Alaskan1's Flo n Gro Mixed Bag Grow

Hey Alaskan, make sure your inlet is WAY open. If cool air cant get into the tent, all that the expensive fan and filter are doing is making noise. If you have a fan forcing air thru a 6 inch duct, your inlet better be bigger than 6 inches. Give the air an easy path and give the fan a break.
 
new pictures!
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OG13 said:
Hey Alaskan, make sure your inlet is WAY open. If cool air cant get into the tent, all that the expensive fan and filter are doing is making noise. If you have a fan forcing air thru a 6 inch duct, your inlet better be bigger than 6 inches. Give the air an easy path and give the fan a break.
Click to expand...

Thanks OG,

Think I will go and open one up a bit more but I am worried about light getting through when they're on their dark cycle. Anything to worry about or am I worrying about nothing?
 
nice things are really rolling for you over here!

that PH thing sounds formilliar. when i got both my grows started up i fought that same problem. for the first week maybe 2 my rez would spike up whole points over night. i had to keep real close attention to them since they were in such young stages. i cant put my finger on it. i always PH my hydroton rocks in 5.0 PH water and my air stones but for some reason i always battle high PH spikes in the first few weeks of getting started.

your set up looks real nice and clean! you got some real healthy looking ladies in there. keep an eye on that PH and keep adjusting it before it goes too high. good luck my friend but you'll do fine
 
253chiefin said:
nice things are really rolling for you over here!

that PH thing sounds formilliar. when i got both my grows started up i fought that same problem. for the first week maybe 2 my rez would spike up whole points over night. i had to keep real close attention to them since they were in such young stages. i cant put my finger on it. i always PH my hydroton rocks in 5.0 PH water and my air stones but for some reason i always battle high PH spikes in the first few weeks of getting started.

your set up looks real nice and clean! you got some real healthy looking ladies in there. keep an eye on that PH and keep adjusting it before it goes too high. good luck my friend but you'll do fine
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words Chief. Been busy the last week thats for sure.

The clones were in clone mode for far too long. I was beginning to wonder if they were even going to make it. As you can see the blueberry clones are pretty yellow. I still have a long way to go on becomming a clone wizard. Hopefully my DIY ez cloner will help.

On another note.......did you see Mr Smiths dark star project plant?? It's no longer a plant but a damn tree........lol
 
Alaskan1 said:
Thanks OG,

Think I will go and open one up a bit more but I am worried about light getting through when they're on their dark cycle. Anything to worry about or am I worrying about nothing?
Click to expand...

Nope, you should be concerned about that. Light pollution can make your plants hermie, and should be avoided. If you're ever curious as to how light tight things are, crawl in, zip up and look around. I did this prior to my current grow after making some adjustments to make sure it was still light-tight, and I couldn't see my hand in front of my face when I held it up. Gave me great peace of mind. (If you've never been in total darkness it can be a trip, btw!)

Do you have intake openings that are round? I have some that are 8" around... What you can do with a round opening like that is stick a piece of 6" or 8" ducting in the vent hole, attached to nothing. Say ... 5-6' long. Make it do a big loop somehow (like a pretzel almost) before it enters the tent. Not too tight that it severely restricts flow. You'll just have this unconnected ducting exiting the tent, making a gradual loop and laying on the ground for example.

Basically, that should create a light trap. Air can flow through, but not the light. I have both round vent openings like that, and rectangular. Personally, I keep the rectangular ones closed and just use one of the round ones near the floor. I run ducting to a crawl space that usually is nice and cool year round, and pull air from there. Mine makes a couple of gradual turns, enough that light can't get in. But I've done what I'm suggesting to you successfully, too. If you do something like this, make the loop as big as you can and use as big of ducting as will allow. Make sure you are still getting enough intake airflow or you may need a plan B.

Hope this helps or spurs an idea for you... X
 
Alaskan1 said:
Good news, res temps are now down to 67 degree's

Went to test my PPM and PH, PPM at 640 and PH was at 7.1 ???? :hmmmm:
What the hell happen there? Last night after I added all the nutes I had it set at 5.8 PH
Reset the PH to 5.7, see what happens by tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Curious - did you rinse the hydroton rocks good before you used them? If not, you'll still be okay, but I personally think it causes the behavior you are seeing, at least contributes to it. The first time I used it, I didn't rinse it good and had similar PH spikes for a few weeks. I always rinse it now, and yes, it's a pain in the ass if you haven't done it. They say it's PH neutral, but I'm not so sure unrinsed.

At lower PPM's (yours now are still what I'd call lower) you'll see much greater PH fluctuation, but that does seem extreme. You'll want to keep a close eye on it if it's doing that.

Lets see - is there light getting into the reservoir or shining on the nutrient solution? That could cause it I think, make sure your water/nutes aren't exposed to light somehow - no open buckets without plants/rocks in them that are being flooded that are exposed to light? These could cause that PH spike, or contribute to it.

On a semi related note - here's some good advice with PH adjusting:

Set it to 5.5 - 5.6, let it drift up to about 6.1-6.2, then reset it to 5.5-5.6. Some people try to manage PH to a specific number, but the plants will love you if you let them have that range. Some nutrients are more available at the lower end, some at the upper end. 5.8 is the sweet spot, and by doing as I'm recommending you'll spend a fair amount of time around that number. But, I guess what I'm saying, is you still want to let it drift through the range, don't peg it there. (Don't try to keep it at 5.8 for example).
 
Xlr8 said:
Nope, you should be concerned about that. Light pollution can make your plants hermie, and should be avoided. If you're ever curious as to how light tight things are, crawl in, zip up and look around. I did this prior to my current grow after making some adjustments to make sure it was still light-tight, and I couldn't see my hand in front of my face when I held it up. Gave me great peace of mind. (If you've never been in total darkness it can be a trip, btw!)

Do you have intake openings that are round? I have some that are 8" around... What you can do with a round opening like that is stick a piece of 6" or 8" ducting in the vent hole, attached to nothing. Say ... 5-6' long. Make it do a big loop somehow (like a pretzel almost) before it enters the tent. Not too tight that it severely restricts flow. You'll just have this unconnected ducting exiting the tent, making a gradual loop and laying on the ground for example.

Basically, that should create a light trap. Air can flow through, but not the light. I have both round vent openings like that, and rectangular. Personally, I keep the rectangular ones closed and just use one of the round ones near the floor. I run ducting to a crawl space that usually is nice and cool year round, and pull air from there. Mine makes a couple of gradual turns, enough that light can't get in. But I've done what I'm suggesting to you successfully, too. If you do something like this, make the loop as big as you can and use as big of ducting as will allow. Make sure you are still getting enough intake airflow or you may need a plan B.

Hope this helps or spurs an idea for you... X
Click to expand...

Yes sir indeed it does! I actually have the technology to make that happen! I have some left over 6 inch pipe I can do that with.

Thanks!
 
Xlr8 said:
Curious - did you rinse the hydroton rocks good before you used them? If not, you'll still be okay, but I personally think it causes the behavior you are seeing, at least contributes to it. The first time I used it, I didn't rinse it good and had similar PH spikes for a few weeks. I always rinse it now, and yes, it's a pain in the ass if you haven't done it. They say it's PH neutral, but I'm not so sure unrinsed.

At lower PPM's (yours now are still what I'd call lower) you'll see much greater PH fluctuation, but that does seem extreme. You'll want to keep a close eye on it if it's doing that.

Lets see - is there light getting into the reservoir or shining on the nutrient solution? That could cause it I think, make sure your water/nutes aren't exposed to light somehow - no open buckets without plants/rocks in them that are being flooded that are exposed to light? These could cause that PH spike, or contribute to it.

On a semi related note - here's some good advice with PH adjusting:

Set it to 5.5 - 5.6, let it drift up to about 6.1-6.2, then reset it to 5.5-5.6. Some people try to manage PH to a specific number, but the plants will love you if you let them have that range. Some nutrients are more available at the lower end, some at the upper end. 5.8 is the sweet spot, and by doing as I'm recommending you'll spend a fair amount of time around that number. But, I guess what I'm saying, is you still want to let it drift through the range, don't peg it there. (Don't try to keep it at 5.8 for example).
Click to expand...

Well I thought my wife had rinsed it well enough but apparently we were both wrong. After the first couple of fill & drains we could see the dust at the bottom of the buckets.... I wasn't happy but lesson learned.....AGAIN

I do have one bucket not filled so I guess tonight before I go to bed I'll filler up. One would think that the water would be safe in the blue res. If it wasn't would Titan really let it go out to the public like that? I have a hot water blanket that I bought to put around it if need be.

I have been pretty much a stickler on the 5.8 PH so I'll lighten up a bit....thanks for the heads up. I feel like I should try and snatch the pebble from your hand or something :Namaste:
 
Yeah, let the pH drift some, don't constantly fight for "one" number. About the light concerns, Gooogle "light trap" for more ideas. Cool air inlet is more important and you are still in veg, light pollution is no concern right yet.
 
OG13 said:
Yeah, let the pH drift some, don't constantly fight for "one" number. About the light concerns, Gooogle "light trap" for more ideas. Cool air inlet is more important and you are still in veg, light pollution is no concern right yet.
Click to expand...

Great point, more of a flowering issue - and if it makes temps go up, or creates too much suction, probably not a good idea.
 
Alaskan1 said:
Well I thought my wife had rinsed it well enough but apparently we were both wrong. After the first couple of fill & drains we could see the dust at the bottom of the buckets.... I wasn't happy but lesson learned.....AGAIN

I do have one bucket not filled so I guess tonight before I go to bed I'll filler up. One would think that the water would be safe in the blue res. If it wasn't would Titan really let it go out to the public like that? I have a hot water blanket that I bought to put around it if need be.

I have been pretty much a stickler on the 5.8 PH so I'll lighten up a bit....thanks for the heads up. I feel like I should try and snatch the pebble from your hand or something :Namaste:
Click to expand...

You just don't want your water or nutrients exposed directly to light.

So, empty buckets should be removed from the system, or filled. The exposure will cause those crazy PH spikes in my experience. I've not had issues with light going through the blue materials causing issue, personally, but you will if the water/nutes are directly exposed to light, for example when it floods if there are no hydroton rocks in the bucket, the water will rise in the bucket becoming directly exposed to light. Not sure if that's your situation or not, but wanted to be specific since I'm not sure.

Oh, and you may have washed the hydroton fine. Honestly, in my experience, no matter how much you wash it there will always be some dust. Just banging them around when you pour it causes dust. But, rinsing it good definitely helps limit the dust/crud.
 
Alaskan1 said:
did another PPM test and PH, PPM was 750 and PH was at 6.8. Readjusted PH to 6.0
Humidity level in the tent was 23% and temp was 71. I shut one of the fans off to get the humidity level back up. Plants are drying out too much.
Now busy cleaning out the other tent and getting it ready for flower!
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's a little dry if you are able to do something about it. Especially seeing you are trying/hoping to perk them up a bit.
 
71 is good temps for that kind of lighting man good job you really got your temp situation handled. to bad your RH got that low. hope you can get her sorted out. sound slike your doing good. that PH spike will start slowing down over the next few days im guessing if its anything like my rez in my last 2 grows. keep em green bud
 

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