El Chilli's automática 2nd attempt for the Copa

[Chilli]

Medium & Nutrients

I'm probably going to regret this but here is the plan:

Over the years, I've used lots of different soils and nutrients and in the grow the intention is to run with a mixture of these and work out which (if any) is best.

I'm going to try some in a garden centre compost - J Arthur Bowers with added JI that I had left over from my tomatoes. This should have enough feed for most of the grow and I will add some Bloom when the plants look a little hungry.

I also have a light mix - Plant Magic's Soil Supreme. The plan here is to use Plant Magic's liquid feeds and beneficials in some and make my own mix up using bat guano, worm castings, rock dust & bio supermix (a sort of souped up Plant Magic version of Batmix)in the others.

To further complicate things but see what works best for autos I'm going to plant some seeds directly into 11 L pots, some will be potted on and some seeds will be pre-soaked to see if that speeds up germination (there are thoughts that the shells on the auto seeds are thicker, which make sense, as the ruderalis ancestors had to endure harsh winters).

So I don't confuse myself too much , I have created the following schedule:

[ska]

Alright Chili, Lovin it so far. How do you find those TT fans, are they loud? and can you dim them? I've been reading mixed reviews. cheers and good luck for the comp.

[Chilli]

Alright Chili, Lovin it so far. How do you find those TT fans, are they loud? and can you dim them? I've been reading mixed reviews. cheers and good luck for the comp.

Cheers OskaO. The TT fan is louder than an equivalent RVK or Ruck - I think its down to the thin plastic body. I changed the bearings to some high quality SKF ones, made a rubber mount and wrapped the body in some acoustic matting which made a big difference. It has two speeds (two separate windings) and is a lot quieter on the low setting. I've never tried dimming it but I can't see why not.

[Monkeymagic]

I Like a nice simple plan Chilli

Good luck, will be interesting to see some comparison growing

Atb

Mm

[Chilli]

Time to get the show on the road.

The plan is the plant the seeds tomorrow in their various pots and mediums.

Tonight I will soak some of the seeds in some tepid water, with added seaweed extract (the plant hormones speed up germination) and a dash of Bio Wetter (to break the surface tension of the water so the seed shell absorbs the water mix). These will soak overnight and be planted tomorrow.

The seeds that are being pre-soaked are:

Cream Caramel 1

Cream Caramel 2

Black Jack 1

&

S.A.D. 1

The rest of the seeds are going straight into soil tomorrow.

Here's a quick pick of them before their soak.

Having had a think about it some of the mediums may be a bit hot to plant the seeds directly into (such as the JAB), so I have revised the grow schedule (see below). The nutrients homemade batmix has been layered in the pot so the roots should be fairly well developed before they come into contact with the bat guano & worm casts.

[Chilli]

I Like a nice simple plan Chilli

Good luck, will be interesting to see some comparison growing

Atb

Mm

Cheers mate. I'm getting confused already

In fact I would have started the diary a couple of days sooner but I've been too mashed. I got myself into a real state at the weekend - decided to mix up Jack 47, Sweet Cheese & Double White in the same joints and drank too much tulsi tea, which resulted in some lucid dreaming I had a bizarre dream where my Sweet Seeds grow was in the old 60s children's tv show 'The Herb's but instead of Parsley, Sage, Dill the dog etc, it was talking Cream Caramels, Fast Buds, S.A.D.'s & Black Jacks - very surreal. I think I better lay off the stuff for a while

For those too young to remember The Herbs:

Herbidacious

[ska]

Thanks for the reply Chilli, you've confirmed my thoughts and i'm not going to get a TT I'm sticking with the silent box fan I want to get.

[Chilli]

Germination

After a good soak for 18 hours (a little longer than I'd like, but unfortunately work gets in the way), the following seeds have been put into some Plant Magic Soil Supreme to germinate in 90 cm (3 1/2") pots:

Cream Caramel 1

Cream Caramel 2

Black Jack 1

S.A.D. 1

Also planted in the same pots were

Black Jack 2 & S.A.D. 2

Finally, planted directly into 11L pots were:

Cream Caramel 1 (home made bat mix)

Fast Bud 1 (Plant Magic Soil Supreme)

Fast Bud 2 (home made bat mix)

Here is a pic of them all under 72 watts of 6400K cfl (actually it's a light box)

The next post will be when there's signs of life - normally 18 hours to 72 hours but I've heard autos take longer. It will be interesting to see what pops up first.

[Guest ScumbagGardens]

Lamps

I plan on using supplementary UV lighting.

This is something I've been thinking about.Have to keep on eye on this & see what your opinion is at the end

[Guest Poacher]

WOW!! you got a fair old task on your hands with all the different vars, different composts, some in final pots some to be potted up!

I wish you the very best of luck, by the sounds of it this is going to be a very interesting diary to watch Ill just pull up a chair over in the corner and I promise to be a good boy and not annoy folks

[Chilli]

Lamps

I plan on using supplementary UV lighting.

This is something I've been thinking about.Have to keep on eye on this & see what your opinion is at the end

Have a look at my diary from the last Sweet Seeds comp where I used supplemental UV lighting.

https://www.uk420.com/boards/index.php?showtopic=239841&view=findpost&p=2623072

WOW!! you got a fair old task on your hands with all the different vars, different composts, some in final pots some to be potted up!

I wish you the very best of luck, by the sounds of it this is going to be a very interesting diary to watch Ill just pull up a chair over in the corner and I promise to be a good boy and not annoy folks

Cheers Poacher, you're more than welcome to pull up a chair.

[Chilli]

Day 1

We have life

After about 36 hours since, the some of the seeds were soaked (and then planted) and the others planted straight into soil we have eight seedlings sprouting - 100% germ rate. Interestingly the ones planted directly into 11L pots seem the most vigorous so far and the once that were pre-soaked don't seem as perky as the rest - which is a bit of a surprise. I will leave the under the current lamp until they all have true leaves and will then pop them under 300W CFL.

[stonedcold]

"Herbidacious"

SC

[Guest La Viva Sativa]

nice going buddy interested to see them in 11 litre pots so small.

best luck dude not that ull need it.

[Chilli]

"Herbidacious"

SC

I love the word herbidacious - I might even change my user name to it.

nice going buddy interested to see them in 11 litre pots so small.

Cheers La Viva Sativa - it feels and looks so wrong to plant a seed in an 11L pot but they look happy so far.