Sweetsue's First Grow - Stealthy Trio of Autos Under CFLs

[SweetSue]

When growing under CFLs the big trick is to get that sweet spot spacing right. To get the optimal benefit of the lights you need to maintain the spacing within 6" and you need to be certain that the edge of the bulb is facing the plant. I prefer the 3" distance myself and this is how I gauge that distance.

When I line up the angle of the bulb I want to be approaching the leaf on the opposite side of the top growth. This assures me that the entire top has been adequately illuminated within my self-determined sweet spot. The clothes pins turned out to be just about 3" long. How convenient.

When I hang lights to the side I try to get them in as snugly as I can, judging the heat with the back of my hand when the palm is right against the plant. If it's too hot for me, it's too hot for the plant. Top growth I like to stay a bit higher because it tends to grow faster and can easily get away from you and end up burning the leaves if you aren't watching closely enough.

These lovelies need to get a little height to them so I can get some lights beside them from below, or at the very least hanging beside them.

 

[SoilGirl]

Hi Sue! great idea about getting an LED - if you don't mind, I have a few things I'd like to say about that. I have quite a bit of LED experience now. LED's are awesome, they grow great buds with less energy and heat. And I agree, they aren't created equally, BudMaster lights and Intelligent-Gro lights are definitely the cream of the crop. After reading about Gray's light, I felt the same as you, totally and utterly jealous lol. I agree those would be the best option..... if price weren't an issue. But it is, a big one.

From the beginning of this journal, like CO, I was a little worried about your lighting, but I didn't speak up since I understand how it is to be constrained by finances. I love CFL's for early growth, but they just...don't make a big harvest. And if your goal is really to provide consistent medication for Dale, and yourself, I don't see that happening under the CFL's you have unless you two use very little bud.

Now that said, I'd really think long and hard about this before committing to a single 180w I-2 series. thats a 400$ light, and from experience, the footprint the manufacturer gives you is usually a bit overstated. In optimal conditions for your plants, the footprint will usually be a bit less wide, but they're giving you the max footprint, like when you have your light as far away from your plants as you can whilst still getting pretty good (but could be better) growth.

The reason I'm cautioning you is, is the dim/custom features really worth 200-300 bucks to you? You could get a plethora of other LED lights for 100-200$ with a similar (or larger) footprint, which might be better suited to your grow space. If I were you I'd be looking into the 96x3w Reflector Series LED sold by topLED's. My reasoning here is you get better coverage (2.2x4.4'), a full 170-200w draw, (the draw is more important than the capacity, a general rule of thumb lots of growers use for yields - when grown optimally - is you can yield about 1 gram per actual watt of LED power...idk if this is accurate, but in the ball park you know...) and on top of that, you save 230$ you can make much better use of putting towards other things for your grow (or yourself!)

I mean, the bottom line is really having enough meds. The expensive dimmer and custom features, while fascinating and incredible, aren't going to be such a game changer that they make up for the lost yield of a more suitable light in my humble opinion. Plus when you add on the money saved... it would be a no brainer to me to go with the topLED instead. Plus if you talk to Sara I bet she'll throw in a discount or a little freebie for you haha. And on top of that, all topLED lights have a 3 year breaks/malfunctions warranty I think.

I'd just hate to see you down the line like, "Wait, I had 400 dollars and I only got a tiny light!?!? ARGGHH!!" like I've been - I spent 400 dollars on my 90w High Power GrowUFO from Sunshine Systems about 3 years ago. yeah, tiny light. American made, with a nice warranty, but tiny nonetheless. When I now realize I could have spent that 400 dollars, on FOUR 100x3w old model LED's (Like literally 10 times as much bang for my buck) it is literally gut-wrenching.

But that said, if in the end you do choose to go with the 180w I-2 anyways, I bet you'll love that light and I'll love seeing how you grow with it, just... I think you could choose better right now. Think about it! Seriously!

By the way, the grow is doing great. You're so pragmatic with your clothespins and the coming perlite SIP system.. I'm jealous you started out with the perfect soil mix lol. I wasted a lot of money and time on the chemicals and soup, and had little to show for it. But oh well, I'm finding my way out of that.

P.S. I hope I wasn't being too forward, if your mind is set on an intelligent gro 2 series, then go for it! I just wanted to make sure you've considered all options.

EDIT: LOL I didn't even finish reading your post before my rant... ... hmmm 295$ for the 180w I2.... ugh idk lol. I'd personally still go with the topLED's if I were you, for the same reasons. But that definitely levels the playing field out more than before.

 

[SweetSue]

Hi SoilGirl. No offense taken Baby. You were channeling my train of thought earlier. I'll stop in for a longer chat tomorrow. I've been busily baking Russian snow balls and peanut butter blossoms and mixing up Sugar cookie mix so we can play with them tomorrow. It's way past my bedtime. LOL Honestly, we were coming home on the bus after cardiac rehab and I was thinking "I could probably find a more economically appropriate light at this time".

Still giving it much thought. Its so easy to get distracted by shiny.

More cookies to bake tomorrow. Hope everyone is enjoying holiday cheer.

Susan

 

[SoilGirl]

!!! I made peanut butter blossoms tonight too! totally from scratch. My lazy sister and mom only helped me put the hershey's kisses in after baking for a while. They're like my favorite cookie ever.. they just make it feel like Christmas.

It's almost Christmas! Even though I will only get little things, like probably fuzzy socks and some candy, its such a wonderful time of year. COLD. But awesome. my whole family is here..

Happy holidays to you and Dale, I hope you're both warm and cozy tonight!

 

[SweetSue]

Watering day, and this time I did it differently. Wanting to watch the plants grow for a while I took a slow and leisurely approach, shooting a fine spray into the fabric of the pots at the bottom boarders and letting it wick up until I decided it looked like they had taken on enough. That left me with about a half gallon in the sprayer, so I split it between them as a top drench. Two hours later when I peeked over the leaves were vibrant and reaching for the light. I love it when they look so happy.

I've taken to calling them Buddha and the Bomb. (que theme music for "Pinky and the Brain" lol). Here they are

Buddha, Day 17...

... and the Bomb, Day 18

The Bomb has tremendous growth going on deep inside, ready to explode at any time. I'm new to this. Should I be excited about the tight node spacing? She's beginning to take on a perfume. Next month the secondary priority will be a small scrubber. My next project will be the SIP setup. I should have our tax refund by mid February, at which point a new light is called for.

I'm a happy little gardener. I'll be mulling over the options for an LED to fit a 1'x2' sized space. I welcome any input into that decision process. Now I'm going to go back and reread SoilGirl's post about lighting.

 

[SoilGirl]

Your whole closet is only 1'x2'? hmm I was guessing a bit more than that. Idk. maybe that I-2 would be the best for your space after all. That price just still scares me personally. But hey, its your money, use it when You need it! (oh god I hate those commercials lol) - as for now, I can't imagine those plants being any happier. Yes, tight node spacing is good That one will give you some big nugs with any luck, and a bit of light haha. You could tuck some of the upper fans under gently as they grow so the lower nodes grow more, this shouldn't cause any real stress (I know with autos people don't train much)

 

[SweetSue]

I just wanted to share a little tidbit about vermiculture. Always the thrifty one, when I'm chopping vegetables for dinner I always clean the chopping mat in between different vegetables with a paper towel, being careful to use a different one for onions. After I'm done I crinkle up the paper towel, cut it into thin strips and then unravel them so they look like this.

Then I toss them into the worm bin, usually covering the latest food addition. Today that was covering the potato peels I had tossed in earlier while making potato salad for tonight's celebration. Waste not, want not. (Too corny?) Now, instead of being trash that paper towel becomes future vermicompost.

Now back to the celebration. May Santa be good to all of you.

 

[COorganics]

I think it's want not, waste less...

And merry
Christmas to you
And yours!

 

[SweetSue]

Today I determined it was time to add a bit more light and complete the spectrum. Two more 23W CFLs in a warm spectrum. The Buddha needs to get a bit more height, but it's still within the 6" limit. My Christmas treat for the little ones.

Watering Day. Rainwater only this time. I used that technique from last time, slowly spraying along the lower boarders and letting the plants determine when it's the right amount. I always wait about ten minutes or so after an application all around the pots to give it time to wick up into the pot. After a few applications I drench the tops a bit to get the upper reaches moist and facilitate the process before returning to bottom only. It's my concession to not having a SIP in place yet. As soon as I see that tiny pool collecting in the front right corner I wait another ten minutes and then use a sponge to soak up any excess. Apparently it's working pretty well. The internal growth is stunning.

Buddha, Day 19...

... and The Bomb.

Ahhh..... I love my little garden. They look so happy growing among their friends, like they sprouted up in the middle of the forest.

 

[SoilGirl]

Aw what a happy X-mas update! I'm so glad we met on here too Sue! Merry Christmas to you and Dale!

 

[SweetSue]

I think it's want not, waste less...

And merry
Christmas to you
And yours!

Very appropriate CO.

Thank you.

 

[SweetSue]

I spent some time yesterday roaming around YouTube and came across an Australian (?) who posts under the name "RobBob's Backyard Farming". Wonderful stuff, and well worth a visit IMO. I was watching his videos on vermiculture and decided to start feeding my worms smarter. I've been nonchalantly dropping in my kitchen scraps under the top cover, but haven't been doing more than cutting them down into small pieces. After watching Rob I went out and sprayed the potato peels with some very diluted molasses water. This morning I ground up some egg shells into a fine powder and sprinkled them on top of that and spritzed it again with the molasses water to coat the egg shell as well. In a couple days I'll peel back the cover and check them again. Everything looks good from a beginner's perspective. On the second I will be setting up the soft pot bin with leaves. I just realized that I started cooking those chopped leaves on my sister's birthday and will be setting the pot up on my mother's birthday. How neat.

I was checking out the list of other videos RobBob has up, most of them fairly recent, and need to take a closer look. In particular, he has a couple on wicking pots and beds that look enticing. I'm still looking for the best containers for my perlite-based SIP. I'm also thinking that pumice might be a good wicking base instead of perlite. Any insights to the wicking properties of pumice vs perlite? The advantage of using pumice for me would be the possibility to use it in another batch of soul sometime in the future. I'd have no use whatsoever for the perlite, outside of a wicking agent.

I raised the canopy lights a bit this morning. The plants are beginning to grow vertically now. A quick measurement has the Buddha Magnum at 3 1/2" and The THC Bomb at just under 5" at the three week mark. It's fairly obvious they have a strong Indica genetic influence (says the woman who knows next to nothing about these things yet). I couldn't be happier with their development at this point. I'm chomping at the bit to get them into a SIP setup.

About 5:30 in the evening the Bomb begins to emit this delicious perfume. I just love the smell of growing cannabis. Last night, as we turned all the room lights off to go to bed, I noticed that the living room has a wonderful odor of rich forest growth. It made me smile.

I'm surprised that this type of cultivation (no-tills in real living organic soil) isn't more mainstream in the cannabis community. It couldn't be easier, and it's definitely kinder to the plant, and the planet. No chemicals to play with, no nutrient deficiencies to be concerned about, no flushing at the end and no remixing of the soil or setting up new pots for the next grow. All I really have to do is water and watch them grow, which I find myself doing more and more frequently as they get larger. LOL

 

[SweetSue]

I had to share this one. The ideas he's started in my head! I can see a stand of SIPs on the balcony next spring. Last time I tried container gardening on the balcony it was with MG soil and I killed everything off when Dale got really sick and I neglected to water every day. The times, they have changed.

Enjoy!

 

[SweetSue]

Probably one of the best sites for the organic gardener.

https://https://microbeorganics.com

If you haven't been to Tim's site, make your way there and read. His understanding of ACT brewing and it's applications is legendary in the cannabis growing community. Tim has spent years devoted to this subject. I'm doing a slow watering this morning (I've evolved to every other day until I get a SIP up and running), and in between water applications, as I wait ten minutes to see if it has yet begun to run off, I've been rereading the site. Every time I do this Something else sticks to my brain.

With a well-established LOS you can get away with water only. Mine is a brand new soil, so it is still actively building the micro community that grows the plants for me. Obviously they are already doing a decent job, but with a new soil it's beneficial to assist that community development with an occasional ACT. They take 36-42 hours of brewing, so I'll be starting one today for Monday's watering.

My recipe will be:
1 gallon water
1/2 cup [Vermi]compost
1 1/2 Tablespoons Blackstrap molasses
Pinch of sphagnum peat moss
- bubbled 36-42 hrs
- applied as a drench, undiluted
- follow with water, if necessary

One of Tim's special secrets:
"To spill a small secret, I've been pre-feeding or pre-activating [vermi]compost which is not so fresh by mixing in a small amount of wheat bran (livestock store or bulk foods department grocery store) and moistening with very diluted black strap molasses, loosely covered with cloth or paper towel 24 hours ahead of brew. (approximate ratios, wheat bran 1:30 [vermi]compost & BSM 1:300 water).

This has, so far resulted in (most of the time) attaining the desired microbial population at 24 hours brew time rather than the usual 36 to 42 hours."

File that one away for future reference. We all have old EWC sitting around at some point, don't we?

One last note. After spending some time watching RobBob's videos on worm farming and reading Tim's valuable info on ACTs, I now have a spray bottle of very diluted molasses that I use to spray down any dry ingredients added to the worm bin or to re-wet dried out cardboard or paper products sitting on the top.

 

[SweetSue]

Only one cup of run-off following a slow watering over about an hour and a half (breakfast in the middle). I feel like I have this figured out. Next week I set up the SIPs and it will only be minimal top drench from there. I think I'll miss regular watering. LOL I'll get over it. There are many other things I can be doing with my time, and the plants know better than I do how much water they really need.

Still looking, without success so far, for the perfect sized boxes to hold the wicking base. I'm almost ready to cut down some wood and build a frame, line it with tarp, top with weed blocking cloth and fill with perlite. That may be my only real option to fit this tiny space.

Are there any other LOS gardeners out there growing Autos and documenting with a grow journal? I can't believe I'm the only one, but I've been cruising grow journals everywhere and haven't found one yet. If you know of any I would appreciate you pointing me in their direction. It's incredibly frustrating wading through all of the journals.

 

[COorganics]

That's a tuff one, Sue,
The only one I can think of is Brazel (on 420mag and elsewhere) was growing some autos I remember, not sure where he is now, he sorta disappeared.
My understanding is that autoflowering plants have ruderalis in their make up, and ruderalis, as opposed to sativa or indica, isn't selected for quality cannabis genetics. I don't think many seasoned growers (in normal situations) are using Autoflowering plants, hence the lack of good info in the form of journals.
From wiki re: Ruderalis
Cannabis ruderalis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

My 2cents.

 

[SweetSue]

So you're telling me I'm breaking new ground here? Given the sheer number of closet micro-growers like myself, I find it surprising that more aren't journaling Auto grows. The breeding of Autos has been improving in leaps and bounds with each passing year. I checked out the Auto network site, and the ones who call themselves organic growers are followers of the Rev, so I'm not at all interested in that. The LOS site is rich with info, but short on Autos, if any at all. I know from experience that the potency can be extraordinary and this soil will show me how vigorous growth can be. At this point they are growing at a surprising rate.

The big determinant will be yield, I suppose. A beautiful plant that only yields a tiny harvest isn't a success, in my opinion. My last partial grow, mismanaged as it was, came in at over an oz. I can tell you already these plants are going to yield way beyond that paltry amount, but that paltry amount was incredibly potent. This time I have the advantage of soil that grows the plant. Once I get watering into a SIP system and add better lighting I think things are going to be exciting indeed.

I'm so glad I stumbled upon you CO. My life is more interesting now and I have this new passion for living organic soil and all that goes with it. My student persona is working in overdrive.

 

[COorganics]

Yes, I'm not dogging autos, as I can't because I don't have any personal experience with them. I find it curious though, that the growers I like to follow won't touch them apparently.

I'll be interested to see your results as I know your soil is dialed, environment as well, and with the LED you may add, I think you will be able to really show what some auto flowering plants are capable of.

 

[SweetSue]

Just a little note here: the excess runoff from watering isn't wasted in our house, but gets added to the leaves I have cooking for the leaf worm bin. A little stir and it gets closed up again to continue its "brew".

 

[SweetSue]

Time for an aerated compost tea (ACT).

I gave some thought to my previously posted recipe and decided to cut it in half. I been using about 3 quarts of water, with a little runoff, so this should be a perfect amount for my little garden. My bubbler is an old Brita filtering pitcher covered with blue painter's tape (that thrifty side of me - using what's available). Beginning with 1/2 gal. of rainwater...

... add 1/4 cup of Worm Power vermicompost...

... 3/4 TBSP of molasses, followed by a tablespoon for me, since I missed my morning dose today. This stuff is such a wonderful food that it's now a regular part of my diet. A little side benefit of organic gardening.

As per Tim's suggestion, a pinch of sphagnum peat moss.

Hook up the air pump and drop it in.

Bubbling nicely.

Cover and leave until early Monday morning.

Living in a tiny apartment presents challenges like where to put the pitcher. This one is sitting in the corner of the kitchen. We have rubber flooring in the kitchen (when you drop things in my kitchen they bounce ), which will cut the vibration down significantly, with an extra large drip tray to catch any spray or foamy overflow.

This entire process, including taking pictures, took me less than ten minutes, start to finish. Anyone can do the same with minimal investment (the pump cost me $12 at Petco and everything else was recycled).

I'm looking forward to adding the resulting microorganisms to my plants. I should only need to do this once or twice more. These Autos only take 10-12 weeks to maturity and harvest. I chose to do this one now because the plants are three weeks old and getting ready to start bolting up and flowering. I decided on a simple and basic tea after reading Tim's page again this morning. Word around the Internet is that Autos like to be lightly fed, so this was sufficient. My primary goal was to increase the micro population in new soil. As the soil ages and the mycorrhizal community spreads to include the entire plant population the need for ACTs diminishes to become unnecessary.

I was reading up on Mycorrihizal today and I have a new-found appreciation for the little things. We'll have to have a discussion on that some other time.