Hi everyone,
I'm completely new to cultivating cannabis, although I've been a cannabis user for 30+ years. I'm 52 and this is my first grow, so I'm hoping experienced growers can help me avoid the usual beginner mistakes.
I'm a
C4 quadriplegic following an accident in 1988 when I was 13. I have no movement below my neck, so all physical grow work has to be done by family/carers. I understand automation won't eliminate the physical work, particularly as the plants get bigger, but my goal is to make things as
simple, reliable and low-maintenance as possible for the people helping me.
Setup
- AC Infinity 4×4 tent
- AC Infinity EVO6 LED
- AC Infinity S7 Humidifier
- AC Infinity T7 Heater
- AC Infinity Controller 69 Pro
- Canna Coco Professional
- Perlite
- Canna Coco A&B + CalMag
The tent is in a dedicated former indoor swimming-pool enclosure, approx.
6.5 × 5.5 m (21 × 18 ft) with a high ceiling and two-door air-lock entrance.
Medium: 70% Canna Coco, 25% perlite, 5% worm castings.
Grow so far
I started germinating on
1 August. Initially I tried 2× Black Widow and 2× GG#4 in damp paper towels. Three produced 5–10 mm taproots; the others were planted into the medium on 3 August anyway.
The first few days were difficult, with temperatures dropping to
14°C and reaching around 19°C during the day. After installing the T7 and S7, conditions improved dramatically and seedlings began emerging within about 16 hours.
BW2 has been an amazing journey to watch so far, with incredibly rapid growth and development. She's been the standout plant from the beginning.
The original GG#4 never emerged, so I germinated another GG#4 and Black Widow on
7 August. Both had taproots within ~36 hours and were planted on 9 August.
I now have
3× Black Widow and 2× GG#4.
Current plants
- BW2 – Day 15, early veg: Amazing growth and development so far.
- GG1 – Day 15, early veg: Developing well and progressing nicely.
- BW1 – Day 14: Has been very slow to develop, especially compared with the others, but is finally starting to improve, so I'm giving her a chance.
- GG2 – Day 7: Still at the seedling stage.
- BW3 – Day 7: Still at the seedling stage.
The photos below were taken yesterday, so the plants are one day further along than shown.
BW2 – Day 14
[URL="https://i.imgur.com/GBdGJHx.jpeg%5B/img"]https://i.imgur.com/GBdGJHx.jpeg[/img[/URL]]
[B]GG1 – Day 14[/B]
[img][URL="https://i.imgur.com/kBymTwv.jpeg%5B/img"]https://i.imgur.com/kBymTwv.jpeg[/img[/URL]]
[B]BW1 – Day 14[/B]
[img][URL="https://i.imgur.com/tH6WN1E.jpeg%5B/img"]https://i.imgur.com/tH6WN1E.jpeg[/img[/URL]]
[B]GG2 – Day 7[/B]
[img][URL="https://i.imgur.com/mdN9JYC.jpeg%5B/img"]https://i.imgur.com/mdN9JYC.jpeg[/img[/URL]]
[B]BW3 – Day 7[/B]
[img][URL="https://i.imgur.com/8rzefEP.jpeg%5B/img"]https://i.imgur.com/8rzefEP.jpeg[/img[/URL]]
Over the next few weeks I'll hopefully select the [B]four strongest plants[/B] for the 4×4. [B]What I'd really like advice on[/B]
My main interest is [B]automation[/B], especially the AutoPot XL system with reservoir.
I'd love advice from experienced coco/AutoPot growers on:
[LIST]
[*]How often you check/refill the reservoir
[*]How often you check pH and EC
[*]Basic reservoir and AutoPot maintenance
[*]Your typical daily/weekly routine
[*]Common coco mistakes
[*]Whether you'd change anything about my setup
[*]Anything I'm missing
[*]How you'd make the system as simple and reliable as possible for carers
[/LIST]
I'm also spending a [I]lot[/I] of time watching the AC Infinity app and monitoring temperature, humidity, VPD, lighting, etc. I'm trying to get everything dialled in properly, but I'm starting to wonder whether I'm [B]over-monitoring and overthinking every small change[/B].
I'd really appreciate a [B]simple point-form routine/checklist for an automated coco/AutoPot grow[/B], particularly one suited to keeping physical work and day-to-day maintenance manageable.
I know there isn't one "correct" way to grow, and I'm not expecting automation to remove the physical work. I'm simply trying to build a [B]forgiving, reliable, low-maintenance system[/B] that my carers can realistically manage while I continue learning.
Thanks very much to anyone who takes the time to offer advice.
Regards,
Wheels1974