My Sweecret laboratory. 5th Sweet Seeds competition grow diary 2018/19

[Serpent]

And their off @jadenugs, good luck mate

[jadenugs]

@Smokebelch

Yeah man, the bottle tops are good for keeping a bit of extra humidity around the seedlings while still getting plenty fresh air while they harden off to the main area. They're a little bit big for these pots, if the seedling grows up through and the bottle top slips to the side it could be They fit nice and sturdily on the compost just inside the 1.5L pot rims I normally start in. I only leave them on a day or two anyway.

@vince noir rock n roll star

Thanks mate, appreciated

 

@Serpent

Yeah that's the worst bit out the way. Cheers dude

 

When I checked on them  tonight temps had been 24-26 and humidity was at 46%.

I removed the bottle top cloches and soaked the sand with a litre of water. The panel is down to 23" now and they were still stretching so I turned the wattage up a bit.

Checked later on, the temp was 25 and the RH had risen to 56. The good news is the RH in the main tent is still only 46 so I'm chuffed with that. I'll try and keep things close to what they are as I adjust the panel height and wattage to stop them stretching.

 

All the best

Nugs

 

[jadenugs]

I removed the gravel tray and put a rack in there to keep them off the wet sand. This way hopefully they'll get better humidity levels than in the tray.

Also the roots will prune as soon as they hit the bottom.

 

 

Be lucky

 

 

[jadenugs]

Day 4

 

Things are going well so far in the Sweecret laboratory.

No deformities, mutants, runts, or further accidents for that matter

 

After the Green Poison's fast initial stretch, lowering the panel and turning it up a tad soon halted her. She's only stretched half inch in the last couple of days and is now widening out.

All seedlings are looking nice and healthy, I'm well impressed with the health and vigor so far over 4 different strains. This might make my job easier

 

They each had a feed last night, 50ml with 0.5ml/L Bio Silicon to give them some strength from the off.

 

When I opened the cab today temps had been low of 24, high of 28C and RH was sitting at 47. The sand hasn't been wet for a couple of days, no need with the wet mild weather here lately. They're happy anyway.

The panel is still at the same height and wattage.

 

Here's the girls . Take no notice of the mini hygrometer, the readings soon change as soon as I open the cab door. Anyways I only use it for the RH because that reading can't be seen on my other hygro, it's knackered and I should get a new one. The mini hygro was bought just to check my jars because it is small but I don't think it's very accurate. As long as I have a rough idea though for the first few weeks in this cab before the tent.

 

Crystal Candy FV, growing nicely after her mishap

 

Cream 47

 

Green Poison CBD showing longer narrower leaves

 

Sweet Pure CBD

 

Looking at the progression of the 2nd set of leaves, all four seem to be growing at around the same pace so that's cool.

I'm well pleased with the grow so far, happy days

 

Thanks for looking and be lucky

 

 

[Serpent]

Off to a healthy start @jadenugs

[Smokebelch]

@jadenugsLooking good dude so far dude. 

[jadenugs]

@Serpent

@Smokebelch lads

[jadenugs]

Day 5

 

Hi all 

 

Temps when I checked tonight were lows of 21 and highs of 28, sitting at 25C and the RH was sitting at 41.

So I added some more water to the sand base for a humidity boost, I gave it a soaking with 700ml of water. This is just about right or it runs to one end and puddles, with the floor not being quite level.

 

Here's the girls from a side view with more in focus, stems are a bit leggy but they haven't stretched any more since I lowered the panel and they're holding their own with no support. There's a nice gentle breeze bouncing off the wall from the circ fan making them dance Lights are on 24/7 by the way.

 

Crystal Candy FV

 

Cream 47

 

Green Poison CBD

 

Sweet Pure CBD

 

As you can see the Candy is a bit pale on her leaf tip and if you look closely at the Sweet Pure she has a rusty spot at the botton left so I'm gessing the roots were a bit colder when the lowest temp in the cab was 21.

To rectify, I've knocked the prop base up a notch to 9 on the dial and I've removed the wire grill that was holding them off the sand. Only trouble was the pots were sinking into the wet sand a bit and I didn't want them wicking as I want a good wet/dry cycle. So I've put some brown packing paper under them that has a waxy side underneath. This should stop it getting waterlogged and tearing I hope. If not I'll use something else.

I cut it into small squares so so the humidity can still rise around the plants.

 

Happy growing and be lucky

[jadenugs]

Forgot the pic of the paper thingies, was baked Ok, I probably didn't need to take a pic but it shows that the paper allows the  heat through and the humidity up around the pots so better than a plant tray or saucer IMO. It's actually the backing paper from the reflective stuff I lined my cab with, which is thin aluminium foil and a great conductor of heat. So I'm gonna peel the paper off some of that and fold it back on itself to get rid of the sticky side and cut into small squares for a more permanent durable thing that won't get soaked and waste away. I was gonna do this in the first place but thought having white facing down might reflect some of the heat back down. The foil is quite thin though so it's gonna conduct the heat well, regardless of the underside being reflective. Like I said, I was baked

 

All the best

 

Nugs

[jadenugs]

Day 6

 

Just been up to check on the girls and the temps were 21=29C, sitting at 29 and RH was only 41.

Wet the sand again and the RH has risen to 61. Turned the prop base down a little until later on.

The Sweet Pure CBD has got worse, with more rust spots and a bit paler so I've gave a tiny spray of Epsoms salts under her leaves to keep her in Mg if her roots aren't taking it up.

They were all nearly ready for a watering and I was gonna wait until tomorrow or later on tonight but decided not to wait and gave them all a feed of 75 ml with 2ml/L seaweed to make sure the compost is drenched through with no dry pockets.

 

Here's the Sweet Pure CBD, hopefully this is just what had already started before I re-arranged the set up to keep the roots warmer, and it doesn't get worse. She's a little small to be having problems.

If problems persist I'll probably wrap the pots in bubble wrap as an extra precaution. I was thinking the nursery bags inside the pots would give them enough insulation when the temps are at their lowest, but maybe not.

 

Be lucky

[Serpent]

I'm scratching my head with the rust spots, it could be a magnesium deficiency, but as they're only six days old, I wouldn't think it's that, so it could be pointing to temperature/humidity, which it sounds like you're trying to tackle. I feel your pain though as my humidity has been dropping to 34-35% so I've just been putting tubs of water in the tent to try and raise it, not sure if it'll work, time will tell.

 

Good luck and hopefully it's nothing too serious, but keep an eye on them

[jadenugs]

@Serpent Thanks for trying to assist dude, yeah it's a head scratcher

I'm almost certain it's a temp issue and hopefully it's sorted for now

The wet sand is doing the job for humidity but needs to be topped up daily, as would a towel need re wetting etc. I was thinking of adding tubs of water too but I've got to be careful with drawing air through here into my flowering tent. Humidity is hovering around 46-56 on average in there and my flowers are pretty dense so it's proving to be a mission to balance things out at the moment.

 

I replaced the paper pot tray thingies with the white metalic stuff last night and when I checked later the prop base had switched off on the thermostat and the sand had cooled a bit in between it switching back on. The good news is the makeshift trays were still a lot warmer than the sand so that's a result, they're a good holder of heat and should keep the pots warm in between the prop base switching back on

I decided to wrap the pots twice around in bubble wrap as well to hold the heat in so I can't wait til 7 so I can check em out and see if the Sweet Pure has picked up. It's a bit frustrating when you've got young seedlings in veg and can't check them regularly. I've been looking for a new light proof flowering tent but can't find a decent one as low as 180. The one I've got is like a pin cushion so I can't go up there opening the veg cab until my tent lights come on.

 

I was looking at roof cubes which are 180 high but that means rearranging my filter and everything, with losing space due to the sloping roof. So I looked at the green cube and the lowest is 2M. Can't win

 

Good luck with your humidity mate

[Serpent]

You're kinda in a catch 22.

 

BudBox do a 1m x 1m x 1.8m tent if that's any good? 

[jadenugs]

2 hours ago, Serpent said:

BudBox do a 1m x 1m x 1.8m tent if that's any good? 

Thanks mate, bit small that though. I've looked at the 150x150x180 green qube tonight and that would maybe do the job, more room for the filter. Only thing is I'd have to fill the tent

Might be a future upgrade

[jadenugs]

Day 7

 

Evening all

As mentioned above I've suffered a bit of Mg lockout due to temps dropping and me trying to dial in the veg cab.

 

When I opened the cab door tonight and checked the temps they had been lows of 25 and a high of 30C and still sitting right there at 30.

The hygro was reading 31, very low but the girls were very perky, leaves stood up just how I like to see them. So I drenched the sand again and the humidity soon went up to 61.

The new make shift plant trays I put in were nice and toasty to the touch so all is improving as I've wrapped the pots in bubble wrap too. I now know I need to soak the sand at least twice in a 24 hour period and I'll monitor the RH from there. The oil rad in my rad box is set to 18C and will be fine at that for both the tent and the cab for the moment. I was thinking of putting an open container of water in there too but if I do that my tent will get the extra humidity too so that's a no no.

 

Here's the girls looking perky and the Sweet Pure CBD doesn't look to be getting any worse. She's still growing and the 2nd set of leaves are developing nicely with no new marks or spots

You can see my simple little trays transferring the heat nicely from the sand to the pots and holding the heat when the prop base thermostat turns it off at the reached setting. The bubble wrap goes around the pots twice for plenty of insulation.

 

Crystal Candy FV

Slowest off the mark and had her tap root broke before she even surfaced properly but she seems to be developing faster than the others now. Maybe the root prune at such an early stage has benefitted her. I wouldn't like to try it purposely though until some leaves have developed.

 

Cream 47

She's the darkest one out of the 4 and she's doing ok.

 

Green Poison CBD

Doing ok. I think they were all slowed for a day or 2 with the roots getting cold though.

 

Sweet Pure CBD

You can see here that she's happy enough after the bad spell and things haven't progressed further.

2nd set of leaves developing fine. Let's hope she has no further problems.

 

That's it for now.

Happy gardening and be lucky