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Blisters 2016 LED Coco grow

Back for yet another year! I've had two modestly successful grows with coco so far. I'm hoping to build on the knowledge gained and have an improved season (weather permitting) this year. At this point I've limited myself to a few basic peppers. I've got

- Red Bhut - paper towel/baggie started Dec. 24th
- Yellow Bhut - paper towel/baggie started Dec. 24th
- Reaper - paper towel/baggie started Dec. 24th - though this one dried out while I was away and I'm not sure if the seeds are still viable
- MoA Bonnet - yet to be started

The paper towel and baggie method seems to be the most successful way for me to get seeds going so far. I've had very little success with rockwool. I still have some nutrients left over from previous years grow and will use it before buying anything new. I have three nutrient brands on hand:

- Canna Coco A and B
- General Hydroponics Flora Grow and Bloom
- CNS17 Grow and Bloom

All three nutrients are simple to use. Of them all I'd say I've had the most success with GH Flora series. Simple to use, affordable and it's available just about everywhere. This may be the nutrient I start the season with because it's so easy to measure and mix.

The Yellow Bhut's were the first to sprout this year. I had to remove the helmet head on all of these, but things worked out ok.



Once big enough, the seedlings went into coco filled plastic shot glasses. I drilled holes in the bottom, filled with coco and pushed a small hole in the coco with the end of a paint brush. After dropping the seedling in, I give them a good watering with plain water and placed them back under the heat dome to keep them warm at night and help reduce the transplant shock.



I've got a few red jolokia's that have shot out a tap root, but I'm going to wait a bit before putting them into coco.

Neil
 
Click to expand...
Blister said:
Back for yet another year! I've had two modestly successful grows with coco so far. I'm hoping to build on the knowledge gained and have an improved season (weather permitting) this year. At this point I've limited myself to a few basic peppers. I've got

- Red Bhut - paper towel/baggie started Dec. 24th
- Yellow Bhut - paper towel/baggie started Dec. 24th
- Reaper - paper towel/baggie started Dec. 24th - though this one dried out while I was away and I'm not sure if the seeds are still viable
- MoA Bonnet - yet to be started

The paper towel and baggie method seems to be the most successful way for me to get seeds going so far. I've had very little success with rockwool. I still have some nutrients left over from previous years grow and will use it before buying anything new. I have three nutrient brands on hand:

- Canna Coco A and B
- General Hydroponics Flora Grow and Bloom
- CNS17 Grow and Bloom

All three nutrients are simple to use. Of them all I'd say I've had the most success with GH Flora series. Simple to use, affordable and it's available just about everywhere. This may be the nutrient I start the season with because it's so easy to measure and mix.

The Yellow Bhut's were the first to sprout this year. I had to remove the helmet head on all of these, but things worked out ok.



Once big enough, the seedlings went into coco filled plastic shot glasses. I drilled holes in the bottom, filled with coco and pushed a small hole in the coco with the end of a paint brush. After dropping the seedling in, I give them a good watering with plain water and placed them back under the heat dome to keep them warm at night and help reduce the transplant shock.



I've got a few red jolokia's that have shot out a tap root, but I'm going to wait a bit before putting them into coco.

Neil
Click to expand...
Good Luck for 2016
 
Thanks. Things are rolling along, just haven't had time to post pictures. I need to do a fairly major update that's for sure.

Neil
 
Sorry folks! It's been a long time since my last update. I"ve been away from town for a bit and then I'm pretty beat when I finally do get back. ANywho, here's an update of what's been happing with my grow.

I've been sticking to General Hydro Flora Micro and Flora Grow so far. It's been working as expected. The mixture is 

- 4L Reverse Osmosis water
- 6ml Micro
- 9ml Grow

This produces a mixture right around 700ppm. I hold the ph around 5.8. I have occasionally added 1ml/4L of General Hydro's Armor Si. I don't know if it helps or not, but it brings my ph to 5.7 to 5.8 and I don't have to adjust anything.

I had to expand some more coco the other day so I could pot up a few of my plants. I use a mild nutrient solution of CalMag+ and RO water - 5ml/2L. Once it was expanded and had a chance to dry out a bit, I sifted the coir through a mesh strainer to remove the fines a keep only the coarse bits.

The strainer. I would put a few handfulls into the strainer and then bang it against my other hand until I removed most of the fines.



This is the result of sifting the coco. The fine pith on the top and the coarse coco on the bottom. Sifting the coir gives you a much better draining medium.



Here they are Feb 11, 2016



Here they are under the lights. I think this is my 3rd year with the Blackstar 180W UV LED.



And all wrapped up to contain as much light as I can.



Finally, here are all my plants today, March 3, 2016



Thanks for reading.

Neil
 
Just did the math on the the plants and the two pictures above. Feb 11th to March 3 is 22 days. Is it just me or is that a very short time for the amount of growth that I'm seeing? We're having a very warm winter and almost all of our snow is gone. We usually don't see that until closer to the end of March around here. Our plant out isn't until close to the end of May. I had a feeling that I was behind for this time of year, but now that I'm looking back at the pictures, I'm thinking that I may run out of room before the plant out.

Neil
 
Thanks Shane. I'm aways amazed at how fast they grow. I already have roots poking out the bottom of the pots too. 3 months to go to plant out!

Neil
 
Another small update to my progress. I had potted up my plants back on Feb 11, 2016 and have been top watering them. Today I noticed that the roots are already poking out the bottom of the pots.



I also decided to see how the roots were doing in the smaller shotglass sized cup. Yellow bhut next to beer can.



Top view.



View of the roots. I think I'll be potting this one up today...



Thanks for reading.

Neil
 
Thanks BK. It's hard to say how old the Bhut is. I had a few that took their sweet time germinating and popped up long after the other seed did. I put 2 seeds per Rockwool cube and was able to separate the plants without damaging them. I figured that I'd put it in a small cup to see how it would do. It's turning out nicely.

Neil
 
Flaming Youth said:
Hey Blister,you say you have used canna A & B? If so how did it work for you and peppers?
Click to expand...
I have used it. I never really got it dialed in. It never produced the roots like GH does. They do sell a root stimulator for their Canna line though. The leaves were considerably lighter in color as well. From what I understand Canna does not recommend RO water with their line up. They say to use regular tap water, but mine is horrible. You can add a bit of CalMag first should you choose to use bottled water.

Frankly for the cost and how hard it is to find around my area, I've been sticking with Flora Micro and Bloom. When I was able to find it the next town over, one shop was asking $75 CAN for each 1L bottle. The other place I found it had it for $15 per liter, but they rarely have it. I still have an unopened set of A & B. I'll use it once I'm out of GH Flora. Very simple to use and it has proven itself to me.

Neil
 
Big Kahuna said:
I'm always amazed by your roots Neil. How old is that yellow bhut?
Click to expand...
Just pulled one of the other Yellow Bhut's that I had potted up on Feb. 11, 2016. The root ball is progressing nicely.



May have to move them up another pot size soon, though I do have to control for space. My plant out date isn't until roughly the 3rd week of May. I'm planning on trying the fabric pots this year and see how that works out.

Neil
 
Thanks Trident! Things have been growing great so far. I still have a few months before plantout too!

Update time

Small update on my grow. Things are progressing nicely. So far I've been using mostly GreatfulH3AD's formula of Flora Micro and Flora Bloom. I've also started using some Botannicare  Silica Blast. I'm mixing this at a ratio of:

4L - Reverse Osmosis Water
1 ml - Silica Blast
6 ml - Flora Micro
9 ml - Flora Bloom

This gives me approximately 700 ppm and the Silica Blast brings my ph to approximatly 5.8-5.9ish so I really don't have to do much in terms of adjusting up or down.

I pulled one of the plants in the smaller shotglass cups and found that it could be moved up to a larger pot. I'm not sure on what it is. Chances are it's a yellow bhut, but I also had a two Bhutlah seeds in rockwool cubes. I lost track somewhere along the line. I guess we'll see.

Root ball



I also potted up a Red Bhut, though the root ball wasn't nearly as established. I've also had to move my plants off the little shelf I had them sitting on and put them on the bottom of the tub. The light isn't as concentrated anymore, but they are able to get light throughout the canopy.





All sealed up.



Thanks for reading.


Neil
 
I really love that bathtub setup! There used to be a ghetto grow gear thread and that last shot would fit right in!
 
Plants/roots look healthy and happy!!! Nice job Neil!
 
Lol! Yep its ghetto. It's our spare bathroom and has only been used once in the 3 years we've been here. It's actually working out better than I originally thought it would. I have a drain and the white really reflects the light well. It offers enough space to allow me a few plants, but helps me keep everything within reason. I really can't grow more than a dozen or so pants. Given the space I'd probably have a few hundred.

I really get a laugh at friends when they first come over and see it. They all ask questions and cock an eyebrow at me.

Neil
 
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