Final Decision : Volksgarden 600w vs. CAP E&G 1kw : Start to Finish in ~1 week

[McBudz]

thanks butch.

@ Charles. . . i think the strain is fine, I think my technique (esp. with RW) is lacking, I also think my expectations were off. . . I did not realize that, yes it is a ton of plants in a tiny area, and has the potential for great efficiency, but it is still a ton of plants, meaning lots of moms, lots of clones and lots of space to do this in. little colas on little plants I can do, Big colas on Big plants i can do, Big colas on little plants. . . not something I can do, at least not yet. Not saying it can't be done though.



Yes sir.



The wheel reservoir floods and drains with the rest of he buckets, so 6 times a day. It's just like a big ass bucket.

with 10 pots and the wheel res, It took about 10 min to fill. (i beefed up the pump a bit to a 760gph). the fill cycles were 15 min each, except the one just after 9pm (lights on time) which was 30 min.

I had a separate timer that i set for 45 min (wheel feeding time) once a day. This first time i synced them, i just waited for 15 minutes to pass on the 30 min fill cycle on the ebb controller and spun it to on.

at this time the wheel reservoir is full (held about 6-7 gal when full) the pump kicks on and fills the wheel. In the wheel flood try, there is a return hose that sets the level to fill to, like an ebb system. when the flood tray is full, it too holds about 6-7 gals (where i had it set) so there is enough water already in the res + the leveling effect as soon as the pump kicks on, the controller starts replacing the lost water.

so after the wheel kicks on, 15 minutes later the ebb controller switches back to drain, and empties everything.

The wheel res does retain (like all the other buckets) a couple inches of water, I made this water level high enough, that the wheel pump could keep the flood tray full and cycling even at the drain cycle.

45 minutes after coming on, 30 after the drain cycle started the wheel pump shuts off and drops all 6-7 gals back into the res, which of course levels, and makes its way back into the drum.

the downside to this was that some wheel res problems, got to the whole group. one reason i think is that leaves fall into the flood tray and then get sucked down the return hose and into the res, where it's broken down by the sensizyme. then i get pulp in the water. . . and I definitely had a res issue towards the end. right now, i just blame everything on the wheel. lol.



thanks man, your so right. . . this system is way more flexible to plant conditions, and therefore way more forgiving to mistakes. . . and I make my fair share every grow, lol so that's important to me.

Infact, i did by some humbolt's bushmaster. . . seems like a waste of money now that I have decided to put the wheel to sleep for a while. I didn't use it, although I did try something my hydro store guy said which was a nice big dose of B52 to try to stop vert growth, but like i said before it didn't work.

I'll just tell you right now, 12 of the older clones, who were the biggest and healthiest of course ended up dying due to a drought i gave them for a few days on accident. the smaller plants weren't as thirsty and still had some moisture in the RW by the time i saved them. . .

3 days, no flood on the EnG plants too. . . what do you think that would do? yeah, no good. . . It definitely stalled them out in the end and hurt my yield. . . they did not fill out like they should have. But they still rocked as compared to the wheel's reaction.

It's all good though because what I lose in quantity I make up for in quality. Let me tell you something, I am so totally sold on AN's bud factor x. . . these buds are noticeably frostier from it. Try it! @ 1-2 ml/gal it make the price not quite so horrible.

Thanks for the details. Sounds like a good idea in ways to link them together, easy to manage. but also it makes for a single point of failure so to say.


maybe I'll give the AN bud factor x a whirl on my PE/BW grow coming up soon. Since I know exactly how these plants look with my current regime I can see the real difference this product makes. its only 0-0-1 so I think I can still run with my kool bloom and not throw things off too much.

 

[gangstachron]

WOF, thank you for all you do.

i have a few suggestions about the wheel:

1. In most SOG's the bottom third of the plant is cut off in 2nd or 3rd week. Looks to me like yours have all branches still attached... And it's looking quite crowded.

2. Maybe if you have 2 fans (on opposite sides) blowing bi-directionally into the wheel it might increase air flow and burn less.

3. The strain you are using appears to speedily gain height... in that case i would begin flowering at a shorter height.

thanks again for your wonderful journal.

 

[The Butcher]

DAMN I LOVE THIS JOURNAL!!! No matter what happens It just gets better and better!!

 

[charlesfats]

gangsta, so are you saying after 2 or 3 weeks into flowering cut the popcorn buds and leafs at the bottom. interesting one of those secrets not in the online files, I also wondered about fans on both sides of the wheel because of mites getting comfty on the other side of the wheel. thx as i noticed its ur first post.
welcome everyones cordial as you r around here. Hard to pick a fight.

 

[WheeloFortune]

Thanks for the details. Sounds like a good idea in ways to link them together, easy to manage. but also it makes for a single point of failure so to say.


maybe I'll give the AN bud factor x a whirl on my PE/BW grow coming up soon. Since I know exactly how these plants look with my current regime I can see the real difference this product makes. its only 0-0-1 so I think I can still run with my kool bloom and not throw things off too much.

yeah, true and true. the big res made the pH way way easier to control from earlier runs. . . makes me wish i would have used a bigger one on them.

i would give BFX a try at least once man, $80 for a half liter, but I only used 2ml/gal, which i think is half strength and i really noticed a difference. my boy who gave me this strain also noticed right away. you'll see in the pics coming up.

WOF, thank you for all you do.

i have a few suggestions about the wheel:

1. In most SOG's the bottom third of the plant is cut off in 2nd or 3rd week. Looks to me like yours have all branches still attached... And it's looking quite crowded.

2. Maybe if you have 2 fans (on opposite sides) blowing bi-directionally into the wheel it might increase air flow and burn less.

3. The strain you are using appears to speedily gain height... in that case i would begin flowering at a shorter height.

thanks again for your wonderful journal.

thanx bro.

1)yeah maybe, i decided to just let it go this round, i have trimmed the bottoms before. due to the fact that the side branching grows out, away from the meristem instead of up against gravity, i think your right, that they just have to be cut.

2)i didn't have a sufficient fan pulling through the cool tube. a can fan is too loud for me right now. i used a box fan to blow through the middle, and it definitely helped keep RH and temps down, also i think the plants benefit from the sway just like traditional gardens. . . i dont think their weight sways them enough early to make nice thick stems to support tumbling a big bud.

3)this strain is ok @2-3 days veg, anymore and I'm in trouble. . . you'll see that the younger clones turn out to be about the right height.

anyways, this is my last wheel run for the foreseeable future. just too many moms, too many clones, too much too much, I'm getting smaller after this run. the comparison was for me to choose one, and shelve the other until i have sufficient room for both.

DAMN I LOVE THIS JOURNAL!!! No matter what happens It just gets better and better!!

thanks bro.

gangsta, so are you saying after 2 or 3 weeks into flowering cut the popcorn buds and leafs at the bottom. interesting one of those secrets not in the online files, I also wondered about fans on both sides of the wheel because of mites getting comfty on the other side of the wheel. thx as i noticed its ur first post.
welcome everyones cordial as you r around here. Hard to pick a fight.

i've trimmed before chuck. . . yeah, mites would be a bitch bitch bitch to clear out of a packed wheel. . . thank goodness i only get an occasional fungus gnat problem, which is more easily rectified, and less of a problem.

 

[WheeloFortune]

OK, so last set was day 32 flower, the day i caught the pump problem. here is just 2 days later.

DAY 34 FLOWER

before I topped it off. pH is rising like hell. bacterial problems?

 

[WheeloFortune]

Here are some wheel shots,

this one gets culled

Looking better after I culled a few more. . . they are starting to add up here.

But, the roots look pretty healthy IMO: this is just a random one, they all look good though

i had some more root pics, but they got corrupted somehow.

 

[WheeloFortune]

The Fe->Male still chuggin along, if only i had started him a couple weeks earlier.

 

[WheeloFortune]

And finally the EnG, day 34 flower.

 

[Setting Sun]

So, which one's winning?

 

[StinkFinger]

So at present day, the Wheel has already had its last spin? RIP Wheel.

I love how fast this is moving. Those e-n-g shots are incredible!

Thanks Wheel!
SF

 

[WheeloFortune]

So, which one's winning?

LMAO.

 

[WheeloFortune]

So at present day, the Wheel has already had its last spin? RIP Wheel.

I love how fast this is moving. Those e-n-g shots are incredible!

Thanks Wheel!
SF

yeah, the wheel is down and done for now. . . last spin ever may be a bit premature. it's going to the warehouse.

 

[StinkFinger]

Thanks Wheel.

Seeing your immediate progress on the e-n-g, makes me more confident that I made a decent choice when purchasing that system.

Props to you a fellow bucket "convert"!



SF

 

[gromper]

The Fe->Male still chuggin along, if only i had started him a couple weeks earlier.

Nice Hermaphrodite. Pollen from it will make female/hermaphrodite seeds. There is also some stuff called Dutch Masters Reverse that will turn it back into a female, or at least knock out all the male flowers. This may be important if you make any seeds from this grow and intend to grow them.

 

[Setting Sun]

 

[WheeloFortune]

Nice Hermaphrodite. Pollen from it will make female/hermaphrodite seeds. There is also some stuff called Dutch Masters Reverse that will turn it back into a female, or at least knock out all the male flowers. This may be important if you make any seeds from this grow and intend to grow them.

yeah, I'm not really describing the process in detail here, but this is most definitely not a hermaphrodite, thank god. . .

I have used light poisoning in the past to create "feminized" seed, and it's offspring seeds did indeed tend to hermie. . . i threw those out.

on to bigger and better things, this is now my 4th time using this method, and i keep getting better and better at it. . . its funny how I can be so poor at some things, like using rockwool, and others like this and like cloning never gave me one problem from the get go.

I am using a solution called silver thiosulfate or STS which directly inhibits ethylene in the plant. ethylene is responsible for controlling sexual hormones, and STS will turn a true breeding female into a pollen machine. . . some strains are tough nut's to crack though.

So these seeds are true feminized seeds, no hermies, no males, no problems.

welcome to my quicky journal bro.

 

[gromper]

In general, I believe that a plant with both sexual organs present would be considered a hermaphrodite, regardless of whether it was natural, stress related or induced hermaphrodism. There are obviously hairs and coconuts on those buds. You won't get males but the progeny could still be hermies or at least have hermaphrodite tendencies. Not sure how an STS induced hermaphrodite would be different from a stress related or natural hermaphrodite. Have to do some more research I guess.

So ya making seeds - uh ... made?

And thanks for the welcome.

 

[WheeloFortune]

yeah, the seeds are made but not separated from the bud yet. that will take a bunch of smoking.

eh, i guess you could argue your point, but i think you're getting caught up in semantics. . . the point is that all offspring will be female with no more chance of hermaphroditism than the mom was (if sexually true breeding)

the difference is when you use stress, the plants that do it easiest are genetically pre-disposed to do it easy. you are necessarily breeding that easy hermie trait into the offspring. . . however if you painstakingly find a female, that is a true female, one who WILL NOT hermie naturally or even under stress, and you STS such a female, it will still turn male, and its offspring will carry the same traits. . . nearly impossible to hermie, all female.

there is a lot of mystery and inaccurate info on breeding out there, which is understandable being that there is no official standard, and it can be quite complex in nature when you really get down to the nitty gritty.

However, considering common breeding language in the community, my male would not generally be called a hermie, because it has no tendencies to do so naturally or under mild stress. it would be called a "true breeding female" therefore its progeny will also be true breeding in this trait.

 

[The Butcher]