Going Coco with 1000 watts

Discussion in 'Coco Coir' started by VeoDigital, Jan 6, 2011.

  1. #1 VeoDigital, Jan 6, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 9, 2011
    What's up GC! This will be my first attempt at growing in coco coir fiber. I have been doing a lot of reading and research into coco as a medium, and I am pretty excited about this particular run. Not just because of using coco, but also because I have moved into a new home and I recently upgraded a lot of my equipment. Going from a 400w MH ballast and using an HPS conversion bulb to a 1000w switchable ballast, Eye Hortilux Super HPS bulb, 6" Cool tube, 400CFM 6" inline fan from Hydrofarm and a 6'4"x6'4"x6'4" tent.

    Before, I was just a closet grower, temps were hard to manage at times in the summer, a tent just seemed more logical to me. With some inspiration from H3ad and Ed, I will be going with H3ad's modified lucas formula for coco, 6ml micro from GH and 9ml bloom from GH throughout veg. Will also supplement with Epsom Salt for extra Mg and S. A few weeks into flower, depending on the strains flowering time, I will drop the micro completely, and give it 3-4 shots of koolbloom from GH during flowering. I am also using coco coir fiber from Hydrofarm in Smart Pots.

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    They are fed 2x per day with 20-25% runoff. Adding to this will be Ed's touch. Since Ed is all about nutrient uptake, then I'm about nutrient uptake. I haven't quite worked out the nutrient profile, since H3ad's formula is all about the N-P-K-Ca-Mg-S ratio. As of right now I am only adding Enggy's Humic Acid at 18-19ml per gallon every feed. I am working on getting the ratio's dialed in to be able to add Earth Juice Catalyst and Maxicrop Seaweed w/ Iron. All feedings are with tap water and ph'd to 5.6-5.8. The girls currently sit about 7" away from 3 2700k 42w CFL spirals.

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    I had 3 Jack 47 fem seeds from Sweet Seeds and 5 White Widow fem seeds from Seedsman. All Jack 47 sprouted on the 19th of December and look pretty healthy. Only two of the White Widow sprouted, ouch. The little one on the left is one of the WW, it's real small and looks to have a Calcium and Potassium issue. It has pretty much looked this way since it's first set of leaves came in. The second WW is doing much better, early on it was showing burnt tips on it's first set of leaves, it is in the front right on the first shot.

    I didn't start feeding nutes until the 30th of Decemeber. Initially started at quarter strength, but the girls were eating it up and asking for more. On the 2nd of January I went to full strength for the 3 Jack 47 and one good WW. The smallest was flushed several times on the 2nd and reduced to half strength, with all getting quarter strength nutes spraid foliarly. I have clones coming as well from a local caregiver. They are currently rooting and won't be here for at least a week. Either going with Apollo 13 or Purple Kush. What do you guys think? Since I can grow up to 12 plants legally, I'm thinking of adding 5 more to total 10 for now. About a week or so into flower I will take clones, pick the best mother and have two moms in Veg as these finish out.

    My tent will be here on Monday, ordered one from Amazon. Perfect timing too, since they are about ready to go under the 1000w HPS and be transplanted to their 2gal Smart Pots. Can't wait for that. I really wanted to go with the Secret Jardin Darkroom II 150, but couldn't fit it into my budget at the price of $379 +shipping. I went with the one from LEDWholesale. Once it is up I will post some more shots. Until then, this is what I'm smokin on now.

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    Sorry for the bad pics, shots taken with my BB!
     
  2. Very cool man good luck. Can't wait to see updates.
    :smoke:
     
  3. Thanks, I am pretty pumped to say the least. I'm still a bit worried about the one WW that is struggling. She appears to be doing better, but growth has pretty much stopped. Does anyone have any input on her? Am I right in assuming Potassium is locking out the Calcium? I am thinking of lowering the bloom portion in the modified lucas formula for this particular one, my thoughts are to get the potassium lower to help with the calcium intake. Ironically, the other WW has no problems at all and is on full strength nutes. I may just killer her off and leave the one WW.
     
  4. I'd maybe water once a day rather than twice, just to be more on the safe side of things.
     
  5. #5 VeoDigital, Jan 7, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 7, 2011
    Thanks for the input!

    Watering 2x per day accomplishes two things:
    Eliminates salt buildup with the 20-25% runoff so no flushing ever has to take place, though some nutes are wasted.

    With the low nutrient profile that the H3ad formula is, watering twice in a day ensures that the nutes are readily available for the plant when they want them.

    The profile looks like this:
    N 97
    P 60
    K 105
    Mg 67
    S 61
    Ca 97

    I am still trying to work out a profile to add E.J Catalyst, Maxicrop seaweed, Pro-tekt silcon for uptake. Unfortunately, the only way I can keep the ratios in line is to add sweet and guano high in P, and mess with the initial concentrations. Below is what it looks like and any input on this I would highly appreciate it.

    11ml micro
    9ml bloom
    1g Epsom Salt
    19ml humic acid (uptake)
    25ml EJ Cat (uptake + Nitrogen and Potassium)
    15ml Maxicrop (uptake + Potassium and Iron)
    5ml Pro-tekt Silicon (Potassium and Silicon for structure/deterant to diseases)
    10ml botanicare sweet
    13ml Roots HP2 Bat Guano (to fix the phosphorus imbalance)

    At the amounts above the profile changes to:
    N 185
    P 120
    K 202
    Mg 126
    S 107
    Ca 178


    What do you guys think for hitting the "target ratio" of N-P-K-Mg-S-Ca ?

    I am certainly over complicating things by adding to the base profile, it may be something I save for next run after I dial these in.
     
  6. #6 VeoDigital, Jan 8, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 8, 2011
    I fimmed each today, except the little one, transplanted them all into 2gal smart pots. This is a bitch I must say. I expanded about half of a 2.5 cu/ft brick of coco, then filled each smart pot about 2/3's full, then saturated the hell out of it. I mean, for every 2 gal pot, I ran through 6 gallons with 2tsp of florakleen, just to be sure. It's the hydrofarm coco, I don't see too many people using it, and those that did really rinsed it. After that I ran about a 1/2 gal of half strength nutes through each smart pot ph 5.8. Then, dug a small bowl into the coco, transplanted them, then back filled with coco left from the expansion. I then ran through about a 1/2 gallon of full strength nutes per smart pot, pretty much ensuring no salts in the coco, and fresh nutes for the girls.

    This is the White Widow that has shown a Mg deficiency and slow growth since it sprouted. It was the last to sprout, and the worst one so far. It looks to be improving some since upping the epsom salt to 1.5g. I will drop it back off to 1g or less once she is back on track. Was thinking of naming her Helen Keller lol :rolleyes:
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    Can you tell which one is the other White Widow now? These things are exploding with growth. The root mass I pulled out of the dixie cups was astonishing coming from soil.

    Right after transplant
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    This is a shot 2 and a half hours later.
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    Right after transplanting
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    2 and a half hours later. The one in the back left, which happens to be the other white widow, is really lifting up her skirt. Might call her Marilyn Monroe? that's been used...
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  7. looking good bro. we both got a coco grow going on at the same time! my seeds sprouted on the 17-19th, so I'm right along with you. My temperatures were very hard to control when I was using the cabinent I made, so I had to throw my girls in my tent w/ a 600w. I'm subbed in and will check back in a few days. keep the pictures coming my dude!
     
  8. Thanks man! I took a look at your grow, and will love checking back and forth on our progress since we started exactly the same time. Ironically we fimmed on the same day too without knowing we were doing it. I love the tent, I wanted a Secret Jardin as well, but the price was too much. Maybe i a few months I will upgrade.
     
  9. I setup the 6.4' x 6.4' tent last night, got the cool tube installed and the plants in the tent. The tent resides in a room that is 8' x 9', but will probably be moved to a 12' x 12' room. Setting this tent up by myself was a huge bitch, took a little more than an hour just to get the tent up, and about another 45 minutes to set the cool tube and ducting. I was having a hard time determining how I wanted to mount the inline fan. I ended up just setting it on top of the tent's roof exhaust, and am extracting heat that way. The problem with this is, the sock in which the flex ducting is attached to and where the inline fan sits on its port, tends to compress in on itself due to the fact that the inline fan sucks air to fast. This causes air flow to be less, makes the inline fan work harder, and messes with my temps. I am definitely going to have to change how it is mounted today. Temps crept to 93F overnight :mad: because I didn't anticipate the sock collapsing on itself and slowing air flow. After adjusting it, 5 minutes later temps were at 81 - still kind of high for my liking.

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    The cool tube is about 42" from the tops of the plants. Once I get temps in order, I think I can move it closer. Light schedule will remain 24/0.

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  10. Just some fim pics

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    After a feeding
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  11. The cool tube looks good man. I wish I got a bigger tent like you. I feel like my 3.25x3.25ft secret jardin is going to be a problem during flowering.

    How tall are your plants now? From the last picture of them all together, they're all looking good. It's nice to see the FIM went well. I'm getting similar growth with my FIM too :)

    How much longer do you plan to veg. for? Two or three weeks more? Have you lowered your 1000w light from 42" yet? Have you made any adjustments to your nutrient profile, or is it still the same?

    LOOKING GOOD BROSKI!
     
  12. I know what you mean, I thought about the secret jardin 150w, but instead went with the cheaper, larger tent by GYO. I'm glad I did, because it is nice to have the room in the tent when working with the girls. As I always say, go big or go home. I measured them yesterday during their feeding, and the tallest is 9.5", the others fall in around 8.75 inches, I didn't bother measuring the fucked up WW, thinking of just killing it off since I am getting clones in the next few days.

    I was originally going to veg for 45 days, but might cut that down to 30. I'd consider myself at 15 days veg, when the second set of leaves came in. The light is still 42" away, thinking about lowering it 10 inches or so. No adjustments have been made to my nute profile yet, but I am thinking of adding cal-mag instead of the epsom salts, going to get some today. This will help bring in line some of the Mg deficiency I am anticipating. Of the 4 healthy girls, 3 are showing some very early signs of Mg deficiency. The issue with that is, cal-mag will add some nitrogen to the mix and slightly funk my profile. I don't think it will be of any consequence, because the extra available potassium in Coco tends to lock out N and Mg, increasing the N shouldn't show any ill effects. I have a lot of thoughts bouncing around in my head about my nute profile. So far so good, but things can always be improved.

    So as of now, still 6ml micro, 9ml bloom, 1g of epsom salt.
    I am going to test with 6ml micro, 9ml bloom, .5g epsom and 5ml cal-mag - what do ya think? Also, light schedule is still 24/0. If I get time today I will post pics.
     
  13. Fim progress, looking good.
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    All four
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    She is happy
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    What do ya think so far? Still at 24/0 light schedule, 6/9 with 18-19ml humic acid, and 1g of epsom salt. I am actually at a point where I don't add epsom salt every time I feed.
     
  14. Everyone is still looking good. One of the plants look a little droopy, but at least its not giving you unpredictable deficiency signs :rolleyes:

    The fim is recovering nice, I'm still debating how long to veg. for. I'm flipping the switch when I feel I'm ready to. There is no said date. Like I said in the PM, I'm aiming for end of jan. beginning of feb. It could change though! I do know that 25 days (mid feb.) from now you'll have some bushy bitches though :D
     
  15. keep in mind that they are gonna double in size after the switch so if you have space issues, i would suggest fliping lights at the end of the month.
     
  16. Thanks guys! This definitely isn't my first grow ever, just in coco. These are actually going to almost triple in size. The Jack 47 is known to really stretch. I have 6'4" of ceiling space, take out the light and required distance from the top of the canopy, I have about 4'10" of space. I'm going to measure them today when I get home.

    The two plants that looked droopy were actually the plants in the rotation that were right infront of the box fan, so the air movement generated by the fan sort of bent them down like that.
     
  17. #17 VeoDigital, Jan 16, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 16, 2011
    Not too happy with the fim results. Didn't split into four, just some snipped leaves show.
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    I decided to top all of them. I'm out of town until the 21st. Have my woman looking after the girls. Will tie them down more when I get back. It was a bit of a pain, but I mixed up an entire 5 days worth of nutes, so she didn't have to worry about it. :rolleyes:

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    In the solution I mixed up for the next 5 days, I went 6ml micro, 10ml bloom and 5ml cal-mag. Hoping to come back to more green and that very small Calcium issue eliminated.
     
  18. I'm really missing the girls right now, got an update from the woman and she says they "look good."

    What really sucks, and more importantly, is that today is her birthday, and I am missing it... traveling for work is a huge downer when you can't be around the ones you love.
     
  19. i'm expecting new pictures when you get back.

    happy birthday to your g/f too, be easy bro.

    (I've been lazy recently :D, ill be updating my journal sometime tomorrow, check it out if you've got time)
     
  20. I will most certainly post pics. I expect to see some massive changes, hopefully for the better. No bad news out of the homefront. She fed them again last night, 6/10/5 at 1/2 gal a piece.
     

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