PGA Caddie
Well-Known Member
Your setup is badass MV. What kinda lids are on those buckets?
Vortex's Lab: 4x4 Secondary Garden & Experimental Thread
- Thread starter multiVortex
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- #442
I ain’t gonna lie. She is turning out real nice. And with more cure than not to go... hold on.
Thanks! They’re floraflex matrix lids, and @Dutchman1990 introduced me to them. They’re pretty nice and work really well for this. Depending on where you shop, they’re around $3-$4 each. The drip rings for them are about $1.
I’ve been running a single bucket rig like this on a GDP since January and it’s worked out well so far. I’ve really been digging it so far on many levels, and really excited for this 4-bucket run.
PGA Caddie
Well-Known Member
I ain’t gonna lie. She is turning out real nice. And with more cure than not to go... hold on.
Thanks! They’re floraflex matrix lids, and @Dutchman1990 introduced me to them. They’re pretty nice and work really well for this. Depending on where you shop, they’re around $3-$4 each. The drip rings for them are about $1.
I’ve been running a single bucket rig like this on a GDP since January and it’s worked out well so far. I’ve really been digging it so far on many levels, and really excited for this 4-bucket run.
Your last harvest was impressive. Looking forward to watching your current grow
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- #444
You and me both.
Seriously though, I have a few bits of tinkering to do which I hope will begin to confirm to me a pattern I noticed with the last round of autos. After experiencing it, I did do some digging and found out I wasn't exactly going goofy just yet. I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes, and whether it can be consistently reproduced or if it was somewhat of a lucky fluke with the last bunch.
Looking good multi! Should push out some fire with the new 4bucket setup!
- Thread starter
- #446
Thanks Dutch! This is the automated fruition that started back when we were discussing the matrix trays. Well, here we go!
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- #448
Before...
And after...
Oh my....
All had enough stem past node 4 to make the cut.
Back left: Durban Poison (Dutch Passion)
Back right: Orange Bud
Front left: Night Queen (Dutch Passion)
Front right: Cream Cookies (Fast Buds)
Lights are at 24”, plants were getting 20k lumens until today when I bumped it to 25k. Planning to bump to 30k tomorrow, and 35k Tuesday. As long as everything looks fine, I plan to keep going 5k each day to the 50k mark. Getting them ready and light happy for the vegging coming on. Once I see preflowers I’ll work it up to full blast.
And after...
Oh my....
All had enough stem past node 4 to make the cut.
Back left: Durban Poison (Dutch Passion)
Back right: Orange Bud
Front left: Night Queen (Dutch Passion)
Front right: Cream Cookies (Fast Buds)
Lights are at 24”, plants were getting 20k lumens until today when I bumped it to 25k. Planning to bump to 30k tomorrow, and 35k Tuesday. As long as everything looks fine, I plan to keep going 5k each day to the 50k mark. Getting them ready and light happy for the vegging coming on. Once I see preflowers I’ll work it up to full blast.
- Thread starter
- #449
I’ll post some catch up pics later tonight, but for now, I’m not sure what to do with ol girl here.
She’s getting a tick of yellowing in places, new and old growth.
Kinda tough to see in the pics maybe. I was thinking maybe just hungry, but they’re already on 5g/gal (plus a minor N boost from calimagic).
It’s more yellow splotches here and there, between the leaf veins.
She’s getting a tick of yellowing in places, new and old growth.
Kinda tough to see in the pics maybe. I was thinking maybe just hungry, but they’re already on 5g/gal (plus a minor N boost from calimagic).
It’s more yellow splotches here and there, between the leaf veins.
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- #450
Today is day 31 (from seed poking up and out) for the grow. These pics are from the past week, post top.
They bounced back quite nicely from their topping, and were ready for their first experience with bondage...
Awwww yeah. Take it girls. Take the strapping you deserve....
Over the weekend I moved my Blue Lab Guardian off my RDWC to the Lab's res.
Yes, it's set to the 700 scale. Sue me.
Mix is a hair high this go around, but not all from nutes. Of the 15 gallons in the res/buckets, about 8 gal of that is tap water (at 350ppm on its own), plus 5ml/gal of calimagic. About 1000 of that number is MC, the rest is tap and the N from the calmag.
Why tap? WTF?
That's what was in my RO barrel, from the RDWC. I'd been using that tap ratio and taking advantage of the tap water wanting to creep the pH up. This counters the natural creeping down of the pH in the res during flower, and has been keeping it much more stable.
Chopping the last plant in there tonight and shutting er down. But that's another thread.
And this is after the 3rd round of bondage adjustment (well, 1 initial and then the 2nd adjustment I guess) Monday night.
They are bushing up pretty quick. I should have grabbed a before pic, but I'll be the first to admit I've been flaking off in the pic department lately. So much else is going on that the time I have in the garden seems a tick rushed.
The Durban in the back left is showing early signs of being a show-off. She's side branching like crazy, and is quickly starting to remind me of one of the last girls that did that. Can't say for sure, but she's certainly flaunting it right now. The Cream Cookies in the bottom right is bushing well too.
The Orange Bud is being a picky little attention whore. Not sure what her trip is, but it's been constant from sprout. First it was calmag, now I'm not sure. I've given her foliars of calmag, which helped. Now I'm thinking maybe I might have to mix up a little bit of nutes to give her in a spray too. (About 1g/gal, just a taste.)
Lighting in the pics is a bit off, and creating light/dark places where there aren't any. All leaves are solid, and just the right level of green. The orange bud aside, as noted previously. Even then most of her leaves are the right color as well. Just a few are bitching about whatever.
The Blue Dream in the RDWC did similar to me as well. Dunno why, really.
They bounced back quite nicely from their topping, and were ready for their first experience with bondage...
Awwww yeah. Take it girls. Take the strapping you deserve....
Over the weekend I moved my Blue Lab Guardian off my RDWC to the Lab's res.
Yes, it's set to the 700 scale. Sue me.
Mix is a hair high this go around, but not all from nutes. Of the 15 gallons in the res/buckets, about 8 gal of that is tap water (at 350ppm on its own), plus 5ml/gal of calimagic. About 1000 of that number is MC, the rest is tap and the N from the calmag.
Why tap? WTF?
That's what was in my RO barrel, from the RDWC. I'd been using that tap ratio and taking advantage of the tap water wanting to creep the pH up. This counters the natural creeping down of the pH in the res during flower, and has been keeping it much more stable.
Chopping the last plant in there tonight and shutting er down. But that's another thread.
And this is after the 3rd round of bondage adjustment (well, 1 initial and then the 2nd adjustment I guess) Monday night.
They are bushing up pretty quick. I should have grabbed a before pic, but I'll be the first to admit I've been flaking off in the pic department lately. So much else is going on that the time I have in the garden seems a tick rushed.
The Durban in the back left is showing early signs of being a show-off. She's side branching like crazy, and is quickly starting to remind me of one of the last girls that did that. Can't say for sure, but she's certainly flaunting it right now. The Cream Cookies in the bottom right is bushing well too.
The Orange Bud is being a picky little attention whore. Not sure what her trip is, but it's been constant from sprout. First it was calmag, now I'm not sure. I've given her foliars of calmag, which helped. Now I'm thinking maybe I might have to mix up a little bit of nutes to give her in a spray too. (About 1g/gal, just a taste.)
Lighting in the pics is a bit off, and creating light/dark places where there aren't any. All leaves are solid, and just the right level of green. The orange bud aside, as noted previously. Even then most of her leaves are the right color as well. Just a few are bitching about whatever.
The Blue Dream in the RDWC did similar to me as well. Dunno why, really.
How are you liking the flora flex system? I’m using CIS manifold, 800gph pump and 1/2” tubing and I’m still finding the flow rate a little low to get to the edges of the plates on some quandrants. Next option is to up it to 3/4 feed line to the manifold.
- Thread starter
- #452
I'm using 3/4" pvc from the pump (400gph) to the manifold. I'm using the floraflex 3/4" elbow/quick disconnect/valve/manifold combo thing. It's an 8-port manifold, and I ran 2 lines per ring instead of doing the single line into a tee for the ring.
I find about the same as you, the tray doesn't really fill up. I'm not sure that is as much of a product of the flow rate from the pump, but more the flow rate dictated between the manifold/1/4" line(s)/drip ring.
I do notice that most of the entire tray gets wet, but I'm sure more water is dripping through in the first half moving out than the second.
That doesn't really bother me though in this setup since it's perlite and not some type of dirt/soil. I'm not overly concerned about as even of coverage as possible, and just happy for it to distribute water a bit more than if it was just 2 tubes flowing into the bucket.
Dutchman would be more able to possibly help with tray distribution stuff. Are you using the underlay disc thingy? IIRC, the tray is "technically" supposed to pretty much soak that, which helps distribution underneath.
I find about the same as you, the tray doesn't really fill up. I'm not sure that is as much of a product of the flow rate from the pump, but more the flow rate dictated between the manifold/1/4" line(s)/drip ring.
I do notice that most of the entire tray gets wet, but I'm sure more water is dripping through in the first half moving out than the second.
That doesn't really bother me though in this setup since it's perlite and not some type of dirt/soil. I'm not overly concerned about as even of coverage as possible, and just happy for it to distribute water a bit more than if it was just 2 tubes flowing into the bucket.
Dutchman would be more able to possibly help with tray distribution stuff. Are you using the underlay disc thingy? IIRC, the tray is "technically" supposed to pretty much soak that, which helps distribution underneath.
Yeah I have two lines run to each plate instead of the tee’s as well. When I check the outer edges they do seem to still get wet even if through the water spreading once it’s in the medium.
I forgot about those wicking pads, maybe they are the answer to optimize them. Either way they seem to be doing the job, and are certainly easier than hand watering
I forgot about those wicking pads, maybe they are the answer to optimize them. Either way they seem to be doing the job, and are certainly easier than hand watering
- Thread starter
- #454
As long as it's soaking the medium, sounds like you're in good shape.
Wicking pads, yes, that's what I was thinking of. I didn't bother with them, but if I were in promix/soil/coco I would have picked some up.
And now... another minor upgrade to the garden area!
Also picked up another big fan for the main area. A 20", DC motor fan that can push 5200CFM on stupid high.
Of course it's kinda annoyingly loud on full blast, which is good that it's only on about half. Speed is wherever you set it between low and high as it has a potentiometer instead of a multi-switch.
It's a floor fan and is replacing a pedestal fan that's going back to the bedroom. Not 100% sure on placement yet. I'd like to keep it low (colder air sinking and all that), but didn't like stepping around the pedestal fan and this wouldn't be much better (other than being lower.)
Could put it on the wall, but no real decent spot for that. Who knows. I'll figure something out.
Sweet party lights! Great idea for nighttime inspections and work
I skipped on the pads, cheaper out on a couple dollars
I skipped on the pads, cheaper out on a couple dollars
- Thread starter
- #456
Lab - Spring 2020: 34 Days From Sprout
More and more training to do. I tell you what, the Durban in the back left is a growing freight train. I retie her down, and she just comes roaring back. At this point I'm kinda hoping the light from GrowAnt shows up soon from the RDWC Journal, as it may be needed for a little more light if the DP gets way taller than the Orange Bud next to her.
It doesn't look like it, but they've been getting the defol to them every couple of days. Not hard and heavy, but enough it should keep them vegging a hair longer.
Now for the one real issue going down.
At first I thought this might be a calmag issue. But in the last 2 mixes I've had calmag up at 6ml/gal and still not correcting. It's also kinda showing a little bit in some of the top growth, so hell I dunno.
MC is 5g/gal right now, and nobody really seems to want anything stronger at the moment.
More and more training to do. I tell you what, the Durban in the back left is a growing freight train. I retie her down, and she just comes roaring back. At this point I'm kinda hoping the light from GrowAnt shows up soon from the RDWC Journal, as it may be needed for a little more light if the DP gets way taller than the Orange Bud next to her.
It doesn't look like it, but they've been getting the defol to them every couple of days. Not hard and heavy, but enough it should keep them vegging a hair longer.
Now for the one real issue going down.
At first I thought this might be a calmag issue. But in the last 2 mixes I've had calmag up at 6ml/gal and still not correcting. It's also kinda showing a little bit in some of the top growth, so hell I dunno.
MC is 5g/gal right now, and nobody really seems to want anything stronger at the moment.
Could it be too much MC, see someclaws there.
- Thread starter
- #458
That was off the last mix. Used calimagic instead of the no nitro since in veg. This mix that I put in this evening was with the no nitro. It still was doing the yellowing thing before though.
Haven’t tracked down a similar image yet.
I wonder if it’s a root issue.
- Thread starter
- #460
I hope not, but it crossed my mind.
They're on a 3x/day water cycle right now. Not 100% necessary, but keeps the water pocket at the bottom fresh.
She's growing alright, not stunted or anything other than the leaves showing something going on that she isn't happy with.