Step's 2nd Journal - Cheese Fem Auto

steppedinds

steppedinds

Well-Known Member
:welcome:Hello everyone. I'm step and this will be my 2nd attempt at a journal. My two attempts at hydro didn't go so well, so I'm going back to the basics.

I've got 5 Feminized Full-Auto Cheese by Canuk Seeds on the way and a freebie Feminized Full-Auto Lemon Skunk. This will be a soil grow. I've got Pro-Mix BX on the way in the mail and I will be using Phat Sacks smart pots. I've got a lot of General Hydroponics fert stored up so I'll probably be using it for this grow, and maybe try something else out next time, although Atrain's schedule is pretty tempting to penny up cash for. I'll be using the same 60w E27 Epistar bulbs plus order either a 1200w or 1600w Mars II for the flowering section. I have the equip for CO2, but the room being so big idk how I'm going to afford using it lol, so it probably won't be used much this go around.

I'm just getting started on the construction of my new closet layout, but when it gets done I plan on having enough room to plant and harvest 1 each week on a continuous cycle. I would consider the SOG method but I'm not confident I have enough room and I've never personally cloned before. I may try it later though, we'll see...I like autos because they are genetically bred shorter so you can pack more into small spaces. I think I do need a little expert advice on a few things, or your thoughts/comments; but here is what I have so far.

The closet is 74L*29W*96T. Right now the veg section has 44" of clearance, and the flowering section only has 52". So, I think I'm going to move the shelf down a few inches, maybe looking for some input on how much. Going to cut the slabs so that they are flush with the shelf rather than on top of it to save 1.5", too.

The closet has 2 sliding mirror doors, so its pretty hard to seal. I've got a tarp that will be cut to size and use Velcro to seal and use as a door. Not too sure if the Velcro is going to last, but it'll work until I come up with a better idea. It will at least seal it enough to sleep, lol.
 
Id say you'd want your veg area 1/2 the height of the flower. Id go 62in on top and 34in on the bottom. Its really personal preference based on how tall you or bushy you want them.

If i had your setup Id run 8 3gal pots up top for flower and 16 1/2 gal on bottom for veg. I would probably install a scrog too for support and convenience.

As far as autos vs regs I have grown both. I do prefer regs because I can keep the strain forever and I can control the height by flowering early or training. For cloning I have a 36 site aero cloner. Doesn't get any easier. Just take a cutting, trim it up, put it in the cloner with just water, and 10 to 14 days later I have roots with a 100% success rate.
 
*Update* 1/09 - Seeds came in today. Got the shelf lowered and added CFL strip done. 6 bulb 4' T5 lamp on the way; should be here mon/tues with half 6500/3k bulbs. I will napkin the seeds tonight and plant tomorrow directly into the 5 gal pots.
 
*Update 1/13* - Seeds are in the dirt and lights are in. I'll probably try to install the t5 fixture so that it fits better under the planks, raising it another inch or so, in the next day or so. Plants will stay under these lights for at least a month, at which time I should have a new Mars II 1200 and the old LEDs hooked up and installed up top.
 
Nice looking setup, simple and to the point. Id place your surge protector up on the wall. Most have mounting brackets on the back.
 
fopho said:
Nice looking setup, simple and to the point. Id place your surge protector up on the wall. Most have mounting brackets on the back.
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preciate it. i'm a simple kinda guy, lol. yeh i've been meaning to swap that surge protector out, right side plugs aren't working, and mount a new one.
 
I like the setup. If I wasn't renting I might look into something similar.

Read that you had 2 previously failed Hydro Attempts. I saw the one was an issue with root rot, what was the issue with the first attempt, if you don't mind my asking. I am currently doing my first hydroponic setup and just want to avoid any possible issues.
 
Thanks Spara. On my first hydro grow I was not using the correct amount of nutes. I didn't have a good way to measure and was using an ear dropper to add them 1 drop at a time @ 5 drops = 1 ml. This was obviously not enough. I also was using hort epson salt for Mg, and using tablespoons instead of teaspoons as the measurements. It was smoke-able, but by no means anything great. Last grow I was extremely devastated...plants got to 30-33" and algae popped up over night....dense thick slimy stuff. I was using a different, smaller, less noisy pump than the previous grow. Once the roots got thick in the res, the pump wasn't strong enough to keep the water aerated. I tried to use hydrogen peroxide to get rid of it, but it was just too bad.
 
*Update 12/18 - Day 4* Watering daily with tap water that was been aerated for 24+ hours. Will start nutes on day 11. All of the Cheese have sprouted. One of them is a little bit weak and may die. The Lemon Skunk has not sprouted yet, but was planted 3 days after the others so there is still hope.
Cheese 1
Cheese 2
Cheese 3
Cheese 4 (3 days younger)
Cheese 5 (runt)
 
Atrain said:
What's up brother.... when your ponytailing I usually go 6 hrs every day or every other... up to you but I go 6 every other day
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Awesome. preciate it bro. I'm definitely gonna try it out. Topping slowed them down too much last time. Going to try some early LST with ponytailing and see how it goes :high-five:
 
*Update 1/23 - Day 9* - Going to wait a few extra days for the younger ones to catch up then I'll start the nute schedule. Older plants did get a small dose of some powdered nutes I had 3 days ago. think it may have been a little too strong but not too bad. Cheese 1 has a funny color to it. The Lemon Skunk popped a few days ago. The seed was disturbed and floated close to the outside of the pot. I left it where it was; I have not had much luck with relocating seedlings, if there is such a thing. I also went ahead and planted a regular fem Bubba Kush for a clone project.
Cheese 1
Cheese 2
Cheese 3
Cheese 4
Cheese 5 (runt) - after a little bit of tender care and surgery I got this girl to open up. Was watering it twice a day and once she started gaining some height I noticed the cotyledon still had not opened up (by height here I mean above the soil...very short seedling still.) I used a thin splinter of wood to gently separate them. Two days later they were fully open; two more days the first leaves appeared. Wish I had taken a picture from this as a sprout. I knew then it was going to be weak, but just wanted to see if it would surprise me.
Lemon Skunk
 
*Update 1/29 - Day 16* - Added nutes to cheese 1-3 tonight. Started LST on C3 a few days ago, going to do C1-2 tonight. I ordered a Mars II 1200 yesterday and a Phresh carbon filter. I'll get those installed as soon as they get in.
Cheese 1-
Cheese 2-
Cheese 3-
Cheese 4-
This one shouldn't have gotten the nutes with the other 3 for sure
Cheese 5-
Cheese 5 is still a tiny little girl. Not sure she is going to progress
Lemon Skunk -
 
Hey step! I definitely like your set up. Well planned out to have a space already set to go to prep for a perpetual grow. Congrats on them sprouts too! I love the cheese smoke. It can definitely be some put ya on your ass and make ya forget what ya were doin stuff! :cheesygrinsmiley::thumb:
 
STIHL LOGGER said:
Hey step! I definitely like your set up. Well planned out to have a space already set to go to prep for a perpetual grow. Congrats on them sprouts too! I love the cheese smoke. It can definitely be some put ya on your ass and make ya forget what ya were doin stuff! :cheesygrinsmiley::thumb:
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preciate bro. yep, just ordered some more seeds last night. 5 - Critical Mass, 5- Sweettooth, and 3 - "Number One - SuperAuto". Also got a few freebies that are different, so I'll have a taste of everything in a few months. A buddy just had some Cheese finish up and it was great. He only had 1 plant though so there wasn't much; figured i'd go for round 2
 
Finishing up my diy fixture for the 60w COBs. 1200w Marshydro II will be here later this week as well as a few other goodies. should have everything installed before I need to move the young-lings up top. I was debating on a light mover and not using the COBs to save on a little bit of power, but decided to just use the COBs. Since these 60w lights are so low power (only 32w actualy output) I have placed them relatively close together for overlapping spectrum. When i get the 1200w Mars Hyrdo II in i will try to find an appropriate spot to place the COBs and perhaps rotate them to find the best results; placing them somewhere probably very close to the outside on each side (as illustrated in the pictorial on page 1). I also started all of the plants on the GH schedule at 1/2 dose, but 5 days early. The dates are correct on the excel above but not the day since birth (especially since I've waited 3-5 days per plant to get them all on the same feed schedule). All plants are responding very well, even the runt Cheese 5! Very excited shes pulling along and can't wait to see what she can do. I'll try to give a pic update tomorrow...trying to update every 5 days but can't always find time, or i just forget. Cheers all!:thankyou:

edit: also will be stapling those hang-dangly wires before i finish of course

Edit:- I started all other plants on the same schedule day 10, 1 day younger than C1-3. I will extend the 5 day schedule to 6 days and then if all is good will continue on as if on day 15 to even them out.
 
these are some pics of the 60w COB E27 bulb that will be going to the left and right of the Mars 1200w. some in this pic are obviously cfls; tubes hanging down are CO2 if you were wondering. Lights did wonderful, but i was unable to finish the grow to give a good review. Once I installed them, growth took off with lush, green growth; really wish I'd gotten to sample some.
 
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