This will be my second attempt at growing. The first was a failure that didn’t make it past the seedling stage due to not knowing what the hell I was doing. No knowledge, no experience, no grow. So instead of jumping right back in, I tried to gain enough knowledge to have a plan and feel a bit more confident the second time around. In retrospect, I regret purchasing the SuperBox and not taking the time to do my research; I obviously should’ve put the money toward a proper setup. But before I do that, I would like to prove to myself that I can grow a plant.
So, my goal is to grow one plant from seed to harvest in the SuperBox. I’m attracted to growing in coco as a method, and there seem to be good sources for step-by-step info on using it. Limiting it to one plant because a) space is limited, and b) I’m trying to keep it simple.
THE PLAN
• Germinate seeds directly in Root Riot starter plugs
• When roots show from bottom, transplant to Solo cups filled with 70/30 coco/perlite mix and pre-fertigated with seedling-strength nutrients
• When plant has 3 nodes, transplant to 1-gallon fabric pot (final container???)
• Plan to fertigate at least twice a day to begin; feeding at each event according to Coco for Cannabis feeding schedule
• When plant has 6 nodes, either:
a) top to 4th node and LST remaining branches into trellis net
b) top to 3rd node and proceed to mainline or manifold
• Flip to 12/12 in time to accommodate stretch
Seems like a decent plan. We’ll see if I can execute.
QUESTIONS/CONCERNS
• I’m worried about outgrowing the box. I plan on topping and training to keep things as small as possible, but I still need a target height (and where to place the net) for when to flip to flowering (assuming I get there, of course).
• I’m not at all sure about final container size. Am I right in thinking 1- to 2-gallon fabric pot is the most I can do in this space?
7/3/21
2:00pm
Seeds are wet. 4 seeds in Root Riot cubes (soaked for a couple hours in distilled water). Cubes lightly shaken out and placed inside plug tray, then plug tray placed in drainage tray. Seeds planted 0.5 inch down (pointy-end down) in hole and covered with small piece of spare cube. Tray covered with dome (vents closed) inside Superbox. Inside of dome misted with spray bottle. Heat mat on with temp probe inserted. Extra Root Riot cube soaked and placed in tray for temp probe and to use to monitor moisture level of cubes. Lights off; no fan/filter; box closed.
7/6/21
8:00am
One seed popped! Light (1 X40) ON (24/0) @ 16" until tomorrow at 12pm to get on 18/6. Dome off. Humidifier ON set to 75% RH. Circulation fan ON pointed toward top of box. Exhaust fan OFF. Cubes still moist; a decent squeeze still brings moisture to the top.
6:00pm
Un-popped cubes sprayed - 2.5ml water for each popped cube
7/8/21
6:00am
Third seed out of four popped!
Root barely visible on bottom of cubes 1 and 2. Will prepare pre-fertigated solo cups later this afternoon.
I leave my seedlings covered for their 1st 2 weeks until the roots start feeding them. Right now they are drawing water from their leaves and humidity inside a dome is needed to create that condensation
I still water in a circle around my plants that are covered. Solo cups with a clear top or even a water bottle cut in half works. Humidity domes I typically have a little water in the bottom of the tray if I’m not getting the condensation needed.
Seems to be a lot of debate about when to remove domes, or whether to even use them at all. I had been spraying the inside of the dome for extra humidity. Removed it when the first sprout stood up because I’ve added a humidifier to the box. I set it to 75% and with the exhaust fan going, it stays within 55-80% RH. I got a lot to try and a lot to figure out.
Thanks so much for the info! I really appreciate it.
8:00am
TRANSPLANT
Roots showing on all cubes. Solo cups (clear inside red) filled and fertigated with seedling nutrient recipe (no Diamond Nectar). Solo cups have three large holes in bottom. Cubes planted. Cups placed on elevator inside saucer. Humidifier set to 75%. Circulation fan pointed at tops. Lighting is still a single X40 @ 12"
INFLOW EC/PH: 391/6.1
RUNOFF EC: 632
I was surprised at the initial inflow/runoff difference. 391 came out over 1100 the first time I ran it through. Royal Gold is supposed to be good to go out of the bag, but I’ll be sure to flush it with pure water next time I transplant—instead of flushing it with the nutrient solution like I did. Maybe the straight coco was only good out of the bag. Oh well, crossing my fingers I didn’t screw that up; it’s within 300 so that would seem okay.
Really hoping this transplant goes okay. It was my first time mixing nutrients and transplanting anything. Also hope runoff EC settles down with more fertigation. Going to only water once a day at lights-on while they’re still seedlings.
6:00pm
I changed light distance to about 10" from 12". Not sure how close I can go with the single 40w.
