GMSkunk's 1st Grow (Hydro: White Widow + Northern Lights)

[gmskunk]

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**** BOX ****
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LOCATION:
insulated attic grow box (5' tall, 4' wide, 4' deep)

LIGHT:
10x - 20 watt CFLs (veg only)
4x - 4ft T8 floro (veg+flowering)
1x - 400W HPS cooltube (flowering only)

* there was an additional 4 CFLs added that sit perpendicular to floating arm.

The cooltube and floros are mounted on the ceiling. The CFLs are connected to power strips attached to an arm hanging from the ceiling and have the ability to be raised or lowered throughout the veg stage. The CFL-arm will be removed for flowering.

VENTILATION:
cylindrical active carbon filter: 20" length, 6" diameter.
8" inline exhaust fan with adjustable spd control and 8" to 6" converter. It's rated @ 500cfm but will probably only run @ 100cfm given the length of ducting and the carbon filter load.
4" active intake which taps into the AC line.

The carbon filter is mounted high on the right wall. Flex tubing connects the filter to the right side of the cooltube. On the opposite side of the cooltube, more flex tubing runs through the wall to the 8-6" convertor followed by the exhaust fan. The exhaust fan vents into the attic near an open gable.


MISC:
All holes other than intake have been sealed with caulking and all surfaces covered with Mylar.

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**** HYDRO SETUP ****
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Based on Strat's Hydro/DWC/AEROMIST hybrid setup.

- water pumps, air pumps, 5gal buckets, 4" netted pots, internal sub-res.

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**** NUTRITION ****
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WATER: Purified (R/O) from grocery store.

VEG PHASE:
Advanced Nutrition Sensi Grow A + Sensi Grow B
Cal-Mag (didn't start this until I started to have problems with Mg/Ca deficiencies -- which is apparently very common when using R/O water with a hydro setup)

FLOWER PHASE:
Advanced Nutrition Sensi Bloom A + Sensi Bloom B + Big Bloom

TOOLS:
Hanah pH/EC/Temp Tri Meter (EcoGrow)
GrowBright Digital Thermometer

Altogether now...

Seeds popped on 3/3/09

3 days after seeds popped and were placed in propagation stage

1 week after the picture above (10 days after seeds popped)

2.5 weeks after seeds popped. This is where WW1 first started having trouble...See the this thread for a recap of the adventure up until now.

Here is where we are at now...
Northern Lights 1 (NL1)

White Widow 1 (WW1) - had some problems and was LST'd a few days ago (that's why it looks weird)

Sorry for such a sloppy beginning to this journal. I was not planning on starting one as I didn't want to create an account for this site, but them I ran into problems and ended up have to create one anyways.

If anything is not clear, please feel free to ask questions...I know I will be asking more than a few.

 

[gmskunk]

Currently the 6hr dark period is from 2pm-8pm. I'm trying to keep the dark period during the warmest parts of the day since my grow is in the attic. Last night when the lights came back on, I pruned some of the larger leaves from the WW1 which showed a lot of damage from the issues last week.

I felt they were blocking too much light from a lot of other much greener and healthier looking leaves that appear to have much more potential. Obviously this WW1 is not ideal due to extended deficiency/lockout issues I had at the end of "week2" and throughout "week3", but I'm still going to try and flower her. The experience of nursing this bitch to the end will come in handy during future grows...plus if the potency is severely lacking, we'll just use her for baking.

Despite the confusion in my other thread (see link in Original Post), I'm now defining "week1" as the first week after the roots started showing through the rockwool cube.

Week1: 3/15/2009 - 3/21/2009
NL1: 1 tsp ANS GrowA+GrowB / 2gallons
WW1: 1 tsp ANS GrowA+GrowB / 2gallons

Week2: 3/22/2009 - 3/28/2009
NL1: 2 tsp ANS GrowA+GrowB / 2gallons
WW1: 2 tsp ANS GrowA+GrowB / 2gallons

started having trouble with WW1 so I switched over to keeping track of nute-strength in PPM instead of tsp/ml. which made more sense from a troubleshooting perspective.

Week3: 3/29/2009 - 4/4/2009
started having trouble with WW1 so I switched over to keeping track of nute-strength in PPM instead of tsp/ml. which made more sense from a troubleshooting perspective.
NL1: ANS GrowA+GrowB / 2gallons (300ppm)
WW1: flushing w/ RO water

Week4: 4/5/2009 - 4/11/2009 - added dolomite
NL1: ANS GrowA+GrowB / 2.5gallons (475ppm) + dolomite (1tsp)
WW1: ANS GrowA+GrowB / 2.5gallons (150ppm) + dolomite (1tsp)


----
Items that need to be purchased:
1. Cal-Mag Plus: this will be much easier to work with than dolomite since dolomite is more suited for soil grows.
2. Humidifier: now that my active intake has been switched over to an AC line, the relative humidity (RH) has not gone above 40, and that's with a standing bucket of water near.

3. R/O system - will purchase before next grow. paying $1/gallon for R/O water is not cost-effective.

 

[gmskunk]

4/7/09 -- AM check
RH=37 @ 70 F

WW1 (no adjustment necessary...pH still very acceptable)
NL1 (adjusted to pH back down to 5.65 @ ~450 ppm)

Didn't have to add new frozen water bottles to res. since weather has gotten colder recently and res. temps are holding at 70 F.


Pic 1: Overview

Pic 2: NL1 top

Pic 3: WW1 top

Pics 4 & 5: WW1 LST plus close up.

 

[gmskunk]

I'm replacing the reservoirs this morning before my parents arrive for the weekend.

NL1
Last week I bumped it to 475-480ppm initially. Last night is was down to 400ppm. But then I added some more ph'd RO water as the res was getting low and I didn't want the pump to burnout. I will be bumping it to 600ppm.


WW1
This one started back on the nutes last week around 175 ppm initially. Last night it read 75-80ppm and I've been having to drop the pH slightly every day to keep it around 5.5-5.75. So its doing great. All new growth is green and the stem/stalk is now fading back to green in places were it was once purple'ish (stressed). I'll be bumping this girl to 275-300 (it looks hungry). I was hoping to have it back up to a higher nute level since I need to get these bitches into flowering mode soon as my grow space is limited to 4ft (after accounting for the distance needed from the 400HPS.

Pics to come after this morning's res change with the NEW CAMERA that just arrived. Well actually it's used (i'm a cheap bastard and do not require the latest and greatest 312 Megapixel camera with smile detection bla bla bla) -- $70 on ebay...holla.

 

[gmskunk]

Reservoir Change...
NL1: 625ppm @ pH5.5 (AN Sensi GrowA+B, dolomite)
WW1: 300ppm @ pH5.5 (AN Sensi GrowA+B, dolomite)

Pic1: floating CFL arm...

Pic2: Overview of the ladies...

Pic3: NL1 top

Pic4: WW1 top

Pic5: WW1 old problem leaves...

Pic6: WW1 flowering or new leaves?

 

[gmskunk]

Last night I removed the CFL arm and have enabled the 400W HPS. I'm going to move into the flowering phase in the next day or two. So far I've been pretty happy with the 400W HPS with regards to heat. I was worried I'd have some issues to work through, but so far the cool tube is working out nicely. Temps are hovering around 75 F (outside temp here is about 65-70 F) and humidity fluctuating between 40-50.

I'll post some pics later.

 

[gmskunk]

UPDATE: (sorry for the lack of updates, I've been really busy with work).

Anyways, I've slacked off on the journal, but for the past 2 weeks, the plants have been behaving as expected (uptake of nutes, increase in pH)...so really the only adjustments have been a daily pH down treatments.

The flowering stage started last Friday. I was holding back hoping to get the WW1 back up to speed after the nute problems I had around weeks 3 and 4. But then I then began to worry about NL1 getting too big in Veg state since my room is fairly short (4.5' from floor to HPS cool tube) so I said fuckit we are flowering whether WW1 is ready or now.

"if (s)he dies, (s)he dies." /russian voice from Rocky 4

so I started flowering 12/12 under the HPS400W light. The cool tube was an excellent choice for my attic grow. The temp in the box is the same (sometimes I think lower) than when running the CFLs+T8s in the open.

I changed over to the flowering nutes...ANS Flowering 5tsp A+ 5tsp B + 1tsp dolomite (for mg compensation) which ends up around 575-600ppm / reservoir. Keeping pH around 5.5-5.9, Temp around 75 F, and RH around 35%.

Note: I will add the "big bud" mid to late flowering.

As you can see, WW1 is making solid gains.
Pic1: basic view - at least 200% increase in size from 2 weeks ago.

Pic2: helicopter view

Pic3: from up under it looks like a jungle

sweet setup bro!

hey, thanks my friend. lots of sweat, a little bit of blood, and a few tears later. just wish I had a basement...would make life a whole lot easier.

 

[L8tNightSkunk]

Very nice looking set up +Rep plants also look healthy

 

[gmskunk]

I've been a lazy sack. Just replaced the resevoir, week 3 of flowering begins Sunday. Both plants have doubled in size since the last pictures. Females btw! - thank god for feminized seeds, given the stress WW1 has been through.

I'll post pics this weekend.

Changing the res. has become a PITA. the plants are heavy so tall that I have to be very careful not to push them into the light for too long. they are sitting about 6" from the light...no signs of heat problems on the top leaves (yet?) which continues to make me feel goo about purchasing the cool tube.

 

[gmskunk]

Ok, here's the picture update. Again, plants will enter week3 of flowering tomorrow. I puss'd out on the SCROG part having over vegged and unable to think up a suitable solution for res. changes.

Pic1: overview...NL1 on the left, WW1 on the right. If these plants were representative of the movie Twins, NL1 would Aaaanuld, and WW1 would be Danny Devito. WW1 is taking a little longer flowering than NL1, and looks like poop with regards to being all sparse and shit, but I'm going to bring it to fruition anyways if for only the experience. NL1 has flowering sites ALL OVER! It has begun to spread out more now that it has just about hit the ceiling...it consumes half the box and the WW1 is about 1/4 of the box. I'm hoping/estimating ~4oz from NL1. Any buds from WW1 will be considered gravy at this point given the stress I've caused it.

Pic2 and 3: NL1 flowering sites.

Pic 4: WW1 flowering site

I'm going to keep an eye on WW1. If it sucks too bad, should I just take her life and move forward with full attention on NL1? Oh and BigBud formula will be added at the beginning of week 4.

 

[L8tNightSkunk]

Looking very good!

 

[gmskunk]

Oh boy...where to begin....
FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

WEEK3 of flowering
5/3/2009 - I changed the resevoir (usual formula: 2.5gallons R/O + 5.5 tsp each ANS Bloom A & B + 1tsp dolomite).

5/2/2009 - temps look good...adjust pH and replace frozen water bottles (frozen water bottles are a daily change to keep res. temps down)

5/3/2009 - Before leaving for the beach, I set the pH for both reservoirs around 5.25 (expecting them to be around 6.5 when I returned), topped off the resevoirs at around 4 gallons each, replaced the frozen water bottles, and cranked the central AC since I won't be able to replace froze water bottles during my absense and I'm not telling a soul about this so no option for having any help. (Note: I have an active tap into the AC vents that pulls cold air into the grow box keeping the temps around 68degF).

5/4/2009 - 5/09/2009 incredible time at the beach...great weather, tried to learn how to surf...lots of skim boarding.

5/10/2009 - return home....trouble begins...

WW1 is barely hanging on...with about an inch of water at the bottom of the resevoir.
NL1 looks dead...every leaf is hanging down limp as a noodle. the res is empty and the water pump has burned out. My wife begins to cry.

Week 4 of flowering
I changed out the resevoirs usual formula and went ahead and added the big bud. I went light on the nutes for the NL1 (about 65-75% of normal). I removed the inner bucket from WW1 and left the roots dangling in the new resevoir...moving the pump over to NL1.

I monitored the plants closely over the next few days WW1 seems to be carrying on as usual...but NL1 has lost about 30-40% of its leaves...some fell off on their own, others dropped after the lightest of tugs.

5/14/2009 - NL1 is recovering nicely...still nice and green with only a few leaves still drooping (<5). The top most developed bud sites appear to be continuing to grow and develop...starting to see some silvery shimmers on the small leaves around the bud sites...WW1's bud sites are looking nice now as well. I am happy that they will make it through, but I'm certain the quality and quantity have taken enormous hits.

It is now glaringly obvious that I veged for too long. I could have supercropped and been better about LST'ing, but I didn't feel that comfortable with this being my first grow. Getting the hang of maintaining a suitable environment was about all my brain could absorb at the time. Now it is too late and I'm going to just have to deal.


I am now interested in adjusting my setup. I will begin a new cycle starting in august and want to be ready. I have been looking through some reviews and the Ebb&Gro systems look solid. The problem is I don't need a 6+ site setup for $4-500...I would spend it, but I feel it is unnecessary and will be wasted as I only have room for 2 mayyyyyyyyyyybe 3 sites at a time. I'd like to find the same "concept" but in a 2-3 site system but have so far been unsuccessful.
If I do end up with the 6 site ebb&grow, I'll be very tempted to use all 6 (or at least 4) sites and keep the plants small with a SCROG grow. Not really a bad idea...hmmm. Seeds are cheap but eventually I'm going to get into cloning...but building a clone chamber seems like a real PITA at the moment).

Any advice?

 

[gmskunk]

and to top it all off and make me feel even more like a retard...I broke the digital camera at the beach by dropping it in the sand.

 

[gmskunk]

quick update...beginning week 6 of flowering. buds on NL1 are looking good and starting to stank. WW1's bud sites are a little smaller and little less pungent, but I think they have a longer flowering period than NL1.

anyways, looks like I'm going to make it out alive despite all the stress I put these bitches through. I'm shocked at how well NL1 recovered. I'm picking up a magnifying glass tomorrow to begin monitoring the tric's.

 

[gmskunk]

NL1: tric's are starting to turn milky, probably going switch to plain water late next week and chop the tops after the weekend of 5/14.

WW1: trics still very small and clear.

faint weed smell when I come home...very faint. not sure where the leak is coming from, but going to extend the tubing from the exhaust away from the attic opening. Promise to post pics tomorrow.

 

[gmskunk]

bud porn

 

[gmskunk]

NL1 is getting milky...changing to plain water early next week(6/7 or 6/8), chopping thursday night (6/11), and hanging over the weekend while I'm out of town. When I get back (6/15) I'll chop the bottom 50% and hang.

WW1 has a little while to go...trics are still developing...not quite bulbous, and certainly crystal clear.

 

[gmskunk]

just changed the nutes on WW1...

NL1 is sitting tight, waiting for its pre-harvest flush which I'll start Thursday before I leave to go out of town for the weekend. When I return on Monday, its chopping time.

 

[Ms.Fox]

Hmmm... I wonder what happened? I'm glad to hear they are doing much better. ;-) They look great!

 

[MJ-SwEeTbUdZ]

If my set up is half as good as urs dude i will be a very happy man!! looks quality dude...

toke on bro