Repuk Goes to the Jungle (2020)

This year I started the indoor grow late, as I had to move... The good news: now I have plenty of indoor space, and way more outdoor space.

The Indoor
Have a full room (A locker with 3 showers and a 2x5m room) now for my passion.

My indoors have ranged from grow tents, to stealth spaces on ikea cabs or under a stair, all sharing something in common: tight in space.

I'm a big guy, and it's a torture to "work" like that. So decided this time to try a different approach, want to end up with a space where I enjoy spending hours in, my "Dexter's lab" without having to contort myself around

My first idea is to use two of the shower cubicles for the vegging spaces (20/4 or 18/6), which will all be open. If I decide to keep males, that space will obviously have to be closed.

Third cubicle will be for storage and drying.

3x4 room will be a perpetual Flowering room (but in summer) running 11/13, where I will use all my lights and may make some more (SILs).

I tested it so far and plants look happy, even with a rough start (coco had gone bad):

VEG cubicle



I know looks ghetto style, but I'm a DIY guy and this is always a work in progress... I will fit the "screens" (a salvaged white ikea table that "closes" the cubicle bottom) with legs so tha they support themselves; the point is to keep warmth and RH and reflect the light, though with SILs this doesn't matter much as they radiate light in 120-180 degrees.

My idea is to set a table of sorts to divide vertical space in two, but using something like a metal grid so that air can flow. Upper part will have smaller plants, bottom one the ones in veg bulking up.

Second cubicle will be divided to have the Seedlings tent, and the mother's space.

Now I have plenty of proper space and resources, so want to hunt for special girls and even try some crosses.

Control & automation
I am a mad scientist kind of guy... and love this.

I tested a Raspberry in the past, but wasn't happy with the outcome (too unreliable) though I was really impressed by the open source software I used, mycodo.

My plan for this year is to use IFTTT to integrate TTN LoRa sensor devices with Smart sockets.

Oscillating Fan moves air inside the cubicle and spreads it inside the room. Is it connected to a smart plug, that periodically powers it on every hour for 20 minutes.

A greenhouse heater (green tube on the right) is connected to an Inkbird temp sensor set to 20C.

So far temperature and environment seems to be in check.

Lights are controlled by Smart Sockets.

Seedlings
I keep using my small tent, fitted with iguana cable, and two inkbird controllers: temp one, set to 23C controls extraction and the iguana cable; humidity one controls a mister and air recirculation inside.



Sensors seen are a bluetooth one, which I'm not using that much anymore on this tent and a LoRa one, a Dragino LHT65.

So far inkbirds control everything on their own, but soon I will integrate some "smart scenes" (or maybe play with mycodo) so that smart sockets are managed by IFTTT according to the LoRa sensor readings, so I can control, monitor, and log all the room as a whole.

Seedlings: ACE's 3 x Lebanese that will go straight outdoors as soon as they're suitable to, 2x Nepal Mist, Orient Express x Nepal Jam (fem) and a Mandala's Kalichakra

The Girls


On the left in the back: ACE's Oldtimers Haze. Front: Mandala's Satori. Middle back: ACE's Violeta fem. Center: Oaxaca 79 x Panama fem. Right back: C5 Haze x Kali china fem. Small on the right: Oldtimers Haze #2. Front: Kali China fem.

The Grow
Indoors, I DTW via a pump controlled by a smart socket (no more fishy and unreliable timers, plus I can check or reprogram from my cellphone in a snap!)

Outdoors was hand water last year, this year I plan to lay a drip line and activate watering manually or automatically when not possible.

My indoors always in coco, outdoor mainly in soil but for a few plants last year.

After testing coco outdoors, I'm moving 100% to coco, so outdoors will be coco for sure, save for maybe a couple girls I may throw to the ground and leave them 100% on their own (but for watering).

Using RO + 100% salts (see sig) Hakaphos + Calcinit, never surpassing EC 0.9 (neither in flower).

Rarely need to ph-, usually PH goes straight to 5.6-5.8 on its own; on the rare cases where I need, I use nitric acid.

On summer, I use baking soda to raise the PH if required.

As amendments:

- EM / Rhizotonic for rooting/pot conditioning (no ph-ing)
- Add Yara SOP for bulking up in Veg and first flowering weeks
- Add Yara MKP from mid flower onwards, reducing calcinit

never exceeding EC 0.9

For Bug prevention I spray my girls with a mix of

- 5ml/L Potash Soap
- 3-5 drops of tea tree essential oil
- 8ml/L Neem Oil

Outdoors additionally: 10ml/L hidrogen peroxide to fight cottonets and kill any spores (PM, etc).

in for this one. kalichakra inside or out?

Hi noknees!

Kalichakra indoors. I will sow another one (regulars).

If I like it, a clone or two will go outdoors; the idea is searching indoors seeking more variety than quantity to screen efficiently (though enough has to be produced for two heavy tolerance smokers), then bring those I like the most outdoors mid-summer to yield for the winter.

looks good man, southern spain hey, giz a shout if you need a good man withscissors

scissors



bests Cmoon

heheh thanks Cmoon!!! (just recalled Method Man's song

Just sown:

1x Mandala's Satori
1x Mandala's Kalichakra
1x ACE's Purple Pakistani Haze (fem)
1x ACE's Thai Chi fem woohoo
2x ACE's Red Sapphire fem (Malawi/PCK47 x Panama)

So, recapping:

Outdoors:
- 3 Lebanese (reg) will go outdoors as soon as they look well stablished in their current pots... as they're semi-automatic, hopefully by April/May they could be done.

Indoor Fems:
- Oaxaca '79 x Panama
- Violeta
- Kali China
- C5 Haze x Kali China
- Orient Express x Nepal Jam
- 2 x Red Sapphire
- Thai Chi
- Purple Pakistani Haze

Indoor Regulars:
2x Oldtimer's Haze
2x Nepal Mist
2x Kalichakra
2x Satori

Starting to resemble this thread title:



Bigger girls in the center right to left: Oaxaca 79' x Panama (fem), Old Timer's Haze (reg) and Kali China (fem).

Next to the cubicle walls, from front left to bottom, to right, then towards front:

Satori, C5 Haze x Kali China (fem), Kalichakra, Violeta (fem), Lebanese #1 and #2, Nepal Mist #1 and #2, Old Timers Haze #2, Lebanese #3.

I think I have already nailed the environment, need to setup the flowering room/space soon as girls vegging reached cruising speed!

Rest of seedlings still in seedlings tent.

Welcome DARKSIDER!

Update:

Cuts
Took cuts from lower branches of OTH, Kali China and Oaxaca x Panama.

I used exact same method as the last I "tried" with the Golden Tiger x Panama last year:

1.- Small pot with coco, primed with RO+EM-1 (2ml/L) + a touch of molasses (so that microorganisms have food!).
2.- Cut lower branches (need that to get the branch out of the way at training time), prune leaves/stems close to the end of branch, cut bigger leaves in half to reduce evaporation.
3.- Poke hole in coco
4.- Stick cut in hole, then press gently pot sides with my fingers squeezing it to ensure good stem+coco contact, and also to squeeze out excess water; stop when dripping stops.
5.- Measurements translucid Plastic jar on top of the cuts as "dome", helps to keep high constant RH, but main goal being to lower the light intensity so that they focus on rooting.

Let's see if it works as well as last year; I love no-frills procedures and this way I can have cuts on any of the vegging tents, no need neither for clone boxes inside tents, neither "active" cloners whose pumps etc can fail. KISS FTW!

So far, Oaxaca '79 x Panama cut not only didn't get droopy, but got turgent & greener in 48h. Impressive hybrid vigor on this one!

Sensing & Automation
Fan plugged to smart socket (Smart Life app) is now controlled by IFTTT, though so far only powering on if RH >= 55% or Temp is >21C.

As I haven't figured out how to integrate the opposite (switch it off if e.g. RH < 55% or Temp <18C) into IFTTT I "solved" it in the meanwhile by programing timer power offs each hour sharps in Smart Life.

Sensor sends info each 15 minutes, so no more than 15 minutes will pass without powering it on if required....

Plan to add intractor and extractor fans for the whole room. Which will be always on by default, but may switch off if e.g. want to increase temp or RH for short periods of time via IFTTT.

Cloning Method Pics

Cloning Method Pics

After seeing how well my hastily/accidental Golden Tiger Cloning method went on previous grow, I decided it was the time to change and experiment...

So I ditched my old method (closed tupperware box with rockwool blocks, clonex, vent daily, etc) lately I'm all KISS and keeping rockwool cubes, presoak/PH them, vent/resoak daily, etc was a PITA for me, while I always have coco at hand.

New Method
I fill a solo cup size pot with coco, prime it with water or water + EM-1 (2ml/l), poke hole, stick cut, then squeeze out excess water, and leave somewhere inside a vegging tent floor.

Bear in mind this tent has controlled RH/Temp: has an iguana cable underneath the bottom mat, controlled to 23C, and a mist maker controlled to 55% RH. (This wasn't the case last year with GTxP, tent was only temp controlled, so feel free to experiment and you'll possibly be surprised.)

The two at the front are Oaxaca x P cuts. I cut leaves in half on the first, but didn't bother on the second, not really required, they barely dehydrate... they're two days old in the pic:



To help them focus on rooting, I place a translucid plastic as dome, but this is mainly to block light intensity: not as airtight as to keep/block humidity, they need to "breathe" out, I found they root faster and much healthier this way.

Dome seen is same measurement plastic jug I use to manually feed the girls. Not seen in the pic, it's not completely flat against the cuts pots, it is tipped back like 15º in order to not completely trap moisture/air inside.



On next day, they are turgent, and green! Will report when roots stick out of the bottom.

Subbed.

Hey buddy. What's up?

Grow Room Floor Plan

Grow Room Floor Plan

Welcome bsgospel! don't forget the munchies!

Here's the first floor plan incarnation:



Everything is already built, but for the flowering room door+wall. Gonna use plasterboard walls and a cheap metal sheet door; everything including extra hardware won't be more than 60€ and easily undone if required.

I am recycling and reusing all the materials I find at hand, got a taste lately for improving creativity and decreasing consumerism.

The Room
This is a locker room, two rightmost cubicles are showers... so built in draining

Vegging Cubicles have a wood sheet over the dividing walls, and a "lower" movable "wall" that closes it at the bottom up to 1 meter high, so they're basically open:

Seen from the side:


Oscillating fan takes care of the veg cubicle air recirculation, intraction and extraction; I like to position it so that air hits plants indirectly, and swirls all over inside the cublcle; easy to do thanks to the lower "wall" and by observing the plants movement.

Inkbird seen keeps temperature by controlling a cheap 130W greenhouse heater, green tube seen on the right:

Seen from the Front:


Power draws: Fan 34W, heater 130W, SILS 200W

Reservoirs
There will be three reservoirs, one for vegging, and two for the perpetual flowering room: A for plants in early to mid flowering, B for plants from mid to finishing flowering (different nute proportions). All with RO + Salts.

Electrical Wiring
Using cable extensions and power strips as right now this is a work in progress; once I finally settle on a design, will optimize and reduce their use.

Loving Smart Sockets! But for the devices controlled by the inkbirds, the rest that goes to mains are all on smart sockets, as provides incredible convenience: they're not only easily checked/monitored/reprogrammed/powered on off with your phone no matter where you are; also integrable with sensors/IFTTT for automation and the icing of the cake: sport a physical button, so all appliances can be manually switch on and off phisically.

Update

Update

Seedlings:
All sprouted but for Thai Chi... waiting for her.



Zamaldelica x Panama is calling me... will possibly sow one too.

EM-1
Impressive results with it, thanks Sticky Sat!!!

The first purchase is expensive, but as you can "reproduce" it yourself will be a one time investment.

I use it at 2ml/L with RO + a small touch of molasses, panela, honey... something to feed the microorganisms.

I use this as primer for coco, not PH-ed. Also at repot time.

EC ends up being around 0.3, PH like 3-4.

I only "feed" with this, until the plant kicks into growing, then, when I feed with RO+Salts (ph'ed to 5.6-5.8), I never go past EC = 0.7-0.9, I think this helps not killing the life in the pot, and so far seems it keeps a thriving and healthy ecosystem in it (Oaxaca 79 x Panama):




The Girls



(Left to right)

Bottom row: C5 Haze x KC, Violeta, Lebanese #1 and #2, Nepal Mist #2.

Center row: Satori, Oaxaca x Panama (training), Kali China.

Front row: Nepal Mist #1, Kalichakra, Oldtimer's Haze #1 (training), OTH #2 (seems to be recovered from the bad coco and starting to grow), Lebanese #3

I'm fascinated with Oldtimer's Haze...so different from everything I've seen including other Southern America landraces and Haze hybrids I've grown: stems feel like soft rubber, you almost can shape them with your hand and tends to keep the shape...

Leaves are also really different in shape, but the most notable trait is the angle of side shoots: they're completely horizontal, perfectly perpendicular to the main stem, in the beggining they`re so soft, that lean over the fan leaves, which support them.

No kidding, that OTH stands out for sure. I can't tell if I want to put it on my list or not. The Oaxaca x Panama is though, without a doubt

beautiful

Thanks guys!

Sown two new girls to make it up for Thai Chi:

- Tikal x Panamá Had to repeat, we loved her sooooo much!!
- Zamaldelica x Panamá had to try her, missing Zamaldelica!

Wiil be building the wall to have the flowering room ready this week.

You're going to have so much fun with that flower space. I've never had that space at home.

thanks bsgospel! neither me!!!

Will sow Thai Chi again in a week or two.

Update

Update

Grow
Been repotting girls and focusing on them developing roots, i.e. EM-1 feeds after each repot. some nutes, then more EM-1/nutes alternation until roots stick out of the bottom.

Need to sort out the flowering room ASAP...



The Jungle, left to right:

Bottom: C5 Haze x KC, Violeta, Lebanese #1
Mid: Nepal Mist #1, Oaxaca x Panama, Kalichina, Lebanese #2, OldTimer's Haze #2
Front: Kalichakra, OldTimer's Haze #1, Lebanese #3
Foreground: Satori, Nepal Mist #2


Lebanese
These regs (next to each other on bottom right corner) just got repotted to 7L pots a couple days ago and are going outdoors this Friday; I "beefed them up" indoors while wheather wasn't that warm, but we're reaching 25C regularly and nights fall only to 13-15C though that's going to change.

They will stay outdoors. A third one, less developed, will go too.





Nepal Mist
Kali Mist will always have a spot in my heart, so when learnt ACE was releasing this also special cross for ACE, I had to grow it!

So far they shown they're very vigorous, hardy and easy growing girls... just like the KM mom I once had!!





Funny I labeled a pot twice and there was one I didn't know if it was Nepal Mist or Lebanese; but they're so easy to spot! Lebs and NM both start with fat fingered leaves, is the shape of their fingers what tells them apart, NM (or KM) had these opposed-droplets like shape on her fan leaves mid finger.

Dunno how Nepal Mist develops later on... my beloved KM mom had rather fat fingered leaves.

Knowing dubi's hand is behind this cross... so excited to grow and smoke her! (Hope there's a her, both are reg seeds.)

Update

Update

Cuts
I removed the dome yesterday. No roots sticking on the bottom yet, but was clear they were greener and started to grow, so left them w/o dome.



Kali China
Liking a lot the shape she's taking; I didn't top her thinking on the typical indica "nuke" shape, but guess keeping the SILs close (around 20cm/7,8" over the canopy) and those humongous fan leaves blocking light to lower branches acted like a self-training of sorts bringing the side branches up:



That's a 11L/3Gal pot, she's about 50cm tall from pot surface.

Lebaneses
Today the day started cloudy, perfect to bring them outdoors to acclimate:



Hope the smaller one is a girl... both were sown at the same time.

There's another one, less developed than these two that will be brought outdoors too.

(7L/2Gal Pots)

Vaccination

By this time, I have sprayed all the girls at least 6 times with the neem oil/tea tree essential oil/hidrogen peroxide/potash soap "treatment" solution.

So simple to do at this time, and so many worries avoided by being preventive... peace of mind!