crypiter
New Member
How are the ladies doin' Slim? Glad they recovered. Cant wait to see some updated pics. 
Slimm's Urban Hang Suite
- Thread starter slimm
- Start date
How are the ladies doin' Slim? Glad they recovered. Cant wait to see some updated pics. - Thread starter
- #42
Overall, things are going well. I hit them with foliar Neem two days ago so many of the pistils have browned - this happens when you put oil on pistils. However, I needed to get them inoculated against pests and disease before getting further into flowering. In the same vein I also gave them a Neem drench at the same time. I also gave them their last feeding with Si - its a good inoculation against chewers but don't need that in the final product. They should be systemically protected for the next 3 weeks.
L.S.D continues to be picky and I'm still having a bit of trouble with what looks like Mg lockout on the L.S.D. and Jillybean. Some of the leaves are showing interveinal chlorosis and the tips of the lower fans are drying up. I would push them harder but the leaves curl down when I do. I'm feeding them at 80% of 6/9 GH Flora Micro / GH Flora Bloom. I have been continuing to ph to 5.8 (rather than the 5.5 I started with), which seemed to help at first. The new growth looks great though and that makes this a secondary concern. The chlorosis is faint but you can see it in these photos on the fans from the bottom to about half way up the height of the plants.
I'm going to back off on the GH Flora Micro, up the GH Flora Bloom a little, keep the ph at 5.8 and maybe add a little CaMg in place of the epsom salts and see how they respond. If anyone has a suggestion on this please feel free to comment.
Pistils are starting to fill back in again. I did a bunch of super cropping, stem thickening with the neem treatment so they have been mostly putting energy into defensive measures. They should start growing again now that I am leaving them alone and we will see these buds continue to fill in.
A little LST on the outdoor gals. I use binder clips I found at Office Max and some ornamental wire to secure them to the buckets fast and easy - this works on Smart Pots too BTW.
My little experimental "hempy style air pot" buckets are starting to take off. I am using time release nutes in the reservoir - these can be pulled out when I am ready to flush or change the concentration, etc. I water from the bottom and the nutes are pulled up by the wicking action of the media and the redistribution mechanism of the roots. The second photo, of the reservoir, reminds me of gold mining.
I'm making lots of flowering clones, though I have no idea what to do with them. This cloner is amazing - I cut them and put them into it and forget them. I have left this completely on its own and its doing great. I have added a bit of H2O2 once or twice and topped off the solution with whatever I happened to be feeding the plants at the time. I have not checked for roots yet - I think some of them went in about a week ago so they should be ready by now. I'll check later when I have more time.
L.S.D continues to be picky and I'm still having a bit of trouble with what looks like Mg lockout on the L.S.D. and Jillybean. Some of the leaves are showing interveinal chlorosis and the tips of the lower fans are drying up. I would push them harder but the leaves curl down when I do. I'm feeding them at 80% of 6/9 GH Flora Micro / GH Flora Bloom. I have been continuing to ph to 5.8 (rather than the 5.5 I started with), which seemed to help at first. The new growth looks great though and that makes this a secondary concern. The chlorosis is faint but you can see it in these photos on the fans from the bottom to about half way up the height of the plants.
I'm going to back off on the GH Flora Micro, up the GH Flora Bloom a little, keep the ph at 5.8 and maybe add a little CaMg in place of the epsom salts and see how they respond. If anyone has a suggestion on this please feel free to comment.
Pistils are starting to fill back in again. I did a bunch of super cropping, stem thickening with the neem treatment so they have been mostly putting energy into defensive measures. They should start growing again now that I am leaving them alone and we will see these buds continue to fill in.
A little LST on the outdoor gals. I use binder clips I found at Office Max and some ornamental wire to secure them to the buckets fast and easy - this works on Smart Pots too BTW.
My little experimental "hempy style air pot" buckets are starting to take off. I am using time release nutes in the reservoir - these can be pulled out when I am ready to flush or change the concentration, etc. I water from the bottom and the nutes are pulled up by the wicking action of the media and the redistribution mechanism of the roots. The second photo, of the reservoir, reminds me of gold mining.
I'm making lots of flowering clones, though I have no idea what to do with them. This cloner is amazing - I cut them and put them into it and forget them. I have left this completely on its own and its doing great. I have added a bit of H2O2 once or twice and topped off the solution with whatever I happened to be feeding the plants at the time. I have not checked for roots yet - I think some of them went in about a week ago so they should be ready by now. I'll check later when I have more time.
crypiter
New Member
Nice! Was hopn to find some new pix when I came by tonight. Lookn good. I was pretty pumped about growing the l.s.d. myself but not lookn forward to how picky she seems to be. She was the last of the seeds I planted. About 5 days later than the others and she surpassed everyone shortly after popping. When I xfrd her to the Dwc, her and the other plants seemed not to have liked something and slowed down. Had all runnin in just water for 4 days to start fresh and the l.s.d. got real hungry. transplanted all plants to hempy a few days ago but the l.s.d. is having issues recovering from the initial trouble. Oh well, cant go perfect. Then I wouldnt learn anything
Btw, found the "Slim Cloner 420"(lol) at wally world for $3.22.
Picked up a couple for when I try some cloning. Thank you very much for sharing the 
Also, like the creativity of your LST method. Wasnt there a show about you in the mid 80's?
Yeah, you were always gettn outta crazy situations using things like a condom and toothpick right? Anyway, liked the show, love the grow. Im tuned in and takn notes.
- Thread starter
- #44
Thanks, I cannot take credit for inventing the cloner though. I was about to order a timer for the aero cloner I built when I stumbled upon a thread on the ice tube cloner. Simple, small, effective, cheap and low maintenance. My aero cloner will be going up on craig's.
very nice setup slimm. cant wait to see how this turns out
crypiter
New Member
Hey Slim, you think another medium such as perlite or something else could be substituted in the ice tray cloner?
- Thread starter
- #47
Possibly. Coco seems ideal since it wicks well yet provides plenty of air space. You may have to experiment a bit. It's easy with a cloner - if you have a failure you can make a modification and take another cutting any time. Perlite may be nice (small chunk) although you may find a wick is needed.
Orchid bark may be a good medium as well.
The great thing about coco is you put your clones in and ignore them. Make sure they have an inch or so of water and come back in a week to check for roots. BTW, a penny on the end of a pencil or length of dowel works well as a tool to use to push a clone out of the tube. Of course if you use perlite they are not going to extract from the tube as nicely as they will if you had used coco instead.
Orchid bark may be a good medium as well.
The great thing about coco is you put your clones in and ignore them. Make sure they have an inch or so of water and come back in a week to check for roots. BTW, a penny on the end of a pencil or length of dowel works well as a tool to use to push a clone out of the tube. Of course if you use perlite they are not going to extract from the tube as nicely as they will if you had used coco instead.
Just checking in on ya Slimm. Show us some roots from one of the clones when done if you don't mind.
peaceandharmo
New Member
Thanks for dropping in TW.
- Thread starter
- #50
Frankly I have not paid any attention to them because I have no real clone stock. I have been pruning weak growth and to my knowledge, growing flower tops are not very strong in rooting hormones. I have not seen roots come out the bottom, maybe I should hit them with a little Super Thrive?
I will check them today and post pics if there are any.
Hey slimm 
I really like this journal and your style.
Lots of great tips and you experiment and tweak things.
How are the slimm buckets working out?
I really like this journal and your style.
Lots of great tips and you experiment and tweak things.
How are the slimm buckets working out?
- Thread starter
- #52
Thanks SS - I appreciate that. The two little buckets are doing fine. The poor little plants - I just threw them in those pots and splashed some GH full strength nutes now and then; they were pretty unhappy for a while. Since I switched to the time release nutes a week ago they have been recovering and are just beginning to take off. From here on out its just plain water for those two plants.
Everything is humming along in my garden so its time to make some changes. I am going to attempt to hang my three LED panels as side lights along the outside of the vertical so there will be light coming at the plants from all sides. With the two 400w CMH bulbs and the LED panels the total wattage will be just under 1200w for a 4x4 table with 8 plants. The lights are just collecting dust and the plants could use an extra 375 watts so why not. I do not know if this will push the temps up too high. If so it may have to wait until I get the heat exchanger built - probably over the next week. Hmm, I should probably take a spark plug to my panels...
Everything is humming along in my garden so its time to make some changes. I am going to attempt to hang my three LED panels as side lights along the outside of the vertical so there will be light coming at the plants from all sides. With the two 400w CMH bulbs and the LED panels the total wattage will be just under 1200w for a 4x4 table with 8 plants. The lights are just collecting dust and the plants could use an extra 375 watts so why not. I do not know if this will push the temps up too high. If so it may have to wait until I get the heat exchanger built - probably over the next week. Hmm, I should probably take a spark plug to my panels...
- Thread starter
- #53
Week 3 of Flowering
I made the push rod and used it on one of the clones. The bottom of the plug fell off because there were no roots to hold it. Four root tips can be seen in the plug.
After a rinse nice white roots can be seen. As I said, the only thing I have done with this cloner, other than shove cuts into it, is top off the res twice and splash a little H2O2 in there each day. Simple, no timer, pump, electricity or dead clones.
At week 3 more buds are showing up, trichomes are beginning to appear, the tallest of the plants is 18 inches. I'm wondering if they will continue to stretch - I have no idea how to tell. I have found the balance point for these fussy ladies at 80% of the 6/9 formula. If I feed them less they look hungry and if I feed them more then complain. I am keeping the ph between 5.7 and 5.8 and adding some CaMg+ and a bit of epsom. I will probably drop the CaMg+ and reduce the epsom as soon as signs of the Mg def is gone. It really is taking some time for this to clear up - it's been two weeks now. Anyone know if it is typical to take a two or three weeks to resolve an Mg def?
Here are my two indicas (freebies Sharksbreath and LA Woman) in experimental buckets with time release nutrients. Th Sharksbreath is starting to take off.
Th LA Woman still has not gotten over receiving full strength nutes from the get go.
They both seem to approve of the TR nutes.
I made the push rod and used it on one of the clones. The bottom of the plug fell off because there were no roots to hold it. Four root tips can be seen in the plug.
After a rinse nice white roots can be seen. As I said, the only thing I have done with this cloner, other than shove cuts into it, is top off the res twice and splash a little H2O2 in there each day. Simple, no timer, pump, electricity or dead clones.
At week 3 more buds are showing up, trichomes are beginning to appear, the tallest of the plants is 18 inches. I'm wondering if they will continue to stretch - I have no idea how to tell. I have found the balance point for these fussy ladies at 80% of the 6/9 formula. If I feed them less they look hungry and if I feed them more then complain. I am keeping the ph between 5.7 and 5.8 and adding some CaMg+ and a bit of epsom. I will probably drop the CaMg+ and reduce the epsom as soon as signs of the Mg def is gone. It really is taking some time for this to clear up - it's been two weeks now. Anyone know if it is typical to take a two or three weeks to resolve an Mg def?
Here are my two indicas (freebies Sharksbreath and LA Woman) in experimental buckets with time release nutrients. Th Sharksbreath is starting to take off.
Th LA Woman still has not gotten over receiving full strength nutes from the get go.
They both seem to approve of the TR nutes.
When you water the TR plants, does having the TR nutes in the tray complicate things at all? Do you switch to a separate tray for watering or just keep them in the same one?
usul
New Member
Hey Slimm, just found your journal and am liking your style 
What you say makes sense and you are using techiques new to me so I am sure to learn a lot.
Keep up the great work and thanks for your contributions. I'm subscribed
What you say makes sense and you are using techiques new to me so I am sure to learn a lot.Keep up the great work and thanks for your contributions. I'm subscribed
crypiter
New Member
Thanks for the pix and the update Slim. Good to see some new people dropping by too. A couple mentioned liking your "style" and I agree. Wish I could answer your Mg def time frame question. All the ladies are lookn pretty good anyway. Cant wait to try out the cloner your using. As I said before I went and got the supplies just waiting for the right time to clone. Amazing how you could drop a pretty penny on things like an ez cloner or just spend $3.22 on an ice tray and get practically the same results. Stayn tuned in and see ya around the Hempy thread as well.- Thread starter
- #57
The nutes are sitting in the tray beneath the pot so there is no complication there. I pour water into the tray between the lip of the tray and the pot until the level rises to near the top of the tray - no top watering.
You can feel the water level in the pot by placing you hand on the outside of the pot and feeling the dampness. The wicking action of the medium pulls the water and nutes right up to the top of the pot. This should encourage development of lots of air roots.
Hey Slimm, just found your journal and am liking your style
Keep up the great work and thanks for your contributions. I'm subscribed
Thanks guys.
Green Utopia
New Member
Great Update. So much good stuff in the last page or two I feel like I should have lots to comment on. But I don't. So props. Great stuff. Thanks. And now back to lurking...
Do you think that you get less oxygen to the roots from just bottom watering, since with the water wicking up you don't get the air being pulled down into the medium like you do with top watering?
I've been looking at easy2grow's autopots for a while now, and they are a really good solution for being able to leave town, but in one comparison study, the yield from them was about 1/3 down from conventional pots and it was attributed to the bottom watering design.
I'm not convinced, but thought I'd bounce it off you.
- Thread starter
- #60
I know very little about autopots except that they use a float valve to top off the solution in the pot. I'm not topping off in in the same way. I water once or twice a day and am getting runoff as a result of the plants being forced new solution rather than waiting for them to need new solution as the autopot does. Bottom watering is used in an ebb and flow style system - I wonder if those systems also known for low yield?
From what I have read, bottom watering with loose, well wicking media encourages air root development. Air roots are the roots with many small "hairs" that give them the characteristic "fish bone" look as opposed to water roots which look more like spaghetti. Aeroponics usually result in lots of air roots while a method like NFT results in more water roots. The perlite / coco medium is doing a great job of wicking up the new solution up to the top while maintaining lots of air - this is what I believe produces lots of air roots. The roots are being trained to drink and breath at the same time.
More frequent watering (as opposed to on-demand) has another possible benefit. I water with my solution ph'ed to 5.8. It tends to drift up to around 6.1 in the media. My understanding is that during this drift through the ph range, different nutrients are being made available to the plant at different ph levels.
Also, I have to water the slim pots from the bottom since the nutrients are in the tray. Top watering would effectively be a flush for the top 2/3 of the media. If we prove that bottom watering is inferior I could put the nutrients in some kind of porous material on top of the media and top water.
I would be curious to know the media and nutrients used in the autopot grows that produced low yields. I think some side-by-side grows of these techniques are needed to understand the truth here. I'm not really set up for that experiment right now - soon though. Great information and questions, SS, keep them coming. I'm totally open to changing the way I do things based on what we learn.
From what I have read, bottom watering with loose, well wicking media encourages air root development. Air roots are the roots with many small "hairs" that give them the characteristic "fish bone" look as opposed to water roots which look more like spaghetti. Aeroponics usually result in lots of air roots while a method like NFT results in more water roots. The perlite / coco medium is doing a great job of wicking up the new solution up to the top while maintaining lots of air - this is what I believe produces lots of air roots. The roots are being trained to drink and breath at the same time.
More frequent watering (as opposed to on-demand) has another possible benefit. I water with my solution ph'ed to 5.8. It tends to drift up to around 6.1 in the media. My understanding is that during this drift through the ph range, different nutrients are being made available to the plant at different ph levels.
Also, I have to water the slim pots from the bottom since the nutrients are in the tray. Top watering would effectively be a flush for the top 2/3 of the media. If we prove that bottom watering is inferior I could put the nutrients in some kind of porous material on top of the media and top water.
I would be curious to know the media and nutrients used in the autopot grows that produced low yields. I think some side-by-side grows of these techniques are needed to understand the truth here. I'm not really set up for that experiment right now - soon though. Great information and questions, SS, keep them coming. I'm totally open to changing the way I do things based on what we learn.