Lifesaver aeroponic grow

[smokeydokey]

Hi I have been running journals at hempcultivation.com and when I got BOGs Lifesaver found out he was over here so here I am

I have 3 Lifesaver at 5 days vegetative now in a passive hydro setup until my aeroponic device is vacated by my last grow. Along for the ride are 2 Nirvana Northern Lights X Bigbud. These will be growing in an Botanicare Aero 4 Machine using Pure Blend Pro nutes under a 250W MH for vegetative and a 250W HPS for flowering. I plan on adding Hydroplex the last 2 weeks of flowering.

The Lifesavers are on the left and have red toothpicks. The NLxBB are on the right and have blue toothpicks. They are in a humidome tray full of h2o and 1/8 strength PBPV with an airstone.

 

[friendlyfriend]

is that a peat cube you started them in? and good luck lifesaver is a nute lover to the 8th POWER!

 

[omega7]

^they are coco plugs/rapid rooters. They work great. The show is looking good. Cant wait to see what they look like in flower. I hope you get all females bro. Have any pics of whats in the aero system now?

 

[friendlyfriend]

thanks for the tip omega! i have heard great things about em.

 

[Guest]

i was told that lifesaver is a relatively light feeder

 

[smokeydokey]

Hey guys thanks for the welcome. Yes those are rapid rooters and I also have heard that LS is a light feeder but we'll see. I have a schedule set up but will adjust according to what the plants are telling me. Be nice if BOG could reccomend for aeroponic Here is a pic of whats in the Aero 4 machine now and an updated pic on the LS grow.

 

[omega7]

looks nice, nice indeed

 

[smokeydokey]

Thanks for that omega. I'm told it wasn't bad for a noob starting right out with aeroponics. Plus, the reservoir is small so I had to tend it often. I went through half the grow without a TDS meter and it cost me a plant but I've got one now and it makes a huge difference, especially since mine is constant read.

I have decided on building aeroponic units based on 3.5 gallon buckets each with a 5" netpot. I love my Aeromachine but it's reservoir capacity leaves me chained to it. I could supplement with another reservoir on vacations but would enjoy the buffering quality of a larger res too. So, I have decided to use my Aeromachine for veg and build these larger untis for flowering. I'll be buying more stuff to assemble this project today.

Right now, the first bucket that I was talking about above is being used as a bubbler in my first grow. I made this bubbler so I could use my Aero 4 Machine to veg these girls in this grow. So now we have them all happily growing in my aeroponic device. All are still under the 65W Flourex. Once the last grow vacates, we'll have our foot to the floor with a 250W MH. For now, they should be loving the Aero 4. I have included shots on the inside of my reservoir and the netopts in the lid before they were put in. I'm using 1 oz of PBPV in 4 gallons h2o.

 

[bartender187]

Nice setup man. Those babies are going to love it, I can already tell.

keep us posted

bartender187

 

[smokeydokey]

Day 10 vegetative

Day 10 vegetative

Hi bartender, thanks for dropping in. Yes they like the aeroponics but I have to tweak it to the plants according to what they tell me. Right now NLxBB #1 is showing some leaf curl up and mild yellowing and since pH is in range, she might be wanting some magnesium. I had a little of this last grow and it ended up clearing up before I knew what it was. I'm going to start buying mineral water. As you can see, in 2 days in the aero machine they are already responding very well with growth. The 5th set of leaves is emerging on all of them and secondary growth is begining to take off. Now if I could just get them under my mh...

Day 10

 

[smokeydokey]

Day 12 vegetative

Day 12 vegetative

My last grow has been harvested I've moved the plants into my main grow chamber as a result under a 250W MH. Meters are also
now online. I went out and picked up some spring water thats at 30ppm. My tap water is 150 so I've gained 120ppm to use for nutes instead of being wasted on chemicals the water company put in there.

All plants are working on their 6th/7th set of leaves and have nice secondary growth. I'm ahead of where I was last grow I think and I don't remember having much secondary growth this early on my last grow but then I have better genetics this time around I hope.

ph: 6.0
ppm 500
temp: 88
res temp: 85

 

[smokeydokey]

ugh, double post.

 

[friendlyfriend]

dude thats extra ordinairy! but the lighting/wiring situation looks a little akward. Otherwise A+ beautiful presentation and quite lovely fast maturing sweeties! Your in for a treat buddy hope all works out

 

[smokeydokey]

dude thats extra ordinairy! but the lighting/wiring situation looks a little akward. Otherwise A+ beautiful presentation and quite lovely fast maturing sweeties! Your in for a treat buddy hope all works out

Hi friendly. Thanks! Yes it does appear that way at first but its not as bad as it looks. First, everything in there is on a GFI. All of the extra yellow cord on the floor to the right is because I am using the GFI, otherwise, the cord to the power strip isn't that long. I think the GFI was the way to go. I also have a good smoke detector in the chamber and a fire extinguisher nearby though its much safer than it looks. The wires hanging out of the wall to the left are CAT5e cables I just have to finish and put the cover on. Might do that today. Obviously there is nothing dangerous about them. All of the black cables on the left are my constant read probes. I have so many of them because I have a probe for each thing. You can see them in the back to the left. Red is pH, blue is TDS and white is temp.

 

[smokeydokey]

Day 13 vegetative

Day 13 vegetative

Res change

pH: 5.9
ppm: 600 Pure Blend Pro Vegetative
temp: 82
res temp: 82

All is well.

 

[smokeydokey]

Vegetative Day 15

Vegetative Day 15

Using >50ppm water seems to be doing well for the plants. So I am now shopping for reverse osmosis systems. I'm ahead of were I was last grow so I'm improving. I bought an adjustable light hanger from the hydro store for 30 clams and it's making life easier in the room instead of using chains. It's so much easier to do res changes now. Raising and lowering it is a breeze. Just push it up, pull it down.

Nirvana NLxBB #1: Displayed an alternating node on Day 14. This plant is no longer the tallest, cedeing the title to NLxBB #2 but is still vigorous. No signs of any problems whatsoever knock on wood. Root structure is developing nicely. 6.5" tall

Nirvana NLxBB #2: Displayed an alternating node on Day 14. This plant is easily the largest of the 4 and was threatening to choke light off from LS #2 so I rotated the plants in the netpots so they could have maximum photon exposure. This plant also has no visible problems and is in fact the most lush of the 4 as well as tallest. Root structure is developing nicely. 7" tall

LS #1: Is doing nicely. Internodal spacing remains tighter than it's NLxBB neighbors. Some leaves have minor curl I think from mg deficiency. It's very little however, and fear adjusting it will do more harm then good. Things are growing and lush at an alarming rate compared to my last grow so I'll stick with the plan for now. Plant is green, wide, short and squat with exceedingly fat indica leaves. Of the Lifesaver grows I have seen I don't think I've seen anyone with fat paddle shaped leaves like this and would be curious as to guesses on the ancestral strain. Both #1 and #2 have these leaves. 4.5" tall

LS #2: Shortest of the 4 but broad and extremely tight internodal spacing, I dunno how it's squeezing secondary growth in there but it is. No alternating nodes yet however. 3.5" tall and broad.

LS #3: This thing is stuck in some kind of stasis and remains in passive hydro under the 65W CF Flourex. It is in 30ppm water with very trace nutes (80ppm total). It is finally expanding it's second leaves and 3rd is barely emerging. Will up nutes to 200ppm once the 3rd leaves show themslves more.

So I have 2 plants ready for flowering at Day 14 veg or about 16-17 days from seed. Not bad I think but will give the Lifesavers 5 more days to show an alternating node so everyone flowers together. Besides, I do not have the flowering aeroponic device constructed yet, but what I do have complete can be used as bubblers in a pinch. I didn't expect to be here already so I'll try to recover from being caught with my pants down some today

Anyway, so far this Nirvana NLxBB is some hotrod weed.

Mr. moderator. I think my grow is here accidentely. If it could be changed to the main hydro growing forum perhaps it would be better as it appears to have little interest here.

 

[Guest]

SmokeyDokey: Good looking grow!! I also noticed the cat5 cables are you using them for anything in particular. I would like to know if I could.

 

[BushyOldGrower]

Mr. Moderator here...

Mr. Moderator here...

I find it very interesting and perhaps it is possible for me to duplicate what we have so far in the hydro growers forum for you. Let me get my toolbox and I will try to do it for you. Thanks for presenting this at hempcultivation since they deleted my account there for no reason with no warning or explanation.

BOG

 

[smokeydokey]

Day 17 vegetative

Day 17 vegetative

I find it very interesting and perhaps it is possible for me to duplicate what we have so far in the hydro growers forum for you. Let me get my toolbox and I will try to do it for you. Thanks for presenting this at hempcultivation since they deleted my account there for no reason with no warning or explanation.
BOG

Thanks for stopping by BOG. Should I post in both now or keep it here? Glad you're following along even though it's aeroponic. I'm in a very new, uncontiminated space so the cleanliness of the aeronics is desirable. Sorry to hear about your problems over at hc. I'm not very aware of 'pot politics' much, I'm just a closet aeroponic grower trying to refine my aeroponic method and produce some quality smoke for myself and myself only. Just growin a couple plants. I'm a pain sufferer and heard about your strain and was interested so here I am. They have very fat paddle shaped leaves of which I have never seen before in other LS grows or maybe I'm embelsihing and don't know it...lol. Would love if you humor me a guess as to what ancestry it most resembles. While I have your attention do you have anyone else doing aeroponic LS I could refer to as far as grows or anything?

----

I've been at work on my home made aeroponic device. I ran into some problems with the drain but the delivery system is nice. I hope to have it done by the weekend so I can run it for a couple days in the garage. I'm quite pleased with the amount of aereated spray I am delivering to the 5" netpots. I also found a source for some black 2 gallon buckets with lids so I can try and make a smaller version of this one when I am done. The hurdle now is increasing the capacity of my drainage so the pump doesn't suck it's bucket dry.

NLxBB #1 and #2 are both quite ready for flowering and have grown about 1/4-1/2 inch.

LS #1: I've purchased some Botanicare Cal-Mag for the leaf curl I am getting. I applied some this afternoon and they are already standing up more straight, the leaves are more rigid. The leaf curl has relaxed somewhat but is still present.

LS #2: This one is growing horizontally and will benefit greatly when the new system is complete.

Temp 82
Res temp 82.7
RH: 50%
pH 6.1
ppm: 690


I figured out how to work with light filters somewhat so I hope my pix look more natural without the MH or HPS tincture.

 

[Hooked-On-Grown]

them things are growing fast!!
All looks good!