Kushtie - ShortStuff Autos In NFT

[Kushtie]

Fancied an auto run so I can run long hours of light and access my plants at more convenient times.

Hopefully it'll be a quick way to make a couple of large piles of something I've never tried before although if either of these turn out to be Russian Rocket Fuel I won't be complaining. I just hope they aren't "super" autos that veg for longer and will likely get far too big for my space.

From a 5 pack of ShortStuff Mix seeds I got free by ordering Russian Rocket Fuel through one of the site sponsors (Female Seeds - Buy feminised cannabis seeds) I selected 2 seeds that didn't look like the Super Cali Haze seed I also got free and put them in 1" rockwood cubes that had been pre-soaked in pH 5.5 water.

The rockwool cubes were then placed in a NFT tank with pH 5.8 water to germinate:

Was a bit of a rush job so pH might not have been exactly where I wanted it but it seems to have worked and they've popped up above ground today. Currently they are under a 125W CFL but in a few days my 600W HPS should be free and I'll put them in separate tanks before the roots get a chance to get tangled.

Nutes will be Ionic Hydro grow and then bloom at about 7ml/L but this will vary depending on the pH and EC in the tanks.....target EC is 2.0 and pH within a range of 5.6-6.2.

Game on!

 

[Kushtie]

pH of res 5.7 with an EC of 0.0. 125W CFL running 24/0 as I've not set up a timer. Hydro pump running 24/0 because I like it that way.

New veg area isn't so much a room as just a space on the floor I wrap that shiny bubblewrap stuff round when I'm not accessing the plants.

Plant 1 (right of pic above):

Plant 2(left of pic at top of this post):

 

[Kushtie]

Plant 1:

Plant 2:

pH crept up a notch so starting to add little bits of diluted pH down to keep.....should have it back to 5.7 by tomorrow.

 

[Kushtie]

pH settled at 5.7 so not done anything to res since last update. Pump still on 24/0. Light going off for a couple of hours or so each day....should probably set up a timer lol

4" Rockwool cubes just about finished soaking so the next update should see them in the larger cubes then I need to start getting organised with another tank (which I just harvested a Violator Kush from) so I can get each plant on NFT matting in it's own tank and then under a 600W HPS instead of a 125W CFL.

Plant 1:

Plant 2:

 

[Kushtie]

Res still sitting at pH 5.7. The Rockwool cubes I was soaking ended up at 6.4 so I'm mixing up a fresh batch of water to soak them again and get them to 5.8.....trying the wash the lime out.

 

[Kushtie]

Rockwool cubes raised the pH to 6.3 in the 10L or so of water I had them sitting in so I let them drain a bit and put them on the tray next to the seedings overnight. This raised the pH of my res to 5.9.

No biggie so I carried on getting the 1" cubes into the 4" cubes before the roots got any longer.

Last night:

This morning:

Added about half a cap full of grow nutes. EC now at 0.2 but half of that is probably crap in the water and the tank could do with a flush. Nutes brought the pH back down to 5.8.

 

[Kushtie]

Res still at 5.7 on day 8

Ticking away nicely I think......they'll be under my 600W dual spectrum HPS in a few days. Considering getting a 1000W for flowering though. Will wait and see if they get big enough and if funds allow. Got some work harvesting my last grow then relocate the extractor fan mounting onto the brick wall at the back of my grow room so the vibration doesn't travel down a beam and into the rooms downstairs and then install hooks for SCROG netting. Aiming to get the net in early this time.

 

[Kushtie]

Now got them under the 600W HPS after setting up my other 2 NFT tanks.

The medium in place, flow rate set and tanks circulating so I was getting a stable pH of 5.8 before I put plants on them:

edit - EC probably about 1.0 (about half strength) but not too worried just now.....if the pH goes down the nutes are too strong so I need to be ready with plain water to pH up. If pH goes up I can add more nutes in top ups

 

[Kushtie]

Plant 1 - pH 5.7, EC 1.1

Plant 2 - pH 5.6, EC 1.0

Plant 2 suffered some flow rate issues, or at least I think that's what caused the spots on the lower leaves, a few days ago. Though I had it turned down low enough but apparently not.....seems you don't need much flow rate when germinating in a recirculating Rockwool setup, which is what I think I'm using to start my seeds. Should probably do some reading up on that

Think they're just about settled in their new home now so hopefully they'll perk up a bit soon.

 

[PyNext]

Loving your projects Kushtie!

You are going for 2 plants in 600WHPS?
why dont you make 4 plants?

 

[Kushtie]

Thanks Py. Just 2 plants as I'm hoping they get as big as the last autos I ran this way. Somewhere between 4 and 10oz a plant would be nice but that's a bit of a wild guess since I don't know what I'm growing

Also, only had 2 big Rockwool cubes left and I wasn't sure I could get to a hydro store for more before I needed them. If they haven't filled much space in a couple of weeks I'll get something else going rather than have space doing nothing.

 

[PyNext]

Thats true!

Can you tell me what type of nutrients do you use?
I am trying to start my first grow and i want to start hydro, but i dont know what i need to buy for nutrients.
I am tempted to buy advanced nutriends (grow micro and bloom) and i see people using hydroguard... but i dont know what i need to buy more..

 

[Kushtie]

Can you tell me what type of nutrients do you use?

Nae bother. My entire line up of nutrients for hydro currently consists of Ionic Hydro Grow and Ionic Hydro Bloom from Growth Technology.

It's all I've tried....plenty other nutes I've seen and would like to try but when this one has been working well enough that I'm reluctant to risk it.

With autos I plan to feed grow until upward growth slows and then switch to bloom. Not much too it

 

[PyNext]

Nothing more??

Other people use hydroguard or senzisym...
What's your opção opinion about that??

 

[Rifleman]

 

[Kushtie]

Nothing more??

Other people use hydroguard or senzisym...
What's your opção opinion about that??

Nope, nothing more Unless you count pH down.

I guess I've been lucky if a need for anything else hasn't presented itself. Or maybe I just haven't realised it yet!

Other people seem to have more a problem with things like reservoir temps. In warmer countries (or even just warmer grow rooms) adding a cleaner to the tank is possibly more important. I try to keep my res cool and slightly acidic - if temps and pH are higher than they should be organic matter should breakdown faster.

Well that's my theory anyway. I want to avoid conditions which increase the likelihood of needing a cleaner.

Good to have you onboard RM. Hopefully we're all just passengers on this ride

 

[Glasgrow]

Am now subbed along for the grow.

Py - go into any hydroponic store and speak to them. Tell them you are growing "tomatoes" and use air quotes when telling them. They will give you advice on what to buy with what your budget allows. Chances are they will push with canna products which is what i used when i used to nft grow a few years back - did them fine but they can cost a little more and err on the side of caution with nutes. Most feeding schedules often give their values a bitt too high - again speak to the shop and what they say on the schedules.

Kushtie - rather than going out for a 1000W, unless finances allow then hook up the 125W cfl in the middle between the plants if you can. That be 725W in total, keeps running costs down a bit and gets lights to the lower sites. I kept my pump on 24/7, that what nft is designed for as the mat takes the roots and stops the roots being water logged, besides the white sheet on top the tank still allows air to flow around then as well as the natural cause of air created by the pump. Also leave your water out for 24 hours to get rid of any chlorine and to get to room temp. Light schedule for autos is 18/6 for best results. Not sure if 24/0 is better or not but 18/6 seems to be the norm. Sorry if am telling you stuff you prob already know, just blazed up a doobie a few mins ago and am in my happy place

 

[Kushtie]

Spraf away buddy. Good to have you.

Atrain says he got a little better yield running 20/4 over 18/6 so that's what I'm running here (you should see the plants he grows!). My 125W CFL is still busy popping seeds for my mate who has been let down once again by his unreliable source of Mothers Finest clones so I'm trying to start a couple of Pepperjack Haze for him. Once it's done there it might get added to the big room.

Agree the nute bottles give values that are a bit on the high side, at least to start with. Half strength is too strong for my wee ones just now and it causes the pH to drop as the water gets used faster than the nutes but I can keep on top of it by adding just water to keep it in range. I also prefer to use water that has been sitting for a day as once the chlorine has evaporated the pH is lower and stable.

 

[Kushtie]

Day 15, plant 1 seems to be doing fine and is about 10cm tall. pH dropped to 5.6 so I added more water to bring it back to 5.8. Hopefully pH will start going the other way soon as it gets bigger.

Plant 2 is taller at 12cm but is still a bit droopy. New growth continues so hopefully when there's a few more good leaves out and catching energy and I get the light closer things will look better. I don't want to start lowering the light towards them while this one is still settling in and finding her zone though. Same deal with pH in this tank but I may try upping it a bit to 5.9-6.0 to see if she finds happiness there if things don't improve in the next day or so.

 

[Kushtie]

Before going to bed last night I added a litre or two more water to each of my reservoirs. When I looked in on them this morning they are bigger, greener with noticeably fatter leaves. Plant 2, who I've decided to call Cassandra, has grown 1cm in 9 hours. pH of both tanks now 5.9.

Plant 1 is now called Raquel as she's the shorter and darker one

Raquel:

Cassandra: