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

[TerpKing]

Hahaha! I think you're probably doing better as self employed anyway

 

[dick23rk]

Hey again TK , still looking great in the garden brother! Hard to believe how fast they are growing in that table, filling up very nicely, will be a nice SOG I can't wait to get running some some hydro again, just need some time to get my buckets organized again. It may be passive hydro but I can still get some quick growth compared to growing in dirt!

Great job here though, keep up the good work!

 

[TerpKing]

Hey hey everyone! It's update time!

Monday 21st November, we're going into week two of flowering. The ladies really filled out this week, they've been growing like crazy and really filled out the SCROG net! I'll supply some pictures at the end of the post.

As the ladies have been growing I've been tucking and weaving them through the netting as best I can to try and keep an even canopy, don't think I've been doing to bad so far. I'm thinking I should let them grow this week before putting up another layer of netting, would that sound correct?

Today I emptied out all the left over nutrients in the reservoir and re-refilled with a fresh batch of nutrients. The mix is as follows:

Plant Magic Magne-Cal - 0.3 EC
Growth Technologys Ionic Bloom - 1.2 EC
Buddha's Tree Flower Burst - 0.25ml litre
House & Garden Root Excellarator - 0.3ml litre
Canna Cannazym - 2.5ml litre

After mixing everything together I ended up with a total EC of 1.5. I used Growth Technologys Liquid Silicon to adjust the PH to 5.5. I've been letting the PH drift between 5.5 6.1/6.2 after all 3 feeds and readjusting before the first feed of the day.

Once everything was mixed I took out 15l of nutrient mix from the reservoir and mixed in 3 scoops of Great White Mycorrhizae and top fed them all around the top of the tray.

I've been keeping the reservoir temperatures between 18c-22c. Ambient daytime room temperatures have been between 24c - 26.5c.
Ambient night time room temperatures have been between 18c - 20c.
Daytime humidity between 55/60% and night time humidity between 60/70%.

I can't seem to get the humidity any lower than that even with a dehumidifier in the room the grow tent is in. Even if I put the extraction fan on at full speed during the night time cycle the humidity still works its way back up to 65% plus. Today has been very rainy and the humidity is in the low 60%s today during lights on so far. Even if I get the humidity down in the room it still stays higher in the tent by about 10% or so, it must be the ladies transpiring, I don't know what else I can do about it to get it any lower. I was using a humidifier in veg to keep the humidity up and now It's a battle to keep it down. I have a 12 inch oscillating fan on during the day time with a 6 inch clip fan on the other side of the room to keep air moving. They turn off during the night cycle but the 8inch extraction fan with carbon filter runs 24/7.

Things seem to be going pretty well so far bar not being able to keep the humidity down. Hope everyone is doing well and thanks for stopping by!

 

[TerpKing]

Hey again TK , still looking great in the garden brother! Hard to believe how fast they are growing in that table, filling up very nicely, will be a nice SOG I can't wait to get running some some hydro again, just need some time to get my buckets organized again. It may be passive hydro but I can still get some quick growth compared to growing in dirt!

Great job here though, keep up the good work!

Hey hey Dick! Thanks for your kind words! So far things have been going pretty well, I'm rather impressed with the results. The only thing I'm having trouble with is humidity during the night time cycle, i can't seem to get it any lower than 63% to 70%. Today it's even in the low 60%s with lights on. The ladies seem to really be transpiring, I used to have to battle to keep it up with a humidifier, now I'm battling to keep it down lol.

I know, it's so crazy how quick they can grow. I was just looking back at the pictures from when I flipped them last Monday, my have they grown in a week. I'd imagine it's going to carry on like this for the next week or two of flowering before they finally settle down from their growth spurt. I have never grown anything In soil myself, but I know hydro it's a lot quicker, that's for sure! They don't seem to ever stop growing! Look forward to seeing your passive hydro buckets once you have them all set up.

Thanks again, I intend to keep up the good work for sure!

 

[Cultivator]

They look great. stop weaving them now and let them grow. they are till going to grow alot. Id pt your 2nd layer on now as its for support more than anything else. Maybe 10" above the first net. no need to weave through that, just let them grow.

65RH is good for this stage of growth, dont worry so much. when you defoliate at day 21 that will help bring the humidity down a little but you want it at 50RH once buds join up and start to swell to avoid rot. if humidity is still high at this point put a dehumidifier in the tent and set it at 45%.

 

[TerpKing]

Awesome, thanks Cult, I thought they wasn't looking too bad myself, it's nice hearing it from a pro though ! Will stop weaving and go ahead and stick up the 2nd layer of netting tonight about 10inches above as suggested, thanks for the advice pal, as usual lol.

Oki koki, will refrain from worrying for now. I did think the humidity was good for now, I was just pre worrying for when I had buds lol. Will be aiming for 50%RH when buds start joining up. Yeah I thought that may help when some of the leaves are stripped away. I was thinking so many leaves so close they're bound to transpire. Should I be running my oscillating fans during the night cycles once buds start joining up to keep airflow moving also? I also noticed this morning when checking the ladies some are starting to get their white pistol hairs coming from node sites. It was rather exciting to see. !

 

[EBnFLO]

Looks beautiful! I am an Ebb & Flow fan also. Have not had any difficulty with PH in my setup which looks just like yours but only half the size and with a 12 gallon reservoir. There was never a PH fluctuation that I could blame on the hydroton even when it was brand new and all I did was rinse it.

I struggled a LOT with PH until I bought 2 Oakton PH pens for around $50 each. Having 2 pens (as you have also learned) gives me a tremendous amount of confidence that I am taking accurate measurements.

 

[Cultivator]

make sure those oscillating fans are running day and night, other than that everything looks cool.

 

[TerpKing]

make sure those oscillating fans are running day and night, other than that everything looks cool.

Sorry cult, is that from now, or from when buds start to form? Thanks

 

[Cultivator]

now mate.

 

[TerpKing]

Looks beautiful! I am an Ebb & Flow fan also. Have not had any difficulty with PH in my setup which looks just like yours but only half the size and with a 12 gallon reservoir. There was never a PH fluctuation that I could blame on the hydroton even when it was brand new and all I did was rinse it.

I struggled a LOT with PH until I bought 2 Oakton PH pens for around $50 each. Having 2 pens (as you have also learned) gives me a tremendous amount of confidence that I am taking accurate measurements.

Hey Cncpro and thanks for stopping by! Appreciate your kind words. I was rather impressed too, not doing too bad for my first go! I can't take all the credit for it though, I've had some fantastic help along the way from Mr Cultivator! He's really steered me in the correct direction!

I've really enjoyed using the Ebb & Flow systems too, I really do like it. I had a slightly smaller one for vegging, if you've looked through the journal you would have seen it?

Yeah I didn't really have many problems with PH before when using the smaller system when I was using it to look after two mother plants I was given. Long story short I ended up getting rid of those plants and starting from seed until I've honed my skills a bit better before playing around with cloning. At the time I was only using normal water from my tap though, I believe the clay pebbles were also a different brand before, I'm using Canna ones now, i will try a different brand next time I buy some. I'm not quite sure if the problem started once I started using a reverse osmosis water filter or once I swapped too the canna clay pebbles to fill up my bigger system.

I gave the pebbles a really, really good rinse before using them. I done a Google search for the problem I was having and did find other people who were suffering from the same problem I was having. Not loads, but a few. I read some people soak them in PH adjusted water until the clay pebbles stop making the PH rise. I've also read some people say there is no need to do this. So I'm not quite sure if it's the R/O water which is allowing the PH to fluctuate more as there is no active buffers like in tap water which help to control the PH a bit more, or if I've had a couple of bad bags of clay pebbles. I did how ever take some clay pebbles out of the tray and put them in a separate cup of water to see what would happen and I did find they were making the PH of the water rise in the cup also. After doing my research on google some people said the clay pebbles stopped causing the PH fluctuations after about 6-8 weeks of use, where as others people had no problems at all. It's been a learning curve, I'm still not really 100% what it is or was. I think it's becoming slightly more stable now as I'm only having to PH once a day now before the first flood. It could also be the difference in bloom nutrients from vegetative nutrients which are making it a bit more stable now.

Like you i do also like having two PH pens, it fills me with a lot more confidence as you say that I'm getting my PH levels in the correct range !

 

[TerpKing]

Thanks Cult, they will go on 24/7 from tonight once lights go on!

 

[TerpKing]

Just a little update for you all.

Second layer of SCROG netting is up and ready for the ladies to grow up into and through. I also remembered I had a tower fan in the loft so I dug it out and squeezed it into the other side of the tent where the 6 inch clip fan was.

 

[Cultivator]

do you have space to raise the lights? you will need to raise them when the plants start stretching.

 

[TerpKing]

Yeah quite a bit of room above I believe, it's 2m high tent. When lights come on tonight I'll measure and see how much room I actually have and supply a picture of the space above. I don't think the lights are much more than half way up atmo cult. I'd say I have least half a meter play if not more. They Defintley already started the stretch, they've been growing like crazy. Half way through the second week now almost, will they stop stretching around the end of week three?

 

[Cultivator]

that will be fine. they will probs stop stretching end of week 4, they do stretch alot but just have to wait and see. I grow them differently so maybe they wont stretch as much. there will def be enough space though.

 

[TerpKing]

Good too hear I've got enough space. I'll double check it all when lights on anyway and update once I know for sure. Oki koki, we will keep an eye on them and just see how it goes. It's amazing how quickly they grow though, every time I look at them I sware they've grown some more.

Also cult, I was looking through your nute regime again. Week 5 seems to be missing off the NinthPlanet LED grow journal for some reason. When I get to week 7 I see you're using Plagron Green Sensation. Would I carry on using the Buddha's Tree PK 9-18 and Meta-Boost here instead of the Green Sensation? Flush with R/O water would begin on beginning of week 8 on the Monday and then I could cut them down on the following Monday after? Do I also need to PH the water for the flush with no nutrients?
Cheers cult!

 

[Cultivator]

yeah someone mentioned earlier that id missed that. its the same as week 4.

yes use the meta boost and pk until ready to flush. flush with plain water no need to ph.

the incredible bulk probs wont go past 8 weeks in hydro so id start flush at beginning of week 8 and if it goes longer just keep on water. i doubt you will get it to 9 weeks in hydro.

 

[TerpKing]

Oki koki, will do the same as week 4 for week 5.

Thanks for all that info cult! . .

 

[TerpKing]

Just checked out how much room I got above and it's 52cm of space I have to move the lights up.

The ladies are still growing and looking good!.