Spart's - Series 2 400W Mars Hydro Mainline Journal

[Skullman420]

There is as many ways to grow cannabis as there is growers. It's a very sturdy plant and many opinions about what is the best way to grow them. Personally I always pH the water before I feed them, even in soil. There is very mixed opinions about this. I know you do not have to as the soil will be a buffer for you, but I do believe it's better to feed them their nutrients in a solution that has the pH the plants like, soil or no soil. (There is as far as I know no scientific proof for my claim. This is just something I believe) So the last thing I do before I open the tank and let the plants drink, is to pH the water to 5,8. But I try to be careful and not make the water too acidic as that would do more harm than good. Therefore I take good time and lower the pH very gradually.

Sooooo,
Got a good question to my inbox from a person watching about pHing. Now personally I don't pH my nutrients or feedings.... In my eyes its like preparing a super meal for your microbes/ecosystem in your pot then covering it with bleach. Acids can kill all benefical microbes/fungi so i don't pH.

 

[420Amard]

Yeah...
It really depends on what you are using to pH, it also depends on if you are using organic/bio nutrients or mineral based. From everything I have read is that mineral based nutrients don't feed the fungi and microbe in the same way, with the mineral based ones they contain alot of salts (not aptus though they are mineral based but the salts have been extracted) the salts also kill the microbe and do not allow the little fungi to grow. So you might as well be using coco since you're not using the soil like soil if that makes sense at all. If I was growing in coco again then its a must but since soil is like a little ecosystem and killing your lil micro herd with pHing acids. Honestly if i were to pH I would just grow in coco and perlite.

 

[Skullman420]

I will try to explain why I use pH- in my reservoir

The water here is around pH 8.0. In soil, the pH needs to stay around 6.0-6.5 for best results. If I do not adjust the pH, then after some time, the pH of the soil will get close to 8.0 and then I am getting some serious nutrient lockout problems. The soil will slowly change pH when you feed with water that has way too high or low pH.

If you are feeding with chemical nutrients like I do, and they are causing your soil pH to get too far from the optimal pH for whatever reason, then I would use pH up/down to adjust the nutrient solution.

If you are growing organically, pH adjustment is rarely a problem due to microbial activity. I use a 50/50 mix of organic/non organic soil and only chemical nutrients. I don't really care about microbial activity because when using chemical nutrient, they are already immediately available to the plants.

I also plan to re-use much of the soil for future grows, so I don't want it to drift too far away from the optimal range. Will try to get closer to 6.0-6.5. I think my 5.8 may be too low. It's just something I'm used to from hydro.

 

[Pat999]

I only began ph during this grow, now I can't go without it since I am in coco. Always ph it to 5.8 or as close as possible. But it does make sense that you don't since it is in soil. Your plants look very healthy anyhow so your reasoning is pretty spot on

 

[Skullman420]

Spart's plants look magnificent. I think he should keep on doing what he is doing as it is most certainly working for him. Most growers don't have to adjust pH in soil. I only do it because the water here has an insanely high pH. So high it would give me trouble if I didn't

 

[420Amard]

If I had a setup like yours I would just use coco. Wouldn't be to much change from what you got going now. I had a talk about this with biobizz and aptus they both said it wasn't required because of feeding the microbes (aptus did say add a few pellets to keep the microbes super happy but not many). I never reuse my soil unless in a pinch but never for seedlings. I love my biobizz products the bioheaven is probably the most expensive thing I've been buying but love it never a problem and the tastes of my buds is great. Hope all is going good everybody and I'll post a pic or two tomorrow.

 

[Skullman420]

That may be a good idea Spart. Will investigate a little if coco works well in Autopot. Thanks!

I try to re-use as much as possible. Used to be a scientist with very good pay. But then I got injured in a work accident and could never go back to work again. So now the state pays me every month. That means my budgets are very low and I have to save up money every time I want to invest in new gear. Therefore it takes a long time for me. But as you can see from my grow - I get there in the end

 

[Skullman420]

I kinda use Cannabis as medicine for chronic pain after the injury. It works better for me than the morphine doctors keep giving me

 

[Tomula]

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in this video you can see the light measured with Photoactive radiation meter. Now it seems to me like 12'' is the height you want the light to be at at peak flower, to get to around the 800+ PAR. Just my 0.02$.

 

[Skullman420]

Need to get me one of those nice little instruments to measure light. Useful!

in this video you can see the light measured with Photoactive radiation meter. Now it seems to me like 12'' is the height you want the light to be at at peak flower, to get to around the 800+ PAR. Just my 0.02$.

 

[420Amard]

@DeVille yeah man it sucks. When we were in France it was horrible the fear of them fuckers rushing in was always real. From what my understanding about reusin the soil is its impossible to get all of the old roots out, as the roots start to decompose it actually will make your initial ph of the soil (normally about 6) and the e.c. (about 1.2- 2) of the soil to become unstable.

@Tomula what I do is when first starting flower I tend to start at about 35-40cm and let them grow up into their sweet spot normally between 25-30cm. Kinda the same with the seedlings. I start them at 65cm and let them grow up into it till finding the spot prefered to them.

Ive been thinking of getting a co2 bag to sit in there for flowering. Any body got an opinion on them?? I know normally they are used for areas with poor ventilation but i can always set my exhaust fan on a timer to start and stop every 20minutes

 

[420Amard]

Canopy shots I'll get some under skirt pictures later This canopy is thick.

 

[Skullman420]

I have something named cannazym. It dissolves dead roots and turns them into nutrients for the plants.

"CANNAZYM is indispensable if you are going to reuse substrates for growing. The root remains will be rapidly broken down and transformed into advantageous nutrients; infections will be prevented and the air/water relation in the root environment will be improved. You can use CANNAZYM during the whole growth cycle"

Sent from my SM-G935F using 420 Magazine Mobile App

 

[Tomula]

Need to get me one of those nice little instruments to measure light. Useful!

Good USB PAR meter which can measure any light with +-5% deviation is 350$. Handheld unit is 500$. You can get lux meter and make some calculations and find hot-spots.

@Tomula what I do is when first starting flower I tend to start at about 35-40cm and let them grow up into their sweet spot normally between 25-30cm. Kinda the same with the seedlings. I start them at 65cm and let them grow up into it till finding the spot prefered to them.

Ive been thinking of getting a co2 bag to sit in there for flowering. Any body got an opinion on them?? I know normally they are used for areas with poor ventilation but i can always set my exhaust fan on a timer to start and stop every 20minutes

CO2 really shines when you can fill your room up, shut down vent, let the plants breathe some and vent out. Also CO2 really helps when your lights put out 1000+ PAR That's like at 10'' an lower. But it will help for sure at any stage and any lights. If you can make it to shower, that would be great. Like a tube and then let it drip down on your plants, you see, the CO2 is heavier than light. Make use of that used shower heads Great plants, what a bushes you got already!

 

[420Amard]

so many options

 

[BedroomFarmer]

Deville, maybe try soil acidifier to make your soil more acid. It's just granular sulfur pretty much and its organic. You can top dress it in your pot of soil or mix it, as you water it will lower your ph. I'm actually using this In my coco right now. Garden lime works to make it more alkaline if you need to raise it. It's all organic.

Coco hydro organic - Easy & cheap - Water daily

This is the thread that I learned about using soil acidifier it also goes into how to properly check your runoff to make sure you have enough soil acidifier or when to add more. I check it ones in a while

Good luck

How I am doing Hydro Organic --DR Earth, lots of probiotics and microbes coco - YouTube

 

[Pennywise]

Good info in this journal, im subbed in.


Keep em frosty ya'll

 

[Bill the Cat]

Good USB PAR meter which can measure any light with +-5% deviation is 350$. Handheld unit is 500$. You can get lux meter and make some calculations and find hot-spots.



CO2 really shines when you can fill your room up, shut down vent, let the plants breathe some and vent out. Also CO2 really helps when your lights put out 1000+ PAR That's like at 10'' an lower. But it will help for sure at any stage and any lights. If you can make it to shower, that would be great. Like a tube and then let it drip down on your plants, you see, the CO2 is heavier than light. Make use of that used shower heads Great plants, what a bushes you got already!

Just my 2 cents worth on the CO2. It maybe heavier than air, but does it sink to the ground? We'd all be dead if it did. The air flow from the bottom to top will pull the CO2 up into the air stream and bring it up under the leaves where the stomata are. Just my thoughts.

 

[420Amard]

Little info from the local shop.
The co2 tube park are expensive..... So probably not but always good to be be more informed.

To make the most of all the gas charge, we should use the kit as follows; activate the electrovalve for 15 minutes while stopping the air extraction system with a timer. When the 15 minutes have pased, turn off the electrovalve and keep the growroom extraction system stopped for another 30 minutes.

This way, we give time for the CO2 to fall on the plants and being absorbed, preventing it from being extracted out of the tent. After this time, activate the extraction for 15 minutes and repeat the process.

It's convenient that the cabinet is sealed to prevent gas leaks, and it is recommended to apply it from day 21 of flowering, to promote the development of the buds during the last 4 weeks of flowering. If we want to apply it throughout the growth cycle of the plant, we can do it by simply using more bottles.

 

[420Amard]

Today the light is going off at 8am and will be 8-8 for now on so day 1 flower starts today