Stevehman's 780W LED - DIY 4 in PVC Recirc - Caramlicious Grow

[Hydrologist]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

I am getting a bit of tip burn but that is across the board with all of them, I am going to back off of the ppm's a bit, back to 1000 (although I am sure the lights being that close aren't helping out with the tip burning).

how far are you into the bloom cycle? at about day 40 my tips slowly started burning but now those leafs are completely yellow-turns out it wasn't burn at all, just old fan leaves dieing as she's preparing for that peak window of growth you spose to harvest in before they'll starting the decline and destroying there buds. I wonder how that looks if you were to let your plant gain as much as one of mine or your and just...not harvest it and watch what happens? eh sounds as painful as the time my dad flushed a half ounce i got fronted to me in high school. I'll never get fronted ever again! Or bring more than a gram to my dads haha.



going to bed. math in the morning. Im actually stoked (CUTE asian sits next to me _

 

[zzoomm100]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

I'm also very curious about the location that clones are taken from and whether that makes a big difference in yield. Cervantes' Grow Bible has a section on that very topic.

So what does Cervantes say on the subject? I've cloned from the bottom and the tops but they all seem the same to me.

The one thing that I noticed which Mr. Smith noted in 420fied's thread is that all of my clones produced less than the mothers even when they were larger. I had a couple of Satori SkyRocket phenos that were a foot taller than their mother but still produced slightly less bud.

So after reading Staffy's thread, I decided to go with the two 180's. I just germinated some Serious Seeds Kali Mist and I have some Satori's in my future and you know how unwieldy those Sativas can be. I don't want to deal with trying to fit them in a smaller footprint.

Thanks for the help everybody. I'm looking forward to the new lights.

 

[SteveHman]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

A quick update before the Easter weekend. I added the Overdrive to the res. It is supposed to be used the last 2 weeks and is supposed to kick the girls into gear for their big finish.

Most of the main colas in the pic are in the 10-12 inch tall range, it's hard to gauge in the pics. I'll make sure to take some good pics of them after I chop, I'll be able to light them better that way. Those LEDs really throw the color balance off on my camera, and it's a fairly good Nikon with a huge external flash. You will see the difference when I pose the ladies for their final pics in two weeks.

And here are the future moms of grow 4.0. You can also see a bunch of clones that I took for a buddy, but he hasn't had time to pick up. They are ready for the 12/12 at this point. I am thinking that if I can't get these moms cloned out in the next three weeks I may put a few of these girls in the box in 12/12 and keep 2/3rds of the are open for the new clones when they are ready to move in.

I have the other clones in little grow bags in a coco/perlite/vermiculite hempy set up and the little seedlings are in the same mix. I think for growing out the moms, that is going to be a good setup for my situation

Of the three seedlings, the smallest is the Twilight (I had to pop a new seed a week after the others), the medium sized one is the Pineapple Chunk and the little fat girl is the Gigabud. Once I have the bigger clones out of this space I will pop a couple more seeds. I think I can keep 5 moms going in the tent (2x4x4, with a 4' 4 tube T5-HO).

 

[Hydrologist]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

yo i was thinking of starting some mothers and keeping them possibly in soil or something liike it but i love the coco core thing your doing. You water it just like its soil hu? I think I will do what you did when I start a Mother probably by my 3.0 grow. im guessing..

 

[cryodude]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

YO, STEVE!!! They are looking awesome sir. And i am official now, i have my Ca ID and my script. So with luck before the end of May i will be in business with my little mess. Can't wait to see these in a couple weeks when you are done! I'll catch you on the flip side bud!

 

[Mr. Krip]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

Buds are looking great, Steve!

There's a bunch of us who are all gonna be harvesting right around the same time...it's gonna be fun first couple weeks in May!

 

[SteveHman]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

Was out of town for the weekend so I wasn't able to keep an eye on the girls. The seedlings are doing great in their coco hempies and needed a little water this morning so I think once they are transplanted into larger buckets wit deeper res's they will be able to go a 3-4 stretch without being watered (the coco and vermiculite should hold enough moisture and help to wick it up from the res in the bottom of the buckets).

One of my colas had a small bud starting to dry on it, I think the fan was pointed right at it while I was gone. I clipped the little bud off (the size of a 1/2 dollar) and took some pics of the trichs to check for color. These are going to be some frosty buds when I chop next week.

The fan leaves are starting to go through the yellowing stage and falling off, harvest is just around the corner. I'll post updated pics and numbers later.

 

[cryodude]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

Looks awesome Steve. will be interesting to see how it all comes together. I am ordering either 4 or 6 spectras tonight, 3 290's and 1 to 3 180's. Setting up two little areas next month. I just can't wait any longer, wanted to know what if any thoughts you had finally on using the 290/300s vs the 180s. my 290s will be on plants that are like 30-36" height and the 180s for a sog/scrog that won't be over 24" or so if i get time to set both up correctly.

 

[SteveHman]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

Looks awesome Steve. will be interesting to see how it all comes together. I am ordering either 4 or 6 spectras tonight, 3 290's and 1 to 3 180's. Setting up two little areas next month. I just can't wait any longer, wanted to know what if any thoughts you had finally on using the 290/300s vs the 180s. my 290s will be on plants that are like 30-36" height and the 180s for a sog/scrog that won't be over 24" or so if i get time to set both up correctly.

Sounds like the right set-up for the height of the plants. I think the key is the height of the light above the canopy for spread and penetration.

Looking forward to the pending grow journal.

 

[George Parker]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

First off...

You make me want LEDs reeeaaal bad Those buds are just plain awesome!

Second...

...I'm also very curious about the location that clones are taken from and whether that makes a big difference in yield...

I am curious also. My girls were from the same mother and they are growing way different from each other. I'm thinking that the location where each clone was taken has to have some effect on growth or it's a very strange coincidence. Love to hear some thoughts on that.

Keep up the great work!

 

[SteveHman]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

First off...

You make me want LEDs reeeaaal bad Those buds are just plain awesome!

Second...



I am curious also. My girls were from the same mother and they are growing way different from each other. I'm thinking that the location where each clone was taken has to have some effect on growth or it's a very strange coincidence. Love to hear some thoughts on that.

Keep up the great work!

Cervantes' Grow Bible has an outline of a "Christmas tree" shaped plant with the plant broken into thirds. The outer branches on the lower third show the easiest to clone with the newest root-growth hormones, the middle third, next easiest and the top third the most difficult with the oldest hormones.

If you took clones from the bottom and the top, the bottom clone should root quicker and get off to a healthier start than those from the top. It would then reason that the clones from the bottom would grow faster, thicker and taller than the clones taken further up on the plant.

If you are only taking a few clones and putting them into veg/bloom at the same time I would try to take them all from the same relative location (height wise) if possible. If you need to take several for a large grow, then I might experiment with topping/fim'ing the clones from the lower branches and letting the upper clones go the single cola route. My reasoning is that if you top the faster growing clones, it will allow the other clones to catch up before flipping them to 12/12. (although if you have no room for lateral growth--420fied style SOG--then the topping/fim'ing is a non-option).

I picked up a pack of multi-colored neoprene cloning collars and am thinking of using them to track the growth of clones from specific locations on the plants.

 

[George Parker]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

Thanks for that!

Great info, +reps to you my friend.

The collars are a great Idea, if I only new which part of the mom my girls came from I could very easily say which spot is better

 

[SteveHman]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

He also mentions that clones with thinner stems will grow quicker than thicker stems. It has to do with the amount of starch in the larger stems. Also that smaller clones (thin stems) are better than bigger and thicker.

My group of 17 girls are all over the map in terms of size and location. Next grow I will be more diligent in ensuring the same size and relative location (although it will be 3 different strains, so another wrinkle to the test).

 

[HorseBadoritz]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

Hay Steve, just wanted to say things are looking great in your garden

The colored collars are a great idea. Where did you get them? I have to make maps now, sucks when the cloner sprays it

I'm not so sure about thinner is better for clones. I lose a lot of those, thick and pliable have worked the best for me. I've even gotten some woody ones to root in mini hempies.

 

[SteveHman]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

I don't think they're a sponsor, so I'll send you a PM with the website. They were $14 for 30. Not a bad price.

I don't know about the whole thin vs. thick stem either. I've had luck across the board. But I think if you want to have an even canopy and growth rate, then taking from the same locations makes sense.

 

[Hydrologist]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

Hey steve Just posted harvest pics

 

[HorseBadoritz]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

I don't think they're a sponsor, so I'll send you a PM with the website. They were $14 for 30. Not a bad price.

I don't know about the whole thin vs. thick stem either. I've had luck across the board. But I think if you want to have an even canopy and growth rate, then taking from the same locations makes sense.

A clone filing system...priceless

Thanks

 

[SteveHman]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

Well, I'm day 64 in 12/12. One day past the date I chopped the last grow. The girls are still swelling up and I will see how they look after the weekend. My plan right now is to put them into 24 hours of dark on Tuesday and then chop on Wednesday. I've never done the dark cycle before chopping, but have read a few posts that it is supposed to kick them into their last ditch effort to produce--we'll see.

I haven't added anything to the res since the change last week. The top-up res keeps the fluid level constant so the ppm's are slowly going down as the girls are finishing up. I won't do a flush, just let them taper down to around 500-600 ppms

This morning my readings are:
pH: 5.5
Res temp: 65
PPMs: 1098
EC 2.178
Temp: 93 (I will be making changes to keep the change down before next grow)
RH: 56

Here are a few of the frosty girls. The pics don't really show off the frostiness, once I have them out of the LED-blaze-orama I should be able to get better pics that will be suitable for the NOTM:

Here are some of the babies waiting to become mamas. I kept one of the caramelicious as a mom, the other three are Gigabud, Pineapple Chunk and Twilight. I will be popping some more seeds tomorrow for Grow 5.0 (I want to make sure I have plenty of time to grow, prune/train moms--I think I am about 3 weeks behind the curve for Grow 4.0).

I put them into 2 gal buckets ala hempy style. A 1/2 inch hole 2 inches up. Filled the bottoms to just over the top of the hole with 75% perlite 25% vermiculite (as a wicking agent), then filled the remainder with 60% coco coir, 30% perlite, 10% vermiculite. I mixed in some time released fertilizers from Eli Lilly UltraGreen that are 10-10-10 (on shelf next to Osmocote for 1/2 the price $10 for 10lbs). I put a few tablespoons an inch above the hole and then mixed a couple more in with the remainder that filled the bucket. I put a little over an inch of hydroton on top to keep in moisture, reduce algae and to keep the water from creating a hole in the mix when I feed them. I watered them with 1/4 nutes until water was flowing out the hole. For the next 6 weeks they will only get pH'd water since the TRF nutes are supposed to be good for that long. My goal is to be able to water them every 2-3 days. I am working on a way to set up an auto-watering system that will keep them happy for a week while I'm away (I've seen a few battery operated systems for about $60 online).

A quick side note. That Pineapple Chunk should be called Pineapple Skunk. That thing stinks. I went in there today and man-oh-man could I smell her. As little as she is now, she smells more than all 17 of the caramelicious girls. I will be buying an ozone generator for this next grow. If she is this stinky at her current height, I can only imagine 6 of her clones in full bloom. I am sure the local dispensary will have no problem with that one being "stanky" enough! I would not recommend her for an apartment grow unless you have some great odor control in place.

 

[George Parker]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

Those buds are awesome! Nice and fat calyxes and frosty as hell.

The little ones are looking good and they will have lots of room for big roots.

5 stars for you my friend!

 

[SteveHman]

Re: Stevehman's 780W LED, DIY 4 in PVC Recirc, Caramlicious Grow

Forgot to mention I had a minor "emergency" in the grow. I spotted a few funky looking leaves on two of the smaller colas, turned out to be the warning signs of grey mold/bud rot. If you don't know how to spot it, read up. I can't tell you how happy I am to have the Cervantes Grow Bible on my desk (if you don't have it, pick it up on line).

It was a great coincidence that Dime posted a product on his journal that I will be buying for the next grow, and I plan to use it in the early flowering stage as a prophylactic for grow 4.0.

Here's a link to his journal, great info: P-91 - CFL 12Pack - SCROG - DWC 1st Grow