BiggMakk's Pure Tranquility In Soil Regular Photo

Day 29​

Day 14 of vegetative stage​

Happy horticulturing!

Turned up light brightness to 25,000 lux. Working up to 50,000 lux for vegetative stage.

Watered 1.0 liter of filtered tap water with mycorrhizae.

Height: 4.375 inches
Primary leaves 6.75 inches wide.

Averages over the last 24 hours:
Temperature: 81.0° F
Humidity: 29.2% (humidifier was out of water)
VPD: 2.60 kPa

View from the lights​


Standing tall​


Getting ready for water with mycorrhizae​

 

Day 29​

Day 14 of vegetative stage​

Happy Wednesday!

Turned up light brightness to 100%. It was almost there anyway. Light measurement at top of plant is 30,000 lux.

Watered 2.0 liter of filtered tap water with Big Bloom (4 ml) and CalMag (2 ml). After I finished applying the nutrients I realized I hadn't checked pH/EC/ppm. AND I miscalculated the amount of nutrients. I put in the "per liter" amount when it was 2 liters of water so it ended up half what I intended.

Height: 6.25 inches

Averages over the last 24 hours:
Temperature: 77.6° F
Humidity: 40.5% (humidifier was out of water)
VPD: 1.98 kPa

Top down view​


Side view​

 
(These actions were actually performed Sunday, March 10. Just now posting. Also just noticed the above post needs an edit. It is actually day 33 overall, day 18 of vegetative stage.)

Day 37​

Day 22 of vegetative stage​


Watered 3.0 liter of filtered tap water.
pH: 6.4
EC (µS scale): 335
ppm (0.5 scale): 157

Runoff
pH: 6.6
EC: 6505
ppm: 3276

Topped above 5th node. This weekend I'll start LST.
Height: 6.75 inches (after topping)
Set up self watering base since I'm out of town for a few days. See photos below.

Averages over the last 7 days:
Temperature: 77.7° F
Humidity: 47.1%
VPD: 1.78 kPa

Topped (close up)​


Wide shot after topping​


Self-watering base, water basin, center post installed​


Self-watering base, drain plate installed​

Manufacturer says it will hold 100 pounds.

Self-watering base, 4 wicks cut to 12" length​

Cut and burned ends to prevent unraveling.

Self-watering base, 4 wicks installed​


Self-watering base, installed in tent, waiting for plant​


Plant installed on self-watering base full water basin​

While filling, the floating water level indicator didn't start moving up so I continued adding water until the water was at the bottom of the drain plate. I tapped the indicator and it popped right up. It was stuck. Note to anyone else getting these, the indicator should start moving up with very little water so tap it to unstick it. It'll probably never happen to me again. :cool:

Measuring the pH level of water supplied to the plant​

The "clamp" holding the pH meter is a microphone clip ($8) designed to be screwed onto a mic stand. I had hoped when I ordered it that I could mount it on a camera tripod but the threads don't match. Works just fine propped on the side of the container.

Thanks to @Grand Daddy Black and @LKABudMan for introducing me to the self-watering base.
 

Day 45​

Day 30 of vegetative stage​


Added about 3.0 liter of filtered tap water to swick base.
pH: 6.2
EC (µS scale): 302
ppm (0.5 scale): 144

Started LST training.
Height: 13.0 inches (before LST) ALMOST DOUBLED IN HEIGHT IN ONE WEEK!!!!

Readjusted light to 20" above top of plant. Checked light measurements using Photone app.
25,000 lux
484 PPFD
31.0 DLI

Averages over the last 7 days:
Temperature: 77.7° F
Humidity: 47.1%
VPD: 1.78 kPa

Nice smells starting to emerge.

Top view after LST​


Side view after LST. BIG leaf gathering lots of light for the plant​

 

Day 51​

Day 36 of vegetative stage​


Added about 3.0 liter of filtered tap water to swick base.
pH: 6.5
EC (µS scale): 322
ppm (0.5 scale): 151

Top fed some Grow Big (6-4-4), 12 ml in 3,000 ml filtered water (equivalent to 3 tsp/gallon).
pH: 6.2
EC (µS scale): 2241
ppm (0.5 scale): 1133

Added trellis net for further LST.

Averages over the last 7 days:
Temperature: 75.9° F
Humidity: 46.7%
VPD: 1.65 kPa

Side view​


Top down view​


Top down view with netting​

 

Day 51​

Day 36 of vegetative stage​


Added about 3.0 liter of filtered tap water to swick base.
pH: 6.5
EC (µS scale): 322
ppm (0.5 scale): 151

Top fed some Grow Big (6-4-4), 12 ml in 3,000 ml filtered water (equivalent to 3 tsp/gallon).
pH: 6.2
EC (µS scale): 2241
ppm (0.5 scale): 1133

Added trellis net for further LST.

Averages over the last 7 days:
Temperature: 75.9° F
Humidity: 46.7%
VPD: 1.65 kPa

Side view​


Top down view​


Top down view with netting​

Nice training!! Gonna be a good canopy soon!! Happy Monday!! 😎✌️
 

Day 56​

Day 41 of vegetative stage​


I've been following @Grand Daddy Black's grow and I'm using the same SWICK bases. He has noted some concern with pH drift in the water sitting in the base. So here comes a small experiment. Does it have something to do with it being in the base? Or does it drift just because the water is open to the environment and can evaporate? Here is what I did:

Starting with 3100 ml of filtered tap water. Adjusted pH to 6.0. Poured 50 ml into a shot glass. Poured another 50 ml into a pill bottle with a lid. Poured the remaining 3000 ml into the SWICK base.

The open shot glass and closed bottle placed in the tent next to the plant so they experience the same environment as the plant. I will check pH in 24 and 48 hours, maybe more depending on those results.

As I'm typing this, I think I should have added a container of distilled water. That way I could determine if it is minerals in the tap water that causes more, less, or the same pH drift. I can add it tomorrow. I am guessing the filtered tap water will drift more than distilled water and the open water will drift more than the closed container.

The numbers on the 3100 ml of filtered tap water:
pH: 6.0
EC (µS scale): 296
ppm (0.5 scale): 144

Averages over the last 7 days:
Temperature: 75.7° F
Humidity: 47.4%
VPD: 1.63 kPa

Top down view​


Oblique view​


I think we are getting close to pre-flowering based on smell and photos below. Starting to see primordial growth at the nodes.


This site is most promising. To my naked eye, the site in this picture looks more like pistils behind the calyx than in the picture. Regardless, I can wait for definite gender indications before having a gender reveal party.
 
Well, here are the first numbers but I'm not believing them. Maybe the meter is off but I don't want to re-calibrate until I make at least one more set of readings in case it is working correctly.

pH measurementsSWICK BaseOpen shot glassClosed bottle
3/29/20246.06.06.0
3/30/20247.37.27.0

That's a very large swing in just 24 hours. I have no explanation. I think I'm going to have to run this over again after calibrating my pH meter. I'll take another set of readings tomorrow. Also, the water level in base is slightly more than half empty based on the floating level indicator. That also seems like a lot of water used especially since the humidity is around 55% - 60%. 🤷‍♂️
 
Well, here are the first numbers but I'm not believing them. Maybe the meter is off but I don't want to re-calibrate until I make at least one more set of readings in case it is working correctly.

pH measurementsSWICK BaseOpen shot glassClosed bottle
3/29/20246.06.06.0
3/30/20247.37.27.0

That's a very large swing in just 24 hours. I have no explanation. I think I'm going to have to run this over again after calibrating my pH meter. I'll take another set of readings tomorrow. Also, the water level in base is slightly more than half empty based on the floating level indicator. That also seems like a lot of water used especially since the humidity is around 55% - 60%. 🤷‍♂️
:nomo:
 
Here is the updated table with today's numbers.

pH measurementsSWICK BaseOpen shot glassClosed bottle
3/29/20246.06.06.0
3/30/20247.37.27.0
3/31/2024empty :eye-roll:7.27.2

No significant change in the last 24 hours. So any drift was in the first 24 hours.

Since I was concerned that my pH meter needed calibration, I put it in the calibration solution, and it read 7.1. So not far off. Calibrated anyway. Running the test again.

Same conditions with one addition. Starting with 3100 ml of filtered tap water. Adjusted pH from 7.6 to 6.0 using pH Down. Poured 50 ml into a shot glass. Poured another 50 ml into a pill bottle with a lid. Poured the remaining 3000 ml into the SWICK base. Also added a shot glass of distilled water at pH 7.2.

So now I'm wondering if the pH Down is partially evaporating from the water so it returns closer to the beginning pH (before adding pH Down). I think the pH was 7.6 before I started adding pH Down. I don't have enough water chemistry knowledge to know if this is even possible. IF it is possible, then it's time to look at other types of acid to lower pH. Something that makes me go "hmmm..." I work at a university in the science college so I'm sure I can find a chemist to explain some of this.
 

pH water test number 2​

Weirdness continues. First thing I stuck the pH meter in was the open shot glass with the same water that went into the SWICK base. Meter read 3.5. WHAT?!?! Is my meter broke? Stuck it in 7.0 control solution. It read 7.0. Perfect. Stuck it in distilled water. Reading 7.1. Again, correct. Checked the water in the closed bottle and it said 6.0. Hmm, exactly the same as when it went into the bottle 24 hours ago. Good. Back into the open shot glass. pH = 3.3. It is what it is.

pH measurementsSWICK BaseOpen shot glass same water that went into baseClosed bottleDistilled water in open shot glass
3/31/20246.06.06.07.2
4/1/20247.13.36.07.3

So the same as the first test, the SWICK Base pH rose considerably in 24 hours. The closed bottle stayed the same which is kind of what I would expect even though that isn't what happened in the first test. Distilled water in open shot glass didn't change noticeably. BUT I have NO idea what is going on in the open shot glass with the same water as the SWICK Base and closed bottle. We'll see what the numbers are tomorrow. This is a grow journal so back to the plant.

Day 59​

Day 44 of vegetative stage​

Still rolling along. No clear gender indicators yet. Looking good and smelling good. Considering flipping the lights to 12/12 this weekend to initiate the flowering stage.

Averages over the last 7 days:
Temperature: 76.0° F
Humidity: 55.0%
VPD: 1.40 kPa

I like the trend of the VPD number getting lower. Since that is the 7 day average I looked at the last hour and it is 1.04 kPa so right where it needs to be for this stage. The higher 7 day number is because the humidifier ran out of water and I didn't notice for a couple of days.

Just a photo to satisfy the voyeurs (like me)​

 

pH water test number 2​

Numbers not unusual now that I've seen weird. Semi-educated conclusion: even though it is clear that there is a pH drift in an upward direction in exposed water. I think I want to do more research and definitely want to talk to one of our chemists. I'm already coming up with different methodology such as using RO water instead of tap water. This is also not directly related to this grow journal so I won't post anymore of this information in this journal unless it directly impacts this plant. I will start a new thread in the appropriate forum.

pH measurementsSWICK BaseOpen shot glass same water that went into baseClosed bottleDistilled water in open shot glass
3/31/20246.06.06.07.2
4/1/20247.13.36.07.3
4/2/2024empty3.26.47.2

Discovered a little trick tonight while working in the grow room. My pH and TDS meters fit just right in a typical sized pill bottle. Convenient for testing a sample of about 40 ml (about 1.5 oz.). Holds up the meter nicely. Finally, the trillion dollar pharmaceutical industry is paying off for me.
 
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