Shovhd's GH Waterfarm CropKing WW Auto Grow Journal - 2017

[Scientific]

I changed out the water today. Ph is 5.56 and ppm is 380 (water itself is 42 ppm) so adjusted ppm is 338. I'm going to bring it up slowly over the week to about 450 adjusted ppm.

Question: when they speak of being at day14 of veg. When does veg start? I'm at day 17 from the time I put it in the tent. Thx.

My little dwarf autoflowers can take 400+ PPM, so I'm guessing that 450 shouldn't be too much for any normal size plant, but do keep a very close eye on the leaf tips as you ramp up for the first sign of yellowing.

There is no official set of standard terminology, and some people start counting when the seed hits water and some when it breaks through the soil. But "veg" isn't really an important concept for autos since you don't flip them from 18 hours of illumination to 12 to start flowering, they do it themselves at about 3 weeks from seed, so you can probably expect to see some preflowers soon followed by a big growth spurt (the "flowering stretch"). That's the tough part of autos is that if you have problems in the first few weeks, you can't just extend the veg time; the clock is running the minute the seed hits water. That said, my indoor auto grow had a problem at first that slowed it down but it exploded in the flowering stretch, so fingers crossed for yours!

Did you read that General Hydroponics article?

 

[Ripe1]

Shov, it looks to me like you got control over the light burn! Excellent work buddy! You are lucky enough to have Scientific on your thread. Pay close attention to what he says, I have been reading a few different journals that he is participating in and it seems he only gives good advice.

 

[Scientific]

he only gives good advice.

Well he certainly has no shortage of opinions.

 

[shovhd]

Hi again and thx for the advice. Scientific, I did read that article, at least as much as my ADD would allow...

Update Day 18: when I first checked it was at 362 ppm (-42) and 6.22 ph. Liquid was down a little bit. I added water and nutes and brought it to 415ppm (383 adjusted ppm) the ph went down on its own to 5.95. Seems to be growing:

 

[shovhd]

Hey all. Day 21

488 adjusted ppm, 5.9 ph, 35 RH, 76 F.
Humidity a bit low. I’ll have to think of a way to get it up I guess.

 

[shovhd]

So a bit of a crisis. Some of the leaf tips were getting crispy. Green but crispy. I think the humidity was too low 35 and I added a fan that was blowing directly on the plant. So I turn off one light and added a diy humidifier. The towel wicks out of the bucket and then (you can't see it in the picture) the fan is blowing on it. Now RH is at 43. Temp at 23C. Other than that it's growing good.

 

[Ripe1]

Hey buddy, sorry I've been out for a minute, I was out of town for the holidays. I saw your humidity post and thought you might like to know that Vics has this little humidifier that is only $15. I have one and it keeps things at about 50-60%. Very easy. I like to add a dash of salt. No more than a half a tsp, and if you do add half a tsp, make sure you can be back in 4-6 hours to refill it with water. I generally use 1/4 tsp. That seems to get me 6-9 hours. They are looking good! I'm starting a new journal today. Come by and check it out.

 

[shovhd]

Hey Ripe1 hope you had a good Christmas. The humidity is at 53% now and temp is 69F. I’m gonna try to get the temp up a bit to around 75. Nutes are at 950 and the ph is 5.8. I did try having both lights on again now that she is bigger, but that fried a leaf so no more. Other than that it’s looking ok. That humidifier sounds good. What is Vic’s? Can you post a link?

 

[Ripe1]

Vicks Warm Steam Vaporizer, V150SGNJUV - Walmart.com

I had a great Christmas Shov! How was yours Brother? 53% isn't bad. You could get rid of the towel if you get the vaporizer in there. It may also help you get the heat up in there a bit. They look so good man. What is it with the damn autos and light burn with LEDs?

 

[shovhd]

Re: Shovhdâ€s GH Waterfarm CropKing WW Auto Grow Journal - 2017

Hey all, update and questions for day 29. ppm 960-42=918 adjusted. 6.0 ph. This morning the temp was 71F and 53% RH. Now I have changed out the towel for a humidifier and I'll have to adjust temp and RH again.

I did order a humidity and temp controller off Amazon: Zoo Med HygroTherm Humidity and Temperature Controller : Pet Habitat Thermometers

Should be here next week.

She seems to be liking it so far.

I was wondering about these big sucker leaves. Should I pinch them or leave them?

Tomorrow I will change the water and nutes. I will also be setting up my scrog. It will be set at 10" so all the water changes will have to be done through the drain.

 

[shovhd]

Day 30 and the scrog is in. Set at 10" above the pot. Ppm 1060, 5.55 ph. Temp 78F, 53% RH.

 

[shovhd]

Day 32 - Happy New Year!
When I checked it was at 1100 ppm 6.05 ph. Dropped it to 1060ppm 5.75ph 74F 55% Rh.

It was drinking pretty good (about 2 quarts) but the ppm and ph went up slightly so I dropped the nute a bit.

Scrog is settling in nicely. Starting to pinch off the suckers under the scrog, a couple each day. I have to come up with a way to run the humidifier from a reservoir. I goes through 2gallons in about 10 hours. And I'm lazy...

 

[Ripe1]

Looking good in here Shov. It has been a minute since I could get around in here. I've been out of town, missing planes and all sorts of jazz. You're little girl is looking nice doggie! I need to do the same thing with my humidifiers. They are water hogs! I'm going to go check out that link you posted for yours. Will you post some pics of how you rigged yours?

 

[shovhd]

Hey all, I'm starting to wonder if RH is that important with a WaterFarm. I never worried about it before and had no problems. The roots are always in oxygenated water anyway. Just a thought...

Day 37 update. 1050ppm, 5.61ph.

 

[Ripe1]

Nothing matters when Fu#$%n' Cujo is guarding you entrance! I can't speak much to the importance of RH except that if it is low, your plant will drink a lot more. It also allows you some leeway with heat and lights. Leaves with low RH will burn from light, wind from your fan will dehydrate them faster, way before they would if you were to keep your RH up. My outdoor crop last year had really low RH, was in a greenhouse therefore cooked the leaves. Low yield with no smell and barely a stone at all. She is beautiful Shov! Good work!

 

[Ripe1]

Hey Shov, I just read last night interestingly enough, (at AMS Seeds website) that high humidity makes the leaves bigger/wider like an indica leaf, because they have to transpire less. Low RH makes the leaves skinnier, making them produce a heavier resin coating on the leaves to protect it. That is summed up but here is the article if you want to read it.
AMS Grow Guide <<

It at least made my scratch my head.

 

[shovhd]

Hey all, Day 41.

I boosted the ppm up to 1200, ph 5.55 yesterday. Ppm went up to 1240 and ph to 5.75 overnight. Drinking good. A few weird things going on so I dropped it back to 1120 and 5.65. Don't think it's nute burn but have a look and tell me what you think please.

Hope all is well. The ph and ppm keep climbing overnight, not sure why. Other grows I've seen journals of are at 1300 to 1500 by now.

 

[Ripe1]

Yum Yum Yum! Those are fat leaves. That's up to you my dude. I would leave them there until they block light from reaching inner bud sites. Those big leaves hold valuable Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), Magnesium (Mg) and Zinc (Zn), that can move around as needed. If a new leaf is N deficient, then the N from the old moves to the new. These are mobile nutrients. Other immobile nutes are in those leaves too, but when you hit flowering, which is gonna be real soon, the plant just naturally start taking those mobile nutes and uses them all up. This is why when you see all these fat buds at the end of flowering with yellow leaves that fall off. The plant used the nutrients to make nice nugs of meds from what it had within itself to do so. If there isn't nice healthy leaves to aid in the different chemical reactions that are happening throughout it's life, then they won't happen as efficiently. Concentrate on the roots. The way to grow good roots is through good medium. What you feed it matters (which I'm sure you know all of this) because they want more N in veg, as flowering comes about, you boost the K up and the N down. Happy Soil=Happy Roots=Happy Plants=Fat Nugs=Happy You! The Long winded way of saying I'd leave them on as long as is possible.

 

[Ripe1]

Oh yeah, How is that humidity/heat controller working out for you? I'd liek to find one and that's a nice price if it does the functions efficiently enough.

 

[shovhd]

The controller works great. Keeps the Rh at 51% and the temp at 74F (where I set it). I only have to fill the humidifier up once a day now.