Grow Mediums GJ: Blue Mystic Auto in Coco Loco, 3gal bags, 1000w, amended H2O, hydro nutes

[NtothePtotheK]

High everyone!

I'm about 5 wk into another mixed batch of autos, and some photos, but I just started this small grow for fun:

2 x Blue Mystic Auto from Nirvana Seeds
In Coco Loco potting mix, 3gal black plastic grow bags, drain to tray ha ha
Start: 220 watts T5HO 6400k, shared 4x4 tent, 18/6
Finish: 1000w dual-arc (600w HPS + 400w MH), hooded 6" cool tube, fan & filter, shared 5x5 tent, 12/12

It's very early, they're seedlings only 3 days from breaking ground and it's not to late to try something new and follow some advice I've been reading here, or at least try and come close. This thread is to keep track of those, make notes, and probably get some help.

I'll likely mention my other grow from time to time.

(They are:​

2 x Flash Babylon from Samsara,
2 x 60 Day Lemon from DNAG,
1 x Northern Lights Auto from G13 Labs,
1 x Critical Plus 2.0 Auto from Dinafem,
1 x Bio Diesel Mass from Advanced
along with
1 x Kandy Kush photo from clone
6 x White Widow photos from clone)

​

Next... the coco mix, nutes, feeding schedule & solution.
--
n2p2k

 

[Chester]

Looking forward to watching your grow ... :Aloha:

 

[NtothePtotheK]

The FoxFarm (Bushdoctor) Coco Loco mix and 3gal bags

I've been growing photos in 2-3gal grow bags for... a while now. Pro-Mix is great but more and more these days I plant anything going to flower in Coco Loco.

I started the Blue Mystic Autos right before discovering this forum, so a couple things didn't start out ideal. No tiered planting; I only learned about it 2 days ago. Didn't add extra perlite to the mix either, I didn't have it handy. But as I said before I have another Auto grow in progress, and have done photos for a while, so I already know Coco Loco is a good mix for Autos too. It comes with other great stuff which I blabbed about >>here<<.

__
n2p2k

 

[NtothePtotheK]

Feeding schedule and solution

Feeding Schedule

According to my own experience and how far from it I'm willing to deviate from it to try what I've read on this forum, I've modified my normal feeding schedule for these coco autos as follows:

1 day a week - feed until ~10% runoff, to flush out buildup
Rest of the week - pour in 2 cups of 75% strength solution every time they dry out, should be at least 1 time a day starting a couple days after the big feeding, later I'll be feeding them 2 cups at a time like crazy

I don't have a timed feeding setup so frequent manual feedings will have to do. I'm also going to feed my other autos and photos in coco this way, from now on.

Solution

Since it's Coco and we can treat it like hydro, and frankly is just easy, I go with the normal lineup:
Grow Big Hydro, Big Bloom, Tiger Bloom. For my plants at 5 weeks it's 5ml/gal GBH, 10ml/gal TB, 15ml/gal BB.
Because it's coco, I also add 2.5ml (0.5tsp)/gal Earth Juice Elements Cal-n-Mag. And about an equal amount of SM-90.
This solution is exactly what I use in DWC. The SM-90 only kills anaerobic bacteria but allows aerobic (good) bacteria and fungus to live, it's anti-mold, anti-mildew, anti-insect, arguably safe to use, and makes water wetter. It helps roots stay bright white and healthy and that's good enough for me!

Pulling a Lance Armstrong and doping my solution with O2

Since I've done Hydro I have leftover air pumps and stones, I found the consumer air pumps to be inadequate for DWC and purchased a commercial grade one to do the job. But you know what the smaller pumps are perfect for? Aerating my water-and-nutrient-solution buckets.

I fill buckets with tap water and let them sit for a day or three before they get used. (I use upside down net pot lids as covers). I've always done this and water stays good for days. Adding air outside of a bubble bucket never occurred to me. But it can get the chlorine out faster! It can help fight bacteria, if that problem arose. Most of all it's supposed to help my plants achieve ridiculous growth** so I'm on board.

I also like that if I have leftover nutrient solution, it will stay good for a long time with an air stone.

The buckets live in a room that's a few degrees cooler than the tents (and pots) so that should help the water and solution absorb more O2.

__
n2p2k

edit: **Resources:
Truu mentions amending H20 here
https://www.autoflower.org/f126/what-truu-knows-about-coco-20249.html
FullDuplex fully advocates it here
https://www.autoflower.org/f5/fds-guide-growing-hefty-autos-small-places-206.html#post4005

These guys seem like they know their stuph

 

[NtothePtotheK]

Looking forward to watching your grow ... :Aloha:

Thanks that makes 2 of us I'll get some pictures up soon. I'll show off the other autos too.

 

[NtothePtotheK]

Pic update

High there,

I got the urge to post some pics. I edited the OP with the earliest pic I have, of the seedlings 2 days after breaking ground. It's a couple days later, and here are some more recent photos.

The Blue Mystic Autos in coco, guest appearance by my latest batch of photo clone-moms and a kandy or white widow clone to the right.


Blue Mystics are sitting on the shelf I built for the back of the 4'x4' veg tent. I'll show you my other autos in progress soon (I planted those in party cups then transplanted to 3gal bags, I was EXTREMELY CAREFUL but it probably affected things). A friend told me planting them straight in bags is better, but had I found this forum one day sooner these Mystics would be in tiered pots or started in the double-cup method for easy transplant.

Here's the veg light overhead:
Imagine if you could take a 4 foot long, 4-bulb T5HO 6400K light and bend the bulbs in half to fit a 2x2 fixture with the same wattage and lumens? Oh wait... htgsupply.com (they love it, it's all I need in my veg tent)

Off topic but something else to see, I've got my next round of photo clone donors on the floor. Here's what they looked like a few days ago:
Because I want donor mamas (PHOTO) to be as bushy as possible, I top them pretty early and get the main stalk to make a Y. Once that's grown in well enough, I'll top each Y again and then trim any big fan leaves that are blocking lower growth or overlapping:
Again these I hope to clone and enjoy, Critcal + 2.0, Pineapple Chunk, Critical Sensi Star, and Berry Bomb (that last one's mainly for extracts/baking because of high resin).

Of course, my Blue Mystic Autos will be getting no such treatment! (nor any autos).

__
n2p2k

 

[NtothePtotheK]

More pics - the bloom room

Okay here we go!

Because of superior spectrum and lumens coverage (despite the inferior light schedule), and filtered air, my
Blue Mystic Autos
will eventually be moved in to my 5x5 bloom tent. This is the perfect excuse to show off my photos and other autos!

Here's what lies above:
6" hooded cool tube, 400cfm fan drawing air inside the tent, through the charcoal filter, past the HOT bulb, and right out to... well... that part's a secret.
"Dancing Psiren"

Speaking of the bulb:
1000W Dual-arc. 12h on / 12h off. As far as the ballast is concerned, this is a 1000w HPS bulb. In reality, it's 600w of HPS and 400w of MH. Oh, the colors! (Oh, the power bill TT . TT)

Alright, here are the goodies (autos and photos mixed):
The autos are along the left and back. I arranged them by height.

This is the "left" wall from the pic above. From left to right: Flash Babylon, Bio Diesel Mass Auto, Northern Lights Auto, 60 day lemon.

This is the "rear" wall. From left to right: The same 60 day lemon from above in the corner, Critical + 2.0 Auto, the OTHER 60 Day Lemon, OTHER Flash Babylon.

All 7 of these autos were germinated via paper towel method on the same day. They sprouted at varying times. The smaller Flash Babylon had a problem developing from the seed and the cotyledons never separated or fully formed, before the true leaves started peeking out. I had to snip off the ungrown piece of seed to let the cotyledons separate, and the rest of the plant grow. This mishap severely stunted its growth. I don't know what's up with the other 60 day lemon, I guess that one has no excuse to suck.

Before I forget, here are the photos:
In the foreground, 5 x white widows from clone (4 in 2gal bags, 1 in 3gal)

In the background, 1 x Kandy Kush (left) and the White Widow clones' mom (I'm done with her).


The Blue Mystics (that's why you're here right, not to watch me threadjack my own thread??) will be sharing this space. Please feel free to ask me about any of this.

__
n2p2k

 

[NtothePtotheK]

Hydro buckets? You are mistaken sir!

I have good quality free water. I fill 5gal buckets with cold running tapwater, and allow it to sit for a few days (at LEAST 24h) to dechlorinate.

After reading about it on this forum, I decided to try adding an air pump and 4" flat stone to each of my buckets. I had them lying around so why not?



The room is cooler than inside either of the tents. We may(?:smoke remember this from doing hydro but FD reminded me >>here<< that cold water dissolves higher amounts of oxygen. As it warms to tent-temp, it should release a good amount of extra O2 to the roots. Amending with O2 should reduce drying times, and increase feeding intervals. I'm hoping to see the explosive growth that's being associated with this practice, but we'll see. It's a learning experience!

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n2p2k

 

[NtothePtotheK]

Blue Mystic seedlings - Day 5

Ok, so I did the math (ok I guesstimated) and they must have leapt from paper towel into dirt on Sunday the 7th. So today is Day 5!


Our point of reference on the start of this Mystical journey will be this 50 cent euro. It happens to be about the same size as a quarter, or as you Americans call it, a Canadian quarter (which just so happens to be the same size as an American quarter, or as you Americans call it, a quarter).

Off topic: my non-auto Critical + 2.0 (which started out growing asymmetrically) is now growing in a triangle shape after one side where I topped it failed to grow a new shoot.

__
n2p2k

 

[NtothePtotheK]

Day 7

Just a little bigger today.