Miketama **Milky Way - Introduction 🌌🌱
Milky Way F1 is a robust autoflowering hybrid known for its resilience and vigorous growth. This strain delivers a balanced high with sweet, creamy terpene profiles reminiscent of its name.
This grow began as an experiment in sustainable cultivation and quickly became a lesson in resilience. I decided to plant the Milky Way F1 seed directly into its final 8L pot, reusing soil from previous grows. Unlike the usual Bio Tabs method (see photo3 ), I removed all old roots and reworked the medium thoroughly. This wasn’t about saving money - I wanted to leverage the beneficial bacteria still thriving in the soil, plus there were undissolved Bio Tabs that could continue releasing nutrients.
The Fatal Mistake:
Unfortunately, I made a critical error. Feeling confident about the substrate’s consistency, I planted the seed without germinating it in fresh medium first. This decision proved devastating - **5 seedlings died from damping-off**, victims of lingering pathogens in the recycled soil.
Only one germinated seed survived the pathogen assault: the Milky Way F1. I believe she made it (and here’s my second mistake) thanks to a Bactrex irrigation (Trichoderma protects against pathogens) applied when the cotyledons hadn’t even opened yet.
I remain convinced the soil itself was still viable, but for the other strains, I’ll start fresh and see how the Milky performs. As a precaution, I:
- Sprayed hydrogen peroxide on the soil surface and around the pot base
- Added 2cm of fresh substrate on top
- Disinfected the entire grow box to prevent contamination of new plants
*“Fall down seven times, stand up eight.”*
The Milky Way F1 earned her place in this diary through sheer survival - now let’s see what this cosmic warrior can produce! 🌌💪
P.S. I didn’t throw away the remaining 50 liters of soil! Instead, I used it to repot my houseplants, and after just one week they’re absolutely thriving - which confirms my belief that the soil was still perfectly viable. The substrate had plenty of life left in it; the damping-off issue was likely about timing and methodology, not soil quality.
Miketama Before spending hundreds of euros on a professional Autopot system, I decided to experiment with a more spartanic DIY approach: a homemade wick irrigation system using cotton ropes.
Setup:
• My fabric transplant pot (with velcro opening on one side) wasn’t filled to the top
• Placed 2 cotton ropes at 5cm and 10cm distance from the stem
• Pre-soaked ropes in water for 30 minutes to activate capillary action
• Fed ropes through the velcro opening of the fabric pot
• Covered with 4cm of fresh substrate
• Light watering from top to activate the wicks
Why now:
The Milky Way seems to have developed enough to handle increased water intake - perfect timing to test the system.
First results (48 hours):
She consumed approximately 0.5L through the wick system - it’s working well so far!
Testing this budget solution before committing to expensive equipment. Will monitor closely and report results. 💧🌱
Miketama Milky Way Grow - Winter Setup Summary
Environment Issues Solved
Temperature/Humidity Fix:
• Shoe rack risers (+15-20cm) with pebble base = +2°C root zone temp
• Ionbeam lights repositioned from tent frame to riser frame, angled at corners at 80% = +2°C ambient
• Hit target: 24-25°C sweet spot
Climate Control:
• Lights 24/7
• Tent semi-closed, intake opposite exhaust
• DIY CO2 (yeast/sugar bottles)
• Exhaust 15min/hour
• Dehumidifier @ 65% RH
Lighting Strategy Evolution
Phase 1 (Early Growth):
• Ionbeams at 20% direct on plants = too intense
• Moved to 80%, angled at tent corners = ambient heat without stress
Phase 2 (Current ):
• Ionbeams repositioned directly on plants
• Bottom light undersized for tent = can’t use manufacturer PAR map
• Custom PAR mapping: iPhone 12 + PAR Meter app + white paper diffuser
• Adjusting riser heights (uneven), plant positions, and Ionbeam angles
• Creating zone-specific DLI targets across canopy
Watering System
DIY Autopot Status:
• System functional but not fully autonomous
• Still supplementing with top watering
• Current wicking: basic rope
• Next run: switching to capillary wicks for better water uptake
💚🤞
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Used techniques
Leaf Tucking
Technique
6
Week 6. Flowering
6d ago
1/6
40 cm
Height
24 hrs
Light Schedule
24 °C
Day Air Temp
Weak
Smell
60 %
Air Humidity
22 °C
Solution Temp
22 °C
Substrate Temp
24 °C
Night Air Temp
8 liters
Pot Size
0.8 liters
Watering Volume
50 cm
Lamp Distance
Nutrients 1
Bio Flowering Booster
0.8 mll
Miketama 🌿 Week 2 of flowering! The plant is getting really thirsty, so daily watering is needed. Did a light late LST on the main apex, guiding it toward spots with fewer buds to even out the canopy. Added a few LST clips on the thinner branches below the top, no risk of constriction. I’m mostly letting her do her thing, true to her Sin Tra Bajo lineage, she doesn’t require much fuss. Thanks for stopping by, see you next week! 🌱
@Elron_mc_Bong, Actually, now that I think about it, I’ve also grown Orion F1 (it was one of my first grows — I’ll attach a photo). It’s pretty similar overall to Epsilon and Milky 🤤
They’re kind of like corn 🌽 — out of 7 plants, only one showed about a 10 cm difference from the others.The one you’re going to grow will be a bit different — bigger and with slightly longer finishing times.
I’ll be curious to follow your grow!