Robbie B's 5th Grow

[RobbieBurn]

Hi all

5th grow here. We pick up at Week 10 which in my schedule is the week before 12/12. Here are some stats:

• Tent - 1.4m x 1.4m
• Lights - 400W MH in veg replaced by 600W HPS in flower + 4 x 130W CFL + 4 13W UVB Reptile lights (to be put in later)
• Pots (flower) - 20L (5gal)
• Food -
• - Regular feed - All Canna products (Canna A, Canna B, Zym, Rhizo, Boost, PK) + CalMag, Silica, Amino 4Two0
• - Seasonal additional foods including monsta bud, big bud, Ozi Tonic, molasses
• Medium - Canna Coco
• Strains - 5 x Super Skunk + 1 White Widow
• Age - 10.4 weeks since germination (from clones)
• Scrog - 50mm net (ebay) + cable ties + bamboo sticks from bunnings
• Scrog distance - 14in. A bit higher than I would of liked, but some of the stems were quite significantly large

Here's the current arrangement:

I'm going to double scrog it I think, but we'll see what happens with that.

The blue thing in front of the fan is a humidifier. It's on generally when the lights are on (out of water right now) and increases humidity by about 5-10% in the tent which lowers temperature. Important when the temp inside the tent, even with a cool tube, is 35 degrees C.

I plan to share my ideas with you. I am very numerically based so lots of numbers and stats. If you don't like that - sorry lol. Feedback always welcome. Reason for the grow is my health.

I've watered every day for 3 days so won't be watering tonight. Meanwhile, he's my grow plan for this grow.

That's all for now. Be back in a day or two.

 

[RobbieBurn]

EC is something I'm now concentrating on hard. In previous grows, I just fed according to the Canna heavy feeding guide but I have now realised that this was waay too much for the plants. Best investment was a good EC pen. Now I'm making up the nutes (A&B last) to make sure the EC's above don't get exceeded. EC in/out last feed was 2.05/1.8 so things in there are going ok.

I noticed that when I did the flush for the previous grow, the outflowing runoff EC was >4.4. Initially thought the pen was broken, but nah. Ridiculously high and this would have definitely impacted yield. No more of this happening. Measure in; measure out; make changes as required.

Runoff pH had dipped with pH in/out being 5.9/5.4. Will need to balance that using pH6 on next feed later today.

 

[RobbieBurn]

Have updated the grow plan to make it easier to understand and give more info. I'll probably keep updating lol. This is Version 3.

I used clones in this grow. For the timing, these strains take about 2 weeks to go from clone cutting to clone growing new leaves. So if you were to apply this for another grow, the date that you take the cutting would be Week -1. In two weeks, expect to feed at EC1.5 (after new leaves show up).

 

[BedroomFarmer]

Hey man plants are looking great! Hope this info helps with your coco grow.

The is a quote from ledrf.
1. Coco holds 30% oxygen when fully saturated.
2. If you let coco dry out, you will get lower yields and most likely nutrient issues because when the coco dries out, it leaves dry spots, where the roots dry up and die. That causes issues.
3. When you water every day or twice a day or ever three times a day, you are replacing all the oxygen the plant used up, thus letting it grow faster. You are also replacing any nutrients the plant used up with fresh nutrients. This is why I water every day with nutrients.
4. You get hydroponic results. Fast growth. Bigger yields.

Don't forget to keep your ph between 5.5-6.0. Most keep it at 5.8

This thread has great info if you haven't seen it. I dont use the same nutes but I make it work for me.

Ledrf
How I grow in coco Youtube videos and pics

cultivator
How to grow in Coco - Feed schedule

Ledrf and cult have different grow styles but both have great info to share.

Subbed.

 

[RobbieBurn]

Thanks mate. Yeah in veg I let the pH go a little wider from 5.6 to 6. In flower I tighten it up to 5.7-5.9 but most of the feeds are at 5.8 in flower. I like the words on the frequent irrigation. I've heard that it is hard, but not impossible, to overwater in coco. The hard bit is the work involved in it! It's a nuisance (but a good nuisance) to have mothers, clones and girls all running at the same time. Coordinated feeding nights take ages and have 3 different nute configs lol

 

[Resinman]

Ill watch on here. Ill sit back for now and see how it flows for u buddy.

grow n steady wins the race

 

[RobbieBurn]

Well daily feeds only missing one day due to puppy being sick, but here is what the girls look like.

Undercanopy will get a tidy up in the next few days when I flip.

Top canopy looks ok. Some folding down to do tonight with the feed.

So I'm battling a pH problem at the moment. The problem was caused by over-zealous bugs in the Canna eating old (but very fine) roots that I couldn't get out in the recycle. Also - obviously my flushing attempt when I transplanted was pretty poor. Ok... lesson learnt.

Meanwhile back on the farm....

pH6.1 feed tonight with A&B and a double dose of CalMag. I have read that that helps stabilize pH. I will lower EC a bit to 2.0 because last night's runoff EC from a couple of the plants had increased to 2.4 (my new comfortable higher limit). This was bound to happen with low pH (runoff pH was about 5.3 btw, so in the medium it'd be 5 to 5.1 which is waay to low IMHO) restricting the amount of food that can be absorbed by the girls. Anyhoo.. into it

 

[RobbieBurn]

The impact of the low pH can be seen in the close up of the lower leaves I reckon. Splotchy yellow bits on the leaves and what looks like slight burning on the edges. It'd be reflective of multiple developing deficiencies I think. Got to get onto it. See how the feed goes in the runoff tomorrow night. Final pH of the inflow tonight was 6.1 with EC 2.05 after settling. Runoff pH tonight was 5.5 and EC was 2.9 so pH is on the way up which is good. I'm thinking a semi-flush, low EC (1.3), with pH6.2 for tomorrow night to get the EC down in the Canna. 4L each tonight (needed to add water to get the EC down) so there was a lot of runoff.

[video=vimeo;208649704]

[/video]

 

[RobbieBurn]

Another lesson learnt tonight was - previously I had been adding the nutes, giving it a vigorous stir, then taking the EC reading. After some additional internetting and a real live experiment, from now on I will be letting the nutes sit for about an hour before taking the final EC reading. Tonight the initial reading was 1.9 (after vigorous stirring), but I left it for a while (calm) and when I came back it was 2.4! So I needed to add another 40% more water to bring it back down to 2.05. Interesting.

 

[RobbieBurn]

So will flush tonight. The way I'm doing it may horrify people. Comments welcome though but be nice lol. Basically I think the name of the game is to lower the runoff EC and pH to that of the inflow EC and pH. Once you've done that and inflow=outflow, all excess nutrients are gone and the pH is stabilised. This takes a lot of water when you've got 20L pots so I use the hose . Fastest way I can push 250L through 6 plants. Immediately after the inflow=outflow (approx [2 to 3] x volume of your container) I do a standard pH5.8 feed @4L/plant [high runoff] with EC of about 10-20% less than it should be for the age of the plant. This should reset everything to happy again, at least for another week.

 

[RobbieBurn]

After the flush, the runoff EC went down to 0.6 (all plants) and the pH rose to 6.0. I overdosed a bit on the water conditioner to leave some residual when watered. We'll see what it's like tomorrow.

Last night before 12/12

 

[RobbieBurn]

So tonight inflow was 2.15EC and pH 5.8. The runoff last night after the feed was low obviously last night because of the flush so gradually building it back up again. Am noticing that the scrog is beginning to take over and more time is required to keep it in it's place. Some of the buds are so worth it though haha. Outflow EC 0.8 pH5.8 so all good so far.

White widow

General scrog pic 12/12 day 1

 

[LuckyAlbatros]

Terrific info in your grow plan. Good pics too. I just started my 1st grow and it is a 4x4 scrog of Ghost Train Haze so if you don't mind I'm just going to follow along and learn from you.....I believe you are 6 weeks ahead.

Thanks for a great thread.

subbed

 

[Resinman]

The flush must of done the trick. The roots are sucking in the food and spitting out with the same ph.
Perfect

grow n steady wins the race

 

[RobbieBurn]

Yeah they're looking pretty good now Resinman. Definately recovered which is good. LuckyAlbatros - no problem

So tonight was an EC2.1 pH5.8 feed inflow and outflow was EC1.4 pH5.8. One of the plants registered 5.5 so I'll need to watch that one. I feed according to EC now, rather than go what's on the prescribed menu. Into the A&B, Rhizo and Zym I add CalMag, Silica and 25%-50% of an additive so the prescribed feeding chart for A&B results in feed of EC>2.6! I now add A&B last and use to get me to the right EC. Can't believe it took me so long to learn this haha.

Being the second day of 12/12 I have switched light to the 600W HPS. Also raised it a little to accommodate the additional heat. I have a cool tube but it still gets warm in the tent.

So here's an update pic

This developing SS bud will be one to watch

Also this week is lollipop week. Tonight was #1 hack at the lollipop. Before and after shots below. I'll do a little more of this where required for about a week. As it's scrog, I plan to be ruthless lol

 

[RobbieBurn]

Light feed (EC1.7) tonight at pH6. pH in the plants is holding ok at around 5.7outflow with EC a nice 1.6. pH a little down on last night which explains the higher EC.

Update pic for today. Canopy is slowly enveloping the space under the light and throwing out side branches which is good.

This scrogging is a lot of work but it does bring up the lower buds as in the lower buds on Widow. I suspect the work will increase over the next 2-3 weeks. Good to watch though.

 

[RobbieBurn]

Gap closing over now and we have leaf touchdown from left to right. Other activities tonight included a light feed (3.2L each or 15% of pot volume) which generates about 30% runoff (still watching pH), another trim at the lollipop and a lot of maintenance on the scrog.

Inflow EC tonight 1.7, pH5.9. Outflow EC1.9, pH5.6. Seems ok at the moment. Glad I'm cutting back a bit on the food. Plants handling it well

Current status:

Pretty much have the canopy even now. Broke a branch but taped it and it'll be ok

 

[RobbieBurn]

So i missed last night's feed. Tonight measuring outflow after feeding was EC2.0 pH5.2-pH5.5 depending on the plant. The low one was the one that is typically low. I think that this is a result of not watering last night and buildup of acid due to root decomposition. Didn't get a flush out last night. Tonight inflow EC1.9 and pH6.0 should hopefully equalize it a bit. Increased the zym by 50% for more attack on the dead roots. Also included CalMag and Amino in the feed tonight. Have been reading about the benefits of amino acids and calcium combined so I'm going to give it a go feeding them together. Probably will have on-nights and off-nights to mix things up a bit.

The reason I'm not feeding quite at the EC in my grow plan is pH seems a bit low. When outflow pH comes back up to 5.6-5.7 I'll be increasing the EC to plan levels. That's my plan now anyway.

So a mere 2 days ago I posted that the leaves were touching over the gap. 2 days later and there is quite an overlap now:

The WhiteWidow is also looking pretty good

No flowers out yet. This should happen in about 2 days

 

[RobbieBurn]

Standard feed tonight EC1.9 pH6. Outflow was EC2 pH5.5 to 5.3 so they're eating what they are being given and the pH seems to be stabilizing? My guess anyway.

Need to do some tying down maintenance on the branches at the back. Next time.

Tonights pic

 

[RobbieBurn]

Ok I'm back haha. Was away on the 26th. On the 27th, this was how things were.

Preflowering started on the 26th as expected. Flowering phase begins! Very difficult for me to get to the back of my tent. Consequently, the branches at the back particularly on the right don't get the same level of maintenance and were higher than the rest. This is a problem because in a scrog, all tops should be the same height so they get the same level or growth hormone and nutrient.

So tonight with some assistance we managed to get the back under control again.

This wasn't without a couple of bends and breaks, but she'll be ok. Breaks have been taped, and bends.. yeah they're bent...

Two techniques mainly being used here. The under the net method - the best I think if you can get your shit under control 100% of the time, and the "attach to the top of the net". For this I've so far used cable ties, but twisties would be better. String is also good if you've got to span a distance.

I missed feeding last night so tonight's feed was EC1.95 and pH5.8. As expected the outflow EC went up to 2.4 to 2.6 and but the pH remained around 5.4 to 5.5. Tomorrow night to balance, I'll give a feed at EC1.7 pH6.0. The constant attention to EC and pH pays off. The leaves are looking great. Girls still on the Monsta Bud as an additive to the Canna to promote flowering. After the plants were laid down tonight, there are only a few holes left in the scrog where there are no buds. Some 50mm holes have 2.