Winging It In Winter By The Window: Soil Auto Grow

[Carmen Ray]

Hey Carmen. I have a couple of really good bookmarked posts on growing and training autos that I thought you might find helpful:

Stocking Up for the Apocalypse

Boo's Perpetual Grow Journal

Thank you HG. these are good links to have and I will revisit them more than once. I like the title of Justin Goodie's one lol. I'm lucky to catch Boo's new grow so I can follow from the start. I'm into a whole bunch of new journals and I feel inspired!

It raises a question for me in terms of amendments. The medium I am going to use is packed full of everything the plants need. If they get hungrier I can add an amendment which is specially made to pep up the soil again for reuse, called Elemental Blend. I won't bother with LABS this time, or should I? When it comes to the topping, I am going to ask for advice on when is the right time.

"Use the elemental blend to treat your potting substrate and turn it into a living soil inoculated with a cannabis microbial consortium and 19 additional elements.

10L treats 100l of growing medium, 30l treats 300L of new growing medium. If you want to reactivate or rejuvenate a growing medium that has been used before, add 3l of Elemental blend per 100l of used soil and mix the two together. If you want to enrich your virgin soil for an outdoor grow, add 10l per m2 of soil and dig in.

The Elemental blend includes the following ingredients
Alfalfa meal - A slow releasing natural fertilizer that contains a natural growth hormone- Triacontanol, which stimulates development.
Biochar – Increases the number of beneficial soil microbes especially mycorrhizae. Water retention and cation-exchange is improved.
Crushed barley – An abundant source of enzymes and a great sugar source for microbes. High in amino acids, various nutrients and silicon.
Zeolite - Increases cation-exchange capacity, infiltration and retention of water.
Cannakashi – Similar to bokashi but with added fish meal. Used to inoculate with EM (Effective microbes).
Basalt Rock Dust - contains 72 minerals and trace elements. It stimulates soil micro-organism activity and contributes to building humus.
Soft Rock Phosphate – Slow release fertilizer (P)
Diatamaceous Earth – A naturally occurring silica sediment and used for its natural insect repelling properties.
Seabird guano - Natural slow releasing fertilizer, with nutrients and trace elements
Gypsum - Natural raw source of sulfur and calcium.
Dolomitic lime - Natural soil buffer and raw source of magnesium and calcium.
Calcitic lime - Natural raw calcium source.
Fulvic Acid - highly beneficial for the soil and the plant
Humic acid - a great soil conditioner."

 

[InTheShed]

A mate of mine dropped of a DIY LED light for me

Nice light and nice mate!

am going to hang it up from the window bars seen in the pic

Your neighbors are going to be jealous of the flowers, so don't be surprised if they stop by to visit about a week after they no longer see the glow through the window.

 

[Carmen Ray]

Nice light and nice mate!

A good grow friend. I will miss him when he emigrates.

I am trying to figure out what to do with the light. It is has two settings... on, and off.

I have taken photos of the information on the light in the hope that someone here can advise me. I have hung it in my living room above my dining table at the window and it is fastened to the burglar bars, so it is difficult to raise or lower (that can change if I have to).

I have a small table that I have put on top of the main table to create a vegging space for my young plants. That distance is about 24 inches from the light to the surface of the table.

I have read that the light should be 18 to 24 inches away from the vegging plants and 12 inches away from flowering plants... Friends, is this a good rule of thumb for this light?

 

[Carmen Ray]

blimey, I tried to keep the pics as thumbnails and failed

 

[Joe Brewster]

A good grow friend. I will miss him when he emigrates.

I am trying to figure out what to do with the light. It is has two settings... on, and off.

I have taken photos of the information on the light in the hope that someone here can advise me. I have hung it in my living room above my dining table at the window and it is fastened to the burglar bars, so it is difficult to raise or lower (that can change if I have to).

I have a small table that I have put on top of the main table to create a vegging space for my young plants. That distance is about 24 inches from the light to the surface of the table.

I have read that the light should be 18 to 24 inches away from the vegging plants and 12 inches away from flowering plants... Friends, is this a good rule of thumb for this light?

It is a dimmable ballast ,is the black & grey wires got anything hook up to them or just wired together ?

 

[Carmen Ray]

It is a dimmable ballast ,is the black & grey wires got anything hook up to them or just wired together ?

Hi Brewsterman,
Thank you. I think these are them. Are they meant to have a dimmer switch attached?

 

[Joe Brewster]

Hi Brewsterman,
Thank you. I think these are them. Are they meant to have a dimmer switch attached?

you don't have to have a dimmer but one can be added to that ballast

 

[Carmen Ray]

you don't have to have a dimmer but one can be added to that ballast

I'll investigate that. Thank you.

 

[Skottelgoed Spons]

Hey carmen, tell me you are a fellow south african? I will be checking this journal if you might change your mind on the nba diesel as I have planned to grow one this winter aswell but the seed was a dud that never sprouted.

Journal looking good for the winter.

 

[Carmen Ray]

Hey carmen, tell me you are a fellow south african? I will be checking this journal if you might change your mind on the nba diesel as I have planned to grow one this winter aswell but the seed was a dud that never sprouted.

Journal looking good for the winter.

Hey Skottelgoed I recognized the Afrikaans straight away! I am indeed a fellow saffa. Now I'm curious about the nba diesel. I got mine from Biltong & Budz and I bought singles. Where did yours come from? I'd love it if you'd chime in here. I'm going to head over to your patch now to see what you're up to over there.

 

[Skottelgoed Spons]

Hey Skottelgoed I recognized the Afrikaans straight away! I am indeed a fellow saffa. Now I'm curious about the nba diesel. I got mine from Biltong & Budz and I bought singles. Where did yours come from? I'd love it if you'd chime in here. I'm going to head over to your patch now to see what you're up to over there.

Yaaaay another saffa busy with a journal! Whoop whoop. Got my nba from b&b as well when I bought the hindu kush from them as a freebie. Hopefully yours will sprout. Mine did not even crack open. I was really sad about it. But hey its life I guess. Son't know if it was old stock because I saw on the web that the nba diesel has been discontinued. Don't know how true it is?How you holding out with the loadshedding when doing indoor grows? Its been a nightmare and I guess @Bounce3d also has something to say about the loadshedding in SA. I see they're warning of incoming shedding again...

Stay safe!
Skottelgoed

 

[Carmen Ray]

I see they're warning of incoming shedding again

Fuckers! Yes I just got the warning on my phone now too.

I see you have also selected 20L bags for your indoor autos. Good to know. What will you do about ambient temps? Also, can you give me a ballpark of how many hundred bucks I will add to my monthly electric bill for just the light use? I'm on prepaid.

you don't have to have a dimmer but one can be added to that ballast

Hey Brewsterman, I spoke to my buddy who gave me the light and he kept it on full spectrum at 40-50cm away during veg and lowered it to 20-30cm during flower. So I will do the same, as his weed turns out beautifully. Thank you for alerting me to the dimming capabilities of the light. Good to know!

 

[Skottelgoed Spons]

Fuckers! Yes I just got the warning on my phone now too.

I see you have also selected 20L bags for your indoor autos. Good to know. What will you do about ambient temps? Also, can you give me a ballpark of how many hundred bucks I will add to my monthly electric bill for just the light use? I'm on prepaid.


Hey Brewsterman, I spoke to my buddy who gave me the light and he kept it on full spectrum at 40-50cm away during veg and lowered it to 20-30cm during flower. So I will do the same, as his weed turns out beautifully. Thank you for alerting me to the dimming capabilities of the light. Good to know!

Yeah im growing in 20l pots. I have at the moment good temps that my lights gives and have a small heater that I keep as a backup for the cold cold days. For now the lights gives off enough heat and the intake and outtake also keeps my temps stable between 24 - 28 degrees in the grow space. I guess yours will be a lot different as I see you have some wide open spaces.

My two smaller lights are 60w each and the burple is a 1000w but does not pull a 1000w from the wall. Still need to get a watt meter to test. At the current rates for electricity I add a 150 bucks extra a month to keep things going. By july it will be 200 bucks as I see there is another rate increase on its way. Also on prepaid. In south africa we pay more for less. Lol

 

[Jon]

Hi @Carmen Ray, I just caught up on your journal. Guess you already chose, but I would have voted for the Lavender!

Regarding positioning that light: you might consider downloading a light meter app to your phone. There are many out there, I use Phototone. This will allow you to actually measure the light instead of guessing or approximating. I believe you would find it a most useful tool, especially with a light that is a DIY and you are unfamiliar with on the first run with it. They are exceedingly easy to use and plenty accurate for our needs.

Also a few questions if you don't mind: did you decide on autos? Reason I ask is, if that room with the light and window is your grow room and you decided on photos, I would think when you flipped the photos you would likely want/need some method for light sealing that window to kill the ambient light in the room, no? Obviously this is not an issue with autos.

What light cycle will you use for autos?

How long will you veg the photos if you use photos?

This is a really great start to a journal man, rock it!!!! Thanks for the invite!!

 

[Carmen Ray]

My two smaller lights are 60w each and the burple is a 1000w but does not pull a 1000w from the wall. Still need to get a watt meter to test. At the current rates for electricity I add a 150 bucks extra a month to keep things going.

Okay that is a lot less than I have budgeted for so good! Thanks!
Yes prices are all about to go through the roof

I would have voted for the Lavender!

That's next! I will run the NBA Diesel and Lavender next Thanks so much for dropping in, Jon.

What light cycle will you use for autos?

I decided on autos because I'm not set up for photos at all. I will consider them in summer but if this idea works at churning out meds I will stick to it. I do love Transkei. It's the best for me I find, but it has a long growing season which doesn't suit my present circumstances. After a bit of research this morning, I think I will run the light at full spectrum 24/7 unless someone advises me otherwise. Whaddaya think?

 

[Jon]

Okay that is a lot less than I have budgeted for so good! Thanks!
Yes prices are all about to go through the roof

That's next! I will run the NBA Diesel and Lavender next Thanks so much for dropping in, Jon.

I decided on autos because I'm not set up for photos at all. I will consider them in summer but if this idea works at churning out meds I will stick to it. I do love Transkei. It's the best for me I find, but it has a long growing season which doesn't suit my present circumstances. After a bit of research this morning, I think I will run the light at full spectrum 24/7 unless someone advises me otherwise. Whaddaya think?

I had pretty involved conversations with a couple heavies on this, and after those I have switched to always using 24/0 for veg, for both autos and photos. Obviously with photos you just flip that to 12/12 when you're ready. With the autos, I feel that once they start to flower the plant needs a little bit of downtime. So as soon as I begin to see pistil and preflowers, I switch my auto light to 20/4. That's just me, everyone does it differently with autos it seems.

 

[Azimuth]

I had pretty involved conversations with a couple heavies on this, and after those I have switched to always using 24/0 for veg, for both autos and photos. Obviously with photos you just flip that to 12/12 when you're ready. With the autos, I feel that once they start to flower the plant needs a little bit of downtime. So as soon as I begin to see pistil and preflowers, I switch my auto light to 20/4. That's just me, everyone does it differently with autos it seems.

How does the increase in yield (I suppose that must be the reason for 20/4) compare to the electricity savings by running 12/12 in flower? Think you get close to double?

 

[Carmen Ray]

How does the increase in yield (I suppose that must be the reason for 20/4) compare to the electricity savings by running 12/12 in flower? Think you get close to double?

Hi Azimuth, thanks for coming by
I am interested in Jon's reply to your question. It's these kinds of discussions that influence one's own choices. Much appreciated.

 

[Jon]

How does the increase in yield (I suppose that must be the reason for 20/4) compare to the electricity savings by running 12/12 in flower? Think you get close to double?

Hi @Azimuth - since Carmen asked, I'll take the lead here I guess....my short answer to this question is I don't know, I've never done a side by side. However, dig this: The two autos out back are starting to crowd the space. The Zkittlez is in flower and has budlets, the Jack shows no signs yet. I think it may well be a photo. So later today I am going to be putting the Jack into the big tent at canopy level with the others. There's just enough space for it I believe in the fan spot, which can be repositioned a bit to allow it to work if necessary. This will allow the Zkittlez plenty of space.

This is going to give us our side by side if it turns out to be an auto!!!!

We will have the Zkittlez on 20/4 out back and the Jack in the tent on 12/12. Both plants exactly the same age. If Jack's an auto, she'll bud out at 12/12 and we'll see! Too bad it's not the same strain trained exactly the same way in the same size pots, lol. And if Jack does turn out to be a photo, well, once she hits the tent today she gets flipped at 6 pm tonight! Either way I can deal with it, it'll be very cool. Closest I can come to data with which to better address your question.

 

[Carmen Ray]

Hi @Azimuth - since Carmen asked, I'll take the lead here I guess....my short answer to this question is I don't know, I've never done a side by side. However, dig this: The two autos out back are starting to crowd the space. The Zkittlez is in flower and has budlets, the Jack shows no signs yet. I think it may well be a photo. So later today I am going to be putting the Jack into the big tent at canopy level with the others. There's just enough space for it I believe in the fan spot, which can be repositioned a bit to allow it to work if necessary. This will allow the Zkittlez plenty of space.

This is going to give us our side by side if it turns out to be an auto!!!!

We will have the Zkittlez on 20/4 out back and the Jack in the tent on 12/12. Both plants exactly the same age. If Jack's an auto, she'll bud out at 12/12 and we'll see! Too bad it's not the same strain trained exactly the same way in the same size pots, lol. And if Jack does turn out to be a photo, well, once she hits the tent today she gets flipped at 6 pm tonight! Either way I can deal with it, it'll be very cool. Closest I can come to data with which to better address your question.