Honestly don't know how many people are following this thread, but day 23 and all is good for now.
Will post some pics later.
So I have learned during this grow, if you have one of these setups? Hope this is of some help!!!!
-Start your clones\seeds in a cloning chamber, it works much better than trying to start in the actual unit , by far! Let them get 4 inches with roots before putting them in the big machine!
-Keep the top feeders on full blast, all the time they love it I think because the roots are not totally submerged in the water,and the rapid rooters are porous and so are the clay pellets.
-Keep your nutes low the first 2 weeks, until the plants are fairly bushy. 1\2 strength, then when the fan leaves are reaching to fill the unit, you can increase up to 1200 ppm fairly fast, I went up 200-400 ppm every 2-4 days using GH flora nova Grow/Bloom
-Change your water often every 10 days or so.
-Control PH, PPM, Temp...Check everyday PH tends to change fast for me , one day its 7 , the next its 4
-Add some sort of CO2, mine is just Yeast and Sugar, but it works great!
-Add supplemental lighting I use 2-23 watt OTT lights, they are awesome , super low heat, they can be touching the plant with zero concern and I have learned the closer the light the better, not nescisarrily the stronger the light. I tried 2-42 watt cfl's but they were just to hot..Look up OTT lights and buy 2.
-Try and grow only 4-6 plants at most in this unit, its really all it can handle, You will not get 14 to grow so don't even try, just cover up the other holes, so as to keep in the mist from the fogger, and reduce evaporation.
- I am doing 18hrs ON and 6 OFF for lighting.
-KEEP YOUR LIGHTS CLOSE, I meen like touching at times, and just raise them 1-3 inches at a time using a chain system. LED lights and CFL's maybe don't penatrate as far as other lights.
-Trim any fan leaves that are dead, or any other plant matter from the bottom 1\3 of your plant. Only keep the branches that will touch the first 6 inches of the canopy, any other small sprouts in the dark will die anyways, because with the lights that close if you get a canopy like mine, very bushy and full of tops, very little light makes it through the top 6 inches.
-KEEP YOUR UNIT CLEAN, wipe the lights, Spray your LED fan lights with compresed air to blow out dust buildup, claen the inside and outside of the unit with mild bleach solute when you change water, Clean the filters etc, etc.
To sum it up I am getting great results so far with the unit, tones of tops sprouting of each of the 6 plants, while they are just over 1 foot in height. The plants are very bushy and are growing symetrically with the close lighting and nutes at 1200+. The roots are 6-12 inches into the basin and look healthy.
Almost time to Flower!!!!!!!
I don't know if what I am doing is the best method, but seems to be OK so far.
Have a wonderful day ALL.
