Five's Second Attempt - Coco/Perlite - CFL/LED - NL - 2016

[FiveToMidnight]

The more roots, the more nutes that can be consumed to grow fatter nugs. Promoting root growth is never a bad thing.

Ok great, 4.2L pots it is. I'll do that this weekend. They seemed to recover in a day or two last transplant event though they were almost root bound and I removed the bottom 1/4 inch. So I'm thinking if I transplant Saturday I can start the transition ratio by Wednesday/Thursday, then remove the cfl's, install the LED and flip to 12/12 by the following Sunday.
I've been lazy this week and haven't taken pics yet but they look gorgeous, soo green and bushy .
I promise I will post pics soon!

 

[Skybound]

Any chance you can incorporate the CFLs around the LED? More light, more lumens, wider spectrum = denser tastier buds. Consider the heat and your ability to manage it, but if ya can, please use them.

 

[FiveToMidnight]

Any chance you can incorporate the CFLs around the LED? More light, more lumens, wider spectrum = denser tastier buds. Consider the heat and your ability to manage it, but if ya can, please use them.

Its funny you say that. I actually bought two small lamps so I could use them to light up the space underneath the plants, where the LED doesn't get to. I am a little concerned about the heat impact though, but we will see. They have been living most of the time in 35+ celcius and they seem fine. Barely any heat stress at all, so I'm thinking it will be alright

 

[FiveToMidnight]

Transplanted to 4.2L pots on the weekend and the girls seem to be settling in quite nicely. Starting Transition ratio in the next couple of days and will be swapping out the CFL's for the LED and switching to 12/12 bloom schedule.
Been keeping the nutes at around the 600ppm range and they seem to be loving it. Can't see any yellowing or discoloration of the leaves, everything is green and beautiful but I'll let you judge for yourselves.

Let me know what you think

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[Skybound]

Perfection at it's finest. Well done 5!

 

[Obi Wan]

You've got this grow dialed in. Really nice job. I'm excited for you.

 

[FiveToMidnight]

Perfection at it's finest. Well done 5!

Thanks mate, really means a lot to hear you say that! I'm soo proud of this run, they look soo beautiful compared to the first attempt.
Can't wait to see them bloom

You've got this grow dialed in. Really nice job. I'm excited for you.

Thanks Obi Wan I'm heaps excited too!!

 

[Skybound]

How's things?

 

[FiveToMidnight]

How's things?

Going great thank you my friend! Haven't been updating as much because there isn't much to tell, the girls seem happy as could be.

Started feeding transition ratio last week as planned and swapped the CFL's out for the 300w LED Sunday night after lights out. I then left them for 12 hours of dark before the LED came on to continue 12/12. Started the LED at its max height of 25" above the canopy but have since lowered it each day slightly and it is now around 20" above. I will keep lowering it until around 16-18" depending on how they react.
Still feeding the transition ratio and will be until the end of the week where I will switch to week 5

Here are some pics so you can how things look now. Was too lazy to take them out to better light to get proper pictures but at least you can see how they are doing. Take my word for it that they all a beautiful green colour with no yellow or discolouration on any leaf.

I have also tried to add a couple of desk lamps with CFL's to try and get underneath the canopy and give some light from below. Not sure how well it will work though but will monitor over the next couple of days to see what happens. Took the above pics this afternoon before I installed the lamps so will take more pics in a day or two once I can see how they're working.

As always, really love any feedback anyone may have!!

 

[FiveToMidnight]

Almost forgot!

I have been using silica at the full recommended strength of 1ml/L which seems to be going well but wondering at which point I should be stopping it? I have heard some people using it all the way through but have also been advised to stop around week 2-4 of bloom. What do you guys think?

Also, should I be flushing before starting bloom nutes? I have read many people that advise to flush between changes to and from transition but I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on the matter?

 

[Camo420Grow]

Looking damn good 5! I can tell in the pics the ladies are healthy ! I use silica alway the thru up to my flush, hell if you don't have to I'm gonna stop and save some money !

 

[FiveToMidnight]

Looking damn good 5! I can tell in the pics the ladies are healthy ! I use silica alway the thru up to my flush, hell if you don't have to I'm gonna stop and save some money !

Thanks Camo! I'm pretty damn happy with this round and quite proud of the progress I've made.
Thanks for your input too. I was thinking of using Silica all the way to flush as well but didn't want to cause any damage after getting so far so thought I better ask. But after seeing your girls I can't see that it does any real detrimental effects, they were gorgeous! But definitely don't want to be using it if I don't have to, saving money is always a good thing lol

 

[Camo420Grow]

Yes saving money is always nice and plus you can spend that saved money on something else in the grow room! But you should be happy my dude ! These are much better than the first round ! I'm actually bout to post of a pic of the monster(White Widow). She is coming down in 3 days !

 

[FiveToMidnight]

Yes saving money is always nice and plus you can spend that saved money on something else in the grow room! But you should be happy my dude ! These are much better than the first round ! I'm actually bout to post of a pic of the monster(White Widow). She is coming down in 3 days !

Thanks mate. Just wish I had more room so I could have a go at getting some girls as big as yours
I'm looking forward to seeing the dry weight you get from it.

 

[Skybound]

In my media (rockwool), I've never had to flush ever, and just transitioned from one regimen right into the next, but your coco might behave differently. Your girls look like super models, so I wouldn't change your practices as what you're doing is clearly working very well for you. That means if you have been flushing, keep doing so. Also, I stopped the silica roughly 5 weeks in from pistil. You got some extra cash? Maybe get some bloom boosters? More beneficial bacteria?

 

[FiveToMidnight]

In my media (rockwool), I've never had to flush ever, and just transitioned from one regimen right into the next, but your coco might behave differently. Your girls look like super models, so I wouldn't change your practices as what you're doing is clearly working very well for you. That means if you have been flushing, keep doing so. Also, I stopped the silica roughly 5 weeks in from pistil. You got some extra cash? Maybe get some bloom boosters? More beneficial bacteria?

I haven't flushed so far so might just keep going and flush at the end.

What is the reason for stopping the Silica after 5 weeks?

I do have a little cash, just not sure what I should get. Was looking at some products but got a bit paranoid about adding the wrong thing.
Is there any specific product you could recommend?

 

[Skybound]

I cut silica to make room for bloom nutes as ppm is important. Koolbloom is good and it's GH

 

[FiveToMidnight]

I cut silica to make room for bloom nutes as ppm is important. Koolbloom is good and it's GH

That makes sense.
I did look at koolbloom. Do you use it as recommended on the label?

 

[FiveToMidnight]

Been doing some reading and seems to quite a lot of debate to whether or not bloom boosters make any difference. Many people say they're a waste of money and many others say they get great results.
Its really confusing. Especially when they all seem incredibly expensive.

I was looking a KoolBloom but looks like you need both liquid and powder to get optimum results.
Bud Candy seems to be another popular but expensive product. Although hard to find consensus if it is worth the money or not.


Would love some opinions if anyone has some?

 

[Obi Wan]

I've been considering bloom additives as well. I've talked myself out of it for now. Here is my reasoning at the moment: I've done well so far without it. The GH trio + CalMag has served me just fine from start to finish.

I'm still in the process of perfecting my growing skills and until I feel I've mastered a strain and the nutes are actually holding me back I'm going to stick with the less is more mantra and focus on technique and problem solving.

Cheers!
/Obi