CMO's Indoor Purple Punch Grow: Automated Coco

[Cwmoore577]

Hi all!

I now have 5 full grows under my belt and I feel that I've reached to point of having enough knowledge to produce quality buds. I am just about set to begin grow #6 so I figured it would be worth it to start a journal.

I am going to try to be as in-depth as I can so it's easier for you all to add insight and advice. Learning and getting better is the whole point of doing this so I encourage everyone to offer any wisdom or knowledge. I appreciate you all!

Here's some basic information about my setup and process..

STRAIN: This run I'll be growing two Purple Punch plants from Barney's Farm. I ran this strain once before and it was my absolute favorite outcome so far. Beautiful plant that had no issues and produced dense nugs with a purple hue. Purple Punch is a mix of Granddaddy Purple and Larry OG and it's 90% indica/10% sativa.

Here are some photos of the previous run of Purple Punch:

SETUP/MEDIUM: I'll be running indoor in a 2' x 4' tent. My grow medium is about a half/half of Royal Gold's Tupur mixed with regular bricked coco coir with perlite as well in 3 gallon fabric pots.

LIGHTING: I run two lights from BudgetLED, one is the Series 2+ Red Spec 250 watt and the other is the Series 3+ Full Spec 130 watt. (Pretty sure they're a sponsor for this forum. I love the company and have nothing but great things to say about these lights.)

ENVIRONMENT: I just ordered the AC Infinity T4 fan to replace the iPower 4-inch inline. I am excited to get that set up and see how much my temp and humidity control improves. Usually in this setup my temps run between 75-82F. My humidity runs around 50-60% in veg and down to 40% in flower. I will update this information once the grow gets going.

WATERING/FERT: I water usually twice daily using an automated drip feed system from a reservoir. This time I am going to replace the drip stakes with the hydro halos and see if the saturation improves. With the drip stakes I would often have to hand water to prevent salt buildup in certain spots. For fertilizer I use GH FloraMicro and FloraBloom with CaliMagic following as closely to the "Lucas/H3ads" formula as I can. I adjust it slightly for each plant based on what the health tells me. I will also sometimes add a small amount of epsom salt and I use Stout MSA for added silica. I will post pictures of my ratios throughout.

Here is a pic of my setup:

The AC Infinity fan just arrived today, just got everything switched out:

Here is a closer picture of my DIY automated watering setup:

I made the self-draining saucers which drain into the bucket that you see. That runoff is then pumped from the bucket into a larger bucket outside of the tent that can be emptied every now and then. I am still in the process of switching from drip stakes to the hydro halos, just need them to arrive in the mail.


I am planning to get seeds in the ground hopefully tomorrow. I'll update with more pictures when I get that going.

 

[Modest Grower]

Sweet set up and your last harvest looks stellar! I'll definitely follow along.

 

[Cwmoore577]

Took longer than expected for the rest of the supplies to arrive but I've finally got everything going. The hydro halo system is set up, seeds have been germinated and planted. They sprouted the day after they were planted.

As of now I am watering about 40-50mL each solo cup per day. Per gallon I am using 2ml CaliMagic, 2ml FloraMicro, and 3ml FloraBloom. My EC is around 500 and pH has been 6.0-6.1. I will lower pH to 5.8-5.9 in the next few days as well as up waterings to twice daily. I usually begin with pH a bit higher to help the seedlings get calcium because calcium deficiency can be a common issue starting out in coco.

My temps are mid 70s F and my humidity is running around 50-60%.

Here are current photos:

 

[Modest Grower]

Nice work!

 

[Cwmoore577]

Update: While the growth pace is good the first set of leaves have been a bit discolored from the start. I'm wild guessing that it could either be just genetic, nutrients or the fact that I used some pretty old rapid rooters as I didn't want to wait another week or two until more arrived. I haven't adjusted anything just going to see how they progress. I am debating transplanting into the 3 gallon pots a bit earlier than I normally would just to see if it helps.

 

[Cwmoore577]

Update:
So I just got back from a week long vacation and my watering was fully automated for the time gone. I transplanted them into their final 3 gallon pots the day before we left. I would normally go from solo cup to 1 gal to 3 gal but decided to skip that this go around. I added a few pinches of mykos (mycorrhizae fungi) during transplant as well.

The plants are still growing at a good pace but both are showing small signs of deficiency. There is some interveinal yellowing on both and some yellowing edges on one of them. I haven't pinpointed what it could be yet. I think first i'll up my EC from 600 to around 700 and add a small amount of epsom salt (about a half a gram per gallon) to see how they respond.

I would normally top around this time to start mainlining but I am hesitant with the deficiency issue.

Plant 1:

Plant 2:

 

[Chksbak]

Wow nice looking set up

 

[Tokin Roll]

Nice start to your grow journal @Cwmoore577

Just stopping by to see how you are coming along.

Stay safe, and grow well my friend,

Tok..

 

[Cwmoore577]

Update:
So I ended up starting the process of mainlining both plants and topped both at the 3rd node. I usually leave the fan leaves there until the new growth shoots get to a decent size.

Like I mentioned previously, I have upped the EC to 750 and pH has been between 5.85 to 6.05.
So per gallon of tap water I am now adding 0.25g epsom salt, 2ml calimagic, 3ml floramicro and 4.5ml florabloom.
I use cannastats nutrient calculator and my ppm levels should be roughly:

• N - 60ppm
• P - 30ppm
• K - 54ppm
• Mg - 33ppm
• Ca - 68ppm

 

[Cwmoore577]

Wow nice looking set up

Thank you!

Nice start to your grow journal @Cwmoore577

Just stopping by to see how you are coming along.

Stay safe, and grow well my friend,

Tok..

Thank you!

 

[Cwmoore577]

Update:
One plant seems to be faring better than the other for some reason although no differences at all. I haven't been able to tell if the symptoms are worsening or improving but time will tell. I'm hoping the increased watering frequency and the small addition of epsom salt will solve the issue as I'm thinking it looks like a magnesium problem. I've also mixed a small spray bottle with a pinch of epsom salt (EC 300) and done a few foliar sprays.

EC has been 750-800 and pH fluctuating between 5.8-6.0. Temps are low to mid 70's and RH around 50-60%.

I needed to remove the fan leaves for mainlining anyway so I included a picture of the leaves themselves showing the symptoms.

If anyone has any input on what might be the issue, feel free to comment! I really haven't had early issues like this with seedlings so young before. Fingers crossed that I can correct it!

Plant 1:

Plant 2:

 

[Cwmoore577]

Update: Seem to have it under control with no new symptoms in the new growth so far. Will be topping again soon.

 

[Cwmoore577]

Update: It's smooth sailing for now. Plants look much healthier and growth has exploded.
EC has been steady at 750 and I've kept the 0.5g epsom salt per gallon. Increasing the fertigation frequency has likely helped out as well.

I'm not sure if I will top again to create 8 main shoots or leave it at 4.


Plant 1:

Plant 2:

 

[Cwmoore577]

Update: The plant on the right is dwarfing the other one. Everything running smoothly. I'll let the smaller one get a few more growth shoots and try to tame the other as much as I can. I'll remove some of the lower growth on that one as they won't receive much light anyway. Sitting at 9 weeks and 3 days currently and I'm aiming to flip to 12/12 around the 10, maybe 11 week mark.

 

[Cwmoore577]

Update: In the 3rd week of flowering. Plants have stretched significantly and everything still going smoothly. I water 2 to 3 times daily with same ratio at a higher EC of 900. Stretching is likely at or near being done so I'll be adjusting with less nitrogen and more potassium.

 

[Cwmoore577]

Update: Just reached the 5th week of 12/12. It has been interesting that one of the plants has a dark purple coloration and the other doesn't. Both plants stretched well past what I was expecting and I've had to jerry rig the lights to get them as high as possible. I've just lowered nitrogen a bit and increased potassium by adding 0.5ml Liquid KoolBloom per gallon. Watering two times a day pH 5.9-6.1 and EC at 850-860.

If anyone has any input on why the same strain with identical conditions are so different, would love to hear.

Plant 1:

Plant 2:

 

[Bill284]

Update: Just reached the 5th week of 12/12. It has been interesting that one of the plants has a dark purple coloration and the other doesn't. Both plants stretched well past what I was expecting and I've had to jerry rig the lights to get them as high as possible. I've just lowered nitrogen a bit and increased potassium by adding 0.5ml Liquid KoolBloom per gallon. Watering two times a day pH 5.9-6.1 and EC at 850-860.

If anyone has any input on why the same strain with identical conditions are so different, would love to hear.

Plant 1:

Plant 2:

Hello @Cwmoore577 great garden my friend.
Although you may not have mixed up the seeds doesn't mean someone else didn't.
It's probably a pheno causing the difference but not necessarily.
I know members who bought autos and got regs.
Human error can be at play.
Ever hear of a surgeon doing the wrong operation anything can happen.
Just a thought.
Keep up the good work.

Stay safe
Bill

 

[Cwmoore577]

Hello @Cwmoore577 great garden my friend.
Although you may not have mixed up the seeds doesn't mean someone else didn't.
It's probably a pheno causing the difference but not necessarily.
I know members who bought autos and got regs.
Human error can be at play.
Ever hear of a surgeon doing the wrong operation anything can happen.
Just a thought.
Keep up the good work.

Stay safe
Bill

I had definitely thought this was a possibility. I've grown this strain previously which turned out a very short bushy plant. Very dense buds with a slight purple color. Each plant has been vastly different.

I've got a couple more in storage too, wonder how they will go.

Thanks Bill!

 

[Cwmoore577]

Update: Getting closer to the end.

I had high hopes for the purple plant, although it appears that the buds will end up being less dense than I would like them to be. Still pretty though.

The other plant is having some deficiency issues, it looks like a phosphorus problem. It's confusing because the problems are at the top, nothing noticeable on the older growth. I thought I would do a slight flush with a few gallons of lower concentration nutrients before making any other adjustments.

Plant 1:

Plant 2: