bet your right....just might take longer.

 

[Iriee Vibez]

Thanks for getting right back to me, my lucky daySun is out, I have my first actually 'growing fine' outside now. She's been inside at night but I want to leave it out now, past frost. Hindu Kush. She's at the beginning of week three and is only about 5 inches tall pushing out the second set of true leaves now. Seems pretty small.... but healthy. Good news is that I just put an opened 9lb Hammer into Rapid Rooter, and just put two Critical Purples into a paper towel for a day and into the plug tomorrow. I'm going to try solo cups.
I'm off to start my first batch of tea (for only one plant, hehe) I guess I'll share it with the house plants and raspberries. I was worried about the evening temps being too cool but I'll bet your right....just might take longer.

Yeah, I have been brewing teas in my uninsulated garage all through the winter... it just takes longer IME. The soil will love it, you’ll see. Hopefully the Hindu Kush delays flower enough to catch up. I’ve seen that happen a lot to plants that have been stunted. Maybe the soil was too hot initially?

Anyway, enjoy the plants and the weather, man!