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Help with new RDWC build

S

Substitute

Member
Same thing happened. Water level got low...pH went down and ppm went up. Plants are still looking good tho. I think it's telling me, drop and change the nutrient usage, keep the water up and pH correct. With these plants anyway...wayy touchier during flowering with nutrients.
 
J

John LOQUE

Member
Substitute said:
Same thing happened. Water level got low...pH went down and ppm went up. Plants are still looking good tho. I think it's telling me, drop and change the nutrient usage, keep the water up and pH correct. With these plants anyway...wayy touchier during flowering with nutrients.
Click to expand...

What PH are you talking about ? How long are they drinking this mix? If they look good, don't worry, add just water...
 
S

Substitute

Member
It's tricky to keep them happy during flowering. Suddenly they need way less nutrients, a good amount of water and proper pH. Hopefully things keep going good!
 
S

Substitute

Member
Nearly 1 month flowering...and they look pretty good. :ying:

20200729-090108.jpg
 
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S

Substitute

Member
Hi John! It's Cheese strain... Bulb is Philips MP1000(I think). 3500k. Nice bulb. Good UV output...but good red too. Protected for open fixture. Metal halide 1000w.

Lots of trichomes and resin forming!

...The big plant (my clone plant) smells like grapes.
 
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Ganoderma

Ganoderma

Hydronaut
Mentor
Veteran
MH bulbs should be in an enclosed fixture/hood/tube! MH bulbs have a tendency to explode. Beware that they have mercury in them. If you do have one blow up you'll get mercury on your plants.
 
S

Substitute

Member
Ganoderma said:
MH bulbs should be in an enclosed fixture/hood/tube! MH bulbs have a tendency to explode. Beware that they have mercury in them. If you do have one blow up you'll get mercury on your plants.
Click to expand...


Protected lamps are for open fixtures. There's a coil of wire surrounding the arc tube. I've been running these protected Philips 1000w lamps for a long while now and they've been great. Cheers!
 
J

John LOQUE

Member
Substitute said:
Hi John! It's Cheese strain... Bulb is Philips MP1000(I think). 3500k. Nice bulb. Good UV output...but good red too. Protected for open fixture. Metal halide 1000w.

Lots of trichomes and resin forming!

...The big plant (my clone plant) smells like grapes.
Click to expand...

Cheese is on my 'to grow' list. Got the seeds, maybe next run.
Your bulb is quite close to the plants for a 1000 watter, no?
 
S

Substitute

Member
John LOQUE said:
Cheese is on my 'to grow' list. Got the seeds, maybe next run.
Your bulb is quite close to the plants for a 1000 watter, no?
Click to expand...


Well...it's as close as I'd want to get it.

The heat is kinda like a warm summer day...when I put my hand where the buds are...so they are ok. Plus the leaves aren't showing any signs of heat stress, etc. Between that and the fan....I think they're ok.

Having the parabolic shade and the setup of the modules (buckets), the system lends itself to a vertical type setup once the plants get big (if you let them get big)...with the plants surrounding the lamp. The buds are at least 14 inches or more away from the lamp...all the way around.
 
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J

John LOQUE

Member
Substitute said:
Well...it's as close as I'd want to get it.

The heat is kinda like a warm summer day...when I put my hand where the buds are...so they are ok. Plus the leaves aren't showing any signs of heat stress, etc. Between that and the fan....I think they're ok.

Having the parabolic shade and the setup of the modules (buckets), the system lends itself to a vertical type setup once the plants get big (if you let them get big)...with the plants surrounding the lamp. The buds are at least 14 inches or more away from the lamp...all the way around.
Click to expand...

Great!
 
S

Substitute

Member
I think I'm starting to get a grip on my system and the water loss issue. The plants transpire a lot of water...but use really nothing else but some nutrients. That means with a large water loss...the pH down in the system builds up and the pH drops. At the same time ppm's go up, because they're using more water than they are nutrients. I've been topping off with pure water.

This morning I reset the pH to 6.3 (was at 5.3)...and a lower ppm level of 475. Total nutrient solution changeout. But that should mean, when the plants use water the pH should swing at better level...and the nutrient level remains lower. They seem more sensitive to nutrient burn in flowering.
 
J

John LOQUE

Member
Substitute said:
I think I'm starting to get a grip on my system and the water loss issue. The plants transpire a lot of water...but use really nothing else but some nutrients. That means with a large water loss...the pH down in the system builds up and the pH drops. At the same time ppm's go up, because they're using more water than they are nutrients. I've been topping off with pure water.

This morning I reset the pH to 6.3 (was at 5.3)...and a lower ppm level of 475. Total nutrient solution changeout. But that should mean, when the plants use water the pH should swing at better level...and the nutrient level remains lower. They seem more sensitive to nutrient burn in flowering.
Click to expand...

With chelated nutes, you can't (shouldn't) get nute burn...And in flowering, plants use less Nitrogen than in veg, and in nutes, there is a lot of N, except if you have a special bloom nute. Your explanation makes sense...
pH 5.3 is not that low...
 
S

Substitute

Member
John LOQUE said:
With chelated nutes, you can't (shouldn't) get nute burn...And in flowering, plants use less Nitrogen than in veg, and in nutes, there is a lot of N, except if you have a special bloom nute. Your explanation makes sense...
pH 5.3 is not that low...
Click to expand...


The pH oscillates with the water level...so I up'd it to around 6.3 so it would move around in that range. I got a little nute burn here....the very tips curling and rusting. It's pretty minor. That's why I dropped the total ppm in the system to 475. I want to give them the least nutrients they need to be healthy. And things are just touchier with 'roots in' hydro.
 
S

Substitute

Member
Just tested a sun dried bud that got broken off by accident. Other than having a bit of a pre-flush flavour....it's really potent. Early harvest smoke...lots of trichomes.

I always preferred MH weed. Especially using the lamp in such close proximities, but ok distances. The UV damage factor on the lamp is .70. That's far higher than CMH 315's, etc...or HPS lamps that are weak in the low blue/violet range (UVB range).
 
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J

John LOQUE

Member
So young bud potent? I never tried 1000 w bulb, max was 600 w but i agree with you, MH is 5000K, as the sun. HPS is yellow, i prefer white lights. I use (white) led's now.
But about UV's, it's another and old debate.
 
S

Substitute

Member
John LOQUE said:
So young bud potent? I never tried 1000 w bulb, max was 600 w but i agree with you, MH is 5000K, as the sun. HPS is yellow, i prefer white lights. I use (white) led's now.
But about UV's, it's another and old debate.
Click to expand...


Yep...sun dried...got rid of the green flavour, smoked pretty good. The MH I'm using is only 3500k...a lot more red in it.

With UV, I like to fry my plant in as much radiation as I can. :headbange
 
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S

Substitute

Member
Shot of system in action during flowering. Plants are grown to and trained at about 5ft. The 1000w MH has decent penetration into the canopy.
20200803-103519.jpg


Keeping the plants happy throughout flowering is the most important thing now. Mine definitely got more sensitive to nutes during flowering. Check out the rad blue streak comin off the MH!
20200803-103902.jpg
 
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