What Equipment/tools do I need (outdoor)?

[StonerZN]

I'm starting to get a clearer idea of what I need to start my grow, but some uncertainty lingers.

I want to use the best ingredients I can, but have the barest bones approach to keep it affordable.

Going to start accumulating all the bits and pieces I need over the next month to be ready to plant early/mid November as advised by Prom earlier.

Seeds:

Chose to fork out a bit to hopefully get some great plants:

3x President Seeds World War 3 Fem Auto 

Genetic Makeup: Trumps Cookie Jar x Gorilla Kim
Indica: 60%
Sativa: 40%
Outdoor: Yes
Indoor: Yes
Seed to Harvest: 11 Weeks
Height: +-1m
Yield: Extra Large
THC Content: High
Effect: Chilled and Relaxed
Flavour: Fruity and Earthy 

3x Fast Buds Original Sour Diesel Fem Auto

Room:Indoor / Outdoor
Gender Feminized
Genes Mostly Sativa
Genetics Sour Diesel Autoflowering
Flowering 9-10 weeks
Harvest 450-550gr/m2
Height 90-120
THC Up to 21%
CBD Very Low
Autoflowering Yes

 

These both sound sooo nice. Can't wait for them to arrive.

 

Soil:  FF Premium

Nutes: BioBizz range

Grow or Fishmix ( either or both - depending whats at the store when I get there)

Bloom 

Topmax (optional extra, may replace with cheaper alternative if I can find)

 

Pots

Planning on going with the FF fabric bags. Not sure which sizes.

Both plants can reach 1m. I have read here a few times that I shouldn't go too big on the sizes for autos?  

 

Do I need vermiculite or something as a substrate/drainage/base layer at the bottom of the pot? 

I ordered some companion Coriander crop cover with the seeds to help the top layer... Is this a good idea? was only R40

 

Germination tools

I am planning on using carlton towel and plates to germinate on my modem. Test run with bag seed underway.  

If I am correct, best practice seems to be to go straight into the above pots when the seeds pop? 

This means I have nothing else here on my list? 

Anything cheap to treat seeds with to help root growth on offer? necessary?

 

 

Anything else useful to have on hand? Have I forgotten anything?

 

[PsyCLown]

20L pots will be more than sufficient and can be used for your indoor grow as well.

 

I like to use carlton towel too, place it into a zip lock bag to keep humidity in and then between 2 saucers to keep light out.

On top of a modem should be fine to keep it all warm.

 

There are various things you could use to help the plants, but, how much of a difference it makes and how much you are willing to spend is what it comes down you.

You could spend a couple thousand on "magic potions" and may not even notice a difference.

 

You do not need any vermiculite, that would just lead to increased water retention. The FF soil alone should suffice and have enough drainage as well.

I must say, the FF pots are not bad but there are nicer pots out there. I quite like the Plant Matter pots and @Ill_Evan has some pots which are really awesome as well and priced decently. May be worth speaking to him about some fabric pots. Cannot remember the name of the pots.

 

You will need a loupe or microscope to check the trichomes on the plants closer to the time, as well as a pair of trimming scissors. But you have a few months to go before that is really going to be needed.

 

I don't feel there is much need for the coriander, try it if you want to though. Dont think it will do any harm.

 

You may need something for pest control, can address that later on if need be. If there is anything else you need, you can get it around the time you need it if you are on a budget.

[Prom]

Look for fish mix, if you want to use just one of both. Then get a bottle of melasses too from your grow shop and mix your own Grow... 750ml fish mix and 250ml melasses... and you have Biobizz Grow. Stick to the light mix table, not the FF table... that one demands to use bio heaven or you run into troubles.

I can send you a beefed up feeding table for your 10 weeks sour diesel, put those out second week Nov. Use the 12 week table, standard, on the ww3, beginning Nov (easy week calculation, 1. Nov).

I use 10 liter pots for autos, i let the 10 week bubbles go into week 15, very late harvest. Autos dont go as root crazy... also means they handle less good wind. I am always amazed how small the root work is when you empty the pots. 

Pulled one out gentle... that is a 10 liter pot and a 14 week old auto

 

[Gnarls]

Nice man. What are you doing for pest control?


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[StonerZN]

Look for fish mix, if you want to use just one of both. Then get a bottle of melasses too from your grow shop and mix your own Grow... 750ml fish mix and 250ml melasses... and you have Biobizz Grow. Stick to the light mix table, not the FF table... that one demands to use bio heaven or you run into troubles.
I can send you a beefed up feeding table for your 10 weeks sour diesel, put those out second week Nov. Use the 12 week table, standard, on the ww3, beginning Nov (easy week calculation, 1. Nov).
I use 10 liter pots for autos, i let the 10 week bubbles go into week 15, very late harvest. Autos dont go as root crazy... also means they handle less good wind. I am always amazed how small the root work is when you empty the pots. 
Pulled one out gentle... that is a 10 liter pot
 

Such a treasure trove of information that reply!
Dates to plant - check
Location of pots - little wind shelter needed
Feeding charts - yes please sir!

As for the pot size I am now in 2 minds.
PsyClowns idea of using bigger pots and repurposing them after this appeals to the cheap skate in me.

However if these go well I could see myself doing another run with autos in future. Maybe smaller ones dedicated to this purpose would be better than trying to use a bigger pot than is needed here.

My other concern is watering... with a smaller pot I may have to be more disciplined at checking them everyday? Bigger pot may hold a bit more water and give me a bigger buffer against neglect/problems?




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[StonerZN]

Nice man. What are you doing for pest control?


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Burying my head in the sand and hoping for the best tbh I'm not sure. Have seen so many different bugs and pest types on here I don't know that I can prepare for them all in advance.
Will wait until they inevitably raise their ugly heads and deal with it as it happens.
Will put a hundred bucks or 2 in an emergency bug killing envelope in case they strike mid-month


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[StonerZN]

6 hours ago, PsyCLown said:

 

I must say, the FF pots are not bad but there are nicer pots out there. I quite like the Plant Matter pots and @Ill_Evan has some pots which are really awesome as well and priced decently. May be worth speaking to him about some fabric pots. Cannot remember the name of the pots.

 

 

Had a look through @Ill_Evan's current diary, seem to be the FF pots in his pics, maybe it was someone else with the alternative... 

Not fussy about the brand provided they do the job and I can get them locally to save on bloody courier fees. Those add up quick! Will search for Plant Matter pots to check them out shot.

[Ill_Evan]

6 hours ago, PsyCLown said:

@Ill_Evan has some pots which are really awesome as well

 

5 minutes ago, StonerZN said:

FF pots in his pics, maybe it was someone else with the alternative... 

Yes indeed, the pots I use in my recent grow are the 20L Freedom Farms Pots. The alternative budget pots are the DirtPot range from Hydro Garden. 

[West Coast Vaper]

Hey bud, nice shopping list. Companion plants are good but choose wisely.
Coriander is a good companion plant to help with the NPK ( can't remember which one now) in soil. Problem is depending on the companion plants root system it may just end up fighting for space with the marijuana plants. So if it is just bugs you worried about plant up in separate pot and place close to your mother herb.
I'm busy with a permaculture grow area, gonna take 3-5 years, using sunflowers as a sacrificial plant (attracts bugs and helps condition the soil), dandelions for mole barriers and soil conditioning, various herbs (believe it or not but certain herbs help with bud development) .
Then I use cinnamon powder mixed in my soil which helps control pest eggs, gnats, ant nests and the likes.


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[Gnarls]

Burying my head in the sand and hoping for the best tbh I'm not sure. Have seen so many different bugs and pest types on here I don't know that I can prepare for them all in advance.
Will wait until they inevitably raise their ugly heads and deal with it as it happens.
Will put a hundred bucks or 2 in an emergency bug killing envelope in case they strike mid-month


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I got Bioneem and Pyrol from Biogrow. Those pest f*ckers wrecked my tomatoes last season.

GLHF!


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[StonerZN]

I got Bioneem and Pyrol from Biogrow. Those pest f*ckers wrecked my tomatoes last season.

GLHF!


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From what I have read here those 2 seem most common. Probably need them at some point.

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[StonerZN]

Hey bud, nice shopping list. Companion plants are good but choose wisely.
Coriander is a good companion plant to help with the NPK ( can't remember which one now) in soil. Problem is depending on the companion plants root system it may just end up fighting for space with the marijuana plants. So if it is just bugs you worried about plant up in separate pot and place close to your mother herb.
I'm busy with a permaculture grow area, gonna take 3-5 years, using sunflowers as a sacrificial plant (attracts bugs and helps condition the soil), dandelions for mole barriers and soil conditioning, various herbs (believe it or not but certain herbs help with bud development) .
Then I use cinnamon powder mixed in my soil which helps control pest eggs, gnats, ant nests and the likes.


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I never would have guessed. Quick Google search shows cinnamon seems to have many beneficial properties.
Can even seemingly be used as a rooting hormone! Shot bru.
Will plant the coriander nearby maybe any other plants that may chase bugs away that may be useful to have around?

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[afternoon blazer]

I have the freedom farms fabric bags. They cool. But water easily finds its was out the sides when watering.

Also in terms of pot size. The autos will reach a max of 1m in height (provided they are grown absolutly perfectly. Correct lights. Correct light height. Correct light schedule. Perfect nuetz feeds. Etc) as someone starting out and still learning abit. U probably dont have to stress too much on the 1m max height.

Also the bigger pots u get. The more soil u will need per grow.

Autos almost always go for alot less time then the photoperiod plants. Which means less time for roots to fill the pots.

 

All that said. I think a 10 liter pot would work well. 

Just my opinion and experience.

[Bakstein420]

Anybody have experience with air-pots?

https://gthydro.co.za/products/258-airpot-m-245mm.html

Thinking of giving them a try.

[PsyCLown]

2 hours ago, Bakstein420 said:

Anybody have experience with air-pots?

https://gthydro.co.za/products/258-airpot-m-245mm.html

Thinking of giving them a try.

I wouldn't, rather stick to fabric pots.

 

@StonerZN up to you regarding the 20L vs 10L pots. 20L pots are easy to repurpose, 10L pots not really.

I grew my auto's in 20L pots and all went well. You do use more soil for the pot, but don't need to water as often as it will hold more water - especially important being out in the sun all day with the wind etc. etc.

 

FF pots are not bad, but they are not perfectly round and the soil pulls away from the sides easily and then when watering the water goes down the sides and not into the soil properly. It's just a hassle, so for around the same amount of money you can get a different brand of fabric pot which does not have this issue.

I feel the Plant Matter pots are put together better, they are more circular and the dimensions work well. They're actually 22L I believe, if you want to be precise but nobody is forcing you to fill a 20L pot. You can always use less soil if you so desire.

[StonerZN]

You tempt me to fork out for the shippage and order online with your sensible points and sage wisdom you kind soul
They do not seem to have a local distributor it seems.
Their other product seems intersting: myco-plantmatter... is that a really nice luxury or a waste of money?

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[StonerZN]

More questions if anyone would be so kind.

1) FFarms say on their site that the classic shouldnt be used for germinating. Is this a thing? Sorta messes my plans to put seedlings straight into it if so...

2) When does one start counting the weeks for the strain? from germination or a certain point thereafter? This is mostly related to when to start feeding nutes.

3) When following Biobizz charts... Does one use the dilution they suggest in ALL waterings(i.e. only feed nuted water from then on), or simply a 4ml (for example) mixed intol 1litre water during that week. 

Would imagine the 2nd but was unsure so asking... 

 

@Prom would you be so kind as to share your amended feeding schedule when you have a moment? 

 

Other than that... Havent moved yet so still havent planted my special seeds yet 

[StonerZN]

P.S. managed to find a local supplier of Plant Matter bags, yippee!

[Ill_Evan]

2 minutes ago, StonerZN said:

1) FFarms say on their site that the classic shouldnt be used for germinating. Is this a thing? Sorta messes my plans to put seedlings straight into it if so...

I germinate in EazyPlugs then transplant the seedling to the FF Classic, no problem. I wouldn't try germinating straight in the soil though. The seedling should at least show it's first set of true leaves before going into the FF Classic IMO. 

5 minutes ago, StonerZN said:

2) When does one start counting the weeks for the strain? from germination or a certain point thereafter? This is mostly related to when to start feeding nutes.

3) When following Biobizz charts... Does one use the dilution they suggest in ALL waterings(i.e. only feed nuted water from then on), or simply a 4ml (for example) mixed intol 1litre water during that week. 

I don't strictly stick to a schedule or strictly adhere to the weeks necessarily, but I follow the above chart from BioBizz when using their product with FF Classic. So WK 1 is obviously seedling stage, WK 2 is vegetative stage for as long as you want to stay there. WK 3 you start maybe two or three days after the day of flip, then you follow the chart as you would expect to. So if you decide on 5 weeks of veg, you yourself are on week 5 of the grow, but you will start with WK 3 on the chart. Also, if your veg is particularly long, you may even up the dosage recommended in WK 2. So you are not necessarily strictly sticking to the chart, it's a guidance based on the context of your grow. 

 

[Bakstein420]

21 minutes ago, StonerZN said:

P.S. managed to find a local supplier of Plant Matter bags, yippee!

Would you mind sharing who?

I had to get mine from JHB.

[StonerZN]

Was a lucky find.
Newish grow shop attached (I.e. inside) the Sir Vape Kloof branch. Recognised the name (Kulture Shop) on a last ditch Google search and came right
Been meaning to update my list of shops actually...
Limited selection for now but sure they will grow.

They also stocking Bongalong paraphenalia, which would have saved me some shipping months ago

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[Nope]

On 9/30/2020 at 1:17 PM, PsyCLown said:

I wouldn't, rather stick to fabric pots.

 

@StonerZN up to you regarding the 20L vs 10L pots. 20L pots are easy to repurpose, 10L pots not really.

I grew my auto's in 20L pots and all went well. You do use more soil for the pot, but don't need to water as often as it will hold more water - especially important being out in the sun all day with the wind etc. etc.

 

FF pots are not bad, but they are not perfectly round and the soil pulls away from the sides easily and then when watering the water goes down the sides and not into the soil properly. It's just a hassle, so for around the same amount of money you can get a different brand of fabric pot which does not have this issue.

I feel the Plant Matter pots are put together better, they are more circular and the dimensions work well. They're actually 22L I believe, if you want to be precise but nobody is forcing you to fill a 20L pot. You can always use less soil if you so desire.

@PsyCLown, if you don't mind me asking, why are you not in favor of airports? 

[StonerZN]

@PsyCLown, if you don't mind me asking, why are you not in favor of airports? 

I don't think he expressed an opinion about airpots.
Just said he preferred Plant Matter to Freedom Farms fabric bags bru.

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[Nope]

21 minutes ago, StonerZN said:

I don't think he expressed an opinion about airpots.
Just said he preferred Plant Matter to Freedom Farms fabric bags bru.

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In saying he wouldn't, he is expressing an opinion. I'm interested to understand why @PsyCLown would rather use fabric pots. I don't have a dog in the race, I'm using 30cm pots rested in a 25ltr bucket. complete opposite side of the spectrum in terms of pots. 

[Bakstein420]

@felix2000 i can tell you why i never ended up getting the air pots. I did some research on them and found 2 deal breakers.

Some of your medium is prone to run out the holes when watering.

And the holes on the pot allow gnats easy access to wet soil. Can imagine a fungus gnat infestation in all those little holes would be near impossible to get rid of.