Crawdaddy's Fall 2013 TopLED COB Grow

[Crawdaddy]

Thanks Chronic...

Hey I got a question for all the hydro growers out there?

I got a GH WaterFarm as an experiment into hydro and I am having trouble keeping pH stable. I get it to around 5.5 then in a day or two tops it rises to the 6.5-7.5 range. I rinsed the hydroton in water for a little bit before using, should I have maybe soaked it in low (~4.5) pH water for a couple days before hand? or could i have some other issue? The plant in it is tiny, roots barely sticking out of little rockwool cube it in the hydroton, and she is not happy. Curled/burnt tips and just generally yellow.

 

[CronicHempHog]

hey Crawdad Happy Thurweed day
I don't know the quality of the water up there for one thing
you using ro water or something?
what was your process used to get to the point your at now
what kind of setup is gh waterfarm? is it a big hempy type thing?
drip? dwc? rdwc?
also I use rooting plugs the kind they make from trees and what not I don't have to ph them
rockwool needs to be phed to 5.5 before use at least a couple hrs in a cup of water at 5.5
its why I use the plugs I don't need to ph the plug like rockwool
also I don't put it in the hydro till I have root or roots showing out of the plug or rockwool
I did start with rockwool when I started then switched to the plugs
for me its dwc so when I first put it in since theres no root structure I run the water depth to just about touch the plug
when its that small it wont take up much of that water so I don't worry about the lvl of water for seedlings
as it gets bigger normally in bloom I have to add daily and check ph daily
sounds like the plant is too small to be affecting the ph tho
when its big and drinks 1/2 -1 gallon a day the ph can fluctuate just because of that
and depending how much nutes its taking in which way the ph will go but as I said sounds like the plant is too small to affect ph like that so
and the hydroton literally needs to be cleaned not just rinsed you gotta agitate it and flush it and do it a few time just to get the dust and stuff off
and generally a ph of 5.8 is good
when its small you can get away with 6.2 if its only a seedling id make sure not to use too much nutes 1/2 or less
it cant really uptake a lot off that tiny root anyhow so it just be a waste
so back to the original question what kind of water you using?
also try this the water your using fill a bucket check the ph let it sit overnight
check the ph again next day
off a tiny seedling whose roots are barely out of the rockwool I cant see the ph shifting so drastically
lemme know what happens well figure this out tons of guys to help

 

[Crawdaddy]

Hey chronic, it almost the weekend

thanks for the answer, easy answer first I am using RO water, got filter about 2 weeks ago, reads 8-10 ppm out of spigot.

The GH Waterfarm is kind of a combo drip/dwc, with hydroton as medium (well what I using). It drips into the 2 gallon top container into the 3 gallon bottom res that is aerated by the pump that power drip. I only rinsed my hydroton in shower for about 5 mins. I think that my issue. When I pull out top container I can see a dust settling in bottom of res. right now my plan is just to monitor every day and add pH down if pH above 6.5, changing water again tomorrow too. My thinking is if it the hydroton not being conditioned it will eventually be ok. Plant is not happy but it growing slowly, hopefully making good roots but do not want to pull it out to check and disturb it.

 

[CronicHempHog]

yea you gotta kinda wash it off till you don't see any dust
and it should be ok
make sure your not directly adding ph up or down into your res mix it with water first
and yes at this point don't mess with it leave it alone

 

[Crawdaddy]

So today was another busy day in Crawdaddy's garden.

First order of business was cleaning out and spraying down with Mighty Wash then alchohol solution then tent with DS 200 in it. After airing out, I moved the four Blueberry teenagers in there. This will be their final home unless something happens. Vegging for another 2-4 weeks then going 12/12.

Next was transplanting the 4 Hawaiian Snow, 4 Brainstorm, Chronic and White Widow into 3 gallon pots and under the MARS II 1200.

Here they are before move...

Now some root shots.

And here is the whole tent. They look so small now. Going to be crowded in there.

In the far back right corner is a Super Cheese, with a clone copy in the airpot in front of it.
To the left of it in airpot is Double Berry clone, with copy in nursery pot in front of it.

Here we have a Choco Chunk clone and copy in front of it in airpot. The Chronic and White Widow seedling are on the left with a brainstorm clone in the bottom left.

Next is the poor Hawaiian Snow clone in the Waterfarm, I need to dial this in. She is not happy with me. pH fluctuates like crazy.

Here is 3 of the Brainstorm Seedlings

And finally the final Brainstorm seedling in middle right. With the 4 Hawaiian snow seedlings and the Brainstorm clone from previous pic. (one of the choco Chunk and Double Berry above them)

The point with the clones in nursery and airpot (Super cheese, Double Berry and Choco chunk) is to see if any difference between airpot and nursery pot. all other factors will be the same.

Probably be too crowded in here in a while, but maybe by then i can find some space for the Waterfarm, Brainstorm clone. and the Chonic and/or white widow might be given away/killed, they free seeds after all and seem to be falling behind. Time will tell.

 

[Crawdaddy]

yea you gotta kinda wash it off till you don't see any dust
and it should be ok
make sure your not directly adding ph up or down into your res mix it with water first
and yes at this point don't mess with it leave it alone

Ok, thanks for help man!

 

[b.real]

looking great! the ones that look stressed from nutes do pure water for a one or two times

 

[Crawdaddy]

looking great! the ones that look stressed from nutes do pure water for a one or two times

I assume you mean the ones in the back in bigger pots? Because, they are newly rooted clones and I have not cleaned them up yet, that why leaves looking all burnt. The only one currently getting toasted is the poor Hawaiian snow in fertilizer.

For once I think I am not over feeding too early.

 

[b.real]

for sure they're gonna be a lot happier, and yeah just that one or two plants. you got it, lets see what these leds can do

 

[KingJohnC]

Are you using a calcium and magnesium supplement with your Reverse Osmosis water?

 

[Crawdaddy]

Are you using a calcium and magnesium supplement with your Reverse Osmosis water?

Yep I have General Organics CaMg. I put about a tsp in each gallon when they get fed nutes. May end up upping that to two tsp. per gallon. Cause I think i am starting to see beginnings of Mg deficiency in the Hawaiian Snow that is 26 days into flower under the TopLED COB.

BTW going to give update on those 5 plants under COB light this weekend, they are my best looking plants I have grown indoor so far. No early browning of pistil tips like I always had from burning them before. Nice fat white pistils.

 

[CronicHempHog]

very nice Crawdad things are sounding up for you man
Happy Freeweed day and a Chronic Weekend to you

 

[Crawdaddy]

thanks chronic same to you as usual.

Feels so much better to feel like I doing something right in the garden. I am really excited to see how the different phenos of my 3 'main' strains (Hawaiian Snow, Brainstorm, Blueberry) turn out. Hopefully be some good variety, already seeing differences in how they grow. One Hawaiian Snow has a different look to it. To put it into words 'sharper' leaf serrations. I will try and get some pics tonight to show. And one Brainstorm seems to be much more vigor to it then the others.

 

[CronicHempHog]

cant wait for the update looking forward to it

 

[Crawdaddy]

Here are some pics of the Hawaiian Snow seedlings, all survived the transplant in good health...

Which one has the different look to you all?, it more pronounced then in pictures. My g/f picked same one as me when I asked her to look at them in person and pick the 'different' one.

 

[CronicHempHog]

looking good

 

[Crawdaddy]

Here is the poor Hawaiian Snow in the WaterFarm with pH going up like crazy. But she is still growing, so I assume getting roots. From what I read about hydro you get quick changes if do things right.

Changed out the res water and cleaning out hydroton dust from res. Then fresh water/nutes, pH balanced to 5.5.

 

[CronicHempHog]

bring it up a bit 5.8 next time

 

[Crawdaddy]

Will do, it goes up on its own already so i bet be over 6.0 tomorrow, unless it better from washing out dust.

 

[CronicHempHog]

yea I gotta adjust ph daily myself im thinking after I run out of the nutes I have now
maybe ill try that advanced nutes self phing nutes