Seed Stockers Seedstockers Rucu Cucu - Auto

Germination
  • Day 1: 5/3/22 : Seedstockers Rucu Cucu Autoflowering variety

    @Seedstockers-Mark - We have liftoff!

    Very quick germination and sprout! Nothing this AM but by 7:15pm a nice baby has emerged.

    I am using 1.5gallon airpots with Cyco Pearl Coco Coir

    Airpots have a lot of holes in the bottom. I line them with a single layer of unbleached #2 cone coffee filters. Just separate them at the seam until you have two "halves". I find three of these "halves" tuck into the bottom quite nicely. Drainage is not an issue and roots can and do poke through them with ease. It just helps contain the loose coco until things get settled.

    Once I see the sprout I prepare the coco. It comes prebuffered but I find the runoff to be in the 700ppm range which I think is too strong for seedlings.

    Jacks 3-2-1 seedling mix:

    Jacks make a "clone" product that can also be used for seedlings. They advise 2.5g per gallon of water. I add a silica supplement as it raises the pH nicely. I am using DynaGro Protekt as I can get it locally but use what you like and adjust as needed. Silica needs to be added first. I repeat, if you are using silica it has to be added first.

    Silica first. You will probably need to play with how much silica you use to get the pH where you want it. 1ml tends to get mine right around 6.0 +- 0.1-ish , it took some test runs to nail down. Worst case you have to use pH up/down at the end. Silica is great to use and if you get it right, no pH adjustment needed!

    1ml Protekt silica
    2.5g "clone
    1 Gallon distilled/purified drinking/reverse osmosis water
    Stir - let it sit. I let mine rest for 30min to stabilize the mix

    Final numbers: 5.9pH/351ppm (test, test, test. Confirm your numbers)

    P1040649.JPG



    I split up the gallon into 1L batches and pour through slowly. I catch the runoff and test the numbers.

    Input numbers: 5.9pH/351ppm
    1litre: 0ml out
    2nd : 648ml out @ 6.0pH/521ppm
    3rd: 738ml out @ 6.1pH/458ppm
    last 800ml in : 756ml out @ 6.3pH/403ppm

    I would have liked to get the ppm count into the 250-300 range but input was 350 and out was ~400. Good enough. You can see the coco dust in the runoff. Another decent reason to flush a bit through first.

    P1040650.JPG




    Once thoroughly soaked, I make a little hole with a shotglass, perfect size, and pop in the jiffy pellet with my nice seedling!

    I am using 9" Hydro Halos. I do hand water but its far easier to attach a nice section of 1/2" hose and a funnel to the Halo. Watering into that is much easier on an old man. No bending down or reaching around stems/leaves/ etc. You can see how nicely the 9" Halo sits in a 1.5G airpot.

    P1040651.JPG




    Nice little plant eh? Popped it's shell no issue and the root was already out the bottom of the pellet.

    P1040654.JPG




    And here is the temporary setup to get it acclimated and started before jumping into the main tent. Just a 25W grow bulb in a standard metal work lamp housing. 20/4 light schedule but only getting 12hr this first session, ease it in. Plastic cup to keep the humidity up for now. I learned about the "desk lamp" start from @Ronin and have used it with success since. He used root riots, I use jiffy pellets. Use what you can find or like. Thread here:

    P1040658.JPG



    Thanks for reading and I hope to put on a good show for everyone!
     
    Week 2-3
  • Day 16: Just starting week 3. Everything going smoothly at this point. Environment has been a steady 75-77f and 75%rh. Tonight the plant got it's first real fertigation. Running 80% strength Jacks 3-2-1.

    Funny thing on the Jacks formula is that 80% is actually 3g Part A, 2g Part B, and 1g Epsom salt.

    I adjust slightly and add 1ml of silica to 1gal of distilled water and then 3g A, 2g B and 1.1g Epsom
    Final numbers came out to 5.8pH and 704ppm
    The ppm count seems high but my last run of plants seemed to really like the 80% blend. I do bump the epsom just a hair to 1.1g, the silica amount varies a bit. Looks like I will need to try 1.2ml on the next mix to get just a slightly higher pH going in. 5.8 is acceptable and I find the nute blend is very very stable for several days.

    Fertigated with seedling mix:
    Day 11 - 500ml in 335ppm/5.9pH : 195ml out 400ppm/6.3pH
    Day 13 - 275ml in 341ppm/6.0pH : 157ml out 424ppm/6.2pH

    Tonight Day 16: 80% blend
    300ml in @ 5.8pH and 704ppm : 88ml out @ 6.3pH and 387ppm

    P1040689.JPG




    P1040691.JPG




    P1040692.JPG
     
    Week 4
  • Day 22: Start of week 4: Growing very nicely. Topped off at node 5/6. Still on 80% strength of the Jacks 3-2-1, watering once every other day. Volume increased to 400ml

    D20 - up vol
    IN: 400ml 6.0pH/684ppm
    OUT: 165ml 6.1pH/339ppm

    D21: Nothing given

    Day 22 start of week 4 : {D22-28}
    IN 400ml @ 6.0pH/684 ppm
    OUT 120ml @6.8pH/216ppm (30% runoff volume)

    Runoff volume has dropped again so I will increase volume again in 2 days, probably up 20% which would be right around 480ml but I'll go to 500ml as it's easier to keep track of. pH came up a lot but the next batch of nutes has been mixed at 5.8pH so runoff will be interesting to watch. The ppm concentration also dropped again and I am unsure if I should increase strength at this point. I will probably leave it alone and run the 80% blend unless I see an issue, yellowing, deficiency, etc.. If it's going fine, LITFA right? On to the pics!

    P1040701.JPG




    P1040702.JPG



    Very nice tight spacing on the nodes. That is #6 sticking up the middle.

    P1040703.JPG



    And topped off at node #5. (Snipped off #6 and left #5)

    P1040704.JPG
     
    Week 5
  • Day 30 : One month in. From May 1st to June 1st pretty nice growth. Although it wasn't above ground until the 3rd, I think it's close enough. So, just a day into week 5 at this point. Topped last week, recovered nicely and has spurted out a bunch of new growth and several lovely tops. Probably get out the LST ribbons tomorrow if I have a minute or two for fiddling about.

    D22 - D29 watering volume increased to 500ml every other day.

    Lost a post it so truncated numbers - 500ml in on D24/26 (675ish ppm and 6.0-6.1pH lost the runoff numbers.)
    D28-
    IN: 500ml 687ppm/6.1pH
    OUT: 138ml 460ppm/6.5pH

    D29 - nothing

    D30 - blended 80% + 100% strength nutrients, slight ppm bump
    IN: 500ml 798ppm/5.8pH
    OUT: 156ml 454ppm/6.5pH

    Most likely going to move to once a day watering depending on runoff volume tomorrow.

    Pics:

    P1040711.JPG




    P1040712.JPG
     
    Week 6
  • Day 36: Technically D36 was yesterday. I took pics but didn't get around to tagging and uploading them.

    D31: nothing added
    D32: 500ml in - 0runoff
    additional 500ml in - 0runoff, hmmm....

    D33: water to runoff this time
    1st: 500ml in - 0 runoff (ok not great but a second watering should fix it)
    2nd: 500ml in 0 runoff again, rrg.... thirsty plant eh?
    3rd: 1000ml in 703ppm/6.1pH - 271ml out 968ppm/6.3pH

    D34: volume increased
    1st: 750ml in 703ppm/6.1pH - 48ml out 900ppm/6.1pH
    2nd: 500ml in 703/6.1 - 366ml out 770ppm/6.2pH

    D35: Move to 2x a day watering. 7am/7pm
    AM 500ml in - 0 runoff. Dang.
    PM 500ml in - 67ml runoff. Not enough volume. Additional 300ml in - 210ml runoff

    D36: increase volumes
    AM 750ml in 708ppm/6.1pH - 61ml out 788ppm/6.2pH
    PM 10000ml in 708ppm/6.1pH - 306ml out 720ppm/6.1pH

    D37: 6/8 (today)
    AM 1000ml in 707ppm/6.2pH - 342ml out 704ppm/6.1pH
    PM 800ml in 707ppm/6.2pH - 270ml out 658ppm/6.1pH

    So it looks like the 2x a day watering has stabilized. Plant is utilizing the nutrients as the runoff ppm is below input. Only a brief spike while I sorted out the volume. Increasing the following volume to sufficient runoff seemed to correct it quickly.

    Some pics from yesterday, D36 - preflower looks to be starting

    P1040713.JPG




    P1040714.JPG




    P1040715.JPG
     
    Week 7
  • Day 43: Start of week 7

    Really put on a lot of size this past week. Looks like Week 6/7 is where it just takes off. Getting 1000ml of water twice a day and getting pretty consistent 300-330ml of runoff. A little bit high volume wise but I tried 800/900ml and the runoff was fine and then not. So just easier to consistently run 1L in. PPM going in has been a steady 700-707 and sticking right around 5.9-6.0pH with runoff hanging in the low 800s.

    Lots of side branches reaching out and I've done a light defoliation where I removed the very thin branches coming off the main stems.

    P1040718.JPG




    P1040720.JPG




    P1040721.JPG




    P1040722.JPG
     
    Week 8
  • Day 49: End of week 7

    Flowering along nicely. Was using 1250ml the last few days but runoff volume dropped last night and today. Going to push up to 1500ml starting tomorrow AM, still running right around 715ppm & 6.0pH going in.

    Had a slight deficiency/problem crop up on a few of the leaves. Looks like dark spots developing and then turning rusty brown. Happened last grow but not on every plant so I wasn't sure what caused it. I continued with just the straight nutrient mix this run and it popped up again. Last time it was during the transision nutrients week with the "bloom" booster. This time I skipped the booster. Apparently that was not the cause. Awaiting a new product to mix up and test following MOGs advice.

    Some pics from this weeks progress:

    P1040736.JPG




    P1040738.JPG




    P1040739.JPG




    I think these are going to get pretty nice and big!


    P1040740.JPG
     
    Back
    Top