RQS Blue Mystic LED Superponic Grow - From Seed to Smoke

[donpaul.p]

very nice

 

[Skybound]

A question and a comment;

What is the ideal water temperature for this type of grow? In the near future I plan to get my aero bucket in operation and that detail has not yet been worked out. I have some things at my disposal if high temps become an issue like a small 6" PC radiator that I can either drop right in the res, or use coils of pex tubing in the res with the radiator and a fan hooked to it externally to blow off small amounts of heat. This would be easy to do with a small GPH water pump ran inline.

i really like seeing that bud porn on the back wall of your closet. Hopefully the girls get all hot and bothered by it and push themselves just a bit harder for you.

 

[donpaul.p]

not to sure my friend, hopefully someone who uses the same system can offer some advice,

 

[stealthgrow]

ideal water temps are 66-68f you can get away with a little warmer temps if you use a product such as Zone. i recommend Zone cause i have used it and had very good success with it. i would keep using the frozen bottles and add Zone to the res.

Hi Skybound.
I was talking with ronnie6690 about this same issue a couple of weeks ago in my other journal cause my water temps are a little high, above is the quote. By Zone he means Dutch Master Zone which is a product you add with nutrients that helps your reservoir with optimizing your water for nutrient uptake and is really good for root development etc.. also keeps your reservoir clean and free of root rot, really good if your having higher water temps in your reservoir. I couldn't get any Zone at the hydro stores near my house, or without ordering it online so I got a product called Power clean by HESI and I try to put a 2 litre bottle of ice in the res everyday to keep temps down. It seems to be working well.

I got that post card in the back of my closet free from RQS when I ordered my seeds. I though exactly what you did, a little bud porn for my girls to aspire to.

Good luck with your grow

 

[Skybound]

Is a heat exchanger out of your budget? If it's kosher, I could share a few links of some products that you can build your own? I'm all about DIY if you haven't noticed. Let me know if I can help, or maybe I'll just build my own as soon as I get some new fans to repurpose my PC fans from my box, and post another DIY in the proper forum?

 

[stealthgrow]

Is a heat exchanger out of your budget? If it's kosher, I could share a few links of some products that you can build your own? I'm all about DIY if you haven't noticed. Let me know if I can help, or maybe I'll just build my own as soon as I get some new fans to repurpose my PC fans from my box, and post another DIY in the proper forum?

Hi again Sky, ya I've looked into water coolers and they are pricey, but honestly the ice bottles are working for now and within another 4 weeks the temps are really gonna start dropping at night where I live in Canada. I kinda timed it that way so that I can open the window at night and lower the air temps to bring out the blue/purple colors of the plants. Thanks for the offer though. Definiately a good idea for a DIY post, I'm sure it will come in handy for lots of people.

 

[stealthgrow]

Hi everyone.

Time for another quick update. I checked on the girls tonight, it's day 38 from seed and all is well, the girls were are about 1-2 inches away for the screen now. Topped off the water lvls in reservoir and PH'd water. I started to do some LST on all 3 of the girls, nothing major, just trying to open them up a little to scrog easier when the time comes. All 3 of the plants are very compact and dense with very tight node spacing. Gonna wait another week til I flip to 12/12 flower, the seeds will be 45 days from seed then, same as my other grow when I flipped to 12/12. I'm going to put the girls into the dark for 24 hours before I turn the lights on to 12/12 on this grow though. Just to see.
Today's Stats
Day 38 from seed
PPM=875
PH=5.8
Water Temp=72.4F and dropping cause just added new ice pack.
Air Temp=82F
RH=57%

The girls. 2 Blue Mystic on the top, and Master kush on bottom.

They girls are doing great, almost ready to flower. Another update with pics on Saturday, untill then stay medicated my friends.

 

[Skybound]

Girls look very good. Question, does it matter when topping, LST, super crop or other types of redirecting occur? I was under the impression that this was all done during veg? Can those exercises be done in flower too?

 

[donpaul.p]

i had a problem with my res getting to warm and caused me problems for a couple of grows, but i sat their thinking about it then i thought about cars sitting in the sun, the sun is heating the car up so park it in the shade and its cool when you get in, so all i did was cut up some cardboard so it kept the res in the shade, i have about an inch gap between the top of the res and the cardboard, that solved my problem and not suffered since but im using hid's, so not sure if that would work the same for you,

but it wouldnt cost you anything to try, not sure what temps the light is giving you on the res but having it shaded would prevent any heat from the light warming it up, also if the ground its on is quite warm then just raise the res off the ground just a tiny bit with some card under each corner or small piece of wood, that will allow are to flow under and may help with the temps,

also check the air pump is getting good cool air as well, cant remember if your using co2 but if you are then make sure the air pump is not picking up the co2 instead of o2,

im sure you will get it sorted, im just trying to think of some ideas that wont cost you a penny, but im not sure on leds and how much heat they put off but i know when my res is in the light then the temps creep up slowly over the day, so as soon as it used cardboard to keep it in the shade then the temps stayed stable,

also if you could sort or used card to create a sort of shelf an inch above the res, sort of so the res is in its own space and the plant is growing above, so sort of boxing the res off just with a piece of flat card, could even use mylar or paint it white to reflect the light back up into the plant, but if you could use card and sort of seal off the res then the heat would have to remain above the card so anything below the card should be cooler as its in total darkness or as near to as possible,

it would just mean probably cutting 2 or 3 pieces of card and fitting them over the res and cutting slots so the stems of the plants could fit through then you could tape it up and raise it so its not actually sitting on top of the res, it just might save you some cash and might mean you dont need to keep using ice,
i was amazed how effective it was, it solved my problem strait away, i could seal off the area with the res in but just having it in the shade is doing the job, but if i just had a big res then id make something big enough that fitted wall to wall and front to back so the whole res is sort of in its own space thats totally dark, it wouldnt need anything special just cardboard will do,

also is your res totally dark inside, no light can leak into where the roots are can it,

im sure you will have it sorted,

 

[stealthgrow]

Girls look very good. Question, does it matter when topping, LST, super crop or other types of redirecting occur? I was under the impression that this was all done during veg? Can those exercises be done in flower too?

Hi Skybound.
From the research I have done, Yes, you can still train into flower. If there is a big cola blocking light to another bud site you can supercrop it and move it where you want to allow light to the other sites, up till around day 21-28 of flower. As long as you don't break the stem off of the plant the plant will grow, you didn't hurt it and you'll still have a nice dank cola that will grow to harvest.Topping once you go to flower won't hurt the plant but the plant won't have enough time to grow a decent bud if you do top later in flower. With only about 4 weeks to go I would stop any training at that point, you don't want to stress out the plant so close to harvest, that it will affect the harvest. All info IMHO.
Hope this helps.

i had a problem with my res getting to warm and caused me problems for a couple of grows, but i sat their thinking about it then i thought about cars sitting in the sun, the sun is heating the car up so park it in the shade and its cool when you get in, so all i did was cut up some cardboard so it kept the res in the shade, i have about an inch gap between the top of the res and the cardboard, that solved my problem and not suffered since but im using hid's, so not sure if that would work the same for you,

but it wouldnt cost you anything to try, not sure what temps the light is giving you on the res but having it shaded would prevent any heat from the light warming it up, also if the ground its on is quite warm then just raise the res off the ground just a tiny bit with some card under each corner or small piece of wood, that will allow are to flow under and may help with the temps,

also check the air pump is getting good cool air as well, cant remember if your using co2 but if you are then make sure the air pump is not picking up the co2 instead of o2,

im sure you will get it sorted, im just trying to think of some ideas that wont cost you a penny, but im not sure on leds and how much heat they put off but i know when my res is in the light then the temps creep up slowly over the day, so as soon as it used cardboard to keep it in the shade then the temps stayed stable,

also if you could sort or used card to create a sort of shelf an inch above the res, sort of so the res is in its own space and the plant is growing above, so sort of boxing the res off just with a piece of flat card, could even use mylar or paint it white to reflect the light back up into the plant, but if you could use card and sort of seal off the res then the heat would have to remain above the card so anything below the card should be cooler as its in total darkness or as near to as possible,

it would just mean probably cutting 2 or 3 pieces of card and fitting them over the res and cutting slots so the stems of the plants could fit through then you could tape it up and raise it so its not actually sitting on top of the res, it just might save you some cash and might mean you dont need to keep using ice,
i was amazed how effective it was, it solved my problem strait away, i could seal off the area with the res in but just having it in the shade is doing the job, but if i just had a big res then id make something big enough that fitted wall to wall and front to back so the whole res is sort of in its own space thats totally dark, it wouldnt need anything special just cardboard will do,

also is your res totally dark inside, no light can leak into where the roots are can it,

im sure you will have it sorted,

Hi DP, thanks for all the input.
Yeah its a battle trying to keep rez temps down, ice pack are doing alright for now. The problem is this, the original; plan was to put the closets in the basement where its nice and cool, but once they arrived they wouldn't fit down the stairs. Plan B, the empty bedroom upstairs, I got the closets upstairs and setup but the only prob is the central A/C doesn't cool the upstairs very well, so temps have been an issue. Its not the lights causing the heat though, its just the temp of the house I'm growing in.
For now I'm managing with the ice packs, and colder weather is coming real soon where I live. Next spring, I'm gonna buy a little A/C unit just for my room, so I won't have any of these little headaches. Thanks for the tips though.

 

[doopie]

I'm going to put the girls into the dark for 24 hours before I turn the lights on to 12/12 on this grow though. Just to see.

Im curious about this. Why do you put them into the dark for 24 hours?

 

[Skybound]

Just to see.

JK

I'm thinking it will signal to the plant that veg is over and allow it some time to put on some growth.

 

[stealthgrow]

Im curious about this. Why do you put them into the dark for 24 hours?

I asked the same question to another member (can't remember who), He explained that he puts his plants(tomato, peppers as well as weed) into 24-36 hours of dark before turning on the lights to 12/12 because during the dark the hormones telling the plant its time to flower build up. The longer the dark (within reason) the more hormones build up and creates a smoother transition from veg. to flower for your plant. He said he's done it and seen pistils within 24 hours before.

 

[donpaul.p]

it all depends on how old the plant is, a plant wont start flowering until its mature enough, i guess a 6 to 8 week old plant would flower sooner even without the dark period, for a 4 week old plant would still take a while till it actually shows sex and then starts flowering,

 

[stealthgrow]

Hi everyone, time for a little update...
I went to check on the girls tonight on day 40 from seed, just because. No real work to do, I just felt like it. The girls are coming along very nicely, they are right at the screen, in fact the biggest of the 3 plants had a couple of leaves resting on top of the net tonight. I'm gonna flip to flower in 5 more days, 24 hours of dark in 4 days.

I LST'd the girls a little tonight to spread them out more, and I also trimmed up the bottom 1/4 of the plants. Most of the leaves I took out were starting to wilt and turn yellow due to lack of light anyway. The Trim was done in preparation for flower next week.

Today's Stats
Day 40 from seed
PPM=817
PH=5.8
Water Temp=66.3F
Air Temp=76.2
RH=48%

The Girls.

The first leaves to hit the screen.

The Girls under their skirts, after their trim.

I took 2 clones from the Blue Mystic tonight.

That's all for tonight, I hope you enjoyed the pics , and stay medicated my friends.

 

[Skybound]

They look Fan'F$%^ING'Tastic!!!! Great journal so far. +REPs

 

[stealthgrow]

They look Fan'F$%^ING'Tastic!!!! Great journal so far. +REPs

Thank you very much Sky, much appreciated. I said it before, but I'm really enjoying my grow, It's fun, and sharing it with the forum helps me and others to grow this amazing plant. At first I just wanted to grow for selfish reasons, I'm cheap and smoke a lot so I'll grow my own and it will be better quality, but its become a little more. Don't get me wrong these girls are going up in smoke ASAP, but I really like caring for them as they grow. Its a labor of love. lol

 

[stealthgrow]

My 420th post!!! light em up!!
I was listening to talk radio yesterday while working, and there is a big hub-bub about Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal party of Canada, and our next Prime Minister hopefully, admitting to reporters to smoking pot as a sitting MP in the house of Commons, when they asked him. The host of the show kept asking people to call in and give opinions, but whenever a pro-legalize caller called in, the host would pretty much cut them off when they were talking, prove his own (the hosts) point, and then say "thanks for calling" and hang up on them. I was getting very frustrated listening to all the people calling in with mis-information. The Government and DEA have done their job well. So many people believe that pot is a gateway drug, that its deadly, and worse than cigarettes and alcohol.
I could care less If my Prime Minister smokes pot to unwind after a long day of running my beautiful country, In fact I would rather he do that, than have a "drink". As long as the country is being run effectively and our economy is under control, people have jobs, kids can get an education etc.. smoke away. If the talk continues into next week on the talk shows, which I'm sure it will, I think I'm gonna call in, not to argue with the host about legalizing, cause that won't work with him, he'll just hang up. I'm just going to ask that people educate themselves before they start spewing "facts". Don't just regurgitate the same old info you've always heard, or assumed was right. Open a book, google the topic, check out some youtube video's...educate yourself. The information is out there, you just have to look for 2 seconds and you'll have tons of info. Then I'LL hang up on the host. lol
Stay medicated my friends.

 

[donpaul.p]

couldnt agree more, im in the uk and just watched a program called americas stoned kids, it showed both sides of the argument but it was pointing more towards been against mj, you had doctors saying it causes lower learning in younger kids as their brain is still developing in their teens, but i was listening to it and the only reason this doctor gave for teens not learning as much is not down to mj its down to them not studying cuz their out with their mates getting high,

so it started off sounding medical saying it affects the brain, but then it all come down to the fact that these kids didnt learn as much because they was out smoking bud instead of sitting at home studying, so she went from looking really clever showing pics of brain development and all she could say is if kids dont study they dont get as clever, so it was not because mj was affecting their brain it was because they wasnt studdying as much in their teens, i had a little laugh to myself after she contradicted herself,

most of the show was showing coop grows and grow business producing chocolates and drinks, one drink was the same as smoking 7 joint and 1 piece of chocolate was the same as 15 joints as it contained 150mg of thc or something like that, but it was about code 64 or what ever it is in the US, their trying to make it legal in this one state for anyone over 21 to be able to buy an oz without worrying about getting arrested, it was just this doctor kept going on about the brain then she came to the conclusion that it was because they was getting high with their mates instead of sitting at home doing school work, it was just to funny all that science info just to prove that.

so it was a pretty decent program to be honest but their was parts of it that tried proving it was addictive by visiting 13 to 16 year olds in these detox camps, then at the end of the show it said when these kids left the detox camps they went home and smoked mj again, as this was shown on main stream tv in the UK then its a step in the right direction as its putting more info into the public in the UK, so hopefully in my life time they will legalize it over here as well, at least thats what im hoping,

your plants look great, im pretty sure you could of filled that scrog with just one of them plants, their certainly getting bushy enough so im pretty sure 1 plant would of done, so that scrog is going to be pretty packed, should be a sea of buds,

 

[stealthgrow]

Thanks DP, I hope Justin Trudeau and the liberals get into power in 2016, they have made it part of their political platform to legalize, regulate, and tax. It will supposedly be kinda like cigarettes or alcohol. Don't know if they will sell in stores or you'll be allowed a certain # of plants per person over 21 etc..but its certainly coming in Canada. British Columbia is working now towards a provincial referendum to decriminalize in that province and get police to work on more important matters in 2014. It can't happen soon enough.
As far as my grow, I was thinking the same about the 1 plant scrog would fill the closet, my other grow only has 2 plants and its full. Think I might try one of My closets growing OG Kush 1 plant scrog and make it fill the screen. I also have 3 royal AK automatics I was thinking of throwing into the closet. From seed to Harvest in, I think it said 80 days.