At It Again - Grow #2 - AK 47 / Big Bang Hydro Grow in Waterfarm - LED Lighting

[AllSmiles]

Flipped the lights to 12/12 this morning on the girls and changed the reservoir to transition nutrient schedule for GH Flora Series (simple recirculating) for week 1. I'm keeping to 1/4 strength for now as this has been plenty for them so far.

AK 47 it taking off again. I think propping her up has really helped. Wish I could veg her another week but with my vacation coming up I want to stick to the plan of flowering them for 2 weeks and training to the SCROG net before I go. Hope she can give me a decent yield (maybe ~2 oz would be good) when its all said and done.

Here are pic updates. Think I will start doing my weekly updates on Sunday now.

 

[CareStaker]

Hey AS, they are coming along! I hope you come back to a jungle bro!

 

[AllSmiles]

Me to man. Hope I don't come home to a soak n wet carpet. I just set up a 80 GPH pond water pump to feed the girls. This is my first experience with those things and they sure do pump a lot of water. I have the flow control valve close to shut and it still pumps out ~3 quarts of water in 1 minute. This is plugged into a timer and set to pump water every 2 days for 1 minute using a T connector to feed the 2 water farms. I should have them dialed in by the time I leave. I hope.

 

[CareStaker]

Me to man. Hope I don't come home to a soak n wet carpet. I just set up a 80 GPH pond water pump to feed the girls. This is my first experience with those things and they sure do pump a lot of water. I have the flow control valve close to shut and it still pumps out ~3 quarts of water in 1 minute. This is plugged into a timer and set to pump water every 2 days for 1 minute using a T connector to feed the 2 water farms. I should have them dialed in by the time I leave. I hope.

I hope you get in some practice with it before you go. I'll keep my fingers crossed

 

[AllSmiles]

Update time. AK and PC continue to do great. Big increase in stretch just 5 days into flower. I have the scrog net 4" above the waterfarms. The actual height from base of stem to net is 5" for AK and 6 " for PC. That height works perfect for my situation. This net will definitely help maximize my yields and potential to the lower branches at this height. PC is 12" x 12" in diameter and AK is 9" x 9". I've been removing fan leaves every day as needed to keep light hitting the lower branches. I'll continue removing fan leaves that shade growth or buds throughout the grow when needed.

I've finished setting up the watering tank to use during vacation. I've strictly been topping the farms using it the past 5 days. It's working great so far. I have it pumping for 1 minute every Tues, Thur, and Sat. The solution level is just above the fill line. I'm feeling more comfortable about being away 10 days now.

Here are pics I just snapped this morning. These are without the led light on. Just using flash so the leaves are a lot darker then they appear in the photos. Enjoy!

Those tops stretching over the net will get tucked after this post. I'm going to add my G8LED red ufo light to the grow once flowers start showing.

I'm thinking of adding Floralicious Plus and Koolbloom to their diets. Has anyone used these with the flora series? And is it worth it in your opinion? I also want to try these to help lower the ph without using ph down. My tap water is about 8.3 and around 8 ph when left out for a couple days. With the flora series added it's ~6.7 before adding ph down. I then add about 1 ml of ph down per day for a week to each farm to keep ph between 5.8 and 6.3. Then I change the reservoir and repeat.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

[stealthgrow]

Hi Smiles.

All caught up on your journal. Your plants are coming along very nicely. Nice Screen DIY also, +reps.

I use the GH flora series for my nutes. I do use Koolbloom, but I don't use the floralicious. The plants grow great without it, and besides floralicious, is super expensive.

Good luck and have a good trip.

 

[AllSmiles]

Hey Stealth! Thanks for taking the time to stop by my friend. I'm going to Hawaii so it'll be hard to have a good trip but I'll try.

Man, you weren't kidding about the price tag on floralicious plus. $60 for a qt. If you're using koolbloom then you know I am. I will pick some up before Sundays reservoir change. I still might do the flora plus. Just need to hide it from the wife (aka boss).

 

[CareStaker]

I hope you love every minute of it.

 

[AllSmiles]

Thanks CS! I appreciate it. I've never taken a vacation like this and can't wait. It will be nice to leave all worries, stresses, and routines of every day life behind for 10 days. I will miss ak and pc though. Hope they do fine without me.

 

[AllSmiles]

Aloha! It's update time. Growth has been amazing for both as expected for only 12 days into flower now. Last week I added Liquid KoolBloom and Floralicious + to the nutrient diet and upped the dosage from 1/4 to 1/3 the suggested from GH. This morning I have again upped the dosage to 1/2 strength. EC reading is 1.5 so about 750 PPM. Still keeping ph at 5.8 to 6.3. My temps are always between 66 and 75 degrees. Its worthy to note that ph has been much more stable during the flowering stage. It fluctuates about half as much then in Veg. With all the moisture we've been getting the RH has been ranging from 40 to 66%.

Below the net needs some cleaning but I'll wait until I get back from vacation. You can't even see the main stem of AK as she is extremely leafy and bushy under there. I'll be doing some defoliation when I get back also. Wish I can train them for another week to the net but that's not possible.

Ok my friends, that's it for 2 weeks. I'm off to Hawaii. I'll update when I get back.

Mahalo.

 

[Governmentchz]

Mahalo Allsmiles. I'm sorry I haven't stopped by sooner as your journal is definitely worthy of a read/follow. I'm glad you got things sorted since you first started and your ladies are looking really good. All your "Mcguyvering" is impressive and being able to go away for a week and a half is intriguing. I'm with Carestaker in crossing my fingers for you and your grow in your absence.

Have a great trip, and may you return to a flourishing garden. When are you scheduled for departure?

 

[AllSmiles]

Hi Gov! Thanks for stopping by and welcome to my journal. I just got a chance to go to the lobby and connect to free wifi here in the hotel lobby. I've been in Hawaii since this past Sunday and return next Thursday.

Thanks for the compliments. I've been trying to keep costs low while trying to grow some quality bud. It's been working out so far. I've been thinking a lot about how my girls are doing at home. Hope the ph is ok. I adjusted the ph in the solution tank to 4.85 before I left. Hopefully it balances out with the waterfarm tanks to an acceptable ph level.

It's great to have you here. I know I'm in good hands with the few people that have subbed. It's all about quality not quantity.

 

[AllSmiles]

So I got home from vacation last night. I was so nervous to see if they did fine with out me for 10 days. I opened the tent and the first 2 words that came to mind were HOLY SHIT. In a good way. The girls were just reaching for the lights and have grown out of there minds with many flowers developing. Here are a couple pics I took last night. We are now on Day 26 of Flower.

Many of the bud sites grew 8 to 12 inches. The tallest buds are 14" above the net. If I were home to train them to the net it would have easily filled up the remaining spots. I went to see if the ph stayed stable but was unable to. AK was bone dry and PC had about an 1/8 of an inch of water. Another day and I'd been in trouble. They are probably drinking 2 to 3 times more during the last 10 days then when I left.

Any how. Glad all is good. I ran florakleen with plain h20 in them for 2 hours and have replaced with fresh nutes. I also did some defoliation last night but did not want to do all at once. Will spread it out in 3 days. Here are more pics after the minor defol. AK is on the left. They are growing so similar that they look like the same strain.

AK Flower.

PC Flower.

Amazing growth from 2 weeks ago. At least from a newbie perspective as myself anyway.

Til next week .

 

[CareStaker]

Holy Crap! So happy for you! I was hoping it would all work out for you, and they look perfect!

 

[AllSmiles]

Thanks CS! I was relieved seeing them so healthy.

 

[CareStaker]

I would have shit my pants when I opened it up. They look like they will be some frosty nuggins there.

 

[Governmentchz]

<clap><clap>

That's great news man! and they look so healthy. Indeed you will have some wicked stuff if those little budnubs are any indicator of what they'll be like in 2 more weeks!

 

[AllSmiles]

I would have shit my pants when I opened it up. They look like they will be some frosty nuggins there.

I nearly did CS. I nearly did. I hope they turn out to be like the THC Bomb buds you just harvested.

<clap><clap>

That's great news man! and they look so healthy. Indeed you will have some wicked stuff if those little budnubs are any indicator of what they'll be like in 2 more weeks!

Thanks Gov. I'm so happy they did well. Can't wait to read how yours turns out so I can dwell on mine.

 

[Governmentchz]

Looks like it'll be a staggered harvest, but I prefer that anyway. Makes it more leisurely.

 

[AllSmiles]

A staggered harvest will be a first for me. The strains have about the same flowering period but I doubt it will turn out that way. I'm hoping the lower buds can be harvested the same time since I'm removing any fan leaves shading any buds.