DRM's - T5 - Hydro - OSH - Grow Journal 2015-2016

Thanks, Ripples.

I'm not sure exactly when, I'm going to make absolutely sure I'm ready to put them into flower. I need a dehumidifier for one.

I'm very satisfied with the t-5 HO lights, at least thus far. Growth is more or less on par with what I've seen under HID lights. If anything I'd like to see them grow these girls a little slower, they are outpacing my ability to buy all the equipment I need.
 
Today is clone cutting day, I need to trim up some of the undergrowth so it makes sense to start some clones in the process.

I'm using KLN soaked rockwool plugs as my cloning media, no cloning gel or powder so this is an experiment on my part to see if it will do the trick.

If it works and I can't see why it wouldn't, I'll stick with this method. If it fails I have other options to explore.
 
My dehumidifier is on order, should be in my hands by the 5th so as long as it is functional I will switch to flower then.

I hope to never be this delayed going into flower again.

Once my lights come on today I need to get the last pre flower trimming done.
 
My dehumidifier is up and running now, so another light is my next big need to have so I can keep some plants in veg. As I sit here pissing away time my plants are getting huge, as in well above the SCROG net. I'm going to have to a) super crop or b) trim them down considerably. I should have the light by Friday.

The clones I took on the 18th (16 days now) have started rooting. They ones that are well rooted will get the following formula;

Week 0-1 nutrient mixture (24ppm RO, 59ppm nutrients, 83ppm total, 5.8pH w/o adjusting)
0.266ml/g Pro-Tekt
0.5ml/g Grow
0.066ml/g Mag-Pro
0.5ml/gal K-L-N

I'm going to call it week 0 for the rooted clones still in plugs. When they move into 4" pots that'll be week 1.

My plan here is to select the three very best performing clones at the end of week 0 (the top 14%) and cull the remaining low performers. Then cull one of those three at the end of week 1, and pick my best out of the last two at the end of week three.

This process should help prevent any issues with slow growers and it'll get me on my way toward a 23 day harvest cycle.

That puts me at taking more clones on the 10th.
 
Recently I experienced a difficult time maintaining my pH. The pH was rapidly falling between each watering. I attempted to correct the issue in a variety of ways; increased PPM, adjusting pH several time daily, entire reservoir changes, etc.

As my nutrient mixture well below the suggested application rates I wrongly assumed a media flush would NOT be required.

As all other methods to correct the issue had resulted in no lasting correction of the issue I decided to do a thorough flush of the media.

My method basically is as follows; using pH'd water I ran a number of resivoirs worth of water through the media checking the PPM in and resulting PPM out, when there was no real difference between the two I considered the media flush complete.

Once the flush was done I added back my complete nutrient mixture plus an addition of enzymes in an effort to aid in keeping things in order. My understanding being that the enzymes will break down some of the unused organic matter in the media namely dead roots which possibly were contributing to the rapidly falling pH.

Additionally I have decided to implement a regular flush schedule; exactly what that schedule will evolve into is unknown to me but for now I'm looking at weekly so that I may avoid having to react to an unstable pH situation.

In other news, I have an additional light on order which will allow me to flower my girls and keep others in veg.
 
Scottmaine said:
Congratulations on figuring it out. Sounds like you have a mind for this lol. Glad to hear your light is ordered also. Keep up good work.
Click to expand...

I'm doing what I can, it seems the learning curve is rather steep.

I know I have a few major equipment purchases coming up that are going to be needed; AC being a really big need is going to become a priority. Funding that is going to be painful.

Otherwise I'm happy to be growing and learning.

Something I'd like to seriously implement is foliar feeding, but as I'm struggling to keep my plants from getting so large that flowering isn't even possible in my space that's not an option.

As is, I may not be able to swap out by blue lamps to red lamps. Money is just a bit tight at the moment.

I will continue to push forward, one step at a time.
 
Well there is a saying that goes like this"I've done so much with so little for so long ,that I can do anything with nothing " foliar feeding is of great interest to me also ,but I have success in veg that I don't need growth. But I'm inclined to think it would help yield more than growth. And yes everytime you turn around its couple more hundred dollars to improve the quality of life for the gurls. But I sure do enjoy watching em grow and mature into amazing. ...............ladies!
 
Scottmaine said:
Well there is a saying that goes like this"I've done so much with so little for so long ,that I can do anything with nothing " foliar feeding is of great interest to me also ,but I have success in veg that I don't need growth. But I'm inclined to think it would help yield more than growth. And yes everytime you turn around its couple more hundred dollars to improve the quality of life for the gurls. But I sure do enjoy watching em grow and mature into amazing. ...............ladies!
Click to expand...

My thoughts on foliar feeding is to supplement the hydro nutrients in the hope that any nutrient shortages there will be covered by the foliar feed.

I have done a few foliar feedings at 1/8th strength of the nutrient solution. They seemed to do no harm. I'd like to think they did some good but I don't have a side by side comparison to judge.
 
Scottmaine said:
How long did they veg for?
Click to expand...

I took the clones on October 22 of last year. I'm super cropping now to keep the plants out of the lights as that is the only practical way to keep them in control at the moment.

I did expect some stretch but nothing like what I'm seeing now. All in all I'm still very satisfied with the progress of the grow, and have quite a few lessons to bring forward to the next.

I will post some updated pics today.
 
IMG_20160219_181358136.jpg


Here is the latest photo I have of the girls.
 
Today I'm flushing the girls, my plan has evolved to one flush every two weeks, which in the case of any plants in veg will coincide with transplanting.

My method is fairly simple, dump the reservoir completely and fill with RO water, run the pump till the PPM stabilizes, dump the reservoir again and repeat till my runoff is below 100 PPM.

My refill for the following week (3rd) is as follows; 1.7ml/g ProTekt, 4.8ml/g Bloom, 0.9ml/g MagPro, 0.5ml/g enzymes, 6.0pH, 1.0EC, 500PPM. The mix as is is a bit above my EC target, I simply dilute the final mix with RO water then adjust pH.

The girls have begun to flower, so the exciting part is here, I have high hopes all goes well.

I'll get a picture up today of the initial start of flowering.
 
Looking good DRM. I just read through your journal so im all caught up. Seems you are able to rationally look at things and figure out solutions and that is a great skill to have. Looking forward to watching your girls grow to maturity.
Oh, and i feel your pain as far as funds go. Everytime i think i have everything i could possibly need i find something else ive GOT to have. LOL well worth it tho, not just for the end product, but the enjoyment of growing also.
 
Lazarus13 said:
Looking good DRM. I just read through your journal so im all caught up. Seems you are able to rationally look at things and figure out solutions and that is a great skill to have. Looking forward to watching your girls grow to maturity.
Oh, and i feel your pain as far as funds go. Everytime i think i have everything i could possibly need i find something else ive GOT to have. LOL well worth it tho, not just for the end product, but the enjoyment of growing also.
Click to expand...

I'm beginning to think I need a second RO reservoir, my single 58 gallon ran quite low today with flushing and refilling the 10 gallon nutrient reservoirs.

I want a 300 gallon IBC container for all the waste water, mainly to use for my vegetable and herb garden. We live in an area where water conservation is highly recommend so I feel it's the right thing to do. Considering the quantity of water wasted just with the RO system I'm pretty sure I could keep a sizeable garden that may just help provide a few meals.

For the grow I'm seeing a few finer details that need filling, I use glass pipettes to measure nutrients, the ProTekt silicon supplement is coating the inside of one pipette and is an incredible pain to clean, so I've got to figure out that issue.

I need to figure out the drying process, a thread I started on the topic never took off so I'm going to just bang something out and hope for the best.

I may have found a mini split that's sized correctly for my needs so cooling should be covered within short order. The caveat being I will need to source one later for the generous person lending me the one I am getting. I'm going to pour the pad for the exterior unit tomorrow and start on the additional venting that I'll need.

I foliar feed, but at present I'm using just one spray bottle to cover a variety of tasks, it's a small thing but I'd like to be able to grab the right bottle and go to work without having to mix a new batch for each need.

The list is long, I'll keep updating as I make improvements, I hope I pull enough from these two plants to help pay for some of the stuff I need.
 
Hope all is well in your world.

Is this grow still alive?

We would love to be updated with some pictures and info.

How about posting a 420 Strain Review?

If you need any help with posting photos, please read our Photo Gallery Tutorial.

I am moving this to Abandoned Journals until we get updates.

Sending you lots of love and positive energy.

:Namaste:
 

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