Greenhouse with 3 different autos all at day 73.

[Socksnsandals]

Thought peeps might be interested to see three autos all put to germinate 73 days ago, all in fairly late flower.  

I did a minor bit of LST a few weeks ago on the lowest branches to open them up a bit.  Otherwise, apart from removing a few fan leaves which have gone yellow (edited to add, on the Stardawg) in the last few days I have just watered and fed them.  All have browning of the pistils on the upper 2/3 of the plant whilst the lowest branches are still growing small leaves and lots of white pistils. 

Sorry about the low res photos for upload.

 

The Stardawg has a fairly open structure.  

 

 

The Superskunk is less so with leafier, fatter cola formation.  I did this outside in the garden last year and got a tiny bit of rot but that was after lots of heavy rain.

 

The Lemon Juice is somewhere in between with very plump budlets. 

 

The best smell is from the Lemon Juice, with the SS, not surprisingly, very skunky.  Despite what I had expected from last year, they don't smell too much outside the greenhouse, but we have not had a spell of really hot weather since they have been in full flower. 

Edited July 27, 2020 by Socksnsandals

[AutoAberdeen]

I’m currently on day 88 since my auto GSC first showed from the soil. I think at the rate it’s going I’ll be around 95-100 for it being ready to harvest which will give me a total flowering time from the first pistils of 50-55 days. 

[inapond13]

Great to see another greenhouse grow @Socksnsandals.  Have you grown in your greenhouse before?  How did you prepare the soil before planting or are you mainly feeding when watering?

 

Thanks for sharing this...

[Socksnsandals]

@inapond13 No, this is the first year I have had a greenhouse.  Previously I have grown outdoors in the soil where the GH now is and last autumn when I'd put up the GH I dug over the soil within it to get rid of existing weeds etc and added about 6 standard sized bags of commercial horse manure compost / conditioner. 

 

However, having been burnt by some hot non-horse peat-free commercial compost which hit all my fibre-pot seedlings (weed and non-weed) this spring I sought advice (thanks @ANTHONY13) and switched to coco with three-bottle nutrients to put my germinated seeds into.  Since they did well (picture of the young ones in my gallery) I decided not to risk the soil/compost borders I had prepared and so dug out about 6-10 litres of that soil, filled the holes with coco and have watered the weed plants with the three-bottle nutrients at an intermediate strength between that recommended for hydro/coco and soil (the recommendation for the latter is about 20% less concentrated, so I give them 90% of the concentration which is recommended for hydro/coco), varying the mix as per instructions depending on where the plants are in their cycle. 

 

My theory being that when young the plants would be growing in the coco oases in the border soil and if they wanted to they could send roots out into the soil I had prepared, which would also provide insurance against drought were we able to escape abroad on holiday.  The border compost has worked fine for lettuces, tomatoes, peppers etc so I think that it would have been OK for the weed plants but after losing April and part of June to the hot compost used for potting my first batch I didn't want to risk it.  I will take the top 2/3 of the plants for harvest soon but leave the bottom branches as they are still producing new leaves and pistils but when they are finished it will be interesting to see if they have sent their roots into the soil or whether they have been content to stay in the coco.    

 

I had planned to put a photo in the GH as well but seeing what triffids my tomatoes have become I am pleased I didn't because it would have taken it over and erupted through the roof vents.

 

Next year I am going to start all my seedlings including veg and sweet pea in coco to get them off to a good start before transplanting into the GH borders or the garden.  I think that the reason that the autos are not quite as big as they could be is because I had to compromise on location so the GH only gets about 7-8hrs of direct sun, but they are better in the flesh than in the photos and I am well pleased with them. 

 

I run my dehumidifier on the intermediate / low fan speed at night only which keeps the humidity to about the same as it is inside the house (~55 - 65%) which seems fine and which according to my home energy monitor thingy, costs about 13p/hr. 

 

PS Check out Anthony13's thread in HSO grow diaries 2020 for some inspiration!

Edited July 28, 2020 by Socksnsandals
Addition of PS.

[inapond13]

Great info there @Socksnsandals.  If you decide to do any photo's next year, just keep them controlled by topping and LST (bending and tying).  It will give you something to grow when your auto's are finished also

[Socksnsandals]

2 hours ago, inapond13 said:

Great info there @Socksnsandals.  If you decide to do any photo's next year, just keep them controlled by topping and LST (bending and tying).  It will give you something to grow when your auto's are finished also

 

Thanks, yes, I have a Serious 6 in the veg patch which I topped and am LST-ing into a sort of semi-scrog as an experiment and plan a more extreme version next year, planting out after the frosts and then keeping to about 18" high for outside the gh as well but plan to just do two sequential sets of autos inside, starting the first in the bullet-proof coco system in late April and the second about 6 or 7 weeks later to take over.  My concern with doing a photo in the gh is that it would need a lot of fussing and dehumidifying in September / October when I might want to take a foreign holiday (assuming we have a vaccine).  Outside it could be left alone for watering and one would just have to accept the risk of mould.  A few autos provide me with all I need - I still have lots left over from last year - and the photo this year is really for interest (so vigorous by comparison with autos) and to experiment with harsh/extreme LST, if that's not an oxymoron.    

[Socksnsandals]

@inapond13 Thanks, yes, regarding topping / LST: Here is a HSO lemon juice express (I've been saying auto, when I meant express - they are autos of course) which I put into kitchen roll to germinate 59 days ago then into a smaller pot of coco and into coco in the pot you see.  It was topped 26 days after germination and has been fed according to instructions on the three bottles (GHE Terra Aquatica) of nutes.  I put it out in the sunny part of the garden in the morning, pop home from work and move it to the bottom of the garden at lunchtime and up to the top of the house where there is a Velux window for the night / early morning before I take it down to the garden again.  I can see how bonsai enthusiasts get their kicks.  Have not let it be out in the rain since it started to flower. Anthony13's thread shows him using some rather natty LST trainers which I plan to get for next year - neater than the miscellany of wires and rubber bands I currently use. 

 

Edited July 28, 2020 by Socksnsandals

[AutoAberdeen]

Next year I’ll be trying some LST, wasn’t confident about doing it on my first grow but seeing how well it works I’ll be giving it a try for sure. 

[ANTHONY13]

@Socksnsandals

 

you are welcome mate.i am glad the method worked out for you

you got some handsome plants there man.

[Socksnsandals]

Update.  Took the top 2/3+ of each plant at day 82, leaving the lowest branches, all of which had been gently LST'd, to finish. 

 

Lemon Juice Express and (foreground) and Super Skunk Auto pre-harvest.

SS post-part-harvest.

StarDawg post-part-harvest.  Pimiento padron and a variant of basil to use vacated space.

Lemon Juice Express part-harvested.  Long red peppers in place to use vacated space (don't know if the peppers etc will finish given it is August, but we'll see).  Salad leaves have been enjoying the outflow from the dehumidifier.  It may seem illogical to drain it into the greenhouse but most of the water will go down into the soil and not remain on the surface to evaporate and re-humidify the air (unless via transpiration from the leaves of the plants of course).