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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
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.
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.
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 truncheon is the EC meter, while the pH is measured with a pH meter supplied by Growth Technology.
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.
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
or at the grow report.com
thank`s Z
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:
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...
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
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 ā??helpā? 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 ā?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 !
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: