Sour Jealousy in an Autopot

stutch Today, the first update on Sour Jealousy. It looks very healthy, and I water it every day with about 0.5-1L. I really like the Drain Master, it makes it much easier to collect, measure, and pour away the drained water. 07.09.: EC of the watering water is 1.7, EC of the drain is 1.0. I have discarded the nutrient solution and mixed a new one with significantly more fertilizer (DryPart Growphase) before my plant develops a deficiency. Starting tomorrow, I will water with a significantly higher EC and check the drain again. Update to follow. 08.09.: New nutrient solution has an EC of 2.4. That may sound a bit much for such a delicate little plant, but with my water values (calcium 116, magnesium 4.7 + Epsom salts to get the ratio right), it's unfortunately unavoidable.

stutch Let’s continue. Watering is done every day with 0.5-0.8 liters, nutrient solution exactly according to the fertilization schedule, pH at about 5.6-5.8 and EC at 2.4. Drain EC is in the 1.2 range, so I should actually fertilize significantly more. However, since the plant looks good, I will leave it at that for now before I over-fertilize. September 14: The leaves have reached the outer edge of the pot. Since my drain EC is significantly below the values of the irrigation water, I have increased the dose slightly. From 1.3 g/L to 1.5 g/L DryPart Grow. Let’s see how it works out. September 15: Started using the Autopot irrigation system. Nutrient solution from September 14 in the tank, EC was ~2.7 if I remember correctly, and the pH was 5.6. The system is leak-proof after all the cleaning, and I’m satisfied. Let’s see how the plant likes it.

stutch Work continues diligently. Compared to my last grow, the plant is growing really fast, especially the large sun sails are impressive. The Autopots are working diligently and everything is going well, no problems with pests or other vermin. I am very satisfied. VPD 1.1, EC 2.6, PH 5.6.

stutch Currently, it’s very boring again. I check the pH every day, which remains relatively stable, and put one or two shoots back under the net. Last week, the new lamp arrived, an Ionboard S33 from AC Infinity with 260W. The lamp is significantly oversized, but is currently only running at 40% and illuminates the entire tent much better, right up to the edges. The plan is to create a very even canopy so that all the buds get plenty of light, and so far it’s working quite well :) EC 2.6 and pH 5.6. Autopot tank not refilled yet.

stutch On to week 5. On Sunday, October 5, I added a completely new nutrient solution, adding 0.3 g/L DryPart Bloom to the 1.5 g/L DryPart Grow. Slowly but surely, flowering is beginning. I'm not sure if any of my autoflowers have ever started flowering later than this. During the week, I noticed signs of magnesium deficiency because I didn't mix the nutrient solution correctly (I used the amount for one liter instead of ten liters of Epsom salts). However, things are looking better now, even though the plants have a slight yellowish discoloration. I'm not taking any action yet; the fresh nutrient solution may fix the problem on its own. PH 5.6. VPD 1.3 set. DLI at about 45-40, which is awesome with the new oversized lamp. I have hardly any DLI differences from the center of the plant to the outer edge of the tent, so I hope that works well with the topped plants and the LST net. October 8: Plant properly defoliated and a little lollypopping done. You can see the results in the pictures, but in any case, I have significantly better humidity levels inside the tent.

stutch The plant is developing superbly and filling the tent nicely. No problems with nutrients, pH in the tank stable at 5.6-5.7, and thanks to lollypopping and defoliation, the VPD values are back in a much better range of around 1.1-1.3. It has been raining every day lately, and with the enormous amount of foliage in the tent, it was constantly too humid. But now that's sorted too, and I'm excited to see how it develops during flowering.

stutch The plant has had an eventful week. Over time, the leaves have turned a light green color, the tips have curled up, and overall, the plant has not been looking its best. Since I deliberately exceeded the recommended fertilizer dosage this time, I take responsibility for this. I rinsed the substrate with about 20 liters of pH-adjusted tap water + FlashClean, then prepared a new nutrient solution. The rinsing took place on October 18. After 6 weeks, I finally calibrated my pH pen again and found that it was quite far off the target value. I will calibrate every 2 weeks in the future, which would have saved me a lot of trouble and crop loss, but that’s how it is when you feel too confident. While flushing, I took the opportunity to do some more thorough defoliation and lollypopping. The humidity in the tent is pleasantly low, and I can maintain a very consistent VPD of 1.4 – with a cooler average temperature of 26.6°C. 24.10.: Over the course of the week, the plant has developed terribly, but I hope it will recover somewhat over the next few weeks. Next time, I will definitely react more quickly to over-fertilization. I’ve never made this mistake before, so I was a little hesitant about how much worse it would get and how long it would take. It turned out badly, but making mistakes is just part of the process.

stutch October 26, Day 56: The effects of magnesium deficiency combined with over-fertilization have led to quite a lot of lost leaf mass, discoloration of the leaves, and generally crappy-looking plants. I have ended the experiment with deviations from the manufacturer's nutrient plan for now. As in the previous week, I am only using the recommended 1.8 g/L DryPart Bloom and Pro Bloom. The plant is still evaporating a relatively large amount of water, so I assume it will make it. Nevertheless, I am a little disappointed with how it looks now; 2-3 weeks ago, it looked much healthier.

stutch Time for the next update. I think the plant looks worse than it actually is, but the water consumption is fine. It should still be around 1L/day. On November 2, I set the 260W lamp from level 5 to level 7, so currently just under 160W should be shining on the plant (70% of 260W minus the losses due to the control system). Otherwise, there’s not much to report.

stutch Week 10 is underway. Due to the problems with the leaves, I can't really judge how the plant is doing. The flowers are growing, there is a very intense smell in the tent, and the buds are slowly increasing in size. Due to the lack of change, I am no longer doing daily updates. I could slowly start using the microscope to see what color the trichome heads are.

stutch 11/15: Nutrient solution replaced, 2 liters of water refilled, pH corrected to 5.6, FlashClean run through the system for 1.5 days. 11/16: Nutrient solution prepared with Epsom salts and FinalPart, approx. 8 liters of pH-corrected water and 5ml/L FinalPart. The plant is nearing the end. Harvesting will take place on November 24 at the latest. Until then, there will be another round of FinalPart and FlashClean for 2 days towards the end. I currently have mixed feelings about growing in coco. For the next run, I might just go back to soil with dry fertilizer to save myself some stress. On the other hand, the growth at the beginning of this grow was extremely good, so maybe I'll try it again and be more careful with the exact dosage.

stutch Last update before harvest: on Monday, November 24, I will cut the plant and hang it up. Since my mistake in weeks 6-7, the plant hasn't really recovered, but I think the harvest will still be quite good—both in terms of quantity and quality. Today, I changed the activated carbon again to counteract the smell, and it's running like it did on day 1.

stutch In total, I got 102g dry, which I’m a little happy and a little disappointed with. I overdid it with the fertilizer, which is why I “only” got 102g, but in terms of potential, I could have achieved much, much more, and actually should have. That’s why I’m seriously considering going back to soil, which has worked best by far so far and was also less stressful. I just can’t seem to get the hang of growing on coco, or rather, I always want too much. Now I’ll take a break for a few weeks and see which strain I’ll start the next grow with and whether I’ll go back to coco or soil.