StonedyCreek's PineappleKush Indoor Soil Grow - 400w -Take 2 - Nov. 2011

[StonedyCreek]

Q.uick U.pdate----> Found 2 males and I'm super bummed out since 1 was the absolute nicest trained one in the bunch. Beautiful T-shape plant with incredible development. We will miss you very much.. MaryJack.. and Mary James.

But it could be for the best. Now that I have some more room they wont be competing for light quite as much and I will give more attention to the ones that need it. I have already spent extra time "staking" the 3 girls down better than I was able to before with 5.

I was hoping to do a little "where is waldo" picture slideshow out of this and try and get alittle fun on this journal.. but I realized due to technical difficulties (my piece of shit camera) doing such would be impossible. So in a little bit I'll post some pics of the new A-team, and i'll keep you posted. Thanks for checkin the page out,

S.C

 

[Xlr8]

Hi S.C., saw a post of yours in jjames's journal, and was going to check out your "Where's Waldo" situation, but I hear you on the camera - it's hard even with a good camera to get good close pics of pistils or nanners.

First off, your plants look really healthy and I can tell you have a green thumb for cannabis. Really sorry to hear about the dudes in your grow room, but the beauty of cannabis in a small space is that you can often make up for the lost plants with more space for the ones you still have. You may not even lose yield in the end. At least that's my experience...

Sorry to read about your jaw condition. That sounds painful and difficult. I sure hope that you continue to find relief for it, whether it be cannabis or some other way. As some one who lives with chronic pain, I really feel for you.

 

[StonedyCreek]

Hi S.C., saw a post of yours in jjames's journal, and was going to check out your "Where's Waldo" situation, but I hear you on the camera - it's hard even with a good camera to get good close pics of pistils or nanners.

First off, your plants look really healthy and I can tell you have a green thumb for cannabis. Really sorry to hear about the dudes in your grow room, but the beauty of cannabis in a small space is that you can often make up for the lost plants with more space for the ones you still have. You may not even lose yield in the end. At least that's my experience...

Sorry to read about your jaw condition. That sounds painful and difficult. I sure hope that you continue to find relief for it, whether it be cannabis or some other way. As some one who lives with chronic pain, I really feel for you.

Thanks brother those warm words do more for me than the meds lol Most of my knowledge has been absorbed from this website; I owe a lot of my relief to
.. but theres no comparison to gettin some experience in the field. I'll pop over to your profile and see if you got any journals in progress, I didnt think I saw any before I started posting this though. It might be in a little while though, I'm trying to be creative with these two males I got on my hands (I dont think the mrs. would want them in her vase)

Thank you again X, your kind words mean a lot. Sorry to dissapoint with the "Wheres Waldo" I was pretty excited about it myself. Hope I don't dissapoint with the yield; this is my first hps grow, but I feel like I'm over the training wheels part of it.

and S.C

 

[StonedyCreek]

haha NEVERMIND about you not having any journals lol WHoah. I think you had so many journal links I mistaked it for an advertisement

 

[StonedyCreek]

Ok S.C here with an update for you guys. The flowering room is slowly filling out after I had to pull out 2 males. My tester just came in the mail and it was advertised as A ph/ppm tester although the only readout I am getting is for PPM, is it possible to figure out the Ph level from this number? The PPm reading is 48 which from what I am reading is like. amazing? It sounds a little too good to be true so I was hoping to get some advice from the almighty forum family. Much obliged if anyone chimes in. I'm going to be germinating some feminised master kush & Maui Waui seeds for a BPN nutrient grow so keep an eye for an additional link on my signature; if interested in viewing my germination process. I have a very high success rate and I've read that the more ideal environment for seedlings, the more females. So far I have had 8.. yes.. 8!! females and only 2 males, from a regular 10- pack of seeds. It could very well just be luck, but I'm grateful either way. It's probably just because I bought feminized seeds this time lol. Ain't life a beach?

SC

 

[jjames]

from what i know Ph and PPM meters are measurements of two different things.
PH= potential hydrogen, the acidity and alkaline of your solution, the lower the #, the higher the concentration of acid. if i understand right, it has to do with the plants ability to absorb hydrogen(osmosis)/nutrients thru the water; 5.5-6.1 is ideal for hydro, and 6.0-6.5 is ideal for soil(may be off on the soil).
PPM= parts per million, the concentration of the nutrients/other minerals you have in your water.
now unless your meter has its own system of numbers that i dont know about, then the 48 you have may be 480, i say this because for instance on my PPM meter if it reads 130, its 1300 and theres a little 'x10' flashing on the screen.

 

[StonedyCreek]

from what i know Ph and PPM meters are measurements of two different things.
PH= potential hydrogen, the acidity and alkaline of your solution, the lower the #, the higher the concentration of acid. if i understand right, it has to do with the plants ability to absorb hydrogen(osmosis)/nutrients thru the water; 5.5-6.1 is ideal for hydro, and 6.0-6.5 is ideal for soil(may be off on the soil).
PPM= parts per million, the concentration of the nutrients/other minerals you have in your water.
now unless your meter has its own system of numbers that i dont know about, then the 48 you have may be 480, i say this because for instance on my PPM meter if it reads 130, its 1300 and theres a little 'x10' flashing on the screen.

Do you live in the U.S? Geographically speaking, I live in the Northeast pretty close to Canada. I only say this because I was thinking possibly being so far north, the water up here is very pure. There is a chart on the back of my pen that is split into groups like 0-50, 50-100, 100-200, then EPA's max contaminant level of 500. Mine read 48,49, and 50 all the times I've tested. It also says any readings over 1000ppm will read by x10 like you said, so i think the reading may be right. now that I'm looking a little closer, it seems that this tester is specifically a TDS tester although it was advertised as a ph/ppm meter.. Damn, do I feel stupid. Looks like I'm relying on my old $3 ph tester I got lying around here somewhere.. The tester is specifically a HM Digital TDS-EZ Meter/Tester I got off amazon. Just in case you had a similar one. Thanks Jjames, you da man.

 

[StonedyCreek]

Does anyone know the member that was growing Blue dream in soil with airpots? I know thats a bit random and unprobable.. but I've been searching for his account, or some of the posts he left on my thread,.. and I can't find his name anywhere.. Im wondering if he deleted his membership. It was a wicked little bush with massive Lst training and he was like 2 weeks right ahead of my grow so it was perfect to follow. If you happen to read this, I miss ya bud hope the girls doing good. I'll keep searching later tonight, off to the 9-5, another update with pics tonight,

S.C

 

[jjames]

Do you live in the U.S? Geographically speaking, I live in the Northeast pretty close to Canada. I only say this because I was thinking possibly being so far north, the water up here is very pure. There is a chart on the back of my pen that is split into groups like 0-50, 50-100, 100-200, then EPA's max contaminant level of 500. Mine read 48,49, and 50 all the times I've tested. It also says any readings over 1000ppm will read by x10 like you said, so i think the reading may be right. now that I'm looking a little closer, it seems that this tester is specifically a TDS tester although it was advertised as a ph/ppm meter.. Damn, do I feel stupid. Looks like I'm relying on my old $3 ph tester I got lying around here somewhere.. The tester is specifically a HM Digital TDS-EZ Meter/Tester I got off amazon. Just in case you had a similar one. Thanks Jjames, you da man.

im in the SW... in az... i use RO water only. i guess i didnt ask, was that reading of 48 before you added anything? those listed sound like EPA levels for water from your tap. TDS stands for total dissolved solids, the level of nutrients and minerals in the water, its measured in PPM.

i looked up the one you have online and it should be an ok PPM, shoot mine doesnt even have a name brand on it, i got it online for $11 or somethin...

think youll need a PH meter too, i use the cheap yellow one i got from my hydro store. its aiiight

 

[StonedyCreek]

im in the SW... in az... i use RO water only. i guess i didnt ask, was that reading of 48 before you added anything? those listed sound like EPA levels for water from your tap. TDS stands for total dissolved solids, the level of nutrients and minerals in the water, its measured in PPM.

Yes. the reading of 48 was from a cup of water that came out of my faucet that is no different than what I use for my watering. Whats a target range for tds readout after adding nutrients? I'm sorry if these questions are coming off incredibly stupid; I'm just way in the dark on this one. It seems like as soon as you add nutrients your ppm is going to go off the charts. I'm just trying to figure out the ideal ph and TDS levels for premium nute absorption through the roots. I feel bad at this point with everything I have asked you about these dang meters dude, my bad. feel free to ignore me whenever it starts getting annoying. I really do appreciate it, just gonna keep doing research and finding out as much as I can

SC

 

[StonedyCreek]

Ok update on my grow. I wanted to take a little break after I pulled out 2 males to give the girls some time to fill out. I can happily say that is working quite well.

I also found some killer sour D from close to 8 months ago. without proper storage (found it in a coat I wore when I lived.. more south) and its between turning into dust, and just smelling like dank, ass, yellow, sour, skunky love. I just have to post a pic of that as well

Heres my girls,

and my sour

More to come once I get a little further into flowering. The stems are literally as wide as my bic lighter. Less than 1 foot tall.. Hoping all the Lst training doesnt backfire on me and gives a weak yield. If I flower another 6-8 weeks, I should be rewarded greatly.Thanks for checkin out the grow, and keep tack of my BPN journal if you'd like to see how Corey's nutes work with Master kush and Hawaiin. (they are germinating still)

S.C

 

[StonedyCreek]

Working on my SCRoG .. anybody got any ideas? I was wondering if I should naturally let my plants grow thru the screen.. or try and start the screen under the canopy..somehow?

 

[jjames]

Yes. the reading of 48 was from a cup of water that came out of my faucet that is no different than what I use for my watering. Whats a target range for tds readout after adding nutrients? I'm sorry if these questions are coming off incredibly stupid; I'm just way in the dark on this one. It seems like as soon as you add nutrients your ppm is going to go off the charts. I'm just trying to figure out the ideal ph and TDS levels for premium nute absorption through the roots. I feel bad at this point with everything I have asked you about these dang meters dude, my bad. feel free to ignore me whenever it starts getting annoying. I really do appreciate it, just gonna keep doing research and finding out as much as I can

SC

its all good, the more questions you ask the better, it can only benefit you and i dont mind. im still on my first grow and am still asking plenty of questions.

48 is ok for tap, i use RO water only, and before i add anything its about 9. you should be able to find a feed chart for your nutes, it will go on to list the recommended nutrient levels you should give your plants according to what week your on... it will only give you ml/gal feed sched, so you just gotta take notes of the PPM as you go, and youll start to see how much youre gonna be at for each week or feeding. for instance, i just flushed and when i added new nutrients, i upped the level on a couple things, so my final PPM reading went from 1250 in week 7 to around 1400 for week 8. before i add nutes to the water, i get all my PH balancing out of the way and record that number, then i add nutes and take that number and subtract my first reading from it, thats how you figure how much nutrient is in your solution.

as far as optimum levels of absorption by roots, that depends on your medium among other things. im growin hydro, so i have to have the water at a certain temp first, so the roots can have an ideal situation to access the oxygen im putting in it thru the airstones and then the PH has to be right, i keep it at 5.8, of course soil is different. GH has a chart on their website that breaks down at what levels of PH are best to get those nutrients sucked up.

as for the scrog, i hear youre supposed to let the plants grow up thru it on their own, however, you could prob expedite the process a little... dont quote me on that tho. get it in there as soon as possible if you can. i bsd too freekin long and now theres no way i can do it how i wanted.

 

[StonedyCreek]

Great post J. Ill have to find those charts you were talking about. I did get 2 charts with my BPN stuff but I'm having trouble finding where I put them for safe keeping I know they have one on their website so no biggie. I've also read 6.0-6.5 is good for soil applications, which is nearly impossible to know with this tester I currently have. I'm just throwing up a pic since I just uploaded some of the girls and how they're doing. Right now they are still just getting Jack's classic all purpose fertilizer. I have lots of Nutes on hand (farmerspride 7pc. , FF triple pak, and BlueMaxA&B) but I'm holding off on using BPN with this grow.. and I'm not a huge fan of Fox Farm to begin with. SCROG net is the project for today . Trying to find some construction grade orange fencing.. or chicken wire.

 

[jjames]

cool man. that scrogn will keep you busy... i still may try an slide one in, ive got 6wks of flower left. i know gardening shops at like Hd an those type places may hay a hortitrellice, wow i think i butchered that one, but they have plastic netting for that. it may be a little spendier at the hydro shop, but ask em there an you can see it. think it has 2x2 squares or somethin.

you may want to find a dig PH meter, so much time an stress saved. although it looks like theyre doin great, the ones in the foreground have spurted? or you moved em up?

i dont know any nutes really except for BPN... i think youll like em when you get to use em. every time ive jumped the ml/gal by way more than their chart, and either i have tough plants or the BPN is easy on em they love it.

lookin good

 

[Xlr8]

Hi SC -

I saw you were wondering about PH levels for optimum nutrient uptake. Check this out - note that there are different optimum PH levels depending on hydro vs. soil:

As far as PPM's go - it really depends on the plant somewhat. I try to start with 75% of the manufacturers recommendation, see how my plants respond, and then gently push it up each week looking for signs of nutrient burn.

Here is a guideline to keep in mind for hydro - I would think it would work in soil, too, but maybe an experience soil grower can chime in on this...

PPM's go up, PH goes down: Plants require less nutes.

PPM's go down, PH goes up: Plants require more nutes.

PPM's stable, PH goes up: Equilibrium (Ideal)​

The take away, at least in hydro, is that PH should gradually rise, and PPM's should stay fairly constant when things are ideal.

What I do as far as adjusting PH, is I adjust the PH in my nutrient solution to the low end of the ideal spectrum (5.5 in hydro) and let them gradually "float" up until they get to the max end of the ideal spectrum (6.1 in hydro) when I take a reading. Then, I adjust to (5.5 in my case) again. In soil application, the happy zone seems to be 6.3 - 6.8, but again, I'm a hydro grower...

Please take this with a grain of salt as I only grow in hydro, but I would think the logic should still apply. Hopefully an experienced soil grower will chime in...

Your tap water PPM's are really good. I wouldn't suggest RO unless you have problems.

If you are making a scrog, make sure you defoliate below the main canopy as not enough light will get to the lower budsites and you'll lose yield by wasting plant energy on fluffy little nugs that aren't very satisfying.

Take care, and nice job so far! Good luck with the Scrog.

 

[StonedyCreek]

Hi SC -

Your tap water PPM's are really good. I wouldn't suggest RO unless you have problems.

If you are making a scrog, make sure you defoliate below the main canopy as not enough light will get to the lower budsites and you'll lose yield by wasting plant energy on fluffy little nugs that aren't very satisfying.

Take care, and nice job so far! Good luck with the Scrog.

Thanks X I appreciate you posting that chart for me, it really simplified a few of the questions that I had. Between the great information from Jjames and yourself, I think I have a much better understanding of the purpose of PPm measurements, in relation to your PH level, and what seems most important: how you adjust them.

I would like to ask X, when you say defoliate beneath main canopy, this would be similar to "lolipop" trimming your plants? I just installed a very sketchy, homemade scrog out of a kiddie-proof gate which I will post some pictures of shortly, and I already noticed the "grade-school comparison" of what a rainforest floor looks like. Literally, there is not a beam of light hitting the flowering zone floor. And do you feel defoliating your plants will help yield? or improve the quality of bud that does receive light. Thanks X

 

[StonedyCreek]

you may want to find a dig PH meter, so much time an stress saved. although it looks like theyre doin great, the ones in the foreground have spurted? or you moved em up?

lookin good

Hey brotha. finally got my scrog put together. It might not be the prettiest but I was pretty committed to making this a true "home made" so I can see what the results are with something basic.. what I should ideally be using, and just some variables that you cant really count on .. until they are presented in results. Plus I'm broke; so a simple scrog to test out the theory is all I wanted. I even found a couple yoyo hangers,so instead of making legs for the scrog (like a table) I hung it from the ceiling so it can be adjusted if needed. Hope this isnt a FAIL lol and whats a dig tester? I'll have to look into that. Right now though, after 3 doses of cal-mag and 1 monthly spray of organicide, these plants are the GREENEST I have ever seen. I mean it might not be quite the jungle you have but I'll take a mini jungle

 

[StonedyCreek]

And my bad, I didn't even realize why I quoted that part of your post. You said .."although it looks like theyre doin great, the ones in the foreground have spurted? or you moved em up" ...Foreground being.. the one in the front? There are 3 girls total. It seems the 2 in the back are filling out quite drastically compared to the one in the front. front girl is starting to get the lanky look, and at this point I might let it keep going since 2 weeks into flowering and theyre still like 14 inches.. lol but I have only adjusted the light and maybe rotated them once. Thanks for stoppin by bro,

SC

 

[StonedyCreek]

OK here's the moment ( I know I've been waiting for..) SCROG NET BITCHESS!!! This is probably the most, depraved, unsophisticated, home-rigged, economically preservating scrog net ever made. I basically tripped over a hallway gate, like one you would use to keep your dog out of a room.. and decided to butcher it into a SCROG. if you ask me, it worked quite while.

**NOTE** I do understand that ideally for a scrog, the ENTIRE grow medium should be covered. However, this is what I got. and in an effort to be cost and time efficient, I'm going to see how this works, and hopefully some of the buds will grow up the side of the scrog, and work in a similar way. Pics in next ppost

S.C