Gelato - Eigenbau-Growbox - Grow #3

Lontra After a long break and some renovations to my grow box, a new grow is being started again. The grow setup: My DIY grow box (0.51m x 0.51m x 1m) has become quite cobbled together as a grown hobby project, but before it might someday be completely rebuilt cleanly, this grow serves as a test for the recent changes made to my setup. These include: - new software for the HMI for overall control of the system - new firmware for the microcontrollers used - new exhaust fan: Aygrochy, Ø 100mm duct fan adjustable, EC motor duct fan 221m³/h - new activated carbon filters: Airontek, Ø100mm x 20cm, 240m³/h - new automatic watering system, consisting of a 5L camping canister as a tank, 12V aquarium pump + 12V solenoid valve, top feeder unit (custom design, 3D printed) - smaller changes like drag chain, new grid for circulation fan, and webcam holder made from a 3D printer Other features: - 2x 80mm be quiet! fans for intake - 1x 140mm be quiet! fan for circulation, oscillating, height adjustable - Airontek ultrasonic mini humidifier 2.3 liters - Mars Hydro TS1000, 150W, full spectrum LED plant light The strain: This time I opted for a photoperiod strain, as I plan to train the plant a bit more aggressively (keyword mainlining), allowing the plant more recovery time in between and hopefully also better control the height when I decide it's time for flowering and not the plant itself. The choice fell on the Gelato feminized from Zamnesia due to its THC content and the low height in indoor grow. The germination: I placed the seed between 2 damp kitchen towels in a small Tupperware box on the evening of (09.07.26) for germination. Once the taproot is 1-2 cm long, the seed will go into the soil. Until then, I started with the other preparations today: For the planting container, I am using my modified storage box again (about 11 liters). This was thoroughly cleaned and then filled with a drainage layer of clay pebbles (ground covering, about 2.5 cm). In the meantime, I started preparing the hydrogel, which I want to mix into the soil as a test in this run. The hydrogel is supposed to help the soil retain moisture and nutrients longer, thus allowing for less frequent watering. Since the package is designed for up to 30 liters of soil, I only used 1/3 and let it swell in a bucket with about 3.3 liters of water for about 24 hours. For soil, I am using a mix of BioBizz All Mix and All Mix Peat free, as I have opened bags of both that I want to use up. The seed was ready to be planted on the afternoon of 12.07.2026. First, the soil was mixed with the swollen hydrogel and filled into the planting container. Then, I watered it again with about 1 liter of water: - Temp: 22.4°C - EC: 0.74mS/cm - pH: 6.35 - Nutrients: 0.4ml/L Root Juice + 0.2ml/L Acti-Vera + 0.134g/L Epsom salt After that, the seed was placed with tweezers into a hole about 2cm deep in the soil and carefully covered with soil. The light was turned on so that the seedling gets light as soon as it breaks through the soil: - Cycle: 18/6 - Distance: about 20cm - Power: about 20% - DLI value ~12 The automatic humidifier was also activated right away to provide the seedling with a pleasant climate from the start: - rel. humidity: min. 60%, max. 75% - VPD target value: 0.4-0.8kPa About 32 hours after planting the seed, the little lady stretched her head out of the soil. This marks the last day of the germination phase for me, and we move into the seedling phase, which I classify as part of the growth phase in this grow diary. Update 1: Since seedling number 1 simply fell over on day 3 and unfortunately did not recover from its fainting spell, the first attempt unfortunately failed after just a few days. I assume that I simply started watering way too early. The substrate was already dry on the surface, but probably still so moist underneath due to the hydrogel that my early watering was just too much. Also, the light may have been a bit too weak at the beginning, leading to a weak base of the stem. Together with the still quite rapid growth and perhaps a bit too strong circulation, this combination apparently proved fatal for the seedling. I chalk this up to: learned something new! Fortunately, I still have one seed of the same strain left. I'm currently germinating it. For this, I gave it a little start boost by placing it in a glass of water for about 6 hours and then planted it in a coco pellet (17.07.26), which I let swell with pH-regulated tap water. As soon as the first green sees the light at the surface, the seedling tray will go into the grow box, and I will let the seedling root through the pellet for a few days. Afterwards, it will be placed back into the final planting container. However, I will free the local planting zone from the AllMix-hydrogel mix and refill it with some BioBizz Light Mix without hydrogel to minimize the risk of local waterlogging. Update 2: 3 days later, on 20.07.26, the second seedling has seen the light of day (new day 1 for the growth phase in the diary). After the taproot grew out of the coco pellet on the second day, it was placed into the planting container.