Scientific's Coconut Coir Dwarf Low Flyer Summer Pot In An Air Pot Grow

InTheShed said:
How many additional hours under the lights/day would you say it got?
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This grow got about 8+ hours of direct sun a day, from sunrise to 2 PM PDT. The previous hydro grow got nonstop illumination from seedling to harvest.

Are you going to use the roots for anything (canna-root lotion or tea)? I asked about the enormous root ball from the fireplace but you had already tossed it.
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Nope, and I'm not saving the coco, the hydtroton, or the burlap since I had fungus gnats.

Any reason you went to chop early rather than get the insects with soap spray? I have always found aphids the easiest bugs to kill in the garden, along with white flies.
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I was planning to harvest in a few days anyway (most of the trichs are cloudy), I had time to do it today, the bottom leaves were starting to turn yellow which told me that the flush had done its thing (at least partially), and there were new pests, so I just made an executive decision. ;)

Are you going to water cure any of this?
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No, I already did my water curing experiment and wasn't impressed. Plus, I'm not a smoker, I'm a tincture/oil/vape guy (don't like breathing combustion byproducts), so curing is not a big thing with except for learning how it's done. (And I've gotta say, the buds that I cured and have at 62% humidity have a wonderful texture--not the bone dry, falling-to-dust buds that I remember from just having them sitting in a wooden box and getting way too dry. And they're retained what little aroma the DLF buds have.
 
Scientific said:
That's MiracleGro brand soft wire ties. I love that stuff; its soft and rubbery so it doesn't cut into the plant like the cheap stuff.
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Gonna go buy that! And thanks for the answers to my pestering questions as well :)
 
Comparing 24/0 Hydro Grow with 8/16 Coco Air Pot Dwarf Low Flyer Grows

Here's a quick comparison of back-to-back Dwarf Low Flyer grows.
Overall, the yield with with the hydro grow was amazing, but constantly fussing with reservoir pH got old (Advance Nutrients pH Perfect might help with that...), and there's the matter of the electric bill for a two-plus-month grow, even with just 250 watts.

There's something aesthetically/poetically/spiritually/whatever pleasing about growing outside in sunlight, but it also means dealing with pests that you don't have inside.

I love the convenience of growing in coco and will do it again. I think the ideal for this (small) strain would be a five-gallon air pot and an automated system that pumps from a reservoir. That could give you a system that you could essentially only have to fuss with once a week!

What's the same:
  • Strain (Crop King Dwarf Low Flyer)
  • Nutrients (General Hydroponics Flora Series)
What's different:
  • Light (24/0 CFL vs 8/16 sunlight)
  • Location (indoor/outdoor)
  • Medium (hydro/coco)
  • Duration (coco: 72 days, hydro: 78)
Stickiness (so potency...)
Hydro: VERY! Coco: Barely (I'll bet the 24/0 hydro grow was at least twice as sticky/potent per gram as the coco grow)

Wet weight of untrimmed buds
Hydro: 498 g, Coco: 266 g (53%)

Wet weight of trimmed buds
Hydro: 309 g, Coco: 222 g (72%)

Wet weight of sticky trim
Hydro: 150 g, Coco: 22 g (The sticky trim of the hydro grow was probably significantly more potent than the coco buds)

Wet weight of unsticky trash
Hydro: 130 g, Coco 23 g (The coco grow was almost all bud, with no leaves and not much stalk).

ROOTS
2017-08-10_Day_72_HARVEST_2_016.JPG

Coco roots

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Hydro roots!

Plant on day of harvest
2017-08-10_Day_72_HARVEST_009.JPG

Coco: 8 colas

2017-05-31_Day_72_1000_001.JPG

Hydro: 20 buds

Best buds
2017-08-10_Day_72_HARVEST_2_012_Photoshopped.jpg

Coco

2017-06-06_Day_78_1500_051.JPG

Hydro (sticky sticky sticky)

2017-08-10_Day_72_HARVEST_2_011.JPG

Coco trimmed

2017-06-06_Day_78_1500_054.JPG

Hydro untrimmed

Thanks for dropping by, everyone! I hope you enjoyed is as much and learned as much as I did! :)
 
Scientific said:
Comparing 24/0 Hydro Grow with 8/15 Coco Air Pot Dwarf Low Flyer Grows

Here's a quick comparison of back-to-back Dwarf Low Flyer grows.
Overall, the yield with with the hydro grow was amazing, but constantly fussing with reservoir pH got old (Advance Nutrients pH Perfect might help with that...), and there's the matter of the electric bill for a two-plus-month grow, even with just 250 watts.

There's something aesthetically/poetically/spiritually/whatever pleasing about growing outside in sunlight, but it also means dealing with pests that you don't have inside.

I love the convenience of growing in coco and will do it again. I think the ideal for this (small) strain would be a five-gallon air pot and an automated system that pumps from a reservoir. That could give you a system that you could essentially only have to fuss with once a week!

What's the same:
  • Strain (Crop King Dwarf Low Flyer)
  • Nutrients (General Hydroponics Flora Series)
What's different:
  • Light (24/0 CFL vs 8/16 sunlight)
  • Location (indoor/outdoor)
  • Medium (hydro/coco)
  • Duration (coco: 72 days, hydro: 78)
Stickiness (so potency...)
Hydro: VERY! Coco: Barely (I'll bet the 24/0 hydro grow was at least twice as sticky/potent per gram as the coco grow)

Wet weight of untrimmed buds
Hydro: 498 g, Coco: 266 g (53%)

Wet weight of trimmed buds
Hydro: 309 g, Coco: 222 g (72%)

Wet weight of sticky trim
Hydro: 150 g, Coco: 22 g (The sticky trim of the hydro grow was probably significantly more potent than the coco buds)

Wet weight of unsticky trash
Hydro: 130 g, Coco 23 g (The coco grow was almost all bud, with no leaves and not much stalk).

Thanks for dropping by, everyone! I hope you enjoyed is as much and learned as much as I did! :)
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:thanks:

Great summary and comparison. Obviously hydro wins the day, if it only wasn't such a fiddly pain in the ass!
 
This is what I was really curious about

With the harvest in and all the buds hanging out in the curing barn, I remembered what started this coco coir grow in the first place.

I wanted to try growing in coco, and I think it's awesome, but also after having nearly drowned a seedling in wet rock wool, I got curious about oxygen at the roots, something I had never thought much about before. And I was intrigued at the concept of "air pruning" roots, something I had never even heard of.

I had seen plants growing in those weird, ugly, mishapen bags and didn't understand why.

But wow, getting air to the roots with a mix that drains well and getting air to the roots from top, sides, and bottom really makes a huge difference!

The root distribution in this root ball was almost completely homogeneous, for want of a better word--the entire pot of coco was equally permeated with a perfectly consistent network of roots, from stalk to sides and from top to bottom! Awesome! I am now a drain-to-waste coco coir air pot fanboy.

2017-08-10_Day_72_HARVEST_012.JPG

Perfect root distribution in coco coir with 20% perlite
 
Scientific said:
This is what I was really curious about

With the harvest in and all the buds hanging out in the curing barn, I remembered what started this coco coir grow in the first place.

I wanted to try growing in coco, and I think it's awesome, but also after having nearly drowned a seedling in wet rock wool, I got curious about oxygen at the roots, something I had never thought much about before. And I was intrigued at the concept of "air pruning" roots, something I had never even heard of.

I had seen plants growing in those weird, ugly, mishapen bags and didn't understand why.

But wow, getting air to the roots with a mix that drains well and getting air to the roots from top, sides, and bottom really makes a huge difference!

The root distribution in this root ball was almost completely homogeneous, for want of a better word--the entire pot of coco was equally permeated with a perfectly consistent network of roots, from stalk to sides and from top to bottom! Awesome! I am now a drain-to-waste coco coir air pot fanboy.

2017-08-10_Day_72_HARVEST_012.JPG

Perfect root distribution in coco coir with 20% perlite
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The mix I use and swear by is 50/50 FF ocean forest and Roots Organic Green Lite.
The Green Lite is mostly coco.

It's crazy right! It's almost all roots by the end of it!!!!!

I haven't gone coco loco but I love it as part of my base!
 
Are aphids attracted to molasses?

Just a random thought: I never saw an aphid in ten weeks of growing, but then when I started adding molasses to the flush water they appeared. That's probably a coincidence, but I have to wonder...

This business of having to deal with pests in the great outdoors definitely adds another dimension to growing.
 
Scientific said:
Oh, that's good to know. I'll add that to my notes. I know people love FFOF and like the idea of a coco mix. Thanks!
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It also makes it kinda foolproof. The soil balances the coco out and the roots and microbes love the coco!

This was my this needs to work mix, after making soil (failing miserably) and putting myself through hell lol
 
Scientific said:
Are aphids attracted to molasses?

Just a random thought: I never saw an aphid in ten weeks of growing, but then when I started adding molasses to the flush water they appeared. That's probably a coincidence, but I have to wonder...

This business of having to deal with pests in the great outdoors definitely adds another dimension to growing.
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I believe baby aphids leave a sweet residue that attracts ants for them to eat.
Do you notice ants?
 
Scientific said:
No, thank God. The last place I lived I had ants crawling up three floors into my kitchen and it took me a month to get rid of them!
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It's crazy bc I was getting aphids early. Noticed little sugar ants, come to find out, those little fucker 'farm' anta for food
 
Scientific said:
No, thank God. The last place I lived I had ants crawling up three floors into my kitchen and it took me a month to get rid of them!
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Insects? Boric acid powder.

Sprinkle it where they will crawl across it and they will pick it up on themselves. Ants clean themselves frequently and the boric acid powder will be ingested. It will cause internal bleeding and kill them. They will also carry it back to the colony and kill that too.

I carried a wooden foot stool in that had been sitting outside and roaches had hid in it. Got an infestation. Searched online and found boric acid powder recommended as an alternative to commercial sprays. It is very cheap too. I got mine at a local Big-R farm supply (and other stuff) store for about 3 dollars for a very large container. Sprinkled it along the edges of cabinets and walls and pretty fast...no more roaches. Also got little red ants from my balcony tomato half barrels in the dirt someone gave me that had them in it. Worked for them too. Sprinkled in front of the sliding glass door where they crossed into the apartment and no more ants too. I suspect it will work on any incests.

May not be good for pets and you should handle with reasonable caution for yourself, but it works and like said..it is very cheap. People raved on the net about how cheap an alternative it is to commercial stuff and how effective it is. Farmers use it around their properties.
It is like one of those little secrets people don't know about... like udder cream...the stuff they use on cow udders to keep them from cracking. Makes a great hand lotion. Keeps your skin nice and soft and it is way cheaper too.
 
Scientific said:
Automatic spelling correctors make every conversation more interesting. ;)
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DANG...didn't even notice that. LOL...and I have no smoke to use as an excuse. Corrected it...so if people see it now...they wont know what we're talking about. BTW>>>>it may also work for the typo one too.

:thumb:
 
Day 73 -- Empty Pot Syndrome

Golly, I walked out on the deck with my coffee this morning and it was just me, the tomatoes, and the hummingbirds--no cannabis plant to poke at, smell, or water. I guess it's time to finally do something productive like file my tax return or something... :P
 
gato said:
Insects? Boric acid powder.
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I just want to put in a vote for boric acid for ants and roaches (and flying waterbugs as well). Been using it since I lived in the roach capital of America (NYC) 40 years ago. I buy the powder in the bottle with the nozzle on top, then shorten a bendy straw and tape to the top. That way I can angle it behind appliances and spray up under things as well. Just give the bottle a squeeze and the powder sprays where you want it to go!
 
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