Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero-DWC

[Aardvark]

Hey peeps, this is my first real attempt at doing this myself and its good to know so many of us are here to help one another out. This first posting is all about the background and plans for this project.

I already have some photos up in my gallery area of my grow, which I just started on Thursday April 26. I transplanted some 1 & 2 week old seedlings into my DIY hybrid Hydro/Aero/DWC system, comprised of 3 plastic totes, each equipped with XL air stones (running 24x7) and 6 mini-sprinklers on a PVC pipe frame. The totes are all interconnected by a drain/recirculating system that feeds into a common manifold (PVC pipe again) connected to the suction side of an aquarium canister filter/pump. The discharge feeds into another manifold, which feeds the 3 boxes through shut-off valves.

The 26-gallon grow boxes each hold 12-2" net pots, with each seedling established in a super starter plug with the sides wrapped in a layer of thin polyester quilt batting to protect the roots and retain water in case of electrical failure - sort of a combination raincoat/diaper. I installed depth gauges on each box, but they all normally show the same level because of the common drain system, although with the pump running and a valve closed, it would be conceivable to run a grow box's nutrient level down - until the timer cycles the pump off and the system achieves equilibrium back through the drains. At present, the pump runs 30 minutes on then 30 minutes off; this is simply because of the timer I am using and will be remedied shortly - although the roots are growing incredible fast - 3" per day so far, with 1" per day on the top side. I normally prefer a 15-on, following by a 30-minute off period to drain and allow for Oxygen to permeate the roots to prevent root rot; however, I am running big air stones 24x7, I am not worried about that.

I placed a heating mat under one of the grow boxes, which due to the circulation pattern, is keeping the water at a crisp 70 degrees throughout.

There is a 32-gallon RO water reservoir (a Brute trashcan) that I installed a float valve in that is calibrated to cutoff at 30 gallons, which is what I mix my nutrients to. When I recycle the nutrient solution in the grow boxes, I'll pump the new batch over to the brow boxes - knowing that the TDS/PPM and pH are both stable, having been set for 24 hours.

The nutrients I am using are GH Flora Duo, although I did start with some old GH Flora 3-part. The seedlings that were delayed by a week showed a little stress on the first set of real leaves - a few brown/yellow patches here and there on only a few plants, but every plant is now very green and healthy-looking and my TDS/PPM is between 1050 & 1100 at 5.7 pH.

The tent is a Secret Jardin DR150W (a discontinued model that I got for 1/2 price), which measures 60" W x 32" D x 79" H. I have hung 3-200 Watt CFL fixtures, one over each grow box and using 6400K for vegetative and 2700K for flowering growth stages. I intend to keep a 20-on/4-off photoperiod until sex is determined on the crop, whereupon I will briefly go to a 11=on/13-off photoperiod for two days, then go to a straight 12/12 schedule.

Strain & Generation
Anesthesia F1
Blueberry Sativa F1
K.O. Kush F2
Madonna F1
Sannie's Jack F6
Shack F3
NYCD X Blueberry Sativa F1
Fuma con Dios x G13 F1
Anesthesia F2
Sour Neville x Jack Hammer F1
Amnesia Haze F2


That's probably far enough ahead with the planning, but I'll tease you with one more thing to look forward to: its called "buddus interruptus". At about the 50th day of flowering, I'm going to turn the lights off for a full 24 hours - maybe as much as 48 - and watch as the buds go absolutely blue-assed crazy. Sometimes the buds sprout new buds off at right angles, although most of the time I've seen them just increase in size & density by a full third.

Is that something to look forward to?

Thanks for stopping by. I promise to not get so wordy in future posts.
Her's some root porn for your patience; be sure to see it all in my gallery. This system doesn't like my long file names - I wish the instructions would have mentioned that important aspect, seeing as I read all of the instructions like a good boy.

That's all for today, folks!

 

[Aardvark]

#02 Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Vegg Day #08

PH: 5.9

TDS/PPM: 1030

Reservoir: + 6 Gallons RO

Nutrients: 30% strength mild touch-up

Air Temperature: 71° (F)

Nutrient Temperature: 71° (F)

Height gained: 3-4” (from 2”-4” plants)

Roots gained: 6”-12”

Current level: 6th set of leaves is evident in most of the plants

Added a light dose of Epsom Salts early in the week to counteract any magnesium/calcium deficiencies that became evident after having to keep the earliest of the seedlings (most of them) a week farther along than I had wanted – the first set of real leaves were showing a few lighter yellow/brown spots (in only 10% of the 36 plants) but these have all disappeared by now.

The roots are going crazy! A few plants are stunted, being a week or more behind the most mature ones, so I had to rearrange a few so as to give more direct light to the smaller plants and moving the larger ones to the perimeter in the hope that the height of all will even out in a few weeks. The bad part of this was my accidentally topping one of the plants – it just snapped off right where I would have FIM’d it if I were getting’ bushy with it. I’ll probably get four stalks, not just two.

Overall, I have confidence that no matter what the outcome of the female/male contest, that I will have plenty of girls to fill my tent. If I have to put even half of them outdoors (and collect different varieties of Dutch pollen), the surviving girls will more than fill the gaps in this little tent. One of my healthy plants started out growing sideways from the net cup and I flipped it 180° a few times to make it straighten up – except it is behaving now like I LST’d it, with the growth coming from all of the future bud/pollen sites instead of at the top – which I can no longer find, as it looks just like another branch now.

I did find two plants’ leaves are really light green when unfolding, but they get fully dark green after several days – although the light green stays up the leave’s middle and looks odd. Unless I mixed up the strains, they are totally different families as far as I know. If anyone recognizes this odd behavior, I’d like to hear from you.

I also hooked up a thermostatically controlled exhaust fan “system” this week. The exit from the tent was less than 3’ from the chimney thimble where the stinky, hot air will exit and raise little or no attention. I installed a layer of bridal veil screen over the chimney fitting to keep any critters from invading, and a thin layer of polyester quilt batting over the fan’s inlet to cut down on noise and bugs – I think I should add a few more layers of batting, though – that thing is LOUD! Maybe a speed control would be better.

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Vegetative Growth Weekly #02

Tent: Secret Jardin DR-150W; 60" x 32" x 79"; 87.77 Cubic Feet
Air Temp: 71°-79° (F)
Humidity: 52% - 62%
PH: 5.9 - 6.1
TDS/PPM: 1050 - 1350
Reservoir: + 6 Gallons RO
Nutrients: 30% strength mild touch-up
Nutrient temp: 69° (F)
Height gain: 4" - 7" (from 4" - 6" seedlings)
Roots gain: 12" - 18"
Node level: 7th set of leaves is evident in most of the plants; 9th showing in others
Photoperiod: Reduced from 20/4 to 16/8 this week to promote female tendencies
Nutrient cycle: 30-on/30-off during entire photoperiod; changed to 15-on/45-off​

Growth:
The largest plants are 13" high (5), with half of the rest 10" and the other half are 5" - 6". Inter-Nodal spacing is tight! On most plants it is 1-1/2" and the 4 tallest Sativa-dominant plants have +/- 2" spacing. This graph shows the various heights, with a 15" scale.

Trying to keep the smaller plants lit properly is my daily challenge. I remove fan leaves daily now and have started using my new light meter wisely.

This is the breakdown on each plant's height as of yesterday:

I was considering switching to a 12/12 photoperiod this week to get things going and see how many females would pop, but instead have decided to keep vegging these for the time being, or until they reach 24" or show sex; although I don't think that will happen until after switching to 12/12. I predict it will be another 2-3 weeks before it happens. I did cut down the daylight a few hours from 20 to 16 because I read where shorter photoperiods increase the likelihood of plants being female.

Question: When to Switch this SoG to 12/12?
With the tight plant spacing in my setup, should I switch to 12/12 now so the plants don't get out of control width-wise? Is there a certain height they should achieve before switching? I need to make sure it doesn't get out of control and need some advice on trimming and taking clones.

The problem is that I realize I went overboard on the number of plants and the close spacing. It's just way too much for my needs — which will only get worse if I trim to make clones. The only way out of such a scenario is if I end up losing a large proportion of plants due to being males; that would free up some room, of course. I should probably grow, harvest & freeze some of those good Dutch genes to breed with, I guess.

Question: Anyone know whether trading in Cannabis Pollen is legal?
It is every bit as important as the seed genetics, right? I wonder whether I should begin a Pollen Farm and Repository, just like they did with the seeds repositories.

A peculiar thing is NOT happening to my plants:
Because I didn't have a proper repeat-cycle timer until today (I now have a Sylvania SA110, with 15-minute resolution) I had been running the nutrient pump on a heavier schedule than I would like with 30-on/30-off schedule; compared to almost any other hydroponic method, I am drowning them! The astonishing thing is that I am also running a much higher TDS/PPM now for this early stage of growth — 1100 — 1350 PPM. Yet the plants appear to be completely happy, with nary a negative symptom. I got my new timer online today and now the nutrient pump cycle is on a 15-on/45-off schedule for the entire 16-hour day period. Let's see if allowing the roots to drain more will make any difference. I don't know whether it will, because the main object of the drain cycle is to get Oxygen to the roots — and I have big air stones going 24x7 and there are only white roots all around. If nothing changes, that will be good - as well as confusing! The TDS/PPM is not being reduced by very much, probably because I have so large of a nutrient reservoir (30 gallons for 3 boxes) and the plants are still pretty tiny.

I have trimmed the fan leaves in this group twice in the past week to make sure the bud sites on the future colas (as well as the shorter plants who got a late start) are getting the light they deserve. This is my first SoG, so I hope doing this early to promote light penetration and ventilation will be right on.

The one plant that had been accidentally topped looks so bushy - as if it wants to explode. True to form, it temporarily stopped vertical growth, but doubled in girth in the past week. It has already resumed going vertical and has caught up with the others.

I accidentally killed one plant; it had grown sideways from the net pot, was very healthy-looking and growing as in a SCRoG that was LST'd; however, in my activities to manicure and rotate the plants according to size, I must have twisted the stalk, fatally damaging it, because it was limp the following morning. I tried to help by propping up the poor thing but it was no use - DOA. There is one more that looks similar, but is still thriving, as I propped it up with a short length of 1/2" tubing around the base, which will expand with the trunk's growth.

Another problem child was a great strain called Madonna, but it would never grow past the seedling stage at 3/4". I chopped the stunted root off and tried to clone it but failed completely. That leaves only one healthy Madonna plant, so if it goes female, I will definitely clone the shit out of it.

Speaking of cloning, I think my having 12 different Dutch strains demands that I do take some clones of each strain; otherwise it would be a crime to waste the opportunity. There are plenty of good-looking candidates already and I just started getting the materials ready to build a clone box. I should also probably think about a bigger tent soon, too - or start scouting & prepping some outdoor guerilla sites.

Thanks for coming by and if you like what I am doing, please leave a note or some advice about the way I am doing things. So far, I am getting lonely here ... I don't want to do this if there isn't anyone to enjoy it, help me avoid fucking it up and assist me when I do ... hopefully, at least someone will answer a question or two especially about when to start the 12/12 photoperiod.

Peace!

Pictures: I got a new camera this week from Woot, along with a wireless Eye-Fi card. Perfect!
A new wide perspective:

Here's a few views from the deck nice, tight inter-nodal spacing:

How about some root porn? I found one filament stretching 3" right-angled towards the sprinkler head today; I tucked it back in.

Nice, green and clean.

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Vegetative Growth Weekly #03: All About SEX!

Tent: Secret Jardin DR-150W; 60" x 32" x 79"; 87.77 Cubic Feet
Air Temp: 67°-77° (F)
Humidity: 51% - 77%
PH: 5.9 - 6.1
TDS/PPM: 1050 - 1350
Reservoir: + 7 Gallons RO
Nutrients: Added 5 Teaspoons each of Flora Duo A&B
Minerals: Added 2 Tablespoons of Epsom Salts to 30 gallon reservoir
Nutrient temp: 69° (F)
Height: +2" - 5"
Roots: Healthy, white & filling up the reservoir
Node level: 7-11 leave-sets are evident in most of the plants
Photoperiod: 16/8
Nutrient cycle: 15-on/45-off during the entire photoperiod
​

Note:
Just because I "know everything" [HAH!] doesn't mean that I know what to do with all that information! (LoL) I really don't know very much; its probably a case of probably too much research and not enough experience integrating it all. I just want to make sure I put in all the details in case someone out there is paying attention and wants to help me out of a jam later.

Sex is on My Mind:
Many of the plants are now showing sex growth (see pictures — I love my new camera). Most of them are too tiny to tell anything yet, but there are also some healthy female parts showing, too. Crab claw alert! I remember the first time I tried growing indoors, I mistook the Stipules for female gonads. Man, was I puzzled the next week when pollen balls were everywhere.

I have yet to flush & change the nutrient reservoir after 3 weeks of vegging; I am just adding RO water to maintain a stable level (within 6 gallons between the 3 boxes so far) & the right amount nutrients to keep the TDS/PPMs at the desired level of 1050 — 1350 PPM. To treat these plants right, I will give them a fresh batch next week at 4 full weeks of vegging.

Coming Week:
I should probably flush the reservoir with a low TDS/PPM - like around 600 - and then amp it up to pre-flowering stage levels, which may happen at the same time, depending on height and bushiness of the crop, how many of the plants turn out as males (and removed), as well as if anyone provides me with helpful advice.

I am also looking at getting two bottles of CO2 and an electric solenoid-controlled regulator. The ones on ebay for less than $50 look the same as the ones I see at the hydro wholesalers that sell for $175+ - anyone know the difference?

Is there anyone out there have suggestions to augment my transition to Flowering? I'm not a fan of complicated flowering nutrients, so less is always more in my house.

HELP! Question: When Should I Switch My SoG to 12/12?
Really! I need some help here! With the tight plant spacing in my setup, should I switch to 12/12 next week so the plants don't get out of control width-wise? Is there a recommended height they should achieve before switching? I need to make sure it doesn't get out of control and need some advice on trimming and taking clones because I don't know how much trimming a SoG requires — so far, I am only taking the lower fan leaves up to now but have realized that the branches will probably have to go if I want those central colas to thrive — it will all depend on how many male plants pop and are evicted to determine how much room I have to work with.

I will probably replant the males outdoors guerilla style and collect some choice pollen from the Dutch strains I have going. I believe freezing can preserve it if the right method is employed and I would welcome any advice when that becomes a fact. Does anyone you know trade pollen? It will only be viable for about 4 days after thawing, so unless you transport it with dry ice, this is probably going to be a local deal only.

Here is the new wide perspective; the plants on the right are the later bloomers from late seedlings:

Temperature & Humidity seem to be OK:

Here is the first female I found:

And some other plants showing itty-bitty gonads:

And of course I had to show you the soft, white underbelly of this garden:

I hope to see some interest soon - and some help!

Peace!

 

[CocoJoe]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Hi, and you don't look like you need help.
Here's some rep for doing a good job.

to the brothers and sisters,
cocoJoe

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Bless you, brother Joe .. and to all the friends here ...

 

[miancotruck]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Subbed. Love all the details. Keep up the great work!

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Thanks to you, too, truck! Glad you enjoyed it.

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Aardvark's 1st Grow Journal - Vegetative Growth Weekly #04: Transition Time!

Tent: Secret Jardin DR-150W; 60" x 32" x 79"; 87.77 Cubic Feet
Air Temp: 72-77 (F)
Peak Air Temp: 82 (F)
Humidity: 63%-77%
PH: 5.9
TDS/PPM: 1100 - 1380
Reservoir: + 7 Gallons RO
Nutrients: + 5 Teaspoons each of Flora Duo A&B
Minerals: none
Nutrient temp: 69 (F)
Growth: 4"-12" (see detailed growth chart)
Roots: Healthy, white & growing closer together
Node level: 9-11-leaf fronds are evident in almost all plants
Photoperiod: 16-on/8-off
Nutrient cycle: 15-on/45-off during the entire photoperiod
​

This past week:
I conquered my trepidation over trimming the plants down to SoG configuration, the vegetating garden has now reached its 4-week milestone and I will make some important decisions this coming week ... that all hinge on the breakdown of female/male plants.

I need to figure out how to maximize the distribution of light to the plants, which vary wildly in height from 5" to 21". This is going to require me to either:

• Leave them in place, allowing the taller plants to dominate the already stunted shorter plants that were simply started later,
• Relocate the shorter ones amongst themselves in one grow box, allowing me to place the light fixtures at the height appropriate to each grow box's average height, or
• Relocate and transplant the extremely tall and short plants outside — far away from any males I take out there.
  
  The immediate risk I see is that for the most part, the plants' root structure is intertwined among each other and any attempt to perform any of these three options will undoubtedly involve breaking, cutting and generally abusing those tender roots, which are quite healthy, being constantly soaking in the oxygenated nutrient bath.

What is going to be the outcome from damaging the roots?

• ALL of the plants are likely to be affected, as the roots of plants to be moved are woven into the roots of those other plants, which are not going to be moved. This is a risk that I'd like to mitigate, but I don't have any ideas yet.
  Help?
• The active reservoirs will have dead and dying pieces of roots, which can cause a few bad things to happen, like promoting root rot in healthy plants and clogging the pump inlets.
• Plant growth will be suspended for a few days while the trimmed roots reestablish themselves.
• Some — or all — of the plants could be permanently affected, or even die. This would be entirely unacceptable, given I also have the choice of not doing any damage by relocation.

The first nutrient flush

1. Prepare a new batch of nutrients in the pH-neutral RO water tank, stabilized at +/-600 TDS/PPM
2. Pump out the old nutrients from the grow box nutrient reservoirs, the aquarium pump/filter and distribution system (I will use it for watering & feeding the outdoor guerilla plants)
3. Gradually increase the nutrient proportions to flowering-phase levels at 1450 TDS/PPM, using Flora Duo A&B (heavy on the B)

Switching over to flowering with a schedule that may be a little over-complicated (but at least I have a plan):

1. 11-on/13-off for two days, followed by 12-on/12-off until the end of the first week
2. 16-on/8-off until 45-50 days, whereupon I will put the plants into "shock" with an extended night period of total darkness for 48 hours - in one or two segments.
   I hope everyone knows why this is done; if not, I am happy to explain in detail. Let me know what you think of this plan; it is designed to make the most of the bud-building elements.
3. Final nutrient flush with sweeteners (Karo corn syrup reduced in RO water)

Sex, Trimming & Clones - Oh My!
I can see several of the plants have definite female parts developing; the others are still too small to tell, but this should all be resolved now with the change to flowering mode. The sex of every plant should be obvious within a few days; as this is my first real attempt at growing indoors, I have been hesitant to trim the branches of my plants because I wasn't sure whether I would need to take any clones later to increase the number of females; in retrospect, this may have been silly because even if only 3 of the 36 plants had survived and were female, I still could have filled the tent and SCRoG'd the garden.

So, it looks like I have an embarrassment of riches and I let all of that branch growth go to waste - unless I find a use for some clones from my Dutch family.

HELP! Do I dare trim the roots for rearranging the plants according to height?
I will have to consider rearranging the plants to keep similar-height plants grouped under the same light fixture in the same grow box so the height can be managed. This will require some handling of the roots - taking them out of the holes is easy, except for the part where the roots are 2 or more feet long and growing together with their neighbors. Something has to give. I can imagine cutting them off with sterilized scissors and trying to pick the pieces out so they don't rot in the reservoir and fuck up the rest of the roots and wearing rubber gloves. Either that, or leave them all where they are and let them fight it out for the available light.
I need some advice!!!

I am really nervous about trimming the branches because I don't want to stunt or ruin the plants. I have heard different advice about this " supposedly, you are not supposed to trim any more than 15% of a plant's growth without harming it, but I think that it is supposed to mean no more than 15% without slowing it down considerably.

When topping/FIM'ing, it usually takes the plant a few days to recover & resume the growth spurt; the one plant that I did this to (accidentally) now has four equal branches that will be colas, with little or no sub-branches off of the main trunks. I want the rest of the plants to look similar, without branches.

What is going to happen when I trim the branches off of these plants?

Coming Week:
I ordered a CO2 regulator w/electric solenoid control ($50 on eBay, with 1/4 " hose); I have a 10-pound CO2 bottle that goes with my MIG welder, which has a regulator, but not the solenoid. I will probably just set it on a timer to release a few CF every couple of hours, but I have to rig something with the cooling fan now to let the CO2 "soak" without exhausting the tent.

Those 3 200-watt CFLs get pretty hot very quickly " it is 80╝ (F) in the closed tent within an hour of turning them on - 10 degrees higher than the ambient temperature. If I ever want to consider leaving the garden for multiple days on its own - like traveling or working out of town " I am going to have to invest in environmental controls to handle this aspect, except I had drawn the line at that because of the substantial investment I already have in this setup.

The same goes for cloning. I already have a spare light fixture to use my old/unused 125-watt CFLs with and I can build an aero clone box quickly, but I would also need another tent or a cabinet to set up any kind of cloning system. I need to draw the line somewhere and exert some amount of financial restraint, so I am struggling with the "to clone or not to clone" issue.

The issue is simple: invest more money in a clone enclosure and furnish it with the aero cloner and light fixture. Then find a home for the propagated clones - which is a big effort in itself. Do I want the extra work? I could "settle" for my little tent garden, plant a few lesser females outside - along with a few males far away to collect the pollen - and be happy with that, without all of the cloning hassle — which also increases my workload and exposure to the outdoor guerilla grow.

I would just hate to think of wasting all of that branch growth if I don't clone the cuttings!

Decisions, decisions. Better make the females pop first so I know what I am working with. Sometime this week, I will switch the lights to a flowering schedule.

Thanks for stopping by!

Here are a few shots of the garden - before and after trimming the plants:

The wide perspective:

Nice-looking, if I say so myself:

Female Gonads, I hope?

Strange Tri-Lobed Branch Structure Shows Up in a Few Places on Different Plants:

The 10-Day Growth Chart for Each Plant:

After trimming the plants down to SoG profiles — I left the top-most sets of leaves on the branches so they will make good, strong clones — if I decide to go that way. Otherwise, if, after removing the males and possibly the shorter of the plants for transplanting outdoors, they will simply be cut and disposed of.

 

[CocoJoe]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

I have trimmed roots when needed. Looks like you have a jungle on your hands.
Good luck!

to the patients,
cocoJoe

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Joe, I appreciate the confidence-building advice. Do you have any details of what and how I should proceed? I mean, besides common sense?

 

[CocoJoe]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

What is your PPM?

Peace to the patients,
cocoJoe

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

I finally flushed!
This morning I made the nutrient flush with a classic Lucas formula, using 32 gallons of RO water initially pre-mixed at a 650 TDS/PPM nutrient strength using Flora Duo "A" & "B", biased in a 1:3 ratio towards the "B" to boost flowering growth, which was started today with last night's dark period.

After running the pump on regular cycles for a few hours to mix the new nutrients with the remnants of what was left in the system, I added a few ounces of nutrients to gradually bring the TDS/PPM up to 978 and repeated until reaching 1290, which is within 10% of my goal of 1200. This approach will give the plants a good opportunity to draw up everything in the roots at the low PPM scale (without starving), followed by fresh fluids & nutrients in the correct balance in a gradual process at an optimum pH level of 5.7. I had intended to stop at 1200 PPM, but that's the way it worked out. I know they tolerated that high a level before, so I am not worried.
The final component of the flush will be a couple of teaspoons of Epsom Salts tomorrow to reestablish a baseline for calcium & magnesium. I add it to RO water heated in a microwave (so it dissolves quickly) and dump equal amounts in each grow box while the pump runs and it is all equally distributed in one nutrient cycle - confirmed with my TDS/PPM meter.

The roots are soaking in fresh batch of RO water/nutrient formula that looks very refreshing; I think I will double-up on my air stones - I doubt there is any downside to it and it will give me an excuse to remove and clean the ones in there now:

Which brings me to all of the trimming I have done this past week. I need to lay off of that for a while, now that the flowering cycle is starting; I think I really did overdo it, see if you agree:

Changing the Photoperiod?
I remember reading a few weeks ago that the lights-on period was not so important as the off hours and believe I want to try an alternative day - like 36 hours, but I don't think I will do it this time - mostly because I don't have a timer that will do this for me, and with my upcoming CO2 installation, my heating & cooling approach is going to be critical and I don't want to make it more complicated than it has to be.
Unless I can find a reasonable timer/controller that can manage a 36-hour day, a standard 12/12 photoperiod will have work for the most part, with a brief dark period about 2-3 weeks before harvest.
If anyone knows of a reasonable solution to the "long day" timing automation issue, please share it here!

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

What is your PPM?

Peace to the patients,
cocoJoe

Hello, Joe,

I think our messages/post crossed paths and probably answered your question in today's post - in long form, the details are in todays follow-up post about flushing - you should love it.

My TDS/PPMs were as follows (all taken at 69℉ and 5.9pH):
4 weeks' daily measurements ranged from 1050 to 1380
The usual reading for most of the time was 1200

Today's flush started with draining what was left - about 25 gallons of the 1350 PPM nutrient reservoir, distributed equally among the 3 grow boxes with common plumbing. The flush was performed with a 650 PPM nutrient solution and was raised slowly to 1290 over the course of 3 hours. The reservoir levels are their highest ever and I will be adding some Epsom Salts over the next few days to take care of Calcium & Magnesium needs; I may try to spike the pH by a few tenths of a point, just to make sure the plants take up some magnesium that is better absorbed at 5.9 to 6.1 pH and maybe even down to 5.5 pH for better calcium absorption, with is best between 5.0 and 5.9 pH - but just for a little while - can't go all extreme on this batch.

This is the nutrient chart I refer to for a basic Lucas formulary:

Thanks for visiting, Joe!

And all of you that enjoy lurking, too!

 

[Sky Rocket]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Well detailed journal. I'm all in.

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Well detailed journal. I'm all in.

Welcome to my adventure, Sky Rocket!

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

I rearranged the plants to suite better distribution of light - almost a foot of difference between plants makes it too hard to keep the lights leveled.

I have also extended the photoperiod for the transition to flowering mode with the following schedule when I switched the nutrients over:
16-on/14-off
16-on/14-off (8 hours into this "shift" tonight, I switched the 6500K CFLs over to 2700K bulbs - all 200 watt)
16-on/15-off
Thursday at 6 AM, I'll proceed with 12/12/ for 6 weeks, when I'll try a photoperiod boost using a 48-hour dark period.

 

[CocoJoe]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Thursday at 6 AM, I'll proceed with 12/12/ for 6 weeks, when I'll try a photoperiod boost using a 48-hour dark period.

Very interesting!

Peace to the patients,
cocoJoe

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Good news, folks - the long day routine is working so far. I did two things this week, which included rearranging the plants according to mutual height so I can make the most of the lighting capability. I now have two fixtures at about 24" and the other at about 12" for the runts.

I also trimmed the roots drastically. Fuck, I was nervous! They were being torn by the relocation, so I sucked in my testes and cut them all off at 1" below the water line. And worried ... but 24 hours later, they are still thriving. I hope there isn't some kind of time delay at work here, because I was so pleased that I did the same to the other large plant box tonight.

Am I frackin' stupid? Hope not. The other thing I did this week was to switch over to flowering stage with a really rare photoperiod. I am manually setting the days on a 30-hour cycle; the first week, I have it planned out for a 14-hour dark period, followed by 16 hours of light. In the middle of the second day, I switched from the 6400K daylight CFLs over to the 2700K bulbs. This long day schedule will end on Sunday morning, when I will return the garden to a 12/12 photoperiod.

All this time I will be using a CO2 bottle to fill the tent periodically, which I have never done before, so I would appreciate some advice on the frequency. I will be using a standard bottle with regulator, flow gauge and 110VAC solenoid for on/off control. I had been thinking to fill this 87 CF tent 3 or 4 times per photoperiod, but without using any kind of CO2 gauge or controller - other than a timer with 15-minute intervals.

HELP! Any advice as to the frequency of CO2 exposure? Thanks in advance!

To be completely honest, I do not know why I am getting all scientific/Frankenstein over this grow; it seems stupid looking at it from an outsider's perspective because I am not sticking with a conservative approach, being my first grow. Maybe I just have too much time on my hands and I am getting manic. So far, I have probably been pretty lucky.

I have a job interview tomorrow and am unsure whether I want the job or not. I would require relocating from New England to the DC area, and visiting the plants every weekend to tend them isn't sounding too practical, either. I guess I could move to DC and transport the plants in an enclosed trailer; since MMJ is OK in DC now, I would be in good shape.

 

[CocoJoe]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

I also trimmed the roots drastically. Fuck, I was nervous!

Good going. Now you know that you can.

to the patients,
cocoJoe