Guava Auto RF3 im Autopot

ShinWeed . 🌱 Tag 7 - The heads are out A week has passed and we have actually made it: All three Guava Auto RF3 have broken through the surface and are now proudly showing their first green. The start went surprisingly smoothly, despite our extended DHL adventure at the beginning. The first days were completely focused on forming roots, becoming stable, and collecting light. We still look small, but underground, much more is happening than what is visible above. Each of us is developing a bit differently, and slowly one can already recognize the first small differences in growth. The race has officially begun. Water has been given rather cautiously so far: 💧 Day 1: 50 ml 💧 Day 5: 250 ml Of course, pH-regulated to about 6.2. The gardener seems to think we are sensitive spa guests. We certainly aren't complaining. The conditions remain stable, the soil pleasantly moist, and the GrowCam C4 continues to capture every movement mercilessly in time-lapse. Whoever stretches lands directly in the film archive. For next week, the first big move might already be on the agenda: more space, a larger tent, and possibly a Mars Hydro F4000 EVO as the new sun center. Sounds pretty luxurious for three plants that just a few days ago were still floating in a glass of water. Now it's time to keep pushing roots, unfolding leaves, and slowly picking up speed. 🌿🎥 Gardener: The pictures and the time-lapse from week 1 will of course be added as well. However, I am still not really satisfied with the quality of the GrowCam C4. I would therefore like to make an upgrade. If you have any suggestions, feel free to write them in the comments or directly via message. I would really appreciate that.

ShinWeed 🌱 Tag 14 - New Home, New Sun Our second week is done, and we’re slowly starting to feel less like freshly sprouted seedlings. We’re now visibly growing every day, developing new leaves, and overall getting noticeably stronger. What’s particularly exciting is how similarly we’re developing right now. Almost the same size, similar growth, and so far, none of us seems to be really falling behind. So, the mood in the little Guava team is still pretty balanced. The last few days have been extremely relaxed overall. Plenty of light, stable conditions, and consistently slightly moist soil. Exactly what young plants need at this stage. While more green is slowly appearing above, we’re probably already working on a significantly larger root system below. Typical plant life: First build below, then show off above. We added a bit more water this week: 💧 Day 8: 250 ml 💧 Day 12: 1 liter + an additional 10 liters in the water tank Of course, everything is cleanly pH-regulated to about 6.2. Our gardener is probably checking every detail as if he were overseeing a NASA project. But honestly, it’s working pretty well. The biggest highlight was definitely our move. We’re now in a new home: 🏕️ 60x120x150 grow tent And along with that, we got a new sun: ☀️ Mars Hydro F4000 ECO at 40% The difference is immediately noticeable. More space, better air, and significantly more even light. For three plants in week 2, this whole setup feels almost a bit overly luxurious. Not long ago, we were just seeds in water, and now we’re under a lamp that probably consumes more electricity than some shared kitchens. The GrowCam C4 is, of course, still running continuously, capturing every little movement in time-lapse. The gardener isn’t completely satisfied with the quality yet, but at least you can now see quite nicely how fast we’re developing. Now we’re focusing on growing, building leaves, and gathering energy. Because next week things are going to get serious. 🌿🎥 Gardener: Finally upgraded this week. A little spoiler for week 3: On day 15, we’ll have the first feeding. Additionally, all plants will be topped, and a total of 20 liters will go into the tank.

ShinWeed 🌱 Tag 21 – A Week Full of Experiments Three weeks old. Actually the time when young plants just grow comfortably, form roots, and get a little bigger every day. In our case, however, it turned into a little science show with several unexpected twists. The week started with our first feeding. For us, it was uncharted territory, and apparently for our gardener as well. After many years with organic fertilizer, he had to learn that mineral nutrients don’t just wait patiently for their release but are immediately available. This led to us being fed a bit earlier than necessary. Additionally, there were a few more surprises: The pH level didn’t quite go as planned at times. 📦 Instead of pH-, pH+ was accidentally delivered. 🔄 In the first nutrient mix, Grow A and Bloom A were swapped. 🌱 The feeding started a bit earlier than optimal. One could say our gardener learned a lot this week. We plants prefer to call it "practical field research." Fortunately, it was just minor issues. While we weren’t always thrilled with the mixes in the tank, overall we continued to grow and form new leaves. It never got really dramatic. Our water tank ran continuously throughout the week. However, since it was reset multiple times, no one really knows how much water we actually consumed. The accounting was probably done by a houseplant. The following nutrients were used this week: Epsom salt: 0.5 g/L 🌿 Grow A + B ? Silica ⚡ Multi Total For the next mix, the Epsom salt will be reduced to 0.3 g/L. Learned a bit more. The week wasn’t without incidents for plant #2. During a little care session, one of its shoots was accidentally bent. For a brief moment, it looked like it had decided to quit. Fortunately, the damage turned out to be less severe than initially feared. The shoot remained intact and is continuing to push through. Plants can be surprisingly resilient. While humans often search the internet for their symptoms after minor injuries, we simply repair our tissue and keep growing. Despite all the little hiccups, we continue to grow quite well. Our leaves are getting bigger, our stems stronger, and underground the roots are probably already working on their own expansion project. Compared to last week, we look significantly more mature now. We’re still young, but we’re slowly evolving into real plants and no longer just particularly ambitious seedlings. Next week, we hope for a bit fewer experiments in the nutrient tank and a bit more routine. On the other hand, life as a plant might be boring if everything always went perfectly. 🌿 👨‍🌾 Gardener: This week didn’t go entirely as planned, but I probably learned more than in the first two weeks combined. The biggest difference from my previous grows was the switch from organic to mineral fertilizer. In the next round, I will start feeding much later, probably not until the end of week 3. The biggest realization was how quickly mineral nutrients act and how important a well-adjusted pH level is. With organic fertilizer, I never directly noticed many of these effects because the nutrients become available much more slowly. Additionally, a wrong delivery caused some chaos. Instead of pH-, pH+ arrived first, making the water treatment significantly more complicated than planned. However, the problem is now resolved, and future mixes should go much more smoothly. Mistakes are part of the process, especially when trying new methods. What’s important in the end is to learn from them and closely observe the plants. So far, thankfully, they have forgiven me for all the mistakes. 🌱 p.s. new LST hooks!

ShinWeed 🌱 Tag 28 - A week that finally feels like routine A week has passed since the last update, and despite some minor unrest in the last cycles, the setup has stabilized significantly this time. No pH chaos, no mixing errors in the tank, just consistent supply and even growth. We can clearly see that our growth is changing right now. It's no longer just about getting bigger, but about building structure. The first signs of the flowering phase are here, and the whole rhythm is slowly shifting in that direction. It's not a complete switch yet, more of a transitional state. But we are visibly working differently than just a week ago. We continue to grow evenly and without stress signals. The leaves are getting denser, the structure clearer, and internally, a lot more is happening than what you can see from the outside. This phase feels a bit like we're reorganizing ourselves before things really kick off. The water and nutrient solution are currently working well for us. The pH is consistently set to 5.7 and drifts over one to two days to about 6.3, where it then stabilizes. EC remains consistently in the range of 1.6–1.8. So far, we are handling this very well and showing no negative reactions. 👨‍🌾 Gardener: This week was uncomfortably uneventful. I've really got the hang of the water now. pH management is now done consciously and reproducibly, no longer based on feeling and hope. The initial problems caused by bicarbonates in the tap water are now planned for instead of being a surprise. The most important insight from the last few days: If you set the pH cleanly to 5.7 and keep the EC range at 1.6–1.8, the system is significantly less susceptible. The slight pH increase over 1–2 days to ~6.3 is no longer a problem, but simply a known behavior of the system. Nothing that triggers panic. More like a: “Yeah, well, that's just how you are” moment with the water. And the best part: The plants are responding to this so far stably and without any complaints.

ShinWeed 🌿 Foreword from the Gardener: There really isn't much to say. What I find most fascinating right now is how much water the plants are consuming. The demand noticeably increases week by week, and the AutoPots make it quite easy to observe this. I won't be changing anything in my setup for now. There are still 1-2 small things I'd like to optimize. For example, I would like to have a separate valve for each AutoPot in the future to be able to work a bit more flexibly. However, everything is currently running reliably, so I don't see any reason to make further changes during an ongoing grow. For my next diary, I also want to start documenting the consumption a bit more accurately. Concrete information on water consumption and development can be interesting, especially for new growers. Thanks to the AutoPots, this can be tracked relatively precisely, so I will try to keep more detailed values in the future. After all, we often read general information about how much the plants actually drink in the end. 🌿 Oh, and today I decided to do a "proper" defoliation one last time, but not all of them; I'm still experimenting a bit. 🌱 Day 35 - Stretch mode activated The stretch is now impossible to overlook. It feels like we're gaining height every day, and the shoots are pushing further towards the light. The plant structure is visibly changing, and the first flower sites are becoming clearer day by day. This week everything went largely smoothly. About 20-25 liters of water were consumed through the AutoPots. The increasing water demand clearly shows that the plants are currently pushing hard and putting a lot of energy into growth. Additionally, this week marked an important step in nutrient supply: The switch from Dutch Pro Grow to Dutch Pro Bloom has taken place. This slowly begins the next phase, and the focus is increasingly shifting from pure growth to flower development. Currently, the plants look healthy and vigorous. The stretch is particularly noticeable and causes the canopy to change almost daily. It will be exciting to see how much height is added in the coming days before we can fully concentrate on the flowers. So far, everything is going according to plan. The AutoPots are working reliably, the plants seem satisfied, and week 6 promises to be exciting. 🌿 See you next week!

ShinWeed Today just a quick update: The water consumption of the plants has increased from 20 liters to 60 liters within a week, and the trend is still rising.

ShinWeed 🌱 Tag 49 – Stretch completed, flower structure in development Another week has passed since the last update. The stretch is completed on our end, and the focus is clearly shifting towards flowering. Two shoots are currently only about 10 cm below the LED, as we gained a lot of height during the stretch phase. The distance to the lamp is therefore very small, but still manageable. The other plants continue to grow more calmly and evenly. We have a total of three plants, but despite identical conditions, they are developing at different speeds: One of them is significantly ahead, while the other two are still lagging a bit. We can tell that our growth is changing. It's no longer just about getting taller, but about building the flower structure. 👨‍🌾 Gardener: Everything went very smoothly this week as well. I slightly increased the distance to the lamp because two of our main shoots are now very close to the LED. Otherwise, nothing was changed in the setup, as temperature and humidity remain stable, and our plants continue to look healthy.

ShinWeed Today Again a short update.