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plants in ppk's

gmanwho

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Thanks Mckush. they actually have grown about 4-5in bigger since the last photos. I put them into 12/12.

How r your ppks doing?
 

McKush

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I just put three into them last night. Pretty hard on their rootballs so two of them are pretty unhappy after the first day. Going to run them 18/6 for a few days to let them recover under 600w DE then flip at 600 and start cranking it up from there. Not sure what is going into site 4 yet. I havent sexed them yet so dont expect to keep all three. I know regs are the way to go but for a small space and personal only mmj grower fem seeds make alot of sense particularly since i like to veg them big.

Hey G you feed for 3 min duration in ppk? Im delivering a gallon every 12 or 13 secs so i am feeding 3gallons or 35 secs every 2 and a half hours. Not sure if i should slow it down or not. Dont want to overwater them. My gap is 4.5 inches.
 

gmanwho

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Hey G you feed for 3 min duration in ppk? Im delivering a gallon every 12 or 13 secs so i am feeding 3gallons or 35 secs every 2 and a half hours. Not sure if i should slow it down or not. Dont want to overwater them. My gap is 4.5 inches.


ive been messing with the timers some. i feel i like to feed as many times as i can earlier on then increase the length in between later.

ive also noticed the time it takes to flood gets quicker as root mass increases an blocks the draining action on the tailpiece. so ive been lowering the on duration as they get older.

i always change things, but at the moment running 2mins every 2 hours. was running 3 mins on till yesterday, today i had a few overflow with 3 min on, so went to 2 min on. hope that made sense.

b well
 

McKush

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I had a great run this summer followed by a bad run and a half. Somewhere along the line my float shifted causing about a 3 inch gap in the tailpipe. The first round vegged under me epap and were awesome the next round of clones from the first round but vegged under a puny cfl and run with the 3 in gap all suffered bad from root rot due to the gap and i think pushing them with too much water with a root system not ready for it.

I had issues in veg with overwatering too. The ones im flowering now were fine but im holding on to two that are either runtish and redundant or are suffering from some root rot.
 

gmanwho

Well-known member
Veteran
it maybe exciting to me cause its a new technique, but the 8-4 veg timing im finding interesting. i feel once they are established ,mid veg an later, i feel i see some increased growth. an i save 2 hrs of power.

tough to tell earlier on in veg as everythings slow. its not just the ppk system i see benefiting. my ebb& fllood bucket an bucket systems seems to like it too.

on an off i been trying to find some more on the topic of 8/4 lighting but been coming up short. anyone know of any articles out there?
 

gmanwho

Well-known member
Veteran
I had a great run this summer followed by a bad run and a half. Somewhere along the line my float shifted causing about a 3 inch gap in the tailpipe. The first round vegged under me epap and were awesome the next round of clones from the first round but vegged under a puny cfl and run with the 3 in gap all suffered bad from root rot due to the gap and i think pushing them with too much water with a root system not ready for it.

I had issues in veg with overwatering too. The ones im flowering now were fine but im holding on to two that are either runtish and redundant or are suffering from some root rot.


move the drip hoses away from the stem. stems being wet is bad bad bad. if they are rooted in a medium, do not bury the medium as it retains more water then the turface. an that will lead to stem rot, or slow growth. if you must use a rooting medium place the rapid rooter half buried an lightly hand water around the medium if necessary. put a small non wood stake in there to hold it up if necessary. in a week or 2 tops u want that rooting medium dry. the roots should be far out of the rooting medium by then. remember the turface an all mediums wick. the roots will find the water.

WET STEM = BAD BAD BAD....

lol.

best of luck my friend......be well

bsafe
 

McKush

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move the drip hoses away from the stem. stems being wet is bad bad bad. if they are rooted in a medium, do not bury the medium as it retains more water then the turface. an that will lead to stem rot, or slow growth. if you must use a rooting medium place the rapid rooter half buried an lightly hand water around the medium if necessary. put a small non wood stake in there to hold it up if necessary. in a week or 2 tops u want that rooting medium dry. the roots should be far out of the rooting medium by then. remember the turface an all mediums wick. the roots will find the water.

WET STEM = BAD BAD BAD....

lol.

best of luck my friend......be well

bsafe


Hey G - I'll move those drip lines like you mentioned. But I'm not sure that that was/is the source of my issues. It does give me a better picture of how I need to manage that turface tho so thx friend. I guess I've had the drip lines close to avoid the water channeling and not evenly wetting the media. maybe that is not so much an issue tho in turface.

I used to full flood the ppk's too and I think I'm going to move away from that practice and deliver less feed per cycle. currently feeding about 3 gallons every 2 hours in the ppks. I've not gotten an exact value yet but I think the tubs will full flood at 4-5 gallons. Maybe I should back that 3 down some. I can either cut the feed rate to all the sites with a knife valve I have on the main feed line - or - I can shorten the duration of the feed event, or combo of both.

Your words on the root plugs are enlightening, i've always thought I should get that starter plug wet.

The thing I'm trying to get a handle on is how to do grow them perpetually, I'm not so much interested in a set harvest schedule but I don't like all the plants maturing at the same time. it makes the harvest process fell rushed and not as enjoyable as I would like when I'm working on a dead line or feel past due.

My last grow will be much different than this current one I think or at least that is my goal. which is to just grow the best plant I can grow. I'd like them at least 6 z and the bigger the better as long as quality can be maintained.
 

gmanwho

Well-known member
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hey mckuch get that rooter plug dry.

to each is own. an this may not be the way to do it for everyone but it works well for me. i start with rooting in the rooter plug, then jump up net pot size a little bigger, then a little bigger, then final pot. in this photo you can see the stages. the stem was almost the same size as the rooter plug.

i did use grow rocks on one stage. but turface works well to. i also flood these. i flood high at begining to make sure rapird rooter is wet. i then lower the flood height every 5 or so days. eventually there is only an inch of water in the tray an then the rooter doesnt get wet cause its 4-5 inches above flood height.

u can see the stages here. so far this is the easiest way for me. as the plants progress i jump up net pot sizes as i go. the slow ones stay for next round. some get culled. some move on to next stage. each stage the original rooter plug gets higher an higher.

ive had many problems with the rooter plug staying to wet. this was my fix.

picture.php


rooter plug , 5" net pot with growstones, then planted that into 9" net pot with turface, then that went into the final 3.5 gal bucket w/turface.
 

av8or

Member
That's clever, Gman. I like it! I never had problems with rapid rooters but I've had rockwool rot stems up before. I'm convinced that most people are over watering the turface. I do a quart a feed, starting up to 6 hours apart moving towards an eventual 45 minute feeding at the end of flower. I wait for the plants to demand water before I decrease feed interval timing.
 

Snook

Still Learning
Veteran
Gentlemen, my memory is non responsive about hose sizes.

when the whole shebang started, we were using tire valves and 1/4" rez (goop was very important!:biggrin:) lines from control to ppk rez, then came 3/8" hose and now 5/8" garden hose. are we going to progress to 3/4" hose (if we have and I missed it, sorry)? what are the limiting factors? Fast delivery, plunger... bigger pump, bigger hose? bigger pump 1/2" hose is like a water drill.
 

McKush

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HNY Snookums. I think there has been a distinct evolution just as you describe. But dont think there is a set standard. Scale is usually the factor since some use iarge returns in many sited systems. I use 3/4" garden hose manifold to feed and 3/4" durable black rubber hose for individual drain back to res. Im using 3/4" bulkheads on buckets. Iike the feeling of Security i get with bulkheads since there are disconnects on the return lines. dont want any leaks when i move the return lines. Rigid pvc has its advantages but i like being able to move pots around.
 

Miraculous Meds

Well-known member
Gentlemen, my memory is non responsive about hose sizes.

when the whole shebang started, we were using tire valves and 1/4" rez (goop was very important!:biggrin:) lines from control to ppk rez, then came 3/8" hose and now 5/8" garden hose. are we going to progress to 3/4" hose (if we have and I missed it, sorry)? what are the limiting factors? Fast delivery, plunger... bigger pump, bigger hose? bigger pump 1/2" hose is like a water drill.

When we are talking return lines on the bottom of the res's, the change to the rubber/neoprene goodyear 5/8" hose allows for easily sliding into a smaller hole, thus eliminating bulkheads. hasn't leaked on d9 or av8, or me for the year plus since I changed over to it. super easy n less money on fittings.

Now when it comes to the feed lines, pick ur choice. whatever is easier n fits ur style. I know the latest trend is to pulse feed a little at a time, so u don't need much pump power or hose diameter. But with the smaller amount of water per feed, I like the idea of spreading out more. So that's where multiple lines, or better yet a drip ring with multiple holes to spread the water more equal helps out imo.
 

Snook

Still Learning
Veteran
When we are talking return lines on the bottom of the res's, the change to the rubber/neoprene goodyear 5/8" hose allows for easily sliding into a smaller hole, thus eliminating bulkheads. hasn't leaked on d9 or av8, or me for the year plus since I changed over to it. super easy n less money on fittings.

Now when it comes to the feed lines, pick ur choice. whatever is easier n fits ur style. I know the latest trend is to pulse feed a little at a time, so u don't need much pump power or hose diameter. But with the smaller amount of water per feed, I like the idea of spreading out more. So that's where multiple lines, or better yet a drip ring with multiple holes to spread the water more equal helps out imo.

I tried the rings, clogged, drilled (maybe not big enough) clogged, trash. I too like the idea of spreading out the feed. I cut some flat plastic to a half moon shape that meets the contour of the bucket and is about 4 inches deep and put them under the 1/2" feed lines about 5 inches down. My logic is the flow of feed will be slowed down and spread to the middle... the other thing about the drip/smaller pump. in his first designs, D9 mentioned the benefit of wave type feed schedule but that quart of nutes should be pumped ASAP, adding to the 'plunger effect' and sucking more O2 down thru the media. did it all change and I missed it? A ask D?
 

Snook

Still Learning
Veteran
That's clever, Gman. I like it! I never had problems with rapid rooters but I've had rockwool rot stems up before. I'm convinced that most people are over watering the turface. I do a quart a feed, starting up to 6 hours apart moving towards an eventual 45 minute feeding at the end of flower. I wait for the plants to demand water before I decrease feed interval timing.



I like it too Gman, thanks, I've always had a problem with PPKv to PPK transplanting. I do not use your 4 stage transplant system, too lazy, I do it once without the net pot but keeping some semblance of a root ball hasn't been accomplished and yields are being effected. I have already instituted the first test clone.
Av8tor, never used RRs, bubble clone and never had any rootrot, but overwatering, im the king.

your statement above: decrease interval when they demand water? esplane please. decrease? what is the sign of 'demand'? droopy leaves? yes?

6 hours??? hoely ship batman, I'm feeding a qt every 90 minutes in early veg. they look goo though. I'll put up a couple pics in another PPK thread... by me.
 

McKush

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Hey Snook,

By decrease the interval Av is saying to feed 1 quart but lower or reduce the time that the pump is off (decrease feed interval). So feed 1 quart (or your desired volume) and if you are 2:00 hrs pump off now then lower that to something like 1:45 or 1:30. Don't change how much feed you are giving them, so if you fed 1 quart before keep feeding that 1 quart.

Av is keeping his feed volume the same but increasing the frequency for which he does that feeding.

your not the overwatering king, think i stole your crown long ago bro
 

av8or

Member
Let's say you have 5 gallons of turface with a 33% porosity in a tub flooding it every 90 minutes (as fast as anyone usually floods, I think). This works out to be 13.8 minutes for every quart of water (except all at once). I pulse feed a quart every fifteen minutes. It's virtually identical in the water amount over time but the difference is the roots are stimulated much more often with a pulse instead of a flood. O2 levels will "plunge" the same because the same amount of total volume is being filled and vacated, albeit spread into smaller, more frequent intervals. For reasons above my knowledge level, the roots seem to do very well with constant stimuli. It may not be exactly the same, but similarly in humans we are healthier with more energy of we eat small bits of food all throughout the day. Makes sense to me. Maybe someone smarter has a real scientific answer out there?

As for halos, we've found the vinyl 1/2" tube works great with a leather punch.
 

McKush

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This thread is long overdue for a pic

Here is Delicious Seeds Cheese Candy (DSCHC) around Day 65 and day 10 of flush. The younger bud to the left is a MNS mango haze which is coming on.

picture.php


The DSCHC is the middle most plant in this pic. next to it is a 32 day old Mr. Nice Seeds Mango Haze #4 plant or MH4

picture.php


Some more pics from about a week ago when flush was just starting

picture.php


picture.php


picture.php
 
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hey mckuch get that rooter plug dry.

to each is own. an this may not be the way to do it for everyone but it works well for me. i start with rooting in the rooter plug, then jump up net pot size a little bigger, then a little bigger, then final pot. in this photo you can see the stages. the stem was almost the same size as the rooter plug.

i did use grow rocks on one stage. but turface works well to. i also flood these. i flood high at begining to make sure rapird rooter is wet. i then lower the flood height every 5 or so days. eventually there is only an inch of water in the tray an then the rooter doesnt get wet cause its 4-5 inches above flood height.

u can see the stages here. so far this is the easiest way for me. as the plants progress i jump up net pot sizes as i go. the slow ones stay for next round. some get culled. some move on to next stage. each stage the original rooter plug gets higher an higher.

ive had many problems with the rooter plug staying to wet. this was my fix.

View Image

rooter plug , 5" net pot with growstones, then planted that into 9" net pot with turface, then that went into the final 3.5 gal bucket w/turface.


Nice stalk :)
 

av8or

Member
Popped four more into flower today. This T4 ripens in seven weeks.
 

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