Automated Recirculating Coco: Laughing Buddha, Barney's Farm

[Dr Fish]

Keeping your girl pulled down and redirected is exactly the right way to fill a scrog screen... Even after a couple weeks of 12/12 will have a few that you need to keep pulled down and moved out again... Just keep moving the fast ones down and out as you spot them.. For the biggest yield, fill the screen about 2/3 full before 12/12..

 

[ElDoctore]

I understand.
Family/ work/ then the plants.
Don't burn yourself out my friend.
I built custom homes , worked sun up till sun down.
Now I have a bad back and can't walk some days.
What good did working all those hours do.
I regret doing it now, but at the time I thought it was the right thing to do.
Take some time for yourself and family.
It goes by real quick.

Stay safe
Bill

It’s the rat race we live in.
Wise word to live by. The time away from family is what I dread the most.

 

[ElDoctore]

Keeping your girl pulled down and redirected is exactly the right way to fill a scrog screen... Even after a couple weeks of 12/12 will have a few that you need to keep pulled down and moved out again... Just keep moving the fast ones down and out as you spot them.. For the biggest yield, fill the screen about 2/3 full before 12/12..

Thanks. Thats what I had in mind, 70-75% fill the screen, then switch and put a second layer of netting above to even out the buds.
How horizontal can the branch go without support?
My main stem is already at 90 degrees and growing parallel to the ground.
Do you have to weave it between the nets or just push it under it?

 

[ElDoctore]

 

[ElDoctore]

Day 39 Update. Planr is loving the Netting, settling in very comfortably.
I wonder regarding topping VS not topping when using the net.

Currently I have all 5 lights on. New lights arrive in 5 days hopefully.
5 lights currently total 830 actual Watts.

This week i gave her a little haircut just to open up the plant. More breathing space etc.
i didn’t add nutes this week. Kept it at below 500ppm.
I have noticed sometimes if I defo and add nutes, I get some burnt tips the next day. So I keep the nutes on the lower side when I defo
pH 6. Humidity 50%. Temp 23 Celsius night and 27 day time.

The net and weaving is something that needs to be attended every day or 2.

Nutes I am using are all GH
Calmag
ArmorSi
flor bloom/micro/gro
rapid start
floricious plus
diamond nectar
florablend
hydrogaurd
hydrogen peroxide “once every 2 weeks”

I haven’t changed my res water yet. Been almost 7 weeks.
Regarding Maintanence Ning my res, I usually follow this guide

 

[ElDoctore]

Day 44 update.
The lights arrived.
2 Viparspectar XS2000.

Beautiful lights. Very easy to hang and install.
I also got the LUX meter. I understand the the proper way to measure would be using a PAR meter, especially for LED. But for the sake of price, decided to use this.

From a few reads here and there. Veg should be between 20,000 to 40,000 Lux and Flowering 40,000 to 60,000.
this keeping in mind the distance to the light and how each plant reacts to these values.
I was surprised that before changing the lights my LUX meter read less then 10,000 LUX.
Anyway, I removed the side lights “The 1000W” and replaced them with the Viparspectar.

in the middle I still have the 2 x 1000 and the 450W.
huge difference in brightness immediately.
currently it’s around 28” away.

Currently on the canopy I am getting 35,000 in the middle and 25000 at the corners. ill give it a day or 2 and see how the plants react.
ppm still at 500. Ph 6. temp at 26. Humidity 50%

I realized it takes some time to fill up the canopy, but I do understand the concept now of even lighting. A lot of budding sites show good potential, not just the top ones.
Might keep them a week under these lights before I switch to flowering.

 

[Bill284]

Day 44 update.
The lights arrived.
2 Viparspectar XS2000.

Beautiful lights. Very easy to hang and install.
I also got the LUX meter. I understand the the proper way to measure would be using a PAR meter, especially for LED. But for the sake of price, decided to use this.

From a few reads here and there. Veg should be between 20,000 to 40,000 Lux and Flowering 40,000 to 60,000.
this keeping in mind the distance to the light and how each plant reacts to these values.
I was surprised that before changing the lights my LUX meter read less then 10,000 LUX.
Anyway, I removed the side lights “The 1000W” and replaced them with the Viparspectar.

in the middle I still have the 2 x 1000 and the 450W.
huge difference in brightness immediately.
currently it’s around 28” away.

Currently on the canopy I am getting 35,000 in the middle and 25000 at the corners. ill give it a day or 2 and see how the plants react.
ppm still at 500. Ph 6. temp at 26. Humidity 50%

I realized it takes some time to fill up the canopy, but I do understand the concept now of even lighting. A lot of budding sites show good potential, not just the top ones.
Might keep them a week under these lights before I switch to flowering.

Beautiful.
Nice work my friend.

Stay safe
Bill

 

[ElDoctore]

Beautiful.
Nice work my friend.

Stay safe
Bill

Thank you.
I can tell you after 24 hours. Huge difference with the lights.

 

[ElDoctore]

Day 49 update.
Another major defoliation. I started dropping the number of light hours by 2 everyday. Today 14 hours. Tmrw 12 hours.
I still haven’t started the lollipop-ping. I might do that in 2 weeks.
PPM at 500. pH at 6. Lux at 40,000.
I am not sure what to do with the netting. Do I still keep the growing under the net, or am I supposed to let it grow up and use the second net?

 

[ElDoctore]

50 days of veg.
today day 5 of flowering.
A lot of defoliation going on. Very bushy plant. I try to remove all leaves obscuring any buds under it. Sometimes I remove up to 20% of leaves.
I also did some major lollipopping.
Still haven’t changed the water in res since I started.
I am giving the plant a few days of transition, once I see good pistil formation, I’ll remove water from res. Give it A good clean, and refill with water and add nutes geared more towards flowering.
I am still pushing all the stems under the first net, they are growing at very good rate.
I figured once pistils start, I’ll do another good defo session and let it start growing up to second net.
PPM still around 500. pH 6.1.

 

[ElDoctore]

50 days Veg
Today day 11 flowering.
Pistils started forming. Overall looking really well.
I started letting the shoots go up to be received by second net for fine spreading.
I need to get my reservoir water changed. It’s been 61 days since last change. I went heavy on the defo today And lollipop.
i’ll give it 2 days before I change my water in res.
usually the next water change is when I completely eliminate nitrogen from the mix, and the last change is for flushing.
Love the netting. the amount of surface area covered is great. This is in a 5x5 tent.
Defoliation is a much easier process.
I am cutting a lot of middle branches “below canopy” that I usually wouldn’t without netting. I can see how my overall bud quantity will be reduced, but the quality of the canopy makes up for it. So I am just trusting the process and going for it.

till next time

 

[ElDoctore]

Day 13 flowering.
50 days veg.
Heavy defo was done 2 days back. Yesterday plant responded well. So removed all water from res, gave it a good wash/scrub and refilled it with new nutes.

still using the old GH feed chart. Currently added nutes for week 5. 80% of recommended value.
My ppm was 450. 100 ppm lower then before water change, and that’s fine.
Every 2 days I’ll titre the ppm up until plant says enough.

Added dehumidifiers. u can see them in the back corners. I made holes in the plastic containers and the water falls directly into the collection tray and into the res. Can’t really say it adds much, but it feels nicer knowing you are conserving water.
You can see the canopy here. I realized you can’t use the second net for finer spreading, because you can injure the bud sites, basically any net above the first net is to support the buds as they grow heavier.

And a few attempts at close up shots.

 

[Bill284]

Day 13 flowering.
50 days veg.
Heavy defo was done 2 days back. Yesterday plant responded well. So removed all water from res, gave it a good wash/scrub and refilled it with new nutes.

still using the old GH feed chart. Currently added nutes for week 5. 80% of recommended value.
My ppm was 450. 100 ppm lower then before water change, and that’s fine.
Every 2 days I’ll titre the ppm up until plant says enough.

Added dehumidifiers. u can see them in the back corners. I made holes in the plastic containers and the water falls directly into the collection tray and into the res. Can’t really say it adds much, but it feels nicer knowing you are conserving water.
You can see the canopy here. I realized you can’t use the second net for finer spreading, because you can injure the bud sites, basically any net above the first net is to support the buds as they grow heavier.

And a few attempts at close up shots.

Good afternoon @ElDoctore hope you are having a good day my friend.
Your garden is beautiful.
Am I reading that right?
You only use 80% of recommended dosages and that gives you 400ppm???
Ca that be right
Do you put calmag into your water first?
Thanks

Stay safe
Bill

 

[nivek]

heya friend,, about as fine a coco plant as i have seen on here,, well done. you absolutely have things dialed in there, indeed

having an auto watering system allows one to keep their hands off the plant a bit more,, and the plant benefits and shows it with a clean untouched glow

every time you want to pluck a leaf off of that plant,, picture a solar panel sucking up energy in your head,, a most valuable machine that solar panel,,

nice lights as well,, the plant must surely love them,, and you

nice job friend,, simply lust after the auto idea,,

karma sent

 

[ElDoctore]

Good afternoon @ElDoctore hope you are having a good day my friend.
Your garden is beautiful.
Am I reading that right?
You only use 80% of recommended dosages and that gives you 400ppm???
Ca that be right
Do you put calmag into your water first?
Thanks

Stay safe
Bill

@Bill284
I’ve actually have that problem ever since I started using this system 4 years back.
even when I add the nutes to the ml as charted, I am no where near the expected value.
I stressed a lot about it initially, thought it was fungus related, or a component is scrubbing off nutes.
but then I realized that plants are growing fine. So I just stick to the formula
Maybe my ppm meter is bust, never changed it.
Worth getting another one for comparison.
As for the order; it’s calms first. Wait 15 min to mix. Then armourSi with dilution. Wait another few min. Then the trio; then the rest of the stuff.

 

[ElDoctore]

heya friend,, about as fine a coco plant as i have seen on here,, well done. you absolutely have things dialed in there, indeed

having an auto watering system allows one to keep their hands off the plant a bit more,, and the plant benefits and shows it with a clean untouched glow

every time you want to pluck a leaf off of that plant,, picture a solar panel sucking up energy in your head,, a most valuable machine that solar panel,,

nice lights as well,, the plant must surely love them,, and you

nice job friend,, simply lust after the auto idea,,

karma sent

@nivek
Thanks for the compliment.
I usually try to be conservative with the leaves. I remove the ones that cast shadows on bud sites, or if humidity gets too high and I want to lower it.
having an auto water system just frees up more time to do other things with the plant.
The XS lights are phenomenal in my opinion.
I actually just ordered the XS4000 which will go down the middle, and one XS2000 one either side.
probably an over kill, but I managed to find a par meter for 40$ and planning on being objective with my lights.

this is roughly the guide I am gonna use for light strength

 

[Bill284]

@Bill284
I’ve actually have that problem ever since I started using this system 4 years back.
even when I add the nutes to the ml as charted, I am no where near the expected value.
I stressed a lot about it initially, thought it was fungus related, or a component is scrubbing off nutes.
but then I realized that plants are growing fine. So I just stick to the formula
Maybe my ppm meter is bust, never changed it.
Worth getting another one for comparison.
As for the order; it’s calms first. Wait 15 min to mix. Then armourSi with dilution. Wait another few min. Then the trio; then the rest of the stuff.

If it were me I'd be feeding full strength then get them greened up
About mid flower I cut back on the nitrogen though.
Slowly cut it out , just what is in the micro.
Also I'm not a fan of plucking leaves off.
They provide power to grow buds.
Anything down under that's going to be larf and suck energy can go.
2 cents.
Keep up the good work.

Stay safe
Bill

 

[ElDoctore]

@Bill284
So you don’t remove any leaves? Just lollipop?
I’ll pump up on the nutes in the coming few days, once I see any sign of tip burn, I’ll stop there

 

[Bill284]

@Bill284
So you don’t remove any leaves? Just lollipop?
I’ll pump up on the nutes in the coming few days, once I see any sign of tip burn, I’ll stop there

No have you seen my gardens.
I don't remove anything after lollipop.
I never have a problem with quality or volume.
If a leaf dies and falls off I'll pick it up off the floor but everything else stays.
I prefer a thick canopy.
Just my method.
Your canopy should be a lush green right now.
A little more nutrition and don't fret about burnt tips they don't hurt anything.

Stay safe
Bill

Not the greatest pics but you get the idea.
Thick green through flowering.
Lots of leaves of different stages of life all dieing on the branch as nature intended tword the end of flowering.
Still with every leaf she started with.

 

[ElDoctore]

No have you seen my gardens.
I don't remove anything after lollipop.
I never have a problem with quality or volume.
If a leaf dies and falls off I'll pick it up off the floor but everything else stays.
I prefer a thick canopy.
Just my method.
Your canopy should be a lush green right now.
A little more nutrition and don't fret about burnt tips they don't hurt anything.

Stay safe
Bill

Not the greatest pics but you get the idea.
Thick green through flowering.
Lots of leaves of different stages of life all dieing on the branch as nature intended tword the end of flowering.
Still with every leaf she started with.

@Bill284
Correct me if I am wrong, I was always under the impression that bud production and resin production was correlated to the amount of light falling on the bud. Maintaining direct light exposure is best.

beautiful garden. I can see I am missing out of a lot of green. Will start titering nutes up today.
thanks

i think with defo and lollipop I’ll be stopping for a while. Let the plant express itself peacefully