Welcome to Hypoxics Tent City

 
 
Oh cool, that all makes perfect sense then! The more the soil the better, so why not? I often worry about wasting soil as I have to buy it online so it's more awkward to get hold of. So I try to make the most of a bag. However, if I had a new bag of soil to try and a tent with a 600w lamp in I would do the very same.

Even if the whole volume of the ten gallons isn't filled up with roots, just the extra depth will do wonders for an auto apparently. The length of the tap root helps the plant decide how big it'll try to grow. I mean, obviously everything else you do makes a plant how big it gets, but a long tap root makes the plant know it has space for potential growth, so it's like it has its own target size in mind and you 'just' have to give it everything it needs... 
 
I will be very interested to see how big it does get. Also, when it's been harvested it would be interesting to see/hear about the root mass if you're the kind of guy who goes rummaging around in the soil after you've chopped. I am.
 
As for your air in there, at this stage a gentle fan stirring the air up enough just so that it doesn't stagnate around the leaves will be fine (also if the breeze moves the seedling around a little it will grow a stronger stem and wont stretch so much).
The CO2 levels wont change so much from one seedling that you'd need to be extracting air to keep new air going in. Your fan-pointed-at-vent idea would be fine if you needed fresh air going in, but again I don't think necessary just yet.
CO2 levels will be raised more significantly by you being there breathing on them... but obviously you can't be doing that all day.
 
I'm based in the UK. So a lot of the US glass would be hard to get hold of... I will definitely be looking into bubblers though! They look a bit fiddly to clean. Are they? I guess it depends on the design.
 
Oh, and nice idea with the strain index. I really need to start logging more stuff with my grows. I rarely write anything down.

 

Hey bro hope all is well with the grow, subbed this to watch your project. Btw, one hell of a grow journal !!

 

New thread looks good mate, look forward to seeing tent city flooded with my favourite colour.

 

I've been reading about container shape a bit recently. Sativas and Indicas have slightly different root structures to provide for the different above-ground structure of each. The Ruderalis genes in your auto will also add its own characterisitics. Although roots are roots at the end of the day. I was wondering what effect a tall thin container would have on growth compared to the same volume but shallow and wide. Some people say the plant tends to only grow as wide as the roots can without training. Depth increases height... Some say put sativas in deeper pots and indicas in wider pots. I see the logic there. Haven't had enough experience with different shaped/sized pots though. For my plants I have been using 16 litre fabric pots made by a brand called 'Root Pouches', or something like that, with a little kangaroo logo. They were far cheaper than 'Smart Pots' branded ones, and deeper rather than wider - although maybe not by a very significant amount... The main reason I went with then was cos 'Smart Pots' are way overpriced.
I recently got hold of a couple of 11 litre square fabric pots by 'Dirt Pots'. They have way thicker walls and are a different kind of material. And they have handles and loops for bamboo canes etc. They're good. Also, squares tessellate better for the small space I have for starting plants. Going to do 4 autos in there. One day maybe I'll actually get a journal going on here. I also got one 17 litre square 'Dirt Pot' too. Just transplanted 2 PPP by Nirvana and 2 Purple Kush bag seeds from some outdoor grown buds I got my hands on. Not sure what will happen with them, but I smoke a lot of outdoor weed for the all-day kind of smoke. I collect bag seeds and I've got a few hundred now. Around 10 different strains, can't remember... They're good to grow for fun. I don't worry about stressing them as much with extreme training techniques cos they're just bag seeds. I'm much more wary of screwing with my plants that have the real generic potential.
Last grow I did four bag seeds that were from my 'assorted' collection. Grew two very sativa looking ones that preflowered before the 2 indica looking ones. I topped one early on pretty awfully and stressed it (with other factors too) into going hermie. Both indicas were boys. The last plant now sits in my tent about halfway through flower and she's a beaut. I had assumed from what I could've got the seeds from it would've either been Durban Poison or Thai. It's going purple though, so it could've cross pollinated with the same guys Purple Kush I had... I'm going to calm her 'Purple Poison' and hope she lives up to such a badass name!

Anyway, I've become sidetracked.

Glass - I have ordered things from grasscity before, so unless they have multiple shipping locations, that's all good. Nice idea. Can't believe I didn't think of it myself!
Never been on Aqua Labs site before... Wow! One day I will make a big purchase on there! Even if I have to pay a tonne for shipping and those dreaded US import fees!

Your baby auto is looking like she's getting a great start!
 
 
EDIT - all kinds of phone-related auto-correct spelling mistakes...

 

It's an interesting debate if there is reason to believe there is a significance difference, although I have a feeling sheer root mass by volume (regardless of how it's achieve) will always trump other theories.
 
I'm using aero pots this time round which are meant to be "self pruning". Their theory makes sense too, their design (from what I gather) is meant to prevent roots from massing at the edges but instead changing direction and continuing like there was no wall. That and the huge amount of air they flow it should be interesting. I'm gonna clone in them too.
 
Most people rave about them except they are meant to be a pain in the arse to water.

 

 
Yeah, I definitely agree that overall mass of roots will always be most important. There's a similar argument amongst people who believe fabric pots are a gimmick. The root system just develops a different pattern/shape, not different size... Not sure about that though, and I like them. Plus the added aeration must be way better.
 
They aren't too bad with watering in my experience. I water a little and let that sink in for a few hours then I give them a proper watering. I don't water from the bottom though like some people with normal pots (not sure if people do with fabric ones). I only haven't tried this as the trays I have them on are exactly the same diameter. No room for watering. 
 
At first they can be a bit of a pain as they're a bit floppy until the soil has settled into shape properly. I tend to add a little more soil after a few days/waterings to fill in gaps down the sides between the soil and the fabric. This is because I try to keep the soil as un-compacted as possible when I fill them up initially. I have to jiggle them up and down a bit to fill them in properly, but I don't push soil down to fill their shape in properly. They don't always start off the perfect circles you expect after their folded flat storage. And when you fill square ones they tend to push out into a circle anyway before you push them into line with some other square ones.
Also, when watering I usually like to water around the edges of a pot for a while to encourage roots to grow outwards to find moisture. With the fabric pots though, if you pour water right down the side it can just come right through the porous side and all over the floor... So all it takes is a little care to always be pouring water onto soil no closer than an inch in from the edge. Not really very tricky.
When the roots are properly established they are good solid containers and watering is easier.

Using a sprinkler/rain style attachment on your watering can is also much better for early on with them. Once the roots are established I don't bother cos it's too much of a fiddle with my half-broken watering can! Ha!

 

Nice journal here... I too use the Smart Pots. I start in a solo cups with FF Happy Frog then move to a 1gal Smart Pot w/ FF Ocean Floor. A week or two before flowering I transplant to a 5gal Smart Pot with the same FFOF. I just use a small bucket for watering and gently push the branches out of the way and water.

As far as glass goes... King makes great pieces in my opinion (pictured), this one is mainly for concentrates but also has a flower bowl. And bubblers are very contrary to clean out. But I use it all the time.

Currently growing Blue Dream. This is a few weeks old, but both in Smart Pots under 8 x 23w 1600L cfls.

 

 
I know what you're talking about but these are covered in big holes like an inch below the surface so technically water could just flow right out the side bypassing the roots altogether. I think like everything you just need to learn how to do it properly, most people must just fail the first attempt then right it off straight away. I'll admit i'm guilty of that too. But both your bags and my weird pots have proven results so ima do it anyway,.

 

Oh AERO pots! I just assumed you meant another fabric brand, but I didn't take the name in. I nearly bought some of those the other day, but went with the Dirt Pots instead. Cheaper. Also, the holes looked to me like I would make a serious mess filling them up and watering... I am very interested to use one or two sometime though.

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I have been reusing bags by 'Root Pouches' or 'Root Pouch'... The kangaroo ones... Anyway, they seem fine. Same with one Smart Pot I've reused once or twice. Just have one that a mate gave me to try out. I did worry though that they might start deteriorating in the bottoms after a while. Either from water contact or root penetration.
And my new 'Dirt Pot' square ones look industrial compared so I reckon they'll be good to reuse.
 
I've been reading into autos. It'll be interesting how your's turns out compared to other people's grows with the same strain. Potential varies vastly with auto-flowers though, through different strains or just different phenos. Autos are relatively new in the history of cannabis cultivation... So it depends what you get. Some of the more recently developed ones are getting closer to being normal sized. It depends on genes. I read somewhere that most autos tend to be Indica crosses, but that there are now some Sativa crosses that are being referred to as 'super autos'. They take longer than normal to start flowering and to actually flower too, but they get bigger!
Sooo... I'm in two minds about them. I don't really get the appeal other than the option to use an intense lighting schedule you couldn't do with normal 12/12 plants. If they take longer then they defeat the point of time saving with autos... But they get bigger and that's always appealing! Time isn't always an issue growing if you have a rotation, but I thought the point of autos was to speed stuff up. I would just grow normal stuff and not have to forgo potential by adding Ruderalis genes. Unless they still knock off a considerable few weeks of grow time. One day maybe I'll just try growing one and find out rather than wondering... I don't intend to invest too heavily in autos though.

 

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One question and maybe it's stupid but are these totes re-usable?

Yes, I wash them in the sink really well and scrub the build up off. I don't use soap with dyes or scents. Maybe I am just paranoid but i try and keep them as natural as possible. And let air dry. Look new every time.

 

Don't know if you've seen these before, but these are really nice for drying trim. You can also dry bud in them but for trim you cannot beat them. They come in different sizes..this one has clips where you can remove each tray.