Grow Dots and Recharge for the Real Growers Challenge 2022

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ExNavyInSTL

ExNavyInSTL

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(1) When going the CaSO4 (gypsum) route, do you agree with this label application rate?

"Recommended application: Foliar and spray applications, mix 1/2 tsp per gallon of water. Apply with even coverage directly to plant leaves. For soil drench applications, mix 1-2 Tbsp per gallon water."

(2) Is Gypsum immediately available, or does it need to become a microbial poop first?

Thankfully, I haven't been adding too much of the EDTA Ca this grow. I do have it in a foliar spray already, with some mono-silicic acid, fulvic acid (Mr. Fulvic) and Super Thrive. I used it earlier this week in a Recharge mixture. So, I doubt that the Sodium caused my early problems. Although anything is possible. I could have put a little in early on thinking of my Coco/Ca issues my last grow.

Nonetheless, you gave me a valuable lesson. And I will learn from it right away.

Even better, I've had zero calcium issues so far. I did read somewhere Scotty of Real Growers has ratched up the Ca in his Dots. Below are some copy and paste graphics about Grow Dots.

1659994504636




1659994532309


I was also warned on another forum that look for a Nitrogen issues with Grow Dots in the early weeks of flower. I am ready with a solution for that already.

1659993386424



This PeptideSP is a mix of aminos and other bio-stimulants, but it is also 13-0-0. It might work in a couple of positive ways if I give a treatment when I start seeing pistils. These are autoflowers so I don't get the luxury of controlling the start of flowering, but I can react to it when I see it.

I'll include the info from the bag below:

1659993760594





I have the same Ca EDTA from the same shop. Save it for foliar. It can correct a Ca deficiency quickly.

If you don't want more N, and want Ca, then you can use CaSO4. I have no idea what are in the magic grow dots you are running, so I don't know what to suggest. But if you want Ca without N, try CaSO4.
 
Peat_Phreak

Peat_Phreak

540
143
1g / gal Gypsum is 61.5ppm Ca and 49.2ppm S. I shoot for 150-200ppm Ca. Not exclusively from gypsum tho.

I can't comment on Peptide SP, but you definitely need to get some N from somewhere in bloom.
 
ExNavyInSTL

ExNavyInSTL

163
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Day 33 (SS) & Day 28 (DG) - Photos & Stats

Another morning of opening the tent and being amazed at the overnight growth and filling out of new leaves.

Pulled a couple leaves off the Super Skunk because they we new, but just laying on the Mosquito Bits cover (the ground).

Another notable - the stems. They seemed to have doubled in thickness this week. Calcium & mono-silicic acid?

Nothing fancy today. Just good old iPhone pics.

Pairs 0105 D33D28
DG Top 0107 D28
DG Side 0107 D28
SS Top 0106 D33
SS Side 0108 D33
Day 33 Stats
 
ExNavyInSTL

ExNavyInSTL

163
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To keep you from scrolling back ... here is a 5-day comparison.

1660052574293
 
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ExNavyInSTL

ExNavyInSTL

163
43
Cool Addition to the Technology

I noticed since tracking the reservoir temperatures that my cheesy "agitator" was adding temps to the rez water. So, I looked into one of those smart plugs. Amazon had a deal for 4 single units for just about $16. At $4 a unit I thought it was worth it. I see by my attachment, I must have caught a deal of the day or something. Now they are $24.

This is the model I bought:

1660096376548


1660096402732


These are settings I put into the app, with the goal of running for 5 minutes every 4 hours. Just enough to move anything settling to the bottom.

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1660096475665


The highlighted item is my "Stop" command. Thankfully, you only have to program one of those. As you can see that is the command to stop after 5 minutes. It applies to all the other commands.

As I have mentioned, I have a 12-gallon reservoir, which is the standard size for AutoPots. Plus, I keep bubbles on constant flow. See Below

1660096527347


For those of you into "Bubble Porn" this is for you 😎



 
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ExNavyInSTL

ExNavyInSTL

163
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Day 34 - Notes

5:2 Ratio (Humic/Fulvic) + Kelp (Seaweed)


Today, the plants got a treatment of Humic/Fulvic + Kelp (Seaweed) in a 5:2 ratio.

1660153297760


I first learned about this combo from Harley Smith, where he cites a Virginia Tech study that breaks down the science of this ratio, which goes something like: the plant gets 50% more out of both ingredients than if they were given equally or separately. The Wallace stuff (pictured above) is pretty cheap and it is divided up properly already.

Horses Mouth(1 min):



To administer, I drained out the AquaValve chamber, as I did with Recharge. Then did a drench. Once the I noticed the level that made it's way to the valve chamber, I added back in the water mixture I removed to a level that the AquaValve normally keeps the water for proper bottom wicking.

I find I have redundancy or overlap on a lot of my Bio-Stimulants. One repeat is fulvic acid. My Reservoir always has the recommended dose/gal of Mr. Fulvic. Plus, there is Fulvic Acid in Recharge. I also have just plain Fulvic Acid Powder I use from time to time.

1660153388915
1660153456794
1660153489438


Monosilicic Acid (MSA): This is another item I keep in the Reservoir at all times. I think I am supposed to stop MSA towards the end becuase it MAY make the buds too tight, smoke harsh, etc. I run it to the end and my buds, smoke and ash are just fine. Remember, a 1-year grower said that so judge accordingly. :bigjoint:


Grow Dots: something to note, my reservoir water measures, on avg., around 0.370 EC. That's less than 200 ppm on the 500 scale. When, I checked the water from the valve compartment it was above 2.0 EC. I watered it down to about 1.4 and pH'd to 6.24. This increased "runoff" tells me the Grow Dots are definitely releasing nutrients.



1660153580935
 
ExNavyInSTL

ExNavyInSTL

163
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Day 36 & 31 Notes & Photos

You Do Bring Me Flowers

Today's highlights:

Both plants have exposed pistils. It's on!

View attachment 1270348.
1660248533915




Day 36 & 30 Notes (from late last night):


•. I wasn't comfortable feeding back the runoff water into the AquaValve compartment.

•. E.C. became too high.

•. I diluted one-gallon of Run Off water to 0.836 E.C.

• Added 3 more gallons of RO water with the following additions:

(a) SLF-100 Enzymes
(b) Mono-silicic Acid
(c) Mr. Fulvic

• New E.C. -- 0.336 (more inline to what was in Rez)

• pH'd to 6.00

• 4 gallons total to Rez

• New Depth: 17.25 inches


Day 37 & 31 Notes:

Nothing of significance.


Day 36 & 30 Photos:



View attachment 1270354View attachment 1270355

View attachment 1270356View attachment 1270357

View attachment 1270358View attachment 1270359
 
ExNavyInSTL

ExNavyInSTL

163
43
Note: I'm Sorry! I'm Reposting the above information. I had "Day" numbers screwed up every which way. I have corrected everything in the post. I tried to edit but my time had run out before I could finish.




Day 36 & 31 Notes & Photos

You Do Bring Me Flowers

Today's highlights:

Both plants have exposed pistils. It's on!

1660251441400
.
1660251485380





Day 34 & 29 Notes (from late last night):


•. I wasn't comfortable feeding back the runoff water into the AquaValve compartment.

•. E.C. became too high.

•. I diluted one-gallon of Run Off water to 0.836 E.C.

• Added 3 more gallons of RO water with the following additions:

(a) SLF-100 Enzymes
(b) Mono-silicic Acid
(c) Mr. Fulvic

• New E.C. -- 0.336 (more inline to what was in Rez)

• pH'd to 6.00

• 4 gallons total to Rez

• New Depth: 17.25 inches


Day 35 & 30 Notes:

Nothing of significance.


Day 35 & 30 Photos:


1660251681255

1660251714089


1660251755133

1660251796196


1660252129562

1660251829440
 
1660251937924
ExNavyInSTL

ExNavyInSTL

163
43
Week 5 Stats and Averages:

Overall, I am pretty happy with the VPD. I'll be switching to Flowering numbers soon, so we should see more "Perfects" in the VPD Status column.

Day 35 Stats
Week 5 Averages
 
ExNavyInSTL

ExNavyInSTL

163
43
Day 36 -- Notes:

Today Marks Day 1 of Week 6


Used the occasion to recalibrate my Apera Pen (PC60)


1660357455815



Reservoir Readings:

This Morning: 6.19 pH -- 0.300 EC
This Evening: 6.18 pH -- 0.338 EC
Post Calibrate: 6.16 pH -- 0.318 EC

Started tracking my AquaValve Compartment:

5.56 ph. -- 1.374 EC -- 69.4ºF
Double Grape

DG MG 8548 Nik No Label
DG Nik No Label



Super Skunk
SS MG 8544 Nik No Label

SS MG 8538 Nik No Label
 
ExNavyInSTL

ExNavyInSTL

163
43
Day 40 (SS) & Day 35 (DG)
Notable:

(1) Day 40 - Super Skunk is Topped

(2) Day 35 - Double Grape is sort of Topped. Closer to FIM (unintentional)

(3) Drained AquaValve Chamber after CA/MG treatment.

• Measured 4.39 pH & 2.19 EC
• Corrected to: 6.00 pH & new EC of 2.285
• Turned Reservoir Back On - let valves stabilize.

DG CUTop 8564 D35 No Label
DG TV 8568 D35 No Label
SS CUTop 8566 D40 No Label
SS TV 8569 D40 No Label
 
ExNavyInSTL

ExNavyInSTL

163
43
Blastfact: Looking good!

I haven't trimmed much. I've pulled some older lower leaves. Plus, I wasn't going to top because of the earlier stress. But my lack of discipline took over. 😎

Once I see how the lateral branching looks in the next week, I'll decide if I am going to LST.

I don't go to extremes with defoliation, although I will clean up some after whatever stretch they go through.



Pairs D35 D40 0158




Mine at 30 days yesterday. And I pulled a runt. Not going to top,,, just let them grow and defoliate once they get there stretch on.

View attachment 1271448
 
ExNavyInSTL

ExNavyInSTL

163
43
More Day 40 & 35 Photos
Potential Bud Sites

These ladies are not happy with me.
They just started learning about "tucking."
The rest are just showing you potential bud sites from the angle I was shooting.
It's not a comprehensive photo shoot. There were flower locations not seen.

IMG 0163 2


IMG 0161 2
IMG 0162 2

IMG 0164 2
IMG 0165 2
 
the rrock

the rrock

1,407
263
For some reason, I started this on Troll It Up but meant to do so here.

This grow started off with a rocky start. I'm total to blame. After non-stop grows from last fall, when I began doing this, I just took my eye off the ball with these seedlings.

As of today, I am on Day 22 with my Super Skunk and Day 17 with my Mephisto Double Grape, and it is not pretty. But, there have to be some beginner lessons learned here somewhere. So, let's catch up.

This journal follows my inputs for this year's Real Growers Challenge 2022.

Prizes are nice, but I do these Grow Journals/Diaries/Logs to keep my photography itch well scratched.

So, the question is, "can you really just throw some slow release 'dots' into a container and give water ... and an occasional bit of Recharge with a few biostimulants ... and still grow the dank?

Let's start with a confession, I am in my first year as a grower and I have yet to get a plant over 20 inches. I used LST early on so there may have been slightly taller, but they all looked like Bonzai trees. So, if this grow follows suit, let's not blame the nutrient delivery. I'll own it and keep practicing.

Here's the setup for this year.

Strains:

(1) Super Skunk Auto (Seedstockers)
(2) Double Grape Auto (Mephisto)

Container: Fabric pots in the AutoPot system (bottom watering)

Container Add-Ons:
(1) AirBase (a new product from them that replaces the need for pebbles, etc.)
(2) AirDomes to bring O2 to the Root Zone

Media:
(1) Cana Coco (60%),
(2) 20% Perlite
(3) 20% Vermiculite

Water Source:
(1) R/O Water in 12 gallon reservoir (AutoPot standard)

Nutrients:
(1) Grow Dots (required) - Mixed evenly throughout the coco mix before planting

Supplements Throughout Grow:
(2) Recharge (required) - Used to moisten coco initially - will supplement once a week
(3) Front Row Si (mono-silicic acid) - mixed directly into RO Reservoir
(4) Mr. Fulvic - mixed directly into RO Reservoir
(5) 5:2 ratio of Fulvic & Seaweed (foliar until flowers develop)
(6) Ca/Mg for the Coco (foliar early - add to valve area later)
(7) MicroGenics 0.75% (foliar early until roots settle in and begin using Grow Dot's Nutrients)
(8) SLF-100 Enzymes - mixed directly into the reservoir

Supplements at Beginning of Grow (solo cup phase):
(1) Prime Superior - Proprietary Friendly Bacteria (during germination and solo cup phase)
(2) Rhizotonic - Rooting Hormones (during germination and solo cup phase)

The timing of these plants is separated by almost a week. I started out with a Black Domina XL Auto from Oaseeds, but it dampened off, and I then replaced it with the Super Skunk Auto from Seedstockers.

Then, a day or so later, I decided to add in a Mephisto Double Grape. As of 07/14/22, I put a DG into a solo cup with a 1/2" long taproot.

For convenience, I will split the difference and come up with a germination day that averages them all together.

Today I am calling Day 11 for both strains (11 is real for SS and Day 6 for Double Grape). In time, the 5-day gap will be a non-sequitur.

I'll catch up below with my pictures taken so far. And after that, I'll post like a normal Journal.

View attachment 1265918

View attachment 1265919
Why are you growing autos instead of phtoperiod,just curious the reasoning as Ive never grown one,or even had the urge.Been growing steady since 1977.
 
ExNavyInSTL

ExNavyInSTL

163
43
the rrock:

That's one of those powerful questions like ... "How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?"


Honestly, the answer is that even though I am almost 60 years old, I am growing like a beginner who dropped into all this "growing-your-own" in 2021/2022.

Meaning, I walked into growing at what seems like a pivotal time in society when it comes to having quality medicine at home in rapid time. Don't get me wrong, I've read up on the difficulties and quality issues of early AutoFlower plants. However, it seems we are about 5 to 7 years past the AutoFlower issues that were a PR nightmare for the strains that were early AF's.

The good news is that I grow both. I love the control of deciding when "flower" begins with regular seeds, but I also love how you can stop worrying about light leaks and open the tent when you need to with autos (within reason).

I see the online tug-of-war pro-vs-con war between regulars and autos and I think it an unessesary argument.

At this point, you can't argue "quality" anymore when it comes to the two options.

Both autos and regs are going to make you do that classic move in front of your spouse, where you turn around and admit to her that you forgot what you were talking about or why you were leaving the room. 😎

Why are you growing autos instead of phtoperiod,just curious the reasoning as Ive never grown one,or even had the urge.Been growing steady since 1977.
 
ExNavyInSTL

ExNavyInSTL

163
43
Day 35 - Continued for Double Grape
Magnesium Deficiency
Likely Cause - Low pH in Coco

I noticed late last night that one of the leaves on Double Grape was showing early signs of a Magnesium Deficiency.

Off to Google I went, because I can never remember deficiency photos (except calcium - most of the time).

The first thing up was an article from Sensi Seeds: (Click Here: Magnesium deficiency in cannabis plants)

My gut tells me my issue is not a lack of Mg in the soil, but excessively low pH.

1660657000454

1660658223876


Here's Why:

pH in 12-gallon Reservoir stays consistently around 6.2 (ish). Below are the readings for the last 5 days in the Rez.

12 gal Rez: 6.16; 6.24; 6.23; 6.20; 6.20 (Average: 6.21)

pH in the AquaValve Reservoir for the last 5 days:

AquaValve Compartment (AVC): 5.56; 5.73; 5.56; 6.00; 5.19 (Average: 5.61)

What my Excel Chart Leaves out is that yesterday it was 4.39 pH at the AVC. I corrected it to 6.00 and this morning it was 5.19 pH

Question: What Nutrients (or supplements) are known for bringing pH down?

I know Silica supplements "can" bring down pH, but I don't use Potassium Silicate for my Silica. I use mono (ortho) silicic acid and it has never pulled pH down like this.

Could it be one of the N-P-K or minors doing this?

Thoughts:
I do add supplements such as Recharge (twice), and Ca/Mg (once) as a drench, but I always pH them to the low 6's (6.10 - 6.20). Then once the fluids drain throughto the AVC, I remove the fluid from the AVC and lower its E.C. (which was raised from passing through the Grow Dot infused Coco), and I restable the pH. Within a day or so, I remove the fluid again and go back to very low E.C. Rez Water that is about 6.20 pH.

I know things like this happen in a grow, but I would like to be better about knowing why?

What I have Done So Far:

I have Microgenics 0.75 as my go-to foliar for most common situations. So, I localized the treatment by spraying my fingers and massaging it in to the affected leaf. I gave both plants a little spritz, but I made sure to treat the leaf to see if it can draw up into the leaf.

1660657537816
Click Here to Learn more about: MicroGenics 0.75



What I Plan to Do:

Run some RO Water through and collect the run-off from the AVC. I'll check EC and pH, then lower E.C. to about 1.5 and pH to about 6.2 (if needed).

I don't have a Soil pH attachment for my Apera Pen, so I'll depend on the run off water for now.
 

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