My 2nd 1st Attempt - Bubble Bucket Grow

>>> I want to pull the 2 small plants out of the closet when the lights go out for 12 hours of dark cycle.

I would not suggest this. What you need to do, is if you are going to put the taller plant into flower now, separate the plants in veg and in flower. Which means you may need to set up a small, make-shift veg area until the plants are ready for flower.

>>> the 20 hour light cycle

This is way too long. Where on earth is there a 20 hour day? Cannabis plants veg the best under 18 hours of daylight (whether artificial or natural).

Believe it or not, your plants DO sleep! Let me direct you to an Article about this written by TheCapn.

Think your Plants dont Sleep? Think again!

Plants, like humans while we develop, grow while we sleep. This is why you are noticing the PH of your water fluctuate that badly. The roots are breaking down the nutrients in the water and taking them in. A slightly acidic reaction takes place (i can find any evidence to actually back this claim yet, but i'm searching!) as the plants feed.

Again, your PH fluctuations could be due to your tap water you are using.


What is Botanicare's equivalent to Ancient Earth?
 
Ok greenthumb j, I'm trying really to make this right. I read this first Humates Explained then I'm thinking that's why my water was good before a little humic acid buffer and cleaning my tap water out even if it doesn't help them grow its good in the water like mine (hard). Damn if I can't find the article now, its somewhere on 420mag but o well, some guy was talking about his regime with bad water he is using GH floranova stuff and some botanicare product that has humic acid in it to help buffer and clean the water. Maybe equivalent to ancient earth is to strong of a word its a botanicare product with humic acid and all botacincare stuff is organic and GH nova line is synthetic. He had bad water and now its not a problem for him. I'm just thinking back that when I did use ancient earth my water was not a problem I just had redish black roots, which is the color of ancient earth in the water. My 3rd lamp wont show up until another 10 days so I only have a small lamp with a tiny cfl that's not good enough for vegging its enough for the few hours it will be out of the main closet. Is it bad for me to wheel the plants back and forth everyday? Its way easier for me I was planning on getting a 2nd air pump for this purpose as they are so cheap. Wallyworld has a double pump for $10. Its pretty much cheaper than buying lights of any kind of worth. Unless its really bad to do this please let me know! Can I switch my lights down to 18 hours without issues at this point? My indoor grows were always 19 through 24 on with lights. I'll change it now if its OK and wont create issues. I got enough water problems now. I'm going to post a few pics of my last faild grow there bad pics but its 2 plants in 1 5 gallon pot same nutrient schedule but the difference is a 100% based on the bottles directions ancient earth in all weeks. I'm starting to believe ancient earth has a purpose and I think I'll be adding it back in as it wasn't causing any problems and now I got all the water I can handle+. Old pics
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Well I decided to dump half of bucket#2 water and add water treated with AN ancient earth to replace it. Lets see tomorrow if I got acid water again. Tomorrow bucket#1 tall sativa dominate goes into bloom cycle. I decieded on 12/12 to start instead of 10/14. I will slowly work my way down to 10/14 over weeks. I also changed my light cycle to 18/6 tonight hopefully since I changed it from 20 it will be OK.
 
Good you want to do things right, i will do my best to give you all the advice that i know, as well as point you in the direction of the answers you seek.


>>> all botacincare stuff is organic

Sorry, but this is false.

>>> my water was not a problem I just had redish black roots

Thats not a problem at all, as long as your roots dont smell like they are decomposing. IF your roots smell like earthy, wet moss, then they are okay. When they really start to smell funky (I cant describe the smell as i have not encountered any real root issues in DWC) then you will know something is wrong in your root zone.

If you are using beneficial bacteria alongside Botanicare's Hydroguard (or aquashield depending where you buy from), you wont see any root problems.

>>> My 3rd lamp wont show up until another 10 days so I only have a small lamp with a tiny cfl that's not good enough for vegging its enough for the few hours it will be out of the main closet. Is it bad for me to wheel the plants back and forth everyday? Its way easier for me I was planning on getting a 2nd air pump for this purpose as they are so cheap. Wallyworld has a double pump for $10. Its pretty much cheaper than buying lights of any kind of worth. Unless its really bad to do this please let me know!

I dont really understand too well what you are trying to say here, but i'm assuming you wanna move your plants around very frequently?

Grab a couple more CFLs for your make shift Veg area, and keep the plants that aren't going to go into flower under the CFL's... The lights will be sufficient enough to last until your other light comes. I'm guessing then you would be able to have an LED strictly for veg then?

you could put both of the larger plants into flower and put the LSD under the CFL's and then when the new light comes, put it over the LSD and continue to veg it for longer.

But like i said.. staggering when you put plants into flower ensures you always have something to smoke as you will be harvesting every couple weeks or so.

>>> Can I switch my lights down to 18 hours without issues at this point?

Yes, they will thank you for it!

>>> I decieded on 12/12 to start instead of 10/14

Why 10 hours on 14 hours off?
 
10/14 is something I saw on youtube. Some nerdy older professor type was speaking poorly about light cycle for weed and said 10/14 makes the plants start budding faster as most plants only get 15-16 hours of good light in nature 10 hours is what a real plant gets outside from the sun during bloom and he stated something about some hormones and chemicals that are converted during lights out. This so called conversion barely happens at 12/12 (he claims) but at 10/14 you see bud sooner and reduced stretch allowing for more veg growth. Like I said this guy was on youtube in Ncali convention center talking so badly to a small group of the craziest old hippy burnouts ever but he the science sounded good LOL. SO yes I am trying to say I have wheels for my buckets and don't have light money. SO if the plants wont be harmed Ill roll them to a weak ass light I have outside of the closet until lights on every damn day 2 times a day. Its easy for me to do and wont cost but $10. Tomorrow I'll do bucket#1 with bloom nuts and put ancient earth back in just because my PH was more stable. I'll also run some fresh ph'ed water through for a small flush before hitting it with bloom tomorrow. I'll be doing 1 more week of foliar spray in the 1st week of bloom.
 
hahaha this sounds like the old ass hippies spouting off a bunch of things that sound great and very scientific, but with no actual scientific evidence to prove it.

I looked up several pages very quickly about what people think about changing light schedule.

a cannabis plant needs 13 hours or more of light to stay in vegetative state. less hours than this and the plant goes into flower.

What he said about how much light a "real" plant (dont know who grows fake plants) actually gets, is wrong. there are many places on earth where a plant can have a 15+ hour days in direct sunlight

People try to cut back the light schedule thinking its going to make your plant flower faster, but why would you want your plant to not ripen fully?

>>> at 10/14 you see bud sooner and reduced stretch allowing for more veg growth

I disagree. You do not see bud sooner. Remember that a plant NEEDS light to photosynthesize. Photosynthesis helps a plant grow buds, and without adequate light, you are going to take longer to bud, and have whispy airy buds that weigh nothing!


Can you take a picture of this weak ass light sir? It may be enough for the week and a bit
 
My next grow I have 3 seeds LSD, White Widow and Northern Lights Auto they are all feminized that's my plan next round and i'll have 3 lights for the full grow so i'll have 267watts pulling from the wall listed watts of 300. Greenthumb j thanks for the lights answer I did 18 on last night and today Bucket #1 will go 12/12 tonight same lights off time changed lights on time (is that correct?). Well the ancient earth appears to work my water PH was slightly more stable today it was only down to 5.1 instead of the 4 I was seeing every morning. I only used 1/4 strength as I just added into the ress. I'll post pics in a few.
 
Heres the weak ass light I don't have a blue one its more towards red but its what I got and my plan is to just add some mylar to this cart.
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That light will do for the time you wait for the new LED.

As long as you keep it on an 18 hour day for the plants, they wont suffer. Just make sure that you keep it as close as possible to keep the plants from stretching too much.
 
At this point Bucket#2 needs some stretch theres 16 tops all buried in there. I would already be blooming of it was taller its got plenty of tops and leaves for me just to damn short. Well the LSD needs at least 3 weeks but I seen the Capn intro on making a 1lb monster and It takes 2 months I vegged for 7 weeks on the tall 1 so I hope I can get close to a pound. Anyway bucket #1 is in bloom. Changed out the water flushed the plant and the new water has 4ml GH calimagic, 5ml GH armorsi, 20ml botanicare Aquashield, 3ml plant success Orca, 18ml AN micro, 15 ml AN grow, 18ml Bloom, 8ml AN budblood, 8ml AN ancient earth. I did this twice today so a I wasted 2 gallons of water and nutrient mix because...... I found out why my water is screwed all week and last week. My digital PH meter is not working correctly anymore and I can't even calibrate it, according to the instructions the probe piece needs to be replaced I easily removed it but ordering that part?? ya fun its some weird off brand. Its water proof so I'd like to replace it if I can find a place that sells the probe sensor screw on cap only. Well 3 broken ph meter 1 is a milliwalkie. I'm down to drops as my backup PH reading LOL. I stopped recording ppm my water is starting at 400-450 with no nutrients. Well I have a black shower curtain and rod on the way from ebay to help block any light leaks that may be occurring. IGL threw in a free gooseneck mount with my kessilH380 order NICE!
 
Your best bet would be to spend the money on a decent PH/ppm pen. They aren't cheap.. although you can find them pretty reasonably priced on Scamazon.

PH and PPM pens are imperative when growing in DWC, and not knowing those pieces of information could make or break your harvest.


7 weeks veg.. did you train the plant in any way?
 
Ya like I said I still have a ppm meter I just don't bother to post it, and I currently have 3 broken digital PH meters. I am looking for deals now on a new 1. Local store sells the cheapo 1 that's 9 dollars on ebay for $45, fuk that. Going to use drops until my new arrives. 7 weeks veg if you look through my journal you can see all the training and topping and stuff. You cant see it in the new pics but there are 4 large hooks in the top of the lid holding the 2 bottom sets of branches out straight to the lip of the bucket and all upper branches were trained horizontal as well. I have 4 sets of horizontal branches that all are turned up now, and triple topped the main stalk. Everything was tied down until about 2 weeks ago. I defoliated like 3 times but you cant tell I'll post a pic of 2nd in 12/12. I cant count how many secondary branches are aiming upwards. I'll defoliate again at day 31 bloom.
 
Bucket#1 day50, 2 days in bloom, Bucket#2 Day 50 veg, Bucket#3 Day 36 veg. So this is the 2nd day of bloom on this tall beast. I can't see how 29 more days of not defoliating will create more bud but... Anyhow the PH is @ 6.1 I wont adjust until it gets a bit higher as I am using drops to do testing until my new PH meter arrives. water temp 75F. Bucket#2 has stable PH finally for more than 24 hours. (dman my broken PH pen). PH is 6.0 or soo, water temp 75.8F. Its finally starting to stretch it may like the CFL better. Bucket#3 LSD is still short and weak I still can't tell if it will survive the transplant. I am hand watering this bastard. $13 seed compared to 2 bagseeds. Bagseeds are dominating LSD Barneys Farm. PH 5.6, water temp 76F. PICS!
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Bravo man! Very good go at this. You read where I am in the process. I have 1 more soil (soiless really) grow before I even think about a hydro or aero setup. Might be longer still but I'll get there eventually. I can tell 1 thing, find what works for you and stick with it. People I see having success swear by their shit. Be it method, lighting, nutes whatnot, once they have a few successful grows under the belt, there is very little tweaking going on. Thats where I want to be with the soil pots, confident enough in my process that I can produce decent volumes of great smoke to make it all worthwhile. Maybe then I will have what I need to look at processes that produce better results. As long as I'm getting them grown healthy and they produce SOMETHING, right now I'm satisfied.
Good going with these girls tho. Bet you'll be stoked when your burpin' your jars of fine nugs. We'll be stoked for ya', keep on keepin' on man, you'll be there in no time.
 
Thanks Aku420 I am trying but I have ran into so many problems with water that I am just figuring out were PH pen problems. Greenthumb J Here are pictures of end of day2 bloom and this a pictorial of what I was trying to tell you about moving plants and setting up the lights for veg and bloom cycle.
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>>> I can't see how 29 more days of not defoliating will create more bud

Can you please explain to me then how stressing a plant by removing leaves and branches, and putting it into "heal" mode (and prolonging your flowering time) is going to produce you more buds.

If you defoliate very small bits early on in veg, and you take the right things off, Then yes, you can get a better yield by growing large main colas. So making sure you are removing the right stuff, is imperative. Lower branches that will never make it to the canopy take energy away from plant to grow. Remove these small whispy branches so allow to plant to focus on the upper colas. Dont take leaves. Leave them on. Like i said, in veg, there aren't any "bud sites". A plants leaf absorbs light and converts it into energy. So the less leaves you have, the slower your plant will grow, and the less "bud sites" you will have cause you keep removing the plants means of taking in energy.

Also, defoliation stresses your plant and puts it into heal mode. When this happens, plant growth stops until it recovers. Never defoliate within 2 weeks prior to flower.. never defoliate during the first 3 weeks of flower as the plant is focusing on growing upwards. Once the "stretch" is done, you can start taking off leaves that block buds sites because the plant is no longer growig upwards, but its producing buds now... but like The Capn's article says.. DONT RAPE your plant! A few leaves here and there every second or third day should be sufficient until the end of flower.

BUT.......... other than the yellowing on the LSD, everything else is looking great buddy!
Can you take a few more pics of the LSD... maybe we can figure out whats wrong!

With the make shift light area.. keep the plants that are in veg, in that area. dont move them. Keep the plant in flower under your LEDs on a 12/12 light schedule. That light will be enough until your new LED arrives. Then put the new LED over top your plants in veg and you are ROCKIN!! Or re-arrange them however you want so you have an LED over the veg plants and 2 LED's over the ones in flower..

next plan should be to construct a better veg area.. With your LED, have you considered grow tents?
 
Thanks. My peoples will never allow a grow tents. I can deconstruct my veg area in 1 minute and roll into the bloom closet fast and lock the door. I can't have permanent grow area outside the closet that's the deal and partitioning the closet is to hard the door opens in to the closet leaving me with a small space it wont matter in 3 weeks I'll probably only have the LSD in veg. Ya the LSD its just but water recovery + losing the main tap root in transplant it just ripped right off in the net pot, but just before lights out I saw 2 new roots sticking through my converted sour cream container/net pot. Any way PH is stable not able to see the metered reading but I'm running @ 5.9 in every bucket now.
 
LOL today I got up early and found out my lights were on, and then I check the timer and see I never changed it to 12/12 its still on 18/6. O well today is the first day of bloom.
 
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