Second Grow - Both mixed media and hydro schizophrenic grow

2-14-2014
 
I got the hydro sitting @ a bit over 650ppm, and will up that some next week. The coco nutes went in at a higher 1000 ppm. 500ml/pot provided plenty of runoff to the dishes. May shift to more frequent, smaller feedings to prevent too much of that. I was going to leave the tent open for the day, but figured since I knew they had nutes, it was a better idea to button up and turn on the gas.
 
Definitely going all DWC next time, and losing the pots. Decent sized air stones can run more than the freaking containers. Sort of thinking that in the big tent, 2x DWC bins could, with decent timing, be set up so one bin is just plants starting the flower cycle, and others well along toward finishing. I think the lids on the 10 gal and 18 gal are the same size (gotta recheck), so it would only be a matter of swapping a lid from one tent to the next.
 
Now it's time for a few hits and some lunch.  <span style="font-family:'times new roman', times, serif;"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);"> </span></span>
 
 

 

2-16-2014
 
My order of beans arrived yesterday.
 
The Aurora's were identified.
The Indoor Mix Feminized was just a package of seeds. No identification whatsoever.
The 10 free seeds seeds - Same deal.
 
Unbelievable. I feel very disrespected as a consumer. These people are far too stoned to take care of business properly.
 
When I ordered from the Single Seed place, everything came identified - Even the freebies.
 
Nirvana Shop couldn't be bothered. The packaging and shipping were excellent. But their policy of cash or expensive wire transfer of funds just sucks, and this iced my cake as far as they're concerned.
 
Yeah, if you just order kind, you'd probably be okay, except for the free seeds, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm giving @http://www.nirvanashop.com a miss in the future. From now on, I'm sticking to the pros.
 
Assholes.
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

2-16-2014
 
Nothing new.
 
Today's photo shoot
 

 
The potted plants are at about 15 days, and the hydros a few days more. One of the hydro Widows had a rough germination, and is a runt. So was the one in the pot. Started out ragged looking, but seems to be trying now.
 
The Blackberries just seem to be loving their environment. I figured out I could open up the sock port on the top of the 32" tent to vent heat and humidity. That did get the humidity to under 80%, and stabilized the tent overall at around 84 at plant level, and only a couple of degrees more at the top.  No more condensation on the walls, either. Good.
 
The 35's are coming along. I'm beginning now to think I have 3 different strains or phenotypes of the F35 going. We'll see. The one I know for sure is an oddball is really lagging. It's the stick marked F35v.
 
 

 

 
Nope! I settled on full spectrum, with a red bias. I had thought to put both fixtures in one tent. However, that was way too hot without any climate control, which I wanted to avoid. Judging by my results so far, it looks like 300w is plenty, at least to start. I picked my panels also because they hit the yellow/orange wavelengths a little.
 
I was fooling around and put in a silly-low offer on a 2x4x7 tent, and they took it. So...  That's now set up and awaiting fan/filter, and it'll be the flowering tent. I'll set up an intake manifold with a filter and light baffle for fresh air intake. Wasn't planning on running co2 more than the first 2-3 weeks of flowering.

 

 
I'm still pissed. I'm not real fussed about the freebies, but an indoor mixed set of pricey feminized seeds ought to be identified, IMO.
 
I haven't noticed the tank running any more than usual. I expect the warm air pulls out a little more CO2 than would nominally be lost anyway, but I didn't like the condensation, and CO2 is fairly cheap. Provided nobody has gotten too tall, I'll likely just leave them there for the first couple of weeks of flowering, unless they get too smelly and it's noticeable. I didn't want to have to move the CO2 setup, but I can't see any sensible way to use the same tank with both tents, since one is going to be venting at times, and regulating off of that would put too much gas in the other tent. But with fewer hours illuminated and regular venting, the flower tent should run cooler and much less humid.
 
The Blackberries and Widows are ready to start FIMing, but I can't be bothered. That slows growth, and I want these to finish as soon as practical. I'll make some clones of the hydro ones once I'm sure of their sex. At some point, I'll clone the better 35's, too.
 
So this week should drop the fan/filter. I'll go by the store for the air exchange parts, and order the 4" cover filter for that, since I doubt home depot carries them. I'm going to reset the armoire for cloning/germinating. Still can't decide on what size tubs to use for DWC next grow.
 
So for the genetics, I'm hoping for at least 1 fem BB and WW for clones. Got fem F35's. I have those new Aurora fem beans, and 5 other who the fuck knows fem seeds. I see that there's several strains of African Gold seeds available cheap. The best, well the most potent shit I ever smoked was some dry, seedy, stemy, crappy looking yellow weed when I was in Malindi, Kenya. This shit crumbled to powder, and you had to mix it with tobacco to smoke it - and not much, either. One little pin joint got me and my GF into screw mode for a good hour, then we ended up crashing out for the rest of the afternoon. I think I'll order a couple varieties of those. They're regular, so I'd want to start 2-3 of each. I figure the new setup will be 2x6 plants in DWC.

 

2-18-2014
 
Wasn't going to post today, but since I opened up the tent, I took some pics while I was in there. Everyone looks happy, and even the scrawny plants are starting to show they're picking up. The Berries are going nutz, and the Widows not far behind, except for the runt.
 
The fan/filter arrived today, along with my ph meter. Still waiting on the calibration solution, but I'll get around to checking it against the GH test kit. I'm still deciding how I want to set up the fan/filter. I expect I'll try it without an intake setup first. I'm not sure there's enough cracks to let fresh air in. Too lazy to go to the store for ducting stuff today, and it's not yet a priority.
 
Still looking at other LED results. Turns out I was spot on in my coverage estimates for this configuration of LED's. I see figures that put a 2:1 comparison between LED's and MIH lighting. With the ability to virtually hand pick the spectrum you want, I'm pretty sure LED's are the future.
 
Most of the LED "Fails" you see are all from 2009 or so. The tech was still being figured out, and some makers were throwing out anything LED and calling it a grow light. But it didn't take long for the people who knew what was needed got to putting out working models - and working specs, to get a successful product. In this day and age, it doesn't take long for the knock-offs to come along. I don't mean knock-off in a negative sense, but made to just do the job, which is to deliver light in the range you want. The Chinese are in it to make money, and they know you have to produce a good product to compete, because the factory next door sure is. Price seems to be about 50 cents+ a watt.with the 3w LED's. It's possible, and even reasonable to custom order the spectrum you want. Yet, you see old grow videos on UToob where guys swear that LED's don't work, etc. Some are in that 2009 era. I wonder how some of those people are growing now?
 
I don't know where my plants would be now had I took them right from seedling to LED, but I'm pretty happy where they are for a couple of weeks, and only 8 days in the tent with LED/CO2. So far, I'd have no problem recommending a good LED.
 

 
 

 

2-18-2014
 
I did these sets for comparison. Easier to see the progress like this. The left side of each set is from 2-10-2014. The right was taken today.
 

 

 
You don't "Change the water." You'd use a "Recirculating" nute mix, and just top off. You can pour through one of the pots, or crack the lid, even if it's in a scrog. No system is painless.

 

2-19-2014
 
Seeing how well plants have adapted to the LED spectrum, I lowered the fixture to 24" above plants for the time being. Curious to know if this accelerates growth to any noticeable degree. With the footprint of this light, I could maybe sneak it down another 6-12" closer.
 
Got half a mind to stick that inline fan in the 32" tent for a while. Only problem is using up a lot of CO2, since I'd have to bring it back up after every run. The humidity isn't as bad as it was, but there's still a small amount. Lowering the light might help burn off some.
 

 
 

 

Plenty of DWC how to videos on YouTube


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy SII using Grasscity Forum mobile app

 

2-21-2014
 
After I lowered the light fixture the other day, I started noticing that I was getting a leaf color change in the one big hydro White Widow.
 

 
There's only a bit of this in the next larger plant. The 35v has some of it as well, so it may be that the light is too close for a couple of these. It kind of has me scratching my head, since it doesn't really look like anything actually "Wrong," such as a nute deficiency, light burn or bugs. I'm wondering if this isn't a WW characteristic. I do know that the off color set is growing slowly. About the closest visual problem I can see is that it looks a little like a sulfur deficiency. Nutes were at 425ppm, and I took them up to 850 in both tubs. The B-Berries are thriving, as are the potted plants, who also got fed even though there was still plenty of moisture in the pots. If that discoloration doesn't go away in a couple of days, I'll raise the light back up. Not really sure I've seen any improvement in grow rate with it being lowered.
 
Anyway, I opened up the tent to give it a good drying out. Noticed some green mold on the perlite in the SIP dishes, and promptly dumped that shit, and put clay balls under the smartpots, which don't really air trim roots all that well, as some of the other pics show.
 

 
I messed around with hanging the fan/filter combo. The fan/filter aren't actually attached to each other with anything yet. I turned it on and zipped up the tent and it really sucks in the sides! Hard to see in the pic.
 

 

 
Thanks! I'm really in uncharted territory here with these LED's. Never dreamed such a small fixture could induce light stress, <span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">  but I raised it back up to almost where it was, only 6" lower. The leaf problem doesn't look any worse, so I guess that was it. I did notice resumed growth overnight. Only problem is since I fed yesterday, the tent was at like 99% humidity this morning. So CO2 off and tent open. Speaking of CO2, I hefted the bottle yesterday, and it's considerably lighter. No way to tell how far gone without a scale. </span></span>
 
Yeah, I figured that green crud was just algae, but I just didn't want it spreading all over the pots. The clay actually allows me to see how much runoff I'm getting. It was hard to tell with the perlite. I really don't want to overfeed or over water. What little runoff I saw yesterday was promptly sucked back up by the roots when they had a minute.
 
Not sure how long I'm going to veg these things. I suppose that's another thing I'll need to eyeball, since it's a mix of indica and sativa strains. I doubt they'll all be ready at the same time. I had in the back of my mind at least 8-10 weeks. According to the breeder, F35's will veg indefinitely under 18/6. Since the other seeds were regulars, I kind of expect the same deal, unless I fuck something <span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">up.</span></span>
 
I think that F35 plant I keep in the lower right is yet another F35 phenotype. You can't tell in the pics, even with correction, but the leaves have a definite, subtle bluish cast that I haven't seen in the 35's before. Growing nicely as well, and seems a little stretchier than the more pure F35's. I'll clone the shit out of this a couple of weeks before I throw it into flower, in case it's killer. I'll mark it with a "B" next time I'm in there. I want to reset the wiring anyhow, and lower the CO2 controller to plant level.
 
View attachment 1380961   F35B?
 
Good info on the coco. I wasn't exactly sure how wet they were supposed to be. I know that the smartpots are damp by design with the SIP dishes. I'll probably stretch out the feedings to a couple of times a week.
 
That pretty hue goes away fairly quick once you're eyes have adapted. After that, you mind and retinas corrects it to appear like white daylight.

 

2-22-2014
 
Just got an email from China with this. Seems they have these down to .40¢ a watt. These are 135w fixtures. Not bad, really. In a couple of years, they'll start coming as freebies in your Frosted Flakes cartons.
 
At $45 bucks a pop, they could make nice grow room filler light.
 

 

2-23-2014
 
I raised the light to almost where it was maxed out at the top of the tent. Color is coming back to the leaves on those Widows, and that's a relief. Humidity is still a bitch overnight. Really beginning to believe that CO2 and tents just don't work well together. If you ventilate, you lose the gas. If you button up, humidity goes crazy. I certainly hope it's less of a problem when I go DWC.
 

 
That lower plant is that F35 "Blue" I mentioned. Looking at it closely, I'd almost swear it was another Widow. Looks SO similar.
 
  F35"B"
 
Got my packets of buffering solution. Calls for mixing with deionized water. Dunno where the fuck I can find that. I'll get by with plain old distilled water. Not exactly the same thing, but close enough.