So, i answered my own question by just trying it (and it was actually BAS guy who said he's using his own cover crop blend for SST): Yes, the BAS cover crop blend works for SST, AND, without blending the seeds, you can still use the seeds for living mulch (which i'm sure is probably significantly less effective for SST, but "two birds, one stone" if you haven't yet applied your living mulch...). So, living mulch applied as SST (yes, i did a soak-rinse first, then another, then a full soak, then applied the contents at once; a day later, i feel like i need to mow my lawn... lol). Then botanical teas (aloe, coco water, alf, kelp, castings, soaked for ~24 with occasional shake mixing and air-changing), then BOOM... had been struggling w/ some brown splotches (either soil def, or SFW malfunction, or... almost certainly light poisoning from lamps too close, causing both bleaching and heat stress... combined with slight overwatering, caused swollen cells which overheated and ruptured their walls, destroying them... which apparently looks like various deficiencies...), but i backed the lamp off a bit, and now they're Dark green. I think they look quite healthy. One in the middle (first to pop, stalk almost-if-not-already as thick as a thumb) has giant "fan" leaves significantly larger than my hand (at the bottom... not much light down there, they'll probably fall off...), but just over 1 ft tall. Topped it the other day, despite its "short/squat/wide" characteristics. Noticed a couple strange small holes (literally 2 on top growth, couple mm wide)... perhaps a pest (which i still haven't seen), or perhaps a water droplet worked like a magnifying glass burning ants in the sun? (have been "misting" the leaves because it's hot in there...) So far, no visual on actual pest presence, minus those strange holes. There are no flying things that i can see, no foreigners attached under leaves... and i do have springtails (read they're beneficial)... and i did catch what looked like one normal house fly in the tent (and it really did not want to leave, so despite my attempts to simply and harmlessly scoop it out, i ended up having to flick it hard enough to kill it). I saw a... beetle looking thing, and a little spider of some kind (at least half a cm leg span, probably like 6-8mm). I've read that fast-movers are typically predators, usually not pests, and likely beneficial... but idk. All the gnats i've ever seen are kinda "fast."
'Bout a month above ground, *flip.* I didn't have the urge to check them every 10 minutes before, but after changing the timer, it hit me like a falling anvil lol. Even after a mere 8-9h dark period, i'm pretty sure i see some hairs and tiny sacs (and what has been the prettiest of the bunch so far, might be male... can't quite tell yet; tiny indicators and my eyes ain't what they used to be, and my phone cam is old and sucks, so no help there). I kinda want to just sit and stare at them for hours. I'm overly excited about these mysterious genetics. They're probably (maybe) all different... but they have a pretty unique smell so far: very... sweet and musky, i guess. "Dank" would be an appropriate term here, lol, but we'll see. It's a very... earthy, musky, sweet, sharp... maybe a bit of "caramel" perhaps. Maybe slightly "sour." It's difficult to describe, and there's probably different aromas emanating from each, and they're just mixing into this amalgamation aroma. Whatever it is, i like it. Maybe i'll eventually post pics... but... well... you know.
I've learned SO MUCH in these last few months, but this last month especially. I already know what (and how/why) i want to do differently next time (not that anything is particularly "wrong," per se, but optimizations can and should occur). I wish i had dropped fewer and mainlined as early as possible, when they were still making super tight nodes, due to being small enough to share the PAR overlap area. I kept the lamp too close for too long, over watered, then had to not water, distance the lamp and give them time to recover, which resulted in longer nodes. At least i learned (and can exploit it next time).
Meanwhile, i have a yard full/filling with leaves to rake... and i need to build a worm bin. ^^ (and some jars and a hygrometer would be a good idea...)
