600 W Coco/Perlite Indoor Blue Venom Grow

caliwpdude

Member
All right, I was posting in a few different threads trying to get some ideas but I thought the best way to get some input was to start my own thread. Hopefully, I can tweak some of my methods and turn out a better and heavier product. I want to reduce my nutes/additives and get some tips from you guys in terms of how to improve.
So let me describe my set-up, the babies, feed schedule, and my future plans. I have 6 Blue Venoms (Blueberry x White Widow) that were clones in some rock wool. On Saturday, they were transplanted into 3 gallon buckets, each with a 60% coco, 30% perlite, 10% Vermiblend mix with Hygromite topdressed. The plants showed some stress from the move, saw some yellowing and lost a leaf or two off each plant. I hadn't fed them until today as the guy I got em from said not to feed right away. My feed for this week included:
Veg:
Week 1: Sweateaf 4mL/G
Vermi-T 75mL/G
Hygrozyme 5mL/G
Great White Scoop/2G
Roots Exceurator 1.1mL/G
Rhizotonic 8mL/G
Pre-Bloom 5mL/G
Seaweed 2.5mL/G
Sea Minerals 0.5mL/G
Sea Fuel 2.5mL/G
Magical 5mL/G
Liquid Karma 10mL/G
SilicaBlast 2.5mL/G
Canna Coco A+B 4mL of each/G
I usually do a feed, feed, water, and mix up my feed fresh everyday in order to avoid nute lockout. I also plan on flushing weekly to get rid of the salts that build up in coco. I'm out of Rhizotonic and will go have to pick some up tomorrow. The Pre-Bloom, Sea Weed, Sea Fuel, and Sea Minerals are all made by Agricultural Organics. Vermi-T is a compost tea, look it up online if you don't already know what it is...I'd definitely recommend it.
In terms of set-up I have a Dr-120 made by Secret Jardin (http://www.4hydroponics.com/grow_room/darkRoomDR120.asp) which is 4x4x6'7". I have the babies on a tray and I'm running a drain to waste. I fed a gallon and a half today, and stupidly forgot to test the runoff before I tossed it. The plants used to be under a 400 W HPS but the DR has a 600W MH so I ran it at 75% (400W) for 6 hours and 100% (600W) for the other 12 hours. I'll slowly increase it over the next week to being on at 600W for the 18 hours. The light is bout 18" above the tops of the plants. I'm air-cooling the light and am running the exhaust out of the room. For some reason the temps shot up today from 77 to an average of 84, so I left it open to help with the heat. There are three other fans to simulate the wind, and one of them has a makeshift CO2 generator tubed to the back of it, but I haven't mixed up the stuff for CO2 generation. I also use a trellis about 18-24"above the tps of the pots, which will come into effect later for flowering. Yesterday marked the first day of propagation, and I'm planning on a 4 week vegetation.
There are 3 passive intake vents open to help with the heat, but I'm thinking of getting some sort of AC going. Trying to find a low BTU unit, anyone have some recommendations? I could babble on for hours, but I gotta tend to them before I get too lazy:joint:...Hit me up with any suggestions. I should post some pics in the next couple of days when I get my camera back.
 

caliwpdude

Member
So I finally got around to figuring out my camera. Heres a pic of the babies right after being transplanted: http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9ce09b3127ccef82d3c18ab4b00000030O00AcNGThw3auWQPbz4W/cC/f=0/ps=50/r=0/rx=550/ry=400/
Some individual shots:




Heres two pics to give you an idea of my set-up:



These shots are from yesterday:






They've been loving my feed after they took 2 days to really root and I've just been keeping the soil decently moist as to not dry out the roots. I need to start my training, but a couple of the plants have been topped. (I top only at the 3rd and 5th nodes.) Besides that everything seems to being doing well. I'm gonna start posting more often now that my camera works, so I'd love your guys feedback. By the way here's my week 2 feed (not listed are the Cannazyme [Canna] and Sweet [Botanicare] that I'm slowly killing as I have 'em nonetheless) minus he Vermi-T as the hydro store was out of it:

Sweetleaf 8mL/G
Vermi-T 75mL/G
Hygrozyme 5mL/G
Great White Scoop/2G
Roots Excelurator 1.1 mL/G
Pre-Bloom 5mL/G
Seaweed 5mL/G
Sea Minerals 0.5mL/G
Sea Fuel 5mL/G
Magical 7.5mL/G
Liquid Karma 10mL/G
SilicaBlast 2.5-5 mL/G
Canna Coco A+B 4mL/G of each
 

wonderblunder

Well-Known Member
Badass setup. I bet that will treat you well. You have a very elaborate nute dosings. I would get confused. Can make it harder to isolate the problem. Im scribed. Take a look at my grow in signature.
 

caliwpdude

Member
All right, I'm falling in love with these babies, and just have some bud porn for you all. I'll start off slow and easy with some better shots of my room and some explanations first. I have the plants in 3 gallon buckets right now (deciding if I should go to 5 gallon buckets but height is an issue for me as the box is only 79 inches high), they were cloned in rock wool, which I never removed. The soil is 60% Coco, 30% Perlite, and 10% Vermiblend, and after a few days of shock (see the last post) they turned the perfect green. I have a 600W MH right now, and the temps have been really hard to control, varying from as low as 72 to 85, so I'm thinking of an AC unit. Any links or units you guys recommend with a low BTU preferably at a low cost for the unit and electricity would be great! The tray is about a half foot off the ground, supported by a plank of wood and cinder blocks a an angle to help guide the excess feed to drain properly. The stopper has been pulled out of the tray to prevent any residue building up. Here are pics of the top of the box, concentrating on the light, fan, and ducting. I have the CanFan puling air through the carbon filter towards the light which then gets pumped out the right side of the box, which is then exhausted out of the room through a window that remains open to keep the bedroom itself cool. I think if I attach an AC unit towards one of the three passive intake vents located at the base of the box I can control my temps and dial in the environment. Anyway heres the set-up pics:




You can see the 3 passive intake vents in the bottom 2 pics. There are 3 fans that provide cross ventilation, the one in the back right is hooked up to a makeshift CO2 generator, but I've been too lazy to even mix some up (hopefully I'll do it tomorrow!). Can you guys think of any better ways to place the fans or if maybe I don't need to run all of them?

Now for the babies. First I give you the canopy and then some individual pics. i was thinking of how I'm going to LST, usually I use pipe cleaners and attach them to the plant and pull it over to the side by drilling holes in the top of the pots. Any idea of when you think I should start training? As promised the fresh pics:






I'm gonna get my propagation and mother areas ready and post some pics of the empty space, which I hope to fill quickly. As for my feed, i know it seems like a lot but 5 nutes/additives (SilicaBlast, Liquid Karma, Magical, Pre-Bloom, and Sweatleaf) of those provide some of the macronutrients and one is a flower stimulant, 3 (SeaFuel, Seaweed, and Sea Minerals) are a trifecta that I hope to cut down to just Alg-A-Mic when I kill off the 3 bottles. I'll cut the Pre-Bloom in flower, and replace it with Greenfuse and also add Budswell for taste. Actually let me post my whole feed sched in the next couple of days after I flush this weekend (such a bitch the first time for coco). I usually end up running more than 4 times my normal weekly feed to get all the plants corrected to break the barrier. Does anyone have suggestions for flushing in coco? Any help is wanted, so please add your comments. Otherwise, thanks for browsing and keep on stopping by to see the progress and comment or add any suggestions as they're all welcome. I would like to gather some more techniques than what I have already found out from the local hydro shops.
 

wonderblunder

Well-Known Member
Looking sweet. I really want to try this strain, I just missed as a UFO from the Attitude.
I started LSTing at that size. It took lots of adjustments, but Came out with some huge bushes, many tops. If you dont wanna mess with them all the time just wait a little.

AC wise: I would look into small portables. I have a 10,000 BTU portable. I think that would be overkill for ya. 10,000 BTU portable $200
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=small+portable+AC&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=17989221444362563004&ei=c0HqSurABYjasQPTyM3gCA&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ8wIwAA#ps-sellers

I don't know anything abot Coco growing. I have heard Hempy pots are good for it, especially since you got the table.....
 

caliwpdude

Member
All right, it's been a long weekend here (college town Halloween
has kept me from spending a lot of time on the babies) but I'm ready to do work today. I think I'm gonna flush them, as I haven't done it yet for two whole weeks. It's coco and the first flush so I know it's gonna be hard to break the pH barrier. I fed them all a little over 3 1/2 gallons the entire week and think it's gonna take me at least 10 gallons to get the soil free of salts and at the correct pH for my plants. Does anyone add other additives to their flushing mix (I use Final Phase as my flushing agent)? I usually add in some Sweetleaf too as one of my grower friends recommended it.

Also, i'm fixing my heat problem with this Sunpenton 60W Air Purifier/Cooler than gets the room up to 12 degrees cooler while only running the same electricity as a lightbulb. Heres some info on it:
Sunpentown SF-608R Air Purifier Cooler is perfect for areas that central air conditioners can't reach, or for an area that has a high sun load. Unlike a fan that blows hot air, our air coolers utilizes ice and water to cool a personal space up to 12°F cooler than any regular fan.

Features and Functions:
Equipped with remote control
10 Liters water tank capacity
Nylon and Photocatalystic filter
Three air speeds: H / M / L
Sleep mode
Timer: from 0.5 ~ 7.5 hours setting
Specifications:
Input voltage: 120V / 60Hz
Power consumption: 60 Watts
Dimension (W x H x D), inch: 16 x 25 x 12
Net weight: 17 lbs
Low water Warning
Air flow: 23 ft per second
Water consumption: 0.6 ~ 0.7 liters per hour

I'm setting it up today after the flush. The AC just arrived:


Besides that here's some updated shots of my babies:





 

wonderblunder

Well-Known Member
By the way as well, I think what you purchased is a swamp cooler. WIll work much better if the humidity level is below 50%. Drier is better. Moisture can hold heat, even in the air........
 

caliwpdude

Member
Here's the pics again. Humidity has been really low, ranging from 15-35%. Are you saying the cooler wont work for my situation? Week 3 (of my planned 5 week veg) starts tomorrow and I'll update with pics of everything after the flush. I couldn't do it today as the 4 RO machines by my place were out of order.








And finally a late happy halloween:
 

caliwpdude

Member
Sorry guys that I haven't been keeping you updated but my internet has been down for a week. I spent about half the time since then figuring it out. I went to grab the camera to show you guys the last weeks progress but it was dead, and my now exgirlfriend has the charger. Maybe I can convince her to charge it and let me use it....well thats besides the point. They're looking fantastic, still have not seen any mites (had a horrible infestation my last grow that turned my babies from the stickiest fruit ever to hay) and they have not shown any nute burn on the new growth. I even took a cutting off one of the BVs to put in the new prop chamber that will definitely get mothered. I'll have to take some pics of those two areas as I haven't shown it yet. Working on the camera problem, probably gonna hit up Costco tomorrow. Other than that, I'm setting up the air cooler tomorrow with some venting to the passive intake, and plan on putting up my trellis. I've decided a 5 week veg is appropriate by their size, but I'll show you guys some pics and hear some opinions hopefully. I'm flipping 'em Sunday the 22nd (36 hours of darkness starting at midnight). I've also added in my CO2 generator, and have flushed which surprisingly only took 6.5 gallons. The plants have really responded to spraying with Vermi-T. (Look that stuff up online!) Oh and my week 4 feed that started today:
Week 4: Sweetleaf 10mL/G
Vermi-T 75ml/G
Hygrozyme 5mL/G
Great White Scoop/2G
Roots Excelurator 1.1 mL/G
Pre-Bloom 5mL/G
Seaweed 5mL/G
Sea Minerals 0.5mL/G
Sea Fuel 5mL/G
Magical 7.5mL/G
Liquid Karma 10mL/G
Canna Coco A+B 6mL/G

Definitely looks like a good strain
I can tell by this plants vigor and positioning of its flowers that it will be a great yielder. With hardly any effort (topping and light training in some areas) I was able to get most of them to spiral or branch out to what I think is a perfect canopy. They all have grown to equal heights which makes them easy to deal with and the light passes through to the lower branches, which i may or may not lollypop. Search for blue venom and you can definitely see the outcome in these 2 grows that are entirely different from mine (ones a SOG and the other is pure coco with hardly any nutes): https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/217210-butters-400w-scrog-perpetual-w.html?highlight=blue+venom
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/212350-zen-masters-northern-light-n.html?highlight=blue+venom

Other than that I hope to show you guys some serious work by tomorrow night.
 

caliwpdude

Member
Here's the pics you requested. Taken 11/10, i took some more will post tomorrow....










The fan leaves on the last one are huge platforms. Definitely looking good for now. Hope you guys enjoyed the bud porn.
 

caliwpdude

Member
Thanks guys for all the support, I really appreciate it. This is only my 4th grow, so I'm still experimenting. I started spraying with VHO (Very High Output) 4 days ago, but I can't tell if it's doing anything. I have it as the hydro store guy recommended it before they stopped producing VHO, but it's supposed to be pretty similar to the Pre-Boom from Agricultural Organics. I'm pretty stoked on how they're doing too, i've never had such healthy babies. I have some pics I took this morning before the light went off at 6 am, and some others I took 5 minutes ago to show you guys the difference over 12 hours. They did get moved around, but hopefully you guys can see the progress. I top-dressed them with some Vermiblend and Hygromite after feeding them a total of 1 gallon over the 6 plants. Like I said in an earlier post, i plan on flipping them to flower starting Sunday the 22nd. If anyone has any comments on if I should move that date, let me know as I'd like to hear you're guys opinions (that's why I try to post a lot with pics so you guys can see what I see). Wonderblunder, thanks so much for staying with me. I have a question though you said:
looks good, maybe some diffferent phenos, keep track of them when you take clones......
What do you mean? Are you saying that the cuts came from different mothers, but are the same strain? I'm planning on picking the best BV to take cuts from so I don't end up with different phenos.
Luvvin growin and 600wMediGreenGrower, thanks for the compliments. I hope you guys stay tuned....
Anyways here's the pics from this morning:








These pics are close ups of some stuff I spotted on the leaves, not sure what it's from. Anyone have an idea?:




And here's the most recent one's:







Hope you guys like the update. Shoot over any comments, I'm welcome to anyone's input.
 
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