AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal - Ebb&Flow - Bubblelicious 2013

AG,

This was a fun journey to watch. This journal will be read by many. Your 2 x 4 tent is a popular way to go for people who want to dabble and there are thousands of them. Speaking of "just starting out". If I had gotten over 5 zips from my first plant I would have been ecstatic. That is a super yield, plus don't forget you got some off the bagseed plant too. Add that and you're well over 6 zips.

Think about it this way... I'm averaging 16 zips in a 4x4 area, under 600W, so lets say I only had 1/2 that space, that would be 8 zips in a 2 x 4 area (roughly 224grams / 600 = .37gpw). For you, take 6zips (168grams / 400W = .42gpw). You did better! If you had a 600W lamp, I'm confident you would have been well into 8 zips with no problem. And no I don't count the additional CFL bulbs in there ;-) They don't compare, lumen-wise.

For the readers and subscribers here, let me be clear. I'm not saying you should base your "success" on gpw. It's kind of silly in the grand scheme of things. Base your success on oz per plant (if you adhere to a plant count limit) or oz per square ft, if you have no limit. Real estate is much harder to come by than light.

Here's why. Lets say you would have had a 600w light, and got 8zips. So, think about how much you have to donate for 2 zips, and compare that to the electricity. To calculate, take your cost of electricity x watts/1000 x hours per day. Calculate what it would have cost to run a 600w bulb (200 more watts): lets say electricity is $.07 x 200/1000 x 12 = .168 cents per day x 70 days = $12. It would have cost ~$12 more, to produce another 4 ben franklins worth (give or take).

I may have confused you by now, but the moral of the story is... 6zips with only 400W of light in a 2 x 4 space, is amazing.
 
AG,

This was a fun journey to watch. This journal will be read by many. Your 2 x 4 tent is a popular way to go for people who want to dabble and there are thousands of them. Speaking of "just starting out". If I had gotten over 5 zips from my first plant I would have been ecstatic. That is a super yield, plus don't forget you got some off the bagseed plant too. Add that and you're well over 6 zips.

Think about it this way... I'm averaging 16 zips in a 4x4 area, under 600W, so lets say I only had 1/2 that space, that would be 8 zips in a 2 x 4 area (roughly 224grams / 600 = .37gpw). For you, take 6zips (168grams / 400W = .42gpw). You did better! If you had a 600W lamp, I'm confident you would have been well into 8 zips with no problem. And no I don't count the additional CFL bulbs in there ;-) They don't compare, lumen-wise.

For the readers and subscribers here, let me be clear. I'm not saying you should base your "success" on gpw. It's kind of silly in the grand scheme of things. Base your success on oz per plant (if you adhere to a plant count limit) or oz per square ft, if you have no limit. Real estate is much harder to come by than light.

Here's why. Lets say you would have had a 600w light, and got 8zips. So, think about how much you have to donate for 2 zips, and compare that to the electricity. To calculate, take your cost of electricity x watts/1000 x hours per day. Calculate what it would have cost to run a 600w bulb (200 more watts): lets say electricity is $.07 x 200/1000 x 12 = .168 cents per day x 70 days = $12. It would have cost ~$12 more, to produce another 4 ben franklins worth (give or take).

I may have confused you by now, but the moral of the story is... 6zips with only 400W of light in a 2 x 4 space, is amazing.

Well when you put it that way....

Thanks for taking the time to advise me through the way, but me and you both know I made mistakes throughout this grow that could of impacted yield greatly. I can't lie, 5oz is the most I have ever personally grown, and given the resources it may be an acceptable achievement...BUT I know i can do better given what I have, just look at other very popular growers here pulling double digits with a 400w HPS and non-hydro gear.

It has been an experience, jumping into hydro as ruthless as I did, but as I have always said I couldn't have done it without the members of this forum.. But not mentioning the Capn's articles (Simple Hydro) being the spark to my 'new' grow style is absurd, it's the reason why I joined this site :high-five:
 
It has been an experience, jumping into hydro as ruthless as I did, but as I have always said I couldn't have done it without the members of this forum.. But not mentioning the Capn's articles (Simple Hydro) being the spark to my 'new' grow style is absurd, it's the reason why I joined this site :high-five:

Kinda hard to say no to well documented results shared by The Capn. Especially b/c of his guidance and recipe, I think first time growers that are basically set up can make it through to a nice harvest and not need to grow a soil plant first. Just my opinion. AG, you personally helped me identify and remedy two crucial issues that could have taken me way out into left field with the PH issues and early magnesium deficiency, both are no longer issues. I am also eternally grateful as I plan to chop what looks to be a very successful grow.
 
GREAT GREEN MORNING Mr. AfricanGrower
THIS NEW YEAR "HAS, IS AND WILL BE A GREAT GREEN NEW YEAR . . . .:theband: . . . . :slide: . . . :tommy: . . . :yahoo:

:tokin: SIR YOU MAKE IT LOOK SO EASY . . . . :laugh: . . :laugh: . . . :bravo:


Mr. AfricanGrower . . :high-five: + rePS FOR ANOTHER ONE OUT OF MANY HARVEST IN YOUR FUTURE . . . . :passitleft:

PLEASE EXCUSE THE RECYCLED POST . . ;)

GREAT GREEN NEW YEAR TO YOU Mr.AfricanGrower CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR HARVEST. . . . :bravo:
SIR, I WAS INSPIRED FROM PAGE 1. . . ;)
THOSE CROUTONS GOT ME CONVINCE ON PAGE 3 AFTER TheCapn BLESSED US WITH HIS KNOWLEDGE :rollit:
Mr.AfricanGrower :high-five: FOR SHARING YOUR GROW WITH :420: + REPS . . . :passitleft:

FOR MAKING IT LOOK EASY. . . . .:laugh: . . . . :laugh: . . . + MORE REPS FOR YOUR HARVEST . . . . :clap: . . :clap:

SIR I STARTED MY CROUTON GROW AND I'M LOVING IT . . . . :tokin:
MAY THIS HARVEST BE ONE OF MANY. . . . .:Namaste: (*_*) PS. REPS TO TheCapn
"Each One Teach One"


:adore: . . :adore: . . :adore: . . :adore: . . :adore: . . :adore: . . :adore: :420:

:cheer:CROUTONS:cheer:CROUTONS:cheer:CROUTONS:cheer:CROUTONS:cheer:


I DON'T HOPE FOR ANYTHING BECAUSE "I PRAY" . . . . ;)

I PRAY THAT THEY KEEP ON MAKING THOSE WONDERFULLY, MAGNIFICENTLY, SUBLIMELY, MARVELOUSLY AND BREATHTAKING "CROUTONS" . . . . . . :laugh: . . . :laugh: . . . :biglaugh: . . . . :biglaugh: . . . . :rofl: . . . . :rofl:

"THAT WAY I CAN KEEP HOPE IN THE POT" . . ;)


PS. RePS TO TheCapn
"Each One Teach One"

MY GREENNESS REGARDS TO ALL OF :420: . . . . :Namaste: . . . . SMOKE IT IF YOU GOT IT . . :roorrip: :laugh: . . :biglaugh: . . :rofl:
 
Very nice harvest AG, the buds look tasty.;)
Looking forward to your next journal, you put in a lot of time and effort to document your grow and its very helpful to many people.
Cheers to beating your harvest amounts next grow. :high-five:
 
Beautiful journal A.G. I almost don't want to write in it because everything is so pristine but I must congratulate you and send you best wishes.

:bravo:
 
2/2/2014

FINAL UPDATE

Hey guys, I'm here just to wrap things up with this journal. I decided to take the final cuttings from the Bubb plant yesterday. Almost all calyxes were red/purple with about a 10-15% amber concentration :yummy:

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In total, my wet weight was 63.7 grams, so going by reference I can safely add another 1/8-1/4 oz to my final dry weights.

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These nugs are going to be my prime smoke, I can already tell. I left them in the dark for a full 48 hours before chop and I can visually see the excess in resin production on some of the most outer sugar leaves. But of course you can't take my word for it :laughtwo:

That's why I'll be creating another journal with some new beans, focusing mainly on experimentation with grow techniques and 'old stoner tales';) Now that the initial learning curve into hydro is over, I can focus my skills on why I started growing marijuana: to make my grandma proud :blunt:

Any way, if I could go back and pull out a few things from this grow they would be:

NOTE: I posted this in a PM to another grower a few days ago, I thought was worth the re-paste

1. Have all required measuring instruments. (ie. PPM/EC meter, pH meter)

2. Pick a well known hydro brand, with easy to follow recommendations. (I would only recommend GH Flora series because of their abundance of references that are on the forum; especially Capn's flawless recipe. I am planning on switching over to AN pH Perfect as soon as my 6 gallon reserves are done.

3. Have good methods for germination (outside of soil), so I will only suggest that as soon as you transplant the taproot and radicle into whatever medium you are going to use (I assume rockwool), a light dosage of 150 PPM of a grow supplement (ie Florablend) and a bacteria formula (ie. Aquashield) will get your seedling through its first week of growth. As soon as I see my first set of 'true leaves' I up the dose to 250PPM of either the recommended dose, or a tried and vouched recipe on the forum. Depending on how vigorous growth is, I will up the does of PPM by 100 weekly until I level out at 500PPM, which is when I wait for pre-flowers to show. Stopping at 600 PPM toward the end of veg. The same goes for flower (except the first 2 weeks of stretch and the last week of veg, where I feed a transitional nutrient recipe at 600 PPM), going up by increments of 100, leveling out at 1000 PPM. I did pass this number, thinking my Bubb needed more nutes, but a weeks later my plant started showing signs of dehydration on lower foliage, and burnt tips all over.

4. Decide whether you will be growing with 'beneficial bacteria' or 'sterile' environment. This will determine whither you need to invest in a chiller or not. This also determines the risk of pythium or other root diseases that hydroponic rootzones are potentially exposed to.

5. As you know, hydro has a faster pace than soilless or soil mediums. This is the case with growth as well as deficiencies. My #1 rule of thumb here when dealing with def's is to never change more than 1 thing in a 24 hour span. You will thank me for this later, IF or when you ever get to that point.

6.The details of every hydro system is different, but a flood system essentially fills the root zone with nutrients and a porous material is there to absorb it and at the same time provide an abundance of O2. That being said, when flooding, their will always be a salt build-up line at where the nutrient level drains out at the top of the buckets. In my experience, this has lead to issues that could have potentially turned worse. To solve this, simply water by hand from the top of the buckets every so often. I switched to top-feed to counter that problem.

7. I would always run a minimum of 10minutes of recirculated feeding at each feed time. This ensures that the root zone and the reservoir have matching pHs', relieving the need to worry about the condition of the medium. When I don't recirculate my feed, my pH in my medium tends to drift up naturally after some time.

SNEAK PEEK

So what's to come you ask? 2x FEMs from FEMALE SEEDS, cross-pollination, Mapito, a look into faster growth rates, some tested myths, A new line of 'Bennies', and a little redemption project I'm working on....more on all of this to come in my next journal, :nomo:STAY TUNED!!

Oh and I almost forgot, I will also be showing all of you how to create your very own Canna-Cigar, YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS IT :thumb:

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Signing off this journal officially! Mods, I'll let you get to it, and send this to Completed Journals. Once again, it would not have been this GREAT of a journey without all of you...please don't be strangers!

Cheers, AG :Namaste:
 
Beautiful journal A.G. I almost don't want to write in it because everything is so pristine but I must congratulate you and send you best wishes.

:bravo:

:thanks:

congrats! can't wait for all the new stuff you got going on.

I'm just as excited as you are B. I'm going to be playing this next one by ear for the most part...new strain...new tests!! But at least I have the the basics to the grow style down.

Everyone should try this method at least once, you won't be disappointed!
 
Signing off this journal officially! Mods, I'll let you get to it, and send this to Completed Journals. Once again, it would not have been this GREAT of a journey without all of you...please don't be strangers!

Cheers, AG
:nicethread::amen:
 
It has been an honor to watch this journal progress to fruition. Congrats on a successful finish my friend!
 
Thanks for sharing your grow with us.
Please head over to the 420 Strain Reviews forum and post your smoke report there too! :cheer:

I’m moving this to Completed Journals now.

Hope all is well in your world.
Love and respect from all of us here at 420 Magazine. :Namaste:
 
Thanks again everyone for the kind words and congratulations.

You gonna post on here when you open a new journal

I will be starting this new journal in June/July. I will have moved location by then, with a separate veg and flower room, allowing for a perpetual grow season.

In the months I'm away from journaling, I will be testing the Female Seed strain I mentioned earlier. This will also give me time to experiment behind closed doors, as I have recently acquired an internship at a greenhouse/nursery. I'll be going back to basics with soil propagation, working with perennials and annuals; herbacious and woody alike!

I'll will still be posting threads, and will also allow more time to work on new blog additions that I have been holding off on as well ;)

Once again, I just want to say how helpful of a community this is to me. It has played the biggest role in my growing transition!

:thanks::420:
 
Yes, I will still be doing that tutorial. I'm just waiting for the final cure to wrap everything up.

I will be posting all my links in the future to this journal, just so people who are subscribed will get updates.
 
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