THC Bomb & WW/Skunk - CFL Hood/Veg HPS/Flower

[AfricanGrower]

Looking good in here Sky

>>> Currently, the res pulls to 6.1 and I adjust down to the high 5 range at least once a day.

I would try not to adjust the pH any more than once a day. I let my pH drift up to 6.4-6.5 before I think about adjusting.

>>> Should I use the tea as a flush and Ph stabilizer or should I just add enough to begin run off then stop adding?

I would add enough to begin runoff. I don't know if the tea can be used as a flush on its own, but Capn, please step in otherwise.

 

[Skybound]

Well, by flush I just meant b/c it don't have any salts so using it to wash out some of the salts built up in the rock wool. I just sent about 200 ml through and the pH of the tea was 5.2.

 

[AfricanGrower]

I found that when implementing the Ebb&Flow, this is usually when salts build up since it floods to a specific level and never past that. I was getting some slight burns and uneven nutrient distribution among the canopy because of this. But since you are using a top feed, all the built up salts will mostly get drained out with with the runoff.

 

[s1ingblade]

High There Sky
Wanted to stop by and personally invite you and your subscribers to my new journal
4000 Watt Top-Feed Rec Grow Cubes Cap'n Style OG Kush
Hope to see you all there
ps Im glad you made the choice you did.

 

[Skybound]

Thanks for the invite S1ing, I'll be right over to subscribe!

 

[Skybound]

After doing a little reading in some of the MSDS reports for some of the General Hydroponics frequently used products, it seems that GH Flora Blend would make the best supplemental pH Down as the pH of the solution in the bottle is at 2.8-3.0.

---------------pH values of solution in the bottle---------
pH Down ---- 1.2
Flora Blend -- 2.8-3.0
CaMg -------- 4.5 (+/- 0.5)
CaliMagic ---- N/A
Flora Gro ---- 3.5
Flora Micro -- 5.8
Flora Bloom - 3.5

By comparison, the Flora Blend makes for the best pH down supplement and is already a part of many grower's regimens. Assuming the NPK balances aren't interrupted, maybe double the amount of drops you would normally use would bring your pH levels to right where you want them to be. I gotta check out the Rock Nutrients MSDS reports and of course Flora Blend has already been on the wish list.

I also found out that my CaMg has added molasses and sugar. Wasn't overly happy about that as I've read that adding sugars into the medium or res feeds all bacteria, both good and bad. when adding molasses to a compost tea, this will feed beneficial bacteria only, so by the time the bennies are at their peak population and performance, they should have already consumed most of the molasses (sugars) that is in the brew and whatever little bit is unconsumed wont matter b/c the bennies are gonna whoop the asses of the "baddies" 11 times out of 10. I will be shopping a little more carefully now and will try to find a replacement product w/o sugars for when I am rich and famous again.

Till then, you have an enjoyable couch locked evening!

 

[AfricanGrower]

>>>I also found out that my CaMg has added molasses and sugar.

Is this the General Organics (General Hydroponics Organic Line) CaMg? If so, this might explain why my res quickly develops a film of bacteria and might also attribute to my pH swings. I add 5ml of CaMg per gallon.

+Reps for your research Sky. Damn I really overlooked all of this.

 

[Skybound]

Yes, General Organics

 

[AfricanGrower]

Cool, so I know that the sugars in my CaMg are feeding the bad bacteria as well as the good bacteria in my res. That is why when I isolated my res from recirculating the bacteria from the medium, the pH remained stable. So I need to find a more pure concentrate of CaMg without any additional feed for my bacteria, good or bad.

 

[Skybound]

General Hydroponics – Grow indoor. Grow outdoor. Grow with us.

GENERAL HYDROPONICS: Products

Don't you already mix your calmag in your tea? I was just thinking that'd be a good way (if it don't disrupt the bacteria population) to get those sugars consumed first in a friendly environment, then added to the res that way? If Capn and other seasoned compost tea users can comment about this, that would be sweet b/c I want to provide the best grow environment that I can with what I have.

Also am treating what I believe to be beginning stages of K deficiency (potassium) with a non invasive treatment. My leaves have shown curled down leaf tips and margins have become a tad gnarled, random deadish spots started to appear here and there as well. Nothing to get worried about, but was just a queue from the plant letting me know that something may be off. My approach to treat this is to alter the environment to help the plant by stop hurting it. Some research last night somewhere in the grower forums and I found an old thread from one of the moderators (can't remember which thread) and it said if the room has low RH in veg, I can almost bet I will have problems with K def. So I put some tap water in a soda bottle, ran some air hose through the lid and wrapped the bottle with a heat mat. RH went up over 10% over night. Now this plant will no longer over sweat to balance moisture levels in an arid environment.

Another thing I'd like to add to the discussion is can the contents of a reservoir be calculated with information that is in the products MSDS sheets? Like can I know what my pH would be of my res after tallying all the p.H levels of the nutrients and amendments I use to determin what the natural pH of the res should be once all mixed up? I think this might be a small, but helpful piece of knowledge to know when dealing with the normal issues that frequently arise. Also might be helpful if the NPK ratios can be added together to better understand these elemental usage at different stages of plant growth.

Questions;

1) Can calmag be added to Heisenberg Tea and introduced into the res this way?
2) Can pH and NPK ratios be calculated from information in MSDS reports to better equip growers in dealing with deficiency or lockouts?
3) Can this info be used to identify environmental flaws?

 

[AfricanGrower]

>>> 1) Can calmag be added to Heisenberg Tea and introduced into the res this way?

I used to add the CaMg to my tea, but if I remember correctly, the Capn advised against me doing this a while back, in which I stopped. But now knowing what it contains, this might be a valid approach. But if I refrain from adding CaMg to my usual nutrient mix, and only add it to my tea that I feed weekly, I would think a CaMg related deficiency might break out. Unless I feed tea biweekly or more in order to get the required dosage of CaMg into the rootzone.

I know used to put 15ml/gal of this same CaMg in my humidifier in hopes the plant absorbing the elements through the humidity, but I have no conclusive evidence that it worked or not.

I'm quite unsure about this subject too. AS I don't have answers to the other two questions, I would also like an experienced grower to step into this conversation

BTW, I just put together a few articles from research and posts I have scattered around the forum in MY BLOG

 

[TheCapn]

Lots to catch up on here... Sky, your plant is looking good. Remind me a again, was this a FEM seed or regular? Those lower branches should catch up and produce buds if you let the plant go as it is. You could introduce to 12/12 any time. A PPM increase of 10-20 isn't enough to consider, but if the PPM increases by more than 50, then you're PPM may be a little too high. But it sounds and LOOKS to me you have it just right. Leaves are nice a green.

AG, I will check out your blog soon. Looking fwd to it.

Sky, good find in the general organics camg. It makes sense that the "organics" camg would have sugars in it. I only use the botanicare calmag or Gen hydro cali magic. I don't believe these two have sugars in them. Are you guys using the general organics camg? If so, I'm sure it won't hurt when growing in a medium like we are, and using beneficials. I'm still not a fan of using it in the tea, since it raises PPM, and the mycos are not a fan of salts. If the PH of your tea is too high after following the recipe, I would be more inclined to use a few ml of the florablend to lower the PH a bit. It's good to "aim" your PH of the tea as the same PH of your res, in order to not shock the microbes too much, but not at the expense of killing microbes with chemicals. It's really not necessary to adjust the PH of the tea unless it is way off.

>>>it seems that GH Flora Blend would make the best supplemental pH Down

Also good find on the florablend. I was just "guessing" when I was telling AG about it helping as a PH down.

Foliar spray - it's worth a try. I use the dutch master liquid light. It is insanely expensive. It DOES make a difference but certainly isn't necessary. If I didn't use the DM liquid light, I would use florablend, at about 4ml/quart. Be sure to use distilled water so no minerals get left behind on leaves.

>>>1) Can calmag be added to Heisenberg Tea and introduced into the res this way?
I wouldn't use any calcium / magnesium product in the tea. It might not hurt, but there's no reason to use it in the tea. I wouldn't use the general ORGANICS camg unless you're in coco or dirt. If you're using tap water, add it at to the tap water and stop when you've increased the tap water PPM by 100. If you're using RO or distilled water, add it to the water until it's around 150-200ppm.

>>>2) Can pH and NPK ratios be calculated from information in MSDS reports to better equip growers in dealing with deficiency or lockouts?
I don't wear a white lab coat, and I have no bunsen burners in my basement. I try not to make it too complicated. A good rule of thumb is to follow the vendor's nutrient calculator, and then dilute to your desired PPM, depending on your grow method.

3) Can this info be used to identify environmental flaws?
huh?

 

[Skybound]

When dialing in one's regimen, if the grower can identify that the res is well balanced and all that, but yet the plant is still showing signs of deficiency, the grower can then begin to isolate the reason why the plant is showing signs of deficiency or lock out. Last night, when trying to figure out first what deficiency (beginning stages of) I was seeing here and there on the leaf edges, I found a thread somewhere on here that said if the room RH is too low, a K def will likely occur. Don't know about other deficiencies, but I thought it peculiar that the environment (not the medium of res) could cause a def. I applied a non altering treatment by simply adding more moisture to the air around the plant. I will observe for the next few days to see if leaf edges get better or worse. Knowing at least the PPM of the res and pH and temp helped me to lean towards the conclusion that maybe the res was not causing these symptoms.

AG, I have subbed and will read your blogs in a bit.

Cap'n, what's your take then on adding Aqua Shield to the res? I think you advised against this once before, but in light of my current situation of having a bottle of General Organic CaMg with 10% fermented molasses and 2.5% Cane Sugar, I'm thinking adding Aqua Shield to keep an army of bennies in the res to devour these sugars before the baddies get to them might give more legitimacy for adding it. Otherwise, I would have to continue using the CaMg and hope no baddies exist in the root zone b/c a weekly supply of sugar will be coming until I can get my hands on another product which might still be some time yet.

AG, I applaud your out of the box thinking for adding calmag to your humidifier. That would definitely appear to be a non invasive way to foliar feed w/o using a spray. I really wished that had worked out for you. Not that I have a humidifier, that would none the less have aided growers the world over.

On a side note, I know I am a bit wordy and way too analytical, but that's who I am. When I learned myself the guitar, I really got deep into musical theory, strum patterns, arpegiations, finger picking, rhythm, bass line, soloing, scales and modes, vocals, drums etc before I could dial that back and just feel the groove and settle in it. I took music far from the soul of it and into the mechanics of it, but the knowledge gained there helped e find my way back to the soul of the music and have a better understanding of why a particular style of playing appeals to me more than others. The wordiness comes from personal study to develop communication skills.

 

[AfricanGrower]

On a side note, I know I am a bit wordy and way too analytical, but that's who I am. When I learned myself the guitar, I really got deep into musical theory, strum patterns, arpegiations, finger picking, rhythm, bass line, soloing, scales and modes, vocals, drums etc before I could dial that back and just feel the groove and settle in it. I took music far from the soul of it and into the mechanics of it, but the knowledge gained there helped e find my way back to the soul of the music and have a better understanding of why a particular style of playing appeals to me more than others. The wordiness comes from personal study to develop communication skills.

It's funny...I took the exact opposite route you did with the guitar. Music theory is so fascinating now that I am at the cusp of understanding it

 

[Skybound]

Update 11/17 Week 03 (30)/VD16;

Res change and brewing new Heisenberg's Compost tea. To determine why my teas keep getting too acidic, I first added a gallon of distilled water and aerated for 15 minutes. I then added an ingredient, aerated for 15 minutes and checked the pH of the tea as I went. Below are my findings;
1 gallon of distilled water ----------------- 6.9
5 ml Aqua Shield -------------------------- 6.7
6.5 TBSP Ancient Forest ------------------ 6.2
1/5 teaspoon Great White----------------- 5.7
0.6 teaspoon Grandma's Molasses (3ml)- 5.7

So at this time, the pH of my tea is in optimal pH range for the grow. I will monitor for the pH drop and note when to see if I can figure out why my mix is so special.

Also, after some recent discoveries, I've found my CaMg amendment to be high in sugars which can be harmful is roots develop any symptoms of slime as those sugars would then feed all bacteria present which can lead to bad news. So I elected to add some aqua shiled into the res with the CaMg before adding anything else. My thinking is that the bennies in the Aqua Shield will feed off as much of those sugars as they can get in the 30 minutes I'm giving it, then I will add the Flora 3 part nutrients and see if there's room left in my PPM range to add some silica and use it to adjust pH. I will also be slightly increasing the PPMs so my "part" for this res change will equate to 1.25ml. So after a 3-2-1 of grow micro bloom, each will have been given 3.75 - 2.50 - 1.25ml of the respective nutrient. Hopefully the care package that I await arrives tomorrow so I can transplant. Because this solo cup has had holes poked in the side, the roots won't make it to the sides to indicate root bound. I inspected the roots again, and they are reaching as far as they can till being air pruned. So I am confident that every cube has been attached to the root ball and is ready to transplant to this 6" 1 gallon pot.

 

[TheCapn]

Cap'n, what's your take then on adding Aqua Shield to the res?

On a side note, I know I am a bit wordy and way too analytical, but that's who I am. When I learned myself the guitar, I really got deep into musical theory, strum patterns, arpegiations, finger picking, rhythm, bass line, soloing, scales and modes, vocals, drums etc before I could dial that back and just feel the groove and settle in it. I took music far from the soul of it and into the mechanics of it, but the knowledge gained there helped e find my way back to the soul of the music and have a better understanding of why a particular style of playing appeals to me more than others.

Sky, there's nothing wrong with adding aquashield or any other beneficials to the res, as long as you have an air stone going in there. However, it's not as effective as the tea, and the tea is all you need. The tiny bit of sugars in your organic camg is nothing to worry about, since you are using the tea once a week. In fact, you are probably keeping the bennies going a bit longer by using it. But knowing there are sugars in your camg, I would use an air stone either way (I think you do already). Next time, I would grab the non organic version, but your plant is doing well, and I'm 100% sure your roots are as white as my eyes. So no need to change it now.

I play guitar too. When we getting together to "JAM"?

Sky you can be StrongBad, I'll be the cheat, and AG is StrongMad (on bass).

 

[AfricanGrower]

I play guitar too. When we getting together to "JAM"?

Sky you can be StrongBad, I'll be the cheat, and AG is StrongMad (on bass).

[video=youtube;MvfUl8c_LjI]

[/video]

hahahahahahahahahahaha

 

[Skybound]

Last week, I actually upped the dose of bennies to twice a week since I found I can refrigerate. I added the AS purely to consume those sugars. I think that'll do the trick. Also measured the tea this morning and it is 5.7. The only difference in this tea vs previous batches was that I weighed the portions of mycorrhizae as opposed to pouring out an even scoop and chopping the pile into 5 equal(ish) piles and using one. I wonder if that will make the difference. As of now, I have 2 airstones running off one pump and neither is aerating as much as I want. When the tea is done, I will dump all the air into the res. I expect an air pump in my care package so I will likely be able to aerate each res with a dedicated air pump in a few hours, and hopefully tonight I can transplant to the larger pot.

Edit, I also plan to reveal the identity (screen name only) of the kind individual that reached out to me, but not until the package has arrived. Man I'm counting the seconds till it gets here (hopefully today)!

 

[Skybound]

Another update. I transplanted the WW/Sk#1 into a 6" 1 gallon pot that The Capn so graciously donated to a starving grower down on his luck. Also in the box of gifted goodies from The Capn was a garbage bag full of Grodan Grow Cubes, an air pump, a water pump that can be submersed or ran inline, an arsenal of "Rock" nutrients, some PC fans (that my closet is in dire need of), some cloning cubes, a feeder manifold with fittings, some stuff called Open Sesame and some other plumbing parts. First off, Capn, by putting yourself on the line to help a guy that you don't personally know speaks volumes of your character and adds tremendous levels of respect I have for your opinions regarding your teachings.

The transplant was easy and the roots were way more developed than I originally thought. There was a bit of coloration to the roots, but this is likely due to having such a shallow cup to root in and sitting in the salts on the bottom of the cup as residue is all over the underside. Also to note, there was no slime that I could tell. After I got the plant repotted and settled in good, I added some hydroton back to cover the top, but the plant will shade the medium enough (I think) to prevent algae. I hope when I open the closet tomorrow to find all the leaves standing at attention and a little stretch would be a nice discovery also. Being root bound in such a small cup has noticeably slowed growth rates. Hopefully this TP will fix that.

The pH of the tea is currently a perfect 5.8 and will reach the 36 hour mark is about 12 more hours.

The pics;

 

[s1ingblade]

Looking good sky, glad to see your on your way to some guaranteed meds, is that plant from a regular seed or a female seed.
I'm going to do my best to stop by and say high more often
Feel free to pm me anytime as I might be easier to get ahold of that way.
Reps for hanging in there