Strawberry Mix Hydro-Blast......

[Snowblind]

Im not a Coco/soil guy so I can not say for sure! If things are already working for you I would not change anything with what you are doing!

I used to grow plants with a claw, tips point/curling down. The tips would be burned a bit...........

5.7ph for the starting poing of the nutes if you drain to waste in Coco should be good, but again, I grow in hydroton. I dont even seem to remember where I learned to keep the ph at 5.7. Maybe a Coco guy can say for sure if 5.7 is ok for that medium, but to me hydro grows in rocks are meant to be indoors, a strict 5.7 PH and sterile!!!!! As in add bleach at 1/2 gram per gallon of water to your mix in ebb and flow! Much cheaper than DMZ. I do spray my plants with DMZ though.....

Epson salt is used to add Mg and S to your formula only if needed. It is MgSo4, or Magnesium Sulfate. It breaks down to Mg and S. You never if ever have S problems, so dont worry about that. Too much S is also rare if even possible as it would be locked up by Calcium before plant damage could occur (Jim McCaskil).

Jacks mix has around 63 ppm per gallon of Mg at 100% strength. I run it at about 75% so thats around 47 ppm of Mg. I add 30 grams of Epsom salt to a small quantity of water and throw it in the 40 gallon barrel reso of water for the plants you are refering to in the bucket system. I believe im sitting around 67 ppm of Mg (aprox). If I see an issue I know to add a touch more ppm of Mg.........

I believe roughly, and someone correct me If I am wrong, that 1 gram of Epsom = about .5 ppm of Mg. I usually add at least 1/2 gram to 1 gram per gallon of water on top of the Jacks just for shits and giggles. The added S adds to the plants flavor and aroma, however that is another topic of discussion.

Mg deficiency can be seen in some strains. StarDawg needs more Mg than other hybrids! Most people, when they have a Mg issue have a lock-out of some sorts as most nutes supply enough Mg in their formulas, however, they assume its a shortage of the element. Throwing added PPM of a particular element at a plant often does not solve the problem as it cant uptake it to begin with.

I do add some extra Mg to my Jacks Hydroponic formula, however, I understand my exact PPM of Mg in my feed and by looking at the plants and I can track if there is a problem. I take pictures everyday for review, just to check for deficiencies.

I dont find XJ to be a Mg hungry strain at all.

Calcium Nitrate is Nitrogen and Calcium, you dont need to add these to your feed with Fox Farms nutes im sure. CaNo3 is needed to complete Jacks Hydroponic. Formulas are often a two part because of flocculation. Calcium does not mix well with Phosphorus and Sulfur. Jacks has P and S so you mix that up and put it in the reso. You mix up the C seperate, in this case CaNo3. They have balanced the formula for the N from the Ca No3. Together they make the complete mix. I would not mess with this unless you were using Jacks formula. Use what you know.

Again Jacks and Ca No3 = Bliss, thats what I know and Hydro is what I grow.

 

[InvisibleM]

Do you buy the 25 lb. bag of Jacks Hydroponic? I use to use Peters Hydrosol which is probably the same thing. They sold it in 25 lb. bags which makes it very inexpensive to use. A lot of people don't realize how much money they waste on ferts.

Of course the bloom fertilizer is where all the action is...

 

[AliasAO]

Im not a Coco/soil guy so I can not say for sure! If things are already working for you I would not change anything with what you are doing!

I used to grow plants with a claw, tips point/curling down. The tips would be burned a bit...........

5.7ph for the starting poing of the nutes if you drain to waste in Coco should be good, but again, I grow in hydroton. I dont even seem to remember where I learned to keep the ph at 5.7. Maybe a Coco guy can say for sure if 5.7 is ok for that medium, but to me hydro grows in rocks are meant to be indoors, a strict 5.7 PH and sterile!!!!! As in add bleach at 1/2 gram per gallon of water to your mix in ebb and flow! Much cheaper than DMZ. I do spray my plants with DMZ though.....

Epson salt is used to add Mg and S to your formula only if needed. It is MgSo4, or Magnesium Sulfate. It breaks down to Mg and S. You never if ever have S problems, so dont worry about that. Too much S is also rare if even possible as it would be locked up by Calcium before plant damage could occur (Jim McCaskil).

Jacks mix has around 63ppm per gallon of Mg at 100%. I run it at about 75%. Around 47ppm of Mg. I add 30 grams of Epsom salt to a small quantity of water and throw it in the 40 gallons of water for the plants you are refering to in the buckets. I believe im sitting around 67 ppm of Mg (aprox). If I see an issue I know to add a touch more ppm of Mg.........

I believe roughly, and someone correct me If I am wrong, that 1 gram of Epsom = about .5 ppm of Mg. I usually add 1/2 gram per gallon on top of the Jacks just for shits and giggles. The added S adds to the plants flavor and aroma, however that is another topic of discussion.

Mg deficiency can be seen in some strains. StarDawg needs more Mg than other hybrids! Most people, when they have a Mg issue have a lock-out of some sorts as most nutes supply enough Mg in their formulas, however, they assume its a shortage of the element. Throwing added PPM of a particular element at a plant often does not solve the problem as it cant uptake it to begin with.

I do add some extra Mg to my Jacks Hydroponic formula, however, I understand my exact PPM of Mg in my feed and by looking at the plants and I can track if there is a problem. I take pictures everyday for review, just to check for deficiencies.

I dont find XJ to be a Mg hungry strain at all.

Calcium Nitrate is Nitrogen and Calcium, you dont need to add these to your feed with Fox Farms nutes im sure. CaNo3 is needed to complete Jacks Hydroponic. Formulas are often a two part because of flocculation. Calcium does not mix well with Phosphorus and Sulfur. Jacks has P and S so you mix that up and put it in the reso. You mix up the C seperate, in this case CaNo3. They have balanced the formula for the N from the Ca No3. Together they make the complete mix. I would not mess with this unless you were using Jacks formula. Use what you know.

Again Jacks and Ca No3 = Bliss, thats what I know and Hydro is what I grow.

As always thanx for the advice SNOW much aPpreciated.

I think I can take your word on the subject regarding the calcium nitrate and of course the Epsom salt.

As you so well put it, grow with what you know and so far my XJ is looking and growing pretty well.

This grow around I will maintain my same newt and watering regimen.

Just to let you know you and your garden have convinced me that next grow Around I will be going with hydroton and my ebb and flow hydro set. No more dirty soil for me. Pumps, timers, water and Newts.

Going back to what you said about burnt slightly curled tips: I checked in on my plants and a few of them are showing those signs of slightly burnt tips which curl in a few places. I don't think it's light burn because my light is air cooled and about 2 1/2 feet from the plants but regardless todAy I will be places the plants on the floor and highering the light just to be careful.
Or do you think it could be because my Ph is too high???

I'm thinking it could be good old NEWT burn so when I water todAy I'm going with no newts and a Ph adjusted water of 5.9.

In your opinion do you think it's prob Newt burn that causes the bunrt curled tips or do you think it's a sign of a defiency???

I enjoyed the rhyme at the end of your post as well. Had me cracking up at 8am in the laundry mat. Ppl were looking at me like I was crazzzy.

 

[Snowblind]

If the tips point downward a bit it is a sign over nutes being a touch strong, and the claw ive always believed was caused by excessive amounts of N. This very slight downward curl can turn into more of a claw. You cant seem to avoid some curling of the leaves. If the tips are faded or yellowed or lighter or maybe darker that is more of a sign of a deficiency...if the tips are singed at the tips just a speck and you see a amber orange rust color that could be a sign of being hot with your nutes. I will get a picture posted in your XJ thread of a plant that is a little unhappy with the N, however, a pump was left on so water flooded the table for 10 hours, not a good thing and a reason to be careful when growing hyrdo as mistakes will be made! Pumps will be left on, timers will fail, water will leak, resos will need to be monitered, all things to consider...

Also your plants are not too close to your lights. It sounds like you need them closer to the light in fact. There is a shadow when your light hangs horizontal above the canopy that you can often see on the wall, called the kill line. That line should hover just above or very close to the canopy. I will post some pictures in the XJ thread of yours showing the kill line. The light should always be as close to the planrts as possible without causeing light burn or bleaching. Some strains will bleach, 1,000K being the main culprit. The buds will tell you if the lights are too close. Keep in mind as a rule of thumb, the closer the light are to the plants the more buds you will grow. More (for the most part, but not always) light equals more yield.....

Sorry to hijack my own thread......


AliasAo, please list for me the information about your nutes that is on the back of the label. List everything and also the weight and volume listed on the front of the label.

Mar 9


Here are some pictures from tonight. The plants really are going crazy now. The whole tray is full, and the plants need space. The StarDawgs as a side note have over come their rough start to life and are now exploding alongside the Strawberry Mix in the tray.

I didnt have a ruler for reference so that is a picture of a paper towel roll so that you can get an idea of the plants size.

I took a picture of the area where the plants will live in flower starting tomorrow. I washed the plastic on the walls with soap and water and sprayed with a 5% bleach solution. I lined fresh plastic on the floor! Always line the floor, at least (and the walls if possible) with plastic with hydro gorws as water will get everywhere for a thousand reasons. Keep a few towels close by too...

Also included is a picture of my big ass Phresh filter. It is reverse mounted to a 10 inch Can Max Max. No bends in the exhaust system if possible for maximum efficiency. No odor troubles in my room! Smart.

All this is cleaned and lined with plastic to help prevent PM. I hate that shit! A clean and sterile as possible environment is what we are looking to achieve here if at all possible. Reminds me I need to wash the hepa filter on the rooms air intake!

Pictures to follow of the plants in flower so you guys can see how they look once they are set in the table.

Again if anyone has any questions about what they are seeing please feel free to ask, or if I am an idiot and or ignorant about hydro in any way please let me know! :)

 

[Shady]

Excellent work as usual Snowblind! I love all the details and awesome photos... :cool

 

[Tex]

:rock

Great job man! Lovin' the grow log.. keep it green..

 

[Snowblind]

Mar 12

Got the plants moved into the flower room. I washed the plastic with soap and water, sprayed bleach at a 5% concentration and re-lined the floor with fresh plastic. Taped everything up nice and tight!

I placed the plants into a white botainicare 4 by 4 tray. There is a 50 gallon black active aqua reso under the table. The pump is a 396gph. I much prefer the 50 gallon black active aque reso to the botainicare any day of the week!

The light over the plants is a 1000 watt sun pulse, 3k spectrum bulb, made for digital ballasts.

They are being fed 4 times per 12 hour day cycle. No feeding during lights out. I might cut back to 3 feeding per day.

I stretched panda over the table and used those metal clips from Lowes to cinch the plastic tight. I then cut large x's into the surface with a razor and laid the 9 inch square net pots into the tray, lining up the plants. This plastic retains moisture and prevents light from hitting the roots and the tray. No green stuff here! You must lift up and examine under this cover frquently to observe whats going on. Do not ignore this advice and leave the plastic in place for a great deal of time without checking on things. Bad things can happen! You will also not be able to easily see the water as it flood and drains so keep this in mind. I have cut a little flap in the plastic in order to see into the tray.

I also took clones of all the plants in flower! Many clones.....thats smart...

I made a mistake, and would like to confess, and left the pump last week for about 12 hours on day when the plants were still in veg. I fucked up and went to work. Water proceeded to flood the 2 by 4 tray all day and did not overflow so I got lucky on one level.After work I did not go straight to the plants to check on them as I was having me time. Well Im an idiot. Always check on your plants. Always! Check on them all the time as soon as you can. The plants also cant be happy after that kind of crap. Not enough oxygen in the water for the roots to get flooded for that long! The plants are doing fine though after my crappy mistake and an example of a peril of hydro for you to avoid......

All the plants have shown their sex! One male and six females! I can believe how fast that was...Feb 5th the plants are tiny sprounts barely up out of the hydroton ground and now they have already show their intentions......plant #1 is male and all of the other six plants are female as mentioned above!

The plant that is the craziest and my favorite so far is pheno or number 3 "the Tarantula". the leaves are bigger than my hand and I have really big hands with long fingers. I took a picture with the tape measure to show the size. Some of the biggest leaves Ive seen on such a small plant in awhile. Ive included a few extra pictures of this plant including a picture of that awesome white hair! Just what I wanted to see with this interesting pheno.

I really like the leaves as they stand out on the table in a crowd..

Anyone know what hybrid it might be?

Plants are being fed Jacks Hydroponic and the ph is 5.7 sitting around 800 ppm at a .5 conversion......I am going to talk a little more about Jacks and its exact make-up and why you should try it in a future post.

Do you buy the 25 lb. bag of Jacks Hydroponic? I use to use Peters Hydrosol which is probably the same thing. They sold it in 25 lb. bags which makes it very inexpensive to use. A lot of people don't realize how much money they waste on ferts.

Of course the bloom fertilizer is where all the action is...

Yes 25 pounds! Very similer looking nutes! How does that Peters treat you?

IMHO you dont need freaking additives as they are a waste of your money time and energy. Even natural crap! Yep ....I said it ...crap......this is sterile hydro once again and at this time I am against the need for "additives"....plants are getting N-P-K at a 2.88-1-4.13 ratio and I feel like my C-Mg-S is correctly dialed in...........easy on that P that you would need to flush if it was any higher and my K is already high!! No need to boost in this case. Hell we wont even need to flush this weed to achieve an amazing flavor and burn as you all will see.....I will do a minimal flush and we will nute until close to very end with our balanced Jacks formula. I will talk about this more later though sorry to rant....

On a side note the Star Dawgs are also showing their sex and I see three females(there are 6 StarDawgs also in the table at this time). They seem to love the stronger dose of Jacks that they are being fed now with the transition into flower. The added epsom salts seem to be helping them. The difference between the veg formula and the flower is simply the concentration.........

Excellent work as usual Snowblind! I love all the details and awesome photos... :cool

Learned everything from you ...

:rock

Great job man! Lovin' the grow log.. keep it green..

Thank you Tex. Your inspiration and support drives me onward. Im dedictating the rest of this grow to you.


Let me know if there are any questions so far....Time to let these guys recover from my frying them a bit more...you can see it in the tips of the leaves as they will curl down a touch....sorry about the fans blowing the leaves around in the first group shot....

 

[Shady]

Gorgeous gals my friend! I've done the same thing in the past and accidentally left my pump running on my ebb 'n flow table... Thank god for the overflow drain! Got any plans for the plant support later in bloom? I'd love a pictorial tutorial on how you mix the Jack's nutrients... I also need to reread your other thread and see how you get such a nice root mass under the pots... It seems like mine always get lanky and then airpruned, but then again I haven't used netpots on my ebb 'n flow tray... Hmmm, I also like the panda plastic on top of your tray too! Lots of great stuff in here... :cool

P.S. Congrats on the females! :flower

 

[AliasAO]

Sorry for the time lapse on my response SNOW I had a buddy come visit from NY so Ive been playing host and tour guide for the past 4 days. Now he's back to the east coast and as of today Im back to my Green ways.

Regarding my NEWT info you requested and my plant progress:

Plants potted Feb. 18th, currently 3 weeks into VEG [24 hours on]
Plants were topped for the first time 4 days ago [March 8th]
Flowering will begin between Mar. 18-20th

Newts:
VEG: [24hr on]

FOXFARM: GROW BIG [6-4-4]

Total (N)- 6.0%
2.9% Ammoniacal (N)
3.1 % Nitrate (N)

Available Phosphate (P2O5)- 4.0%
Soluble Potash (K20)- 4.0%

(Mg)- 0.60%
0.60%
Boron (B) 0.02%

Copper (Cu)-0.05%
0.05% Chelated Copper (Cu)

Iron (Fe)- 0.10%
0.10% Chelated Iron (Fe)

Manganese (Mn)- 0.05%
0.05% Chelated Manganese

Zinc (Zn)- 0.05%
0.05% Chelated Zinc (Zn)


General Feeding: 2-3 teaspoons per gallon. Feed every other watering

Heavy Feeding: 4 teaspoons per gallon


Regarding the claw and slight orange/ browning of the leaf tips, I think I'm on board with your initial diagnosis being that its prob hot Newts /excessive [N].

Last time I watered with Newts I upped it to a little over 2 teaspoons per gallon, then the curl began. Before that I had been going with 1 1/2 tsp or a little less and it seemed fine.

Using your logic w/ your 75% rule, i denounced that some Newt companies prob recommend too strong a dose for MJ. Do you think I should stick to the 75% dosing rule that you employ? If so What exact dose do you think I should stick to?

The Curl and browning has only affected the old growth. The new seems to be healthy. I believe that would classify it as a non mobile problem. Does that impact your diagnosis at all or remedy?

Last watering I pushed the Ph down to 5.9 for most and 6.1 to a few to test the difference and they all seemed to react favorably but the claw like brown tips did not subside or diminish. The new growth though did seem to be healthy.

One plant is Towering above the others in height and seems to be destined for the top shelf. I will work on getting some pics [ only have an Iphone and its not great quality ]. The fan leaves are larger than my hand at 3 weeks. Keep in mind Im 6'4 with pretty large hands.

Im excited about that one in particular but I am looking more towards solving the slight problems with the curling and browning of the tips on some of the the other plants.

Get back to me when you get a chance and if you remember post a pic of the Kill Shadow you were talking about in regards to Plant to light height ratio.

As always the knowledge is much appreciated. And your work and pics are motivation and inspiration.

 

[Snowblind]

Regarding the claw and slight orange/ browning of the leaf tips, I think I'm on board with your initial diagnosis being that its prob hot Newts /excessive [N].

Last time I watered with Newts I upped it to a little over 2 teaspoons per gallon, then the curl began. Before that I had been going with 1 1/2 tsp or a little less and it seemed fine.

Using your logic w/ your 75% rule, i denounced that some Newt companies prob recommend too strong a dose for MJ. Do you think I should stick to the 75% dosing rule that you employ? If so What exact dose do you think I should stick to?

The Curl and browning has only affected the old growth. The new seems to be healthy. I believe that would classify it as a non mobile problem. Does that impact your diagnosis at all or remedy?

Last watering I pushed the Ph down to 5.9 for most and 6.1 to a few to test the difference and they all seemed to react favorably but the claw like brown tips did not subside or diminish. The new growth though did seem to be healthy.

One plant is Towering above the others in height and seems to be destined for the top shelf. I will work on getting some pics [ only have an Iphone and its not great quality ]. The fan leaves are larger than my hand at 3 weeks. Keep in mind Im 6'4 with pretty large hands.

Im excited about that one in particular but I am looking more towards solving the slight problems with the curling and browning of the tips on some of the the other plants.

Get back to me when you get a chance and if you remember post a pic of the Kill Shadow you were talking about in regards to Plant to light height ratio.

As always the knowledge is much appreciated. And your work and pics are motivation and inspiration.

Thanks for posting that info on the nutes! Also please tell me the weight on the bottle and its size so I can put it in my calculator! Thank you so much.


I dont have a 75% rule about using nutes. I use Jacks Hydroponic Formula and added Calcium Nitrate at 75% of their recommended strength is all (actually just under 75%)! They say to use 4.24 grams of Jacks per gallon of water and the NaCo3 at 2.44 grams per gallon. This is considered full strength(100%) and has 150 ppm of N total. This is a little hot in terms of the N so you adjust the ratio of the formula strength. 75% of that or 3.18 grams of Jacks or a little less (around 3.0 grams) is a better starting point. I use 3.0 grams of Jacks most of the time in flower.

This is the Jacks at 100% or 4.24 grams per gallon, before the added Calcium Nitrate

Total ppm of Jacks Hydroponic before the addtion of Calcium Nitrate
Nitrogen (All Nitrate) N 50
Phosphorus P 52
Potassium K 215
Magnesium Mg 63
Sulfur S 82
Iron Fe 3
Manganese Mn 0.50
Zinc Zn 0.15
Copper Cu 0.15
Boron B 0.50
Molybdenum Mo 0.10

After the added CaNo3 at 2.44 grams per gallon the N is boosted to N: 150 ppm and Calcium = 116 ppm. So 100% Str Jacks with 100% Str Calcium Nitrate you have a formula of....

Total ppm at 100% str with added Calcium Nitrate
Nitrogen (All Nitrate) N 150
Phosphorus P 52
Potassium K 215
Calcium C 116
Magnesium Mg 63
Sulfur S 82
Iron Fe 3
Manganese Mn 0.50
Zinc Zn 0.15
Copper Cu 0.15
Boron B 0.50
Molybdenum Mo 0.10

...and I run approx 75% strength of the above formula! 3.0 grams of Jacks(71%str) and 1.8(74%str) of CaNo3. This is a 2.8-1-4.17 ratio of N-P-K...... I run this throughout flower for a base line nute profile of aprox....
N...113
P.....41
K....171
Ca...90
Mg...50
S.....65

I add the epsoms for added Mg for strains such as
StarDawg. The idea is that my balanced formula is very low in terms of overall ppm or ec. Im at 800 ppm at a .5 conversion on my meter. This is very low and the plants grow like crazy. Nice cool feed! Anyone else do this kind of thing?


You can adjust either the amount of Jacks or the amount of CaNo3 to tailor the formula to your needs.

What elemental ppm ratio do you guys grow with in terms of N-P-K in flower? I want to find out why everyone is doing a PK boost?

The Jacks comes in a 25 pound bag and is a dry powder. When you buy liquid fertilizers you are spending a lot of your money on water!!! I did not realize this for awhile. You are paying for the liquid convience of mixing up all those incomplete formulas the nute companies are selling you. I used to think GH 3 part was cheap, however, in the long run its not cheap at all. A 25 pound bag of dry Jacks Hydroponic Fertilizer is only 25 bucks or so. It cost more to ship it! The Jacks cost me like 1.3 cents a gallon factoring in the shipping cost at a 3 grams a gallon mixing rate.

I dont grow in soil, but I would think in veg you could start with a soil mix that would be fairly complete in terms of its nute profile and not really need a lot of fertilization throughout veg. I would look for a deficiency then react to that. Most people have lots of issues from a lock out and over nute and feed in soil. You never really know where you are at in the root zone in terms of the ppm of the nutes with soil and this is not my area of understanding.

For example at each feeding my plants get 115 ppm of N, that is something I can then document, moniter, and adjust up or down. I the leaves curl too much after the feeding I know to shoot for a little less N in my formula the next time I change my reso. When you are in soil I would be more reactionary as I said before. I would wait and see what happens before adding nutes in veg "just because." You never really know what built up in the soil, what been used or is depleted or what exactly is needed. That why I would start with a soil mix that is very complete.

Are there any soil people that dont add a lot of feed or nutes during the veg phase, just allowing the plants to use up the nutrients in the soils mix without any deficiencies?

The XJ that you are growing is thin leaved with pointy tips. Those kinds of leaves are more sensitive than thicker leaved hybrids that dont have such pointy tips. The XJ will point down a little. The lower leaves even more so. In time the lower leaves dont absorb many nutes and that is why they turn colors and fade out. I remove all the lower growth anyway. Thats where I take clones! Works out great as I trim the lower branches off, make clones and create air flow and space all at the same time.

Tips pointing down means hot nutes though! This is impossible to avoid with all strains so combining XJ's pointy leaves and a little hot feed will create some curl.

I try to grow plants with 4 main colas at this time. The Straw Mix plants I let grow with extra sets of branches to make lots of clones and to observe the growth patterns.

I have now taken even more clones of all the 6 females! Clones, clones, clones.....



Every 12 inches light loses about half of its lumens or half its power! Your plant takes this light and makes your buds with it so get those light as low as possible. Get and keep your lights as close as possible to the tops your plants just buzzing the canopy, giving complete coverage. This is the easiest thing that you can do to increase your yield and to make your buds denser.

If the light is too close you will know. Burning and bleaching are possible, however, more light = more yield so dont be afraid to push the lights down. In fact an air cooled set up can buzz the plants super close. 400 watts lirerally 2 inches above the plants.

The further the light is from the plant = lower yields and wispier buds!

Gorgeous gals my friend! I've done the same thing in the past and accidentally left my pump running on my ebb 'n flow table... Thank god for the overflow drain! Got any plans for the plant support later in bloom? I'd love a pictorial tutorial on how you mix the Jack's nutrients... I also need to reread your other thread and see how you get such a nice root mass under the pots... It seems like mine always get lanky and then airpruned, but then again I haven't used netpots on my ebb 'n flow tray... Hmmm, I also like the panda plastic on top of your tray too! Lots of great stuff in here... :cool

P.S. Congrats on the females! :flower

Thanks shady.

The panda plastic creates the environment that maintains mositure at the root zone for the plants to produce the roots like what you are seeing in the pictures. I will take a few more tonight of the roots coming out of the nine inch squares. By stretching that film over the tray, the light is unable to evaporate the water as quickly if at all. The area underneath is cooler and much moister as a result.

You must find a balance however and not let things get too swampy under the plastic. If it never quite dries out the roots will explode and wont get air pruned and all stringy and yucky looking. You can produce roots with so much mass on the table that they will be prone to root rot if you are not careful. Im begining to wonder if I should put down one of those 4 foot coco mats for the roots to grow into.

I have found that the easiest way to support plants on a table is to make a square frame using pvc 90 degree 3 way elbos and 4 foot pvc pieces. Cutting 4 more pieces to any length and you have the legs. I rest the frame onto the table and I stretch trellis netting and tie it to the frame. Ill take a picture. I believe you do the same thing with pvc as well.

In terms of mixing up the Jacks and the Calcium Nitrate I will also take some pictures for you. I just mix the Jacks, after weighing out the amount that I need in a plastic baggy, in a small bucket with maybe a gallon of water. Stir that up well and dump it in my reso. I then weigh out and mix up the epsom salts in a seperate smaller container with some water and add that to my reso. Then I mix the Calcium Nitrate in its own container with water and add that to the reso. I PH down from there!

GH ph down = phosphoric acid which becomes P and adds to the ppm thus adjusting my N-P-K ratio a bit.

TechnoFlora ph down is nitric acid and becomes Nitrogen in your reso, thus adding N to your overall ppm profile.

By taking battery acid and adding it to water you can make you own Sulphuric acid base ph down. I know this sounds kinda crazy...........adding S is perhaps the best trade off of the three for the use of ph down. I try to use the Jacks with a low ppm of P anyway so that the addition of GH's ph down will not affect the P too much.

When you flush it should be with water that is ro or water that is ph'ed with Sulfuric acid as you are trying to flush out P so adding ph down is kinda counter productive.

 

[AliasAO]

Thanks for posting that info on the nutes! Also please tell me the weight on the bottle and its size so I can put it in my calculator! Thank you so much.


I dont have a 75% rule about using nutes. I use Jacks Hydroponic Formula and added Calcium Nitrate at 75% of their recommended strength is all (actually just under 75%)! They say to use 4.24 grams of Jacks per gallon of water and the NaCo3 at 2.44 grams per gallon. This is considered full strength(100%) and has 150 ppm of N total. This is a little hot in terms of the N so you adjust the ratio of the formula strength. 75% of that or 3.18 grams of Jacks or a little less (around 3.0 grams) is a better starting point. I use 3.0 grams of Jacks most of the time in flower.

This is the Jacks at 100% or 4.24 grams per gallon, before the added Calcium Nitrate

Total ppm of Jacks Hydroponic before the addtion of Calcium Nitrate
Nitrogen (All Nitrate) N 50
Phosphorus P 52
Potassium K 215
Magnesium Mg 63
Sulfur S 82
Iron Fe 3
Manganese Mn 0.50
Zinc Zn 0.15
Copper Cu 0.15
Boron B 0.50
Molybdenum Mo 0.10

After the added CaNo3 at 2.44 grams per gallon the N is boosted to N: 150 ppm and Calcium = 116 ppm. So 100% Str Jacks with 100% Str Calcium Nitrate you have a formula of....

Total ppm at 100% str with added Calcium Nitrate
Nitrogen (All Nitrate) N 150
Phosphorus P 52
Potassium K 215
Calcium C 116
Magnesium Mg 63
Sulfur S 82
Iron Fe 3
Manganese Mn 0.50
Zinc Zn 0.15
Copper Cu 0.15
Boron B 0.50
Molybdenum Mo 0.10

...and I run approx 75% strength of the above formula! 3.0 grams of Jacks(71%str) and 1.8(74%str) of CaNo3. This is a 2.8-1-4.17 ratio of N-P-K...... I run this throughout flower for a base line nute profile of aprox....
N...113
P.....41
K....171
Ca...90
Mg...50
S.....65

I add the epsoms for added Mg for strains such as
StarDawg. The idea is that my balanced formula is very low in terms of overall ppm or ec. Im at 800 ppm at a .5 conversion on my meter. This is very low and the plants grow like crazy. Nice cool feed! Anyone else do this kind of thing?


You can adjust either the amount of Jacks or the amount of CaNo3 to tailor the formula to your needs.

What elemental ppm ratio do you guys grow with in terms of N-P-K in flower? I want to find out why everyone is doing a PK boost?

The Jacks comes in a 25 pound bag and is a dry powder. When you buy liquid fertilizers you are spending a lot of your money on water!!! I did not realize this for awhile. You are paying for the liquid convience of mixing up all those incomplete formulas the nute companies are selling you. I used to think GH 3 part was cheap, however, in the long run its not cheap at all. A 25 pound bag of dry Jacks Hydroponic Fertilizer is only 25 bucks or so. It cost more to ship it! The Jacks cost me like 1.3 cents a gallon factoring in the shipping cost at a 3 grams a gallon mixing rate.

I dont grow in soil, but I would think in veg you could start with a soil mix that would be fairly complete in terms of its nute profile and not really need a lot of fertilization throughout veg. I would look for a deficiency then react to that. Most people have lots of issues from a lock out and over nute and feed in soil. You never really know where you are at in the root zone in terms of the ppm of the nutes with soil and this is not my area of understanding.

For example at each feeding my plants get 115 ppm of N, that is something I can then document, moniter, and adjust up or down. I the leaves curl too much after the feeding I know to shoot for a little less N in my formula the next time I change my reso. When you are in soil I would be more reactionary as I said before. I would wait and see what happens before adding nutes in veg "just because." You never really know what built up in the soil, what been used or is depleted or what exactly is needed. That why I would start with a soil mix that is very complete.

Are there any soil people that dont add a lot of feed or nutes during the veg phase, just allowing the plants to use up the nutrients in the soils mix without any deficiencies?

The XJ that you are growing is thin leaved with pointy tips. Those kinds of leaves are more sensitive than thicker leaved hybrids that dont have such pointy tips. The XJ will point down a little. The lower leaves even more so. In time the lower leaves dont absorb many nutes and that is why they turn colors and fade out. I remove all the lower growth anyway. Thats where I take clones! Works out great as I trim the lower branches off, make clones and create air flow and space all at the same time.

Tips pointing down means hot nutes though! This is impossible to avoid with all strains so combining XJ's pointy leaves and a little hot feed will create some curl.

I try to grow plants with 4 main colas at this time. The Straw Mix plants I let grow with extra sets of branches to make lots of clones and to observe the growth patterns.

I have now taken even more clones of all the 6 females! Clones, clones, clones.....



Every 12 inches light loses about half of its lumens or half its power! Your plant takes this light and makes your buds with it so get those light as low as possible. Get and keep your lights as close as possible to the tops your plants just buzzing the canopy, giving complete coverage. This is the easiest thing that you can do to increase your yield and to make your buds denser.

If the light is too close you will know. Burning and bleaching are possible, however, more light = more yield so dont be afraid to push the lights down. In fact an air cooled set up can buzz the plants super close. 400 watts lirerally 2 inches above the plants.

The further the light is from the plant = lower yields and wispier buds!





Thanks shady.

The panda plastic creates the environment that maintains mositure at the root zone for the plants to produce the roots like what you are seeing in the pictures. I will take a few more tonight of the roots coming out of the nine inch squares. By stretching that film over the tray, the light is unable to evaporate the water as quickly if at all. The area underneath is cooler and much moister as a result.

You must find a balance however and not let things get too swampy under the plastic. If it never quite dries out the roots will explode and wont get air pruned and all stringy and yucky looking. You can produce roots with so much mass on the table that they will be prone to root rot if you are not careful. Im begining to wonder if I should put down one of those 4 foot coco mats for the roots to grow into.

I have found that the easiest way to support plants on a table is to make a square frame using pvc 90 degree 3 way elbos and 4 foot pvc pieces. Cutting 4 more pieces to any length and you have the legs. I rest the frame onto the table and I stretch trellis netting and tie it to the frame. Ill take a picture. I believe you do the same thing with pvc as well.

In terms of mixing up the Jacks and the Calcium Nitrate I will also take some pictures for you. I just mix the Jacks, after weighing out the amount that I need in a plastic baggy, in a small bucket with maybe a gallon of water. Stir that up well and dump it in my reso. I then weigh out and mix up the epsom salts in a seperate smaller container with some water and add that to my reso. Then I mix the Calcium Nitrate in its own container with water and add that to the reso. I PH down from there!

GH ph down = phosphoric acid which becomes P and adds to the ppm thus adjusting my N-P-K ratio a bit.

TechnoFlora ph down is nitric acid and becomes Nitrogen in your reso, thus adding N to your overall ppm profile.

By taking battery acid and adding it to water you can make you own Sulphuric acid base ph down. I know this sounds kinda crazy...........adding S is perhaps the best trade off of the three for the use of ph down. I try to use the Jacks with a low ppm of P anyway so that the addition of GH's ph down will not affect the P too much.

When you flush it should be with water that is ro or water that is ph'ed with Sulfuric acid as you are trying to flush out P so adding ph down is kinda counter productive.

You are a MONSTER my friend. To say that you have growing down to a science would be an absolute insult.

Regarding my Nuets:

32 Fluid Ounces (946ML)
NEWT WT. 2 LBS (0.907KG)

It makes complete sense now about the Kill Line you spoke of. A few days ago i dropped down my light so that the Kill Line is literally right above my tallest plant.

I believe I may be starting to experience a possible lockout in one plant [ this particular plant takes much longer for the soil to use the water then the others] this plant also is shorter than the others with smaller leaves to boot.

Ex: I water all the plants on day 1 and by day 3 All plants clearly need water except the one plant still seems to be moist and wet and heavy on the soil.

Is there anything that I can try that would help? or do you think it could be a lockout like I suspected? If so should I just pull that plant and move on with my remaining 9?

Soon I plan on adding a few support sticks and tying down a few arms. My problem is, in the past grows Ive only used supports to help keep my main stock upright and alot of times the supports werent very effective. What is an effective way for me to not only support the main stem and root area and also be able to tie down arms so that the light is more naturally and effectively dispersed?

Are zip ties the best way to achieve this goal. More importantly [I know soil isnt youre specialty] How deep into the soil do you think I can bury my support stick without damaging the roots?

Ive read that it can be harmful for productive growth to constantly prune and trim the plant so this grow around I havent chopped anything except for topping the plants 2 1/2 weeks into VEG. I plan to probably prune again a couple weeks into Flowering. Keeping your experiences in mind do you think I should take a different approach?

In a few days ill get some pics up so you can see what im working with here.
This grow around will be dedicated to you SNOWBLIND for all your help and assistance.Always much appreciated.

p.s- Do you play music for your plants when you water or prune? My plants always enjoy some good old 2pac.

edit: can you type out your calculations after you figure out my nute dosage info?

 

[Snowblind]

AliasAO I will respond to a couple of your questions in your XJ thread. I saw that you got some answers concerning spreading out the plants. I use the same green plant supports from Lowes on my buckets that many other Farmer use. Ill get some pictures up for you. I never worry about jabbing the roots with support sticks of any kind. Minimal root damage in my book, however, place your supports/stakes into place as early as possible for several reasons, including reducing any potential shock.

As for pruning I prune whatever is shaded under the canopy as it grows. This means all lower branches and leaves eventually are trimmed off. I like to trim stuff early though so the the plant does not waste any energy on growth that is going to get chopped. I plant has so much energy to use over its life, so we need to concentrate that exactly where we want it. If I dont trim a branch down low for a few weeks then I realize that it need to go, I have wasted a lot of the plants potential. Buy trimming that branch when it was just a little shoot, then all of the energy that would have gone into that branchas it grew out is instead concentrated further up the plant towards the light where I want it. Little stuff is just that little stuff, trim that shit out of there!

March 18th

Plants are exploding with new growth and stretching this first week of flower. Between the 7 Straw Mix and the 6 StarDawgs I figured on a few males, to only have 2 leaves me with a 4 by 4 table with 11 rather large female plants. I like to have no more than 9 plants per 4 by 4. Things are already way more crowded than I would like.

Plant number 3 continues to impress and seems to be able to handle the Jacks Hydroponic very well. Im guessing its a Strawberry Bubba by the looks of the huge leaves. I mixed the first batch of nutes for the start of the flower cycle a little bit hotter than what I usually run(9 extra grams of Jacks for the 50 gallons). A couple of the plants curled their tips down during this first week, a week of transition. Not too bad though. Number 3 seems to eat the nutes up. The leaves are huge. Really huge. Some of the biggest Ive seen in a long time now! I only had that drill for a size reference. The leaves are way bigger than my hands now. The tips go way up my arms.

A couple of pictures of the roots now growing out of the tight weave of the nine inch square net pots. Those roots will grow into a tight compressed hair like mat and you need to be careful that you dont get root rot if you dont watch out!


The Jacks and CaNo3 are only 800 ppm on a .5 conversion....Im now adding Gh ph down instead of Technoflora. The GH adds a little P to my ppm.

This is what I just mixed up as far as nutes for the 50 gallon reso.

Jacks Hydroponic 150 grams (3.0 grams per gallon)
CaNo3 90 grams (1.8 grams per gallon)
Epsom Salt 40 grams
DMZ 50ML (1 ml per gallon)
GH PH Down 40 ml......

Pictures of the nutes and the containers I use to mix them up in with water. The Jacks is weighed out in a plastic baggy first, then mixed with some water and then dumped into the reso followed by the Epsom followed by the NaCo3! I mix them all with a little water first before adding them to the resos after weighing out the exact amount that I need on a scale, as mentioned, in seperate plastic sandwich baggies, that are thrown out each time. One box is like 300 bags I think.

Here is a Snowblind exclusive! Mount a Lite Rail tract to a 2 by 4! The 2 by 4 cost less than 5 bucks and the tract retails for around $41 bucks. Your hydro store should sell you this piece for at least 20% off or more! This tract is cheap in my book. I have 2 tracts mounted to the 2 by 4's. Buy 2 Lite Rail Trolleys for each lite that you wish to hang. Hang your light from the 2 trolleys using S hooks (for the top of the chain)! They have perfect stabilty. Use a Lite Rail lock nut-pin if needed to "lock" one of the trolleys into place along the tract(so it wont slide a bit) where ever you want. You now can easily raise and lower the light and slide it back and forth by hand anywhere you want along the length of the rail. You dont use the light mover! Everyday I adjust the light by hand, one day to the left one day to the right. Aircooling is no problem with this set up! I urge 1 or 2 or 3 of you to try this out. I can buy these trolleys for around $15-17 bucks each in bulk so shop around! I love being able to slide the lights back and forth as needed to get the light where its just right. Sometimes the middle sometimes more toward the edges. As always please let me know if you have any questions......should start to see some budding soon as we are just one week into 12/12. I am going to be going out of town and leaving my garden for 4 weeks during this most pivitol of times. We all know that things will probably go sideways.

 

[Shady]

Nice huge fan leaves and pearly white roots! Love the Snowblind exclusives... Thx for the Jack's nutrient shots as well... :cool

 

[AliasAO]

AliasAO I will respond to a couple of your questions in your XJ thread. I saw that you got some answers concerning spreading out the plants. I use the same green plant supports from Lowes on my buckets that many other Farmer use. Ill get some pictures up for you. I never worry about jabbing the roots with support sticks of any kind. Minimal root damage in my book, however, place your supports/stakes into place as early as possible for many several reasons.

As for pruning I prune whatever is shaded under the canopy as it grows. This means all lower branches and leaves eventually are trimmed off. I like to trim stuff early though so the the plant does not waste any energy on growth that is going to get chopped. I plant has so much energy to use over its life, so we need to concentrate that exactly where we want it. If I dont trim a branch down low for a few weeks then I realize that it need to go, I have wasted a lot of the plants potential. Buy trimming that branch when it was just a little shoot, then all of the energy that would have gone into that branchas it grew out is instead concentrated further up the plant towards the light where I want it. Little stuff is just that little stuff, trim that shit out of there!

March 18th

Plants are exploding with new growth and stretching this first week of flower. Between the 7 Straw Mix and the 6 StarDawgs I figured on a few males, to only have 2 leaves me with a 4 by 4 table with 11 rather large female plants. I like to have no more than 9 plants per 4 by 4. Things are already way more crowded than I would like.

Plant number 3 continues to impress and seems to be able to handle the Jacks Hydroponic very well. Im guessing its a Strawberry Bubba by the looks of the huge leaves. I mixed the first batch of nutes for the start of the flower cycle a little bit hotter than what I usually run(9 extra grams of Jacks for the 50 gallons). A couple of the plants curled their tips down during this first week, a week of transition. Not too bad though. Number 3 seems to eat the nutes up. The leaves are huge. Really huge. Some of the biggest Ive seen in a long time now! I only had that drill for a size reference. The leaves are way bigger than my hands now. The tips go way up my arms.

A couple of pictures of the roots now growing out of the tight weave of the nine inch square net pots. Those roots will grow into a tight compressed hair like mat and you need to be careful that you dont get root rot if you dont watch out!


The Jacks and CaNo3 are only 800 ppm on a .5 conversion....Im now adding Gh ph down instead of Technoflora. The GH adds a little P to my ppm.

This is what I just mixed up as far as nutes for the 50 gallon reso.

Jacks Hydroponic 150 grams (3.0 grams per gallon)
CaNo3 90 grams (1.8 grams per gallon)
Epsom Salt 40 grams
DMZ 50ML (1 ml per gallon)
GH PH Down 40 ml......

Pictures of the nutes and the containers I use to mix them up in with water. The Jacks is weighed out in a plastic baggy first, then mixed with some water and then dumped into the reso followed by the Epsom followed by the NaCo3! I mix them all with a little water first before adding them to the resos after weighing out the exact amount that I need on a scale, as mentioned, in seperate plastic sandwich baggies, that are thrown out each time. One box is like 300 bags I think.

Here is a Snowblind exclusive! Mount a Lite Rail tract to a 2 by 4! This tract is cheap. Buy 2 Lite Rail Trolleys. Hang your light from the 2 trolleys! They have perfect stabilty. Use a Lite Rail lock nut-pin if needed to "lock" one of the trolleys into place along the tract(so it wont slide a bit) where ever you want. You now can easily raise and lower the light and slide it back and forth by hand anywhere you want along the length of the rail. You dont use the light mover! Everyday I adjust the light by hand, one day to the left one day to the right. Aircooling is no problem with this set up! I urge 1 or 2 or 3 of you to try this out. I can buy these trolleys for around $15-17 bucks in bulk so shop around! I love being able to slide the lights back and forth as needed to get the light where its just right. Sometimes the middle sometimes more toward the edges. As always please let me know if you have any questions......should start to see some budding soon as we are just one week into 12/12. I am going to be going out of town and leaving my garden for 4 weeks during this most pivitol of times. We all know that things will probably go sideways.

Those roots and fan leaves look amazing SNOW. & the exclusive is always much appreciated. The entire set up only cost about $20 to buy and install?

im going to take your advice and chop off all of the lower growth under the canopy before I switch my girls to 12/12 flower mode.

If you dont mind before you go out of town if you have time can you post a PIC or two of your PRUNED plants lower half?

Makes me nervous for you that youre gone four whole weeks, I left my ladies alone for one weekend and I was nervous as all hell. Your set up seems trustworthy so Im sure youll be fine.

Good luck my friend.

 

[InvisibleM]

Mar 12

Yes 25 pounds! Very similer looking nutes! How does that Peters treat you?

IMHO you dont need freaking additives as they are a waste of your money time and energy. Even natural crap! Yep ....I said it ...crap......this is sterile hydro once again and at this time I am against the need for "additives"....plants are getting N-P-K at a 2.88-1-4.13 ratio and I feel like my C-Mg-S is correctly dialed in...........easy on that P that you would need to flush if it was any higher and my K is already high!! No need to boost in this case. Hell we wont even need to flush this weed to achieve an amazing flavor and burn as you all will see.....I will do a minimal flush and we will nute until close to very end with our balanced Jacks formula. I will talk about this more later though sorry to rant....

On a side note the Star Dawgs are also showing their sex and I see three females(there are 6 StarDawgs also in the table at this time). They seem to love the stronger dose of Jacks that they are being fed now with the transition into flower. The added epsom salts seem to be helping them. The difference between the veg formula and the flower is simply the concentration.........

The Peters worked great, the last time I used it was back about 1984 I think. It was a good way to learn how to make my own hydro ferts, since it worked perfect every time. I've never tried using a grow formula for flowering but it would be interesting.

Anyway your plants look real healthy... and a great tutorial you have going too.

 

[burnalot420]

nice log snowblind,love the details...i am running thru some more strawberry x18 for selection..found the sweetest strawberry smelling/tasting plant...lacked potency an foxtailed like crazy so i let her go..have two more females im sorting thru now..i'll be sticking around to see whatcha get!!!

 

[winta]

amazing job snowblind! those roots are serious!

 

[Snowblind]

Those roots and fan leaves look amazing SNOW. & the exclusive is always much appreciated. The entire set up only cost about $20 to buy and install?

im going to take your advice and chop off all of the lower growth under the canopy before I switch my girls to 12/12 flower mode.

If you dont mind before you go out of town if you have time can you post a PIC or two of your PRUNED plants lower half?

Makes me nervous for you that youre gone four whole weeks, I left my ladies alone for one weekend and I was nervous as all hell. Your set up seems trustworthy so Im sure youll be fine.

Good luck my friend.

Things always go sideways, so we will see what happens. There is more to mange than just these plants, so there will be lots of variable to account for, moniter and adress. I have just started to clean up the Straw Mix under the canopy. This is about one week into flower. I first cut off lower branches for clones, and then a few days later I came in the room and started to agressively prune. My obsession is no longer yield, Im going to yield plenty no matter what I do, instead Im concerned just with plant health. In this case, healthy plants being just a few (4 to 6) main colas and no undergrowth all standing nice and verticle with no sag!

This lower pruning has several functions....

1) Increases airflow underneath the canopy and the underside of the plants leaves.

2)This airflow helps to refresh valuable Co2 that is depleted around the leaves.

3)PM is also prevented/controled through good air circulation.

4)Pests also dont like moving air as well.

5) This lower growth recieves no light. Leaves not recieving light are not helping the plant. They dont produce energy, and older leaves in time become depleted of nutrients often curl, wither and die. This lower growth becomes prone to disease and PM anyway so prune it!

6) Pruning lower growth early in flower helps to concentrate all the plants remaining lifes energy up to the top of the canopy where the 4 to 6 main colas are..

7) Pruning lower growth reduces the branches to the exact number that I wish to manage.

A picture of me trimming the lower growth...might even prune some more....

I have posted a couple of pictures of just how thick the main stalks are growing. Pretty crazy. Not a lot to see up top as we are just one week into flower.....lots of stretching....

Another picture of a few more of the fan leaves. These are smaller fan leaves and they are huge. The biggest leaves are bigger than a plate now. Used the tape measure this time to help show the size........

To actually hang you lights from dual trolleys and a lite rail tract costs more than your estimation! I feel that its worth it for what I do. In fact I love my dual trolley system!

nice log snowblind,love the details...i am running thru some more strawberry x18 for selection..found the sweetest strawberry smelling/tasting plant...lacked potency an foxtailed like crazy so i let her go..have two more females im sorting thru now..i'll be sticking around to see whatcha get!!!

Good luck with those last few seeds and I hope that you find exactly what you are looking for. I dont know much about X18 as a strain. I have now idea what traits or pheno type to look for. Foxtailing is no good though! Makes for airy buds. I believe foxtailing is very much genetic, but also perhaps a sign of nute issues and lighting. Maybe its made worse by those issues. Lack of potency is no good either! Sweet smell and taste sound just right though! Sorry you had to let the plant go.

Thank you for reading through this log. Im glad that you have had a bit of fun reading through its mundane details. I figured I would give you guys a lot to read with a lot of pictures. Doing all of this helps me to learn a great deal myself. When I read grow reports and logs I always want more more more.....

amazing job snowblind! those roots are serious!

Thank you so much Winta. I hope you are doing well.




I do find that the Strawberry Cough as a strain might be a touch sensitve to nutes. Nitrogen in particular. A couple of the plants have a bit of curl still at the tips of some leaves. Perhaps those are Cough leaning phenos. Other phenos, such as the "tarantula" dont seem to curl at all and feed happily. The StarDawgs sitting in the same table can be fed a little stronger than the Straw Mix as well.

There is one Star Dawg male on the table and its making balls fast! I wonder if I should just let it pollinate the whole room and see what happens.

In the same room I also have in buckets, Romulan, Casey Jones, XJ-13, Sweet Tooth, Flav, Chernobyl, GDP, and an amazing Super Grape Ape. Also the six Straw Mix females are on the table. I could let the Star Dawg Male hit it all just for fun.....I wonder...what do you guys think...I know nothing about this male though.

How long does it take for seeds to mature after fertilization?

Ive included some pictures of my plants in the buckets( I know its off topic, but we got some time while we wait on the Strawberry Mix to grow some buds). The bucket plants are grown just beside the flood and drain table holding the Straw Mix plants. I love the Super Grape Ape and it reallly seems to love the Jacks.

Let me know if you guys have any questions. Sorry about the quality of these pictures as they are taken under the lights in the flower room. I have inspired myself to get a Cannon Eos Rebel in order to take better pictures. Soon I will try to get some nice pictures up for everyone.

 

[AliasAO]

Things always go sideways, so we will see what happens. There is more to mange than just these plants, so there will be lots of variable to account for, moniter and adress. I have just started to clean up the Straw Mix under the canopy. This is about one week into flower. I first cut off lower branches for clones, and then a few days later I came in the room and started to agressively prune. My obsession is no longer yield, Im going to yield plenty no matter what I do, instead Im concerned just with plant health. In this case, healthy plants being just a few (4 to 6) main colas and no undergrowth all standing nice and verticle with no sag!

This lower pruning has several functions....

1) Increases airflow underneath the canopy and the underside of the plants leaves.

2)This airflow helps to refresh valuable Co2 that is depleted around the leaves.

3)PM is also prevented/controled through good air circulation.

4)Pests also dont like moving air as well.

5) This lower growth recieves no light. Leaves not recieving light are not helping the plant. They dont produce energy, and older leaves in time become depleted of nutrients often curl, wither and die. This lower growth becomes prone to disease and PM anyway so prune it!

6) Pruning lower growth early in flower helps to concentrate all the plants remaining lifes energy up to the top of the canopy where the 4 to 6 main colas are..

7) Pruning lower growth reduces the branches to the exact number that I wish to manage.

A picture of me trimming the lower growth...might even prune some more....

I have posted a couple of pictures of just how thick the main stalks are growing. Pretty crazy. Not a lot to see up top as we are just one week into flower.....lots of stretching....

Another picture of a few more of the fan leaves. These are smaller fan leaves and they are huge. The biggest leaves are bigger than a plate now. Used the tape measure this time to help show the size........

To actually hang you lights from dual trolleys and a lite rail tract costs more than your estimation! I feel that its worth it for what I do. In fact I love my dual trolley system!



Good luck with those last few seeds and I hope that you find exactly what you are looking for. I dont know much about X18 as a strain. I have now idea what traits or pheno type to look for. Foxtailing is no good though! Makes for airy buds. I believe foxtailing is very much genetic, but also perhaps a sign of nute issues and lighting. Maybe its made worse by those issues. Lack of potency is no good either! Sweet smell and taste sound just right though! Sorry you had to let the plant go.

Thank you for reading through this log. Im glad that you have had a bit of fun reading through its mundane details. I figured I would give you guys a lot to read with a lot of pictures. Doing all of this helps me to learn a great deal myself. When I read grow reports and logs I always want more more more.....




Thank you so much Winta. I hope you are doing well.




I do find that the Strawberry Cough as a strain might be a touch sensitve to nutes. Nitrogen in particular. A couple of the plants have a bit of curl still at the tips of some leaves. Perhaps those are Cough leaning phenos. Other phenos, such as the "tarantula" dont seem to curl at all and feed happily. The StarDawgs sitting in the same table can be fed a little stronger than the Straw Mix as well.

There is one Star Dawg male on the table and its making balls fast! I wonder if I should just let it pollinate the whole room and see what happens.

In the same room I also have in buckets, Romulan, Casey Jones, XJ-13, Sweet Tooth, Flav, Chernobyl, GDP, and an amazing Super Grape Ape. Also the six Straw Mix females are on the table. I could let the Star Dawg Male hit it all just for fun.....I wonder...what do you guys think...I know nothing about this male though.

How long does it take for seeds to mature after fertilization?

Ive included some pictures of my plants in the buckets( I know its off topic, but we got some time while we wait on the Strawberry Mix to grow some buds). The bucket plants are grown just beside the flood and drain table holding the Straw Mix plants. I love the Super Grape Ape and it reallly seems to love the Jacks.

Let me know if you guys have any questions. Sorry about the quality of these pictures as they are taken under the lights in the flower room. I have inspired myself to get a Cannon Eos Rebel in order to take better pictures. Soon I will try to get some nice pictures up for everyone.

You should def let the STAR DAWG MALE hit acouple for shits and giggles. Who knows u may let them cross and it could create something smelly potent and beautiful, a NEW STRAIN. Id love to grab dibs on a cut if the above mentioned happens :harvest::harvest::harvest:



Edit: Also nice to know other peoples arms are as hairy as mine. Must be a white person thing right SNOW?hahahhaaa

 

[Snowblind]

March 29


The plants have grown like crazy and stretched like mad! So much for that tight internodal spacing that I saw in veg under the T-5. With so many plants turning out female I have no space on the table! I believe the tight spacing has led to some of the stretch.

I have included a few pictures of the roots as they continue to grow like mad. I might try lining the table with a 4 by 4 coco mat next time to give the roots something to grow into. I will get root rot!

The fan leaves on pheno #3 are now as big as my forearm. Kinda crazy. Maybe from Alien Kush and thus LVPK??? I dont know. Maybe its a Strawberry Bubba Kush? It will be fun to see and guess.

The plants are starting to bud. I think a StarDawg male pollenated all of the phenos by accident! We will see.....

I took the pictures after I left the pump on for 12 hours! What a dumb ass. We dont know how it got stuck on! The plants dont seem too fucked, but twice they got fed for 12 hours.....not ideal. I need to do a better job of managing my pumps and timers. These mistakes can not only ruin your grow and your plants, they can also cause potential water damage to your property if things dont drain as they should!

Let me know if there are any questions......