Looking good PG. is polystyrene a wick? I had this whit paper on the bottom of my seedling trays. White absorbing material? Does tgat help keep moisture in the clones?
Growin' Again
- Thread starter philthegeek
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Pjs420
Well-Known Member
subbed in, looking good so far!
- Thread starter
- #23
philthegeek
Well-Known Member
"is polystyrene a wick? "
Not in my experience. The panels i cut my filler from didn't seem have any real air spaces inside its structure that would act as a wick. Paper may have been some kind if wick material? If you are after something like that check the hydro shops for felt watering mat.
Its something commonly used in batch culture in production glasshouses. On the GH bench you have the felt, sitting on plastic, that sits on a layer of polystyrene to keep things flat. On top of the felt a layer of weedmat to protect the felt. This lot has a pipe with holes running along each edge and you flood the felt once or twice a day. The pots used for this have holes in the bottom rather than the sides and the soil in contact with the watering mat (water comes through the weedmat easy) acts as a wick to suck the water up out of the mat by capillary action. You have to start them of by watering the pots top down at first. Her we have quite a bit of salt in the tap water so you have to top down water and flush every few weeks for a long grow.
Its a basic bottom up system where the plants suck up the water they need, and as long as the soil hase plenty of air in it (why i use 50% perlite) its really hard to over water. My current system is more like the off the shelf Autopot system which is a variation on that concept that's more convenient for an indoor ten type grow.
For my clones i just have them in a little tray and put some water in the tray every couple of days. The Jiffy pots soak that up and stay wet while they are growing roots but only sit in 2mm of water at most so air available to th root zone. My cuttings @ day 11 now and look ok, but no roots showing out of the jiffy pots as yet.
Unfortunately i will probably flip the main tent to flowering before i get a chance to pot up and flower the clones to see if i got males. Fingers crossed i dont an my self fertilised seeds from hermies are all female.
Looks like the clones will end up a small side grow. I will top them early as poss, give them a week or two to recover and then flip to 12/12. Last time i did that had one go hermie and let them flower long time to get nice mature seeds.....which i have used for my current main tent grow. I like to go from seed (hopefully female) rather than clones as a general thing.
Not in my experience. The panels i cut my filler from didn't seem have any real air spaces inside its structure that would act as a wick. Paper may have been some kind if wick material? If you are after something like that check the hydro shops for felt watering mat.
Its something commonly used in batch culture in production glasshouses. On the GH bench you have the felt, sitting on plastic, that sits on a layer of polystyrene to keep things flat. On top of the felt a layer of weedmat to protect the felt. This lot has a pipe with holes running along each edge and you flood the felt once or twice a day. The pots used for this have holes in the bottom rather than the sides and the soil in contact with the watering mat (water comes through the weedmat easy) acts as a wick to suck the water up out of the mat by capillary action. You have to start them of by watering the pots top down at first. Her we have quite a bit of salt in the tap water so you have to top down water and flush every few weeks for a long grow.
Its a basic bottom up system where the plants suck up the water they need, and as long as the soil hase plenty of air in it (why i use 50% perlite) its really hard to over water. My current system is more like the off the shelf Autopot system which is a variation on that concept that's more convenient for an indoor ten type grow.
For my clones i just have them in a little tray and put some water in the tray every couple of days. The Jiffy pots soak that up and stay wet while they are growing roots but only sit in 2mm of water at most so air available to th root zone. My cuttings @ day 11 now and look ok, but no roots showing out of the jiffy pots as yet.
Unfortunately i will probably flip the main tent to flowering before i get a chance to pot up and flower the clones to see if i got males. Fingers crossed i dont an my self fertilised seeds from hermies are all female.
Looks like the clones will end up a small side grow. I will top them early as poss, give them a week or two to recover and then flip to 12/12. Last time i did that had one go hermie and let them flower long time to get nice mature seeds.....which i have used for my current main tent grow. I like to go from seed (hopefully female) rather than clones as a general thing.- Thread starter
- #24
philthegeek
Well-Known Member
Day 46:
Main tent plants this arvo. 2 days after a pretty intense defoliation:
Heres the one immediate post defol from 2 days ago:
They grow back pretty damn fast.
Started to get roots showing out of the jiffy potted cuttings this arvo. Day 11 after taking the cuttings. So, have potted all 12 into small 90mm pots in the Spacebox under the LED
Seeyahs!.
My Spacebox with the cuttings potted up. Day 11 for these.
Main tent plants this arvo. 2 days after a pretty intense defoliation:
Heres the one immediate post defol from 2 days ago:
They grow back pretty damn fast.
Started to get roots showing out of the jiffy potted cuttings this arvo. Day 11 after taking the cuttings. So, have potted all 12 into small 90mm pots in the Spacebox under the LED
Seeyahs!.
My Spacebox with the cuttings potted up. Day 11 for these.
Thanks! That was a full in description!
Looking good, those cloneslook good.
Looking good, those cloneslook good.
- Thread starter
- #26
philthegeek
Well-Known Member
Well, tomorrow day 50 of veg.
Had a look today, gave em a feed, and am going to do a light defol tomorrow then flip the main tent to 12/12. Mine seem to consistently take 40-55 days for flowering. Lots of tips / branches, though next time will do only 1 plant / pot and rely more on LST. Haven't been able to do a lot of that as a bit crowded. Will be interesting to compare yield with previous grows.
Good thing will be run the light at night so on off peak power charges. Will keep them warm at night as well.
Fingers crossed i got it right this time and have all females.
Seeyahs!
Had a look today, gave em a feed, and am going to do a light defol tomorrow then flip the main tent to 12/12. Mine seem to consistently take 40-55 days for flowering. Lots of tips / branches, though next time will do only 1 plant / pot and rely more on LST. Haven't been able to do a lot of that as a bit crowded. Will be interesting to compare yield with previous grows.
Good thing will be run the light at night so on off peak power charges. Will keep them warm at night as well.
Fingers crossed i got it right this time and have all females.
Seeyahs!
- Thread starter
- #27
philthegeek
Well-Known Member
Ok, Day 50 of veg.
Did a pretty extensive defoliation today to get plenty of light down in the branches, and clear out the under the canopy for airflow. Also removes old leaves that are going to senesce and be nuthin other than reservoirs for disease.
Having been reading other journals about coco and hydro i had a look at the ppm and pH in the water in my system. Poked the meters into the hole where the smartvalve sits. ppm 250 and pH8.8. May need to look at that pH but plants seem happy. Will add a bit of vinegar to the next lot of top down nutrients i mix up to get that to pH7.2 or so and then check it again. Never been pH fanatic as i soil grow which doesn't seem hugely sensitive to pH as the variations on hydro are.
And my overall setup in the shed. : ) Can get away with no ducting or filters for now. That may change if i do a grow over summer and need to have better airflow to keep the temps down, especially now i have the 1000W light. Will go to lights on at night off peak times (power bills killing me) to keep em warm and dark in the day to keep the max temps reasonable.
Mine are not tall plants and i reckon that's the variety. Fairly bushy though which is good, and should be plenty of room for stretch with this lot. Going from the 600W to 1000W HPS means i have to have a bit more headroom so the tops dont get light burned.
Anyhow, will change timer to 12/12 tonight and make sure i DONT open it up in daylight.
Seeyahs!
Did a pretty extensive defoliation today to get plenty of light down in the branches, and clear out the under the canopy for airflow. Also removes old leaves that are going to senesce and be nuthin other than reservoirs for disease.
Having been reading other journals about coco and hydro i had a look at the ppm and pH in the water in my system. Poked the meters into the hole where the smartvalve sits. ppm 250 and pH8.8. May need to look at that pH but plants seem happy. Will add a bit of vinegar to the next lot of top down nutrients i mix up to get that to pH7.2 or so and then check it again. Never been pH fanatic as i soil grow which doesn't seem hugely sensitive to pH as the variations on hydro are.
And my overall setup in the shed. : ) Can get away with no ducting or filters for now. That may change if i do a grow over summer and need to have better airflow to keep the temps down, especially now i have the 1000W light. Will go to lights on at night off peak times (power bills killing me) to keep em warm and dark in the day to keep the max temps reasonable.
Mine are not tall plants and i reckon that's the variety. Fairly bushy though which is good, and should be plenty of room for stretch with this lot. Going from the 600W to 1000W HPS means i have to have a bit more headroom so the tops dont get light burned.
Anyhow, will change timer to 12/12 tonight and make sure i DONT open it up in daylight.
Seeyahs!
- Thread starter
- #28
philthegeek
Well-Known Member
Day 52 / Day 3 flowering:
Plants filling out nicely since the pre-flower defol.
Cuttings in the Spacebox look ok. A couple obviously good and taking off. Think i will get 10 out of the 12 to survive.
Plants filling out nicely since the pre-flower defol.
Cuttings in the Spacebox look ok. A couple obviously good and taking off. Think i will get 10 out of the 12 to survive.
600-1000 seemed not to phase em nice!
- Thread starter
- #30
philthegeek
Well-Known Member
"600-1000 seemed not to phase em nice! "
I'm still playing a bit with lights. The 1000W seems to be working well and gives decent light out to the edges of the grow,
Better than the single 600W.
I'm actually thinking of setting up 2 x 400W HPS. Couple of simple batwing reflectors on bars about 30-40cm apart. It will drop my power use by 20%, bit less heat, and i think provide better light distribution. May try it outside the grow and test against my PAR light-meter.
Current grow now on Day 55 overall and Day 6 of flowering.
They are looking good but am going to have to do another defol this week. Its actually starting to become a storage problem with the leaf i am getting of this grow. Bagging it in the freezer to start, but every couple of weeks doing the 120 degrees C for an hour in the oven decarb thing. Am going to wind up with a few large jars of leaf for butter and olive oil.
Did some kangaroo steaks with the last lot of olive oil last week. Surprisingly pleasant buzz.
Or if im feeling evil, maybe do a alcohol extraction with 2-3 oz of leaf reduced right down to 25ml or so for thick hash oil.
I'm still playing a bit with lights. The 1000W seems to be working well and gives decent light out to the edges of the grow,
Better than the single 600W.
I'm actually thinking of setting up 2 x 400W HPS. Couple of simple batwing reflectors on bars about 30-40cm apart. It will drop my power use by 20%, bit less heat, and i think provide better light distribution. May try it outside the grow and test against my PAR light-meter.
Current grow now on Day 55 overall and Day 6 of flowering.
They are looking good but am going to have to do another defol this week. Its actually starting to become a storage problem with the leaf i am getting of this grow.
Bagging it in the freezer to start, but every couple of weeks doing the 120 degrees C for an hour in the oven decarb thing. Am going to wind up with a few large jars of leaf for butter and olive oil.Did some kangaroo steaks with the last lot of olive oil last week. Surprisingly pleasant buzz.
Or if im feeling evil, maybe do a alcohol extraction with 2-3 oz of leaf reduced right down to 25ml or so for thick hash oil.
- Thread starter
- #31
philthegeek
Well-Known Member
Day 56 / 7 of flowering.
All good in the tent.
All good in the Spacebox but slow.
All good in the tent.
All good in the Spacebox but slow.
- Thread starter
- #32
philthegeek
Well-Known Member
Well, after a couple of weeks on the 1000W HPS, and the advent of warmer spring weather i have had temp issues. Was 37 degrees C in the tent this afternoon. 
With the 1000W being a longer bulb i seem to be getting better light distribution across the space, but the electrikery bill and heat generation are something i don't want to sustain. So, being a dimmable ballast i have turned it down to 60% (600W) and lowered the light height quite a bit as less heat output now. Now 28 Degrees C and hoping the humidity will settle back up in the 40% region as that was down to 30% under the hot 1000W..
Did quite well with previous grows on a 600W HPS so reckon will be ok. Will grab the light meter tomorrow and check PAR levels. Pretty much need to find a sustainable compromise on lighting / heat /power use. I'm thinking at the moment that a 1000W HPS @ 100% is overkill for a 1.2 x 1.2m tent, and here, we are heading into a period where we will get consistent ambient temps from mid 20's up to 30 degrees C.
With running the tent this way, and the Spacebox, 2 COB LED, i am now drawing a total of about 750W out of the wall.
Previously about 1150W so that's a substantial power saving and a lot less waste heat to deal with.
Seeyahs!
With the 1000W being a longer bulb i seem to be getting better light distribution across the space, but the electrikery bill and heat generation are something i don't want to sustain. So, being a dimmable ballast i have turned it down to 60% (600W) and lowered the light height quite a bit as less heat output now. Now 28 Degrees C and hoping the humidity will settle back up in the 40% region as that was down to 30% under the hot 1000W..
Did quite well with previous grows on a 600W HPS so reckon will be ok. Will grab the light meter tomorrow and check PAR levels. Pretty much need to find a sustainable compromise on lighting / heat /power use. I'm thinking at the moment that a 1000W HPS @ 100% is overkill for a 1.2 x 1.2m tent, and here, we are heading into a period where we will get consistent ambient temps from mid 20's up to 30 degrees C.
With running the tent this way, and the Spacebox, 2 COB LED, i am now drawing a total of about 750W out of the wall.
Previously about 1150W so that's a substantial power saving and a lot less waste heat to deal with.
Seeyahs!
Space box is kicking it! Dimmable lights are my preference also. Nice to have control at your fingers!
- Thread starter
- #34
philthegeek
Well-Known Member
Measure the lighting..
720 PAR in Center, 400 - 450 PAR in corners. Measured at plant top level, at point can feel heat from the light.
so, all ok. Not actually as good in the corners as i though t would be but adequate. And the temps is nicely 26 -27 degrees C and humidity at 46%. Gunna chill about this now and leave things as they are for the rest of the grow. Got a couple of other things i need to spend shed time on like getting the old Bedford camper back on the road and finishing a telescope mirror. Will no doubt tinker...again..before the next run.
720 PAR in Center, 400 - 450 PAR in corners. Measured at plant top level, at point can feel heat from the light.
so, all ok. Not actually as good in the corners as i though t would be but adequate. And the temps is nicely 26 -27 degrees C and humidity at 46%. Gunna chill about this now and leave things as they are for the rest of the grow. Got a couple of other things i need to spend shed time on like getting the old Bedford camper back on the road and finishing a telescope mirror.
Will no doubt tinker...again..before the next run. - Thread starter
- #35
philthegeek
Well-Known Member
Day 61 / 11 flowering.
Ok, looks to me like there are tiny white hairs from the nodes on the tops of the plants. Need to go another few days i think, but.....i think i may have all females. Fingers and everything else crossed.
Main tent this arvo:
Spacebox. Did a rearrangement to put the best of the cuttings in the middle and topped the larger plants 2 days ago.
Currently day 26 since i took the cuttings. sorry, burple does bad photos on the phone.
Ok, looks to me like there are tiny white hairs from the nodes on the tops of the plants. Need to go another few days i think, but.....i think i may have all females.
Fingers and everything else crossed. Main tent this arvo:
Spacebox. Did a rearrangement to put the best of the cuttings in the middle and topped the larger plants 2 days ago.
Currently day 26 since i took the cuttings. sorry, burple does bad photos on the phone.
- Thread starter
- #36
philthegeek
Well-Known Member
Day 62 / 13 of Flowering.
Happiness. Plants all looking good.
Flipped Spacebox to 12/12. at this point the smaller cuttings are never going to catch up veg wise with the bigger ones, so will flower this as a small grow.
Checked the 20 plants in the main tent and can now say that all of them are showing as female. So, happy with the current seed stock.
Will be interesting to see if any of this lot go hermie as mine have shown a tendency to do? The plants in the main tent have been treated pretty gently and been well fed. Low stress for them which from what i have read meay mean less chance of hermaphrodites. The Spacebox plants being cuttings....... not so much. Best of all worlds would be no male flowers in the main tent but a few in the Spacebox for seed.
Did bump the light up to 80% / 800W. Will keep an eye on temps and humidity. Actually have a Cooltube reflector coming in next week with an inline fan with some duct to try out. Can set that up and have a tinker. Will give me 3 times the airflow over the 12V computer fan i have now and all of that out past the light bulb which cant hurt. And wil be important if i do a grow here over summer when the ambient temp is in the 30 - 35 degrees C range.
Maybe for next grow best plan will be to run the lamp in the Cooltube at 60% during 22/2 for Veg and then 80% - 100% 12/12 for Flower? Fun hobby wot??
Seeyahs!
Happiness. Plants all looking good.
Flipped Spacebox to 12/12. at this point the smaller cuttings are never going to catch up veg wise with the bigger ones, so will flower this as a small grow.
Checked the 20 plants in the main tent and can now say that all of them are showing as female.
So, happy with the current seed stock. Will be interesting to see if any of this lot go hermie as mine have shown a tendency to do? The plants in the main tent have been treated pretty gently and been well fed. Low stress for them which from what i have read meay mean less chance of hermaphrodites. The Spacebox plants being cuttings....... not so much. Best of all worlds would be no male flowers in the main tent but a few in the Spacebox for seed.
Did bump the light up to 80% / 800W.
Will keep an eye on temps and humidity. Actually have a Cooltube reflector coming in next week with an inline fan with some duct to try out. Can set that up and have a tinker. Will give me 3 times the airflow over the 12V computer fan i have now and all of that out past the light bulb which cant hurt. And wil be important if i do a grow here over summer when the ambient temp is in the 30 - 35 degrees C range.Maybe for next grow best plan will be to run the lamp in the Cooltube at 60% during 22/2 for Veg and then 80% - 100% 12/12 for Flower? Fun hobby wot??
Seeyahs!
tell me about it I change things in environment all the time.- Thread starter
- #38
philthegeek
Well-Known Member
Day 64 / 15 of Flowering.
Continued Happiness. Plants all looking good.
Checked them and seem to have a couple of jumping spiders (about 4mm across) in residence. With the only insecticide / fungicide stuff used being Neem, and that as soil drench, the foliage is probably a pretty good habitat for predators like this. I've seen the odd gnat on my sticky trap but that's all. Actually, i'm really not into spiders but i dont mind the little jumpers. Particularly if they are predating on pests on my babies.
Main tent today.
daS Spacebox today.
Pretty obvious in the Space box that there is one of the 12 cuttings that just wont go anywhere, but 11/12 is not bad.
Its day 30 since cutting for these guys.
Continued Happiness. Plants all looking good.
Checked them and seem to have a couple of jumping spiders (about 4mm across) in residence. With the only insecticide / fungicide stuff used being Neem, and that as soil drench, the foliage is probably a pretty good habitat for predators like this. I've seen the odd gnat on my sticky trap but that's all. Actually, i'm really not into spiders but i dont mind the little jumpers. Particularly if they are predating on pests on my babies.
Main tent today.
daS Spacebox today.
Pretty obvious in the Space box that there is one of the 12 cuttings that just wont go anywhere, but 11/12 is not bad.
Its day 30 since cutting for these guys.
KCCO 77
Well-Known Member
Hey hope all is good just checking things out over here. Everything is looking great nicely done. I have grown with a 1000w and a cool tube and dimmable ballast for ever. The cool tube is key to keeping the environment in check you will love it. When married together with a good dimmable fan it is much easier to keep the heat in check.Day 62 / 13 of Flowering.
Happiness. Plants all looking good.
Flipped Spacebox to 12/12. at this point the smaller cuttings are never going to catch up veg wise with the bigger ones, so will flower this as a small grow.
Checked the 20 plants in the main tent and can now say that all of them are showing as female.
Will be interesting to see if any of this lot go hermie as mine have shown a tendency to do? The plants in the main tent have been treated pretty gently and been well fed. Low stress for them which from what i have read meay mean less chance of hermaphrodites. The Spacebox plants being cuttings....... not so much. Best of all worlds would be no male flowers in the main tent but a few in the Spacebox for seed.
Did bump the light up to 80% / 800W.
Maybe for next grow best plan will be to run the lamp in the Cooltube at 60% during 22/2 for Veg and then 80% - 100% 12/12 for Flower? Fun hobby wot??
Seeyahs!
- Thread starter
- #40
philthegeek
Well-Known Member
Hi. Would be interested to know what area you are illuminating with the 1000W , and what % you run your ballast at for veg and flower??? My Cooltube not arriving till next week and am thinking about how to set it all up.
Thanks.
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