Fixing to Grow 60 Day Wonder White Dwarf Auto and Auto Fuel

[zvuv]

Hi

It's been quite a few years since I did a grow. My gf has developed chronic back pain so I am fixing to grow some auto strains so we can get something fast. Of course we are going to smoke it for fun too After that, I can take my time and grow something really nice. I am setting up a 27" deep x 5' wide x 7' tall closet. I still have my old 600w lamp which probably needs a new bulb. I still have plenty of old Nova nutes but I think I will throw that out. The grow will be soil.

Things have changed quite a bit since the last time I did this. At that time Low Ryder was considered a crappy strain that high school kids grew under their beds. Now there are all these amazing breeds.

I have ordered: 60 Day Wonder (fem). White Dwarf Auto(fem) and Auto Oil (mistake in the thread title, sorry). I am thinking of using 1 gal pots in the hope that will make them flower sooner.

Are there any FAQs on growing this stuff? What nutes and potting soil are people using these days?

I appreciate any advice.

I hope to log the grow in this thread.

 

[zvuv]

Seeds from bcseedbank should be here next week. One grower reported getting bad seeds from this vendor. I hope I have better luck. I might place an order from another site just to be sure. Right now time is the most important thing. Every week spent waiting for seeds is a week longer till harvest.

Right now I have plenty to do setting up the closet again. This time I am going to put an ac unit through the wall. I had a lot of trouble with temps in my prevous grows. My lamp is a 600W HPS. I'm going to put a MH in it for veg. I'm toying with the idea of using HPS and UVB lamps for flowering.

 

[kriznarf]

Hey zvuv. I'm currently in the middle of my first grow. I've attached a pic. The two larger plants in the center are 60-day wonders at about 4 weeks. They're in Fox Farms Ocean Forest, 3-gal smart pots, with the Fox Farms nutes being used at 1/8th strength. 400w HPS used through the entire grow. I started them at 20/4, but they're currently on 12/12 as I tossed in the other plants (BC Mango) as a 12/12 from seed experiment. I figured it probably wouldn't take too much away from the 60-day's, though I'm a novice to say the least. I'm liking the strain so far, but I don't have much to compare them to.

 

[zvuv]

Hi kriz,

Those are very healthy looking plants but I would expect to see 60 Day Wonder flowering by now. Perhaps the shorter light cycle has slowed them down? Not a problem if you aren't in a hurry. Just guessing, I have no experience with with autos. I used straight HPS on all my grows before and got great results but like you, I have to experiment

I'm also using 3l pots but this time I am going to block them off at the bottom so they are 2L. I am hoping that when the roots get cramped they will go into flowering.

I also have this idea of starting some non autos in there and just put them in another light proof closet for 12hrs when it's time to flower. I have too many ideas. I should keep it simple!

I just ordered this hps to mh conversion lamp

http://www.growwurks.com/solarmax-veg-7200k-600-watt-conversion-bulb.aspx

Growwurks was very helpful and friendly. We discussed spectra and internode spacing for about 10 mins

 

[zvuv]

This is my grow closet. 96" high floor is 34"x57". I have electricity set up from the last grow and a hole for an exhaust vent into the crawl space.

I will need to make another to exhaust hot air from the light. I am fixing to buy a 200 cfm inline centrifugal blower to drive the air through the lamp fixture. I have to figure out where to put the ballast so it doesn't heat up the closet. Last time it was outside the closet due to heat problems but I dont like that for stealth reasons. I may put it in a plywood box and route the air for the light through it. Also, last time I drew air to cool the light from a roof vent which was kinda stupid since it gets damn hot up there. Air from the crawl space is cool even in the summer. I have a partitioned crawl space, so I can draw from one and exhaust into the other. The closet itself will exhaust into a crawl space through a carbon filter.

I am hoping that keeping the lamp cool will eliminate the need for an ac unit. The wall with the breaker box is an exterior wall. There is plenty of room for an AC unit but it means cutting and reframing a stud. Also I am a bit worried about sealing the AC unit so that smelly air doesn't leak out. That wall faces onto the street.

 

[sharon1]

I will subscribe to this if you jurnal this grow. I'm sprouting some 60 day wonder seeds as I type....24 hours or so into it.
Will be growing in a closet too, very similar to yours.

Good luck with everything.

 

[MasterHemp]

I have already grown and harvested 2 60dw's, very easy to grow i reckon and a nice smoke

i have some pics if you'd like to see how it looks in flowering,
although they wont all look the same in flower i dont think.. my mates 60dw turned out pink, was very pretty
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/353771-60-day-wonder-auto-flower-8.html#post4750925

 

[elevate2meditate]

sub'd. lookin forward to seeing the results on the 60dw/autos.. keep us updated. Good luck with all.

 

[zvuv]

Well all the stuff is ordered. It's a lot of work planning for a tight space and buying all that shit. Choosing nutrients made my head spin. Try reading a thread on that subject. I went with Flora Nova. I had good results with it last time. Also bought some AN tarantula.

Electricity goes in today. Fan and other stuff arrives today so duct work tomorrow. The left hand wall is next to a furnace closet so I put the ballast in the furnace closet and ran the cables through the wall. Had to drill through asbestos. If need be, I have plan to put an AC unit in there and cool the coils with air from the fan exhaust. Hoping it doesnt come to that. I've put a lot of thought into extracting the heat from the closet. Anyway, in couple three days I will post pix of the closet all set up.

@elevate & sharon, thx for the sub. It's good to have company.

@elevate, I glanced at your thread. I think it will be very helpful for me once my girls get started

 

[elevate2meditate]

@elevate, I glanced at your thread. I think it will be very helpful for me once my girls get started

my thread? think u meant sharons, anyway cant wait to see how yur ladies turn out!!

 

[zvuv]

Well BC Seed Co screwed up my order! They confirmed the order on may 17 and notified me of shipping on may 19th. Then yesterday I got an email from Vancouver Seed bank saying they were out of 60DW and were shipping the white dwarf???? And who the hell is Vancouver Seed Bank? I ordered from BS Seed Co.

Turns out BC Seed just delegates their orders to Vancouver Seed and then notifies the customer that the order has been shipped w/o checking to see if it has actually gone out. This is a bit like dealing with porn sites. Never quite sure who is the actual vendor.

I was pretty ticked off. The whole point of growing autos was speed and now it has taken 2 weeks just to find out my order wasnt going to ship!

I spoke to Ashley at Vancouver Seed Bank, who was very helpful. She explained that they were fixing to buy BC Seed but in the meantime they were having difficulty 'coordinating'. Anyway, Vancouver is sending me some 'greenomatic' and some 'syrup' as replacement for the 60DW (both auto fems )as well as the White Dwarf which was part of the original order. She said she would express mail it at their cost. However, there is now a postal strike in Canada so it may have to go by Fedex or somesuch. Of course Fedex is going to be swamped. We shall see.

Not getting the order is one thing, but losing two weeks is maddening. If I had ordered from Attitude in the UK, I would probably already be growing.

Meanwhile the Auto Oil arrived. The envelope had been opened!! Although not quite enough to have taken out the package that held the seeds. Good thing I had it shipped to a friend's address but I am still a bit paranoid.

Did a lot of work on the closet mostly ductwork and electric. I'll post pix of that soon. Next, I have to work on lightproofing but that can wait a while.

@elevate Got confused. I was a bit stoned

@Master I will check out your thread carefully when the girls get going. tx

 

[zvuv]

Pix of the room:



Left to right:

Room view with 600W HPS on.

Lamp. Lamp exhaust on the left through the roof.

 

[zvuv]

View attachment 1631547

Left to right:

Ductwork to crawl space. Carbon filter and 8" duct fan exhausts room air to crawl space. Lamp blower intake and room air intake draw from crawl space. I wanted the duct work to be solid and to use as little flexible ducting as possible since it adds a lot of drag.

Electric: Two 15A breakers supplied from a splice into #4 cables from the crawl space. Switches one to control lamp with blower and another for the room exhuast. I plan to add more controls later including, perhaps, a thermostat. All wiring is above 4' on the walls. I wanted to avoid using ext cords which are a very bad idea in any kind of permanent setup and particularly dangerous in the presence of water.

Room Exhuast: I thought I ordered a 6" duct fan but an 8" 'er arrived. NP. The bigger fan is quieter.

Lamp Exhaust and Blower: Lamp air is completely isolated from the room air. Cool air from the crawl space is drawn in through a duct on the right and then vented through the roof as shown here. Below the blower, on the left, you can see the ballast wires coming through a hole in the wall. The ballast is mounted on the other side of that wall which is a furnace closet. The walls on that closed are lined with asbestos so drilling holes wasnt fun. I use a respirator and when Im done I take a shower and change clothes.


Lamp in Lowest position: I found a cheap bicycle hoist on Amazon which works perfectly.

Lamp near max height:

Lamp exhaust and room exhaust.

From earlier experiences growing in this closet, I decided that working in a tight space means that everything has to be well organized and very solid. I did not want to find myself knock duct work loose which moving plants around or run the risk of ext
becoming disconnected or lying in wet spots. From many years of professional experience, learned that an ext cord is an accident waiting to happen.

Another 'design goal' was to keep the lamp as cool as possible so I wouldnt have to install AC. The lamp air is drawn from the cool crawl space and is completely isolated from the room. I also reworked the venting in the lamp hood so that the air flows across the bulb itself. (I will post a pic of that).

I ran the lamp for an hour with the doors closed and the room stayed in the low 70s. The hood was cool to touch and the glass was warm. We will see how it does in July & Aug.

 

[zvuv]

Needs to be light tight. Holes in the door and wall etc are from the previous set up. I will close those up and work on the door frame so it seals tight

 

[zvuv]

Lamp hood with airflow rerouted.

This hood was designed to route the air between the inner reflector and outer case. A poor design IMO.

I cut 4" holes in the inner reflector and added a bit of ducting so that the air now flows over the bulb itself. I haven't done any scientific measurements but it seems to run much cooler this way.

For good measure I also packed some insulation in the gap between the reflector and the outer case.

 

[zvuv]

ph hell.

Well still waiting for the seeds from BC/Vancouver seedbank. I decided to start three Auto Oil seeds a couple of days ago but I couldn't control the ph in the soil and water. The water from the faucet is quite alkaline. My cheapo rapid test ph meter was all over the place. So I am not sure where I ended up. The seeds may be sitting ph4 for all I know. They would have been better off if I had left it alone.

So I went and ordered a litmus kit, what looks like a decent soil ph tester for $20 and a good quality water ph tester on ebay for $40. Sells new for over $150.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&rt=nc&nma=true&item=190513868148&si=5LOjKPlEfCjUtvVl%2BO4W5OrUyuQ%3D&viewitem=&sspagename=ADME:L:OC:US:1123

The litmus will serve as a sanity test for the other instruments.

If these seeds don't germinate because they got pickled, I will start another batch when the test equipment arrives.

 

[rollinronan]

smaller pots wont make them flower any sooner, you will just get smaller plants

 

[zvuv]

Seeds from Vancouver Seed Bank arrived yesterday. Syrup, White Dwarf & Greenomatic. All auto fem.

Ph measuring stuff arrives today & tomorrow so I will start them then.

The three auto oil seeds germinated, despite my best efforts. Right now I have them out on the deck. I need to set up some cfls for them today. When the 2nd set of true leaves appear, they will go under the big light. If the ph in their soil doesnt test out, I will repot them.

One thing I have learned from reading the threads on autos is that the roots are very delicate and one should avoid repotting. I figure if I do it early while the root system is very small and I am careful not to disturb the roots while transplanting (I have a plan), I should be ok.

@rollin, thx. Previous grows were in 7gal buckets. Got huge plants and a great yield but they took a long time. Growing in 2 & 3 L pots will give me some experience.

 

[C.Indica]

I don't know if this has been answered but here it goes;

Putting your plants in smaller pots won't make them flower faster.
Honestly it won't even phase them until they start to run out of room.

Autoflowers flower soon enough, you don't need to rush them, otherwise your just cutting corners on product quality/quantity.

I think 60 days is a wee bit short... I don't know anything about your strains, but harvest them based on trichomes, not time.
This is the only real way to understand when your plant is developed and ready for a whack.

Root space and root care = better bigger stronger plants.
It's just fact. Grow one plant in a 10 gallon, and one plant in a 5 gallon bucket,
the 10 will dwarf the 5 like nothing.

Here's the next trick;
Cost Effectiveness.

When you run lights on set times, time = money literally.
Also, the more dirt you use that the plant doesn't need, the more money your spending on dirt/nutes.
And time on water.

Ultimately, your going to need to grow out each strain several times until you know exactly how much dirt they need to be healthy until harvest.
Recording info will help you a lot.
Sucks that your just now getting your meds, good luck.
Oh and most growers recommend a 20/4 light schedule for autoflowers, but again this matters on strain.




Mixing Dolomite Lime in your soil (Comes in most potting soil mixes) will effectively neutralize your soil's pH to 7.0
Repotting CAN and MAY injure plants, but not always.

Here's a cool tip;
Starting plants in small containers, and transplanting them slowly but surely into new containers when they reach their limits, will provide a stronger, denser root system per volume.

Meaning you could fit more roots in a smaller container if you let the plant do it naturally.
But also a lot of growers prefer to plant seeds/clones directly in large containers.

 

[zvuv]

@Indica, tx for all the tips.

The oil seedlings are showing their first set of true leaves. The soil tests at ph4.5. I am going to repot them in 3L pots ( in light of advice above ). Then I will start the others in 3L pots.

I might try that trick of cramping the roots in successively bigger pots when I start the photoperiods. Since they will be vegging while the autos are flowering there will be plenty of time for the plant to recover from any kind of stress.