Durban Poison with Vivosun self feeding pots in coco/perlite

[T_Dub]

Today is Day 13 since flip. I decided to install the second scrog screen today about 3-4” above the first. I wove branches to expose more bud sites and fill more holes in the screen. I also defoliated fan leaves that were blocking bud sites. She’s ready to run for the next week and a half of stretch.

New growth looks lighter than normal, probably due to flushing with a reduced nutrient solution. I may not have provided enough N to fuel the stretch, so I added 3ml of Flora micro to each 1.3 gallon reservoir plus 3ml of Liquid KoolBloom ( 0-10-10) to fuel flower production. I want to back off nitrogen after this.

They’re getting a new full spectrum LED with more red spectrum this week. Hoping to help those colas stretch a little more.

Daily Light Integral at 35. 12/12

 

[Bubblegumyum]

Today is Day 13 since flip. I decided to install the second scrog screen today about 3-4” above the first. I wove branches to expose more bud sites and fill more holes in the screen. I also defoliated fan leaves that were blocking bud sites. She’s ready to run for the next week and a half of stretch.

New growth looks lighter than normal, probably due to flushing with a reduced nutrient solution. I may not have provided enough N to fuel the stretch, so I added 3ml of Flora micro to each 1.3 gallon reservoir plus 3ml of Liquid KoolBloom ( 0-10-10) to fuel flower production. I want to back off nitrogen after this.

They’re getting a new full spectrum LED with more red spectrum this week. Hoping to help those colas stretch a little more.

Daily Light Integral at 35. 12/12

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I think N deficiency is seen as yellowing in the older leaves rather than new growth. I thought I had N deficiency cuz new growth was a bit yellow - turns out it was light stress

I turned the intensity down 3% and they looked better (tops greener) within a few hours. Worth a try - if there's no difference then turn it back up!

Too much light could also slow the stretch

 

[T_Dub]

I think N deficiency is seen as yellowing in the older leaves rather than new growth. I thought I had N deficiency cuz new growth was a bit yellow - turns out it was light stress

I turned the intensity down 3% and they looked better (tops greener) within a few hours. Worth a try - if there's no difference then turn it back up!

Too much light could also slow the stretch

Thank you…..I was just thinking that my DLI at 35 is a little too much light. I’ll try raising the lamp.

 

[T_Dub]

Happy Thanksgiving Day. Since week 3 of flower started yesterday, I think it’s time for a garden update before I start preparing the feast.

Overall, I’m enjoying the Vivosun self feeding base experience. If I were to do it again, I think I would have used a 5 gallon fiber pot so that the medium can hold more of the wicked moisture from the reservoir. I do really really like the access panels that allow me to vacuum out the old solution and pour in new solution, check ppm, check ph, etc. the Vivosun pots can be used with a scrog because of that access panel. The lack of access on the AC Infinity self watering bases means that they don’t work well with Scrog.

This week I utilized the Black Friday sales and upgraded from a 6 year old 320w Timber 3VL cob fixture. After much deliberation, I ended up buying the new 320 watt Spider Farmer SE4500 which had the heaviest red spectrum between the budget models I considered. I was on a budget so HLG wasn’t even considered. You can see the amount of red diodes in these fixtures. My old lamp grew short plants with its 3500 light spectrum. Anyone wanting to buy a 2018 Timber 3 VL with under 10 grows can message me…it’s “vintage”!

Today I topped off the reservoirs with half gallon of RO water. Reservoir ph adjusted from 6.3 to 6.0 and ppm at 900. Plants feel mildly heavy, so they’re still up taking nutrient solution through the wicks. Noticed a damaged leaf with red stems (and a few random red stems), so added a little CalMag to the reservoirs and some Liquid Koolbloom (0-10-10) for phosphorous.

As far as nutrients, I’m using this reduced schedule from a cannabis education website. 2.5ml Micro, 1.25 ml Gro, 2.5ml Bloom per gallon. I’m also adding 5-10 ml/g of KoolBloom and 2ml/g of CalMag and 30ml/g of Maxicrop Seaweed Extract plus 4ml of a homemade Terpinator recipe. I’m trying to prevent a large salt buildup at the root zone. Flushing last week was good timing, but I anticipate that I will need to flush again since I am in these smaller 3 gallon pots. The plants uptake nutrients much more slowly when they need a flush which is one reason why I feel the weight of the pots.


Interesting how slowly the plant on the right is growing and how poorly she is filling the net. I am not sure if I trained her poorly or if she’s just a little slower. Here’s a photo of the left side of the canopy with a nice distribution of bud sites. Then you have the ugly right side with holes in the scrog net.

 

[T_Dub]

 

[Newty]

Plants look good!

I will say though that I use ACI self-watering bases and have no issues using a scrog.
You just remove the water gauge and refill through that hole.
I also have "pot holders" I made myself that will allow me to keep my scrog and plants in place and I can remove the bases from underneath them during any point of growth to clean them and put them back.

Was just mentioning in case you ever setup another tent or something and want to try them.

I do like the shape of the Vivosun bases though

I also wish I would of went with 5 gallon pots.

ACI bases in a 4x2 with scrog.

 

[Newty]

Is that light in your tent the SE4500 you just purchased?!

Would love to see the new model SE4500 in a full grow from start to finish.
I run the older model SE4500 that I purchased earlier this year so I'm very curious in growing differences between upgraded diodes and less wattage.

Mine also didn't come with the light controller the new model comes with

 

[T_Dub]

Plants look good!

I will say though that I use ACI self-watering bases and have no issues using a scrog.
You just remove the water gauge and refill through that hole.
I also have "pot holders" I made myself that will allow me to keep my scrog and plants in place and I can remove the bases from underneath them during any point of growth to clean them and put them back.

ACI bases in a 4x2 with scrog.
View attachment 2330964

Thanks Newty.
Nice looking setup and very interesting use of the LED light bars too! I had chiseled out the grid in my AC Infinity bases so that I could squeeze my ph and ppm pen into the reservoirs. However, I find the larger access panel more convenient on the Vivo. The larger opening also allows me to use my liquid transfer pump to easily “circulate” the water when making ph adjustments or adding nutrients to the reservoir. I have yet to figure out a way to clean out these reservoirs mid-grow other than to vacuum them out.

Having grown with both, I think they’re excellent designs. Between the two I prefer the Vivosun design and larger capacity. However, I prefer the round design of the ACI because it provides more floor space in my 2x4 for a fan to sit. Maybe version 2 from ACI will have an access panel.

 

[T_Dub]

Is that light in your tent the SE4500 you just purchased?!

Would love to see the new model SE4500 in a full grow from start to finish.
I run the older model SE4500 that I purchased earlier this year so I'm very curious in growing differences between upgraded diodes and less wattage.

Mine also didn't come with the light controller the new model comes with

Yes, I received the new model SE4500 this week. I was crediting the reduction in number of light bars and reduction in wattage in the new SE4500 with shrinkflation! Haha.

I’m coming from a 6 year old cob unit, so I’m very interested in any change in plant behavior despite being the exact same wattage at 320 watts. I couldn’t figure out the differences between the outgoing SE4500 model and new model and I’m not very knowledgeable about LEDs.

The light dimmer has two inputs (up & down). I’m not sure if this will work with a Type A adapter for my AC Infinity controller 69. I’m still working on getting it working with the controller.

 

[Newty]

Yes, I received the new model SE4500 this week. I was crediting the reduction in number of light bars and reduction in wattage in the new SE4500 with shrinkflation! Haha.

I’m coming from a 6 year old cob unit, so I’m very interested in any change in plant behavior despite being the exact same wattage at 320 watts. I couldn’t figure out the differences between the outgoing SE4500 model and new model and I’m not very knowledgeable about LEDs.

The light dimmer has two inputs (up & down). I’m not sure if this will work with a Type A adapter for my AC Infinity controller 69. I’m still working on getting it working with the controller.

The old model I have is wider and has 1 whole extra LED bars (4 instead of 3) and 110 more watts and LM301B diodes
The new model they went with LM301H Diodes (supposed to be better) and reduced the bars to 3 instead of 4.
I have the AC Infinity Ionframe Evo3 in a 3x2, I would say the new model SE4500 looks pretty similar to the Evo3.

Either way, it's going to grow some big beautiful plants Spider Farmer puts out some great stuff!

I believe it should be adapter A for your Controller 69.
I run mine off a Controller 69.
Do you have the Controller and Adpater already?
I can walk you through it, just tell me what you want to do and I can send screen shots and text instructions if you would like.

 

[T_Dub]

The old model I have is wider and has 1 whole extra LED bars (4 instead of 3) and 110 more watts and LM301B diodes
The new model they went with LM301H Diodes (supposed to be better) and reduced the bars to 3 instead of 4.
I have the AC Infinity Ionframe Evo3 in a 3x2, I would say the new model SE4500 looks pretty similar to the Evo3.

Either way, it's going to grow some big beautiful plants Spider Farmer puts out some great stuff!

I believe it should be adapter A for your Controller 69.
I run mine off a Controller 69.
Do you have the Controller and Adpater already?
I can walk you through it, just tell me what you want to do and I can send screen shots and text instructions if you would like.

That would be great Newty! Tomorrow I plan to try to hook that up but it appears confusing to me. I’ll definitely tag you if I’m stuck. Thank you so much!!

 

[Newty]

That would be great Newty! Tomorrow I plan to try to hook that up but it appears confusing to me. I’ll definitely tag you if I’m stuck. Thank you so much!!

I just looked at some of the pictures on their website as well as the manual for the new model.
It would appear that the driver doesn't have an RJ11 port itself and connection needs to be made through the dimmer box.
From reading it would seem that you need to connect the UIS Adapter A to the Controller 69, run a RJ11 cable from the adpater to the UP port on the Spider Farmer dimmer box, my understanding is it should go into slave mode automatically and then can be controlled through the AC Infinity Controller and App.
There's a switch mode on the Spider Farmer dimmer box, if it doesn't automatically go into slave mode then you can manually set it to slave with the knob.

This is assuming Spider Farmer didn't put something in their dimmer box that would prevent it from being controlled by other brand controllers.
I don't think that is something they would do though.

 

[T_Dub]

I just looked at some of the pictures on their website as well as the manual for the new model.
It would appear that the driver doesn't have an RJ11 port itself and connection needs to be made through the dimmer box.
From reading it would seem that you need to connect the UIS Adapter A to the Controller 69, run a RJ11 cable from the adpater to the UP port on the Spider Farmer dimmer box, my understanding is it should go into slave mode automatically and then can be controlled through the AC Infinity Controller and App.
There's a switch mode on the Spider Farmer dimmer box, if it doesn't automatically go into slave mode then you can manually set it to slave with the knob.

This is assuming Spider Farmer didn't put something in their dimmer box that would prevent it from being controlled by other brand controllers.
I don't think that is something they would do though.

Wow…..you must be a master of Google! I looked all over the web for instructions like that Newty and couldn’t find anything. Thank you so much!!! I’ll give you an update tomorrow when I install the Type A adapter. Fingers crossed that it works…..that would be cool!

 

[Florida_Mike]

beautiful grow brother! only thing i would do dif is flush the crap out of them if i suspected buffering problems or nutrient lock out and start back with fresh nutes. i grow in rockwool which tends to run high ph. i just start @ 5.8 and let it creep up to 6.2. i prefer to flush every 7 days
gluck & Happy Thanksgiving -peace-

 

[T_Dub]

beautiful grow brother! only thing i would do dif is flush the crap out of them if i suspected buffering problems or nutrient lock out and start back with fresh nutes. i grow in rockwool which tends to run high ph. i just start @ 5.8 and let it creep up to 6.2. i prefer to flush every 7 days
gluck & Happy Thanksgiving -peace-

Thank you FloridaMike! You’ve affirmed my gut instinct that they will need to be flushed again but you have me considering a much more frequent flush. I’ll do it again this weekend and post runoff ppm to see if it was needed. It would sure be a lot easier to flush if I wasn’t locked into the scrog net. Thanks for the input.

Edit…..gorgeous German Shepherd in your profile pic! Our one and only shepherd was an amazing dog.

 

[Newty]

Wow…..you must be a master of Google! I looked all over the web for instructions like that Newty and couldn’t find anything. Thank you so much!!! I’ll give you an update tomorrow when I install the Type A adapter. Fingers crossed that it works…..that would be cool!

It didn't actually find it step by step, I used what I knew about the Controller 69 and what I could find in Spider Farmers manual to come up with a "theory of operation".

When using the Controller 69 you need to think of it as the 1st light in the daisy chain (master light) and the rest are slaves.
From the daisy chain instructions I knew the RJ cable has to go to the UP port on the 2nd light in the daisy chain.

Anyways, I won't keep posting about it in your grow diary unless you need additional assistance.
I can talk all day about this stuff

 

[T_Dub]

It didn't actually find it step by step, I used what I knew about the Controller 69 and what I could find in Spider Farmers manual to come up with a "theory of operation".

When using the Controller 69 you need to think of it as the 1st light in the daisy chain (master light) and the rest are slaves.
From the daisy chain instructions I knew the RJ cable has to go to the UP port on the 2nd light in the daisy chain.

Anyways, I won't keep posting about it in your grow diary unless you need additional assistance.
I can talk all day about this stuff

Well I can’t thank you enough! I read the manual and it was like a foreign language….haha.

Feel free to post whenever you like and I welcome new ideas because there is usually a better way to do things. I’ll give you an update tomorrow on the Type A controller. This grow log is just a hobby and I welcome discussion, so you’re not disrupting anything. Happy Holidays!

 

[T_Dub]

Thanks to @Newty, my Spider Farmer LED is now taking orders from the AC Infinity 69 Pro+ Controller. I also discovered that it doesn’t work when you plug it into “down”. Hard to read in the dark. The only downside that I have found is that dimming is limited to increments of 0-10 whereas the dimmer on the LED allows increments of 1 from 0-100. I think I can live with that and use fixture height for fine tuning DLI if needed.

Today I was lifting the little 3 gallon pots of coco and noticed that they all feel like there is no water in the medium again! My wicking has gone to hell for a second time. I assumed it was salt buildup again despite having flushed them last week. I ran 4 gallons of Florakleen flush through one pot and the runoff in the first 1.5 gallons was only 700. That’s nothing!!! So I stopped my flushing and pulled one of the self-feeding bases out for inspection. Mind you, I haven’t removed these pots since I started using them so it’s been 7 weeks. I cleaned my AC Infinity bases frequently, so I never experienced this. How do you like my wicks?? (They’re the black strings with mold growing on them)

All self wicking bases are now scrubbed clean, coco has been moistened to get that wicking action going again, and reservoirs filled with 6.0ph 900ppm solution.

LESSON FOR SELF WICKING BASE USERS: Regular cleaning (every 2-3 weeks) needed to keep those wicks functioning properly in my experience.

Today was a full morning…..

 

[Newty]

Thanks to @Newty, my Spider Farmer LED is now taking orders from the AC Infinity 69 Pro+ Controller. I also discovered that it doesn’t work when you plug it into “down”. Hard to read in the dark. The only downside that I have found is that dimming is limited to increments of 0-10 whereas the dimmer on the LED allows increments of 1 from 0-100. I think I can live with that and use fixture height for fine tuning DLI if needed.

Today I was lifting the little 3 gallon pots of coco and noticed that they all feel like there is no water in the medium again! My wicking has gone to hell for a second time. I assumed it was salt buildup again despite having flushed them last week. I ran 4 gallons of Florakleen flush through one pot and the runoff in the first 1.5 gallons was only 700. That’s nothing!!! So I stopped my flushing and pulled one of the self-feeding bases out for inspection. Mind you, I haven’t removed these pots since I started using them so it’s been 7 weeks. I cleaned my AC Infinity bases frequently, so I never experienced this. How do you like my wicks?? (They’re the black strings with mold growing on them)

All self wicking bases are now scrubbed clean, coco has been moistened to get that wicking action going again, and reservoirs filled with 6.0ph 900ppm solution.

LESSON FOR SELF WICKING BASE USERS: Regular cleaning (every 2-3 weeks) needed to keep those wicks functioning properly in my experience.

Today was a full morning…..

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Glad you got your SE4500 hooked up to the Controller 69!!!
So the actual Spider Farmer dimmer box will let you adjust in increments of 1%?
So you could set it to 3% or 28% or 74% or any percentage you want?!

My older SE4500 as well as my VS4000 and HLG all have 5 dimming options on the light itself and the Controller 69 gave me 10, which was awesome.

Your light is the first I've seen with 1% increments, very interesting.


I should of mentioned the cleaning on self-watering bases......
I do a cleaning every 1-2 fills, depending on how long it took the plants to use the water.

Idk if getting an air pump and air stones would keep everything moving and therefore requiring less cleaning?

I think synthetic or organic will make a difference as well, organic would probably clog the wicks faster and leave more residue then the salts from synthetic.
At least that's the case for drip irrigation.

 

[Florida_Mike]

Glad you got your SE4500 hooked up to the Controller 69!!!
So the actual Spider Farmer dimmer box will let you adjust in increments of 1%?
So you could set it to 3% or 28% or 74% or any percentage you want?!

My older SE4500 as well as my VS4000 and HLG all have 5 dimming options on the light itself and the Controller 69 gave me 10, which was awesome.

Your light is the first I've seen with 1% increments, very interesting.


I should of mentioned the cleaning on self-watering bases......
I do a cleaning every 1-2 fills, depending on how long it took the plants to use the water.

Idk if getting an air pump and air stones would keep everything moving and therefore requiring less cleaning?

I think synthetic or organic will make a difference as well, organic would probably clog the wicks faster and leave more residue then the salts from synthetic.
At least that's the case for drip irrigation.

i swear by the mantra: "if in doubt, flush it out"... i would recommend at least 3 x the pot volume of ph adjusted water if ur able to