Top Drip Recirculating A La WaterFarm - 1 Pineapple Express - Scrogged - 400watt

[Scientific]

"Before" picture #1 looked really dense. I'm sure they're happier now.

> Sorry about the HPS camera hue in the pictures. When I have time I'll take some steps necessary to get better camera lighting.
On many digital cameras you can compensate by using a "white balance" setting.

Looking forward to how the buds grow and mature!

 

[eggzin]

Thank you Sci, I do have a white balance on my camera. I'll get some practice in and use it.

I, finally, just had a quick look at your journal in progress. I plan to scour it for needed info --mostly of the "don't know what I don't know" variety. Wow! Looking forward to observing the experiments....

 

[Scientific]

I, finally, just had a quick look at your journal in progress. I plan to scour it for needed info --mostly of the "don't know what I don't know" variety. Wow! Looking forward to observing the experiments....

Thanks. The journal is just about done as I finish up with two curing methods and two or three extraction methods.

 

[Dr Fish]

Followed Scottys thread on riu when it started.... It is the best waterfarm/scrog, show and tell thread out there, anywhere... Have been committed to waterfarming ever since... His thread sold me by the total time and yield... 11 oz, under 100 days from seed, 400 watts.....
When heat has been a problem for me, i switch to coco/perlite, but always use a scrog screen... 1 plant, one 315w cmh per waterfarm...
About time to get under her skirt and shave her legs....

 

[gidoux]

I like the set up man.

 

[gidoux]

Today I did the last defoliation.

As I said last week, the canopy is a bit uneven. Even if I bend, I'll still be covering some viable colas. I don't think I'd be gaining much anyway, because the defoliation has exposed the covered colas and my light is already relatively close to the tops being that I have good air movement in the closet. I'm going to leave well enough alone.

I've got one of my clones in another hydro top drip bucket --a replicated Water Farm. I lost/gave up on 2 of them, and this one I think I barely caught in time. I wasn't prepared for them and didn't really know how to proceed in terms of light, humidity, and nutes, so I severely stressed them. I had to school myself after I took the cuttings. I think this one is going to survive. I'll share more about that later.

Here are some before and after shots of the defoliation. It's surprising how much vegetation I removed and still its very leafy.

Sorry about the HPS camera hue in the pictures. When I have time I'll take some steps necessary to get better camera lighting.

Before

Before

After

Cola

Looking really nice.

 

[eggzin]

Followed Scottys thread on riu when it started.... It is the best waterfarm/scrog, show and tell thread out there, anywhere... Have been committed to waterfarming ever since... His thread sold me by the total time and yield... 11 oz, under 100 days from seed, 400 watts.....
When heat has been a problem for me, i switch to coco/perlite, but always use a scrog screen... 1 plant, one 315w cmh per waterfarm...
About time to get under her skirt and shave her legs....

Hey Dr. Fish --yes, I've re-read that thread many times. So you were there while it was happening?

I noticed your love of the Waterfarm and I have read three of your links already. I've learned a good deal from your posts and I thank you! I was unclear, in the Pimping thread, about the water column design and I'd love to pick your brain a bit.

I have to cut this post short --I've become very busy with work. Hopefully, it won't last so I can get back to the fun stuff But I'd love to get back to you...

 

[Scientific]

I have to cut this post short --I've become very busy with work.

Doood! Get your priorities straight!

 

[eggzin]

Thanks I needed that. I seem to have lost my way....

 

[eggzin]

Well, it's been two weeks since I've updated this journal. I've been pressed for time...

I had some pics from a week ago, but I culled them because there's not much difference in the size of the flowering plant. The clone ...well, that's another story.

I've included a photo from last week just to show a shot using the white balance setting on my camera. I went back to natural HPS light just because the white balance shot seemed a little unnatural.

Today is day 55 of 12/12. The advertised maturity time is between 53 and 62 days. I did a quick search and found that most growers needed to go at least 65 days. That puts me to at least next week or the week after. I do plan to flush before harvest. I'm going by braille here, not having any experience --I just know what I've read.

I'm not seeing very many darkening pistols --maybe one or two on a number of colas. I have a 10 power magnifier and that does not get close enough to see the trichomes very well. I need a better device. I'd like to get something decent and I'm torn between a jewelers loupe and some kind of USB device I can take pics with. There's only so much I can tell reading reviews and scouring Amazon, so if anyone has a recommendation for something I'd love to hear it. I guess all I really need is something with 25 power to see clearly enough.

I expected larger (thicker) colas than I have. There has been what I'd call modest growth in the last two weeks. So, I understand that root structure and light are the biggest determiner of size. My roots look great --nice and white and smell delicious . And, I believe I read that it's toward the end of flowering that they pack on the most. So either she's going to put out (as it were), or, perhaps my 400 watt HPS hasn't been strong enough. The 400 w MH was more than enough for veg, but I'm wondering if I can go to a 600 w HPS for flowering next time.

The other thought about size I've had is that maybe I've been too careful not to over-feed. My ppm's are in the neighborhood of 1050 to 1150 or so. I've carefully controlled the ph --always within .1 or .2 of 5.8.

Another thought --perhaps the nutrients have been being used up by the growth under the scrog and the top colas are not getting all they want. I have allowed flowers growing beneath the scrog to stay -the popcorn buds- and perhaps that has influenced the growth at the top.

I'd be grateful for any thoughts you guys have.

I've also included some progress shots of the clone. It's already outgrowing it's hastily made location. It needs to be scrogged real soon, but I can't do that until I move the plant to my main closet. So, for now, I'm using LST.

Here are some pics. I should have gotten some close-ups of the colas since I have asked questions about them, but alas...

todays canopy

Last week, with white balance adjustment

Back to this week

Last week clone shot --4 weeks from cutting

This week's clone shots --and this without reflective walls. I like the way clones grow!

Thanks much for your attention!

 

[Scientific]

Looking great!

I really like the shot of the understory. Cool that your got white balance to work.

If your plant is tolerating 4-digit nute concentration it must really be growing vigorously!

I used the macro setting on my "real" camera for closeups and could almost resolve the trichomes adequately, especially with the right lighting (bright side lighting). I ended up using a 12.5x microscope ocular turned around backwards. That worked well. You can also get cheap close-up attachment lenses for some cameras, by the way.

Looks like all is well!

 

[eggzin]

If your plant is tolerating 4-digit nute concentration it must really be growing vigorously!

Thanks Sci ...this tells me it is getting enough nutrition.

I appreciate your comment because I've been wondering for weeks why my plant has been doing so well on what I have assumed were low ppms. I measure ppm and ph every morning and usually the ppm has gone up each day. I've been striving to find the level at which the nute strength remains the same --doesn't climb or drop. And this means diluting the solution continually. So I end up with what I have assumed were low readings and still the ppm has risen by the next day. So it seems I can conclude that I can, in fact, drop the nutrient strength until the readings are more consistent from day to day.

I used the macro setting on my "real" camera for closeups and could almost resolve the trichomes adequately, especially with the right lighting (bright side lighting). I ended up using a 12.5x microscope ocular turned around backwards. That worked well. You can also get cheap close-up attachment lenses for some cameras, by the way.

Looks like all is well!

Ya, I saw one of your macro shots of cola trichomes and was impressed by the magnification. I will try to replicate that --I did try at one point but didn't really work at it. At one point I put a piece of white paper behind the cola and that backlight made the trichomes stand out much better. I'll give it some more effort.

The local hydro guy suggested the Active Eye phone microscope a few weeks ago, so I think I'll get one. They're really inexpensive (cheap, too).

Thanks Sci.

 

[Scientific]

The local hydro guy suggested the Active Eye phone microscope a few weeks ago, so I think I'll get one. They're really inexpensive (cheap, too).

I took a look. The Active Eye phone microscope at Amazon doesn't get very many stars, but it's cheap and might be just fine for scoping trichomes?

 

[eggzin]

Sci, I just ordered this USB item. I'd been looking at it a few weeks ago. Dino-Lite AM2111 USB Handheld Digital Microscope, Optical 10X-220X Magnification, Software for Windows/Mac/iOS/Android, Supports PC, Tablet, and Mobile Devices : Camera & Photo

And I grabbed this jewelers loupe as well: LED Magnifier Glass 30X 60X Jewelers Eye Loupe with Bright Light

I'll give ya a review when I get them....

 

[Scientific]

I like the fact that the loupe has built-in light. 30x ought to do it! You'll need a steady hand for both. (I thought of using some kind of tripod or support at one point but was too lazy to set it up.)

I'd like to hear about your results.

 

[eggzin]

Well, I just had to post this to prevent another poor fool from overlooking a fundamental rule: "If using a switchable ballast, be sure to switch it to the HPS setting when you install your HPS bulb."

I have just this minute made the switch --and I'm blinded by the light --literally --really. It turns out I've been running my HPS bulb at what looks to be 1/2 power. Gezus! All the light my plant hasn't been getting! Hummm, and me thinkin' I should get a 600 watt HPS....

Here I am in week 8 of flower and wondering why my colas look like girlie-men.

Well, let's see what we can squeeze out of the old lady in the final coupla weeks....

 

[Scientific]

Cool that you figured it out and I hope the girls enjoy the added energy.

 

[eggzin]

I haven't had a chance to update in two weeks.

Here's how the plant looked a few days before harvest:

View image in gallery​

I posed the question of readiness for harvesting in the FAQ section using these shots of some colas:

I also included shots from a USB microscope that I got. It's extremely hard to focus in when holding it close to a bud or leaf while it's on the plant. To get anything that was semi-focused, I had to pull material off the plant and set the piece on a flat surface. Even then it was a little troublesome. It's going to take some getting used to.

I decided to harvest on July 4. It is now drying. In my excitement, I forgot to weigh the plant before trimming.

Here I've cut the plant out of the scrog:

View image in gallery​

I think the mistake of running my HPS at half power cost me dearly. There were several consequences that I was curious about at the time, but weren't enough to clue me in. One consequence was that the stretch wasn't much of a stretch --all the talk about growth during stretch seemed overblown to me. Another consequence, having heard all the talk about nute levels during flower phase, was that the plant wasn't eating as much as I expected. Yet another was the fact that the colas didn't really pack on much weight in the last few weeks of flower --I was disappointed and thought I needed to get a higher wattage HPS rig. Well, at that point, I was starting to see the light...

I now understand these things because my clone, which is almost finished week one of the flower phase, is displaying all the traits I missed in the first grow. It is most definitely stretching, and I'm having to bump up the nute levels because ppm's are dropping --that never happened with plant #1. I'm hoping for forearm size colas in a few weeks.

View image in gallery​

A little on the paltry side, eh...? I mean, I'm not sour-grapes at all --this'll hold us for a while, but, oh what could've been!

Here's the clone that's doing so well. I tried to get it into flower sooner than the last time --too much growth before.

I've made some hardware changes. I built a cart to wheel the plant and reservoir out of the closet so I can work from all sides.

That's all for now. I'll post back in a few days when I get a dry weight.

 

[Scientific]

Congratulations!

 

[Dr Fish]

Too bad about the light, although it's a really great grow for a first time grower... For all you who got in late and missed the link in the first post... Go back and read it... It's the key to first time success with a waterfarm type grow..