Dank's Soil/Hydro Auto Grow Under CFLs

[danklover79]

Thank you for the heat mat suggestion KJC, I will get one of those soon. This is day 20, and the pump has been turned on. I just have ph 5.5 distilled water, with 1 drop of superthrive in the res now, and I mixed 1/2 teaspoon fox farms grow big to add when I refill the res. She is coming along nicely now, very well established, and the roots still look quite healthy. I have been waiting on some seeds to come in, but over two weeks, and they are still not here, so I planted my last one. It is shot adrenaline by Samsara seeds, white dwarf X skunk#1, which I have already grown 2 of the last grow. I planted it directly into it's final container, a 3 gallon smart pot, with 65% FFOF, and 35% perlite. I learned not to transplant autos the last grow, after one of my plants was stunted, and eventually hermied on me, probably from heat stress, but I will do everything I can to reduce stress this round.

 

[danklover79]

Forgot the pic guys, and I'll get some more after lights on, and show you guys the roots.

 

[KingJohnC]

you want pH 5.8 for hydroponic and soiless (peat moss and coco coir) and pH 6.5 for soil.

 

[danklover79]

I checked the ph at lights on, and it was already up to 6.5, so I cleaned the res, and replaced the solution. That was about 5 hours ago, and all is looking well, but I'm sure I will have to adjust the ph tomorrow as well. I know ph tends to climb when minerals are introduced, like dolomite, as fluid control is a large part of what I do for a living, but it went from 5.8 to 6.5 in like 18 hours. I deal with thousands of barrels of fluid that is being circulated by very large pumps, with all kinds of additives any point, and I know very well how ph fluctuates. It really pisses me off when I show up to work, and the guy i relieved has let the ph get too low, makes for a lot of work for all of us, since hydrated lime comes in 50 lb sacks. I have to test weight of the fluid, ph, viscosity, among other things constantly throughout my shift, so having to pick up the slack really sucks.

 

[danklover79]

Hello all, I hope you are ready to see the smallest flowering plant ever. This is day 20 from sprout, and yesterday preflowers appeared. This doesn't surprise me, since my last autos started flowering at 22, but this plant is less than an inch tall! I came back from the hydro store, which almost a two hour drive, and spotted the hairs, never seen even a picture of a flowering plant that small. I picked up some Dutch Master Root Zone, a net pot for my next diy hydro setup, some ona blocks, and a very nice digital timer with 2 outlets, that is rated for 1800 watts. They have been out of ph down for awhile, so I'm having to use lime juice for now, which is quite unstable, until I can order some myself. Hope you are all having a good day, and enjoy the pics of my tiny girl!

 

[ShrubHub]

Wow that's crazy I could fit 50 of those in my closet lol

 

[danklover79]

Ok guys I'm not sure how to proceed with the nutes, since she is so small. Usually I wouldn't add nutes until the plant is a little taller, but this plant is now flowering, so should I start with a weak solution of bloom nutes, like 1/8 strength since it's flowering? The plant is looking good so far, but the old growth is yellowing a bit, and there are no micro nutrients in the res currently.

 

[KingJohnC]

you could try a 1/8 strength nutrient solution and see how your plant reacts to it.

 

[danklover79]

I just flushed, and rinsed the res, and added 1/8 strength bloom nutes, so I'll see what happens in the next day. She is looking healthy, and the roots look good, even better after the flush.

 

[danklover79]

This is day 4 of flower, and there's not much to update, but the seed I planted finally popped a couple of days ago. I'm thinking of changing the title of the journal, so I should just message a moderator, right? I'm still not sure what I want the title to be, just wondering how it's done. Res temps got a little high this morning, so I added 2 small ice cubes before I adjusted the ph, but I really need to build a chiller, or some type of housing for the res, to help shade it from the light. I have my 125 watt 2700K cfl on the pixie, and a single 42 watt 6500K cfl on the seedling, both under 18/6. Since I don't have a separate veg room, I will finish the pixie under 18/6, then I will germinate more seeds right before I harvest the shot adrenaline. I don't expect much from either, but hopefully the change in light cycle, and as a result better root structure will help the yield a little. I will post some pics when the lights come on, hope everyone is as stoned as I am!

 

[KingJohnC]

when you decide on a title for your grow journal let me know and I will tell you how to have the title changed.

 

[danklover79]

I want the the title to read Dank's Soil/DWC Auto Grow Under Cfls

 

[danklover79]

Okay guys I finally took some pics, after I noticed brown on the roots, and treated them with some Dutch Master Zone, which is some really good stuff. The roots looked 100% better after the rinse, and I replaced the nutrient solution after cleaning the res, and airstone.

Here are some pics of the new baby, which is in a 3 gallon smart pot.

 

[ShrubHub]

Really interested to see the yield on that little guy lol

 

[danklover79]

Yeah i think I'll be lucky to get a couple of grams, there's only 5 very small bud sites on her so far, and she's not stretching much in flower. I won't do any autos again for a while, hard to get a decent yield when the plants flower on their own. I have some really nice strains coming in the mail soon, all photo period strains, and I can't wait until these autos finish, so I can start that grow.

 

[miwa]

that DE is good stuff..but...it stops working if it gets wet..it has sharp edges that water takes away..with DWC sometimes the roots will be stained by nutes..will be a light brown...anything darker will be root rot...sprouts look good...

 

[danklover79]

Scratch that, there are 7 bud sites, very small sites, never seen a plant this damn small. Thanks for stopping by miwa, and good info about the DE, I have some fungus gnats now, so I just reapplied the DE. I think the brown is just from the nutes, because it hasn't progressed, but the high res temp yesterday had me concerned. I figured since I had the Dutch Master Zone, I might as well give them a rinse, more to prevent the rot than anything else. That shit is not cheap, but I think it will be worth it in the end. This just seems like a lot of work for small autos, that won't produce much, and don't have as much THC as other strains.

 

[miwa]

keep that temp down..root rot will develope over night..frozen bottles of water will help...

 

[danklover79]

What's the optimum res temp? Temps in the closet are in the 70s, never getting over 81, but I'm thinking about putting a housing around the bottle, then installing a pc fan. You think that air flow would make the res too cold? I can get a small 12v fan, and reduce to as low as 3v output with the AC adapter I have. It is the big cfl that's causing the rise in temps, and I fear that just building a shroud around it will cause the temp to rise even higher. If I can get this hydro shit down, I want to do a scrog one day, with dwc, just don't think I have the patience for that much veg time yet, need to fill some jars first. Growing makes me very happy, and keeps me occupied, mostly doing research on this site, subbed to almost 50 journals now. Not to mention the buds from my first grow, while small, were the best I've smoked in many years, home grown rocks!

 

[danklover79]

Ok guys one more question, how do I add a pic to my signature? When I go to settings/edit signature, it says I'm not allowed to upload images for signature, wtf?