Whats in my tent? A very loose diary. First run with Coco, Jack's, RO and automation. GG4

[jguit]

Been growing in ProMix since I started growing again years back. @Aqua Man's coco thread got me interested in coco, so here we are. Thanks to @Dirtbag for some good advice on getting my plumbing squared away.

These are some GG4 beans i got from @Frankster, not sure of their linage. Perhaps Frank knows a bit more and can fill me in? Ha. I cloned the most vigorous plant and decided to run with it. I know GG4 is typically a clone only strain.

My switch to coco was not without some difficulties. I followed what most folks advise running my EC around the 1.5 mark. In mid veg my plants looked a bit meh and I thought i was doing something wrong. I noticed what looked like multiple deficiencies and the obvious solution was that i was underfeeding @ 1.5. How can this be? Everyone says you need to feed lighter in coco. Anyway, I slowly bumped my EC up to 2.0 and things started looking lush and healthy again. So for anyone reading.. Everyone's grow and setup is going to be a bit unique, don't worry about going off script.

My watering schedule is automated and at this point i'm fertigating about 4 times a day. I also do a weekly fulvic drench.

I also used my trusty old 600w HPS for the first half of veg and switched it out for my trusty COB LED setup. I found i was having a hard time controlling the temps in my tent and really missed being able to spot deficiencies under LEDs. I also found it was easier much to control my environment with the heat (or lack thereof) from the LEDs.

My screen isn't filled because intially I was trying to optimize the footprint for my 600w HPS. I could have veg'd more but I was getting impatient. Big yields aren't important to me either.

Here's some pics. Sorry that some of them look a little 'painterly', I forgot to turn the HDR mode off my phone.

Clones from the last week of dec:

A few days after New Years in the tent:

Houston, we have a problem! Things are looking pretty shitty but we'll figure it out...

Got everything under control. Things were rediculously bushy before I gave them a nice haircut right before switching to 12/12. Here's the haircut:

..and here we are, 2 days later (after the haircut) and 2 days into 12/12

To be continued....

 

[sportyridr]

Been growing in ProMix since I started growing again years back. @Aqua Man's coco thread got me interested in coco, so here we are. Thanks to @Dirtbag for some good advice on getting my plumbing squared away.

These are some GG4 beans i got from @Frankster, not sure of their linage. Perhaps Frank knows a bit more and can fill me in? Ha. I cloned the most vigorous plant and decided to run with it. I know GG4 is typically a clone only strain.

My switch to coco was not without some difficulties. I followed what most folks advise running my EC around the 1.5 mark. In mid veg my plants looked a bit meh and I thought i was doing something wrong. I noticed what looked like multiple deficiencies and the obvious solution was that i was underfeeding @ 1.5. How can this be? Everyone says you need to feed lighter in coco. Anyway, I slowly bumped my EC up to 2.0 and things started looking lush and healthy again. So for anyone reading.. Everyone's grow and setup is going to be a bit unique, don't worry about going off script.

My watering schedule is automated and at this point i'm fertigating about 4 times a day. I also do a weekly fulvic drench.

I also used my trusty old 600w HPS for the first half of veg and switched it out for my trusty COB LED setup. I found i was having a hard time controlling the temps in my tent and really missed being able to spot deficiencies under LEDs. I also found it was easier much to control my environment with the heat (or lack thereof) from the LEDs.

My screen isn't filled because intially I was trying to optimize the footprint for my 600w HPS. I could have veg'd more but I was getting impatient. Big yields aren't important to me either.

Here's some pics. Sorry that some of them look a little 'painterly', I forgot to turn the HDR mode off my phone.

Clones from the last week of dec:

View attachment 1210278

A few days after New Years in the tent:

View attachment 1210279


Houston, we have a problem! Things are looking pretty shitty but we'll figure it out...

View attachment 1210280

Got everything under control. Things were rediculously bushy before I gave them a nice haircut right before switching to 12/12. Here's the haircut:

View attachment 1210281

..and here we are, 2 days later (after the haircut) and 2 days into 12/12

View attachment 1210282

To be continued....

Nice, following along here as I'm doing same style grow currently.

 

[tobh]

lookin good!

 

[jguit]

lookin good!

Thanks man.. I didn't have the courage to defoliate as hard as you and DB this time around! haha. I will strip some more fans in a few weeks.

 

[tobh]

eh, the girls like fine. my only concern at this point would be leaves that are laying on top of each other. i would either finagle em so they're not laying on top of each other or pull the lower ones so that they're no longer an issue. otherwise, your plants look content.

 

[PK1]

looks nice and green in there dude!

 

[jguit]

This will be my last pic until around week 3 of flower. Growth has been stellar since defoliation.

 

[PK1]

nice canopy, when are you switching the light cycle?

 

[jguit]

nice canopy, when are you switching the light cycle?

Thx! I flipped 5 days ago.

 

[jguit]

Here we are at day 14 of 12/12. Bud set went really well. Still feeding Jack's at 2.0 EC and things are progressing nicely. I'm up to 8 fertigations a day. They're drinking well! I've been playing whack-a-mole with the larger fan leaves covering up some of the bud sites. I'll continue this for about another week.

 

[PipeCarver]

Here we are at day 14 of 12/12. Bud set went really well. Still feeding Jack's at 2.0 EC and things are progressing nicely. I'm up to 8 fertigations a day. They're drinking well! I've been playing whack-a-mole with the larger fan leaves covering up some of the bud sites. I'll continue this for about another week.

View attachment 1214286View attachment 1214287

Nice Job!...Promix style myself, afraid of changing.....its taken me this long to learn Promix half assed I don't have time left to go through another learning curve & inevitable fk ups. I'll follow along and watch your show..

 

[jguit]

Thanks!

ProMix is great stuff, I'm going to continue to use it to keep mothers and start seeds. For me, watering ProMix in flower got to be a bit tedious and sometimes I felt i could never get it quite right. My biggest problem is my own laziness. The worst mistake I'd make over and over in ProMix is accidentally letting it get too dry in flower, usually because of my work schedule. I've noticed if you let it get too dry just once in flower, your ladies will suffer. In veg, it doesn't seem to be as much of an issue. I guess now i have other things to worry about like a pump failure or extended power outages.

I can't say that there's been much of a learning curve so far. The only thing that threw me for a loop was EC in coco. I went in thinking I could feed at a lower EC than I'm used to. This was from information I gleaned from various coco threads. Things didn't look quite right until I started feeding @ the same EC values as i'd use in ProMix.

Overall, growth rate is remarkable compared to ProMix so far.

 

[PK1]

Here we are at day 14 of 12/12. Bud set went really well. Still feeding Jack's at 2.0 EC and things are progressing nicely. I'm up to 8 fertigations a day. They're drinking well! I've been playing whack-a-mole with the larger fan leaves covering up some of the bud sites. I'll continue this for about another week.

View attachment 1214286View attachment 1214287

looking good and green @jguit

 

[jguit]

looking good and green @jguit

Thanks man.. Hopefully I can keep it that way!

Yours is looking nice and green too!

 

[jguit]

Day 20 update.. Almost at the end of week 3. Things seem to be progressing nicely! I'm already starting to see some nice trichomes and they're also starting to stink like citrus cleaner.

 

[jguit]

Oh.. I had to put a second screen on top. I misjudged the stretch and should have done it earlier. I would have been in a world of hurt if i didnt put the second screen on once they (hopefully) start putting on some weight.

 

[sportyridr]

super nice canopy there...that's going to be nice yield...is this a 3' x 3' tent?...

I would like a nice even canopy but until I get lucky with 4 strains all growing the same or grow the same strain I have to deal I suppose.

I never went any higher with my current grow than 1.7/1.8 @ 321 measured as that's is when the tip burn started to show so never went any higher.

Also, is your drip manifold free flowing or is it a certain gph/per hour? I am looking to get a 12 port so I could add another line to a bigger plant if necessary. as it is now the big Romulan I have in the back takes 30 more secs to reach runoff than the others and it drops from there. All part of gowing diff strains/sizes I guess.

There is a 12 port that comes regulated, you can buy a .6 gph,1 gph 2.2. 3.3 etc. insert/nozzles I guess the 1gph would be sufficient for four 2 gal pots? I was wondering if a guy could use bigger nozzles for heavy feeder, smaller for lighter feeders or will it just screw up all the pressure to lines?

Sorry for the 20 ?'s....thanks for your time

 

[jguit]

super nice canopy there...that's going to be nice yield...is this a 3' x 3' tent?...

It's a 4x4 tent but i initially was using my 600w HPS so I only used a 3x3 footprint to maximize my lighting. I switched back to LEDs for a few reasons, most importantly they make it easier to control the environment. At least in my situation..

I would like a nice even canopy but until I get lucky with 4 strains all growing the same or grow the same strain I have to deal I suppose.

Yea, I only ever do clones of one mother plant at a time for this very reason. Trying to manage feeding requirements and the height of different strains is too much for me. I tried flowering 2 different plants last year and it was a miserable experience. haha

I never went any higher with my current grow than 1.7/1.8 @ 321 measured as that's is when the tip burn started to show so never went any higher.

I backed my feed down 1.8 EC as i noticed my runoff was getting a little higher than i wanted. The plants didn't show any signs of salt buildup though. I think this strain doesnt mind heavy feeds from what i've read. I'll start tapering off my feeding even more in few weeks.

Also, is your drip manifold free flowing or is it a certain gph/per hour? I am looking to get a 12 port so I could add another line to a bigger plant if necessary. as it is now the big Romulan I have in the back takes 30 more secs to reach runoff than the others and it drops from there. All part of gowing diff strains/sizes I guess.

I'm using one of those Jain (?) 8 port manifolds with Orbit sprinklers. They both require a certain amount of water pressure. The drippers are adjustable but you need a pump with enough pressure to operate them correctly. I have 2 sprinklers in each pot just in case one gets clogged. Havent had any issues yet,

There is a 12 port that comes regulated, you can buy a .6 gph,1 gph 2.2. 3.3 etc. insert/nozzles I guess the 1gph would be sufficient for four 2 gal pots? I was wondering if a guy could use bigger nozzles for heavy feeder, smaller for lighter feeders or will it just screw up all the pressure to lines?

Forget about GPH when sizing a pump, the amount of water pressure (PSI) is what you need to concentrate on. As long as that's correct, the drippers should work at the GPH they're rated at. The trick is finding the right pump!

Sorry for the 20 ?'s....thanks for your time

No worries. Where else can i talk shop about this stuff? hahaha

 

[PK1]

Day 20 update.. Almost at the end of week 3. Things seem to be progressing nicely! I'm already starting to see some nice trichomes and they're also starting to stink like citrus cleaner.

View attachment 1216566

next months potm

 

[jguit]

next months potm

Fingers crossed.. You know how quickly things can change!