passive plant killer

[delta9nxs]

well, we had a little drama play out saturday in the am. i'm in that recent belt of bad weather that iced everything up and caused power outages.

the temperature outside was 14f and about 72 in the house when the power went. Near 80 in the bloom room. 3 am. At about 2 hrs into it the temp inside was 60 and falling fast.

i don't have a generator or auxiliary heat as we don't normally get this kind of weather around here and the power supply has been very consistent.

i was going through my options about trying to save some plants, especially the clones.

I have an older car that I hardly ever use and just keep for backup. The upholstery is not that good so I didn't care if I messed it up or not. I actually got to the point where I went to the gas station and filled it.

I was going to lift 4 of the inner modules out of the reservoirs of the smallest plants and put them on the seats and put all the clones in there so I wouldn't lose my genetics.

Got the car all warmed up and was about to lift the first one out and dash through the cold to the car when the power came back on. My wife started bawling like a baby. She has really come to love the plants.

It got down to 56 in the room.

I figure I could have harvested 3, maybe 4 plants, save 4 plants and about 9 clones so I would have had a minimum 8 week “dry” period.

 

[*mistress*]

well, we had a little drama play out saturday in the am. i'm in that recent belt of bad weather that iced everything up and caused power outages.

the temperature outside was 14f and about 72 in the house when the power went. Near 80 in the bloom room. 3 am. At about 2 hrs into it the temp inside was 60 and falling fast.

i don't have a generator or auxiliary heat as we don't normally get this kind of weather around here and the power supply has been very consistent.

i was going through my options about trying to save some plants, especially the clones.

I have an older car that I hardly ever use and just keep for backup. The upholstery is not that good so I didn't care if I messed it up or not. I actually got to the point where I went to the gas station and filled it.

I was going to lift 4 of the inner modules out of the reservoirs of the smallest plants and put them on the seats and put all the clones in there so I wouldn't lose my genetics.

Got the car all warmed up and was about to lift the first one out and dash through the cold to the car when the power came back on. My wife started bawling like a baby. She has really come to love the plants.

It got down to 56 in the room.

I figure I could have harvested 3, maybe 4 plants, save 4 plants and about 9 clones so I would have had a minimum 8 week “dry” period.

big candle(s), in big metal basin...
should increase temps somewhat (min), provide illumination (min) & c02 (min)...
should work, @ least until power returns.

enjoy your garden!

 

[delta9nxs]

hi, i need to do something about heat. a small propane burner might be enough to keep the plants alive. i can go to a hotel if it gets bad enough, but i can't see me checking in at the "red rash inn" with 16 plants.

here is the one i whacked this morning. i haven't de-potted the roots yet. a nice heavy plant. the largest ppk plant yet. as we progress into them i'm getting more yield so i must be getting it dialed in. this one should be over 9 zips dry. next week i've got the perlite/coco plant. it looks even larger.

 

[turbolaser4528]

hi, i need to do something about heat. a small propane burner might be enough to keep the plants alive. i can go to a hotel if it gets bad enough, but i can't see me checking in at the "red rash inn" with 16 plants.

here is the one i whacked this morning. i haven't de-potted the roots yet. a nice heavy plant. the largest ppk plant yet. as we progress into them i'm getting more yield so i must be getting it dialed in. this one should be over 9 zips dry. next week i've got the perlite/coco plant. it looks even larger.

damn sorry to hear about the heat man, great lookin plants though nice and big.

space heaters and burning wood should help a lot, maybe pick up some lumber until you get things worked out, thats what i'd do (unless you dont have a fireplace or exhaust lol) good luck man!!!

 

[bostrom155]

D, sorry to hear that bro, saw the news. good luck brother

 

[delta9nxs]

the power came back on before i had any losses, so everything is cool.

thanks for the concern!

i've decided to buy a cheap propane heater, just in case. in five years here this is only the second time i've lost power. considering what i would have lost, a $100 heater seems cheap.

thanks, d9

 

[delta9nxs]

here is an interesting link. it is a patent issued in 2001. long read but worth it if you're interested in sub-irrigation.

http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6237283/description.html

 

[delta9nxs]

not much going on here. been sick with some kind of virus for 13 days. haven't gotten much done. feeling better finally so hope to resume construction soon.

i just wanted to share this remarkable document about mechanical stressing of plants to control type of growth. fascinating stuff!

http://www.imok.ufl.edu/veghort/pubs/workshop/pdf/latimer2.pdf

 

[*mistress*]

get well soon, member delta9nxs!

surprised did not mention diff as environmental growth regulator.
higher night temps, or close to day temps, usually slow elongation...

enjoy your garden!

 

[Darth Fader]

i still intend to veg vertical. i'm thinking of something that compresses the foliage into one vertical plane. this would allow more budsites equal opportunity for light.

you know how in a regular scrog you train from under the screen. i guess what i want is a method of flattening the plant into a vertical plane without the hassle of working through a screen. maybe a trellis?

What I did when I saw I was getting too much vertical height (is there any other type?) was to make a loop of string & bend the top down, forming the main stalk into an upside-down "U" shape. The side branching went crazy & I trained & FIMMed from there. The screen basically applied another layer of leveling after that.

P.S. Feel better soon amigo!

 

[delta9nxs]

I'm finally feeling decent again. One of the problems post transplant is infection because your immune system is suppressed by the anti-rejection drugs. Others who had this same virus were over it in 5-7 days. It took me 15. Oh well, you make your adjustments and move on.

I cut the 70/30 perlite/coco plant. I had to let it go 10 weeks because I didn't feel well enough to trim it. The extra time didn't hurt it at all. Fattened up nicely. I'll include some root pics below. Nice development. Now I wish I had run one 50/50. This is the 5th ppk harvested successfully. I have 5 more to go to get past the cloth wicks. 10 weeks before I de-pot the first 100% coco plant.

I have committed to coco. It is truly amazing stuff. I now have 6 plants in coco. All of them looking good and growing fast. Very healthy. Apparently sub-irrigation works quite well with coco.

I had a small issue during the first week of growth with the all coco plants. I was getting what looked to be a slight potassium def but as we all know both the coir fiber and flora nova bloom are full of it. So it turned out to be a slight potassium excess created by Ca and Mg ions exchanging with K ions in the coco. A temporary condition rectified by frequent light irrigations until the cec is satisfied. Once the roots extend into the bottom of the container in a ppk they are being constantly irrigated and the plant growth surges.

I have also mentioned about possibly top watering with ro water only to control salt buildup in the top of the medium. In view of the potassium issue outlined above it would be exactly the wrong thing to do in veg. Perhaps it would be good in flower once the cec issues are resolved.

Hey, mistress! Pretty cool paper! I use temp control to limit stretch also. I run 70/75 f lights off and 80/82 f lights on in flower. I don't get the pretty colored fans leaves anymore but bud growth is better. I have had other strains that didn't respond as well though.

Hey, darth, I think i've figured out how to grow large plants with one side to the lights. I'll put up some pics in another post soon.

 

[*mistress*]

I'm finally feeling decent again. One of the problems post transplant is infection because your immune system is suppressed by the anti-rejection drugs. Others who had this same virus were over it in 5-7 days. It took me 15. Oh well, you make your adjustments and move on.

I have committed to coco. It is truly amazing stuff. I now have 6 plants in coco. All of them looking good and growing fast. Very healthy. Apparently sub-irrigation works quite well with coco.

... 100%, or 40=60% perlite (aeration)?

I had a small issue during the first week of growth with the all coco plants. I was getting what looked to be a slight potassium def but as we all know both the coir fiber and flora nova bloom are full of it. So it turned out to be a slight potassium excess created by Ca and Mg ions exchanging with K ions in the coco. A temporary condition rectified by frequent light irrigations until the cec is satisfied. Once the roots extend into the bottom of the container in a ppk they are being constantly irrigated and the plant growth surges.

... feed full strength. thru out... thanks for the cal-nit nod! solves any/all cal issue.

I have also mentioned about possibly top watering with ro water only to control salt buildup in the top of the medium. In view of the potassium issue outlined above it would be exactly the wrong thing to do in veg. Perhaps it would be good in flower once the cec issues are resolved.

flush once only... @ some point during end of veg.
w/ h202-heavy water, or lots of water, or some flushing solution... should expel all salts...

once this occur, build-up during flower good. as want general ec rise in media & plant, until harvest.

Hey, mistress! Pretty cool paper! I use temp control to limit stretch also. I run 70/75 f lights off and 80/82 f lights on in flower. I don't get the pretty colored fans leaves anymore but bud growth is better. I have had other strains that didn't respond as well though.

yes... definitely different cultivars prefer different heat/humidity.

enjoy your garden!

 

[delta9nxs]

A little over six weeks ago I was prepping a 5 gal bucket of atami brand coco. It was my first 100% coco bucket and I didn't rinse it with fresh water. I thought I would water it in with about 950 ppm at .5. I ran about 4.5 gals through the coco into the res. A little at a time. When the res was full I checked tds and it read 1550+ so it picked up 600 ppm of something in the coco on one pass. I had to dump that and refilled the res directly and the plant grew fine.

Well, i've been putting in an all coco plant every week since then and rinsing all of them with fresh water before putting in a rooted clone. I have been increasing the amount of rinse each time. This last one got six washings, allowing the medium to drain each time.

Then I filled the res, again approx 4.5 gals, by running all of the solution through the medium. My input solution was 738 ppm yet when full the res recorded only 532 ppm. So the medium retained over 200 ppm of something in one pass.

Coco is most definitely not an inert medium.

 

[delta9nxs]

Just thought I would show the first all coco plant as it goes into 12/12. the other pic is the same plant at time of transplant into veg.

The top of the medium is completely occupied by air roots.

The plant has been pruned using the six way “lucas” prune and thinned for flower. The 4 tallest branches were super cropped using the “soma” method. Before super cropping the plant was 36”.

it has been fed 750 ppm flora nova bloom with 100 ppm calcium nitrate and 50 ppm magnesium. Ec 1.8 total. It has been fed primarily by sub-irrigation with a slight (½) gal top watering every 2 days.

No ph adjusters have been used.

i also harvested ppk #6. this one was 90/10 turface/coco.

so far all ppk's have produced nice large plants, regardless of medium. 4 more plants with cloth wicks, then we'll be into the pure media wicks.

 

[*mistress*]

The top of the medium is completely occupied by air roots.

... they love >water in the top of the medium... opposite to conditions that usually exist in continuously/daily top-fed methods...

did they grow out of the stem, close to the top layer of medium, down into the bucket?

usually, an 'air root' will form - sticking right out into thin air - & then bend down & penetrate the medium... especially if top-layer of medium (1/3-1/4) is more aeration material than coco... say, perlite, pumice, bark, or lava rock...

did this occur w/ the ppks?
roots coming of of main stem, close to top-coco & down into substrate?

enjoy your garden!

 

[delta9nxs]

hi, you remember these transplant pics from pg 9.

they show a typical root ball at transplant. you can also see where they are planted deep. i would say the bottom of the clone root ball is halfway down in the bucket. about 6".

the roots grow in all directions from there.

pics 3 and 4 are of the medium surface of the same plant from the transplant pics that went into 12/12 today. i lightly brushed away the first 1/4".

both pics are really bad but if you look closely in pic (a) all the white stuff you see are roots. it's like that wall to wall.

in pic (b) the greenish looking things are roots that grew up and then turned back down into the medium. the rest are more white air type roots.

it's going to be really interesting to de-pot this one.

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

High guys!

Looking good as ever there delta9!

Well i have had a bash at the garbage bin planter... getting on in season down under and some plants starting to bud. Grown from seed i reckon still get some decent green. Thats is these things take off. They are 75 litre with 100g flora nova veg powdered hydroponic nutes, some powdered trace elements and creek water. Realised after should have used h202 at start... checked em about 10 days after planting and water getting lil bit funky. Added 4 capfulls 3% stuff. Girls are Reclining Buddah, clones and alive but not thriving.

I also have one in the garden to keep a closer eye on. With 4 capfulls from the start. No funkiness as yet after 4 days.

Do you fellas reckon thats enough h202? I also have 6% stuff and some food grade 35% stuff on order...



Stay safe and well everybody!

 

[JWP]

Nice bins bit late in the season though. I'd get another few plants in each bin cause they wont get to tree size before budding up. Good idea mate.
Just looking at that pic. Looks like when it rains hard that huge logs get washed down. Get some anchors on those bad boys lol

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Yeah thanks. Thats a good idea. I will chuck some more clones in the lids...

Those puppies are pretty solid but yup once water level drops they might go floaty bye byes!

Some biggish rocks in bottom ought to do...

 

[JWP]

its a really good idea. i was looking at another thread on here where the guy was in like a swap but he built like a lil island of plant matter like a compost island lol

both good ideas for the outdoors.

yeah i'd pack those lids full of clones. they wont really be competing with each other because they will all be able to get a drink.

cant wait to see how your finnish up