Right I'm embarking on my next grow. I'm going to be using regular seeds that I kept from my last Short Stuff MI5 and Russian Rocket Fuel grow.
Im going to be going outdoors for this (latitude 35.2), on a south facing balcony that receives good 9 hours of direct sunlight, 14 overall. By harvest time it will be 12 hours overall (dont know balcony hours). Temperatures are high over the next 3 months, last year the average was 33C, with highs up to 43C and lows of 22C. Its rare to see clouds or rain this time of year.
Having grown vegetables in the milder months of the year, I have realized the sun does really get HOT and more is not necessarily a good thing, so I have created a shade net (green nylony mesh thing) box, that should diffuse light at least a little. When I put my other herbs (basil, thyme etc) in there they seem to be a lot happier and get way less droopy. Had a friend that grew an auto in this kind of weather, and it just turned into a 5" budsickle within days of going outside (though he did make a couple of other mistakes that probably contributed)
The plants will be grown in 6L pots using coco coir with a run to waste drip system, that is hooked up to a barrel reservoir with air pump and air stones. I will be feeding 3 times a day until water just about begins to drain. I'll be using canna coco nutes custom programme (check their website) that I'm tweaking to the auto lifecycle.
Day 7 (24/07)
I've planted 9 seedlings, which are now in their first week of life and are planted in a plug tray. The medium I used to start them off is a mix of coco coir, green waste compost, grape pomace (microbes), perlite that is pHd to 6.5 out of the bag.
To water I spray finely misted tap water, mixed with a high dose (5ml/L) of root stimulator called radifarm (ingredients: protein hydrolysate, polysaccharides and specific precursors of rooting processes (arginine, asparagine and tryptophane). I spray to drench the soil until water begins to drip from the bottom of the plug every 2 days.
Tap water is unfortunately very hard and alkaline 0.8ec and pH ranges from 8.0-8.5. Once I add the radifarm at 1.5ec I then pH to 6-6.5 using white wine vinegar.
The plants are currently kept on a south facing window that receives a good amount of sunlight.
The plants are currently still on their first set of leaves (after cotyledons).
In preparation for the move (once the second set of leaves is established) I have soaked hydroton in pH 5.8 water (vinegar is used to reduce pH) to line the bottoms and surfaces of pots. I have also hydrated half a brick of coco (big one) with pH 5.8 water. Tomorrow I will check coco runoff to see whether the pH'd water has done the job.
Let me know if you have any comments, this is my 5th grow, 2nd auto, but first outdoor!
Im going to be going outdoors for this (latitude 35.2), on a south facing balcony that receives good 9 hours of direct sunlight, 14 overall. By harvest time it will be 12 hours overall (dont know balcony hours). Temperatures are high over the next 3 months, last year the average was 33C, with highs up to 43C and lows of 22C. Its rare to see clouds or rain this time of year.
Having grown vegetables in the milder months of the year, I have realized the sun does really get HOT and more is not necessarily a good thing, so I have created a shade net (green nylony mesh thing) box, that should diffuse light at least a little. When I put my other herbs (basil, thyme etc) in there they seem to be a lot happier and get way less droopy. Had a friend that grew an auto in this kind of weather, and it just turned into a 5" budsickle within days of going outside (though he did make a couple of other mistakes that probably contributed)
The plants will be grown in 6L pots using coco coir with a run to waste drip system, that is hooked up to a barrel reservoir with air pump and air stones. I will be feeding 3 times a day until water just about begins to drain. I'll be using canna coco nutes custom programme (check their website) that I'm tweaking to the auto lifecycle.
Day 7 (24/07)
I've planted 9 seedlings, which are now in their first week of life and are planted in a plug tray. The medium I used to start them off is a mix of coco coir, green waste compost, grape pomace (microbes), perlite that is pHd to 6.5 out of the bag.
To water I spray finely misted tap water, mixed with a high dose (5ml/L) of root stimulator called radifarm (ingredients: protein hydrolysate, polysaccharides and specific precursors of rooting processes (arginine, asparagine and tryptophane). I spray to drench the soil until water begins to drip from the bottom of the plug every 2 days.
Tap water is unfortunately very hard and alkaline 0.8ec and pH ranges from 8.0-8.5. Once I add the radifarm at 1.5ec I then pH to 6-6.5 using white wine vinegar.
The plants are currently kept on a south facing window that receives a good amount of sunlight.
The plants are currently still on their first set of leaves (after cotyledons).
In preparation for the move (once the second set of leaves is established) I have soaked hydroton in pH 5.8 water (vinegar is used to reduce pH) to line the bottoms and surfaces of pots. I have also hydrated half a brick of coco (big one) with pH 5.8 water. Tomorrow I will check coco runoff to see whether the pH'd water has done the job.
Let me know if you have any comments, this is my 5th grow, 2nd auto, but first outdoor!
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