Mad Hatter's Tea Hour & Pictorial

Intro

Thank you to Firstly, I would like to thank everyone at RIU for their time and motivation in posting their own journals and experiences. Upon starting this entire project, I never knew the toil and steep learning curve involved. Thank you all for sharing your wealth of information and experience. I welcome your comments!

As for me, I have been a member by another name here on RIU since 2007. Changed my name to protect the innocent (me =D).

My Specs

Space:Lighting:

1. 600w Lumatek Ballast 120v
   1. 600w EYE Hortilux HPS Bulb
   2. 600w HPS-MH SunMaster Conversion
   3. Cool Sun Reflector
2. 250w SSII Mini
   1. 270w Son Agro HPS Bulb

H2O and Nutes:

1. HydroLogic Stealth RO system
   1. The PPM of our tap water was just over 600
   2. The PPM after the HL RO 100 was 20 (and tastes amazing too)
2. Advanced Nutrients line
   1. Sensigrow A + B
   2. Mother Earth Grow + Bloom
   3. Huvega (Botanicare)
   4. Sensizym
   5. B52
   6. Grandma Engy's F1 + H2
   7. Voodoo Juice
   8. Piranha
   9. Tarantula
   10. Connoisseur A + B
   11. Bud Blood
   12. Big Bud
   13. Carboload
   14. Colossal Bud Blast
   15. Overdrive
   16. Final Phase
   17. Bud Candy
   18. Wet Betty

Misc.

• BlueLab PH/PPM/Temp combo meter
• 30x Jeweler's Loop
• 60x-100x microscope
• Digital Lux Meter
• DIY carbon filter, 6" to 8" for 1" surrounding active carbon layer - 30lbs active carbon off ebay and the rest of the parts from HomeDePot.
• Rockwool Blocks
• Dayton 465CFM Blower
• Mylar - 2mil x 50ft
• Panda Film 10x100
• ReadyGro Super Plugs
• Vicks Ultrasonic humidifier
• Portable AC unit from Best Buy
• For the large grow container:
  • Black trash can
  • 20gal blue bucket
  • 5 airstones(different kinds for testing, USE BUBBLE DISKS or SANDSTONES unless you have a crazy powerful air pump. Micro-bubblers get clogged too easily in the nute solution, and bubble wands simply did not work for me at all.)
  • Whisper 100 air pump
  • Supreme Mag 250 water pump
  • Airline and poly tubing
  • Irrigation parts (1/2" mainline tubing with shrubbler sprayers)

Genetics:Grow Method:The Plan

• Clone --> transplant into 19gal Hydroton with basically 15-20L res. I am hoping for a massive root system to support the tree.
• Veg 8 weeks total (Goal is October 24th or earlier to switch)
• Flower for 7-10 weeks, will let the girl tell me when she's ready. I am guessing the beginning to middle of December

I germinated 5 x Nirvana B52 seed's using the paper towel method, then into ReadyGro Super Plugs, and then put them into a home-made aeroponics system. So far, I am not satisfied with the results of my home-made system, so I will probably transplant the B52 into hydroton soon. Standard seed, so I don't know which ones are male or female.And now, the pics.

2009-08-28
DAY 01 for Clone - Picked up cutting.

2009-09-21
DAY 24 for Clone
DAY 11 for B52

Had to move the seedlings into their new home, my DIY aeroponics.


Taco Bell. One of my favorites.


Surprised to find roots on this one. It doesn't even have starter leaves.


Bottom of that same mutant seedling


Look at these roots!


And here, an even different plant. The one that has been thriving all along



And their Aeroponics system:


Note, the 360 degree sprinkers that I bought got clogged by the next day. Had to switch to 90 degree sprinkers later and they trickle out only just enough with the current cheap pump it is using. So, go bigger pump, and go 90-180 degree sprinklers.






What the 360 degree sprayers look like when they work:




Floros for a day and then they'll get moved in with the big girl




And updates on my girl from that same day. Still tied down and still getting 24/7 drip irrigation with her droopy signs of overwatering. I placed the white side of panda film scraps underneath to encourage light spread. That turned out to not be a good idea only because the drip system was leaving mini puddles of standing nute water, which can lead to pests, fungi, and disease:





2009-09-22
DAY 25 for Clone
DAY 12 for B52

Switched watering cycle to 4 times a day, for 15 min each time. They seemed to like that more than the 24x7 overwatering they seemed to be getting. I remember reading about "you can never overwater your hydroponics setup as long as you have sufficient drainage." That didn't seem to work for me, even when using 3 airstones.



2009-09-24
DAY 27 for Clone
DAY 14 for B52




2009-09-28
DAY 31 for Clone
DAY 18 for B52

She's looking good:



And each of the seedlings:


Here's the weird mutant looking one. Slow starter, prolly going to get rid of this one, we'll see.




2009-09-29
DAY 32 for Clone
DAY 19 for B52

The day I found bugs...

Looking good so far:


BUG EXCREMENT, found a Thripe larvae (my best guess, white with dark dots for eyes) underneath the leaf. Separated this one, then ended up getting rid of her.


2009-10-01
DAY 34 for Clone
DAY 21 for B52



Pics from later that night:



Why hello there... What are you?




2009-10-02
DAY 35 for Clone
DAY 22 for B52













I think that has me almost caught up with posting the pictures. I need to get updated pictures tonight/tomorrow and will post them up.

2009.10.11
Day 44 for Clone
Day 31 for B52

Gave her underside a good trim. How does she look tonight?

hey lookin good, very full.. i too am going mblaze style, bubble gum for now, 4 trees. btw.. are you using a cycle timer on the aero pump? whats the cycle on/off?

johnnywriight said:

hey lookin good, very full.. i too am going mblaze style, bubble gum for now, 4 trees. btw.. are you using a cycle timer on the aero pump? whats the cycle on/off?

Click to expand...

Thanks for stopping by Johnny. My aero pump is on 24/7. If you go for an aeroponics DIY, don't skimp on the pump.

I don't think you need to put the pump on a timer for aeroponics. Since the roots have no medium to pull retained water/nutrients from, 24/7 should be fine with an airstone oxygenating the nutrient solution. You could put the pump on a timer, but you would have to read your plant to see what she's comfortable with. Then again, this is my first aeroponics attempt too, so I am not the best one to be giving advice.

Only the big girl is on a timer. She's set for 15 min a day 4 times per day. I might have bumped it up to 5 a week or so ago, but I can't recall

Have you started your Bubblegum trees yet? Those sound tasty. Let me know if you get a grow journal started and I will stop by. I did not FIM the clone, but I plan on doing so with the B52.

yeah the reason i asked bout the aero timer is theyr supposed to be on 1 min on 5 min off... but that cycle timer will set u back $80 minimum but works wonders... i had a dwc/bubbleponic diy cloner and it did ok... like 50% fail rate. i got hooked on aero reading through all of stinkbuds threads and finally sprung for the right equip. his cloner gives me 100% everytime... learned a lot from that guy.

the bbg trees are ridiculous and not really in a good way..... if not for me cutting back they would be at leat ten feet tall. i think so much that it is hurting them now. my new space, which they are moving to, kept falling through so they got much more veg than i had hoped, also set me back quite a bit.... and speaking of... im going now to rent a truck and make the move :/ **fingers crossed**