Huge experiment using 50 plants, coco mix, blumats, 5400W, Heath Robinson strains

[ekomsi]

They are in the 2012 hydrofarm book they are 28L bags of Coco Croutons OMRI Listed. There is a pic of the croutons with all te bags of medium

 

[ClosetAdvocate]

Looks good, I'm subbing this grow.

 

[DHF]

A big part of the "experiment" is the difference between 3 brands of coco coir fibers. I used all bagged coco,

16 dollars per 50L of Botinicare Ready Grow coco

22 dollars per 50L of Canna Coco

32 dollars per 50L of Gold Label Special Mix coco

All three were mixed at the same ratio per DHF's Rules

1/3 coco fibers, 1/3 coco croutons(these things are awesome,I can see many applications with this stuff), 1/3 chunky perlite.

DHF it seems like with this mix I will have to water more frequently then straight coco? It really feels and looks like a great medium, I expect hydro growth rates simillar to "my" ebb n grow growth rates!

That blue lab meter is reading 110ppm the ppm on .5ec scale, and 5.9 ph, and 73degrees Fereinheit. This is what my water was before I watered the plants (I phed it obvously to 5.9), after I watered run off was 300ppm and I dont remember the ph of the top my head but I was happy with it, around 6.0

Did a lotta trial and error on my perfect mix Bro , but I was DTW , and.....

It was paramount that major O2 stay in the rootzones cuz I only fed once a day in # 5 smartpots till end of stretch , and then twice a day till end of cycle once swellage was in fiull force and they were drinkin/eatin their ass off till end of cycle......so.....that said...with blumats......

Yas gotta dial down the cones to a "cling" with all but no runoff "regardless" of the aerated mix to allow rootzone breathing/transpiring while causing rootmass explosion from the flip till end of stretch where it counts for as much rootmass as possible to suck juice for swellage once full bloom is in force......

Good luck and holler if I can help.....DHF...........

 

[ekomsi]

They were hardened off under a 600W for 24hrs but now they are under 2400W.

Check out there new home for the rest of their lives

 

[Critter]

Looking good ekomsi Ill get some more pics up of the purple wreck. She has really performed so far and her clones rooted fast and vigorous.

There is some great info ^ above...a true gem of knowledge at just the right time (just starting a dtw auto cycle 2 weeks into flower) and now I know 2 times a day for max performance.Thanks DHF.

Lovely new home you got for your girls ekomsi

 

[Mister_D]

Critter keep in mind how often you water in a DTW setup is dependent upon pot size, plant size, and media used.

 

[d3cryption]

looking goo... gonna love the coco......

 

[ekomsi]

Im watering the clones every other day for only 8 seconds with a wand/pump I get around 10% to 30% runoff,

Im using 3g per gallon of veg+bloom powder and 1ml per gallon of drip clean, a small amount of ph down gives me a feed solution of 1.1EC and 5.8ph

I think I need to get some cal/mag before next feeding it looks like some phenos need it, i didnt charge the coco or anything.

I switched out 2 of the hps with 2 digilux MH bulbs.

I also up potted my Black Rose and Black Rhino mothers from seed into 5gal pots they were originally in 1gal pots of FFOF some were put into ffof and some coco because its what I had.

These nice moms have been thrown into the 600w closet for flowering. Day 1 for them! Were gonna have out first purps in about 8-10 weeks.

I plan on vegging the clones a few more weeks atleast.

 

[DHF]

Critter keep in mind how often you water in a DTW setup is dependent upon pot size, plant size, and media used.

Excellent point my buddy......and...

I was a whore about not usin anymore juice than what I needed to since there was no "dripclean" back then.....but..

I ran bout a gallon a day thru each #5 sp`s . and couple gals in late bloomage , and OMFG I look back on the waste without dripclean....... anyways.....

Pot size is definitely contingent on watering cycles as Mr D said.......

Peace....DHF............

 

[pushlimits]

Excellent work as always Ekomsi. Looking forward to seeing Purps swell up that room.

DHF, I was curious how you do one feeding in begining of flower then two feedings late in flower with blumats? I was under the impression that blumats dripped only when the cones dried out? Are you speaking of different grows?

 

[DHF]

Was DTW back then with 15-20% runoff before dripclean was available....

Ordered Blumat reg cones and maxi`s to upgrade and then hadta shut down.....

Peace......DHF.........

 

[Treetroit City]

Drip Clean... I use it,and like it.

Feed three times a day for a minute and never have runoff..

When I check the runoff (that I purposely create) It's reading a little higher than the feed but not much.

Example. Feed is 1.00
Waste is 1.13

Everybody happy!

 

[ekomsi]

Hey everyone, what a great weekend it was, had a blast camping with 30 friends way too much smoking and drinking but gotta let loose once in awhile right haha......

Anyways got home and everything looked ok the mother plants that have been in flower for less then the week were nice and green very lush, cant wait for my first tast of the Black ROSE AND BLACK RHINO.

The clones in smaller pots we will call them the expirments looked a little off, Im blaming the nutrients and not having the proper doasge dialed yet. some have rust spots some look a little yellowish green, I feed agian today 2g/gallon vegbloom powder, 3ml/gallon calmag, very small amount of ph down to get a reading of .9EC and 6.0pH,

The last 3 feedings were 5g/gallon vegbloom powder, 1ml/gallon drip clean small amount of ph down for a reading of 1.2EC and 5.8[H.

I will continue to use drip clean next time I water I hope for a nice recovery of leaf color, the plants are still puching new leaf sets very well. Im still happy bc I had transplant shock for 2 weeks the last few times I transplanted into the hydroton in my ebb n grow buckets.

I had virtually no transplant shock putting plants into coco mix in small containers. I have super happy looking roots poking out all the holes in the bottom of the containers now I need top growth to be lush........

Still watering plants everyother day with a small amount of run off..... I have added nutrients everytime....

 

[Coco Sagan]

hey brotha, absolutely love your setup.

i am intrigued by your 55gallon res->25 gallon w/overflow idea

can you elaborate on it a little and possibly post a pic? I am trying to setup blumats for 96 plants in a medical grow and want to dedicate 3-4 reses to the entire operation. We run coco in 7gallon smart pots so i'll be using the maxis, but i just want to be able to figure out a way to have a readily available nutrient solution for these without lifting THAT much water, and your idea seems to be the freakin' ticket!

So like I said, any extra info would put me in a great spot. beautiful grow!

 

[ekomsi]

Hey bro, thanks I hope it all pays off cost some money to switch systems, today I built a platform for the 25gal rez, its located directly above the 55 gal Rez still have enough room to lift the 55 gall rez lid and what not... On top of the platform my 25 gallon rez will sit. I would show you a pic but forgot the camera.

I also transplanted into 3gal containers.

 

[ekomsi]

ok i deff have some problems with the plants diet here is some pictures they have been in there bigger containers for 30hrs not sure whats going on but I would assume I need either calmag or epsom salts any ideas?

There is yellowing and rust spots minor and major. Not on all plants but most show rust spots. I did not wash or charge the coco...... it could be that or lack of certian nutrients. The feed going in was 5.8-6.0pH and 1.4EC the plants are 12 to 16inches in height

 

[Mister_D]

Cal-mag def for sure. 5ml per gal. will make em'

 

[ekomsi]

the only problem is i watered them yesterday when I trasplanted into 3gallon pots and I dont wanna drowned the roots they need a break from being watered for a couple days.

 

[rives]

Have you had a water analysis done? My tap water is almost like RO - there is virtually no Ca or Mg in it, and I was invariably fighting deficiencies in both and when I added enough CalMag, it provided too much N. I'm on my first run with V+B RO formula, and for the first time I've gone the whole run with no issues. I didn't see anywhere that you mentioned whether or not you were using the RO compounding, but it has a very high level of calcium (3x the Mg level), which is good across the board and critical for coco.

 

[Mister_D]

Water them again with ~20% waste so you can be sure the cation is being filled, then let them dry out as normal before watering again. This will halt your def without slowing down growth too much.