Kushtie - ShortStuff Autos In NFT

[Kushtie]

U can wreck ur beautiful buds in the drying process.somthing that should not be rushed if u want top bud and great flavour

Aye, I've not been trying to rush it but I suspect my attic is way too dry as buds go crispy within a few days. There's been times when I've checked buds before work and the seem like they still have some drying to do but then when I come back they've gone well crispy.....I reckon that's my cue to tub 'em and start burping before they get crispy.

With the first of my VK down my light was still on 12/12 but after the other 2 were down is was on 20/4 for autos which may have effected drying time as both my grow room and drying rack are in the attic.

Might try drying some in paper bags if I can find where to get some food grade ones that don't come with cakes in them. Not that I have anything against cakes but I guess clean paper bags that don't contaminate the contents are better

 

[Kushtie]

The green one I thought was Auto Purple Amnesia:

It's not so green any more, on the high tops at least and that seems to be what APA is supposed to do at this stage

 

[Glasgrow]

Good read and makes sense. Just top tanks with water thus reducing the concentration of nutes but not starving them. Will give the plants a type of flushing in a way. More important to flush with soil as they can hold a lot of nutes.

As for drying. Paper bags at tesco (the brown paper veg bags) are good for drying. Place buds in loose and cut holes in the bags. Put bags in a cupboard/wardrobe and place an oscillating fan on them (lowest setting). Turn/mix buds every few hours. Should take around 5-7 days till stem snap then cure. Better to dry where there is some moisture in the air.

 

[Kushtie]

I thought you'd like that....ties in with the lack of pre-harvest flushing detailed in the nutrient schedule and explains why feeding just pH down for a fortnight is probably a bad idea.

My soil ones I flushed but they've all had some flavours in common...they tasted like they were grown in soil where the hydro ones haven't had that but either way I reckon I need to get a handle on humidity for growing and drying.

 

[Dontscrewup]

I thought you'd like that....ties in with the lack of pre-harvest flushing detailed in the nutrient schedule and explains why feeding just pH down for a fortnight is probably a bad idea.

My soil ones I flushed but they've all had some flavours in common...they tasted like they were grown in soil where the hydro ones haven't had that but either way I reckon I need to get a handle on humidity for growing and drying.

Have you tried Flora Kleen by GH. If you use it you only need to flush for 1 or 2 days. I have had success using it.

 

[Kushtie]

Have you tried Flora Kleen by GH. If you use it you only need to flush for 1 or 2 days. I have had success using it.

I've never tried anything but the basic Growth Technology Ionic Hydro Grow and Bloom. Not even sure if they do a bottle for flushing but I'll ask the shop anyway.

Cheers

 

[Kushtie]

Been shopping.....

The one on the left is for checking res temps and trying to avoid filling them with water that is too cold for proper nutrient uptake. I just put it on the drying rack next to the humidity one to take a pic.

The numbers on the right are with light off and extractor on. The temp I don't fancy doing much about but what humidity should I be aiming for when drying?

I also asked about pre-harvest flushing in hydro and the boy said if following a heavy feeding schedule and getting salt build up it's a good idea to flush that before lowering EC but if not feeding heavily anyway just lower the EC but don't starve them.

He gave me an example of what some experienced hydro growers do with their 200L tanks and that is to fill them with nutes, as I have done with my 20L tanks, then let the level run down over the course of a few days and then just top up with water to lower the EC for their final couple of days.

I now make that 4 of the most reliable sources of information I can find all telling me the same thing - don't starve them at the end.

 

[Kushtie]

Just tested some tap water I've had sitting for just a couple of hours and it was 8.7C.

Yup, bad idea to make my reservoirs that cold. Water I've had sitting for a couple of days was 18.something so that's not too bad. Res temps before top up about 22 degrees......damn near perfect

As a bit of a side note I've also changed the way I plan on germinating seeds. The way I did these ones led to what I believe was flow rate related deficiencies on the first few sets of leaves as when the roots are contained within rockwool a drip feeder should be used rather than a constant flow. So rather than muck about with a drip feeder or flood/drain or work hard by hand watering I figured why not try using NFT spreader mat under the rockwool to allow it to ease the flow rate.

But if I was going to use spreader mat I couldn't risk the roots growing into it before the seedling in a 1" cube was in a 4" cube and then into a NFT system.

Problem solved.....

....just set up a NFT system and pop a seed in. There's about 0.5 on the EC of grow nutes in the res and some pH down to get it to 5.6. Just splash a little water in to maintain that and my Dark Devil is off to a flying start....literally 'cos my light is so high lol but if I had a spare plug or somewhere to hang a CFL it wouldn't have stretched so bad (you'll see ).

 

[Glasgrow]

Drying temps 65-75°F and rh 45-55%. Mind the fan for drying on 24/7 oscillating at its lowest setting, and dont allow any light while drying. Brief periods will be ok.

 

[Kushtie]

Hope I don't have to trim in the dark too?

RH now 40% with lights on and doors downstairs getting opened which causes a rush of cold, dry air. First job is to get a inside door on my loft floor so I can close it when I'm up here....a new dog that needs out to pee about every five minutes means frequent draughts and humidity drops up here.

Pretty sure that's why my buds are smaller on the door side of my growroom too.....gonna try sealing that up a bit better anaw.

 

[Kushtie]

Great news....looks like the guys posting the kinds of weights I'm chasing are only drying to 65% RH or so and I just saw a vid with a bud that bounced back after being squeezed.

Toon weed weights it is then

 

[Glasgrow]

That will help by sealing it. I would advise drying somewhere else in the house other than the loft if you can. Temps will be more stable and humidity is likely to be higher than that of the loft. If you can only dry in the loft perhaps see about getting a small humidifier and use that to get the humidity just right. The plants wont mind the extra moisture in the air especially if you're putting new seedlings there.

 

[Glasgrow]

And chopping with the lights on is fine. Pretty hard to do otherwise

 

[Kushtie]

And chopping with the lights on is fine. Pretty hard to do otherwise

My mate will be pleased.....I'm not looking forward to trimming these but at the same time I'm running out of smoke fast.

Ever tried hanging onto a stash of green over the holidays? That's hard!

The buds on the pink one are swollen and leaning.....time for more pics

 

[Kushtie]

Day 81.

Raquel:

Cassandra:

 

[Kushtie]

And some wee camera pics too:

Other than the light height thing conditions in my NFT propagator seem to be pretty good?

I'm not worried about it falling over as that bought me more time before it was against the humidity dome roof. It'll probably straighten up towards the light when it gets more light gathering potential...Raquel did

 

[ZARBU]

Top grow Kushtie A+

Kiwiiwik

 

[Glasgrow]

Use a wee stake of some kind to keep her upright. Buds are looking nice and tight and starting to see some more amber trichs. I think another week or so will give you the 10-25% amber trichs that you are looking for.

Shame i cant get over as would give you a hand with trimming And if there small popcorn that you cant be bothered to trim then you know where that will go And you're running out of smoke? Wow, you must be high 24/7 if you're ploughing through that much, lol. Have been able to hold onto smoke during hols if i need to. Much harder to say you're coming off it for a while with having a bag sitting there. I try and come off it a few times a year, just a few days to be "normal". I did come off it for 7 weeks 1 year and that was cos i was training for a marathon. Did it help? Well i did the exact opppsite the following year smoking right up to the night before and found no difference except i ran faster when smoking all the way through training than without (i dont smoke before a training session though, that would be stupid).

 

[Kushtie]

Top grow Kushtie A+

Kiwiiwik

Thanks bud. Trust your instincts and hope for the best

Use a wee stake of some kind to keep her upright. Buds are looking nice and tight and starting to see some more amber trichs. I think another week or so will give you the 10-25% amber trichs that you are looking for.

Shame i cant get over as would give you a hand with trimming And if there small popcorn that you cant be bothered to trim then you know where that will go And you're running out of smoke? Wow, you must be high 24/7 if you're ploughing through that much, lol. Have been able to hold onto smoke during hols if i need to. Much harder to say you're coming off it for a while with having a bag sitting there. I try and come off it a few times a year, just a few days to be "normal". I did come off it for 7 weeks 1 year and that was cos i was training for a marathon. Did it help? Well i did the exact opppsite the following year smoking right up to the night before and found no difference except i ran faster when smoking all the way through training than without (i dont smoke before a training session though, that would be stupid).

Tried replying to your text earlier but my phone wasn't playing ball and failed to send 3 times....banana boxes eh

With the seedling I think I have 2 choices - do something and risk damage or do nothing and risk nothing. She knows where the light is and how to grow towards it. I have every confidence in her straightening up as she gathers strength....al the others have.

As for ploughing through the weed....that's what it's for. I've been stoned 4 20 years and have rarely been more than a couple of hours without. There was once I went 10 days without on a work trip to America but that was back when Janet Jackson had a wardrobe "malfunction" at the superbowl and I knew I was coming back to a fat stinky bit of Cheese and would still have a job that would pay for as much of it as I wanted. That was the last time one joint got me totally wasted!

 

[Purpsmagurps]

woah dude. that shit is my next mission. fuck soil, I'm setting up an NFT tray