question for ZANDOR or other knowledgable hydro grower

[Stormcooker]

My flood schedule during 18/6 (Ebb and flow w/ hydroton) is every 3 hours with the lights on (for 15 minutes), and no flood in the dark. WHen the lights go back on after a dark cycle, the plants seem to be at their best, very peppy and full of life. I'm wondering if that may partially be due to their 6 hour break from flooding, since pot plants like to dry out a bit before they get flooded again. Maybe I should try changing the flood schedule to every 4 hours when lights are on, since they seem to like the break in light and flood??

pic is of my 4 Grapefruit and 2 Easy Bud (Female Seeds/ Dr. Chronic Seedbank).

[Zandor]

I would say the like the cooler temperatures more then less water. Grow rocks don't hold much water so it does not take that long to dry out. Check under the pots every once in a while. In Ebb & Flow you can get a slimy bottom that can trap water. A good wipe every week or so is advisable as preventive measure.

What temperature are the plants under during the light cycle?

Don't laugh but I know hundreds of growers who grow Ebb & Flow with grow rocks and they water 15 on 45 off even during the dark cycle. Each strain is a little different that's why we keep notes and journals for our plants.

[Stormcooker]

thanks zandor. You are probably right about the cooler temps rather than less water. These are Grapefruit (a c'99 strain) and Easy Bud from Female Seeds. I didn't think about that. I do run hot with the lights on due to lack of space, need for stealth, and warm months of summer here on the east coast USA. I try to compensate with good CO2, plenty of fresh air, and direct wind from fans. I'm running at about 85-90 degrees Farenheit with lights on and about 70-80 lights off. Hot I know, but I had great success with my last crop at similar temps (AK-47 serious seeds). This crop unfortunately falls under the hot months where I am, but I pay enough attention to detail to make it work. It's a labor of love!!!!!!!!!!

[Stormcooker]

p.s. just got that pH monitor, what a great thing to have TOTAL PEACE OF MIND. I had problems getting a true clear reading from the dropper style test kit since my nutrient recipe makes the resevoir mix brown and almost "muddy" looking (General Hydroponics' Floranova w/ supplements regimen). I'm finding that the ph casually rises up so I start at about 5.6 and allow to rise to 6.2 before I knock it back down. This way I absorb nutrients at different pH levels within the safe zone since they do different things at different ph levels. If I had to be too acidic or too "base", I would choose and recomend too acidic (low pH) in my experience. Before I had the digital pH monitor, I had too high (base) pH and what a bad situation that was!!!! Foam, crud, plant and root matter in the water, slime, film, you name it. The addition of organics like Floraliscious require a little TLC to be kept stable and fresh. If the ph gets too high, the resevoir turns into a "black lagoon" where you'd expect a creature to climb out and eat your face. haha. Anyway, I'm probably not tellin' you what you didn't already know, thanks for your input.

[Zandor]

Nice Ph monitor.

That 90 is way to hot you run a risk of your plants turning hermie on you. Watch out for the little balls. FYI

[Stormcooker]

I have no choice but to run this high temp. it's only one crop per year that I have to deal with the heat. Last crop was pretty hot too, and I still got 8 oz. AK-47. I'll keep you posted ........

[Zandor]

yup sometime you just have to live with it dude.

Good luck

[fhydro]

Have you got pics of your AK47 in flower ?
Fhydro

[J DOG 6000]

I thought it was the other way around low(base) high(acidic)...
...am I wrong?

[Zandor]

I thought it was the other way around low(base) high(acidic)...
...am I wrong?
???????????

[Garden Knowm]

Nice plants.. I think you can increase the ppm.. they look a bit light... probably safe to go 1000-1200.

Plants usualy look pretty happy first thing in the morning and pretty tired before they go to sleep... sounds pretty normal...

happy hydro-ing

SMB

[Stormcooker]

Hi all, I'm back. I got a little lazy and haven't been in touch on the message board.
Today I am at 31 days from seed. I began 12/12 light cycle yesterday. Tonight I will be changing the resevoir to the early bloom phase (General Hydroponics phase feeding program w/ floranova and supplements),

I have to say thanks to Female Seeds for supplying my Grapefruit seeds. This is an awesome plant that has been incredibly tolerant to some bad conditions that I encountered a few weeks ago like high pH, possibly too high PPM, and high heat. I will take some shots tonight and add to this thread. You will see that one of the girls is crazy prolific, and the rest are just awesome. I'm curious to see how the Easy Bud plant I have going will do along side the Grapefruits. It is a 50/50 indica/sativa where as the Grapefruit is a fasst finishing Sativa. It's nice to have didderent kinds of weed in the end. I like sativa in the morning, and indica at night.

Sorry, no pics of the last grow of AK47 in flower. I stopped photographing and posting on the message board after 35 days from seed. Everything turned out great though even though I had to leave on vacation for 12 days. thankfully I had a good friend to watch things for me. I yielded about 7 ounces. Not bad for such a small space huh?

this pic is my last grow at 35 days. AK47 from Serious Seeds. I will post pics of new grow (Grapefruit and 1 Easy Bud) tonight.

[Stormcooker]

She's 33 days from seed. Grapefruit. It really does smell like grapefruit right now to the touch. I'm anxious to see how the Easy Bud (Female Seeds) does alongside it.

[latewood]

Stormcooker, nice set-up, I am in process of putting together a recirculating system so I thought I'd revisit my research on grow methods. So, I wonder, could you tell me? why do you grow w/ebb and flow? As opposed to dwc; Do you find ebb and flow easier to deal with on a grow to grow basis?...thanks latewood

[Stormcooker]

I've never used anything other than ebb n' flow. I like the transportability of the individual plants, they can be turned, taken out, rearranged, similar to potted plants in soil. when it comes to changing the resevoir, and cleaning out the system, it's quick and easy, without any harm to the plants. You can also add or adjust nutrients to the reservoir and not directly to the plant to allow for mistakes and safe adjusting.

[latewood]

thanks for the info stormy...that's what I saw when I looked at your grow...nice and neat...I might just try that with a couple of my clones...

[Stormcooker]

no prob