Kushtie - ShortStuff Autos In NFT

[Kushtie]

Just a pic of Cassandra next to a measuring tape.....

pH is finally starting to go up and EC down but is still within range and I want to flush both tanks so all I've done in the last day is tuck fan leaves and prep a stronger nutrient mix. They are about to get 4 hours sleep and I'll flush them later with a mix around pH 6.0 and an EC of 1.5. As I'm upping the EC I'm worried the pH will drop fast as water gets used up faster than nutes so a little higher on the pH hopefully gives me some extra reaction time to deal with pH drops if they happen.

 

[Kushtie]

Few changes today....MassMedMan suggested I cover the brick wall to insulate my growroom a bit bitter since temps have been a bit low. Think I'm up to about 24 degrees with the light on now....feels more toastie anyway.

Measured up a bit netting which I'll tighten up and secure so I can spread the plants out as much as possible.

And I flushed both tanks to a pH of 5.9 with an EC of 1.5.

Also, a wee note on how I use pH down - when mixing about 20 litres of nutrient solution I mix 0.5ml of pH down in about 500ml of water to dilute the pH down but still leave me with a highly acidic solution which I can then add a little at a time to my mix. pH down is really stong stuff so by diluting it I have more control.

 

[Atrain]

That's going to be a nice scrog... can't wait to watch them fill that NEt

 

[Kushtie]

Cassandra is up to about about 13 inches now and Raquel is not far behind. ....think that's getting close on for 2 inches a day with peak growth rates still to come hopefully. The net might be a bit optimistic but if they reach as far as the Russian rocket fuel did then it could get pretty full.

The roots have explored the mat and I can see them at the pump end of the res too....will get pics soonish

 

[Glasgrow]

Well if they reach the net and you manage to tie some of the branches down then you should end up with several big colas. Perhaps later on during flowering then remove some of the fan leaves, lets the light penetrate the lower branches. Also connect up your cfl between the two plants (vertically) and that will give even more light to the lower parts of the plant thus your popcorn buds will end up being bigger and not so popcorny.

 

[Kushtie]

That's the plan buddy.....except the CFL as I think adding that would be a drop in the ocean now.

They've grown another inch overnight

Raquel is being well behaved - pH drops from something like 6.0 to 5.6 in a day as she uses more water than nutes. Just a wee splash of water to keep her topped up and balancing around 5.8 so she has access to nutrients that are only available above or below. Ideally I want to get the pH swings going from 5.6 to 6.2.

Cassandra is also using more water than nutes but she also seems to be doing funny things to the nutes which make the whole tank drop in pH much faster. I'm probably going to do at least a partial flush to bump the pH up again as brimming the res with water is only getting me to 5.9 and I don't want to see 5.3 again!

Day 25 pics:

Raquel's roots in the tray....

....and in the tank...

Cassandra's roots in the tray.....

They haven't reached as far into the res yet though. The green patch on the matting is just algae....not pretty but not a problem and it happened because I didn't have the matting covered up properly to start with.

 

[Dzordz]

Lovely progress, very nice healthy roots! Well done!

 

[Atrain]

Cool setup brother nice job

 

[Glasgrow]

What you meaning by the cfl being a drop in the ocean?

Just thinking that adding some more light will be worth the effort. Potentially you could add an extra oz or so per plant, especially to those lower branches and the running cost of a 125W cfl will be minimal, will also add a little extra heat in the grow room.

 

[Kushtie]

Did I mention I'd been out looking at new lights?

Quite fancied a 750W Gavita but I don't have the height for it and the replacement bulbs were £70 each so that's out.

For all the penetration I'd get from a 125W CFL I don't think it's worth bothering with unless I can identify tops I want to grow faster than they are. Most of the lower bud sites should be tied up onto the net and form part of the main canopy by the time they have finished stretching so I'm hoping there won't be much left in the shade. We'll see I guess

And my CFL is still busy since my mate that wanted seedlings still isn't ready as he didn't have any 4" rockwool cubes and I used my last 2 for these autos. Apparently he has some soaking now but I've been and got more anyway...and some nutes and stuff. Was pretty sure I already had enough for this grow at least but now I'm really sure

 

[Kushtie]

Apologies for the lack of picture updates recently.

In the last week they have both started eating big chunks of nutes to the point where EC has gone down a little between top ups and pH has started going up. Instead of adding just plain water to keep the pH up I'm now adding full strength grow nutes and little bits of pH down when I'm maintaining my tanks.

Tank pH has got as high as 6.5 in Cassandra's res but she seemed quite happy so I've only knocked it back to about 6.0. Raquel has been good and only gone to 6.3.

Oh, and Raquel is starting to smell like the fruity one I grew in soil and really liked

Day 30 - canopy is about 2' up and 3' across. Hopefully the canopy will get a bit bigger yet.

 

[Atrain]

 

[Kushtie]

FWIW eagle eyes may have spotted the thermometer hanging from the net....24.8 degrees it says at the moment and I'm running my 600W HPS 20 hours a day and my extractor on minimum to keep my plants warm. Outside there is a few inches of snow! (should really go out and check my roof isn't suspiciously clear of snow lol)

Need to start getting some closer pics of the flowers as they are starting to develop too

 

[Kushtie]

Day 35 pics....

Some of Raquel's tops:

And some of Cassandra's:

Been feeding bloom nutes for a couple of days since they seem to be do more flowering than growing. Need to do a proper flush of both tanks though......I've been neglecting that side of things a bit.

 

[Dzordz]

Nice tops, you are about 3-4 days ahead of me and looking good

Race you to the end

 

[Kushtie]

Cheers bud

A better look at Cassandra's colours:

 

[Kushtie]

When I peeked in the tent after work Raquel was flashing her private parts at me and inviting me to get the camera out.

Good girl

 

[Camo420Grow]

Those are some gorgeous autos you got going kushtie. Man really got me wanting to do hydro haha. Those things grow like weeds

 

[Kushtie]

Cheers bud

Now thinking Cassandra is Pink Grapefruit which sounds pretty interesting. No real idea what strain Raquel is yet....hopefully when she puts on some weight the flowers will look more distinctive.

 

[Dzordz]

That is a great shot of the pistils. DSLR? Macro lens? I see DOF is pretty shallow.