LSWM's Vert Donuts 2.0

[LSWM]

Got the second 55 gallon barrel in the room!

It's filling with RO and the plants are drinking from the other one while I'm gone. Really liking being able to leave the EC where I want it without having to bump the EC to 2.0 and leave the RO on bringing the EC down consistently the whole time.

I also left the ventilation going so I'm hoping that doesn't cause any heat or humidity issues. I'll find out tomorrow I guess.

 

[LSWM]

Clones are rooting. Took ~15 days but some have roots spiraling the cups as you can see. 44 out of 46 survived. That's a pretty good success rate of what...? 95%? Growstones doing their thing!

 

[SmellyFlorist]

Sorry bro, I see the pics now

 

[indocult]

growstones? don't think I've seen em but they look to be doing the trick

got the jacks because it just makes sense, it's not that much anyway if i don't like it.

Do you ever run into cal/mag issues with it?

 

[LSWM]

Do you ever run into cal/mag issues with it?

I haven't in the past but this trainwreck I'm running right now had some cal/mg spots. It's the first time I've run her but I also think my EC has been too low at times running down as low as .8 during stretch.

I know others have had issues, or so they say..

 

[LSWM]

Bleh, RO fliter or prefilters are going out. Ive got replacements ordered.

Definitely was feeding at a pH of 7 or something a couple days. I hate pHing and constantly checking with drops. Really cramping my style.

Plants haven't seemed to mind. Jack's murdering it as per usual. Got lots of flowers popping up, stacking and doing their thing.

Still a few hours of defoliation to do but everything is coming together. I might add a 600 to one of the tallest trays and run stacked if my temps can handle it...

Anyone think 24 days is too late to add a 600? Will it increase yeild still or be a waste of watts?

Pictures will come when I get some time a bit later. Time to get back to work!

 

[LSWM]

Temps went up 2-4*F after adding the 600 to the tallest donut. Humidity is 65-75% and 84*F.

I was sitting at 80-82*F and 65-75% before the change which is pretty much the exact sweet spot for VPD. I'm hoping the added light is worth the small shift on the VPD chart but I won't ever really know will I?

If I was gonna pull 1gpw with 3000 watts but now pull .9gpw with 3600... It's not much improvement, and tge cost of power alone may make the extra half lb not worth it.

I'm pretty much debating taking the extra light down, or maybe I'll only run it for 6-8 hours during the coldest part of the night. I'm running essentially sealed so I'm not sure that will make much of a difference...

 

[Miraculous Meds]

can u get ur rh up a tad with a humidifier or whatever. the 84f isn't bad at 65 to 75% rh. I think u will gain yield, but have no practical proof of it. that's pretty much the numbers I run at when I hit my best yields. I may be experiencing a little heat stress from it though, but prob due to not being able to keep rh at 75% with lights on when running 85F. Interesting choice. don't think u will go wrong either way. probably slightly better quality without the extra light, n a bit better yield with it.

do u run a ac?

 

[LSWM]

Yeah I'm running AC. 12,000 BTU window banger with some terrible SEER rating. It pretty much runs 24/7. Therm set at 72 and it keeps the room + veg at 72-74 during the dark cycle when its been 100*F outside.

I don't think a humidifier is an option this round. Maybe next. The trays have 1/2" of water in the lower portion all the time, without it I don't think I'd be anywhere near as high of humidity.

 

[Miraculous Meds]

well with those temps n rh, as long as u have everything else in check I think ur gonna crush it.

 

[LSWM]

Unfortunately I over vegged and over topped the plants so I'm not gonna end up as large of nugs as I would lilike which means more trim time.

Yeild I think I should come close or crack 1gpw

 

[LSWM]

Came back to triple digits outside from a vacation to the girls house.

Grow hit 92*F last night and won't drop below 82*F. I just turned my other a.c. on full blast praying I can drop temps tonight. Worst case I'll unplug the 600 until temps cool a bit.

Flowers are definitely bigger than they were Friday night when I left!

 

[LSWM]

Temps are back in check. RO is making 75+ gpd at .04 EC.

The plants are definitely starting to lean in some more. Still some more fans that could come off as well as some tieing back.

Things seem to be progressing well, and i think the yeilds should be in check. I was woried for a bit but I think I'll be good!

I've got pics from my phone and my boys go pro. One of these days I'll get them uploaded.

 

[LSWM]

Terrible flower pictures from day 17 of 12/12. Last picture shows how little space I have to get behind the trellis all the way around the room.

 

[LSWM]

Day 24 12/12

 

[LSWM]

Day 33 of 12/12. Fish eye GoPro pictures!

First pic is of the room. Second is the stacked tray with mixed strains. Third and fourth are of the WiFi tray.

 

[LSWM]

Got bugs of some sort in the media. Can't figure out what they are. There are tiny flyers that don't look like fungus gnats, they have shorter stubbier bodies and not as long of wings, smaller too, and they are quick and hard to squish. (RA's or Fruit Flies?) Then there are smaller bugs that jump around super quick further down in the coco. The smaller ones may or may not be a younger version of the adult flyers? Idk they have long narrow bodies and are SUPER tiny. The young ones almost look like thrips, but the adults look nothing like the adult thrips. Also they seem too small to be thrips, although at that size it's hard to tell... They are so quick also, It's hard to get a good look!

I put some SM-90 in the small 15 gal pump reservoir and watered this morning then the next 15 gallons I'm mixing some OG BioWar with some molasses in the reservoir for their next watering. Thinking hitting them with Spinosad, Azamax, or Pyrethrum in a root drench tomorrow or the next day.

I wish I could identify these buggers. They don't look like any of the common pests I've found info for online...

EDIT: So best guess is springtails. I thought they were normally white, but I guess not? Guess I shouldn't trip too much. The adult fliers worry me a bit still though, clearly not springtails? They don't have a flying stage do they? The fliers have me scared of RA's because when I had them I remember they were damn near impossible to squish. I haven't seen any signs of the RA's in the soil though, so my fingers are crossed.

 

[Miraculous Meds]

ok been down this road a lot recently. if those ones are hopping, as far as I know they are springtails. supposed to be not harmful?

the flyers u should try n identify more, but u should clearly see ra's in the medium I would think.

So the answer lies in what are the tiny white things that move quickly. I could never scope one clearly cause they were too fast. So are they baby ra's? maybe. In my case I had a larger brownish bug that I could scope, n couldn't find any cornicles, n imo, I identified as soil mites. Lead me to believe that the tiny white ones were baby soil mites.

ur fly, sounds too small for fruit fly, as I think of them as having a fatter body that fg. maybe white flies?

Ime sm90 did nothing for established pests. its more for making an inhospitable home for them to come attack in the first place. so imo, its a preventative strategy, n not a contact kill tool.

out of what u listed, pyrethrum is ur best bet, then aza.

actually now that I reread ur post, the description of the small white bugs sound like babies to the spring tales.

It might be a good idea to do the potato test n see if u can get any ra or fg larvae trapped to identify.

 

[LSWM]

I haven't seen any white pests, nor any root aphids in the media. I have had them before and I know what to look for. Those tail pipes give them away first thing.

If the flyers are RA then normally that would indicate infestation because adult RA doesn't normally turn to fliers unless of over population, but I could be wrong.

My best guess is springtsils in the media, and that the flies are some sort of gnat, but i will try to identify the flyers ASAP just in case. They are definitely not white flies that much I'm sure of.

 

[indocult]

You're probably right with the springtails and some kinda fruitfly/fungus gnat as your flier.. I've actually got both in my room right now that came with the coco (botanicare)

do you use the bloom booster with the jacks? I ended up getting all of them but not sure how to implement the bloom booster other than trial and error.
everything looks really really good since the switch too.