Feral's Adventures In Homemade DWC - 2015 - 400W HPS

[FeralA9X]

Good morning ladies and gents, time for todays updates (so much for updates every 2 days ).

Clones:
Today in the tent temps are much better at 26c and humidity at 53%, it just feels more comfy in there, i turned the exhaust fan down to try raise humidity just a little but apart from that conditions are perfect Atomic#2 looked a little worse today but i think the damage was pretty much done before i changed the res, has not spread any further and the newer growth is perfectly fine. I will continue to monitor it but im not too worried at all.

Atomic#1: PH 5.5, EC 0.7
Atomic#2: PH 5.8, EC 0.8

Over night we have had a birth in the household, just 3 days after starting the germ process, Lost Coast OG has sprouted. No signs of anything from Purple Paralysis yet but not sure if she will even germ.

Flower Tent:
Moving on over to the big girls tent today the temps wore very similar to the other tent, 26c but with a slightly higher RH of 63%. Today i did not have the time for a res change but i will be doing that tomorrow, at this stage i am guessing about 2-3 weeks or so before harvest which would mean last res change. Last few weeks i have only been changing it out every 2 weeks, so 2 weeks of nutes followed by a week of flush would bring me close to harvest. I worked out a few extra settings on my camera half way through photos but damn there are some nice ones in there

Atomic Bomb: PH 5.5, EC 2.5, Nothing added.

Money Maker: PH 5.3, EC 2.3, Nothing added.

That's about all i have for today, hope everyone is well, have a great day

 

[Radogast]

Looking Good

 

[FeralA9X]

Looking Good

Thanks mate

Got a few small updates for today. Yesterday i managed to change out the reservoirs to the 2 big girls, i setup my pump and used it to pump all the old nutes out of the res then used it again to pump the new nutes in. This worked out to be so much easier than changing buckets and will be how i do it from now on, took 1/4 of the time with no risk of damage.

Nute mix for each res as follows:
14L water
7ml DM Silica
4.2ml DM Zone
70ml Rock Finishing Juice
42ml ADD.27 Flower
35ml DM Gold Flower A
35ml DM Gold Flower B

Not much else was done so i did not take any readings or pics. I had a delivery of seeds today, still waiting on 2 more packages but have received my first 13 strains.
Barneys - Pineapple Express
Barneys - Pineapple Chunk
Critical Mass Col - Psychotropic mass
Reserva Privada - Skywalker Kush
Grand Daddy Purp - Original GDP
BC Bud Depot - Girl Scout Cookies
Greenhouse - Arjans Haze #1
VIP - Currant Kush
Auto Seeds - Polar Express
Sensi Seeds - First Lady
Connoisseur Genetics - Diesel Dipped Cookies
Dready Seeds - White Jack
freedom of seeds - Little Kushy Auto

If you would like to see one of the above grown let me know, will be germinating a few in the coming weeks

 

[FeralA9X]

Todays checks are in, as usual i will start off with the clones etc

Clones:
Not a lot has been done over the past 2 days but they are looking mighty fine, Atomic#2 has not shown any new signs of defs. Temps today were at 30c with RH at 57%. After everything was completed i gave them a Liquid Light foliar spray, mixed at full strength of 30ml Liquid Light, 30ml Saturator and 500ml water not PH'd. I will need to sort out the cupboard for Atomic#1 as i think she is good to go, dont need her too big for pollen and seeds.

Atomic#1: PH 5.9, EC 0.7, Added 2L Water.
Atomic#2: PH 5.9, EC 0.7, Added 500ml Water.

Seedlings:
Still a no show for Purple Paralysis bagseed, not too worried about that as i will need the space for another real soon. Lost Coast OG is looking real nice so far, i have not directly sprayed her with any water, what you see she has accumulated herself in the dome. Her roots are already starting to poke out the net pot, couple of days she will be transplanted to one of the net pot lids.

Flower Tent:
Temps today are 29c RH of 67%, over all looking real nice and getting fat. Money Maker is going to be needing some bondage soon, she is getting heavy, her buds are really dense and starting to droop a little. Atomic seems to be strengthening and filling in all the way up her branches, Heads are not as big as MM but i think she will have an overall better yield, who knows, MM may surprise me even more like she has all the way through flower.

Atomic Bomb:
PH 5.3, EC 1.9, Added 1L of water with a few drops of PH up.

Money Maker:
PH 4.8, EC 1.9, Added 1.5L with about 12 drops of PH up.

Hope you all have a great day, thanks for stopping by

 

[Radogast]

You have such a pleasant yard.
No drama except the flowering.

 

[FeralA9X]

Thanks mate, hopefully thats my only issue on grows, the weight of my buds

 

[FeralA9X]

Good afternoon, just some small updates from last night, only really clone tent as i was pretty lazy
I did have a peek in the flower tent and everything looked great as usual, the only thing i did notice is GWS at the back leaning pretty badly, not sure what it is with these girls but they cant hold their own weight. I didnt touch her and decided i would spend the extra time in there tonight, get her all tied up and maybe even add some to MM if i feel the need. I checked trichomes today for the first time, loupe is a $2 piece of crap i have to squint just to see anything through, need a cheap usb microscope, anyone use one and could recommend a good magnification level? (eg. 20x-500x) I think we would not really need that much, maybe 5-20%.

Clones and Seedlings:
I went at Atomic#1 with the scissors and removed all of her lower growth, except for the fan leaves for each branch. She literally is a Star Atomic#2 will be getting a super-crop in the next couple of days, mainly the two largest branches and will take them as clones. I started cleaning the closet back out yesterday, just need to find somewhere to put the crap so i can get A#1 in to flower, Hopefully under CFL i should not get as much growth as HPS and keep her short. Lost Coast OG is looking fine and covered in water again lol, I slipped her in with Atomic#2 for about an hour while i was messing around, just rehydrating the clay a little with the weak nute mix. I didnt want to risk leaving her in the DWC so put her back in the dome but opened the vents a little, want to get her into her new net pot lid but once transplanted will not fit back in the dome. Nothing from the bagseed PP, I investigated further and no signs of germination, i may soak the seed tonight and see if i can get her to pop.

Atomic#1: PH 5.9, EC 0.7, No water added, will need new nutes soon.

Atomic#2: PH 6.0, EC 0.7, Nothing added.

Lost Coast OG:

Everything else will be done tonight, see you all then

 

[FeralA9X]

Hey everyone, time for some more updates, Starting with the clones yet again

Clones & Seedlings:
Today not a lot was done, Lost Coast OG was looking a bit dry for my liking so i closed the vents and misted the hood internally with water. Purple Paralysis bagseed still a no go but have left her for now. Temps in the tent are at 29c with a RH of 57%. Atomic#1 loved her haircut and is looking great, Atomic#2 still needs a good chop back but tossing up if i need any more clones going of that strain right now, I could put them outdoors but already have enough plants going out there lol. Photos today were taken before anything was done, once finished in the tent i gave both Atomic clones a Liquid Light foliar spray.

Atomic#1: PH 6.2, EC 0.6.

Atomic#2: PH 6.1, EC 0.7.

Flower Tent:
Temps today in the tent are at 30c with a RH of 64%, Im thinking i could get the temps down a couple of degrees if i vent from the carbon filter outside, right now it vents back into the room and then the only way air exhausts outside is through the 2 air cooled hoods, hopefully i can fit another vent in my window, there is very limited space between the tents lol. So Photos today were taken as soon as the tent was opened, Photos tomorrow will look much different as i spent a lot of time stringing up all 3 girls tonight, lets just say it looks like the set of Thunderbirds . Atomic has got me thinking she would be a good strain for no LST or Topping/Fimming etc, will find out as i keep working with her i guess but was thinking she needs a good central structure, already a very branchy plant just her stems are weak, however, could just be like that with this plant because of her split stalk. Found quite a few hiding branches down the back of MM, after tying her up she is looking better than ever, i did tie up the main branches also but they really didnt need it, more for stabilization when i lift the lid to check levels/readings. GWS is actually filling out in the bud department which is a nice surprise, will not be any kind of record yield but will still produce some decent smoke

Atomic Bomb:
PH 5.6, EC 2.1, Added 3L water.

Money Maker:
PH 5.3, EC 1.8, Added 3L water with 6 drops of PH up.

Great White Shark:
PH 5.5, EC 2.6.

And that brings us to the end of todays update, thanks for joining me on my adventures yet again, Have a great day

 

[FeralA9X]

Forgot to mention about Money Maker, Looks like a starting sign of her first deficiency, Potassium is what i am thinking. I am confident the only issue is PH related hence the reason i added PH up today. Looking back through my notes it has been a week since MM has been above 5.5, tbh most of the week has been pretty low and would have been missing out on quite a few nutes.

 

[Radogast]

Thanks mate

Got a few small updates for today. Yesterday i managed to change out the reservoirs to the 2 big girls, i setup my pump and used it to pump all the old nutes out of the res then used it again to pump the new nutes in. This worked out to be so much easier than changing buckets and will be how i do it from now on, took 1/4 of the time with no risk of damage.

Nute mix for each res as follows:
14L water
7ml DM Silica
4.2ml DM Zone
70ml Rock Finishing Juice
42ml ADD.27 Flower
35ml DM Gold Flower A
35ml DM Gold Flower B

Not much else was done so i did not take any readings or pics. I had a delivery of seeds today, still waiting on 2 more packages but have received my first 13 strains.
Barneys - Pineapple Express
Barneys - Pineapple Chunk
Critical Mass Col - Psychotropic mass
Reserva Privada - Skywalker Kush
Grand Daddy Purp - Original GDP
BC Bud Depot - Girl Scout Cookies
Greenhouse - Arjans Haze #1
VIP - Currant Kush
Auto Seeds - Polar Express
Sensi Seeds - First Lady
Connoisseur Genetics - Diesel Dipped Cookies
Dready Seeds - White Jack
freedom of seeds - Little Kushy Auto

If you would like to see one of the above grown let me know, will be germinating a few in the coming weeks

Dready Seeds - White Jack looks like a great strain. Jack Herer x White Widow

Her grow preference sounds lke the way you hydro Lots of light and ...

It yields well both indoors and outdside and has a very sedative effect on the user. In hydro systems the White Jack can take a higher E.C. and will be happy during flowering if the E.C. is kept between 1.8 and 2.0. This will ensure a bountiful crop of really sweet smelling buds, oozing with sticky crystals

If paired with Skywalker Kush, It would seem to fill out the list of favorite strains for breeders: OG Kush x (Mazar X Blueberry)

 

[FeralA9X]

Dready Seeds - White Jack looks like a great strain. Jack Herer x White Widow

Her grow preference sounds lke the way you hydro Lots of light and ...



If paired with Skywalker Kush, It would seem to fill out the list of favorite strains for breeders: OG Kush x (Mazar X Blueberry)

SOLD!! lol, I may just drop in a skywalker kush aswell

I do however have plans for the skywalker kush, I want to get her in a three way (Skywalker Kush X Dark Star) X Rollex OG Kush, all these are in the other seeds i am waiting on Got a few other crazy ideas but wont go into them right now hehe.

 

[FeralA9X]

So last night was a bit of a bugger, about 2am while checking on the girls we had a power outage. I was awake until 6am and the power was not back on but is back on now, from what i can tell it was out for a good 6 hours. Did not finish my checks so now i have to wait for tonight

 

[Radogast]

So last night was a bit of a bugger, about 2am while checking on the girls we had a power outage. I was awake until 6am and the power was not back on but is back on now, from what i can tell it was out for a good 6 hours. Did not finish my checks so now i have to wait for tonight

Sucks that it happened,
but now you are back on track.

 

[FeralA9X]

Checks are in, Last night i basically grabbed all details but missed out on a couple of them due to the power outage so i wont bother going in to them. What i did do yesterday was clean out the cupboard for Atomic#1 and got her in there under the 2700K CFL. That pretty much brings us up to date lol.

So today in the Veg tent temps are at 24c and 51% humidity, Lost Coast OG has not looked right since i put her in the res for a short time, hopefully she bounces back and is back in the fully sealed dome now covered with cloth again, now joined by Skywalker Kush and White Jack.

Atomic#1: PH 6.1, EC 0.5

Atomic#2: PH 5.9, EC 0.7, Transplanted her into one of the net pot lids (3" net pot into a 8" net pot lid), same res.
This pic is after everything was checked and given a foliar spray with water, you can see the dome just before i covered her with cloth.

So moving on over to the main tent, Temps are at 24c with a RH of 56%. Main thing tonight was getting the PH lifted on MM, making sure all the nutes are available to her.

Atomic Bomb: PH 5.3, EC 2.1, Added 4L water.

Money Maker: PH 5.1, EC 1.7, Added 3L water with another 15 drops of PH UP, settled around 5.8.

Great White Shark: Nothing checked or done, just a couple of photos.

Thats it for today, was supposed to post this last night but could not be bothered, kinda feels like im writing all this up for nothing

anyways...

Have a great day

 

[FeralA9X]

So i didnt bother doing full checks tonight, main thing was making sure MM's PH did not fluctuate too much overnight, now sitting on a stable 5.8. Apart from that all i have done tonight is make a mini Solo cup DWC for the solo cup comp lol, if you have not seen it yet here is my entry.

Very simple to make using 4 solo cups and scissors lol, anyways im out, laters

 

[FeralA9X]

Not a great deal to report over the past few days, has been pretty boring and i myself have done the minimal. Mainly been checking reservoirs and making sure they are all in the right ranges, nothing has been added apart from water. I super-cropped Atomic#2, trying to keep her low and bushy and also managed to get 6 clones from her. This is all i have been doing the past few days, looking for a better method of cloning. The first night the clone in the solo cup was wilting pretty bad, she wold not fit into my clone dome so i had to come up with a different alternative, My answer: in a bucket sealed with cling wrap (plastic food wrap) over the top, within hours she was standing tall again. This has been the most effective way for them to deal with shock, however, all the other clones were placed into my aerogarden, never used it before and i dont think its doing any good, 1 day on and only 1 out of 5 clones has survived enough to make me change shit up, I added a bubble wall air curtain (flexible air stone) into the base of the aerogarden to see if this would help, i think it all comes down to not having enough humidity and with no way to cover or put a dome over i cant see it working. At the end of the day im not too worried, $200 unit Vs a 75c bucket and about 5c in plastic wrap lol.

My dome is way too small so i have ordered a new one, a 50 cell clone tray, a 7" dome and heat mat. I decided to piss off the 400w hps ballast as it gets really hot and is old as, I got myself another Nanolux digi but in the 400w model I also purchased a couple of things to aid in the harvest, a cheap 5-500x 2mp microscope for trich shots and i seriously dont think this harvest will fit on my 2 tier drying rack so i purchased an 8 tier.

I am almost happy with my setup now, was looking at a new hood for the veg tent as i dont feel it has enough coverage coming from the 5" hood, I may wait for this as they are so damn expensive for what im looking at. I want to get a Growlite "KARMA" or "The Hood XL", Karma is a similar setup to my other OG reflector with concealed vacuum airflow but it has a horizontal bulb setup whereas "The Hood" is a straight forward air cooled hood.

 

[Radogast]

I don't think I any pictures of your aerogarden before. If it is the brand name Aerogarden I saw online these don't seem to be cloners.

I had medium to bad results using cubes and clone domes.

Since you are growing with water and pumps, I would expect you to use something more like this DIY 50 site aero cloner for under $100.00

To be honest, you might be better off without spray nozzles. My little clone bucket just has a PVC sprinkler. I have seen up to 18 sites in a "clonebucket"

 

[FeralA9X]

I don't think I any pictures of your aerogarden before. If it is the brand name Aerogarden I saw online these don't seem to be cloners.

I had medium to bad results using cubes and clone domes.

Since you are growing with water and pumps, I would expect you to use something more like this DIY 50 site aero cloner for under $100.00

To be honest, you might be better off without spray nozzles. My little clone bucket just has a PVC sprinkler. I have seen up to 18 sites in a "clonebucket"

yeah its the brand name aerogarden, i know its not really a cloner but i thought i may be able to mock it up a little bit into one using like a dwc bubbling system and take advantage of the res/light combo. The aerogarden should work by itself with the way it is supposed to trickle water on to the stems but i give up on it, 3 clones were coming back after i added the air curtain but i have enough going on to worry about more clones lol, it was more of a test and not wanting to dispose of the cuttings taken after supercropping Atomic#2. I made a cloner bucket with a sprinkler that would work a treat but just playing with the aerogarden before i get rid of it, I didnt pay for it, dad had it laying around so i will give it back to him lol. That cloner does look like something id be interested in, dont really have the space for it right now though so will have to be a future project.

Im having great results with cubes in clone domes, as long as they are elevated so they dont suck up all the tray and dont actually spray the plants with water just the dome, they will pick up pretty much what they need from the humidity. Lost Coast OG was my fault 100% taking the blame for that lol, she was only just starting to show her first leaves when i sat her in a week 1 strength res for about an hour while i cleaned out the dome.

 

[FeralA9X]

Last night was pretty damn hot in the grow room, spent so much time in there by the time i finished up i was exhausted and ready for bed lol, so that brings us to finally posting an update while i have the chance. Aerogarden is gone, not worth the extra power and heat in the room. Temps in the Veg tent are high at 32c but damn its hot outside lol, Humidity was sitting around 44%, i would like this higher but not a great problem, probably due to the fact there is only really 1 small plant in such a huge tent. Today I will start off with seedlings.

Seedlings:
Both Skywalker Kush and White Jack had sprouted, looking great, wont even go into LC OG as you know the story there These girls will stay in the covered dome until they dont fit anymore or need some additional nutes, I will mist spray the dome every night as needed.

Atomic Solo Cup:
Last night i trimmed her fan leaves, removed the wilted parts of the leaves which should focus more growth on the root system, still no signs of roots yet but looking really happy and healthy. Cant wait to see if this actually works out, not looking forward to watering, may need to setup a drip system.

Atomic#1:
Not a lot happening, no real airflow in the cupboard so will need to sort that out in the next dew days. So much slower growing under CFL, under HPS i'd already have flowers showing But anyways im in no rush, need to sort out everything for a new journal covering my seed production but i figure i would wait til there is something interesting to show.

PH 6.2, EC 0.6, Added 2L water followed by Liquid Light Foliar.

Atomic#2:
She does not even look like i have touched her after the super-crop lol, still healthy and doing great. Still not sure which route i will take with her yet, I am thinking wait a few weeks, super crop again to get some clones and then moving her into flower. The way i see it, its going to take some time before any of the new seedlings see the flower tent and will need something to keep me going in the cycle.

PH 6.1, EC 0.7, Added 1L water followed by Liquid Light Foliar.

Flower Tent:
So today temps were at 29c with RH of 59%, tent was not too bad considering i could feel the heat in the room and it drained me, however, it was almost 40c outside. One major thing i did tonight was remove the 400w HPS magnetic ballast and replace it with a 400w Nanolux Digital ballast, Im hoping this should decrease temps majorly (not expecting results today as it was even hotter), the old unit was so hot i had to let it cool for an hour before being able to move it (and it still was pretty hot), the nanolux ballasts are almost cool to the touch. I have started the Amber Trichome hunt, Its 8 weeks since flipping to 12/12 but everything is still clear, there is an odd amber here and there but my guess would be 0.0001% amber . Both AB and MM have an expectancy of 8-9 weeks but i am thinking it will be an early feb harvest, roughly 1-2 weeks which would be pretty much spot on from the time i started seeing flowers.

Atomic Bomb:
PH 5.6, EC 1.9, Added 4.5L water.

Money Maker:
PH 5.7, EC 1.6, Added 3.5L water.

Thats about it for last night, i am about to head in there for tonights checks so will be back soon

 

[Cola Monster]