Aerogarden Autoflowers

[stopol]

Now I'm getting excited! The Aerogarden is quite hackable! See here

http://www.aerogardendirect.com/prom...oduct=0011-00Z

This lets you use your own seeds. Sweet!

So requirements are:

1. One aerogarden 200
2. DIY seed pod kit
3. Extra adjustable lamp and...
4. CFL Daylight 105 watt available from
http://www.1000bulbs.com/
5. Advanced nutrients from
/www.advancednutrientsmedical.ca
6. timer
7. power strip

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction! My 54 watt LED setup was interesting
but just not enough light, maybe I can figure out a way to make it work as a
supplemental light for the Aerogarden

[kbfl0912]

Originally Posted by stopol

What size and color was your second CFL light? How do you introduce plants to the aerogarden, it looks like they come with small plastic capsules for vegetables, do you
put seeds or after they germinate, how exactly. Also the Aerogarden has some sort of settings for 'plant type', I'm guessing they don't have a cannabis setting which one do you use? Sorry for asking so much, but your results are incredible, worthy of emulation!

I don't even know what wattage or color the extra lights are. I just found some old cfl's, didn't really pay attention. I think they are very low wattage and probably aren't contributing a whole lot.

The AG 200 has a setting for a 24 hour light cycle. I used that cycle and then put my own timer on it. I have had the lights on a 20/4 schedule since day one.

Basically, I put the empty plugs in, like the ones you referenced in your link. The AG 200 comes w/ that kit. I germinated the seeds in a paper towel until the tap root popped out. Then, just put them in the little foam things and they were out and growing in one day. I started with five seeds and all were male except this one.

However, I don't think the AG reservoir would be large enough to house more than two females. The roots on this one plant take up most of the res. Extemely healthy roots though.

All in all, I think this AG was a great introduction to hydroponics for me....but, I think for the money, you would be better off finding a small hydro system and adding a small HPS. I only have about 2 1/2 more weeks (around that) and the buds on mine seem a little small. They have alot of growing to do in that time. However, they are numerous.

The convenience and portability of the AG was cool at first, but once you realize you could do the same exact thing w/ a larger hydro system and stronger light, I don't know if it is worth it. However, I think it would make an excellent place to put clones! That's what I think I will use it for on the next round.

Anyway, I will put pics up tonight. Didn't have batteries for the camera, so will have to wait.

[stopol]

You have one of the nicest looking micro-grows I've ever seen and it looks you have to do far less work than others have had to do. I agree with you about long term, but I find it's best to start out small to gain some knowledge before attempting larger scale projects. On the other hand two females of the right autoflower would last me a LONG time!

I've been doing LED grow experiments with autoflowers, it works, but when the plants get larger the lower branches are cut off from the light, the 54 watts I'm using just isn't enough.

I suspect I'll copy you, but add an 85 watt high temp (daylight) CFL, I'm guessing that the aerogarden comes with a 105 watt bulb, but who knows..??

Based on what you say about the roots, a bubbler sounds mandatory, I don't see anywhere near that amount of root development on the soil grows I had been doing.

I wonder about non autoflowering with this setup? Pick a shorter variety, and induce flowering sooner, so it doesn't grow so high....

Lowlife seeds is supposed to be releasing some new ones in a month or so...???

I drool over the following autoflower variety:

http://www.ganja.co.uk/cannabis-seed...g-bad-john.htm

I don't know if it's real or not, haven't read any reviews, I guess because of the price.

[stopol]

some people empty and replenish the nutrients in the Aerogarden resovoir and some don't, what do you recommend.

BTW, it looks like the CFl's in the Aerogarden are (3) 26 Watt bulbs and probably have a color temperature more suited for vegging than flowering, you might want to add a warm 2700 k bulb, check out info on CFL color temp for veg/flower cycle

Are you doing any PH monitoring?

[kbfl0912]

Originally Posted by stopol

some people empty and replenish the nutrients in the Aerogarden resovoir and some don't, what do you recommend.

BTW, it looks like the CFl's in the Aerogarden are (3) 26 Watt bulbs and probably have a color temperature more suited for vegging than flowering, you might want to add a warm 2700 k bulb, check out info on CFL color temp for veg/flower cycle

Are you doing any PH monitoring?

Yes, I empty and replenish the reservoir once a week and top it off daily w/ just plain distilled water. I have been using distilled water the whole time.

The lights in the Pro200 model are different than the others. And, there are three of them. I do have better lights, but, for the sake of an experiment, I did not bring them out. I wanted to see how they would do without anything extra. Otherwise, if you are going to add a bunch of lights, etc. You could build a cheaper system. I just wanted to see what a "plug and grow" system would do.

I test the ph daily. I keep it between 5.5 - 5.7.

New pics on the next post. Thanks!

[kbfl0912]

These are about 7 1/2 weeks from seed. About 2 1/2 weeks left. Go little guys go!

[kbfl0912]

Here's how they started out. I had 4 males and only 1 female.

[stopol]

I really think these photos show that the autoflower "doubters" are WRONG!
This is the future of micro-grow, and considering there's another 2 1/2 weeks to go ....
Please give us a smoke report after you harvest and cure????!!!!

I stuck with the autoflower Blueberry/AK47 because of it's smaller size,
I'm at 4 weeks and probably about where you were, but I don't think mine
will get so tall, clearly the auto ak47 is a winner, can't wait to see what Lowlife
has up it's sleeve!

Imagine doing one grow for seed and then 2-3 for weed,

From a non autoflower perspective, lots of people seem to be using
aerogardens for cloning, just stick the cutting right in!

Will you do anything special for harvest? For soil grow, I cut off the water the last two days because stressing the female produces more resin

Someday I will try one of my own crosses that I let seed, a lowryder 2 male
crossed with a Top44 female, I know 1st gen won't be stable but it gave me
about 70 seeds from one plant!

Again, let me say what a beautiful grow thanks for sharing and inspiring!!!

BTW, the male/female ratio on my AK47/blueberry autoflowers were exactly 50/50, yours is really a bad ratio, I wonder what's up???

[kbfl0912]

Thanks stopol. I am also very impressed w/ the Auto AK47. I think she is beautiful! I have 5 more seeds, so on the next round, I am going to go w/ a larger hydro system and my T5 lights. I have a 4' 8 bulb T5 setup that I've had good results with. So, I am anxious to see what that will do. I agree, the male/female ratio was really bad. I had 10 seeds, so maybe the next five, four are females....doubt it. I don't know what the deal is. My cat did nip at them when they were young, maybe it stressed them out...who knows?

I will definately give you the update on how the smoke is. As far as harvesting, I just plan on flushing the last two weeks w/ plain distilled water. Then, probably just hang to dry and jar them. I usually water cure a little from each of my grows too. I like the smooth smoke water curing produces. It does take out the taste and aroma, but the smoke and high are way superior IMO.

I will keep you updated.....thanks for your interest and compliments...

BTW, do you have pics of your setup and plants?

[hiigel]

Just a couple of questions if you have the time.

I'v looked at these too, but they seem limited in height. You have what, 18 inches??

What is your plant height now, and how much more room do you have?

You planted from seed and the auto flower knows what to do?? No day/night involved, or do you run 24/7?

It looks wonderful, and I for one really appretiate your effort. Now I'm wondering where to come up with money for one!

Hiigel

[hiigel]

Should throw in a couple of tomatoes next time, instant salad!!

Looks very good man, nice work.

Money, money...........

[kbfl0912]

The maximum height is 24" on this model. Right now, I'd say the plant is about 18". Shouldn't get much taller. That's why I chose an autoflowering strain. They stay smaller. And no, you do not have to switch the lights to 12/12 to induce flowering. These flower by age rather than light. Its recommended that you keep the lights on for 20 hours and off for 4 hours for the entrie grow. But, you could leave them on 24 hours if you wanted. If you have looked at the AG, I wouldn't bother with any other model other than the Pro 200, because you would have problems w/ height and light. I think this is the only model w/ this particular light setup, or you can buy the upgrade kit I believe.

I just wanted to see if it would work. So far, so good. The convenience factor is the main advantage. Literally, you just plug in, add nutrient solution and let it go. It has been extremely care free. (almost). Autflowering strains basically skip the vegetative stage and go right to flowering. Mine showed sex at about two weeks from seed. Which was a good thing because there was still time to pull the males without having all of the roots tangled together. I believe if you used anything but an autoflowering strain, it would be very difficult to weed out the males without damaging the roots of the females. Unless you went with feminized seeds. Then, I guess you could just do some serious LST to keep the plants low. I think a screen would work great with this. You would just have to build one to fit.

Thanks!

[stopol]

OK, I've never uploaded an image before, let's see if I did it correctly,
What you're looking at, a plant exactly 4 weeks old
soil grow, Miracle grow at week 1 and week 4 (I know don't laugh)
light: started with 56 watts LED, one bank blew out, so added spares
now at 76 watts

plant is lowlife ak47-blueberry cross, germinated on an
electric germinator pad

[kbfl0912]

Looks healthy....why are you using Miracle Grow!!!! I want to slap your hand. lol

[stopol]

HaHa, yes you are right, miracle grow is awful, I only did it because I also have the wrong kind of soil, I grew a few plants before this, they had pale green leaves, from what I read this was a potential indication of low nitrogen, miracle grow was all I had, so...

I laughed about the cat, same thing happened to me, my first batch was 4 plants, two
ak47-bluberry/kush crosses and two Sweet 105's (the 105's were growing faster BTW)
The smell was intense, too much for the family cat who ate them.

If you have cats in the house some sort of protection is mandatory

I think when I go the Aerogarden route I will have to have a screen around it to keep
out pests. Does the Aerogarden give off a lot of heat?