S Diesel - Coco recirculating vs DTW

[OG_TGR]

I attempted to post this in the comparison forum but for whatever reason I wasn't allowed to.
I thought I had some Blue Rhino in there, too, but after a scramble and mix up of clones a while back, it is looking more and more like it's all SD.
No CO2 atm as I have some leaks somewhere and have had to maintain negative pressure to contain smell. Running FloraNova nutes at the recommended "Expert recirculating" schedule.
At wk 4 I remembered that the schedule for DTW was half that of Recirculating , so I have been running double strength on the DTW , but will scale it back this week (wk 5).
This is my second run in Coco with drippers and 2 gal Smartpots. Started with drippers in RW and Hydroton waaaaaay back, so I've almost come full circle after doing NFT and Flood for some time.
Previously I wasn't defoliating until the last two weeks or so, but have also decided to be more aggressive in removing large leaves this go round, too.
All of these were vegged for 5 wks under T5 HO (4 daylight x 2 actinic) flouros, mainly to control heat and allow them to leg slightly and train nicely into a screen. Veg may have been a little long this time around, but manageable.
These trays are remnants of my RW Slab days, and I imagine I will keep them as long as they stay together. No reason for a retrofit that wastes perfectly good equipment! I think a small advantage to these, as opposed to say 4x8 trays, is the lower surface ratio, thus decreasing the potential for more evaporation and the problems that can contribute to.
I have mixed the Coco roughly 60/40 with hydrotons, and most have a layer of hydrotons on the top to curb evaporation and also discourage fungus gnat infestation.
Please feel free to comment or ask me anything that I can clarify on. I am sure I forgot something but I will continue to update. I've read a lot of good information and here and have been very reassured that I have made the right decision by moving to Coco. Thanks to everyone that has contributed to this site with Coco info!!

(Last photo is DTW, all others are recirculating system)

 

[OG_TGR]

My mistake, #2 and #9 are DTW.

 

[ganjalove]

Looks great OG, those will fill in nicely. However you do it, your doin it right. I'll be stickin around.

 

[tommy_greens]

nice work, those are big healthy branches for a floro veg. Few Qs: what type of bulbs are u running in those parabolics? are you using Cal/mag with the flora nova?

 

[OG_TGR]

Looks great OG, those will fill in nicely. However you do it, your doin it right. I'll be stickin around.

Thanks Ganja They are almost too leggy for my taste but I think it should work out ok. If anything I could have eased back on the double FIM, haha. It seems the SD tends to bifurcate a few times no matter what so when I double hit it in veg it really spread out.

nice work, those are big healthy branches for a floro veg. Few Qs: what type of bulbs are u running in those parabolics? are you using Cal/mag with the flora nova?

Appreciate it Tommy! I tend to get really lax on my veg nutes, too. I don't mind if they run a little light/thin on nutes during the veg cycle, otherwise they tend to get a bit unmanageable. I'll do a fresh nute change on them about a week or two before they flip, to give them a nice head start and condition them for the higher TDS levels.
Those are 600w Hortilux HPS. I keep reading more and more about the benefits of vert reflectors but I have just ran these for so long with no big issues I tend to stick with em.
I actually have been running a bit of CalMag but only as precautionary measure and I've read that it can help with pH stability. I think maybe 2-3ml/gal is what I am running? I'll have to double check, it may not even be that much.
The last run I had pH was all over the place, kept drifting down .5-1.2 pts overnight , then I realized that I didn't "set" the coco before by soaking it. This time the pH has been pretty rock solid, especially considering it is recirculating.
I should have some new pics up tomorrow.

 

[OG_TGR]

Update. 1-4 recirculating, photo 5 DTW (now running at correct, half-strength program).
This is 5.5 weeks. I start running Cha Ching with the regular program for the next two weeks, then two weeks of Beastie Blooms, then one week of flush.

 

[ganjalove]

KILLIN IT OG! They are lookin awesome, a lil leggy but who doesn't like a fine set of legs on there woman!

Keep it up!

 

[OG_TGR]

Thanks man!

a lil leggy but who doesn't like a fine set of legs on there woman!

Haha, isn't that the truth! They are filling much more nicely than I had previously predicted, actually. Keeping the lights way off has really payed off, no foxtails to speak of so far. What doesn't completely fill in will still be very easy to trim.

 

[OG_TGR]

nice work, those are big healthy branches for a floro veg. Few Qs: what type of bulbs are u running in those parabolics? are you using Cal/mag with the flora nova?

btw I double checked and I am using .5ml/L or .25ml/L in the DTW.

 

[OG_TGR]

Getting close! It's becoming clear just how overgrown these ladies really were. I expect to see a bit more filling in but not completely, for sure. I have also notice what appears to be a marked increase in overall production in the DTW system.

 

[lazylathe]

Looks awesome OG!!!

From what i have read about these systems, this is common in most of them:
In Drip systems, recirculate during veg and then switch to DTW for bloom.

 

[OG_TGR]

Looks awesome OG!!!

From what i have read about these systems, this is common in most of them:
In Drip systems, recirculate during veg and then switch to DTW for bloom.

You are correct I believe. It doesn't seem economical from both a monetary as well as time standpoint to do DTW in Veg. I bascially have a NFT set up for Veg, that way I am not locked in to a particular number. I am seriously considering doing a drip/NFT hybrid, though.
Thanks for the compliment!

 

[lazylathe]

No problem!!!
Be interesting to see you develop the hybrid system!

You have dialled in the coco really well!!

 

[Reg Dixon]

that looks great. The roots fit in that size container ok?

 

[OG_TGR]

that looks great. The roots fit in that size container ok?

Oh yeah, no problem at all. It really seems it's the perfect size for these age of plants. These particular examples vegged waaaay too long (probably 2 weeks), but still worked out ok. The biggest thing is that everything is popcorn, but should turn out alright in the end.


The first 4 spots are yellowing more than the 5th not only due to being close to finishing but more so due to the power strip getting bumped and the pump being off for 3 days.......
I was sure they were all goners but they actually came back. I have had things like this happen before and I have noticed that the pH drops dramatically after doing so (recirculating). I would ascertain that this in turn creates a lock out, but luckily they are close to finish and the stress won't have significant long term ramifications.
The #5 spot wasn't effected as it is on it's own timer/circuit.

Here's a few more pics:

 

[hobb3s93]

nice grow dude, coco is the shit. i really like ur screen too.
do u try to feed them within a certain temp range ? do u ever have rez heat issues with that homedepot box?

 

[ganjalove]

Good turnout OG! Hope it's some good smoke!

 

[OG_TGR]

nice grow dude, coco is the shit. i really like ur screen too.
do u try to feed them within a certain temp range ? do u ever have rez heat issues with that homedepot box?

(Sorry for the protracted response time )

I have not. I have considered using chillers and insulated reservoirs before but it hasn't been an issue so I haven't messed with it. My res temps usually run around 24-26deg. In the past I have painted the res white with Krylon Fusion but the hassle didn't seem to make enough difference to deal with.
I would imagine they may creep up in temp slightly if they weren't on concrete, which surely acts of a bit of a heat sink.

Good turnout OG! Hope it's some good smoke!

Thanks man! It looks good, crappy yield but good. I had several unforeseen issues towards the end, so many that any observations that I garnered would certainly be inaccurate, at best. Still, I'll add the numbers up soon and see what it really came out to.
I've been having issues with Fox Tails with the D so I backed the lights waaay off. This, combined with my experiment using much more defoliation than I have previously employed would greatly skew the overall results.
I have literally gotten nearly 2#/600 in the past (29oz), with slabs in gutters. I will be lucky to get 1/4 of that this time.
I'm currently doing one with gutters and 2g smart pots, and another with top feed buckets that I will set up tonight.
Due to timing issues, shit is mad fucking overgrown, again.....grr.

 

[Catfish Billy]

Did the layer of hydroton have any noticed effect on RAs?

 

[OG_TGR]

Did the layer of hydroton have any noticed effect on RAs?

Hey man!
Which layer?
While I didn't directly notice much if any difference in the plants that had a layer on the bottom as opposed to those that didn't, it did appear that the layer on top helped in curbing the appearance of fungus gnats.
The troughs have pretty good ridges in the middle so I attribute this to keeping the bottoms very well drained.
Hope this answers your question.