Delps 8 Hydro RDWC Gorilla Glue Autoflower 2021

[Delps8]

A full day with a PPFD of 400. The very new growth is elevated but not the way that they were yesterday. Dropping to 400 was a good move. I'll increase to 430 tomorrow and see how they do.

 

[Delps8]

Pushed the PPFD up to about 430 but, by early evening, some of the fan leaves on Frank (the tallest plant) were not just horizontal but were starting to form a V shape. I lowered PPFD by about 30 µm/s. Frank is at 410 because of his height while the other are 390-400. Earlier today, he was getting 450+ µm/s and that appears to be a little too much.

Res vs plants - honkin' big res and not honking' big plants makes is hard to measure water consumption. I'm measuring water consumption with a millimeter ruler. Best I can tell, they the water level has dropped…1 mm today. I checked it twice (me 'n Santa) and came up with the same result so I've got to go with that value. I know that the water level didn't go up so I'm glad to see that my measuring system is indicating that the water level dropped. But 1 mm accuracy?

I'd have a way that I can determine the water level without having to pull the green cover off and stick something in the res. How do you folks monitor waster consumption? Anyone come up with a "sight glass"?

 

[Delps8]

Swapped the res. Initial reload was EC 1.1 with pH at 5.9. I didn't want an EC that high so I replaced 4 gallons of nutes with 4 gallons of RO water. EC dropped to 1.0 with a pH of 5.8 and pH has gone up up to 5.9.

Per the pix, things look pretty good in the res. There's some brown precipitate and some brown on the roots but the res had a clean smell. Only issue is that it takes a couple of hours for the chiller to get the water temp to 68. I'm using HydroGuard at full strength so that should take care of any issues.

Topped two of the plants, Hamilton, which is the furthest on the left, and Joe, which is third from the left and the largest of the plants. The other plants haven't sprouted their fourth nodes yet so I'll wait till they're ready.

I increased the by 20 µm/s early in the day. I check the light level for each plant with the MQ-500 and Frank's canopy gets more light than the others so I can take that into account when I set light levels. Yesterday, Frank's leaves were going into a V shape. Today they're doing OK.

 

[Delps8]

Growth has been significant. I can't even see where I topped the plants - it's overgrown already. As of this AM, Joe's fourth node was visible so I topped him. Reynolds is the runt of the litter. The fourth node is just developing now so I'll top him in a few days.

The res has been very stable since the start of the grow. Not surprising given the size of the res vs the size of the plants. As best I can tell, the plants consumed 3 gallons over the course of 10 days. No EC change, no pH change.

After swapping the res, the pH gradually rose to 6.1 over the course of a few hours and has stayed at the level for 24 hours. I'd like the pH to b3 5.8 because that's "ideal" but the reality is that these little buggers have decided that 6.1 suits them so that's what it will be.

If pH stays at 6.1, should I Down it to 5.5 and let it rise or just leave it at 6.1?

The picture of the leaf shows that only spot that's not a healthy green. The EC is the same as before so I'm not thinking that it's a nute issue. Light burn? The leaf is not at the top of the canopy and it's the only leaf with that's impacted. Dunno. Might have a better insight in the AM.

 

[Delps8]

Screwed up on the nutes the other day.
I'm using Botanicare Kind Expert at 50% strength. I add HydroGuard at 100% since it's a bene, not a nute. What I mucked up was that I added CalMag at 100% instead of at 50%. I believe that caused the leaf burn in the last photo.
When I do a res change, I print an Excel document with the CC's of each nute, and then work down the list, checking each item as I add it. I checked the sheet from Saturday and confirmed that I had added too much CM.
My eyes popped open cat 0505 today and that's when I realized the mistake I'd made. Having to change out 30 gallons of nute water is not a great way to start the week but I didn't see any other option.
It takes about 90 minutes from start to finish.
The pH was 5.9. I added 4 CC's Down to get it to 5.7 and, just over an hour later, it's at 5.9.

 

[dick23rk]

Glad to hear you caught what happened. I'm sure we have all been there trying to mix up nutes. It would suck having to change out the whole res, especially if paying for RO water like I am.

Your pH being at 6.1 isn't horrible, does the ec drop any when this happens? It's good to see a bit of a swing since a ph of around 6 allows more calcium and magnesium to be taken up. Once the plants really start feeding you should see a more normal rise in ph and drop in ec/tds along with a drop in water level.

 

[Delps8]

Glad to hear you caught what happened. I'm sure we have all been there trying to mix up nutes. It would suck having to change out the whole res, especially if paying for RO water like I am.

Experience is a good teacher. I refer to things like this as being a “cheap lesson”. RO by the gallon - yeh, that would add up pretty quickly!

Your pH being at 6.1 isn't horrible, does the ec drop any when this happens? It's good to see a bit of a swing since a ph of around 6 allows more calcium and magnesium to be taken up. Once the plants really start feeding you should see a more normal rise in ph and drop in ec/tds along with a drop in water level.

The res did not change EC or pH for a couple of weeks and there was no change in the res from Saturday to this AM. There was water takeup but only a tiny amount - I have to measure in mm since the res is so big. Water consumption was about 1 quart.

In less than 2 hours the res went from 5.7 to 6.0. EC is still 1.0.

"Once the plants really start feeding” - I’m really looking forward to that happening!

 

[Delps8]

pH has continued to rise at the rate of about 0.1 every two hours.
0800 - 5.9
1054 - 6.1
1252 - 6.2
1455 - 6.3

pH is making a run for it but the plants look superb. They’re growing very quickly and all of the areas that got hit by nutes have new growth surrounding them. The brown spot (nute burn I'm thinking) noted previously has not grown or changed color, and the leaves on all of the plants are horizontal, soaking up the rays. The plants have consumed about a quart of water since the res change this AM.

Current situation - I’ve got fresh nutes at EC 1.0, water at 68 +HydroGuard, weather in the tent is 78/70 and the VPD has been 1.0± for days. Roots look good, the light level has been the same of a few days now, etc. ,etc. so what would cause a fresh res with a 35 gallons of water and four small but very healthy plants growing under very close to ideal conditions to go from a pH of 5.7 to a pH of 6.3 in the space of nine hours?

 

[Rexer]

You're rocking this. Great job on catching your mistake, it's an easy mistake and happens to everyone (well ive done it anyways lol).

To be honest, seeing a rise like that in PH for me is normal. The girls are feeding and pushing hard.

I've always found the biggest thing to keep an eye out for is inconsistencies. Your airstones alone should raise the PH over time. As the plants feed, it changes the composition of the rez, this can affect both EC and PH as well.

Do you have the hydro Bible chart?

And yeah the big res with small plants can make it hard to judge. I find keeping a closer eye on EC/PPM to be a big reassurance at that stage.

 

[Delps8]

You're rocking this. Great job on catching your mistake, it's an easy mistake and happens to everyone (well ive done it anyways lol).

Thanks. I appreciate the boost. Experience is great. The pisser is the price that one pays to get experience.

To be honest, seeing a rise like that in PH for me is normal. The girls are feeding and pushing hard.

That fast? Wow. Your point is well taken.

I've always found the biggest thing to keep an eye out for is inconsistencies. Your airstones alone should raise the PH over time. As the plants feed, it changes the composition of the rez, this can affect both EC and PH as well.

Point(s) then.

Do you have the hydro Bible chart?

And yeah the big res with small plants can make it hard to judge. I find keeping a closer eye on EC/PPM to be a big reassurance at that stage.

Not yet! I Where can I find it?

Thanks for suggestion about EC. I'm just waiting for it to change!

 

[Rider509]

Things are looking good, Delps! I can’t wait to see your girls explode with growth. Then you’ll have a whole new set of “problems” to contend with. LOL… like growth is a problem. Bring on the growth!

 

[dick23rk]

Not yet! I Where can I find it?

I believe rexer is talking about this chart. I thought I seen you post it here, but could have one of the many other journals I'm following lol

33E5D78B-F7FE-4CA1-AFF1-039601DFD516.jpeg

• dick23rk
• Apr 19, 2021

 

[Delps8]

The WonderChart! I love it - it boils it all down into one simple page.

I might have posted it - I know that I have the PDF from my grow in 2017.

I think it's a great resource. For this grow, the hard part has been to figure out how much water was used. I've been measuring mm's with a steel ruler. I'm going deal with that soon — the Rubber Ducky water gauge is in the offing.

 

[Delps8]

Things are looking good, Delps! I can’t wait to see your girls explode with growth. Then you’ll have a whole new set of “problems” to contend with. LOL… like growth is a problem. Bring on the growth!

Rider -
"bring on the growth" - I couldn't agree more!

The growth in the past few days has been really something. I think "someone" told me that they'd start going like crazy. Can't remember just who what was, though!

It's really crazy how much they change every day. I'm lovin' it.

 

[Rexer]

I believe rexer is talking about this chart. I thought I seen you post it here, but could have one of the many other journals I'm following lol

33E5D78B-F7FE-4CA1-AFF1-039601DFD516.jpeg

• dick23rk
• Apr 19, 2021

Thanks Dick, that is the one I was referring too.

It's a good guide for hydro

 

[Delps8]

pH is 6.3 which means it’s been at the same level since 3 PM yesterday (≈17 hours). I’ll take that for a win.

The Water+EC+pH code is FSS (falling/static/static) so conditions are “perfect” but the some nute charts indicate that a few nutes are not available at 6.3. How do I deal with that?

I can bring pH down to, say 5.7, but it took only 7 hours to go from 5.7 to 6.3. Is that enough time to bring in the nutes that won’t be available at 6.3 or do I need to drop the EC?

 

[Delps8]

The plants are getting big enough that they're starting to overlap and their roots are developed to the point where it's going to get more difficult to move them safely. If I could mainline the plants and orient them front to back, that would be very slick but I don't think I have the plant training skills to do that yet. My inclination is to move the plants to different different a location, moving each one either one row forward or one row back. That's 4 AF's in a 2 x 4 tent - is that too many plants?

Another option is to cull some of the plants. Even if four plants would fit OK int this tent, is a better strategy to cull Reynolds in favor of giving Frank, the big nextpot neighbor, more room?

 

[Rexer]

pH is 6.3 which means it’s been at the same level since 3 PM yesterday (≈17 hours). I’ll take that for a win.

The Water+EC+pH code is FSS (falling/static/static) so conditions are “perfect” but the some nute charts indicate that a few nutes are not available at 6.3. How do I deal with that?

I can bring pH down to, say 5.7, but it took only 7 hours to go from 5.7 to 6.3. Is that enough time to bring in the nutes that won’t be available at 6.3 or do I need to drop the EC?

What I've done, (and others can chime in) is reset it daily. The cycle gets compared against the chart on a daily basis ( or even twice a day if need be). You could let it ride at 6.3, but my personal opion is reset it to 5.8 or 5.7 if you prefer. Then check again tomorrow.

The plants are getting big enough that they're starting to overlap and their roots are developed to the point where it's going to get more difficult to move them safely. If I could mainline the plants and orient them front to back, that would be very slick but I don't think I have the plant training skills to do that yet. My inclination is to move the plants to different different a location, moving each one either one row forward or one row back. That's 4 AF's in a 2 x 4 tent - is that too many plants?

Another option is to cull some of the plants. Even if four plants would fit OK int this tent, is a better strategy to cull Reynolds in favor of giving Frank, the big nextpot neighbor, more room?

I'm not ignoring this question, I just truly don't know, but im sure others can help answer that part.

 

[Delps8]

What I've done, (and others can chime in) is reset it daily. The cycle gets compared against the chart on a daily basis ( or even twice a day if need be). You could let it ride at 6.3, but my personal opion is reset it to 5.8 or 5.7 if you prefer. Then check again tomorrow.

So rather than "but it took only 7 hours” to go from 5.7 to 6.3 would be that the plants are able to absorb the broader range of nutes for those 7 hours.
That is the goal, after all, isn’t it?

I'm not ignoring this question, I just truly don't know, but im sure others can help answer that part.

Understood.

 

[Rexer]

So rather than "but it took only 7 hours” to go from 5.7 to 6.3 would be that the plants are able to absorb the broader range of nutes for those 7 hours.
That is the goal, after all, isn’t it?


Understood.

From my understanding, it's exposure to the range allowing them to uptake the nutrients. To go beyond that explanation- couldn't tell you. I've only done this a few times, and can tell you what's worked with me, and what I've read.