Fogponics. As good or better than Hydro?

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Moshmen

Moshmen

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Tell you what, I'll do 'em all. That way we have something to look back on in comparison when I inevitably screw up this grow.

First, I promised the bad as well as the good:

View attachment 1292473

That water in the big tote is the result of running the misters for a week - nutes are kinda wasted. Not exactly, I'll explain. But tonight is maint nite, so those all get emptied, foggers swabbed with a Q tip, and put her back in service. As it is, it's like a hybrid between fog and DWC.

Very petite root structure up top, millions of little hairs. I'll put one under the microscope so you can see better:

View attachment 1292474

And then it becomes rope like in the middle, and standard DWC roots at the bottom since they are sitting in the precipitate.

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Those 2 are at the high range of nutes. I ran these ^^^ at 800PPM total.

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#2 I ran at 600PPM. #3 was also 600PPM at the end, but I ramped that up from 400. Those 2 plants are now in the other RDWC system living happily. Tote 3 is currently shut down.

Tote 4 was run at 200PPM initially, then ramped up to 400, and by then I was too late. Getting this right when they are young is important. The genetics are still fine for cloning, I was the one who starved them. I could nurse them back, but with the 4 in the back, I only need one mom... I'm thinking just leave them in and see what happens. They were my "Do not go below 300PPM in this system" lesson.

Here's the plants I moved over from Tote 3 to the RDWC system:

View attachment 1292479

View attachment 1292480

I found this very interesting, measuring DO in the res as I topped off with RO, the oxygen went up. I did not expect that. I thought that RO water stored in a 30 Gal plastic tank would be "dead"" of O2. Turns out it is higher than stirring the res with a powerhead and a venturi. This requires further study.

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Look at this crazy root. I'm hoping that clones will not have that giant rope in the middle.

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I’m no scientist, like you, but I would have also bet the ro would be dead , theoretically it should be dead correct?
 
Bluebuddha

Bluebuddha

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Sorry I shot this video correctly and the forum puts it sideways. I gotta look into how to fix that.

View attachment 1292512
That root structure. W. T. F.

The low ppm triggered branching whereas the high ppm triggered a pipeline and THEN branching. Like, hey man, shits good, give me more! Let's go deeper! It utilized all available nutrients, light, 02 to not only make a rope root but to grow a lusher bigger top.

It's Amazing!
 
Moe.Red

Moe.Red

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Looks great man…. very encouraging

Thanks dude, but I still have lots of tweaking to do before I am anywhere near satisfied.

Brix is at 6 on a little internal node that was not getting any direct light, wish I could show you it, you'll have to trust me. I tried every angle I could on my camera to get a shot thru the meter.

AB6243FF 791B 4644 8E35 8AE7F280F9DF
 
Moe.Red

Moe.Red

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I’m no scientist, like you, but I would have also bet the ro would be dead , theoretically it should be dead correct?
I'm going to have to bench test this out to begin to understand it. I'm also very unimpressed with the aeration by a power head with a venturi. I'm not injecting O2 in the res, just in the totes. Inside the totes the O2 can get to 300% or more.
 
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Moe.Red

Moe.Red

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That root structure. W. T. F.

The low ppm triggered branching whereas the high ppm triggered a pipeline and THEN branching. Like, hey man, shits good, give me more! Let's go deeper! It utilized all available nutrients, light, 02 to not only make a rope root but to grow a lusher bigger top.

It's Amazing!
So I'm thinking that this is the typical tap root keeps growing until it meets resistance thing you see on seeds. We are going to compare this to the clone I make of these plants, and I'll bet side by side the same genetics look completely different in the dark zone.
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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So I'm thinking that this is the typical tap root keeps growing until it meets resistance thing you see on seeds. We are going to compare this to the clone I make of these plants, and I'll bet side by side the same genetics look completely different in the dark zone.
Im with you 99% on that…. Only 99 because i havent seen it done
 
Moe.Red

Moe.Red

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Let's talk nutes.

So it seems clear that 200PPM is too low. I honestly was not expecting that. But that's why we experiment.

Right now, the fog is sweating the roots then dripping off and collecting in the tote. So it is fogponics up top and DWC in the bottom 3 inches by the end of the week as the root tips slowly become submerged. The water in the totes they are in is highly oxygenated. I have 3 options available:

Add a drain to the totes and just kiss the nute runoff goodbye $$$
Remove the inner glass fish tank res and just embrace the fact that the bottom 3 inches will be DWC
Continue what I am doing periodically removing collected tote water.

From a vitality standpoint, #1 seens the best but the most costly. #2 seems the logical choice. Thoughts?

I have not used any silica products so far.
I'm about to run out of this GH 3 part, and I want to switch up to gain more control.
I have only dosed benies when they were seedlings.

What would you do if you were me? We have 4 separate nute delivery systems and all other grow parameters are the same, using clones, we could maybe learn some stuff in a side by side?

@Aqua Man @Anthem @Dr.Green55 @who is a nute expert?
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

26,480
638
Let's talk nutes.

So it seems clear that 200PPM is too low. I honestly was not expecting that. But that's why we experiment.

Right now, the fog is sweating the roots then dripping off and collecting in the tote. So it is fogponics up top and DWC in the bottom 3 inches by the end of the week as the root tips slowly become submerged. The water in the totes they are in is highly oxygenated. I have 3 options available:

Add a drain to the totes and just kiss the nute runoff goodbye $$$
Remove the inner glass fish tank res and just embrace the fact that the bottom 3 inches will be DWC
Continue what I am doing periodically removing collected tote water.

From a vitality standpoint, #1 seens the best but the most costly. #2 seems the logical choice. Thoughts?

I have not used any silica products so far.
I'm about to run out of this GH 3 part, and I want to switch up to gain more control.
I have only dosed benies when they were seedlings.

What would you do if you were me? We have 4 separate nute delivery systems and all other grow parameters are the same, using clones, we could maybe learn some stuff in a side by side?

@Aqua Man @Anthem @Dr.Green55 @who is a nute expert?
Collect the runoff and re introduce it if possible. Maybe adjust the fogger to run for a lesser time but keep frequency up?

im familiar with and like mega crop 2 part. Id add some fulvic and mono silicic acid unless you fond you need a buffer. In terms of silica and general nutrients @Anthem or @Dr.Green55 are more knowledgeable
 
Moe.Red

Moe.Red

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313
It's so nice enjoying the fruits of your labor 👍 I've already got to enjoy not having to go to the weedman for 2 paychecks now and foresee enough to last me until my second harvest 🙏

Stellar roots btw
Yeah I'm pretty spoiled.

I don't usually partake all that much, but right now I'm dealing with some bad juju in my guts - still getting tests done to figure out what. For a bad stomach - weed is the best relief I can find. I'm probably going to be uncharacteristically high all weekend. 🤫😵‍💫
 
ninjadip

ninjadip

1,268
263
Yeah I'm pretty spoiled.

I don't usually partake all that much, but right now I'm dealing with some bad juju in my guts - still getting tests done to figure out what. For a bad stomach - weed is the best relief I can find. I'm probably going to be uncharacteristically high all weekend. 🤫😵‍💫
Nothing to brag about but I know all about that stomach stuff. It's terrible

I read heavy indicas with increased trichome maturity is best for abdominal pains.
 
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