Auto berry grow thread. 2nd grow. 1st in a grow tent!!!

[gumball]

Checked the paper towel earlier and one of the seeds has started to show already. Have soaked 2 grow cubes (check out pic below) in 6.2ph water and squeezed out some excess as they were saturated. Am getting nervous/excited now as I really want this to work, but the grow cube is the only thing I think that could be problematic. Is a soil based cube with netting, so will have to check on it as the routes will not penetrate the netting so will have to take this off. Hopefully it will not break up too much if at all. But would the soil then fall into the resevoir at the bottom and then get into the water pump? Will have to check and see what happens.

View attachment 1196574Went to my local groworks and they recommended these as they promote route growth. (We will soon see)
View attachment 1196575

Below is my Northern Lights that is still budding and has been for what seems like months.
View attachment 1196576View attachment 1196573View attachment 1196577

hey jayme,
i would recommend leaving the netting on your grow cubes. when the roots start growing through the netting, and they will, is when you want to put them in the hydro pebbles. bury the grow cube just below the surface of the pebbles. if your roots will be able to grow into the bottom, definitely use an airstone and air pump. if not it could still benefit to oxygenate the water.

i have read that the 3% hydrogen peroxide from the drug store is not the best for hydro. it is recommended to get the 30% hydrogen peroxide if you choose to use it. and if you are using anything organic, hydrogen peroxide (either strength) and organics do not mix, bad juju!

i actually liked your first watering plan, where the last watering was at 10, then lights out at 12. lights on at 4. so water at 10, lights off at 12, skip the 1 oclock water, lights on at 4 and water at the same time. at least while it is a seedling i dont think it should need water during dark. the grow cube is going to hold water, so you should be ok for the first few days to a week. and the pebbles will retain some moisture. obviously you should stick around the first few dark cycles and maybe examine the pebbles after going without water after for 4 hours. get a green light for the dark cycles so you can see when you check this stuff out.

i am not a hydro grower, but i did sleep at a holiday inn express last night

seriously, i have not grown hydro, but i have read up on it quiet a bit because i would like to do a hydro grow soon, but a dwc grow myself

good luck, looks good

 

[Danielsgb]

I knew Gumball has been researching Hydroponics. Good advice as figured GB.
Is it being 'kicked out' if the Manager of a holiday inn express says "Sir, You and your friends HAVE to leave"? Obviously been a while for me at a holiday inn express.
Daniels

 

[gumball]

That means you have uber-experience if you've "evovled" past a holiday inn express!! Sounds like a great story!

 

[jayme001]

Quick update, no pics as mrs has gone away with the camera!!!

Looked at the 2 grow cubes earlier this morning. The 1st one i planted has sprouted already and the tap root is already poking out at the bottom of the grow cube through the netting (you were right Gumball). I think this strain is going to be a very quick grower.... Checked the tent environment also. No fan on, just the light and it was 90 odd degrees. So i switched on the fan and the propagator lid i put on at an angle so more air could circulate. The temp is now around 84-86 ish with humidity at 35-40% ish. Am gonna have to keep an eye on it.

But so far so good I think!

 

[jayme001]

yeah i know, been getting so much help and info from the good people on here i forget to place them in my folder!!!
Have done it now though!!

 

[Danielsgb]

Check out my Journal if you want to see what a Mum Lst'd looks like and a clone topped.Well Here Goes Again
Daniels

 

[jayme001]

Hi all. As you can see from the pics below. The seedlings are in their final home. I decided to do two under the one light (55w fluoro) and will change to the 240w cfl maybe wed or thurs. The other one is in a 50/50 soil and perlite mix. At the moment in the flo grow is just plain 6.0ish ph water. TDS is around 362ppm, cannot get any lower so haven't added no nutes yet. Again will probably do this when I change the lighting. The nitrozymeI will be using recommends around 1-2 ml per litre but instead of putting in
around 17-34 ml (17 litres of water), as there small will maybe put in 10-15ml. Unless anyone can recommend an ideal dosage?

Another problem I have not related to the above, is that I have been growing a Northern Lights on my window sill. The pistils have all turned reddish brown so is getting chopped tomorrow. Its sort of caught me by surprise cos yesterday I swear only a few were that colour. My problem is how to dry them. Is the airing cupboard ok? I just need some help in that at the moment. Any ideas will be greatly taken on board.

Cheers all for looking.

 

[gumball]

as long as they have air flow. not neccessarily a fan blowing on them, because you want them to dry slowing. but you dont want them to mold. daniels has some DIY drying tupperware bins somewhere, maybe he will chime in. he uses a fan to "pull air" over the buds.

 

[jayme001]

so all i need is a plastic box and two pc fans. one for intake, and one for outtake?

 

[Danielsgb]

Like this, just exhaust.
Daniels

 

[jayme001]

Just noticed that its not the pistils that you wait to turn reddish brown till you harvest, its the mushroom shaped trichomes. So i may have a while yet till i harvest.

 

[jayme001]

just the exhaust fan? So it must suck air through the holes you made on the opposite side? Would an intake fan on the other side be ok instead of holes? Not that I disbelieve you daniels but ive heard it beig done this way also.

Cheers mate, great help as always.

 

[jayme001]

Update! After a few days the plant now look like this. The earlier one split I placed in the soil/perlite mix. The second one to split, I placed in the flo grow, with just plain 6.0 ph water. The plant are actually bigger now but cant take pics as lights are now off. So will take pics tonight. One area that concerns me is the 1st pic. The leaves seem to be curling up. Should I be adding nutes by this time.



The following 3 pics are of the 2 ramakin dishes with water, which is to help with humidity. Will let you know if it does.
2nd pic, the lighting is now changed from a 55w to a 240w cfl. I changed the lighting after a few days as they are growing very fast, being a strain that takes 7 weeks from seed to harvest.
The 3rd pic is a close up of my pebbles. As you can see were the water come out of the tubes when the pebbes dry there are thee milky white deposits. Is this ok? Or is my water in need of help. So far all it is is plain 6.0ph water with no nutes. PPM is around 360, and I can't get any lower. Does anyone know?

 

[jayme001]

Here is the updated pics, and as you can see they are growing well. I do have concerns about the plant in the 1st pic. The curling up of leaves does make me wonder what I'm doing wrong at this stage. Is it heat, lack of nutes etc. Would be very gratefull if anyone had any answers.

 

[gumball]

the white stuff could either be calcium build up due to hard water, or powdery mildew/mold. do you have a white buildup like that around any of the faucets in the house, or drains? that would be tell-tell sign of calcium buildup. just watch it, but do a little more research because i have never dealt with or seen it.

as for the leaf curling down, i had a severe problem of it and it was the pH. check the pH of soil. i have read to do so let the soil dry out good and then water with ph 7 water, catch the first few millileters of runoff and test the ph. it should be ok at around 5.5 or higher. mine was down to 4 in the past.

 

[jondamon]

hey Jayme

the curling looks like localised humidity stress caused by a possible few things.

temps too hot on the surface of the leaves causing a lack in RH which makes your leaves curl up.

or

oscilating fan blowing too much onto that plant causing once again low RH on the leaf surface which causes the curl up.

which one fits the bill???

have you tested temps and RH at the leaf level??


J

 

[jayme001]

Yes mate. I got a humidity gauge on top of the pebbles and its between 10-20%. It was 45% when I had the 55w light on it, but obviously the extra heat/power from the 240w is the problem. The ramakin dishes aren't really doing much, all I do know is that they are drying out in a day!! Any suggetions Jon?

 

[jayme001]

As you can see now the plants are now 12 days old and I now have them under the 240w cfl. Under the 55w light the tent was a stable 80-84c with lights on and 45% humidity. Under the 240w it is now high 80c's and humidity has dropped to an alarming 10%. Also you can see the difference between the two mediums. The soil grown plant is taking off well even though the leaves are curling due to temp/humidity problems (thanks Jon). The hydro grow in pebbles is seriously stunted. There is only a day between them in germinating. Have also been told it could be the fan blowing on it tat is causing its stunted growth. So will adjust the fan to face the inside of the tent more.


Here you go Jon. I wired it up and it didn't work. Turned down the volt dial to 3v and it worked!!! Am now gonna attach it to my plastic box. I admit not the prettiest thing to look at, but atleast it works!!!

 

[jondamon]

Have you tried hanging a damp towel in there?

Or

Have a towel in a bucket of water with an oscilating fan blowing at it. That way the towel creates like a wick which draws the water up.

Or you could have a bucket with an airstone bubbling in it and a fan blowing at that.


The trouble is because your plant is only small it doesnt have enough foliage to help increase the RH. It will increase over time as the plant grows bigger but you should try some of the above to see if it helps.


J

 

[jayme001]

Will have a go at that NOW. I do need to get RH down fast. 10% is way, way too low.

The damp towel seems good but don't fancy hanging a towel with electric about. But the towel in the bucket, now that sounds a killer idea. I take it I just submerge a towel in a bucket. There's nothing more technical than that.