First Grow! - Aerogarden Ultra With Mars Reflector 48 Using CK Dwarf Low Flyer

[CMJJMC2000]

Amazing job!!! Are you also gonna write a smoke report?

Well, a little bit more time to go still - probably a week for the more mature colas, maybe less. Gonna see how much they swell up over the first 2 days. I did pinch a small popcorn branch today and trimmed it up for drying in the tent, just to test out the high. I know the taste will probably be something like freshly mowed grass.

Once my main harvest is dried and at least somewhat cured, I plan on doing a very thorough smoke report. I got the 62% hydration packs today and quart glass jars ready to roll. If I fill up 2 I'll consider this grow a tremendous success.

 

[CMJJMC2000]

Day 52 update; 52 days above ground and should be very close to entering the 5th week of flowering. Temp this morning was 72F with humidity at 41%. PH was 5.8 and I left it as-is. Temp when I got home from work was 85F with humidity at 33%. The reservoir temp was up to 77F! Eeeeek! I've never had my temps hit that high before, but then again, the closet door hadn't been closed this weekend. With that second set of lights in there it definitely brought the temp up quite a bit. I did do a root zone inspection in order to make sure the heat spike didn't produce any undesired effects in the res. All looks good! Once we get moved, my Priority #1 DIY project will be cutting into the ceiling and routing my exhaust piping up into the attic. I'll be able to run the tent at 75F all day, no problem, and with whatever closet or room door closed - I haven't picked out where I want to set up the tent once we're out of here.

Anyhow, after getting the closet door opened and opening up the tent for a few minutes, temps went down to 81F and the reservoir is now down to 73F. Tomorrow, I'll just have to drop the A/C a few degrees lower. I had it on 72F today! If I close a few vents that are connected to that thermostat, maybe I can direct all of the cool air to the closet. I'll give that a test tomorrow.

PPM's were down to 120, so a bit over 200ppm of intake. I went ahead and added in a half dose of the following......SensiBloom A+B, B52, Bud Candy, Bud Factor X - a 3/4 dose of Overdrive - a 1/4 dose of Sensi Cal Mag Xtra. This brought PPM up to 1100.

From a visual standpoint, the changes today were amazing. I took off my glasses and got up close and personal with all of the bud sites, really helped me see the true size of things. My opinion is that most things look smaller when wearing glasses vs contacts, and I've been viewing with my glasses each night so it was a real treat to see everything in normal scale tonight. The main cola on plant #1 NOTICEABLY fattened up, I can see the individual calyx's on the top of that bud swolen and full. The twin cola is looking very good, I can't wait to pluck that one off soon. Pistils are darkening, turning a bright fiery orange and partially retreating back into the calyx's.

I'm excited to see what tomorrow will bring!

 

[Renegade69]

Well, a little bit more time to go still - probably a week for the more mature colas, maybe less. Gonna see how much they swell up over the first 2 days. I did pinch a small popcorn branch today and trimmed it up for drying in the tent, just to test out the high. I know the taste will probably be something like freshly mowed grass.

Once my main harvest is dried and at least somewhat cured, I plan on doing a very thorough smoke report. I got the 62% hydration packs today and quart glass jars ready to roll. If I fill up 2 I'll consider this grow a tremendous success.

OH dam...LOL. Now this is where I disagree with all the SME's out there that say there is no "high" value in pinching a few popcorns early and slow drying for testing. I use the word testing loosely...LOL. IMHO...you can test the high from the onset of "snow". Snow, means a heavy frosting of pistols. Again, IMO...if you begin testing you'll know what the high feels at each stage. I think I talked about this in one of my journals. If your a head and smoke every day this might not be beneficial to you....LOL. If it's been awhile then maybe you'll be able to tell the difference.

Your high will NOT be like freshly mowed grass. By the look of your pictures, you will get a very small, slight buzz that will not last....BUT, you will get a buzz. I used this and checking the color of the pistol heads to determine where my chop will be. Again, your looking for clear, cloudy and then amber. And there is a percentage of each that your looking for. Clear very, very little to no buzz, cloudy little buzz and amber....well you get the point. You want functional high then you want cloudy to amber. For couch lock, the more amber the better. Warning....don't let amber get past...say 50%. THC starts to drop off. So you have to find that sweet spot. And you can't find the sweet spot it if you don't test at each stage. I talk about this in my journal as well but can be found in everyone else's. And there is plenty of talk about it.

Another thing I'd like to mention is topping. LA, brought this to our attention...and yes many others as well....if you top your plants the last few weeks of bloom they will fatten up a bit. Basically, the plant will stop growing up and begin to grow out. Makes sense. Stop upward growth and the lower energy has no where to go but out.

This is just my opinion...

 

[CMJJMC2000]

Day 53 update: 52 days above ground and in 5th week of flower (I think). I made a change last night to my light schedule. To combat the high temps from yesterday (86F) in the tent with the closet door closed, I switched the light cycle up. It now comes on at 4:00 PM and turns off at 10:30 AM so 18.5 hours on and 5.5 hours off. Morning temp was 76F with humidity at 38%. PH was 6.0 and I dropped to 5.8. Temp tonight is 78F with humidity at 42%. PH was at 6.0 and I dropped it to 5.8. PPM's are down to 750, so the girls pulled in 350ppm since last night and drank about a half gallon of water.

Buds are looking fuller today. The side branches on plant #1 that were looking like popcorn buds are now turning into full sized nuggets - woot! I'm pretty sure that plant #1 may have the top cola harvested when I chop plant #2 and then leave the side branches on plant #1 to mature for another week along with the lowest parts of plant #2. It's looking like this may be a very bountiful harvest from these two dwarfs. Crop Kings states that each plant can produce 75g, and I don't doubt that one bit. If I hadn't run into the PH issues in veg, which led to that nasty phosphorous deficiency, both plants would be looking a LOT fuller now, and I'd probably be AHEAD of schedule.

and my favorite, the twin buds

 

[Frenchy672]

 

[CMJJMC2000]

Haha! I went home at lunch today and my popcorn samples are ready for a test run tonight. I mainly wanted to make sure my digital timer was working and that the lights were cycling OFF from 10:30 AM to 4:00 PM. It's all working exactly as expected.

 

[CMJJMC2000]

Day 54 update; 54 days above ground and week 5 of flower. Morning temp was 77F with humidity at 42%. PH was 6.0 and I dropped it to 5.8. I came home mid-day today and checked to make sure the new time programming was working on the digital timer. In order to keep afternoon temps down in the tent, I've switched the light cycle so that they're on at 4:00 PM and off at 10:30 AM. The new programming is working and when I came home to check, the temp was at 73F with PH at 5.8. Temp tonight is 77F with humidity at 44%. PH was 5.7 and I bumped it up to 5.8. Top off jug was empty, so I refilled that with PH'd RO water. PPM's on the main reservoir are currently at 560 so a 190ppm day for the girls.

Flowers continue to ripen and the buds are really filling in on the branches and stems, making some nice dwarf colas. There are going to be a lot of 6" buds on this plant. About 25% of the pistils are orange now, more on some of the smaller buds. It's starting to take shape and the buds that I touched today are definitely hard and dense in structure - a great sign from what I've read. I got some nice macro shots tonight.....

It all looks so delicious under the macro lens. Some buds have trichomes that are 100% clear, some are 50% cloudy and a few appear to be nearly 100% cloudy. I'm trying to keep a close eye out for amber trichomes. I'm wondering if I need to go ahead and start planning my flush. I know that in hydroponics it's a much quicker process than in soil. I just don't want to cut off the nutrient supply too early. I know that the plants can just tap the nutrient stores that are in the leaves, but I'm really not sure if I'm there yet. I could really use some advise as to whether or not tomorrow or Friday would be a good time to start that.



Now, for the rest of the pics.........

 

[CMJJMC2000]

I forgot to mention that I sampled the popcorn bud today. I was expecting a wet leafy taste but there was none - absolutely no taste. The high was very nice, close to being exactly what I'm looking for. I felt mentally energized but my body was nice and relaxed - almost euphoric. It lasted about 1.5 hours. The ammount that I smoked, in a very large glass bubbler, was about 1/2 the size of an eraser head. It was the small wispy top from the popcorn bud. I have two more pieces that are dried, one about the size of a gumball and the other about half of that. I'm a very light smoker, so I don't need a 25% THC smoke, I like something that's more mild and from my test of this strain, I think I'm going to be very pleased. Once properly dried and cured, I'm sure the taste and smell will be phenomenal - hell, the tent itself smells intoxicating.

Keep in mind, these are from the very lowest popcorn bud site on the plant, coming from the bottom of the lowest side branch on plant #2.

 

[nonamebrand]

I feel like Mars should be sponsoring your grow; I've been looking at the Mars Reflector 48 because of this journal and when it comes time to replace my Aerogarden bulbs I'll probably just order one (or two)!

 

[Ferboldt]

I totally agree because I recently received my Mars Reflector 48 after seeing the great result on this journal.

 

[CMJJMC2000]

LOL - thanks, y'all. I've gotta say, the companies that keep this hobby alive do a great job of delivering solid products to the consumers (us) at price points that go all the way from low budget up to very high budget. I spent about 2 months researching before I dropped in seeds and a lot of time was spent just looking at what products were out there and whether or not I would see any benefit from spending more on top shelf items. Out of everything that I've purchased, the ONLY thing I've been disappointed in is the PH pen. It's an HM Digital unit and it started out great but the PH swings have gotten really unacceptable. I can calibrate the pen, stick it in the reservoir, dry the pen off and then stick it back in the calibration solution and .3 off from where I was just minutes before. This is totally unacceptable for a PH pen, especially given the tight range of drift when using hydroponics. It's so important to have your reservoir in the sweet spot, being off by .1 can mean complete lockout of certain nutrients. I've been checking, calibrating and then rechecking my reservoir no fewer than 3 times before I close up the tent.

The Apollo Horticulture tent is fantastic. No light leaks, solid construction and it's holding the massive fan and filer + 2 lights, power strips w/digital programmer, chiller controller. It's 4 feet wide, 2 feet deep and 5 feet tall - with enough room inside to comfortably fit another Aerogarden.

The Aerogarden, after modifications for adding the chiller, has been awesome. My pump didn't burn out - which others have mentioned being an issue - and the control panel is a nice addition. Being able to turn off the pumps from the panel is nice when doing reservoir changes or pictures of the root zone. The Aerovoir has been invaluable for serving as an auto top off. When working with a 1 gallon reservoir, having an extra gallon in reserve to auto top off provide a nice safety net.

The Mars Hydro Reflector series lights have been phenomenal. No LED's are burned out, the temps are very manageable and the veg and bloom toggles are nice too. For the price, I wouldn't think twice about buying these again at all. Also, having customer service available via this forum is nice in case any issues arise.

Crop King Seeds has been great. I opted for Stealth Shipping and boy, it did not disappoint - that's all I'll say about that. Germination was easy and I'm confident that if it hadn't been successful that they would have worked with me to make it right. I did reach out to their customer service via website chat - behind a TOR browser, of course - and got quick assistance with my questions.

The iPower 4" fan and carbon filter is one serious piece of equipment. It's metal housing is powder coated and I have no question about it's capability to last for a very long time. The unit itself produces very little heat on the outside of the housing and with a fan controller, can be quiet if needed.

Advanced Nutrients - I can't say enough about how great their product line is. I'm using nearly their entire line for this micro grow - except for Piranha and Tarantula. I have to say that, in my opinion, these nutrients pushed these seeds to the very maximum of their potential. I wouldn't go into a grow thinking that you won't need a PH meter even though they're "PH Perfect" nutrients, because you definitely will need a PH meter. Using 7.0 RO water and using 1/2 to 3/4 of maximum strength dosages, my PH would be anywhere from 5.6 to 5.4. It's very close, but not right at 5.8. It definitely takes some guess work out of it. I'm more impressed, though, that their nutrients do exactly what they say they're going do. Add the bud ignitor and boom, bud sites literally everywhere. Voodoo juice and the roots explode in growth. Overdrive and the bulk adds on. Yes, it's pricey, but so is buying your own medicine. If I want to eat a nice steak, I'm going for a porterhouse and not a sirloin. In most hobbies, what you get out of something usually correlates pretty highly with what you put into it. Putting in quality nutrients is a no-brainer.

Having the right tools on hand makes any job easier. My goal was to have a capable setup that required minimum maintenance on my part and a good bit of automation to control the environmental factors and I've been successful on that front. The last thing to accomplish is the BOUNTIFUL HARVEST!!!!!!!

So, on that note, I'll announce that I drained the reservoir and added in Flawless Finish. The beginning of the end is here and I'm proud of the grow. It's been great to get the opinions of such knowledgeable and genuinely nice people. This is, truly, a great online community. I hope to be able to assist other in the future as you have all assisted me. I'll be keeping with the daily updates until chop time - which I think will be right around 4/20. I have my jars and 62% Boveda packs ready for the curing process.

 

[CMJJMC2000]

Day 55 update; 55 days above ground and FLUSHING. Morning temp was 75F with humidity at 44%. PH was 5.7 so I bumped it to 5.9. Temp tonight is 75F with humidity at 46%. PH was 5.8 and PPM's were at 340, so about 200PPM of intake.

It was the girls last meal, which is a bit sad because one of my favorite parts of this grow has been whipping up a basically custom nute schedule on the fly. I feel like I've really been pushing the nute envelope with these two girls, they went up much higher in PPM's than I ever would have anticipated. After getting over that nasty 1 week long phosphorous deficiency in the middle of vegging, I've spent about 15 minutes or more each night just looking over every part of both plants. I'm ending with about 1/4" of burnt tips on most of the plant, so if I were to do this again I'd probably not go past 1300ppm for too long.

The buds are still filling out and swelling in some areas. The smaller bud sites on plant #1 are really filling in nicely and will end up with 4" to 6" bunds. They're not nearly as dense and full as on plant #2, but they are bulking up.

The Aerovoir was dry tonight so I topped that back off with RO water PH'd to 6.0. Going to keep things between 5.5 and 6.5 since there's mainly just going to be water going into the plant. The full dose of flawless finish (8ml) brough PPM up to 100. After flushing the main reservoir I filled it with the flawless finish water (PH'd to 5.9) and PPMs are now at 175, probably from leftover nute soup in the root pile. Reservoir looks like a giant bowl of spaghetti right now, the roots are so prolific.

 

[VladimirPutin]

Nice

I'd say 4 more weeks until they are at the fattest? Thin blade leaves usually means Sativa dominant properties and longer time to maturity.

V

 

[CMJJMC2000]

Nice

I'd say 4 more weeks until they are at the fattest? Thin blade leaves usually means Sativa dominant properties and longer time to maturity.

V

Should be 1 week left for full maturity. Strain composition is 70% indica, 20% sativa and 10% ruderalis. Basically, it's Early Girl and Low Ryder crossed. Trichomes on plant #2 (all top area budsites) are full cloudy. Trichomes on plant #1 are about 50% cloudy. No amber yet, though. I think the main bud sites on both will be ready for chopping by Sunday or Monday.

 

[Renegade69]

I forgot to mention that I sampled the popcorn bud today. I was expecting a wet leafy taste but there was none - absolutely no taste. The high was very nice, close to being exactly what I'm looking for. I felt mentally energized but my body was nice and relaxed - almost euphoric. It lasted about 1.5 hours. The ammount that I smoked, in a very large glass bubbler, was about 1/2 the size of an eraser head. It was the small wispy top from the popcorn bud. I have two more pieces that are dried, one about the size of a gumball and the other about half of that. I'm a very light smoker, so I don't need a 25% THC smoke, I like something that's more mild and from my test of this strain, I think I'm going to be very pleased. Once properly dried and cured, I'm sure the taste and smell will be phenomenal - hell, the tent itself smells intoxicating.

Keep in mind, these are from the very lowest popcorn bud site on the plant, coming from the bottom of the lowest side branch on plant #2.

LOL....i told you....LOL. And you wouldn't have known it if you didn't test it.

Clear, cloudy, amber.... Functional to couch lock. Whichever you prefer. I don't just use the growers schedule for chop. I watch for amber very closely and chop when I get the percentage I'm looking for.

About a week before you can cut back on the nutes. If your planning to chop for 420 then you probably should do it now but your gonna miss some good growth if you do. I know you have your schedule.

Obtw...like you I'm a very light smoker. Usually in the evenings to relax on the weekends and meds for sleeping when I need it. My lastest grow is already marked for meds for others but my cut will last months. I have the vault filled with 3 previous grows. So enjoy....

 

[CMJJMC2000]

Thanks, Renegade. I drained the reservoir last night and refilled with plain RO water and Flawless Finish. I'm going to chop the mature buds first and get the scragglers later.

 

[CMJJMC2000]

Day 56 update - 8 weeks above ground today and in the final few days of the grow. Morning temp was 75F with humidity at 47%. PH was 5.9. Temp tonight is 77F with humidity at 50%. PH is at 5.9 and PPM's are at 120. Again, only nute in the reservoir right now is FLAWLESS FINISH by Advanced Nutrients.

I did some macro viewing tonight and found a few buds that have about 20% amber trichomes. Surprisingly, they are not the main stem buds. They're showing up on 2 colas on plant #2. I couldn't get the flash to cooperate towards the end of my viewing, so I didn't get to inspect the main colas with enough light to determine coloration, only cloudiness. Both main colas are 100% clouded. I believe that tomorrow night or Sunday night, I will chop down the main colas and the 2 other colas that were showing the amber trichomes. Swelling on the main stem seems to have slowed or stopped over the last day or two, so I feel like the time is right. All of the other bud sites will get some extra time to mature and some much needed light penetration once I lay waste to the mature bud sites with my pruning shears of doom.

 

[Frenchy672]

so worth the extra wait! enjoy

 

[CMJJMC2000]

Chop Chop! I took down 4 colas this morning - the main from plant #1 and plant #2, the twin cola from plant #2 (which is the size of a hand grenade) and another side cola on plant #2. Wet weight, after trimming, is about 80 grams. The sugar leaf weight is 30 grams. These colas represent maybe 20% to 25% of the total bud on the plants.

 

[nonamebrand]

NICE!!!