New Grower First Grow - 4 Different Auto Strains in Coco

[Exivious]

Transpiration is getting out of control... I just ordered a small humidifier. I didn't want to pay for a big one or have to store it when not in use, so I'm going to put this one in a box next to the tent and duct air to it. I only need it to lower humidity 5-8% for now, but I imagine this problem is only going to get worse. Cranking the exhaust removes too much HEAT with the humidity. This is the exact opposite problem I had before I purchased a humidifier for the seedling phase--at that time the exhaust was pulling too much RH and not enough heat from the tent.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Yep... My only lost resources were two seeds, one of which was a total abortion and one of which I think stayed in the towel too long or was possibly damaged by me when I planted it. Not too bad considering I still have enough seeds left for another 4 or 5 full tents (depending on if I go with 4 or 3 plants next time). So glad I went with four separate strains this time, though, especially now that the canopy is pretty much even. I can focus next time on my favorite of those and maybe one Bubbly Livers, one of the freebies I received but did not plant this time around.

Looking back I think my only wasteful spending was on nutrients. If I could do it over again I'd still buy Armor Si, CalMag and Liquid KoolBloom, but get Dyna-Gro Foliage-Pro instead of the Flora Trio. When I run out of Micro (which will happen long before I run out of Gro or Bloom) I will for sure buy a gallon of Foliage-Pro.

Oh yeah, and those awful Home Depot watering cans I bought... Fuck those things. The submersible pump in a bucket setup I have now makes feeding so painless...

My biggest mistake was nutrients. I'd do mega crop's whole line if I had the opportunity. You salvaged your plants though so all is not lost lol

My First Grow
Me vs. 00 Seeds Automatik Collections 600w Top Fed DTW

 

[Exivious]

My biggest mistake was nutrients. I'd do mega crop's whole line if I had the opportunity. You salvaged your plants though so all is not lost lol

Yeah I'm very pleased with where I'm at. I know there was some lost growth potential, but it would be a nightmare if the plants were much bigger than they are now at this stage. This is becoming hard to manage and I'm concerned about having too many overlapping leaves (moisture traps) during flowering. I'm going to do some more pruning today and I'm going to try to tie them up in a way that each plant only reaches beyond the perimeter of their pot on two adjacent sides. That way there's no part in the middle of the tent where they're all on top of each other like there is now. They'll only reach for the walls rather than for each other.

Easier said than done, probably...

 

[Death The Cultivator]

I only have two that haven't even started their stretch and are crowding in a 600w but I don't want to raise the light yet lol

Yeah I'm very pleased with where I'm at. I know there was some lost growth potential, but it would be a nightmare if the plants were much bigger than they are now at this stage. This is becoming hard to manage and I'm concerned about having too many overlapping leaves (moisture traps) during flowering. I'm going to do some more pruning today and I'm going to try to tie them up in a way that each plant only reaches beyond the perimeter of their pot on two adjacent sides. That way there's no part in the middle of the tent where they're all on top of each other like there is now. They'll only reach for the walls rather than for each other.

Easier said than done, probably...

My First Grow
Me vs. 00 Seeds Automatik Collections 600w Top Fed DTW

 

[Exivious]

I'm probably updating too often to maintain much interest, but I feel like I should every time I do something more than just feed. Oh well.

Day 31: I did some more aggressive pruning this time. It's easier to water now, should be less transpiration, and less resources wasted later on mostly shaded leaves. I also did the shaping I mentioned before: if you imagine each pot is square, I tied stems on two adjacent sides of each plant to reduce cross-over between plants in the center of the tent.

Not a canopy view (the canopy looks much the same in a photo despite reduced overlap), but you can see how many low and mid leaves I've removed. I don't think it's too much, nor the wrong time to do it, but I don't really care if it is--I'd sacrifice a little bit of yield for a lot bit of manageability. I ain't trying to make money.

 

[Exivious]

Day 32: Mold on the top of the coco in one pot. I'm sure it was there yesterday, but it hadn't yet sporulated and thus wasn't green. I've seen translucent white now and then I suspected wasn't salt but was mycelia. I assumed it was trichoderma (a nightmare for mushroom farmers). It's only green once it sporulates.

Out of caution I went ahead and sprayed with H2O2, then removed a bit of the top layer of coco, given that many different molds take on a green color, some nastier than others. My coco is always still moist in the mornings due to the light no longer evaporating the surface moisture. I may start feeding every 36 hours from this point on...

Any experienced growers have an opinion on the mold situation? Look harmless enough? Kinda makes me hungry for spinach... Edit: Figured I may as well start a thread in the infirmary for more exposure...

 

[Dudeski]

Day 32: Mold on the top of the coco in one pot. I'm sure it was there yesterday, but it hadn't yet sporulated and thus wasn't green. I've seen translucent white now and then I suspected wasn't salt but was mycelia. I assumed it was trichoderma (a nightmare for mushroom farmers). It's only green once it sporulates.

View attachment 942915

Out of caution I went ahead and sprayed with H2O2, then removed a bit of the top layer of coco, given that many different molds take on a green color, some nastier than others. My coco is always still moist in the mornings due to the light no longer evaporating the surface moisture. I may start feeding every 36 hours from this point on...

Any experienced growers have an opinion on the mold situation? Look harmless enough? Kinda makes me hungry for spinach... Edit: Figured I may as well start a thread in the infirmary for more exposure...

Will be interesting to see what waira has to say.

 

[Exivious]

Will be interesting to see what waira has to say.

I tagged him just in case. Thanks!

The dehumidifier just arrived. I had an extra 6" duct flange, and the Amazon box that the dehumidifier shipped in (which, no surprise, is the ideal size), so I figured I'd "make" a little enclosure so that I can keep the dehumidifier operating external to the tent. It pulls about 70w so I'd rather not have it in the tent--not to mention there's barely room.

The enclosure is lined with contact paper so I don't end up with moldy cardboard. It seals up pretty tight with the flaps on the opening side of the box secured with velcro. This allows me to easily remove the collection reservoir from the dehumidifier.

If I find this doesn't work well, I'll cut and duct the side exhaust ports out of the enclosure and into the room. This may be necessary due to the pressure situation in the tent...

 

[Exivious]

Hahaha stunning fail on the dehumidifier enclosure/duct... The pressure deficit inside the tent was too much to overcome. I added a 200mm case fan to act as a booster on the inside of the tent sucking air into the duct and it still did not matter. After several hours, there was not a drop of moisture inside the dehumidifier--and the result was the same with the enclosure open. Then again, after an hour, there was not a drop of moisture inside the dehumidifier when I had it running out in the open in a rather humid room. I now have it running inside the tent to see if it does anything at all, besides heat the surrounding area. It barely fits since I have at least one too many plants and possibly two too many. Were that not the case, I wouldn't have needed a dehumidifier in the first place.

I can't get rid of any plants now, though, and putting them outside is out of the question--the wind and storms here are just too brutal--it would be botanocide! Hopefully I can finish this cycle without any rot. Even if not for the benefit of experience, the next grow would still be so much easier simply because I would have fewer plants. I obviously had no notion of scale when I started this project...

In case I can't get humidity down 5-10%, I've ordered a tower fan, which is probably needed regardless at this point--this will make three circulation fans in a 32x32" tent. The density's gotten that bad... Too much of a good thing.

 

[Dudeski]

4 plants in that tent is going to be tough. One outside may be better if its possible, idk. Just really cramped will hinder growth