Not for my first grow but I am starting a second grow on new years (northern lights and fruity chronic juice) and will be doing a day by day pictorial journal, this first one was for learning my lights setup, nutes, and just a general learning grow with one plant.
Nice stuff . good clean setup . Man you have to start pruning it its too bushy out of culture .Position and prune the bud sites that way that they dont get too close to each other . Cut away all the leaves what are below the screen as you should know . The Ona gel odours are harmful to the plant and make it taste weird if the plant odours mixed with Ona odours come into re contact with the plant so you need a definetive exhaust . Regards masker .
Chief, I look forward to following your next grow. Masker, Thanks for stopping by. Regarding the pruning... Most everything below the screen is cut, but now there's a bunch above that needs to go. I'll jump into it tomorrow. I have the ONA on top of the cabinet, not near the intake. Actually I have two 1/2 cup tubs working in the garage: one on top of the grow cabinet and the other near the door to the house. Seems to be working pretty well so far. Eddie, thanks for the props. Glad to have you around. The last few days have been eventful. Had a flood on Friday and changed the solution and nutrients on Sunday. Details and photos in the next post.
Days 52/20 through 55/23 Friday- Day 52: Noon Got a call at work. "Water is pouring outta that cabinet of yours. Get home right NOW!" By the time I got home, most of the spilt solution had eveaporated. At first I thought that one of the quick-connect elbows was leaking. I replaced it but the leak continued. Further investigation showed that the rail was filling up with solution and exiting at the net pot collars. The nutrient pump was set to run one minute and then be off for about four. So I change it to run 30 seconds and then stay off for about 10 minutes. This gives the rail plenty of time to drain and the flooding stoped. Apparently, as the roots get bigger and more massive, they start to impede drainage. Note for future grows using this system: As the grow progresses, increase the time between pumping. After the flooding stopped, there was about 4.5 gallons left in the reservoir. It looks like about 4 gallons were lost. Sunday-D54/B22: 12-18-11 @ 6:30 AM Garage Temp: 66 Grow Chamber Temp: 91.5 (Lights were touching the sending unit) Grow Chamber RH: 30% (Lights were touching the sending unit) Reservoir Temp: n/m Reservoir pH: 5.3 Reservoir ppm: 1100 Reservoir volume: 3.6 Removed about 3.5 gallons of water (as much as could be siphoned). Reservoir looked empty. Added 8.5 gallons of Ralphs RO water Added: 5 ml GH Flora Grow 64 ml GH Flroa Micro 107 ml GH Flora Bloom 21 ml MagiCal 21 ml Botanicare Hydroplex 20 ml GH pH UP Calibrated the meter: It read 6.9 in 7.0 pH Solution; 4.2 in 4.01 pH Solution; and 1490 in 1500 ppm Solution. Put lights back in their original configuration (30 and 42 watters in the main fixture, and 23 watt bulbs in the doubles). Temp and RH should read correctly again. Found powdery mildew on several leaves and cut them off. Stuff looked pretty cool on my $3 Amazon pocket microscope. Will need to do some research on powdery mildew. But I suspect that just thinning out the foilage and not using the spray bottle will kill it. After the additions: pH: 5.9 ppm: 1090 Volume: At least 9.5 gallons Sunday photos: Today-D55/B23: 12-19-11 @ 6:20 AM Garage Temp: 65 Grow Chamber Temp: 78 Grow Chamber RH: 41% Reservoir Temp: n/m Reservoir pH: 5.8 Reservoir ppm: 1110 Reservoir volume: 8.6 The buds and nearby leaves on the Train Wreck are getting very frosty.
OK, I got through the bug problem. But now the powdery mildew has hit. I think there are two primary, and possibly a secondary cause for the problem. Primary Cause 1: Lack of pruning or thinning the leaves that aren't getting full light. (Masker called this one a couple of days ago.) This makes for unhealthy leaves in general, but more importantly, makes for very dense foliage, which chokes air circulation to the mid and lower areas of the canopy. Primary Cause 2: Low temperatures in December. The temperatures in my garage for the last couple of weeks have rarely been above 65 and generally been between 62 and 64. That means that the temps in the cabinet at the underside of the canopy have been in the high sixties to low seventies. Powdery mildew thrives in this range. Secondary Cause: I've been trying to keep the RH up by keeping wet dish rags in the cabinet and by spraying water on the canopy from above and below. Corrective Action: 1. Thin the forest. Last night I cut enough leaves to fill a grocery bag. Still have a ways to go. I will try to cut more tonight or tomorrow AM. Cabinet looks a lot sparser today. 2. Stop spraying the plants with water and remove the wet rags. Duh! 3. Spray the leaves with Serenade. I'll get some today and spray tonight. 4. Increase fan speed. Fan is set on low now. I will try boosting it to second gear.
It's just one thing after another... Woke this morning at 2 AM to find that my cabinet had discharged about four gallons of solution onto the garage floor... AGAIN! D57/B2 5: 12-21-11 @ 2:00 AM Only about 3 gallons were left in the reservoir. The leak or overflow had stopped and most of the solution on the floor had dried up. It appears that the timer dial had been bumped and reset to pump too much water. Reset the timer to approximately 30 secs on 9 minutes off. Trimmed some more leaves as I was waiting for the timer. @6:10 AM Garage Temp: 64.5 Grow Chamber Temp: 79 Grow Chamber RH: 38% Reservoir Temp: n/m Reservoir pH: 5.8 Reservoir ppm: 1180 Reservoir volume: 3 gals (approx) Added 1 gallon of Ralphs RO water. After the addition: pH 5.8 ppm: 900 Sprayed the leaves with Serenade Garden Spray (10ml to a pint of water). The leaves of the largest stem on the train wreck are rolling downward, long ways. Only these leaves are doing this. No idea why. Check the photo and tell me what you think.
D59/B27: 12-23-11 @ 6:40 AM Garage Temp: 62 Grow Chamber Temp: 71 Grow Chamber RH: 35% Reservoir Temp: n/m Reservoir pH: 6.1 Reservoir ppm: 990 Reservoir volume: 2.6 gals (approx) Removed about .5 gallons Mixed, then added all but .5 gallons (would not fit): 7.5 gallons of Ralphs RO water 4 ml GH Grow 45ml GH Micro 75 ml GH Bloom 17 ml MagiCal 15 ml Hydroplex 18 ml GH pH Up 5 ml GH pH Down (to correct) After the additions: 9.5 gallons pH: 5.9 ppm: 930 Increased fan speed to #2. Need to boost the fan height. D60/B28: 12-24-11 @ 7:10 AM Garage Temp: 63 Grow Chamber Temp: 73 Grow Chamber RH: 35% Reservoir Temp: n/m Reservoir pH: 5.9 Reservoir ppm: 960 Reservoir volume: 8.6 gals (approx) Plants look healthy. More and more buds on the Train Wreck. Bud spacing is a couple of inches. Need to measure. Vertical growth seems to have slowed significantly.
D62/B30: 12-26-11 @ 8:00 AM Garage Temp: 63 Grow Chamber Temp: 74 Grow Chamber RH: 34% Reservoir Temp: n/m Reservoir pH: 5.9 Reservoir ppm: 1000 Reservoir volume: 7.4 gallons Not sure if the frost I'm seeing is trichome or powdery mildew. So I sprayed with Serenade. Canopy is getting a bit unruly and uneven. Providing even light is becoming difficult. So I ordered a couple of 42 watt bulbs to replace the 30 watters in the fixture, and I ordered a couple more single sockets (for Chinese Lanterns) to replace the splitters. The plan is to remove the hanging "Y" splitters, but retain the hanging sockets. With the two new sockets, I'll have four individual hanging lights that can be moved independently to supplement the primary lighting fixture. I will retire a couple of the 23 watters currently in the splitters and replace them with the 30 watt bulbs from the fixture. The new 42 watt bulbs will replace the 30 watters in the fixture. Feel like Tommy Lasorda, making a triple switch in the bottom of the eighth. This will give me, four, 42 watt and four 30 watt bulbs in the fixture, and two free-hanging 30 watt and two 23 watt bulbs. So... for the final month or so of flowering I will be pumping 394 watts of CFL juice at the crop.
Good shit man. Hows that powdery mildew problem coming along? You seem to have it under control quite well. That Train Wreck looks soooo tasty. Keep up the good work
Thanks Budz, Not sure about the PM. Sprayed again today. The TW is super frosty, but the buds are small, although numerous. Take a look at the third photo. Wierd how the leaves are so narrow and cigar-rolled, and the leaves only look like that on the tallest stalk. Gonna have some huge buds on the White Russian.
Awesome journal man. Really organized. Cabinet is awesome and the plants look amazing. Keep up the good work, will be watching.
2-1, Thanks for stopin' in. Glad to have some viewers. Seems like Budz and Ciri are the only ones that post on here besides me. I sometimes think the journal is too formal and keeping people away. Oh well. Good to have ya back Cire.
While there may be only a couple people who post and say things, doesn't mean people aren't watching. Know what I mean? Def don't change how you do your updates, they are great.
D63/B31: 12-27-11 @ 6:30 AM Garage Temp: 64 Grow Chamber Temp: 74 Grow Chamber RH: 41% Reservoir Temp: n/m Reservoir pH: 5.9 Reservoir ppm: 1020 Reservoir volume: 7.1 gallons Plants look healthy, but growth seems slow. Also, I noticed that the tallest stems are all along the walls and not feeling the full force of the light. I considered redesigning the light fixture so that the PVC with the sockets would run down the center rather than along the edges. Basically the fixture would be shaped like an “H” rather than the current rectangle. But I had another, simpler idea. Twist the main PVC pieces on the light fixture so that the tips of the lights are pointed downward. Twisting is possible because the PVC is only held in place with friction. No glue is used. For full details (photos, drawings and construction instructions) on this light fixture, check out this thread. The above diagram illustrates that in Expanded Coverage Mode, more light reaches the edges of the cabinet and that the bulb tips are closer to the canopy, but a narrow band along the centerline will get less light. There’s always a tradeoff. So I twisted the pipe and we'll see how it works out. D64/B32: 12-28-11 @ 6:30 AM Garage Temp: 63.5 Grow Chamber Temp: 73.4 Grow Chamber RH: 38% Reservoir Temp: n/m Reservoir pH: 6.1 Reservoir ppm: 1050 Reservoir volume: (not measured, but I estimate about 7 gals) Added 4 ml pH DOWN Added 5ml Hydroplex (wanted to get more P in the solution without adding N) After the addition: pH: 5.7 ppm: 1080
Past three days... D64/B32: 12-28-11 @ 6:30 AM Garage Temp: 63.5 Grow Chamber Temp: 73.4 Grow Chamber RH: 38% Reservoir Temp: n/m Reservoir pH: 6.1 Reservoir ppm: 1050 Reservoir volume: Added 4 ml pH DOWN Added 5ml Hydroplex (wanted to get more P in the solution without adding N) D65/B33: 12-29-11 @ 6:30 AM Garage Temp: 64 Grow Chamber Temp: 73 Grow Chamber RH: 39% Reservoir Temp: n/m Reservoir pH: 5.9 Reservoir ppm: 1100 Reservoir volume: 6.1 Found a lot of powdery mildew. Boosted the concentration of Serenade to approximately 90 ml (3 oz) per gallon (22 ml per pint) and sprayed a lot. D66/B34: 12-30-11 @ 5:40 AM Garage Temp: 66 Grow Chamber Temp: 74 Grow Chamber RH: 47% Reservoir Temp: n/m Reservoir pH: 6.1 Reservoir ppm: 1120 Reservoir volume: 5.9 approx. Removed 3.8 gallons Added: 5 gallons Ralphs RO water 3 ml GH Grow 26 ml GH Micro 44 ml GH Bloom 9 ml Technaflora MagiCal 9 ml Botanicare Hydroplex 10 ml pH UP 3 ml pH DOWN After the additions: pH: 5.8 ppm: 910 Trimmed a fair amount of leaves.
I think increasing your circulation will help a bunch. You may want to get something under the canopy if possible. With temps dropping so cold at night, have you considered a small fish tank heater to put in your reservoir, or even a sheet of insulation with a heat mat for it to set on? It may be worth monitoring your water temperature.