Greetings I'm back from a much needed break from constant growing and foruming. I'm glad to be back and ready for another indoor season. Man, time passes by fast. already on my 4th closet grow trial. Not to mention the multitude of side experiments i neglect to document. This time around i'll try to be more in-depth with my nutrient scheme. If you want to see my previous trials: 1st - http://forum.grasscity.com/hydroponic-grow-journals/719674-my-first-hydro-grow-dwc-3.html 2nd - http://forum.grasscity.com/hydropon...wc-tray-system-400w-mh-hps-3.html#post9587096 3rd - http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/794323-240w-led-sour-grape-haze-summer-fun.html Room Project - http://forum.grasscity.com/do-yourself/871247-4x8-18-site-dwc-custom-system.html#post11542676 Some changes i would like to note: New Bulb - Good old HTG supply. Super 400W HPS! Enahnce Blue Spectrum! 55K lumens! blah, blah, blah. It's a new bulb and i'm hoping it'll deliver on all the hyped advertising. Full Spectrum of Nutrients - My first grow i only used the Pro Grow and Pro Bloom. The 2nd and 3rd time i used i used Pro Grow/Bloom/Sweet/Hydroplex. Now i'm adding to the mix Liquid Karma, Cal Mag, Silica Blast and Aqua Shield. Plus you can see the other things i have to keep the magic going (calibration fluids, PH balance, cloning gel, neem oil) First Pic - Day 1, Second Pic - About a week later New Strains - I've finally moved on from the Sour Grape Haze. I've been smoking that stuff for way too long and i need to broaden my growing experiences. I have Sweet Tooth and Mr. Nice Guy. ST is growing insanely fast. First time i can notice growth each time i check it. Mr.NG lagging a bit and not the most robust looking plant, just like the first time i grew it, but damn this plant is fucking tough! Scrog - That's right. I finally did it. Going to see if i can pull off a scrog. What's crazy is i built that out of junk basically. Extra piece of green garden fencing i cut up and then lined the outside with wire from hangers and then attached with duct tape. Screwed duct tape to each wall and using the retracting zip lines for some extra anchors. Better Ventilation - With summer temps into the 90's, i couldn't afford to keep venting that hot air back into my room. I finally got around to drilling a hole in the ceiling and venting the heat into the addict. Dropped my temp dramatically, both in the grow closet and the house. First two days before the change, the grow the closet was hitting 100 degrees, causing some heat damage to the ST, but the Mr. NG was undamaged. Plant Stats - I swear i'm not trying to do this, but it seem that my nutrient concentration has slowly been going up over the week as the water is being used/evaporated coupled with the addition of a few drops of PH down every day to maintain 5.5-6.0. This is day 8 of veg. I'm giving them 18 hours of dalight vs 24 like i have in the past. Daily high about 90F and then usually won't get anything lower than 70F. rH 25-40%. Day 1-4 PPM 680-720 Day 4-8 PPM 720-760 Basically i followed the low end of this guideline and then diluted the concentration to about 650 with PH'd water. Now, I'll let it slowly get more concentrated as the water is used up and then just add my flowering nutes when my res gets low (if timed correctly) One thing i do not use is the CLeareX and Pro Grow Soil. I just use Bloom all the way through.
Even when i'm only gone for a 24 hour period, i can still notice a growth difference. They didn't have the happiest looking set of roots when i got the clones, but they've obviously bounced back. This marks the end of day 9 veg. No roots have hit the res as of yet, but when they do, i think the plants will explode. Dropped PPM in res from 770-->720 (added filter tap water) which caused the to rise From 5.6 to 5.7 I had read that one of the nutrients (silica blast or aqua shield) is supposed to help the nutrient solution PH more stable. In previous trials, i've always had a PH drift up, in a fairly consistent and predictable manner depending on plant size. I added the previously mentioned supplements to the res two days ago and my PH hasn't been rising like i used to. If anything, it now seems to need a PH up for maintenance. I'll keep you posted on my observations, but I'm very pleased with the current progress. I think i'm getting better at this
For those of you who haven't seen my 4 plant top feed DWC system. Each plants gets about 2.5 gallons of water and butt load of airration. Res can hold 8-9 gallons. I use a Trimeter. Day 11 of Veg This is Day 12 of veg. They're getting pretty close to that scrog. I will probably top them at two weeks and then start guiding the main colas-to-be. Res 750ppm @ 5.8 PH
I wasn't even going to look at the plants today. I usually just pull up the bottom of the plastic cover and balance the PH. Luckily i did because i looks like one of the plants wasn't getting watered. It's wilted and this damage is less than 24 hours old because i took pictures last night. Foiler spray (ph 6.2, i was in a hurry) and then drenched the growing medium in the pot. Going to mist spray a few more times before bed and hope for the best. Day 13 Veg - 750ppm @ 5.8 Topped the Mr. Nice Guy. Everything is exactly the same for all the plants, so the only thing i can think is i accidentally left my timer on the "off" position so no top feeding occurred since last night. Typically this wouldn't' be a problem, unless the roots have not yet hit the res. That clone was by far the the runt of the litter and i pulled back the top layer of hydroton to check the root mass. Still had white roots, just not into the res. This will prove to be a interesting and possibly tragic next 24 hours.
Well, my last ditch resuscitation effort and all the wishful thinking in the world wasn't enough to bring back the wilted clone. But when the cannabis gods give you lemons, you make lemon aid! I just happen to have a scrog and 25% more room for my other 3 plants to be guided/LST, something i've been wanting to experiment with. It's all going to be based on the plants progression (i need to get 20+ clones before switching at minimum) but i'll likely end up vegging for 4 weeks instead of the typical 3 i've done in trials past. I would like to note that geographically where i live, its very warm still. My avg temps have been 72F-95F(in grow closet), usually in the 80's+ during the photo period. Hoping this hasn't dramatically effected growth rate.
It's been a few days and the plants are thriving. I upped the nutrient concentration from 780ppm to 980ppm. Keeping it stable 5.7-6.0. I started with 1/2 strength nutes for the first two week and let its PPM drift upwards. 650-780 at which point i was able to add 4 Gallons of full strength nutes to the res. Pictures of day 17 Veg
Day 19 Veg - 1000 PPM - i've been guiding the plants through the scrog, attempting to space the plants out sufficiently to utilize the majority of the grow space. Look at all those clones to be
This is my High Pressure Sodium grow closet. I tried messing with LED lighting a few months ago, but i need more units to accommodate my grow area. Maybe next summer...
Day 21 - Week 3 of veg is coming to an end. The plants look so awesome. not a single sign of bugs or disease. The roots are white and have put on some good mass. I will clone this weekend and then switch to flowering.
What a difference between day 1 and the soon to be ending week 4 (day 25 veg). I've been guiding the nodes through the screen, spreading the plants branches outwards and more flat. I'm going to clone in the next couple of days. Clean out the majority of the branches below the canopy and the few tall nodes above the canopy to even things out before flowering.. 1100ppm @ 5.5-6.0 (has been 5.5-5.7 for the last 3 days or so, while i've been gone)
Got a whole lot finished today. Full Tray of Clones. Flipping to 12/12 starting Monday. Dumped the Res after a month of use and switched to flowering nutes. Went from 1200ppm---->1300ppm @ 5.8-5.9ph. Switched from using Pro Grow to Pro Bloom and added Hydroplex (0-6-10) and Sweet. No signs of bugs or diseases, so far.... Lets hope for the best! Projected Nutrient Load (PPM) Week 1 - 1300 Week 2 - 1350 week 3 - 1400 week 4 -1450 week 5 - 1500 week 6 - 1550 week 7 - 1600 week 8 - Flush week 9 - Flush (if necessary) I have a plastic netted tray inside the cloning tray to provide a little room for root growth. ideally i would have a layer of perlite on the bottom, but the hydro store was closed today. Plus, the clear plastic has a brown tint i just don't like (from being dirty and left out in the sun). I tried soaking the Rockwool cubes a new nutrient solution mix with Pro Grow, Liquid Karma, Aqua Shield. Was shooting for ph of 5.8-6.0 but i added fresh water to bring down the ppm to about 250 and forgot to adjust, so it was closer to 6.3-6.4. We'll see if it makes a difference. Soaked for 2-3 hours Before i added the rockwool cubes, i filled a few bottles with the nutrient solution. I then dilute this solution by 50%, ph adjust for 5.5-5.8 and use for a foliar spray. I hope these guys don't mind being a little crowded. Last time i did a bunch of cloning and trading, i gave away all my trays, only had one left. I'll pack em' tight and throw them under 110watss of cfls and 28w red/blue leds Cloning X gel and a brand new razor, lets get started! What a mess! But i don't see it that way. It's a forest of potential plants! Plus, it forces me to clean the lower branches that won't produce mature buds and allows for better airflow. Saves me big $$$ on not having to buy clones. You just have to be patient. I'll try clones of various sizes, but i typically stay to 4-5 nodes long and i try to get two nodes sites in rockwool medium, unless they're really stretched out, in which case the bottom 45 degree cut will have to suffice. There is about 60 clones in there. 2/3 of the plants on the left hand side are Sweet Tooth. The other 1/3 is Mr. Nice guy. If 18 of each pull through, i'll have the option of growing either when they start rooting. Don't worry, i marked the tray so i'll know for sure, but they're like my kids, i can tell the difference. And now comes a week of baby sitting with a spray bottle. I need to get me some of that wilt spray.
Got home early to do some work on the girls and get quick update. Going to get ready for another round of clones tomorrow. The other clones are doing well. Day 31 Overall Day 5 - 12/12 1210-1370ppm* Ph - 5.5 - 5.9 *drift over a 3 day period, then i refilled with 1-2 gallons of filtered water and repeat when necessary
Day 32 Overall Day 6 - 12/12 1220-1250ppm* Ph - 5.5 - 5.8 *i filled the res with a few cups of fresh water and the PPM is starting to get too low. I will be adding 3-4 gallons of full strength nutes when the res is lower. Always a good sign ! I'm sold on scrogs. I love how the plant canopy is distributed outwards and spreads out flat. Makes light distance easy to manage. Right now the nodes are pushing the screen upwards. When the buds get to heavy I'm willing be to bet they'll be pulling it down. Got up at 6am to mix a 5.6ph pre-soak solution for the rockwool cubes. Went back to bed for an hour, ate and then got lost on the forums until 10am SHIT! two hours of light left and i still need to clone. plus, my trim jobs get better every grow I've read its acceptable to clone up to two weeks into flowering, but i prefer to keep it within 1 week. (day six here) that's 60+ clones 1 week old and 40+ more right behind them. All from 3 clones/40$ ago.
Just some advice to anyone using passtium hydroxide for PH up. If you spill that stuff on your skin, WASH IMMEDIATELY. It's slipper and coats your skin well, use soap and hand towel to remove quicker. I accidentally poured a decent amount on my bare leg. Was trying to fill the cap and too much came out. It started to tingle and burn within 10 seconds. It must have only been 30-45 second before i jumped in the shower. Skin is slightly red and feel irritated, slightly itchy.
Day 38 Overall Day 12 - 12/12 1300-1400ppm* Ph - 5.4 - 6.0* *some days i'm not around for up to 48 hours. I'll adjust the Ph of the water in the nute solution to around 5.9-6.0 and will drop to 5.4/5.5 and increase by 50-100ppm. As my plants use more water as they get bigger, the Ph/ppm fluctuations occur faster. too bad i lost my 4th plant, because my screen would stacked on both sides. how long should i keep the bottom fan leaves? trim higher? i tucked some of the taller node under the screen, i'll post pictures in the morning to show difference. Another thing i would like to note, my 12/12 period is from Midnight to Noon. I have to do this to avoid using the HPS during the summer days heat. At night, when the light is on, my temps is 80-86 degrees. When it's the dark period, it's 90+. I've read that this may cause increased stretching, but the nodes seem decent for a pure HPS grow.
View attachment 685525 I've read its acceptable to clone up to two weeks into flowering, but i prefer to keep it within 1 week. (day six here) I cloned atjust over two weeks into flower. It was funny. As soon as they rooted they started to get little buds on em. Two weeks of 24 hour light took care of that. Now they are vegging away just like normal except they have a lot of trics on the fan leaves. Im going to use one of them for a mom through the winter. Scrog on!