Cropsteering In-depth daily journal using TrolMaster

jb420710 · Dec 1, 2021

I just abused the clones again and took off all there fan leafs and lower growth off

tobh · Dec 1, 2021

yeah, hittin em hard early on. How long are you planning on vegging these before you flower?

jb420710 · Dec 1, 2021

That’s a really good question. To be honest I don’t know just yet. My room isn’t even halfway complete yet. Once I got my Ac / dehumidifier, the rest of my lights , my irrigation and my trol master set up. I will be able to think about that but for now I’m trying to get them big as possible so when I’m ready to flower I can fill the room and ready to be reloaded and flipped when they’re done

jb420710 · Dec 10, 2021

I just topped and stripped all the seedlings in the 6in cubes yesterday, but here’s how everything’s looking! I got my hydro x pro yesterday and the irrigation system should be here next week.

harmonics · Dec 10, 2021

I like your approach! I’m a longtime Rockwool grower, totally new to crop steering but I just started using an Aqua-x this cycle

You should have a lot more growth by now, let’s figure out what’s slowing things down a bit.

Why are you defoliating so heavily?
How do the roots look at the bottom of the cubes?
I have a feeling you may be overwatering a bit and not letting the roots establish throughout the cube.

@Dirtbag if you don’t mind me asking, what do you think?

harmonics · Dec 10, 2021

jb420710 said:
I just topped and stripped all the seedlings in the 6in cubes yesterday, but here’s how everything’s looking! I got my hydro x pro yesterday and the irrigation system should be here next week.

@jb420710 What is your current watering schedule?
If it’s flood and drain how often and what PH & ppm?

jb420710 · Dec 10, 2021

I didn’t even have a thermometer in my room when these were growing. my environment was terrible and I’ve been abusing em a lot. Not to mention at the begging of there life they were getting way to much light. Don’t have an Ac or dehumidifier , or humidifier yet.. when I plugged in my trol master it was 89 degrees and 39% humidity

jb420710 · Dec 10, 2021

harmonics said:
@jb420710 What is your current watering schedule?
If it’s flood and drain how often and what PH & ppm?

And I’ve been hand watering them when ever They feel dry Athena pro line 2.7-3.0 ec 5.6-5.8 ph

harmonics · Dec 10, 2021

jb420710 said:
And I’ve been hand watering them when ever They feel dry Athena pro line 2.7-3.0 ec 5.6-5.8 ph

Lower your EC significantly, I had a feeling something was up from the algae building up faster than the plants grow.

Wait for @Dirtbag or someone else with more experience than me to confirm, but;
You likely have a lot of unused salts built up in your Rockwool and will need to flush them out well with just PH’d water, then feed a very light feeding around 0.6-0.8

I would personally feed them in the 0.8-1.0 EC range for plants that small until they are more established (1-2 weeks) then gradually raise the EC and monitor the runoff.
Slowly build up to the 1.4-1.6 range but that should be the most the plants can eat for a lot of the cycle, don’t hit close those numbers until there is vigorous growth.

Ph around 5.8-6.0 might be a better range

Stop taking leaves off or topping as well for 2 weeks, it will only stress out the plants and further slow down growth.

Best of luck! It sounds like you’re on the right track, especially with your room still coming together

tobh · Dec 10, 2021

harmonics said:
Lower your EC significantly, I had a feeling something was up from the algae building up faster than the plants grow.

Wait for @Dirtbag or someone else with more experience than me to confirm, but;
You likely have a lot of unused salts built up in your Rockwool and will need to flush them out well with just PH’d water, then feed a very light feeding around 0.6-0.8

I would personally feed them in the 0.8-1.0 EC range for plants that small until they are more established (1-2 weeks) then gradually raise the EC and monitor the runoff.
Slowly build up to the 1.4-1.6 range but that should be the most the plants can eat for a lot of the cycle, don’t hit close those numbers until there is vigorous growth.

Ph around 5.8-6.0 might be a better range

Stop taking leaves off or topping as well for 2 weeks, it will only stress out the plants and further slow down growth.

^ this. Although, with the flush, don't use straight pHed water. Always flush with a mild nutrient solution, 0.2 - 0.3 EC. Hitting them with straight water will cause further issues, especially with such a drastic shift from 3.0 EC to 0.1 or less. Once the runoff is equal to input, then you can feed again, and certainly not at the levels you are currently. That's WAY too hot. Hell, I'm on day 20 of flower with incredibly rapid growth and am barely at 1.8 EC and have no intentions of going higher. The plants are healthy as can be and vigorous as all get out.

harmonics · Dec 10, 2021

tobh said:
^ this. Although, with the flush, don't use straight pHed water. Always flush with a mild nutrient solution, 0.2 - 0.3 EC. Hitting them with straight water will cause further issues, especially with such a drastic shift from 3.0 EC to 0.1 or less. Once the runoff is equal to input, then you can feed again, and certainly not at the levels you are currently. That's WAY too hot. Hell, I'm on day 20 of flower with incredibly rapid growth and am barely at 1.8 EC and have no intentions of going higher. The plants are healthy as can be and vigorous as all get out.

Great point! I agree with @tobh

harmonics · Dec 10, 2021

tobh said:
yeah me too..

View attachment 1195172
View attachment 1195168

tobh said:
^ this. Although, with the flush, don't use straight pHed water. Always flush with a mild nutrient solution, 0.2 - 0.3 EC. Hitting them with straight water will cause further issues, especially with such a drastic shift from 3.0 EC to 0.1 or less. Once the runoff is equal to input, then you can feed again, and certainly not at the levels you are currently. That's WAY too hot. Hell, I'm on day 20 of flower with incredibly rapid growth and am barely at 1.8 EC and have no intentions of going higher. The plants are healthy as can be and vigorous as all get out.

Here’s a visual reference of tobh plants that are thriving at 1.8 EC

Anthem · Dec 10, 2021

harmonics said:
Here’s a visual reference of tobh plants that are thriving at 1.8 EC

The ec of 3.0 is getting pushed by a few different companies. Athena is pushing it but it came from aroya. Aroya it the real company behind the high EC push. And it works if done correctly.

jb420710 · Dec 10, 2021

I’m not going to flush or change my ec yet. I now have equipment to monitor my environment, and to get my lights at the right height. My irrigation system and moisture content meter will be here soon, I’m in no rush, I’m fine with how there growing considering how terrible my environment was. My room ain’t even fully built yet. Once I fix all those problems and still having issues I’ll try that.

Anthem · Dec 10, 2021

jb420710 said:
I’m not going to flush or change my ec yet. I now have equipment to monitor my environment, and to get my lights at the right height. My irrigation system and moisture content meter will be here soon, I’m in no rush, I’m fine with how there growing considering how terrible my environment was. My room ain’t even fully built yet. Once I fix all those problems and still having issues I’ll try that.

What are you running for humidity?

jb420710 · Dec 10, 2021

Anthem said:
What are you running for humidity?

It was at 30% when I plugged in the troll master yesterday.. i haven’t had anything to measure humidity or temperature till yesterday lol

jb420710 · Dec 11, 2021

Here’s how they looking now

Elroyyboy · Dec 13, 2021

I’m not a RW grower but have done some reading about crop steering in coco DTW. Flora flex has some excellent info on their website. Also a user named “ganjineering” is doing a week by week of his RW steering on YouTube.
Hope this helps.