Hey Reg! Sorry I'm not checking in every day. Thread has taken off! Great to hear you got to the bottom of the PH issue. So do you reckon not soaking the pellets would affect the grow or just the run off? I've never worked with it, but if it needs presoaking and if it's running off like that, I imagine it must be impacting the ph of the media itself? Let the plants tell you what's best, of course, but I'm interested in the mechanism at work here. Mostly because I'm not familiar with it.
50/50 3rd grow. From seed. Coco coir + CFL's + auto pots (maybe)
- Thread starter Reg Dixon
- Start date
new problem.
new problem.
Me too my friend. It is a lesson learned. Flush and pre soak in ph treated water to the desired ph.
I'm on an every other day water schedule now. Fed to runoff with ph 5.7 EC 2.04 water. When the runoff is dry, time to water/feed again. Plants are fed every time till flush.
The water is a mix of mostly Gen Hydro Maxibloom with a few soluable 25/5/5 granules to stop N deficiency. Was getting striped purple stalks and red fan leaves until I started adding a little 25/5/5.
Also added molasses again to keep the cal/mag monsters at bay.
This weeks problem is leaves curling inwards from the edges. Especially on the OG Kush plant and only at the top so it is a new problem. I figured it was a def caused by nute lockout due to me going over board on the super ph down last couple of times. (ph 4.8)
I was determined to get my runoff down to acceptable levels but forgot my OG kush plant has mostly pre treated hydroton now so didn't need such a low ph mix.
Starting to see early signs of the same thing at the tops of the other 2 plants.
Hoping the new mix is in the right zone for absorbing everything correctly.
Only time will tell.
New pics at the weekend sometime...
new problem.
Me too my friend. It is a lesson learned. Flush and pre soak in ph treated water to the desired ph.
I'm on an every other day water schedule now. Fed to runoff with ph 5.7 EC 2.04 water. When the runoff is dry, time to water/feed again. Plants are fed every time till flush.
The water is a mix of mostly Gen Hydro Maxibloom with a few soluable 25/5/5 granules to stop N deficiency. Was getting striped purple stalks and red fan leaves until I started adding a little 25/5/5.
Also added molasses again to keep the cal/mag monsters at bay.
This weeks problem is leaves curling inwards from the edges. Especially on the OG Kush plant and only at the top so it is a new problem. I figured it was a def caused by nute lockout due to me going over board on the super ph down last couple of times. (ph 4.8)
I was determined to get my runoff down to acceptable levels but forgot my OG kush plant has mostly pre treated hydroton now so didn't need such a low ph mix.
Starting to see early signs of the same thing at the tops of the other 2 plants.
Hoping the new mix is in the right zone for absorbing everything correctly.
Only time will tell.
New pics at the weekend sometime...
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New pics in Album
New pics in Album
So today had the tent open and camera out. Trimmed about 20g of mainly fan leaves off the plant with the intention of allowing light to get closer to the buds.
Smallest plant is only 17 inches and biggest only 25 inches. The OG Kush which I did nothing to is looking like it really needed topping or supercropping or something. Will now yield small I think.
The one time I supercropped the KK and the one time I topped the PS are the only reasons these small plants will have any kind of yield. Quite frankly it is as expected. Not a great yield. Hope it will add up to something though. Probably have another 4 weeks to go anyway. So plenty of time.
Watered the KK today which is a lot bigger than the other 2 plants. It was feeling very dry.
Note to self - DO NOT PLANT 2 DIFFERENT STRAINS IN THE SAME SET OF AUTOPOTS.
The PS clearly did not need watering whilst the KK was dry. They clearly have different nutritional needs.
Next time I'm going straight coco from the start. 70% coco with 30% coco chips and perhaps a layer of flushed and soaked hydroton pellets on the bottom and top of the pot.
Talking of pots I reckon the pot I have the OG Kush in will do fine as long as I top/supercrop all plants.
pic 1 - PS
pic 2 - KK
pic 3 - OG Kush
Pic 4 - trim
New pics in Album
So today had the tent open and camera out. Trimmed about 20g of mainly fan leaves off the plant with the intention of allowing light to get closer to the buds.
Smallest plant is only 17 inches and biggest only 25 inches. The OG Kush which I did nothing to is looking like it really needed topping or supercropping or something. Will now yield small I think.
The one time I supercropped the KK and the one time I topped the PS are the only reasons these small plants will have any kind of yield. Quite frankly it is as expected. Not a great yield. Hope it will add up to something though. Probably have another 4 weeks to go anyway. So plenty of time.
Watered the KK today which is a lot bigger than the other 2 plants. It was feeling very dry.
Note to self - DO NOT PLANT 2 DIFFERENT STRAINS IN THE SAME SET OF AUTOPOTS.
The PS clearly did not need watering whilst the KK was dry. They clearly have different nutritional needs.
Next time I'm going straight coco from the start. 70% coco with 30% coco chips and perhaps a layer of flushed and soaked hydroton pellets on the bottom and top of the pot.
Talking of pots I reckon the pot I have the OG Kush in will do fine as long as I top/supercrop all plants.
pic 1 - PS
pic 2 - KK
pic 3 - OG Kush
Pic 4 - trim
Attachments
Hey mate. Coming along nicely, and it seems like you have your issues good and sorted now. I think you will end up with some very smokeable bud there. You can get all twisted about yield etc, but at the end of the day every grow that teaches you something is a good grow! Great to see.
Hi Man. Thanks for popping in.
Absolutely. Failure is a great teacher. As far as yield goes in my small space I aim for 100g which is basically a way for me not to run out before the next harvest!
Here are some bud shots. Looks to me like the Pineapple Skunk will be ready quite a ways before the others.
I reckon about 3 weeks max on the PS and perhaps 4-5 weeks on the others.
What do you think? Opinions please.
more lights
more lights
So I'm back in the cab and adding lights. Now have 11 CFL's pumping out 481 watts (real watts). Temps vs light is a tricky one. My philosophy with CFL's is more, more and more till the temps or plants tell me otherwise. In the heat of the afternoon temps are 82 degrees, 45% R.H. So it is pretty close to being maxed out. Also raised my oscillating fan so it is blowing more around the buds. Do not want any mold or bud rot developing as the flowering progresses.
Temps are now a little high since I added a big 85w (real wattage) daylight bulb. It is the only daylight bulb in there right now but am able to add one more 65w daylight if temps allow.
Plants are developing well. Have taken to premixing my nutes in a super concentrated liquid form then diluting them in a 6L water bottle. This saves a lot of time. I get 4-5 feeds off one concentrated bottle mix.
The mix is GH Maxibloom, a local 25/5/5 granule fert and a spoon of unsulphered molasses.
Basically I check the spill trays and when they are dry I feed again.
Watered today with EC 1.95, PH - 5.7 water.
pic 1 new set up no flash
pic 2 - same with flash
more lights
So I'm back in the cab and adding lights. Now have 11 CFL's pumping out 481 watts (real watts). Temps vs light is a tricky one. My philosophy with CFL's is more, more and more till the temps or plants tell me otherwise. In the heat of the afternoon temps are 82 degrees, 45% R.H. So it is pretty close to being maxed out. Also raised my oscillating fan so it is blowing more around the buds. Do not want any mold or bud rot developing as the flowering progresses.
Temps are now a little high since I added a big 85w (real wattage) daylight bulb. It is the only daylight bulb in there right now but am able to add one more 65w daylight if temps allow.
Plants are developing well. Have taken to premixing my nutes in a super concentrated liquid form then diluting them in a 6L water bottle. This saves a lot of time. I get 4-5 feeds off one concentrated bottle mix.
The mix is GH Maxibloom, a local 25/5/5 granule fert and a spoon of unsulphered molasses.
Basically I check the spill trays and when they are dry I feed again.
Watered today with EC 1.95, PH - 5.7 water.
pic 1 new set up no flash
pic 2 - same with flash
Attachments
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Too late me for Lyry. I drove there a long while ago!
The CFL's range from $4 to about $28 so not too expensive and they are very flexible for getting close to the buds.
I wish HID's were a viable option but there are risks involved I'd rather not take at this time. Maybe in the future you'll see me posting a HPS grow log.
As far as how long into flower. You tell me? These are 12/12 from seedling and CFL's are kind of slow to trigger flowering anyhow.
Actually your post got me thinking my PS may be further along than I thought. Maybe not too long from flushing which I plan to do for 1 week prior to chop.
What you think?
You should get a scope to see the trichs and figure out what stage they are in ultimately. I haven't flowerd with CFL and would not like to give you the incorrect information.
With that said my opinion is that you can easily run those plants each for atleast 3 more weeks. if not longer. But close bud shots would be nice. Like almost macro.
nice strains buddy - and aren't we all insane
With that said my opinion is that you can easily run those plants each for atleast 3 more weeks. if not longer. But close bud shots would be nice. Like almost macro.
nice strains buddy - and aren't we all insane
Hey man! I'm with lyryc. If you have a smartphone, I really recommend getting one of the microscope attachments. I have an iPhone, and bought a doodad off eBay which is a slip-on case into which screws a microscope attachment over the iPhone camera. It does 60x, and is good for being able to take close up shots of things. It was cheap - like $30 or so, from memory. Going by trich color is the best way to know when to pull them I think. A jeweller's loupe can be bought pretty cheap also.
was in the cab trimming again. Always the purpose is to allow light closer access to buds. Fan leaves are the main trimming victims at this stage.
The KK is drinking nutes a lot faster than the other 2 plants. Was totally dry again today. Gave it a full feed to waste and let it sit. The others I'll feed again tomorrow or the next day. Want to give them a chance to dry out a little actually.New feed now without 25/5/5 supplement. Want to give these the nudge to hurry up and finish soon!
Pic 1 - Kandy Kush
Pic 2 - Pineapple skunk
Pic 3 - OG Kush
The KK is drinking nutes a lot faster than the other 2 plants. Was totally dry again today. Gave it a full feed to waste and let it sit. The others I'll feed again tomorrow or the next day. Want to give them a chance to dry out a little actually.New feed now without 25/5/5 supplement. Want to give these the nudge to hurry up and finish soon!
Pic 1 - Kandy Kush
Pic 2 - Pineapple skunk
Pic 3 - OG Kush
Attachments
PS which has not seemed like it has done anything for the last week has put some serious weight on the buds. Hope this weight gain continues. It is necessary.
The KK continues to drink hard with still no sign of top buds filling out yet.
The OG Kush continues to fatten on the vine as it were.
PS will be first to chop in about 3 weeks I'd say. Might try a 2 stage chop of upper and lower buds with this plant. The lower buds might benefit from some direct close light for an extra week or so.
The KK continues to drink hard with still no sign of top buds filling out yet.
The OG Kush continues to fatten on the vine as it were.
PS will be first to chop in about 3 weeks I'd say. Might try a 2 stage chop of upper and lower buds with this plant. The lower buds might benefit from some direct close light for an extra week or so.
bud pics
bud pics
Not got a lot to say today. Been checking tric's on the PS with a loupe. The pics are main buds with and without flash and individual bud the same way.
Been thinking about my next grow. Have a load of bagseed from some decent but awful tasting Laos brick. May have fun growing those monsters out but with space as always being an issue I'll just try some 2 1/2 gallon handwatered Hempy buckets with a Blue Dream seed and Indica pack H from GHS.
The idea would be with more time on my hands to take some cuts of what I end up cracking and play with clones, cuttings and transplanting in general.
The other way to go would be to upgrade to a bigger tent and HPS lighting. That is the plan should I end up back in Europe again.
Growing there will be soooo easy compared to here I cannot wait!
bud pics
Not got a lot to say today. Been checking tric's on the PS with a loupe. The pics are main buds with and without flash and individual bud the same way.
Been thinking about my next grow. Have a load of bagseed from some decent but awful tasting Laos brick. May have fun growing those monsters out but with space as always being an issue I'll just try some 2 1/2 gallon handwatered Hempy buckets with a Blue Dream seed and Indica pack H from GHS.
The idea would be with more time on my hands to take some cuts of what I end up cracking and play with clones, cuttings and transplanting in general.
The other way to go would be to upgrade to a bigger tent and HPS lighting. That is the plan should I end up back in Europe again.
Growing there will be soooo easy compared to here I cannot wait!
Attachments
Oily Farmer
Member
Nice looking plants...
Using CFL's, so many CFL's...
Something our uncle would never do.
Good luck and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
O.F.
Using CFL's, so many CFL's...
Something our uncle would never do.
Good luck and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
O.F.
Nice looking plants...
Using CFL's, so many CFL's...
Something our uncle would never do.
Good luck and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
O.F.
Hi bud. Yes. My theory on CFL's is if they are going to be used then use a lot of them and put them EVERYWHERE.
One thing I really do like about CFL's is their ability to get right into the canopy. Since I'm watering from the top by hand daily I tend to get into the habit of 'turning' the plants so they get light from a new angle each day.
CFL's allow more flex as I can raise and lower the lights into and out of the canopy as needs dictate. I like that. The lack of heat allows it.
The plants can even be shaped to increase exposure. For example a great shape for a CFL grown plants would be a claw shape with enough space to have a large CFL inside the claw.
Some folks seem to hate on bigger CFL's and from a $ to lumen point of view nothing beats 23-26w CFL's.
However sometimes bigger is better as CFL's really do lack effective penetration beyond a very small radius unless the CFL bulb in question is 45w or bigger.
The big ones really can be manipulated to cover lots of plant material while the smaller ones are pretty good to use 'surgically' to make sure specific areas get covered.
Growing with CFL's is like having a new jigsaw to do every week. Since I'm only growing on a small scale and have time to endlessly adjust the CFL's it s fun.
However with a bigger set up it would get old in about 5.2 minutes.
pic of CFL's in all their glory!
Attachments
Bubble hash run
Bubble hash run
43g ground up brick weed.
8g OG kush MQ (medium Quality) trim
5g PS trim MQ
35g KK trim. LQ - MQ
Used layer of ice, layer of trim, layer of ice, layer of ground up brick then layer of ice. I roughly chopped the trim with scissors at the last minute.
Not expecting an awful lot except it gets rid of some shit weed which was not really worth smoking and some trim which was taken off the plants today.
Going to process today then hopefully work on some 'high' beverages using the waste water. Some kind of high tea probably.
Well the news so far is not good. The ice hash is pretty damn good but looks like I'll only get about 2g from my first run.
I think I did something wrong like used the bubble bags inside out or more likely I did not let the mix sit for long enough after mixing and before filtering into the bubble bags.
Will try another run tomorrow with the same material and see if there is any more to be had.
Bubble hash run
43g ground up brick weed.
8g OG kush MQ (medium Quality) trim
5g PS trim MQ
35g KK trim. LQ - MQ
Used layer of ice, layer of trim, layer of ice, layer of ground up brick then layer of ice. I roughly chopped the trim with scissors at the last minute.
Not expecting an awful lot except it gets rid of some shit weed which was not really worth smoking and some trim which was taken off the plants today.
Going to process today then hopefully work on some 'high' beverages using the waste water. Some kind of high tea probably.
Well the news so far is not good. The ice hash is pretty damn good but looks like I'll only get about 2g from my first run.
I think I did something wrong like used the bubble bags inside out or more likely I did not let the mix sit for long enough after mixing and before filtering into the bubble bags.
Will try another run tomorrow with the same material and see if there is any more to be had.
Flushing
Flushing
The other night I checked tric's. The KK was 50% clear and 50% cloudy. The OG kush the same. I reckon another week for those. The PS was perfect! Just like in the pics I've seen. Cloudy tric's turning 50% amber.
Perfect. Power cut season is almost here and I have no gennie back up. Just not an option here. Everytime I hear thunder it is a worry. This grow cannot be over quick enough.
Flushed her again today with 20 liters of RO water. gf flushed her 2 days ago with 10l as well. Will let her dry out and prolly harvest tomorrow. Alas I do not have the capacity for an extended dark period before chop so I plan to chop a few minutes before lights on.
Getting my drying area sorted out in the meantime. Going to use a clothes hanger/dryer in a dim but not dark area of my grow room.
It is not perfect but this is the best choice I have available. The RH is 40-65% and temps range from low 70's to low 80's. Does this sound OK?
There is airflow from an overhead fan which is not overhead but not far away.
I learned last time that having too much airflow dries the buds too quick. Not going to make that mistake again. Going to be putting buds in a large mason jar with a hydrometer inside to check after a couple of days to be sure then go from there.
Is it bad to dry in a dimly lit as opposed to dark area?
Should I be trying to lightproof my drying area as much as possible?
Is there a serious flaw in this plan?
pics - PS = Pineapple Skunk
PS - 16 inches tall. Was supposed to be 2x the size even in my tiny tent! As predicted it would be super small and stunted due to seedling problems.
PS - top
PS - smaller bud. Nice orange hairs coming out more and more now.
Flushing
The other night I checked tric's. The KK was 50% clear and 50% cloudy. The OG kush the same. I reckon another week for those. The PS was perfect! Just like in the pics I've seen. Cloudy tric's turning 50% amber.
Perfect. Power cut season is almost here and I have no gennie back up. Just not an option here. Everytime I hear thunder it is a worry. This grow cannot be over quick enough.
Flushed her again today with 20 liters of RO water. gf flushed her 2 days ago with 10l as well. Will let her dry out and prolly harvest tomorrow. Alas I do not have the capacity for an extended dark period before chop so I plan to chop a few minutes before lights on.
Getting my drying area sorted out in the meantime. Going to use a clothes hanger/dryer in a dim but not dark area of my grow room.
It is not perfect but this is the best choice I have available. The RH is 40-65% and temps range from low 70's to low 80's. Does this sound OK?
There is airflow from an overhead fan which is not overhead but not far away.
I learned last time that having too much airflow dries the buds too quick. Not going to make that mistake again. Going to be putting buds in a large mason jar with a hydrometer inside to check after a couple of days to be sure then go from there.
Is it bad to dry in a dimly lit as opposed to dark area?
Should I be trying to lightproof my drying area as much as possible?
Is there a serious flaw in this plan?
pics - PS = Pineapple Skunk
PS - 16 inches tall. Was supposed to be 2x the size even in my tiny tent! As predicted it would be super small and stunted due to seedling problems.
PS - top
PS - smaller bud. Nice orange hairs coming out more and more now.
Attachments
2nd run
2nd run
So I did another bubble bag run. This time I did it properly. Looks like I got it wrong the first time around cos I got more this time!
There is a lesson there somewhere!
pic shows 2nd run results. 220 at top. Actually I got lazy and scraped the bucket instead of using another bag. Another mistake. Should have stirred the pot more after leaving the mix in the fridge for 48 hours to settle then added a 160 or 190 bag to the run.
90 in middle, 45 on left, 25 on right.
Making 'high tea' from the waste water. Hot it is a nice refreshing drink with a mild buzz. Will see how it turns out cold later...
ps - Anyone ever tried making tea using cannabis trim? Do you chop it up first or just stick a few leaves in with some milk, sugar and boiling water?
2nd run
So I did another bubble bag run. This time I did it properly.
Looks like I got it wrong the first time around cos I got more this time!There is a lesson there somewhere!
pic shows 2nd run results. 220 at top. Actually I got lazy and scraped the bucket instead of using another bag. Another mistake. Should have stirred the pot more after leaving the mix in the fridge for 48 hours to settle then added a 160 or 190 bag to the run.
90 in middle, 45 on left, 25 on right.
Making 'high tea' from the waste water. Hot it is a nice refreshing drink with a mild buzz. Will see how it turns out cold later...
ps - Anyone ever tried making tea using cannabis trim? Do you chop it up first or just stick a few leaves in with some milk, sugar and boiling water?
Attachments
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