Rixon's grow thread.

[Rixon]

So the topping is all done and decided to try the thing where you grab the stem and twist and then squeeze till it crunches a little. Forget the terminology. o_O

The idea is that now each plant will focus its energies on the newly topped parts rather than side branching. On the Headband did the same on the main stem which has not developed very well at all. The side branching seem to have become the tops on this plant leaving the place I originally fimmed very small in comparison.

Will see how it goes. Still feeding at 1.2 EC with PH of 5.5 ish and the runoff on the big C-99 coming out a vexing 2.75 EC with ph of 7.6

Either way both C-99's look a like N deficient (to me) so I'm slowly increasing the amount of 25/5/5 component in their feed. Next 6 liter bottle might be 5g 25/5/5 granules and only 2g of Maxibloom granules.

The clones are varying in action. One of them has yellowing fan leaves which might be a good sign. Will give them the 'pull' test tomorrow. Putting it off I know but a few more dreams of success before the reality of failure shouldn't hurt. :p (too much).

Pics!

Topped C-99

Other C-99 topped again

Headband

Blue Dream still alive!

C-99 clones after 1 week

 

[Seamaiden]

I agree with your Dx, just a wee bit on the hungry side. That's easier to correct than overfeeding IME, by a long shot. Lookit yer little cloney-clones!

 

[Rixon]

I agree with your Dx, just a wee bit on the hungry side. That's easier to correct than overfeeding IME, by a long shot. Lookit yer little cloney-clones!

Increased the feed to 1.45 EC. Hope that does the job. Been a busy day in and out of the tents. Repotted the headband into its final 12-14 liter pot which is a basket lined with a black plactic bin liner and green plastic bag with holes poked in them. It drains pretty well and once again it is an experiment.
That done I have flipped the Headband and put it into the revamped 'tent of death' which hopefully will become known as the 12/12 tent of flower. It is under 130w real or 500w pretend CFL's. The temps with lights on are about 82 degrees with a RH in the 65-75% range. The high RH worries me but have no solution. Have fresh air being piped in and a small extractor fan pulling the air out into a home made carbon filter and a fan inside. Don't know what else to do besides make the ducting pushing the fresh in a bit wider which presents some other problems of its own.
A bit of a juggling act really but will see how it goes....



In the other tent I decided not to repot again and merely filled the pots to the brim with medium as they get ready to be flipped themselves in a week or so. The lowest branches on both plants with buried so I clipped them and put them in water for later cloning.



Talking of clones 3 out of 4 survived the 'pull test' and quite frankly I don't really know what to do with them next. Have a enough soil left over to pot them up so might do just that in the next day or two. After all what do I have to lose?


Finally another murder attempt on my Blue Dream. After not learning the folly of balancing things on top of pots when my home made fly trap toppled into a C-99 leaving it full of sticky goo that had to be chopped off I balanced my Blue Dream seedling pot on the top of the two big C-99 pots to get it closer to the llght and it fell off and landed upside down. What a mess. I quickly repotted but the damage may be fatal. Will see what happens on that one. :oops:

 

[Seamaiden]

Exactly, what do you have to lose? I've accidentally dumped seedlings, and last year I did it, just brushed them off my deck (that's over 30' up), and a few months later I found a volunteer growing. D'oh! As long as the roots aren't damaged (with seedlings this is important), it should not miss a beat.

 

[Rixon]

Exactly, what do you have to lose? I've accidentally dumped seedlings, and last year I did it, just brushed them off my deck (that's over 30' up), and a few months later I found a volunteer growing. D'oh! As long as the roots aren't damaged (with seedlings this is important), it should not miss a beat.

Well there are signs of stress on the lower leaves and I didn't help matters by burning it with a large CFL but the Blue Dream is still going. A little small but growing is always good.




So in lieu of knowing what to do next with my clones I repotted them into 2 litre pots filled with coco coir and chips. They started going yellow and I put some molasses water (1.0 EC) through them and some weak 1/2 strength nutes. Like 0.4 EC on the nutes. Going to keep going with an EC of around 0.5 or lower including 25/5/5 solution mixed with a little root stimulator. Have 2 of them in my main 18/6 tent and another 24/0 in my propagation area.
This is the clone still in the propagation area...

These are in the main tent.. and


My question of the day is 'Am I doing this wrong?'

 

[cheechchong1]

id leave the mollasses till flower or until at least u have 12" tall stocky plants, cal mag and 1/4 strength feeds would be a better option mate and check your ph is at 5.6-5.8 for the first 3-4 waterings i find this ensures the coco coir's ph is ideal then i feed 5.8 onto flower then 6.0 tops when in coco, u may wanna flush yours with just water and a little cal/mag or even just cal at ph5.6 for one or two feeds i doubt theyll be uptaking much nutes yet theyre only babys still so the roots will be real sensitive hope this helps

 

[cheechchong1]

the clone in the propogation area definately needs flushing bro she looks like shes under fertilised but thats due to over feeding the yellowing leaves with purple stem says it to me, id flush her for at least 4-5 days with ph 5.6 and id sprinkle a tablespoon of epsom salts around the top of the pot and let the ph'd water help work it in, i love epsom's ability to help recovery that and superthrive are my go to remedys.

 

[ttystikk]

So the topping is all done and decided to try the thing where you grab the stem and twist and then squeeze till it crunches a little. Forget the terminology. o_O

The idea is that now each plant will focus its energies on the newly topped parts rather than side branching. On the Headband did the same on the main stem which has not developed very well at all. The side branching seem to have become the tops on this plant leaving the place I originally fimmed very small in comparison.

Will see how it goes. Still feeding at 1.2 EC with PH of 5.5 ish and the runoff on the big C-99 coming out a vexing 2.75 EC with ph of 7.6

Either way both C-99's look a like N deficient (to me) so I'm slowly increasing the amount of 25/5/5 component in their feed. Next 6 liter bottle might be 5g 25/5/5 granules and only 2g of Maxibloom granules.

The clones are varying in action. One of them has yellowing fan leaves which might be a good sign. Will give them the 'pull' test tomorrow. Putting it off I know but a few more dreams of success before the reality of failure shouldn't hurt. :p (too much).

Pics!

Topped C-99
View attachment 346548


Other C-99 topped again

View attachment 346549



Headband
View attachment 346550

Blue Dream still alive!

View attachment 346552

C-99 clones after 1 week

View attachment 346551

TOO WET! Those little girls can't put down any roots in a totally soaked rockwool cube- put those cubes on a paper towel to wick out excess water, asap!

You have learned the lesson of potting up to much too fast, especially with your teeny lil blue dream seedling. Next time, wait until roots are blowing out the bottom of your jiffy pucks, rapid rooters, AND from Dixie cups, 4" pots or whatever you use.

Your ongoing troubles with coco EC and pH can be traced directly to the fact that you used 100% coco in a solid container, allowing it to saturate- which is when you get all these weird readings. Next time, run 50% hydroton in your coco for seedlings and rooted cuttings- and 80% hydroton and only 20% coco mix for up putting to adult sizes. This makes it impossible to saturate your plants and thus simplifies flush.

Stop using molasses water! That's not a fertilizer for plants, it will stimulate any microbial action in your substrate, and at this stage of the game that is bad. Use diluted water soluble fertilizer (no idea what the pellets you're using are, but if they're 'time release', I promise they're hurting you!) Any 30-10-10 or close Miracle Grow fully soluble style fert will get you moving in the right direction without costing a fortune. Use low EC to start, then turn it up as the plants show they like it.

 

[Rixon]

TOO WET! Those little girls can't put down any roots in a totally soaked rockwool cube- put those cubes on a paper towel to wick out excess water, asap!

You have learned the lesson of potting up to much too fast, especially with your teeny lil blue dream seedling. Next time, wait until roots are blowing out the bottom of your jiffy pucks, rapid rooters, AND from Dixie cups, 4" pots or whatever you use.

Your ongoing troubles with coco EC and pH can be traced directly to the fact that you used 100% coco in a solid container, allowing it to saturate- which is when you get all these weird readings. Next time, run 50% hydroton in your coco for seedlings and rooted cuttings- and 80% hydroton and only 20% coco mix for up putting to adult sizes. This makes it impossible to saturate your plants and thus simplifies flush.

Stop using molasses water! That's not a fertilizer for plants, it will stimulate any microbial action in your substrate, and at this stage of the game that is bad. Use diluted water soluble fertilizer (no idea what the pellets you're using are, but if they're 'time release', I promise they're hurting you!) Any 30-10-10 or close Miracle Grow fully soluble style fert will get you moving in the right direction without costing a fortune. Use low EC to start, then turn it up as the plants show they like it.

OK, I'll cut out the molasses water until flower. I use it as a cal/mag replacement as my lucas formula lacks a little cal/mag at times.
The 'pellets' are not what you think. They are hydroton rocks. Inert. I line the base and top to help with drainage and to keep them clean/stop surface evaporation. Love the tip about using them 80% with 20% coir mix. Going to try that for sure on the clones when they are big enough. Large ones like I'm using or the small kind?
Have started to feed from the bottom and the plants are seeming to like it. Slurping up a lot more water. Getting to feed in smaller amounts more frequently.

 

[ttystikk]

OK, I'll cut out the molasses water until flower. I use it as a cal/mag replacement as my lucas formula lacks a little cal/mag at times.
The 'pellets' are not what you think. They are hydroton rocks. Inert. I line the base and top to help with drainage and to keep them clean/stop surface evaporation. Love the tip about using them 80% with 20% coir mix. Going to try that for sure on the clones when they are big enough. Large ones like I'm using or the small kind?
Have started to feed from the bottom and the plants are seeming to like it. Slurping up a lot more water. Getting to feed in smaller amounts more frequently.

The pellets I was referring to are time release fertilizer- no bueno for the method of growing you've chosen. I use hydroton, too in the above ratios with coco. In my experience, I can reuse the media indefinitely.

Keep using larger hydroton, the small stuff allowed the coco to pack and saturate again when I tried it.

I would not recommend bottom feeding your plants for very long. As happens in flood tables, the recurrent waterline eventually leaves a layer of fertilizer salt buildup with obvious bad implications for roots and small, vulnerable plants.

 

[Rixon]

The pellets I was referring to are time release fertilizer- no bueno for the method of growing you've chosen. I use hydroton, too in the above ratios with coco. In my experience, I can reuse the media indefinitely.

Keep using larger hydroton, the small stuff allowed the coco to pack and saturate again when I tried it.

I would not recommend bottom feeding your plants for very long. As happens in flood tables, the recurrent waterline eventually leaves a layer of fertilizer salt buildup with obvious bad implications for roots and small, vulnerable plants.

Thanks for the warning on the salt build up in the trays. I have continued bottom feeding but am scrubbing them regularly now. Say once a week should do the trick.
Got to say I'm loving the bottom feeding and so are the plants. Really growing fast and bushing out nicely.

Will drop a pic in there in the next day or two.

Bad news on the Headband. He is a male and has been chopped. All that remains is to dispose of the rootball and re use the medium for something female.

Took Cheech's advice on flushing the clones and after 2 days of flush they are reacting well. Will flush another 2 more days then go back to feeding a small amount daily. Probably no more than 0.5 EC consisting of 25/5/5 soluble nutes with a tiny bit of root enhancer mixed in.

Having fun with it despite the setbacks. :happy:

 

[Rixon]

So, finished the 4 day flush on the C-99 clones. they are looking better and reacting well. The plan from here to to water a little every day with a 0.5EC and ph 5.6 solution consisting of 25/5/5 and a few drops of B1 rooting hormone.
The plan with these clones is to leave them in Veg till the end of the month then flip all but one whch I may try and take some more clones from. May also take a few clones off the blue dream prior to flip.

Clones are in various states of health





This one appears to be doing the best of the 3.

The Blue Dream has been overwatered and needs a few days off...



Overview....



More later on the C-99's post flip.

 

[Rixon]

So I had a nice update all typed up, pictures and all and the internet ate it!

So here is the lazy version...
C-99's flipped 2 days ago....



Clones and Blue Dream (front right) in various stages of development in the Veg tent...



Question of the day....

The ph on my water for feeding seems to revert to its original ph a day or 2 after I adjust it. I use super PH down which is an aquarium product. The ph on my molasses water which I adjusted in a similar fashion does not budge.
Should I be using a different ph adjuster for my feeding water? If so what?