HashGirl's 2021/2022 Grow: Blue Dream, Clementine, Gelato & Pineapple Express In ProMix

[HashGirl]

I thought I would bring your quote over here. I left the rest of the answer over there, but since this was an add-on to the converstion I thought it was best to keep it in your journal.

The GroTek you are using is highly concentrated, and when you say you are using 1mL/liter you are actually feeding around 440ppm of silicia silica. I feed around 50ppm during veg and drop that down to 30ppm in flower.
When plants are a couple of weeks old I will start at 30ppm, which equates to .07 gm/L. The gram weight is close to the same as the mL weight, for our purposes, so its around .07 mL/L.

When you get into full veg you should increase it to .1 gm, or .1 mL/L. Then when in flower you are back to .07 mL/L.
It's hard to work in small amounts like that, so you should dilute it to make it easier to work with.

So, I'm feeding them way too much? What I need to know then is how much silica to use in 10L of water? That's what I mix the nutes in.

If I may offer two cents on this: A drop is, in reality, an actual unit of measure - the smallest most of us can measure if one's syringe is designed to dispense measured actual drops as many are. Usually the ones that come with MSA are. Mine is. I use GrowGenius 40% mono silicic acid. I apply at 4 drops per gallon twice a week in veg only.

I did the math on the GroTek you're using. The low end of the application range is .6 ml per gallon. So here's the math to drops:

.6 ml = .121 tsp = 9.25 drops.

So if you can measure in drops, about 9 drops per gallon is the low end of GroTek's recommended dosage.

If it helps to think of it in those terms. I started thinking in terms of drops when the $40 bottle came and it's smaller than my thumb.

As per the above to MrSauga, I just need to know how much to use in 10L. And, I tried using a pipette to dispense the silica when I first got it but the silica was too thick for it to work properly.

 

[HashGirl]

In other news, I need to increase the humidity in the tent where the Gelatos are since Gelatos (and eventually, Clementine) like humidity. The humidity has been between 47 to 53 in the past week.

I'm hoping to get a decent humidifier in a Black Friday sale but until then, does anyone have any DIY humidity tips? I currently have a pail of water in there with them along with the Dark Devils.

 

[Nev]

I’m thinking If you can get hot water from off the stove in the tent it will help make humidity. Like steam from a teapot. I would just make sure the steam or heat didn’t hit the plants directly. Just a thought. I know boiling water on the stove makes a lot of humidity in the kitchen.
Good luck. I wish I could trade some of my high for you dry.

 

[MrSauga]

So, I'm feeding them way too much? What I need to know then is how much silica to use in 10L of water? That's what I mix the nutes in.

Just a wee bit. I'll let you know tonight how much you need.

 

[MrSauga]

What I need to know then is how much silica to use in 10L of water?

Ok, so the stuff is thick because it's a concentration. You'll need to dilute it to make it easier to handle and easier to dispense.

I suggest making a liter of a 5% solution, which should last you a while. To do that you need to do the following:
Measure 115mL of your silica. Add 885mL of distilled water. This will give you one liter of a 5% silica solution.

Once that is done, you can then add that solution to your 10L of water in the following amounts:
-For 30ppm, you add 6 grams of the solution... that's correct, grams, not mL's, to 10L of water. Used in early veg and flower.
-For 50ppm, you add 10 grams of the solution to 10L of water. For mid thru late veg.

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[HashGirl]

Ok, so the stuff is thick because it's a concentration. You'll need to dilute it to make it easier to handle and easier to dispense.

I suggest making a liter of a 5% solution, which should last you a while. To do that you need to do the following:
Measure 115mL of your silica. Add 885mL of distilled water. This will give you one liter of a 5% silica solution.

Once that is done, you can then add that solution to your 10L of water in the following amounts:
-For 30ppm, you add 6 grams of the solution... that's correct, grams, not mL's, to 10L of water. Used in early veg and flower.
-For 50ppm, you add 10 grams of the solution to 10L of water. For mid thru late veg.

How do I know how many ppm I have?

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[BakedARea]

How do I know how many ppm I have?

PPM meter. Should be able to get one cheap (if you need it).

 

[MrSauga]

For 30ppm, you add 6 grams of the solution... that's correct, grams, not mL's, to 10L of water. Used in early veg and flower.
-For 50ppm, you add 10 grams of the solution to 10L of water. For mid thru late veg.

How do I know how many ppm I have?

You don't need to. It's already worked out in the amounts I gave you in the above post.

 

[InTheShed]

does anyone have any DIY humidity tips?

Big bowl of water with a towel mounded it (so most of it sticks out). Aim a small fan at it.

Ok, so the stuff is thick because it's a concentration. You'll need to dilute it to make it easier to handle and easier to dispense.

I suggest making a liter of a 5% solution, which should last you a while. To do that you need to do the following:
Measure 115mL of your silica. Add 885mL of distilled water. This will give you one liter of a 5% silica solution.

Once that is done, you can then add that solution to your 10L of water in the following amounts:
-For 30ppm, you add 6 grams of the solution... that's correct, grams, not mL's, to 10L of water. Used in early veg and flower.
-For 50ppm, you add 10 grams of the solution to 10L of water. For mid thru late veg.

Let me know if you have any questions.

I knew there was a reason that I didn't visit this thread yesterday...so you could answer that. And better than I ever would have.

How do I know how many ppm I have?

You don't need to. It's already worked out in the amounts I gave you in the above post.

As a general rule, 30ppm would be for any sprout over 2 weeks old, and by 3 weeks you would be at 50ppm.

 

[HashGirl]

You don't need to. It's already worked out in the amounts I gave you in the above post.

So, I can just ignore that part then? Great!

Thanks for your help, MrSauga. I really appreciate it.

Big bowl of water with a towel mounded it (so most of it sticks out). Aim a small fan at it.

What am I supposed to do with the towel?

There's an oscillating fan in the tent already. I don't have any other fans.

As a general rule, 30ppm would be for any sprout over 2 weeks old, and by 3 weeks you would be at 50ppm.

 

[MrSauga]

knew there was a reason that I didn't visit this thread yesterday...so you could answer that. And better than I ever would have.

I still have a headache from crunching those numbers. Fortunately Mr G. Oogle led me to a formula for figuring it out.

So, I can just ignore that part then? Great!

Thanks for your help, MrSauga. I really appreciate it.

Yes. 6g in 10L of water gives you 30ppm. 10g in 10L of water gives you 50ppm.

 

[InTheShed]

What am I supposed to do with the towel?

The towel sits in the bowl of water like a wet towel mountain. The fan blows at it and evaporates the moisture into the air, and as it does that the towel absorbs more water from the bowl.

I don't have any other fans.

Always a good idea to have a few small fans on hand. Clip-on fans are cheap and usually come with stands as well as the clips. I have two in my 2x4 tent hanging from the top just to move the air through the canopy.

 

[Virgin Ground]

50 Dark Devil auto seeds made by Rifleman (I had been warned that they may not be viable due to heat issues.)

What kind of heat issues are we talking about here?

Also. You mentioned that you spritz your sprouting medium when it gets dry? Have you been using a dome?

Also, I disagree with VG on that one point. Always plant stem down seed coat up. That's the way the plant is going to sort itself out no matter how you plant it, so why would you want to make it more difficult on the seedling by planting it any way but that? That's my philosophy anyway, not saying VG is wrong, just that we disagree.

I only crack my seeds. I don't let them get a big tail like you and HG do. My way of sprouting won't work as well with a long tail.

I thought that I mentioned that I crack,get a little tap poking out and immediately place into Pro mix?
I don't see the need for plastic bags. The seeds do fine in soil on their own. IMO..It's just another step that can lead to failure.

I have tried planting root down, root up and sideways. Sideways works best for me. I haven't had any confused or helmeted plants since I started doing this.
Perhaps try it before you completely shut it down and advise against it?
I have tried your way before.

HG may have to experiment to see what works best for her? Nothing wrong with trying something new when the old fails ,eh?

 

[Jon]

What kind of heat issues are we talking about here?

Also. You mentioned that you spritz your sprouting medium when it gets dry? Have you been using a dome?

I only crack my seeds. I don't let them get a big tail like you and HG do. My way of sprouting won't work as well with a long tail.

I thought that I mentioned that I crack,get a little tap poking out and immediately place into Pro mix?
I don't see the need for plastic bags. The seeds do fine in soil on their own. IMO..It's just another step that can lead to failure.

I have tried planting root down, root up and sideways. Sideways works best for me. I haven't had any confused or helmeted plants since I started doing this.
Perhaps try it before you completely shut it down and advise against it?
I have tried your way before.

HG may have to experiment to see what works best for her? Nothing wrong with trying something new when the old fails ,eh?

I wasn't advising against anything, just saying I disagreed with one statement from VG. What you do with that info is your choice. I try hard to not "advise" cuz one, I'm not qualified, and two, it's not my style. I just attempt to share what I do and toss it out if someone has a thing related to it. I even try hard to say things like "just my two cents," "in my opinion," etc. whenever I DO make a statement so people know. There are exceptions. If I am 100% certain about something, I'll say it that way. Such as, I am 100% certain you can grow autoflowers in larger pots than threes. That I won't qualify, cuz it's a damn fact. Whether it's printed anywhere as such or not, it's a fact. So I state it as such.

See what I mean? I'm trying my best!

 

[HashGirl]

What kind of heat issues are we talking about here?

I don't know. That's all Sue said. And, I did plant all of them but none of them came up.

Also. You mentioned that you spritz your sprouting medium when it gets dry? Have you been using a dome?

No, I haven't been doming them. I did think about doing that, at least until they sprout but haven't done anything about it yet.

 

[HashGirl]

*** Weekly Update ***​

Good afternoon.

I finally feel like I have my next grow on its way. The big news for the week is that I LSTed the Gelatos and I have seeds for the next 2 strains in water. Here are some pics:

GEL1 - Day 48:

GEL2 - Day 47:

Blue Dream:

Pineapple Express:

And, that's everything. Thank you for following along and comments are always welcome.

 

[Grand Daddy Black]

Looking forward!

 

[Trala]

Beautiful Daisy-Bird

Just beautiful

 

[InTheShed]

Congrats on the swimming seeds!

For the Gel 1, the end of the branch on the right side of the top pic needs be lower than the rightmost orange pipe cleaner for LST to be effective. Also, I'm concerned about the trunk on Gel 2! I'd get a rock/pill bottle to the left of it at soil level to support it as the plant grows.

 

[Azimuth]

Both the Gel 1 and Gel 2 leaves have the same marks that my plants do when I have bugs. It's thrips for me, but you might want to have a close look at the underside of green leaves with a loop.

The marks are few and far between which for my plants means the bug problem is in its infancy and easier to tackle.

Here's hoping I'm wrong.