Dutch Passion Think Different and AutoBlueberry under Mars II 700 LED

[Dr. Frog]

Just finished harvesting my first Think Different, and I'm back for round 2!

This time around I'll be growing one Think Different and one AutoBlueberry side by side. Here's a rundown of my setup:

Seeds: Dutch Passion Think Different and AutoBlueberry
Soil: 65:35 ratio of perlite to Fox Farms Coco Loco + a few cups of worm castings. Watered with tea and left to "cook" for a month.
Pots: 2 3 gallon Smart Pots w/ handles
Lights: Mars II 700 LED, regular spectrum + 4 x 42 watt CFLs (2 x 6500k, 2 x 2700k)
Grow space: Gorilla tent w/ extension (2 x 2.5 x 7')
Ventilation: 400 CFM 6" inline exhaust
Filter: 440 CFM carbon scrubber
Nutrients: General Organics GO box, BioAg VAM-Endo mix, Boogie Brew compost Tea and Pure Protein dry fish hydrolysate

I soaked my seeds in plain drinking water for about 20 hours until they both showed the tip of their roots. I hollowed out a space about two inches deep and wide in the soil of each pot. I refilled these holes with plain coco coir to give the seeds a gentle entry point. Then I sprinkled some VAM-Endo under and on top of the seeds to ensure early contact between the roots and the myccorhizae. (There's also a bit of VAM-Endo throughout the soil mix as well.)

And true to Dutch Passion's reputation for stellar genetics and consistency, both seeds popped up out of the soil almost in unison!

:smoke:

Stay tuned for pictures!

 

[Dr. Frog]

Pics!

 

[teedeeree]

Awesome looking setup, mines fairly similar but all LED and DWC, yours is much tidier though
I'm guessing your gonna turn off the LED and bring the cfls down until they're a bit bigger, that's an awful lot of expensive sun for 2 little seedlings!
Best of luck with the grow bro.

 

[Dr. Frog]

Awesome looking setup, mines fairly similar but all LED and DWC, yours is much tidier though
I'm guessing your gonna turn off the LED and bring the cfls down until they're a bit bigger, that's an awful lot of expensive sun for 2 little seedlings!
Best of luck with the grow bro.

Hey teedeeree!

I've had a lot of time to think about my lighting, and a bit of experience from my last grow, and I'm still experimenting. I played with my lights a lot last time, from keeping a CFL close as a seedling, to monkeying around with the height of my LED and fighting with CFL side lighting adding too much heat to my tent. I think it took a toll on my first plant, because she came out super short.

This time, I'm putting my LED as high as possible for a few reasons. One, it's already overkill for my space (300-370 watt draw). Though light grows less intense dramatically with distance, it's a small tent that's totally reflective. I figure the distance will mean soft but sufficient light for young plants. And two, I kind of WANT my plants to stretch up higher. So if they want more intense light, they'll have to work for it. There's no shortage of height or light in this Gorilla tent. Even with my DIY drain table, the distance from LED to pots is 42".

As for it being a power expense... you got me there, but I'm already very pleased with my new fan/filter/LED configuration. Having it all tucked together closely at the top of the tent has made the temperature control much easier than before. I can run my exhaust at minimal power on the controller and my temps are only ~4 degrees F higher than intake air temps.

The CFL lights are more for me at this point. I have them plugged into a power strip, which is plugged into the Mars II daisy chain port. This way they can only be on with the LED, but I can also shut them off. They help me see the green in my plants and save my eyes from that annoying too-much-purple-light effect. So far, I'm mainly just switching them on when I examine the tent. Idk if CFLs would do much at that height for plants, even if the space is so small and reflective.

 

[F.N.]

Great set up the more light the merrier for the plants it all comes down to heat build up. I do not know if their is appoint where their is too much light but heat is the killer that's for sure. Keep up the great work.

 

[Dr. Frog]

Day 6

I've been letting the seedlings dry out since their last watering. I only used Bio Root and Bioweed for their first feed. Testing the soil with my finger yesterday, it was bone dry as far as I could tell, but they were still growing and looking happy. I gave them until this morning to begin their first actual feed watering. I followed the General Organics feed chart, minus the Diamond Black plus a tiny bit of blackstrap molasses.

So, per gallon:
5ml Bio Thrive Grow
5ml Bio Root
5ml Bioweed
5ml CaMg+
5ml Bio Marine
5ml Earth Juice Molasses


Both plants received 13 fl oz of nutrient solution.

So far, so good!

 

[DutchPassionTony]

so far so good indeed. Enjoy the grow, sounds like a nice set up!

 

[Dr. Frog]

Day 12

The plants are looking very healthy and happy. They're still very similar looking. The Blueberry has longer leaf stems than the TD. *shrug*

Gave them a foliar feed of Bio Weed at normal concentration with a bit of Hygea Hydration yucca extract. Then mixed up the remaining foliar with a dose of Bio Root and watered the soil.

I've been gravitating towards feeding them full strength once a week, with the other waterings only including Bio Root and Bio Weed with a touch of yucca extract. Both are very light in the macro nutes, NPK, but they contain hormones that help the cells stretch and proliferate.

I'm loving the soil mix so far! Now I can actually water more than once a week, and I imagine there's a lot more oxygen in the root zone.



Think Different on the left, Auto Blueberry on the right.

 

[Dr. Frog]

Day 15

 

[Trapper]

Looking perfect!