Growing with Bunnings, the easy way :P

[StickyBandit]

Hi everybody

I'm going to post my methods of growing from seed or clone the easiest way I know to get the results I want, in no particular order

It's not organic but much of the gear can be purchased from Bunnings

I will start at the end, not the beginning

I just now cut the Australian Dead Head that I have had growing for about 6 months (or it feels like it )
Was gonna leave it for another week but I found some amber trichomes and I was worried about bud rot. The Mrs would never forgive me

My methods won't suit everyone but you may take something away from it

Thanks for reading

 

[StickyBandit]

To start with I buy the best pots money can buy. The Bunnings tradie bucket
They're good because they're deep and have a small surface for evaporation

Don't drill any holes in them, it just lets the water out and makes a mess

Watering:

I use a premix of water and nutrients CF 24-28 from a large rubbish bin at all stages of the plants life except when very young (before the growth spurt) and before harvest.
Use a CF wand to test strength
Nutrients can be purchased at any hydroponics shop and I use a single container of Bloom liquid concentrate for all stages of growth. The plant stays in the same pot it's whole life so it can use the different parts of the NPK at the different stages of it's life.

Add water 2L at a time just poured quickly on the surface. Up to 4L for a full size plant, especially when using straight water 2 to 4 weeks before harvest.
Don't add more water until the top is dry down to about 30mm to 40mm or you will get an infestation of Fungus Gnats or other nasties
Another trick to manage the nasties is adding an auto bug spray unit from, you guessed it, Bunnings
Set to 15 minute intervals seems to work well
There are natural refills available but I don't think there is enough spray to worry about. We have one in our kitchen with the humans.

​​​​​​​Thanks for reading

 

[StickyBandit]

Next is the growing medium, Nothing fancy, I prefer Dalton's Vegetable Mix from isle 47 as the main ingredient. It has a good consistency. Not to coarse.

That's great for clones once they are established in a jiffy pot all the way to mature plants but
if planting seeds I add a layer of Dalton's Seed Mix to the top and plant directly because it's nice and fine. Isle 47 also

I don't throw my growing mix away. I keep beefing up the nutrients and use it repeatedly.
I chuck a few handfuls of this stuff into my medium container and mix it in with some water. Aisle 48

I also chuck a handful of this stuff directly in the pots if the larger plants start to yellow from lack of nutrients and water it in. It says not to do this on the bag
Don't use directly in the pot of young plants. The nutrient rich water will be plenty.
Here is my spare potting mix

I use a sifting box with 10mm mesh to strain the soil after a completed grow.
You can buy a small trowel from the garden tool section, isle 21, to mix the fertilizer in.

Disclaimer:
I made up the isle numbers so don't get lost

​​​​​​​Thanks for reading

 

[StickyBandit]

Planting from seed

I prefer not to handle the seed once it germinates and prefer to plant it straight in the dirt.
Prior to planting fill a jar with luke warm water of maybe 20°c and drop the seed in and leave it somewhere warm for 24 hours.
Then prepare a bucket of standard vegetable potting mix or your recycled medium, well watered, and add a layer of seed mix of about 25mm to the top.
Pluck the seed from the water and pour the water on the seed mix in the center then make a very shallow hole to place the seed in. Cover with a very thin layer of soil.
Spray water generously over the top in a fine mist and place the bottom half of a 3L juice container (or similar) on top making sure to press down gently to seal the edges.
Leave in a warm area of about 20°c to 24°c with subdued light until you see some action then remove the plastic greenhouse. If it starts looking sad immediately put the plastic bottle back on! It will recover.
Place under low light until you see some proper leaves at which point it can take a bit more intense light. If the leaves look deformed the light is too strong or close.
Sometimes they need to be supported by a bent wire or similar but they soon thicken up if you give more light as they can handle it.
These are a couple of Glue Cookies regulars I'm pretty excited about

There is much information around about cloning and I'm certainly no expert so I won't touch on that.
The cover was placed on the seedling in the pic for the photo only. I would never cover one at that age grown from seed.

Thanks for reading

 

[StickyBandit]

Timers and Lights

I have a bunch of timers, all pre-set and with the light cycle written on them in permanent marker. They are cheap enough and you don't wanna risk making a mistake when setting them again, like I have done in the past

I'm no expert on lights but I find it advantageous to get a good spread to reduce shadows and get the light down through the leaves at different angles.
Two Spider Farmer SF2000 lights does my 1800x900 area where the Dead Head was raised (start of the thread)

and this young Dead Head (left) and some even younger Critical Mass (right) yet to be defoliated

10 Days earlier

Rather than having one bright light in the center like the early LEDs I prefer the fold out lights that can be bought cheaply off Amazon etc for the likes of a 1meter square tent.
They seem to perform pretty well
OG Kush (left) and Wedding Cake (right)

The cab stage seems to be going great guns with this one
Have also used it for part of a bud stage but there was a hermie plant in with the rest so never really went all the way. Seeded the lot

Thanks for reading

 

[Frosty Nuggets]

I would get rid of the bug sprayers as they are spraying poison into the air, we get enough of that from Chemtrails.

 

[StickyBandit]

I would get rid of the bug sprayers as they are spraying poison into the air, we get enough of that from Chemtrails.

I tried for a very long time to get rid of the bugs other ways but they always remained. I have 1 spray unit and it's not in the grow area and gets sucked straight out the extractor.
For the results it's something I can live with

 

[Chi13]

Nice grow, and ad for Bunnings.
I shop at Bunnings and most recently bought gorilla tape to repair my tent (isle 13). Great stuff.
The only downside is that Bunnings has taken over from many smaller hardware stores that have now gone out of business. Bunnings gardening implements are crap imo, and I now just buy second hand tools from markets.
However, I do buy organic potting mix, coir, and stuff for my bokashi bin there.

I find it a bit odd that you grow in buckets with no drain holes? Also I reckon your seedlings shouldn't need a plastic dome and can probably cope with a lot more light as youngsters. I used to plant seedlings outside in 40 degree heat, full sun, and no drama unless they dried out.
Thanks for posting.

 

[StickyBandit]

Nice grow, and ad for Bunnings.
I shop at Bunnings and most recently bought gorilla tape to repair my tent (isle 13). Great stuff.
The only downside is that Bunnings has taken over from many smaller hardware stores that have now gone out of business. Bunnings gardening implements are crap imo, and I now just buy second hand tools from markets.
However, I do buy organic potting mix, coir, and stuff for my bokashi bin there.

I find it a bit odd that you grow in buckets with no drain holes? Also I reckon your seedlings shouldn't need a plastic dome and can probably cope with a lot more light as youngsters. I used to plant seedlings outside in 40 degree heat, full sun, and no drama unless they dried out.
Thanks for posting.

Thanks for the feedback
Yeah, I usually just keep the cover on the seedlings so the area doesn't dry out until they sprout and the seed husk falls off easily. I had a few seeds that were tough to get going and one that fell over and came back to life after covering so I kept doing it.
I tried the buckets with no drain holes to try to get rid of the gnats so the water would store deep so the gnats couldn't get to it. Worked so well I just kept doing that too
I realized half way through posting that I looked like a Bunnings shareholder but I wasn't gonna write it all again

 

[stiff]

Hey, good to hear you have succes with the bunnings stuff.
I was never really happy with their soil mixes and went to coco and salts for feeding.

I just wanted to say that bunnings got some stuff from Yates,which contains BTI Bacillus Thurengensis Israelis...its natural and not harmful to you even if its in the plant. It will kill you fungus gnats and a lot of other shit which likes living in your soil, coco etc.
Mine is like little bits of perlite and I just add it to my tank. But then u have to stir before watering. It works a treat and plants don't mind it at all. Its quite expensive in ebay and I just found d out bunnings has got it too

https://www.bunnings.com.au/yates-40g-natures-way-caterpillar-killer-dipel-insecticide_p2961898?region_id=117173&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3q-imduZ9wIVxAorCh0J4AEZEAQYASABEgLt_PD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Cheers stiff

 

[Mr Commercial]

nice one

 

[Creeperpark]

Very nice set-up and you are doing a good job. Your plants look very healthy. Friend, please take down the bug sprayer when there are no bugs. If the bugs come back you can put it back, but if they are gone no need for spray. Thanks for sharing your work.

 

[Brother Nature]

Where's the sausage sizzle?