DRM's - T5 - Hydro - OSH - Grow Journal 2015-2016

[DRM Ranch]

Foliar fed the girls today with 1/8 strength nutrients pH'd to 6.6

 

[DRM Ranch]

I'll be moving the third large girl into a #1 pot today and tying her down. Her root structure is looking fantastic.

The slacker finally has some roots showing outside the base and one side of the 3"x3"x2.5" rockwool block, she is just taking her sweet time.

Pics to follow when I get things done, I'll try to focus on the up potting and tie down.

 

[DRM Ranch]

Pics as promised, I may have passed the bounds of LST on the uppermost tie down the bend kinked just a bit. I'm okay with that and look forward to how she responds.

 

[DRM Ranch]

OSH is more than likely OG Kush x East Coast Sour Diesel, not OG Kush x Sour Headband, I can thank a far more experienced person for being able to ID the background flavors of this hybrid for me.

I may reverse a branch on one of the girls and make some S2 seeds, yay for breeding projects.

 

[DRM Ranch]

Not a great deal to report at the moment, I'm doing more bending on the girls in an effort to promote lower growth to get up to the top of the canopy, this seems to be working out really well.

Some roots have made it to the bottom of the #1 pots, however they aren't anywhere close to root bound at this point.

I'm feeding daily and foliar feeding a diluted version of the same nutrients every third day. I'm trying to work out a surfactant product and dose for the foliar feed, input would be great. I've thought about dutchmaster saturator but I'm not sure I want to spend that much on super secret sauce.

 

[DRM Ranch]

Three and a half weeks till I switch to 12:12, hopefully the girls put on some size by then. Fingers crossed.

 

[DRM Ranch]

Root structure on the two fastest girls is really exploding, evidenced by plenty of roots showing at the drain holes.

I up potted the slacker to a #1 pot yesterday.

The three larger girls are getting half strength week four nutrients. That's right at 700ppm and I carried over week three levels of KLN to keep up root expansion and development.

I did a bit more LST, which seems to be doing exactly what it is supposed to do. I'll try and get pics up after I check on the girls today.

 

[DRM Ranch]

Okay, an issue I need your help with guys and gals, possible light burn or ... Photo in a second

 

[DRM Ranch]

Several leaves look just like this.

Points that I believe are relevant, temps below the canopy have gone up to 82°F I assume canopy temps were far higher. I have moved the lights up higher and moved my thermometer to canopy level to better monitor temps at that level. Bonehead mistake I should have done right off the bat.

I have fed twice using SoCal tap water, I'm waiting on a fix for a broken RO filter fitting, FML. Otherwise nutrients are the same.

A couple young rooted clones under the same light but we'll below the 82°F zone are not similarly effected.

 

[DRM Ranch]

Lesson learned, the above issue was not light burn, it is a pH issue without a doubt.

I flushed the plants with 3 times the volume of each pot with correctly adjusted pH, fed with half strength week 3 nutes the last couple of days with the plan to keep on with week 3 nutrient mix until the plants are back on track.

I wasn't able to get calibration fluids till a couple of days ago and when I checked my meter it was way off. I presume I messed up the last calibration somehow. I will check and calibrate if needed every feeding. I feel a bit like this is overkill but I have learned a lesson here and will not allow it to happen again.

I think my next issue is going to be dealing with lower than optimal humidity, I'm seeing mid to high 30% readings which to my understanding aren't great. When I have the money to address this I will.

In other news, one of the girls is showing roots at the drain hole in her #3 bucket that's a good thing.

I also see the need for a under side trellis to get some of the longer branches tied down, again, money needs to materialize for that to happen so its being put off for now.

Hopefully I can get this grow fully equipped before my next one, yay for first time grow trials!

 

[DRM Ranch]

Environmental control is driving me a bit batty, and I think my plants would much prefer a more controlled environment even more than I'd like to have one.

I need humidity control, at the moment that means a humidifier. Exactly how I'm going to control that I don't know at the moment and any suggestions would be great.

I need better air circulation around the plants, so I'm going to invest in an oscillating fan. My little fan is not cutting it.

I think with those two items I should see a bit better temp control.

I need to start buying my red t-5 bulbs, I need 16 to load up both lights, yet I hear mixing blue and red works? Any ideas here?

I'm only soso happy with my new RO kit, it reduces my water to 24ppm from 300+, but I'm feeling the need for a better set of pre filters and carbon filters. I have an old three filter RO kit without the RO membrane, I'm going to load that with 10, 5, 1, micron pre filters and load the two RO filter slots with 1 and 0.5 micron carbon filters and see how that works out. I'm not interested in dealing with water issues.

Merry Christmas to all

 

[J Washington]

Environmental control is driving me a bit batty, and I think my plants would much prefer a more controlled environment even more than I'd like to have one.

I need humidity control, at the moment that means a humidifier. Exactly how I'm going to control that I don't know at the moment and any suggestions would be great.

I need better air circulation around the plants, so I'm going to invest in an oscillating fan. My little fan is not cutting it.

I think with those two items I should see a bit better temp control.

I need to start buying my red t-5 bulbs, I need 16 to load up both lights, yet I hear mixing blue and red works? Any ideas here?

I'm only soso happy with my new RO kit, it reduces my water to 24ppm from 300+, but I'm feeling the need for a better set of pre filters and carbon filters. I have an old three filter RO kit without the RO membrane, I'm going to load that with 10, 5, 1, micron pre filters and load the two RO filter slots with 1 and 0.5 micron carbon filters and see how that works out. I'm not interested in dealing with water issues.

Merry Christmas to all

Hi DRM

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you...

Tell me more about your grow environment. Is it a physical room or a tent? Is your space set up with air exchange? ...in line fan pulling air through the space. I recently switched to LED, but grew with an 8 bulb T-5 fixture for 4 grows. They generate substantially more heat than LEDs causing a battle with HVAC. I used to switch bulbs to red for flower cycle, but later mixed bulbs 50/50 through both cycles which seemed to work OK. Maybe it is my imagination, but the reds seem to burn cooler than the white/blue.

If your looking for new oscillating fans these two Ozeri fans have been great for me.

 

[DRM Ranch]

Hi DRM

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you...

Tell me more about your grow environment. Is it a physical room or a tent? Is your space set up with air exchange? ...in line fan pulling air through the space. I recently switched to LED, but grew with an 8 bulb T-5 fixture for 4 grows. They generate substantially more heat than LEDs causing a battle with HVAC. I used to switch bulbs to red for flower cycle, but later mixed bulbs 50/50 through both cycles which seemed to work OK. Maybe it is my imagination, but the reds seem to burn cooler than the white/blue.

If your looking for new oscillating fans these two Ozeri fans have been great for me.

Thanks for looking J Washington, I hope your Christmas was great and your New Year starts out well.

The grow is in a 400cf well insulated closet.

Airflow through the room is pull through with a 400cfm 6" inline fan, the fan is controlled by thermostat which keeps canopy temps at 80-81 when the lights are on.

Air circulation is maintained by an oscillating fan and a box fan with a whole house allergen rated filter attached (intended to reduce mold and mildue spores).

Humidity is now kept above low 30% by an evaporative humidifier which is controlled by a humidistat.

Lighting is two 4' sunblaze 8 lamp HO fixtures on timers 16:8 light schedule with lights out at 8a as night time temps here are in the 30s and we don't have an HVAC system of any kind in the house at this point.

My night cycle temps are in the 60s, which I'd like to increase to the 70s with a thermostat controlled heater (waiting on the almighty $$$ for that). I know this is an issue.

Night cycle humidity is in the mid 70% range, I'd like to bring that down to the 40-50% range with a dehumidifier, increasing airflow is not currently an option as temps would plummet way below acceptable, more money is needed to get that done.

I'm using a simple 3 stage RO system at the moment for my water source, I have a 4 stage system that needs all of the water line fittings replaced, so that might be added later in some form or another, ppm out is 24, down from 300+ with lots of chloramine in my source water, I'm okay with its performance just not absolutely thrilled.

I'm watering by hand in a recirculating manner as that's my ultimate goal, parts collecting as I find what suits my needs. The basic method is to check and adjust reservoir pH, water the equivalent of the container in volume, recheck and adjust reservoir pH and water again using the reservoir solution, then water with fresh mixed nutrients to bring the rest level up to full. I'm seeing a drop in res pH after the first watering which is why I'm essentially forcing the media back into the 5.8-5.9 pH range at every watering. I don't consider the process done till runoff is in that range. This seems to have helped in correcting an earlier lockout of magnesium along with a slight increase in MagPro by 0.4ml/g.

Media is grodan cubes, the crouton sized stuff, I very much like this media, root development is very nice in most of the girls.

I'm going to kill off the slowest girl, she is very sad looking and never did well from the start. I checked on her roots and they aren't up to par at all.

The two largest girls need to be up potted to a #5 container this week. Their roots are air pruning at the drain holes...

I've sprayed them with a solution of baking soda and RO water twice (30min prior to lights on) as an extra prevention against powdery mildue which is a problem here, I'd like to avoid chemicals if at all possible. Thus far I've seen none on the girls, but I don't want to fight that battle if I can avoid it.

There you go, its time for me to check on the girls and see what they need today.

 

[DRM Ranch]

Here is one of the girls

 

[J Washington]

Several leaves look just like this.

Points that I believe are relevant, temps below the canopy have gone up to 82°F I assume canopy temps were far higher. I have moved the lights up higher and moved my thermometer to canopy level to better monitor temps at that level. Bonehead mistake I should have done right off the bat.

I have fed twice using SoCal tap water, I'm waiting on a fix for a broken RO filter fitting, FML. Otherwise nutrients are the same.

A couple young rooted clones under the same light but we'll below the 82°F zone are not similarly effected.

Hi Ranch

The leaf thing could be CaMg deficiency, especially if you are using R/O water. Where I am the tap water is fine after sitting 24 hours. However I use a CaMg supplement anyway to ensure proper nute uptake. Just a thought

 

[J Washington]

Thanks for looking J Washington, I hope your Christmas was great and your New Year starts out well.

The grow is in a 400cf well insulated closet.

Airflow through the room is pull through with a 400cfm 6" inline fan, the fan is controlled by thermostat which keeps canopy temps at 80-81 when the lights are on.

Air circulation is maintained by an oscillating fan and a box fan with a whole house allergen rated filter attached (intended to reduce mold and mildue spores).

Humidity is now kept above low 30% by an evaporative humidifier which is controlled by a humidistat.

Lighting is two 4' sunblaze 8 lamp HO fixtures on timers 16:8 light schedule with lights out at 8a as night time temps here are in the 30s and we don't have an HVAC system of any kind in the house at this point.

My night cycle temps are in the 60s, which I'd like to increase to the 70s with a thermostat controlled heater (waiting on the almighty $$$ for that). I know this is an issue.

Night cycle humidity is in the mid 70% range, I'd like to bring that down to the 40-50% range with a dehumidifier, increasing airflow is not currently an option as temps would plummet way below acceptable, more money is needed to get that done.

I'm using a simple 3 stage RO system at the moment for my water source, I have a 4 stage system that needs all of the water line fittings replaced, so that might be added later in some form or another, ppm out is 24, down from 300+ with lots of chloramine in my source water, I'm okay with its performance just not absolutely thrilled.

I'm watering by hand in a recirculating manner as that's my ultimate goal, parts collecting as I find what suits my needs. The basic method is to check and adjust reservoir pH, water the equivalent of the container in volume, recheck and adjust reservoir pH and water again using the reservoir solution, then water with fresh mixed nutrients to bring the rest level up to full. I'm seeing a drop in res pH after the first watering which is why I'm essentially forcing the media back into the 5.8-5.9 pH range at every watering. I don't consider the process done till runoff is in that range. This seems to have helped in correcting an earlier lockout of magnesium along with a slight increase in MagPro by 0.4ml/g.

Media is grodan cubes, the crouton sized stuff, I very much like this media, root development is very nice in most of the girls.

I'm going to kill off the slowest girl, she is very sad looking and never did well from the start. I checked on her roots and they aren't up to par at all.

The two largest girls need to be up potted to a #5 container this week. Their roots are air pruning at the drain holes...

I've sprayed them with a solution of baking soda and RO water twice (30min prior to lights on) as an extra prevention against powdery mildue which is a problem here, I'd like to avoid chemicals if at all possible. Thus far I've seen none on the girls, but I don't want to fight that battle if I can avoid it.

There you go, its time for me to check on the girls and see what they need today.

When I travel, I hear a lot about the powdery mildew thing. Colorado state was confiscating plants from commercial grows because of it last time I visited.

Sounds like you have the light cooling thing under control with your in line fan, but you need air to move through the room 24/7. Maybe I am not understanding your room dynamics. I don't use a light that requires cooling so I don't have that factor to contend with. So you are cooling a T-5?

I have a similar room. Try to imagine this. The door into the room has a vent at the bottom that I cut in. On the inside of the door the vent is ducted with 3 - 90 degree bends (secured to the inside of the door) in the duct to prevent light leak. The fresh air is pulled into the room and out the duct secured to the door, through the plants and up to the carbon filter hanging from the ceiling on the other side. The filter is ducted through the opposite wall where an inline fan pulls "stale" air out of the room. The fan runs 24/7 pulling conditioned air from the rest of the house, into the grow room, through the plant space, up to the ceiling and ducted out of the room and spilled out through the inline fan in the attic. I have some pics in my White Widow Journal if you want to see. This keeps my room between 30-40%.

Almost forgot, here is a great little inexpensive thermostat outlet I use and got at Home Depot. It is inside my room and a space heater outside the room blowing into the fresh air duct. When the temp in the room goes down, the space heater turns on and the same inline fan pulls the warm air through the room.

Lux 5-2-Day Outlet Programmable Thermostat-WIN100-005 - The Home Depot

 

[DRM Ranch]

When I travel, I hear a lot about the powdery mildew thing. Colorado state was confiscating plants from commercial grows because of it last time I visited.

Sounds like you have the light cooling thing under control with your in line fan, but you need air to move through the room 24/7. Maybe I am not understanding your room dynamics. I don't use a light that requires cooling so I don't have that factor to contend with. So you are cooling a T-5?

I have a similar room. Try to imagine this. The door into the room has a vent at the bottom that I cut in. On the inside of the door the vent is ducted with 3 - 90 degree bends (secured to the inside of the door) in the duct to prevent light leak. The fresh air is pulled into the room and out the duct secured to the door, through the plants and up to the carbon filter hanging from the ceiling on the other side. The filter is ducted through the opposite wall where an inline fan pulls "stale" air out of the room. The fan runs 24/7 pulling conditioned air from the rest of the house, into the grow room, through the plant space, up to the ceiling and ducted out of the room and spilled out through the inline fan in the attic. I have some pics in my White Widow Journal if you want to see. This keeps my room between 30-40%.

Almost forgot, here is a great little inexpensive thermostat outlet I use and got at Home Depot. It is inside my room and a space heater outside the room blowing into the fresh air duct. When the temp in the room goes down, the space heater turns on and the same inline fan pulls the warm air through the room.

Lux 5-2-Day Outlet Programmable Thermostat-WIN100-005 - The Home Depot

At 864 walheref t5 lighting in my room heat can skyrocket, easily going over 100 in a sealed room with no air exchange.

My airflow is working similarly to yours in design, but switched on and off via a Ranco electronic temperature controller. I am getting at least 1 exchange every 3 minutes while the lights are on. The lights off situation is quite different.

My home is not heated, its cold here (32°F +/- a few by the time the sun comes up), then it warms up through the day. The living area does fall into the low 60°F range, perhaps as low as the high 50s however this temp is while the lights are on so the grow room never sees such temps.

A few potential solutions exist, at least in my mind; 1) divide grow room into two parts and offset light timing to maintain 24/7 heating via the lights, 2) add a flower room and use its exhaust to heat the grow room when lights are out, 3) buy a heater (I have an additional thermostat ready), 4) buy a dehumidifier (they do add heat to some degree, maybe enough to keep my canopy temp drop at 10°F)

In my mind the dehumidifier option is the most lchoice as the device will serve dual duty and I need to keep my costs down right now. However I don't think I can swing the funds for a dehumidifier that will do me any good down the road (I hate to buy twice because I didn't buy right in the first place).

So in terms of finances that leaves me with purchasair a heater as my seemingly obvious what i can do now choice.

If I had a differential thermostat or two thermostats to play with and an additional fan I'd use them to pull warmer attic air into the grow to manage temps, however doing so would certainly lower the entire house temps and that's not exactly a great alternative.

I feel a bit bad about starting the grow without having nailed all environmental factors ahead of time. The lessons I'm learning are going to stay with me that's for sure.

 

[DRM Ranch]

Hi Ranch

The leaf thing could be CaMg deficiency, especially if you are using R/O water. Where I am the tap water is fine after sitting 24 hours. However I use a CaMg supplement anyway to ensure proper nute uptake. Just a thought

I'm fairly certain its just a mag issue secondary to low pH in the media which is secondary to a slew of errors on my part; a) not storing my pH meter properly b) not calibrating regularly c) not measuring runoff d) not bringing the root zone pH up to at least 5.8

I'm feeding at very low ppm values (sub 500) and more or less watching for very specific nutrient deficiency issues, and adjusting as I go. I'm hoping to land on optimal ratios for this strain with Dyna Gro nutes (which I know aren't going to be truly dialed in until I get my environment stabilized)

In any case, the issue seems to have not progressed and new growth is nice looking given all the other issues I'm just not dealing with due to limited funds.

My opinion is the nutes I'm using have enough Ca for this strain, I'm just an idiot for not keeping my equipment in optimal condition and my environment is sketchy at the moment. I'm attempting an ill equipt first time go it alone grow.

I come from a reptile breeding background and would absolutely flame someone for going about careing for a live animal in the way I'm going after this grow, in turn I feel bad as is for not truly being ready to do my plants the justice they need.

I hope to work through this and be a better grower in the future. Maybe someone reading this will take away some lessons, I know I am.

 

[DRM Ranch]

So today I'm going to transplant my two largest girls into #5 pots...and yeah! The #5 is same height plus 2" in diameter...that means a 1" parameter fill only, no base fill.

They aren't going to stay very happy in these very long at all. We shall see.

I don't want to find myself needing to trim roots.

 

[DRM Ranch]

So I'm out of rockwool croutons now, but here is a bit of root porn for you.

As it turns out I was able to stuff about an inch of media under the existing root mass, that gives a tad bit of growing room.