Second Grow, First Indoor. The Start Of Something Wonderful.

[MelonFarmer]

if Your ph is going to 8 every day n you got to drop it the plant has to be stressed.

Idk I’ve never run a hydro setup but ph fluctuations like that in soil would have all new growth twisted and lockouts steadily.

Its a swing of 2-2.5 points and back again everyday, so not good, but I'm afraid if I don't fix it daily then I WILL get lockouts. I'll be doing as big of a flush as I can be bothered doing when I change the res next because I think the fluctuation is coming from poorly cleaned hydroton from when I set it all up. I'm still hanging on to the hope I won't have to start again, it's all a learning curve though and I'm having fun anyway so all is well haha

 

[Monster762]

Its a swing of 2-2.5 points and back again everyday, so not good, but I'm afraid if I don't fix it daily then I WILL get lockouts. I'll be doing as big of a flush as I can be bothered doing when I change the res next because I think the fluctuation is coming from poorly cleaned hydroton from when I set it all up. I'm still hanging on to the hope I won't have to start again, it's all a learning curve though and I'm having fun anyway so all is well haha

Yeah I don’t know much about hydro. I got soil mix down now n seeing real good results from it. And not needing nutes. Just traces of base and calmag I’m in flower and 1/4 strength. Any more I get tip burn.

Are you seeing any twisting or bubbly looking new growth? Cause usually if a ph swing happens in soil that’s where it shows at. If you’re not seeing that your adjusting of the ph must be working. But I don’t think you are supposed to have to adjust that much.

 

[MelonFarmer]

Yeah I don’t know much about hydro. I got soil mix down now n seeing real good results from it. And not needing nutes. Just traces of base and calmag I’m in flower and 1/4 strength. Any more I get tip burn.

Are you seeing any twisting or bubbly looking new growth? Cause usually if a ph swing happens in soil that’s where it shows at. If you’re not seeing that your adjusting of the ph must be working. But I don’t think you are supposed to have to adjust that much.

I had a nice soil run this year. A super soil mix, I can't remember whose. Probably Subcool. I never really worried about ph but I think it was around 7 the whole time. Never used bottled nutes. Watered with all kinds of things though, aloe powder, coconut water, molasses, EWC etc.
The result is a little fluffy but tasty as hell and nice high. Hydro is totally alien to me haha. I'll keep doing the soil mix outdoors once a year.

No bubbly or twisted growth as far as I can see, except for the weird three branch one on front left. The big one on the left has slightly skewed leaves but it looks green and healthy otherwise, I just thought it was doing its thang. You can kinda see in the pic.

 

[MelonFarmer]

Changed my res yesterday. I poured about 30L of water, around ph 5 that I left sitting out over night, through the stones and discarded it. I also filled a jug with ph 4.5 and left one of the runts soaking in it as an experiment. If it survives I predict the stones will have soaked up the acidic water and will stop them leaching highly alkaline water into the res. If it works and my flush has not worked I'll put them all through the same treatment. I really wish I had have just been patient at the start and soaked my stones/rockwool in ph'd water.

One plant is much bigger than the others, I'm not sure how drastically different phenotypes can appear but I'm thinking this one is probably a totally different strain, I have a few different seeds in the same tub from collecting over the years without organising them. Lucky I like surprises.

The res has been smelling clean and the build up hasn't gotten any worse and the roots are all looking good, the bennies seem to be doing their job but the low temps are helping. In fact I may have to get a small heater soon. Air temps are dropping below 60F some nights and its only going to get colder over the next few months.

I think the new growth all looks good, just the older damaged leaves that are splotchy. Raised ppm to about 180 this week. I'm following the AN feeding app but only using 1/4 strength and I pushed the schedual back a week to make up for the stunted growth caused by ph.

What do you guys think? Should I get a heater? Should I keep pushing up PPM? Will my acid bath help the leaching? Are they looking as healthy as I think?

 

[MelonFarmer]

Wow;. I just jumped from soil to coco. Bought some meter too. Is this my future:? , yeah of coarse it is. Peace and all good fortune in your grow.

I just calibrated my pen and it was 0.5 out on the high side. Have you got calibration and storage solution?

 

[MelonFarmer]

My two favorites. The big showy gal and the trooper who didn't seem too bothered by the ph swings.

 

[MelonFarmer]

Hey everyone...anyone...

I got a small oil heater for the room my tent is in. Still messing with it but it has raised the temps a little bit. I'm considering putting it inside the tent but I'm worried it would be a fire hazard. Its sitting on carpet right now so its probably no different.
Also thinking about moving the intake fan so its just circulating air around inside instead of drawing it from outside the tent. Temps have been between 12.2c and 17.8c over the last 24 hours. I'd like it to be closer to 18-20.
I moved my tent to a different room two days ago and forgot to reset the timer so my light schedule was messed up today and yesterday, glad I caught it early.

The small plant that i soaked in ph4.5 water over night wasn't bothered by it but the others look healthy so I'm not going to put them through it. Don't fix what ain't broke I s'pose. Still correcting ph from high 7's everyday :s one is looking a little twisted at the top, could that be from me tucking leaves? I'll put up some pics.
I'd love if someone had some comments or questions but I'm happy chucking up the odd update either way.

Cheers.

 

[MelonFarmer]

I'm worries about my roots guys. 2 of the girls are showing some funny symptoms, curling edges and bubbly or bumpy new growth.
I think it could be PH like @Monster762 suggested.
It has been more stable lately, climbing to 7.2 each day instead of 8+ but fits the discription. The way I adjust ph is, I pour off a liter of water. Add the 1.5 or 2ml of citric acid and pour it all back in. I started wondering if I was hurting my roots pouring it in so concentrated like that so I've started doing the same thing but with about 4-5 liters whcih brings it down between 5.5 and 6. Not sure if that info is relevant at all. Just tell me if that's a dumb way to do it haha

The reason I suspected roots was the curling leaves and some pictures that I found online that look similar to mine. I took some root shots that show a lot of brown build up, I thought it was just algae but now I'm not sure...
Any root doctors lurking?

Peace

 

[MelonFarmer]

Missed one

 

[Monster762]

Missed one

I’ve only grown in soil. I’m pretty sure roots are darker than should be. Question is why.
Honestly I wouldn’t be able to do anything but guess that either air or circulation of water to roots. I’m not sure how the bucket works. But I’d think it’s a steady moving flow to not sit n rot. Someone will know more. If you don’t get info here put a pic of roots in the infirmary. Don’t quote me but I think h2o2 might be help. Get experienced opinions though.

But common sense in my head says root rot possibly. which comes back to fungus or no air.or sitting water. Well h202 kills funguses and provides an extra oxygen molecule.
But I’ve thought up some dumb chit plenty of times so definately wait for real advice. From someone using your type system. My roots always a little brown but that’s in soil
I think yours should be almost pure white.

 

[MelonFarmer]

I’ve only grown in soil. I’m pretty sure roots are darker than should be. Question is why.
Honestly I wouldn’t be able to do anything but guess that either air or circulation of water to roots. I’m not sure how the bucket works. But I’d think it’s a steady moving flow to not sit n rot. Someone will know more. If you don’t get info here put a pic of roots in the infirmary. Don’t quote me but I think h2o2 might be help. Get experienced opinions though.

But common sense in my head says root rot possibly. which comes back to fungus or no air.or sitting water. Well h202 kills funguses and provides an extra oxygen molecule.
But I’ve thought up some dumb chit plenty of times so definately wait for real advice. From someone using your type system. My roots always a little brown but that’s in soil
I think yours should be almost pure white.

Thanks for replying man. @DGP was saying h202 but I haven't used it yet cos I'm using Orca beneficials. I'll wait for a second opinion on the roots and keep researching myself before I do anything too drastic but it might be my only choice.
I wonder what I've done wrong if it is root rot. I've got the beneficials, the res temp never goes above 20c, there are two airstones in there, smell check is still clean, black tub, black hoses all that.

It's just a 30ish liter tub with 25 liters in it and two 30cm airstones bubbling it. The plants just dangle their roots through net pots into the oxygenated nute soup, its not a multiple bucket system. I have read that falling water is better than bubbling so I might try rig up the submersible pump drippers to circulate and waterfall the water as well as the bubbling, really get it moving.

Good idea about the Infirmary too. I'll try that today or tomorrow. Thanks.

Peace

 

[Monster762]

Thanks for replying man. @DGP was saying h202 but I haven't used it yet cos I'm using Orca beneficials. I'll wait for a second opinion on the roots and keep researching myself before I do anything too drastic but it might be my only choice.
I wonder what I've done wrong if it is root rot. I've got the beneficials, the res temp never goes above 20c, there are two airstones in there, smell check is still clean, black tub, black hoses all that.

It's just a 30ish liter tub with 25 liters in it and two 30cm airstones bubbling it. The plants just dangle their roots through net pots into the oxygenated nute soup, its not a multiple bucket system. I have read that falling water is better than bubbling so I might try rig up the submersible pump drippers to circulate and waterfall the water as well as the bubbling, really get it moving.

Good idea about the Infirmary too. I'll try that today or tomorrow. Thanks.

Peace

I think h2o2 will kill any bacteria’s. Beneficial too. That’s a downside.

 

[DGP]

Your roots don't look that bad to me. As roots mature in hydro they do turn a golden color but certain nutes have dyes and will make the roots even darker. However your leaves don't necessarily look that bad either. The curling up of the edges of the leaves is a sign of russet mites. Russets are very hard to see they are microscopic. Need 100X magnification to see them. Not sure that is what it is but that is a classic symptom but could also be heat stress.

Dee

 

[MelonFarmer]

I'll move my heater further from the intake fan incase its heat. The highest it has reached in there in the past few weeks is 20.1C but it might help.
I do have a 100x scope so I'll have a look for mites too.

Thanks for the reassurance Dee.

 

[MelonFarmer]

Oh my god. What did I do...

 

[MelonFarmer]

My finger slipped and I mutilated my ladies.... I know I should be keeping it simple for this run but I was reading about mainlining and got all excited and before you know it....well...yeah.
I kept all my tops as clones to sex them. I cleaned them up and left them in a glass of aloe vera pulp and water over night then dipped them into rooting powder and potted in coco/perlite/EWC I already had mixed up from another project. I was worried the EWC might be a bit much for the clones but it's all I had so its what I used. I steralized the mix with boiling water so no bugs in the tent. They are currently in a propagation dome and I'm misting them with plain tap water twice a day. Once I see roots I'll put them in a cupboard with a lamp on 12/12 to sex.

@DGP Now I'm wondering if my lights will be strong enough to get those nice fat colas I see people getting with this technique.
I'm liking what I'm seeing with your grows and others using LEDs.
Do you agree about needing new lights now or will the fluro be ok?
Also, if I am under powered, would you be willing to talk me through some info on LED options because I feel in over my head with some of this stuff, information overload haha. Especially diy, I don't feel comfortable making anything myself just yet.

Thanks for reading. Wish me luck on my impulse driven adventure lol

Peace

 

[DGP]

My finger slipped and I mutilated my ladies.... I know I should be keeping it simple for this run but I was reading about mainlining and got all excited and before you know it....well...yeah.
I kept all my tops as clones to sex them. I cleaned them up and left them in a glass of aloe vera pulp and water over night then dipped them into rooting powder and potted in coco/perlite/EWC I already had mixed up from another project. I was worried the EWC might be a bit much for the clones but it's all I had so its what I used. I steralized the mix with boiling water so no bugs in the tent. They are currently in a propagation dome and I'm misting them with plain tap water twice a day. Once I see roots I'll put them in a cupboard with a lamp on 12/12 to sex.

@DGP Now I'm wondering if my lights will be strong enough to get those nice fat colas I see people getting with this technique.
I'm liking what I'm seeing with your grows and others using LEDs.
Do you agree about needing new lights now or will the fluro be ok?
Also, if I am under powered, would you be willing to talk me through some info on LED options because I feel in over my head with some of this stuff, information overload haha. Especially diy, I don't feel comfortable making anything myself just yet.

Thanks for reading. Wish me luck on my impulse driven adventure lol

Peace

No problem any help you need I will do my best and I am sure there are others as well that will help. Fluorescent lights are perfectly capable of taken a set of plants through flower. However, if you want to upgrade then go for it. I think Quantum boards are the way to go for tents. I need to go back and read thru your post to see what size your tent is and all that. Are you going to continue with a simple deep water system?

Dee

 

[MelonFarmer]

No problem any help you need I will do my best and I am sure there are others as well that will help. Fluorescent lights are perfectly capable of taken a set of plants through flower. However, if you want to upgrade then go for it. I think Quantum boards are the way to go for tents. I need to go back and read thru your post to see what size your tent is and all that. Are you going to continue with a simple deep water system?

Dee

I'm not 100% on the upgrade yet. I've read a lot on growweedeasy.com because the information is really simplified for noobs like me and all in one place and she says that clfs are not reccomended for mainlining. That's the main reason I was thinking about an upgrade again.
I plan to keep growing years to come so I will definitely upgrade eventually but no more than 2 plants flowering at once. I'm already thinking about bigger fans/filters, bigger air pump another tent blah blah blah but right now everything seems ok except maybe the light upgrade. I don't mind spending the money if it's quality equipment that lasts me, I just don't know how much of a difference it will make.

I will keep the dwc system for sure but I'll use soil after this grow to start my outdoors off.

The tent is 100cm x 100cm and around 6ft tall. Thats about 9 square feet of canopy if I can fill it.

Cheers
Peace

 

[MelonFarmer]

Oh and I'm not going to make it to the end with the nutrients I have. I have heard good things about CNS17 but I'm having trouble finding a reliable source that can ship to me. Have you got any suggestions for nutes? I've been using AN grow bloom micro but its pretty expensive.

 

[DGP]

Oh and I'm not going to make it to the end with the nutrients I have. I have heard good things about CNS17 but I'm having trouble finding a reliable source that can ship to me. Have you got any suggestions for nutes? I've been using AN grow bloom micro but its pretty expensive.

I am a rebel, I don't go for the cannabis liquid nutrient stuff, I think it is 99% hype. I use Jack's Hydro pro and Jack's Calcium Nitrate pro along with epsom salts in a ratio that varies slightly from veg to flower. Jack's is just as effective as anything out there and is really inexpensive. It starts out in veg in a 3-1-2 ratio (NPK) and then transitions to 1-1-2 in full flower. Very easy to use and 25 lbs of each (hydro pro and CalNit pro) last me for almost 2 years at a cost of about $120 (with the epsom salts). I run a 4X5 flower room and 3X5 veg area with anywhere between 4 and 8 plants and my system holds about 50 gallons of water (one water change every 7-10 days).

If I were in you shoes I wouldn't be worried so much about mainlining but would just take the plants from veg thru harvest and just learn a little each time. Don't try too many new things at once. Just get through your cycle and learn about all the things that can go wrong. The definition of an expert isn't necessarily about raw talent or genius abilities but an expert is often someone who has made all the mistakes possible and learned how to deal with any issue that comes up whether it is your own screw up or a random bug invasion etc. Just get them going and keep them pruned and cleaned up and watch them go, given good conditions (environment) they will do most of the work for you.

My personal goal with each cycle is to learn, test and idea or two and then beat my last harvest. If my harvest was 1 gram per watt last run I am happy if I get 1.1 the next time and so on. If the numbers don't improve then I want to know why. Keep a journal of everything you do and when including your environmental data (ph, ec, temp, humidity....). You cant improve or know what works if you don't have the data to correlate the outcome.

Dee