01-11-2021: Good afternoon everyone... here we are again. My Bruce Banger will be ready in a week so I thought... I can probably germinate some seeds. I still have a lot of them (thanks to zamnesia)
Every now and then I also post a report on Growdiaries and since you can only enter a competition there by using only one Strain I decided to put a round of Wedding Cake.
I wanted to grow this variety when I still got my seeds from seedstockers, but found it too expensive at the time. Now I had two fish vouchers from zamnesia, each one good for 5 Wedding Cake Auto seeds. I didn't really like AFs per se (although I enjoy the result every day) so I called them and asked if I couldn't get Photos instead of Autoflowers... That was no problem at all, so I now have 10 have seeds.
I have not yet found a method of germination on Hydro that works well for me, so we're going to do it in the most reliable way for me... old-fashioned in Cocos plugs. I let it fill itself with acidified (PH5.9) water and then provided each plug with a seed. I now put this under a 60W purple LED lamp that I still had from my very first cultivation attempt. Once they are up (I'm guessing/hope with a week) these will go into my budget system to grow there under 480W LM301H panels for a few weeks but with only 12 hours of light. The idea is to move these to the large closet as soon as they are about 4 weeks old, but that is not necessarily a requirement because you can also remove the lamps from that loft and move them to this room. That depends a bit on the size.
What I'm going to test this round is how good/bad 12/12 from seed is doing in Hydro. Since most feeding schedules with hydro assume that you only pre-grow 1 week, I thought I might as well rule out that one week. In addition, from the moment the roots emerge from under the net pots, I want to increase the EC to 1.5 fairly quickly. I like small stocky plants without having to scrog. Maybe I'll top and maybe even mainline, but that depends entirely on the development of the ladies.
In any case, there will be no feeding computer for the first few weeks (a bluelab Guardian) and as growth food they are given Hy-Pro Hydro A/B with Calmag (4-4-1 ratio). I expect very low temperatures in space so it won't be a banger. I have the impression that a correct root temperature compensates to some extent.
I'm still looking for a way to transport the ladies in the right way (or I have to find a way to be able to use the same net pots in both systems). But that is of later concern.
Since I only have 1 pre-growth room and 1 flowering room, I will put these ladies in a kitchen cupboard for the next week. The Bruce Banger goes on Sunday and then I can put them in there.
The idea is to continue breeding on 12/12 from now on. After six weeks, new seeds will always germinate and no more than 5 at a time. I now make a round with originally 15 ladies, 3 of them were left behind in such a way that I took them out (to prevent rot) with the probable cause of too little light. 5 Planting will probably yield a little less, but hey, I can't finish it otherwise. And now my friends are very happy with my clearing days but of course that is not what I grow for. In addition, it also hurts a bit to give away 3-4 ounces after so many months of work.
Just a summary of the materials used for the enthusiasts....
Lighting: 3x Meiju LED Samsung LM301H 240W with Jisun Drivers.
Heating: Juwel 200W aquarium heater
Nutrition Growth: Hy-Pro Hydro A/B, Ata CalMag.
Nutrition Bloom: Atami ATA AWA Max, Ata CalMag, Plagron Green Sensation
Containers: 5x 11 liters Bato (2 liters of nutrient solution per container) 36 liter reservoir
Extraction: G-Tools 400 M3 adjustable extractor and PK2601 Filter
Measuring equipment: Bluelab Guardian EC/PH/Temp Meter, Ali temp/lv meter
Irrigation: Pressure compensated drippers 7.6 L/H
Disease Prevention: H2O2 50% Silver Stabilized