Nirvana Bubblelicious Waterfarm Scrog in a Secret Jardin Tent 600 Watts

[redrum83420]

small seedling with little roots. running the drip ring 24/7. once root made it to the water i added a air stone also.

 

[Serapis]

small seedling with little roots. running the drip ring 24/7. once root made it to the water i added a air stone also.

There is no need for an airstone, but thanks for the tip. Plenty of air is introduced into the water via the air pump and the surface area of the hydroton. The water can't even take in all of the oxygen that is available to it. I did however bore out the holes in the plant container and added some new ones for the roots to find there way into the water reservoir. At that point, we are running DWC AND drip.

 

[SCOTTYBALLS]

There is no need for an airstone, but thanks for the tip. Plenty of air is introduced into the water via the air pump and the surface area of the hydroton. The water can't even take in all of the oxygen that is available to it. I did however bore out the holes in the plant container and added some new ones for the roots to find there way into the water reservoir. At that point, we are running DWC AND drip.

Yes Serapis airstones indeed do nothing for a waterfarm.. 95% oxygen is picked up in the surface layer of water.. all airstones do is disturbe the suface layer.. however its not important because its allways raining and driping in the DWC section of the waterfarm, Plus all the water that pours over the hydroton is nothing but surface water.. wait till you see the root mass in the lower section all a airstone would do is take up root space.. lets get a pic update!

 

[Serapis]

Yes Serapis airstones indeed do nothing for a waterfarm.. 95% oxygen is picked up in the surface layer of water.. all airstones do is disturbe the suface layer.. however its not important because its allways raining and driping in the DWC section of the waterfarm, Plus all the water that pours over the hydroton is nothing but surface water.. wait till you see the root mass in the lower section all a airstone would do is take up root space.. lets get a pic update!

I'll do more pics tomorrow. I always try to get some up for the weekend. Now that I'm starting flower, I'll have more to take photos of.

I'll do a root ball shot at the end. I spent 15 minutes working screen spots today. I'm setting up the tips near the final spots and making sure to space them out. My goal is a cola every other three holes, so in any given direction, the colas will have 2 empty spots between them. That will accompany some fat colas and allow the air to circulate and the light to get down to them. That is my goal. In reality, I have a lot of tops coming up. I may have to selectively pinch some off to keep the screen from overcrowding. I shoulda went flower mode 7 days earlier. But it's ok, it's indica, it's in a screen, and we have plenty of room to raise the light. Glad I didn't prop up the farms on a platfor like I was going to to get them off of the floor.

 

[newworldicon]

I found that with NO plant in a working water farm, the PH is impossible to stabilize. I don't understand any scientific reasoning for that fact, but test runs with no plant are useless. LOL

My PH is currently stable, however Babylicious tends to stay at around 5.6 while her sister maintains a perfect 5.8, day after day. The water farm, combined with Flora Nova Bloom nutrients is near fool proof. I learned the basics on soil, the only new thing to me was PPM, but once you get the meter and understand how PH and PPM interact, anyone could do this. It is that easy.



Good luck with your Jamaican!! That sounds scrumptious! The rate of growth on my plants has been phenomenal as well. I hope to bust over 1.5 pounds, dry. I'm going to take 3 days to harvest, just so I don't go insane while trimming bud. I want it to be a fun time with my product, not neck straining stress and sore fingers. The most I have trimmed in one sitting ended up being about 10 ounces once it was dry. That was pure murder by myself. I used to never think I could use a trimming aid, but I'm considering now.

As for updates, I'll pic update again this weekend. I'll also begin to clean up the lower areas of the plants, removing what obviously will never grow to the screen.

I will share some thoughts however on this grow, as I have just partaken in some of my last grow and I suddenly feel euphoric and chatty, all at the same time.

Flora Nova Bloom is the bomb. The buffers work great, it has EVERYTHING the plant needs for basic growing. I however, never settle for the basics.
I know that ScottyBallz laid out a great case for not mucking with the Lucas Formula for hydroponic growing in his grow journal, and I encourage everyone
interested in going to hydroponic for the first time to follow it. However, I'm going to change it up a bit, kind of like Emeril's trick of kicking it up a notch.

I have been adding about 10 ml (I'm trying to convert to metric for years, and finally growing has motivated me to finally do so.) every other day of 17.5% H2O2. (35% is illegal to mail). I am also occassionally adding a few drops of SuperThrive. I'll quit adding it when I go 12/12, as it prolongs the flowering period. It assumes you are growing pretty garden flowers as oppossed to a crop that needs to be harvested, and it makes flowers grow slower and thereby stay on the plant longer.

I am debating using the Fox Farms solubles during flowering. I had great success when I have used them before and they are already bought and paid for from my previous soil grows. If I do, I'll start slowly and see how the plants react.

Thoughts? Concerns? Jokes?

Your fluctuating PH may be because of the smaller size of the reservoir been used, smaller body of water is easier to manipulate. I wanted to ask you if the bubbalicious you are using now, is it from seed or is it a clone from the seeded mom? I ask this as you are setting a very high benchmark to achieve with yield, and potentially expecting this from a plant yet to be flowered out or knowing it's real genetic potential and character? Or have you seen her flower out?

 

[Serapis]

Your fluctuating PH may be because of the smaller size of the reservoir been used, smaller body of water is easier to manipulate. I wanted to ask you if the bubbalicious you are using now, is it from seed or is it a clone from the seeded mom? I ask this as you are setting a very high benchmark to achieve with yield, and potentially expecting this from a plant yet to be flowered out or knowing it's real genetic potential and character? Or have you seen her flower out?

This is my 4th Bubblelicious grow. She is a good yielder, nice dense colas. I put a high expectation on her because I've seen the previous yields under soil, this one is hydro. The plants are much larger than my soil plants, and I'm training the plants. Babylicious, by herself, has over 30 tops and is a healthy monster. I'll post pics today.

The res may be small, but the PH has been stable up until now. I'll know if the extra food fixed that in a bit.

 

[newworldicon]

This is my 4th Bubblelicious grow. She is a good yielder, nice dense colas. I put a high expectation on her because I've seen the previous yields under soil, this one is hydro. The plants are much larger than my soil plants, and I'm training the plants. Babylicious, by herself, has over 30 tops and is a healthy monster. I'll post pics today.

The res may be small, but the PH has been stable up until now. I'll know if the extra food fixed that in a bit.

Sounds positive, I read somewhere that it is better in hydro to fix the PH at 5.5/5.6 if you can and let it ride up to 6.0/6.2 during the week or however long it takes, that way the whole range of nutrients are available at different PH levels. Although I have had successful grows fixed at 5.8, in my last grow I employed the tactic of drifting the PH and my yield was spectacular, I got 746g of dried bud from 8 church plants and 612g from 8 Medi bud plants.

Your babylicious sounds very fine, good luck with her!!

 

[Serapis]

LOL, and all this time, I thought a stable PH was da shit....

Another near disaster hopefully averted. I installed two new 9" clamp on fans purchased from Office Depot yesterday and last night while in bed, I hear this slight noise, I assume is a fan. I went to check on it today and the noise is the drip ring on Babylicious Farm, it's clogged. I just knew that while removing it for cleaning that this was going to end up being some huge ordeal, trying to snake the tube back down, etc.

I got lucky. The ring came off with little fuss and I didn't separate the air line from the pick up tube, which I was dreading. I ran super hot water through the ring and blew out all of the crap that was in there, it looked mostly like root tissue, organic waste crap. I suspect it got up into the ring when I overfilled it last week, and I just noticed the problem today. Be careful about overfilling your farm, thinking you can go away for a day, because you can't. Anything that floats is going to appreciate the higher water level, cause then it is a lot closer to freedom, escaping through the ring, and getting caught up in front of a drip point.

Another tip, when assembling a Farm, always point the access indent part of the supply tube going from the res to the upper bucket, facing the immediate corner of the bucket. This will prevent the early blockage of the tubes, by the roots.

 

[jimbizzzale67123]

I have had to stick a paperclip through the holes to unclogg them, I have some roots crawling around the drip ring, but who knows if they are in the drip ring.

 

[Serapis]

I have had to stick a paperclip through the holes to unclogg them, I have some roots crawling around the drip ring, but who knows if they are in the drip ring.

LOL, better check, cause I wouldn't doubt it. I'm glad my drip ring made noise, the entire top of the hydroton was dry. I was strictly a dwc then with a lot of roots not getting water directly.

 

[bongmarley2009]

@ Serapis, when you say point the waterfarm tube towards the immediate corner of the bucket, you mean that the clear air tubing that runs down the pumping tube should be facing the corner of the farm?

 

[Serapis]

Both the outer brown tube, and the tip of the uptake tube that is inside of it have a base that is flat, but a portion of it is cut away, to allow water in. Those openings should be facing the immediate corner. If you face them towards the center of the bucket, they'll get clogged earlier by roots on the reservoir bottom.

 

[redrum83420]

i didnt know that. i'm going to have to check and see how the tubes for my farm are facing in the morning, when the lights turn back on. i'll switch the drip ring also just to be safe.

 

[dgaf757]

after your comment, i saw you had nirvana bubblicious growing. looking real nice. such a good strain, i always have to check out a grow. that trellis you made, its plastic fencing right?

 

[MsBBB]

I am along for what I can learn, and I have learned from following this thread. I am no where near ready for hydroponics/aeroponics and understand about half of what is being talked about. Honestly, I am not ready for soil growing but I jumped in anyway. I am learning things here that I can put to good use for my dirty soil grow Be on your best behavior because I am ready for class.

 

[Serapis]

after your comment, i saw you had nirvana bubblicious growing. looking real nice. such a good strain, i always have to check out a grow. that trellis you made, its plastic fencing right?

Good eye on the trellis! I bought it at Lowe's Home Improvement Center in the garden center. It serves as my screen for my screen of green grow. I love Bubblelicious, it is a fantastic strain from Nirvana. It is always a pleasure growing these plants.

I am along for what I can learn, and I have learned from following this thread. I am no where near ready for hydroponics/aeroponics and understand about half of what is being talked about. Honestly, I am not ready for soil growing but I jumped in anyway. I am learning things here that I can put to good use for my dirty soil grow Be on your best behavior because I am ready for class.

Welcome to RIU and the thread. I'm certainly glad you joined us. Please feel free to ask any questions, related to my grow or not, that would be fine. A lot of us are here to help if you get stuck or run into a problem. I'll have to tell ya though, this grow is extremely easy. All you need to understand is how to read a PH and a TDS or ppm meter and have a slight green thumb. This grow only take one bottle of nutrient. Soil is good to grow in too. It has it's pluses.

 

[Serapis]

UPDATE:

Light cycle: FLOWER:Since 01/15/2011

PH: 5.6
ppms: 1600

Here are the pictures I promised earlier. The plants are doing great. Only 7 days under 12/12 and my Babylicious is looking good. She is stretching HARD. I pretty much have the tops where I want them, on the right side of the screen, I'm hoping the plant on the left gets it's stretch going soon. (it is 14 days behind the other plant in age, the first seed never germed.)

I emptied out the reservoirs as best I could yesterday and filled each one with 2 gallons of fresh distilled water. After about an hour, I took ppm readings and got about 500 ppm. It's near impossible to fully empty these things unless you get them off the floor, which means taking away valuable space up top. I went ahead and added Open Sesame from Fire Fox, about 1/2 tsp to each farm (that is half strength) and Flora Nova Bloom (of course), 10 ml of 35% H2O2, 3 drops of drip clean, 7 drops algae destroyer. (my blue water level tubes have some growth)

I'm keeping a close eye on the plants. I was reading last night about Hydro grows in the Feb HT and it got me nervous on things that can go wrong. I need this crop. I'm down to 5 oz in reserve, and I share with 2 people. With another 53 days to harvest and another 14-21 for dry-cure, it's time to ration. I haven't had to pay for a bag of weed since October and I want to keep it that way.

Don't get me wrong, I pay, just not to a dealer. Growing is expensive. My last power bill was about $120 more than it should have been. I blame that on my first time MH bulb burns for 18 hours a day and cooling the tent. I need to set up my exhausts in my tent to blow outside. I've been putting off the duct work, but i have to get it done. Right now, both ducts (fan exhaust for hoods and for tent) just hang off the side and top and exhaust back into my room.

I've been using an AC in my window to offset, but it's costing me big now, and I got to get that hot air outside. Luckily, my windows are facing my backyard, and I can easily camouflage the screened exhausts with a rose trellis or something. I have a privacy fence, but just for 'in cases', I want to disguise it.

Any ideas on constructing a window for two exhausts would be welcome. The window is a double, top over bottom style, vinyl. I have an AC in one, and the other I was going to attach vents to then the ducts, once it was in the window. I have some insulating board left, aluminum duct tape, 2 dryer vents 6". I need some plywood and camo ideas.

 

[P.coltrane]

Hey boss. I have a couple questions. What make/model/size is your tent? Second is I'm not to familiar with waterfarms. But running a scrog how do you change the water I'n those without messing up the trellis? Or for anyone running a dwc. I'm under the impression that you gotta at least be lifting the lids to pump out old solution if you just don't swap out a clean, refilled tub instead?

Thanks and your grow looks good.

 

[P.coltrane]

Hey boss. I have a couple questions. What make/model/size is your tent? Second is I'm not to familiar with waterfarms. But running a scrog how do you change the water I'n those without messing up the trellis? Or for anyone running a dwc. I'm under the impression that you gotta at least be lifting the lids to pump out old solution if you just don't swap out a clean, refilled tub instead?

Thanks and your grow looks good.

 

[Serapis]

Hey boss. I have a couple questions. What make/model/size is your tent? Second is I'm not to familiar with waterfarms. But running a scrog how do you change the water I'n those without messing up the trellis? Or for anyone running a dwc. I'm under the impression that you gotta at least be lifting the lids to pump out old solution if you just don't swap out a clean, refilled tub instead?

Thanks and your grow looks good.

Thanks

The tend is a DRW120 , which is a 4' x4' x 6.5' It's made by Secret Jardin.

The farms have a blue water elevation meter on the side that swings down and allows water out. That is also how we draw water for testing ppms and ph. To add water, we just pour it in through the top.