Planning second auto grow - can use some advice

Grow Support Autoflowers
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So I am finishing growing Super Lemon Haze and getting ready for my second batch of Super Lemon Haze.

My current setup:

Environment:4x4 tent
Lighting: Mars hydro TS3000W
Medium: Coco Loco
Nutrients: FF Trio, cal mag, terpinator, silica, cha Ching, sledge hammer
I have a large storage bin that I use for watering daily.
I add nutrients 2 x a week
I have a small A/C unit pushing cooled air into my tent, I have a carbon filter with 6” ducts exhausting into the attic.

Future setup

Environment:4x4 tent
Lighting: Mars hydro TS3000W
Medium: switching too Coco Coir with peat moss (Verdana Coconut Fiber, pest moss soil)
Nutrients: Switching to Jacks 321
I have a large storage bin that I use for watering daily.
I have a small A/C unit pushing cooled air into my tent, I have a carbon filter with 6” ducts exhausting into the attic.

Here is where I feel I can use some help and issues I want to address.

When time and finances allow I am planning to replace my Mars Hydro TS300W with an HLG 550 as they run cooler and produce higher level of lighting. Not much I can do here now but I will raise my lights higher and turn up the gain while taking my temp readings from the top of the plants. While this is not a major win, I measured lux at the outer edges of the canopy and I was able to increase lux at the outer edges by around 20% and moderately working it’s way in. I also removed the drivers from the light and mounted outside of the tent.

I did not top my first auto grow and they grew 4’ tall. Which resulted in 1 large cola that is doing well but the rest of the plant is too far away. Therefore I will harvest the colas and drop the lights to mature the rest of the bud.

I am sure this has limited my yield as only the cola grew big and strong. While the rest of the buds grew but far underperformed.

So on this take I will top the Autos to try and grow an even canopy. I will also plan to use silica early in the grow to strengthen branches.

Coco coir it’s my first time using I read where @Hellraiser ran cal mag in his coco as there are no added nutrients for the plant as in coco Loco. So I plan to pour some cal mag over coco soil before planting seeds.

This is a big question for me. Jacks 321 I read that you use the same breakdown of nutrients throughout the entire lifespan of the plant.

I can use guidance here. What I would like to do is to use my 25 gallon storage container and mix 15 gallons worth of jacks 321 to feed the plants automagically. The question is will the mix breakdown or settle at the bottom over 10-15 days? Is this a bad idea? Or is it a good idea? I have the 25 gallon container connected to an automatics home watering system with 1/4” tubing going to each plant.

I suspect that I will want to water until run off and then measure the output and adjust according to Jacks schedule.

@beardless @SilvaBack203 @Not2SureYet @Hellraiser @nicky

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I don’t use calmag with coco, not needed with Jacks 321. I use canna coco bricks and expand them with the Jacks which gives it plenty of calcium and magnesium (the stuff in calmag).

Yes, can use the same Jacks mix for the whole grow.

It will be fine but you should keep it moving and mixed with a wave maker.

I never/rarely check my runoff for anything other than volume, I like a good amount of runoff (20-25%) and focus more on what I’m putting in the coco (ph and ppm/EC) rather than what comes out.

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Thanks @Hellraiser for clarification on cal mag and the wave maker. I want to do what I can to minimize maintenance and continuously produce high yields and great quality bud.

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One other thing to know about mixing larger volumes. The solution’s PH will rise, Although I have a twelve gallon reservoir I only mix 3-4 gallons at a time. I ph the mixture to 5.8 and two days later it will be 6.4. You will need a wave maker, actually a couple come in handy.
I use one in the reservoir. I also use one to help dissolve Jack’s while mixing it up.

In one tent you are using coco loco and in the other your own mixture of coco coir and peat.
As far as I know coco loco is considered soil for the purpose of the ph of nutrients.
While, if your mix is 100% coco and peat, it would be treated as a soilless medium (hydro) for ph purposes. Anyone - if I am mistaken please correct. If you are thinking of using the same nutrient mix for both tents you may have to reconsider. Or, use the same medium in both.

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Already great coverage. Here 4 the ride … during 2 weeks of flower I use mkp with my jacks

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@beardless
I am finishing one grow where I used FF Coco Loco and FF Trio.

I will use the same tent, tent, light, etc

I will even use the same batch of seeds I bought 20 from ILGM, but I will switch the medium and nutrients to Coco Coir with Peat moss and Jack’s Nutrients 321.

I am hoping to make improvements over my previous grow.

  1. Keep lights lower
  2. Top the autos
  3. Learn new nutrient line with auto watering.
  4. Grow in new medium
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U will be happy with the coco change and the jacks change. So far jacks is great super super easy to use good luck on the new grows with new materials.

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Don’t use lux it’s to iffy instead use their par chart and start at 350ish and up it roughly 50 par every 4 days after sprouting

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Meaning, you will be using coco coir & jacks in both tents. This will definitely makes things simpler.

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@beardless I will setup the reservoir with Jacks for 1 tent. My wife and I both have MMID cards so we can legally each have 6 plants. So I will eventually run two tents with Jacks and a single reservoir.

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So did u check the laws and make sure u both can have 6 each in the same household. Like adults here are allowed 12 but that only goes for 1 adult each house. Otherwise we would be rolling in pot leaves everywhere lol even if 5 adults in house u can only have 12 per household here that is. I don’t know how the cards work lol.

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Mix your full reservoir full, larger volumes take longer to drift, a quality ph buffer solution will also ensure more stability I find Advanced nutrients has by far the best ph down/up (its noticeable).

Coco loco is to be treated like soil not like coco, just Incase you were unaware.

Avoid heavy plant training, do one fim at 4th/5th node and that’s it, unless you have a scog net and can let them stretch to grow into a screen like @Not2SureYet does so well. To much lst or to aggressive lst seems to work if your environment is really dialed in and your experienced but I would say you don’t need it considering me and @Not2SureYet don’t lst and have great yeilds.
How to FIM

Use the photone app, buy the sunlight option and learn to use DLI.

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Good luck with the coco and jacks. Like everyone else has said you will like the combo. Slh is on my grow list.

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I was wondering about that. I know you are gone extended periods and not able to maintain the reservoir that frequently.
I will be putting it to the test soon. I will be gone for a week and will have to top off the reservoir before leaving.

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The higher the ppm also helps. Trying to hold PH on a solution of my old dry nutrient in veg at 450ppm vs a full Jack’s feed Durring veg that sits at 1130ppm after I add silica, Jack’s, microbes to my tap water. Huge difference.

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@GreenSnek i have a luxmeter but will look if has different measurements.

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@Mark0427 6 mature and 6 immature plants per person, as long as you grow in less than 100 sqft you do not need an additional license.
I have been holding on to some clones but plan to stick with autos for a while.

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@GreenSnek I have a cheap luxmeter. I am going to look into the lightning DLI that @Nicky posted.

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If you have a smart phone buying the sunlight version on the DLI app is all that’s needed and it’s probably the most accurate without spending 600$ on an appogge meter (we tested it twice against appogge meters)

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@Nicky, I will look into this more. On this next grow I hope to dial in my lighting, watering schedule, and nutrient feeding.

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