THC Bomb & WW/Skunk - CFL Hood/Veg HPS/Flower

[danklover79]

Looking good Sky, and I'm loving the soundtrack, I actually have a lot of do or die downloads.

 

[TheCapn]

Hey sky, looking awesome. You should tell us about your transplanting technique. It looks like you're using some kind of white piece of plastic to hold the top when you flip it upside down? That's a great idea.

It's time to take these, and similar little guys off. Make clones or throw them away.

As far as a low profile res, this $10 tote might work. I think they are $7 at home depot:

You could do something like this with it, but on a smaller scale, to save height. To keep your PH and PPM stable, I would suggest keeping a good 5 gallons of water in the res (I think AG mentioned this too). Once you get your res figured out, it's time to kick back and wait!

 

[Skybound]

A possible character flaw I have is that I never will be content with anything I build. I ALWAYS want to make it better. For clearance, I need a tank no more than about 7"-7.5" tall and 25" wide, as I also need a little room for hosing and lifting lid of occasionally. Am thinking about using only 1/2" poly tube for feeding. I have a 550 GPH pump, plus I think you sent me a 185, and I am currently using my 160, but the 550 would really bring some good pressure which I'd need as my redesigned halo needs a bit more pressure to better cover the top of medium. Right now I have a 1/2" feed from tank, 1/4" line stabbed off that that connects to a 3/8"x3/8"x1/4" Tee with a single length of 3/8" tube. The 1/4" line stabs right through the bucket just above medium, so kick back isn't an issue. I will test the 550 and see how it performs. If it overdrives the halo, I will use Capn's 185.

When transplanting, I flipped another pot onto a cardboard-like material and traced the circle. Then scissored it and cut a slot wide enough to accept the plant's main stem. I covered the top of my pot before I flipped the entire thing upside down. I used the cardboard b/c I didn't want to lose cubes to my dirty floor. When I flipped to plant upside down, I held with 1 hand and gently tapped the brim to free the pot from the root mass. It came right off and I was able to grab the camera I had on standby for the above pics. Process was really smooth and simple, though if someone has weakness issues in their arms or upper body, an assistant may be needed as I can see how all the cubes and plant could be heavy on one arm, so plan accordingly.

I don't think I mentioned this yet, but my target harvest weight is 4-6 zips. This might be a guess of an over eager newb, but it's my hope/prediction none the less and for the size the roots can get, under a 400 watt hps with good air movement, I think it's a fair guesstimate.

 

[TheCapn]

Or use the 185 with the PVC drip ring I sent ya. I know it seems too simple but it works!

4-6 zips is a big goal but it is certainly do-able with that scrog and 400W. It will just depend on that strain / pheno, and consistency from here till harvest. Don't do anything crazy, ok? ha ha ha

 

[Skybound]

Res change, in every sense;

Edit - I was able to efficiently flood the medium and still have adequate liquid on the pump. I started with 5 gallons and added above nutes, PPM was too high so I added another quart and a half of water. PPM hit 600 and though PH is holding itself down, when it climbs I'll hit it with PH DOWN ti once again stable.

New res holds about 7 gallons and is made of clear plastic. I duct taped it all around to block light and I will tape off the access hole on the cabinet floor, but I want to make one more mod to the drain tube as the hose kinks sometimes, so gotta address that. I will start some Tea tonight or tomorrow early, then get to work on the mini fridge to get other seeds popping, and also to accept cuttings.

 

[TheCapn]

A+ on the new reservoir. I love it.

When will you bump up the bloom and cut back on the grow?

 

[Skybound]

Schedules says transition till end of stretch. Should I adjust sooner?

 

[TheCapn]

Schedules says transition till end of stretch. Should I adjust sooner?

Sounds good. I think you're right on track. I usually start toward the end of the second week of flower, as long as leaves are nice and green and the plant is mature. I have found if I start flower recipe on immature plants (before I see pistils or alternating nodes), they tend to lose their dark green and go lime green.

 

[Skybound]

I noticed last night that it was like 3 shades of green, so something's out of whack. I'll take some 6500k pics tonight to show what I see.

 

[B A R]

Thanxx for participating as the Stand-By Judge for THE REPS ARE RIGHT for the 2nd week in a row Sky.

 

[Skybound]

On the 17th day of flower, my true love gave to me;

Finding the balance of the powers of hydrogen in 5 gallons is probably proportionately the same, but me getting that proportion identified is another story. It takes me a little over an hour each night to dial it in before feeding an hour after lights on. Some nights I delay the feed time till I get it good enough to begin the night. Declining PPM gave me the chance to begin transitioning into a bloom feed schedule of 1-2-3 for 2 weeks, 1-2-4 for a week then 1-2-5 till flush. Each number correlates to each of the General Hydroponics Flora Seies nutrients and the order of each nutrient is Gro - Micro - Bloom, so 1 measure of Gro, 2 measures of Micro and 3 measures of Bloom. A measure is a predetermined number of milliliters that I figure will help me dial in my feed schedule and target PPM. Once again, a nice thanks to The Capn for basically sponsoring me by donating so much material. I would also like to thank King John C for sharing on someone else's thread the General Hydroponics Flora Series PPM calculator, this will be an invaluable tool for me right away because a res this big is new ground for me so finding the right measure for the situation would otherwise be extremely tricky. Unless previous experience tells me what my measure is, I would piece my PPM levels up 1 ml at a time. So now it would be 1ml gro, 1ml micro, 1ml bloom check and repeat as necessary till I found my target PPM. This time I could add all the water, then all the amendments and supplements and allow this to aerate for 10 minutes. Then I can check what the PPM is and deduct that from my target PPM range to give me how much room I need to fill with preselected amounts of nutrients and I could locate that number of ml would equate to a measure or a part as Capn calls it.

I am also trying to get a 5gallon bucket to drop the new air stone Capn gave me again and mix nutrients in there first and left to aerate and mix for minimum 48 hours to tackle that PH swing head on. I figure once stabilized, making further adjustments in the res would be much easier. Also am going to give the PH adjusting before anything else is added another try. Just want to confirm that this method is useless.

I built a new halo that is fed via a direct 1/2" line throughout the whole system so I have the flow I wanted. I now want better coverage though so I plan to insert spray heads from my aero on the underside of the DIY halo. My thought is that having the spray heads embedded into the cubes, splashback will be minimal and I will get 6 micro jets from each head spraying multidirectional which IMO will better flush the medium. Other than that, I just move the halo around for the first watering of 10 minutes and leave it wherever for the last 3 @ 5minutes.

 

[TheCapn]

Thanxx for participating as the Stand-By Judge for THE REPS ARE RIGHT for the 2nd week in a row Sky.

Different shades of green is normal, but the clawing of leaves in the first 3 pictures is not. I would back off on the PPM by at least 100ppm until you see new leaves coming in with no clawing. I know it is tempting to want to raise the PPM but more is not better. Remember with the cubes, you are flooding the roots with nutrient solution and with the high oxygen levels, the nutrients are more readily available to the plant. So when you see other people saying "1000ppm" they are growing in a different medium.

>>> It takes me a little over an hour each night to dial it in before feeding an hour after lights on.

HUH??? Please explain your actions here.

 

[Skybound]

10 PM Lights on, I check PPM and PH. PPM dipped almost 100 down to just above 500. I check PH and it's been almost neutral. I add 2ml CaMg and 1ml Flora Bloom. PPM raises to just below 550, so I add another ml of Bloom and 1ml of Micro, PPM is good. PH barely fell a tenth, so I hit it with 3ml of Down and drops a couple tenths, I give it 2 more same result, 1 more a tad too far, half that dose of UP and we're at about 5.4. All this takes about 70 minutes with wait time included. Mind you, this was day one. Last night was a slightly different story but because I had the previous to draw experience from, I was able to find the happy zone in less time, but I still give small doses because I don't yet know how to calculate what a "part" would be. Also, I am pretty sure I'm going to find a mess of floating brown gel on the bottom of the res from the organic CaMg. With nothing to consume the sugars in the res, they just bind up on the bottom and randomly float around. Perhaps bringing Aqua Shield back in for that? I remember that As didn't alter the PPM reading that much and I don't know about it's PH or what occurs when the bennies die off.

I also successfully dismantled the mini fridge so I should have a chiller soon and a small cloning box that is air tight and lined internally with white reflective plastic. Once I get the lights added (2 CFLs), I will add a small bubble cloner and I have to find a small clone dome that will fit too as mine is far too wide, but I want to do a side by side of 2 each of flowering clones in rock wool cubes and a bubbler. I also will be germing Capn style both of my Pineapple Chunk seeds. I am very eager to sample that strain. I guess small steps are better than no steps.

Edit - When I adjust PH, I shoot for about 5.4 and slightly upwards because I know the PH will climb in a day, so I try to set it to walk right through the optimal zone just before the feeding times begin.

 

[TheCapn]

>>>>10 PM Lights on, I check PPM and PH. PPM dipped almost 100 down to just above 500. I check PH and it's been almost neutral. I add 2ml CaMg and 1ml Flora Bloom. PPM raises to just below 550, so I add another ml of Bloom and 1ml of Micro, PPM is good. PH barely fell a tenth, so I hit it with 3ml of Down and drops a couple tenths, I give it 2 more same result, 1 more a tad too far, half that dose of UP and we're at about 5.4.

Sky, did someone tell you to do this? I don't think this is part of the recipe. Don't make me come over there and lock you out of your own grow closet. I will do it, and sling will be my enforcer. I think he's like 250 and 6'5"

1. Mix up your nutrient solution on Monday to your desired PPM and PH. Let's say it's 550. Let it bubble for a few hours to make sure it's stable. Do not over-correct PH.

2. Drain what you can out of the res (a couple gallons left in the bottom is ok) then pour in the new nutrient solution.

3. Check your PH daily. Adjust slightly ONLY if lower than 5.5 or higher than 7. Do not over-correct. If you do, change your res nutrient solution. Your plant does not like PH up and down chemicals. Do not worry about, or try to adjust the PPM AT ALL.

4. On the following Monday, Go to Step 1.

Seriously sky, stop messing around with it and I promise you this will be an amazing yield. You need to get another hobby to distract you from your beautiful, flowering plant. Nice stars (bud formations) by the way.

 

[Skybound]

That is what I do, but because I've never had a 5 gallon res before, guessing the proper dose to bring it from lockout to optimal or even allowable is something I'm learning as I go so I walk it down as best as I can, but if I overdo it like I did last night, I bring it up just tad and leave it. I have outgrown the need to be in there all the time, especially when I can be out here ideating ways to improve anything. My new focus is getting a fresh 5 gallon mix bubbling for a couple days and getting this fridge up and running so I can cut some clone and plant 2 seeds.

 

[KingJohnC]

Finding the balance of the powers of hydrogen in 5 gallons is probably proportionately the same, but me getting that proportion identified is another story. It takes me a little over an hour each night to dial it in before feeding an hour after lights on. Some nights I delay the feed time till I get it good enough to begin the night. Declining PPM gave me the chance to begin transitioning into a bloom feed schedule of 1-2-3 for 2 weeks, 1-2-4 for a week then 1-2-5 till flush. Each number correlates to each of the General Hydroponics Flora Seies nutrients and the order of each nutrient is Gro - Micro - Bloom, so 1 measure of Gro, 2 measures of Micro and 3 measures of Bloom. A measure is a predetermined number of milliliters that I figure will help me dial in my feed schedule and target PPM. Once again, a nice thanks to The Capn for basically sponsoring me by donating so much material. I would also like to thank King John C for sharing on someone else's thread the General Hydroponics Flora Series PPM calculator, this will be an invaluable tool for me right away because a res this big is new ground for me so finding the right measure for the situation would otherwise be extremely tricky. Unless previous experience tells me what my measure is, I would piece my PPM levels up 1 ml at a time. So now it would be 1ml gro, 1ml micro, 1ml bloom check and repeat as necessary till I found my target PPM. This time I could add all the water, then all the amendments and supplements and allow this to aerate for 10 minutes. Then I can check what the PPM is and deduct that from my target PPM range to give me how much room I need to fill with preselected amounts of nutrients and I could locate that number of ml would equate to a measure or a part as Capn calls it.

I do not add more then 17.5 millilitres per gallon of any one of the General hydroponics Flora series 3 part nutrients.

 

[Skybound]

I do not add more then 17.5 millilitres per gallon of any one of the General hydroponics Flora series 3 part nutrients.

I'm not sure I follow?

 

[KingJohnC]

When I use General Hydroponic Flora series 3 part nutrients in flowering I only use 1 part (5 millilitres per gallon) Flora Gro, 2 parts ( 10 Millilitres per gallon) Flora Micro and 3 parts ( 15 millilitres per gallon) Flora Bloom. there is still some headroom to use additional amounts or other supplements but using too much of any one base product can create a nutrient lockout.

GENERAL HYDROPONICS flora series calculator

General Hydroponics Flora Nutrient PPM Calculator

 

[Skybound]

I mixed up another res last night and will leave it to aerate for 36-48 hours before I swap out the res. I first added pH DOWN to the water and left that for 3 hours, then I added 5ml/gal CaMg, 4ml/gal of Flora Blend, 1ml/gal Armor Si. After about an hour I checked POM and it came back to 285 PPM. I then checked against the GH Calculator website to see how I could make up the 300 PPM to get me to the under side of 600 PPM. In the fields I selected for 5 gallons of solution with 2 TSP Gro, 4 TSP Micro, 6 TSP Bloom. The calculator came back to 301 PPM. Not at all trusting my eyes, I added half of that dose to my res. 1 TSP Grow (5ml), 2 TSP Micro (10ml) and 3 TSP Bloom (15ml). The PPM Calculator said this dose would give me generally 150 PPM. In reality, my res climbed from the starting 285 to about 515 PPM. I then added 1/2ml Gro, 1ml Micro, 1.5 ml Bloom raising me to 550 PPM. This is only slightly higher than your max dose, and I would've not even added that had I got your message last night. Also, The Capn has been stressing the importance of not trying to over compensate with nutrients, so I think staying at 550 should be fine. I personally feel that based upon everyone else's numbers for a plant of this age that my PPM should be a little higher, but I will yield to experience on this one.

Perhaps it is the cheap meter I am using that is giving me incorrect readouts, or maybe I am supposed use a conversion ratio or something. However, when I need to raise to higher PPM, how then should I make up the missing PPM?

Also, KJC, since you mostly grow in soil, would you say that the 17.5ml rule is more applicable for mixing nutes to use in soil? When I had a soil plant, I remember that 1/4 strength was much more impactful in soil than it would be in inert medium.

 

[AfricanGrower]

>>>However, when I need to raise to higher PPM, how then should I make up the missing PPM?

I make a gallon of the 'recipe' with a higher PPM than what is in my res. This is what I use to raise my PPM incrementally.

>>> When I had a soil plant, I remember that 1/4 strength was much more impactful in soil than it would be in inert medium.

By 'impactful' do you mean that nutrients are stronger in soil than an inert medium?