TimHomeGrow FastBuds Autos In Soil

[InTheShed]

I'm debating about some top water but afraid to push the salts into the root zone. I'll think on this a bit more and see what happens with upping MC.

I'm confused about the reasoning for not top watering if you wanted to go that way. If you're bottom feeding through the wicks then the bottom is where the nutrients are if the tops aren't getting wet. Top watering will push the salts out of the soil and into the res rather than spreading it into the root zone, no?

 

[bluter]

oh shit forgot ! ... if you are passive wicking it helps to change the res out no later than every 3 days. ph can swing too far otherwise. likely runs shorter in flower.

 

[Timhomegrow]

I'm confused about the reasoning for not top watering if you wanted to go that way. If you're bottom feeding through the wicks then the bottom is where the nutrients are if the tops aren't getting wet. Top watering will push the salts out of the soil and into the res rather than spreading it into the root zone, no?

I'm not sure to be honest. I read some stuff online, stoner science perhaps, that say when bottom feeding the salt move up in the pot towards the top of the soil. Changing to top watering pushes them down to the root zone. But then I saw folks, using these bases, alternate top and bottom with no issue.

I decided to use Bluter's formula and top water about 1/2 gal. I'm thinking when I was gone for 9 days, they were only 10-12 days into the bottom.wicking and not very wet on the bottom 1/3 of the pots...just damp on the very bottom. while they drank all the water I'm thinking it wasn't enough at the time. The two older girls now.have soaked pots and a ton of roots sticking out. The younger one is just damp on the bottom but still.emptyimg the base.

Let's see if this works as this grow is all about trying something new

oh shit forgot ! ... if you are passive wicking it helps to change the res out no later than every 3 days. ph can swing too far otherwise. likely runs shorter in flower.

Yes thank you! The bases hold 2 gals, which I filled when I left on a trip. They drank it all and the external resviour refilled them which they also drank. They went a little dry and probably had wide.PH swings. I'm now only using 1 gal at a time in the base for that reason (and to adjust feed formula sooner)

 

[Timhomegrow]

I decided to start with sweet candy as hopefully it's a little more forgiving. I went with the following feed:

Orange sherbert (front left)
Was 5.75MC and 1ml Cla/mag...now 5.5MC, .5 SC, 1ml calmag

GSC: front right
Was 5.5MC 1ml calmag, now 5.25MC, .5 SC, 1ml calmag

Bluedream: back right and 2 weeks younger.
Was 5.25MC and 1ml callmag. Now 5g MC, .5 SC, calmag

Phosphorus deficiency starting on Bluedream....let's see if I can right the ship

group shot

Orange sherbert close up

GSC

Side shot

 

[Timhomegrow]

It's hard to tell, but I believe the phosphorus deficiency in Blue.Dream is spreading, although slowly. Granted, they only had one watering with Sweet Candy added.

In today's watering I went back up to 5.25MC along with .5 Sweet Candy.....and fed half up top and half in the bottom wicking base. With it not yet soaking the bottom of the pot through the wicks, like the two older plants are doing it I'm wondering of that may be an issue? Although, it is emptying the base every 2-3 days (1 gal total)....so she is drinking.

I took alot of pics to monitor the spread to other leaves. If it spreads in the next two days.....I may slurry test runoff and perhaps also flush the pot and see if that helps.

I'd really like to figure out this issue with MC. I've done better this time around but this early flower deficiency issue continues to plague me.

 

[bluter]

i see it alot with swick or autopot / passive self water systems. it's not really the MC.

edit : what is the ph doing and how do you adjust it throughout the day wk ?

 

[Timhomegrow]

i see it alot with swick or autopot / passive self water systems. it's not really the MC.

Phosphorus deficiency with sips?

I've always had issues with MC in early to mid flower when I hand watered on top. However, some.of this does look a little new/different. I may go back to top watering her since I'll be home for the rest of the grow.

 

[bluter]

Phosphorus deficiency with sips?

I've always had issues with MC in early to mid flower when I hand watered on top. However, some.of this does look a little new/different. I may go back to top watering her since I'll be home for the rest of the grow.

pretty certain it's ph throwing you a curveball which results in locking out and interfering with calmag and phos.


edit : you see it a fair bit in swick, and other passive self-water.

 

[Grand Daddy Black]

It's hard to tell, but I believe the phosphorus deficiency in Blue.Dream is spreading, although slowly. Granted, they only had one watering with Sweet Candy added.

In today's watering I went back up to 5.25MC along with .5 Sweet Candy.....and fed half up top and half in the bottom wicking base. With it not yet soaking the bottom of the pot through the wicks, like the two older plants are doing it I'm wondering of that may be an issue? Although, it is emptying the base every 2-3 days (1 gal total)....so she is drinking.

I took alot of pics to monitor the spread to other leaves. If it spreads in the next two days.....I may slurry test runoff and perhaps also flush the pot and see if that helps.

I'd really like to figure out this issue with MC. I've done better this time around but this early flower deficiency issue continues to plague me.

I wish I could offer some assistance, Tim. But I'm not the one for this issue. When I was using MC most of my issues arose in late flower but that was in watered soil not on swicks. I think the swicks bring their own set of issues, which I'm still trying to figure out.

Hopefully, your persistence in trying to get a handle on the problem pays off.

 

[Timhomegrow]

Sooner or later I'll get it dialed in. In the meantime I'll have ugly plants and good free bud

 

[InTheShed]

I believe the phosphorus deficiency in Blue.Dream is spreading

I don't think that's a phosphorus deficiency for a couple of reasons. First is plants don't need much P and there's plenty in MC. Also, a P def starts with a bluish tinge to the leaves which I'm not seeing in there.

Something to keep in mind is that too much P or K will lock out Ca.

Personally I'd pH slurry test and then flush to reset the soil and go from there depending on the pH results.

 

[Timhomegrow]

Day 60 above ground (Day 50 for Blue Dream)

taking @InTheShed advice, i did a slurry test today on Blue Dream.

Unfortunately, after performing the test, watering and putting the girls back into the tent i noticed crud stuck around the glass globe of the Ph pen (duuuh). Calibration was off with that crude so the below shows the false reading and possible accurate reading based on the % it was off when calibrating. (Actual 5% lower)

GSC, base filled yesterday at 6.1ph and was 6.5 today. So that means it was really 5.8 into the base yesterday and 6.2 today.

Blue Dream: base filled 48hrs ago at 6.1 and read 6.8 today. That means it was 5.8 when filled and drifted up to 6.4. Also means the top watering a few days ago was really 5.8ph

Slurry test on Blue Dream: topwater to run off with 6.3 (really 6), can came out as 5.9 (really 5.6).

Obviously now I'll have a correct reading on my Ph pen. Do I need to flush...or will upping the Ph on the next top water (tomorrow perhaps) with say 6.8 or 7 help to equalize soil Ph.?

Reading last night on GWE (don't want to post url but I think it's a respected site), Noah said one can up Ph to 7 to equalize soil....just curious if anyone here ever did that. Also, he wrote that it's good to vary Ph a little and not always Ph to say 6.4 (or whatever number). I had always PhD to the same spot, perhaps that has been my issue with many grows too. I'll change that moving forward and do 6.2-6.5 range.

Also did some cleaning of the bases and wicks for Blue Dream and GSC. I left Orange Sherbert alone as I want to test if I can leave it on the base through the entire grow. It hasnt been removed since 4/22. GSC had more roots....but honestly doesn't look bad at all.

GSC roots and pics:

Blue Dream roots and pics:
She's a beast at 31" tall and 31" wide

Blue Dream compared to GSC. And my now fiancee's junk in my grow room basement haha

Blue dreams and Orange Sherbert are nearly identical sizes...both the largest autos I've ever grown

Thanks @InTheShed and @bluter for the help. I have a Ph problem but also think the Sweet Candy is helping this grow and will certainly help in elevating my game for the next grow.

 

[InTheShed]

I'll never get over how clean the carpet is in your grow room!

Slurry test on Blue Dream: topwater to run off with 6.3 (really 6), can came out as 5.9 (really 5.6).

Just to be clear, a slurry test is done by taking soil from various places in the pot (I do the top and sides for the least root damage), mixing it with enough distilled (not RO) water to make a thick slurry, stirring it every 15 minutes for an hour, and then sticking a calibrated pH pen in the mix. It has nothing to do with runoff.

Also, pH is a logarithmic scale, so if your pen was off by .3 with the calibration liquid, it doesn't translate to .3 off across the board.

Lastly (and for the record), the pH of the water doesn't affect the pH of the soil. Soil buffers water pH. If it didn't, slurry testing wouldn't work.

 

[Timhomegrow]

I'll never get over how clean the carpet is in your grow room!

Just to be clear, a slurry test is done by taking soil from various places in the pot (I do the top and sides for the least root damage), mixing it with enough distilled (not RO) water to make a thick slurry, stirring it every 15 minutes for an hour, and then sticking a calibrated pH pen in the mix. It has nothing to do with runoff.

Also, pH is a logarithmic scale, so if your pen was off by .3 with the calibration liquid, it doesn't translate to .3 off across the board.

Lastly (and for the record), the pH of the water doesn't affect the pH of the soil. Soil buffers water pH. If it didn't, slurry testing wouldn't work.

Thank goodness I have clean carpet...doing g something right

As always, thanks for the education. Assuming I can use a metal spoon to just dig out some soil?

 

[InTheShed]

Sure. I usually slide a tablespoon down the outside edge of the pot facing the cloth and then rotate it in - cutting into the dirt - to get some from there. I do a few from the outside about halfway down and a few off the top inch and then make slurry from that.

 

[Timhomegrow]

Day 65 above ground, day 55 for Blue Dream

blue dream turned pretty quickly after a topwater with MC and SC. Thankfully she hasnt progressed. The kther two hit a similiar bump in the road at the same time. Ill figure out MC sooner or later

Good news, while they may look a little ugly....buds looks nice. As we used to say in my single days "good from far but for from good"

Orange sherbert:
Pistils are starting to turn amber. Buds feel nice and dense too. Hope they swell more in the next 2 weeks and I think they wil

Girl Scout Cookies is interesting. Her pistils have been thick and

"fuzzy" or creamy looking the entire grow and never saw this before. She smells amazing...I guess I just have some vanilla cream in my cookies? Ha

While they.are ugly, I'm pretty happy as I tried new things this grow and learned...sometimes learning what not to do.

What I learned:
1. Played more with DLI and seemed to have avoided issues of the past. Also my buds have had some good conical shape....perhaps related to DLI.
2. Did some SIP with a new wicking system. Pros and cons here but overall hard to dispute the size of these autos due to constant water availability.
3. Feel much closer to figuring g out MC. While I hit issues in early to mid flower again, I did much better in veg.
4. Learned it's probably not a great idea to top water with MC and SC with a PH pen out of whack....and then do it again the next day at the right PH
5. Learned to check Ph pen calibration periodically through the grow

 

[Grand Daddy Black]

Those are some nice plants despite the hiccup, Tim!

And you've learnt some good stuff.

 

[InTheShed]

They're going look great trimmed up at harvest without the troublesome fans! And I can tell you that after years of using MC I still haven't perfected flower yet.

 

[Timhomegrow]

day 71 above ground (61 days for Blue dream)

they may be a little ugly but the buds look good holding at 5.5mg and .5SC for Orange Sherbrrt and Girl Scout Cookie. Blue Dream is 5.5 MC

Orange sherbert is starting to flop open as her buds swell. I'm trying something new for now, no bamboo stakes, but trying the branches to the main trunk. With her pistils turning amber and curling in....not much longer. If this doesn't work I'll add bamboo...just tight getting in there.

GSC.

Blue dream

Tent smells amazing

 

[Timhomegrow]

Well, this is a first for me. Blue Dream, about 14 days behind the rest, is showing brown pistils. It's not from touching them as they are on every cola. It does look like growth of the buds has slowed too. She's drinking. I'm guessing whatever happened to her in early flower had a negative impact.