MadeInUSA's Soil Blue Dream Grow Journal 2017

[MadeInUSA]

If my biggest issue throughout this journal is pics that do not stay to correct orientation after uploading them to 420, I'll take it....but I'd still like to know why - if anyone knows of what can be done to correct this, I'm all ears - Thanks

If I was stoned I'm sure this pic orientation wouldn't matter but when I not stoned, the expect the universe to be orderly

 

[MadeInUSA]

Update: CO2 system working great. Easy to install and operate. Set it and forget it. Hoping to get 6 weeks from a tank. Alot depends on how often I need to exhaust it for heat. These pics show 4 hours into CO2, temps have risen 9 degrees to 86 without fans, but all is good. Plants appear to be loving it so far. Smell outside the tent is a little noticeable but not bad, I am not concerned about that issue yet. Attached are pics of the equipment through window. Its now 1pm and going back in to check temps and odor

 

[MadeInUSA]

My 3pm internal tent temp was 87 degrees so I think I have found the temp limit with the fans off and the CO2 running. This is good as I didn't want to have to vent to reduce temps if I didn't have to. This also means the CO2 tank should last longer. I'm going to use the CO2 monitor to tell me when it runs out as I heard the regulator gauge really does not indicate this in advance - it registers 0 when its truly empty.

 

[MadeInUSA]

1st day on CO2, wow, I'm impressed with what I'm seeing, overall growth. I took some flash photos as its rare I'm there in the tent before the lights turn on. I did a 2am check on the plants to make sure the CO2 turned off like it was supposed to...worried they get gassed in the dark...and all was fine, the monitor (by use of lights) tells you the CO2 level and whats happening. Got up again at 5:45 to move the floor fan up more level with the leaf level. I noticed last night after about 6-8 hours that each of the leaves were getting "wet". The technical term being "transpiration". So by end of evening they were wet as I went the entire 18 hrs without venting. The in/out fans run the 6 hours they sleep to dehumidify. So my numbers are by end of my light cycle the humidy is 86% and the temp 88 degrees. Pics here post the 6am temp at 73 and the humidity 69. So while I think I can tolerate the veg humidity I may need to reevaluate it on flower, as the last thing I want to promote is mold/bud rot. I'm glad I made this investment in CO2. Smell was a bit noticeable in the room the tent sits in by end of light day without fans running, but at 6am after the fans have run 6 hours in the tent, the tent room has no odor. So this is going to work and I'm excited about the harvest prospects.

 

[MadeInUSA]

I've believe I have figured out the pic orientation issue I've been having - I found a thread in the photo sticky that mentions to make sure the volume button is in the down position when taking the pic - there is no auto orientation that happens on the photo upload. (Thanks "The Cap'n) That's an easy fix.

 

[MadeInUSA]

Plants are growing like crazy. I took them out of the tent this AM to reposition the LST to create a more even canopy long term. I have a trellis coming today that I will install later when the main branches get growing high and support is needed. I need to read up on when is a good time to start flowering. This being my first grow, I know nothing and am winging this. I need to educate myself more on scrog too. In my head I'm trying to figure out how am I going to evenly water when I can't take the plants out of the tent if I use a trellis? I checked the plants for water today and they seem fine for now, they can wait a few days. I have noticed the humidity levels have dropped to a high of 70% which is the right direction. The temp high in the tent yesterday reached 91 degrees, I think thats the highest yet. The CO2 system is running great and overall tent operations are all automated. I have been thinking about somehow making the watering/nutes task easier somehow. I'm inspired by what I have seen some 420 members do to address this and I want to reread some of your journals again to find workable watering solutions. Hope your grows are going well out there 420 members! I started from seed appx 8/29, so I am at day 43 from seed. Just a guess here but I think I have a few more weeks of veg left for sure. Lights are 26 inches from plants right now.

 

[MadeInUSA]

Its been two days since my last update or picture so I am getting current with you now. I forgot to mention 2 days ago on 10/10 I gave my usual 50% (per bottle directions) of nutes, gave each of the 4 plants 16 oz each because I was going to have a busy upcoming few days (overall I observe a water/nute/water/nute cycle). Plants still growing very well. All the indicator level lights on the CO2 monitor unit were blank for some reason...has me a little concerned. I have never seen that before. It should always have one of the 4 lights on, if its running right. Not sure how long that has been going on but my guess is sometime today, maybe a fluke. Lets hope. What I did to clear the issue was unplug the monitor/regulator, did a 10 count, plugged it back in, it started monitoring and dispensing CO2 again. When I plugged it in, it was down at 1000 (first light) so it was not dispensing when it was "lights out". Manual does not mention this lights out thing so to me its a malfunction of some kind. So it appears I will need to keep an eye on this issue to make sure the monitor unit is not acting weird on me. The temp in the tent was 88 at the canopy before opening the tent doors and maybe little higher at the monitor.

 

[MadeInUSA]

 

[MadeInUSA]

10/14 am was a full (64oz per 5 gallon pot) water day. I have come to find out the "lights out on the CO2 monitor" issue seems to come and go, I don't need to reset it bu unplugging it, it figures it out and continues working, perhaps its in the dead zone (between 1400-1500ppm, no CO2 is released to allow the sensor to either catch up or register a drop) Going to steer away from nutes over the next few feedings (except for Cal-Mag Plus) I have not liked the yellowing I'm seeing after nute use, I feel the soil has what I need for awhile.

 

[MadeInUSA]

 

[jaydee808]

Looking very green and dense... nice work

 

[MadeInUSA]

Looking very green and dense... nice work

Thanks Jaydee808 for looking over my journal, your likes and your comment! It's a labor of love
I've noticed a pickup in the denseness after LST and introduction of CO2.
I've got some off color leaves going on now, one plant has yellow tips going on.
I'll post some pics soon as I remember to take my camera with me lol.

 

[MadeInUSA]

Watered/Nutes at 50% tonight. I figured out my leaf issue. I feed RO water. During "water only" feedings, I add only CalMax Plus. This doesn't require any PH adjustment as it hits 6.60-6.75 (I add 1/2 tsp CalMax per 2 qt water per plant) Simple enough. What I "forgot" about was on my nute feeding days, I was spacing off the PH adjustment after adding my nutes, so what was happening was I was locking out nutes because the PH was hitting 4.8 after nutes added - really low. Rushing through the feeding and not being consistent in my feeding prep process. My process should be to measure PH and PPM on everything going to the plant, period. Tonight I brought the PH up to 6.60 after adding my nutes in. I believe I'll see immediate improvement. I dont think I'll need a flush unless the leaf discoloration does not improve or go away.

 

[MadeInUSA]

Well my discoloration issue seems to be appearing on all my new leaves and has me worried now. Maybe I do need to flush. Any opinion out there? The only thing other than PH that could have been a problem in the past is using CalMag Plus on every watering (included on nute watering) because I use RO water. Excess calcium can cause like 4 other deficiencies. Advice here would be appreciated! I'll try to post closeups a little later. Thank you.

 

[MadeInUSA]

Good news - it appears I was stressing over nothing regarding my leaf color change. Yes, it's not perfect but I understand why it is (a feeding without a PH check, so it went in low) and it's already improving. Saturday 10/21 10pm I watered 2 qt per 5 gallon pot as the pots were dry after my Thursday watering, so it appears I'm on a 3 day cycle now and it was a water only cycle this time around ) (only water - nothing at all added, not even CalMag to the RO water this time, a first) and I noticed even before I started watering that the leaf colors had improved alot and were coming out of it.

I did a full "re-LST" this time...took off all my old LST and retied new ones and added about 60% more as new branches have come out to tie down. I love how dense the canopy is getting.

Looking at some of the forum pages out there with pictures of sick plants changed my perspective on what I was dealing with, which was minor in comparision. I guess the takeaway for me is to stay watching for issues in the grow and respond after weighing whats been done, what can be done, and what can be undone. Keeping this journal has been good for me to track when things get done, how the grow can change at different plant stages, etc.

 

[MadeInUSA]

Watered with 50% nutes and proper PH today 8pm - 2 QT per 5 gallon pot, which is just enough so runoff starts coming out. Saw the leaf droop happening which is always my best indicator (other than weight) that it's time for more liquids for my girls. I need to remeasure my lights to make sure they are 21 inches next time I'm in the tent. Also need to map out a flower plan, as it relates to my remaining tent space and ability to raise the light. I have a trellis I will be putting up a few weeks into flower to help support and tamp down the growth height into the lights

 

[MadeInUSA]

I can safely say I'm still learning to grow, no matter what I may have expressed previously LOL. It's come to my attention that the discoloration I'm seeing is because I've reached lockout or peak of some kind. I am 59 days from seed to this stage of veg...so maybe in week 7 if we discount the 1st week of seedling stage...so 7 weeks in and based on my FFOF schedule I should have flushed already. I figured if I never fed more than 50% I'd never have a problem. Or if I never had a PH issue before, I'd be OK.
How naive I am. My plants are trying to tell me they need a flush. This last time of watering was a fertilizer cycle, and lately I've noticed that every time I fertilize the plant leaves take on discoloration. The discoloration used to be confined to just the older leaves. Now it's the newer ones. When I go to my "just water" cycle, my leaf color improves and I think I am "OK". Really though, I am not. I should not accept anything less than perfect at anytime. My plants are stressed because of this. Yes, they are growing well but are they as healthy as they could be? That's a NO.
OK so FFOF feeding schedule says to use Sledgehammer and Boomerang together, and do a 15 gallon per 5 gallon pot flush. Thats 30x what I normally feed them, seems like alot of water but from what I've read it fixes the problem. Getting 60 clean gallons of water was a challenge. I will report back my results in a few days.

In other news, I've decided to go a few more weeks in veg state, to 11/15, then flip to flower for 10 weeks or until I run out of room.

 

[MadeInUSA]

Flush is complete. Prior to starting flush, spent alot of time looking online to find a consensus or guidelines on amounts of mixed sledgehammer solution to flush each plant. Heard as much as 3 gallons for every gallon container...thats why I figured I needed 60 gallons of Sledgehammer for the 4 plants I have in 5 gallon pots. LOL. I decided to instead listen to my PPM meter and stop flushing when the PPM number hit 550 or so. This took avg of 4 gallons per plant or 16 total. The runoff when I started each flush was in the 1000-1200 ppm neighborhood. After all that solution running through the plants, they behaved great - no drooping or heavyness like a typical nute or water session. I'll tell ya that was a time consuming process...setup, mixing Sledgehammer, PH the water, flushing....good 5 hours. This should get them back on track.

 

[MadeInUSA]

 

[MadeInUSA]

Tonight I fed them each 1 gallon of full strength (4 teaspoons per gallon) Boomerang, and LST'd them for what I feel is the last time. The first 2 pics are through the tent windows and show them before feeding and new LST being done. The last 2 pics show them after feeding and being LST'd again. My intent is to go 2 more weeks in veg, then start my 10 week flower. The grow is going well and I'm enjoying the hard work.