Scientific's Hydro Dwarf Low Flyer 24/7 Illumination Fireplace Grow Journal - 2017

[Scientific]

Re: Scientific's Hydro Dwarf Low Flyer 24/7 Illumination Fireplace Grow Journal - 201

Day 30

I'm replacing a quart of media a day in the reservoir!

The nutrient concentration is going down about 33 PPM per day, so has dropped from 543 PPM when I replenished the nutrients three days ago to 450 today. That's less than half of General Hydroponics' recommended level of about 900 to 1300 at Transition. Autoflowers don't need the same nutrient concentration as photoperiod strains, I have read, but 450 PPM is really getting down there, so starting today I'm not replenishing the reservoir with water but with nutrient solution.

I mixed a gallon of solution of 5 ml/gallon of the three Flora mixes (Micro, Gro, Bloom), 2.5 ml of CALiMAGic Ca/Mg supplement and 2 ml of HydroGuard bacillus mix.

So... she's still small but she's actively growing, and using up both water and nutrients. Again, it's great to be able to monitor and control all of the nutrients but it is time consuming and a lot of tedious detail. Next grow I want to do something to simplify this process. I'm not sure which.

With the new pH pen I'm gradually getting the pH into the 5.8 range I want to keep it at.

 

[Scientific]

Day 30, continued

I took the 850 lumen LED light bulb out of desk lamp and added it to the mix. There are seven light bulbs going now, totaling about 10,000 lumens, so the whole plant is getting a 50,000 lux sunny day, 24 hours a day. My little fireplace grow box is essentially a biological reactor now, furiously converting intense light, water, and nutrients into plant tissue.

It smells minty-herbal-cannabisy–not intensely, but enough so my hands smell like it after a training session, which is more and more a matter of untangling leaves and shoots in a dense bush.

 

[Scientific]

Re: Scientific's Hydro Dwarf Low Flyer 24/7 Illumination Fireplace Grow Journal - 201

Day 31 - She's thriving at the halfway point!

Happy 4-20!

After enduring many trials, confusions, "learning experiences," and just plan f**k-ups, this little plant is finally just exploding and looking really healthy and strong.

Contributing factors:

• I have increased the light by about 60% to 10,000 lumens coming from seven lamps, with even distribution of light so she's getting about 50,000 lux all over all the time. It's a sunny day 24/7 in my little fireplace grow room. (Small as she is, she was getting too spread out to give her even illumination with just the original four CFLs.)
• I think I have the pH about dialed in at the target 5.8 (carefully and accurately measured now that I have a pH meter and good calibration buffer).
• I'm adjusting nutrient levels daily to just below 500 PPM.
• Temperature and humidity are both about where I want them (75F and 45%)

And today she's entering the second week of her flowering stretch. I really want her to bulk up and get as healthy as possible before buds start to form. No sign of them yet other than the odd preflower pistil. Instead she's popping out new leaves and stalks everywhere.

Riot of greenery

Riot of rootery

I don't think she's ever going to be bigger than a big salad on a dinner plate, but she's rockin'.

 

[Canada Guy]

Re: Scientific's Hydro Dwarf Low Flyer 24/7 Illumination Fireplace Grow Journal - 201

Subbed. Looking good.

 

[Scientific]

Re: Scientific's Hydro Dwarf Low Flyer 24/7 Illumination Fireplace Grow Journal - 201

Subbed. Looking good.

Thanks CG. It's only been a month, but it feels like it has already been a long ride...

 

[Canada Guy]

Re: Scientific's Hydro Dwarf Low Flyer 24/7 Illumination Fireplace Grow Journal - 201

I'm staring my own journal today too

 

[Scientific]

Re: Scientific's Hydro Dwarf Low Flyer 24/7 Illumination Fireplace Grow Journal - 201

Day 33: Defoliating overkill?

I have been commenting about how dense the foliage has gotten. It had gotten to the point where drops of water were on the leaves, condensation from the wet hydroton underneath without enough air circulation.

So without a lot of preplanning, I decide to remove:

• All damaged leaves (some of the old ones got pretty crispy--see earlier post. I think it was the fan blowing on them, but it might have been the reservoir pH getting too low)
• Leaves that were shading bud-formation sites
• Leaves that were so shaded at the bottom/in the center that they probably weren't contributing much.
• Leaves that were just choking off air flow.

Many of the leaves I removed fit into more than one of those categories (like too shaded and blocking air flow).

When I got done, I could see that the plant was in better shape--especially that it had better air flow, and also less shading by leaves of bud forming sites.

But when I gathered up the leaves, I was shocked at how many I had cut off--a whole handful from a small plant--3/4 ounce. But 12 hours later the plant looked HAPPY! The turgor of the the leaves was amazing--just popping out into the light and air.

Still no real flowering 10 days after first preflower
There are tiny little preflowers at the growth tips, but the tips still look like they're busy making leaves. I hope that she continues to grow (and recover from this lollypopping kind of defoliation exercise) before going into full-on flowering mode, but at 33 days, she's over halfway. (And I read at the CropKing site about one Dwarf Low Flyer on 24/7 light like mine that was harvested at 50 days! But that was with 600 watts...)

Anyway, as I keep saying, "She's small but growing and seems healthy!"

Day 32: After 3/4 ounce of leaves removed and training wires repositioned. She's looking a little...mangled?

Day 33: 24 hours later. Happy as a clam! And still dense after about half her leaves were removed.

20 grams of leaves removed (wet weight)

Down to about 5 grams after they dried out

Weekly nutrient refresh. 25% more concentrated this week (but only 700 PPM)

If it's a hydro grow, ya gotta have a root shot!

 

[Scientific]

Re: Scientific's Hydro Dwarf Low Flyer 24/7 Illumination Fireplace Grow Journal - 201

Day 33, continued

Just a beauty shot There are about a dozen of these little growth apexes scattered all over the plant.

It's hard to capture in photos, but this plant is dome-shaped. It's about one square foot in area. The main stalk is about seven inches long, but it has been laid over to the right on its side so it (the main stalk) is growing sideways. Then the growth areas on the nodes grow upwards and are trained outwards.

 

[chankylanky]

Re: Scientific's Hydro Dwarf Low Flyer 24/7 Illumination Fireplace Grow Journal - 201

Scientific, your girl is looking beautiful! Way fuller and more lush than what mine ever did. Well done!

 

[Scientific]

Re: Scientific's Hydro Dwarf Low Flyer 24/7 Illumination Fireplace Grow Journal - 201

Scientific, your girl is looking beautiful! Way fuller and more lush than what mine ever did. Well done!

Thanks Chanky! She is one lush plate of salad. But the proof of the pudding is in the budding (to coin a phrase). Please stay tuned for the exciting conclusion...

 

[Scientific]

Re: Scientific's Hydro Dwarf Low Flyer 24/7 Illumination Fireplace Grow Journal - 201

Day 34 - A Second Defoliation

After the massive defoliation I did a couple of days ago, the last thing I anticipated was doing another one! But once again the plant has been growing really fast and getting so bushy that light and air get blocked and condensate starts to get trapped on leaves.

I defoliated in the same way this time as last time, choosing any leaves that were too shaded and/or blocking air flow or shading bud sites.

I also moved the training wires again (as I do at least twice a day).

And just 12 hours after topping up the tank this morning with a quart of nutrient media, tonight I added another quart of water, just one cup of which was media. She is drinking a LOT (and has a humidifier/cooler going full time). The pH fell from 5.8 to 5.4, so along with all that water, I also added .25 ml of ph Up.

Just this one plant is keeping me busy. I can't imagine trying to do a whole grow room like this! I have quickly gotten used to the incredibly fast growth of this plant and am learning how to cope with it. I had read that a dialed-in hydroponic system could give growth rates bordering on the unmanageable. That's what I seem to have!

Still no further signs of flowering... (maybe because I keep stressing her with defoliations? )

Nine grams of leaves removed

After defoliating for the second time in two days You can see that a 12-watt LED grow light is shining on the growth tip (the "top" of a normal plant, not trained 90 degrees to the right) on the right.

Four hours later--bushy again! (The makeup mirror in the background helps me to see the back of the plant, which is hard to see now in the little fireplace grow room. Trying to place training wires or trim in mirror image is an interesting process...)

 

[Scientific]

Re: Scientific's Hydro Dwarf Low Flyer 24/7 Illumination Fireplace Grow Journal - 201

Day 34, continued - First Flowers?

I was checking the baby before going to bed and noticed that some of the growth apexes have what looks like more than just "preflower" pistils. Do these look like first flowers to you?

Node 1 at day 34

Node 2 at day 34

Node 2 at day 34, zoomed in. Yup!

 

[Scientific]

Re: Scientific's Hydro Dwarf Low Flyer 24/7 Illumination Fireplace Grow Journal - 201

Day 35: Lollipopping

I finished lollipopping her this morning. All of the little growth sites that weren't going to develop into flowers are gone, as are a some more leaves that were in the way of light and air (11 more grams total). Once again, it seems like too much, but I'm expecting that once again by this evening she will look like she hasn't been touched.

The goal is to get her all ready to flower--stuff that isn't going to develop into flowers or that is blocking air or light gone, bud sites more or less flat and evenly distributed. Along with the trimming I'm also repositioning her training wires about every 12 hours.

It occurs to me now that by tipping the plant over on its' side, you take away half of the area that it would normally grow into. The example I had (about post 24?) showed a lot more growth out and away from the main stalk. This girl doesn't seem to want to do that. I'd think it was the strain, but other Dwarf Low Flyer grows have been more open.

If it ever sounds like I know what I'm doing, I don't. (Though I done pruning in other kinds of gardening.) I'm just aping what I have seen others do on the Internet/YouTube, despite the advice I have received to be careful about trimming an autoflower and to lean towards defoliating only after getting more experienced. It was clear that left to her own devices, however, that she would be a (too) dense ball of greenery, so there really hasn't been much choice. And she keeps popping back. Eventually I hope she'll start putting all this growth energy into buds!

pH is still about 5.5 this morning (with a target of 5.8), so I added 0.5 ml of pH Up.

I topped up the reservoir with another quart of water (which is 10% of the 2.5 gallon capacity). It's down about 50 PPM (from 628 to 581) from 24 hours ago, so she's using the nutrients.

More trimmings!

After lollipopping: budding sites exposed and more or less flat under the main light

Her stalk--short and stout. The understory is all cleared out.

 

[Canada Guy]

Re: Scientific's Hydro Dwarf Low Flyer 24/7 Illumination Fireplace Grow Journal - 201

Day 35: Lollipopping

I finished lollipopping her this morning. All of the little growth sites that weren't going to develop into flowers are gone, as are a some more leaves that were in the way of light and air (11 more grams total). Once again, it seems like too much, but I'm expecting that once again by this evening she will look like she hasn't been touched.

The goal is to get her all ready to flower--stuff that isn't going to develop into flowers or that is blocking air or light gone, bud sites more or less flat and evenly distributed. Along with the trimming I'm also repositioning her training wires about every 12 hours.

It occurs to me now that by tipping the plant over on its' side, you take away half of the area that it would normally grow into. The example I had (about post 24?) showed a lot more growth out and away from the main stalk. This girl doesn't seem to want to do that. I'd think it was the strain, but other Dwarf Low Flyer grows have been more open.

If it ever sounds like I know what I'm doing, I don't. (Though I done pruning in other kinds of gardening.) I'm just aping what I have seen others do on the Internet/YouTube, despite the advice I have received to be careful about trimming an autoflower and to lean towards defoliating only after getting more experienced. It was clear that left to her own devices, however, that she would be a (too) dense ball of greenery, so there really hasn't been much choice. And she keeps popping back. Eventually I hope she'll start putting all this growth energy into buds!

pH is still about 5.5 this morning (with a target of 5.8), so I added 0.5 ml of pH Up.

I topped up the reservoir with another quart of water (which is 10% of the 2.5 gallon capacity). It's down about 50 PPM (from 628 to 581) from 24 hours ago, so she's using the nutrients.

More trimmings!

After lollipopping: budding sites exposed and more or less flat under the main light

Her stalk--short and stout. The understory is all cleared out.

It's looking pretty nice. You may have some pre flowers there. Keep at it and she will reward you for letting her breathe.

 

[chankylanky]

Re: Scientific's Hydro Dwarf Low Flyer 24/7 Illumination Fireplace Grow Journal - 201

Scientific, to be honest I don't think I was able to tell the difference between flower or pre. Whatever I saw first was deemed as pre. Plant looks wonderful!

 

[Scientific]

Re: Scientific's Hydro Dwarf Low Flyer 24/7 Illumination Fireplace Grow Journal - 201

Scientific, to be honest I don't think I was able to tell the difference between flower or pre. Whatever I saw first was deemed as pre. Plant looks wonderful!

Last night, looking at the extreme close-ups (and at the calendar...) I was convinced she was about to explode into flower, so this morning I assaulted her one more time to get her all cleaned up and ready. This evening I'm not so sure she's ready to pop. Oh well, she definitely needed more room for air to circulate in there. Now she has it. Please stay tuned...

 

[Scientific]

Re: Scientific's Hydro Dwarf Low Flyer 24/7 Illumination Fireplace Grow Journal - 201

Day 36

Here's an update shot to show how she has recovered from her third round of defoliation in four days. She is already so bushy again that she has wet leaves here and there from condensation.

She has gone from looking like a big plate of salad to a really big plate of salad. No further signs of flowering...

The temperature / humidity this morning were 72F / 44%. I moved the little 140 mm, 1-CFM computer fan from behind the evaporative cooler element (i.e. blowing through it) to the front (i.e. pulling air through the element and blowing directly onto the plant), hoping for more air flow and a little less moisturization. I'm watching this very closely since I have dried out the leaves before by blowing on them too much in this little three-cubic-foot grow chamber. I think the wet hydroton is creating a local area of higher humidity around the plant than the reading I'm getting from the gauge six inches away. (Just about sure of that.)

The pH dropped to 5.4 overnight and the reservoir was down about 10% this morning. I added .3 ml pH Up in her quart of reservoir top-off water.

Nutrient concentration dropped from 581 PPM to 524 in 24 hours, so she's not just drinking, she's eating to support all that rapid growth.

Day 36, recovered from her lollipoping and trying to turn back into a bush again. Can you see the condensation wetness on the leaf at 11 o'clock just above the red beam? Motley light source collection: Light therapy CFL upper left, LED light bulb from the kitchen on the right, 12-watt grow light beam at bottom (and light from four 25-watt CFLs coming from above). The "top" of the plant, pulled over 90-degrees, is dead center in the red beam.

 

[Scientific]

Re: Scientific's Hydro Dwarf Low Flyer 24/7 Illumination Fireplace Grow Journal - 201

Scientific, to be honest I don't think I was able to tell the difference between flower or pre. Whatever I saw first was deemed as pre.

Her flowering
Here's an example of how things are looking two days later. (Not all of 'em are even this far along.)

Flowerish at Day 36?

Her smell
Her scent is getting stronger and changing. I sat down in front of her barefoot and thought I needed to wash my feet, but it was my plant! She used to smell green-herby and a little minty, now she smells like marijuana (hooray!) but with a sulfurous, vulcanized rubber smell, and even a little bit skunky.

Her appetite
Her nutrient PPMs are down by 76 in 24 hours (from 553 to 447 PPM). That's not a scientific number since dilution changes with varying tank level, but it's clear that she's really chowing down. I think I'm going to need to increase the nutrient concentration if she is to make it through a week without recharging. The solution that I have been using is significantly more dilute than General Hydroponics recommends since it's a small plant and because autotflowers are supposed to eat less(?!), but even though she looks great, it's clear she can handle more.

I keep thinking that I'm not going to post anything since I'm essentially just marking time until flowers appear, but she's a dynamic life form (and beautiful, so I must post pics).

 

[Scientific]

Re: Scientific's Hydro Dwarf Low Flyer 24/7 Illumination Fireplace Grow Journal - 201

Day 38
Here's a shot of the tiny plant in its tiny hydroponic grow space with the new automatic da kine DIY reservoir top-off system. She's drinking a quart a day now, so this means less fussing. (You can see that she has overgrown the reservoir access port, the round, aluminum-foil-covered plug just to the left of where the IV goes in.)

The bottle on the far right is another automatic top-off bottle, for the evaporative cooler/humidifier.

• Two weeks after her first preflower, I think she has stopped her flowering stretch.
• She has 15 bud sites.
• She is starting to make true flowers now, which is really interesting to watch. Do you ever just sit and gaze at your plant as it's growing and think about how cool it all is?
• I increased the volume of the reservoir from 2.5 gallons to 3. The added volume should help to stabilize pH and nute levels.
• She is smelling quite skunky! But in a good way, like how they add musky bottom notes to perfumes (although she's kinda all bottom note, except for maybe a little lingering mintyness).
• I rearranged the grow space this morning to get the electrical power strip out of her way as she continues to expand, and to reposition the lights.
• pH 5.8, 500 PPM, reservoir temp 70F.

New automatic reservoir top-off, all hillbilly engineering, y'all

Dwarf Low Flyer bonsai on day 38

 

[Scientific]

Re: Scientific's Hydro Dwarf Low Flyer 24/7 Illumination Fireplace Grow Journal - 201

Day 39 - Defoliation #4

Snapshots for anyone who anyone who may actually be reading this log...

Early flower formation on the wee bush I don't have to use the macro setting anymore.

An early flower at day 39

Short stout stalk with the leaves pushed back, top view

Short stout stalk, side view

Defoliation #4 trimmings. Note the many tiny node growth sites on the right.

She drained a cup from her nutrient I.V. into the reservoir overnight

I stripped off all the growth sites at the nodes that were redundant or too buried to develop. I also stripped away leaves that were blocking light and air or that are old and not looking good. <--I think I have the last of the leaves now that I thought I damaged when the pH got too low, but I'm starting to think that maybe all of my older leaves might be getting sick, so I have a long term nutrient deficiency? I don't think that's right, but I'm watching. I did increase the CaMg a little bit in case what I'm seeing is a Ca deficiency.

I keep thinking that she's kind of done growing and that each defoliation is the last, but she just keeps bushing out! Her next dose of nutes cuts back on the N a little for flowering, so maybe that will slow it down?

I pulled off all her training wires. She was straining against them and as soon as I removed them she bushed out to about 20% bigger. I'm going to let her fluff out unrestrained all day and then tonight go through and carefully redo her training wires. She's kinda starting to outgrow her tiny home, which is a good thing.