JCool09 Cabinet Hydro Caramelicious 9/2009

very clean very nice. And it looks like you got you rinfo down. Saying that this is going to be a hell of a grow. GReat job!

+rep you deserve it

That is very kind of you to say, Butcher. It means a lot coming from someone with your experience. Thanks for the +rep too.
 
Plant update
OK so we have one plant that is off and running. Love it when they start out wider than they are tall; I don't even have room to put perlite under the first set of leaves.

Top view
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There is noticeable leaf and root progress in 1.5 days since intro to DWC.

Root view
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I went to the Hydro store today to pick up a few things.

Water thermometer was added to monitor nutrient temps. If the temp exceeds 80 degrees I'm going to implement a water pump and reservior to circulate cooler solution through the bucket.

Bucket upgrade
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Here's what $160 worth of root and foliar feeding supplements looks like. Thanks to Butcher for the tip on the Root Excelurator. I read about DM Penetrator and Liquid Light on another thread last week and put it on my list. I've never done foliar feeding before but it makes total sense for seedlings and clones that do not have well develped roots.

Supplement porn
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So here is the group shot of the nutrients and measuring / adjusting products. I bought the pediatric dosage syringe and spoon to facilitate measuring the small volume of dilute solution and supplements I will be mixing in the upcoming week. The GH PH Control Kit will allow me to measure and adjust the PH and the Hannah Primo TDS meter will verify the strength of nutrient solution. I decided to go manual with the PH kit because I don't anticipate big swings in the PH with this system. If the PH turns out to be unstable I will probably end up buying a digital PH meter.

Nutrients measure & adjust
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jcool09 alot goodies, turning into a nice nute menu! Since I have not grasped the Hydro concept completely. I can only praise you! So heres to you :roorrip: on your grow, Things are coming along very nice! Your growing experience is shining through! Keep up the awesome work Buddy!! ps. does your wife smoke? answer only if you want. TY :peace:
 
Jcool, I'm loving the ingenuity! Why buy what you can make for a fraction of the cost, right?

I'll stick around for this one! Great job so far!

Thanks, Kwsmoke. The cost is definitely lower but for me the stealth aspect is the key. One size does not fit all so being able to downsize everything and fit it into a piece of furniture is both challenging and fun. :cool:
 
The lab coat came out this afternoon as I made my calculations, measurements and adjustments for the nutrient and supplement solutions. First I had to calibrate my Hanna Primo with the 1382 solution. Then I measured the TDS of the spring water I will use for the solution which came in at 10 PPM.

Thought of "Cheech and Chong's Next Movie" when using my siphon
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Aqua Vega A+B Grow
Full strength is 8ml each part per gallon
EC Range of .8 - 1.2 or 570 - 850 PPM (adjusted +10 PPM)
Used .25 dilution or 2ml each part. Solution was measured at 195 PPM.

House and Garden Root Excelurator
Full strength is 1ml per gallon.
Used .50 dilution or .5ml.

PH
PH came in slightly low with the AV and RE in solution. Added .125ml PH up to bring PH into 5.5-6.0 range.

Dutch Master Penetrator / Liquid Light
Full strength is 1:16 mix of each product into water.
Used .50 dilution or 1:32 ratio. .25 ml of each mixed into 8ml water in small cup.

I soaked a Q-tip to give my specimen it's first foliar feeding. Now that's love...

Who's Hungry?
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October 1 plant update
Top is getting fuller. Should be significant changes over the next several days as nutes kick in.

Top view
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Roots are thriving in the DWC. Should also see significant boost down here from the Roots Excelurator.

Bottom view
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I have decided to name the seedlingds and plants to avoid confusion. The healthy Caramelicious plant will be know as CAR1, the one that has sprouted but has not developed leaves will be CAR2.

CAR1 - Day 11. Noticible growth in first day since application of nutes
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Germination update
We have a new friend in the cabinet from the free batch of AMS seeds. Recall that I germinated 3 seeds on 9/27, 4 days ago. This plant will be called UNK1. I also soaked 1 other Caramelicious seed for most of the day today 10/2. It sank to the bottom before I folded it up into a wet paper towel which went in a drawer. My goal is to have at least one female Caramelicious plant so I need to increase my odds.

UNK1 - Day 1
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Germination post-mortem
So I had much better luck with the germination on the second go-around. I was too impatient with the original seeds and the environment was not set up yet. Too much movement, poking, transplanting. Having them under the light right after I planted them in the medium when just the tap root was showing was also a mistake. I am now leaving them alone on the second shelf until they sprout. Only then will they be introduced to the lights.

I see the progress of UNK1 on day 1 vs. CAR1 on day 11 and I realize that CAR1 should be much further along at this stage. UNK1 has been added to the DWC pot today and I would expect it to close much of the size gap with CAR1 by Monday or Tuesday. We will see.
 
I did another round of foilar feeding with the q-tip today. It looks like CAR2 is going to be a dud; there has been no growth in several days. I think it's dying a slow death. The other 3 CAR seeds have also done nothing lately so I'll likely wait until the end of next week and dump them.

Germination update
UNK2 started to pop up today and was moved to the bucket. The UNKs are "test plants", I am curious how they will react to the bucket with .25 nutrient strength from the beginning. I checked the new Caramelicious seed in the paper towel and I could see the beginnings of a tap root emerging. I will likely wait until Monday to get it set up in a STG cube.
 
Does foliar feeding help that much? I've never done it.

Gotta make sure the roots are in touch with the medium otherwise they dry out and you get duds. There's no reason why plants should stop growing once they've sprouted.
 
Does foliar feeding help that much? I've never done it.

Gotta make sure the roots are in touch with the medium otherwise they dry out and you get duds. There's no reason why plants should stop growing once they've sprouted.

I have seen a lot of growth from CAR1 in the past couple of days since I began feeding leaves and roots. I can't say for sure how much extra it is giving since I have nothing to compare it to. I am looking forward to using foliar feeding on my clones since they will not have roots at first.

I believe that I damaged the taproot(s) when checking on germination, transplanting, etc. I was too impatient, totally my fault.
 
CAR1 has quadrupled in size and is really coming on strong.

Germination update
UNK2 has sprouted and is looking good. CAR3 had a fat tap root and was (carefully!) moved from the paper towel into an STG cube and placed in the germination tray.

Will post updated pics tomorrow.
 
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