AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal - Ebb&Flow - Bubblelicious 2013

Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

I don't know if the grower has marketed his strain yet, seeing that the article was from the early 2000's, as I don't really hear it talked about THAT often in the grower community! Yea I know about the calibration that needs to be done with these cheap PH pens, but like you said, I'm going to keep stock of a couple hundred slips of litmus paper as a back up test until funds can provide a more quality product!

Alright guys, I'm here with an early update at the request of Sky! I thought about it, and I will be updating much more frequently with daily progress and pics. I have long awaited the arrival of my grow tent and came home to find that the postal service sent it to my town's post office with a retry slip for a mid-day delivery tomorrow. I will pick it up after work tomorrow as I will not be home again to receive the package.

4/09/13

The two sprouts have shown an adequate amount of growth from a couple of days ago when you all last saw them. A few problems arose that I have been keeping constant monitor of. There are tell tale signs of ph fluctuation in the nutrient solution I have been giving the seedlings.

At first I had only noticed Bubb B's (the bigger of the two) yellowing edges of her cotyledon, then the next 24 hours the whole cotyledon started to lose pigment.
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Notice the the pale grey spots developing on Bubb A. This is was not surprising to me since I did start this grow without a ph meter, and my nutrient solution is well under 220 ppm.
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Here is an excerpt from my notepad:

-Watered at 5AM with regular water
-Runoff around 188-190 PPM in both Bubb A & B
-18/6 today's new light schedule- 7AM-1AM
-Noticed minute browning of cotyledon on Bubb A & B
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

I've been taught by members here on 420, as well as literature I've accumulated on the web that when a seedling sprouts, it literally feeds off the cotyledons until they wither up and die. at that point, the plant is well enough to feed off the elements underneath and process them with the light and CO2 from above. Where I get lost in all of that is that when growing in hydro or even in quality soils, does the seedling ignore those provided nutes and stick to it's instincts and feed off the cotyledons? If this be the case, than your cotyledons look fine as that's nature before your eyes. I think in the beginning (maybe 3 pages in) of my journal, King John and maybe donpaul or mcloadie were coaching me about what I'm seeing with my cotyledons and first few sets of leaves.
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

It would probably be wise to get that pH in check, but the PPMs I don't think will play a significant part yet.
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

Although cotyledons are 'naturally' suppose to be there to help feed the rest of the plant during the firs stages of growth, I typically have always tried to avoid unhealthy cotyledon growth until after mid-late vegetation! One that starts to wither early in seedling phase IMO is not getting the basic nutrients of what it needs from its root system.

As we all know a nutrient solution with too acidic or top basic of a PH then a smaller variety of nutrients that plant would be able to take in. Since my PPM's are adequately lower than recommended, I have related the issue to a lockout of N and maybe signs of lower K in Bubb A all due to ph fluctuation.

It's very easy to maintain healthy cotyledons through a substantial part of your grow, I just regret that I have not done that this time around. I am thinking of germinating two more seeds tomorrow depending on severity and if I feel the grow tent setup might be a more optimal setting than the PC case.
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

I boned myself on maintaining temps. the best I can do now is keep the air pump right next to the A/C unit when the lights are on. Thanks for the tips miwa
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

I had litmus paper once upon a time but failed to restock. My PH pen is on it way in the mail hopefully by tomorrow with a refill of litmus paper to follow. My ambient temperatures are 73-78F throughout the day, and with my water pump running 10min at most 3-4 times a day, I don't expect my temps to fluctuate much past 79F. Plus my res is outside my grow room;)

I never really cared for hydro either Miwa, until I came across this simple E&F system I got here! Hope you get your feet wet sooner than later, it's a lot more fun than work :blunt:
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

Did you end up harvesting the DWC in the 5 gal or are those the same transplanted plants?

Time for an update. Daily seems to fit my schedule fine, right around lights on. If that's reasonable for you guys then I can keep to that schedule.

Moving on, I ran into more problems with the postal services (private and government) and I'm sad to say I will be delayed another day for my PH pen, my 84" x 48" x 24" Grow tent, and my 50ft extension cable. My leasing office recently moved locations from a few houses down to their own office in our apartment complex. This changed all our mailing addresses and while I visited the local postal office late afternoon, the packages had already been 'recirculated'; so invalid mail = no delivery. I called and opted to pick everything up tomorrow indefinitely.

6/09/13

Excerpt from notes:

-Watered with 'regular' settled tapwater (175 PPM)
-Get a runoff PPM of 188-190 from Bubb A & Bubb B
-13-15 extra PPM accounted as runoff nutes
-Notice more yellowing towards leaf edges
-light green/light yellow in new growth
-Cotyledon's on both Bubb A & B are slowly degrading
-A's is showing sign of rust/brown 'spot' burns
-B's is yellowing & browning from edges in
-75F/40%

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Here are two shots of Bubb B. Notice the slight curling of first set of leaves and lack of 'deep green' pigment
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Here are two shots of Bubb A. Notice the yellowing tips and light green new growth.
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They are still doing fairly well in my standards, although I do regret rushing into this hydro grow without a proper PH meter!

I have just soaked 4 bagseed beans that I will keep in the PC box in case males interfere.
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Hopefully I'll have my tent setup on my next update, and you guys can see the whole thing fitting together how I see it in my head :blunt:
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

Konbanwa watashi no tomadachitachi wa desu! How is everyone doing this evening? I will try to get to everyone else's journals as soon as I finish this update. According to a private shipping company my address is valid for one package but not another! I was able to pick up my Ph Kit, my digital timer, and my grow tent last Friday but I needed to correct an already correct address for my 50ft extension cable. (Question: I realized that I have a plug on the opposite wall of my closet. To make things inconspicuous does anyone here think drilling a hole in the 1in wall and plugging the extension into that is worth the hassle of plastering it back a year later when my lease ends?)

8/09/13

Excerpt from notes:

-Planted 4 bag seed in grow cubes
-w/ 1/4 Tsp of Grow Bloom; 1/8 Tsp of Kangaroots
-New nutrient solution for Bubb A & B
-1.25ml of Big Bloom, .625ml of Grow Big, .5ml of Kangaroots & MicroBrew
-350 PPM; 23 Celsius; 5.9-6.1 Ph
-Runoff of Bubb B: 322 PPM; 6.2-6.4 Ph
Bubb A: 310 PPM; 6.3-6.5 Ph
-PC temps: 84F/39% Humidity
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I realized that my Ph was ranging somewhere between 7.6-7.8, which was restricting Phosphorus, Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, and Boron. This is the cause of the light green coloring and slight wrinkling of first set of leaves. Note that the runoff is slowly decreasing in Ph.

Here is Bubb A:
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Here is Bubb B:
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Hopefully by tomorrow I will have my extension cord and I will finally begin setup of my grow tent and HID setup, leaving the PC incubator with room for the 4 bag seed. I plan on starting them with grow cubes for the first couple of weeks to test my nutrient solutions prior to feeding the Bubb Ladies. I will eventually attempt to either grow flower them along side the Bubb's with CFL and minor HPS light, or try to give another micro/LST going in the PC case. We will see :blunt:
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

GOOD VIDEO
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

Thanks for that video Sky, I think I'm going to refrain from installing a new outlet and just opt to connect an extension cord directly to the adjacent outlet after cutting through my plaster. I will eventually seal it back up when I move out.

Well I finally setup my grow tent, and though it is not up and running due to a lack of power source, I am amply satisfied that I have everything in place for when I get this extension cord. I also added a 'rack of clothes' to make the tent a little more inconspicuous. I'm going to go to the store tomorrow and pick up a rotating fan and some peroxide to give the system one more cleaning run!

Though I am not worried about them now due to the plants dark period matching my night, I will gradually close up the light leaks from the seams. I will also get the clear tubing light proofed as well.

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Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

An update on my grow tent 'Power Supply' access.

I went ahead and measured how far the outlet was on the adjacent wall. 63" from perpendicular wall, plus another 4" due to the gap between the dry wall.
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I then cut 5" to each side of the outlet to ensure space to work with.
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A 10" x 4" slot in the 1" thick dry wall was made closest to my tent.
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To conclude, I now have running power to my grow, with more of a leeway on electric cost due to this connection running through my living rooms circuit.
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

10/09/13

I decided to make another batch of 1/4 strengh nutrient solution using distilled water in which I bought today (and a lot of it!). I've decided to try and stick with the feed schedule that these FF nutrients are based on, with tweaks where I feel fit.

Excerpt from notes:

New Nutrient Solution
-2.5ml/.375gal of Big Bloom
-1.25ml/.375gal of Grow Big
-308PPM; 22Celcius; 6.1pH
Bubb A
-Runoff: 316PPM; 6.4 pH
-new growth seems healthy
Bubb B
-Runoff: 317PPM; 6.5pH
-new growth seems healthy, but still very pale green
-TEMPS: 84F/46%

When I first turned on the system with the MH about 4' from the tops of the buckets the leveled temp was around 83F. I then lowered the cool tube to about 18" from the plants and the temps got me to around 90F. With the addition of these fans I bought,the temps have steadied at 84F. I will definitely need to think about another exhaust fan in the near future.

Both plants seem to love the Metal Halide transition because withing 18 hours I noticed very fast growth. I know that my pH in the runoff is too high for a hydro setup, so I decided to flush with pH balanced water (5.8) to try and level the salt build up in the grow cubes, which I assume is the case here. Here are some update pictures of the ladies:

Bubb A

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Bubb B

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Both Bubb A & B under the 400w MH bulb

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Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

ok..now i am completely lost ...no one else has weighed in ..so i guess i'm the loss one..how do you know if your plants are eating...and if yes..how much...why is your ppm increasing on run off..if runoff ppm is larger than res ppm...won't that raise the ppm in the res..so you have to adjust your res ppm...
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

using co2 will increase a plant's ability to withstand hotter temps. also did a 420 search on h2o2 uses and found some great artiles in the archives. h2o2 will now be a part of every feeding in both soil and hydro. the h2o2 supposedly kills all the beneficial organsims in most soils, but theother benefits imo outweigh this. if u get time, u should check it out.
 
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