Indoor Maybe I was expecting too much... anyway, onward and forward!

[MedCzech]

Seems you were right about the soil...

The problem being ( i believe) that i added 20ltrs of garden soil specific for flowering garden plants that had been sitting on balcony for almost a year, this stuff has small green balls of fertilizer that slow release over six months or so, (figured it would still be ok at the time of mixing) they are of course dumping everything into the soil as soon as I water now, as soon as they get wet they just pop all at once rather than slow release.
Stupid is what stupid does I guess.

Looks like i am gonna be carrying some more soil up 4 flights and starting again.......

Yeah, I think i see what happens over the next week, then start a photo run if I am just wasting electricity on these. the dead one is deffo finished. I am just feeling too old this week for carrying soil.

In order:
one of the balls open and released, another I found right by the dead&dying, 1 I picked out to see better

View attachment 1664092 View attachment 1664093
View attachment 1664094

Yeah, I had an inkling there was something going on there.
Get yourself some fresh stuff and you won’t regret it.
Good luck. Let us know if you need any help. This site has a wealth of knowledge and soon you will be growing some killer weed.

 

[Corum59]

Yeah, I had an inkling there was something going on there.
Get yourself some fresh stuff and you won’t regret it.
Good luck. Let us know if you need any help. This site has a wealth of knowledge and soon you will be growing some killer weed.

And you were right....
Shit happens, at some point I will make the decision, in the mean time I am just feeling too old carry 40 ltr bags up to the 4th floor.

I also have a fair old stash sitting in the cupboard, so dont need this grow, it was all about trying a second run of Auto's and the learning curve while electricity was still affordable.

This was annoying me so much I almost popped for a Platinum hydro 60 system last night while thinking about this soil issue, then, just in time, I remembered that I can hear the hum of the pump when its on, and the same with an air stone pump, they were just as bad as each other, Small apartments can magnify irritating sounds, sometimes one forgets the small negative points of past experiences.

Anyways, luckily I have got enough weed for a year or so, so no rush on doing anything.
Ah, decisions, decisions...

 

[MedCzech]

And you were right....
Shit happens, at some point I will make the decision, in the mean time I am just feeling too old carry 40 ltr bags up to the 4th floor.

I also have a fair old stash sitting in the cupboard, so dont need this grow, it was all about trying a second run of Auto's and the learning curve while electricity was still affordable.

This was annoying me so much I almost popped for a Platinum hydro 60 system last night while thinking about this soil issue, then, just in time, I remembered that I can hear the hum of the pump when its on, and the same with an air stone pump, they were just as bad as each other, Small apartments can magnify irritating sounds, sometimes one forgets the small negative points of past experiences.

Anyways, luckily I have got enough weed for a year or so, so no rush on doing anything.
Ah, decisions, decisions...

You could just buy a couple small bags of soil. No need to buy the 40 liter bags either.

Good luck with whatever you do

 

[Corum59]

You could just buy a couple small bags of soil. No need to buy the 40 liter bags either.

Good luck with whatever you do

indeed, but that would mean 4 trips,

I am just a little indecisive at the moment, drop this grow and pack up for 9 months, start a new auto grow, start a photo grow, just leave them and see what happens.... start visiting the coffee shop again.....................nah, that aint never gonna happen.

 

[Corum59]

all packed up, these plants failed, thats what ya get for using soils that hung around too long I guess.

Anyways..... I will leave the tent in place a few weeks, so that if I feel like using some of my own grown seeds (royal queen cross's) or some Blond Russian ladies that I still have (all feminized photo's) then I can just grab some soil and get running without too much sweat.

In the mean time, I wish you all massive success with your grows.

I decided I would let nature take its course and instead of dumping the plants in the bin, they can take their chances on the balcony ( which also saves me carrying down lots of soil to the trash bins) and maybe the rain will flush out the excess toxins.

 

[Corum59]

Well I tried Auto’s and failed….


I need a confidence boost, and to check that my light still works, after 2 poor attempts at Autos I am questioning everything….so I went back to what I know, Photo’s,
I Soaked & dropped 6 feminized “Blond Russian Ladies” into jiffies, Feb 10.
These seeds were freebies from Dutch-headshop here in Amsterdam, very nice of them.
They are an old cross that is no longer sold but they had some lying around, and I have had them a while, a couple of years I think.

Blond Russian lady-feminised.
Genetics: AK-47 x White Widow
Mostly indica.
Flowering indoors, 8-10 weeks average.
12 -16weeks full grow.
A fairly short plant with many branches and strong aroma’s
THC; 22%

Picked up some new “dirty stuff” 17 euro for 40lters… I mean really???? and will sheeps wool in soil make a difference???? who knows, but what the hell, why not, might be a game changer…...
Grabbed some perlite, coco blocks, and 4 smaller grow bags-15 liters, the 28cm/25 liter bags were bloody unwieldly and my buckets are in use on the balcony.
I have nutes, unused and unopened all factored into the last two grows...so they are all free to use.

I will start with the jiffies,

Once sprouted (fingers crossed) move them to paper cups and put them under my home made 2 cob (CLU048-1212 5700k) starter light, which uses an aluminium rad and driver salvaged from my old marshydro 700 (ancient blurple history) which runs@ +/- 47watts = 72Vx 0.65A, the starter light worked well in the past, so I have no reason to suspect it will fail me now.

I will pick the 4 healthiest looking seedlings and pot them in the 15lter bags and (if all 6 sprout) put the others in small pots as reserves… you know in case there are males in those feminized seeds, or 1 fails etc.
Once potted I will install the main lamp, pump up the volume and start the training.
The aim is:

4 plants, topped and scrogged, 16 mains to a plant, 64 mains in total, (provided my heavy handed approach doesn’t break any branches, as is usual) in my 70x70cm 64 mains is a perfect fit to fill the horizonal space. Anyway, The plans of mice and men and all of that......

4 x GRONEST AQUA BREATHE FABRIC POT 15 LITER 24.5 X 24.5 X 25 CM​	€ 17​
2 x PLAGRON PERLITE 10 LITER​	€ 15.90​
Shipping method DHL NL​	€ 5.95​
Free seeds from dutch-headshop, Blond Russian ladies.​	​
40ltrs soil​	€ 17​
6x coco​	€ 7​
propagator​	€ 3​
Trowel​	€ 1.19​
​	​
total​	€ 66.62​

Pics as things moved along:
new dirt, jiffies

starter lamp










and we're off, well some of them are anyways....

oh yeah, the auto's that I started are still on the balcony, its rained so much they have probably been flushed by now... and in 2nd stage drowning, nothing to be done though, they pull through or they dont.

 

[Corum59]

he double paper cups are old school, the inner cup walls are cut into 6-7 strips down the sides and the bottoms are slashed, the outer cup has no bottom. air gap, as the cup is watered the paper soaks up the water and starts to get soggy and sloppy and the roots find it easy to spread out into the pots soils once replanted, I know, you all did that in the 70's, but its fun to try old school now and again.

Oh yes, and those Auto's in bad soil out on the balcony in the rain, rain and even more bloody rain.





i guess there is a chance they pick up..... maybe 1 in 100...

 

[Corum59]

Nothing much happening, hope the seedlings are just putting roots in cups, oh and a little bugger has popped up in the outside pot among the failed auto's, forgot all about her. outside it been quite cool, rained constantly for a couple of weeks, however the gorilla cookies seem to be taking it in their stride, the rain appears to have have flushed the toxic soil???? so that might be fun to watch how they turn out, although its only February so plenty of time for a freeze to come along and kill 'em off. it may also offer the opportunity to grab some STS and see if I can turn one male and and let them pollinate for a lifetime supply of Gorilla cookie seeds... possibilities, but when possibilities depend on the weather, you have to look at the situation with a smile.

 

[Corum59]

the lights out periods can be a little cool, but nothing to worry about, 4 plants look healthy enough if not great.



i think another week or so in the cups under the 5700k starter lamp, that will give me time to mix up some soil, coco and perlite (if the bloody rain ever stops long enough)
Speaking about rain, here are some shots of the almost drowning Gorilla Cookies out in the cold.





I dont think there has been a single day that it didnt rain all day since they went outside, along with near freezing nighttime temps, hailstones in last weeks storm, not more than 10 mins of actual sun light in gods knows how long.... gotta give it to these little buggers, they are tenacious.

 

[Corum59]

Time to do some dirty work in the sun shine.

pics in order:
40ltrs of rather expensive bio soil, 20ltrs coco, 20ltrs perlite,
Some fungus growth ion the Bio-dirt hope its good fungus/mycellium???
Ready to mix,
Mixed,
Thought I might try something different on two bags for the rear, a light layer of perlite for air in the middle, two towers of coco for wicking up through two corners (who knows... maybe), removed the containers once the soil at the level by pressing my fist on the coco and pulling up the milk cartons.
ready to aclimatise for a few days.