New Grower Upcoming Spring Outdoor Grow - Advice Wanted!

[Exotic Flower]

Dear AFN amigos and amigas!

Spring is coming soon, and Maria has been getting ready, planning for some fun!
My basic plan is similar to my last grow, but learning from some mistakes.
I'm starting this thread to get some advice and guidance from the experienced growers here on AFN.

Some background:
My last grow is here < Tropical Outdoor: White Widow Max, AK47, Cheese, Great White Shark, Northern Lights >.

Some basic grow site / location information:

Latitude:
somewhere between 23°0~25°0 North
Geography:
fairly mountainous, at around 500-700m altitude
soil type, not sure, but looks fairly fertile if not a little rocky in places
Climate (for March - June/July):
rainfall from ~120 mm / month in March to 220 mm / month in June
(far lower than my monsoon season madness from Aug - Nov last year!)
average temperature ~20-27° C (the altitude helps)
Light situation (for March - June/July):
daylight hours ~12hrs / day up to maybe ~13.5hrs / day by end of June
sunshine hours ~100 up to ~150 hrs / month (= ~5 hrs / day), not ideal but ...
In short, it is mostly sub-tropical, fairly hot and humid / wet, and also at slight altitude.​

The Seeds / Strains:
These should already be in my mail box back home, as I've been out of town for a while.
Ordered through Seed City.

Fast Buds: Green Crack (3 Feminised Auto Seeds)

Fast Buds: C4-Matic (3 Feminised Auto Seeds)

Fast Buds: G14 (3 Feminised Auto Seeds)

Sweet Seeds: Cream Mandarine XL Auto (3 Feminised Auto Seeds)

Sweet Seeds: Dark Devil Auto (3 Feminised Auto Seeds)

Sweet Seeds: Jack 47 Auto (3 Feminised Auto Seeds)

Dutch Passion: Auto Mazar (3 Feminised Auto Seeds)

+ Freebies:
Ministry of Cannabis: Auto Blue Amnesia (3 Feminised Auto Seeds)

Mandala Seeds: Safari Mix (6 Regular Photo Seeds)

Lounge Lizards: Liquorice Bud (2 Regular Photo Seeds)

Originally I really wanted to try out the Fast Buds and Sweet Seeds strains.
Seeing all the grow journals here on AFN convinced me of that.
They're all excellent genetics, and the FB seeds are generally easy grow / low maintenance, which suits my grow situation.
The DP Auto Mazar is just a legend, couldn't resist.
The freebies, well, the MoC Auto Blue Amnesia looks great too, I like sativas!
And the Mandala Safari mix is a nice way to get a bunch of wild hybrid photo regs.
I am planning on starting these earlier, and hoping for some males to seed (more below),
and might get a nice female that finishes in time.
The Liquorice Bud is just something that magically appeared free in my cart.

Germination and Seedling (Day 0-10 or so):
Start with the reg photo seeds, the Mandala Safari mix and Liquorice Bud, in maybe early March.
Let them get a start, they'll need longer, and they're expendable.
If I get a nice male or two, their pollen will be ready when the Auto ladies are ready.
Then, the autos in mid-late March.

I'm going to probably use TaNg's method of two seeds per pot, and then cull the weaker in a week or two. I've got 3+ seeds per strain, so then also keep a back up seed if need be (prob no need). Will have to be ruthless and cull, even if both look nice (not easy, but it's the best method IMHO).

Pots and Medium:
Start in smaller 1 L pots ( = 0.3 Gal).
40% seedling / potting mix
40% coco
20% perlite and vermiculite
Nice and light, let the roots have lots of air.
I'll put them on a nice tray I have, 8 pots (the auto strains),
which will maybe start in a nice sunny window,
and then move into my Mars Hydro 120x120 (4'x4') tent,
under my Mars Hydro Reflector 192 (400 W).
I'll have a bunch of other herbs in there.

Outdoors, Balcony (Day 11-20):
Once they have their second or third set of true leaves,
I'll give them time out on the balcony when the weather is nice.
Let them get used to the sun and a bit of wind and rain.
At first, no need for nutrients or anything, they'll be fine.

I really hope that they can get a nice start going when they're little.
Last time they went outside around day 20,
but they didn't have time under a nice LED grow light before that!

Pots, Medium and Nutrients:
I'll also gradually move them into larger pots, prob 8-10 L = 2-3 Gal.
For the medium, change to something like this:
50% coco
30% potting soil
20% perlite and vermiculite
with some added "water crystals" (see below).

As they are going to be in mostly coco, and need less K but more Ca+Mg,
I think I'm going to use Advanced Nutrients Sensi Coco Bloom A+B.
And use a feeding schedule something like < TaNg's EASY Auto Feeding Schedule >.
I'm thinking about maybe getting something with more Ca+Mg and a bit of N for the vege stage.

Outdoors, Wilds (Day 21-... chop):
Once they are getting to a nice size, they'll go outside.
I can't keep them in my tent, and even having them there when they are small is risky.
My living situation is just not good for this at all.
(Check out crazy story from last grow, Code Red.)
They aren't too far away, but I can't always visit them,
and when I can, it's usually at evening / night.
Location is fairly open and gets good light (for the cloudy mountainous area it is).

Questions for the Experts:

1. Advice / suggestions on the medium.
   Ratios of coco / potting mix / perlite / vermiculite?
2. Use of water crystals? Use of water crystals with coco?
   I'm afraid that I can't water personally regular,
   and that rainfall isn't super high (very different from Aug-Nov last year....)
3. Advice / suggestions on the nutrients.
   I don't have a massive budget... (spent too much on the seeds, haha!)
4. Any other advice / suggestions welcome.

Oh yeah! Writing this thread makes me want to get back home and check the mail!

Love and hugs,
MJS

PS: Not me! But kind of looks a bit like me!!! ;-)

 

[Exotic Flower]

Tag a few friends!
@budelee @Eyeoftheworld @derek420colorado @A-Train @Duckster @Frogster @FullDuplex @Mossy @Starbreaker @The Elvis @tobe

For the lovely seeds:
@DutchPassionTony @FastBuds @Sweet Seeds Jay @Sweet Seeds

For the outdoors:
@912GreenSkell @trailanimal @Badger @Eekman

For the coco:
@blue @Rebel @Son of Hobbes @tripaholic88

Thank you, my lovely friends!!!!!

 

[budelee]

Thanks for the tag @Maria Sanchez ,woot woot,rhats a lot of great choices.you are gonna have a great grow,sending good Karma your way !!

 

[Duckster]

Good to see you're laying plans to get your grow on. I'm subbed up for the ride. You have a sweet selection of auto seeds, but 2 plants in 1 pot and later culling seems like a waste. If you are starting autos in March, you will have time to do at least 2 auto grows before the rainy season. Maybe even more if you stagger the starting points 6-7 weeks apart. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Eekman]

Buenos Dias Maria Sanchez,

Thanks for the tags, nice to be useful. When you get my age, you will seek validation wherever it manifests itself.

I see you have a pretty good grasp of what you are doing I think. Probably still some minor tweeks to iron out once you get going.

So this is a balcony growish, 10-14 Hours of sun per day, semi coco grow looks like a winner. You will do the auto's and veg the photo's at the same time. This is way early for starting summer seeds. I think you could get in a whole auto grow before you would have to seed for summer photo's. However, In 2015, I popped seed in mid April, vegged indoors for three weeks, and had plants that would go 2 lbs at harvest (and amazingly, some where in only 7 gallon bags). Mother nature has a way of evening things out.

I must say that as far as nutrients go, I am on my first full grow on a nutrient only coco system. I have only ever grown in a "super soil" organic type of soil. I know this though, you WILL need the cal mag in your nutrients because of LED's. Don't hesitate, just buy an additive, they are cheap, and you don't use very much, but it is essential. Don't wait for problems to arise that could affect your overall yield.

I would suggest in the future, you look into a fully amended super soil recipe. You mention you might not be able to get to them for periods of time. Coco needs attention almost daily. Supersoils can go up to a week with properly wetted soil without attention, though I wouldn't recommend going more than 2 or three days. It also depend on Pot/inground too.

The crystals you talk about, is that silica? If so then yes, it is a good idea for coco, and it helps with calmag issues. helps keep it stable.

Buena Ventura

 

[G.Leave]

Hey thanks for the tag!! Love outdoor growin' and helping out where i can!!
Wonderful strain choices!! I honestly wouldn't grow 2 seed per pot. I prefer to grow in individual smaller pots and cull only those that absolutely need it. Instatransplant pots make it so I can grow in smaller pots without a concern of root restriction, or for damaging root during transplants These days I very, very rarely cull. Culling in that way would be fine if funds were ample, but being on a budget, no need to toss half your seed money away!!
Can you see if you can get an average relative humidity chart for your area for the months of flowering...I have a sneaking suspicion that will be your biggest struggle?


Well said all around @Eekman - I start my photo seeds on april the 1st and by the end of sept they are huge. Maria if you cant get to the plants very often, I think you will find it difficult to keep up with the needs of giant photo plants. I would expect flowering to begin as soon as the light period starts to decline, but that would depend on the strain trigger. A much different light regime than my own(16 hours at the peak), so I might be wrong!

Sounds like a solid plan overall!!

 

[tripaholic88]

hey @Maria Sanchez i dont know anything about outdoor grows but i know a little something about this plant we all love so much
im def gonna sub up and watch and lend any advice i can once they get growing
for this great adventure!

 

[Fast Buds Heather]

Good growing, Maria! We'll be happy to follow your garden
[HASHTAG]#EnjoyGrowingFaster[/HASHTAG] and easier, as you said

Ty!!!!

 

[trailanimal]

New grow excitement growing for lots of us! Wonderful strain selection. Have you considered preparing a spot in soil to plant? Would be some work up front, but less work over the grow. I'm thinking your hillside is well drained, and in the soil would support the plant much better than a pot, and relieve watering worries. Photos in well prepared soil produce big time. Cheers Maria, your are a true canna commanda

 

[G.Leave]

New grow excitement growing for lots of us! Wonderful strain selection. Have you considered preparing a spot in soil to plant? Would be some work up front, but less work over the grow. I'm thinking your hillside is well drained, and in the soil would support the plant much better than a pot, and relieve watering worries. Photos in well prepared soil produce big time. Cheers Maria, your are a true canna commanda

The only thing that could be a major drawback is if the PH is off....I wanted to suggest this, I really did!! Trail is right though...try at least a couple straight in the ground. Watering is far easier in te ground..i can easily water heavily and leave for a week without a single worry with plants directly in the ground(our soil PH is a nice 6.2-6.5).