4 Strains 2400 Watts 5'x5'

[Mc__Nugget]

Hello IC Mag!
Its been awhile, and I've been busy.

I have always wanted to do some kind of a legit grow journal - so here it goes...

Come On In!

16 of em' here, just moved in.

little girls

keeping the weather balmy...

keepin the girls happy!

All of these pics were taken about 3 weeks ago, the girls are 2 weeks into flowering at this point, leaving these pictures pretty out of date, lets just say they are bigger. I will snap some more pics soon as i get a chance.


So by now
I am guessing that some of you have a few questions about just what is going on here, so I will try to be as thorough as possible with the descriptions.

Strains (4)

• White Hawain (Maui X Widow)
• Blue Skunk (DJS Blueberry X Skunk Plant)
• Strawberry Cough
• Durban Poison

What you see is a 4'x4' Tray, on top of which are (16) 1.5 gallon pots filled with Botanicare coco-coir medium (the kind that comes in the 5kg bales). Each of the 16 plant sites is served by (2) 1gph drippers, which connect to a feeder line, which is connected to a 600 gph Eco pump in the reservoir beneath the tray. This pump comes on 4 times a day, every 3 hours when the lights are on, and feeds the plants for 8 minutes before shutting off. Runoff from the system drains to waste (no recirculation of nutrients), and the 75 gallon reservoir can go for 8 days between checks/refills. I am running the modified lucas formula (6m, 9b) pH @ 5.5 with tap water. I also supplement .5g /gal epsom salts, and 4ml /gal Silica additive (forget the brand).

I keep a very small eco pump running in the res to constantly circulate the solution, i do no aerate the solution at all (messes with the pH). I do however, aerate my water for 24 hours at every refill, just to get rid of the chlorine before adding nutes. In addition to their regular feedings, the girls also will get the occasional (every 2 weeks) High P Guano, worm casting and phish emulsion tea early in flowering, as well as 2 shots of Kool Bloom powder later on. These I do by hand.

Unrelated to nutrients - I like to do 2-3 fan leaf prunings in late growth and early flowering, along with topping the plants, this helps to create a scrog like effect, without all the messy ropes and screens.

So now you know what they are eating and how much, now lets talk light.

For lighting there (4) 600 watt hps' in 6" cool tubes, these are coupled together and cooled by an 8" max fan (thing rips), which pushes outside air through the lights and back out of the room. The lights are powered by magnetic ballasts which are hooked up to a 30 amp relay box I made myself for 20 bucks. ( eff powerboxes)

The grow room itself is completely sealed - no air goes in or out.
Since most of the heat generated by the lights is already ducted out, a small air conditioner is able to handle the cooling and dehumidifying load pretty handily. Humidity is never too much of a problem, and I like to keep my temperatures around 82, which might seem a little high, but I am also supplementing Co2 at 1750 ppm which more than makes up for the slightly increased temp. I just got a sentinel fuzzy logic Co2 ppm controller, and I am loving the way the thing works.

This is my first go with this exact setup (more light), and i gotta say that I might be pushing my luck with the light to space ratio on this one. I have hit 2# plus off of a 4x4 tray before, but that was with 2 600s, not 4. Frankly I just don't know where any more bud can grow, but what the hell, we will see!

I'll post up some updated pics in the next couple days.


Peace - McNuggs

 

[Mc__Nugget]

Checkin in with tha Pics.

Checkin in with tha Pics.

Just gave the girls a shot of Kool Bloom @ 1tsp a gallon, will let them soak it up and normal waterings will resume tomorrow. Also just trimmed off a bunch of fans and under nodes, it sure is hard getting to the ones in the back, but they're worth it! Here are some new pictures. These were taken 20 Days after the pics in the post above. They are 16 days into flowering, get ready for some buds in the near future.

Canopy Starting to Fill Out

Big Strawberry Cough killin' it.

Halfway through the Stretch!

 

[Mc__Nugget]

4 Weeks In

4 Weeks In

Here they are today @ 4 weeks. Did the second of four Kool Bloom waterings. I kool-bloom and mix nutrients according to the modified h3ad formula. Watering for 10 min 4x a day.

Flawless except for a little yellowing on some of the White Hawaiian plants, probably due to mild light stress and extremely fast growth.

 

[#1cheesebuds]

may I be the first to say wow this looks like a super great grow verry clean too.

 

[madback]

wow man, this is impressive!

 

[Sam87]

Wow! Can't wait to see how you fare with that light intensity. At least everything should be nice and dense!

 

[Mc__Nugget]

Hey guys! Thanks for the kind words. I lowered the lights a little today as the plants are mostly done stretching. I would also like to give big thanks to Lucas and h3ad for coming up with and perfecting a great nutrient regimen.

That being said I am pondering a change to some kind of organic system. My current feeding scheme works like this:

About every nine days I will mix all of my nutes with 75 gallons of water in my reservoir, and this mix stays in the reservoir until it pumped up to the drippers. I do not re-circulate solution back into the res, and I do not aerate the solution, but I keep a small pump running in the res just to keep everything mixed up. This is an extremely simple setup as I only have to mix nutes and pH once every nine days, which alows me to go away for extended periods of time.

So i guess what I am looking for is an organic (or even semi-organic) nutrient system that will fit into my current routine (pre-mixing and storing for up to nine days). What I am unsure about is mixing organic nutes into water and not using them for nine days.

I am also considering a medium change, but would like something that I can still water the crap out of. I have heard that pro-mix, sunshine mix, and some stuff by bio-bizz work well, but have not tried any for myself.

Any insights would be much appreciated, and I will continue to update pics as the girls grow. Happy growing!

 

[madback]

I am also considering a medium change, but would like something that I can still water the crap out of. I have heard that pro-mix, sunshine mix, and some stuff by bio-bizz work well, but have not tried any for myself.

Hey nugget!

I also had problems growing with coco, and I couldn't dial the plants in... maybe it was ph/nuts, but whatever, I scrapped the coco idea, for now. Around the same time I was doing experiments, with coco-compost, but the results were horrible considering that the nutes weren't available in the soil when needed. So, I've settled with straight Pro-Mix HP, with AN nutes. I just don't tweak the soil like I would for outside with organics, I've found adding the nutes into the soil via water is more controllable, then adding the nutes into the soil/root zone for me...

But none the less, your grow rocks man!

 

[JWP]

Awesome. Tarp zips as a door, thats pro

 

[Mc__Nugget]

Hey nugget!

I also had problems growing with coco, and I couldn't dial the plants in... maybe it was ph/nuts, but whatever, I scrapped the coco idea, for now.

Madback -I dont really have any problems growing in coco, as long as my pH stays around 5.5-6 and I flush periodically everything goes great. My only qualm with coco is that it is a bit dense and heavy when waterlogged, and i think a "lighter" mix could prove a bit better for root mass/development. But now I am just nitpicking.

What I do have a problem with is my nute system. GH Flora is great for simplicity (as I have stated, I can literally leave my grow for over a week no problem at all), and I add wormcastings, fish emulsion, and high P bat guano by hand at various points to try to enhance nutrient availability and taste, which works to a point.

However, after doing a couple of grows using only compost teas and other organics, I am un-impressed with the taste of GH grown plants, even after weeks of flushing. I am convinced that the wide range of ions released in any organic system add something to the flavor and smell of the finished product that is un-attainable with GH nutes. I have used earth juice products in tea form and was thoroughly impressed with the taste.

Does anyone have any ideas about how I could use E.J. nutes (or similar) in my current system? I just dont think that mixing EJ with water and leaving it sitting there for up to 9 days would provide a very consistent nutrient solution, as things would break down and settle out.

Anyone that knows of an automated organic system, with Hydro-like yields, please chime in.

 

[Mc__Nugget]

Awesome. Tarp zips as a door, thats pro

Machas Gracias Amigo.

Besides being awesome, the tarp zip is really the only thing that works in my cramped situation, swinging doors were simply not an option. The zipper also seals everything up really well. Keeps my Co2 in as well as the overwhelming smell!

 

[Sam87]

Madback -I dont really have any problems growing in coco, as long as my pH stays around 5.5-6 and I flush periodically everything goes great. My only qualm with coco is that it is a bit dense and heavy when waterlogged, and i think a "lighter" mix could prove a bit better for root mass/development. But now I am just nitpicking.

What I do have a problem with is my nute system. GH Flora is great for simplicity (as I have stated, I can literally leave my grow for over a week no problem at all), and I add wormcastings, fish emulsion, and high P bat guano by hand at various points to try to enhance nutrient availability and taste, which works to a point.

However, after doing a couple of grows using only compost teas and other organics, I am un-impressed with the taste of GH grown plants, even after weeks of flushing. I am convinced that the wide range of ions released in any organic system add something to the flavor and smell of the finished product that is un-attainable with GH nutes. I have used earth juice products in tea form and was thoroughly impressed with the taste.

Does anyone have any ideas about how I could use E.J. nutes (or similar) in my current system? I just dont think that mixing EJ with water and leaving it sitting there for up to 9 days would provide a very consistent nutrient solution, as things would break down and settle out.

Anyone that knows of an automated organic system, with Hydro-like yields, please chime in.

Hey bro, just to give you some background on my experience: I'm an experienced dirt bagger who's making the switch to Coco right now. I couldn't be more impressed with the new system, plant growth is just stunning compared to soil.

The trick to the organic dealio is volume, and a vibrantly alive soil. I know people who push hydro like yields in soil, but they're running a true dirt setup, fully self contained soil, in very very large amounts. A buddy of mine pulls 1.8 per light, and he has to run 200 gallons of soil per light, with custom pots and lots of headroom. He claims that the "critical mass" of a soil is the big deal, and that you need that volume to get results. Personally, if I were going to continue with an organic system for profit, I would look into the Soma bed methods.

The thing about it is that "hydro" methods, and Organic methods do not play well together, at least in my experience. If you're even using liquid Kelp and Fish, you're killing microlife. It's all about getting that soil alive and self sustaining, and not giving it a damn thing other than fresh AACTs and BIM innoculations throughout the growth cycle. The problem with doing that, is that it takes a loooot of dialing in to perfect. Strain by strain.

It's also simply not worth doing unless you're running a lot of light, recycling your soil, and running your own Worm bins and thermal compost heaps. Commercial hummus products are shit. Literally, there's like two good ones on the market, they're prohibitively expensive, and difficult to source.

The cool thing about the Organic side of things, is that if you're running a lot of soil, and recycling, then it's filthy cheap to do. I can run a 4000w grow for about $100 bucks a year, after startup. The trick to it, is that you buy ammendments in bulk. 50lb bags. But if you have to buy small boxes of everything, it'll cost you about $150 a light just to set up a viable mix at hydro store prices. The flip side to that, is that I can run a small grow in coco for $40 bucks a light. So small scale is not cost effective.

If you're not up to going that route, then Pro-Mix and Age Old will do decent, and is user friendly, in a "half assed" Organic regimen. But you won't get no 9 day res with any hydrolysate product. You'll have to look at PBP, or a more refined Organic liquid, and even then, I don't know if you can get that kind of stability. Even other Chem nutes aren't as stable as GH, that shit's like magic in a res.

Be aware though, that no matter what, switching to soil is going to kill your yield, at least for a little while. There is no formula to follow, no idiots guide. Soil is very touchy feely, and every water source and compost heap is different, so you have to dial in to your specific system before you get the yields you're accustomed too. There's just no way around the learning curve.

All in all, I would experiment with running 50/50 coco-perlite, and playing with your flush times and booster use to affect flavour. Let those girls go late, and get them freaking dying before chop. Otherwise, you have to learn to be a farmer all the way, and it's a good 2 year process.

Hope this helps. And I certainly don't mean to sound like I'm knocking soil, or Organics. Everything that hits my lungs is still organic. But I'm sick of trying to make money off of it, lol. I know what you mean about the flavour, I just can't seem to get it the same with refined nutes. But we can get close enough to make bank. . .

 

[Mc__Nugget]

Hey Sam! thanks for the detailed info on soil. It seems like you have it super dialed in. Unfortunately my tiny space (5'x5'x7') will not allow for such large amounts of soil, and outside of the growing space, i do not have any room for supplemental activities, eg worm bins etc. I had the whole setup at my old place eg.. compost & worming bins, tons of space for brewing tea, mixing soil, etc. (that place had a backyard, garage, and plenty of room). I also had about 500 feet of growing space, as opposed to 25. Man I sure do miss that place when i think about it!

This new grow, however, is all about being compact and juicing every last gram I can out of my allotted 25 square feet. I also have basically no staging area in my new place, so everything growing related that i now own (i had to give a bunch of my stuff away when i moved) is located in my grow room, which only serves to cramp the space even more.

I would like to move to organics, but i would have no room for mixing soil (or brewing tea), which limits me to bottled nutes and pre-mixed mediums. Also, I would be trying to avoid straight up "soil" as you cant water it 4 times a day. Something like light-mix, promix, sunshine, etc would be viable for me.

One of my best grows I ever did was using 1/2 coco, 1/4 perlite, and 1/4 fox farm ocean forest soil, with E.J. Bloom, phish emulsion, guanos, and worm castings. That nug was fire.

Im trying to figure out how to put together an automated dosing system out of cheap parts that would basically brew a new batch of tea every night and make it available for feedings during the day. I will let you guys know what I come up with.

In the mean time, Happy Growing!

 

[turbolaser4528]

Very nice mayne, must feel good to grow legal, huh ?!


May I suggest, to make a great grow ever greater, utilizing H@G drip-clean to take care of any nutrient build ups in your medium which may cause nutrient lockouts, deficiency's, burns, and stunted growth ?

Best of luck with everything, hope all is well over there and was just lookin out for ya's.



btw, Canna nutes are great, even just using A+B (comes with humic/fulvics and silica already in them as well.) + pk13/14. the dutch know their $hit !

you like a ph of 5.5 ? For me 5.9-6.1, + canna nutes n' canna coco really made em shine

 

[cody2white]

Tagged. Good luck on your op!

 

[Hydrofarm420]

Very very nicely done...gives me chills lookin' at all the tops. Must give respect where due and those ladies demand much...but as for organic I dont think its possible to get a 9 day organic res in hydro. I have experience with General Organics products and they were usually ok for about 5 days max before imbalance began to occur. I also know people who have had no success at all with them. They do have a very complete line and ironically enough offer a $50 US box that has about a months worth of 8 different products from Ca+Mag to liquid humic acids to the "venerable" sea kelps that old boy mentioned. While I agree entirely with all above statements sea kelp works amazing when used as a foliar spray, though it makes your grow room smell pretty raunchy for a day or so. Either way I just dont think that one can get all you're asking from organics otherwise we would have already been using them. Why use chem based nutes if yield and flavor are better with organics? Regardless if you change nothing then you will still be far better off than most as your current setup is Epic sir with a capital "E". happy smoke trails...

 

[Dudesome]

Your pictures make me wanna get inthere on the final day with an ax and black trash bags, chop it all down and smoke it all by myself

respect. Don't tell anyone about your grow, cause god knows who may have the same kind of ambition xD

 

[Vegan]

HOLY CRAP this is one sweet set up..congrats on the equipment sellection and cge ..
most peeps whould struggle to get the first 2 bows,, really hopin ya keep this tread awake.. thas a shit load of lumens fer sq foot..i really cant seee you pullin 4 bows out of it but if ya do im sold ..more lights it is..

ive read that co2 can be run at higher temps but for my money the 82 deg mark is spot on..still warmer than supossed perfect temps but feels comfortable..

i usually dont like to recomend nutes but my bro runs house and garden coco and his weed is insane good..he also ran GH for years on his tables and he hasnt gone back since switchin

 

[Pirate]

Awesome looking grow ya got going here !!

I was once an aeroponic pirate but I am currently setting up to run coco since I don't have the time it takes to monitor the aero constantly anymore.

How about an update? Me needs to see some buds !!
.

 

[k90728]

shit!! looking good OP. hope u get a few P's and wow really clean/organized

Got one flowering straight coco. it feels easier for me to use personally even tho i just harvested some soil ones.

got 5 nycd and 4 purp power in coco hopefully get them as giant as yours are

im ready for your harvest!! haha