IGT's 2000w+ Perpetual Hydro Garden

[SacredBreh]

IGT are you putting more f posts into the area to make up for the closer posts?

IGT are you putting more f posts into the area to make up for the closer posts?

I would say expansion is the only way up with your system now IGT. You have to love a dialed in room.

Peace

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Thanks for visiting guys! Its nice to know I have something positive to contribute to my grow thread again. The bad part is that once I have things dialed in, I start looking at ways to improve even more. I guess thats the nature of this hobby. We are never truly satisfied and can always do better lol. Or maybe Im just a perfectionist?

SB, to answer your question, at some point Ill probably end up re-doing the posts entirely to take full advantage of the space. Its pretty well filled up but I have some nooks and crannies I could cram another plant or two into. I might ditch the aero and build one big ass top feed system for the entire room. Ive also been kicking around ditching the posts and doing a bucket system similar to So Quick's. I dont like long veg times (I think a week is even too long lol) and I dont mind bigger plant numbers. I wont follow thru on something like that any time soon though. Just working it out in my head...

 

[ogenko]

alright growtime
i'm glad your thread caught my eye
ive got some nl x bb beans too and i just recently ordered up a couple aeroduct nft gullies
so im kinda excited to see you doin it
looks mighty fine i might add
the aeroducts are supposedly 7" wide so a little more root wiggle room in there
i never tried the fence posts, but did home dopot rain gutters before
worked good for a sea of green
looks good though,, thanks for inspiring with the niiiiice thread =)

edit - you got a nice even canopy this time
this is gonna be good!!!

 

[mode[2]]

IGT, i wish i were you

..trully inspiring

 

[ItsGrowTime]

IGT, i wish i were you

..trully inspiring

It just takes time and dedication. Nothing more. Maybe a few extra dollars sitting around too lol..

 

[SacredBreh]

LMAO.... What fun we have...

LMAO.... What fun we have...

IGT--I remember when you only had that area maybe 1/3 full. Now, packed. Damn if we ever quit improving..... it just might get boring.... I doubt it

Always have to change. I wish I would have kept my fence posts. I don't think the aero part worked well but they were fun to mess with. I just don't like the whole pump thing. The SWC is probably as intense as aero really because the reservoir is so small and needs constant attention. I use 3 GH dual diaphragm air pumps for each of the 12 gal reservoirs. Sort of like aero especially if it drops to 8 gallons. Can see a solid level of mist above the water level. As the ladies build more roots, which I will be showing some porn in my thread, the actual volume available of the reservoir decreases dramatically by the end of flower. (the roots displace the potential space water would take up) So you are really using enough air pumps for 100 gallons in ~6-8 gallons. Daily top offs with dilute nute and pH adjusted water is probably a little more intense than the aero.

Peace

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Pic update time!
Today is day 21 of flower. I did a res change over to full bloom nutes yesterday so its time for the ladies to start packing it on. It's around 900ppm Floranova Bloom and 5.7ph. They are between 25" and 28" tall. A few have already stretched about 10" since the last pic update a week ago! I still have about a week of stretch left so who knows how tall they will get.

Some overall shots. Lots of strong budsites coming in quickly.

A couple individual plant shots. The first one is the same plant from the last pic update.

This is about as good as my crappy camera gets. Maybe one day Ill worry about taking great pics. Right now Im worried about growing great herb

SB, I dont know about you but I doubt Ill ever be "satisfied". I havent even touched CO2 yet lol. Keep checking back for a weekly update. Be safe all.

 

[SacredBreh]

IGT.....CO2 is like nitrous......

IGT.....CO2 is like nitrous......

I used a low budget yeast method but used a CAP 3 to monitor..... was using 25 # sugar a week with levels staying into the 1500 to 2000 ppm range. Fuckin like Crack for the plants. Not only did the flower time shorten but had a 1.5lb production out of 3x5 ft area. KICKS ASS. It is a lot more work that way. ..... dolly just to change the CO2 generator.

Plants in the pre-historic days had access to 5x the amount of Co2 of today. The never lost the ability to use it. It is now 1/5th the concentration but it is the same as giving your plants thyroid hormone and HG hormone at the same time. ..... It is wild. I had a guy who disagreed with me about a 4-6 in growth rate/per day. That is why I added a measure stick to some of my old grows... slinked back to his rock I guess.

Peace

 

[TBug]

High IGT! Lookin great bro! Nice forest you got there!
Peace, bugout

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Day 30 update. Flowering is progressing very well now that I have everything dialed in. They are maturing a little quicker than my past crops actually. I used to be at day 35 or so with the same results. Only issue is that Im getting some light burn because I perch the lights max 12" away. Ill sacrifice a little on the tallest plants to let the smaller ones fill out better. You'll see it in the pics below.

Just before lights on. Sitting pretty at 5.8 and 1050ppm. Room temps 76-80 on, 71-73 off.

Right at lights on.

Individual plant. Around 30" tall.

The stretch is almost done so they'll start packing it on. Can't wait! Be safe all.

 

[Green Force]

=) lookin good bro.

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Day 38 pictorial update. Things are coming along well still. But Ive come to a nasty final conclusion about my NLxBB. I have a virus. The Tobacco Mosaic Virus. I posted about it in the Infirmary last year as a persistent leaf issue and was informed it was likely this virus. After trying everything under the sun to fix it, Im ready to admit that's what it is. It pops up EVERY crop with these genetics. I think I will do one more run with these genes and then switch to some other strain. Ive been happy with the yield potential and have been working toward maximizing it but I can't help but wonder how much it's holding these plants back. Anyway, on to the pics! Day 38, plants between 29" and 36" tall.

You can see a little of the effect on the larger fan leaves. The leaves that get the most light are more affected than leaves farther away. Before anybody makes any suggestions how to "fix it", dont bother. It's not temp, light, or nute burn. It resembles ph spotting early on then progresses to that. Im sure that keeping my lights close doesnt help but thats not the main factor.

Fortunately, it does not overrun the entire crop. It only pops up here and there without much rhyme or reason.

That's the tallest plant of the crop in the middle rear. 36" and only had 4 days of veg.

They are fairly low odor. My odor control is a Vaportronic disk that hangs in the middle of the room. Those disks are great!

Ill have a couple more updates to come since they wont be cut until day 60 or so. Keep checking back. This is when they really start packing it on. Virus or not, they still get damn heavy.

 

[TBug]

High IGT! Great job as always, bro! As you may know, im not one to revert to the "mystical virus" theory. Too much of the..."easy way out" if you ask me. By that I mean...a healthy plant is capable of fighting off ANY desease. But I will conceed that there are genetics that are more resistant than others, it does not discount the possibility that your plants might be lacking some essential ingredient.
I for one will scrap ANYTHING that does not conform to my(personal)_ grow style...thats jus me..lol.
If you want some BDL, send me a safe addy and I'll hook you up! Sorry, no cuts..lol.
But that strain is a producer and it does great in our system/s. Would love to watch you do your thing with them, fo sho!
Peace bro, bugout

PS. I got two Bx2s dying on me as we speak, while the rest thrive....who knows why?...lol!

 

[ItsGrowTime]

High IGT! Great job as always, bro! As you may know, im not one to revert to the "mystical virus" theory. Too much of the..."easy way out" if you ask me. By that I mean...a healthy plant is capable of fighting off ANY desease. But I will conceed that there are genetics that are more resistant than others, it does not discount the possibility that your plants might be lacking some essential ingredient.
I for one will scrap ANYTHING that does not conform to my(personal)_ grow style...thats jus me..lol.
If you want some BDL, send me a safe addy and I'll hook you up! Sorry, no cuts..lol.
But that strain is a producer and it does great in our system/s. Would love to watch you do your thing with them, fo sho!
Peace bro, bugout

PS. I got two Bx2s dying on me as we speak, while the rest thrive....who knows why?...lol!

Hey TBug. For the longest time I really thought the same thing. I was missing something or doing something wrong but seriously, after running the same plants around 8 or 9 grows and purposely changing things to try to alleviate the leaf issue, it never went away. It always kicked in at the same exact time (around day 24, right at the metabolic switch to flower) every grow even though I tried higher ph, lower ph, perfect ph, higher ppm, lower ppm, perfect ppm, higher lights, lower lights, higher temps, lower temps, ad nausem, etc etc etc. It never changed a thing with that leaf issue. The plants were affected in other ways by my changes (some good, some bad) but that leaf issue always showed up right on time, every time. I ignored it b/c the plants were still producing but now that Ive got my room totally dialed in theres no sense in growing infected plants any more. I would DEFINITELY like to take a whack at the BDL. I dont feel like growing any of my current seeds but don't want to order new ones either. Ill drop you a PM shortly.

 

[SacredBreh]

Shit is lookin' DANK up in here......

Shit is lookin' DANK up in here......

Hey, IGT and TBug

Looking good as always.

I would have to echo TBugs thoughts but expand just slightly... any "healthy organism is capable in fighting off a historically "previously encountered" virus that has not mutated. Point is like the Avian Flu... we "humans" do not get it "usually" from birds but occasionally a weakened host will succome to it. As yet, it is not able to infect person to person (on the the pool population of birds to weakened humans) but the reason the world is spending billions and half our medical research efforts world wide is because mutation is inevitable. Thus... Pandemic. Point being .... virus' do not usually infect progeny of an infected host sort of like AIDs mothers to off spring "unless" usual portals of entry occur such as blood to blood transmission during childbirth.

I can only speculate how this would work in the phyto kindom but would make sense that it does and can happen the same. The endo sperm of seed or the clones (most definately would carry the original infection).

Sorry not trying to be a dip-shit but is an area of expertise with my alter ego. So it definitely is possible and probable considering our Craft's extensive use of clones. But, as TBug points out it becomes an easy villian for all our woes. Have watched enough of your evolution and attention to detail and I am sure sound step by step factor elimination of potentials to know that indeed.... IGT has a very sound basis for his differential diagnosis in this case.

Whew.... what a bunch of shit that was.

Seriously... probably right IGT.

They are still some beautiful ladies though. My DJS BB is a different situation (zero heat tolerance and blanching above 65w/sq ft.) and actually quite a few of the other strains due to my limited control of factors. I get bleaching, heat issues and other at the point of my cola leaves. I have had to come to accept it. I sort of think of it like a layered cake. As long as the damage does not effect the most sanctified trichs and their sanctuary the the calyxes, I don't sweat it much. The main larger power house leaves provide enough to keep the sky scrapers rising and a little browning and necrosis of the leaves in highest layers of the canopy only saves me a little snipping in the end... but that is just how I do and is not that optimal last 1-2% our common friend IGT has always been a little obsessed with.

So.... Whats up guys? Obviously those sky scrapers you have there IGT.

Peace

 

[ItsGrowTime]

All of the plants that I spoke of regarding the virus are clones off of one another. I grow out a couple moms, take 50 or so clones, kill the moms then start 2 new moms out of those clones under CFLs. The TMV is passed down genetically in clones, hence why I continue to get this same issue over and over. There's no natural defense for a genetically altered plant!

They are packing it on so Ill update some more pics in a couple days.

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Day 44 update. My bloom boosters are kicking in and these babies are starting to pack it on.

To put an end to the virus discussion, here's a pic of what a mildly affected leaf looks like. The ones in the sweet spots of the light get affected much worse. So much worse that I dont like taking pics of them! Fortunately the plants keep producing.

Ive been neglecting showing the aero system. I guess it gets lost in the jungle of plants. Now THATS the type of production Ive been looking for from the aero!

Full room shot. 28 plants.

Another angle.

Individual plant. Damn my camera sucks but yall should be used to it by now.

Two moms growing in DWCs under 400w. Ill take clones around day 50 and then kill them in anticipation of starting new genes. (Hopefully the BDL! Where they at Tbug?? )

If I were to estimate total final yield, Im thinking around 3 lbs. By far my best but I know I can do better.

 

[SacredBreh]

Beautiful!!!!!

Beautiful!!!!!

Looks great! Funny how things sort of head the same directions. I am going the mini tree route too..... Yours definitely look better though. The DJS is just not producing..... even the DP BB put out more although I like the smell or the DJS. To be fair though the mother was not taken from a large selection so true potential may still be hidden.

Still have to love that post system. I wish I had not had to mmmmm.... burn mine in haste lets say. Are you still doing the drip with it?

Peace

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Burned them? Hmm, I dont think I want to know.

Yep, Ive stuck with the top feed and I think its a GREAT way to feed in fence posts. There is no need for any internal plumbing at all, which makes build out a lot easier. It's not a "drip" system because there is constant water flow into the hydroton/net pots. The roots grow down the posts and some ends up in the drain or res but with a pump filter bag they don't get sucked up. If I were to do a LARGE growroom, Id go with a bunch of fence posts and top feed manifolds. Smaller res requirements than bucket DWC systems and much less hydroton and rockwool than trays.

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Hey all
It's gettin close! Day 52 today and they are really packing the buds on. Ill do a staggered harvest with the smaller plants getting cut on 56 and the larger plants going till mid 60s, for a mix of effect. No more nute top offs from here on out. Tap water add backs only. Here's a few cola pics under HPS.

Biggest plant in the garden.

Another good sized cola.

Whole room. Well, most of it. Can't fit all of it in the shot.

Ive taken clones from the mothers for the next crop and killed the moms. Gonna start thinking about next choice for genetics soon. Anybody have any suggestions on heavy yielding genes that don't take forever to flower? Great yield is what Im after with solid potency second.

EDIT: I think Ive settled on Mr. Nice Critical Mass for new genetics but seeds are $100 a pack thanks to the crashing US dollar.