Runtz - Eternity Grow Cup 2025

The first week has passed without much fuss but with some new experiences. I have only grown in organic living soil, so when this contest came along, I decided to try the Dark Side to see how their cookies are by leaning fully into bottled nutrients. I decided to go with the Plagron range because why not? I will use Green Sensation anyway, so it made sense to use a unified system. I'll also use an AutoPot for the first time. I've wanted to try one as I need a system that allows me to travel for extended periods. Plus, handwatering is too much of a mission for someone as lazy as I am. As the substrate, I'll use coco, which is another thing I've wanted to try. I mixed the coco with perlite (another first) and some pumice I had lying around to increase aeration. Normally, I transplant the plug into a pot as soon as I see germination, but I've been so busy lately that I took a few days. I transplanted her into a one-liter pot, adding mycorrhiza to both the pot and to the plug. I have NO CLUE if myco is even helpful in a synthetic grow, but I didn't feel like googling it, so I just added it anyway. (Did I mention that I'm lazy?) I kept a humidity dome (fancy talk for a clear plastic cup) over her for a couple of days before putting my tiny humidifier in the tent. It is ridiculously small but gets the job done, considering how small the tent is. It has a timer, so I must remember to turn it on now and then. It’s a bit wonky, but whatever.

The second week of veg was even more uneventful than the first. All I did was install a couple of small fans and replace the tiny humidifier since it broke down, even though it's less than two months old. I guess it wasn't meant to run constantly. No matter, Amazon gave me a full refund. I installed another humidifier controlled by an Inkbird controller. It's a bit large for the space, but I need something to increase the humidity. The plants are still too small to transpire significantly, and the ambient humidity is relatively low in winter. The tent is a bit cramped, but it'll work until I can move the plants into my big tent in a week or so. She is significantly smaller than the other plants in the tent, although that might be because of genetics or nutrients. However, I suspect it's more because I do not know what I'm doing. I have many years of experience growing in living soil, and this is my first time growing in coco/perlite using bottled nutrients. There's bound to be some learning curve. It's still early in growth, so I'm not overly concerned. I'm a bit surprised, though, as I have always heard about the explosive growth using Coco, but so far, I'm seeing the opposite.

Another week has passed without much fuss. The plants sure are low maintenance when they are young. However, I found the telltale silver spots on a couple of leaves on another plant, and sure enough, I found a few thrips, although it's not a massive infestation. Yet. It's been a couple of years since I last had thrips, so I have no clue where they came from. I suspect some coriander I brought home from and am now trying to grow hydroponically. In any case, I sprayed down all plants several times with neem oil and ordered predatory mites, which should arrive today. She is still the smallest in the tent, showing some nutrient burns on several leaves. I started her feeding at 1/3 strength, but it still looks to be a bit too hot for her. I'll back off a bit more and will monitor how she reacts. It is all part of the learning curve when you start a new way of growing :) I'm fighting with the humidifier and Inkbird to maintain a reasonable humidity, but that is always a challenge growing in small tents.

Another week has passed, and she looks much better. She is healthy and has started to spread out, and there are no new nutrient burns after I dialed back the feeding. I've given up on maintaining good humidity in the tent as my Inkbird controller is acting up. Oh well, it'll improve as she grows. I haven't seen any signs of thrips damage on her leaves. However, I'm still adding predatory mites and nematodes to ensure any potential critters are dealt with. I will transplant her into her final pot in a day or two and then start planning the mainline. Plant - Height: 12 cm, Width: 27 cm Environment: DLI: 28, Temp: 25C, RH: 50%

She is a stout girl with tight internodal spacing, and this week, she had finally grown large enough to transplant into her final pot - a 15-liter AutoPot. The transplant itself was a piece of cake; I just plopped her down off-center in the pot to compensate for the fact that the pot itself wasn't in the tent's center due to the shape of the base. #JustTinyTentProblems This is my first time using AutoPots, but I will let her establish in her pot for a couple of weeks before turning on the system. Only a couple of days after the transplant, I cut off her head! It's a bit stressful to be so close to transplanting, but some future travel plans have changed, so I'm aligning the growth with them.

This week, she had grown large enough that it was time to start training her. Usually, I grow in fabric pots and simply use binder clips as anchors for the training wires, but this time, I'm using a plastic pot, so I needed another solution. I considered drilling holes in the pot itself, but instead, I 3D-printed a few LST anchors to attach directly to the AutoPot. She is a very chunky girl with thick, inflexible branches, but I was able to spread her out a bit. A couple of days later, I wanted to tighten the wires and managed to break off one of the branches. It was not a massive deal, as I initially kept three nodes (six branches). So, I cut off the top node with its remaining branch and am now left with four main branches, which was my initial plan anyway.

This week has been a week of leaf-tucking as she is very compact, with short, stubby branches. I hoped she would stretch out a bit, but no such luck. So, I have been tucking leaves several times daily to bring more light to different branches since I plan to flip her next week. On the other hand, her canopy is as flat as they come, so no complaint there. I turned on the AutoPot earlier in the week, so now she is on her own, with an occasional refill of the reservoir. A photo on auto. I also started changing the light schedule to transition her from veg to flower. I changed from 24/0 to 20/4 for a couple of days, and for the last couple of days, I changed it to 16/8. Tomorrow, I will change it to 12/12 to finish the flip.