TerpKing - First Grow - Dr Krippling Incredible Bulk - Hydro - 600W MH/HPS

[TerpKing]

Awesome, that makes it sound a whole lot more simple lol. I'll go with that and just start flushing on the 7th week. I didn't know flushing helped increase potency and yield, learn something new every day. Thanks cult!

 

[Cultivator]

mate for sure it increases yield, quality and cleanliness. it forces the plant to use up its nute stores and finish hard. always transition to water for at least a week at the end of the grow.

 

[TerpKing]

I thought it was just to flush out excess nutrients from the plant, that's awesome it helps improve yield and quality, what a bonus that is to cleanliness. Thanks for the info cult

 

[TerpKing]

Hey cult, just a quick question. I've managed to get the 3x Buddha's Tree nutrients at my usual shop but can't get the soft water version of the ionic bloom anywhere near me. Everywhere only stocks the hard water version. The guy in my usual shop said I could use the hard water version and add silica to bring my ph up because it's more acidic than the soft water version. Do you think this would be a problem to use the hard water version like he said if I'm adding 0.4 EC of calmag to my res before adding that?

I've also realised when asking him about the soft water versions, that he said they only stock the hard water versions because my area is hard water area. That would also explain why the aqua flakes and the greenhaze I have lowered the Ph more. So I've been upping the Ph with the silica since and don't think it caused too many problems in veg, maybe that's why they need 0.4 EC calmag instead of 0.3 because of the hard water version has slightly less calcium and magnesium in and more acidic. I think it should be fine but just thought I'd check with you first and can't get a soft water version till mid next week which will be too late for Monday. Thanks pal.

 

[Cultivator]

i dont know is the answer. ive never used the hard water nutes ever of any brand so I couldnt comment. Can you not just order online? Ive order from ebay many times over the years with zero problems, and its probably cheaper.

 

[TerpKing]

No problem, thanks anyway cult. I looked at the differences in the mix on growth technologys website and its just slightly more acidic with less calmag compared to the soft water version. I ended up just buying some to get me going Monday, the guy in the shop assured me it would be fine and he knows people that use hard water nutrients with R/O water. I will order some of soft water version of it on ebay too, hadn't though about getting off there, thanks for the advice. I did look for delivery from online retailers but I couldn't get anything till Tuesday at earliest. I also rang all the shops near me within an hours drive but none of them stock soft water anything. Really wierd they said I need to go more up north to get them, very strange!

 

[Cultivator]

i get everything online mate. they clearly stock for regional water but arent factoring people using RO water. But RO isnt mega common in uk. Ive always had RO water or the very best tap water because of where i come from. Ive only started having issues with shit water in spain but i will set up water filters there too when i get back.

 

[TerpKing]

I'm Defintley gonna have a look online now too, you're right about it being cheaper as well by the looks of things. Yeah by the looks of it that's exactly what they've done, they only stock for the regional water supply, exactly that, they didn't factor people with R/O water in at all. Yeah I think it is a bigger American thing than over here. Ahh you was lucky to be in a good water area. There is a fair bit of waist with the R/O water tho, I know why you're worried about using it in Spain, I've read some people mix half R/O water with tap water or 2/3rds R/O water with tap water. Yeah I bet that's a shock going from having great water all the time and now having really bad water in Spain. Would defintley be worth while tho to get things dialled in to how you'd like.

 

[dick23rk]

Hey again TerpKing! Finally got caught up on your journal since I found some time this weekend. Plants are looking great, I'm sure these will fill out in a scrog very well! I don't have any experience with ebb&flow or any major hydroponics for that matter, just hempy buckets, passive hydro lol Good to see that you got some experienced help in here with Mr. Cultivator to point you in the right direction. I will be around more often now, at least I hope, so I will stop in from time to time to see how things are progressing. Maybe I will learn a thing or 2 in here as well, I think I already have just reading through the posts back and forth from you and cultivator. Great job, keep up the good work!

 

[TerpKing]

Hey Dick23rk, hope all is well with you? Thanks for coming by and checking my journal out, appreciate it. Thanks man, I'm pretty chuffed how things have been going so far, I'm not gonna lie, I've had some fantastic help coming from Mr Cultivator, he really knows his stuff and has really been pointing me in the correct direction. I can't thank him enough ! Awesome, be good to have you around buddy, be good to see what your up too as well if you're planning on doing any journals, I can't stop myself wanting to learn more! That's great that you can learn a thing or too in here, I've learnt so much since I've been on this website, I have a feeling there is a whole lot more learning to come too! Thanks pal, I intend to do my best !

 

[TerpKing]

Hey Cult, hope all is well buddy, are you healing up ok after the op?

Just in prep for Monday, when I mix up my new nutrient batch for my res I'm going to add 0.4 calmag first, then I'll add my ionic in and bump it up to 1.5 as suggested. I'm going to carry on using root excellarator for the first two weeks as well at 0.3 ml a litre . I know you said add on top, but when I add the flower burst on top of my nutes like you said, do I need to account for it upping my EC? If it raises the EC above 1.5 do I leave it? I'm also going to take 10l out of the res when mixed up, add two scoops of great white and top feed around the plants roots as suggested too. I also actually have some cannazyme sitting about, is it worth using that as well like you do in your mix? Is PH of 5.8 - 6.0 correct for me too in hydro like it states in your coco nutrient guide for flowering?

After lights go out at 12:00 Monday they will come back on at 19:00 and go off at 07:00 everyday. I plan on doing 3x feeds. 1 at 20:00 after lights on, another at 01:00 and another at 06:00 before lights out. I'm going to aim for humidity as close to 55% as I can keep it. At lights out if it raises over 60% should I bring it down with a dehumidifier as I definitely want to stay away from bud rot or any form of mold. I'm also going to keep the temperature with in 10c of day and night temperatures.

Thanks cult

 

[TerpKing]

I also meant to say your schedule said 1.4 for week 1, wasn't sure if you made a typo when you wrote 1.5 in here or if it's supposed to be slightly different in hydro?

 

[Cultivator]

you can run your ec higher if you like because its pure hydro. coco holds onto more salts than the pebbles will so dont worry about 0,1ec increases and decreases.

Id add the flower burst after ec is set at 1.5. It might bump it up 0.1 but it doesnt matter, dont worry.

Adding the cannazym is a good idea, it will keep roots healthy.

Keep ph between 5.5 and 6.0, 5.8 is the sweet spot but as long as there is movement between 5.5 and 6.0 its spot on. its better to allow fluctuation to allow the best possible uptake of nutrients.

The feed schedule I wrote was a very general guide. It can be pushed harder depending on strain, plant size and strain. The incredible bulk can handle nutes so dont worry.

Feed frequency sounds fine. 3x should be enough. dont feed during dark hours.

 

[TerpKing]

Oki koki, perfect. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

Will add flower burst after like stated when EC is set at 1.5.

Will dig out the cannzyme, feed at the same rate you state in your guide?

5.5 - 6.0 it is, I'll let it fluctuate up too, I'm still getting a .4 swing or so everytime it feeds cause of the pebbles, I've read they can take their time sometimes to stop doing that. I suppose it's handy tho as it's taking care of the swing for me they get a nice PH range every feed. Not sure if this will change with the ionic as it states its PH stable but we will soon see.

Haha, it maybe very general but for me it's like gold dust, I'm going to be using it with the hope of getting some crops like yours with some practice. Can't believe how good that blue kripple looks. They sent me a couple of free seeds when I got the bulk actually thinking about it, think one was a blue kripple and one called mind can'trol. Nice to hear the bulk can handle some nutes so nothing to be worried about. Yep no feeds in dark hours, got that.

Perfect, if 3x feed doesn't seem like it's enough we can always squeeze in another, we're soon see how they look and will see if it's needed.

Cheers pal!

 

[Cultivator]

3x feeds will be enough mate, you dont want more really as when the buds swell you may get bud rot.

Your ph will rise after you set it most likely but as i said before i have never used the hard water stuff so the composition is different. ph will fluctuate no matter what, i doubt its the pebbles. Just the plant using nutes and the mix stabilising.

You should just run coco next time. I know you have your set up but it will be easier for you to learn and you will get better results i think. Its cheap enough for a few smart pots and few bags of coco.

The Blue Kripple is really good, I will be running it alot now.

 

[TerpKing]

The dreaded bud rot, that's what I've been worried about haha. No problem, I'll stick with 3, thanks cult!

Ahh ok, I thought it mite be the pebbles still doing it as it will swing 0.4 or 0.5 each time it floods. To be fair tho the R/O water I've noticed does swing a lot easier and takes a lot less ph up or down to make adjustments rather than the tap water I was using before. I just thought I would only have to PH once a day not 3x lol. I'm going to order some of the soft water version online too, I will get round too that and see if it makes a difference at all to using the hard water versions.

Thanks for the advice cult, I'll see how I get on this time but I will have a look into the coco for sure, especially after seeing your results you continuously get. Could I still have an automated watering system to water using coco, or would it be hand watering? I do like the idea of mixing up a res and letting it water for you, but on the other hand I can see how only worrying about watering once every day or two could be far easier.

It really does look fantastic from the photos you've put up, the smell you described sounds lovely too. I wonder if it will taste like it smells, you'll have to inform me when someone has tried some. I will defintley look into growing some of that strain in the future. I'd also defintley like to see how that strain would turns out in your alien system!

 

[Cultivator]

you shouldnt be ph'ing 3x daily. thats not right. if you dont do it x3 daily how much does it rise? have you tried not keeping dropping it back down to see where it ends up?

you could run the coco on drippers or a system like i use. drippers are real easy to set up and cost 40quid or so to do. I recommend hand feeding coco first so you get a feel for the media but its not absolutely essential. I think you would fill your space better than you are now by changing to pots. But its personal preference at the end of the day.

I will def get the Blue Kripple in the easy feed set up after christmas. commited to the Amnesia Haze now.

 

[TerpKing]

Yeah that's why I thought the pebbles were making my PH swing, I read around on the net with a Google search and I found a few people were suffering the same problem I'm having. I've read some people soak them in low ph water to prepare them before hand, others say it's not necessary. I did find when I soaked the clay pebbles in water when I was cleaning and rinsing them off that if I left them in water it would make my PH rise. I did a little test to see. It's just weird some people have had the same problem, others have not. I'm using canna clay pebbles.

If I flood the table at 5.4/5.5 it will come back at 5.9/6.0. I didn't ever want to leave it more than one feeding as the PH was already out of range after just one flood etc. I didn't how ever have that problem when I was using normal water, I found it would stay in range for a lot longer.

I thought it mite be cause my R/O water has a lot less of a buffer to help it stay in line. I also held my PH pen under the over flow pipe back into the res and it would slowly raise the PH of the water coming back down.

I'm wondering if that's why some people say they add 20% normal water to their R/O water, some even say half and half. It is very strange, it mite be slightly different with the ionic tho as it says it's very PH stable. The greenhaze and Aquaflakes said nothing about being PH stable.

I'm Defintley going to have a look into the coco, I think maybe I jumped straight into the deep end with hydro, I always like a challenge tho, haha. We will see how I get on, it's not waisted equipment as I can always use it again. As you say it wouldn't cost a lot to get some smart pots and bags of cocos. Yeah your alien system looks so lush. Drippers sound easy also.

Yeah I know you're committed to the amnesia haze now, can't be throwing away good plants lol, will be good to see the blue kripple in there after tho!

 

[Cultivator]

canna products are all shite. ive always had no problems with pebbles. i just rinse them down and good to go. try leaving it and see how much it rises after 24 hours. it wont do any harm to leave it 24 or 48 hours. it might settle. see how the ionic works for you. no way should you be adjusting the ph even daily let alone after every flood.

 

[TerpKing]

Haha, fuck sake, I didn't know you could fuck up clay pebbles!

Yeah it's strange, most people from reading on the Internet said the same thing as you it's just strange that they made my ph rise when I left them in water and a few others suffered my exact problem. They said that it slowly adjusted over a few weeks to a month in the system and settled in fine after that.

I will leave it a couple of feeds and see if it settles or how badly it swings, I won't adjust the feed in the morning before it floods again and I'll report on what happens.

Yeah I knew I shouldn't be having to do it this much, I thought I'd just been unlucky with the pebbles and had to tough it out. I was certainly never having to adjust the PH everyday when I was looking after my two mothers plants before, but I was using normal tap water then. I got my fingers crossed that the ionic will help control the PH a bit more as it says PH stable.