Indoor I’m Back: Mephisto Bluetoof Special and Cosmic Queen - 1 Liter Soilless Hempy

[mcpd_refugee]

That's awesome. The more I look around and see stuff like this, the more i think about just trying to finish mine in 1L.

Some things to keep in mind when making your decision: Size of buds will depend on the size of the plant which will depend on the size of the roots although I’m not sure if width or depth of the container matters more. Someone else will have to chime in with that tidbit of info. The smaller the container he more frequently you will have to water it as the plant starts to flower.

So, in my 2‘ x 2.5’ tent, I can comfortably fit 9 to 12 twenty ounce red solo cups, 4 one liter containers, 2 two liter containers or one larger (1 gallon or bigger) container. For reference, I can get about 1/4 to 3/4 of an ounce from a solo cup, 1 1/2 ounces from a one liter, 2 to 2 3/4 ounce from a two liter, and I once got half a pound from a 5 gallon DWC hydroponic bucket. The typical growing cycle is 60 to 90 days, so you might want to maximize either quantity or variety. Hopefully these figures will give you a rough idea of what you might expect to get out of your grow space. Also keep in mind that the strain, the light, the temperature, the humidity, the growing medium and the nutrients will all play a role in determining what yield you might expect to achieve.

 

[Jan:)]

I'd be happy with an once

 

[Nosias]

Today is Day 29. I decided to go in a do a little defoliation up underneath the gals today. Hopefully I didn’t mess with them too much. The Cosmic Queen is pretty wide open due to her sativa leanings, so I didn’t have to do too much to her. The Bluetoof Special and the Creme De La Chem could probably use a bit more, but I didn’t want to shock them.

Cosmic Queen
View attachment 1183961
Bluetoof Special
View attachment 1183962
Creme De La Chem
View attachment 1183963

Comments an questions welcome. Happy growing everyone!

Looking good. And I know how not to shock your plants ... put some clothes on

 

[Nosias]

Thank you @Nosias. Hopefully everything is right in your world. Did your ladies recover from your pH issues?

We are the luckiest couple in the world. All of the family is doing good health wise and all is good.

Well the ladies were stunted real bad. All five that were on the rez got tiny. They have recovered, if you can say They we all grown in shot glasses then they look just ok. I will start 4 new ones, as that is all the extra trays and valves I have. Stay safe and love her all the time.

 

[Nosias]

First: Thank you!

Second: Since there is a hole in the side of the bottle, you just water them like you would soil or coco coir. The water trickles down and whatever is not held onto by the vermiculite on its way down is collected in the bottom of the bottle up to the drain hole. The totes only are there to hold any water that drains out of the hole until I get the chance to empty the totes. And the lids on the totes prevent the bottles from tipping over and breaking stems in the process. Also, like coco, since there are no nutrients inherent in the perlite/vermiculite, you have to add nutrients to your water or your plants starve.

After this grow is finished, I am planning on a grow in a recycled three liter water bottle using a similar technique. I’m actually using this technique with the Creme De La Chem plant in this grow. In the next one, I will fill the bottle to just above the drain hole with hydroton (clay balls) then I’ll fill the bottle the rest of the way with coco. I’ll pre-charge the coco with Cal/Mag and plant directly into the coco. I’ll take more pictures of the set up. If you’d like, I can tag you when I start that one.

I, too would like to see what the heck you got going on. Tag me also, please.

 

[Nosias]

I'd be happy with an once

That is what we all said starting out. Now we need enough to never run out for friends and myself.

 

[mcpd_refugee]

I'd be happy with an once

That is what we all said starting out. Now we need enough to never run out for friends and myself.

I agree with @Nosias on this one. During my first grow, I was so nervous about all of the variables - even after months of research - that I would have been happy with any useable quantity. My plants looked like they were grown on an active battlefield by the end. I think I ended up with a shade more than 4 ounces of really good bud. I was extremely happy. Now, though, I’m disappointed if I don’t maximize the yield and get a little something something to share around.

Looking good. And I know how not to shock your plants ... put some clothes on

I’m living in one of the top 20 most affected counties in the US. Ambulances scream by at all hours of the day and night. I’m only leaving my apartment once a week to go to the grocery store. If it weren’t for this lock down, I’d have more of an excuse to put clothes on. So, shock and awe it is!

I, too would like to see what the heck you got going on. Tag me also, please.

Will do. I already have the bottle cut, taped and drilled. But I will thoroughly document it from that point on out. And since it’s a wider bottle, I won’t have to use a lid on the tote. It should be interesting.

 

[mcpd_refugee]

Today is Day 31. The gals seemed to take their haircut in stride and just kept on growing. The Cosmic Queen now stands at 17 inches tall, the Bluetoof Special is 15 inches tall and the Creme De La Chem is 14 inches tall. Aside from some droop that I’ve been seeing about 3 hours before lights off (which happens to be first thing in the morning for me), they are doing well. They perk right back up after the lights come on in the early afternoon. You’ll notice something new in the tent, but I‘ll get to that in a follow up post. Without further ado:

Cosmic Queen

Bluetoof Special

Creme De La Chem

Whole Tent

A View from the Lights

As always, comments and questions are welcome and happy growing everyone!

 

[mcpd_refugee]

Ok. So, the new side project. I’m hoping that this will finish up pretty close to the same time as the others since the timeline will probably be shortened due to the size restriction due to the small containers. Only time will tell, though. This is somewhat experimental since I’ve never grown hempy style in solo cups - only with soil And with the drainage holes on the bottom of the cup.

So, I heated a screwdriver and poked holes in each cup approximately 1 1/2 inches up the side:

Then I rinsed the hydroton and filled each cup to just above the drain hole:

I then expanded coco pucks using lukewarm water with some added Cal/Mag:

I filled each cup to the top:

I then dropped the seeds in lukewarm water and will soak them overnight in a cabinet. I will plant them directly in the coco tomorrow afternoon.

The seeds I dropped are: Dutch Passion BlackBerry Kush, Mephisto Genetics Auto Blues, Mephisto Genetics Purple Nuggets and FastBuds G14.

Comments or questions are welcome. Happy growing everyone!

 

[mcpd_refugee]

So today I noticed that the leaf tip and edge yellowing (potassium deficiency), leaf spotting (calcium deficiency) and purple leaf stems (magnesium deficiency) were a bit worse - especially on the Cosmic Queen (she seems a bit finicky). So I broke down and added 1.5 g/gal of Cal/Mag Pro and 1.5 g/gal of Bud Explosion to the feed mix. I’ll continue that until the end. I measured the plants and they each added an inch overnight. The Cosmic Queen is at 18 inches, the Bluetoof Special is at 17 inches and the Creme De La Chem is 16 inches. I also lowered the lights to 18 inches above the canopy for the remainder of flowering. If there is any additional stretch, I’ll move them up to keep them 18 inches from the plant tops.

On the side project, I planted all seeds directly into the coco this afternoon. The coco was still moist, so I didn’t bother giving them any additional water.