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

Solenoid Dosing Valves | Pure Hydroponics - New Zealand?s best hydroponic suppliers and consultants

Finally found it. Also found out Hanna makes these systems which are pricey, but if one were tasked to manage a semi large project from an internet connection, I suppose the price tag might be worth every penny. All other facets of an indoor grow, save for pruning and plant handling, can be automated or manually controlled via a smart phone and internet connection, and the last facet could be remotely controlled if one had the means to acquire some robotics. Germ some beans, plant into media, then return in 4 months to collect the harvest. That would be awesome!
 
Flower day 53 (1/2 way into week 8), alive day 103,

I topped up her res last night with 750ppm nutrient and leveled off pH with 1.5ml of PH DOWN. Also removed 2 small branches to sample her fruit in a few days, but when looking over her tric colors, I saw a better percentage of milky trics to clear so a flush is in her future. Also was able to sneak in just before lights on to get a good look at her color and overall well being under 6,500k CFLs that are in the main closet and got a few pics. In spite of being as close as 5" from leaf tip to bulb at times, she is handling herself well being so close to the heat. I am LSTing her as best I can to stay safe, but the most troublesome colas are right nearest the center or smallest part of the cabinet. Her lowest shoot has the largest cola and it would otherwise point right into the wall, but I have it tied so tight that it parallels her main trunk till about twice it's height (because main was topped), then it kind of bends over across that split towards the front of the cabinet, then up in a more gradual bend till I have it tied right behind the hinge. This site I believe to be 16"+. The opposing bottom is also large, just not as large. Last night I counted 23, maybe 24 tops of varying length. My guesstimate of 2-3@15"+ stands, maybe 4-5@12", 4-5@8" and the rest smaller. There's an ass load of nugs in there for such a small space. With each passing day, I grow more excited!

I plan to start an RO flush very soon, but will wait for the first sightings of amber trichomes to begin that. Capn explained that the cubes hold nutrients well so if I hit them with a nice blast of 0 PPM RO water, this wash out will actually raise my PPM in the 250 range which I have read is an ideal spot. Then another RO blast to further dilute those concentrations will force her to ingest a little bit of built up elements in her leaves and buds which I understand lends to a much better flavor when smoked and also helps to burn more efficiently that leaves behind a nice white ash.

At the moment, I am thinking to leave behind a small nug to try and force her to hermie and self pollinate, but I may change my mind on that. I am also planning to wash at least half of the harvest in accordance with DocBud's recipe outlined on Hiker's Bud Washing thread. The reason I want to wash is because I smoke a lot of cigs, and with my closet being adjoined to my room, she is exposed to at least some of that 2nd hand smoke and I'd like to remove as much of that as possible. I was told most of it will absorb into the bud, and I have to live with that, but there's is always a fresh layer of that nastiness on her and I want as much removed as possible. All growers that have tried these techniques refuse to go back to not washing, so I gotta see for myself why because reading one's description of a flavor is nowhere near as enjoyable as tasing it yourself!

On another note, I am happy to share that I got a new job, well one that I honorably parted ways with in the past, so between harvest, tax season and a paycheck coming very soon, I will once again have a bit of peace of mind by repaying all what was loaned to me from people. If there's any left over, I plan to reinvest where needed.

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Above is her 2nd or 3rd largest cola

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Above is a broad view of her tops

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Above, if you can imagine it, I have my hand extended below her canopy with my fingers touching where her largest cola starts, just above her FLUX, and is the cola that I have treated the cruelest with "LST" just to manage her height in this small space. The purpose of the increased font and hyperlink to LA's journal is to spread awareness of a fellow 420er's battle with individuals trying to steal the wind from his sails. As a student of The Capn, I can clearly say that The Capn did not invent growing top feed in rock wool, but in my opinion he is the one that perfected it to the point that his style can be easily reproduced by other less experienced growers such as myself. So to is the case with LA's FLUX techniques. It has been brought to LA's attention that this style of growing has been "attempted" in the past and all the credit was misplaced. I completely disagree due to the fact that past attempts at a style that apparently didn't produce well for this/these other grower(s), otherwise we'd all be reading about in archives on this and other forums. Also, to my knowledge LA did not see this in a magazine or internet thread and try to take it away from someone else. He just had an idea and ran with it and is bringing it into fruition by way of an expected large harvest.
 
Skybound said:
My air circulation unfortunately is not the best and there's little I can do to remedy it. I have since found via a Google search a product called DampRid which essentially is a cheap desiccant found at any big home improvement or the big department store for less than $10. It's supposed to be viable for 150-250 sq ft. Much more than I need but I'll look into getting some funds to get that. One of my concerns was that my large colas were crushing against each other further hindering air flow. I have since tied the larger colas to kind of float in between all surrounding flowers and hope for the best. I do have a minor leak where the catch basin meets the return line to the res. Necessity forced me to use a 90º threaded barb to conserve space and redirect runoff back to the res. I did have a cloth to catch the leakage but have since removed it. RH dropped a bit b/c of that, but not much though. Another reason I want RH to plummet is b/c I've read dry conditions help with trichome production. Don't know how true that is, but since I am wanting to prevent mold anyway, I figure that would be a no brainer if I can make it happen. I observe that I have 2 monster colas 15" long and soda can wide, these are hardening nice too. Not wanting my first harvest to spoil, of course I want to go well out of my way to try and dial in optimal grow environment.

I will look into getting that product you're using. I can see how it, combined with some other ideas I have can turn a grow into an almost completely hands free operation. If I had a nice bit of seed money, we do have the technology really to make a complete grow completely hands free, but that involves the use of a few web cams, a few robotic arms, some liquid metering devices used for taverns to measure out exact doses of a liquid and of course INSTEON for Android and WEMO for iPhone. Oh the pipe dreams I have, but hopefully in my future I get to play with all of these technologies. I suppose the email alert system could be in my nearer future than the robot arms, just gotta find some place better than where I am at.

Oh, I know it wouldn't work when using numbered pots, but what about syran wrapping the entire top of an air pot? All the way to the main stem I mean. This would definitely help to contain otherwise escaping moisture and with all the air holes on the side, air could be replaced via those. I'm looking to mitigate anything that lends to a bad environment when I recognize them.
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Maybe im missing something sky but the part about wrapping plastic around the air pot I would advise against it as the amount of air the medium and roots receive is the air pots strength. I must be missing something but maybe a nursery pot would be better for ya

Backpackin420 said:
Skybound looking good man! When it comes to trichome's from my experience I think it all depends on the strain of the plant and how long it takes to finish up. I usually pull mine around the 5% amber 95% milky and I love it like that!

My RO water comes out at around 5.8 -6.0 PH too and makes things sooo much easier. I have never really used distilled water, but I like my RO water much better than my tap.

If you are going to Drink RO water you need to put minerals back into the water after it is filtered. This aids in taste and also helps so the water by not stripping your body of the minerals already within. You can actually buy trace mineral drops that is designed for this!
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High back packin can ya pm me a link or name of that additive? Would love to know what the name and ingredients are, thanks!
Skybound said:
Solenoid Dosing Valves | Pure Hydroponics - New Zealand?s best hydroponic suppliers and consultants

Finally found it. Also found out Hanna makes these systems which are pricey, but if one were tasked to manage a semi large project from an internet connection, I suppose the price tag might be worth every penny. All other facets of an indoor grow, save for pruning and plant handling, can be automated or manually controlled via a smart phone and internet connection, and the last facet could be remotely controlled if one had the means to acquire some robotics. Germ some beans, plant into media, then return in 4 months to collect the harvest. That would be awesome!
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Man I wanna say thanks the URL's u posted are fantastic. Honestly think it will be a few before u could have a robot growing your medicine for ya but hey what do I know about robotics? Not much haha
Keep me posted on how your cutting edge stuff grows sky
Reps sky
 
what i was asking about wrapping was to possibly cover the top where the plant grows out of, but to leave the side holes exposed. That is no longer an issue as it was only a suggested possible remedy to deal with excessive humidity in my small space. i have since found that i was not getting good enough readings. i will keep up the pipe dream of one day growing 100% remotely via web feed, but that may take me a while to save up for all that. i bet a first attempt at a grow would be a hoot with that equipment.
 
Yeah make sure u send me a link to the web cam for that one.
Actually the dosing links were the ones I'd consider first for myself. I'd actually love to be able to adjust a dial and the desired amount of nutrients or additives whatever would stop coming out right at the exact ml i told it to. That one monitoring setup the cap'n has that alerts him once parameters he programmed are met, do you know of any that you can then push a button on your smart phone and it would dose? Ph down haha for me thats all it ever is never up.
The price diff between the two would be enough to hire someone to do it lol
I know you gotta be one proud papa about now, congrats in advance
 
One of the monster clones is off to the races! This was one of the bubbler survivors. The 2 that started in rock wool cubes both are still alive, but have yet to show vegetative growth.

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Anybody know what kind of bug this is? I chased him away, but expect he'll be back.
 
Here's an idea I've been playing with the last couple of days for a RDWC application which infuses the 1/2" feed line right into the 2" (or larger) return line. This may or may not be useful for a grower and to my knowledge hasn't been tested by someone else, but if the bulkhead creates a good enough seal through the 2" end caps, this might serve to help someone with possible plumbing issues and will definitely require less holes to be drilled or less Uniseals needed.

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TheCapn said:
Sky, nice drawing, but can you add arrows so we can see the direction of flow?
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Sorry Capn, I'm not aware of how the pump would be orientated in a given situation, but the flow directions would be opposite of each other (send/return). The diagram could be used for an under current situation as is, but the design could be halved to be used to make an over current system. I'm surprised not to see too many over current or however else it could be named setups. Didn't you find in your Dissolved Oxygen (DO) studies that splashing water absorbs as much (or more) DO than air stones? Perhaps this can be a method I try someday.

b.real said:
that's a stink bug.
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Good thing I didn't crush him because I chased him with needled nose pliers.
 
Awesome work going on over here as usual my friend. Also many thanks indeed for your post about my Fluxing. Your a true gent and a scholar! Many thanks for your gracious words. :)
 
Skybound said:
Here's an idea I've been playing with the last couple of days for a RDWC application which infuses the 1/2" feed line right into the 2" (or larger) return line. This may or may not be useful for a grower and to my knowledge hasn't been tested by someone else, but if the bulkhead creates a good enough seal through the 2" end caps, this might serve to help someone with possible plumbing issues and will definitely require less holes to be drilled or less Uniseals needed.

Pipe_in_Pipe_Design.JPG
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High sky,
Can u explain a little about the purpose of the design? Im into undercurrents and have built a couple. I can't wait to run my systems. Right before I assembled it I found out we were moving and stuff so it went in storage
 
This would limit the amount of through holes needed by one. So only a single hole needs to be cut in a reservoir and plumbing from both directions can be fed through it, one inside the other. Or at least the idea looks good to me so far ...
 
jaamzhow said:
that "stink bug" looks sinister the way he has his proboscis inserted he is probably sucking the life out.
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i find them in my room all the time in the winter looking for warmth my dad says. they are from china and brought over here by us
 
i hope not. the ones im talking about fly, i know they're beetles for sure. i hope that's not bedbud. i looked at bedbugs on google and they look this shape but more transparent
 
bed bugs are microscopic, or at least very small, this guy was the total opposite.
 
Also, yesterday I had the chance to compare my 1/2" bulkhead fitting against a piece of 2" PVC and as it turns out, the bulkhead will be too big to fit into a 2" cap. So, if I ever try to use this in a system, I will either have to try to cut the bulkhead to a smaller size or plan to use 3" PVC in that system instead of 2".

Aint R&D a blast!

Edit - I'm not viewing the above manifold idea as something that would be critical to a successful grow and quite frankly may prove to be too much effort for what could be gained b/c a plant will definitely not gain in performance or anything like that. I just sometimes get ideas, both good or bad and I'm the kind of guy that would rather share an idea with people in hopes that someone could make it better which is less work on me in the end.

Someone building a system like this might find running send and return lines to take up more space than one wants and might look into simplifying (or over complicating) the plumbing aspect. Because this application has the send line to be the one that is pressurize, feeding it through the larger diameter return line should not hinder the return of nutes to the control res as the return then only acts as a nexus for the water levels to stabilize itself. I'm thinking if the send portion is terminated just before the end of the return in each root chamber, water pressure would hinder the roots ability to grow into the return line. Though holes would need to be drilled on the underside of the return line to allow water to back fill into the return line as the water pressure the other way would either prohibit reentry, or just mix right at the point of convergence and render that site as a regular DWC with no flow.
 
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