Love the way how they pray like crazy :cheesygrinsmiley:

Anyway arent these been like fast as hell? It was just a moment ago like two weeks old youngsters. :D
 
Awesome. Great Pictures.
Thanks Jon, these newer phones make it so easy- I love it!
Thanks FelipeBlu, appreciate it brother!
Excellent all 'round but the symmetry in the overhead of the White Berry is really something! Nice frost rails too. :thumb:
Thanks Shed! I know what you mean, I had one other plant like that before...I'm hoping the yields come out comparably, and the quality looks to be lining up.
Love the way how they pray like crazy :cheesygrinsmiley:

Anyway arent these been like fast as hell? It was just a moment ago like two weeks old youngsters. :D
Thanks Verbalist! Right now they're pretty much on cruise control, all I do is feed 'em! The speed is the beautiful combination of hydro and Autoflowers (at least that's what I tell myself).


Journal Update

Flower Day 29
Day 67 above ground


Tent temp: 23C
Tent RH%: 40-60%
Previous PPM: 978 PPM
Current PPM: 894 PPM
Adjusted PPM to: 894 PPM
PH: 6.0
Res temp: 20.4C
Water level: huge drop


Hey folks, hope everyone is doing well! Sun was shining for first time in a while today, felt nice to see blue skies!

Speaking of nice to see, the plants are looking nice! Except the pouty Somango- hard to please 'em all! It's part of the drawbacks to a common reservoir feeding multiple strains, makes it a bit more of a balance. But she'll out grow it, or ill get to see how high nitrogen effects a flowering plant first hand :cheesygrinsmiley:

I snipped a few leaves off the Bruce Banner Auto, there was no tucking them- and it was time to open that part up a bit more. I'm not big on defoliation, and any small bits of larf get made into edibles. It's a happy compromise and keeps my medicine supply in check (for some reason I hate using flowers for edibles- guess that will pass in time with a constant supply on hand).

And aside from that I'm happy to say there's not much else to say other then...enjoy the photos, and thanks for stopping by!









 
So Part two of tonight's update (its a long one, feel free to skip if you'd like, as it's for informational purposes)

The Reservoir. What it is, How it's maintained, how it's built and little tricks to make it easier.

So, a reservoir is what you store your nutrients mixed up in, and ready to feed to your plants (or in some cases where the roots of the plants sits in). Mine is connected to my system via a pump that then sends the nutrients to the plants, and a return pump catches the run off and returns it back to my system. It's a recycling system.

How to build one.
Simple, and depends on your budget and system (I.e. dwc vs rdwc). I'm using a large 100L tote that has holes drilled connecting my pvc, the pump sends the nutrients out using that connection. I also keep an airstone in my reservoir. See pics below for mine.
The return can be tricky, most use gravity but a return pump does the trick in a pinch.
Now, the ideal one in my opinion requires taking an extremely large cooler and doing the same modifications for your lines. Why a cooler? Temperature control in a reservoir is important, with an ideal temperature of 19C. Many say that a lower temperature is ideal (18C), but mine is usually set at 19C, lower then 17C and nutrient uptake issues can happen (I like a small buffer, thus i set it at 19C). The lower temperatures allows for more dissolved oxygen in the water, and helps keep unwanted microbes at bay. Then there's sterile vs beneficials- a whole other topic, if anybody would like to discuss it, please feel free to ask!
To help keep those temperatures in range, a chiller is used to keep a cool temperature in the summer, and an aquarium heater is used to keep it warm enough in the winter. Using a cooler would reduce the amount of energy consumed by heaters and chillers. My cheap work around? I went as cheap as possible, I saved up Styrofoam packing used in mail shipments and wrapped my reservoir with it, and then did a few wraps of electric tape to hold the foam in place. I have better materials at hand, but I wanted to see how effective it was, and while it's no where near an ice cooler- it helps quite a bit. It also helps that the reservoir is not sitting directly on the cement, it sits on a 1 inch peice of Styrofoam (though its no longer 1 inch from the weight of the reservoir).


How's its maintained.

This is where I once again depart from the recommended methods. I basically top it daily with RO water with Cal mag, and often (but not always) will add nutrients to keep a steady PPM at the plants maximum uptake. This method works, but requires a diligent reservoir change out regularly. Why? Well plants don't eat the nutrients at a perfect balance. Over time the residual nutrients that are left, can result in an un perfect ratio of nutrients causing lockouts, and other unpleasant issues. Why do i do it this way? It works, it's simple and keeps it easy for me to keep track.
The proper way....I'll include below.

A little trick to make life easier.
When checking your reservoir, use two Dixie cups and fill it with nutrient solution from your reservoir, drop a PH pen in one, a TDS in the other. Let it sit a moment for the probes to get to the temperature of the solution. Take a picture of your readings. That photo has a date and time stamp on it.


The proper method for maintaining a reservoir. This is going to be a copy and paste, and a bit of a lengthy read. I did not write it, it's written by someone much more knowledgeable. To find the original a search online of Manicbotanix will find it.

In recycling systems the feed solution (water + nutrient) is fed to the plants and reused. During the course of each feed the plants preferentially remove nutrients at differing levels as it passes through their root systems. The nutrient that is not taken up by the plants and/or absorbed by the substrate is then returned to the nutrient tank/reservoir. Therefore, in a recycling system, because some nutrients such as N, P, K are preferentially uptaken by plants at high levels, while others (e.g. Ca, Mg and S) are taken at much lower levels, the nutrient that returns to the tank/reservoir is altered from the feed solution that was initially fed to them. Put simply, preferred nutrients get depleted, while less needed nutrients accumulate in solution. The feed and recycling process is then repeated over and over again and on each occasion (each feed) the nutrient values are further changed as plants preferentially remove nutrients at differing levels and ratios. As a result, after several days of recycling, the solution that was initially placed fresh in the nutrient tank/reservoir can be greatly altered. This can quickly lead to deficiencies in some nutrients and excesses of others. Additionally, the unused nutrient salts can accumulate in the substrate increasing its EC and impacting on growth. As Savvass et al. (2009) found in studies with recycling hydroponic systems, an imbalance in the nutrient solution is generated by excesses of the ions least consumed by the plant (normally SO4–, Ca2+ and Mg2+), which disrupts the balance of the nutrients and often increases the EC to levels that affect growth and yield. [1]

While these imbalances can be overcome by monitoring and correcting the nutrient solution, this requires implementing practices (e.g. lab analysis of the nutrient solution or individual nutrient species ion monitoring through the use of scientific testing equipment) that are typically not employed by novice hydroponic growers.

Common mistake: Adding Nutrient and Water Every Time that you Top Up the Hydroponic Nutrient Tank/Reservoir


This applies to those of you who are using tap water in recycling Systems:


Tap water has salts in it. Then you add salts to it (in the form of nutrients) that is taken up by the plants in varying degrees. You then add more water that contains salts and more nutrient (salts). What can happen is that the salts become very imbalanced as a plant food and too concentrated. This imbalance and over concentration can harm the plants. In a worst case scenario the plants can burn.

You are better off just topping up your tank with water (and not adding nutrient) to a level where the desirable salts levels register on an EC meter. Over the course of several days your water/nutrient levels in the tank get lower. That is, less volume of nutrient/water than when you first started. After 5 days or so you dump your nutrient and start again. Most experienced growers (who use recycling systems) know that the bigger their nutrient volume the better, and that the more regularly they dump their tanks the better.

Point being – just add water to the level where the salts are maintained at their desirable levels.


While I could go on further, I'll stop there as this post is already more lengthy then I intended, but I hope this information is of help to some!
 
Hey @Rexer, I just caught up. Phew. What an amazing post, and BOY did I need that (as you know...:woohoo:). NICE JOB. That didn't type itself, did it? Took more than a minute too, huh? I know the feeling. It's amazing that people like you are on here with no goal other than to help people learn how to grow great weed, and that you take the time to share it so willingly. Muchas Gracias, mi amigo. Excellent example. Great information. I rarely tag and save posts, but that one I did.

Also, the BB is praying like a demon, it's insane. I also see what you mean on the Somango, she's yellowing a tiny bit. And agreed, that White Berry is your biggest yielder. I also see the difficulty of satisfying all three different strains at once. So I would assume one potential answer to that issue is to grow the same strain, yes? Also, your setup: is it possible to move everything you have in the quarter of the tent that has no plants to outside of the tent, to free that space up and complete the scrog with four autos? Also, how high off the dirt is that screen? Also :)rofl:), let's say one was to try your method on one plant - is it impossible to not have to check everything and adjust the reservoir every single day? Or is that part of the deal with hydro if you care about the end result?

Those are a few questions that came to mind. Heh. Thanks. Awesome journal.
 
Thanks Jon!
I've been meaning to type something up on reservoirs for some time now.
Yes growing 3 plants of the same strain would be the simplest solution, I like to switch between strains, and to sample newer ones in the on going search for better meds. And the extra challenge keeps me on my toes.

I could totally take the AC/heater, dehumidifier and put it outside the tent, as many others do. The only reason I haven't is, I like that having it in there keeps everything as close to an ideal environment as I can, given the location of the tent. The fact it also allows more airflow top to bottom of the tent is a bonus.

4 plants in there is totally doable if the equipment wasn't in there.

Hydroton to the net frame is roughly 18 inches.

I've found checking daily to be a requirement, twice is better. The main reason is the drift of PH. A ph controller can be bought to keep it in check, but they're sadly out of my budget.

I know West Hippie has had great success keeping his PH stable for long durations- seems like dark magic to me as I've yet to achieve it.
 
Journal Update

Flower Day 31
Day 69 above ground


Tent temp: 19C
Tent RH%: 40-60% (currently 48%)
Previous PPM: 1001 PPM (fresh res)
Current PPM: 980 PPM
Adjusted PPM to: 980 PPM
PH: 6.2
Res temp: 18.2C
Water level: down several gallons in last three hours



So..all kinds of goings-on in the tent the last two days. Where to start? Well I found, caught and brought a bunch of ladybugs into the tent last night. Found about half the reservoir floating inside the tent, of course just as I had that water sensor recharging :eek:. The culprit bucket was the White Berry Auto. Wet vacuumed up the mess, shut the feed valve off for the White Berry for the night. Checked the camera last night, saw the tent was sitting at 11C :eek: :eek: . Found out I bumped the AC/heater unit and it had knocked the exhaust loose. Hooked it back up, and clicked one degree higher on the unit, to 26C. They had a nice toasty night and the heater brought it up to 33C for a few min during the night.

Today I changed the drain on the bucket for the White Berry Auto, it'll b easier to pop off and trim the roots next time.

I found some fresh holes in the leaves on one plant. A baby centipede I think on the floor. And an Earwig.


The cold weather outside is making my tent all the more inviting to ccritters. Time to Konk the garage again.

So...onto the good news. Since half the reservoir got dumped on the tent floor last night, I did a reservoir change. The girls all look like nothing is a miss and just struttin on. They drank several gallons since the res change this afternoon.

The Somango Auto is still a little upset, but is starting to build and bulk up. A few leaves look nice and shiny. And she's still stretching up. At this point I'm just letting them go.

The Bruce Banner Auto is becoming covered in frost, with buds that look nice and dense.

The @ViparSpectra P4000 is just doing a fantastic job, and continues to surprise and impress me.

Thanks everyone for stopping by and hope you all have a wonderful day/night!















 
Journal Update

Flower Day 31
Day 69 above ground


Tent temp: 19C
Tent RH%: 40-60% (currently 48%)
Previous PPM: 1001 PPM (fresh res)
Current PPM: 980 PPM
Adjusted PPM to: 980 PPM
PH: 6.2
Res temp: 18.2C
Water level: down several gallons in last three hours



So..all kinds of goings-on in the tent the last two days. Where to start? Well I found, caught and brought a bunch of ladybugs into the tent last night. Found about half the reservoir floating inside the tent, of course just as I had that water sensor recharging :eek:. The culprit bucket was the White Berry Auto. Wet vacuumed up the mess, shut the feed valve off for the White Berry for the night. Checked the camera last night, saw the tent was sitting at 11C :eek: :eek: . Found out I bumped the AC/heater unit and it had knocked the exhaust loose. Hooked it back up, and clicked one degree higher on the unit, to 26C. They had a nice toasty night and the heater brought it up to 33C for a few min during the night.

Today I changed the drain on the bucket for the White Berry Auto, it'll b easier to pop off and trim the roots next time.

I found some fresh holes in the leaves on one plant. A baby centipede I think on the floor. And an Earwig.


The cold weather outside is making my tent all the more inviting to ccritters. Time to Konk the garage again.

So...onto the good news. Since half the reservoir got dumped on the tent floor last night, I did a reservoir change. The girls all look like nothing is a miss and just struttin on. They drank several gallons since the res change this afternoon.

The Somango Auto is still a little upset, but is starting to build and bulk up. A few leaves look nice and shiny. And she's still stretching up. At this point I'm just letting them go.

The Bruce Banner Auto is becoming covered in frost, with buds that look nice and dense.

The @ViparSpectra P4000 is just doing a fantastic job, and continues to surprise and impress me.

Thanks everyone for stopping by and hope you all have a wonderful day/night!















Looks so great Rex! I wish I could catch ladybugs here-mine are all between my storm and regular window somehow. Maybe I'll just break the glass lol
 
Looks so great Rex! I wish I could catch ladybugs here-mine are all between my storm and regular window somehow. Maybe I'll just break the glass lol
Thanks Krissi! Oh they're everywhere here. I just hope there isn't any actual food sources for them in the tent (might be kinda mean, but hey). I found a bunch in the corner of a ceiling, was easy and must've been about 10-15 of them.
 
Thanks Krissi! Oh they're everywhere here. I just hope there isn't any actual food sources for them in the tent (might be kinda mean, but hey). I found a bunch in the corner of a ceiling, was easy and must've been about 10-15 of them.
A piece of damp sponge covered from the light . Saw one it was kitchen match box with the damp sponge. Was foiled inside
 
A piece of damp sponge covered from the light . Saw one it was kitchen match box with the damp sponge. Was foiled inside
To keep the ladybugs watered? Awesome idea, I'll put one in tomorrow for them. Hopefully no late night ventures tonight :laughtwo:
 
To keep the ladybugs watered? Awesome idea, I'll put one in tomorrow for them. Hopefully no late night ventures tonight :laughtwo:
I’ll take a copperhead any day before I’d face a bear .
 
I’ll take a copperhead any day before I’d face a bear .
you can keep the copperheads! Snakes...uh no thanks, not big on spiders too, but have let them be in the garage (no poisonous snakes or spiders around here)

I'm a decent shot - but a bear is bigger then a copperhead , can be scared off, and if the wind is right, you can smell them before seeing them.
And they make a decent stew ;)
My garage seem to host the boxelder .

Would rather see a lady bug.
I had to look that one up, seen them many times (in bush) but never knew their name. Are they messing things up?

The lady bugs are imported, from my house to the garage :cheesygrinsmiley:
 
Journal Update

Flower Day 31
Day 69 above ground


Tent temp: 19C
Tent RH%: 40-60% (currently 48%)
Previous PPM: 1001 PPM (fresh res)
Current PPM: 980 PPM
Adjusted PPM to: 980 PPM
PH: 6.2
Res temp: 18.2C
Water level: down several gallons in last three hours



So..all kinds of goings-on in the tent the last two days. Where to start? Well I found, caught and brought a bunch of ladybugs into the tent last night. Found about half the reservoir floating inside the tent, of course just as I had that water sensor recharging :eek:. The culprit bucket was the White Berry Auto. Wet vacuumed up the mess, shut the feed valve off for the White Berry for the night. Checked the camera last night, saw the tent was sitting at 11C :eek: :eek: . Found out I bumped the AC/heater unit and it had knocked the exhaust loose. Hooked it back up, and clicked one degree higher on the unit, to 26C. They had a nice toasty night and the heater brought it up to 33C for a few min during the night.

Today I changed the drain on the bucket for the White Berry Auto, it'll b easier to pop off and trim the roots next time.

I found some fresh holes in the leaves on one plant. A baby centipede I think on the floor. And an Earwig.


The cold weather outside is making my tent all the more inviting to ccritters. Time to Konk the garage again.

So...onto the good news. Since half the reservoir got dumped on the tent floor last night, I did a reservoir change. The girls all look like nothing is a miss and just struttin on. They drank several gallons since the res change this afternoon.

The Somango Auto is still a little upset, but is starting to build and bulk up. A few leaves look nice and shiny. And she's still stretching up. At this point I'm just letting them go.

The Bruce Banner Auto is becoming covered in frost, with buds that look nice and dense.

The @ViparSpectra P4000 is just doing a fantastic job, and continues to surprise and impress me.

Thanks everyone for stopping by and hope you all have a wonderful day/night!















Damn man way to up the photo game, these are awesome. The buds look amazing. What a grow. How do you make it so it's possible to post more than ten pics in one post? Mine cuts me off at ten I thought.
 
Damn man way to up the photo game, these are awesome. The buds look amazing. What a grow. How do you make it so it's possible to post more than ten pics in one post? Mine cuts me off at ten I thought.
Hey Jon, thanks! I upload all my photos via the gallery, then attach via the button in the photo below
You didn’t put DE out around the perimeter. Can y’all get DE up there ?
It never made it out of the 'zon cart. Budget has been stretched the last couple months. But Konk is already here, so i might as well. DE is still on the list, gotta order a few things soon and hopefully will be able get some.
 
Hey Jon, thanks! I upload all my photos via the gallery, then attach via the button in the photo below

It never made it out of the 'zon cart. Budget has been stretched the last couple months. But Konk is already here, so i might as well. DE is still on the list, gotta order a few things soon and hopefully will be able get some.
I go through the hamburger block on top . To the gallery then add media and you can also select your media .
 
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