Ak-47 - LED - DWC

So I've got a few questions.


Anyone think it's time to step up to a bigger bucket? I thought I'd be okay until harvest with this 3.5 gallon but the roots are seriously huge. They're displacing about 3 solo cups worth of water when they're sitting in the reservoir.


The reason I ask this is because 2 hours before lights off the plant begins to droop and I know this is natural but some say to upgrade your bucket size when that happens as your roots need more room.

The other side of that question is whether I should start diminishing light instead. Removing a half hour a week or so instead of keeping it at 18/6


Next question is say one was to upgrade their light source. Is it fine to just remove my current led and put up a stronger one or should I do it slowly... Eg. Let the plant absorb my current light for 4 hours or so then bring in the stronger one or start the day off with the stronger one at lights on?


Third question is how bad is bleaching. The tips of my top most leaves seem to have bleaching while they're still vertical then when they grow enough to lay horizontally it goes away. My light is 12 inches away as prescribed for flowering.

Some stats on the plant for today. 24 inches in diameter. 17 inches high. Ppms stable at at around 1000. PH been at 5.9 for over 24 hours.

I think I've finally reached equilibrium.
 
Nice looking so far! I use a standard 5 gallon black bucket with some mylar on top. That gives you almost 3 gallons of ress for a full size plant. I'm overvegging @44 days and I still have plenty of room for more roots. My roots are 3 foot long at least not including the root ball. Only tough part is changing the water when the roots are that long. So far it seems (I'm not absolutely sure here) that a larger ress has less fluctuations in PH and the nuts mix easier. You can do it in whatever size you prefer but 5 gallon buckets work well enough. I can't imagine hydro without aquashield aka hydroguard. Seriously find some on ebay. If you got perfect roots and perfect water temp and never have a problem ever with roots you can skip the hydroguard but otherwise it just makes life easier to use it 24/7 in the ress.
 
Well I'm keeping everything in check with overpriced voodoo juice and piranha but I can't lie the roots are big and thick and hairy and growing.

I'm just going to try brewing my own tea next time. Which unfortunately looks like next spring after this harvest.
 
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They look great! Ya I like the AN product line but pricey it works though. Wish I could help you on the lights but no one has confidence in my light setup yet so I can just hope to get a female plant and see if it even buds at all. If my light are a fail the advance leds look nice I like that long thin small design. Very modular. Just hoping mine work out. Yours look steller I used to have 1 just like it a year ago or so but it was working in partnership so I let it go. The price is nice on your lights if they work don't change them.
 
Thanks bud.

Have some photos that show even with me tending at least two times a day you can't be perfect. Couple of spots probably from nute slosh or something. Or maybe the lower ones are just naturally dying.


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Here is some light bleaching from the led.

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And here's some overall shots including one of my favourite branches.
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Nine44 said:
So I've got a few questions.


Anyone think it's time to step up to a bigger bucket? I thought I'd be okay until harvest with this 3.5 gallon but the roots are seriously huge. They're displacing about 3 solo cups worth of water when they're sitting in the reservoir.


The reason I ask this is because 2 hours before lights off the plant begins to droop and I know this is natural but some say to upgrade your bucket size when that happens as your roots need more room.

The other side of that question is whether I should start diminishing light instead. Removing a half hour a week or so instead of keeping it at 18/6


Next question is say one was to upgrade their light source. Is it fine to just remove my current led and put up a stronger one or should I do it slowly... Eg. Let the plant absorb my current light for 4 hours or so then bring in the stronger one or start the day off with the stronger one at lights on?


Third question is how bad is bleaching. The tips of my top most leaves seem to have bleaching while they're still vertical then when they grow enough to lay horizontally it goes away. My light is 12 inches away as prescribed for flowering.

Some stats on the plant for today. 24 inches in diameter. 17 inches high. Ppms stable at at around 1000. PH been at 5.9 for over 24 hours.

I think I've finally reached equilibrium.
Click to expand...

1) Yes switch to a larger size bucket if possible.

2) I do not use Diminishing Light Schedule as I prefer faster growth, larger plants and larger harvests. For vegetative growth I would use a 18/6 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness lighting schedule. I read a study where lighting schedule versus root length was tested and plants grown under a 16/8 lighting schedule grew the longest roots, 18/6 was not tested. I was made aware of a study where lighting schedule versus growth was tested and plants given at least 5.5 hours of darkness grew the most.

3) Bleaching is very bad for the plant as it destroys the chlorophyll that is responsible for photosynthesis in the plants. I would raise your LED light panel to 18" from your canopy and see if any bleaching continues.
 
Okay friends.

Brought up the light to 15 inches above canopy. This is the highest I can go with the yo yo hangers I have. Any higher will mean removal of the hangers and finding another way to hold up the light.



Plant is at 19 full inches of height. When I saw hairs she was close to 7 inches. That's a full tripling of height in 20 days. Today at 5 pm est will be morning of day 21 Since hairs.

Hoping the bud stacking starts soon. All my hairs are white and fat and lovely looking. Roots are loving the extra room but the bigger bucket really wastes a few more inches of headroom so it's a trade off. .

Anything over 2 feet in height and I run out of headroom since I get bleaching at 12 inches from top

Lots of people have run the lights at 12 inches with no negative effects maybe Akela is just sensitive.

So as far as the bubbling bath is doing

Ppms are stable at 1000. Really not much fluctuation in the pH either. In 48 hours it dropped to 5.8 which is perfect without any ph up or down just my nutes and rain water.


She's drunk about an inch of solution since then. Going to let her drink for another day or two then top her back up with rain water. Hoping to need about 3/4 to 1 gallon before adding so I can do it twice between res change. Should I add just a bit less nutes to my add back so instead of having a stable ph of 5.8 I can have a ph of 5.5 to start and by the end of res change in 10 days I can be at 6.1? Which is more beneficial stability or variance?
 
Nine44 said:
Should I add just a bit less nutes to my add back so instead of having a stable ph of 5.8 I can have a ph of 5.5 to start and by the end of res change in 10 days I can be at 6.1? Which is more beneficial stability or variance?
Click to expand...

The problem is your nutrients solution in use by the plants would not remain pH stable and subject the plants to extended periods of time in pH nutrient lockout. Stability is more desirable.
 
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