So What's In The Perpetual Garden Today?

[Twalte]

Now that the flowering Blue Dream is harvested, I will only follow the growth of these young plants for the remainder of this journal. Again, a Purple Ghost Candy and a Godfather OG are planned for the flower tent with an LA Peyote Kush as an emergency backup. I transplanted them from solo cups to gallons 11 days ago. I’m seeing some sagging leaves that are hanging over the edges of the one gallon comtainers and questioning if i need to transplant them sooner than next week. I can’t fit 5 gallons in the veg tent….at least not with 3 plants.

I’m giving them a foliar feeding with RO water, 4ml of CalMag, and 1oz each of EM-1 Soil Comditioner and MaxiCrop Seaweed Extract. I also drench the soil when the pots are light. I do the foliar feeds outside the tent to prevent the spray from messing up the LEDs.

I topped them above the fourth node on Sunday and the bottom two nodes were removed last week. All growth hormones are now directed to four branches….which will be trained using low stress training. Some leaves are sagging….either they were too dry, or they’re asking for a bigger pot. I have two 5-gallon fiber pots ready to go.

Excited for these plants to grow bigger!

 

[Twalte]

Great pictures mate, will keep an eye on your journal, I use GH nutes as well so I'm curious what this Lucas adaption is? I'll have to have a read up when I can, congratulations on your harvest, enjoy!!

Thank you @Weffalo. I plan to follow the Lucas formula as I get in flower….I feel like my plants get plenty of nutrients from the nutrient-rich Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil while in veg.

The general assumption with Lucas formula is that you don’t need to use Gro at all. Simply give double the amount of Bloom as Micro and work your Bloom/Micro dosage up to 8ml/16ml per gallon as quickly as possible.

 

[Weffalo]

Thank you @Weffalo. I plan to follow the Lucas formula as I get in flower….I feel like my plants get plenty of nutrients from the nutrient-rich Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil while in veg.

The general assumption with Lucas formula is that you don’t need to use Gro at all. Simply give double the amount of Bloom as Micro and work your Bloom/Micro dosage up to 8ml/16ml per gallon as quickly as possible.

Awesome I will definitely read up on it, is it just a money saving thing with not having to buy the third bottle?

 

[Twalte]

Awesome I will definitely read up on it, is it just a money saving thing with not having to buy the third bottle?

I’m going for simplicity. After owning almost all of the General Hydroponic supplements and following their 10-part schedule for many grows, I found that I achieved similar results using the MegaCrop one-part dry fertilizer on my last grow. Someone with a lot of growing experience recommended that I use the Lucas formula for simple execution with better results……hence this test.

My nutrients for this grow are Silica, Seaweed Extract (in veg), CalMag, FloraMicro, FloraBloom, EM-1 Soil Conditioner and ph down. No more FloraGro, Diamond Nectar, FloraKleen, Floralicious, Liquid Koolbloom….so I’ve removed 4 supplements and a flushing agent.

Here’s a quick read about it.

Hydroponics using Lucas Formula

Some don’t get it, others do… Regardless we are here to help you better understand the Lucas Formula. The Lucas Formula derives from a man named Lucas who participated in online forums for growers who use hydroponics/soil-less growing. His nutrient feeding regime quickly became widely recognised...

growguru.co.za

 

[Twalte]

The one gallon containers we’re drooping, so I decided to check out the roots. They’re ready for a transplant now after 11 days in the one gallon containers. Transplanted to a mixture of Ocean Forest soil with perlite added. Used Mykos too for added root development. Watered in with seaweed extract.

I had hoped to maintain one gallon containers for another 10 days while the 2x4 tent is being use for drying, this veg tent is tight. Two plants in 5 gallons and my backup plant on her one gallon comtainer

 

[Azimuth]

Great pictures mate, will keep an eye on your journal, I use GH nutes as well so I'm curious what this Lucas adaption is? I'll have to have a read up when I can, congratulations on your harvest, enjoy!!

This?

Lucas Formula.

 

[Twalte]

More Quadlining lessons today as I stake down the remaining 4 branches to spread out the remaining growth. Hopefully this is correct. I used 4 landscaping spikes. I am not planning to keep the small plant, so I only trained the Purple Ghost Candy and the Godfather OG. (Edit…..removed repetitive sentence)

 

[Twalte]

Woke up today and decided to move the girls out of the veg tent and into the 2x4 tent. I set up the AC Infinity self-watering bases wick system and filled with RO water, Cal Mag and seaweed extract. Transplanted my backup plant (the LA Peyote Kush) from a one gallon to a two gallon pot. If one of these girls don’t survive quadline training, I’ll have a spare ready to go.

Programmed the ACI controller for optimal environmental conditions.
Lighting hours: 20 per day (4am-midnight)
Lighting intensity today: 30,000 lux. (Will monitor in the new room)
Nutrients: cal Mag and seaweed extract in water base, watered in with EM-1 and Seaweed extract
In-line fan comes on at 82 degrees
Side lights are set to 100% intensity

One more day before we start week 6 since popping the soil.

 

[Twalte]

Welcome to week 6 since they popped the soil. I’m still working towards Quadlining these plants. Unfortunately, I broke one branch during my initial training so my Purple Ghost Candy will only have three branches to spread out. To offset this loss, I’ve decided to grow out the LA Peyote Kush (my old backup plant that was due to be destroyed).

Last week I didn’t have a humidifier hooked up and I think the higher VPD stressed them out a little. I added a humidifier today and a setting of 65%. That should help.

So….here is the damaged Purple Ghost Candy (top right branch). I adjusted stakes for all three plants today.

The other two are looking good. I readjusted stakes. No water required today.

I’m growing the LA Purple Kush in the short and small 2x2 veg tent. This will be a crash course in canopy management….I don’t think I can get much closer the the light.

 

[Twalte]

Good Morning,
Today is defoliation day….removing the four interior-facing fan leaves from each plant (1 per branch) that are blocking nodes/potential bud sites. Adjusted stakes. This is following the quadline instructions.

Before and after photo for LA Peyote Kush.

 

[Twalte]

Godfather OG before and after defoliation too. The other plant, Purple Ghost Candy, is not looking too good. See photos 3 and 4. She lost one of her four branches during spring training.

Purple Ghost Candy

 

[Twalte]

It’s been 8 days. No major changes, but the Purple Ghost Candy didn’t look too healthy. She is being given her own tent and a SCROG net now. The tent is only 48” tall and can’t accommodate any height. Meanwhile, I had broken a limb on the Purple Ghost Candy, so this trellis net may be the answer. No quadline here. Defoliated and added SCROG net. She’s 60% Sativa and growing differently than anything else I’ve ever grown. (Lanky with weak stems and less structure to her). Hoping the net saves the day.

She is 16 inches below the light and that’s as high as I can raise it.

 

[Twalte]

A quick look at 8 days of growth compared to my last post. Doing light defoliations every few days.

Godfather OG and LA Peyote Kush

 

[Twalte]

A very brief update. Nutrients are now increased using the Lucas Formula (a 2:1 ratio of GH Flora Bloom to GH Flora Micro). I’m at 5ml/g of Micro and 10ml/g of Bloom. So far, I like this Lucas formula for simplicity. Add in some CalMag, silica, and seaweed extract and they seem to enjoy the feed.

I removed the spikes holding down four of the original branches. Will flip to flower in 2-3 weeks. Waiting for some upward growth to start. They’re staying relatively short under my COB lighting…..possibly due to my general purpose spectrum (3500k if I understand this correctly).

My two quadline plants are filling out quickly. It’s been three days since I last posted the LA Peyote Kush, and she really turned bushy. Defoliated today to get more light down into the potential growth nodes.

(Some of those leaves I removed are from the Godfather OG…..I didn’t defoliate that heavily)

Before defoliation

After Defoliation

And the Godfather OG. I will look to defoliate her further tomorrow if needed.

 

[Twalte]

Yesterday I learned that my 320 watt LED likely doesn't provide enough ppfd for a good flowering session in my 2x4 tent. I’m not that knowledgeable on LEDs, but I added a second one yesterday (I have a spare) to correct this deficiency. My lights are old technology Timber COBs….3500 light spectrum….320 watt….3 Cobs per fixture.

Now I have 640 watts of lighting over 8 square feet…..80 watts per square foot. Talk about overkill! I have her dimmed down to provide 63,000 lux worth of light (according to my white LED lux meter) and a Daily Light Integral over 50 in flower (using iPhone Photon app).

LA Peyote Kush is looking good. I defoliated yesterday and she has bounced back quickly.

I’m excited to see how much better this next grow can be with adequate lighting.

 

[Bill284]

Yesterday I learned that my 320 watt LED likely doesn't provide enough ppfd for a good flowering session in my 2x4 tent. I’m not that knowledgeable on LEDs, but I added a second one yesterday (I have a spare) to correct this deficiency. My lights are old technology Timber COBs….3500 light spectrum….320 watt….3 Cobs per fixture.

Now I have 640 watts of lighting over 8 square feet…..80 watts per square foot. Talk about overkill! I have her dimmed down to provide 63,000 lux worth of light (according to my white LED lux meter) and a Daily Light Integral over 50 in flower (using iPhone Photon app).

LA Peyote Kush is looking good. I defoliated yesterday and she has bounced back quickly.

I’m excited to see how much better this next grow can be with adequate lighting.

Merry Christmas

Lots of light now.
Take care.




#VIVOSUN #Love What You Grow
Bill284

 

[Twalte]

Merry Christmas

Lots of light now.
Take care.




#VIVOSUN #Love What You Grow
Bill284

Merry Christmas @Bill284

 

[Twalte]

Just a quick Quadlining update……hopefully doing this correctly. I’ve gone up and back on how much I like this approach. As of today, I love it as I anticipate a nice even canopy under my lights and some nice structure to the plant. It makes more sense every day as I train the plants according to the tutorial. In the last two days, I did a moderate defoliation and staked down the branches using landscape stakes.

 

[Twalte]

Time for a quick update on the Purple Ghost Candy in week 8. This is the one that I was Quadlining but broke off one of the four branches. . Unlike the other two, I’ve flipped this one to flower. She’s 60% Sativa and growing differently than other plants that I’ve grown. More like a vine and less like a bush. Fast grower for sure.

She’s now spreading out under a trellis net and about to take over the 2x2. I’ve lowered the LED to 11 inches above the canopy. I’m getting a lux reading close to 60,000. Also added side lighting to help with the dim edges.

Using the Lucas formula on her and now at 8ml Micro and 16ml of Bloom per gallon…plus Seaweed Extract, EM-1, Silica and CalMag.

 

[Twalte]

My next grow is under development and I’m excited to try some new growing technology. ( only new to me….old technique I’m sure). #octopot. #grobucket

I’ve been researching Sub Irrigated Planters (SIPs) for my next grow. I learned about them from Azimuth here on 420 Magazine. They are supposed to provide growth rates closer to hydro without the hydro headaches that I can’t manage here. (leaks, high ppm tap water and warm reservoir temperatures). There is a full SIP thread dedicated to this topic.

SIP Club - Getting Hydro/Coco Results In A Soil Based Medium

@Azimuth, Thank you for the very informative reply. I placed an order for two of the Octopots. The 6 gallon nutrient reservoir and 6 gallon soil capacity was a big selling point to me. The ability to leave them alone for up to 10 days is helpful, not that I would. I’ll post my experience...

www.420magazine.com

I narrowed it down to two units, and I will probably buy both. The first is the Octopot, which holds 6 gallons of nutrients in the reservoir and 6 gallons of soil. I purchased two of these for the 2x4 grow tent. Based on my reading, I can run coco or soil using this system, so I may try my hand at coco again. They are 18” x 18”, so two will fill my 2x4 tent. These seem relatively rare, but the reported results from those users are all fantastic. So it will be a fun experiment, and I can ignore the plants for several days if needed. They recommended soilless mixed and coco as mediums….amended soil can work but it’s not their top recommendation.


I have one question….WHAT IS THE BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GROWING IN COCO AND SOIL USING A SIP?
- Lower ph for coco ….. target 6.0
-Need nutrients early on since there are none in coco
Any different flushing requirements or requirement to keep top of pot moist?
Anything else? If not, coco may be better (no gnats, total control of nutes)

The second unit is the GroBucket from GroTech. I’m going to buy the three pack and try them with produce on my deck this summer. I may incorporate into the grow tent if I like them better than the Octopot.