KCMP Fall 2015 Grow! - All LED - Coco/Perlite - Ebb & Flow

[Nicholas Flamel]

I am only a newby using led and everything is going great so far but imo if i knew heat wouldnt be an issue i would prefer Hps only because it has long proved to be great light. I wish i could put a 1000 watt haps for my grow but i know with my setup i that the temps would be gettin up there.

 

[BpoBrad]

If you can exhaust it do the 1000w for sure! I'm setting back and watching man, I'm interested in the use of mixing LED and Hps lighting. Check out my grow I'm using 150 HPS and a Mars Hydro 700, your setup is great I envy you man. Smoke on and keep growing. Subbed.

P.s I would get the mars 960 and the 600 if it was possible talk about watts!

 

[KCMP]

Thanks for the input. I really am eying a few diferent 1000w HPS options, but I may not actually have the electrical output to pull that off. Either way at this point I am pretty sure I will be adding at least a 600w before going into flower.

 

[KCMP]

Thanks for stopping by! I have a plan to exhaust the HPS (and the rest of the tent) directly into one of the heating return vents heading into my crawlspace which I will then splice to another return vent heading upstairs with a 260cfm inline booster fan. It sometimes gets a little cold upstairs in the winter since we only have the 1 thermostat, so hopefully a steady stream of hot air from the grow room will help things.

Yeah getting the Mars 960 and a 600w HPS would be outrageous. I would have around 1500w actual draw!

Unfortunately that is definitely not in the budget this round.....

 

[KCMP]

Week 4 Update

Week 4 of Veg officially began yesterday so it is time for an update. Hope everyone is enjoying their Friday evening!

I know I am!

I spent a good deal of time in the grow room today tucking some new growth and giving all of the plants a light defoliation. I have experimented with defoliation in the past and have always had positive results. I do not tend to get too crazy, just remove any growth that is covering potential bud sites and removing leaves as required to facilitate the scrog.

The resivour was also changed out today and I gave all of the ladies a thorough flush. There is DEFINITELY some other life present in the growing medium as my my runoff was a very brigt and vibrant green. I am not sure if this is problematic algae or simply a result of the higher levels of voodoo juice I have used this cycle. Since the plants are showing no issues (other than a slight nitrogen toxicity) and have healthy looking exposed roots I am leaning towards the conclusion that it is a beneficial bacteria culture. Any input on what may be going on here would be appreciated The plants were first flushed with 1 gallon each of a H202 and Clearex solution while the flood table was also being cleaned. They then were given roughly another 16 gallons.

Here is a shot of the runoff AFTER 20 gallons had already been ran through.

Either way H202 was added to the res this week since the root system should be well established enough to handle it.

I finally picked up new PH and PPM pens today so I can now provide you with more accurate info on my nutrient solution. In order to combat the nitrogen issue I have reduced the nutrient levels by 25%. Here is the mix for this week.

40 Gallon resivour

Tap Water PPM & PH - 40/6.8

Nutes
800ml H202
300ml AN Micro
300ml AN Grow
300ml AN Bloom
120ml CaliMagic
100ml Hygrozyme

Current PH - 5.8
Current PPM - 880

The PH Perfect worked like a charm this week, so no PH down was required. I think that the hygrozyme helps to lower the PH a bit on its own.


An now! The Plants! (I may have gone overboard on photos this week)

Blue God (finally catching up!)

Deadhead X Sourband

Grape Stomper X OG

Amnesia Haze

While trimming the plants I decided to take some clones rather than throw away the good material. I currently have no plan for these so I will not be dissapointed if they dont take. They are currently living on top of my resivour in their ziploc humidity bags.

Anyone in the Denver area who wants any of these genetics shoot me a PM and feel free to pick up a clone!


I will end this update with a few tent shots.

Under the net

Last week compared to this week (these photos are only 8 days apart!)

Gotta love that hydro growth rate!

I am currently shooting for another 10 days of veg before flipping to 12/12 and continuing to tuck through the stretch. I will extend that another 5 days depending on how fast they continue to grow.

Happy Growing!

 

[KCMP]

Looks like a hps should be arriving by the end of the week along with my other AN boosters. Get ready for a wild ride once we go to flower.

 

[KCMP]

Quick Update

Nothing to report other than good news. Plants continue to grow faster than I can defoliate at this point. I have been removing fan leaves and lower growth in spurts since the last update and the ladies have responded with explosive growth.

Blue God

Amnesia Haze

Grape Stomper

Deadhead OG x Sourband

Full Net Comparison

Full Net from the Top

My resivour has been very kind this week with no algae growth to report. I think that the addition of the H202 (Continuing to add about 40ml daily) is keeping the res clean while allowing the bacteria culture to persist in the growing medium.

Continuing to tuck, prune, and getting these ladies ready to flower. Currently I am planning the 12/12 flip for November 1st.

For flowering I will be adding the following AN boosters to the nutrient lineup.

Bud Ignitor
Big Bud
Bud Candy
Bud Factor X
Overdrive

The 600w HPS is on the way and will replace the center LED unit for the flowring cycle. My Deadhead X Sourband already has over 30 budsites, so get ready for some action!

 

[KCMP]

Any idea why my runoff is so damn green? I am guessing it is the voodoo juice doing its thing but it never got to this level in my last grow. I can top feed endlessley and the runoff continues to stay the same neon greenish color.

Plants seem super happy though. I am not worried just curious. Unless I should be worried........

 

[KCMP]

Here is another shot of the runoff water in question. Whats going on!

 

[Dusty Kiefers]

That green could be from mixing h2o2 with the voodoo juice. I could be wrong but I believe the h2o2 would kill the bacteria in the voodoo.

 

[KCMP]

That green could be from mixing h2o2 with the voodoo juice. I could be wrong but I believe the h2o2 would kill the bacteria in the voodoo.

I have actually been looking into it and think I have the issue nailed down. Thanks for the input!


I am almost 100% positive that the green I am seeing on the exterior of the Smartpots is Algae. It looks like it is living on the surface only, and the voodoo juice culture continues to live in the grow medium. Normally the algae would terrify me, but it seems to be helping the plants

I think I have found a good ratio of H202 that allows me to maintain a sterile resivour (no issues this week) and still keep some benies present in the coco mixture.

I will post a weekly update in a few hours, but it looks like the plants will probably go through another week of veg.

 

[KCMP]

Week 5 Update

It is the begining of Week 5 and nothing but good news. All of the plants are doing extremeley well, but after giving them a look this morning I have decided to wait an additional week before going into flower.

I am rather confident that my green water situation is the result of algae buildup on the exterior of my fabric pots. I was always under the impression that Algae would cause nutrient lockout but since it is only living on the exterior of the pots and not migrating to the resivour I think I am going to let it go as long as it remains under control. Roots continue to bust through the algae layer and seem to have no problems even while exposed to direct light 24/7.

Grape Stomper Roots

Still toying with the idea of adding a 2- 3" layer of hydroton directly into the ebb and flow table to allow the roots to continue to grow outside the pots. I have done some research into this method, but does anyone with experience want to opt in?


Here are some shots of the plants. Tried to get a few with the LED's off since they always seem to wash out my pictures.

Stems are bulking up

Grape Stomper OG

Deadhead x Sourband

Blue God

Amnesia Haze Sorry for the LED's

I know defoliation is a very contreversial topic, but in my limited experience it seems to produce fantastic results. The plants seem to go into a growth spurt after a few fan leaves are tactfully removed, however it is certainly possible this is a case of placiebo effect.

Here are two shots of the tent 3 days apart. The 1st was taken immediately after a light defol. See how they responded and form your own conclusions.

Full Tent

Thats all for now! I will get another update in this week when I begin to add additional nutrient boosters and lighting prior to the 12/12 flip.

 

[Nicholas Flamel]

Good stuff KC, wish i could help you out with the hydroton question but i know nothing on the subject. But i do know that the plants are healthy and lookin great! The more i see them screens on top the better they look. So many good benefits

 

[KCMP]

Good stuff KC, wish i could help you out with the hydroton question but i know nothing on the subject. But i do know that the plants are healthy and lookin great! The more i see them screens on top the better they look. So many good benefits

Thanks! I talked to a guy at the hydro shop today and he really said I could go either way. I think I am probably going to leave them as is since I still have the ability to move the plants in late flower once I remove the screen for the 1st chop session. I am also not excited about washing that much hydroton.

I forgot to mention in the previous post that I also am experimenting with a little top feeding of Great White this week. We will see how it works (if it even works) in this system.

 

[KCMP]

So I purchased an ounce of SinMint Cookies from a dispensary today (deal for $99 gotta love CO) and it looks like they failed to mention it was discounted due to a high seed content. Ive smoked 1 joint and a bowl and I am at 13 so far. They all look fully formed so I may try to germinate two or three and see how they turn out. I am guessing they are probably hermie seeds.

Yet another reason to grow it at home.

 

[Nicholas Flamel]

So I purchased an ounce of SinMint Cookies from a dispensary today (deal for $99 gotta love CO) and it looks like they failed to mention it was discounted due to a high seed content. Ive smoked 1 joint and a bowl and I am at 13 so far. They all look fully formed so I may try to germinate two or three and see how they turn out. I am guessing they are probably hermie seeds.

Yet another reason to grow it at home.

Sounds good, is the SinMint Cookies pretty good bud? Might be woth a shot. Also i like the experimentation with the Great White.

 

[KCMP]

Sounds good, is the SinMint Cookies pretty good bud? Might be woth a shot. Also i like the experimentation with the Great White.

So far it seems good. It looks like it is a GSC x Blue Power cross and I have found some pretty good reviews on it. I have not really smoked enough of it yet to have an opinion.

 

[KCMP]

Three of the four SinMint Cookies seeds I tried to germinate a few days ago were a success!

I am going to flower them as soon as possible in a separate space to see if I get any hermies.

 

[Nicholas Flamel]

Three of the four SinMint Cookies seeds I tried to germinate a few days ago were a success!

I am going to flower them as soon as possible in a separate space to see if I get any hermies.

Hell..... yea!

 

[KCMP]

Week 6 Update

Tomorrow will mark the beginning of the 6th week of veg, and I plan on flipping in as soon as the plants recover from this evenings training and defoliation session.

I removed about 40% of the fan leaves today simply because the plants were becoming impossibly crowded on the top of the net. All 4 plants are now making contact, so hopefully the rest of the net will fill out during
stretch.

Bucket o' Fan Leaves

I also germinated 3 SinMint Cookies seeds this week, and they are now growing in coco in the same oz jars they came in. As soon as they have their 2nd set of true leaves I will flower them out to test for hermie genetics.

And now to the pictures.


Amnesia Haze

Blue God

Deadhead x Sourband

Grape Stomper

Full Tent