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

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

Been seeing you around AG. Your knowledge forced me to see whats going on. Subbed
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

Thanks, Broke, for stopping by! Hope I will be as helpful as I am medicated ;)

I'll be updating when lights come on about 4hrs. The girls have grown a lot.

I have been to your journal many times, but I'll start showing my ghostly presence there more often!:nomo:
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

Hi AG I'm Going Hydroponic soon with Aquaponic dripfeeding in Spagnum moss /perlite.

I got a set for 4 plants to try out.

Just a 2 gallon bag and 4 pipes for drip feeding :partyboy:

but do you think the squeezed filter water from a fishtank full of fish can drip-feed 4 ladies?
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

Auquaponics. That incorporates the plant and a fish tank res, where the the plant uses the fish's waste as nutrients? Am I right?
Some more clueless questions:

Is it a drip to waste or does the water get recirculated?

I don't know if you are worried about the size of your res being to small to feed them or that there just isn't enough 'DRIP' to go around to get those ladies properly quenched?

Well, as I am also in the process of making a DIY drip system from my E&F setup, I can recommend a few things. I always find the dry weight of my medium and pot combined then hand water a measured amount and calculate the added weight of the water when fully water. And with a bit of simple math you can easily find the weight of your pot/medium when its 70-80% dry. This is how I know how much to water every time.

While you probably know all of that, you can use the measurements gathered and set a timer for how long it takes for the drip system to give you that desired output. Just base your timer that your pump is on to water for the allotted measurements.

I hope that makes sense! I have never seen an aquaponics grow in action before, are you going to include it in your current journal now. Maybe you already did. I'm going to have peek ;)
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

15/09/13

Been along waiting an update on the ladies. Glad to say that pH has stabilized, but my pH buffers won't be arriving in time for my 3 day leave! So I am experimenting with vinegar this whole week to see how much the pH will fluctuate in a 3 day period, perhaps setting the pH lower before I leave to compensate for the rise of pH.

What I am not fully understanding is why my pH is going up when my nutrient solution is kept in a separate container until I hand water. There is no loss of nutrients nor evaporation of water in the container since it is sealed so I must assume that vinegar is just isn't that stable as pH control or the FF nutrients I am using start to deteriorate. In the meantime I am continuing to experiment.
This is probably the most challenging thing about maintaining a hydroponics setup, but I am glad I am finally able to go through the learning curve of balancing pH and PPM's.

Hopefully by Monday I will have a drip feed to waste system fully automated and ready to go!

I transplanted and moved the 4 bagseeds into the tent with the Bubbs just so they can get a warmer environment while they adjust to the transplant shock! My PC keeps temps at a low 75-78F, and I am not complaining but I need a bit more warmer temps for these seedlings.

As I did not take notes today, I will just freestyle my observations and stats from the top of my head;)

Day 22 from seed

Bubb A is on its 3rd 'true leaf' node and Bubb B is on its 4th.
Runoff came out to a pH of 5.8 and and a PPM range of 280-290 for both of these ladies.
Temps are at a low 75F during dark cycle and a high 84F during light period. Humidity is averaging at around 40%
I will be transplanting both the Bubb ladies either tomorrow or the day after next.
Now time for your update pictures:

Bubb A:
20130915_010757.jpg


20130915_010748.jpg


20130915_012939.jpg


Bubb B:
20130915_010732.jpg


20130915_010711.jpg


20130915_012811.jpg


Bagseed:
20130915_010816.jpg


The whole lot of them:
20130915_010651.jpg
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

>>>the reason your pH rises after you have adjusted your water is due to the buffering effects of calcium in the water.

Ah I see, do you know of any unconventional methods of countering this reaction?
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

Are you gonna top them kids AG? I did my bag seed about that height, maybe a bit taller and it stunted them, but they all came around eventually and will have their main cola split very close to the ground now. I'm also curious as to what would stop that calcium reaction KJC mentioned.
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

Yes I plan on topping them once they get around their 5th node. I don't want to rush into it because of the history of stress these ladies have been through as a seed. I will transplant first, and when doing so I will put them far enough to where their cotyledons are almost covered by the medium.This will suffice for a low growing split in the plants.

I may experiment with fimming this time around too. I want to top both of them in a week or so and then for the next round of HTS I want to FIM one while just continuing to top the other to see the relative comparison of how many bud sites each plant will produce.

>>> I'm also curious as to what would stop that calcium reaction KJC mentioned.

Yes indeed. But just in case I ordered another pH buffer kit with expedited shipping, so I should get it before my long weekend off. This will definitely put my mind at ease when I am away.
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

Looking good AG. :thumb:
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

I don't know of any way to counteract mineral reaction, I have to adjust my ph several times a day so I'm getting used to it by now. if you guys find a way, please post it here, as I would like to know as well.
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

AfricanGrower said:
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:
Click to expand...


Hey AG...
can you link that E&F setup? i may look into it
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

>>>Hey AG...can you link that E&F setup? i may look into it

Well the one I made is located in my signature, with a DIY tutorial. BUT I took alot of the idea from a very successful grower here named The Capn. HERE IS A LINK

I also reccomend going through all of his articles. They are very informative and very convincing. Plus it's a good read too:reading420magazine:

>>>want to stablelize your PH...use RO water..tap water has too much minerals in it...focus..

Thanks for the tip Miwa. I just can't get my hands on an affordable RO unit until I move into a bigger grow space. It is the little things that always cause the biggest problems, this I know.
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

>>>wanna get my feet wet... tired of dirty hands and slow grows lol and im not even halfway with my first lol

The one thing I always kept in my mind when first growing (and till this day) is that the process of creating a cannabis plant requires patients above all! Though I saw how many people on the previous forum I was apart of growing in hydroponics, I was always a little bit too intimidated by the whole thing. I only found myself 'ready' to grow in hydro about 4 years later and now I am sharing my experience with all of you.

In no way am I saying jumping into a hydro setup is a bad thing (there might be problems you've never faced before), in fact people learn better from mistakes and hands-on experience than 'studying the material'. I know I am more confident in this grow now than if I tried it 4 years ago. But I can definitely agree with you, I dislike the growth rate and messiness of soil grows too Dank ;)
 
Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013

nice grow bro.

ph fluctuations can be down to type of nutes used as well as tap water. i use tap water with very stable results but i have soft water of high quality where i live. sometimes its best to mix ur nutes then let it sit over night to allow it to stabilise before ph'ing. rockwool can be a pain to work with if its not conditioned first.

But so far so good, plants look a nice healthy colour and i agree on waiting till 5th node before topping from seed. clones are different, they usually respond better to aggressive training and topping. better to be safe than sorry.

Just as an after thought. DWC is the best hydro grow in terms of no dirty hands and u use very little media at all. if u use clay pebbles they can be used over and over again. Plus the speed and intensity of growth in dwc is something u must witness to believe ;)
 
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