Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero-DWC

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Good going. Now you know that you can.

to the patients,
cocoJoe

Yepp'er. it was intense, but thanks to your own advice, I succeeded.

I had a slight glitch today; the lights came on midway through the dark period; it only lasted 20 seconds before I caught it. I had forgotten to set the timer - having a 30-hour scheduled photoperiod requires constant vigilance and adjustment of the timer ... and only allows for a little weed intake, or I'll fuck something else up for sure.

Just a few more days (Sunday) until the garden goes back on a 12/12 - at least until I see buds blooming.

Thanks again!

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Updated

REVISED POST:
My First Problem!
When I opened up the tent this evening - the 14-hour dark period had ended and the three 200-watt CFLs had been on for 2 hours into a 16-hour day period - and the temperature was 79 degrees (F), having been up to a high of 82. My TDS/PPM is running a little high at 1430 and the pH is 5.9/6.0. I saw that I had some problems that I was 99% sure were because my nutrients were too strong, so I watered the solution down from 1430 to 1300, which they have previously tolerated very well, up to 1350 PPM.

The problem is that four adjacent plants - the two tallest in the back - were showing signs of stress on a few leaves that are adjacent or in contact with the other plant's affected leaf areas. Then I noticed that it now involves several plants in the grow box next to it is getting the purple spots, very small and subtle at first and must have in common the nutrients, so the added water should help. The other two aspects these plants have in common is that these two boxes had their plants' roots cut back significantly 48 hours ago; thins is the first noticeable change, other than the expected prolific growth. The top leaves, being the freshest, display no symptoms yet, but that may be for other reasons, like getting their nutrients from the upper fan leaves, right?

Anyway, the roots were cut to do several things: to allow the relocation of plants grouped by common height and to slow down the vertical growth of the larger plants to allow the smaller ones to catch up. Simply leaving the dying roots that were torn in the relocation was unacceptable, as I expected it to clog the plumbing & contribute to root rot. The ends were cut cleanly an inch below the surface of the nutrient level, and with the added RO water tonight they are now a full 3" submerged.

The last common aspect was that I added three teaspoons of Epsom Salts after bringing the nutrient PPM up to 1200 from about 800 in a brief flush to wash out the old salts and bring in the new.

The leaf discoloration looks a little purplish in splotches between the veins (see picture below). I took macro shots of both sides of the leaves; the issues show up at 6 nodes from the top of one plant's branch and the second node down on the plant next to it. I did not take pictures of the purple "measles" because they are too small at .25mm to see in my camera.

Here's the leave discoloration detail:

My Second Problem!
And here is a different problem that I am having with the pair right in front of those described above:
I think this may be the same problem, only manifested in this strain differently or slower. This Sativa-dominant pair have always looked "different"; always looking - and feeling - as if they were dehydrated, with bright green leaf centers that don't darken until it is overgrown by one or two more nodes. Their leaves always look as though they are "too tight", with the center line pulling the tip either up or down, curling the leaf inward. These are supposed to be different Dutch strains, but are so very similar in appearance/phenotype - I think I must have mislabeled the seedlings, but anyway, the two plants look the same under normal circumstances, but today, along with the dark spots on the back two plants, these two weird-looking plants are getting ragged edges with little dark purple spots at the leaf edges and the ends are browning and curling (heat from a lamp is not an issue in this case). I recall the brown curling tips is a sure nutrient burn. The watering down was a safe bet.

Keep in mind that thus far, this is showing the worst in these weird plants and is spreading slowly across all plants.

I am heading over to the self-help diagnosis section and see about doing just that. I hope I can fix this by diluting the nutrient reservoir to bring the TDS/PPM down a 100 or 200 points.

SHIT! My Third Problem!
No help needed - just bitching!
One of my ne 200-watt 2700K CFLs failed on me while I was trying to document my plant problems, so to my surprise, I didn't have a spare - I could have sworn I had a 125-watt CFL somewhere - but no joy; I had to put the 200-watt 6400K CFL in there until I can get a replacement.

I guess I didn't see this particular issue in the problem-solving section, so I will add about 6 gallons of straight RO water and see if this settles the babies down.

If someone recognizes this problem, please either post your diagnosis here or PM me anytime - your help and advice is always welcome and I want all of us to learn something from this experience; that's why I record all these details - so we can all become optimally self-sufficient.

Thanks for watching the craziness and take care, my friends.

eace

 

[CocoJoe]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

The first problem is cal/mag. Toxic or deficiant will look the same.
The second set of pics may show nute burn or lock-out, or both. Also could be cal/mag.
To many strains all with different needs.

Peace

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Hey Joe, thanks for checking in with your always helpful advice. Here's some well-deserved rep!

I had only put 2 teaspoons of Epsom Salts in the fresh nutrient batch, after already having gradually ramped up the PPM. This was also when the roots were trimmed, so that may have accelerated uptake. It is happening on lower leaves, though, making me think it was something from 4-5 days ago - before the flush. I dunno!

I did put in about 6 gallons of RO water and then three tablespoons of Epsom Salts yesterday and the next light period comes around at 2 AM (EST) - about 5 hours from now. I will check the plants when I open the tent and post what I see.

Here are some shots from last night/this morning (I am still on the 16-on/14-off photoperiod); you can barely see the purple on this strain, and the leaf ends are slightly damaged:

And I am still hoping to see some female growth; all I have so far are crab claws and bumps:

Bless you, brother Joe!

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

I am going to try and bring my pH down from a "normal" 6.0 to 5.5 - in keeping with my own reference chart, (although I wish it were temperature-compensated) BTW, my nutrient temperature is 68.5 degrees (F) . According to this chart (which is in keeping with the Lucas approach), I am locking out Calcium at 6.0 pH.

I did forget to do this (bumping the pH up or down briefly); I remember writing it down here that I would flip the pH a little after the flush and it is all on me because I forgot - my bad.

Now that I have put 3 TABLEspoons of Epsom Salt in, they will probably all go the other way, from starving to shock! After I bring the pH down for a little while, I think it may be time to just start with a fresh batch for the reservoir and chalk this up to a learning experience at the price of a few cups of nutrients - and a few more grey hairs on my head instead of white ones on the plants.

 

[CocoJoe]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Your plants maybe eating the lower leaves, as they do if not feed enough.
Without being there to see first hand, diagnosis becomes a lil' difficult.

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Hey, Joe; the small plants in the grow box that did not have their roots trimmed are doing fine from what I can see, with very few leaves (2 or 3 in a 12-plant box) showing very mild spotting that was rampant in the other two grow boxes (remember, they all share the same nutrient solution).

After I added the additional Epsom Salts and lowered the pH to 5.5, I have not seen any new spotting or wilting today. I trimmed the nasty leaves off so that I will be able to see whether there are any new spots when the lights come back on tomorrow morning and through the day. The PPM is now at 1340, which includes a substantial bump from the added Epsom Salts. Depending on what I see tomorrow, I will decide whether I will flush and restart the nutrients, but to be honest, since the problems have not become worse - and if that continues - I will probably not flush, as this may have been why I got into trouble in the first place.

In trying to learn from this experience (I know it isn't quite over yet), I think the only thing that I could have avoided is the Calcium lockout - if that is what really happened; we'll know more tomorrow. Changing the pH down by .4 or .5 would have been a lot easier than going through all this trouble-shooting. I will try and be more proactive (if that is possible), but I thought I was already anal-retentive enough with all the details.

Thanks again for checking in!

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Quick Update

I am not sure whether my Calcium problems are solved, but it looks better at least - there are no longer big splotches of dark purple sick spots, but I still have small yellow/brown spots going on in some strains (many plants have little or no symptoms). Thinking that I had a Calcium deficiency because my pH is "too perfect" at 5.9 (Calcium uptake in hydroponic solution is locked out above 5.7(+/-, depending on temperature), so I added 3 tablespoons of Epsom Salts (probably too much), which raised the PPM to 1470 and I have brought it down to 1250 by adding 8 gallons of RO water. I have been trying to bring down the pH over the course of three days and it should bottom out no lower than 5.1, with an hour to go before "dark" starts. This by itself should cure my Calcium deficiency and according to my old notes, I should do this once per week (run the pH down for a bit) to avoid future issues of this nature.

These small spots are more prevalent on the larger plants that had their roots trimmed for the relocation; I think that made them suck up too much nutrients and caused some burning, but if this latest adjustment does not work, I will replace the nutrients again with a very weak solution and instead of ramping it up in 24-48 hours, to wait a full week to see how the plants respond.

Should I trim all of the branches off?

I have left them on so far on the chance that I would need to take clones to fill out the SoG after pulling the males; however, I have yet to find evidence of any males yet - every plant has either nubs too small to tell what it is or "crab claws" that appear to be female genitalia in very small form. My concern is that I am wasting growth energy by allowing the branches to grow - instead of the central trunk, which is what I really care about.

The branches are almost all just as tall as the trunks, and are almost as thick, too - they would make great clones, right?

If trimming the branches off will mean that the cola will develop better & faster, then I think that I should forget about cloning & concentrate on the main theme (cola development). Right?

Overall, the garden looks like it is thriving:

Look closer & you will see the spots:

The roots still look healthy:

I am completely open to your advice or comments - don't be shy ... and thanks for coming by!

 

[Sky Rocket]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Personally I would flush those girls out. I never grew multiple strains in one aero container. I always grew one strain that way if I have problems it would be less of a headache to try to solve. But if I grew multiple strains like you I would always do "less is more.". Meaning each strain handles ppm differently so therefore I would keep my ppm's lower than what you have now. I would say no more than 1100 ppm for multiple strains. That's just my opinion on this.

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Personally I would flush those girls out. I never grew multiple strains in one aero container. I always grew one strain that way if I have problems it would be less of a headache to try to solve. But if I grew multiple strains like you I would always do "less is more.". Meaning each strain handles ppm differently so therefore I would keep my ppm's lower than what you have now. I would say no more than 1100 ppm for multiple strains. That's just my opinion on this.

I can appreciate those multiple-strain aspects, but it is "too late to turn back now". My ambition exceeded my experience.

Since the problems have greatly subsided, and as I had zero problems during the vegetative cycle using the a 1350 PPM nutrient strength, I thought that this came down to only a Calcium problem, but I am bringing the PPMs down to 1200 where they were completely happy in the past. Thanks for the input, Sky Rocket ... and here's some Rep!

What do you say about trimming the branches? I am attaching some pictures of the candidates below.
These pics are simply to show how robust the branches are getting - some are competing in height with the central trunk and I can't help but think if these were not growing, that the cola would be developing more quickly instead. I REALLY want some experienced advice about this - with all the research I've done, I failed to find adequate guidance in this regard - even in Dutch!




This is just one of many candidates; the branches are in some cases huge, others are normal:

 

[Sky Rocket]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Those branches are huge. Far from a experience grower but I would defoliate those girls. Let some light shine down to the lower part of the plants.

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Yes, I did some thinning of fan leaves today, but I need to know whether those branches are going to be any good for cloning. After a full week of flowering, the female pre-flowers just haven't done a whole lot - probably due to all of the fluctuations and leaf-trimming.

After trimming all but the top fan leaves, light does get down the whole trunk now, and I have tied together a few of the bushier plants' branches so they are tighter to the trunk. Again, I don't want to waste anything until I know what I have for females.

I checked the height/vertical growth today and there are a few plants that just aren't going anywhere and I am thinking that they should go outdoors to be on their own this summer, while I use the space for healthy growing plants.

Thanks for adding to the thread.

 

[Sky Rocket]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Yes you can clone the onesf you have red arrows pointed at them. I never had branches that thick to take cuttings from. Looks interesting.

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Quick Update:

Things are relatively the same, although I have flushed the nutrient reservoir, reduced the pH down to 5.2 for 48 hours so the plants could soak up some Calcium and brought it back up to 5.9 where it stays for the most part. I reduced the nutrient PPMs down to 1160. Nutrient temperature is 70 degrees (F) and ambient temps are mild, from 72-81 degrees (F).

The small light brown/yellow spots are still popping up here and there, but not on all plants. The original problem had big spots on just a few plants, so I know that issue was solved - but the kicker is that I don't know whether it was too much or too little Magnesium or Calcium.

Finally - Some Sex!!

I finally saw some definitive signs of real sex today - and was immediately disappointed because the one Madonna plant that I got to survive through (out of 10 seeds) looks like it is a male. I will pull it tomorrow and may put it outside just to collect the pollen. Madonna was so good-looking and very strong; check out these pictures from Sannie's website - this is what I was hoping to see in this crop:

Lessons Learned:

STRAINS: Something that CocoJoe had said about there being too many strains - definitely the most relevant issue here. I mixed 12 different hybrid strains and expected the same nutrient solution to be good for the bunch. That may be possible in an ideal and experienced grow, but I have yet to see an ideal grow and I am definitely not experienced. This was completely avoidable and even if it was done with good intentions and enthusiasm, it was self-destructive and making it harder on myself needlessly.

SoG FROM SEED: Bad idea or poorly executed - pick one. With SoG, the idea is to get a crop of short, thick cola-plants in 60 days of flowering. That is a scenario possible almost exclusively by using clones, which will be consistent in age, development, size and phenotype - and without branches. Why I thought that I could replicate all of those conditions using 12 different strains from seed is really stupid now that I think of it.

Here I am wondering whether I should prepare to make clones out of all these branches to put outdoors, when I should really be thinking about harvesting clones for a new SoG indoor grow - that's right, I am talking about starting over.

Essentially, I would take clones from the best-looking plants/strains and start the whole crop over. I know I would be resetting my calendar, but I would also be replanting the remaining plants outdoors just to see what they produce. I am thinking that they might not get appreciably taller because of the regular day/night period, so they would not stand out if planted among field grass growth if distributed far enough apart.

Man, that's like three strikes already just for the first lesson learned entry. Starting the garden over seems like a radical way to do this; I think it will depend on how many females I have and what kind of condition they are in. So far, I have only seen one definite female today - a Sannie's KO Kush. I should have more to report of the M/F turnout by next week.

Thanks for keeping up with my circus!

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Aardvark's 1st Grow Journal - Flowering Growth Week #04:

Tent: Secret Jardin DR-150W; 60" x 32" x 79"; 87.77 Cubic Feet
Air Temp: 69-81 (F)
Peak Air Temp: 84° (F)
Humidity: 77%-84%
PH: 5.4-5.9
TDS/PPM: 1050 - 1290
Reservoir: None added
Nutrients: Flora Duo A&B
Minerals: None added
Nutrient temp: 69° (F)
Growth: Robust; flowers are sprouting & growing
Roots: Healthy, white & growing slowly now during flowering
Node level: 9-11-leaf fronds are evident in almost all plants
Photoperiod: 12-on/12-off
Nutrient cycle: 30-on/30-off during the entire photoperiod
​

These past two weeks:
I finally found my calm and exercised patience — I did nothing experimental or extreme, just waiting for the sex to show for real. The next steps still hinge on the breakdown of Female/Male plants, which is getting a lot easier, now that I have 14 confirmed Females and 7 are still TBD and still not showing enough to guess. Out of the original 36 seedlings, that is a pretty crappy average, but I guess I should not complain because it could have been much worse, of course.

On the issue of sex, I have two definite Female plants (see pictures) of the same strain (Sannie's Jack F6) that are attempting to stage a revolt this week. After having shown me its nice hairy flowers starting up top, I just noticed that two of the lower branches had immature pollen sacs growing on the ends, and then found two more halfway up the trunk. I had never seen a Hermie with my own eyes before this and although surprised, am grateful that I am able to observe & learn so much in my first grow — without it being too dramatic or risky — I got the male parts off well before they were viable (still gooey inside). I just need to be vigilant to make sure nothing like that ruins my growing season — one viable pollen sac in the tent would turn every bud into seed stock — and I would end up turning the whole batch into Dry Ice Hash.

"Sannie's Jack F6" supposedly took Sannie years of breeding in Holland, using the best out of 100 plants for the parents; I have 4 more that are normal, with outstanding growth & health. I would never want to use pollen from either plant because the Hermaphroditic Chromosomes are set in its DNA chains (that almost sounds convincing). I am just hoping that the top and trunk form a cola worth growing.

I had a brand-new 200-watt CFL (2700K) blow out after only 22 hours of use and did not have a spare 2700K bulb; this represents 1/3 of my flowering lighting capacity and the vendor took almost a month to get me a replacement, so I simply used a 200-watt 6400K CFL in the meantime. This fixture was located over the shortest grow box, holding the Indica-dominant strains and they seem to have liked it because 80% of them turned out to be Female and are growing very tightly between nodes, short and squat. That end of the tent receives some of the other two bulbs' 2700K spectrum from the reflective tent lining, so it worked out OK because they look perfect.

I also had some good luck in that the one surviving Madonna plant, which I thought had died, was actually OK, it was just misidentified and stuck in the middle of a bunch of taller plants that were hogging all the light. After rearranging the plants again and placing it in the short-plant grow box, it perked right up and rewarded my attention by sprouting nice hairy Female flowers. I will probably build an aero-cloner on Monday and order another tent, just so I can get more of this one strain going - check my recent post for pictures of one of its sisters — arm-sized colas, baby!

I also took 4 of the smaller runt plants that have not shown their sex yet and replanted them into a window box outside. I did this just to make room for the viable plants inside the tent, where there are a variety of strains to keep me occupied and they will grow out to the limit of the available space (just like fish in an aquarium).

Defoliation:
After writing all this, I had to rewrite a few lines because I had found a few more Hermaphrodite branches on confirmed Female plants, and decided it was time to defoliate so that the stalks would get the light — including all branches — so I took almost all fan leaves below each top of the trunks and branches of all plants. The light penetrates well now and as soon as the rest of the TBD plants show their sex, I will be able to complete the "space planning" — putting the plants in their most appropriate positions.

Too-Tall Plants:
There are a couple of plants that are almost a foot taller than the rest of the plants and have been a PITA because of the adjustments necessary to the light fixtures — the ass end is up in the air. I decided to tie the tops down; the branches of the tallest plant are much higher than the trunk. I will rearrange everything once the Female/Male thing is completely resolved. I just hope the defoliation doesn't slow down the TBDs from showing their sex, although deep down I know it will.

Coming Week:
Once I determine the sex of the last of those 7 TBD holdouts, I will arrange the plants according to height for light optimization and install the CO2 system. I will probably just set it on a timer to release a few CF every couple of hours, but I am seriously considering buying a $250 environmental controller, which even at face value doesn't seem to be unreasonable, given the proven potential benefits & outcome that the CO2 delivers.

As I may have mentioned before, I am going to do some cloning — for the first time, so wish me luck! I'll try cloning a few strains to see how it goes and if successful, I will take several cuttings from Madonna so I can grow some in a real SoG using clones instead of seedlings, which being a noob, had thought it might work somehow. Madonna will grow with her sister clones in a new tent for which I am shopping for right now.

I am learning! Hopefully, some of you will also learn from this experience and I hope to hear more from you if you want to help me out too.

Thanks for stopping by!

Here are a few shots of the garden:

Definitely a Hermaphrodite - Pollen Pods Gracing a Female plant's lower branches:

Definitely Female:

That's it for today; I will post some pictures of the plants in a day or so after they have recovered from the Defoliation. I also expect the rest of the TBD plants to show their sex soon, too, or I may cull or even replant them outdoors in a Perlite container.

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Aardvark's 1st Grow Journal - Flowering Growth Week #05:

Tent: Secret Jardin DR-150W; 60" x 32" x 79"; 87.77 Cubic Feet
Air Temp Range: 75°-84° (F)
Peak Air Temp: 84° (F)
Humidity: 55%-78%
PH: 5.4-5.9
TDS/PPM: 1120 - 1340
Reservoir: 8 Gallons RO water added
Nutrients: Flora Duo A&B
Minerals: None added
Nutrient temp: 73.5° (F)
Growth: Robust; flowers are sprouting & growing (no Males left)
Roots: Healthy, new white growth slowly
Node level: 9-11-leaf fronds are evident in almost all plants
Photoperiod: 12-on/12-off
Nutrient cycle: 16-on/8-off during the entire photoperiod
​

These past two weeks:

Everything is going nicely. The plants that I thought were showing young Male pollen pods turned out to be Females, every one of them, meaning that I wasted a few healthy branches that I had thought were signs of my nice Females turning Hermaphrodite — first-timer's mistake!

Simply put, the Defoliation went without a hitch. I rearranged all of the plants according to height so I could manage the distribution of light better and rotated some of the shorter ones to allow the those plants to enjoy a light-induced growth spurt to even out the tops.

Cloning:

I built my first aerocloner (see attached photos) out of a 10-gallon plastic tote. I used a cheap ($28) aquarium pump and planned on using 6 mini-sprinkler heads, but the pump was really too weak — especially after I added 2 more sprinkler heads, so today I spent $50 at the HD on a 600 GPH model that I quickly adapted. It seems to be just fine and I have it running 24x7 under a spare 125-Watt, 6400K CFL bulb. I used Rootone cloning powder, after trimming the shoots underwater to avoid the possibility of air embolism, kept everything sterile using 90% alcohol and took 7 each of 5 different strains:

Madonna
Shack F3
Sannie's Jack F6
Sour Neville x Jack Hammer
Maine Kush
​

I took these from very healthy plants and fortunately, the single Madonna yielded some good cuttings. I hope they live! Being my first time, all I can do is try to abide by all the successful examples I have found online.

I have started to tie-down those taller plants using long twist-ties to pull them down to the lower elevations. The highest parts of those branches (yes, they are taller than the main trunk) started to push the intermediary flowers upwards per the SCoG or LST growth pattern. I will try and get a better support grid going and do a better job of tying them down. Its either that or cut off the offending branches and clone them for transplanting outside — or buy more indoor tents and lights, which I am considering right now. I will order another tent and some lights if the clones turn out OK — there are 35 of them, which should make a pretty good SoG in a small tent.

Speaking of which, Secret Jardin doesn't make my size tent anymore (60" x 32" x 79") but it seems to be the perfect size for my environment and layout and I can't find that size anywhere. If any of you have a spare model #DR150W, I would be most pleased to buy it from you.

Coming Week:
I have never made it back to retrieve my 20-pound CO2 tank, so I am wasting an opportunity to maximize my bud growth. I will make an attempt to remedy that situation directly, as it definitely makes a difference — or so I am told.


Thanks for stopping by!

The Garden:

The AeroCloner Box:

Clones at 24 Hours, just after Their First 30% Strength Foliar Feeding:

Nice Flower Growth:
Do These Trichomes Look Normal in Number, Size & Distribution, or What?

This Sativa in the Corner Stretches for More Light:

A View from the "B" Bud Elevation:

Is this Leaf Edge Curling Normal for Week #5?

My Beautiful Madonna; I Took 7 Clones from Her:

 

[Sky Rocket]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Looking good my man. Digging all the pics. I forgot but do you have a air stones in your bins?

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Hey there again Sky Rocket, yes, I have a large air stone in each container running 24x7; they are powered by a 4-outlet compressor/air pump that I got at a regional Worm's Way hydro store (GH Dual Diaphragm Air Pump, 340 gph). Thanks for reminding me - I just peeked at them and they are as clean as the day I put them in.

I thought that they would have accumulated some kind of residue from the nutrients, but I seem to be doing something right because there is no trace of slime anywhere. The old roots are slightly off-white in color, with a clear demarcation to pure white roots for the new growth since they were trimmed a month ago - 6" or more new growth. This tells me that they are happy.

I heard the best way to clean a slimy air stone was to dip it briefly (5 seconds) in a pot of boiling water, followed by a quick scrub with a brush.

At one time I had pondered whether to get an Oxygen tank & regulator to supply the air stones - pure O2 would be a good thing, right? A simpler approach could involve me installing a Tee in each box and adding another air stone in each. I am unsure how effective that would be, however, because the air flow to each air stone would be reduced by half because the amount of supplied air remains the same. Anything more could also be overkill; there is only so much O2 that you can dissolve into water. I would have to measure the DO level somehow and that seems excessive, especially since there are other beneficial things I need to do that I have not yet done - like I still need to get my CO2 setup going.

Since this is my first grow, could you tell me what you think of my plants' in terms of the close-up pictures of the flowering & trichomes? I have a few plants that are real sugary; those flowers just popped open about 10 days ago and are the youngest, shortest and most Indica-dominant strains, too.

I really want to clone those sugary plants because they look to have the most potential; unfortunately, they hardly have any clone-worthy branches, so it would mean cutting and cloning a viable cola-branch and then keeping it in vegetative growth for one or two months until it turns Mother and generates some good branches for clones. I don't know if I can be that patient! Let's see how my first batch of clones turns out first.

Thanks for stopping by and please do tell me what you think about the plant questions and anything else you can think of. I am really starving here for anyone's input - besides yourself and CoCoJoe, there hasn't been much interest so far and I know it is partially because I don't have any juicy bud porn yet and I include too many details for some people.

I am happy to have the support and interaction that I do have, so thanks again! I am checking out your grow right after sending this.

Take care, friend!

 

[Sky Rocket]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Hey there again Sky Rocket, yes, I have a large air stone in each container running 24x7; they are powered by a 4-outlet compressor/air pump that I got at a regional Worm's Way hydro store (GH Dual Diaphragm Air Pump, 340 gph). Thanks for reminding me - I just peeked at them and they are as clean as the day I put them in.

I thought that they would have accumulated some kind of residue from the nutrients, but I seem to be doing something right because there is no trace of slime anywhere. The old roots are slightly off-white in color, with a clear demarcation to pure white roots for the new growth since they were trimmed a month ago - 6" or more new growth. This tells me that they are happy.

I heard the best way to clean a slimy air stone was to dip it briefly (5 seconds) in a pot of boiling water, followed by a quick scrub with a brush.

At one time I had pondered whether to get an Oxygen tank & regulator to supply the air stones - pure O2 would be a good thing, right? A simpler approach could involve me installing a Tee in each box and adding another air stone in each. I am unsure how effective that would be, however, because the air flow to each air stone would be reduced by half because the amount of supplied air remains the same. Anything more could also be overkill; there is only so much O2 that you can dissolve into water. I would have to measure the DO level somehow and that seems excessive, especially since there are other beneficial things I need to do that I have not yet done - like I still need to get my CO2 setup going.

Since this is my first grow, could you tell me what you think of my plants' in terms of the close-up pictures of the flowering & trichomes? I have a few plants that are real sugary; those flowers just popped open about 10 days ago and are the youngest, shortest and most Indica-dominant strains, too.

I really want to clone those sugary plants because they look to have the most potential; unfortunately, they hardly have any clone-worthy branches, so it would mean cutting and cloning a viable cola-branch and then keeping it in vegetative growth for one or two months until it turns Mother and generates some good branches for clones. I don't know if I can be that patient! Let's see how my first batch of clones turns out first.

Thanks for stopping by and please do tell me what you think about the plant questions and anything else you can think of. I am really starving here for anyone's input - besides yourself and CoCoJoe, there hasn't been much interest so far and I know it is partially because I don't have any juicy bud porn yet and I include too many details for some people.

I am happy to have the support and interaction that I do have, so thanks again! I am checking out your grow right after sending this.

Take care, friend!

In my experience with dwc I never had a slimy air stone so I can't say wether cleaning that way works. I just use warm tap water and wash the stones off. But I had experience root rot before in my dwc buckets. Also I would just stick with your pump instead of getting oxygen tank and pump. Just keep it simple.

For cloning I would cut one one of non clone worthy clones with no buds on it and grow your mom. Trial and error my man. I never cloned a plant that late into flower. The latest I've cloned in flower was probably 10 days into flower so I wouldn't know how long it would take to re-veg her.

You'll get more interaction in your thread by subscribing into other journals as people will see your link. My favorite grow is dwc and nft/aero. So the way I found your journal is that I look for all journals that have dwc/aero. I'll subscribed to soil grows too.

But one thing I've learned in my grows is that I grow only one strain at a time or one strain per multiple unit as each strain is ppm specific and each strain finish's at different times.

But so far so good in your grow man.

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow - CLONING BLUES

Hey peeps, I have an update. The Aerocloner I built gets a bit hot and I have been putting ice cubes (filtered tapwater; not RO) in there to get the temperature down, but yesterday I fucked up and it got up to 84 degrees (F). Since putting these cuttings in last Friday, I have yet to see any white bumps anywhere and I actually see some small brown spots, which is possibly the beginning of the end for this batch.

The problem is that the pump is a wee bit oversized (600 gph) and generates too much heat. I rearranged the pump today so I could install the pre-filter, filled it up with fresh tapwater and added a teaspoon of chlorine bleach, which is something I heard is beneficial in this situation - I do see a thin layer of green slime on the submerged part of the air bubbler supply tube, as well as all over - so I rinsed the assembly in hot water before refilling.

If these clones don't start budding by Saturday morning, I will start over, but will invest in some kind of Rhizo additives, and I may switch to a larger container so the amount of solution can remain cooler in the larger reservoir.

This was supposed to be a no-brainer; especially the first time - I always see where the 2nd batch fails due to a lack of cleaning the system. I hope what I have done will save these cuttings - it would mean another two weeks time lost and I am not going to order another grow tent, lights and build another hydro setup unless I have something to grow first!

Here's some pictures for your scrutiny:


The new pump arrangement; note how I varied the angle of the mini-sprinkler heads so the coverage is complete:

The root zone is barren after 4 days; notice how I cut open the 2" net pots to allow for solution penetration. I am doing this to all of my net pots now because I can take it from cloning to harvest and re-use it by inserting a 2" CoCo Fiber pot into it, filling it with straight Perlite and a rooted clone - at least that was the plan:

How they looked on Friday after placemant in the Aerocloner:

The cuttings still look good (don't they?) on the topside on Tuesday (today):

The garden is steadily growing and looks very healthy; I put up some twine and am using it to tie-down the taller, wayward branches to be even with the tops of the other plants:

This little plant is called Butterwort; it is a sticky bug-eater that I got for $9 at Worm's Way to catch those little gnats that seem to get into the apartment through the window screens:

Since I may have a Male plant flowering outside the apartment, I don't want to have some teensy little bug to pollinate my girls inside.

Thanks for coming to the circus today! I hope you have some comments and advice.