Grow #2: Outdoor/CFL Auto 420 Blueberry & AK-47 Smart Pots With Dr Earth Soil

[InTheShed]

Hey all...second grow starts now!

My first grow is not complete yet but I've already started my next seeds so away we go...

This grow will be the same seeds because I already own them and in economics that would be the definition of sunk costs. And sunk they have in the bowls of water.

I'm growing two autoflower strains from 420:
Blueberry: The advertised specs: 15/85 indica dominant, ~14%THC, ~32" tall, 55 days. My first one grew only 24" tall and took 84 days. My second one was LST so no height measurements, but it's at 92 days and counting.

AK-47: The advertised specs: 50/50 sativa/indica, ~20%THC, ~25" tall, 56 days. My first one ended up at 23.5" tall and I harvested the top at day 87 which was a bit early, and the rest of the plant is still ripening on day 93.

I'm growing 2 AK-47's and 1 blueberry. All three with be trained with LST as it was a huge success on my second Blueberry.

They were sprouted in distilled water and placed in Jiffy Pots when the tap root was visible.

They will be planted in...
Soil: 60% Dr Earth Pot of Gold, 40% rinsed Perlite
Pots: 7 Gal Smart Pots
Nutrients:
Cal/Mag +
Fox Farm Grow Big 6-4-4
Fox Farm Tiger Bloom 2-8-4
Fox Farm Open Sesame 5-45-19

I use pH Down because my tap water runs pretty alkaline (around 7.6 pH) and when left standing it rises to 8.4. I'm shooting for the 5.9-6.4 pH range.

For the record, my tap water is ~100PPM and is purified with chloramine, which doesn't evaporate. Even so, I let my water stand out for at least 24 hour before I use it. No idea why.

 

[InTheShed]

Now that the formalities are out of the way, here are some cute pics of the babies.

First I rough them up because life comes at you fast:

Into the bowls of distilled water they go:

And here they are 24 hours later with tails. I haven't seen green striped tap roots before. The last AK-47 went into the peat pot with no root. AK-47:

Blueberry:

They'll be in peat pots tonight under the warm desk light, just like their siblings before them.

Have a good night y'all!

 

[InTheShed]

Ok, one last post for the night.

The peat pots go in the shoe box with the hole cut in the top, which is the same size as the reflector of the desk lamp. Last time there was an incandescent bulb in there because the house was cold and I needed the heat. This time it's a CFL which will be much cooler, though I hope still warm enough to get things moving. I'll test it with the temp sensor lead on my multi-meter to see if it's up in the 80s like it's supposed to be.

Assuming everything goes according to plan, there won't be an update here until the sprouts sprout. Cross your fingers!

 

[EastCoastGhost]

I'll jump in on this one, what kind of lighting are you using, also I would highly recommend getting the fox farm big bloom also, it don't have much NPK and is organic and won't burn, its basically earthworm castings and bat guano, you use it at all stages of growth, I started giving it to my plants on day 7 from seed this time my girls love it. ..️

 

[AtmozFear]

I'll jump in on this one, what kind of lighting are you using, also I would highly recommend getting the fox farm big bloom also, it don't have much NPK and is organic and won't burn, its basically earthworm castings and bat guano, you use it at all stages of growth, I started giving it to my plants on day 7 from seed this time my girls love it. ..️

I never start feeding my seedlings until day 10 after visibility (sprouting), which is around two whole weeks from germination. Jorge Cervantes suggests this timetable. Also, your seed contains enough food in it to last even longer than this. All it wants is water, so definitely never feed it salt fertilizers this early, or it could suck out needed water. Organic is a little different, and you are right, a little slower to burn.

 

[EastCoastGhost]

Yea the big bloom won't burn at all, it's recommended for seedlings from the time they surface, won't hurt them in bit, they sure will grow like hell though, it's great stuff, alot of growers on here use it

I never start feeding my seedlings until day 10 after visibility (sprouting), which is around two whole weeks from germination. Jorge Cervantes suggests this timetable. Also, your seed contains enough food in it to last even longer than this. All it wants is water, so definitely never feed it salt fertilizers this early, or it could suck out needed water. Organic is a little different, and you are right, a little slower to burn.

Yea the big bloom won't burn at all, it's recommended for seedlings from the time they surface, won't hurt them in bit, they sure will grow like hell though, it's great stuff, alot of growers on here use it...️

 

[EastCoastGhost]

My soil don't have any nutes other than what I add, I like to know what's in there lol..️

 

[AtmozFear]

My soil don't have any nutes other than what I add, I like to know what's in there lol..️

I use an inert medium also, if I'm not using full-on hydro.

 

[EastCoastGhost]

I use an inert medium also, if I'm not using full-on hydro.

Cool, did you say you was using hps...️

 

[AtmozFear]

Cool, did you say you was using hps...️

LOL... I don't know if you're asking about my lighting, or saying "hps" as an abbreviation for hydroponics, since that is what I just mentioned! I am growing vegetables in my DWC containers (who cares about vegetables right?), and my weed in coco. I am using coco in both Smart Pots and plastic containers. Right now, all my seedlings are under a 400watt MH.

 

[EastCoastGhost]

LOL... I don't know if you're asking about my lighting, or saying "hps" as an abbreviation for hydroponics, since that is what I just mentioned! I am growing vegetables in my DWC containers (who cares about vegetables right?), and my weed in coco. I am using coco in both Smart Pots and plastic containers. Right now, all my seedlings are under a 400watt MH.

Lol, I was referring to your lighting lol, I guess I should have mentioned mh also lol. I just harvested my first grow, I used Mars 1200 in a tent with autos and used a hps for flowering some photos. I just started my second grow, I be starting another journal when they get about 3 weeks old...️

 

[AtmozFear]

Those buds were BIG. I just started a journal too... check my signature. Sorry about the links to the picks, instead of insertion... will be inserting from now on.

 

[420dabbing]

When do you plan on starting your LST?

 

[AtmozFear]

I never do LST anymore... topping and FIMing is all I do. I don't supercrop either. The reason I don't do LST anymore is because one day, I hope to do large scale growing, and nobody LST's in large scale grow-ops.

 

[420dabbing]

Yes but cutting on autos is a very bad idea

 

[InTheShed]

Holy crap! I spend one day off the computer and a whole discussion of nutes, lights, and pruning breaks out. I love this place

Let me get back into my own journal here for a second...

I'll jump in on this one, what kind of lighting are you using, also I would highly recommend getting the fox farm big bloom also, it don't have much NPK and is organic and won't burn, its basically earthworm castings and bat guano, you use it at all stages of growth, I started giving it to my plants on day 7 from seed this time my girls love it. ..️

I grow outdoors during the day and move them under CFLs in a makeshift "tent" at night. They probably get about 20 hours of light and during the summer about 8-10 of that is direct sun.

I've heard not to give autos any "bloom" nutes until upward growth has basically stopped. I've been using the GrowBig and cal/mag+ as the only veg nutes. What's your feeding schedule with the BigBloom in terms of amount?

I don't feed until around the day 14-18 or so because there's some basic stuff in the Dr Earth soil: "Formulated from a fine selection of composted organic materials. Our blend is packed full of the organic materials that help plants become established. We only use aged fir bark, fir bark, perlite, peat moss, composted green waste, sawdust, alfalfa meal, fishbone meal, bone meal, feather meal, kelp meal, kelp flour, dolomite lime, gypsum and wetting agent. We have also included TruBiotic® beneficial soil Microbes plus both Ecto and Endo Mycorrhizae."

When do you plan on starting your LST?

Not quite as early as you! Probably after the third set of leaves depending on the distance between the nodes.

I never do LST anymore... topping and FIMing is all I do. I don't supercrop either. The reason I don't do LST anymore is because one day, I hope to do large scale growing, and nobody LST's in large scale grow-ops.

I doubt I'll ever have more than 3 plants on the go at one time and I'm loving the results of LST.

Yes but cutting on autos is a very bad idea

I've seen some growers that have topped their autos with excellent results. Mostly indoor folks with a lot of experience in a single strain so they've seen what works.

Ok, caught up now. Temp under the lights in the high 70s so it's perfect for germination. I've prepared my SmartPots but had to reuse a bit of Blueberry 1 soil (about 1/3 of a pot) so I may nute that one earlier than the other two when it gets to that stage.

 

[AtmozFear]

Yes but cutting on autos is a very bad idea

I am on my first auto attempt, but I know that most autos start preflowering after three weeks of veg... so that is not enough veg time to have a full recovery before it hits the flower stage.

 

[InTheShed]

I am on my first auto attempt, but I know that most autos start preflowering after three weeks of veg... so that is not enough veg time to have a full recovery before it hits the flower stage.

Personally I don't see the reason to cut. LST on my second Blueberry auto produced 13 tops...good enough for me!

 

[dj1714]

^^^^
Man that's a awesome looking blueberry. I have some IGLM blueberry auto's that Ill start in 3 months when my white widow is done, just started with it about 3 weeks ago. meanwhile I'll be checking you out to see how it goes.

 

[nobodyhere]

Cool idea with the shoebox.