Automated Recirculating Coco: Laughing Buddha, Barney's Farm

[Bill284]

@Bill284
Correct me if I am wrong, I was always under the impression that bud production and resin production was correlated to the amount of light falling on the bud. Maintaining direct light exposure is best.

beautiful garden. I can see I am missing out of a lot of green. Will start titering nutes up today.
thanks

i think with defo and lollipop I’ll be stopping for a while. Let the plant express itself peacefully

Good morning my friend @ElDoctore .
Photosynthesis is performed by fan leaves not buds.
The big leaves around the bud is where they get energy to grow from.
I found I got bid dense buds even when not in direct light.
So now after cleaning out underneath post stretch I don't remove anything at all ever, unless it has a pest.
I let the leaves die naturally and fall off but don't remove them.
They also have nutrients stored in them which are valuable late flower.
Let her go you will be pleased with the results.

Stay safe
Bill

 

[ElDoctore]

@Bill284
Thanks for that bit of info. I’ll stop defo and wait for results.
I just topped up my nutes. Now I do believe my ppm meter is busted.
I went from 80% recommended to 110% recommended and the value didn’t change much.
ordered a new one. Till then I’ll just use the plant as my guide

 

[ElDoctore]

Laughing Buddha - Barney’s Farm
Day 16 flowering
50 days veg.

Been concentrating a lot on upping up the nutes. Currently at 630 from 450.
same ratio as the chart, so if I increase I increase them all.
currently bloom is at 10ml/gal and she is handling it pretty well
sweet smell fills the tent
due to delay x-mas and New Years, xs4000 might take another 2 weeks to arrive.
currently 20 inches off the canopy.
lux 50,000.
Havent done any lollipopping or defo last few days.
Added 2 fans at the bottom of the canopy to help with circulation.

 

[ElDoctore]

Laughing Buddha - Barney’s Farm
Day 24 flowering
50 days veg complete.
PPM now 850. Ph 6.2
Plant almost finishing 2.5 gallons of water a day.
Every 2 days I would raise the ppm by 60; now at 850 now I see some nute burn. So I am gonna hold my ppm at 800 for now.
Plant is looking really well. One of my best grows yet I would say.
Not sure if I am still in early or mid bloom at this stage.
Canopy has become really bushy. Might need a little hair cut to allow some ventilation between the branches… too lazy to start.

Still waiting for my XS-4000 to arrive so I replace the three middle LED. Another 10 days apparently.

 

[ElDoctore]

Laughing Buddha - Barney’s Farm
Day 28 flowering
50 days veg complete.

So far so good.
Took my lights up. Almost 14-16 inches from canopy. No signs of any heat stress yet.
ph between 6 to 6.1. Ppm 750 - 800. Temp 23 night and 26.6 daytime. Humidity 65% to 79%
Still waiting for new lights and PAR meter.
Maybe next week I’ll change the res and decrease nitrogen.

till next time

 

[ElDoctore]

Lights arrived.
a XS4000 and 2 of XS2000 @ViparSpectra

looking at it now, I should have gotten 2 x XS4000 for more even light distribution.
none the less; with the lights at around 14 inches; and being at 60% dimmer; I am in a very comfortable PPFD zone for light.

now I am thinking of lifting the LED, I might have 3-4 inches of height left; and increase the brightness.
now with the PAR meter; it’s very easy to be objective with the lights.
I have to say, since using them I am seeing a substantial change in the grow, and how positively the plant has responded to it.

The new PPM meter arrived today. @Bill284 so while the old one was showing 750; the new proper one shows 1500+. E.C 3.1. This definitely makes more sense.

since the plant is responding well to these values, I am leaving them as they are and just monitoring.

This is the highest Cola receiving around 1400 PPFD

This is for the cola furthest away canopy layer

Till next time

 

[Rexer]

Beautiful garden and setup @ElDoctore

Mind if I follow along?

 

[ElDoctore]

@Rexer
Not at all, be my guest.
Any points to improve are always welcome

 

[Rexer]

@Rexer
Not at all, be my guest.
Any points to improve are always welcome

Oh I think you're doing wonderful, and coco is not something I've used before. Besides, Bill is incredible with coco and you couldn't have better in your corner.

Your system is what caught my eye,

I usually grow with a 100% hydroton medium and use a recirculating system. How are you collecting the runoff? Drain under the tray feeding the pump? Any drawbacks that you've had?
I love it.

 

[ElDoctore]

Oh I think you're doing wonderful, and coco is not something I've used before. Besides, Bill is incredible with coco and you couldn't have better in your corner.

Your system is what caught my eye,

I usually grow with a 100% hydroton medium and use a recirculating system. How are you collecting the runoff? Drain under the tray feeding the pump? Any drawbacks that you've had?
I love it.

Thank you very much.
@Bill284 has been a great help with this grow so far.
Regarding collecting the water.
I made a collection tray made out of 3 mm stainless steel. I explained it with pictures in the first post.

The tray is actually designed in dimensions to hold 120 litres of water +
so even if my outflow pumps fail, water would just pool inside rather then overflow.

The tray where the pot is has a 3 degree tilt, which allows water to run off easily, and a trench at the end of it
In the other picture you can see the 3 pumps.
2 for outflow, and u see them connecting to the inside the trench and they almost suck up all the water per feed, maybe with 30-40 ml which evaporated before the next grow.
Tray always stays dry, except during watering.

 

[ElDoctore]

Any drawbacks that you've had?

Just saw this part of the question.
Honestly there are a few things that I think is a MUST.
- one being the strainers before the pump, every time the strainer gets blocked; I am so grateful that it wasn’t my pump going through it.
- Volt dial for watering pump. In the first 3 weeks I always had to do manual watering, and after the transfer to a bigger pot; I had to be careful because the water pressure would be too high and coco/perlite goes everywhere. Volt dial solved that by allowing me to control my water flow.
- Leak sensor; under the tray. Just in case.
- hydrohalo; game changer; I don’t have to worry about watering pipes being not secure and flying everywhere. Before it, I was using an 8 head octopus with 1/4 inch pipes coming out of it buried in the coco. But sometimes when the water switches on, the pipes comes out flying and leaks outside the collection tray.

In terms of the reservoir; I added an aquarium filter inside; helped remove a lot of Gunk.
keep your water alive with airing it; mixing it. One week I add hydrogaurd, the other I add H2O2.

 

[Bill284]

Lights arrived.
a XS4000 and 2 of XS2000 @ViparSpectra

looking at it now, I should have gotten 2 x XS4000 for more even light distribution.
none the less; with the lights at around 14 inches; and being at 60% dimmer; I am in a very comfortable PPFD zone for light.

now I am thinking of lifting the LED, I might have 3-4 inches of height left; and increase the brightness.
now with the PAR meter; it’s very easy to be objective with the lights.
I have to say, since using them I am seeing a substantial change in the grow, and how positively the plant has responded to it.

The new PPM meter arrived today. @Bill284 so while the old one was showing 750; the new proper one shows 1500+. E.C 3.1. This definitely makes more sense.

since the plant is responding well to these values, I am leaving them as they are and just monitoring.

This is the highest Cola receiving around 1400 PPFD

This is for the cola furthest away canopy layer

Till next time

Those @ViparSpectra are fantastic aren't they.
Garden looks great, everyone is happy.

Stay safe
Bill

 

[ElDoctore]

Laughing Buddha - @Barney's Farm
Day 33 Flowering. 50 days veg.
Recirculating coco.
lights @ViparSpectra

Buds fattening up.
Humidity reaching almost 80% at night And 50% daytime Temp 23-26.
pH at 6.2. Ppm between 1450-1550

PPFD 1400 at top cola - no heat stress yet and around 600 at corners.
didn’t change water yet. Laughing Buddha takes 10 weeks to flower; so gonna complete 5 week then change water; concentrating more on bud fatness and less on nitrogen.

Buds between first and second net looking really good too.
All branches well supported by nets, usually by now I have to start stringing/supporting the branches to the top of the net, so far doesn’t seem like I do.

 

[ElDoctore]

Laughing Buddha - @Barney's Farm
Day 40 Flowering. 50 days veg.
Recirculating coco.
lights @ViparSpectra

She is looking good. About to close week 6 of flowering.
Today I changed the water in the Res.

Started on week 7; in addition to this schedule there is 2ml/gal for cal mag
but for the nitrogen I am down to 1ml/gal
ppm 1400. pH 6.1

A few shots. I came during a watering, u can see the water coming down the tray, and the collection trench whete it gets drained from.
Did some close up shots, a lot of trichomes already looks cloudy. What do you think?
As per schedule, 4 weeks left.

 

[Bill284]

Laughing Buddha - @Barney's Farm
Day 40 Flowering. 50 days veg.
Recirculating coco.
lights @ViparSpectra

She is looking good. About to close week 6 of flowering.
Today I changed the water in the Res.

Started on week 7; in addition to this schedule there is 2ml/gal for cal mag
but for the nitrogen I am down to 1ml/gal
ppm 1400. pH 6.1

A few shots. I came during a watering, u can see the water coming down the tray, and the collection trench whete it gets drained from.
Did some close up shots, a lot of trichomes already looks cloudy. What do you think?
As per schedule, 4 weeks left.

Absolutely perfect.
Do you use the complete line of the flora series?
Or just the tri part?

Stay safe
Bill

 

[ElDoctore]

Absolutely perfect.
Do you use the complete line of the flora series?
Or just the tri part?

Stay safe
Bill

Thank you. Really glad with the way it’s turning out.
I use all 13 of them. The 12 mentioned in the feed chart above plus cal mag.
I also use hydrogaurd and hydrogen peroxide on alternative weeks.

 

[Bill284]

Thank you. Really glad with the way it’s turning out.
I use all 13 of them. The 12 mentioned in the feed chart above plus cal mag.
I also use hydrogaurd and hydrogen peroxide on alternative weeks.

I love Hydroguard, but I'm in Canada for some reason it's difficult to find here.
I've never used the full line from GF.
Your ladies are loving it.
Nice work my friend.

Stay safe
Bill

 

[ElDoctore]

I love Hydroguard, but I'm in Canada for some reason it's difficult to find here.
I've never used the full line from GF.
Your ladies are loving it.
Nice work my friend.

Stay safe
Bill

Thanks buddy.
I live half way around the world from the US and have to buy everything from there and courier it to my location.
you can imagine the amounts I have to pay for shipping.
I tried to switch to loca/ cheaper options, but nothing gave me the results that GH has.
I tried GH 3,6 and 10 part. The 10 part is a pain to do, but once you get used to it, it’s a lot easier to manage and the girls love it.

 

[ElDoctore]

Came to check on the res
I see this white foamy layer.

Usually happens after a res change, especially when a lot of sugar is added, in my case “flora nectar”. It usually happens for the first 3 days then settles.

Especially when my air bubbles are on max, and I leave the water mixer overnight “I usually do after a res change for a good mix”.

It’s called foam fractionation I think.

I usually just scoop it out, but that being said, I am also removing the nutrient, this is why I also had a greater ppm drop then usual. so I gradually top it off over the next few days.

No biggie.

 

[ElDoctore]

Laughing Buddha - @Barney's Farm
Day 48 Flowering. 50 days veg.
Recirculating coco.
lights @ViparSpectra

Been struggling with humidity a lot lately

I had to buy a dehumidifier to have this controlled.
In the process I realized my sensor measures VPD “Vapour pressure difference”

So I started reading more about it; and it’s basically a temp/humidity balance that allows perspiration to happen.
the outward movement of water out of the leaf is one of the the important factor that drives water from the roots to replace water lost in leaves.
So more reading done; and there are some correlations “theoretically” when growing cannabis.
But basically they have suggested some values to work within

So with an average of 0.66 Kp; I was basically way below recommended

Got a dehumidifier

Instantly huge difference in readings.

initially I thought it was a reaction to the temperature going up. But I realized a few days ago, I got my temp up but my humidity was still high and VPD low.

Also the VPD started going up.

I’ll keep my eyes peeled on in for the next few days to see progress.
but generally buds look really good. Hopefully no mould. I made sure I have good circulation going on.
Humidity also helped give rise to the infamous coco fungus gnats.
I currently reduced my watering to twice a day to help the coco dry out more.
will add sticky tape and vinegar/soap traps in the next few days.
will add pics later on today. Didn’t get the time during this visit.
till next time