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Hobbes Potter and the Sorceror's Stoned: 3rd Grow (11 Strains - All Auto)
I have learned a lot from my 1st and 2nd grow; as I'm sure I will learn much from this 3rd grow. So buckle up, light one up, and come along for an assuredly interesting ride!
Hobbes Potter and the Sorcerer's Stoned
Equipment:
(1) Aviditi 4 foot by 4 foot by 7 foot grow tent
(1) Aviditi 3 foot by 20 inches by 5 foot grow tent
(4) LEDWholesalers 6" inline 240CFM can fans
(2) Hydrofarm Active 6" inline 400 CFM inline centrifuge fans
(2) LEDWholesalers 6" Carbon Scrubbers
(1) 1000W MH/HPS switchable light with hood and electronic ballast
(1) 400W MH/HPS switchable light with reflector and digital electronic ballast
(2) 125W rated (not equivalent) CFL lights with dew reflectors
(3) Lasko 6" Clip-on Fans
Growing Medium:
Pro-Mix BX w/ Mycorise
Hoffman Horticulture Perlite
Dr. Earth Blood Meal 13-0-0
Worm Castings
Coco Coir
Espoma Bone Meal 4-12-0
My growing medium was mixed in a tub at these ratios:
4 gallons of Pro-Mix BX
1 gallon of worm castings
1 gallon of perlite
4 tablespoons of bone meal
4 tablespoons of blood meal
Feminized Auto Strains
All seeds ordered through Attitude seed bank. Fourth order with Attitude, have had amazing luck with them and they respond to customer service very quickly. All seeds feminized, all autoflower. Ordered with discreet shipping, from across the pond to middle'ish of the states in 8 days.
White Label Seed Company "Skunk Auto"
Nirvana Seeds "Northern Lights Auto"
Nirvana Seeds "Bubblicious Auto"
Sativa Seeds "Jock Horror"
G13 Labs "Auto Northern Lights x Auto Sweet Tooth"
G13 Labs "Auto AK"
Auto Seeds "Trans Siberian"
Freedom of Seeds "White Goblin"
Freedom of Seeds "Jack Auto"
DNA Genetics "60 Day Wonder"
Dinafem "White Widow Auto"
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I received 16 free feminized photo strains from Attitude on the order! Those are getting tucked away for a rainy day down the road.
Germination Method
View attachment 148768
This is where things got goofy. I normally have had HORRIBLE germination rates. I had killed a lot of a previous seed order through inexperience and simply not knowing any better. So I decided to take two gambles.
First, I would try a different method of germination. I had always done the paper towel method; and while it has worked on several beans, I sometimes would forget a day of keeping it moist; or it would be cold a particular day so the furnace would kick on more than normal; drying out the moisture in the air more quickly (and the seeds), etc etc. So I googled germination methods; I searched through Autoflower.net's forum, and I decided to try the shot glass w/ hydrogen peroxide method.
Second, I would germinate way more seeds than I wanted as my target goal. In this case, I wanted to germ a max total of 12 autoflower seeds (so basically one of every strain plus one extra.) I was sure with my germation failure rate of over 50% on the past two grows; there was no WAY germinating 27 seeds could POSSIBLY go awry, especially with my current track record, right? RIGHT?!
Nope. I have become the master germinator. I put out 11 plastic cup shot glasses and labeled them, one for each strain. Filled them half full of spring water bought from the store, then took a big capful of 3% hydrogen peroxide and put one in each shot glass. I didn't measure out the amount or use a dropper because I was admittedly quite schnockered and singing songs loudly to my Mrs. whilst doing said task, much to her chagrin. I set the shot glasses in a large cardboard box and set it about 5 feet away from my furnace, where a blast of hot air kicks on every time it fires up. I covered the shot glasses with red solo cups, closed the cardboard box and threw a coat over the top of it; so the seeds would be completely dark; in a warm place, but not oxygen deprived. Within 12 hours I had tap roots showing on a few seeds.
I waited 24 hours from the start of dropping the seeds in the shot glasses to taking them out of the shot glasses. I didn't want to risk waterlogging or rotting the seeds somehow; and I've read a lot that just planting the seeds like they would be in nature is pretty darn effective, so I planted every single one of them into coco coir pellets, whether there was a tap root or not. Put them under a 125W CFL and within 24 hours every single seed but one had sprouted.
Oops.
Smell/Odor Control
I use LEDWholesalers 6" inline carbon scrubber in the 4 foot by 4 foot tent with an attached 6" 400 CFM inline fan. The fan is set directly on to of the scrubber where it sucks in air from inside the tent, pulling it up through the scrubber and through flex duct, exhausting outside of the tent. I bought the same setup for the smaller grow tent.
For the small tent (3 ft by 20 inches by 5 ft); I bought a quart jar of ONA (Odor Neutralizing Agent) off of Amazon. It came in a clear jar, looks like blobs of slick, wet jelly, and smells like laundry. I stuck it in the tent before the carbon scrubbber ever got installed and WOW. Amazing stuff, destroys the odors, not just masks it. The only scent is the scent of chemically fresh linen (not overpowering, but it's not the scent that is destroying organic molecules in the air, it's just a pleasant alternative odor.) The scrubber does an amazing job, but this is added protection for us paranoid androids. Not badly priced at $20 for a quart jar either. Will try to update to let you know how long the jar lasts me (if it lasts the grow; it was worth every single penny.)
For the larger tent; I orded up an ONA Spray Mist Nebulizer. It works much like any spray mister (if you are confused; it's exactly like the sprayers you'd see in a commercial bathroom.) It has a timer and the cans of spray are actually pretty hefty. I haven't installed the unit yet so I can't say for sure how well the mist works; but if it's anything like the quart jar; it's going to be amazing.
Light Schedule
I'm running all the plants on an 18/6 light schedule under a 1000W HPS until my Auto White Cheese finishes, then switch to MH until all vertical growth has ceased; then will switch to 1000W HPS to finish out flowering.
Nutrients
I use SuperThrive and General Hydroponics General Organics nutes. I add a few drops of SuperThrive to the watering can no matter what type of feeding it is. I will wait until about 2 to 3 weeks into vegging before giving them any nutrients. I don't think the Pro-Mix has much for nutrients in it; so this could be a big kicker for their growth.
Watering Schedule
I am watering the plants by weight of the plant and pot. I've got a good idea what the pots feel like dry and I've been watering based on that. No set schedule.
pH Levels
I have a Control Wizard Accurate pH 2.0 pen. I bought 4.0/7.0 pH calibration fluid for $10 off and will try to pH my water in/water out more often.
Week 1, Day 1 (1 Day from germination) -
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Seedlings germinated on a Friday and planted in coco coir pellets the following day, placed under 125W CFL light on the 2nd day of germination. By Day 3, all seeds but one has sprouted. The one that did not sprout (an Auto AK) has a stem, it just seems like the seed hull is REALLY thick. I think it's going to die; don't see it popping out.
On several of the seedlings; I noticed the hulls were binding the leaves together. I know it's better to try to let them shed them, but I meddled with them and popped them off gently with my fingers. The leaves immeditely SHOT OUT after the seed was removed. I also removed some of the thicker membrane thing that covers the two leaves under the seed husk. Some of those were VERY tough; not sure how the plant was going to do it if I had trouble using tools haha! This doesn't seem to have caused any ill effects on the plants.
Week 1, Day 4 (4 Days from germination) -
I already had roots popping out of the bottom of the pellets. Due to an error on behalf of my shipper, my Pro-Mix BX hadn't arrived yet; which I was counting on to get my seedlings into. Getting nervous, I instead expanded out a 5 lb brick of coco-coir and mixed in with it a bunch of worm castings a little bit of perlite. I then put the mixture into red and green plast solo cups, to which I punched holes in the bottoms of them for drainage and physically cut them all down the sides to make it easier to transplant once the Pro-Mix shows up. I know everyone says it's best to plant an autoflower in it's final planter and be done with it; but I didn't have much of a choice in this situation. And with (now) 26 seedlings to play with; I'm not worried.
The seedlings LOVE the new mix; they get pretty thirsty pretty fast though. I notice with every little bit of watering; they are just popping out with new growth. Some bigger, fatter, leaves showing up. Waiting for a few sets of leaves before transplanting; I may do it sooner. I'm trying to build them up a little before putting them under the 1000W light.
Week 1, Day 7 (7 days from germination) -
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I noticed the seedlings around the edges of the seedling light box were stretching a little bit towards the light. I only had the one 125W CFL going in there; so I'm going to reposition it and put a 2nd one in. It should now distribute a very nice even canopy of lights over all of the seeds.
Week 2, Day 1 (8 days from germination) -
Had a halloween costume party at the house. I had one of my close personal friends (who rarely smokes) come down into my basement and standing RIGHT next to both grow tents; said he could smell NOTHING at all. YEAH baby! That was an awesome feeling.
Until the power went out. Power went out in the house. Went down to the breaker box and no breakers are tripped. "Crap.... crap crap crap.... crap crap crap...." I thought. Guests were arriving in one hour. Might have been no smell with the fans and active carbon scrubbers working, but they don't work too well WITHOUT ELECTRICITY! After changing my soiled tighty whiteys, I began calling neighbors, wondering if I had fried an electric line and would have to have an electrician or utility worker come out to my place. "No, the power is out here too." Oh thank God. It WASN'T ME! VICTORY!!! 15 minutes later, the power comes back on, I power cycled my 1000W HPS light, and everything is back to good!
On the second day of this week; I'm contemplating my potting strategy for these little lemmings. I have a few plastic tubs, and I've considered using a 14 gallon or 17 gallon tub and dividing them up into sections. With a 17 gallon tub, I could split it up with 8 plants in each tub, close to 2 gallons of space of growth for each plant. Then I could tie down the branches to wire as the plants grow, to try to take advantage of all the space. I also have many 2 gallon pots; which would work great; but they take up so much room. I'll figure something out.
I plan on running wire around the side of the grow tent for the plants to grow vertically on. I need to utilize every square inch of room that I can.
Week 2, Day 2 (9 days from germination) -
I've installed the 2nd 125W CFL light in my seedling box. Now I have a nice bright canopy of light for the seedlings to grow under. I have a few sets of leaves starting to form on some of the seedlings now. I'm starting to worry a little about transplant issues; I think it would be better to transplant sooner than later since Auto's pretty much hate transplanting and the life span doesn't give them a lot of recovery time. I may transplant today and start putting them under the 1000W HPS, with the light raised up a lot higher than I normally would have it to gradually work the plants into it. My temps in the tent are now negligible with the changing weather; I've been staying at a close to 70 degree F steady temp with the lights on at full blast.
Week 2, Day 3 (10 days from germination) -
I finally made up my growing medium mixture and decided I was going to say screw this CFL malarkey and slap the plants under the 1000W light.
Since 26 plants is an absolutely ludicrous amount of plants for a 4 ft x 4 ft tent; I took two 17 gallon plastic tubs and drilled several dozen holes in the bottom of each for drainage, then put in my growing mix. I mixed up 4 gallons of Pro-Mix BX, 1 gallon perlite, 1 gallon worm castings, 4 tablespoons bone meal, and 4 tablespoons blood meal. Mixed it all up real good; and rinsed and repeat the process until both tubs were filled to an adequate level. I then took ten 2 gallon pots and filled them as well. I'll plant 8 plants per 17 gallon tub; so it's roughly 2.1 gallons per plant in each tub. There's definitely enough room for all ten 2 gallon pots in the tent as well; so I think I managed to get all 26 plants in that space with almost 2 gallons of medium per plant.
View attachment 148771
The growing mixture smells AMAZING. This is coming from a guy who has used only timed released Miracle Grow soil on his last two grows. Night and day difference in texture, smell, look, I can practically hear it sing to me, and it even TASTES good. Just kidding. But if I did eat it, it would probably have less grit than Miracle Grow!
I decided I'm going to switch the 1000W light from HPS to MH. The Auto White Cheese has maybe 2 weeks left on flowering; I figure I can sneak in all the other plants and throw on the MH and the cheese will just have to deal with it. It will understand; we've already talked. I've heard I can use HPS lights from start to finish; but I'd rather have that MH on there while they are vegging.
I'll get them all transplanted tonight and monitor them the next two days to check for distress or burn or any symptoms.
Week 2, Day 4 (11 days from germination) -
Didn't transplant any seedlings last night. I was all gung ho around 9 PM to do it when my Mrs. asked me to sow some seeds of another kind...
Anyways, today I transplanted most of the seedlings into the 4 foot by 4 foot tent. I was going to switch out the HPS bulb to MH right away, but 20 minutes before the light was going to kick on, I get an unexpected family visitor. I raised the HPS waaaaaay up high, it's probably 2-3 feet above the seedlings easy. I've been reading about how plants can get used to a particular light and intensity over time, so I wanted to try to avoid shock from going from CFL to uber light penetrating and heat generating HPS. I also know now why you don't want to transplant auto's. Damn roots got stuck in half the red solo cups as I tried to pull some of the out. I got so frustrated with the possible damage I was doing that I just split open the cups halfway and planted the whole damn thing. Big opening for the roots to pour out of, and now I don't have to mess with possibly destroying the roots/plants.
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I checked the plants every hour throughout the day. I didn't see any curling, any drying out o the leaves, or anything that looked like particular distress to the plants. I did have one seedling (Auto AK) that looked pretty scrawny from the beginning that started to crinkle it's leaves (think the plant is just too weak) so I brought him back to the CFL box to grow a little more or to die (whichever comes first.)
Week 2, Day 5 (12 days from germination) -
I'm going to get the rest of the plants in the tent; my upstairs is smelling like MJ from all the seedlings (I'm so blown away by how much MJ plants stink as seedlings and during veg; I've had my worst smell problems during those two phases of plant life.)
I'm going to switch out the HPS to a MH today. That will be a lot "cooler" on the plants and I think they will grow like... weed(s)? HA! I make myself laugh.
I've noticed watering 26 plants is ridiculously time consuming. I think if a guy is going to go mass plants; or do something to the effect of a SOG, you better have it planned out better before going at it. I thought I had this all planned out; but I've been shoe-stringing it throughout it's conception.
Update: Wow. My Pro-Mix mixture deflated a CRAP ton in the 17 gallon tubs. What was once almost full a few inches from the top is now several inches down. Should have watered my mixture before transplanting to let it all settle down. Will know for next time I guess. This will actually work out to my advantage I think; I need to stunt these down a bit. I don't need 26 plants all blasting out in full fury glory.
Mid-day update; the AK seedling that was looking like it was dying pretty much kicked the bucket. Not even CFL lighting could stop her from giving up the ghost. Switching out the HPS bulb for a MH bulb in the big tent. Must stop clipping buds off Cheese and let it finish.
Week 4, Day 1 (28 days from germination) -
During week three I started giving nutrients to the plants. They were growing really slowly for the first two weeks. I could see growth every day, but not the usual oomph and vigor the plants normally have. I figured the Pro-Mix needed some nutes; and I was past two weeks from seedling so it should be safe enough.
I've been using General Hydroponics General Organics GO box; and have been using the instructions off the PDF on their website. I normally had done half strength and quarter strength on my nutes on my past grow (with miracle grow soil), but I got full of piss and vinegar and decided to try a full strength dose as per the instructions. I also added in a capful of SuperThrive nutrient per watering can. I got the bright idea of using spring water from the store instead of the chlorinated tap water from the faucet in the house. 7 gallons later and still not done watering; I decided spring water was a big ol' waste of money when it comes to watering 20+ plants. I finished watering with the nutes the first time around, waiting 24 hours, and went down to check on the plants, fully expecting to find nute burn abound. Nope. Instead I found a luscious steamy garden jungle of love. The plants ALL had tied bands around their biceps, slapped out a vein, and shot up the nutrient solution intraveineously into a glorious gang bang of interracial strain making. Awesome! I've been reading about nutrient feeding times; I normally had been feeding nutes to my all my previous plants at 1 week intervals; give or take a day or two depending on the plants watering needs. This time I decided to try two nute feedings to every one regular water feeding. So during the 3rd week, I did two full strength nute feedings and on my next watering; I'll do plain water with SuperThrive. The plants are loving the nutes right now; but I don't want to push my luck with the strength. I have a feeling I'm going to run into some symptoms soon enough; especially with this number of ladies. Here are a few recent pics of the ladies. You can see how even the smaller plants have come back kicking and screaming. This is going to sound bad; but I'm actually HOPING to stunt a few simply for the space reasons. I think I'll be alright on yield out of 26 plants ;-)
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I just received a fan order today; three 6" clip on Lasko fans to put in the tents. I feel like I don't have enough air flow directly breezing on the plants; so with two of these in the 4x4 tent and 1 in the 3x20" tent; I think it'll benefit the plants.
I'm installing an ONA mister in the tent (I have two canisters of ONA, one is the regular strength/smell ONA and the other is Fresh Linen scent I believe.) I also have a quart jar of ONA for the tent; which along with the 6" carbon scrubber, keep the smell incredibly well under control.
I have learned a lot from my 1st and 2nd grow; as I'm sure I will learn much from this 3rd grow. So buckle up, light one up, and come along for an assuredly interesting ride!
Hobbes Potter and the Sorcerer's Stoned
Equipment:
(1) Aviditi 4 foot by 4 foot by 7 foot grow tent
(1) Aviditi 3 foot by 20 inches by 5 foot grow tent
(4) LEDWholesalers 6" inline 240CFM can fans
(2) Hydrofarm Active 6" inline 400 CFM inline centrifuge fans
(2) LEDWholesalers 6" Carbon Scrubbers
(1) 1000W MH/HPS switchable light with hood and electronic ballast
(1) 400W MH/HPS switchable light with reflector and digital electronic ballast
(2) 125W rated (not equivalent) CFL lights with dew reflectors
(3) Lasko 6" Clip-on Fans
Growing Medium:
Pro-Mix BX w/ Mycorise
Hoffman Horticulture Perlite
Dr. Earth Blood Meal 13-0-0
Worm Castings
Coco Coir
Espoma Bone Meal 4-12-0
My growing medium was mixed in a tub at these ratios:
4 gallons of Pro-Mix BX
1 gallon of worm castings
1 gallon of perlite
4 tablespoons of bone meal
4 tablespoons of blood meal
Feminized Auto Strains
All seeds ordered through Attitude seed bank. Fourth order with Attitude, have had amazing luck with them and they respond to customer service very quickly. All seeds feminized, all autoflower. Ordered with discreet shipping, from across the pond to middle'ish of the states in 8 days.
White Label Seed Company "Skunk Auto"
Nirvana Seeds "Northern Lights Auto"
Nirvana Seeds "Bubblicious Auto"
Sativa Seeds "Jock Horror"
G13 Labs "Auto Northern Lights x Auto Sweet Tooth"
G13 Labs "Auto AK"
Auto Seeds "Trans Siberian"
Freedom of Seeds "White Goblin"
Freedom of Seeds "Jack Auto"
DNA Genetics "60 Day Wonder"
Dinafem "White Widow Auto"
View attachment 148766
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I received 16 free feminized photo strains from Attitude on the order! Those are getting tucked away for a rainy day down the road.
Germination Method
View attachment 148768
This is where things got goofy. I normally have had HORRIBLE germination rates. I had killed a lot of a previous seed order through inexperience and simply not knowing any better. So I decided to take two gambles.
First, I would try a different method of germination. I had always done the paper towel method; and while it has worked on several beans, I sometimes would forget a day of keeping it moist; or it would be cold a particular day so the furnace would kick on more than normal; drying out the moisture in the air more quickly (and the seeds), etc etc. So I googled germination methods; I searched through Autoflower.net's forum, and I decided to try the shot glass w/ hydrogen peroxide method.
Second, I would germinate way more seeds than I wanted as my target goal. In this case, I wanted to germ a max total of 12 autoflower seeds (so basically one of every strain plus one extra.) I was sure with my germation failure rate of over 50% on the past two grows; there was no WAY germinating 27 seeds could POSSIBLY go awry, especially with my current track record, right? RIGHT?!
Nope. I have become the master germinator. I put out 11 plastic cup shot glasses and labeled them, one for each strain. Filled them half full of spring water bought from the store, then took a big capful of 3% hydrogen peroxide and put one in each shot glass. I didn't measure out the amount or use a dropper because I was admittedly quite schnockered and singing songs loudly to my Mrs. whilst doing said task, much to her chagrin. I set the shot glasses in a large cardboard box and set it about 5 feet away from my furnace, where a blast of hot air kicks on every time it fires up. I covered the shot glasses with red solo cups, closed the cardboard box and threw a coat over the top of it; so the seeds would be completely dark; in a warm place, but not oxygen deprived. Within 12 hours I had tap roots showing on a few seeds.
I waited 24 hours from the start of dropping the seeds in the shot glasses to taking them out of the shot glasses. I didn't want to risk waterlogging or rotting the seeds somehow; and I've read a lot that just planting the seeds like they would be in nature is pretty darn effective, so I planted every single one of them into coco coir pellets, whether there was a tap root or not. Put them under a 125W CFL and within 24 hours every single seed but one had sprouted.
Oops.
Smell/Odor Control
I use LEDWholesalers 6" inline carbon scrubber in the 4 foot by 4 foot tent with an attached 6" 400 CFM inline fan. The fan is set directly on to of the scrubber where it sucks in air from inside the tent, pulling it up through the scrubber and through flex duct, exhausting outside of the tent. I bought the same setup for the smaller grow tent.
For the small tent (3 ft by 20 inches by 5 ft); I bought a quart jar of ONA (Odor Neutralizing Agent) off of Amazon. It came in a clear jar, looks like blobs of slick, wet jelly, and smells like laundry. I stuck it in the tent before the carbon scrubbber ever got installed and WOW. Amazing stuff, destroys the odors, not just masks it. The only scent is the scent of chemically fresh linen (not overpowering, but it's not the scent that is destroying organic molecules in the air, it's just a pleasant alternative odor.) The scrubber does an amazing job, but this is added protection for us paranoid androids. Not badly priced at $20 for a quart jar either. Will try to update to let you know how long the jar lasts me (if it lasts the grow; it was worth every single penny.)
For the larger tent; I orded up an ONA Spray Mist Nebulizer. It works much like any spray mister (if you are confused; it's exactly like the sprayers you'd see in a commercial bathroom.) It has a timer and the cans of spray are actually pretty hefty. I haven't installed the unit yet so I can't say for sure how well the mist works; but if it's anything like the quart jar; it's going to be amazing.
Light Schedule
I'm running all the plants on an 18/6 light schedule under a 1000W HPS until my Auto White Cheese finishes, then switch to MH until all vertical growth has ceased; then will switch to 1000W HPS to finish out flowering.
Nutrients
I use SuperThrive and General Hydroponics General Organics nutes. I add a few drops of SuperThrive to the watering can no matter what type of feeding it is. I will wait until about 2 to 3 weeks into vegging before giving them any nutrients. I don't think the Pro-Mix has much for nutrients in it; so this could be a big kicker for their growth.
Watering Schedule
I am watering the plants by weight of the plant and pot. I've got a good idea what the pots feel like dry and I've been watering based on that. No set schedule.
pH Levels
I have a Control Wizard Accurate pH 2.0 pen. I bought 4.0/7.0 pH calibration fluid for $10 off and will try to pH my water in/water out more often.
Week 1, Day 1 (1 Day from germination) -
View attachment 148770
Seedlings germinated on a Friday and planted in coco coir pellets the following day, placed under 125W CFL light on the 2nd day of germination. By Day 3, all seeds but one has sprouted. The one that did not sprout (an Auto AK) has a stem, it just seems like the seed hull is REALLY thick. I think it's going to die; don't see it popping out.
On several of the seedlings; I noticed the hulls were binding the leaves together. I know it's better to try to let them shed them, but I meddled with them and popped them off gently with my fingers. The leaves immeditely SHOT OUT after the seed was removed. I also removed some of the thicker membrane thing that covers the two leaves under the seed husk. Some of those were VERY tough; not sure how the plant was going to do it if I had trouble using tools haha! This doesn't seem to have caused any ill effects on the plants.
Week 1, Day 4 (4 Days from germination) -
I already had roots popping out of the bottom of the pellets. Due to an error on behalf of my shipper, my Pro-Mix BX hadn't arrived yet; which I was counting on to get my seedlings into. Getting nervous, I instead expanded out a 5 lb brick of coco-coir and mixed in with it a bunch of worm castings a little bit of perlite. I then put the mixture into red and green plast solo cups, to which I punched holes in the bottoms of them for drainage and physically cut them all down the sides to make it easier to transplant once the Pro-Mix shows up. I know everyone says it's best to plant an autoflower in it's final planter and be done with it; but I didn't have much of a choice in this situation. And with (now) 26 seedlings to play with; I'm not worried.
The seedlings LOVE the new mix; they get pretty thirsty pretty fast though. I notice with every little bit of watering; they are just popping out with new growth. Some bigger, fatter, leaves showing up. Waiting for a few sets of leaves before transplanting; I may do it sooner. I'm trying to build them up a little before putting them under the 1000W light.
Week 1, Day 7 (7 days from germination) -
View attachment 148769
I noticed the seedlings around the edges of the seedling light box were stretching a little bit towards the light. I only had the one 125W CFL going in there; so I'm going to reposition it and put a 2nd one in. It should now distribute a very nice even canopy of lights over all of the seeds.
Week 2, Day 1 (8 days from germination) -
Had a halloween costume party at the house. I had one of my close personal friends (who rarely smokes) come down into my basement and standing RIGHT next to both grow tents; said he could smell NOTHING at all. YEAH baby! That was an awesome feeling.
Until the power went out. Power went out in the house. Went down to the breaker box and no breakers are tripped. "Crap.... crap crap crap.... crap crap crap...." I thought. Guests were arriving in one hour. Might have been no smell with the fans and active carbon scrubbers working, but they don't work too well WITHOUT ELECTRICITY! After changing my soiled tighty whiteys, I began calling neighbors, wondering if I had fried an electric line and would have to have an electrician or utility worker come out to my place. "No, the power is out here too." Oh thank God. It WASN'T ME! VICTORY!!! 15 minutes later, the power comes back on, I power cycled my 1000W HPS light, and everything is back to good!
On the second day of this week; I'm contemplating my potting strategy for these little lemmings. I have a few plastic tubs, and I've considered using a 14 gallon or 17 gallon tub and dividing them up into sections. With a 17 gallon tub, I could split it up with 8 plants in each tub, close to 2 gallons of space of growth for each plant. Then I could tie down the branches to wire as the plants grow, to try to take advantage of all the space. I also have many 2 gallon pots; which would work great; but they take up so much room. I'll figure something out.
I plan on running wire around the side of the grow tent for the plants to grow vertically on. I need to utilize every square inch of room that I can.
Week 2, Day 2 (9 days from germination) -
I've installed the 2nd 125W CFL light in my seedling box. Now I have a nice bright canopy of light for the seedlings to grow under. I have a few sets of leaves starting to form on some of the seedlings now. I'm starting to worry a little about transplant issues; I think it would be better to transplant sooner than later since Auto's pretty much hate transplanting and the life span doesn't give them a lot of recovery time. I may transplant today and start putting them under the 1000W HPS, with the light raised up a lot higher than I normally would have it to gradually work the plants into it. My temps in the tent are now negligible with the changing weather; I've been staying at a close to 70 degree F steady temp with the lights on at full blast.
Week 2, Day 3 (10 days from germination) -
I finally made up my growing medium mixture and decided I was going to say screw this CFL malarkey and slap the plants under the 1000W light.
Since 26 plants is an absolutely ludicrous amount of plants for a 4 ft x 4 ft tent; I took two 17 gallon plastic tubs and drilled several dozen holes in the bottom of each for drainage, then put in my growing mix. I mixed up 4 gallons of Pro-Mix BX, 1 gallon perlite, 1 gallon worm castings, 4 tablespoons bone meal, and 4 tablespoons blood meal. Mixed it all up real good; and rinsed and repeat the process until both tubs were filled to an adequate level. I then took ten 2 gallon pots and filled them as well. I'll plant 8 plants per 17 gallon tub; so it's roughly 2.1 gallons per plant in each tub. There's definitely enough room for all ten 2 gallon pots in the tent as well; so I think I managed to get all 26 plants in that space with almost 2 gallons of medium per plant.
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The growing mixture smells AMAZING. This is coming from a guy who has used only timed released Miracle Grow soil on his last two grows. Night and day difference in texture, smell, look, I can practically hear it sing to me, and it even TASTES good. Just kidding. But if I did eat it, it would probably have less grit than Miracle Grow!
I decided I'm going to switch the 1000W light from HPS to MH. The Auto White Cheese has maybe 2 weeks left on flowering; I figure I can sneak in all the other plants and throw on the MH and the cheese will just have to deal with it. It will understand; we've already talked. I've heard I can use HPS lights from start to finish; but I'd rather have that MH on there while they are vegging.
I'll get them all transplanted tonight and monitor them the next two days to check for distress or burn or any symptoms.
Week 2, Day 4 (11 days from germination) -
Didn't transplant any seedlings last night. I was all gung ho around 9 PM to do it when my Mrs. asked me to sow some seeds of another kind...
Anyways, today I transplanted most of the seedlings into the 4 foot by 4 foot tent. I was going to switch out the HPS bulb to MH right away, but 20 minutes before the light was going to kick on, I get an unexpected family visitor. I raised the HPS waaaaaay up high, it's probably 2-3 feet above the seedlings easy. I've been reading about how plants can get used to a particular light and intensity over time, so I wanted to try to avoid shock from going from CFL to uber light penetrating and heat generating HPS. I also know now why you don't want to transplant auto's. Damn roots got stuck in half the red solo cups as I tried to pull some of the out. I got so frustrated with the possible damage I was doing that I just split open the cups halfway and planted the whole damn thing. Big opening for the roots to pour out of, and now I don't have to mess with possibly destroying the roots/plants.
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I checked the plants every hour throughout the day. I didn't see any curling, any drying out o the leaves, or anything that looked like particular distress to the plants. I did have one seedling (Auto AK) that looked pretty scrawny from the beginning that started to crinkle it's leaves (think the plant is just too weak) so I brought him back to the CFL box to grow a little more or to die (whichever comes first.)
Week 2, Day 5 (12 days from germination) -
I'm going to get the rest of the plants in the tent; my upstairs is smelling like MJ from all the seedlings (I'm so blown away by how much MJ plants stink as seedlings and during veg; I've had my worst smell problems during those two phases of plant life.)
I'm going to switch out the HPS to a MH today. That will be a lot "cooler" on the plants and I think they will grow like... weed(s)? HA! I make myself laugh.
I've noticed watering 26 plants is ridiculously time consuming. I think if a guy is going to go mass plants; or do something to the effect of a SOG, you better have it planned out better before going at it. I thought I had this all planned out; but I've been shoe-stringing it throughout it's conception.
Update: Wow. My Pro-Mix mixture deflated a CRAP ton in the 17 gallon tubs. What was once almost full a few inches from the top is now several inches down. Should have watered my mixture before transplanting to let it all settle down. Will know for next time I guess. This will actually work out to my advantage I think; I need to stunt these down a bit. I don't need 26 plants all blasting out in full fury glory.
Mid-day update; the AK seedling that was looking like it was dying pretty much kicked the bucket. Not even CFL lighting could stop her from giving up the ghost. Switching out the HPS bulb for a MH bulb in the big tent. Must stop clipping buds off Cheese and let it finish.
Week 4, Day 1 (28 days from germination) -
During week three I started giving nutrients to the plants. They were growing really slowly for the first two weeks. I could see growth every day, but not the usual oomph and vigor the plants normally have. I figured the Pro-Mix needed some nutes; and I was past two weeks from seedling so it should be safe enough.
I've been using General Hydroponics General Organics GO box; and have been using the instructions off the PDF on their website. I normally had done half strength and quarter strength on my nutes on my past grow (with miracle grow soil), but I got full of piss and vinegar and decided to try a full strength dose as per the instructions. I also added in a capful of SuperThrive nutrient per watering can. I got the bright idea of using spring water from the store instead of the chlorinated tap water from the faucet in the house. 7 gallons later and still not done watering; I decided spring water was a big ol' waste of money when it comes to watering 20+ plants. I finished watering with the nutes the first time around, waiting 24 hours, and went down to check on the plants, fully expecting to find nute burn abound. Nope. Instead I found a luscious steamy garden jungle of love. The plants ALL had tied bands around their biceps, slapped out a vein, and shot up the nutrient solution intraveineously into a glorious gang bang of interracial strain making. Awesome! I've been reading about nutrient feeding times; I normally had been feeding nutes to my all my previous plants at 1 week intervals; give or take a day or two depending on the plants watering needs. This time I decided to try two nute feedings to every one regular water feeding. So during the 3rd week, I did two full strength nute feedings and on my next watering; I'll do plain water with SuperThrive. The plants are loving the nutes right now; but I don't want to push my luck with the strength. I have a feeling I'm going to run into some symptoms soon enough; especially with this number of ladies. Here are a few recent pics of the ladies. You can see how even the smaller plants have come back kicking and screaming. This is going to sound bad; but I'm actually HOPING to stunt a few simply for the space reasons. I think I'll be alright on yield out of 26 plants ;-)
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I just received a fan order today; three 6" clip on Lasko fans to put in the tents. I feel like I don't have enough air flow directly breezing on the plants; so with two of these in the 4x4 tent and 1 in the 3x20" tent; I think it'll benefit the plants.
I'm installing an ONA mister in the tent (I have two canisters of ONA, one is the regular strength/smell ONA and the other is Fresh Linen scent I believe.) I also have a quart jar of ONA for the tent; which along with the 6" carbon scrubber, keep the smell incredibly well under control.
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Dude you're a trip! I like how you lay everything out, you sound like me, haha. I'll definitely be following along as much as possible. I dig your vibe. Good luck!
The Jack Auto died very early on and I don't believe I had a second one planted, so that technically makes it 10 strains I guess. I also had another one that didn't make it, so I think it's technically 25 plants. It should still be a really nice harvest though, lots of different smoke to last for quite awhile. I plan on doing smoke reports on all of them; although I don't have the exact times on flowering on them. It's a lot of work just maintaining this many let alone keeping specific records on all of them. I liked it when I had just 4 plants in the tent. More room to move around, more room to wiggle. I'm having thoughts of low stress training the plants, but I sometimes find myself pulling the plants out of the tent for various unknown reasons and putting them back inside in different orders. OCD maybe. Depending on where I anchored them, I fear moving the plants around would possibly tear some stems. I only say this after accidentally tearing open some nice big fat limbs on my Blue Widow photo strain with some more-high-stress-than-low-stress training (which did recover, mind you, and has grown a big fat glorious buddocks on that branch to celebrate.) I've seen people use the wire fuzzy pipe cleaners to LST their plants, I think I might try that. I'd have to do it soon though; I hope to harvest mid January or end of January.
Oh man is it one of those mornings!
Almost everything will be harvested tomorrow (Sunday), which would be a full 79 days from seed. It's good enough for this guy. All my trichs are milky on all the plants; I have some ambers popping out on several, and that's where I want them to be for the most part. Would have love a full on stony weed; but off this harvest I'll have enough personal smoke for the next year I can focus all my pennies on my future protege.
