1st time back to soil in several years Feb 2025

[Bobcat.Branch]

Sunday mornings...

The reset and plunge back into soil is coming along. Sunflowers have sprouted as well as Basil and Thyme!

Coming up this week:
• Setting up the new 2x4x6' veg/clone tent.

• Figuring out what to do in both the 5x5 flower chamber and veg/clone tent as far as containers, runoff drainage and collection, and possibly watering automation.

• setting up my new humidifier to be ready for service.

 

[Bobcat.Branch]

Progression...

The humidity dome is off! I do have one little youngin' who needs it, but a makeshift mini dome for that one will suffice. The SF 6L humidifier is in the tent and hooked up to an Inkbird controller. VPD is averaging .96kPa - feels good in there!

The two GG4 autos are lagging, but the last time I grew those they lagged as well then suddenly come on strong like they were mudders.



The regulars, supposed "Nigerian Poison," are taking the lead, especially the one in the makeshift half-n-half plastic jug . It's always the ones you never expect! Granted, it's deeper and stays moist longer, possibly helping it along better. Those cow pots breathe almost too well and dry up quickly. It's weird to water seedlings almost daily! Roots are starting to peek out of the bottom of them, so up-potting is coming likely tomorrow or Sunday.

Will be doing an even three-way mix of FFHF, FFOF, and perlite in fabric bags.

Progression in the 2x4x6' tent:

The inline fan arrived yesterday and that was the last piece of the puzzle to get this veg/clone tent online. (Well, another humidifier is on the way for it, but I digress).

One important task coming up this weekend or beginning of next week is to get the bulky inline fan out of the 5x5, and keeping it out of the 2x4 as well. The 5x5 vents to the attic through the ceiling, and so will the 2x4's inline fan. The biggest change will be that I am relocating those fans to the attic for a more quieter lung room, keeping them off the tops of the tents, and for overall fastidiousness. That's a big word . Once complete, there will still only be one 90° bend for each, where it bends in the tent to exit at the top. The hose will go straight up into the ceiling and then connected to the fan(s) which will be mounted vertically just above in the attic. Should work a treat!

I'm also getting the lights' power supplies relocated out of the tents soon as the weather warms up... Coming in handy for now! Pics of all of the install/reinstalls soon after I'm done!

Other than all that, I also have some rewiring to do to make everything tidy.

Progression of methods:

I am (or will be very soon) doing a trial of the AC Infinity self watering bases. I'm also giving DWC a trial run, too. I'll try two 5 gallon buckets with 6 inch netpots, hydroton, and a bubbler stone for each bucket. This will get me into the process, learn and grow, and maybe adopt it more in the future, especially with clones/SOG quick grows.

Feels good to reinvent, restart, and get growing again. Shaking off the rust still, but always up for a challenge.

 

[nowthenourkid]

Looks good and very well organised. I will follow this and pick up a few tips. What yields are you expecting from the autos?

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

@Bobcat.Branch - Looks like you have plenty to do. The plants look happy. Someday I'm going to grow some non-cannabis plants. Basil will be one of them.

 

[Bobcat.Branch]

Looks good and very well organised. I will follow this and pick up a few tips. What yields are you expecting from the autos?

Out of 20 seeds with mostly light to moderate LST in Coco/Perlite, I got an average 2.5 ounces per plant of A and B grade flower... some were well over 3 oz, some barley 2 oz. A lot were germinated in their final 5 gallon pots, which just added to the misery of these slow starters.
No more autos for me. Regulars only. I've already started

 

[Magnumsmydog]

Oh the excitement will definitely be following along with you bobcat, everything looking awesome

 

[Bobcat.Branch]

The new 4x2 is in service! The 5x5 is nearly done with its reconfiguration, and tomorrow it will be back online as a dedicated flower chamber.

I decided not to relocate the inline fan from the 5x5 to the attic like the 4x2's fan. It's kind of working great as is, but I moved it to a different spot in the reconfigure to make room for the lights to go as far up as possible. It worked out great. I'd rather raise plants than constantly moving the light. I'll have plants flowering at different intervals, so not a perfectly even canopy for sure. Moving the light bar's power supply outside the tent will help a lot with heat for the upcoming summer months.

Shortly after I took these, I finished the final touches, set the lights to just under 20 DLI and set the timer for a 20/4 schedule, installed the humidifier and controller, and cleaned it all up. The plants went in shortly after that.

 

[Bobcat.Branch]

Now that the 4x2 veg tent is up and running, I finished up the 5x5 reconfigure. I got the lights up into the ceiling, but off-center. I'm not too worried about that since the coverage will be better, plus I will have a little tiny space available on the right to get to the back of the tent. I know where the bright spots are and can manage the plants around the PAR map, so to speak. I opted to keep the fan inside this tent, and just moved it to the right side and up higher.

I also came up with a simple and cheap intake vent solution to keep this tent light proof as a flowering chamber. $8 black, bendable, plastic gutter downspouts! With a vent sock on the outside to keep the critters out, I just bent it 180° and boom, no light enters or escapes. 6" fan exhausting, two 4" openings... Works great.

Now all it needs is a quick wipe down and some ladies to host.

Coming soon: up-potting, DWC setup and trial, self watering bases trial. Which also means more beans to pop, too!

 

[Bobcat.Branch]

Up-pot done. Everyone including some basil and sunflowers are recovering from yesterday's transplantations.

The two frumpy ones are the autos. This is the final pot for those two laggards. Good riddance.

The other three are regulars and I'll be flipping them a tad early to see what I have. More to be popped soon as I go along and hunt these 20 "Nigerian Poison" seeds.

 

[Bobcat.Branch]

Pardon the drought of updates...

The GG4 autos are lanky and janky after the stretch. They did better in Coco/perlite, or I'm doing worse this time in soil.

The 3 so-called Nigerian Poisons are compact and bushy little fuckers. 2 of the 3 are showing female pre-flowers...

My 5 Spain Skunk Femmes are exploding. I'll be flipping these and the Nigerians on 4/20 - no coincidence

The 5x5 with Nigerians and the skunks:

My DWC trial is going decently. After a good 2 weeks or so of top feeding, roots finally hit the solution about 5 days ago. A fresh solution change happened Saturday, so I'm hoping this little shit takes off. It's been slow, and it's eating itself a little from the bottom, but new growth always looks good, no big pH swings or EC changes. It's another Nigerian Poison, and given how the other 3 are doing in soil (tight and bushy... mmmmm 70s porn), it could be a lot to do with genetics.

The Sunflowers are booming, with a flower budding up! I will be moving this outdoors soon because it's stealing the show and making the weed feel inadequate.

And finally the basil had to leave the tent as the lights were too strong. It made the tent smell wonderful, though! Now, the living room smells like basil.

Oh yeah, new tattoo... Daughter's 26th birthday last Thursday, so we all went for some new ink! The family that tattoos together, slays together.

That's right, it says Queer. Wanna fight? Well, more like genderfluid, but my ankle is only so big.

 

[Jimmie]

Pardon the drought of updates...

The GG4 autos are lanky and janky after the stretch. They did better in Coco/perlite, or I'm doing worse this time in soil.
View attachment 2410141
View attachment 2410142

The 3 so-called Nigerian Poisons are compact and bushy little fuckers. 2 of the 3 are showing female pre-flowers...



View attachment 2410139

My 5 Spain Skunk Femmes are exploding. I'll be flipping these and the Nigerians on 4/20 - no coincidence

View attachment 2410140

The 5x5 with Nigerians and the skunks:

View attachment 2410138

My DWC trial is going decently. After a good 2 weeks or so of top feeding, roots finally hit the solution about 5 days ago. A fresh solution change happened Saturday, so I'm hoping this little shit takes off. It's been slow, and it's eating itself a little from the bottom, but new growth always looks good, no big pH swings or EC changes. It's another Nigerian Poison, and given how the other 3 are doing in soil (tight and bushy... mmmmm 70s porn), it could be a lot to do with genetics.

View attachment 2410135
View attachment 2410134
View attachment 2410133

The Sunflowers are booming, with a flower budding up! I will be moving this outdoors soon because it's stealing the show and making the weed feel inadequate.

View attachment 2410137
View attachment 2410136

And finally the basil had to leave the tent as the lights were too strong. It made the tent smell wonderful, though! Now, the living room smells like basil.

View attachment 2410132
View attachment 2410131


Oh yeah, new tattoo... Daughter's 26th birthday last Thursday, so we all went for some new ink! The family that tattoos together, slays together.

View attachment 2410130
View attachment 2410145

That's right, it says Queer. Wanna fight? Well, more like genderfluid, but my ankle is only so big.

Fight about a tattoo that says “ queer”? I wouldn’t waste my time. Now if it said Honda instead of Harley, knives are out!

 

[Magnumsmydog]

Looking great bobcat. You got your hands full

 

[Bobcat.Branch]

Fight about a tattoo that says “ queer”? I wouldn’t waste my time. Now if it said Honda instead of Harley, knives are out!

I ride, too... Been a Jap bike guy forever, but love everything with a motor. Even trikes lol

Funny story: Good friend and riding buddy said on the intercom one day when we were riding that trike riders were fucking lazy. I said, dude... What if they're a disabled veteran or something?! Dead fucking silence for a long 20 seconds, then, "oh shit, I'm an asshole."

He waves at trikes ever since...

 

[Bobcat.Branch]

Looking great bobcat. You got your hands full

Thanks!

 

[Jimmie]

I ride, too... Been a Jap bike guy forever, but love everything with a motor. Even trikes lol

Funny story: Good friend and riding buddy said on the intercom one day when we were riding that trike riders were fucking lazy. I said, dude... What if they're a disabled veteran or something?! Dead fucking silence for a long 20 seconds, then, "oh shit, I'm an asshole."

He waves at trikes ever since...

I’m not saying another word!

 

[Bobcat.Branch]

Today I watered the 5 Spain Skunk Femmes. They look great.

I watered/fed the Nigerians, too. They are squatty, bushy, and eating CaMg like crazy. Must be the LED lights with that cultivar because the skunks aren't having that issue because they are all in the same HF/OF soil mix.

The 2 GG4 autos also eat CaMg like crazy, but I knew this from growing them before... Still, it's tough to keep up with them. They did better in Coco/perlite.

My trial DWC bucket Nigerian is growing, but slowly. I raised the pH the other day from 5.85 to 6.2 to allow for a chance to take up some nutrients further up pH scale. This morning it's obvious that it needed it because new growth quickly happened. Keeping my eye on it daily. pH has been staying steady day to day with water temps ranging from 72-74.5°

Pics later today or tomorrow!

 

[Magnumsmydog]

C'mon with the suspense.......geeze

 

[SmallspaceGrace]

Today I watered the 5 Spain Skunk Femmes. They look great.

I watered/fed the Nigerians, too. They are squatty, bushy, and eating CaMg like crazy. Must be the LED lights with that cultivar because the skunks aren't having that issue because they are all in the same HF/OF soil mix.

The 2 GG4 autos also eat CaMg like crazy, but I knew this from growing them before... Still, it's tough to keep up with them. They did better in Coco/perlite.

My trial DWC bucket Nigerian is growing, but slowly. I raised the pH the other day from 5.85 to 6.2 to allow for a chance to take up some nutrients further up pH scale. This morning it's obvious that it needed it because new growth quickly happened. Keeping my eye on it daily. pH has been staying steady day to day with water temps ranging from 72-74.5°

Pics later today or tomorrow!

Used to use vics supersoil mix back in the 90s .. worked well....might again one day .. still remember
the breakdown of it I think .

 

[amneziaHaze]

Whats your plan for the auto and regular will you grow autos with 12h light?. Why do you call dwc soulless?

 

[Bobcat.Branch]

Whats your plan for the auto and regular will you grow autos with 12h light?. Why do you call dwc soulless?

The autos will stay in the 2x4 tent which is my veg/clone tent on an 18/6 schedule. I'll move the DWC bucket to the 5x5 for flowering when it's time.

If I remember correctly, and that's not likely , I was calling hydro soulless. I think I was just mechanically growing in hydro for a while and wasn't feeling particularly connected like years before.

I've made big changes in my life over that last year or so, for the better, and going back to soil was a natural progression in my gardening.

So far, the DWC experiment has been fun. I'm not sure I'll do it on any significant scale, but it has been interesting.