Enter the Monolith: Under Current 10 meets Home Box

[Boylobster]

Up-Diddly-Date!

I'm a little bit late, but I'm sure no one's suffering for it. :smirk Here they are, sleeping after day 42. Week 7, ho!

Now I see why people are throwing up those trellis and netting systems - and why Dan and the Under Current cats are offering 8" net pots. It's becoming increasingly difficult to keep the lumbering giants upright. I'm correcting their posture where necessary by tying off the stem to the ceiling and wall members of the tent. Meh; good enough. :itwasntme

The very tops of the largest colas are showing definite signs of micro deficiency, Mg I believe, and I have a theory as to why... I realized that I had missed H&G's recommended Top Booster additive in week 5, and decided to try throwing into week 6. However, I'm already running AN's Hammerhead, and I wonder if, by increasing the nute strength in general and phosphorus and potassium in particular, I managed to make it difficult for them to take up magnesium properly. Any thoughts on this? The timing is highly suspect.

To fix, I've partially flushed the system, refreshing with RO to lower the EC, and I'll top 'em off with plain Aqua Flakes from here on. We'll see if that restores balance to the solution.

Other than that, everything seems to be going pretty damn well. Except at some of the very tip-tops where deficiency has made growth a little fluffy, the nugs are rock hard, and purty. Branches are collapsing under their own weight, and I guess I can't complain about that, hey? :D

Check it!

A handsome cola, but if you look closely, you'll see some of the Mg deficiency at the very top. This is actually where it's shown the most, so it's not an extreme problem by any means.

Thanks for lookin', and don't be shy with suggestions or criticisms. This is a first run, and I'm always open to advice.

Cheers,
BL

 

[Green Escape]

is that a mag deficiency or slight nute burn? i ran into the same thing late flower with my first run w/ the under current and aqua flakes. looks very similar to mine and i figured mine from over nuting. i've been lurking in the shadows following so i thought i would finally chime in. overall good job especially with the bumps you've ran into.

 

[Loudblunts]

remember that previous ptox warning, Bobby? your hypothesis may be correct


:D

 

[Boylobster]

Green Escape, yeah, you're seeing nute burn there as well - it's both. Burn because I took the nutes a little too high, and Mg lockout because too much of that EC was in P and K. At least, that's my theory. :)

Whoops, silly to not ask: did you figure out what was causing that stunted late-stage growth?

 

[Loudblunts]

ooopsss i said bobby...sorry boy'

 

[Boylobster]

Haha, I wondered who you were talking to. :D

 

[Smoke Dream]

Nice work man! Really cool to see you bounce back from the earlier issues & take it to the finish. Bet your learning that system pretty quick now huh.
I still work in the dirt but eventually I would like to try out something similar to your set up.
Anyways, really really sweet dude! I'll be checking back.

-Smoke

 

[Shady]

Killer colas! :sign0005: Wow, I must have overlooked your lighting setup... What type of hoods are those? It looks like the bulbs are exposed... I really want to get an UC setup for just one overhead 1000W in a Magnum XXXL hood. I realize that vertical lighting is what makes trees, but it seems as if you've done fine without the verticle bare bulbs... I'm not looking to set any records, just have a sick UC system that increases the yield from the same 1kW. Any thoughts or suggestions? :thinking

 

[Boylobster]

Smoke: Yeah, I'm gettin' it figured out, and thanks! :) If you have the resources for it, RDWC is really nice. As I get past the growing pains, I can say that this will easily be the most low-maintenance system I've run. It's really nice to be able to walk away from your grow for three or four days and know that everything will be balanced and humming away just fine without you.

Shady: Those hoods are AgroTech Magnums. I like 'em a lot, as I've no need for vented hoods and can't really run vertical lighting. I've never grown trees or used vertical lighting, so take anything I say on the matter with a big lump of salt, but I don't if running a vertical lighting setup with just one bulb will be very effective for you, especially if you're constrained to the shaped of a UC system. I think vertical works best when you can go *big* on lighting, and surround the plants with light sources. With just one bulb, you'd have to arrange the plants in a circle, and only the portion facing the bulb would receive significant lumens. Pardon if I misunderstood you, but I think for a small UC setup, traditional overhead lighting my be best. As I said, though, I really have zero first-hand experience running vertical. Maybe we could have a word from those who know? ;)

 

[Shady]

Shady: Those hoods are AgroTech Magnums. I like 'em a lot, as I've no need for vented hoods and can't really run vertical lighting. I've never grown trees or used vertical lighting, so take anything I say on the matter with a big lump of salt, but I don't if running a vertical lighting setup with just one bulb will be very effective for you, especially if you're constrained to the shaped of a UC system. I think vertical works best when you can go *big* on lighting, and surround the plants with light sources. With just one bulb, you'd have to arrange the plants in a circle, and only the portion facing the bulb would receive significant lumens. Pardon if I misunderstood you, but I think for a small UC setup, traditional overhead lighting my be best. As I said, though, I really have zero first-hand experience running vertical. Maybe we could have a word from those who know? ;)

Thx for the response! :D Hahaa, you misunderstood me... I assume you've seen Texas Kid's Under Current Here We Go thread... :itwasntme

I'm still trying to grasp the reality of bare bulbs in small cabs or rooms. I realize that TK had quite a few in that room, while you have a couple horizontally mounted in a tent. Now I've read many MPB threads and quite a few on the UC's where the key to running bare bulbs is a proper sealed room, mini split ac, dehumidifier, and CO2. So my goal is to only run 1000W in a Magnum Hood, but then I saw your bare bulbs in the tent and would like to get your feedback on AC requirements as I believe you aren't running CO2 or a sealed room... I'm pretty lit so I could be mistaken. :rauch08:

 

[Boylobster]

Ahhhh, sorry! I thought something was amiss. So, here's how it works for my setup: the tent is not sealed, but it does contain the ventilation system quite well, and I *am* running CO2 inside. The air pumps are placed outside the tent to avoid dumping CO2 into the water.

As for cooling, I don't use any AC. I have a 650cfm fan that pulls air from the outdoors into the tent on one side, and sends it back outdoors via a separate duct line. For much of year where I live, outdoor temps are sub-zero, so cooling is easy. In the summertime, the fan turns on more frequently, constantly flushing hot air out of the tent and replacing it with cool night air from the outside. Obviously, I won't run CO2 in the summertime, as the fan will constantly be throwing it right out the window, as it were.

In any case, I've yet to have any need for AC or air cooled hoods - with that monster fan, I can keep temps at or below 80F inside the tent. I hope that was sufficiently clearly worded; I'm not feeling all that articulate tonight myself. :) Let me know if I can give a better explanation, or a perhaps a diagram.

 

[Shady]

As for cooling, I don't use any AC. I have a 650cfm fan that pulls air from the outdoors into the tent on one side, and sends it back outdoors via a separate duct line. For much of year where I live, outdoor temps are sub-zero, so cooling is easy. In the summertime, the fan turns on more frequently, constantly flushing hot air out of the tent and replacing it with cool night air from the outside. Obviously, I won't run CO2 in the summertime, as the fan will constantly be throwing it right out the window, as it were.

Everything is clear except that it would seem that you're exhausting the CO2 in the winter as well as summer... That is if your 650 CFM fan is always on when the lights are on.

Hmmm, I'm not an AC expert, but I'd say that sub-zero is better than an AC for free... :thinking It's essentially Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics... Both of those books have dust on them in my bookshelf, but I guess with cold enough air at a sufficient exchange rate, bare bulbs are no problem...

 

[Boylobster]

I guess with cold enough air at a sufficient exchange rate, bare bulbs are no problem...

Exactly right, and also the reason that I won't run CO2 in the summer. The fan is temperature-responsive, it's not always on when the lights are on. In the summer, when it's flushing the tent with much warmer air, the rate of exchange has to be much higher, and all that CO2 goes flying outside. Pulling in the very cold air of the wintertime, the fan cycles much less frequently, and thus doesn't toss out as much CO2.

Straight? Straight! :)

For no good reason - it's a jungle in there! :rock

 

[Shady]

Very nice BL!!! I'm gonna rock a small UC setup hopefully in a couple rounds. It's such a clean system that can be used for smaller growers like myself or the big boys here at the farm... :pimp:

 

[Boylobster]

For general interest: it seems as though partially flushing the system to lower the P and K concentration and refreshing with the base nutrient has started to clear up the Mg deficiency. Hair growth and trichome development appears to have resumed at the tops of the largest colas, where the deficiency was most evident.

The lesson it seems I must learn over and over and over again: regarding nutrients, less is often more. :itwasntme

 

[mcpuffin]

What up BL?!? Looks like your garden really filled out. Are you happy so far with your results? What has been your feed schedule been like, still following H&G? Been so busy haven't really had any time to stop by, but looking good! Just finished my run & couldn't be more stoked. I don't think I'll be using H&G again, back to Canna (have a friend runnin' it right now for veg, plants look way healthier).

 

[Boylobster]

Greetings, puff! Did I blink, or did your thread disappear for a little while? Welcome back, in any case. Yeah, the garden definitely took advantage of the space. :D I had to break the system apart twice to redesign it into what is, essentially, an Under Current Evolution.

Can I ask you some numbers from your run, for comparison? With 4 plants and 2x600W, your numbers are almost exactly half of mine. Harvest is just a week or two away, so I'm getting really curious about weight comparisons. ;)

As for the H&G nutes, I like 'em well enough... being the first run with the UC, it's far too early for me to distinguish between different growth factors - I can't really know yet what I can attribute to nutes, or the system, or genetics. It wasn't without problems, I'll say that. Are you going to start a new thread for your Canna run? Love to see it!

 

[mcpuffin]

Yeah man, my thread did disappear for awhile, not by choice, but we won't get into that. I saw how you reconfigured your system, pretty awesome. Did you have any issue with flow? I posted my weights in my thread. As for harvest time, you can't be more stoked! Those last two weeks are always the worst, can't wait to see your final product!

 

[Sherwood]

Very not bad, those root shots are awesome, well so are the buds.

 

[webstar5]

Well done man!!! Under Current all the way!