Grow Lab: The quest for Infinite Resin

[justiceman]

Day 7 Flower

Day 7 Flower

Hey everyone! So it's day 7 of flower and as everyone knows this is just one of those weeks where floral hormones are steadily on the rise of concentrating. I can see a little bit more hairs starting to come out but those teeny bud sites don't usually start coming until week 2-3. Can't wait to see what they look like! Here is what I have been feeding them since last update

Feeding(4/8/10) (3gal)
NOTE:The numbers might seem weird but if you do the math the nutrients are still in the same intended ratio.
150ppm cal mag
1.416ml grow (4.25ml)
2.833ml bloom(8.5ml)
1.416ml amino aide (4.25ml)
2.833ml bloom (8.5ml)
2.833ml infinity (8.5ml)
2.833ml big swell (8.5ml)
23.33ml Humega (70ml)
PPM=500
PH: 5.92
Temp: 20 Celsius

Feeding(4/11/10)
150ppm cal mag
10ml Liquid Karma
9ml Cannazym
12.5ml Humega
Oregonism XL
PPM=350(450 original but diluted with R/O)
PH: 5.92
Temp: 20 Celsius

Now I have a few upgrades I am thinking about at the moment to make my grow more on the efficient side in terms of cooling at least.

List:
*Sun Shield(insulated reflector cover that is reflective on the outside and keeps heat from radiating out of the reflector)
*Noise reduction clamps(neoprene lined clamps you use to fasten your inline fan, filter, etc. in order to reduce noise and vibrations)
*Bug screen(carbon insert for intake fan that prevents against bugs, mold, etc.)
*damper(duct piece that seals the when airflow stops, or electric ones are triggered by whether they receive power or not)
*Insulated ducting(keeps heat from leaking radiating out of the ducts)

The reason I want the damper is because I want to pull in cold air from outside during the night but I don't want to pull in hot hair during the day. If i merely set the intake fan on a timer the duct will still be open when it is off and hot air from outside will still be sucked in from the pressure of the exhaust fan. The other problem is If i do have a damper with just one intake airflow will literally stop when the damper closes and my tent will self implode lol.

My remedy will be to have one intake fan on each side of the tent. The one connected to the outside air will only turn on during night and then the damper will shut during the day. When the damper shuts the other intake fan connected to inside air will turn on and takes the previous fan's place until night comes again. So basically they will switch off at their respective times.

Veg Station update:
So i know I have been talking about building a veg station. Slowly but surely everything is coming together. I have my shelving as you already know. I recently received my 4' 4 lamp C.A.P. Max Lume T5, and my PC fan ventilation set up is en route. I have also purchased panda plastic for the walls. I will end up purchasing a couple cheap T8 fixtures for the cuttings, and seed levels as they don't need as much light as the taller mom's I plan on keeping under the T5 fixture.

Pictures:
Here are two pictures. One of them is right after the lights turned off this mourning and the second is from just about 20 minutes ago. Hope you like em!

 

[fatboycantpost]

much grass justiceman! thanks to stumbling on this thread i've just ordered 20, 2 gall smart pots and a shelf unit. i have my 440 cfm can fan and 400 cfm phresh filter on a very shaky set up. i saw the shelf and a light went off. i'll put the fan and filter on the shelf and secure to a wall. now i can stop worrying about the damed thing tipping over or breaking the poles holding them up. the smart pots are well regarded in the growing community and its perfect timing for me to experiment. if these pots are what they claim to be, yee haa. i'm so sick of no roots in the middle of my soil.

props!

your babes are looking lovely! i use a grow lab 145 for flower. love the tents!

"So you like FIM, and topping? I haven't actually tried those teks out yet. I have been to scared to chop part of my plant off. Do those techniques really provide greater yield lets say in comparison to LST?"

i've done it all and have come to the conclusion that tying them down and then tying them down some more and then... is the best method. FIM has worked for me off and on but again, tying them down works great. why cut them?

 

[justiceman]

much grass justiceman! thanks to stumbling on this thread i've just ordered 20, 2 gall smart pots and a shelf unit. i have my 440 cfm can fan and 400 cfm phresh filter on a very shaky set up. i saw the shelf and a light went off. i'll put the fan and filter on the shelf and secure to a wall. now i can stop worrying about the damed thing tipping over or breaking the poles holding them up. the smart pots are well regarded in the growing community and its perfect timing for me to experiment. if these pots are what they claim to be, yee haa. i'm so sick of no roots in the middle of my soil.

props!

your babes are looking lovely! i use a grow lab 145 for flower. love the tents!

"So you like FIM, and topping? I haven't actually tried those teks out yet. I have been to scared to chop part of my plant off. Do those techniques really provide greater yield lets say in comparison to LST?"

i've done it all and have come to the conclusion that tying them down and then tying them down some more and then... is the best method. FIM has worked for me off and on but again, tying them down works great. why cut them?

Hey thanks fatboy! The growlab 145 is nice and spacious(4'9"x4'9"x 6' 7" I think) I would have loved to get that tent. Shit I would have loved to get a 4 x 8, but unfortunately my current area only allows for this 4x4. Oh well I am still very happy with the yield that 4x4 can produce if worked correctly.

Seems like you and me are on the same page with LST. Interesting to note that you have done all the other techniques but still like LST the best. Just like you I think to myself "why cut them when I can just bend them over?" That way I get more side branching without having to deal with slowed growth, and possible sites for disease, but alas I haven't even topped yet so I still have to try that out in the future and see for myself.

 

[justiceman]

Day 14 Flower

Day 14 Flower

Hey everyone so it's finally week 2 of flowering , and I finally have some little buds starting to come in not to mention it's 420. Okay so its about an hour after 420 midnight, but good enough right? I can't wait to see what my Hindu's turn into! My canopy is starting to become more uneven after I untied them, but it is still pretty consistent except for one corner.

I recently acquired my wire, electrical tape, fans, and my ac/dc power supply. I am in the process of slowly setting up the veg station as stated before. Hopefully soon everything will be up and running. When it is I will take some pictures for you guys and show you whats up. I am really excited as I was able to get four 120mm PC fans for the veg station for only $15. Cooler master 4 in 1 pack. Such a steel:jam: I will be hooking them up to my 12v ac to dc power supply witch is rated up to 5 amps so it can easily power 5 .15amp PC fans. Hell I might even wire a total of 8 PC fans to the power supply. It can take it. My plan is to have two at the bottom and two at the top for exhaust. Then I will have two on each side of the t5 mother light, and two on each side of my t8 seedling and clone section.

Interestingly enough I have one plant off in the corner that seems to not be doing as well as the rest of the lot. I have noticed that she is a lot greener then the rest of the Hindu's and has been exhibiting a slight downward leaf curl for some time. I am assuming that is early signs of N toxicity, as if she is right on the borderline of having to much N. I question how that happened when I have treated all of the the plants with the exact same nutrients doses each time. If anything all the others could do with a little extra N where as this one has too much. It might be the fact she is in the corner but then I would assume that the other 3 corner plants would exhibit similar characteristics. I question if she is a different cut labeled as Hindu Skunk, or if she came from a different mom that held different pheno witch in turn has different nutrient needs in comparison to the rest of the Hindu's. Either way as a result from the N toxicity she also seems to be stunted compared to the other Hindu's. Got any ideas as to what happened?

Here is what I have been feeding them as of late. I plan to up the doses a bit, but I am hesitating because even though I have been backing off on the cal mag the new leaf growth is slightly twisted so I am thinking they still have all the food they need for the most part.

Feeding(4/14/10)
150ppm cal mag
1.25ml grow
2.5ml bloom
1.25ml amino aide
2.5ml infinity
2.5ml big swell
9ml cannazym
15ml humega
PPM=450
PH: 5.92
Temp:20 Celsius


Feeding(4/17/10)
150ppm cal mag
2.5ml grow
5ml bloom
2.5ml amino aide
5ml infinity
5ml big swell
9ml cannazym
15ml humega
PPM= 750
PH: 5.92
Temp:20 Celsius

Feeding(4/20/10)
8ml cal mag
2.5ml grow(maybe 1ml extra for the whole brew)
5ml bloom
2.5ml amino aide(maybe 1ml extra for the whole brew)
5ml infiniyt
5ml big swell
9ml cannazym
15ml humega
PPM=850
PH: 5.92
Temp: Celsius

Got some pictures for ya(notice the stunted Hindu I discussed above in the bottom right corner of the first two shots). Hope you guys like the softcore nug shots. Any comments, criticism, or love is more then welcome!
Canopy shots

Here is a closer picture of the corner Hindu in question

Beginning nug shots

 

[fatboycantpost]

they're looking lovely. nice and bushy and tight.

i used to use tons of products on my grows but i stopped growing for about a year and am now just doing dutch masters gold and ANs big bud. i'll slowly build up to more stuff over the next grow. it used to take 20 mins just to put all the products into the water. i don't miss making 8 galls of pot food every few days.

i've been out of reefer so the wait from beginning to flower to ready to smoke is killing me. i hope you have some smoke so you don't start "testing" the budlets.

 

[justiceman]

Right on fatboy. Ya I understand what you mean about the crap load of different products. I am usually a man that likes a solid base nutrient with the least amount of parts, but I was gifted this nutrient line so I have to try out the whole thing ya know? It's still semi basic in terms of how it's split up. The Grow, Amino aide, and Grow-n are all nitrogen/vegitation based nutrients(The grow-n is for when you need a quick N fix as it is very strong). The Bloom, Bigswell, and Peak are the PK/flower/root based nutrients. The Infinity is a catalyst/biology booster type geared for all around use. So essentially certain things could be rooted out to make the line more simple, but oh well it's still pretty easy to work with, unlike some of AN's products where you need 50,000 different nute bottles to complete the line haha.

Oh I assure you fatboy I have some nugs saved from the last round I had(but didn't post up) and they will surely hold me over till this harvest. Here are some pics of the my last quest.(Green Crack up first, and Granddaddy up second)

 

[fatboycantpost]

man those are beeeutiful! such nice fat colas. my sensi stars are thick but i didn't tie them down so they are just one semi big cola but only about 15 inches tall. once i cut this batch, i've got 25 clones, and 40 seedlings waiting for the tent. i have apollo 13/cinderella 88 crosses, matanuska tundra and one of my all time favorites, stonehedge in the rotation.

I'm going to pick up some of the grow-n. it sounds like what i need for those low N days.
nice!

i'm off to buy some ball jars today. i threw out my old ones when i went on a break.

i'll have to look into the genetics you're growing, they sure look nice.

i can't find a product called grow-n. who makes it?

 

[justiceman]

Right on man! Ya sometimes you gotta switch out the jars as the seals become crappy, or you could just by new lids and keep the old jars(clean em or something). Your genetics sound mighty fine! I am sure those genes put out some good nug for sure. Ya I am growing Hindu skunk right now. It is pretty uniform so I like it. Can't judge yet but the nugs are starting to come in. Hopefully she puts out some great stuff.

As for the Grow-n it is made by "aurora innovations" they make two nutrient lines. Roots Organics, and Soul Synthetics. The Grow-n(8-0-0) is from the Soul Synthetics line. There exist other comparable N boosters though such as Organicare's Nitrex(botanicare), Natures Nectar Nitrogen(5-0-0), or even Amino aide(5-0-0) from Soul is another Nitrogen supplement and the nice one about amino aide is it is kelp based instead of mineral based.

Got some night shots up for ya!

 

[justiceman]

Veg Station update

So i finally started constructing the veg station the other day. The skeleton is 48"Lx18"W54"H. The walls are black and white panda film(black on the outside white on the inside). It has two sections. The top section will be a clone + seedling section and It has two 4' t8 fixtures(4 lamps total 128w). The bottom section will be for mothers and it has one 4' t5 fixture(4 lamps total 216w)

Let me know what you think!

 

[cman2011UT]

great looking veg space...very ideal

 

[justiceman]

great looking veg space...very ideal

Hey thanks that comment is much appreciated. I tried really hard to set myself up with a good veg spot and I have put a lot of hard work and thought into how to construct that station correctly.

Day 21 Flower

Hey guys so it's week 3 of flower! Finally this is the week where the flowers start bulking up a bit. So far the resin production is decent. However I beleive I saw more resin on the Green Crack, and Grandaddy at 3 weeks, but I may be mistaken. Hindu Skunk should produce a nice amount of trichs so let's hope I can treat them in the correct manner to do so

Not to much happeneing that is different from the last update though except the flowers have increased in size. I did up the feeding a bit, and I have noticed that they are starting to suck up more water now. Before I watered about once every 3 days. Now I water once every 2 days. Here is what I have been feeding them sine the last update.

Watering(4/24/10) 2/3 dose of the average
9ml cal mag(for 3 gallons)
1.6ml grow
3.3ml bloom
1.6ml amino aide
3.3ml infinity
3.3ml big swell
9ml cannazym
15ml humega
PPM=650
PH 5.90
Temp 18 Celsius

Feeding(4/26/10)
8ml cal mag(3gal)
3.25ml grow
3.25ml amino aide
7.5ml bloom
7.5ml infinity
7.5ml big swell
PPM=990
PH 5.90
Temp 19 Celsius

Veg tent update:
Alright so I finally wired everything up and it is pretty much ready to go. I need only install the two final intake fans, and the front wall/door. I forgot to swing by the hydro store today, but tomorrow I will go and pick up a couple of those handy tarp zippers for the wall/door. I am still unsure of when I will begin the veg stations debut. It might be more towards the beginning of the next quest since I want to take a few days off after this quest to go and hang with my brother. I'll get some pictures up as soon as it's finished.


So here goes. Pictures for all! I tried to snap a few pics right before lights on but my photography skills were unsuccessful so I will have to get some lights out pictures tomorrow mourning or night. So here are some lights on pics for now plus one lights off nug shot that turned out decent.

 

[justiceman]

I have some night shots up for you guys. I like to take them so I can get in the true color of the plants and beleive it or not it helps to identify deficiencies that you might not see under the HPS or white balance.

(for instance in this first pic I can already tell that I am starting to have a light N def so I need to up it a little bit)

 

[+Vibes]

clean work and nice plants, you are a very good analytical thinker...
will be here till the end, if it turn out close to the gc or grandaddy, be proud!

++

 

[justiceman]

clean work and nice plants, you are a very good analytical thinker...
will be here till the end, if it turn out close to the gc or grandaddy, be proud!

++

Hey man I really appreciate that comment thanks. ya be sure to stick around vibes and I hope to not disappoint ya!


Day 28 Flower
Wow so it's day 28(week 4) of flower already! Man when I'm growing it really seems like time passes a lot faster. I remember back when I was underfeeding them in the first couple weeks of life, and I sure am glad they were able to recover from that. So far this is what I have been feeding them as of late.

Feeding(4/28/10)2/3 dose of the average except amino aide, and the addtion of grow-n
note:grow-n was added beause N defeciencies are appearing.
8ml cal mag(3gal)
1.6ml grow
1ml grow-n
3.3ml bloom
2.5ml amino aide
3.3ml infinity
3.3ml big swell
9ml cannazym
15ml humega
PPM=740
PH 5.90
Temp 20 Celsius

Feeding(4/30/10) 1/3 dose except grow-n
note: all doses will now be per 3 gal(makes it easier to understand without the decimals)
7.5ml cal mag
2.5ml grow
2.5ml amino aide
3ml grow-n
5ml bloom
5ml infinity
5ml big swell
27ml cannazym
45ml humega
PPM= 550
PH 5.91
Temp 20 Celsius

Feeding(5/2/10)
note: all doses will now be per 3 gal
7.5ml cal mag
7.5ml grow
7.5ml amino aide
2ml grow-n
15ml bloom
15ml infinity
15ml big swell
27ml cannazym
25ml humega
PPM= 920
PH 5.89
Temp 20 Celsius

So as for PPM's the max I have hit with them so far is about 950. I am assuming that a build up of PPM's probably exist within the medium so it is probably slightly higher then 950 in the medium. I would've gone a little higher earlier, but I started to see very slightly burned tips on the problem child(the hindu that received too much N in the past) so I will slowly increase the dosage by maybe 100ppm next feeding. I am actually glad that one plant received too much N because I can look to her and see possible nute burn before all the others so she acts as a gauge of events if you will.

Veg station update: So I am done installing everything except for cutting the actual vent holes. I made my vegetation door with two tarp zippers. As to make sure the bottom flap of the door seals I used magnetic tape on the frame and the inside of the door flap that way it seals to the frame. I constructed the bottom flooring in a way that it does not touch the ground so I can move it around on wheels if I need to. I will most likely finish it up before next weeks update so I should have some pictures for you(finally right?)

So here are some Flower pictures for you guys. I took a few more then usual so bear with me. First will be day shots, then night shots.

Day shots.

Night shots.

I know the shot is a little dark but I like the way it looks

(the extra N girl still puttin on some good frost but her buds are smaller then the rest)

 

[IamNug]

justiceman, holy crap, that was fun to look at. Thanks for sharing!!

 

[justiceman]

justiceman, holy crap, that was fun to look at. Thanks for sharing!!

Thanks for stopping by man i appreciate the kind words! Stick around If ya want to see some more shots


Day 35 Flower

So It is week 5 of flower now and things seem to be going quite well The resin production is looking better now then last week too and the buds are fattening up and filling out a little bit more, but these last few weeks is when they really swell up hehe. Can't wait to see what Hindu Skunk looks like finished and then it will be time for.

Here is what I have been feeding them as of late.

Feeding(5/4/10)
note: all doses will now be per 3 gal
8ml cal mag
35ml bloom
5ml amino aide
3ml grow-n
25ml infinity
37.5ml big swell
27ml cannazym
45ml humega
PPM=1050
PH 5.88
Temp 21 Celsius

Feeding(5/6/10)
note: all doses will now be per 3 gal
COMPOST TEA(well a hybrid of sorts)
Brew Time:
2 heaping tsp of molasses
10ml Big buddah grow
10ml Big budda bloom
10ml ancient amber
10ml hpk
10ml bigswell
10ml cannazym
5ml amino aide
5ml extreme serene
5ml hp
1ml grow-n
PPM=950
PH 5.89
Temp 20 Celsius

Feeding(5/8/10)
note:all doses will now be per 3 gal
8ml cal mag
35ml bloom
5ml amino aide
3ml grow-n
20ml ininity
30ml big swell
27ml cannazym
45ml humega
PPM=1000
PH 5.9
Temp: 19 Celsius

Feeding (5/11/10)
note: all doses will now be per 3 gal
8ml cal mag
30ml bloom
10ml amino aide
30ml infinity
30ml bigswell
27ml cannazym
45ml humega
PPM=1000
PH 5.89
Temp: 19 Celsius

I upgraded my hood by purchasing a heat shield. It helps with containing heat inside of the hood instead of it radiating off of the hood back into the room so in essence it's main purpose is to help extract hot air from your hood with higher efficiency witch in turn helps your exhaust system extract hot air more efficiently.

An unfortunate accident happened around day 30. Earlier on in the journal I had been talking about getting another intake fan on the other side of the tent so that the inline fan wouldn't suck my tent in with too much negative pressure. I had been to lax in fixing the problem, and as a result one of my clip on fans snapped off of the pole and fell on two branches. Fortunately they didn't' snap clean off. I came home and saw the damage then I immediately tied them together with other branches for support(used beeline).I tied them in a manner so that the wounds could close and heal. I also placed a piece of ducting in the spare vent on the other side of the tent for passive intake coupled with the original active intake of the booster fan(two intakes now). As a result the airflow is better and I am not experiencing any ridiculous amount of negative pressure anymore. Fortunately it has been 5 days later and the two branches are doing just fine with no apparent signs of stress yet. Here are some pictures of the wounds and ties. I snapped one pic with one of the smaller branches down before i tied it too

But here is one of the bigger branches 5 days later still rockin!

Alright guys so now it is time to show you the day shots!

And now for the night shots.

And one last canopy shot

Oh ya and I also wanted to put up some of my last quest's nugs.
Here is the Green Crack

Here is the Granddaddy purple

Just to remind everyone. All comments, constructive criticism, or love is always appreciated!

 

[WizeWizo]

Lookin mighty frosty!

 

[justiceman]

Lookin mighty frosty!

Thanks wizewizo! My aim is to make everything as frosted as possible. The quest for resin never stops. It only moves forward.

 

[dachieftan]

Since you did Green crack & GDP in the last run, would you find it difficult to compare & contrast the benefits/consequences of SPMH v.s. HPS considering you are now using Hindu skunk....? **TAGGED**
keep us updated with those quality pics.

 

[justiceman]

Since you did Green crack & GDP in the last run, would you find it difficult to compare & contrast the benefits/consequences of SPMH v.s. HPS considering you are now using Hindu skunk....? **TAGGED**
keep us updated with those quality pics.

You are correct that the comparison is very difficult considering the difference in strain. I can't even compare this time anyway because I am using a 600w HPS for the flower. I used a 6.4k PSMH for veg though, and I was planning on using a 3k PSMMH for flower but I was unable to get the lamp as it was out of stock. I was really disappointed when I found out I couldn't get it at the time. I will definitely work on purchasing it for the next quest though. Hopefully it's in stock. I'll pick it up far before I need it if it is.

Day 42

So we are now 6 weeks into flower. I really like this week. I notice that the buds start to swell up pretty fat during this time. By week 7 they should be pretty swollen(well hopefully). I figure that now is the time I should start introducing PEAK to my nutrient regiment(next feeding). It is a PK booster and should hopefully help me out with some extra weight and resin production

As for those branches that were broken earlier on in the quest. They are doing just fine and have shown no apparent damage other then the actual wound itself.

You might notice that some of the leaf fringes are still standing up and other leaves are even exhibiting signs of apparent heat stress. My temp gauge tells me 75-78 for the past few weeks and my hood is about 19" so I should be in the clear. However I have and am still questing the accuracy of the temp gauge. For why would those signs appear if it wasn't heat stress? My only other idea is high mineral concentration in the medium but not high enough to literally burn the plants?

Well here is what I have been feeding them as of late. I have been consistently giving them about 1000ppm(2.0EC) every watering since i beleive about week 4. They are not burned so they seem to be taking it well. I might even bump it up by 100-200ppm(0.2-0.4EC), but aren't you suppose to lighten up on the levels when you use a PK product or at least keep it to no higher then 2.0EC?

Feeding (5/13/10)
note: all doses will now be per 3 gal
8ml cal mag
37.5ml bloom
35ml infinity
37.5ml bigswell
27ml cannazym
60ml humega
PPM=1050
PH 5.88
Temp: 19 Celsius

Feeding(5/16/10)
note: all doses will now be per 3 gal
8ml cal mag
37.5ml bloom
35ml infinity
37.5ml bigswell
27ml cannazym
60ml humega
PPM=1050
PH 5.88
Temp: 20 Celsius

Alright so I have some pictures for ya! Let me know what you guys think alright?!

Night shots!

Nug shots!

Runt Nug shot. This is one of the top nugs of the plant that IMHO has over nitrification. As a result her buds are smaller, and as you can see she still likes to create more leaf on the bud compared to the other Hindu's. However She is still putting off a nice amount of resin and for some reason has a slightly more pungent smell then the rest.