Sweet auto mix

[Tesco Metro]

I have recently purchased a sweet auto mix for my first grow.  I want to get a quick grow in now as my set up is a walk in wardrobe cabinet that can be quickly disassembled to go back into a lockable 'present' cabinet to keep my kids' inquiring (read nosey) minds out of their mum and my business as we go about stockpiling presents for xmas.

 

However, it's a pretty small set up so at most I'm going to get two plants in there (one of which will probably be a little'un in a 5l pot).  So I was wondering, to avoid disappointment (and in particular to maintain my wife's already wavering enthusiasm for my new project), what the probability is of me getting a medicinal CBD strain in the mix, rather than a more psychoactive strain.  Like I say, I can get two pots in there just, to reduce the probability of a pure medicine grow, but I would prefer to just get a bigger single plant in if I thought I was guaranteed to get a more balanced outcome.

 

Does the auto mix include CBD only strains?  On reflection I probably should have been a bit more targeted, but the mix is such a tempting deal.

[Wacky Wardrobe]

Hi @Tesco Metro. I grow in a wardrobe. I've got 400 x 700mm. I comfortably get two good sized plants in there in 10 litre pots.

 

[Tesco Metro]

1 hour ago, Wacky Wardrobe said:

Hi @Tesco Metro. I grow in a wardrobe. I've got 400 x 700mm. I comfortably get two good sized plants in there in 10 litre pots.

 

That looks fantastic.  Props.  If I can do that, then I suspect my wife will be as latterly comfortable as she was with the robot vacuum after a stoned night watching it clean, or the garden smoker when the first ribs came off it 

 

I've got 580mmx500mm - the classic small pax grow.  Shed loads of height, but not much breadth.  Two 10l look like they'd roughly translate from your grow space to mine, although you have more depth.

 

Thank you. If I get half what you're doing I'll be happy as a noob hobbyist.

 

Do you mind me asking what F&F set up you have for that space?

[Wacky Wardrobe]

@Tesco Metro. You lucky bugger! You've actually got just a tad more space than me :-)

You'll be able to train two good sized plants into that space easily.

 

For extraction I just changed from a wall mounted bathroom type fan that was adequate but a bit uncontrollable to a Blauberg Ducto 4" that fits neatly into the ducting itself. I control this with a cheap plug in type controller. The fan is blowing through a 4" x 12" carbon filter laying on top of the wardrobe hidden by a box. Intake is passive through 4 x 4" screened vents. A couple of PC fans move air around above and below the canopy.

 

I'm writing this as I enjoy a well earned spliff after just chopping and trimming the top 3/4 of the plant on the right in the picture (Aurora Indica).

Lovely big dense buds on her. I did the same with the other one a week ago. I'm going to crisp the bottom fluffy stuff off for another week at least. This is definitely shaping up to be my best haul to date. I'm expecting at least five and a half ounces this time. Happy daze...!!!

Hope that gives you a bit of an idea and some encouragement to crack on.

All the best. I'll keep my eye out for you.

[Tesco Metro]

3 hours ago, Wacky Wardrobe said:

Hope that gives you a bit of an idea and some encouragement to crack on.

Certainly does.  I will have the cabinet finished this week and pop the seeds at the weekend.

 

Thank you very much for your encouragement and sharing your expertise.

[superfruit]

On 27/07/2020 at 9:13 AM, Wacky Wardrobe said:

@Tesco Metro. You lucky bugger! You've actually got just a tad more space than me :-)

You'll be able to train two good sized plants into that space easily.

 

For extraction I just changed from a wall mounted bathroom type fan that was adequate but a bit uncontrollable to a Blauberg Ducto 4" that fits neatly into the ducting itself. I control this with a cheap plug in type controller. The fan is blowing through a 4" x 12" carbon filter laying on top of the wardrobe hidden by a box. Intake is passive through 4 x 4" screened vents. A couple of PC fans move air around above and below the canopy.

 

I'm writing this as I enjoy a well earned spliff after just chopping and trimming the top 3/4 of the plant on the right in the picture (Aurora Indica).

Lovely big dense buds on her. I did the same with the other one a week ago. I'm going to crisp the bottom fluffy stuff off for another week at least. This is definitely shaping up to be my best haul to date. I'm expecting at least five and a half ounces this time. Happy daze...!!!

Hope that gives you a bit of an idea and some encouragement to crack on.

All the best. I'll keep my eye out for you.

 

How is your Ducto running nowadays? I'm on the fence whether to go rvk or ducto for a 75x75x100cm

[Wacky Wardrobe]

13 hours ago, superfruit said:

How is your Ducto running

Hi. It works well enough for my space (70 x 40 x 160cm) and lighting (under 150w).

On the hottest days I was getting high temperatures but not unmanageable.

How much light are you putting into your space? I'm guessing quite a bit more than me as your footprint is roughly twice as large as mine.

You may well need something that can shift more air than the Ducto. The Ducto is rated at 110 m3/hr.

Edited October 4, 2020 by Wacky Wardrobe

[superfruit]

5 hours ago, Wacky Wardrobe said:

Hi. It works well enough for my space (70 x 40 x 160cm) and lighting (under 150w).

On the hottest days I was getting high temperatures but not unmanageable.

How much light are you putting into your space? I'm guessing quite a bit more than me as your footprint is roughly twice as large as mine.

You may well need something that can shift more air than the Ducto. The Ducto is rated at 110 m3/hr.

 

Thanks mate. Looking at 250w hps but the tent is going to be in a cool place, under the house. Even on the hottest of days it seems quite cool under there. Consistent really.

 

[Tesco Metro]

On 27/07/2020 at 9:13 AM, Wacky Wardrobe said:

@Tesco Metro. You lucky bugger! You've actually got just a tad more space than me :-)

You'll be able to train two good sized plants into that space easily.

@Wacky Wardrobe just wanted to drop back in and say thank you very much for your advice and encouragement.

 

I followed your guidance and went for two plants in my 58x50 space.  I didn't end up with the 2m headspace that I thought I would, as fans and filters went up top, venting straight out of the back into the walk in wardrobe (which has lots of airflow moving past it).  In order to hang these I used two integrated clothes rails, and then a further clothes rail went underneath the ventilation system to hang the lights from.  Thankfully (sort of) my first two didn't grow that tall, so always had some decent space between tips and Mars Hydro 300w (old-school blurple).  

 

Anyway, the set up seemed to work very nicely.  I replaced the wimpy 'cardboard' back of the pax wardrobe with a second door, screwed in tight to the frame.  I cut a 100mm exhaust hole at the very top of the wardrobe (which is coverable when not in use by a cut to size section of the 'cardboard' backing board that came with the wardrobe, which has a few pieces of velcro on it to hold it in place).  I cut an intake rectangle in the bottom back of the drobe and covered it with a plastic exhaust grate that I filled with cooker hood carbon filter to keep light, dust and bugs out.  That's not visible when not in use either, because there's a low shelf just above it that removes it from the viewpoint of a standing person.

 

A 4 inch inline and an oversized CF meant that I could variac the fan right down to the lowest speed - except at the end of flowering and drying - and there was not a hint of a smell when door was sealed.  Plus it was virtually silent, which is great near a sleeping area.  I used weather strip all around the front edges of the drobe and door so it butted up against each other flush, and just adjusted the euro-hinges outwards a touch to compensate but leave a tight seal.  I then fitted very cheap draw locks which compressed the weather strip and made a tight light and air-proof seal.  I was going to use sealant around the back of the drobe as well, which I may do later as it has a tiny light leak (which is very hard to see, even when trying), but the drobe is so small that negative pressure is easily maintained and it all passed the wife's nose test very well.

 

Popped two SS Auto Mix seeds in final 11 litre fabric pots in front of the bathroom window whilst I was building drobe.  That was a mistake I won't repeat as the light was not bright enough in September to stop them from stretching.  However, when they went under 18/6 they perked up very quickly.  I LST'd at about 3/4 weeks, albeit lightly as I didn't really know what I was doing.  Environment was surprisingly co-operative, and just had to add a mini dehumidifier in mid flower to keep RH below 60-55% whilst firing a small clip-on fan at the big colas.

 

I had trouble with 1 plant from early flowering onward, nute wise, and got an awful lot of yellowing and then crispy leaves, starting mid canopy rather than top down or bottom up.  Which was annoying as I couldn't work out what it was, and it didn't respond to flushing.  It may be PH (even though I worked in organic bat mix with organic PM OT bloom nutes).  I didn't have a good PH pen, and when I did get one it was so late into the game that I needed to harvest a bit early.  The buds on this were a bit airy at harvest.  Smelled like a cross between diesel and pine, and netted 30g dry.

 

The second plant fared much better, but was a bit smaller, focusing its energy into a big main cola (albeit tied down).  I did get some yellowing in a similar pattern to plant 1.  But much later into flower, and was manageable throughout.  The buds were much tighter on this plant and it netted me 34g with a more citrus-y smell.  

 

Both plants had a lovely purplish hue by the end of the grow (which now makes me think of Eastbound and Down), although clearly not dark strains.  Lots of orange pistils relatively early, and just about 5% amber trichomes before harvest (although I went more by fan leaves and necessity than trichomes alone).  Trimming was a stinky affair, although where we live is so bloody sealed up that very little air moves in or out...

 

I have a few weeks to go, cure-wise, before I get to sample the wares.  Should land right before xmas day.  However, as long as they're not absolute trash (and there's always edibles if they are) then I'm relatively happy with a 34g haul off my first go in a small space (plus another half an ounce trim for butter).  Given my consumption rate, I'll be popping more seeds before I'm anywhere near through this lot.

 

My apologies for no pictures.  The deal with my wife was that I could do it, and bastardise one of our living spaces, on the condition that I made it discreet and everything could be put back to a semblance of 'normal' when not in use.  Plus I could not take digital photos, even with exif stripped, for the first run; until we could assess the risk given smell, neighbours etc.  This was a pain when it came to diagnosing nute problems, as it made it impossible to reach out for help, but there's plenty of info online and I'll just keep trying until I get it right.

 

So, TL:DR, I followed your advice, which I'm extremely grateful for.  I built a cabinet that works well.  And I harvested 34g off two random SS Auto Mix seeds, which I'm waiting with baited breath to have a go on in a couple of weeks.  Thank you for your help and encouragement.  Sorry for no pics, but marriage is all about compromise and I feel I rather got the best end of the deal on this one

 

 

 

[growinggold]

Glad your happy mate. We all start somewhere! 

[Tesco Metro]

4 minutes ago, growinggold said:

Glad your happy mate. We all start somewhere! 

Dude, I like your set up.  

[growinggold]

Thanks mate that's very kind. Which one? Cupboard or shed?  My Mrs the same as you layed down the law and cupboard will be decommissioned this week when I move the seedlings into the shed.

 

It always about balance and being honest with loved ones. Which sounds like you are signing to same hymn sheet. 

[superfruit]

18 minutes ago, growinggold said:

It always about balance and being honest with loved ones

 

Very true is this, in all aspects of partnership - though it is usually easier to seek forgiveness than permission. She wasn't super impressed when she realised I had 3 plants in the tent and not 1 like originally planned... "I thought at least one would not germinate and another would die, love..I'll just stick with 2 next time.." (but germinate 3 just in case!) 

Edited December 10, 2020 by superfruit
typo

[growinggold]

Haha that's true regars forgiveness @superfruit however I've always found if you do ask in the correct way things always go a lot smoother. It all about respect of you show someone respect generally they will do the same back. 

 

Don't expect a thing though. Expecting things just makes for one's own disappointment. 

[Ajimango]

Congrats you got some decent bud an that's what counts. I am using pm oldtimers in my first grow and am running into the same probs as you did, crispy leaves etc. My grow aint gonna win any prizes but like you i will have some decent bud soon. I went with the oldtimers cos its fairly natural and not being salt based, hard to over feed, but next time i will try something else.