My First Time - Inspired by Narnia!

[Keopec]

I"ve learned a great deal from reading this site and hopefully am off to a good start. I've heard that a smart man learns from his mistakes and a wise one learns from the mistakes of others. So, thank you for all of your mistakes , hopefully I'm a wise man.

This is Day 12. The first 7 were spent in soil as seedlings sitting in a window sill. Once they had popped through I decided to give a hand at hydro.

My Setup:
1 Tent
6 Lights - 6500K Total Lumens 12500 all CFL
1 Rez - 10 Gal
1 Air pump w/air stone.
1 Fan
1 Co2 Factory inspired by the Narnia grow.
1 Recipe for Success Starter Kit from Technaflora
1 Thermometer
1 PPM Tester
1 PH Testing Kit

I check the PH and PPM twice daily. The PH is staying constant between 6.0 and 6.5. The PPM started at 1450 and have dropped to 1400.

They are currently on a 18/6 light schedule.

The temp stays a constant 80 degrees, and the water stays about five degrees cooler.

The second day after I moved the babies from the soil to the hydro baskets, the roots got a heavy slime all over them. By the fourth day the slime fell off. They don't seem to be showing any signs of nute burn and have doubled in size in the last two days.

The Whole Family.



My top performers.




My Co2 Factory - I learned this from you!



Please give any advice, comments, critiques as you see fit. Be kind, I cry easily.

 

[ChairmanMaow]

Looks good!

How much space do you have in your space?

 

[Keopec]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0049D3J1Q is what I got. It's 36" x 20" x 62". It's not really light proof out of the box, but with some tape it can be made to be.

PPM now at 1330, PH still at 6-6.5 Temp still at 80. Changed out the Co2 factory. 2 cups sugar and 1 tablespoon of yeast works for 48 hours. It was still bubbling today when I got home, but it had slowed.

What should I be monitoring? I look the babies over and am careful not to touch them, not sure why but I am.

 

[ChairmanMaow]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0049D3J1Q is what I got. It's 36" x 20" x 62". It's not really light proof out of the box, but with some tape it can be made to be.

PPM now at 1330, PH still at 6-6.5 Temp still at 80. Changed out the Co2 factory. 2 cups sugar and 1 tablespoon of yeast works for 48 hours. It was still bubbling today when I got home, but it had slowed.

What should I be monitoring? I look the babies over and am careful not to touch them, not sure why but I am.

Yeah, that's about the same recipe we use for our factory. It's kind of a strange balance. Too much, and it's too strong and fizzles out too quickly. It looks like you've got a lot of space, too.

We're not really versed in Hydro, but I'm sure I could convince a few RIU members to take a look.

As far as not touching them goes, I wouldn't be TOO worried. The only thing I would worry about is breaking them, since they're still babies. Otherwise, I say touch the hell out of them. I have to handle my plants on a regular basis (low stress training) and I have yet to see any negative results from it.

Now when they're in flower, that's a completely different story. I wouldn't touch them in flower, otherwise you risk breaking off trichomes. Smells nice on your hands, but you're breaking away that precious THC! I get harassed by my wife all the time. She's always telling me "Don't break the crystals!!" Even when I only touch the edge of the leaf, where there are none.

Everything looks good! It does look like your plants are leaning a bit. Have they been like that since you transplanted them into the clay pellets?

I'm wondering how your lights are set up. And now that I think about it, we have yet to show everyone how our lights are set up! We've tried to spread the light around as much as we can. We've got 6 bulbs pretty much straight above them. You should always try to keep the plants as close to the light as possible the entire time. Proximity is really important with flouro's. Most people make the mistake of keeping the lights too far away. With seedlings you should be 6-8 inches above them (depending on the heat the bulbs put off), then as they get bigger, try to shorten that space to 4-6 inches. The more light the girls have the better!

Looking forward to your next update!

 

[lordjin]

I"ve learned a great deal from reading this site and hopefully am off to a good start. I've heard that a smart man learns from his mistakes and a wise one learns from the mistakes of others. So, thank you for all of your mistakes , hopefully I'm a wise man.

This is Day 12. The first 7 were spent in soil as seedlings sitting in a window sill. Once they had popped through I decided to give a hand at hydro.

My Setup:
1 Tent
6 Lights - 6500K Total Lumens 12500 all CFL
1 Rez - 10 Gal
1 Air pump w/air stone.
1 Fan
1 Co2 Factory inspired by the Narnia grow.
1 Recipe for Success Starter Kit from Technaflora
1 Thermometer
1 PPM Tester
1 PH Testing Kit

I check the PH and PPM twice daily. The PH is staying constant between 6.0 and 6.5. The PPM started at 1450 and have dropped to 1400.

They are currently on a 18/6 light schedule.

The temp stays a constant 80 degrees, and the water stays about five degrees cooler.

The second day after I moved the babies from the soil to the hydro baskets, the roots got a heavy slime all over them. By the fourth day the slime fell off. They don't seem to be showing any signs of nute burn and have doubled in size in the last two days.

The Whole Family.

View attachment 1614895

My top performers.

View attachment 1614896View attachment 1614897
View attachment 1614898

My Co2 Factory - I learned this from you!

View attachment 1614899

Please give any advice, comments, critiques as you see fit. Be kind, I cry easily.

By 10 gallons do you mean 10 gallons of actual water? Also, it could be the brand you're using, but that ppm number seems extraordinarily high for plants that size. For example, my plants are actually running on less than yours if your reading is accurate... By what means are you measuring your dissolved solids and what kind of nutes are you using?

The slime in all likelihood was caused by warm water. Your roots may be more resistant to slime at right around 75f, if you have a ton of oxygen offsetting this, but if your oxygen isn't that strong, a more delicate balance is required for the water temp. Since you're using fluoros, there shouldn't be too much of a concern with heat, but do try to keep it under 75. Right around 68-70 ideal (they like it cold). Also try adding more air if you can. I cannot stress the importance enough. Also get back to me on nute info.

Thanks!

 

[Snickerdoodle]

Looking great so far! I'm glad to be a part of the inspiration! Gives me the warm fuzzies!

If you mentioned this and I missed it I apologize. It's still early for me, but I'm curious as to what strain(s) you are growing?

 

[Keopec]

Everything looks good! It does look like your plants are leaning a bit. Have they been like that since you transplanted them into the clay pellets?

They started leaning like that when they were in the window. The two tallest still have a bit of a curve in their stem?/stalk>/trunk? but they are now reaching for the overhead lights and are standing straighter now.

 

[Keopec]

Looking great so far! I'm glad to be a part of the inspiration! Gives me the warm fuzzies!

If you mentioned this and I missed it I apologize. It's still early for me, but I'm curious as to what strain(s) you are growing?

Bag seed. No idea what I've got. I really started this on a whim and was completely shocked that anything came up. I attempted to germinate 20 seeds, 8 cracked their shell and were planted, these six broke through the dirt in the little pots I put in the window.

 

[Keopec]

By 10 gallons do you mean 10 gallons of actual water?

The tote is labeled as 10 gal, but I have 7 gallons of water in it.

The slime in all likelihood was caused by warm water. Your roots may be more resistant to slime at right around 75f, if you have a ton of oxygen offsetting this, but if your oxygen isn't that strong, a more delicate balance is required for the water temp. Since you're using fluoros, there shouldn't be too much of a concern with heat, but do try to keep it under 75. Right around 68-70 ideal (they like it cold). Also try adding more air if you can. I cannot stress the importance enough.

All of the slime is gone and the roots that had slime fell off. New roots have replaced those and they are pure white. I'm planning on putting together a cooling system this weekend. Would really appreciate some suggestions. The room holding the tent is small and has an A/C duct. I thought about channeling all of the output of that duct to the tent, but would like a more active system instead of it being controlled by my thermostat.

Also get back to me on nute info.

I'm using the starter kit from technaflora and following the included recipe for success based on 7 gallons of water. Here is a link to the recipe http://www.technaflora.com/downloads/USA2009.pdf I followed the instructions exactly.

By what means are you measuring your dissolved solids and what kind of nutes are you using?

Here is the meter I am using http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002C0A7ZY to test the PPM. The hydroton left a large amount of residue in the water which has all settled to the bottom of the tote. Not sure if that has any affect on my solids or not. Also, I take 3 readings each time in random locations and depths, but avoid areas of bubbles. I then assume the average is true.

 

[Snickerdoodle]

Bag seed. No idea what I've got. I really started this on a whim and was completely shocked that anything came up. I attempted to germinate 20 seeds, 8 cracked their shell and were planted, these six broke through the dirt in the little pots I put in the window.

Nothing wrong with bag seed! It's a great place to start if you're learning. We still have some bag seed we want to try eventually. We have some great genetics that we ordered from attitude and needless to say our enthusiasm over some of the strains we acquired won and we ended up popping a couple Dutch Passion strains. All of our current flowering girls are from clone though. We haven't really updated on the next round of girls in line. I should do that soon... ramble ramble ramble, lol

I wish I knew more to help you with the hydro side, but alas I know nothing. I'm a dirty girl....

 

[Keopec]

They drank about a gallon of water since 05/18. I replaced that gallon with tap water. So do you subtract the PPM of your source water from the total PPM reading to determine nutrient level?

I moved the overheads off of the top rail and suspended them with string to bring them closer to the plants on 05/25.

I added a frozen two liter bottle to the tent. I just placed it on the tote over the two cups not holding plants. I put the fan outside the tent blowing in and directly down on that two liter bottle. I am hoping to be able to do this each day to help with the heat during the hottest portion of the day. Closet (14'x8') and big a/c vent so the ambient temp of the room stays around 75. I am just trying to find ways to get that extra 5 degrees out of the tent. Should I blow air in and out?

 

[lordjin]

The tote is labeled as 10 gal, but I have 7 gallons of water in it.



All of the slime is gone and the roots that had slime fell off. New roots have replaced those and they are pure white. I'm planning on putting together a cooling system this weekend. Would really appreciate some suggestions. The room holding the tent is small and has an A/C duct. I thought about channeling all of the output of that duct to the tent, but would like a more active system instead of it being controlled by my thermostat.



I'm using the starter kit from technaflora and following the included recipe for success based on 7 gallons of water. Here is a link to the recipe http://www.technaflora.com/downloads/USA2009.pdf I followed the instructions exactly.



Here is the meter I am using http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002C0A7ZY to test the PPM. The hydroton left a large amount of residue in the water which has all settled to the bottom of the tote. Not sure if that has any affect on my solids or not. Also, I take 3 readings each time in random locations and depths, but avoid areas of bubbles. I then assume the average is true.

Hey sorry I've been lagging in response to this. It's kinda hard to keep track of all the journals I'm subbed to...Lol. I'm gonna have to take a look at those links, but probably tomorrow cuz it's late I'm very high (as always). But I would say flush out your tub immediately and start over. That clay sediment from your rocks absolutely should NOT be in your res. It's crucial to rinse as much sediment as you can in a strainer of some sort before use. You should also soak them in PH 5.5 water for a few hours if you can prior to use. If your plants have rooted, clean out your tub carefully and hit the reset button on them. Gentle nutes, because they're very young still.

 

[lordjin]

View attachment 1621620View attachment 1621622View attachment 1621626View attachment 1621628

They drank about a gallon of water since 05/18. I replaced that gallon with tap water. So do you subtract the PPM of your source water from the total PPM reading to determine nutrient level?

I moved the overheads off of the top rail and suspended them with string to bring them closer to the plants on 05/25.

I added a frozen two liter bottle to the tent. I just placed it on the tote over the two cups not holding plants. I put the fan outside the tent blowing in and directly down on that two liter bottle. I am hoping to be able to do this each day to help with the heat during the hottest portion of the day. Closet (14'x8') and big a/c vent so the ambient temp of the room stays around 75. I am just trying to find ways to get that extra 5 degrees out of the tent. Should I blow air in and out?

If you have some levels of solids in your base water, you should account for it by striking say a good middle ground buffer mathematically. I'm terrible at math, but you get the picture.

Your plants are looking quite good, actually, so I don't think you're doing anything wrong at all. But yes, if you can somehow manage to enhance air exchange, that just means more available co2 from the ambient air will pass over your grow. A gentle quiver is what you want to achieve in your plants for strong stalk development.

Keep your water cool. You're doing the right thing by icing it with a frozen bottle.

Other than that, did you get that hydro clay pellet sediment out?

edit:
Your water level looks a tad high. Is that water flood I see in your pebbles? Take it down a little so that the water level is just kissing the bottom of the pots -- it's even okay to leave a little space If I'm not mistaken...like an inch or half inch (the main root zone needs a little air to breathe with the surrounding rocks wet but not soaking in water), and be sure that water is bubbling significantly at the surface. If you take the trouble to add as much bubbles as you can, you'll be more resistant to periods of higher water temps and such, but still keep the water cool with the ice bottle. If you already have some sort of root hang going, which judging by your plants you probably do, an inch or so exposed I'm guessing will still have roots dipping but a little gap of air? That's where you want to be.

 

[spencer2121]

hey dude i have almost the same set up, take this advise! go get two boxes of dollar store black trash bags and cover that tote in trashbags, remove the lid and place 3 trashbags over it, that slim is called algae and when u start adding nutes ur gonna fuck urself! check out my threads on my algae problems. ever since i did this ive been smooth sailing. the fact it. light is getting to your res and when light meets water and nutes= algae, it might not be alot of light but it is happening

 

[lordjin]

hey dude i have almost the same set up, take this advise! go get two boxes of dollar store black trash bags and cover that tote in trashbags, remove the lid and place 3 trashbags over it, that slim is called algae and when u start adding nutes ur gonna fuck urself! check out my threads on my algae problems. ever since i did this ive been smooth sailing. the fact it. light is getting to your res and when light meets water and nutes= algae, it might not be alot of light but it is happening

Oh, right. And I'm the guy who recently stated the three commandments of root care: protect from heat, drowning, AND light. Good lookin' out. Algae fucked me up a little at the start my current grow too. How could I forget to mention that? Thanks for reminding me. I just got a silver reflective car sunshade, cut it into perfectly fitting pieces and had the surface of my tub covered with a perfectly reflective material to bounce heat and light away. It actually even looked kinda cool. When my clones are still too small to shade the entire tub surface, the exposed edges of the tub grow algae like crazy on the underside exposed to the 1000w MH. I didn't notice this until I flipped the lid open to feed one day and saw this black slime caked under the edges of my lid. Smelled like nasty rotten aquarium.

 

[Keopec]

Here are some pics. My other half tended the babies while I went to a conference this week. Did a good job keeping everything going. I was so happy with the progress they made while I was gone.

 

[Keopec]

But I would say flush out your tub immediately and start over. That clay sediment from your rocks absolutely should NOT be in your res. It's crucial to rinse as much sediment as you can in a strainer of some sort before use. You should also soak them in PH 5.5 water for a few hours if you can prior to use. If your plants have rooted, clean out your tub carefully and hit the reset button on them. Gentle nutes, because they're very young still.

I flushed everything and removed all the sediment. I reduced the nutes and now am running 875 PPM. PH still in range right around 6.

 

[Keopec]

Your plants are looking quite good, actually, so I don't think you're doing anything wrong at all. But yes, if you can somehow manage to enhance air exchange, that just means more available co2 from the ambient air will pass over your grow. A gentle quiver is what you want to achieve in your plants for strong stalk development.

I have a problem with one plant. The tallest. It is about a foot tall. Right above where the stalk comes out of the clay pellets it is bulbous and then has a very thin section that is black in color and the returns to normal stalk thickness and color. I have tied it like a tree sapling to keep it upright. I am hoping this baby does not break. It is the tallest and has the most growth so I think it is getting plenty of food.

Your water level looks a tad high. Is that water flood I see in your pebbles? Take it down a little so that the water level is just kissing the bottom of the pots -- it's even okay to leave a little space If I'm not mistaken...like an inch or half inch (the main root zone needs a little air to breathe with the surrounding rocks wet but not soaking in water), and be sure that water is bubbling significantly at the surface. If you take the trouble to add as much bubbles as you can, you'll be more resistant to periods of higher water temps and such, but still keep the water cool with the ice bottle. If you already have some sort of root hang going, which judging by your plants you probably do, an inch or so exposed I'm guessing will still have roots dipping but a little gap of air? That's where you want to be.

I lowered the water level so that it is no longer bubbling up over the pellets. But I got it a bit higher than you suggested. I'm going to let the babies drink it down to the proper level instead of dipping out nutrient rich water. I just won't replenish as much. I have between 4 - 9 inches of root growth. The smallest plant, that it thought was going to die, has the shortest roots but it has tripled in size this last week and now stands about six inches tall.

 

[Keopec]

hey dude i have almost the same set up, take this advise! go get two boxes of dollar store black trash bags and cover that tote in trashbags, remove the lid and place 3 trashbags over it, that slim is called algae and when u start adding nutes ur gonna fuck urself! check out my threads on my algae problems. ever since i did this ive been smooth sailing. the fact it. light is getting to your res and when light meets water and nutes= algae, it might not be alot of light but it is happening

Luckily I have not seen any more slime anywhere and when I flushed the res it looked to be in good shape. I'll wrap the tote in the black lawn bags and then get a mylar emergency blanket for the lid leaving just a slit for the stalk. Think that will accomplish the same thing?

 

[DrtyBngWtr]

instead of placing your bottle outside your rez throw 1-20oz or 1-1 liter bottle actually in it per day. You need to get that water temp down below 70. If you dont no matter how much light you block your still running a very high risk of contamination. Pyrethrun or something like that. HAHA (your slime you noticed). Not to mention your techniflora line is bc grow micro and bloom? I know for a fact these bad boys hate anything over 72f in the rez.