Grown since 2025! Backyard shed edition!

[Grownsince95]

I was gonna ask what you would do with this one. It's 5 weeks old.
But I think I know. LOL

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I'm like you and slow to cull plants when I have the room! I'd be too curious about that one to let it go just yet. Looks like spinach lol

 

[PlumberSoCal2]

I'm like you and slow to cull plants when I have the room! I'd be too curious about that one to let it go just yet. Looks like spinach lol

It's a curse, trust me I've gotten a little better but still

 

[Berniemac]

That's great that you can collect rain water! We were talking about attaching a barrel to our gutter. So I'm assuming you use a lot of pH up?

I use the silica from day 1 to harvest. It actually acts like a pH up, so you wouldn't have to fight against it so much like I do.

You totally should, there’s nothing like some good rain water…. Tap water could never!! Lolol
And not even, I got it down now to where I have so many rain barrels and buckets, and we get down with some bar-b-ques pretty often so I always have wood ash to add into the water and bring up the ph slightly!
I use to do a tablespoon or so of baking soda then I discovered wood ash, and I’ve been using that since !
The amount varies, sometimes it’s about a few pinches into a 5 gallon bucket or rain water sometimes it’s a big handful into the 50 gallon drum .

Good to know , I’ve read that silica is good for lots of different things from support to nutrients and growth to even pest resistance, but I would also worry about adding too much, is there such a thing as silica overload? Lol

 

[Grownsince95]

You totally should, there’s nothing like some good rain water…. Tap water could never!! Lolol
And not even, I got it down now to where I have so many rain barrels and buckets, and we get down with some bar-b-ques pretty often so I always have wood ash to add into the water and bring up the ph slightly!
I use to do a tablespoon or so of baking soda then I discovered wood ash, and I’ve been using that since !
The amount varies, sometimes it’s about a few pinches into a 5 gallon bucket or rain water sometimes it’s a big handful into the 50 gallon drum .

Good to know , I’ve read that silica is good for lots of different things from support to nutrients and growth to even pest resistance, but I would also worry about adding too much, is there such a thing as silica overload? Lol

I think the worst that could happen is overly stiff plants that snap when you train them and the possibility of blocking Ca and Mg. Most silica supplements are derived from potassium, which in high amounts interferes with both.

In high amounts it will want to drag your pH back up and it makes wicked scale on equipment.

 

[GasPlease]

You totally should, there’s nothing like some good rain water…. Tap water could never!! Lolol
And not even, I got it down now to where I have so many rain barrels and buckets, and we get down with some bar-b-ques pretty often so I always have wood ash to add into the water and bring up the ph slightly!
I use to do a tablespoon or so of baking soda then I discovered wood ash, and I’ve been using that since !
The amount varies, sometimes it’s about a few pinches into a 5 gallon bucket or rain water sometimes it’s a big handful into the 50 gallon drum .

Good to know , I’ve read that silica is good for lots of different things from support to nutrients and growth to even pest resistance, but I would also worry about adding too much, is there such a thing as silica overload? Lol

Potassium silicates help prevent powdery mildew.

 

[Berniemac]

I think the worst that could happen is overly stiff plants that snap when you train them and the possibility of blocking Ca and Mg. Most silica supplements are derived from potassium, which in high amounts interferes with both.

In high amounts it will want to drag your pH back up and it makes wicked scale on equipment.

Overly stiff plants don’t sound too bad but potentially locking out some key chlorophyll production elements and nutrient uptake elements sounds risky, but I’m glad you got it down!
I will be adding some to my grows over the next year or so and see if I can spot any differences, thanks for the feedback much appreciated

 

[Berniemac]

Potassium silicates help prevent powdery mildew.

Good to know, and would this be preventative measure from the plant itself to not get it like adding it as a nutrient or is this a coating of some sorts onto the plant?

 

[gmonster714]

Stiff branches and training is not a big problem. If you feel as though a brach will snap...crush it a little. It will now go where you want it to go without breaking off.

I even use pliers with really heavy branches if they need to be moved and thats anytime..flower or veg.

 

[Grownsince95]

Good to know, and would this be preventative measure from the plant itself to not get it like adding it as a nutrient or is this a coating of some sorts onto the plant?

PM has this tap root thingy that has to burrow into the leaf to get started. Silica makes it more difficult. I've read if you use it as a foliar spray the high pH also has an effect but I never do foliar with it.

 

[Berniemac]

PM has this tap root thingy that has to burrow into the leaf to get started. Silica makes it more difficult. I've read if you use it as a foliar spray the high pH also has an effect but I never do foliar with it.

Makes a lot of sense because I know of other methods where adding baking soda water at the right ratio is a great for getting rid of powdery mildew in the garden. Maybe it’s just because the ph gets risen, thus killing the mildew… good to know, I guess I’ve never had a problem with powdery mildew like that to even think about adding silica… crazy what I’ve potentially been missing out on!!
But you know what! I will say… I’ve always had the problems of falling limbs and branches towards the end of flowering on plants that were vegged for 2-3 months or more as opppsed to straight from seed (12/12 light)
I guess the lack of silica plus the weight of some fat buds made it essential for added support on a plant with 4 main branches kr more, but I’ve always wanted to grow some monsters without much support… my thinking is the plant should be able to support its own production weight.
this is my first year dabbing with autoflowers so I’m excited to see how that goes as well,

 

[Grownsince95]

I was commenting in another thread about diagnosing plant issues by first ruling out things that are not the problem. Then it occurred to me that I should be taking more of my own advice!

Ever since I got back from Florida I've had the feeling that every plant in the tent is just...slow? They are all a beautiful healthy green from top to bottom, environment and runoff numbers are good, so what gives?

A while back I mentioned that my SF2000 was shitting the bed and some diodes were not working, so I replaced it with an identical board I was using in the house. I never tested that light with the PAR meter when I changed it, assuming it was in top working order, all the diodes are lit, it's bright af...Well guess what?

It's not throwing anywhere near full power. The last time I measured this light is was over 500 ppfd at the distance it was hung. Now it's down to 350. I used to get over 1000 12" away, now it almost has to be touching the light.

I dropped it down low to get my DLI in line, but they may get mad at me for not doing it gradually.

Let's see what the shit shack craps out next!!

 

[gmonster714]

Ya may have found the culprit. Makes ya wonder why they weren't stretching for the ight with less intensity...hmmm?

Good job finding that. Funny how we are always thinking about our grows. No wonder spouses get jealous..lol

Its funny how helping others helps us in our own grows. Keeps ya sharp and up to date. In turn you sometimes find ways to improve things. Love these communities.

 

[Grownsince95]

Ya may have found the culprit. Makes ya wonder why they weren't stretching for the ight with less intensity...hmmm?

Good job finding that. Funny how we are always thinking about our grows. No wonder spouses get jealous..lol

Its funny how helping others helps us in our own grows. Keeps ya sharp and up to date. In turn you sometimes find ways to improve things. Love these communities.

 

[Grownsince95]

Ya may have found the culprit. Makes ya wonder why they weren't stretching for the ight with less intensity...hmmm?

Good job finding that. Funny how we are always thinking about our grows. No wonder spouses get jealous..lol

Its funny how helping others helps us in our own grows. Keeps ya sharp and up to date. In turn you sometimes find ways to improve things. Love these communities.

I guess 350 ppfd was good to start (even though I thought it was 500) but they just out grew it because the little ones are starting to get leggy.

 

[PlumberSoCal2]

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[Grownsince95]

The big one recovered nicely from the beating I gave it yesterday. The next two weeks should be fun!

 

[Grownsince95]

I fired up the mini tent in the closet. The $50 90 watt Amazon special with the loud built in fan still throws a lot of umols. Terrible penetrating power on this light but it works out so they can grow into it. Getting over 1k 12" away so I'm happy.

I'm using two AC infinity"dumb" inline fans, one connected to an inkbird controller for rh, and the other to a wireless thermometer plug. They are ducted in series, one on top of the tent down to one on top of a carbon filter on the floor. The intake is passive.

Humidity solution for now is going to be this tray with a rack and water. One small PC fan inside will do all the heavy lifting.

Planning on starting the outdoor tomatoes etc in here but who knows. Here's a cheese with another volunteer! I was lazy and didn't cover the coco last run so this is what I get.

 

[gmonster714]

The big one recovered nicely from the beating I gave it yesterday. The next two weeks should be fun!

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Pretty green colors in this post.

 

[Grownsince95]

I took some drastic action in the shit shack today. It had become increasingly obvious that my stupid multi plant per pot idea was going to create a lot of problems down the line so I broke out the scissors.

Each pot had only one strong plant so those two stay. Bye bye to the rest.

You think the big one will root in a jar of water? We'll see lol

 

[Grownsince95]

They've been drinking a lot more since I moved the light down. So much so that runoff went from 2 quarts to 2 cups this week. I added 3 seconds to each cycle which effectively adds another cycle's worth per day.

The way my phone camera auto corrects the white balance in photos now is amazing. First pic is with the door of the shed open with sunlight hitting the plants. You can clearly see how yellow (and dim) the SF2000 is in comparison. The close up pic is with the door closed and looks like natural sunlight.