Hello everyone. Because of my geographical location and the heat during the summer, I usually only do one grow a year in the winter. I always do photos and yield enough for the entire year. I recently received my seeds for my new grow starting in November....Nirvana - Pure Power Plant and Blue Dream. Nirvana also sent 5 Jock Horror Auto seeds as a freebie, so I decided to do an auto grow in my closet with my T-5 fixture. I plan on only growing one plant because of the space and the light. My grow in November is going to be original Hempy Buckets, and I plan on using 2 - 3 different nutrient lines to see the differences, if any. I love to mix it up. That being said - I thought I would do a trial Hempy run with the free autos I received from Nirvana. I have never grown a plant entirely under the T-5 light - I use it primarily for the first couple weeks of veg. It's been at least 10 years since I did Hempys, but the results were always great. It will be interesting (for me at least) to see how the Lucas Formula with Flora Series nutes and the T-5 perform. Strain - Nirvana Jock Horror Auto Fem. Medium - 75/25 Perlite/Vermiculite mix. Hempy's recommendation. Light - 4' - 8 bulb -T-5 fixture with two sets of bulbs - one for veg and one for flower. Nutrients - General Hydroponics Flora Micro and Flora Bloom. 1:2 ratio. Additives - Silica Blast and Hydroguard. Containers - Solo cup (with drain hole 3/4" from the bottom) to start and a 2 gallon bucket after 2-3 weeks (with drain hole 2" from the bottom. Feeding Schedule - Daily. The Line Up. 2 days old. Placed the seeds in Rapid Rooters and put them in the Hempy cups. I will give regular updates on the progress for those interested.
Been waiting on this one, read in another thread you were thinking about doing it, will be watching weekly Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
I've never grown an auto by itself and I've never grown a plant entirely with a T5. So this should be interesting. I also plan on transplanting the auto from a solo cup to a 2 gallon bucket to prove that a proper transplanting technique doesn't slow down the plant's growth. I appreciate your interest.
This will be cool to see, im sure we will all learn something from this Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
I agree . Granted, i havn't done as many as some growers but I've never had slowed growth due to a transplant.
Update: Not too much to report yet. I've been feeding 3ml Micro and 6ml Bloom daily - pH'd to around 5.8. Also - 2ml Silica Blast and 2ml SM-90. They seem healthy and pretty normal for 1 week from sprout. I'm not sure whether I will keep both plants - depends on size and space.
Update: The plants are 2 weeks from sprout today. After the first week it appeared that they were a bit light green so I changed from 3ml Micro and 6ml Bloom to 6ml Micro and 2ml Bloom to provide more nitrogen. They greened up during the 2nd week, so now they are on 4ml Micro and 4ml Bloom. So much for the Lucas Formula - Haha. That's the advantage of using two parts - you can adjust when needed. I switched out 4 of my T5 bulbs with 3000k - so now I have half at 6500k and half at 3000k. I'll switch to all 3000k in a couple weeks. I'll probably transplant sometime this week - when I'm sure the roots have filled the cup and I can pull it out of the cup without everything falling apart. The plants don't seem as perky as my other grows at the same age. Considering that I'm using a different medium, and different nutes, I'm not sure why. It could be the strain as well.
Update: The attached pic was taken a few days ago, when the plants were 16 days old. The pic was taken just after transplanting to a 2 gallon container. There was no noticeable shock from the transplant. I think I will put my seedlings directly into the final pot when I do my grow in November, and just feed daily until the roots reach the bottom. No worry about over-watering with perlite and vermiculite. I'll be curious to see if they grow any slower that way. I'll do another update on Friday (two days) - the plants will be three weeks from sprout. They are already showing pistils at 2-1/2 weeks old.
Update: Today the plants are 3 weeks from sprout - they are doing well in their hempy homes. No slowdown whatsoever since transplanting 5 days ago. They started showing pistils about 4 days ago. For now I am feeding 4ml Micro and 8ml Bloom every other day - back to the Lucas Formula. My pH going in is around 6.0 and coming out is the same. I hope I have enough room for two plants under my T5 fixture. I plan on starting to do LST starting today. This has to be the absolute easiest way to grow with the least amount of problems. You don't have to worry about the medium being too hot or salt build up or the pH being off. The plant gets only what you feed them at the pH going in and if a problem develops you can fix it immediately. Nothing could be simpler.
Good to know you were able to transplant the hempy. I got some clones rooting for Clone Wars and I wanted to start them all in smaller containers for veg in their variou mediums
Looking good. Healthy and happy plants. I Can't believe they are shooting pistils already. Keep up the good work!
There are variations but the original Hempy Bucket is 75/25 perlite/vermiculite mix in a 3 gallon bucket with a drain hole 2" from the bottom. The bottom 2 inches creates a reservoir that the plant can feed from. It's the simplest form of hydro and it's idiot proof. Impossible to over water and problems can be fixed immediately. Thanks.