Window sill grow

Dr Jack Auto has reached day 14.

She seems to have settled in comfortably to the new pot, and looking healthy. One leaf does show signs of earlier overwatering, but it seems the fabric pot and Blumats will not lead to a similar situation again. I top dressed the pot earlier in the week, to raise the soil level and fill the gaps in the sides. So the square pot is not so square now, more the shape of an old fashioned television screen... I will give her an additional hand watering today, just to moisten that upper level of soil a bit as it's dry as dust at the moment. Clearly she's getting enough water from the Blumats though.

All fine at the windowsill for now.

Nice one, mate. I just got a Blumat set for the next run. So how big is the pot anyway?

Thanks! Pot is 11 litres. These Blumats are just the standard carrots, come in a pack of three. They're intended for house plants. Many growers use the dripper system, Tropf-Blumat, but these are fine for my needs. The dripper system only really needed if you have half a dozen plants or more growing in the same space.

Ah cool yeah. They'll work well I reckon. Simpler, easier, and no chance of a runaway dripper that floods the floor lol.

Yeah I got the 6 carrot Tropf set. Should be an adventure. Really sick of hand watering.

I hear you! Hand watering alone is just too much. The Blumats mean you're not chained to the pot... I have that Tropf set too, but have yet to use in anger.

Have been running grows under lights with XL Blumat carrots for about a year, they are great and as you say no issues with flooding. I just hand water occasionally to runoff just to moisten the soil a little more. Then when it's time to feed, that is hand watered in.

Awesome. I'm thinking now about getting some of these simpler ones for veg. I veg in 1 gallon fabric pots of coco. Would the XL be the best choice you think? One per pot would be ok? Really just looking to extend the time between handwaterings. Thanks heaps for the experienced info.

Crow River said:

I hear you! Hand watering alone is just too much. The Blumats mean you're not chained to the pot.

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How often would you have to hand water them if you didn't have the blumats?

I'm doing a window sill grow grow as well this year....the one in soil (on the right) only gets sunshine (no artificial lights).

I haven't watered this gals in 3 weeks as our weather has been absolutly shite with very little sunshine and warmth, but even in the hot summer it wouldn't need watering much more than weekly (if I recall correctly).

TrichDaddy said:

Awesome. I'm thinking now about getting some of these simpler ones for veg. I veg in 1 gallon fabric pots of coco. Would the XL be the best choice you think? One per pot would be ok? Really just looking to extend the time between handwaterings. Thanks heaps for the experienced info.

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Well I use 2 x XL Blumat carrots for 11 to 12 litre containers (about 3 gallons?). You can also get the regular size. Depends how much water you need to supply per day. The XL has a higher maximum throughput. What's nice about the system is that the carrots only supply water when needed. The plants seem to love them. Here's a pic of the hole left by a carrot after removing post-harvest in my last LED grow. What looks like cardboard is actually a finely woven mesh of roots!

Wow, that is crazy! Gonna get some XLs then. Thanks so much for the advice.

ISK said:

How often would you have to hand water them if you didn't have the blumats?

I'm doing a window sill grow grow as well this year....the one in soil (on the right) only gets sunshine (no artificial lights).

I haven't watered this gals in 3 weeks as our weather has been absolutly shite with very little sunshine and warmth, but even in the hot summer it wouldn't need watering much more than weekly (if I recall correctly).

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That's a good question. I don't really know how it will go with a sunlight grow, as it's the first try with Blumats in this environment. Under LED grow lights, I give additional water by hand about once a week until the feeding regime starts.

I suppose there are some reasons for using the Blumats. First, I have this terrible tendency to overwater all the plants on my windowsill (cannabis or just ordinary house plants). I'm a worrier and get fidgety if I haven't watered for a while! I have the autoflower in a fabric pot to try and mitigate against overwatering. However, what I noticed last summer is that regular hand watering brings forth the dreaded fungus gnats. With Blumats, the water is being supplied under the surface of the soil, that's why the top layer was bone dry this morning. That hopefully will mean fewer of those pesky gnats around the place. Finally, I have a heat mat under the pot, it's controlled by a thermostat and doesn't come on much when the sun is out, but its good for those chillier days and nights to stop the roots getting cold. That might dry out the pot a bit too quickly, but the Blumats kick in once the soil reaches a certain level of dryness.

Anyway this is all probably a bit too complicated for a windowsill grow... Just trying to apply some of the techniques I find useful under LEDs, see if it improves the grow any.

By the way, I told you already some time ago but your sunlight grows are great! Our weather has been crap recently too, but got some nice sunshine today.

TrichDaddy said:

Wow, that is crazy! Gonna get some XLs then. Thanks so much for the advice.

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Yeah couldn't believe how dense the weave was, about 2mm thick! It's such a simple and inexpensive technology, really good and easy to use. You're welcome, anyway good luck with the grow.

Dr Jack Auto has reached day 21.

The windowsill is a fairly gentle environment this time of year. There hasn't been a lot of sunshine this past week, Monday/Tuesday were okay but a bit overcast and rainy since. As a result growth has been rather unspectacular, but the wee girl seems healthy enough if a bit on the leggy side.

I'm determined to do this grow just using sunlight, so whatever happens, happens. Slow but steady seems to be the order of the day.

Don't almost all windows produced since like the 1970s (at least in USA) BLOCK UV light?

If resin/THC is produced from UV exposure....I don't see how this will work at all for flowering?

Veg status is same as any house plant, so don't really care about that anecdote...

Vitamin_THC said:

Don't almost all windows produced since like the 1970s (at least in USA) BLOCK UV light?

If resin/THC is produced from UV exposure....I don't see how this will work at all for flowering?

Veg status is same as any house plant, so don't really care about that anecdote...

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Dunno about the windows. This is just budget double glazing I had installed seven years ago. There's definitely still UV coming through, if I leave paper items near the window for any length of time they fade...

Maybe windows are different specification where I live, as we get so little sunshine anyway.

Also this is my third grow by the window. The other two turned out just fine.

Crow River said:

Dunno about the windows. This is just budget double glazing I had installed seven years ago. There's definitely still UV coming through, if I leave paper items near the window for any length of time they fade...

Maybe windows are different specification where I live, as we get so little sunshine anyway.

Also this is my third grow by the window. The other two turned out just fine.

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Ahh I see after I gave it more of a look, it definitely decreases what comes through, but works. Don't really see the point, but if you got a window sill that no one will ever see, might as well, eh?

@Vitamin_THC , yeah well beats paying for electricity for grow lights. I grow under lights too, but the sun grown weed is nice too. Don't get the same yields as LED but it's a decent stone nonetheless...

Crow River said:

@Vitamin_THC , yeah well beats paying for electricity for grow lights. I grow under lights too, but the sun grown weed is nice too. Don't get the same yields as LED but it's a decent stone nonetheless...

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True, might be the real source behind sun rooms in a house hahaha

The wee girl is showing signs of overwatering on some leaves. It was barely visible a couple of days ago, but now clearly brown spots on the largest set of fan leaves.

Maybe the overcast weather means the soil is retaining too much moisture. I have removed one of the Blumat carrots, the one furthest away, in the hope this will help to resolve the issue. I'll also take care not to fill the reservoir above the level of the ceramic cones.

Day 28 for the Dr Jack Auto by the window.

She has grown, and the top is looking healthy. However I am slightly concerned about this wee girl. The brown spots have appeared on leaves at the fourth node now. She is also drooping at sunset and through the night. Now some strains may just do that, but perhaps it's a sign of some issues. No sign of pests. It could still be overwatering. Stuck a finger in the soil, and while the top half inch is dry, it's moist below that level. So despite a heat mat underneath, maybe she's suffering from "wet bottom". This is a bit of an experiment using the Blumats by the window. I removed one last week, but maybe in this environment even two is overkill. So I might reduce it down to just one.

Also it has been really quite cold the past few days. Temperatures could be causing problems. As she is getting taller, it's probably time to move her back slightly from the window. This will improve stealth, but also might help with temperatures. Bit of sun today, thankfully - hope she enjoys it.

Finally I may have picked the wrong strain to grow just using sunlight. Probably she'd be happier under LEDs in the cabinet. It was a freebie seed, so nothing lost except time, compost and a trickle of electricity for heating. But it's a nice strain and I hope to salvage the grow somehow, make the girl a bit more comfortable..

BTW the blind is down just for the pics: she gets full sun when there is any.

Dr Jack Auto reached 35 days by the window.

Steady growth this week. Signs of pre-flowers but no flowering as yet, maybe in a week or so. The wee girl is still rather leggy, she is over 54cm tall now. The brown leaf spots don't seem to have spread to the upper leaves as yet. She still droops dramatically at sunset, I'm used to it now. One finger of an upper leaf seems 'stuck' in droop mode, the rest spring back up but it does not... Pic below (taken yesterday) shows droop just beginning due to blind being drawn. It was also taken shortly after turning her around to face away from the window.

No feed as yet apart from liquid seaweed earlier in the week. Will probably give her some grow nutrients next week.