Dick23rk's Fresh Start: Mantis Nutrients Featuring MedicGrow's New Spectrum X+ 880w Light Panel

[dick23rk]

Absolutely jaw dropping light! I love the room and setup. I would love to have that much space. Soon...very soon!

FYI...I love your reefer Canadian flag! I'd love to come up to Canada some day and do a reefer road trip and taste all the amazing bud from our brothers up north.

I also used foam floor tiles to insulate the bottom of my tent. Works wonders! Ok..
Back to page 1. Just finished your first post. Amazing write up. Keeping me inspired amigo!

Thanks BA. I was a very lucky person to have been sponsored by a wonderful company here.

I have some other shirts and flags that need to get hung in there at some point. And if you ever come to Canada, cross the border from ND and stop into southeast Saskatchewan, I'll be here.

The foam tiles are great. I had looked at a big bundle of them to do my whole room floor, they were even wood grain looking ones lol

Glad I can be inspiring to some. The people here keep me going, so I like to hope that I do the same for others.

'Morning dick!

Hope you're doing OK this morning. You're garden is looking impressive, I love the symmetry of your plants.

Mental health- it's no joke. I've been down, I've thought about the big easy out. But never could put that on my family. Just admitting that you're fighting mental health issues puts you ahead of the pack. You're not alone, and never need be. You've got your family at home, and family on here. Don't be shy to send me a PM anytime. I'm glued to my phone most hours of the day, and that offer is open to anyone, but asking for help can be as hard as admitting you need it.

Spend some time outside in some sun today and feel it's warmth my friend

Thanks so much rexer I really appreciate that. You're right though, admitting the issue at hand is always the biggest step, I know that from my addiction experience as a young adult. I admitted it to myself, made the decision and let my wife know all within 5 or 10 minutes, it had just gotten to that point where I blew up. Thankfully I hadn't gotten to the point of any sort of self harm, but the dark times did try to creep into my head, I kept it at bay as best I could and I feel much better today. I will certainly be getting outside today, supposed to be over 20c and sunny.

 

[Bud Love]

Hey again everyone. Sorry I've been so absent here the last few days, it's been a pretty rough week for me. I had to quit my job yesterday with no notice, that's not like me, I couldn't handle it anymore. So many things in life and work piling up at once and stress levels through the roof. It was a combination of the workplace, the equipment and personal life things like covid that brought this on I believe.

Mental health is nothing to mess with, sometimes things bottle up inside when you don't talk about what's going on or what you're feeling. And with this covid world we're living in, things are no better when you don't have your friends to lean on or talk to as much as before. I'd like everyone to take a minute today and reflect on things, talk to a friend you haven't chatted with in a while, get out and see someone if you can. There's lots of people in this world today that are having mental health issues and I happened to be one of them this week, it's not fun and it's a good place to be with your family seeing it happen.

I hope everyone is well. I felt the need to come and get this off my chest, and to help raise some awareness to my fellow 420Mag friends. Today is a new day, tomorrow and the next are as well, time to keep on trucking. I'll get into the garden soon this morning when the lights come on for some much needed time with the plants. I'll need to feed them today so I'll grab pictures as I get through them all. Thank you all for being here! You and my family are what keeps me going.

Hey man..
Sorry to hear your having a rough time of it @dick23rk. Hope things get better quick for y’all.
Jeez man, mental health is a tricky one, not a lot you can do but slog it out for a bit, getting my shorts and trainers on and getting out for a few good runs has been a lifesaver for me over the years.. not everyone’s cup of tea I know.. but for me it’s that or happy pills off the Doc..sometimes both of things got too grim....And fu****g covid to boot, it’s a nightmare.

 

[Bud Love]

Hey man..
Sorry to hear your having a rough time of it @dick23rk. Hope things get better quick for y’all.
Jeez man, mental health is a tricky one, not a lot you can do but slog it out for a bit, getting my shorts and trainers on and getting out for a few good runs has been a lifesaver for me over the years.. not everyone’s cup of tea I know.. but for me it’s that or happy pills off the Doc..sometimes both of things got too grim....And fu****g covid to boot, it’s a nightmare.

I’ve had to lock myself away from everything in the loft or a tent at times over the last year, trying to keep away from my lads and their possible contamination..
Think I’m going mad as a box of frogs here mate. You may of noticed

hope it’s just a blip for you, an y’all back on track by Monday.
Peace an love to y’all

 

[dick23rk]

Hey man..
Sorry to hear your having a rough time of it @dick23rk. Hope things get better quick for y’all.
Jeez man, mental health is a tricky one, not a lot you can do but slog it out for a bit, getting my shorts and trainers on and getting out for a few good runs has been a lifesaver for me over the years.. not everyone’s cup of tea I know.. but for me it’s that or happy pills off the Doc..sometimes both of things got too grim....And fu****g covid to boot, it’s a nightmare.

Hey bud, thanks for that. I think that's part of it, I need to get out and do more active things, I really do enjoy it. Lately it had just been work, home, garden/games and sleep repeat. I need to get outside and doing things, it's beautiful out already this morning at 9am. Jogging/running isn't quite my cup of tea, you're right. I can do it but depending on the ground it gets hard on my bad knee, really anything active will be good for me though. Gonna get out with the kids today, and I plan to take some time at least next weekend to go fishing when season opens back up.

 

[Jon]

Hey bud, thanks for that. I think that's part of it, I need to get out and do more active things, I really do enjoy it. Lately it had just been work, home, garden/games and sleep repeat. I need to get outside and doing things, it's beautiful out already this morning at 9am. Jogging/running isn't quite my cup of tea, you're right. I can do it but depending on the ground it gets hard on my bad knee, really anything active will be good for me though. Gonna get out with the kids today, and I plan to take some time at least next weekend to go fishing when season opens back up.

Fishing. YES. That's one of my favorite stress relieving things to do. Check it out, dick23rk - I never caught a largemouth my entire life (never went specifically fishing for them, and never accidentally hooked one or anything). Then I was out back fishing the canal behind my house and using an Al's Goldfish lure for the first time, when suddenly something with some MUSCLE hits it and takes off. This thing jumped out of the water TWICE on me getting him in. When I saw it was a largemouth my jaw hit the floor. They're everywhere here, but not so much in the canals inside the developments. Anyway, just for the sake of solidarity and our collective sanity, LOL, check him out, this was the critter I caught. Not a trophy by any means, only around a pound and a half, but MAN did he fight. Enjoy! Try the Al's Goldfish - it's one of the top 50 lures of all time on every list you see. You'll have good luck with it, I can feel it. Here's a pic of the lure too.

 

[Bud Love]

Hey bud, thanks for that. I think that's part of it, I need to get out and do more active things, I really do enjoy it. Lately it had just been work, home, garden/games and sleep repeat. I need to get outside and doing things, it's beautiful out already this morning at 9am. Jogging/running isn't quite my cup of tea, you're right. I can do it but depending on the ground it gets hard on my bad knee, really anything active will be good for me though. Gonna get out with the kids today, and I plan to take some time at least next weekend to go fishing when season opens back up.

Yeah man, that’s the ticket, bit of fishing.
I’m itching to get out and have a wild camp at the min myself.. not done if before.
What do you fish for buddy?
I’ve done a bit of fly fishing over the years, I liked the fact that you have to get moving and work stuff out a bit.. it wasn’t for me sitting down all day.. it is now though an I’ll be taking a couple of spinners when I get out camping, in the very near future.
Been to Scotland a couple of times after the salmon, caught f all, but had a great time trolling the rivers for a couple of weekends..
Peace to ya man

 

[BakedARea]

cross the border from ND and stop into southeast Saskatchewan, I'll be here.

You better believe it! I wish I could bring some of my California buds as a gift without a prison sentence. >

I know that from my addiction experience as a young adult.

Not sure what I haven't got to yet in the journal but my wife and i were just talking this morning about addiction. Based on some of the recent responses, which I only read a couple sentences, it sounds like a recent rough patch happened. My thoughts and blessings to you amigo. Doing some chores and catching up on my breaks. This particular break...poop and some breakfast cereal! TMI?!

 

[Modest Grower]

Happy Saturday and new day @dick23rk I am sorry to hear what you are going through but so happy you are able to identify it and make a change. That is really inspiring to be honest as this hits close to home. Enjoy the weekend and the new opportunities that lay ahead!

 

[Reave]

Sorry to hear you are feeling down. Definitely happened to me a few times over the last couple years. One thing I noticed I do is dwell
On circumstances but you can’t change the spot you are in you can only dig out of it. Sounds like you are taking some steps towards that and it will make you feel better I’m sure.

it sure is hard to share with people how we are feeling I know that much is true. Even with those we care for most.

Your lights are looking good , I like to focus on my hobbies , turn off the news , focus on family. Also it’s starting to get a lot nicer up here and that Vitamin D and the rest of what the sunshine brings will surely liven everyone’s moods. Take care bro.

-reave

 

[Bud Love]

Glad I can be inspiring to some. The people here keep me going, so I like to hope that I do the same for others...

Just so you know, I’m pretty feckin inspired.. I’ve just got a load of sheeting and shelves and a new tent so I can clean my space up an have it more like yours mate.. they way you’ve laid out and organised your ladies was a bit woah! For me, a little intimidating if I’m totally honest at first..
I’ve got some of those @weedseedexpress gsc seeds that I was going to pop after y’all had written the bible on it
But I’ll give em a go early if you want your arse kicking

 

[dick23rk]

Fishing. YES. That's one of my favorite stress relieving things to do. Check it out, dick23rk - I never caught a largemouth my entire life (never went specifically fishing for them, and never accidentally hooked one or anything). Then I was out back fishing the canal behind my house and using an Al's Goldfish lure for the first time, when suddenly something with some MUSCLE hits it and takes off. This thing jumped out of the water TWICE on me getting him in. When I saw it was a largemouth my jaw hit the floor. They're everywhere here, but not so much in the canals inside the developments. Anyway, just for the sake of solidarity and our collective sanity, LOL, check him out, this was the critter I caught. Not a trophy by any means, only around a pound and a half, but MAN did he fight. Enjoy! Try the Al's Goldfish - it's one of the top 50 lures of all time on every list you see. You'll have good luck with it, I can feel it. Here's a pic of the lure too.

Very nice! I haven't seen that lure around, it may be in some of the actual hunting and fishing stores in the city, but I live in a tiny town in the country side lol I'll have a look for it next time I'm out and about.

There's really only a couple of places in Saskatchewan to fish for bass, largemouth and rock bass. 1 hole is about an hour away. Back home in Nova Scotia though, bass are plentiful in the lakes, rivers and ocean bays, stripers and largemouth. I believe when I go to the trout pond I will also have to try the spot for bass.

Yeah man, that’s the ticket, bit of fishing.
I’m itching to get out and have a wild camp at the min myself.. not done if before.
What do you fish for buddy?
I’ve done a bit of fly fishing over the years, I liked the fact that you have to get moving and work stuff out a bit.. it wasn’t for me sitting down all day.. it is now though an I’ll be taking a couple of spinners when I get out camping, in the very near future.
Been to Scotland a couple of times after the salmon, caught f all, but had a great time trolling the rivers for a couple of weekends..
Peace to ya man

Me too, it's been a couple years since I've really done any amount of fishing, didn't even go ice fishing this past winter. This year that will change as my boy is old enough now to start learning, daughter has the hang of it already.

Mostly what we get in this area for fish is walleye, northern pike and yellow perch. There's a couple bass spots and lots of stocked trout ponds. There's also some less desirable fish in the waters like bullheads and suckers lol There's even more species to the North and west, but that's mostly what we get here within an hour drive. I miss the fishing back home on the east coast.

You better believe it! I wish I could bring some of my California buds as a gift without a prison sentence. >

Not sure what I haven't got to yet in the journal but my wife and i were just talking this morning about addiction. Based on some of the recent responses, which I only read a couple sentences, it sounds like a recent rough patch happened. My thoughts and blessings to you amigo. Doing some chores and catching up on my breaks. This particular break...poop and some breakfast cereal! TMI?!

Just a couple breakdowns this week with my mental health, the addiction thing was way in the past, over 10 years ago. Things are better today, sun is shining and it's a new day.

Happy Saturday and new day @dick23rk I am sorry to hear what you are going through but so happy you are able to identify it and make a change. That is really inspiring to be honest as this hits close to home. Enjoy the weekend and the new opportunities that lay ahead!

Thanks MG, I'm glad I picked up on it when I did. I've seen others spiral into similar conditions so I was a little more aware of what was happening to me when it really hit, but it doesn't make it any easier that's for sure. Things will look up this week I'm sure. Relaxing this weekend aside from the garden and right back into things Monday on the new hunt.

Sorry to hear you are feeling down. Definitely happened to me a few times over the last couple years. One thing I noticed I do is dwell
On circumstances but you can’t change the spot you are in you can only dig out of it. Sounds like you are taking some steps towards that and it will make you feel better I’m sure.

it sure is hard to share with people how we are feeling I know that much is true. Even with those we care for most.

Your lights are looking good , I like to focus on my hobbies , turn off the news , focus on family. Also it’s starting to get a lot nicer up here and that Vitamin D and the rest of what the sunshine brings will surely liven everyone’s moods. Take care bro.

-reave

Well reave, that's exactly what I started doing yesterday was digging myself out of it. It wasn't easy leaving a job with nothing else lined up, but the job was part of the problem, or the company itself. Hard because my wife works there too, she's been there longer but has been off and on during covid, so she knows what it's like and feels stuck. I'm hoping this was her push to seek out something else as well while she's not working all the time. Only reason I ever went to work there was because my old job of 6 years slowed right down.

I've been getting more focused on my hobbies now and my kids. Things around the house as well, haven't stopped much so far today. And I've given up on the news and Facebook, traded it all to come back here and it was the best decision I've made. Love the people here!

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Great looking grow bud

I'm loving the training style & seeing variations of this method over the different journals.

 

[dick23rk]

**Potted Plant Update**Day 9 Flower**

Hey everyone! I'm finally back with an update, this one will be for the potted plants. I might not get the dwc updated tonight since we are going to the brother in-laws for supper, but I will get to it by tomorrow for sure. It's supposed to be rainy tomorrow so it will be an indoor day.

I really want to thank every one of you that has stopped in with the kinds words and comments to help me along the way today. So many amazing people here, kind and understanding, it felt good being able to get that out of my way this morning, but it felt even better to read every one of your comments. I don't want to make it a big part of my journal but it really helped me and I hope it helped raise some awareness. So let us get on with this update!

I haven't had to do too much the last few days in here, so luckily today was about time for another feeding to keep the pots from drying out. Again it was 1ml per gallon of calimagic, and 5ml per liter of the Mantis nutrients, that's it, each plant got 2 liters of feed. The 2 plants in the very middle seem to dry out faster, this could be because of 2 things. There's more light concentrated in the middle of the canopy, and they were also the 2 largest plants out of each strain so they went into the different colored pots. Otherwise, all of them are still looking very healthy. I also decided to take my pictures in the tent today to see how that worked out and get used to it, here are the group pics under the Spectrum X light panel from MedicGrow.

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I also turned on the red flowering spectrum today now that we are about half way thru the flower transition and stretch. Here is the spectrum and specs for now.

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• dick23rk
• May 1, 2021

Skunk # 1 - Day 68 (59 + 9)
I am loving the look of these plants and the stature they present. This is my first time growing skunk, I wish I had of grown it way sooner, but I have more experience now and I'm hoping it pays off with these ones. Flower sites are already starting to form on the tops although I'm not sure they are done stretching yet. I am hoping they will get a few inches taller at least, if not that's fine by me in the end. All of these plants are very easy going, even if they get a little dry they don't droop, hardly droop after feeding either.

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Sundae Banana Cookies - Day 60 (51 + 9)
The lanky ladies have taken a better turn then I thought they were going to, all the branches are nice and stiff now for the most part compared to what they were like. I would have liked to see some tighter node spacing but can't always get what ya want. I am more interested in seeing the outcome of the buds these produce, the stock picture looked pretty amazing. I also am kind of wishing I did clones, I wouldn't have minded one from the bigger plant out of the 6. I could still take a flowering clone but not going to bother, lots of other things going on.

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The only other thing I got for today so far is the new additions. The tent grow should be operational tomorrow since it will be raining and I'll be inside. I have put 4 seeds into paper towel this morning and it looks like we will be growing the Blue Dream Auto's for this round. Seeds will sit in the paper towel until they crack and start to show the tap root, then into peat pellets until they break ground. I will be starting a different journal for this grow since this one is under my sponsors light, will be different lights in the tent. Once I get it started I will drop a link in here for those who would like to follow along in the fun, first time in a tent.

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• dick23rk
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• dick23rk
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Thanks everyone for coming by and checking things out, have an awesome weekend and I'll have that dwc update by tomorrow morning.

 

[dick23rk]

**DWC Update**Day 10 Flower**

Hey folks, I'm back at it again with the dwc update for today. I almost decided to get this done last night when we got home from the brother in-laws but it was a little late and decided not to. All of the pictures are from yesterday since it was a little easier to take them while topping up the reservoirs and taking readings. I've had to have my wife help me out with root pictures and top ups since there's so many roots coming from the edges of the net pots now, I cant just rest them on the bucket edge anymore. The next lids that I buy will have smaller net pots in them, these ones were made for 6" rockwool blocks which I decided not to use for my first dwc.

Big Bang - Day 55 (45+10)
These plants have shown quite a bit of resilience after everything they've been through. I'm still hoping for a little more growth in the next week before they really set into flower as 1 of the plants is still pretty stout and bushy. Neither plant has really shown it's sex yet, during a quick inspection yesterday I can see that they are attempting to show but there was no definitive signs, I'll check more closely today while I'm in there.

All in all they are looking fairly good and growing, roots are still balling up more and more. Still showing a little bit of deficiency, leaning towards a magnesium deficiency now since Dusty had mentioned it to me. We will see if we can keep it at bay with a little extra calimagic, I decided to go with 2ml per gallon this time around and got my top up feed around 200ppm before adding the nutes.

The top up feed consisted of 2 gallons, almost 1 gallon for each bucket, again topped to about an inch below the net pots leaving some room for air. Here is what the feed contained and will likely stay the same for the rest of the grow unless we need to change it.
2ml/G - CaliMagic
5ml/L - Mantis nutrients
3ml/G - UC Roots

PH / TDS / Temp(c)
Top up mix with calmag - 5.46 / 205 / 20.1
Top up mix after mantis and uc roots - 5.35 / 723 / 20.1
Bucket 1 before top up - 5.4 / 698 / 18.9
Bucket 2 before top up - 5.34 / 593 / 19.4
After top up readings - TBD

Judging by the difference in ppm between bucket 1 and 2 I am going to guess that these plants are not taking up their calcium or magnesium (which is leading to deficiencies) at a ph of roughly 5.4, it needs to be higher for these nutrients to be taken up properly. I don't see much of a swing between readings (ph nor tds) to indicate that the plants are feeding properly, I would think the tds would come down some if the calmag supplement was being taken up. I am going to talk to the nutrient rep to see what can be done here and if ph up is a solution that can be used with these buffered nutes. I am also going to calibrate my ph pen later today and retest to rule out that possible issue. I've had this pen well over a month now and still haven't calibrated it.

That's about it for today on these 2 I think. Everything is still looking fairly good for my first run at this and given my environment, so I'm pleased I've made it this far with only almost killing them once or twice lol. Lets get on with some pictures for ya. Have a great Sunday peeps, I'll be in the garden to finish getting the tent set up for the new journal coming. Take care and keep it green out there!

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[Grand Daddy Black]

Hey Dick.

Looks like you've got a few issues with the DWC girls, but I know you're on it!

I love watching those DWC root balls grow and grow.

If I may, a minor suggestion: When I was doing DWC I never had the benefit of an assistant. So to change or top off my buckets I had an extra bucket of air just sitting by. I'd take the plant out of the old water and sit it in the air bucket until I did what needed to be done. I really believe the roots benefit from short stretches out of the water where they have access to "dry" oxygen. I never saw any adverse effects and I used to leave mine out consistently for maintenance purposes.

 

[dick23rk]

Thanks GDB. Yep a few little issues to iron out, hoping it doesn't progress after the additional calmag supplement.

I do need an extra bucket. I had 4, 1 is being used outside of the grow, but I just have no idea where that 4th one went lol now that you mention it though, I do have some of my old hempy buckets around I could use for this purpose.

The big thing is taking pictures of the roots, so I would still need the help from my wife for that part. I can hold the net pot with 1 hand and phone in the other, but these lids are heavy due to the large net pots and hydroton. My wrist doesn't usually like to hold out too long for good pictures

 

[dick23rk]

**Link to new journal**

Hey everyone, just wanted to drop the link to my new journal for the Blue Dream Auto tent grow. I wont go tagging everyone in it just in case some don't want to follow along to that one, no pressure. Thanks all!

Dick23rk's Tent Grow: Blue Dream Auto, Mantis Nutrients, 2 x BestvaLED P1000

Good day folks and welcome to my new grow tent. Some of you may already know me, for those that don't, I'm Dick, and it's a pleasure to meet you all. I'm from Saskatchewan, Canada and have been growing indoors for 5 or 6 years now. This is my first time growing in an actual grow tent, I...

www.420magazine.com

 

[TheZebraKing]

I agree with GDB, just transfer netpots to an empty bucket. I have done it this way for years with no problems, but have always used hydroguard.

 

[dick23rk]

I agree with GDB, just transfer netpots to an empty bucket. I have done it this way for years with no problems, but have always used hydroguard.

Thanks zebraking. I definitely need to bring an extra bucket in. Then I would only need help getting pictures of the roots, unless I could find a clear bucket lol

 

[KCCO 77]

Hey brother I hope all is good. I’m just getting caught up over here and the garden is looking great.

go fishing when season opens back up.

Absolutely key and I had to run away last week for a bit of me time in the pouring rain.
Sometimes alone time with some dabs and a fish can put you back in the correct head space when life gets crazy.
Here’s what I came up with

A few pics to tie you over until you can get out brother and catch something.

Stay safe and enjoy my friend.