Round #2: Critical Mass CBD Auto

Aeromatics Goals for the Grow: Have a better first 4 weeks, and translate that into a better ten-wide yield! My last 4 x 4 tent-wide yield was 514 g total, which is not bad at all for a single smoker like me. In fact, that is more than I will need for quite some time. I’ll be curing and making some concentrates for sure! However, I like to set goals and have fun, and I know there’s way more potential with my set-up. Also, I am going to do a transplant strategy for this batch. At two weeks, I will move from half gallon into my 6.6 gallon. I think being able to access my root zone at 2 weeks and get some mykos in there will really help explode root growth at that crucial 14 day mark, and will negate any possible stress from transplant. It may be crystal for this in 6.6 gallon pots. For Germination, I am making a few alterations: During my last 6.6 gallon autopot run, I made two germination into potting mistakes. The buffered coco was way too wet when potting. This stifled root growth initially, and also prevented me from adding any water and generally slowed down the entire process. I could tell because when I pulled the coco out from the pots, there was a strong taproot but little to no root growth in the middle to upper root zone. I packed the coco a bit too much when adding to my pots. I didn’t superpack it tight, but I did pat it down a little but it layers, and I think that inhibited root growth as well. So my solution, or at least hypothesis to try and solve against these observed mistakes is to: I let the buffered coco dry and a few extra days in the bin, and I also laid it out on a tard to let it air dry for around 48 hours before potting up. It was still dark and moist, but when I squeezed a handful of it, only a drop or 2 rang out, as opposed to a fountain like my previous run. It looked much better! I’ve also laid out my coco on some tarps to let it air dry out for 2 days before potting. It is still very most, but not soaking wet. I tossed the coco into the pot with my two hands and used the back of my hands to simply even out the layers as opposed to compressing them throughout the potting process. This will allow the coco to naturally settle over time, and hopefully allow for proper aeration and root development! Coco Buffering I am trying a new buffering mix for this run! Stash recently released 2 new products to go along with their fantastic Stash Blend nutrient enhancement: Stash Base (Veg Nutrients) and Stash Bloom (Flower Nutrients). I am excited to add Stash Base into my buffering mix, it will hopefully create a beautiful growing environment for my gals. I buffered twice (both for 24 hours). I had 12 gallons of coco and I used 10 gallons of RO water to buffer: For my first buffer, I went with around 1 ec charge and a ph of 5.75 for each 10 gallons. My nutrients included: 70 ml Ventana Plant Science Support 5 grams Stash Base - New Product! (Formulated with a diverse blend of organic and mineral inputs—including calcium phosphate, biochar, crustacean meal, feather meal, fishbone meal, glacial and volcanic rock dusts, alfalfa, insect frass, giant kelp meal, neem seed kernel meal, oyster shell dust, sulfate of potash, calcium carbonate, and fish meal—Stash Base delivers a broad spectrum of macro and micronutrients, plus biology-friendly carbon sources.) 3 grams Stash Blend ec: 1.1 ph 5.75 After the first 24 hour soak, I fully drained it and resoaked the two bins in another batch of 10 gallons of RO mix. I adjusted the recipe. My second buffer nutrients included: 60 ml Ventana Plant Science Support 5 ml Ventana Plant Science Expand 2 grams Stash Base 2 grams Stash Blend 5 ml Ventana Plant Science Grow I waited another 24 hours, and then I fully drained the coco and worked to dry it out much more than last grow. As I mentioned above, I let it drain for more than 48 hours in the tub, stirring a bit here and there. I knew it was necessary because there was a bunch of water let loose once I stirred. That made me thing i need to punch more holes into my bin, or maybe I need to put a huge slice of garden fabric at the base of the bin so that the coco does not clog the holes. I’ll likely try both on my 4 x 4 run which is coming soon! Once the coco felt good to go, and my measurement for that was that I could grab and handful…squeeze it, and only 1 or two drops would come out… my medium was ready! Germination: I’ve been using Organiplugs for all my germination for my last 20+ seeds, and I am not going back to any previous system. All you do is: insert the seed, place into a germination cube holder, place in a ziplock back, wrap it up in a towel, place it in a tent, and wait for her to sprout! I don’t have to worry about anything really, and it almost protects the seed from any real concerns from the seedling/sprouting process. Once she sprouted (either I see a taproot, or the sprout actually pops out of the hole, or both!), I placed her about ¾ of the way down into the coco. In the coco hole, I added some Xtreme Mykos to encourage root development, one of my favorite reasons to use organiplugs! I didn’t need to “water her in’ to the coco, as the coco was still moist from the buffering process. I was actually worried it was a bit too moist, but I went with it anyway. It was, at least, much less moist than my previous grow, and from the way the gals have settled in, I actually think we were in the perfect zone. I squeezed a handful and barely a drop wrang out, so that’s my goal moisture level moving forward! Final Thoughts This is going to be a fun one! I will divy this tent up into 4 different journals but also provide generic tent-wide updates like my last journal. Hopefully I can get some good results and we an all learn a lot throughout the process. Thanks for tuning in and happy growing!