Love's First Grow - 600w MH/HPS - 3 Juicy Fruit

CyberSecks said:

so are you LST them?
ive never tried it before do you just keep tying the plant top down?
and what does it do exactly?

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LST or low stress training makes the plants grow outwards rather than upwards and makes the plant bushier. The idea is to tie the branchds down so that new growth sites that were being shaded by other parts of the plant now get full light. It also encourages new growth sites in areas due to being exposed to new light. That's a pretty basic/rough run through on LST. If you wanna see a bunch of LST stuff search for a thread called "show me what you got LST" I believe it was started by McPurp (sure on the thread name, not sure on McPurp being the thread starter) That thread shows a lot of LST'd plants, but none of the posters really seem to go through the actual technique, just showing results and pics of plants already tied down.

My technique (new at this, but seeing a lot of benefit from some periodic LST) is to tie about 12" of string to a little paper clip. Then I look over the plant and come up with a little game plan on how I want to tie her up. Then I hook the little paper clip to a branch and tape the end of the string to the edge of the bucket. I tape it so I can wrap the tape around the lip, so that the weight of the plant, lid, hydroton, etc is holding the tape on so the plant cant spring back up when the tape gets hot from the light and gives up a little. If you poke through some of my pics you'll see my plants tied down. It's pretty basic and pretty effective. Good luck and let me know if you have any issues, check out that thread I mentioned too!

CyberSecks said:

so are you LST them?
ive never tried it before do you just keep tying the plant top down?
and what does it do exactly?

Click to expand...

LST or low stress training makes the plants grow outwards rather than upwards and makes the plant bushier. The idea is to tie the branches down so that new growth sites that were being shaded by other parts of the plant now get full light. It also encourages new growth sites in areas due to being exposed to new light. That's a pretty basic/rough run through on LST. If you wanna see a bunch of LST stuff search for a thread called "show me what you got LST" I believe it was started by McPurp (sure on the thread name, not sure on McPurp being the thread starter) That thread shows a lot of LST'd plants, but none of the posters really seem to go through the actual technique, just showing results and pics of plants already tied down.

My technique (new at this, but seeing a lot of benefit from some periodic LST) is to tie about 12" of string to a little paper clip. Then I look over the plant and come up with a little game plan on how I want to tie her up. Then I hook the little paper clip to a branch and tape the end of the string to the lid of the bucket. I tape it so I can wrap the tape around the lip, so that the weight of the plant, lid, hydroton, etc is holding the tape on so the plant cant spring back up when the tape gets hot from the light and gives up a little. If you poke through some of my pics you'll see my plants tied down. It's pretty basic and pretty effective. Good luck and let me know if you have any issues, check out that thread I mentioned too!

Its like Deja Vu, Whoa man!

Good post Id +Rep ya but you know.

Whats your dogs name?

Jack, he's a red merle Aussie

What's your red's name?

So tomorrow is Wednesday aka res change day. As you may or may not recall last week I nuted the hell out of my girls and they were not very happy. My question is this? Do most of you use what the chart says or half of what is recommended? I've had a few people swear by taking what's recommended and cutting it in half. What's the general consensus out there?

SickSad I'm especially interested to hear what you think since I believe we've got the same nutrients.

I think you need to invest in a TDS meter.

Your question got answered in my thread just now. I wish I could be more definitive but you've got to find what works for you and the strain through trial and error.

Damnit you know I hate meters!

I guess I'll do some Ebay'ing, my bday is right around the corner so it looks like I'm getting a TDS meter

ColoradoLove said:

Damnit you know I hate meters!

I guess I'll do some Ebay'ing, my bday is right around the corner so it looks like I'm getting a TDS meter

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Can't let your experience with one cheap shitty meter ruin your experience with all other meters. I love my EC meter but I paid twice as much for it than I did for the pH meter (still don't know why yours isn't working...mine works without a hitch, same model too I think). Get that waterproof Hanna combo meter if you want to be baller and in control at the same time.

I'm really not familiar with ppm or EC. I've got a vague concept of them. I know I need one or the other to measure the amount of nutes in the water, but what's the difference?

Sick do you recommend PPM over EC?

I did a search on here and didn't find any threads specifically about it, just grow journals listing what their current grow's ppm or ec is at. Doesn't really go over what they are or what their differences are.

SickSadLittleWorld said:

Can't let your experience with one cheap shitty meter ruin your experience with all other meters. I love my EC meter but I paid twice as much for it than I did for the pH meter (still don't know why yours isn't working...mine works without a hitch, same model too I think). Get that waterproof Hanna combo meter if you want to be baller and in control at the same time.

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Dont feel bad CL I gotta get one to. Even though im still usein dirt I need to know how much addatives I can throw in after the nutes. SO I gotta get a TDS too. Hanna Combo is that a constant reading meter or a hand held wand? Im thinking the handheld oakton tds to match my oakton ph. Im putting away like $20 a week for that $85 fucker.

And you know Im not DWC but I say half the nutes.

Yea I know... I'm looking at the Bluelab Truncheon. I've seen it recommended in a few places and I like that it never has to be calibrated. I still don't know shit about ppm or ec but I think this is a good meter.

If anyone's got any links explaining this or meter suggestions I'd love it if you shared them!

Thanks Sota, I plan to go half nutes tomorrow and see how we do. I think the ppm meter at the hydro store is like 90 bucks. I'm cool with spending that as long someone doesn't come along tomorrow saying I should have gone with a different one. Or worse, I have as much success with it as I've had with my Hannah.

Sick - do you store probe tip dry, in reference solution, or distilled water? did you condition it with distilled water for 48 hours like the instructions say? do you calibrate with both 4 and 7 reference solutions? how long do your readings take to stabilize?

I feel like there's so much shit involved with meters. The longer I leave my meter in the water I'm testing the more it changes. It'll stabilize after like 3-4 minutes but that's after it's spent that time creeping down about a .01 every second or so. Each time I feel like it's done it changes for awhile longer I never feel like I've gotten it's final reading. In high school chem our pH meters were pretty quick, like 30 seconds or less

Post the link for the one you got?

Oh duh and her names Stephie jean. And when I say her middle name she knows I mean it.

I've got the Hanna Checker or something, it's red, cheap, pretty basic. I switched to the test solution and probably won't switch back to a meter unless I drop the money to get a good one. BUT since I already have the pH checking problem solved I'm going to invest that money in a PPM/EC meter. That Truncheon is looking good!

Yea when Jack hears "Jackson Ramathorne" he knows I mean business (and yes that is a tribute to Super Troopers, possibly the greatest movie of all time). The next dog's middle name will be Chauncey after Chauncey Billups of the Denver Nuggets (possibly the greatest NBA team off all-time? Yes, of course)

I have the HANNA HI 98103

ColoradoLove said:

Thanks Sota, I plan to go half nutes tomorrow and see how we do. I think the ppm meter at the hydro store is like 90 bucks. I'm cool with spending that as long someone doesn't come along tomorrow saying I should have gone with a different one. Or worse, I have as much success with it as I've had with my Hannah.

Sick - do you store probe tip dry, in reference solution, or distilled water? did you condition it with distilled water for 48 hours like the instructions say? do you calibrate with both 4 and 7 reference solutions? how long do your readings take to stabilize?

I feel like there's so much shit involved with meters. The longer I leave my meter in the water I'm testing the more it changes. It'll stabilize after like 3-4 minutes but that's after it's spent that time creeping down about a .01 every second or so. Each time I feel like it's done it changes for awhile longer I never feel like I've gotten it's final reading. In high school chem our pH meters were pretty quick, like 30 seconds or less

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Damn, I go to bed and this conversation explodes overnight.

I keep my probe wet at all times like the instructions say. I use storage solution I bought from the hydro store. There was once that I left it out overnight with the cap off, so I had to refresh the reference junction (instructions show you how to do this). Yes, I let it soak in water before I used it for the first time and I use the 4 and 7 calibration solutions once every two weeks. Readings stabilize within 10-15 seconds and they don't bounce around like yours does. Sounds like something isn't working right on your meter.

Here's the EC meter I use: http://cgi.ebay.com/HANNA-HI98311-98311-Dist5-EC-TDS-CONDUCTIVITY-METER_W0QQitemZ300368907586QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item45ef61cd42

Since your question wasn't answered earlier about EC/ppm differences, give this a read: https://www.rollitup.org/view.php?pg=faq&cmd=article&id=76

Thanks dude, that link is exactly what I was looking for as far as EC/PPM.

That meter looks nice too. I think I'm gonna shell out the extra $15 though for that Truncheon cause I've seen some guys doing big things that use it, and it doesn't have to be calibrated. The less maintenance and calibration I have to do (or have the opportunity to fuck up) the better.

I only spent 28 bucks on my pH meter, cause I didn't wanna spend too much cause I was in soil at that point. Now that I'm doing straight hydro it looks like I need to drop around a $100 or so and get a quality meter. Oh well, at least I didn't spend $50 bucks on my meter. I really wanted it to be user error, hence all my idiotic and extremely specific questions about pH meter technique, but I'm really starting to think it's the meter. That thing is ALL OVER the place.

Ok so I now have a basic understanding of PPM/EC etc. However, reading that makes me want to go back to the American Hanna rather than do the Australian Truncheon.

Anyone think the .5 vs the .7 would be an issue?

Personally, I don't use PPM because of that exact reason. The difference in ppm between a conversion factor of .5 and .7 gets to be pretty substantial at higher concentrations. There is no standard conversion factor that everyone uses, so ppm is a worthless unit of measurement, IMO, especially when discussing measurements over the internet. If someone says 800ppm, it doesn't mean shit to me because I have no idea what conversion factor is being used. I exclusively use EC since it is a universal measurement and a particular EC will read the same on every meter.

Sucks about the pH meter because I do have the same exact one in the same exact color and mine works fine. Is there any way you can return it or get some sort of support for it? Even if you didn't pay much for it, I'd still be pissed if it didn't work like it said it would.

Cool so when the feeding chart recommends a certain PPM you just measure EC and convert it? Or your meter does that automatically? Maybe I don't have the grasp on this like I thought I did.

Yea I got my meter off Ebay. I'm knocking out a bunch of online stuff today so I'm gonna email that seller and have them send me a new one.

I just ignore the recommended PPM on the feeding chart especially since they don't give a conversion factor. That information is both useless and misleading.

Follow the feeding chart for a gallon of water, check the EC, and then adjust the recipe to get the desired EC for all your water. The correct nute concentration depends on the strain, so you will have to experiment to find the sweet spot. Luckily, an EC meter reduces most of the error from the trial and error.