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

[Scoobynew]

Looking good so far mate I see what ya was saying now about your space
Wilma systems work well in tents an there very simple ya could even run coco

 

[TerpKing]

Thanks man, appreciate it. Yeah, now you see. It's done ok for my first go though, but could definitely utilise the space much better for next time . Definitely going to give coco ago. Either in smart pots or some of system to drip feed. I'm thinking hand watering once a day could also be pretty easy.

Going to give much first go at defoliation tonight!

 

[TerpKing]

Just a little update for everyone.

Day 21 of flowering today and my first attempt of defoliation.

Ladies seem to be looking good, they're getting sticky and I can see some frosting starting to appear now.

Here's some pictures before defoliation.

So I took all the leaves and stems from the bottoms up to the first layer of netting. I pulled off most of the stems with buds I could see which were not making it up towards the light and into the canopy. I also pulled some leaves off through the top of the canopy which were blocking other bud sites.

Here's some pictures of the results.

 

[TerpKing]

Here's a little video of of the end result.

Day 21 flower and defoliation - YouTube

 

[EBnFLO]

WOWWWWWwww!!!!!

Looking incredible!

How's your back feel?


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[TerpKing]

WOWWWWWwww!!!!!

Looking incredible!

How's your back feel?


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Haha, thanks buddy, I was pretty happy with the end result.

Although it took awhile, all on my hands and knees, I got the job done eventually. My back just about survived, thanks for asking lol.

 

[EBnFLO]

LOVE how they look all cleaned up .


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[TerpKing]

I know me too, I was really Chuffed with how they looked after all had been finished. I felt like a professional, haha!

I was a bit nervous at first pulling so much off but once I slipped into a routine I forgot all about it. Let's see how it will effect them, hopefully they will pull back around quickly after their hair cut!

 

[EBnFLO]

I don't think it will even slow them down. Just cutting off the dead weight!


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[TerpKing]

I hope not. It's pretty exciting how quickly they've been growing. I'm really looking forward to watching them buds swell and get covered in crystals now!

 

[EBnFLO]

Hey TerpKing, has the PH stability improved at all?

Hard to imagine that the pebbles could be to blame after all this time, isn't it?

I also wonder how empty your flood tray gets when it drains. Is it possible that a significant amount of nutrients stay in the flood tray?

(Is the tray nice and level or pitched toward the drain?)

Then, maybe after you adjust the reservoir to where you want it and then it mixes with whatever nutrients were sitting in the flood tray at the next flood - that changes the PH in the res???

I have recently had an interesting PH experience. I started using an RO a couple weeks ago. Previously, I had been using well water and using PH down to keep PH correct.
After switching to RO water, I now only ever use PH up to control the system. Wasn't expecting that and not sure of why... but my stability is decent. I make adjustments every 24 - 48 hrs. Still getting used to RO but not struggling to control it too much.


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[Cultivator]

Looks good mate. I would have 1 of them oscilating fans on the floor blowing through the plants and another on the ceiling. The bog oscillating fan is too close to the buds now. See if you can cable tie it to the roof or something.

Theyve cleaned up nicely on the bottoms. They will slow down for a couple days then take back off. So are you at 21 days in now? Get them on tbe advanced metaboost and pk from now. Start meta boost on 1ml/l and pk at 0.25ml/l.

Dont remove any more foliage now. Just let them bloom. You should harvest around 8 weeks with the bulk in hydro.

 

[TerpKing]

Hey TerpKing, has the PH stability improved at all?

Hard to imagine that the pebbles could be to blame after all this time, isn't it?

I also wonder how empty your flood tray gets when it drains. Is it possible that a significant amount of nutrients stay in the flood tray?

(Is the tray nice and level or pitched toward the drain?)

Then, maybe after you adjust the reservoir to where you want it and then it mixes with whatever nutrients were sitting in the flood tray at the next flood - that changes the PH in the res???

I have recently had an interesting PH experience. I started using an RO a couple weeks ago. Previously, I had been using well water and using PH down to keep PH correct.
After switching to RO water, I now only ever use PH up to control the system. Wasn't expecting that and not sure of why... but my stability is decent. I make adjustments every 24 - 48 hrs. Still getting used to RO but not struggling to control it too much.


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Hey hey EBnFLO.

I'd say it's slightly better now, not how I'd like it though or how i think it should be. I have to re-adjust the PH on a daily basis before first flood. If I PH around 5.4/5.5 it will be up at around 6.2/6.3 when I go to re-adjust it again before first flood the next evening.

I'm emptying the reservoir fully this evening and switching over my nutrients as this evening will be the start of week 4 flowering.

I'm going to do a little test. I'll take a few of the clay pebbles out of the tray put them in a glass and add some of the nutrient mix I've taken out and record the results of the PH. I did do this before and the pebbles were definitely making the water in the glass PH rise over time. I didn't run the system before hand, which I should have done before putting the plants in. I just cleaned everything really well and thought that would be enough.

I'm thinking that my clay pebbles are just sitting at a higher PH than they should be and as I'm using R/O it does not take much for the water to fluctuate and change PH. I'm not really 100% though as this is all still new too me and I'm still learning.

When the flood tray drains im assuming most of it emptys as it is slightly pitched down towards the pump and the overflow pipe, once the timer turns off you can hear the last of the mix running back down through the pump into the reservoir. There could maybe be a little bit sitting up there tho, I'm not sure I'll dig my fingers around in there later when lights are on and find out.

I've noticed the biggest bump in PH is after the first flood where it can go up by .3/.4 then it will slow down going up only maybe .2 a flood. It's very strange and annoying. I'm thinking it shows down as it's getting closer to the PH of the pebbles, again I'm not 100%. I'm sure when I was using normal water from the tap though the fluctuations were much smaller and took far longer for the PH to rise, this was using different pebbles tho. So not sure if my problem is with the R/O or with the new pebbles as this problem started when using both which were new. Some people mix some normal tap water back with there R/O water, I don't know if that would help as it would add some more buffers to the water.

Very interesting indeed, I also used to have to lower my PH when mixing up my nutrients when using tap water, but since switching to R/O I have to bring the PH up after mixing my nutrients as it's to low otherwise. I only have to re-adjust it down after the mix has been circulating through the system. I'm adjusting about every 24 hours too, 48 would be nicer though. Glad you're not having too many problems pal, I've managed so far to keep it undercontrol, it's just taking a tad more effort than it should do to do so. Be interesting to see what happens with the glass pebbles test later!

 

[EBnFLO]

Also just wondered what percentage of your res is pumped into the flood tray?

I have 12 gallons res and only about 3 gallons fill my tray.

I am still getting used to RO water but I think my PH was more stable on tap water. I have gone 4-5 days without adjusting.

Might have to experiment with RO / tap blend.


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[TerpKing]

Looks good mate. I would have 1 of them oscilating fans on the floor blowing through the plants and another on the ceiling. The bog oscillating fan is too close to the buds now. See if you can cable tie it to the roof or something.

Theyve cleaned up nicely on the bottoms. They will slow down for a couple days then take back off. So are you at 21 days in now? Get them on tbe advanced metaboost and pk from now. Start meta boost on 1ml/l and pk at 0.25ml/l.

Dont remove any more foliage now. Just let them bloom. You should harvest around 8 weeks with the bulk in hydro.

Hey Cult, thanks indeed pal!

I've got a smaller oscillating fan on the floor now. I went and bought a smaller 12 inch desk top fan and put it down on the ground level blowing across the bottom area after we discussed it last time. I agree about the big one, it's gotten to close but I can't move it back anymore as the negative pressure makes the tent suck in and it stops it oscillating as it gets caught on the bits of the tent which are sucked in. I'll have a go at seeing if I can cable tie it to the roof polls somewhere though later, good idea.

Thanks mate, I thought they had cleaned up pretty well too. I was more than happy with the results. Thanks for the advice, I'll be watching them for signs. Yes mate, day 21 was last night when I did the defoliation, when lights come on this evening it will be the start of day 22 and they will be starting the beginning of week 4 of flower. Yeah mate, I'll be draining out all nutrients tonight at lights on and switching over to the metaboost and pk at the recommended doses.

No problem, I won't touch any foliage now and will just let them grow. I will start my plain water flush at the end of week 7 / the beginning of week 8, that's correct isn't it? Thanks Cult!

 

[TerpKing]

Also just wondered what percentage of your res is pumped into the flood tray?

I have 12 gallons res and only about 3 gallons fill my tray.

I am still getting used to RO water but I think my PH was more stable on tap water. I have gone 4-5 days without adjusting.

Might have to experiment with RO / tap blend.


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You know, I'm not 100% how much is pumped up into the flood tray, if it's full id say maybe a little bit less than 1/3rd could be 1/4 of it gets pumped up, it doesn't take long for it to start coming back down the over flow pipe tho once the pump gets going, it's a 500l/h pump.

My reservoir can take between 90/100 litres I would say when it's full to max.

Me too, still definitely getting used to the R/O. I agree with you, my PH was definitely more stable before when using tap water, I wouldn't have to adjust anything for days at a time.

I haven't played around with the tap water blend yet, I've read some people mix 20% tap water back to their R/O and it can help with the buffering. I think that's where my problem is, the R/O water will just change PH so easily. Although I used to have to use a lot of PH down to adjust my tap water before, now I only need a small amount of PH down or Liquid Silicon (PH up) to adjust the PH whilst using R/O. Seems to be swings and round about lol.

 

[TerpKing]

So it's time for another small update.

I drained the reservoir of all old nutrients and filled it up with a fresh batch as follows.

Plant Magic Magne-cal 0.4 EC
Growth Technology Ionic Bloom 1.1 EC
Buddha's Tree PK 9-18 0.25ml litre
Buddha's Tree Metaboost 1ml litre
Adjusted PH with Growth Technology Liquid Silicon.

Final PH 5.5, EC 1.6.

The ladies didn't seem to be looking too sad after their trim yesterday, leaves were pointing up at the lights like nothing had really happened. I also managed to hang the big fan from one of the poles at the top of the tent.

I took some photos through the lens on some sunglasses for a better picture.

I'm going to do a little test on these pebbles too.

I put some of the nutrient solution I took out of the reservoir into a glass and adjusted the PH to 5.5. I then went ahead and stuck a couple of handfulls of the clay pebbles out of the tray in the glass. Going to give them an hour and then check the PH of the nutrient solution and see if it's changed.

 

[TerpKing]

OK so it's been a couple of hours and the results are in. I went back to check the PH of the water in the glass with the clay pebbles. It's gone up to 6.0 from 5.5.

I don't think I can blame anything else but the clay pebbles. They must just be sitting at a higher PH than they should be and with the R/O water not having many buffers the solution is taking on the PH of the pebbles very easily. That's just a guess, I don't know what else it could be.

 

[EBnFLO]

Does the reservoir PH remain consistent between last drain of the day and first fill of the day? Or does it drift overnight even without pebble contact?


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[TerpKing]

It doesn't budge when just in the reservoir circulating, it only changes PH after it floods through the pebbles. I have a pump on 24/7 in the reservoir to keep the nutrient solution circulating too.

I just checked it now and it's exactly the same as it was after the first feed of the day. When the PH gets up around 5.9/6.0 it slows down on how much it rises.

The biggest swing is usually always after the first flood of the day, when i set the PH around 5.4/5.5. It can get up to around 5.8/5.9 just after that first flood alone. I then find it will rise slower on the next two floods and the next day when I check it before the first flood it's usually somewhere between 6.1/6.3.