Super Skunk Auto, Ebb & Flow, 1st Time Grower, Custom Cabinet

[Rexer]

What an amazing little grow you have going on! Lots of care and consideration I feel your passion! I shall be following along and also making a little thread too 8D

Thank you very much for the kind words, greatly appreciate it....I've been nervous wreck over ruining my crop lol

 

[Rexer]

Day 9 part 2

Gave a watering via reservoir instead of spray bottle. Ran flood tables for 10 min.

Noticed after I had forgotten a picture...next time.

Same nute mixture, haven't done anything other then keep it aerated and dilute as I use it.

PPM for tonight was 146
Reservoir temp 18.6 C
PH 6.0
Average temp in grow cab: 23 (turned it down when I noticed it was getting a lil toasty under the domes). I just turned it back up a few min ago as the air coming out of the fan was a bit too cold at 14 C.

Average temp under a dome: 28.1 C (max 32.27 C)

And tonight pics of the ladies:

 

[StoneOtter]

Just as they should be Rexer!

 

[Ryn0nTX]

Looking good @Rexer! So there are lots of 'opinions' and 'how-to's out there. Something that stood out to me when researching is to hardly water them in the first two weeks. As hard as it was, I only watered the tray once on the 7th day. My rapid rooters held a ton of moisture so I was somewhat confident. I am at best a complete rookie, but they may not be that thirsty .

I'm excited to watch your progress! Btw....what app are you using to record all of your data? Temps, etc.?

 

[Rexer]

Looking good @Rexer! So there are lots of 'opinions' and 'how-to's out there. Something that stood out to me when researching is to hardly water them in the first two weeks. As hard as it was, I only watered the tray once on the 7th day. My rapid rooters held a ton of moisture so I was somewhat confident. I am at best a complete rookie, but they may not be that thirsty .

I'm excited to watch your progress! Btw....what app are you using to record all of your data? Temps, etc.?

Thanks Ryn0nTX, and I'm starting to think that you are correct and I haven't let them dry up enough between and watering. While the rockwool cubes are above the water line I suspect they're holding too much moisture. I skipped this morning's flooding and just topped off the humidifier.

For the data, the part with the cab temp, it's part of my temp controller. I can log into it using an app on my phone to control it (controller is wifi enabled) and see, & and adjust the settings. I've been on the fence for where to keep the sensor but placed it next to a plant. It's an Inkbird controller, if you're look into buying one just be sure it's the model that does both heating and cooling (one model has two outputs but both are heat only).

The other one (blue and white graph) is a standalone sensor that is bluetooth but uses an app from the manufacturer. It's also from Inkbird.

Both were surprisingly affordable in comparison to the higher end stuff, so I splurged on a humidity controller from them as well.

 

[StoneOtter]

That water thing is second to nothing in importance in my book. I use Emilyas process .

 

[Rexer]

Day 10

Just topped off humidifier and let them be (aside from snapping some pics). Also removed the domes off them (not sure if I mentioned that last night).

Avg cab temp in front right: 25 C

Avg temp in back left:
24.81 C

Pics of the ladies:

So the reason I moved my sensors around was to ensure that I was indeed getting proper temp distribution front to back and left to right. Seems to be doing good.

So I think that's a good temp for them at this stage? I can raise or lower it if need be.

Soon I'll move the sensor with the blue and with graph into the resivoir to make sure its temperature is staying as planned.

Also, while its not a huge development, the stems are changing from their purplish color.

 

[Rexer]

That water thing is second to nothing in importance in my book. I use Emilyas process .

Thanks for the reminder to reread that! And I do believe they are over watered and I'm going to let them be, see what happens.

 

[Rexer]

Day 11

Didn't do anything last night. Checked on them this morning and lowered the light. Had to do some readjustment to the ventilation, never would have guessed that lowering it just that little bit would have changed the temp at the plants so much (temps were fairly high). I made a bit of a cowl for the duct that brings cold air from the bottom of the cabinet to the top to force more of the cold air into the tower fan for better circulation. Just as I was finishing up the final touches this morning the light went out (6 hr dark cycle began). Will have to wait till later this evening to see results.

Didn't do anything other then that.

Avg cab temp: at plant level was 29 C

Pics from this morning,drooping has changed slightly? Will continue to not water/feed and observe any changes.

 

[StoneOtter]

Thanks for the reminder to reread that! And I do believe they are over watered and I'm going to let them be, see what happens.

Good going, now just don't let them dry too much. I Know. It's a fine, line but when they're this young they are tender. I still have slight tremors getting them going at this stage of life. Ebb and flow is something I have no experience with so keep learning about it! How often does the tide come and go?

 

[Rexer]

Good going, now just don't let them dry too much. I Know. It's a fine, line but when they're this young they are tender. I still have slight tremors getting them going at this stage of life. Ebb and flow is something I have no experience with so keep learning about it! How often does the tide come and go?

Yeah that fine line is making me pretty nervous, so far I've only flooded twice? ( not counting when I forgot to turn off the timer and flooded once). I've been reading over so many different ideas in how often to flood. I know (well I'm confident lol ) that once I can get a good root system going it should start working as planned. Theres an airstone in each flood table under the lids, each tub is also filled with hydroton. Its just to get those roots established! But I know I'm far from being the first to face this.
Basically the hope is to flood min twice a day, once before and after lights on/off, and work my way up from there for how much they'll drink up.
Might be just me, being this is my first grow, but they seem somewhat stunted for their age.

 

[StoneOtter]

I get it. When there's enough root development, they will take off with gusto!

 

[Rexer]

I get it. When there's enough root development, they will take off with gusto!

Hoping so, these are autos so I got that clock ticking in my mind.

Is 25C (77F) a good temp?

 

[StoneOtter]

Hoping so, these are autos so I got that clock ticking in my mind.

Is 25C (77F) a good temp?

Yes, I have temps from 64F to 82F during the grow day lately.

 

[Rexer]

Day 11

So, after all my worries over roots I took a quick peek under one of them and could see the tips of the root(s) poking out the bottom.
Feeling much better about them as they should start to grow a bit more rapidly (hopefully!)

Nothing else done.

 

[StoneOtter]

That's the future we're looking at there. just another few days.

 

[Ryn0nTX]

Haha! Looks good! It takes a while for them to find their way through the hydroton. I was worried when I transplanted mine from the tray to the hydroton, it took a few days for sure. But like @stoneotter said, they will start to take off!

 

[Rexer]

Thanks @stoneotter and @Ryn0nTX ! Anxiety turned to anxiousness lol.

Still on the fence for doing any floods today, but they dont seem to be showing any signs of needing water (that I can tell). So with that in mind i will refrain from flooding today.

Been keeping an eye on them via the cam, temps seem to be a nice stable 26C. RH is 27% (bit low but the humidifier cant keep up with the fans on). Not too worried about it.

 

[Rexer]

Day 11
Didn't feed or water them. They seem to be doing well enough at the moment, I'm going to continue to keep an eye on them till theres a change. Till then it's on cruise control, just took some pics.

Avg cab temp at plants: 27C, spiked up to 30 for a few min at lights on, then the system catches up. Nice and cool outside tonight which makes it easier.

And tonight's pics....

 

[StoneOtter]

I couldn't get used to this ebb and flow concept getting watered less than once a day so I went looking for information. I don't know Rexer, again, not ever having used this method I can't say anything firmly but check out this link. Whoever put the pages together included your medium.

Ebb & Flow Hydroponics Watering Schedule: How Often to Flood & Drain?

Flood and drain (or ebb and flow) hydroponics systems are easy to build but how often to Flood? As with other types of gardening, there are no hard-and-fast rules. The goal is to flood the plants for a specific period of time, drain, and then re-flood them before the grow media dries out. This...

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