Rifleman's - Multi-Strain Auto Grow - 600W - Hydro

[KCMP]

Glad to see you busting out the Big Bud and Overdrive. I used both of them on my last grow and the results were certainly noticeable. I have also never found the need to run AN additives over 1/2 strength.

I am also adding bud factor X and bud candy this round... Hoping I will be impressed based on the cost.


Regarding the AN PH Perfect claims I have heard the same thing from their support staff on the phone. Apparently they claim that the nutrients are so available they are able to be absorbed by the plant at a much wider PH range than normal. I try to keep mine around 5.9 and check it daily but it swung up to 6.7 by the end of last week (probably due to the great white I added) and I had no issues.

Either way I am SUPER interested in your experiment.


I am surprised that your PH does not balance to 5.9 after an hour or so with tap water at a ph of 8.0. Mine varies from 7.5 - 8.2ish and comes out at around 20 - 40ppm. So far it has balanced fine with a 50% dose of both the AN 3 part and Sensi line.

Are you adding everything in the right order? Micro -> Grow -> Bloom. I really wish AN would print this on the bottles instead of in a FAQ on their website. I had some wild PH swings before I started mixing in that order. I also add my CalMag first, and all other additives after the 3 part.

 

[Rifleman]

...............I am surprised that your PH does not balance to 5.9 after an hour or so with tap water at a ph of 8.0. Mine varies from 7.5 - 8.2ish and comes out at around 20 - 40ppm. So far it has balanced fine with a 50% dose of both the AN 3 part and Sensi line.

Are you adding everything in the right order? Micro -> Grow -> Bloom. I really wish AN would print this on the bottles instead of in a FAQ on their website. I had some wild PH swings before I started mixing in that order. I also add my CalMag first, and all other additives after the 3 part.

That's the order I add everything together also. I see now how I am short changing myself on the nutrients I believe. On water change day I have two five gallon buckets with seven gallons water in each(don't laugh it fits) that have been sitting for a week. I have been pumping this into my dwc buckets then mixing my nutrients etc, in that bucket, adjusting ph, putting my girls back in their buckets and calling it a day. Call it stoner disease but it just never occurred to me to do it any other way since that's how I did it before I acquired this brand nutrient. Now I need a couple more buckets for distilling so I can mix and let it sit for a few hours before putting it into the system. Thanks for waking up my old cranial juice. I'll do it different next change for sure and see how it works out.

 

[KCMP]

That's is the order I add everything together also. I see now how I am short changing myself on the nutrients I believe. On water change day I have two five gallon buckets with seven gallons water in each(don't laugh it fits) that have been sitting for a week. I have been pumping this into my dwc buckets then mixing my nutrients etc, in that bucket, adjusting ph, putting my girls back in their buckets and calling it a day. Call it stoner disease but it just never occurred to me to do it any other way. I need a couple more buckets for distilling so I can mix and let it sit for a few hours before putting it into the system. Thanks for waking up my old cranial juice. I'll do it different next change for sure and see how it works out.

Yeah I actually had never considered how to mix nutrients in DWC before I read your post. Probably stoner disease. You could probably just use a large storage bin to mix the entire solution before pumping it into your buckets. My reservoir is an old storage bin from my roommates truck bed.

 

[Camo420Grow]

So you change your entire 5 gal buckets every couple of days rifle ?

 

[nightsmokerG]

I guess that will be a stupid question but i ll ask anyway . Can you have the solution of the whole week prepared ?

 

[cogreen]

rifleman
The experiment sounds interesting; can't wait to see the results. Also I'll be interested to see how the Overdrive works for you. I picked some up a few weeks ago and plan to give it a try, although I'm a bit hesitant after my recent experience with AN's boosters.

KCMP
So beneficial bacteria like Great White is known to cause PH (up) swings?? That's news to me. I've been using Great White for a few months now, but never noticed any additional PH swing due to its usage.

 

[Rifleman]

So you change your entire 5 gal buckets every couple of days rifle ?

Every seven days.

 

[Rifleman]

I guess that will be a stupid question but i ll ask anyway . Can you have the solution of the whole week prepared ?

Not sure what you meant exactly. On water change day, after everyone is in a new solution bath, I fill all my five gallon buckets with tap water. I let these sit during the week to evap chlorine, etc. I use this water to top off during the week, and to refill my buckets the next week. I don't mix in my nutrients until I'm ready to put it in my grow buckets. I would think that if it sat during the week that the nutrients might evap, or fall out of suspension. Maybe not. I'm a creature of habit. I need a set routine to make sure I don't miss something. Right now I am in the process of reevaluating and modifying it to better suit my plants instead of me.

 

[OlderGrower]

Good morning Bruce Wayne aka Rifleman,
I saw your score you got with your poker winnings. Very nice indeed. (memo to self: do not play poker with Rifleman unless I have money to burn) I am curious as to what this guys sign was you mentioned that a blind man could spot. He didn't start singing "you need to know when to hold them, know when to fold them"
Looking forward to seeing how those work for your beast the BK

 

[Major PITA]

I'm interested in the experiment as well. Not sure why. I don't use AN products and I don't do hydro, but more knowledge is always a good thing. Best of luck!

 

[ShiggityFlip]

I am going to pass on the water usage, ph update tonight. Instead I'll tell you about an experiment I've started. I spent some time on the phone today with a support line. I told them about my records and asked if I should really have to chase ph the way I do. Here is what I was told...use your tap water, mix our nutrients into it as directed, don't worry about it.

I then asked, even though my tap water ph is over 8, and after mixing in nutrients it is only in the 7.5 to 7.7 range? Was told that was fine run with it. Well I'm here to say I don't believe it. I have a bucket that was left empty after the unfortunate murder of Q2, so it's time to put it to the test.

I dropped five bag seeds into a paper towel tonight. As soon as I see one crack it will be going into the bucket. I plant to run ONLY tap water, nutrients, and hydroguard. I will not check ph nor adjust it. The nutrient manufacturer says to use 1ml/L for seedlings, 2ml/L veg, 4ml/L full bloom. I will run a feed schedule of 50% recommended. Anyone else tried this? Care to voice your experience or expectations about it? Let's see what happens.

Edit: Cool temps rule ! Light went to 750w today.
Oh yeah, I don't think the experiment will make it past the 5th node IF it gets that far.

Organic and inorganic chelators surround a molecule such as Iron and make it available to plants even at high pH by preventing interaction with other soil molecules. An example of a chelator naturally found in soil is humic acid. I am sure that the AN nutes will be chelated. They also will contain a buffering agent to keep the soil pH within a certain level. For example your blood has carbonic acid-bicarbonate buffer that keeps the blood level at about pH7.4. Different buffers are designed to keep pH at different ranges, they will have a buffer system designed to bring your water to within the 5-6 range.

 

[lexort420]

Hey rifleman I just realized that I hadn't come by your journal yet so i just got done reading through it now. Everything looks good and sorry bout that one plant though that sucks. I think you had been wondering where iron gets absorbed on the ph acale if im recalling correctly which i know its late but here's the chart i follow.

 

[KCMP]

rifleman
The experiment sounds interesting; can't wait to see the results. Also I'll be interested to see how the Overdrive works for you. I picked some up a few weeks ago and plan to give it a try, although I'm a bit hesitant after my recent experience with AN's boosters.

KCMP
So beneficial bacteria like Great White is known to cause PH (up) swings?? That's news to me. I've been using Great White for a few months now, but never noticed any additional PH swing due to its usage.

I have experienced a few upswings after day 5 when using great white. I think last week my PH may have been raised drastically as all of the algae died and moved down into the reservoir.

 

[Rifleman]

HAPPY VETERANS DAY to all that are or have served. Thank You!

 

[th3tal3nt]

That's an auto!? My word that's as big as the pheno I vegged for 2 months. LOL. I skipped the start but I'm gonna re read it. Nice work my man

 

[Camo420Grow]

Haha yep that's rifleman's hydro for you right there! Big & prosperous !

 

[cogreen]

rifleman
So you mentioned you re-nute every 7 days... Do you ever do any "mini-flushes" (e.g. 2-3 hr flush with H2O + Clearex or similar, PHd)? I'm just curious as it doesn't appear a whole of people do other than me.

KCMP and others who've used Overdrive
Just looking for some verification as to how you gotten the best results with Overdrive. As I understand it should be used as an additive to your regimen the last 2 weeks for flower leading up the final flush, followed by a final flush with no nutes (obviously)... Does this sound about right?

 

[Rifleman]

Day 45

An early mid week update, sorry no photos until Sunday. I'm still waiting for my bag seed to germinate. The bucket has been bubbling overnight waiting on the seed. A check this morning put the ph/ppm at 8.7/177. I'll add some nutrients tonight at approximately 50% the recommended dosage and check all readings before I plant the seed tomorrow morning.

The rest of the girls are chugging along and thirsty. The grow is practically on auto pilot. I hate this part of the grow. Upward growth has slowed, the buds are just fuzzy wads of pistils, nothing good to see or show. Oh well, data dump below.

Q1 is 40.75" ph before watering today was 5.85, after 5.70 She has drank 9qts since Sunday afternoon.

ST is 30.5" ph before watering today was 5.71, after 5.66 She has drank 7.5qts since Sunday afternoon.

BK is 54" ph before watering today was 5.17, after 5.69 She has drank 10qts since Sunday afternoon.

Grow green my friends, another update soon.
--
Luke

 

[Rifleman]

rifleman
So you mentioned you re-nute every 7 days... Do you ever do any "mini-flushes" (e.g. 2-3 hr flush with H2O + Clearex or similar, PHd)? I'm just curious as it doesn't appear a whole of people do other than me.

KCMP and others who've used Overdrive
Just looking for some verification as to how you gotten the best results with Overdrive. As I understand it should be used as an additive to your regimen the last 2 weeks for flower leading up the final flush, followed by a final flush with no nutes (obviously)... Does this sound about right?

I won't do any flush until the last week, if then. My girls get nutrients at the beginning of their week, and nothing but water until I change it out, usually seven days. Last week they drank between 3.25 and 4.5 gallons each.

That is how I understand Overdrive to be used. This will be my first time using it.

 

[Rifleman]

Day 45 Evening

You didn't really think that I would hold off on photos until Sunday did you? Not much to see, just the tops. Top to bottom; Q1, ST, and BK.