Still looking pretty good despite the mishap mate.

Vick_Vinegar said:

Still looking pretty good despite the mishap mate.

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Thanks! You gotta stay on top of them. Daily res checks has saved me 2-3 times this grow.

Guess I should give a proper update photo.

GasPlease said:

Opened the tent for daily check ups and droopy leaves right in the face. Not sure how many feeds she missed but the valve was stuck. Pump was turning on but nothing coming out of the 1/4" tube. Opened the drain valve on the 3/4" tubing and pump was working. I closed and reopened the feed valve and there's feed coming out the 1/4" tubes again. I'll have to look into those valves. Can't have that happen again.

View attachment 2600793View attachment 2600794

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Sounds like it was vapor locked. Id suggest way more fertigations, they love it in rockwool; right up to continuous feed during lights on.
Right now my mothers are in 4x4x4 cubes and get 3 min on/30 min off on low ppm feed, to keep them somewhat manageable.
The 4x8 flowering tent is 15 minutes on/15 min off during lights on. This is my first grow using other than constant feed during lights on; feeders are off when dark.

Rockwool works so good bc fresh air is being pulled into it as the water runs down through it (similar to NFT), more h2o draining through = more fresh o2 and nutes being pulled in = faster growth and bigger buds. This is the decades old secret that I use to grow so fast and so big. Back in the day it was closely guarded. Other growers that were using the same system, were using spaghetti lines that had a tendency to clog. I was the 1st one in my orbit back then to go to straight 1/4", open tubes. It worked a charm and others soon followed.

I came to this site to pass this system on and nobody's interested. It's cool seeing you growing very similarly...

Florida_Mike said:

Sounds like it was vapor locked. Id suggest way more fertigations, they love it in rockwool; right up to continuous feed during lights on.
Right now my mothers are in 4x4x4 cubes and get 3 min on/30 min off on low ppm feed, to keep them somewhat manageable.
The 4x8 flowering tent is 15 minutes on/15 min off during lights on. This is my first grow using other than constant feed during lights on; feeders are off when dark.

Rockwool works so good bc fresh air is being pulled into it as the water runs down through it (similar to NFT), more h2o draining through = more fresh o2 and nutes being pulled in = faster growth and bigger buds. This is the decades old secret that I use to grow so fast and so big. Back in the day it was closely guarded. Other growers that were using the same system, were using spaghetti lines that had a tendency to clog. I was the 1st one in my orbit back then to go to straight 1/4", open tubes. It worked a charm and others soon followed.

I came to this site to pass this system on and nobody's interested. It's cool seeing you growing very similarly...

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I've never considered continuous feed but quickly realized you basically can't overwater rockwool. I run 24hrs on with these autos. Do you think feeding and lights 24/7 would be too much for the plants?

It's ashame there aren't more rockwool growers. I haven't grown all the different ways yet but rockwool seems hard to beat for plant development.

I grabbed a quick shot of the other 2 autos before leaving for work this morning.

The gorilla cookies has recovered and new growth is filling the canopy.


Lil stubby is an absolute mat of leaves and buds. I haven't been able to keep her cleared out like the other blue cheese. Everything is super tight. Pruning has been a nightmare. Since everything is so close the leaves are tiny and even the fan leaves are tiny without much of a stem. Just a pain in the ass to manage.

GasPlease said:

I've never considered continuous feed but quickly realized you basically can't overwater rockwool. I run 24hrs on with these autos. Do you think feeding and lights 24/7 would be too much for the plants?

It's ashame there aren't more rockwool growers. I haven't grown all the different ways yet but rockwool seems hard to beat for plant development.

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Nope, not too much; they love it. Feed pump on whenever lights are on; it just keeps the roots awash in freshly oxygenated, full strength, nutrient solution; without drowning them. With the pods I ran, there were 11 slabs with three plants per 4x6x36" rw slab, under 4k watts, hps; when they got guzzling good, a plant would start wilting within an hour or 2 of it's feeder stopping up; this is why I went to the straight 1/4" feeders.

The water running from a feeder, hitting in one spot on top of the cube, drains pretty much straight down from that spot and fills the majority of the slab, blocks or bits with capillary action. There is always a wet zone and dry zones; like in DWC with clay balls and bubblers that run continuous (how I used to keep 8' tall mommas)

Florida_Mike said:

a plant would start wilting within an hour or 2 of it's feeder stopping up; this is why I went to the straight 1/4" feeders.

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The guy/thread I learned this from runs the same 5 feeds every 24hrs and says some plants will drink 5+ gallons a day. Drying out if they miss 1 or 2 feeds. My question now is how much and fast will plants like these drink if I go continuous? My res totes are 14gal and 17gal so I could only get 10gal of nutes in them.

I was asked about my ec and dli today so when I got home I took some current readings to reply with. I hadnt took a reading on lil stubby in forever because I havent really been pushing her. Kinda letting her coast. Anyways the last time I adjusted the lights she was only an inch or two above the net. And she has been growing into the light the whole time. Here is where shit gets weird for me. I use foot candles for easy conversions every 500 fc is 100ppfd. After calculating the dli I triple checked the readings. This is 843 ppfd at 24hrs equaling 73 dli. No signs of it bothering her. Shes got some burnt tips but theyve been there since stretch and not that bad.



EC for shits and giggles.

GasPlease said:

The guy/thread I learned this from runs the same 5 feeds every 24hrs and says some plants will drink 5+ gallons a day. Drying out if they miss 1 or 2 feeds. My question now is how much and fast will plants like these drink if I go continuous? My res totes are 14gal and 17gal so I could only get 10gal of nutes in them.

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They will drink as much as they want is all I can say. He wasn't lying about some drinking 5+ gal per day. The last big mamma I flowered out, was a 4" cube on a 9.5x8x4" uni-slab on a 27 gallon tote (with a hole in the lid that a solid 5 gallon bucket size root ball fit through). You can grow some monsters on the uni-slabs if you give the roots room to run, either into the res, or onto the ebb and flow table.

My current grow is 6 plants with a 20 gal mortar tub res that I can only put 17 gal in. They are drinking 6+ right now at bud-set. With them drinking so much I lower my ppm some to compensate for high numbers when the res gets low. Many top growers push them right until the tips start burning and then back it off some. I have a 2ish gal dehumidifier right next to my res and I just empty it in the res.... It's pure 0-ppm distilled water.... The plants drink & transpire it; and I collect it & recycle it right back to them...

Hey, the guy/thread you learned from: are you able to chat with him and ask questions etc? If so, that's awesome; he really seems to know his shite and is obviously a good teacher. You were lucky to find him. If possible, drop me a link in a dm; I'd like to read his thread...

I forgot to add in the vapor lock reply, that rather than dead ending it, I loop my 1/2" main line back into my reservoir as a return line, with a valve just prior to where it re-enters. This valve can then be opened or closed to help 'trim' the pressure on the pump and system; with the added benefits of helping to keep the res circulating and oxygenated. (moving surface water imparts more dissolved O2 than air stones)

Florida_Mike said:

Hey, the guy/thread you learned from: are you able to chat with him and ask questions etc? If so, that's awesome; he really seems to know his shite and is obviously a good teacher. You were lucky to find him. If possible, drop me a link in a dm; I'd like to read his thread...

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The thread is from 2023 so hes not as active but he pops in once in a while. He also does big full grow type updates so less frequent. Seems to me he monitors the thread and replies when hes actually needed. Ive posted some important questions at important times and gotten quick replies. Hes been so amazing about helping everyone over the years that most of the info is already there. I dont mind sharing the link here for everyone. I want to see everyone killing it.

Florida_Mike said:

I forgot to add in the vapor lock reply, that rather than dead ending it, I loop my 1/2" main line back into my reservoir as a return line, with a valve just prior to where it re-enters. This valve can then be opened or closed to help 'trim' the pressure on the pump and system; with the added benefits of helping to keep the res circulating and oxygenated. (moving surface water imparts more dissolved O2 than air stones)

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Nice. Thank you for this. I do have air stones and my res is slightly angled towards pump and tray return so it mixes close to pump.

Im doing all the updates so heres the photo glueberry in organic soil. Shes filling in more than I thought she would but not amazing. Doing it all again I want to see what happens if I get her under the net day 3 after flip instead of day 9.

@Florida_Mike I said fuck it. Full send on the gorilla cookies. Plugged the pump directly into the power strip. Might mess up the grow because she was already going to fill the tent and I dont have another tent or space for her. FOR SCIENCE!!!!

I dont know if this is frowned on but this is some copy and paste about the res, ec, ph, and nutes. I talked about my ec awhile back so I'll repost since relevant and a pic of my current nutes.

First 7 days I hand feed a full solo cup at around 1.0 ec 3 times a day. Once she gets settled in I hook her up to automated feeds. My first res mix is 1.8-2.0 ec and the pump runs for 12 minutes every 4hrs 48min. 5 feeds very 24hrs. 12 mins is overkill early but nutes are getting recirculated and it saves from reprogramming timers. Second 5gal mix for the res is 2.2-2.4 ec. Im currently at 2.4-2.6 ec mid flower and will float around there until late flower dropping back to 1.8-2.0.

JP1 said:

Always been curious about recirculating systems. I know the runoff ph should be close to the input ph as long as the volume of feed and total fertigations are plenty. In my head I think the plants drink what they want after each feeding and you basically flush out what's leftover back into the rez each fertigation. That doesn't throw the fertilizer mix out of balance eventually? EC doesn't rise in the rez eventually from the concentrated salts being flushed back in? How often do you guys empty and reset your rez with all fresh feed, or are you guys just constantly topping it off with fresh mix the whole grow? Seems similar to dwc, but I can't wrap my head around that either

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I mix 5gal at a time and only fully change res when switching from veg to bloom. Since Im only mixing 5gals Im topping with new nutes every week keeping things fresh. I check my res ec and ph daily and make adjustments based off that.

High ec means she drank more than she ate and I can add some RO water to get ec back in range. If its low that means she ate more and I might need to add fresh nutes depending on how far off target it is. If it stays in range she is eating and drinking at the same rate which is best.

Ph can change from multiple causes even which nutes the plant is consuming from the mix can change ph. I just adjust it with up and down daily. I keep it in the recommended range but allow it to float up and down.

JP1 said:

In my head I think the plants drink what they want after each feeding and you basically flush out what's leftover back into the rez each fertigation.

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This part is correct it is technically a guessing game as to what nutes have been used. The small batches keeps things fresh for me.

Edit: I'll add that you have to keep notes mental or written on what happens with the res on the daily. Its the changes you make daily that paints the big picture of whats going on in the res. If you feel like its stale or the ratios might be messed up then drain and add fresh mix.

So far with my 3 rockwool grows the ec has stayed stable and I only have to adjust ph a lot of days. The few days following the net and after schwazzing they tend to drink more than they eat so I have to add water.

One more thought about recirculating systems and the res. Just like any grow the environment plays a big part in what the plant does and can even affect ec and ph. I dont have perfect control in all my tents but I do everything I can to keep things in the correct ranges. Always monitoring dli, vpd, and keeping the air flowing.

And what I do with my lights.

I push as much DLI as the plant will take but 40-47 is my range. Mainly relying on the plant to tell me it's too much then back the lights off a percent or two.

VPD targets
seedling .6-.7
veg .9-1.1
flower 1.2-1.4

GasPlease said:

And what I do with my lights.

I push as much DLI as the plant will take but 40-47 is my range. Mainly relying on the plant to tell me it's too much then back the lights off a percent or two.

VPD targets
seedling .6-.7
veg .9-1.1
flower 1.2-1.4

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I was checking in and had the thought to add a general rule of thumb for VPD. Why is it that I cant edit posts after 30 minutes? Not a fan of that feature.

VPD can be a little too much for new growers and you can achieve a target vpd with a large combination of temp and rh% readings. So a very very simple way to look at it. Seedling thru flower should go from wet to dry.

Noticeable growth in roughly 24hrs of continuous fertigation.

Yesterday before switching the pump.


A few hours ago.


@Florida_Mike those weren't there yesterday.


After canopy maintenance and tucking the main branches.

GasPlease said:

Noticeable growth in roughly 24hrs of continuous fertigation.

Yesterday before switching the pump.
View attachment 2601865

A few hours ago.
View attachment 2601866

@Florida_Mike those weren't there yesterday.
View attachment 2601867

After canopy maintenance and tucking the main branches.
View attachment 2601868

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Nice! What a noticeable difference! The roots won't dry out and air prune now; they'll follow the drain water back into the res.

You are going to surpass anything I do with that mainlining technique bro. Good frikn job!

Florida_Mike said:

Nice! What a noticeable difference! The roots won't dry out and air prune now; they'll follow the drain water back into the res.

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You are probably aware of apical dominance. You can see how the main branches around the perimeter have their tops horizontal under the net or wire. Thats the secret sauce. Its what makes this method work. It forces the smallest growth to turn into main tops. All that growth that gets lollipoped with normal scrog gets turned into colas.