DrDan's Advanced Nutrients Hydro Grow, Afghan-Gooey and Others

[DrDan]

Welcome Aeroherbs, glad to have along for the ride. I suspect AN may come out on top as well, but I am interested in how much. I would like to see if I am really getting the increase in yield to make it worth the extra green I spend. I have made some observations regarding veg growth and overall health since using AN. I have seen a much richer color of green as well as faster root development using AN. I am sold on Voodoo Juice even if I drop the full AN line, that and Rhino Skin. These products are forever in my repetoire!
I should have some update pics this evening, work has been a boon this past 5 days, got to get it while it is there.

 

[Closet Farmer]

That is my modified ebb and gro system. Basically an ebb and flo table using buckets fed by a control bucket with ebb and flo fittings inside and res positioned below. This is the intermediate step I use before going in to the flower room and the ebb and gro system by CAP. I just made my own buckets and bought the controler buckets/timer and pump setup seperately. I did purchase one complete set though because a salesman wanted to make a bigger sale and told me a BS story about the controler being on back order but he could get the whole setup no problem. Of course, two days later I am at another store and they have 3 controlers seperate from the systems for sale. And they told me they could get more if I needed. I did, so I bought one from them. I incorporate some of the buckets from the complete system I purchased and I use the 55 gal res. container so I don't mind that I listened to his BS. I did warn him that I don't give third chances though.. with a nice grin of course. The airlines you see protrude through the bottom of the inside bucket and will be connected to an air pump to keep any standing water from being stagnant. That is the one modification I made to my system after getting the CAP controlers and placing the buckets on the ground. I ended up with root rot and had seen the company's fix for this reported issue on you tube. I was far from satisfied with it and came up with my own.

By the way, I was able to get that new journal started and added to my sig!

Dr Dan,

I really like your set up. I am looking into buying the CAP controller and building a 4 bucket system for my next grow. What do you think about a 4 bucket system ebb and flo with about a 30 gallon res?

 

[DrDan]

A 30 gal. res will be more than enough for a 4 bucket system, even if the buckets were 5 gal. buckets it would be fine.

 

[DrDan]

Despite multiple interuptions and a temporary loss of the internet, I am here as promised with an update and some pics.

The ph has been climbing on me the past two days. I have had to take it down from 6.45 to 6.15, then later the same day find it around 6.35 only to find it 6.5 after the last feeding for the day. Fortunately, I have been able to be on top of it and today it seems to be mellowing out. Ppm was up to 1670 this am and ph 6.38. After an add back of 5 gal. R/O water, the ppm was back to 1460 and ph up to 6.5 which was adjusted to 6.18. Later this afternoon ph was 6.2 and this evening 6.21. I usually flush only once a month but I think I am going to pick it up to once a res change. I haven't seen any signs of lockout or toxicity yet, but seems to me a good practice anyway. Temps in the room were a low of 73 and high of 86 degrees and Rh 50%. Res. temp is 72 degrees, I wish it were cooler but it is better since moving it out of the flowering room. Saving up for the chiller!

Ok, time for some bud porn... the girls are 3 weeks in to flowering.

And here are some shots of the seedlings.

Time to hit the snooze button... work comes early again tomorrow. Have a great Day/Night all and most importantly, a great grow!

 

[Closet Farmer]

Dr Dan, How much more work - time does it take to flush when you do your res change?

 

[DrDan]

Hiya Acer! The time it takes me to do a flush before a res change is a little over 2 1/2 hours. Then about another 30 minutes to fill the res. and mix fresh nutes. I use a 1/4hp pump and a garden hose to pump water from the res to the sink and from the R/O storage barrels to the res. I have approx. 110gal. in storage capacity and can have all of it accounted for with all 4 resevoirs in operation. Which is the current status I am in now due to the clone transplant and having seedlings going as well. When I am at capacity like this, I used to stagger res changes, but now I use tap water and florakleen for the flush and don't really worry about it. I kind of enjoy changing all of the resevoirs the same day, and it is easier to remember when you last changed them if you forget to write it down.

 

[Closet Farmer]

Hiya Acer! The time it takes me to do a flush before a res change is a little over 2 1/2 hours. Then about another 30 minutes to fill the res. and mix fresh nutes. I use a 1/4hp pump and a garden hose to pump water from the res to the sink and from the R/O storage barrels to the res. I have approx. 110gal. in storage capacity and can have all of it accounted for with all 4 resevoirs in operation. Which is the current status I am in now due to the clone transplant and having seedlings going as well. When I am at capacity like this, I used to stagger res changes, but now I use tap water and florakleen for the flush and don't really worry about it. I kind of enjoy changing all of the resevoirs the same day, and it is easier to remember when you last changed them if you forget to write it down.

Dr Dan, Please correct me if I am wrong. You normally change the nutes once a week and flush once a month.
When you just change the res. Does that mean you still have old nute water in the buckets?
I guess what I am getting at is what exactly is the difference in a Ebb and gro between a res change and a flush?

I seriously am building a CAP 4 bucket unit myself and your info is greatly appreciated!

 

[DrDan]

Dr Dan, Please correct me if I am wrong. You normally change the nutes once a week and flush once a month.
When you just change the res. Does that mean you still have old nute water in the buckets?
I guess what I am getting at is what exactly is the difference in a Ebb and gro between a res change and a flush?

I seriously am building a CAP 4 bucket unit myself and your info is greatly appreciated!

I empty the resevoir prior to flush. I then use tap water and florakleen or final phase (either one I have on hand at the moment) to use for flush solution. I set the feeding timers to 2 hours of on 15, off 15 (that is the timer settings avail on the controler, 15 min. incriments). Then I drain the res. and put R/O water in for mixing new nutes. I used to do this once a month and had decided to try once every 2 weeks.. now I am thinking once a week during the flowering phase with each res change. It is a bit extra work but if I don't have any lockout or toxicity problems due to the practice, then it is worth every extra second.
I should have time later today to write up an update, and I have pics from the 12th as well as today to resize and upload. Good luck with the system you are building Acer, any questions I can answer or assistance I can offer, just let me know.

 

[Closet Farmer]

I empty the resevoir prior to flush. I then use tap water and florakleen or final phase (either one I have on hand at the moment) to use for flush solution. I set the feeding timers to 2 hours of on 15, off 15 (that is the timer settings avail on the controler, 15 min. incriments). Then I drain the res. and put R/O water in for mixing new nutes. I used to do this once a month and had decided to try once every 2 weeks.. now I am thinking once a week during the flowering phase with each res change. It is a bit extra work but if I don't have any lockout or toxicity problems due to the practice, then it is worth every extra second.
I should have time later today to write up an update, and I have pics from the 12th as well as today to resize and upload. Good luck with the system you are building Acer, any questions I can answer or assistance I can offer, just let me know.

Thanks Dr Dan!

I really have not flushed at all and this is something I should look into. Is flushing mainly for the Ebb and Flo systems or is it something to do on all DWC growing systems? I have drained my buckets completely and wiped them down, is that the same?

 

[DrDan]

Ok, time for some update photos. Some from the 12th and some from today.

8-14

Just about time! Two remaining OG Kush.

The next generation to come.

The room temp has been 73 to 86 degrees, Rh 50% and the res. temp is 72. Ppm were 1680 and ph 6.12. The ladies used 6 gal. of water so I added back 8 gal. of R/O water (it is going to be hot here), ppm 1340 and ph 6.18

 

[DrDan]

Thanks Dr Dan!

I really have not flushed at all and this is something I should look into. Is flushing mainly for the Ebb and Flo systems or is it something to do on all DWC growing systems? I have drained my buckets completely and wiped them down, is that the same?

The media the plant is in, like hydroton for instance, will collect salts over time. In systems like ebb and flo tables or the Ebb and Gro system using the buckets, it is quite necessary to flush at least a couple of times in a cycle not counting the final flush some of us do. In Deep Water Culture, you still can get the accumulation in the small amount of hydroton or rockwool in the net basket. The deal is that most of the plants root mass is below this in such a system and in other DWC setups, so they don't generally get lockout. I am not an expert by any means, but this has been my experience.

 

[Closet Farmer]

The media the plant is in, like hydroton for instance, will collect salts over time. In systems like ebb and flo tables or the Ebb and Gro system using the buckets, it is quite necessary to flush at least a couple of times in a cycle not counting the final flush some of us do. In Deep Water Culture, you still can get the accumulation in the small amount of hydroton or rockwool in the net basket. The deal is that most of the plants root mass is below this in such a system and in other DWC setups, so they don't generally get lockout. I am not an expert by any means, but this has been my experience.

Thank you for your answer!

Your experience means alot to me! ++Reps!

 

[DrDan]

Always a pleasure Acer! Thanks for the + reps!

 

[basementjungl]

Absolutely beautiful grow.

Seems like I'm always finding the guys with tons of experience and consistantly great results are running Advanced Nutrients.

 

[Sensibowl]

Absolutely beautiful grow.

Seems like I'm always finding the guys with tons of experience and consistantly great results are running Advanced Nutrients.

Ditto, my friend.

While a lot of growers use a lot of different products, AN is the one thing that seems to pop up when a person considers themselves a master grower - or at least, someone who aspires to be a master grower.

Like me. LOL

ASPIRING. Someday....

 

[Green007]

It will be interesting to see if the results are worth the extra cost.

 

[Closet Farmer]

Dr Dan,

Just because I have a guitar that Jimi Hendrix played with does not make me a great guitar player.

You are a Master Grower because of who you are and what you know.....
You are Dr Dan the MASTER GROWING Medical Marijuana Man!

 

[basementjungl]

Dr Dan,

Just because I have a guitar that Jimi Hendrix played with does not make me a great guitar player.

You are a Master Grower because of who you are and what you know.....
You are Dr Dan the MASTER GROWING Medical Marijuana Man!

That's absolutely true. I wasn't trying to imply that nutes make the grower. More the other way around. The Stradivarius violin doesn't make you a concert violinist, but the concert violinist performs best with an instrument worthy of his skill.

That's what I was saying.

 

[Closet Farmer]

That's absolutely true. I wasn't trying to imply that nutes make the grower. More the other way around. The Stradivarius violin doesn't make you a concert violinist, but the concert violinist performs best with an instrument worthy of his skill.

That's what I was saying.

Thats cool. I know what you mean!

I am jealous because my local hydro store does not stock the AN nutes because of thier new marketing program.

 

[DrDan]

Absolutely beautiful grow.

Seems like I'm always finding the guys with tons of experience and consistantly great results are running Advanced Nutrients.

Thanks Basement! Welcome to the grow!

Ditto, my friend.

While a lot of growers use a lot of different products, AN is the one thing that seems to pop up when a person considers themselves a master grower - or at least, someone who aspires to be a master grower.

Like me. LOL

ASPIRING. Someday....

I have been pretty impressed with most of the AN line of nutes and additives. It doesn't measure up to all the hype, but it comes close and I am finding the cost is near the same since I use half strength (full str. would burn the shit out of a plant). The area I find expensive is the "special" additives like Bud Factor X, Bud ignitor, Pirranah and Tarrantula (I didnt mention Voodoo jc. because it is worth its wt in gold) and it is my aim to discover if they are worth the extra cost. The Bud ignitor is one that I have found recently that is worth the price tag as well. The beneficials/fungi/mycorhzea line is pricey and I have yet to see a difference between it and Great White at half the price!

It will be interesting to see if the results are worth the extra cost.

Exactly! And just a couple of months to find out.

Dr Dan,

Just because I have a guitar that Jimi Hendrix played with does not make me a great guitar player.

You are a Master Grower because of who you are and what you know.....
You are Dr Dan the MASTER GROWING Medical Marijuana Man!

You are giving me a fat head! I am far from a Master Grower, there is so much left for me to learn. I will say that a well crafted and finely tuned instrument makes it easier to make beautiful music. It is just that a true Master can make a washtub and broomhandle with a string sing like a song bird.

My appologies for taking so long between updates. Been busy as a bee with work and the ladies (my wife too). I have pics to make it up to yall though. I also have a final dry wt. on the last harvest and I am so glad I gave the OG Kush another 2 weeks. I got 6 oz. from one and 2.5 oz from the other. That brings the total dry wt. for the 10 plants to just over 30 oz., averaging 3 oz per plant with 2 1000w HPS lights! Goal met!
The flower room has another improvement, the A/C unit is here! And the girls have some company now, the GH group has joined them as of yesterday. The ladies are now 38 days in to flower and getting fat! I extended week 4 mix for an extra week and started overdrive (wk 5) with the res change on the 25th. Res. temps have been 70 to 72 degrees and ppm maintained between 1500 and 1700 with add backs of R/O water and ph kept in the 5.9 to 6.2 range. Nuff gabbin, here is what you came for...

Here are some shots from the 17th, 28 days in to flowering.

Now for some shots on the 21st, 32 days in to flower. You will see some of the girls are in to bondage.... they insisted on being tied up.

And finally, some shots from yesterday, day 37 of flowering and just before the new girls moved in.

And now a couple of pics of the seedlings and future strains.

Hopefully that will make up a bit for the dry spell, and if they weren't enough, just head over to the GH comparison grow for more updates.

Time to go tend the most important lady, she really deserves it!