Newbie grower, tried 5 failed attempts over the last 8 months even with the most expensive grow liquids from amazon. Signed up to the new years "friends" grow to learn something apart from getting past few a 4 cm stalks which died a week later. Don't think I am doing well with autos, maybe switch ... but they were cheap seeds and I have lots of cheap and expensive auto an phto seeds from mixed between £1 to £30 per seed in the fridge. Not sure what do to do for the new years challenge.
Ok as some people have already started and wasn't sure the rules of this grow as its NYE today for me I just started germination of 5 northern lights auto seeds from seedsman. These were fucking cheap and reviews aren't great (about 1 quid a seed) but as a beginner grower I don't want to waste money on my more expensive refrigerated seeds until I get a full grow on the cheap ones.
Well only on first step, soaking 5 seeds in 25C mineral water (pH6.2) without light but in indoor 4x2 tent for 12-24 hours until they sink with a push, then Ill put them in paper towel, Clonex sprayed, which usually sprouts tails in 1 - 2 days about 1 - 2 inches. After that I will put them in root riot cubes for a day or 2 then transfer to either a 3 gallon, 5 gallon or 7 gallon fabric pot depending of the success of germination these crappy cheap seeds.
Tent is staying at a steady 25C day and night with Alexa controlled plug control and 2000 Watt LED at the top of the tent (even when a dark thick black towel is coverings them for germination). I also I have 6 inch inline fan and another 6 inch exhaust fan for air rotation. 2 fans and a heater inside plus a humidifier when needed. plus a oil radiator on control outside the tent to keep the room temp right controlled from my phone.
Hope my grow will work this time and if not, I would appreciate tips from the community what I did wrong. Got the full range of Canna product line to use later ....
Not much to add except happy new year. I have moved my soaked and sunk seeds to a paper towel sprayed with water and Clonex several hours ago. Will transfer to Root Riot cubes when they start to sprout some roots.
All 5 seeds spouted 1 cm roots. Just transferred them to root riot cubes in a humidifier dome adding more clonex spray with cal mag mixed in the solution (also around pH 6). The low temp here at the moment is 5-10 C so not moving along as fast as I wanted. Trying to raise the heat a bit now.
Now got the temp to a stead 27C with the current weather using a heat mat on an Alexa/Tapo timer plug to turn it on and off. will adjust the timer on and off depending on the temp each day when I check in on my seeds.
Keeping the heat mat on 2 hours on 1 hour off, seems to give me an average between 25 and 28C in my current wintery climate of northwest Europe. Once I learn to get photo's off my camera onto my computer I will post something when it makes a breakthrough of some sort .... just sprayed the enclosure with some more cal mag and mineral water mixture.
Just to update you on my equipment as others have done. I have a pretty good and sturdy generic indoor tent 4 x 2 x 5. Also 1 x 6" intake and 1 x 6" outtake fans. plus 3 fans inside the tent. Also a humidifier, heat mat and sealed germination dome. Also hanging from the top is 2 x 1000W LED lights at 1/2 strength each. I also have a full set of canna line of nutrients + Clonex gel, 1% to mineral water in a spray. I have a Cal Mag spray too. Other equipment and powders are pH down powder which is very strong and needs to be diluted "a lot" (meant for swimming pools). I have all the tools for measuring PPM/EC/pH/Temp/etc and litmus paper to double check, plus calibration solutions for pH tools etc.
I stuck my 5 Auto Northern Lights seeds from seedsman in a shot glass in the dark tent at around 25C until they sunk with a push 24-48 hours later (I might have had a hangover new years day so things went slow). I then transferred to the paper towel method (sprayed with a Clonex solution) in a Ziplock bag exhaling CO2 into it twice a day for 2 days until all 5 sprouted. I then transferred them to Root Riot cubes in a humidity dome which they are now and sprayed with more Clonex and Cal Mag solution. Temperature remain between 21-29 C until using Tapo plugs connected to Alexa and controlled from my mobile phone and getting it closer to 25C.
Depending on how many healthy stalks the 5 seeds make I will transfer them into 5 x 3 gallon, 4 x 5 gallon or 3 x 7 gallon fabric pots to fit in the tent. The tent is a little small due to being in the converted attic with low ceilings and not much room so I am hoping to do some LST using a SGRoG net. The medium I will be growing in is 70% Coco and 30% Perlite.
I am actually having a little problem at the moment with a temperature dive, 3C to -5C today and finding it hard to keep my tent above 18-20C. My home thermostat is broken at the moment and the oil heater is expensive to run, especially as I have to move it all over the home to keep to keep it all warm. Hope they survive, a couple have started stalking slowly!!!!
Manual oil heater back in grow room, got it to 27C at the moment, ever with temp -2C at 10 am, doesn't look like too much damage, just slow growth. Going to spray some pH Cal Mag water on it before they reach 5+ cm (2+ inches) and transfer them to fabric pots with coco and perlite 70%/30% in a day or two.
The back ones were my my last failed crop, I heard keep as many cubes in the dome and watering them help even if its dead weight at this stage. Could be a myth, they say to use all 24 cubes even if you are growing in 5, to me its sounds like a waste but don't mine using failed crops in there if extra moisture is needed.
Currently running 2 x 1000W LED top of tent 24/7 for autos plus 6 inch inline and exhaust fans (with carbon filters both sides) + 3 fans in tent + heat mat. 2 hours on 1 hour off, etc constantly. During the 1 hour off the oil heater runs with 2 hours off for that space to heat the room during these freezing days. Today is supposed to be 5C max 0C min which is slightly hotter than yesterday which went down to -5C.
Getting a good 26-28C temp inside now. Will adjust the hours with 3 tapo plugs on my mobile when needed.
