tobh goes swimming Dutch style

[tobh]

Finally got around to doing the res change out tonight. Didn't measure before dumping it, but it looks pretty clear. Noticed a bit of sediment in the bottom of the res, assuming residual for a rather lazy rinse of the hydroton. The girls seemed unaffected, aside from the mild leaf curling.

After change out, pH at 5.5, 862 ppm. Res temp at 62F. It'll climb to a happy level over the next few hours.

 

[tobh]

After the res change out, the girls seemed to like the refreshment. Decent growth today for sure. However, I did notice some yellowing spotting. Going to check for pests, but if anyone has an idea of what might be going on, it'd be appreciated. It's not widespread, at least from what I can observe, but it is slightly concerning.

 

[tobh]

Moving along nicely. Haven't seen any new yellow spots show up and the ones that were there look to have healed. It might've been a deficiency issue, since the last feed I bumped the EC up a little.

They've drank another three gallons in two days, so I'm also thinking about kicking up the fertigation to run hourly.

Since I have 15min interval timers, I figure if need be mid-flower I could bump it up to every half hour or full time during lights on, and every couple hours, like now, during lights off.

Feedback welcome!

 

[Aqua Man]

They look great... looks like they are asking for a bit lower RH.

Maybe slightly more often on the feed?

 

[tobh]

They look great... looks like they are asking for a bit lower RH.

Appreciate the kind words! What do you think about the idea of bumping up how often the pump runs?

Temps have been a bit low today. Getting them pulled back up now, they were sitting at 73F and 65% RH earlier this morning before I took the pics. I try to keep it at ~80F and 65%-70% RH most of the time, so the VPD was a bit off earlier.

It's always a fine balance since the tent shares the office I work in, so we have to compromise on temps/RH sometimes haha.

 

[Aqua Man]

Recirculating DTW in hydroton... can prob run it constantly. But I would prob do a min of 15 min off and few min on. They are at no risk of overwatering only underwatering.

How often are you running it now?

 

[tobh]

Recirculating DTW in hydroton... can prob run it constantly. But I would prob do a min of 15 min off and few min on. They are at no risk of overwatering only underwatering.

How often are you running it now?

Currently it runs 15min every two hours, on the positive hours (12, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10), 24/7.

 

[Aqua Man]

Currently it runs 15min every two hours, on the positive hours (12, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10), 24/7.

I would do that for say rockwool bit hydroton doesn't really have a moisture holding capacity. I imagine the pump is like 30w most? I would prob do a min or 2 min every 15 min or so?

I can look more into when I'm done redoing my room of ya like. Im interested to know also but I kinda feel like it could be run constantly with no issues.

 

[tobh]

I would do that for say rockwool bit hydroton doesn't really have a moisture holding capacity. I imagine the pump is like 30w most? I would prob do a min or 2 min every 15 min or so?

I can look more into when I'm done redoing my room of ya like. Im interested to know also but I kinda feel like it could be run constantly with no issues.

That's what I was thinking. Since hydroton doesn't hold much moisture, and there's only about 1 1/2" of solution left in the bottom of the bucket due to where the drains sit, running more often at this point may increase growth rates even more. At this point I'm sure they drink up that residual solution within an hour.

The drains are ~2" from the bottom of buckets. I think they're 1 1/2" on center, but I would have to dig up my build thread on another forum.

I borrowed this system concept from YouTube (video embedded below). IIRC he's running in perlite, and runs his pump constantly. Initially I was concerned about that as I didn't want a constant flow discouraging root growth, but now I'm sure those buckets are getting packed with roots.

I appreciate the input Aqua Man.

 

[tobh]

Just another quick update. No noticeable changes since adding the hydroguard (2ml/gal), but there's some extra peace of mind now. Girls are doing great, also no other noticeable negative impacts of kicking the fertigation up to hourly.

Noticed a little bit of leaf curling, but I think that's either due to temps or RH. It'll work itself out.

They're transpiring really well (found moisture on a leaf, that another leaf was sitting on top off). I definitely need to trim some of those leafs up, and I'm thinking if I'm going to keep a flat canopy, I'll need to do some topping between now and flowering.

Also need to decide how to deal with the fat trunk moving the cover of the rockwool. By harvest, I anticipate that trunk completely taking over the corner of that rockwool block. It's already the size the first phalange on my thumb, and we're still a couple weeks out at minimum before flip.

I also threw a 12" fan under the canopy. Working on getting some vortex action going, but it threw off my temps again, so giving it some time to stabilize while i work to find the sweet spot for the environment.

 

[Aqua Man]

They are looking great man.

 

[tobh]

They are looking great man.

Coming from you, that means a lot. I appreciate it man!

 

[tobh]

Just read back through the thread, and decided to kick up the feeding again. During lights on, 15min on 15min off. During dark, 15 min on, 45min off. This is a big increase from 15min on 45 min off during lights on, but I think they'll appreciate it.

 

[tobh]

@Aqua Man I'm sitting at 744 ppm in the res right now.. think they could do for a bump or is that adequate for this stage?

 

[Aqua Man]

@Aqua Man I'm sitting at 744 ppm in the res right now.. think they could do for a bump or is that adequate for this stage?

I usually don't need to go much over 600ppm. Max 800. Hkw is the ppm after a day of drinking? Staying similar, higher or lower? Before any top up

 

[tobh]

I usually don't need to go much over 600ppm. Max 800. Hkw is the ppm after a day of drinking? Staying similar, higher or lower? Before any top up

I haven't checked the past couple top offs, but I can only assume higher given after adding 3 gallons of tap, which puts total solution at 9 gallons, I'm leveling out at ~750ppm. My tap is ~160ppm +/- 5ppm. pH swing is a bit much, sitting at 6.8 - 7.2, after every top off. Top offs every three days.

 

[Aqua Man]

I haven't checked the past couple top offs, but I can only assume higher given after adding 3 gallons of tap, which puts total solution at 9 gallons, I'm leveling out at ~750ppm. My tap is ~160ppm +/- 5ppm. pH swing is a bit much, sitting at 6.8 - 7.2, after every top off. Top offs every three days.

Yeah then i would go any more. If your not seeing deficiencies or clawing your right where ya want. I would say your at the upper end of that and 700ppm will be plenty.

 

[tobh]

Yeah then i would go any more. If your not seeing deficiencies or clawing your right where ya want. I would say your at the upper end of that and 700ppm will be plenty.

Kind of what I was thinking. New growth is rich, not a whole lot of lightness, old growth is dark. Noticing some spotting on the bigger leaves and a bit of curling, but I'm hesitant to say for sure it's related to pests at this time as it's inconsistent and very very minimal. You only really see it when you're right on the leaf.

I'm just thinking I'm about two months into this run and want to see what I can do to accelerate the timeline to get to flower.

First real hydro run and all. Years of research leading up to this, but feeling there's more I can do. Probably shouldn't keep looking at UC grows either... watching grass grow, and watching grass GROW are two different things.

 

[Aqua Man]

Kind of what I was thinking. New growth is rich, not a whole lot of lightness, old growth is dark. Noticing some spotting on the bigger leaves and a bit of curling, but I'm hesitant to say for sure it's related to pests at this time as it's inconsistent and very very minimal. You only really see it when you're right on the leaf.

I'm just thinking I'm about two months into this run and want to see what I can do to accelerate the timeline to get to flower.

First real hydro run and all. Years of research leading up to this, but feeling there's more I can do. Probably shouldn't keep looking at UC grows either... watching grass grow, and watching grass GROW are two different things.

After a couple months the plant will start to shed oldest largest leaves that are not as productive. It will pull some mobile nutrients and stop putting energy into it. So don't hesitate to remove them as they can attract pests.

This is not always the case when you see that but in your case I think thats it.

 

[tobh]

After a couple months the plant will start to shed oldest largest leaves that are not as productive. It will pull some mobile nutrients and stop putting energy into it. So don't hesitate to remove them as they can attract pests.

This is not always the case when you see that but in your case I think thats it.

Good lookin. I've started taking stuff off every few days anyways, just to keep the bush under the skirt managed well, so looks like I'm on track. Appreciate you bro.