This is my 2nd attempt at a grow, I tried to simplify it with a 2x4 gorilla tent, 2 GH powergrowers modified with added airstones, a blackdog 700-u LED a 4'' inline exhaust fan/carbon scrubber blowing air out the top and sucking air from the vent below. and a little fan blowing hot air down from the LED I placed the Crop King Auto fem candy cane seeds into rapid rooters. then placed them directly into the hydroton I am using RO water in the top feed dwc hydro system, i filled the buckets up about 3 inches below the rapid rooters and will monitor their dampness. the exhaust is on a dimmer and is on low, my temperature and humidity are low, 70 -75 f - 40-45 RH.... So i lowered my light too 27 inches above the hydroton, hoping the 3 inches closer than recommended will help warm these ladies. I rigged up a towel and water dish to hopefully humidify the tent and placed some humidity domes over the seeds I have no idea if they will pop like this, I know i am being lazy throwing them right in the hydroton, i did it because i read autoflowers don't like transplanting, i want the tap root to drop and for these gals to grow without any stall. I have the tent on cold tiles, the air intake is very cool, almost too cool...... i hope with the fan blowing hot air down, that my canopy will be about 84 degrees and my water 65 degrees..... I am using the 3 part general hydroponics nutes that came with the power growers. I read auto's don't like fertilizer for the first 3 weeks, so i'll wait and read their signs. the pots are on crates to allow my to drain easily. I am hoping to scrog them over a net I built, i'm gonna lst train them with tape and hopefully fill my 2x4 canopy with colas. My goal is 6 ounces. Peace.
Hey man. Good luck. Will be following this one. Just into my 2nd grow myself with similar setup. Good luck!
I am curious to see how quick they pop in rapid rooters, compared to 1inch rockwool cubes. Ya man. Just started it today. Im on day 29 since popping. http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-medical-marijuana-growing/1351411-autoflower-grow-journal-2nd-grow-doing-great.html?p=21163558
Solid set up mate. Be careful you don't cause the starter cubes to become saturated otherwise the seeds will probably drown. If you didn't give the plants nutes for 3 weeks they would be very sickly indeed. After 5-7 days they will start to take up nutrients. An EC of about 0.3 is a good starting point. Bumping up to 0.4 When they are about 2 weeks old. Transplanting them from paper towels would be fine. It's just with autos after about week 6 they stop putting down roots so a transplant, if were to happen should be within the first 3 weeks. but that's for soil growers anyway. ScrOGing an auto doesn't really work because you are not in control of when they flower. LST is fine though
Day 11 and one fail + a sprouted lady yesterday i pulled out the seed that wouldn't sprout, I had both cropking seeds on under the same conditions, i had the top drip on a 15 min. on/ 15 off timer to allow the rapid rooters to breathe, when i looked inside, the tap root had sprung, so i waited 5 days for a sprout and then gave up on her. so this time i have the rapid rooter halfway out of the hydroton I am hoping I won't need to put the top drip on a timer again because i only have one timer, its been a few days since i placed the seed, so hopefully she will pop soon. the sprouted auto is doing well, leaves are green and perky, I was thinking i should have drilled more holes in the powergrower baskets as they arn't designed for dwc, but there is a few holes and i am committed now, hopefully the roots will find a way into the aerated water. The blackdog LED is doing fine, its not super hot, I have my 4'' canfan on low with a speedster and the 2x4 tent keeps a steady 80 degrees near the plants and around 90 degrees at the light. My water is a little warm at about 70, so i may end up putting the pots on the cold ground. I have the pots raised so i can drain easy, and if i scrog, I won't be able to move the pots around..... soooo, I need help to decide, should i put the pots on the 55 degree tile floor and skip the scrog fun, or should i risk root rot with the current set up that allows me to change 70 degree water easily?? This new sprout is my 9th, i ran Arjen Haze #1 last time and they were painfully slow, after ten days this time, it seems lame to be so happy about 4 new leaves with this candy cane auto. i am grateful to nature and the power of a seed for teaching me patience with a little more reward this time. Thank you GoldGrower for the insight, I think your right, I probably drowned the one seed or i just wasn't patient enough. Next time i will use a tray and dome as i had 100% success that way. I appreciate the info about transplanting I am waiting to see the plant ask for nutes before I feed them, & now I am waiting for a new sprout. I read that Autos don't like nutes for the first few weeks so i am weary about feeding them while they are so small and healthy. I am not sure about scroging the auto, as you say, I can't control the veg time which means i won't be able to fill the screen. I am thinking of doing the scotch tape lst trick when they are big enough, than i may place the screen and use it to help lst the plant out horizontally. Hopefully in the 7 weeks of their life, they will fill the 2x4 area. @Deeppurple99 I hope your ladies start to flower asap Are you counting days from the day you planted the seed? I would be amazed if my plants can be as big as yours in 26 more days. My sprouted lady popped in 5 days. Thank You
Will it dry enough with the water turned off for just 15 minutes a time? I would have thought about 12 hours would have been better. What signs will you wait for the plant to tell you it needs nutrients? Are you going to wait until it shows it's sick? Because growth will slow to a crawl before that point. Many people don't feed autos for 3 weeks but that's when they are in soil. Soil has nutrients. Water doesn't. That plant is going to be in a sorry state at 3 weeks on empty water. They start to show flowers at 3 weeks of age
This is a 3 week old auto in DWC. Lowryder#2. Do you really think it could put on that much mass without any nutrients at all?
Oh snap, thank you again, you are a savour. Do you think I should add nutes today? The plant is about a week old. I can put the top feed on a timer with my light (18/6) and spray it if the rapid rooter dries right out. Or I can put the light on 24 hrs a day and use my timer for the air pump. What would you suggest my best schedule would be? How dry should i let it get? You are very kind to help me
I don't know how long it takes to dry out, too many factors to consider so you will have to figure out the best time period. I would defiantly use the timer for the feed and leave the lights on 24/0. Assuming you don't have any heat issues in the middle of the day... Can you put a photo up of the plant? Wow a week old already? That went fast lol. What is the current EC or ppm?
I decided to skip the scrog net, I lowered the pots onto the cold floor to help lower the water temps I added nutes to the sprout 7mills from each bottle as prescribed Ph of the RO water is still 6ish @Goldgrower, here's a close pic of the plant As a side, here is a pic of my light and a temp reading of it Thank you
I don't have a ec reader or a ppm indicator yet, the dam light broke my bank at $2000 The rapid rooter was bone dry on top after ten hours with the top drip running the whole time. I placed a dome on it to help maintain some moisture on top, the underside that is in contact with the hydroton was still damp. Relative humidity varies from 30-60, depending how wet the towel is and the exhaust fan speedster setting. should i switch to 24/0 ? I can control heat easily with the exhaust. Thhank you so much for your help
it took 2 days for this to sprout, she came up yesterday This lady is on day 15 since i planted the seed I lowered the light another inch
Wow 2 grand on a light? An EC or ppm meter can be bought for around £4 including delivery and is one of the most important tools for DWC. Well worth getting Switch to 24/0? What are you on now? I thought you only had the one timer
I am on 18/6, I didn't end up putting the tip feed pumps on a timer because the rapid rooters maintained a nice moisture with the set up having the rooter slightly out of the hydroton. 2 1/2 days to sprout that seed was very fast I will pick up the ec meter and a ppm reader asap.
Day 7 Day 3 My set up GH PowerGrowers $180 (including GH Flora Nutes, air pumps & Hydroton) BlackDog 700-U LED $2000 (including method 7 glasses) 2x4x6'11'' Gorrilla grow tent $350 4'' canfan, carbon filter 33 & speedster...... $200ish Addition resivior air pump $40 4 4'' airstones $8 small tent fan $40 PH strips $15 Crop King Auto Fem Candy Cane seeds $60 Total - $2893ish
For the price I paid, I could have outright bought a 5x5 supercloset grow.room. http://supercloset.com/product/grow-rooms/5-x-5-superroom-best-led-grow-room/ Anyone buy one of these?
day 9 and a little droopy could she be too wet? maybe she wants more nutes? day 5 looks ok, i'll add nutes in a few days Any advice is much welcome & appreciated.