Hello there OG!
This thread is meant as an ongoing log of my grow, where I try to make the most out of a 60x90x96cm (23x35x38") tent, with not one, but two layers, and the option to grow up to 18 (smaller) plants.
The grow itself is meant for my own medical and personal purposes, after years of paying up to XXX$ a month for weed with inconsistent quality, no testing for heavy metals and “drying and curing” cycles of 5 days, I’m done, and it was time to grow my own. I have grown in the past, all kinds of plants in fact, but back then I did not have any money (go figure when spending that much on weed LOL), so everything had to be very DIY, chaotic and a bit messy, and to be fair I learned alot. This time, I had a bit of money to spare, to make everything nice, and have a head start from the get-go.
To get the absolute most out of this space, I’ve had to resort to less traditional and unrecommended methods in a few areas, but hopefully that makes it helpful or interesting!
The gear I’m using is as follows:
Tent: Secret Jardin DP90
Light lower layer: Spider Farmer SF1000D, 2x Secret Jardin Cosmorrow 2x20W bloom spectrum + 2x Added bonus 1x20W UV-White strips for a total of 220W
Light upper layer: 2x Secret Jardin Cosmorrow 2x20W grow spectrum = 80W
Total light watts: 300W
The containers I’m using are “IKEA NOJIG Organiser”, both for seedling stage (the smallest ones), and for their final containers which are 20x25x10cm=±5L (yes, I replant autos), these are not only cheap, but also very space efficient with their shape, and as they are a bit lower than “normal” plant containers, the plants have a bit more vertical space to grow into.
As for growing media and techniques, I’ve tried the whole organic living soil thing, but as I like to be really involved with my plants, this method was too slow for me. Now I switched back to coco coir for most plants, and I have 1 DWC plant, which is my bonsai project. Still getting my coco mixes dialled in, and I have recently been adding in ±30% perlite, but I’m also quite interested in doing some tests with a bit of hydroton and or vermicompost mixed in, in the future. I have found that actual coco coir fibers give much faster growing than with a lot of coco peat mixed in, but I haven’t yet found a source of pure coco coir fibers… If anyone knows a source (in EU please :)), let me know!
Some of the cultivars I’m growing, ready for growing (seeds), or have grown:
- Dutch Passion Euforia Auto (complete)
- Dutch Passion Orange Bud Auto (complete)
- Dutch Passion Skywalker Haze Auto (50%)
- Dutch Passion Oh My Gusher Auto (50%)
- Dutch Passion Banana Blaze Auto (50%)
- SSSC Creeper Auto (30%)
- Amsterdam Genetics White Choco Auto (5%)
- Amsterdam Genetics Blue Amnesia Auto
- Amsterdam Genetics AK-020 Auto
- Amsterdam Genetics Milkshake Kush Auto
Breeding stock:
- Seed Stockers AK420 Auto
- GHS Franco’s Lemon Cheese
- GHS Exodus Cheese
- I have some female Auto pollen on the way from a very kind OG benefactor, hope it makes it!
As for nutes, I run the full Canna Aqua line (also for the plants on coco), with all boosters and additives, using the avarage of the recommended dosage, leaning on the conservative side. Before I feed the water to my plants, I disconnect the air pump from my DWC plant, and with a different bubble stone, on full blast, I aerate the wayer to get it to the “super-oxygenated” state. Because these nutes are pH buffered, I don’t measure anything other than the dosage, no pH and EC meter required so far!
Another small trick I use, when germinating or transplanting, I sprinkle a small amount of IBA-powder (cloning powder) in both the seed hole and the transplanting hole, this seems to be beneficial for establishing root growth after germination and transplanting (especially when root bound), and water in with Rhizotonic.
I don’t have solid proof of my own that this makes a different other than my own observations, but there seems to be some research out there to back me up :).
‘There are many benefits and little to no downsides (other than setup time) to aerating your water prior to watering your plants. The pumped air will increase DO levels in your water which benefits your plants’ roots, and it can also decrease chlorine levels through increased surface agitation.’ Should I Aerate My Water?
‘IBA hormone is one of the hormones included in auxin group, besides being used to stimulate rooting, it also has other benefits such as increasing germination, stimulating the growth of leaf and extending the shoots (Kusumo, 1984).’
To-do list:
- Enjoy the hobby
- Buy and prepare STS
- Start using Mycorrhizae for germination and transplanting
- Add more airflow fans
- Start the AK420 Auto breeding program with 8 plants (started!), harvest female pollen from the best one
- Harvest Euforia Auto sativa pheno (approaching 4 months)
- Do some testing on wicking systems with the NOJIG containers
- Small tent mods like: cut out reinforcements of lower corner brackets to optimize floor space, add some PVC tubing to make the tent bulbous, reinforce rigidity of the 2nd layer in the tent
- Some botany experiments on grafting and other techniques
- Complete the Skywalker Haze DWC log
, I’ll definitely be hanging to see how everything continues to evolve and work for you!
