Auto Grow

[Rootsruler]

Got some free Femmed Auto seeds so I thought I'd try them out while I prepare the tent for the photos.

Temp - 74°
Humidity - 51%
DLI - 17.2
Leaf Temp - No leaves yet
VPD - 1.21 kPa

Running hardware store potting mix. Kellogs Patio Plus Organic with 30% Perlite mixed in. I added a horizon of some compost our local community garden uses near the bottom of the pot. Curious to see what happens when the roots hit it.

Cultivars are:

Scarlet Runtz
Scarlet Grapes
Bessies Hotcakes
Razzbergers

Two of each. We'll see if they germinate. I just used what I had laying around as far as pots. The gallon pots I want to try out multiple feeds a day. Like Fertigation.

 

[kaw900r]

Is that the highest the temp gets? I shoot for around 80 for seedlings to leaves. I tried my first auto and it's a little boring. Nice size tent

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

I was under the impression that RH should be like 70-80%? I would not take my word for it though lol! Of 9 seeds, I got 5 to germ. Out of those, I got 2 to survive. The pictured one below is the lone survivor, the other got thrown cuz wasn't gonna have room for it. Using the VG though, w my photos, I got 5/5 to germ w ease!

That thing survived crown rot and all around stupid bad husbandry lol. My first attempts, so yeah, I wouldn't go by anything I think except the exceptional germ method of the VG. Stupid easy, even I didn't mess it up! Best of wishes to a spectacular grow!!

 

[Rootsruler]

Is that the highest the temp gets? I shoot for around 80 for seedlings to leaves. I tried my first auto and it's a little boring. Nice size tent

I have 4 lights hanging in the tent for the photo grow but currently have only 2 running at around 25% for the autos so not enough heat generation from the lights to get temp higher. If I turn off the exhaust fan the temp rises to around 75° and right now I don't have any leaves that air exchanges in the tent would benefit so once I have sprouts I'll turn on the tent heater and readjust exhaust fan speed so that I can both raise the temp in the tent and get more air exchange. For seedlings and sprouts I like to keep the temp a little lower than when I'm in mid veg.

Spring is the time the seeds that last year's flowers dropped will begin to germinate due to warmer temps. Average high temps in the spring are around 65° - 70° so me and Ma Nature are right in line!

I was under the impression that RH should be like 70-80%? I would not take my word for it though lol! Of 9 seeds, I got 5 to germ. Out of those, I got 2 to survive. The pictured one below is the lone survivor, the other got thrown cuz wasn't gonna have room for it. Using the VG though, w my photos, I got 5/5 to germ w ease!
View attachment 88291
That thing survived crown rot and all around stupid bad husbandry lol. My first attempts, so yeah, I wouldn't go by anything I think except the exceptional germ method of the VG. Stupid easy, even I didn't mess it up! Best of wishes to a spectacular grow!!

Humidity where I live rarely breaks 30%. Once they sprout I can turn up the humidity a bit more. I like to shoot for around 65% at seedling/sprout stage. I've been following your grow. Nice setup.

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

I have 4 lights hanging in the tent for the photo grow but currently have only 2 running at around 25% for the autos so not enough heat generation from the lights to get temp higher. If I turn off the exhaust fan the temp rises to around 75° and right now I don't have any leaves that air exchanges in the tent would benefit so once I have sprouts I'll turn on the tent heater and readjust exhaust fan speed so that I can both raise the temp in the tent and get more air exchange. For seedlings and sprouts I like to keep the temp a little lower than when I'm in mid veg.

Spring is the time the seeds that last year's flowers dropped will begin to germinate due to warmer temps. Average high temps in the spring are around 65° - 70° so me and Ma Nature are right in line!


Humidity where I live rarely breaks 30%. Once they sprout I can turn up the humidity a bit more. I like to shoot for around 65% at seedling/sprout stage. I've been following your grow. Nice setup.

I'm in a 2nd floor apartment in northern mn, so it's like 12% here. Dunno, I shouldn't have chimed in w my .02$ that's worth like 1/100 of that lol
Thank you man, I appreciate it! PLEASE feel free to give me any advice/opinions
I'm gonna start a new thread documenting/asking for advice on the grow as it has turned from getting advice from getting set up to getting advice/documentation of the grow

 

[Rootsruler]

So this went to shit real quick. The media has shown to not be workable in the form I thought it would. The wood chip based media compacts much like clayish dirt so a 30% perlite mix is not sufficient if you want to use this media. I would go 50% media/50% perlite or, better yet 40% media and 60% perlite.

Growth is super slow and root development is hindered greatly by the compaction and lack of a comparable O² exchange we get from the coir/peat/perlite mixes I typically use.

The media is cheap to start with as a base. $7 a bag at HD. I would still be messing with it to see if I could get it to work but I just found a spot not to far from me that has Roots Organic Original for $14 for a 1.75 bag. I stocked up and bought 15 bags. That should last me for at least a couple years.

So...verdict....

The wood chip based media could work but would take some experimentation to get there. If you don't have a source of cannabis specific media cheap enough near you this may be a possible alternative. That was my dilemma until I found a good supplier close. As much as I like to DIY this is one of those times where buying it rather than DIYing it is the best option for me.

As far as the plants, I was merciful and killed them off. After 10 weeks in the sun and you're only a foot tall? Bye bye..............

 

[Stoneyluv]

whats next Roots?

 

[Tremojem]

Keep us posted RR...

 

[Rootsruler]

whats next Roots?

Keep us posted RR...

I have some femmed White Widow x Sour D sprouts going in the 5 x 5. Five total but 3 are blowing up while the fourth from the original batch just woke up and is starting to go. The other was a re seed as the first sprout died in the transplant so she's way behind but we'll see if I can catch her up some.

The 3 that are blowing up are coming into their 5th node so I'll probably top them in the next few days, let them run for a couple more weeks so they can sprout more lateral branching and see where I am with the others. After that I'll transplant the 3 into 7 gal cloth pots while I wait for the other 2 to catch up some. I may FIM the 3 while I wait for the other 2 to catch up to even them up some. Once I get them around 18" -24" I'll drop the net over them and start setting up the irrigation system.

The stragglers kind of play into my hands as on this run I'm going to run the "veg to the edge" so that I get taller colas. Last run I kept the light on/off temps within a few degrees of each other and I didn't get much stretch so I feel better about running them to the edge as I'll be doing the same thing keeping the lights on/off temps as close as I can. Last time I left around 10" of space for the plants to stretch into and got 8" colas for the most part at harvest. Growing out to the edge of the screen before flip should yield me 12" - 15" colas conservatively. I'm not running the same genetics as last time so there is that but from the leaf structure it looks like the strain is more indica dominant than sativa so that also makes me feel better about vegging to the edge of the screen.

I have a 2 x 2 that I'm probably going to turn into a mother tent when I start taking clippings off of these plants. I prefer running clones than seeds. Way faster turnaround and hardier on transplant.

I was going to start a journal but I've been super busy with work so not much energy left at the end of the day. I may do an abbreviated version where I'm not posting practically every day but that depends on if I get approved for a government contract that I'm trying to get. I'm up as a sub for a new building the county is taking bids on.

 

[Rootsruler]