GDB: Old Dog -- New Tricks

I'd figure the directions were printed on the package, so
I wouldn't of looked past "Free" either..šŸ˜..šŸ‘
Yeah.

That's sounds reasonable, except all that was on the package was the pic of the sprinkling hand! :Rasta:
 
Your seedlings are looking so advanced. I guess the heating mat helps get them to the ultimate soil temperature where good growth can occur.
Thanks Stunger.

All but one of them are doing well. The Cosmic Lights is being a bit stubborn.
 
Hello all.

It's Day 12 for the New Trick babies and the Cosmic Lights has me scratching my bald spot.

She (3rd from left) just doesn't look perky.
New Trick babies 3-4-24 D12.JPG

I initially thought she was overwatered. That is, I didn't think she was drinking enough due to an inadequate root structure. And, indeed, that is a part of her problem. Last night all the cups were pretty much bone dry so I fully watered them all. The solos weigh about 11.5 ounces when fully watered. This morning all but the CL were down to around 9.5 ounces. The CL still weighed 10.2 ounces.

Okay, I've got a handle on that.

But now I'm thinking that maybe the plants need more light, as well. I've been running the light at 50% and about 14 inches above. LUX has been around 33K.

This morning I increased the light to 75% and raised it about 3 inches. LUX is now around 45K. I'll see if that makes a difference.

It seems like a long time since I've done this, start a plant from seed, that is. I'm starting to feel like I need to review some past journals to see what I've forgotten!

--------------------------

COP#1


My grows always tend to contain at least a few COPs (Change of Plans).

This grow is no different.

I've been reading some reviews from growers who have used the swick bases that I'll use in this grow.

There were a few issues that caught my eye. For one, some folks have had roots grow through their fabric pots and wrap themselves around the swicks. Others have had issues with sediment building up in the res, requiring periodic cleaning. And at least one grower said the swick lines could not keep up with the watering needs at the flowering stage and required him to add more swick lines and sometimes top-feed.

What really grabbed my attention though were some pics. This one guy had grown 4 plants in 5 gallon pots. The plants were friggin' huge, way bigger than anything I'd want to grow!

So while I had planned to do 2 plants in 5gal pots and 2 in 3gal pots, now they will all be grown in 3s. And, I'll be flipping them early. No extended veg periods -- no huge plants!

(I love to watch you guys go huge but I prefer smaller, trim-friendly plants.)

-----------------------------

I've been waiting to hear back from a nutrient company regarding how to use their nutes on these swick bases. I've written them twice and received no response. So I won't be using their nutes for this grow. Instead, I'll raise 2 of the girls on MC and the other 2 on Grow Dots.

-----------------------------

Within the next few days I'll begin buffering my coco, where the coco is soaked in a calmag solution for 8 hours. I will be double-buffering so that'll take...let's see...about 16 hours. šŸ™‚

My research indicates that the EC of the buffering solution should be between 1200 - 2000 and the Ph of the solution should be above 6.2. The process calls for filling a fabric pot with coco and completely immersing it in a bucket of the calmag solution for 8 hours. Well, I'm going to do that and then I'm going to do it again just to make sure I get it properly buffered.

------------------------------

As always, thanks for taking the time to visit.

PEACE
 
Hello all.

It's Day 12 for the New Trick babies and the Cosmic Lights has me scratching my bald spot.

She (3rd from left) just doesn't look perky.
New Trick babies 3-4-24 D12.JPG

I initially thought she was overwatered. That is, I didn't think she was drinking enough due to an inadequate root structure. And, indeed, that is a part of her problem. Last night all the cups were pretty much bone dry so I fully watered them all. The solos weigh about 11.5 ounces when fully watered. This morning all but the CL were down to around 9.5 ounces. The CL still weighed 10.2 ounces.

Okay, I've got a handle on that.

But now I'm thinking that maybe the plants need more light, as well. I've been running the light at 50% and about 14 inches above. LUX has been around 33K.

This morning I increased the light to 75% and raised it about 3 inches. LUX is now around 45K. I'll see if that makes a difference.

It seems like a long time since I've done this, start a plant from seed, that is. I'm starting to feel like I need to review some past journals to see what I've forgotten!

--------------------------

COP#1


My grows always tend to contain at least a few COPs (Change of Plans).

This grow is no different.

I've been reading some reviews from growers who have used the swick bases that I'll use in this grow.

There were a few issues that caught my eye. For one, some folks have had roots grow through their fabric pots and wrap themselves around the swicks. Others have had issues with sediment building up in the res, requiring periodic cleaning. And at least one grower said the swick lines could not keep up with the watering needs at the flowering stage and required him to add more swick lines and sometimes top-feed.

What really grabbed my attention though were some pics. This one guy had grown 4 plants in 5 gallon pots. The plants were friggin' huge, way bigger than anything I'd want to grow!

So while I had planned to do 2 plants in 5gal pots and 2 in 3gal pots, now they will all be grown in 3s. And, I'll be flipping them early. No extended veg periods -- no huge plants!

(I love to watch you guys go huge but I prefer smaller, trim-friendly plants.)

-----------------------------

I've been waiting to hear back from a nutrient company regarding how to use their nutes on these swick bases. I've written them twice and received no response. So I won't be using their nutes for this grow. Instead, I'll raised 2 of the girls on MC and the other 2 on Grow Dots.

-----------------------------

Within the next few days I'll begin buffering my coco, where the coco is soaked in a calmag solution for 8 hours. I will be double-buffering so that'll take...let's see...about 16 hours. šŸ™‚

My research indicates that the EC of the buffering solution should be between 1200 - 2000 and the Ph of the solution should be above 6.2. The process calls for filling a fabric pot with coco and completely immersing it in a bucket of the calmag solution for 8 hours. Well, I'm going to do that and then I'm going to do it again just to make sure I get it properly buffered.

------------------------------

As always, thanks for taking the time to visit.

PEACE
babys are looking good so the droopy one is a slow eater good catch & sounds like you have your swickers figured
 
And we're doing this coco thing Just to say you can or is there something your looking for outside the box ? Not being smart but just wondering , seems like a lot of extra work and what for ? I understand you not wanting huge plants too .
One of the reasons I'm doing this is really kind of dumb Smoke, but I'll save that for last.

Besides my "dumb" reason, I'm just trying to keep things interesting. I enjoy growing more when I have to do the research and head-scratching required to learn something new. Moving from soil to coco requires me to do that. This is prolly the biggest reason for doing it -- the mental exercise.

Also, I want to see what kind of results I get compared to a soil grow. I think I'm going to see plants with chunkier trunks, sturdier petioles and, hopefully, fatter colas!

And my last reason, coco is pleasing to my eye.

That's right. I just like the way it looks sitting in the pot. Believe it or not, I used to put a layer of coco on top of my soil grows just because I (and Mrs. GDB) thought the reddish stuff looked so much better in the pots. I know it's wacky, but I'm being truthful.

I agree with you, this is evolving into something that I believe will be a bit more labor-intensive than I had envisioned. That's okay though. I've got the will to do it and the time!
 
It does sound like a lot of work, especially since you bought pre-buffered coco. I'll admit, I bought non-buffered bricks of coco and re-hydrated them with just enough of a 250ppm/5.8ph solution of calmag to fluff it up. No soaking or anything. I'm definitely not saying that was the right way, but I had no issues with the SIP or the plant (so far).
 
Hello again!

"Hey buddy, you gotta' light?"

Doh! It was the lights!

I fell back on my old "stingy toward seedlings" habits and had the lights set too low.

It's only been a few hours since I increased the light from 50 to 75% and I can already see the Cosmic Lights starting to respond.
New Trick babies 3-4-24 D12 lites up.JPG

Ha! That was like hitting the "E-Z button."

I'll bet she looks much better by tomorrow!

--------------------------------

So I've spent most of my morning reading articles about growing in coco. There seems to be a wealth of info. out there about it.

I read about the need to buffer the coco with a calmag solution before using it. One of the articles I read said that even if you buy pre-washed and buffered coco you should buffer it again. Two of the articles recommended using either calmag 1-0-0 or calmag 2-0-0. I checked my inventory and didn't have either. (I have 0-0-0, 4-0-0 and 8-0-0).

Off to the grow store I went for some new calmag. I told the guys what I was up to and asked if the 1-0-0 or 2-0-0 calmag was best for buffering coco. Their first question to me was what kind of coco do you have? When I told them Cocodelphia they both said it's already been buffered and washed and is good to use out of the bag.

Well that's not the answer I was looking for. I wanted to hear either 1-0-0 or 2-0-0.

Now I'm confused.

We continued our discussion and I found out that one of the guys has been growing exclusively in coco for the past 4 years. He said he uses pre-processed CannaCoco, has never buffered it and has had no problems. He also said that buffering pre-buffered coco could throw it out of range, requiring a flush of sorts to get the ec back into a usable range.

My coco is buffered and triple-washed. I think I'll skip the buffering step unless someone here says otherwise*. I'll just rehydrate it and rinse out any coco peat that may be present.

* This is a question to all 420 coco growers. Should I buffer pre-buffered coco?

----------------------------

Any feedback will be appreciated.

PEACE
 
Why fight it? Buffered and triple-washed? It sounds like they did all the work for you.
 
Hello again!

"Hey buddy, you gotta' light?"

Doh! It was the lights!

I fell back on my old "stingy toward seedlings" habits and had the lights set to low.

It's only been a few hours since I increased the light from 50 to 75% and I can already see the Cosmic Lights starting to respond.
New Trick babies 3-4-24 D12 lites up.JPG

Ha! That was like hitting the "E-Z button."

I'll bet she looks much better by tomorrow!

--------------------------------

So I've spent most of my morning reading articles about growing in coco. There seems to be a wealth of info. out there about it.

I read about the need to buffer the coco with a calmag solution before using it. One of the articles I read said that even if you buy pre-washed and buffered coco you should buffer it again. Two of the articles recommended using either calmag 1-0-0 or calmag 2-0-0. I checked my inventory and didn't have either. (I have 0-0-0, 4-0-0 and 8-0-0).

Off to the grow store I went for some new calmag. I told the guys what I was up to and asked if the 1-0-0 or 2-0-0 calmag was best for buffering coco. Their first question to me was what kind of coco do you have? When I told them Cocodelphia they both said it's already been buffered and washed and is good to use out of the bag.

Well that's not the answer I was looking for. I wanted to hear either 1-0-0 or 2-0-0.

Now I'm confused.

We continued our discussion and I found out that one of the guys has been growing exclusively in coco for the past 4 years. He said he uses pre-processed CannaCoco, has never buffered it and has had no problems. He also said that buffering pre-buffered coco could throw it out of range, requiring a flush of sorts to get the ec back into a usable range.

My coco is buffered and triple-washed. I think I'll skip the buffering step unless someone here says otherwise*. I'll just rehydrate it and rinse out any coco peat that may be present.

* This is a question to all 420 coco growers. Should I buffer pre-buffered coco?

----------------------------

Any feedback will be appreciated.

PEACE
the CL does look happier no idea about coco
 
It's all sounding good and interesting and the babies look strong.
Thanks Ms. Carmen.:thanks:
To me, she looks full of water, so she's not going to drink much...maybe skip that one next watering and see if that dries her out and perks her up ...
That's cause she is about full of water, Carcass! She was dry last night so she got a full watering. She just didn't drink much of it. I hope more light intensity will cause her thirst to increase. And, yes, I'll let her get fairly dry before I water her again.
and coco looks even better with a big ol' weed plant growing out of it.... šŸ˜
Weed makes everything better, a trait it shares with bacon! šŸ™‚
It does sound like a lot of work, especially since you bought pre-buffered coco. I'll admit, I bought non-buffered bricks of coco and re-hydrated them with just enough of a 250ppm/5.8ph of calmag to fluff it up. No soaking or anything. I'm definitely not saying that was the right way, but I had no issues with the SIP or the plant (so far).
And you may have found that happy place between what "experts" say you should do and what you can actually get away with doing! Everything I read said to rehydrate for 8 hours and it doesn't sound like you did that. But look at your wonderful plant!
 
Why fight it? Buffered and triple-washed? It sounds like they did all the work for you.
It does sound like they've done the work up front BudMan. And the grow store guys said don't bother doing it.

I'm just kinda' anal when it comes to trying new stuff. I try my best to get it "right" the first time.

Plus, it doesn't help matters that I am somewhat cynical about taking advice from the grow shop guys. Landing a job in a grow store does not make one an authority on growing weed. But I suspect many grow store workers "think" that's exactly what they are.
 
Hello yet again grow gang! I'm on a posting binge today!

I just had to pop back on to say that this grow has just gotten a bit more interesting (at least for me anyway).

It came out of the blue about 1/2 hour ago:
Phlizon by door.JPG


Christmas morning on a March afternoon!
Phlizon open box.JPG


She's big. She's impressive. She's the Phlizon 1000w, FD-8000 full spectrum grow light!
Phlizon unpacked 3-4-24.JPG


The chances of me NOT sticking this in my 5x5 tent for this grow are .000000000000000001, or thereabouts. šŸ™‚

This is one of my prizes for GJOTY. I'll provide more info about it later.

For now, immense thanks to 420 Magazine, Phlizon and the 420 members who have supported me so givingly!

Woo Hoo!
 
Hello yet again grow gang! I'm on a posting binge today!

I just had to pop back on to say that this grow has just gotten a bit more interesting (at least for me anyway).

It came out of the blue about 1/2 hour ago:
Phlizon by door.JPG


Christmas morning in March!
Phlizon open box.JPG


She's big. She's impressive. She's the Phlizon 1000w, FD-8000 full spectrum grow light!
Phlizon unpacked 3-4-24.JPG


The chances of me NOT sticking this in my 5x5 tent for this grow are .000000000000000001, or thereabouts. šŸ™‚

This is one of my prizes for GJOTY. I'll provide more info about it later.

For now, immense thanks to 420 Magazine, Phlizon and the 420 members who have supported me so givingly!

Woo Hoo!
that is so awesome congrats i'd be excited too
 
Back
Top Bottom