12/12 From Seed Experiment - 21 Strains

[Hot Diggity Sog]

Already a jungle in there (yikes with 53 Days left).

Suggestion:

Train (trellis) your plants so they're growing out toward the light pruning a few of the lower branches thats going to be shaded anyway.

I always assumed plants would naturally grow toward the light----NOT SO----always up---must be this gravity thing.

I admire your commitment----hope you don't run out of gas.

A~~~

I kind of figured they would grow toward the light too. This is my 1st ever vertical as well and the amount of lean was completely unknown. To my surprise, they are mostly going straight up as you said. I'm working on the trellis concept...trying to make something very simple...imagine 3 hoola hoop's connected...one for each row. Still letting the concept tumble around in my head.

Thanks for the encouragement and kind words. And I won't run out of gas!

 

[Hot Diggity Sog]

My Knock off before panels added-----drain port raised in tube to set nute level.
View attachment 3467442

Edit: Just noticed an important change I made----the blue cobra line was positioned before the drain port----helps prevent roots from making it to the drain

A~~~

What did you use to cut those openings in the PVC? What technique did you use to seal those drain holes?

 

[Hot Diggity Sog]

Okay everyone...my House and Gardens Aqua flakes arrived today...woohoo! To my surprise, I am happy to see that they are bottles of liquid. I was totally expecting the nutes to be dry powder. I guess the name "flakes" threw me...lol

I recalibrated my PH/EC gear and will prepare for the nutrient change soon.

 

[Sativied]

I always assumed plants would naturally grow toward the light----NOT SO----always up---must be this gravity thing.

This thing in particular: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitropism

I expected them to lean more too though, I expected longer plants with less branches with their main cola hanging towards the center. Instead it looks like a flat canopy (from the side...), which is a good thing by itself. In addition to plant size spacing ideally the amount of buds is limited too.

I think it does show the light is sufficient in that regards, I mean if it weren't they would bend more towards the light: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phototropism So I think the main reason they don't bend towards the light is because they already oriented the leaves to the light being able to capture plenty of light without having to grow towards it.

To my surprise, I am happy to see that they are bottles of liquid. I was totally expecting the nutes to be dry powder. I guess the name "flakes" threw me...lol.

I have no idea why they call it "flakes", just a liquid indeed. I started out with "Hydro" AB, then read about AquaFlakes being created for recirculating systems with magnetic pumps and supposedly cleaner, purer or something. Both work fine but I stuck with the AquaFlakes. Still got 3gallons I look forward to using (can't buy it locally anymore).

Add A to water first ,15 min or so later add the B, let that mix a little, then use ph down. When I top off with nutes, I premix in a bottle or jug, so add A to water again and not to an AB solution. For example if I need to top off 10liter and want to add bit of nutes too I mix the nutes separately in a 1 liter bottle.

 

[Alaric]

What did you use to cut those openings in the PVC? What technique did you use to seal those drain holes?

Those 5'x9'x5" wide slots were marked with a sharpie then used a large drill bit and made holes inside the marked rectangle at the 4 corners just enough to get the jigsaw blade in and tried to make straight cuts.

Example:http://www.cpotools.com/bosch-jig-saws/bosch-jig-saws,default,sc.html?ref=msn&utm_source=msn&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=jig saw&utm_content=jig saws - gen&utm_campaign=cpo bosch - m__reconditioned - desktop

For drain (1" hose barb to 1" male pipe thread) used hole saw slightly smaller than a 1" tap----tapped hole and screwed the drain fitting in----works great (no leaks) Notice the wall thickness of that schedule 40----main reason why I chose that pvc instead schedule 20, also lends itself well for attaching the vinyl panels.

Same process used for supply line (spray line) except 3/4".

If you ever try this I suggest:

1) Once the slot is marked practice with the hole saws and taps before you try it for real (stings like a bitch getting the hole too big for the tap/s)

2) marking those cut outs takes some time but once one is remove it can be used as a template for marking more tubes----so hang on to it.

A~~~

 

[Alaric]

@satived When I first realized the gravity effect----it was on the stems above the light/s----and yes, the fans tended to follow the light making them "look" droopy---especially on the sides.

Good point about bud weight bending the branch----but until then upper plant branches are moving away from the light without any kind of training.

A~~~

 

[hayrolld]

Dang man, you have had a busy week while I was on vacation. That was a lot to catch up on. Glad to hear your plants are bouncing back. I think the new nute set will help take care of the rest. @Sativied +rep for managing to explain clearly and cohesively the concepts behind why changes affect the hydro system. Hot Diggity what have you decided to do with the water pumps? Depending on where you are having overflow issues, you could try adding the second line after that in the tubes, instead of both at the beginning.

 

[Hot Diggity Sog]

Dang man, you have had a busy week while I was on vacation. That was a lot to catch up on. Glad to hear your plants are bouncing back. I think the new nute set will help take care of the rest. @Sativied +rep for managing to explain clearly and cohesively the concepts behind why changes affect the hydro system. Hot Diggity what have you decided to do with the water pumps? Depending on where you are having overflow issues, you could try adding the second line after that in the tubes, instead of both at the beginning.

Thanks man. @Sativied is simply an incredible resource and I am lucky to have him contributing to this
Regarding the pumps...you know I'm not sure yet. The last few days I've just been turning the 2nd pump on for like a minute and then shut it down. Been doing this like 5 times a day. I have some less powerful pumps coming soon as well as 3/8" related gear. So I'll trying an assortment of pump sizes as well as trying 3/8" feed lines. If I have to do this manually for the duration that's ok but I feel pretty confident I can find a good combination that will work.

 

[sunny747]

I have a Lemon Kush seed germinating... I have 5 plants in flower right now, but have some extra space in my tent. Thinking of running her 12/12 or I could veg her for a few weeks, but that requires a veg space and more electricity etc.. What do you guys think? Put her in a 2 gallon pot and pop her into the tent?

 

[Hot Diggity Sog]

I have a Lemon Kush seed germinating... I have 5 plants in flower right now, but have some extra space in my tent. Thinking of running her 12/12 or I could veg her for a few weeks, but that requires a veg space and more electricity etc.. What do you guys think? Put her in a 2 gallon pot and pop her into the tent?

If you've never tried it, go for it! Feed it just like you normally would if it was on a regular light schedule and once you see pistols, pretend that you switched the lights to 12/12 a week or two ago and feed according to that timeline.

 

[Alaric]

HDS,

Any decisions about trellis implementation?

If not, Here's what I ended up with. Player around with wire screen (hated it) settled on 1/2 electrical conduit running parallel to the tubes ( better rigidity than pvc).

Anyway, seems you already have vertical attachment points for something similar.

A~~~

 

[Hot Diggity Sog]

HDS,

Any decisions about trellis implementation?

If not, Here's what I ended up with. Player around with wire screen (hated it) settled on 1/2 electrical conduit running parallel to the tubes ( better rigidity than pvc).

Anyway, seems you already have vertical attachment points for something similar.View attachment 3468202

A~~~

Not quite yet. As soon as I get thru this nute lineup change and get a better handle on my pump situation, that's next on the list. Figure I've got several more weeks before that will be a problem.

 

[Alaric]

Figure I've got several more weeks before that will be a problem.

Well OK, I think you'll discover it's much easier to train branches while they are small.

A~~~

 

[Hot Diggity Sog]

Nutrient Change Update

So this morning was the big day to change my nutrient lineup from Blue Planet Elite to House & Garden Aqua Flakes.

Here is the new lineup:
Pro-Tekt Silica
Aqua Flakes A + B
Dutch Master Gold Zone

This update is kind of boring but it's so I have a permanent record of how this 1st mix went. If this ends up being helpful to anyone, then great!

I began by flushing my whole system with a ton of tap water to try and remove as much of the old recipe as possible.

I then filled up my 27 gallon rez and it was sitting at 0.4 EC and 7.2 PH
I added 75 ml of Pro-Tekt Silica and waited between 5 and 10 minutes. Note, that my rez is aggressively agitated with air stones and a water pump.

After the silica was well mixed, EC was 0.5 and PH was 9.3

I then added 100 ml of Aqua Flakes Part A. After 10 minutes, EC was 1.0 and PH was 9.0

Next, I added 100 ml of Aqua Flakes Part B. After 5 minutes EC was 1.4 and PH was 7.5

I then added 30 ml of ZONE and the EC held steady at 1.4 as did the PH at 7.5

Next came PH down. I did 40 ml and after several minutes everything stabilized at EC 1.4 and PH at 5.9.

The tubes were more or less void of water by this point so I connected everything back up and turned the pumps on. Knowing how much water the tubes hold, I knew I would have the option to add 5 more gallons of water to the rez which is exactly what I did.

After letting everything cycle for another 10 minutes, EC was sitting at 1.2 and PH was at 6.2.

I then added 10 more ml of PH down and after stabilizing, EC is at 1.2 and PH at 5.9. It held steady for about 10 minutes and then EC fell to 1.1 and PH rose to 6.1. I expect EC to be fine but the PH will probably bounce around a little for the next few hours. I'll keep an eye on things and adjust as needed.

 

[Budget Buds]

I used to use BC nutrients , I took a trip out to a friends family members grow and he turned me on to dyna gro nutrients , he also explained to me about how the nutrient companies are ( while making good nutrients) are for the money , They could make a one bottle for veg and one bottle for bloom but most do not because they will loose out on lots of $$$. This guy knows his shit and sent me home with a bottle of the bloom for my 12/12 run I was about to do and told me if I did not see better results that he would give me a pound. I had better results and he still sent me one anyways lol . I ran the dyna grow and never looked back. I still have some of the original bottle he gave me . I used to pay 40-70 bucks every grow for nutrients from bc , I paid 16 bucks for the bloom 5 or 6 grows ago and barely used 1/3 of a bottle . I run aeroponics and have had positive results with no clogging or lock up. Try em out HDS , you wont be disappointed

 

[Mohican]

Are the plants perking up?

 

[Hot Diggity Sog]

Are the plants perking up?

They look about the same. They were not really looking bad perse...just some spots on leaves and some leaf dropping but the drooping is like maybe 5% of the plants. I'll check again soon. I had to add 20 more ml's of PH down but I refuse to add anymore. Sitting in the low 6's and if it does what it has been doing, hanging out in the low 6's for 2 days and then dropping...that's kind of what I want.

I know you had said you do double the suggested does of silica but I didnt have the balls to do that for the 1st time. Directions called for 0.5 to 1.0 tsp (or 2.5 to 5 ml) per gallon so I just went in the middle of that range...a little less actually.

Edit: I just went and checked on them...had not seen them for about 4 hours. They look about the same I guess. Maybe a tad bit better but I could be imagining it too. EC is at 1.1 and PH at 6.3

 

[glockdoc]

you need to get that ph to a steady 5.9 or around the 5.7-6.0 area.
do not get me wrong they all look very very happy and healthy.

 

[akhiymjames]

Never been a fan of having ph set at one reading. I like having it swing from 5.8 to 6.4 and def over 6.0 when in flower. Now if your handwatering that would be different but when dealing with a res I want it to swing to get food at different levels. Since he's in flower now I think the 6.3 is just fine gonna give more calmag to them and should help those flowers start to put out

 

[glockdoc]

if the ph is rising on him, being at 6.3 it will get up there.. if he had it at 5.6-5.7 then lets it rise to 6-6.1 he'd be golden..
the ph fluctuation is minuet so he wont see any aliments from the ph swings.
any higher then 6.3 wouldnt lockout begin?
yes it would require constant upkeep and adjusting but the fruits of his labor should pay off