Willie's Earthbox Auto Grow

[wil2279]

So I am starting a thread here to share my organic earthbox grow with autoflowers. I have 8 earthbox juniors and will be growing 8 autos. I made my own coot style mix using Fox Farms Happy Frog and Coco as the base. I cut the nutrients in half because I'm growing autos. I will be using lobster compost and dry organic amendments to top dress. I hope I can get some people to watch and possibly comment. This is my 2nd indoor auto grow from start to harvest. So we will see how it goes. I am currently in the process of harvesting the plants 1 at a time from my first grow.

 

[wil2279]

The strains I will be growing this time will be as follows:
1 Mephisto Double Grape
1 Sweet Seeds Cream Mandarin
2 Mephisto Sour Stomper
2 Fastbuds Rhino Ryder
2 Fastbuds Cream Cookies

Honestly I have a lot to choose from. If we weren't heading into summer, I'd probably be growing out strains that are supposed to get bigger and yield heavier. But right now I'll be looking at harvesting mid to late June. I will then take 2-3 months off growing and then probably in September or early October I'll start my next grow. That is likely going to be a big grow! I'll probably use the 4x4 and 2x4 tents and try to fill them both up. But let's wait and see how this earthbox grow works out for me.

 

[wil2279]

So I haven't been good about keeping this thread up to date... I am about 14 days from breaking the soil surface and about 17 days from seed... Everything is looking good. I was 8 for 8 on germination but it appears I do currently have 1 runt... The cream mandarin isn't looking so hot. On the left from front to back is cream mandarin, 2 sour stompers and a rhino ryder in the back. On the right we have a double grape up front, a cream cookies, rhino ryder and lastly another cream cookies in the back...

 

[McShnutz]

So I haven't been good about keeping this thread up to date... I am about 14 days from breaking the soil surface and about 17 days from seed... Everything is looking good. I was 8 for 8 on germination but it appears I do currently have 1 runt... The cream mandarin isn't looking so hot. On the left from front to back is cream mandarin, 2 sour stompers and a rhino ryder in the back. On the right we have a double grape up front, a cream cookies, rhino ryder and lastly another cream cookies in the back...View attachment 5119730

How do you plan to water when your footprint is filled with canopy?

 

[wil2279]

How do you plan to water when your footprint is filled with canopy?

These pots aren't that big... I can pull a couple out of the front row to get to the back row... There are really only 2 in the back left corner that I can't get to from the front or the side.... This is also my first run like this... So it will be a learning experience. I might be better off running 2 2x4 tents so I have access to all the watering tubes from the front of the tent...

 

[McShnutz]

These pots aren't that big... I can pull a couple out of the front row to get to the back row... There are really only 2 in the back left corner that I can't get to from the front or the side....

Your grow, your choice... but I'd make all the fill tubes aligned in the center and make some sort of watering arm out of pvc,, you can use with a watering can.
Autos can really fill out and fast, if they're happy.

 

[natureboygrower]

I've used an automotive funnel with a collapsible/expandable "arm" on some hard to reach SIPS. Might be a bit of a stretch in there.

 

[myke]

Yup align in the centre then get a wand on a hose so you can reach in.This is going to get full.

 

[natureboygrower]

Yup align in the centre then get a wand on a hose so you can reach in.This is going to get full.

I understand what you guys are saying about the tubes but there's also the overfills to worry about. I'd want them all in line facing each other in the middle of the tent. So i at least could look under the canopy to check for overfill in one general area. I'm not sure if the tubes were all in line the overflow would be too?

 

[myke]

I understand what you guys are saying about the tubes but there's also the overfills to worry about. I'd want them all in line facing each other in the middle of the tent. So i at least could look under the canopy to check for overfill in one general area. I'm not sure if the tubes were all in line the overflow would be too?

Ya theres always something,having a big tray for them all to sit in would help with overflow.

 

[natureboygrower]

Ya theres always something,having a big tray for them all to sit in would help with overflow.

Yup, good idea. There must be companies that make liners that fit standard sized tents.

 

[wil2279]

I understand what you guys are saying about the tubes but there's also the overfills to worry about. I'd want them all in line facing each other in the middle of the tent. So i at least could look under the canopy to check for overfill in one general area. I'm not sure if the tubes were all in line the overflow would be too?

These gold roughly a gallon of water in the res... I have to be able to see the res before watering. Due to the compost and fertilizer I used, I really need to make sure they are dry in the res before I water. I'll probably just add 3/4 gallon when I water so I don't have to worry about the overflows... It's definitely a full tent. A 5x5 might have left a little more room.

 

[wil2279]

I really wanted to fill the tent. My last grow was 6 plants and they didn't get too big. I could have easily fit another 3-5 plants in the tent. These earthboxes may work a lot better. If they do maybe my next grow I will only do 6 plants.

 

[McShnutz]

I really wanted to fill the tent. My last grow was 6 plants and they didn't get too big. I could have easily fit another 3-5 plants in the tent. These earthboxes may work a lot better. If they do maybe my next grow I will only do 6 plants.

If the nutrients are there, the soil is fortified adequately and the plants never experience a dry back of the soil.. yup, your gonna have a full tent!! Sub-irrigation planters work very well.

 

[Hiphophippo]

It will be a headache climbing thru the jungle when there all grown up but we’ve all done it hope it works for the best look forward to seeing it grow

 

[wil2279]

Update pic... I hate to waste a plant .. but I'm pulling the runt to make room for the bigger plants. It is interesting to see the variation in phenos when running autos. So far I have run 4 sour stompers and they all looked pretty uniform. These Fastbuds though... Definitely a little more variation. This is the view from the actual front of the tent. All the other pics have been from the right side window.

 

[wil2279]

Forgot to mention... I topped the bigger Rhino Ryder in the front left corner today. I'll probably top the double grape and bigger cream cookies in the back right corner today also...

 

[wil2279]

Wow... So I am in bad need of an update.. my plants have been growing out of control. I topped all 3 of the bigger plants. 1 of the cream cookies, the big rhino ryder and the double grape. By doing this I was hoping the other plants might catch up. This actually worked really well. The sour stompers are now as big or bigger than the double grape. The smaller rhino ryder is the furthest along into flower now. I'll post some pics. The plants were getting almost too big and bushy and the humidity was kinda high.

 

[wil2279]

So I hooked up a dehumidifier and turned the exhaust fan on high to get the humidity down. This worked but not well enough. So I did some lollypopping... This got me right into the correct humidity levels I think I need to be in.

 

[wil2279]

Plants are still looking good. I have managed to get the VPD right for now. There will most likely be at least 1... Possibly 2 more rounds of defoliation. Nothing as dramatic as the lollypopping though. Tonight I am going to top dress with some flower girl and cavern culture... And some worm castings. This should be the last top dress. Not sure if it even needs it to be honest.