The Flower Farm - my garden chronicles

What's up friends?

Some of you may know me, some of you may not. I used to stay pretty active here on the mag, however mostly hanging out in the vertical forums so there is a good chance that many have never seen my garden journals.

I wanted to create a new thread as a place to post my thoughts and garden updates when I feel the urge. I no longer have the time to hang here as much as I used to, but still love the forums and everything they've done for me over the years. Rather then create a thread detailing a specific garden from start to finish as I have in the past; I'd like to just use this space, no strings attached, to share when I can and feel like it.

So.. I'm no expert, I have my handfuls of problems, but never the less here is a peak into my current world. Any questions, thoughts, comments, criticisms lay em on me.

My current garden consists of 12 lights, split into 2 spaces. A 4k room (vented space) and a 8k room (sealed, split AC, co2). Might toss 3 DEs up as well to help heat the night cycle of the 4k room during these upcoming winter months.

I've grown mostly vertical in my decade or so of growing, but have switched back to horizontal as I'm no longer living with this garden and my goals are to make it as simple and hands free as possible. I've had loads of success with blumat auto watering system, but have looked to move away from it as reloading these garden spaces/and redialing & setting up the blumats has proven lengthy and cumbersome for me, all while at a critical point in needing to harvest, trim, etc, etc...

So...I'm looking to chop, de-fan, hang as quickly as possible so that I can then move new plants into the space, stab a drip stake in the pot, and let 2 Minidos dosers take over so that I can finish the trim and pursue other much needed chores.

I just set this up tonight. I really didn't want to get solenoids, sprinkler timers, etc, etc to manage trays independently so I whipped this monstrosity together. I haven't tried the actual dosers yet, but did test out the design (the tubing runs used from my blumat setup) and managed to feed my 8k room without blowing everything to pieces. Going to finish the other room tomorrow. Really just looking to water around 84 plants DTW a few times a day.

1hp Hayward super pump that I had from an old inground pool.
2 minidos12 dosers to inject Jacks + CalNit on the way to plants.
100 Gal rez to be replenished via float with RO between watering cycles.
3/4" trunk lines to the garden space and 1/4" basket stake at each plant site w/ 2 gal pot.

Been hand watering everything once a day while I put this stuff together. It's been tough as I'm about 35-40 min away from this space, and then most of my time is spent watering while I'm there instead of getting much needed shit done. I'm hoping these dosers alleviate me from that problem so that I can focus on the plants themselves.

8k room. I've not ran co2 yet. Hopefully it doesn't hurt me too much. I keep forgetting to refill the propane tank. Half is Cherry Kola (left), half is Lemon G (right). Just under 4 weeks bloom.

Lemon G has become a bit of my nemesis. Huge yielder giving you massive buds when done right, but she's a stretcher (being sativa dominant) and a bit to handle. Doesn't like the hot temps at all or she'll turn into a foxtailed larf monster. A strong lemon aroma and taste to the last drop. I can definitely see why people love the strain.. I'm not a huge fan of growing her however.





I've never grown this Cherry Kola before, but I'm really liking how she looks and smells so far. Actually get hints of cherry coke.. sort of like a flat one that's been sitting out in the sun all day. haha.. looking forward to her big time.

These gardens are not without problems. I started with a heck of a mite infestation, but beat on them pretty hard with mighty wash, spinosad, and a few other products while they were in veg and week 1 of bloom. I have a hudson atomizer so it makes foliar applications a breeze. I haven't seen them since I sprayed some cinnamon smelling product from my local garden store, but I know they could rear their ugly heads at any minute. Fingers crossed.

I've had great luck with Jacks + calnit using it in the traditional 1/.67 ratio. The last few grows I've followed the advice of Mister_D and used 2g of gal of each. It worked flawlessly the last few gardens, but this one showed some issues. Perhaps just underfed at times, perhaps because I wasn't automated and things did go through slight wet/dry cyles. At 1st I thought it was from the pest control, but seemed to persist. When tested..Input at 1.2 EC.. my runoff was the same so I don't think it was overfed/lockout. I bumped to 1.5 and have bounced around there hoping to correct whatever may be the issue.

This pic shows a little




And some more canopy shots. These need frames built pronto and trellised before this turns into a giant nightmare of tumbling lemons. I swear I'm going to stop doing this to myself. Next garden will grow through the trellis instead of me trying to toss it on late... I fucking promise.. myself. Got all the PVC corners/tees only to find that I got 1" pvc lengths instead of the 3/4" needed. Back to home depot I go..





and as best of close up as I could manage. cherry kola. just under 4 weeks flower.

Sweet set up! I got the first bucket. What are your pots sitting on, it looks like cardboard on a tray...

Flip over to the vented 4k space. All adjust a wings.

This garden is Blueberry 9 plants per 4x4 tray - 36 total. Not counting my 2 little girls in the middle in 5.5" KORD pots. I realize the isles hurt my yields, but not too concerned with that at the moment. I'm looking to crop repeatedly and make it as easy on myself as possible. I'll likely be filling the isles with tester strains/head stash as I get full automated.










This garden is slightly affected by my issue (3 edge plants) however I've not tested run-off ect over here.They're pretty damn green so I'm reverted back to using 1.2EC at 1/.67 jacks/Calnit ratio. I've been passing Jacks+Cal Nit through this coco on a daily/every other sometimes basis at anywhere from 1.2 EC to 1.5 EC trying to solve the issue. Automated at 1.2EC as I've always done should clear this up I'm hoping. I'm more inclined to believe it to be a water frequency type of issues rather then an actual problem with my feed (which has worked fine in blumats w/ no run-off, but maintaining a constant moisture level)

HL45,

those are 1/4" thick cocotek mats. I used them to keep the coco bits from clogging up my drains/elbows. They are currently a wreck right now because I've been hand watering, but once automated they'll stay nice & tidy and shopvac'd up. Allows me to roll them up and pitch if they get too gross and trays stay relatively clean.

I need to tilt some of my trays a hair towards the drains as I do have a spot getting kind of nasty because it's staying too wet. They are botanicare low-tide trays raised slightly off the ground to accommodate my 3/4" drain fitting. They are sitting on upside down premium 1 gallon nursery pots.

I love how your straightforward and honest up front. You dont try to be some egotistic jock like a lot of growers. Respect to you my friend. Nobody is perfect, and nobody is a master. The learning never stops and none of us will ever know it all..period.

Great grow man! Those Cherry Kolas are stacking perfect. The yellowing your seeing looks to me like a magnesium or potash deficiency. You might not be supplying enough, but there is always the possibility of it just being locked out. Try feeding about 0.8-1.0Ec of your Jacks, and then add about 0.3-0.5 of the Cal-nit and see what happens over a couple weeks. Even if its only on one or two plants. It worth a shot.

I've been having issues using jacks mixed to spec in peat.

i started a thread about tweaking the blend to resemble CNS17, but only got one response, though i put out a PM to NPKali, so I'm hoping he'll pop in eventually. i haven't switched over yet cause i already had a huge batch of stock solution mixed, i just tweaked the mixing ratios on my dosatrons

Making my own CNS17

TheArchitect said:

so i love the results of cns17 grow by botanicare, i don't like the fact that i can't use it in my dosatron because its a suspension not a solution, and it clogs the filter and abrades the seals and interior of the injector.

so my goal was to create a two part fertilizer with the same profile, 3-1-2-3.6 N-P-K-Ca, as the botanicare.


what i need help with is my math, if someone who has done this before could just double check my math it'd be much appreciated.

here it goes.

botanicare 3-1-2-3.6 (N-P-K-Ca) 9#/gallon

Nitrogen
9*.03=.27#N/gallon

Phosphorus(P2O5)
9*.01=.09#P2O5/gallon

Potassium(K20)
9*.02=.18#K2O/gallon

Calcium
9*.036=.324#Ca/gallon






so using calcium nitrate 15.5-0-0-18 at 1.8#/gallon gives me
1.8#*.155=.279#N/gallon

1.8#*.18=.324#Ca/gallon


using jr peters 5-12-26-0 at .68#/gallon gives me
.68#*.05=.034#N/gallon

.68#*.12=.08#P2O5/gallon

.68#*.26=.177#K2O


so by my math i need to add .68# or 309 grams of 5-12-26-0 to a gallon of water

and 1.8# or 817 grams of 15.5-0-0-18 CaNO3 to another gallon of water to create my two parts, then use them in equal proportions.

Click to expand...

sorry for the huge post

Thanks smurf.

No worries TheArchitect, that's why I wanted to start this thread. Looking to absorb as much info as possible as I play with these dosers. Feel free to post as much as you want.. and that goes for anybody.

The Jacks+Calnit has treated me pretty well for the most part in atami and cyco coco - used straight out of the bag no rinse... I've tried several methods of mixing the jacks/calnit and honestly haven't noticed much of a difference between any of them.

Traditional 1/.67 ratio mixed according to EC.
roughly 1/.67 ratio by dissolving around 130g Jacks + 86g CalNit into 50-55 Gal to net 1.2EC
2g per Gal of each per the advice of Mister_D
3g Jacks + 1g epsom + 1.8g CalNit (per Gal)

All have grown pretty healthy crops and I've been satisfied with the overall quality and yield. This one has had some issues, but I've been hoping it's just related to my watering schedule. Now that I'm getting automated again I'd like to attempt multiple smaller feeds per day to see if that clears it up.


Now that I've got these MiniDos12 dosers I'm looking to mimic the above in my stock solutions and set my dosers to 1% or 100:1. This is new to me so I'm all ears and open to any suggestions. Look forward to seeing how your CNS equivalent works. Keep me posted.

Any progress with your dosers?

I wanna set up something with dosers at the house so my Girl can make some coinage while I'm out working. Plus to heat the house during the winter. Saw a simple dtr sog that I wanna copy by doneit.

Not using the dosers quite yet, but have been employing the 1hp pump (manually plugging it in) to easily water all 84 plants in just a few quite minutes. I've been dumping ~50 Gal to all 12 lights every day, but only once a day at the moment. Not sure if I'm getting anywhere close to equal flow rates across these 2 rooms, but it's getting the job done right now. I'll have to tweak with it more once I get it all rolling.

I've still been visiting the place daily to do this.


I'm waiting on new 3/4" check valve to arrive. The one I have apparently isn't quite what I'm looking for. When my pump kicks off the water flows backwards to the blue "hose thread backflow preventer" picture in the upper left of the below picture. I thought this thing was going to prevent backflow and keep everything full and primed, but it actually stops the water at that blue fitting and releases it out... spilling it out of several holes on the forward part of the fitting. No idea.. they are vent holes so I suppose it's a vacuum break and that is not what I need? I could prob locate to the other side of the drippers, but I'd like to also keep my 1/4" lines (at plant site) full and primed.

This somewhat drains my micron filter and dosers I believe and when I plug the pump in again the system starts up pretty violently and when testing the upward draw of the dosers just doesn't seem right and smooth until things get flowing again. System does settle in around 15-20psi once things are flowing smoothly.

I've got a few actual check valves on the way to hopefully keep everything stable when the pump kicks off. The system should run pretty smoothly, albeit very powerful, I believe if I can keep the micron twist filter and dosers full and void of air.

We shall see.. I'm learning as I go here.






This is a big ass pump wired to 120v as it can do both and I already had it setup for 120v when it was used in a temporary swimming pool situation.. I was planning on plugging it into an ART-Dne, but I believe the pump needs a 20a circuit and the art is only 15a.

So I gotta figure out how to reliably kick this thing on for a few minutes a few times a day. I would sleep better at night if I switch it back to 240v and use some type of relay so I can use the recycling timer. I guess this is why people normally go the route of sprinkler timers and solenoids, etc. I was trying to keep it simple here, but perhaps I'm going about it the wrong way.. Anyone know of a simple 240v power relay with 120v actuation similar to my light controllers?

Instead of a backflow dribbler I think you want a gate valve. Most box stores have them and they are usually brass in various sizes. I used them on my mpb buckets to keep the feed lines primed years ago before the undercurrent was all the rage.
I would line it up with your red support pole in the picture so when gravity pulls the water / solution back down the gate closes..

I don't see why you can't use a relay to power your timer a dpdt (double pull double throw) and just hook up it up, you could use a single throw I suppose.but the dpdt is what you might recognize.... Then if you ever change your set up you have a relay waiting for your livhts.

Hi FF

looking good!

Great looking growroom and plants.

You mentioned how sativa dominant strains create issues with their stretching. Have you considered running MH lamps during the first few weeks of flowering? I've found the added blue light does help keep the stretch from being a major headache. Plantmax makes an awesome 7200k lamp up to 600 watts which I've found to be incredible. If you're running 1k ballasts you may be stuck with the $20 4200k lamps.

Keep up the good work.

-Funk

Here are a few dry shots from a previous garden.

pre-98 Bubba Kush

Deathstar and a blueberry slab









Hope you enjoy. I still haven't worked on my doser setup anymore yet. Currently mixing 100 Gal at a time and just plugging the pump in once a day. Things are starting to plump up and need support on my current run. I've been frantically stringing up my blueberries as they fall.

The Cherry Kolas and Lemon G never got trellised, but I've gave up on that idea this round and have been yo-yoing colas to the ceiling. The cherry kolas are pretty sturdy and have been doing a great job supporting their own weight. They didn't stretch much and are really stout and stacked nicely. Lemons are their usual selves.. I timed them a little better this round and most of the garden is at a safe distance. I'm getting more of rounded top on most as opposed the pointy foxtailish top.

Will try to grab garden shots as soon as I can.

FlowerFarmer said:

Deathstar and a blueberry slab

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Hope you enjoy. I still haven't worked on my doser setup anymore yet. Currently mixing 100 Gal at a time and just plugging the pump in once a day. Things are starting to plump up and need support on my current run. I've been frantically stringing up my blueberries as they fall.

The Cherry Kolas and Lemon G never got trellised, but I've gave up on that idea this round and have been yo-yoing colas to the ceiling. The cherry kolas are pretty sturdy and have been doing a great job supporting their own weight. They didn't stretch much and are really stout and stacked nicely. Lemons are their usual selves.. I timed them a little better this round and most of the garden is at a safe distance. I'm getting more of rounded top on most as opposed the pointy foxtailish top.

Will try to grab garden shots as soon as I can.

Click to expand...

Nice rooms you there FF.Cool of you to let us peek into the gardens.Take it easy.Good luck on the lemons g

Nice pics man!