Diary:31/05/07: Flood & Drain 1st Try

[home.grower]

Greetings & Thank You For Visiting This Thread

31/05/07 marked the day that a flood & drain system with a sum of 32 x ''20-day-old'' Dunk (G13) and AK47 clones arrive in the flowering room.

The flood & drain system consists of 1* 60L+ reservoir and 2* trays that are seated in an NFT fashion.

There are 32 net pots, 16 on each tray. Each net pot is filled with Washed clay medium.

On each tray there is an air line hose attached to a pump. These hoses deliver oxygen to the water which floods the top trays. The air bubbles are constantly released beneath the net pots.

The reservoir has a single submersed water-pump that feeds both trays by use of various connectors and pipe fittings. There is also an air stone situated near the pump.

That is the basic setup of the flood and drain system. i won't go into the Manufacturers names unless asked specifically.

There is a single 600W HPS with an Adjust'a'Wing shade lighting the setup, but there are other lights in the space which totals around 3kW of HPS lighting on 12/12.

The room's air conditioning consists of; a constantly open window covered with a blackout curain, 2* 16" oscillating fans, and a 8" box fan terminated with a pretty long 8" carbon filter (both at ceiling height and horizontal) and ducted to a chimeny. With 3kW of light during the daytime the temperature doesn't exceed 27C. But back to the flood & drain specifics.

I will add better quality photos as time goes on, but for now you will be able to get an idea of the setup with the poor quality pic taken with my webcam below.

Thanks for reading!!

[home.grower]

Greetings

The submersed pump is set to deliver a flood 5 times per day. At the moment the timer is switiching every 4 hours or there about. The duration of the flood is currently 15 minutes.

All Nurtient Products are from Advanced Nutrients

In the tank is around 60L of pH balanced water (6.0-6.2). To this I added enough Mother Earth Bloom to raise the EC to 0.8-1.0. Voodoo Juice, Barricade and Liquid CarboLoad were then added in mild strength. I checked the pH again and added a little more pH down then did a final check on the EC which was giving around 0.9.

The clones were potted in small cubes with the roots just showing out of all of them. Voodoo Juice should encourage rapid root formation over the next few days. Barricade is simply silicon which should asist with stem and branch strength and add resiliance to some pests. While CarboLoad is something I just tend to use a lot of without really knowing what its actually doin, but I believe it does something... maybe providing some kind of energy?

The reason for starting with a mild solution is because previous experience has tought me that hydro style growing can cause changes in a plant to occur far quicker than in soil. It is better to add elements and compounds to a solution slowly to avoid loss. Also, these clones are quite slender even though they are well rooted. I just don't think they were ready for EC1.2 immediately.

Other products I will be adding at a later stage will be Fulvic F1, Humic H2, Sensi Bloom A&B then Big Bud and Overdrive at the right stages.

Thanks for reading.

[home.grower]

...Barricade is simply silicon which should asist with stem and branch strength and add resiliance to some pests....

Barricade is Potassium Silicate.. Correction on the terminology used!!!

[home.grower]

Greetings

Today is actually day two. I didn't add anything to the reservoir besides a splash of pH down. The reading before adding was around 6.4, so i brought it back to 6.0.

For the rest of week 1 I will probably continue to add pH down and top off with Mother Earth Bloom if necessary. Standby for daily reports!!!

Thanks for reading

[hows.your.roof]

any co2 supplementation

[home.grower]

Greetings readers. Thanks for dropping a comment hows.your.roof...

No there isn't CO2 set up in the garden.

Today the sun was out and the inside temperature rose to 30C. I go back on what I earlier said about the 27C thing. That just shows that anything can occur when one is least expecting it and it is crucial to monitor everything as closely as possible.

As for CO2, it has been on my mind for a while. Once I see what the yeild of a set up like this brings forth I will then see about replacing the whole garden with flood and drain. At that point I will be installing new features and a CO2 injection system will probably be near the top of the list. I will then be able to compare differences between CO2 and no CO2 using the same kind of methods.

So, to drop my temperature I opened the door to the garden and left it with a blanket hanging over the door way. Because the Extractor is pulling air all the time at an adequate rate, the temperature soon dropped back to 27C and stabilized with the door open. The door will be closed in time for the night cycle.

I checked the pH and it was around 6.15 so I didn't make any ammendments as this reading was just in range. I checked the EC and it was reading 1.0-1.2. This shows that the balance of the mixture of nutes in the reservoir is being tipped because the plants are feeding and taking what they want.

I will make any changes tomorrow. Measurements are quite ok in my opinion, but time will tell if I'm making the right decissions.

I also had to prop-up my reservoir at one end as it seemed the top trays were on a slant preventing the end cubes from becoming moistented. To add, I've increased the feeding from 5 to 6 times per day as the cubes were appearing a little too dry by the time the next flood started. As far as I'm aware, all is well and the next few days will determine how I'm getting on.

Here are a couple of better quality images taken today.

[home.grower]

For anyone interested in the air supply beneath the pots then this is for you.

I was undecided until the very last minute as to what method of flood and drain I was going to use.

I was goin to copy the method used in a DVD that I saw. Top Quality Grow DVD of something, not 100% on the name.

With that method the top trays would have been filled with washed clay and the clones would have been positioned without pots; directly in the clay.

The air line was to supply oxygen from beneath.

I was considering a continual flood. The air supply would be very important with a continual flood.

With the net pots then, I have stuck to the same method but used less grow medium, much less infact. Anyone worried about waste from soil pots will be better off if they can yeild the same using hydro methods. I will still be able to continual flood as the pots sit on the airline which is pierced to allow bubbles to flow directly below the pots.

I purchased 5m of this hose/airline and used 2.5m on each tray.

2nd and 3rd opinions reveal that the clones have already started growing and straightening up. I removed one of the cubes from the pots and saw that a root structure was approaching 2cm from the cube in just over 2 days.

I will add images of the roots soon before the first week is up. I'm hopeful that roots will be visible outside the pots by the end of the 10th day of bloom.

Keep tuned in & thanks for reading this thread.

[LOC NAR on probation]

I like the grow reports. Keep them coming. I did it in my day.
Unless you can close up your room and use A/C and a very good vent system. It's hard to do c02. Control everthing.

Peace.

[home.grower]

Greetings readers. Thanks for dropping a comment LOC NAR on probation.

I would like to seal the room totally and install air conditioning. I'm eager to have full control over everything. It's the only way. But when one has full control they have to concentrate on what is going on and understand whats happening. I feel I'm ready to take full control pretty soon. The results of this current op will determine how confident I will be in around 50-60days time.emperature

Ok, to the diary. I'm having temperature problems. As the weather changes and we approach the summer months I'm finding that 3kW of lighting is causing my inside temperature to reach 33C and beyond. I have had successful crops with soaring temperatures in the past, but I don't ever recall having such high temps so early in the year. I suspect that by mid July my garden will be in the early 40s.

I checked my pH and EC as normal today. The pH was above 7 and the EC was around 0.8 (though I cannot fully recall the EC). I decided to change the solution instead of wasting pH down. This might have been a bad idea.

I partially flushed the reservoir then topped off with around 40L of tap water. The flood pump was turned off to ensure a flood didn't occur while I was doin mainenance.

To the reservoir I added 1/3rd doses of H2 and F1 (Humic and Fulvic Acid), I added mild dosages of Barricade and CarboLoad. I then brought the EC up to 1.0-1.2 with Mother Earth Bloom then pH'd at 5.5.

I chose to pH at around 5.5 because so far the pH has risen as time has gone on. I'm hoping that I might get an extra day before I have to make ammendments in the reservoir. This might not be all good, but my changes are not over dramatic and I should be able to see problems occur quite quickly. I'm sticking to mild feed to enable me to make errors.

I'm at a stage where I'm wishing I was in soil as it's more straight forward. But I'm kinda expectant of 1-2 Oz per plant at the same time.

Feel free to indicate a balls-up on the horizon readers. This is my first go and I'm open to ideas.

No pics till the start of week 2. Thanks for reading...

[Chabnoc]

I just harvested my very first grow ever. I first started my plants in soil, and had so much trouble, that after about 2 weeks I washed off the roots and put them in a hydro system i bought. I got about 1.5 OZ average per plant. I am sure you can do better then I did. The Buds are Amazing though.

I will be watching your grow closely. :thumbsup:

[crazywill]

You say you are using carbo load.The carbo load is to give the plants more carbohydrates in the flowering cycle when the plant uses up stored carbo.this puts weigh on the bud{bigger buds}.I would save the carbo load till the flowering cycle.You need to suport your trays so when the plants get bigger they dont fall in the res.But I think you are doing great,Keep it up Peace

[home.grower]

Hello readers,

Thanks for the vote of confidence Chabnoc. for a 1st grow you did really well with that yeild. how big/tall/wide were the finished plants and how long did you veg them for?

Crazywill, thanks for dropping a comment. I'm already in the bloom phase if that makes a difference. I chose not to veg these clones at all so I put them straight in on 12/12. (they were veged/rooted for 2weeks before I obtained them)... The bud sights haven't developed yet, are you suggesting I should wait until buds are visible before using carbo load? It isn't that expensive and I don't mind using it all the way through if it will make a positive difference. It is also a dang good job you mentioned the weight of the top trays. I didn't consider the fact that fully grown plants might cause the reservoir to tip over. I'll examine the set-up and make ammendment to ensure that I don't flood the room in a few weeks from now.

Thanks for posting people.

I will update progress a little later on as I'm still in bed and my lights are just about to pop on.

[home.grower]

Hello readers. I'm a day late again with my update. Too much smoking and drinking and falling about the place; over the limit in every respect.

The pH was high again. Just above 7.0 was the reading I got for day 5. I wondered if the meter was reading correctly so I re-calibrated it with buffers 4 and 7 and the end reading was the same. The EC was 1.0. The only ammendment was to pH down the reservoir.

I seem to be doing a lot of pH downing, can anyone concur that this is supposed to be happening please? I guess that the plants are absorbing what they want food wise but I'm stumpt as to why the pH keeps rising daily by more than 1unit. There must be a link, I need confirmation.

I'm not 100% sure if what I'm doing is correct. But all has been well up to now and the plants havent indicated signs of suffering. I will continue close observation and inform you all about any slight problems with additional pics. One thing I must say before I begin my day, there are whitefly in the room. I haven't insecticided. They came in on some mothers which have since entered their 3rd week in bloom. Today I will attempt to control the pests with an organic controller. I won't apply the chemicals untill probably 1 hour before the lights go out tonight. It will probably take that amount of time to apply the spray. Standby for updates.

Thanks for reading.

[home.grower]

Hello again. Thanks for dropping by to keep up to date with my first ebb&flow/ flood and drain attempt.

So we're now into day 6 of bloom. The weather hasn't helped at all with regard to soaring daytime temperatures. It's to be expected really at this time of year. I was hopeful that the approaching summer wouldn't affect my efforts but I'm having trouble contending with nature.

If things get very much out of hand then I will have to reverse the cycle with 24hrs darkness in order to have my lights on during the night. That will be a last measure of course.

I checked the pH and EC levels as seems to be normal routine. The pH had risen to around 6.4 from a low 5.5 that I left it at yesterday. Strange!!! Some feedback from you readers with regard to rising pH levels would be appreciated. Is it normal?

I topped off the reservoir with around 11L of pH5.5 tap water which brought the reservoir back within the boundary of 5.5-6.2 pH.

The EC was 1.2. A little higher than I left it the previous day but within the boundaries for the first week of bloom. I see how over fertilization problems can occur with hydro if not closely monitored.

I would like to invest in an auto pH balancing system since that element of control requires almost constant monitoring as I'm now learning.

There are signs of green growth which to me indicates that the root mass is nicely being formed. There are a couple of leaves here and there that show signs of over fert, but I'm almost certain those are old leaves which had those symptoms before I potted them.

Some people might wonder on the tools I'm using to measure EC and pH.

The bluelab (http://www.getbluelab.com/go/to/t/product?id=531267) truncheon is the EC meter, while the pH is measured with a pH meter supplied by Growth Technology (http://www.growthtechnology.com/).

I won't make any plans for what to do next as plants have a tendency to disobey orders sometimes. I do feel a flush comin on tho... Does anyone have an opinion as to a flush is necessary with hydro i.e. just a day o two of pH balanced water? Is it worth it? I think soil is flushed to drain away some of the toxic build up within the medium. ith hydro there shouldn't be any build up right?

Thanks for reading folks and keep tuned in to see how my first flood and drain is progressing.

[stoneinks]

You need to adjust your ph 2 or 3 times pr day !
try to have your ph 5.8 to 6.2 !
My first hydro grow I did 9 plants in a 3' x 4' space and whit a 400 HPS I had so many problems and I only got 2 or 3 oz of bud out of 9 plants.......but now I have 12 plant`s under a 1000W MH / HPS in a 4' x 4' and I got 3 to 4 oz pr plant !
I veg for 30 day`s or 12 to 16 in and flower finest at abut 27 to 30 in but I`m still learning
And this 3 to 4 oz pr plant yield is whit the help of ZANDOR you can find Z at ;
Dopefiend . co . uk: The Cannabis Podcast Network (http://dopecast.libsyn.com/index.php?post_category=The%20Grow%20Report)
or at the grow report.com
thank`s Z

[stoneinks]

Well I have to go to work now but if you send me your e-mail I can send you more info or I try to post moor this weekand
later man ! !:thumbsup::pimp::pimp:

[home.grower]

Thanks for your input stoneinks. I guess the pH thing is normal then if you're telling me about 2-3 times per day adjustments... I think that is how i'm supposed to read it n e how. Were/Are you manually adjusting your pH 2-3 times per day? Or did you figure out something that was causing it?

I will attempt to keep the pH within the range you suggest and not 5.5-6.2, as you've proven it to work yourself. 3-4 Oz per plant is pretty impressive. I have a few soil grown plants in the room which are set to produce 3-5 Oz each. But this is because they were vegged for soo long (about 13weeks as they were mothers also)

I will also look zandor up as I've seen many posts around the board by this person. I'd like to achieve high yeilds with this unforgiving hydro.

I must now get out of bed. Cheers for reading folks and standby for updates...

[home.grower]

Hello readers. Nothing to add really besides pretty much the same.

The pH was up, but not as up as it has been. 6.4 was the reading, so I brought it back to 5.8.

The EC appeared fine too with a reading of 1.2.

Even better than that, I can actually see an abundance of new growth happening uniformly with all potted clones. Over the next week I hope to see these babies spring into a growth spurt. As I roll into week 2 of bloom I shall add a few new pics.

So far so good, but a pH controller would surely be desired for any future developments in the garden.

The temperatures are still appraching 34C as summer begins to show itself. There isn't much I can to about it, but if any of the plants in the garden start to experience lock down then I'll have to reverse the cycle immediately. Can't wait to get some new pics up in here!!!

cheers readers

[stoneinks]

Well if I under stand the cycle of the plant the ph will change depending on what stage the plant is in !
The ph up and down is cased by the plant deposit salt`s and minerals back in to the water I know you are in the flower stage but there is still difrent cycles in the flower stage ! !
One thing that can â??helpâ?� keep the ph more stable is a bigreservoir ! ! !
Whit hydro growing you must be as clean as possible whit every thing (grow room,flor,wals &
equipment , reservoir & your self â?�do not go out side and work in your yard and than enter your grow room do not let you pet`s in the room dog/cat )
I try to clean out my reservoir ever 2 or 4 weeks whit bleach water (sterilize it ) and I flush out my growing tray`s at the same time ! !
If you have ever had a aquarium that is how you want to treat you hydro sys !

[stoneinks]

What are you using to adjust your ph up and down ? ? ? ?
What lights do you have ? I think you had 3000 W ? ? ? and 1 600W hps ? ?
Did you down lode the grow report ? ? ? Evry thing you are asking is answered in the show`s by zandor and this Saturday is all abut ph in your hydro sys .....2 to 3 oz pr plant is`int shitt but 2 or 3 LB IS IF WE GROW 2 OR 4 PLANTS WHIT 2 TO 3 LB ....OOOOOOOOO YE THAT IS THE SHITT ! ! ! ! :pimp: :pimp:

[stoneinks]

What are you using to adjust your ph up and down ? ? ? ?
What lights do you have ? I think you had 3000 W ? ? ? and 1 600W hps ? ?
Did you down lode the grow report ? ? ? Evry thing you are asking is answered in the show`s by zandor and this Saturday is all abut ph in your hydro sys .....2 to 3 oz pr plant is`int shitt but 2 or 3 LB IS IF WE GROW 2 OR 4 PLANTS WHIT 2 TO 3 LB ....OOOOOOOOO YE THAT IS THE SHITT ! ! ! ! :pimp: :pimp:

[home.grower]

Thanks for replying to my queries stoneinks, I'm very appreciative.

I did wonder if the pH thing was related to the stage that the plants were at today, just before coming online in fact.

So the same circumstances that might cause over fertilisation/nute burn can cause an increase in pH. What I mean is, like you said '...The ph up and down is cased by the plant deposit salt`s and minerals back in to the water...', so there becomes a build up of particular elements that not only affect the pH but also the EC/ppm/CF?

Practically speaking I have recently whitnessed this.

I can't install a bigger reservoir at the moment but I will consider it.

I've been reading the thread 'Another pH question (http://boards.cannabis.com/plant-problems/116304-another-ph-question.html)' and it seems to have much useful info too with regard to pH. Some relevant to my circumstances and some, just useful info for the future.

I also visited dope_fiend on the web and it too is very useful and I will be indulging in some easy listening over the coming weeks. The board is quite useful for asking questions that require immediate answers even when the subjects are discussed and repeatedly discussed and the answers are already available to find. I prefer to ask as some people like to share and refresh the knowledge for themselves while teaching.

I do try to keep the garden (indoor) as clean as possible. Everything is that is used in the growroom is sterile on entry in so far as is achievable. Every harvest everything is steralised. Buckets and jugs and submersed hoses get cleaned almost weekly as do any reservoirs used for mixing. Even the cleaning utensils get cleaned. I'm cautious as I've seen many a crop destroyed by pests and foreign agent contamination. Pets are totally BANNED!

I use Growth Technology's (http://www.growthtechnology.com/mgmt-phupdown.asp) pH down. Is their variation in performance across brands?

And to the lighting, just to round off, there are a total of 5 * 600W hps lights suspended in the garden. One of which is illuminating the hydro setup, but there is a total of 3kW of lighting in the immediate area.

As for overall yeild. My aim is quick turn-around. I'm not very fussed about vegging for months to get a plant to yeild lots of fruit. I'm after speed and quality without compromising what I was told by my Nute Supplier which was '...I should aim for 20 Oz per 600W bulb...', of which I'm now capable of exceeding in soil.

Thanks for giving me a few things to think about to increase success stoneinks.

[home.grower]

Greetings readers. Visible changes as we enter week 2 of bloom.

The weather today has been relatively cool in comparrison to previous days. Overcast with little or zero sun penetration. The inside temperature was 28C upon leaving the garden.

I was quite taken back when I tested the pH to find that it was only 5.9. I did expect it to be more.

The EC reading was 1.2 - 1.3 also. I had to pause and wonder if the fairies had dosed the reservoir for me.

The new growth is looking good for day 1 of week 2 (day8). No addition signs of what I thought could have been nute burn. Everything is cool. There are now signs of roots emerging from the bottoms of all of the pots. Development appears to be very uniform, even with the odd one or two clones that some might have said 'wouldn't make it'. See pics below.

1. left tray
2. right tray
3. low angle from left hand side front corner
4. one pulled out for modelling purposes
5. low angle from the right hand side

[home.grower]

1. random pot underside
2. random pot underside
3. pH meter for those interested in the devices used

[stoneinks]

I just ask`t abut the ph your using you see you can use vinegar and baking soda but this do not last for very long so IF you were using baking soda and vinegar you have to adjust it more often.
If you have 5x600w of light`s THATâ??S prity NICE....20oz pr 600w is probably reasonable but mite be a little hard on your first hydro grow ! ! !
If I hade 5x600w I would go for a PERPETUAL GROW (if I can get the cash for some 600w light`s I will do it )
whit a PERPETUAL GROW :) you can harvest â??2 to 5 oz pr plantâ?� EVRY 3 to 5 weeks ! !
Using 2 or 3 lights for flower (12/12)
1 light for veg (18/6 veg for 4 weeks )
1 light for you mom`s (18/6 never flower the mom`s)
this way I will harvest â??xâ?� oz pr plant EVRY month :pimp: :pimp:

[home.grower]

Thanks for following my posts stoneinks.

I've never tried using kitchen based chemicals within the garden. Vinegar or baking soda would be last on the list of products to consider if all were up to me. thats onlt because I've never whitnessed it used...

A perpetual grow is ideal. A regular fresh supply of bud is a great stage to be at. I'm almost working with a pertpetual grow myself. One room has 50 plants in week 6 of bloom, with 50 more in week 2 along side them; while the other room has around 20 blooming mother plants in week 4 of bloom while the hydro is at week 2. I'd like to understand this hydro and have one setup as pictured under each 600W in all locations. Then I'd seek implementing a weekly or fortnightly harvest. It's a great idea having bud on tap.

I'll look more at the future developments when this crop finishes.

Cheers for dropping bye stoneinks.

[home.grower]

Greetings readers. Thanks for checking up on my 1st attempt at flood and drain.

So the weather was back to being quite warm today. The garden was at 33C. None of the plants seem to be locking down and development doesn't appear slow or impeded. I'll continue to monitor the rising temperatures very closely.

My reservoir readings were all within range. EC1.3 and pH 6.1. But today I decide it was time to flush with some pH balanced water. I scrubbed the reservoir of all the sedimented nutes and used a separate pump to drain the reservoir. I let the system run for a while flooding with the pH balanced water only.

I left the system on the timer so that a cycle could occur while I spent a couple of hours away. when I returned, I'm not lying, the plants looked to have grown quite a lot. But maybe i imagined it.

To the reservoir I added
-Voodoo Juice
-Barricade
-CarboLoad
-Fulvic F1
-Humic H2
-Sensi Bloom parts a&b (synthetic nute)
-Mother Earth Bloom (organic nute)

The EC was 1.4-1.5. A little high but I have high hopes. I don't mind having to drain the reservoir again, but I think these 9 day into bloom plants are ready for a little kick. The pH was 5.55.

Tomorrow will inform me if replenishing the reservoir has been helpul.

Unfortunately, the other plants in the garden are being looked after by someone else and they have let an infestation of spider mite/ white fly and god knows what else to spead throughtout the section of the crop they are maintaining. As far as I'm aware the plants had this problem on their arrival but joe bloggs didn't combat the pests even though they made out they would control the problem.

I've spotted the nasty webs being formed on a couple of the hydro plants and I'm annoyed. Tomorrow will include a day of insecticiding everything including that which I'm not managing if necessary.

I won't get into the politics of blame. There is a problem that requires solving and that's all there is to it. It will probably be a week before I know if the infestation is fully controlled. I'm glad I'm having this problem early while the plants are relatively small and easy to manage. Remind me in future that sharing a grow room can lead to episodes like this,...

thanks for catching up readers!!!

[home.grower]

Welcome one and all and thanks for following up.

I forgot to switch the reservoir pump back on after replenishing the nutes yesterday. The plants coped and didn't show any signs of stress this morning when I went to do my rounds.

I purchased 500mL of Pest Off (http://www.hydrogarden.com/) by Hydrogarden. I don't think it will control the spider mite things that are producing webs, but it will control the white fly. I also bought extra fly traps. My assosiate bought Fungus Gnat Off and some other stuff that didn't have a label.

In order to carry out the insecticiding I knocked the lights out and sprayed the room and its contents with 10L of pest off. It was decided too that because the weather will be getting much warmer over the coming weeks that the light cycle be reversed. The plants will now spend the rest of the day in darkness until 9pm tomorrow. The cycle will then become 2100-0900hours for daylight.

Even though I didn't switch the reservoir pump on yesterday, I still think I can identify new growth, which is quite good.

Tomorrow I shall mooch around to inspect for any living whitefly. I'll see what I can find to sort out the spider mites.

That was today. Tune in next time for the lastest. Cheers for reading!!

[home.grower]

So I'm already looking at new strains to work with very soon. I've been searching the internet for suitable strains and have come up with a shortlist. If any of you have experimented with any of the strain I'm thinking about then your 2c will be appreciated.

Joint Doctor
- Lowrider 2 (http://www.high-land.co.uk/acatalog/joint-doctor.html)

THC Seeds
-Norther Lights * Big Bud (http://www.high-land.co.uk/acatalog/thc-seeds.html)

Pukka Seeds Co.
-1159 Armageddon (http://www.high-land.co.uk/acatalog/pukka-seeds.html)
-Sirius Skunk (http://www.high-land.co.uk/acatalog/pukka-seeds.html)

Mr Nice
-Critical Mass (http://www.high-land.co.uk/acatalog/mr-nice.html)

Delta9 Labs
-Stargazer (http://www.high-land.co.uk/acatalog/delta-9-labs.html)
-Superstar (http://www.high-land.co.uk/acatalog/delta-9-labs.html)

De Sjamaan
-Lemon (http://www.high-land.co.uk/acatalog/de-sjamaan-seeds.html)

Biobizz
-Skunk * Big Bud (http://www.high-land.co.uk/acatalog/biobizz_seeds.html)

Flying Dutchmen
-Pot of Gold (http://www.high-land.co.uk/acatalog/the-flying-dutchmen.html)
-Early Durban (http://www.high-land.co.uk/acatalog/the-flying-dutchmen.html)
-Dutchmens' Royal Orange (http://www.high-land.co.uk/acatalog/the-flying-dutchmen.html)

Quite a few I guess, but I'm planning on ordering one batch from the above list. Any readers experiences would be appreciated very much..

[home.grower]

Greetings on this peaceful Sunday afternoon as I smoke some good herb in the backyard listening to the sounds of The Detroit Spinners - It's a Shame; real oldskool.

How's it looking? Well today is supposed to be a day of darkness for the plants as I'm reversing the day and night cycle to contend with the daytime temperatures.

I entered the room during the night period for the plants. I know I shouldn't but these are exceptional circumstances as I was wondering how many of those white flys were still rampant in the garden. I wanted to know whether or not another blast of Pest Off was required. I found out that quite a few flys were still visible. I gave the crop another blast including the walls and anything I thought might house the buggers.

I wanted to get the insecticiding out of the way before the light cycle resumes. Doing this seemed to be one of the more straight forward options.

I've hung a total of 9 fly traps in the room and they seem to be filling up. Finger crossed for tomorrow as I hoping I don't see any flys at all.

I'm wondering about a product I can add to the reservoir to keep the spider mites away. I'm going to check the new traps tomorrow for any other flying parasites that I might need additional chems for, but the white fly was really bad so it had to be dealt with first.

To the Dro. I think the darkness hasn't harmed the plants. They looked really healty. I feel that they will explode once the lights start coming on again. The daytime temperature will then be more friendly to the plants and I feel it will help lots.

The pH was a little out of range lingering at 6.5. The EC was also 1.6. Signs that the plants are working!!! I emptied around 20L from the reservoir (actually 80L reservoir and not 60L as earlier mentioned) and topped off with pH balanced water.

The resaultant EC was 1.0. So I topped off the reservoir with a little synthetic Nutes (Sensi Bloom A & B) and liquid CarboLoad until the EC was 1.3. I then pH the solution to 5.5 again.

It wasn't essential that I added CarboLoad, but I find it as one of few ammendments I can keep adding and the plants love it.

That was it for today. My next visit will be a few minutes before the lights come on tomorrow evening. I will try some photography to show how they are coming on.

Thanks for reading!!!

[stoneinks]

Dknow abut them seed`s but I was thinking abut trying some of the AK- 47.....but I have read that it smells very strong ? ?
You really Ned to kill all bug`s you do not want to spend all the time and money on your plants and lose it to bug`s.....maybe spry you grow room 1 pr week

[home.grower]

High stoneinks.

AK47 is a nice strain to work with. My partner in crime had a bumper harvest within the past 6 weeks. All of the top colas were huge; probably the biggest they've ever produced.

That is why I chose to work with AK47 with the hydro, just to run a little comparrison.

And yes, it does let of a stink. Both while blooming and very much so when chopping, but not as bad as G-13.

I know, with regard to the bugs. They've got to be exterminated. I've carried out 2 blasts with Pest Off over 2 days and many of the white fly seem to be dead. I told my associate to ensure they apply another dose this morning. I will say that the bugs are under control. I reckon they will be gone by saturday, but I will have to keep on top of it ensuring that I've always got a supply of the antidote for the first signs of wildlife.

I've lost whole crops to bugs in the past, and I'm not willing to let the suckers keep getting away with it. They're worse than the government tax office stealing my pay!!

Cheer for dropping by stoneinks, and I'll be spraying up once per week for good luck.

[home.grower]

Welcome back. I'm a day late with updating the thread.

Lastnight was the first evening that I entered the garden with the new light cycle running. All seemed to be well. There was a sign of one or two bugs flying around the room but not half as many as there were. I think the spider mites are gaining territory though. I will drop in to the grow supply shop to grab some spider mite chems and apply them an hour before the lights come on this evening.

The pH and EC were pretty stable. The readings were identical to the previous day more of less. No ammendments had to b made here. I suspect that the plants might have shut down due to the variation in day/light, but I don't think it will last long. I expect my readings this evening wil be much different, having given the ladies time to settle in.

So I think it's time to pay the suppliers a visit to stock up on vital chems.

Catch you later readers!!

[home.grower]

So I've been to the supplier and purchased additional insecticides to combat the subsiding problem.

I've read so much about bug bombs in other threads that I thought I'd obtain one to try.

I went for the Fortefog P Mini Fumer: Ready to use Insecticidal Smoke generator (3.5g) by Argopharm Limited (http://www.agropharm.co.uk/uk/product_view.asp?product_id=152). I'm not sure when would be a good time to let it off. I'm told that it is like fumigation and should clear up everything and anything if used correctly.

I also bought Spidermite Control (http://www.spidermitecontrol.com/) which is distributed by Growth Technologies (http://www.growthtechnology.com/). This lliquid will be kept in the garden with other spares that may well be neded soon.

I'll give an update as to what method I will use next to combat the problem and which worked best (even though I've already used 2-3 applications of Pest Off which hasn't totally erradicated the infestation).

[home.grower]

I should also have mentioned that the first signs of flowers are apparent at the moment. These ladies have done a lot of good works in the 11 days that they have been in the blooming garden. Many of the roots are now hanging from beneath the net pots. Not in as much abundance as I expected but balanced comparratively speaking in relation to the upward vertical growth.

[home.grower]

Akwaba! Thanks for coming back...

All is well on the hydro front. Growth is now accelerating. The EC and pH values seem to be stabilized. I do not need to be ammending the solution to make it fall in line with the requirements as often as I was.

The pH was around 6.1 but I downed it to 5.65 any way to ensure that any unsuspected rise will still be within or just outside the broadest recommended 5.5-6.2 range.

The EC was 1.3. I didn't add or take anything away on the nutrient front.

I'm very impressed with the overall development of the 12 day in to bloom clones. They stand between round 2" and 7" in height. The tiniest were very very tiny when added, but their development is very good so far. There are only a couple or three of these tiny plants if i recall.

In previous soil attempts I'd put rootless clones of a similar starting size into 6.5L Wilma pots and was able to achieve a single cola weighing around 28g dry & off the stalk.

These days I'm overly confident of Not loosing any clones for any reason once they enter the flowering room. Even if they are unrooted and placed under 12/12. With a little exra care and atttention, all plants that are not male in gender can produce fruits that only add to the final yeild.

If things in the garden do not go according to plan, I always maintain confidence and the desire to do a better and better job each time. We all have problems at some stage, but how we cope with them and the skills we introduce to overcome those problems is what makes a producer a master in their art. What a wonderful hobby we share in.

To round off; There seemed not to be any pest flying around the garden lastnight. I haven't applied anymore insecticides. I shall wait and see if any larve hatch over the coming day or two. If I see anything then it will be a case of no mercy and the smoke device will be used.

Thanks for catching up on my ramblings.

[home.grower]

Somewhere down the line I have missed a day or duplicated a day in the diary. I'm sure today 14/06/07 would be day 15 but my lights won't be on untill 2100hrs. So yesterday was day 14, so I'll be commenting on last nights garden visit.

Everything was cool again. The pH was well within range. The EC had gone up a little, but the time is swiftly approaching for a reservoir replenish so a rise to 1.4-1.5 wasn't ringing alarm bells. I think I will replenish the reservoir within the next 24hours and commence using Big Bud. I must get a few photos taken before hand to show the development.

I didn't see any creepy crawlies on my quick visit. I think the flying pest problem is now totally controlled. I'll have to get in to the bush to examine the underside of the leaves on the soil plants. I'll probably do all this later this evening.

I'll attempt rounding off the first 2weeks of bloom this evening.

tune in later folks!!

[home.grower]

Ok! I did promise some updated pics, so without further a do:

1. & 2. are the left hand tray
3. is the underside of a random pot
4. the reservoir after replenishing
5. downward shot of right hand tray

[home.grower]

I carried out my chores today in the night cycle. I know it was naughty of me but I'll try to be good for now on.

I checked the levels and say that the pH was stable but the EC had gone up slightly. This didn't really matter as I planned to change the reservoir solution.

I emptied most of the crap out of the reservoir and scrubbed the sides. I them adden around 60L back to whatever was left in the bottom. There was probably 10L of stale solution left in the reservoir. I'm not saying whether this is good or bad, just stating it for the record that I cut a corner.

I added the full host of nutes to the tank.

1. F1-Fulvic
2. H2-Humic
3. Barricade
4. Liquid CarboLoad
5. Voodoo juice ~(I shall not be adding any more of this from now on)~
6. Big Bud ~(weeks 3 til end of 5)~
7. Sensi Bloom A & B (synthetic nute)
8. Mother Earth Super Tea Bloom (organic nute)

All his tipped the EC over the top so I emptied just over 10L away and added tap water.

I then pH the solution to the desired measure.

I let the system flood for a moment to ensure all was functioning correctly then more or less left the room.

I'm still very happy with the current results and progress.

For interest. There is not actual ratio that I add the synthetic and organic nutes in. If the plants look healthy then I might add more synthetic nutes than if they look sick. Why use both?

I use both because some elements are readily available in the synthetic that need time to be broken down to form in the organic. I try to ensure an abundant supply of everything all the time.

I'm considering allowing the system to flood continually within the next few days. I just love this way of producing herb. I'm converted!!!

Tune in tomorrow for updates on how these ladies take to Big Bud.

Thanks for visiting :)

[home.grower]

I think this will become my avatar :)

[home.grower]

I'm making a mess of these dates I think. Too much pukka smoking going on, I can't seem to get the chronology right.

Ok, so yesterday was the 15th of june and it was day 16 of bloom. But as today is a new day, the 16th, and I didn't do my update lastnight, then the title should read..' 16/06/07: day late update 16 for 15/06/07.....'

I think it's sorted. Must be just me getting confused.

So I visited the garden late lastnight. All is well. Growth is quite quick and every day is a revelation.

I checked the pH which required a little attention as it was above 6.2. The EC was a little off too, but I anticipated it even though I diluted the reservoir solution on the previous day. I had to dilute the solution again by removing 10L and topping off with pH balanced water.

I think I'm on the edge of over feeding. The leaf colour is almost perfect green. But I'm seeing a very light green tinge on some of the leaf tips. Whenever I've over fed in the past, the leaf tips have been the first parts of the plant that indicate a problem to me. I'm hoping that I can stick to what I believe is the edge of over fert, as the plants won't then lock down but will be doing their best to produce fruit and won't be lacking. In all honesty I don't really know what I'm babbling on about, but I like to think it works and my successes are my proof that I'm doing something right.

I changed my feeding pattern also on day 16. I've switched from once every four hours to once every 3 hours. I will monitor overall changes very closely. I think they will all cope with more access to food, I must ensure that the pH and EC values Do Not go out of range though as I have been. Whatelse?

hmmmmmm! Time for a bifta :stoned:

[home.grower]

All is well. They're looking good. Everything seems to be a repetition. pH and EC adjustments when required. Topping off with balanced water. Keeping the balance of nute right. Not much else. Nothing is dying. I will try and add progress pics by the begining of week 4. I love this hydro!!! I'm reaching halfway through the bloom cycle. I'm hoping for 1Kilo or more from this little setup. Then I will be able to get 5-6Kg after a garden makeover.

Stay tuned and thanks for dropping by :)

[LOC NAR on probation]

looking good, party on. keep us up.

Peace man.

[home.grower]

Thanks for dropping in LOC NAR on probation. & thanks for the encouragement!!

[home.grower]

Most Recently taken... hottt of the press...

[home.grower]

Most Recent pix...

[Goat]

They are tall and lean - is that a trait of the strain, or a cultivation technique?

[home.grower]

Thanks for dropping by Goat.

I've recently been told by my supplier that the strains I asked for are not the strains I received. I should have got 16 AK47 and 16 of something else, but I looks like I have around 20 G13 which tend to grow quite tall in the garden. The remainding strains might consist of Sensi Star,AK, and maybe something else.. who knows..

As for them being lean, I'm unsure if you are talking about them leaning over.. or you maybe talking about them looking good?

On the technique side of things, I'm not doing anything relatively special apart from daily maintenance of pH and EC readings. I've tried to include as much special information as possible. Any tasks that I might do out of the ordinary I will mention. So far, all has been like clockwork (in a sense)!

Thanks for dropping by :)

[home.grower]

The ladies are still asleep but I disturbed them for a couple of minutes to check the pH and EC.

The pH is fine, but the EC is 1.6 which I think is a tiny bit too high for this moment. I've noticed a slight appearance of tip burn on a few leaves. So as we're into the beginning of week 4 I think I will apply a propper pH balanced flush for a short period before applying a new mix of nutes.

I'm likely to bring the EC to 1.4 and raise it in a couple of days if it hasn't raised itself to 1.5.

A trip to the suppliers for another L of Big Bud is also on the cards I think.

I might not have mentioned, but I'm keeping the light between 13" and 18" from the tops of the plants which has helped keep them relatively short (4"-13").

Stay tuned for updates and progress.

[home.grower]

High! and welcome back folks.

The update is as follows:

Nutrients reading was EC1.6-1.8 say EC 1.7

pH reading was 6.4 (ish)

So I've emptied 15-20L from the rez and refilled and balanced the readings. I added Mother Earth Super Tea Bloom to bring the EC back up to the desired level.

Readings upon leaving were EC 1.5 pH 5.7.

Tune in again, I'm stoned off my face.

[crazywill]

You are doing great,I would look into covering the top of the trays with something to stop light getting to the roots.Some plastic strips with slits cut in so you can slip them around the stems to cover the roots from light getting in.But everything looking good.Happy growing, PEACE

[home.grower]

Thanks for dropping a comment crazywill.

Word for the word of greatness!

To be honest I haven't considered the light and the roots combination.

I was originally going to use a sheet of Correx with circles cut, then drop the net pots in the holes with the lip of the pots sitting on the sheet of Correx. I can't remember why I didn't... probably laziness or something to do with being intoxicated at the time.

Is it important to cover the roots?

Ok, so if replicating nature is what one should aim for then I can understand that roots do grow in the dark and under ground in 85% of cases. I wonder if I just answered that query?

Cheers for giving me something to think about, and feel free to offer other suggestions.

[home.grower]

Good Afternoon mari_jane associates...

I need to grow more pot. I'm bored of this single hydro life. I desire seeing to the needs of more than one hydro grow. I won't go on as I'll be seen to be common.

I've not had to do a lot. The joy of growing in soil and having to constantly shuffle those 15L pots about during watering and seeing to dead leaf routines are out the door. This method is so less demanding on the physical front. It's boring lol. Multiple hydro systems spread a week apart would be more interesting as there would always be varied work to be done. I'm not trying to make it my job, just hold the element of interaction I so desire :)

I'm currently sitting outside the garden listening to the humm of all the extractor and series of pumps. I've just ammended the mix in the reservoir. The pH was a little high as was the EC which was around 6.5/2.2.

I partially flushed again, emptying around 15L-20L then topping off with tap water. I only had to pH the solution because the resultant EC was 1.5, adequate for this stage. So upon leaving the reservoir the readings were EC1.5 and pH 5.7. As soon as the solution was corrected, as if timed, the pump kicked in and flooded the top trays. All good.

The leaves on the plants appear to be quite dark green. I understand this to mean that they are feeding very well. I compare dark green leaves to a podgy belly after eating. The leaf tips are now showing subtle signs of over fert. I guess it is over fert any way, I'll take a few pix shortly. The tinge in the tips and the 2.2 EC reading kind of make sense to me as well as considering the dark green leaf colour.

I'll have to pay more attention to the feeding sched.

I am now able to see nice amounts of resin forming on the leaves. I've had to be a devil and scratch and sniff... Well rub and sniff, and the aromas are beautiful. The pistils are quite long and very erect. The formation of the buds, imo, are almost as good as I can expect without veg time as such.

I'm not too impressed with the main stem structure. Maybe because there are only 2 fans in the room and there are other plants requiring wind might add to the reason why my stalks haven't built up. To put it simply, the fans have probably spent most of their time blowing on the soil potted crop as oppose to the hydro sys.

Now to bugs. I've just spotted an infestation of spider mite on one leaf, so I've mixed some SpiderMite Control, as purchased earlier, and I'm goint to apply a nice dose in no matter of time. Bugs are such a problem at this time of year. I won't use the bomb as there aren't any flying insects around and I would wanna waste it by not killing the mites.

What else? Not much else really! I'll get on with the last few tasks and get those images online. Stay Tuned!!

[home.grower]

I've taken a few pix for all our enjoyment.

1. The current leaf condition which appears on all plants
2. Took one out from near the front from modelling purposes. Might be G13 strain?
3. View from the top, just a plant near the front of the tray,
4. Another top view.
5. Side on

Next!!!

[home.grower]

A few for, because I'm happy...

1. Baby Bud
2. Random Roots after a flood
3. Buddd
4. More Baby Budddd

[home.grower]

I should also have noted that my reservoir temperature seemed to be pretty low when I put my hand in it earlier. I've decided to put an aquarium heater in there to keep the nute temperature at a level more appreciative to the plants.

I've sprayed the girls with a 500mL diluted mix of SpiderMite Control. I may have to do this more than once before the end of the week, but this just adds interest to the hobby. I don't think there is any more info that I can add at this time as I've covered everything. Tune in soon for the DL on my 1st propper hydro attempt.

[home.grower]

Here we go again.... This time however there are newer events to report.

I forgot to turn on the flood pump again!!! This time I left it for 48hours before realising what was happening. The reason so much time passed was because I was so busy yesterday I lost track of time and didn't manage to look in on the girls.

Today I was disappointed to see the after effects of no water for such a long time. The leaves were of an even deeper green than I'd like to see. I decided to flush the system as it was around that time again. I drained the reservoir and refilled it with 70L of pH balanced water.

As soon as I switched the system back on with just the water the drooping plants sprung back to life within 15minutes. All was not lost. I decided to leave the system flooded constantly for 4-5 hours with pH balanced water. I then returned and switched the pump back to timed intervals. All looked much better.

I will continue with pH balanced water for a couple of days. I'd be happy to see the shade of the leaves to lighten up. I may flush for longer if necessary before commencing Overdrive.

Tune in again!!

[Chabnoc]

Your roots look very dark brown. They do not look healthy to me. Are you using anything like hygrozyme or anything to help your roots stay healthy?

[home.grower]

High Chabnoc, thanks for dropping a comment.

Yeah the roots are a little brown. I think they could be becoming melanated?

As someone else commented earlier raising the point about the top trays not being covered and the roots being exposed to high intensity light for extended periods. A side effect of not covering the roots could well be a colour change... Not sure what other visuals would surface..

Another reason why the roots are brown could be due to the fact that that pic was taken immediately after a flood. If you look close you can see a film of water and nute solution on the surface of the roots. The reservoir solution is very dark in colour because of the additives. I'm sure that the H2 Humic Acid is almost black liquid in its container. The roots might be stained? My 60L mixing bucket is stained from H2 Humic.

I'm not using hygrozyme. I used Voodoo Juice once per week for the first 3 weeks. I've been told that plant root development stops near on 3 weeks into bloom.

Hope my answer provides adequate info.

[crazywill]

They are doing good and you are on top of thinks as well.If you cover those trays so the roots are in the dark they will be more white in color and healthier.Dark brown roots is not only stain from nutrs but root rot.They should have a little more root mass growing out the sides of the pots.How big of a airstone do you have in the res?more o2 in the water and covered trays and thoses grils will faten up real fast.Keep up the good work.Peace

[home.grower]

I have root appearance problems I think... Here are the latest images.:

[stoneinks]

You do not want your root`s in the sun just get some black plastic and place over you tray
smell your root`s if it smell`s bad (rotten egg`s or dead fish ) you have a problem

[palerider7777]

the roots don't look bad it looks like it was just drained and the dust build up off the hydroton is all it looks like to me

[palerider7777]

did u wash ur clay good b4 u used them ??

[rhizome]

Don't worry about your roots. They're fine. If you're really worried about it, try some canna/hygro/sensizyme to peel off the brown. But really, they're fine. You're killing these in 2-3 weeks anyway.

Looks like
A) Long term overfeeding
B) A Ca issue, possibly caused by longterm overfeeding.

[home.grower]

You do not want your root`s in the sun just get some black plastic and place over you tray
smell your root`s if it smell`s bad (rotten egg`s or dead fish ) you have a problem

I will do the inspection and proceed to cut a few strips of correx to cover the few light gaps, (I won't cover them totally, but as much as I can)

Thanks stoneinks!!! :thumbsup:

[home.grower]

the roots don't look bad it looks like it was just drained and the dust build up off the hydroton is all it looks like to me

There should not be any dust build up from the clay pebbles as I spent copius amounts of time washing them in un-pH'd water (which had an effect on pH stability). But I'm not going to rule anything out totally as I understand that the clay begins to breakdown after a period of time.

So you think the roots are OK?
Thanks for dropping a comment!! :thumbsup:

[home.grower]

Don't worry about your roots. They're fine. If you're really worried about it, try some canna/hygro/sensizyme to peel off the brown. But really, they're fine. You're killing these in 2-3 weeks anyway.

Looks like
A) Long term overfeeding
B) A Ca issue, possibly caused by longterm overfeeding.

I will go visit the Dr @ the practice and see if she reccommends SensiZyme... I've used hygrozyme and it isn't half as good as voodoo. Part way through this week, after covering the top trays slightly, I will enquire further about the addatives u mentioned. But as you say, in around 3 weeks time the ladies are due to end.

I should be feeding with overdrive for 2 weeks atm, but I'm paused on pH balanced water for quite a while. All was well untill:

1. I forgot to turn the rez pump on and it remained off for 48hours
2. The EC hit 2.2 one day, I think it was because I missed a visit

Before the above two instances occured, all seemed pretty good.

Many thanks rhizome for dropping a comment!!! :thumbsup:

[Weedhound]

Well there's where you nute burn is coming from I think....if the problem isn't heat than it's nute burn or the result of a ph lockout...

[home.grower]

I will keep flushing, while trying to again take control of the bugs...

I'm almost happy to say that despite the plants looking a little fried, they haven't shut down and stopped growing to my knowledge, although tha=ey could be developing slower??? I don't know really,,,

[Weedhound]

Straight ph'd water will slow them down somewhat....I've noticed that after I've flushed or if I got to straight water for some reason, it slows the growth so that doesn't surprise me.

[home.grower]

I get the impression I'm too long winded.

Checked reservoir. pH/EC=5.7/0.6

Added Mother Earth Bloom, just a splash
Added Overdrive, Just a splash

Resultant pH/EC=5.5/1.4

Sprayed with recommended solution for bugs instead of bomb also. Will wait and see..

Covered top trays with approriate material.

That's the update..

[palerider7777]

i have used my clay pellets and when i change nutes it's still cloudy from the clay thats washed off

[home.grower]

Hello readers

I'm not far off harvest now. Only a matter of weeks before the chop!!

I've had to pH down over the last day, and also empty 30L from the rez and top off with 40L of tap water. I pH balanced the solution but didn't add any nutes. I left the EC at 1.2.

I drained off 30L because the EC was quite high again. I fugure that its time to totally reduce the feed concentrate.

I'm seeing signs of nice bud development. The flowers are begining to swell. I will try and add pix around day 45 to show progress.

The over fert situation has subsided and I think so long as I work lower than the recomended dose then I will be ok!

[Weedhound]

EC was quite high again.....as in.....how high? And how long since you last checked it?

[TheGreenFog]

Hey, man. LOOKING GOOD. I just skimmed through the pics and they look top notch. I'm going to make sure I subscribe to this one and come back and read all the way through. Looks like you did your homework. Love it. Be cool.


The Fog :rastasmoke:

[home.grower]

EC was quite high again.....as in.....how high? And how long since you last checked it?

EC1.6-2.0, I cannot remember. All I know is I felt the need to reduce it else the following day it certainly would have been through the roof. ...& I check the levels daily especially while applying full strength nutes as I've seen the levels fluctuate dramatically

[home.grower]

Hey, man. LOOKING GOOD. I just skimmed through the pics and they look top notch. I'm going to make sure I subscribe to this one and come back and read all the way through. Looks like you did your homework. Love it. Be cool.


The Fog :rastasmoke:

I'm trying my best, thanks... I just been looking at your pix in your madman thread and you looks to be producing the pukka urself too!!!

[home.grower]

I haven't had much in the way of time to keep posting my 'actions-taken' in the garden.

Yesterday I topped off the reservoir with 30L of water.

I then added a splash of Mother Earth Bloom and a splash of Overdrive. I didn't measure the pH or EC afterwards for some perculiar reason.

I went in this morning before lights-out and pinched off the decaying leaves. My fingers are still sticky with the sticky juice from the girls.

I found that the pH was through the roof @ 6.5 while the EC was at a dangerous 2.2. This has gotta be something to do with drinking beer?

I immediately drained off 30L and replenished with 40L. The new readings were pH 5.6 and EC1.5.

The growth of the buds is quite rapid. Ever since the first dose of Overdrive the ladies have been packing on weight.

There are no bugs in the room. The last spray application of some 'under-the-counter' insecticide that had no label has done the trick. I think that the decating leaves are something to do with the spray application.

I feel a photo opprotunity coming on. Watch the space below :)

Thanks for reading fellow herbalists!!

[home.grower]

Here are some pix of current progress....

All appears ok. The next few days will display the results of the EC2.2 repeat scenario. I've plucked off the majority of the decaying leaves. I stripped one plant fully of its dangly leaves and the bud development has come on quite a lot. It didn't harm the plant so I've decided to do them all the same way.

I haven't bothered to resize or crop these images so you can enjoy the full-high res images in all their marvel.

Unfortunately not all the plants of of a uniform stature. I'd much prefer to have the same strains on one tray, not a mix!

Here you are folks, day 41 of bloom, or around a total of 60 days of growth since clones were taken.

[home.grower]

while ammending the reservoir yesterday i noticed a strong smell of piss. I'm wondering if some punk mf visiting in my absence urinated in my reservoir. The odd ocassion has arisen where peeps have mentioned it, and I wouldn't put it past them to be so childish.. I just hope I'm not putting my hands in someone elses piss when i do res ammendments

[home.grower]

The levels are good.

I shall drain the reservoir tomorrow because I am dubious about piss in my reservoir. I hope I'm incorect and people haven't been pissin in my reservoir! Time to introduce a 4inch thick reinforced steel door?

pH 6.1 but downed to 5.7
EC 1.5

Growth is still very good.

Not much else to add!!

[hydrocannabis]

ooooooooooooooooooooooo my goood. these pix look like some marijuana pron.

this grow looks sick in the best way possible.

grow on man grow on.:D

[home.grower]

Cheers Hydrocannabis...

I haven't done my res change yet, but i reckon today is the day....

I need to have my res fresh for when the plants decide to have a girth spurt (usually happens)... that'll be n e time soon....

Yesterday the levels were ok. The res was low so I topped off with 30L od ap water then balanced the pH. The EC was around 1.5. I added a dash of Carboload and a plop of Barricade to the res...

Today will be res scrub and flush and maybe photo op...

[TheGreenFog]

:eek: Nice plants. I have to start counting how many! haha. Looking great, man.

I have a new log. It's in my sig
|
|
|
V

;) New Madman Thread. :thumbsup:


Be cool, home.grower. :greenthumb:


The Fog :rastasmoke:

[home.grower]

I didn't manage to flush my res yesterday as I had other duties in the garden to attend to. I did however check the pH and EC levels giving 6.1/1.2

This morning I went in before lights out and scrubbed the system and drained the res. I replenished with pH 5.6 water without any additives and left the system running. I will do a second drain and replenish shortly then apply a full mix of all addatives to EC1.2-1.4.

I have chronic signs of over fert again due to the EC2.2 occuring for a second time... I will take some pix shortly and get them posted.

[home.grower]

Sum pix

[home.grower]

Some more pix

[home.grower]

I suppose I keep loosing sight of the propterties of DWC style cultivation.

The changes in pH and EC are constant variables and demand attention.

I have been quite used to growing in potted coco media and taking EC levels to the max... The signs of over fert come on much slower with soil. Hydro is very much unforgiving to those who do not apply their full attention to their work. but I can see that the rewards can be quite generous.

I've also lost sight of the fact that I'm currently farming very small plants. Some of those small plants are less than one-fith the size of plants that are normally grown, so I should have been bearing in mind that the transportation of nute to the plants vital areas will be quick in comparrison to 4-5 ft tall potted plants... I'm ready to give it another shot, but next time I'll employ factors that will stop over fert problems... ~(over fert seems to be my only major fault, apart from not switching the pump on sometimes for over a day)...

[razzapiggy]

Yeah over ferting seems to be a common problem w. hydro if you don't pay attention. Luckily you can flush em out pretty easily. Nice compact plants, they are filling in nicely. I noticed not a ton of secondary shoots, any reason or just the way the strain grows?

Great work thus far, I think you are going to have a nice ass harvest. What size trays are those? I see you have 16 plants on each...maybe a 5 by 4?

[home.grower]

...Nice compact plants, they are filling in nicely. I noticed not a ton of secondary shoots, any reason or just the way the strain grows?

Great work thus far, I think you are going to have a nice ass harvest. What size trays are those? I see you have 16 plants on each...maybe a 5 by 4?

These plants arrives as clones and didn't have much in the way of veg time. They were literally rooted in cubes then moved straight to flower. It was around 20 days from cutting to bloom day1. That is why they are small and probably why they have little or no branches.

Each tray is about 2'x4' as is the reservoir. The area taken up is close to the dimensions you said 5'x4' under 1x600W-HPS.

Thanks for dropping by

[home.grower]

On my last visit to the garden I added to the reservoir a

fresh supply of water (70L)
25mL Fulvic F-1
25mL Humic H-2
10mL CarboLoad
5mL Barricade
50mL Overdrive
20mL Sensi Bloom A&B
30mL Mother Earth Super Tea Bloom

That sounds like a lot but my resultant EC was only 1.0!

I wanted to mix a very dilute formula so that I could leave the system flooding over night... I need not worry about drowning the roots because my submersed air line beneath the pots is still functioning and providing oxygen to the roots. The last fixture was the pH @ 5.6

This morning the EC had risen to 1.2 and the pH was around 6.2. I pH downed and won't make any more ammendments today. I'm certain they have swelled up a little since yesterday, but it isn't quite time for the girth spurt. fingers crossed!!!

[Weedhound]

The changes in pH and EC are constant variables and demand attention.

I have been quite used to growing in potted coco media and taking EC levels to the max... The signs of over fert come on much slower with soil. Hydro is very much unforgiving to those who do not apply their full attention to their work. but I can see that the rewards can be quite generous

That is as accurately said as anything I've ever heard. :thumbsup: Sums hydro up beautifully in my book.

I don't think it makes much difference about plant size in hydro however....everything seems to move pretty fast through the whole plant either big or small imho....:)

[home.grower]

YeeHaa!!

~Ok, so I haven't kept the diary toally up to date for the past few days. but not much has changed really.

~After adding the full host of nutes on day 46, I have only had to pH down every other day. The EC hasn't risen an awful lot because I only EC'd upto 1.2 when I added all the nutes. The EC had rose a little, but not much. I added a dash of Mother Earth Bloom and Overdrive to the mix after 3 days. Ph downing was the only requirement up until yesterday. Yesterday, I emptied 15L and topped off with 30L of tap water. I then adjusted the pH to the required range.

~Today I've emptied the reservoir and flooded the system for three quarters of an hour. I then added a splash of Mother Earth Bloom and have left the system running with a very mild dose of organic feed.

~Later on I will add the last full mix of nutes to the reservoir (F1, H2, Barricade, Sensi Bloom, Overdrive, (I'm all out of carboload)).

I have taken a few pix of the progress so far. I have spent some time trimming the decaying leaves off many of the plants. All plants now have very firm buds (not attributed to trimming the leaves). Not all of them have the same firmness all the way down the plant, but this will change over the next few days. I'm anticipating a spurt in girth any time soon aswell. I'm not certain it will happen, but I've seen it happen on every grow to date (except the ones that were harvested prematurely).

[crazywill]

Hey home.grower They look great !! I have been following your grow and it looks like you study up alot before you started.Good growing man. PEACE

[home.grower]

Hey home.grower They look great !! I have been following your grow and it looks like you study up alot before you started.Good growing man. PEACE

Thanks for looking in crazywill. I have attempted NFT many years ago when I began growing. I was unsucessful to say the least. Over the course of time I conversed with people knowledgeable about cultivating herb, read books, surfed the net, and utilised Cannabis.Com to develop my, then, soil/coco skills. I am a confident soil/coco grower.

Waste is a big problem with soil/coco type mediums. It is also costly buying half a tonne of it every time a new set of strains are put to flower, then having to dispose of it! I've put my mind to hydro as a cost effective means of reaping the same, if not better, rewards with less waste (not quite carbon neutral, but tending towards)...

As the pix show, the plants are very small and started off even tinier. This will be an example of what I can expect as a minimun yeild per 600W-HPS. I will then be able to calulate my saving in waste material and compare my average soil/coco results with my new mininum hydro expectations (bearing in mind I didn't veg these clones when I put em on the hydro system).

Example of a saving...

32 plants would normally start in half litre pots [32 * 0.5 = 16L of soil]
Then repotted to 6.5L pots with clay [32 * 5 = 160L of soil (+ 20L clay)]

Then they take up shit-loads of space after purchasing around 200L of grow medium.

Hydro, this time round, Less than 50L of clay for the same amount of plants, and if I were to fill the garden with 5 hydro systems (one under each 600W-HPS) then I'd have 32 * 5 = 160 plants that I'd veg for a week instead of flowering straight away that should produce much more than a room rammed with soil/coco grown plants.

This is all an experiment to see if its worth becoming a converted grower. ATM I'm not looking back! I'd so love to do this again, but patching up where I went wrong this time and having a much better result next time. Cheers for tuning in crazywill.

[home.grower]

Welcome! Akwaaba!

It's day 53. I didn't add the full host of nutes yesterday as I planned to. Today I've added a splash of Sensi Bloom A&B and Overdrive to the res accompanied with 15L of tap water. The resultant EC was 1.3 and the pH was left at 5.7.

I've decided to leave the system running on flood for the next few days. I'm sure the buds stay firm when the system floods all the time. And I'm sure they go a little softer when the flood stops. Hmmmmmmm. So I'm experimenting here leaving the system flooding. I'm not in fear of drowning the roots because of the submersed airline beneath each pot.

When I've done soil type mediums in the past, at this stage I can never seem to keep up with the watering (reaching the end of week 8). The plants normally tend to drink and drink and drink in my garden. There are potted ~(15L pots)~ plants in the room and they are consuming 3L daily and are looking wilted every day. They are into week 10 of bloom.

Back to the Hydro... A couple of the plants that look like G13 appear to be finishing up. They are quite stiff and well packed. I'll attempt some photgraphy soon. The Sensi Stars will then follow. I think the tall ones are AK47 from their mature appearance and they will take longest as their flowers keep deflating when the pump is off. Whatever else in on there will follow inbetween or after, but I think that is all the strains there are. (Maybe some of the ones I think are AK47 are actually Chronic, they look similar to me).

Not long til harvest folks!

[home.grower]

Welcome folks.

Events have occurred which are affecting the overall production of bud.

New clones have arrived early for the next grow and there has been no place to store them as I expected to be finishing up any time soon. I've had little choice but to expose the blooming plants to 24hrs of light for 2 days.

Growth has been affected in so far as 50% of tops have begun at least 1cm of new vertical growth. This is something I shall photograph. Bud formation has been steadily firming up and all plants are very firm. The supposed AK47 strain looks like it will be a late finisher. The Sensi stars should be coming out sometime in the next 5 days, as will numerous G13. The mentioned strains are budding up and swelling beyond the length of the pistils. The rest still look like they have 7-14 days left to swell up.

I haven't been feeding them much either. The res pH has remained balanced with daily amendments while the EC has been kept below 1.2. I might do a res change tomorrow also.

Tomorrow I have to section the garden in 2 halves to enable me to get back to finishing these little monsters. I can't wait to chop them. I've cut off a sneaky bud from what looks and smells like Bug Budha Cheese. I shall smoke it in about 5-7 days then ~I'll have a rough idea of the final product.

Tune in for more updates and pix tomorrow folks

Happy Toking

[home.grower]

Welcome back...

I've divided the room in to two. I haven't done it properly. There are a couple of reasons. One of them being that doing a lot of work to remove it after a week or two? So, a bit of light is still creeping into my bloom area.

I added final phase to a new fresh reservoir and pH balanced it. At day 60 I'm deciding to be a light weight and throw the towel in. I will leave the system on timed flooding for the next 7-10 days. I will then chop the lot!

Today I rinsed 2 of the smallest (as near as finished) plants under a running tap for a few minutes and chopped em. Combined, the weight was 45g / 1.5Oz wet (one was 20g the other 25g). By the time those dry fully 7-10 days should be near ending.

I've take some pix of the stage I'm about to shut down @.

[home.grower]

the pix!

[home.grower]

the pix continued

[hows.your.roof]

ph flux could be related to your tap water

[home.grower]

Today I've checked the bud density and have decided to continually flood for most of the day.

The timed floods makes the buds go a lil softer!

I'm about to weigh the chopped bud.

Last night I smoked a joint of the nugs I chopped earlier and I was totally hammered.

Standby for pix of the unimpressive root mass from the chopped plants.

[home.grower]

Harvested after 66 Days in bloom.

I didn't get to achieve the grand exit I was after..

Due to Mr Clone Supplier being over a month early, it got to a point where it was decided that the new clones had a little more importance than the hydro.

The new clones were potted and put in the bloom room, but the blooming lighting was switched to veg/24hrs. For around a week, the hydro plants have not been under the right lighting conditions for a week or more. Growth had reverted back to veg, obviously.

Maybe next time when I purchase 48 hydro buckets I won't face the same problems.

The quality of the dried product is pretty good. Not so much flavorsome as cerebral in its high. All my associates who have sampled it like it. I think there is plenty of room for improvement.

The new ladies are still in veg and much of them are a couple inches taller than the tallest hydro bud I've just chopped. There are plenty of bud sites. They will finish up between 4 and 5 feet as this is usually the case with our coco potted plants. Harvest off them will be in the region of 85 (poorest) to 115 (bestest) ounces. Harvest off this hydro under one light will be in the region of 15-25 ounces. I will do the math once its dry.

Sorry my diary of events has gotten choppy towards the end. I might do another log for the potted plants that spent their first day in bloom lastnight. Standby for drying bud pix!!

thanks for reading fellow herbalists

THE END!

[home.grower]

here's a pic of the drying budd.. My next update shall include the over all weight

[stoneinks]

hi what is the over all weight
on your grow ? ? ? ?

[home.grower]

The over all weight was a pathetic 6 ounces... but follow my next thread as I'm trying something different... cheers for dropping by