Second Grow - Going well with your advice

[hbbusa28]

Just wanted to put this up. I've only been on this message board for about a year but you guys have helped me a lot so I thought I would share where I am. This is only my second grow. My first went really well, seemed to give a good yeild so I thought I would try again.

Growing some California Orange. I had two plants that were germinated in rockwook cubes on August 4. They sprouted four days later but my cat killed one of them (I'm the stupid ass that thought he wouldn't bother them. My mistake. So now I have one).

My room is about 4'x2'x8', but there is a self at about 6' so it hinders my height availabilty so I grow ScrOG. I'm using a Grow Pro 400w sitchable ballast that runs a 400w Cool Delux MH bulb for veg and a 400w Hortilux Super HPS bulb for flowering.

I'm using a Rockwool drip system and use the 3-part GH as my nutrient base. As secondary I've added CalMag, Liquid Karma and Hygrozyme (based on advise here).

For exhaust I have a 4" Vortex exhaust fan at 175cfm and a standard oscillating house fan to help with the passive intake and keep branches/stem strong. I also have a four valve air pump with four round airstones for aeration.

[hbbusa28]

This was taken on August 24. Week 3 after germination. It was approximately 1" tall and I started it on a 24/0 light cycle. The PH was at 5.4 with 0 PPM. Room temp was at 85 degrees.

Algae stared to grow on top of cube so I added a coconut topper. I also added a neeting system to keep the cat out and act as my support for ScrOG.

At this point I didn't have the exhust fan, aeration, Liquid Karma or Hygrozyme.

[hbbusa28]

Week 4 after germination. This was taken on September 1. It was approximately 5" tall, the light was 23" above the plant. The PH was at 5.3 with a PPM of 265. I had the nute mix at the GH general application suggestion of 1-1-1 at 30% strength. It was an extreamlly hot week. Grow room temps averaged about 90-92 degrees. Dropped to about 88-89 degrees at night.

The Netting worked like a charm to keep the cat out. I saw some small leaf abnormalities. It seemed sporadic. Possible insect damage as I have had to kill some random bugs I found on the leaves.

I bought a Vortex exhaust fan to help expel the hot air. However the air that was in the ajoining room was in the high 80's so it didn't do much.

After reading some posts here I got the feeling that the PPM was way too low and should be more around 500-800ppm. But I kept it at that level until weeks end.

[hbbusa28]

Now I'm up-to-date. I would like to keep you guys in the loop. Like I said you've all helped me a lot and I want to share any stories to keep you involved.

This is week 5 after germination. It was taken this weekend. It's now approximately 7" tall.

Early in the week I upped the PPM from high 200â??s to low-mid 500â??s. The light was also dropped 4-5 inches. Heat problems leveled out by mid week.

At weeks end I changed the nutes in the reservoir to the veg mix (3-2-1) and up the PPM to 900. I also purchased Liquid Karma and Hygrozyme and added that in the mix (3-part, Cal-Mag, LK, HyZ). Light was dropped another 4-5 inches to finally be about 13" from plant top.

I started Aeration to add O2 to water mixture. Plant seems to be doing well. Topped beginning of the week and two branches have a good start on top.

Can't wait to see next week to see how the Liquid Karma and Hygrozyme impact the plant.

[socialistpete]

Those look great, LK will do good for them.

[hbbusa28]

Thanks. I wasn't so sure if they were doing ok. I've read a lot of posts that would make me think that it was not as big as it should be at 5 weeks.

[Suspectelite]

dont use too much hygrozyme, it can kill your plants.

[hbbusa28]

Thanks I'll watch out for that.

The bottle suggests 10ml per gallon. As with the rest of my nutes I'm at about 55%-60% strength. I buy a few gallons of distilled water a week and change the nutes out every Saturday. Flush the system with Clearex and add fresh nutes. I start by mixing three full strength gallons. For each gallon: 10ml of Micro, 15ml or Grow, 5 ml bloom, 10ml Cal-Mg, 10ml Liquid Karma & 10ml Hygrozyme. I add the three gallons of full strength to the rez then add distilled water to dilute the mixture. Adjust PH then run system until the the run off and res are both the same PH and PPM.

It's been about 2 days since I added the Liquid Karma and Hygrozyme. I haven't observed any problems so I hope it wasn't too much. I'll keep an eye on it.

[Divestoned]

you must be a fast learner ....you seem to be doing just fine.congrats.

Dive:stoned:

[hbbusa28]

Thanks really appreicate it. When I first started last year I read Grow Great Marijuana by Logan Edwards and The Cannabis Grow Bible by Greg Green. The Edwards bood was really basic. Gave me an idea of where to start. But Green's book I read cover to cover at least 5 times and I reference it throughout the grow. However, I find that the best advice that's been keeping me going is from here. Everyone is extremaly friendly and willing to offer help.

So thanks again. :thumbsup:

[Suspectelite]

You need to get Jorge Cervantes' newest edition of "Indoor Marajuana Horticulture", its fuckin amazing, with tons of visual references.

[hbbusa28]

This weeks update. This is now 6 weeks after germination and approximatly 3-4 weeks into veg.

The light is 12" from the top of the plant and is approximatley 13" tall. Room temp has been in the mid-high 70's at night and low to mid 80's durning the day. Still using the 3-part GH nute mix for veg cycle with the addtion of Cal-Mg, LK, and Hygrozyme in a base of distilled water. Res temp on average is high 70's.

Topping worked great. The plant now has two very sturdy and long tops. Each starting to grow itâ??s own branches. Also, the addition of Liquid Karma and Hygrozyme worked phenomenally. The plant has greatly increased in girth and height - growing almost double since last week. The tops of the plant have now reach my netting Iâ??ll begin training them under it. By another week or two there should be a very good canopy growing tops and node regions just under the net.

Just cleared out the reservoir for the week and upped the PPM from 800-900 to around 1100-1200. I had to add 2 gallons of water to my 5 gallon res throughout the week to keep enough water in it. Thirsty little bastard. Either the Liquid Karma or Hygrozyme leaves a thick brown mineral deposit on the side of the res. Seems to be the only draw back, but the benefits have out weighed the extra clean up.

[Suspectelite]

Im pretty sure youre only supposed to use hygrozyme on plants that dont have an established root system. that plants roots must be a tangled mess by now if youve been using it this whole time, but healthy none the less.

[hbbusa28]

hummmm. I was under the impression that you use it throughout your grow. It not only promotes health root development (main advantage), but also help clear away dead material in the medium. Allowing for better overall nutrient up take and better health.

I would say the roots are tangled so to speak, but they are densely packed. They are a very nice white color though. :)

[hbbusa28]

Whops. Meant to say the roots arent' tangled.

[Suspectelite]

I use Hygrozyme also, in fact I swear by it now, but I find that it stays active for a long tme in my soiless medium, and when i used it on my last grow, my plants were potbound after 5 weeks. this time I only used for the first week and my roots are still really thick & bright white, but nowhere as near as potbound as last time.

[hbbusa28]

Yeah I see what you mean. I leave them in the 6" Rockwool through harvest. I know I know. I've been told I shouldn't to that but it worked out really well last time. Good bush growth, which I need and it worked fine.

[hbbusa28]

Here it is, 7 weeks after germination and approximatly 5 weeks into veg.

The light is 11-12" from the top of the plant. Room temp has been in the mid-high 70's at night and low to mid 80's durning the day. Was able to use frozen water bottles to bring res temp down from high 70's to mid 60's to low 70's. PPM is around 1200 with a 5.6-5.7 ph.

The tops of the plant have grown past the height of the netting. Twice a day I need to re-tuck the extending branches and grow tips under the net to keep them trained. The hardest thing is to keep all of the node regions and tips in the light. The leaves start to climb on top of each other and space in prime light is hard to find. Plus it must add a lot of stress to the plant with the continuous bending, tucking and shoving.

Toward the end of the week I trimmed the bottom half of the plant that was no longer getting light due to the thick canopy at top. This will hopefully keep the energy of the plant focused and also divert any wasted time/energy the plant was spending on these lower leaves and tips.

Sex is still unknown - I am a bit surprised about this. Thought it would have shown by now. Keeping my fingers crossed that this wasnâ??t a waste of time, but regardless itâ??s been fun getting this far once again. :)

[Suspectelite]

Here it is, 7 weeks after germination and approximatly 5 weeks into veg.

The light is 11-12" from the top of the plant. Room temp has been in the mid-high 70's at night and low to mid 80's durning the day. Was able to use frozen water bottles to bring res temp down from high 70's to mid 60's to low 70's. PPM is around 1200 with a 5.6-5.7 ph.

The tops of the plant have grown past the height of the netting. Twice a day I need to re-tuck the extending branches and grow tips under the net to keep them trained. The hardest thing is to keep all of the node regions and tips in the light. The leaves start to climb on top of each other and space in prime light is hard to find. Plus it must add a lot of stress to the plant with the continuous bending, tucking and shoving.

Toward the end of the week I trimmed the bottom half of the plant that was no longer getting light due to the thick canopy at top. This will hopefully keep the energy of the plant focused and also divert any wasted time/energy the plant was spending on these lower leaves and tips.

Sex is still unknown - I am a bit surprised about this. Thought it would have shown by now. Keeping my fingers crossed that this wasnâ??t a waste of time, but regardless itâ??s been fun getting this far once again. :)
yo man, you dont have to worry about light being blocked by leaves, havent you seen my threads & my plants yet?
light penetrates foliage to a depth of about 10-14 inches depending on the wattage of your bulb.

[hbbusa28]

No I've missed your threads on that. I'll go back and look now. I'm running a 400w MH light. When I trimmed the lower leaves, I trimmed everything more then 7" away from the canopy. There are still leaves and branches that are within that half foot. I lose the lower lower, and small branches that are too far away to reach the net by the time I start to flower.

[Suspectelite]

youre not plannin on using that to flower are ya?

[hbbusa28]

Using what? The light...no. Will switch to a HPS. The rockwool cube.....yes. My last grow worked well with it. The netting....yeah, I want the light to focus on the canopy of flowers..

[hbbusa28]

Here it is, 8 weeks after germination and approximatly 6 weeks into veg.

The light is 11-12" from the top of the plant. Room temp has been in the mid-high 70's at night and low to mid 80's durning the day. PPM is around 1200 with a 6.0 ph. RH is 37%.

Plant is still flourishing. Itâ??s really beginning to fill out the net. More then I remember my first grow filling out and much faster. The Liquid Karma and Hygrozyme is really working well. About 3-4 days after the res change I noticed the PH was very hard to keep stable. Iâ??m wondering if it is due to me topping off with plain water instead of NPK/Cal-Mag water. With this change when I top off Iâ??m going to top off with 1100ppm NPK/Cal-Mag in hopes that the PH buffers in the solution will keep the PH stable throughout the week. I also upgraded my thermometer with one that measures RH. with Still no sex. Starting to get a bit anxious, but doing my best to take long deep breaths and relax. ;)

[trynagethigh]

very nice setup, is that that plasticated screen stuff? if so how much was it and where did you find it? All i can seem to find is these big ass 25 foot rolls of the chicken wire.

[hbbusa28]

Thanks man really appreciate it. And yes, it is the plasticated fencing. When I went shopping for netting I kept running into the metal chicken wire as well. Not sure where you are from, but where I'm at we have Home Depot. Basically a huge warehouse of hardware, gardening, lumber etc. They had it there in a couple of different sizes. The one I got was the 2" squares. Can't remember the size of the roll, it was pretty big as well, but it only ran about $5-$10 USD.

This is the second grow I'm attempting with it. Worked out great with my last. This time I decided to build the wooden frame and staple gun the fencing to it. It's working out great! The only pain is continually having to stuff and shove the leaves under the netting. Basically twice a day I spend 15-20 min just doing that. But in the end it's great. Grows a really nice bush with lots of nodes right at the light.

Thanks again for the compliment. As we all are, I've put a lot of energy into it and it's nice to hear when someone likes it.

[hbbusa28]

Here it is, 9 weeks after germination and approximatly 7 weeks into veg.

The light is 6"-7" from the top of the plant. Room temp has been in the low-mid 70's at night and low to mid 80's durning the day. PPM is around 1200 with a 6.0 ph. RH is 37% durning the day and 80% at night.

Began to see what I thought were female pre-flowers. Due to the canopy already being full I began the 12/12 light cycle. May have misdiagnosed the sex. However, after 4 days of 12/12 more pre-flowers have begun to spring up all over the plant. Still having trouble being 100% positive on male or female.

I also purchased a new hood that allows me to keep the temp down so Iâ??ve moved the light a lot closer to the canopy. Growing tops seem to like it and the roots look fantastic (not due to light obviously). They are growing out of the bottom of the Rockwool at a very fast rate.

With this res change Iâ??ve put the nutes into a transition mixture. As I top off during the week Iâ??ll top off with a 1-2-3 mix to begin the bloom stage. Next change will be full bloom mixture. Still having major problems with keeping the PH stable. Toping off with NPK mixture didnâ??t help. It seems to drop .2 PH after every feeding.

After this week Iâ??ll stop pushing and folding the leaves under the net and will let them start to grow up.

[hbbusa28]

So it looks like the little bastard was a male. F*ck! Timmmmmmmmberrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well thanks to everyone for all your help. Time to start over. :(

[Hydroponic Cabbage]

Damn sorry to hear that, it looked really good too :(