GDB: Old Dog -- New Tricks

[Grand Daddy Black]

Hey GDB apart from top feeding I'm similar having resovoirs inside my T and outside my T I use a 40L bin & pump to mix with. Once my nutes hit the T resovoirs they don't budge. When I mix I:

1. Add 100ppm potassium bicarbonate
2. Smoke
3. Add 1.5ml/L calmag
4. Waste some hours in life maybe overnight
5. Add maxibloom to strengthen
6. Leave for hours or over night.
7. PH down to 6.3.

That's me solid but used in two days. I use 0ppm water so have to buffer first with PB then after calmag my water sits around 350ppm.. when I tried a lighter ppm calmag I got drift.
Not sure if your tap is super soft like some lucky people get.

I can't remember what Coco you use but I pH to 6.3 pretty much the whole way. Alot swear by solid 5.8.. some nute companies will recommend 6.2 in flower so I would say it's ok as long as your in that range.

If you get that water buffered good and cat trust it will definitely drop a huge work load. Cold pressed or synthetic make life easy as organic salts can be wild sitting there.

Hope this helps you bro

Thanks GV! Does the potassium bicarbonate minimize pH drift?

 

[Grand Daddy Black]

They're looking really good GDB.

This is so true. After two years of running DWC/RDWC and a hydro lettuce grower, I can mix up a standard 1000EC / 5.5-6.5 pH solution without a pinch of this and a few drops of that. Of course, I'm using well water that stays pretty much the same. If you're on municipal water, it can change and usually does, at least quarterly.

I can give you my hydro answer: let it drift. Don't control it too tightly at 5.8 or you may become deficient in things that are better absorbed at 6.2. If your pH is drifting up (veg), feed it a little lower (5.6) and let it drift. If it's drifting down (flower), feed it a little higher (6.2-6.4). Anywhere in the 5.5-6.5 range should be good.

Thanks BudMan. I was thinking along those same lines. Let it drift!

That takes a bit of the load off!

 

[Greenvein]

Thanks GV! Does the potassium bicarbonate minimize pH drift?

Kind of yeah. As my water is 0ppm anything that touches it will have a strong influence to the PH so I use PB first then add C.mag, that's my water buffered. Like giving it some structure (raising alkalinity)

 

[Grand Daddy Black]

Hello all.

It's Flip8 for the New Trick girls and I've got a little bit of stretch going on!

I'm unable to see it with the naked eye, but if I use a tape measure it tells me what's happening.

The group was flipped on Apr. 1 but I measured their heights on March 31st. From the 31st to presently they've grown this much:

Lemon Bubble (back left): 8.5 inches to 10 inches.
Hash Lover (back right): 7.5 inches to 10 inches.
Blue Cindy (front & center) : 10.5 inches to 12.5 inches.

I'm not complaining. Minimal stretch (but more than what I've gotten thus far) would suit me just fine!

In case anyone is wondering about those big fan leaves near the plant bottoms, all of the flowering portions of those nodes have been removed. I leave the fans to power the plant. In the past, those fans would be the first to die off near the end. Lately, however, they've been hanging on to the very end in some of my grows (as have most of the other fan leaves).

I guess that's a good thing when it comes to a plant's vigor, but it's not so good in regards to trimming rigor.

Both plants in the rear (HL & LB) had nearly drained their reservoirs today. They are officially drinking about a gallon a day now on the Strive nutrients. Strive recommends periodic water-only feeds based on observance of the plant. I'm trying to translate that into a schedule for a swick watering system. Up until now I've been giving them a full Strive dose, then a diluted Strive dose and then a water only dose. Now that they're drinking a gallon a day I'm going to try alternating between Strive feeds and plain water feeds. They were given a gallon of full Strive yesterday. Today they got a gallon of plain water + silica @ 3.5ml per gallon.

I pHed their feed to 5.9 but once in the res (mixed with the little feed left from yesterday) the pH measured 6.2. I left it there.

The Blue Cindy up front looks happy. However today her pot was quite light compared to the others. She had only slurped up a bit of what I gave her yesterday. I top-watered her with a liter of plain water + calmag. Like I said, she looked content but her pot was too light, IMO. I hope I'm not getting in the way by overthinking things.

My mantra, "Stay out of the way!"

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Thanks again for your interest.

PEACE

 

[KeithLemon]

They all look really healthy I would say.

 

[Carcass]

They look great, GDB!
Might be your best ones yet.

 

[Grand Daddy Black]

They all look really healthy I would say.

Thanks Keith!

I see you're about to kick it into gear soon. Looking forward!

 

[Grand Daddy Black]

They look great, GDB!
Might be your best ones yet.

Thanks Carcass!

I'm always trying to improve.

I want to get to the point where I could grow a stellar plant in a friggin' box!

 

[InTheShed]

The flowering trio are looking lovely and lush and leafy...long may they wave! And the babies probably love having their stuffy noses dealt with courtesy of the Vick's Vaporizer, but I'd hold off on the VapoRub for now.

 

[seaofgreen18]

Hello all.

As a new parent I am obligated to pull out my most recent baby pics and bore as many folks as I possibly can!

Day 8.

Godberry (middle) flanked by the 2 Fat Kid's Cakes.

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I have a question for the coco growers.

If the fluid in my reservoirs is drifting pH-wise. Should I just let it be as long as it remains in range (5.5 to 6.5)? Will that ensure that the plant gets all the available goodies? Or should I constantly adjust back down to 5.7ish whenever it drifts upward, even if it hasn't exceeded 6.5?

And when I add water/nutrients to a partially filled res and the pH settles at, say, 6.2. Should I leave it there or adjust it back down to 5.7ish? (Water/nutrients are adjusted to 5.8 before feeding.)

-------------------------

As always, thanks for looking in.

PEACE

Congratulations on being a new father GDB ,Cigars are in order!

 

[LKABudMan]

They look great GDB. I've never thought about taking the lower nodes and leaving the fans, but why not?
When I first started with SIPs I tried alternating between feeding and watering. I ended up getting nutrients deficiencies in the watering cycles, especially after the third week of flower. I switched to feeding every time and it helped. Unless they look like they have too many nutrients, I'd keep feeding them. My $.02.

 

[Grand Daddy Black]

The flowering trio are looking lovely and lush and leafy...long may they wave! And the babies probably love having their stuffy noses dealt with courtesy of the Vick's Vaporizer, but I'd hold off on the VapoRub for now.

Thanks Shed. They just keep producing leaves, so many I can barely beleave it!

 

[Grand Daddy Black]

Congratulations on being a new father GDB ,Cigars are in order!

Thanks SOG. No cigars handy, spliffs will have to do!

 

[Grand Daddy Black]

They look great GDB. I've never thought about taking the lower nodes and leaving the fans, but why not?
When I first started with SIPs I tried alternating between feeding and watering. I ended up getting nutrients deficiencies in the watering cycles, especially after the third week of flower. I switched to feeding every time and it helped. Unless they look like they have too many nutrients, I'd keep feeding them. My $.02.

Thanks BudMan.

Were you using MC when you tried alternating feeds? I never skipped feeds when using MC (that I recall). And I don't recall GreenLeaf Nutrients recommending alternating feeds when using MC.

Strive nutrients, however, specifically recommends periodic water-only feeds based on observing the plant. Around mid-flower I began to see what I considered too much tip-burn on my plants. That's when it occurred to me that I had not yet given them a break from the nutrients.

I'll keep an eye out for the plants asking for more, but for now it's so far, so good!

Thanks for weighing in. Much appreciated!

 

[Grand Daddy Black]

Hello gang.

It's Flip9 for the New Trick group and things are a'changin!

When I looked in on them this afternoon (lights on is at 1pm) I could see with my naked eye that Blue Cindy had continued her climb overnight. The other two plants may have stretched a bit, but neither of them kept pace with BC!
(I forgot to take my tape measure down to the basement and my Lazy-Meter refused to let me climb the two flights of stairs required to retrieve it. Between profanities it mumbled something like, "Measure them tomorrow, asshole."

BC is up front:

I was pleased to find the BC's res half empty today. Recall that yesterday I top-watered her because I deemed her pot too light. But today her pot remained noticeably lighter than the other two! I'm not sure what that means. Is it maybe that since she stretched closer to the light last night that she drank faster? Or, does she need a periodic top-water because the wicks are not keeping up with her needs? Time will tell.

----------------------

SCAVENGER SWAG TO THE RESCUE!

I've grabbed a bunch of beverage carriers over the years. Convenience stores often have them stacked up outside. The stores are waiting for the beverage providers to come and retrieve them but, apparently, they often don't. So the store owners usually say "Take as many as you want," when I ask about getting a few.

One each has been used to elevate the Hash Lover and Lemon Bubble. I'm trying to keep all the plants equidistant from the light, to the extent that I can. After they were elevated I turned the light down a few notches to get DLI back to around 40.

HL & LB have been moved to the front.

They're a little closer to the light right now than BC is. But I'm guessing that will not be the case by tomorrow morning!

-----------------------

Thanks for looking in.

PEACE

 

[InTheShed]

Nice even canopy and congrats on the unmeasurable growth!

I forgot to take my tape measure down to the basement

Is it used so often upstairs that you can't make downstairs its natural home, for the next few weeks at least?

 

[Carcass]

I think those pretty girls deserve their own tape measure...

( I double checked, and yes, I'm in the right journal....)

 

[Absorber]

Hello gang.

It's Flip9 for the New Trick group and things are a'changin!

When I looked in on them this afternoon (lights on is at 1pm) I could see with my naked eye that Blue Cindy had continued her climb overnight. The other two plants may have stretched a bit, but neither of them kept pace with BC!
(I forgot to take my tape measure down to the basement and my Lazy-Meter refused to let me climb the two flights of stairs required to retrieve it. Between profanities it mumbled something like, "Measure them tomorrow, asshole."

BC is up front:

I was pleased to find the BC's res half empty today. Recall that yesterday I top-watered her because I deemed her pot too light. But today her pot remained noticeably lighter than the other two! I'm not sure what that means. It maybe that since she stretched closer to the light last that she drank faster? Or, does she need a periodic top-water because the wicks are not keeping up with her needs? Time will tell.

----------------------

SCAVENGER SWAG TO THE RESCUE!

I've grabbed a bunch of beverage carriers over the years. Convenience stores often have them stacked up outside. The stores are waiting for the beverage providers to come and retrieve them but, apparently, they often don't. So the store owners usually say "Take as many as you want," when I ask about getting a few.

One each has been used to elevate the Hash Lover and Lemon Bubble. I'm trying to keep all the plants equidistant from the light, to the extent that I can. After they were elevated I turned the light down a few notches to get DLI back to around 40.

HL & LB have been moved to the front.

They're a little closer to the light right now than BC is. But I'm guessing that will not be the case by tomorrow morning!

-----------------------

Thanks for looking in.

PEACE

They are looking very happy, nice work.

 

[con]

Hello gang.

It's Flip9 for the New Trick group and things are a'changin!

When I looked in on them this afternoon (lights on is at 1pm) I could see with my naked eye that Blue Cindy had continued her climb overnight. The other two plants may have stretched a bit, but neither of them kept pace with BC!
(I forgot to take my tape measure down to the basement and my Lazy-Meter refused to let me climb the two flights of stairs required to retrieve it. Between profanities it mumbled something like, "Measure them tomorrow, asshole."

BC is up front:

I was pleased to find the BC's res half empty today. Recall that yesterday I top-watered her because I deemed her pot too light. But today her pot remained noticeably lighter than the other two! I'm not sure what that means. Is it maybe that since she stretched closer to the light last night that she drank faster? Or, does she need a periodic top-water because the wicks are not keeping up with her needs? Time will tell.

----------------------

SCAVENGER SWAG TO THE RESCUE!

I've grabbed a bunch of beverage carriers over the years. Convenience stores often have them stacked up outside. The stores are waiting for the beverage providers to come and retrieve them but, apparently, they often don't. So the store owners usually say "Take as many as you want," when I ask about getting a few.

One each has been used to elevate the Hash Lover and Lemon Bubble. I'm trying to keep all the plants equidistant from the light, to the extent that I can. After they were elevated I turned the light down a few notches to get DLI back to around 40.

HL & LB have been moved to the front.

They're a little closer to the light right now than BC is. But I'm guessing that will not be the case by tomorrow morning!

-----------------------

Thanks for looking in.

PEACE

$2.99 walmart special for a tape measure, problem solved plants look great

 

[Carmen Ray]

They look lovely GDB!