Xlr8's Quest For The Best - 2012

[Xlr8]

Gulp...bless ya, I have been regretting it thinking it is just a self centred wimpy whinge.

Thank you my friend, thank you.

Fluffy -

Okay, I know you brits are all into "stiff upper lip" and all, and that's certainly noble... but this is a community of friends who care about you deeply. I'm pretty tough for the most part, and definitely not one to enjoy whining (whinging I believe you would call it) but sometimes it's healthy to vent steam a little when you are with friends who can often relate or care about you. Doesn't make it bad at all. Also, helps us understand if you're not posting as frequently or as long of posts - or just taking a break. Whinge away any time Fluffster - you're amongst friends here!!

 

[Xlr8]

Xlr8, I agree it is going to be a challenge to stop eating them lovely cheese burgers and all the other stuff we have come to enjoy.

I'm with you on expanding our growing area for veggies and stuff outside. We just put in 4 4' x 8' rasied garden beds and another one that is about 2' x 60' for berries. Should keep me fairly busy next year.

Hey there HMG -

Awesome, that's exactly the sort of thing I want to do next year. Too bad you and I don't live closer - seems like we have an awful lot in common sometimes. Plus, I could use some help with making a garden like that - and between the 2 of us we might make 1 halfway healthy person, haha. I like the berry garden idea - we have a spot in our yard that might work nice for something similar to what you did.

 

[Xlr8]

whats an estimate on the cost to build your custom flo n gro X?

I wanted to move from soil into hydro and flo n gro is the way I will go!

Hey Shottafire!

I think about $520 for everything? Here's a link to all the details - a review I made with pricing estimates included:

Titan Controls Flo N Grow review


Doing the customizing didn't save me a bunch of $$ (maybe about $80, but then my set-up has 6 less plant sites than the full kit). But, it allowed me to do it the way I wanted and not have a bunch of plant-sites I didn't need and a reservoir that was too big for my space/needs. If you don't need 12 plant sites and a 55 gallon reservoir, it's a good way to go, otherwise it's about as cheap to buy the whole shebang for about $600 or so...

 

[Blue Planet Nutrients]

Looking great X

 

[Growprincess]

So, it has been a while. Just wanted to chime in on Fork over knives, I watched it on Netflix on line great information. I have many physical problems as so many of us do one of them being high cholesterol and being unable to take statins or other cholesterol lower drugs. I do not Follow it all the way but I no longer have any dairy and cut my meat down to about a 1/4 of what I use to eat. It has dropped my cholesterol from 265 to 215 in 7 months. I also grew corn, Brussels sprouts, green beans, and a lot more veggies this summer. It was great fun. Lots of work. But fun. By the way my husband ended up getting involved in getting me a ph meter and he order me a fluke - Amprobe WT-40 PH / ORP Water Quality Meter. I should have it in the morning. He said the other brands are junk. (He is an eletrician so he uses this brand for his work, has had one for over eight to ten years but he knows ph meters are different. Looking forward to see how well and long it will last. That's all for now. Hope you all doing well lights out 1st week of flowering.

 

[Propa Gator]

I thought vegan choice was a no-brainer, then I went to the grocery store hungry. I 'wanted' ground turkey, but ran past the meat. Dairy case had soymilk @ $3 half gallon, and is delicious. I'll toss my two leather belts and be done with animal exploitation, except cat food. Only veg my old cat likes is fan leaves to eat & puke. He's family and gets Blue Buffalo's best.

 

[Xlr8]

Looking great X

Thank you Corey - my plants thank you as well!!!

 

[Xlr8]

So, it has been a while. Just wanted to chime in on Fork over knives, I watched it on Netflix on line great information. I have many physical problems as so many of us do one of them being high cholesterol and being unable to take statins or other cholesterol lower drugs. I do not Follow it all the way but I no longer have any dairy and cut my meat down to about a 1/4 of what I use to eat. It has dropped my cholesterol from 265 to 215 in 7 months. I also grew corn, Brussels sprouts, green beans, and a lot more veggies this summer. It was great fun. Lots of work. But fun. By the way my husband ended up getting involved in getting me a ph meter and he order me a fluke - Amprobe WT-40 PH / ORP Water Quality Meter. I should have it in the morning. He said the other brands are junk. (He is an eletrician so he uses this brand for his work, has had one for over eight to ten years but he knows ph meters are different. Looking forward to see how well and long it will last. That's all for now. Hope you all doing well lights out 1st week of flowering.

Long time no see Grow Princess - super glad to hear from you!

Awesome - that looks like a really nice meter. I hope it works and holds up well for you. Cool that your husband was able to recommend a good brand.

I am really proud of the healthier life I've been living, but diet is still my biggest opportunity for improvement. Congrats on lowering your cholesterol - what a good feeling, huh?

Thats the only reason I don't have more of a garden already - the lot of work part. I have arthritis and back issues which make it tough... but, I'm optimistic about getting better somewhat still, and will at least work up to it and start small as needed.

Hope you are well too!

 

[Xlr8]

I thought vegan choice was a no-brainer, then I went to the grocery store hungry. I 'wanted' ground turkey, but ran past the meat. Dairy case had soymilk @ $3 half gallon, and is delicious. I'll toss my two leather belts and be done with animal exploitation, except cat food. Only veg my old cat likes is fan leaves to eat & puke. He's family and gets Blue Buffalo's best.

Good for you Propa! I have really cut back, but have more work to do. I prefer soymilk to regular milk too. Though... how could it be milk - there's no soy teat??!!

Haha, my cat is insane over the plants - she just meows like crazy when I'm working with them. It's like catnip to her.

 

[Billy420]

Hi Billy -

So glad the chart as helpful, it's not completely accurate to what i do anymore, but the idea is the same. Corey may have different recommendations now too, so I'm going by that now. Please only use this as a template and replace my numbers with his current recommendations...

Actually, I'm using maxi jet 1200's. Those are the ones I'd do. I think Titan uses 1000 pumps, but I'm pretty sure they actually recommended I do 1200's so that's what i went with. I think I was able to get the pumps pretty reasonably at an aquarium supply store.

You shouldn't need ebb n flow fittings for a Flo N Grow set-up - i do use them for my other DIY veg system though (maybe you are thinking something similar?) Or, do you mean connection fittings?

For a partial DIY Flo N Gro like mine you need:

• Oceanus controller
• 6 pot expansion kit
• 2 Maxijet 1200's (or 1000's) 900s might work okay too
• Reservoir (i use rubbermaid trash bin)
• 1/2" Fittings for reservoir
• 1/2" tubing to connect reservoir to controller/pumps). Length depends on distance between reservoir and Oceanus control bucket
• A little extra 3/4 " tubing might be handy, but I don't remember if it's necessary.

I think thats about it... There should be more details in my Flo N Gro review thread.

I do use cal/mag currently about 4ml per gallon - I use RO water and it seems to keep calcium deficiencies from sneaking up on me. Not all strains seem to need it, but they all seem to be happy with it.

Excellent !!! I ll go with 1200 then ! I thought it might be too powerfull pressure and disconnect the fittings ?!?!?
I'm wrong !!!! Im going to place my order, now ... lol
Yeah , the fittings are for your DIY veg dwc/flood system !!!!
I definitaly go with that too , I just love the set up , plus it seems to rock for the plants, plus is much easier for me (both for mothers and for veg)
Fittings and tubes can be found locally !! And btw 3 pumps, controller, 2x6pack kits , come arround 600 € !!

Nice info on cal mag too !
Btw as I told you, there is no calmag product here I live !!!!!
I found Epsom salts though and another product called calcium (PLAGRON)!
I'm sure those two will work fine in my case !!

Thank you once again my friend !!!!
It's so nice to have wonderfull ppl , arround you.

 

[jandre2k3]

J, I wasn't talking just of drugs, but about their hugely expensive Farm bill, with monstrous payments to large agribusinesses to plant corn. Excess fertilizer does seep down through the heartland's drainage to poison the gulf. Corn is cheap raw material for manufactured food, leading to obesity, heart disease, typeII diabetes, and humongous 'healthcare' costs for all americans. Don't tell me that we all have full choice about what we eat. In your neighborhood, do farmers bring their produce to market weekly to sell? Do you know anybody with time, knowledge, and desire to serve all their family's food from fresh? The deck is stacked, and not in our favor.

Actually, yes, we have a weekly farmer's market just across the street from me. Another is bi-weekly just down the street. If I'm up for a 10 minute drive, I can go to the largest daily farmer's market in this area. But this is California, and everyone here is Support Local, Shop Local, Eat Farm Fresh where I am... Denio's Farmer's Market and Swap Meet makes a killing in the stall rent space to over 100 local farmers in this area. Weekly specials draw in the people by the truckload. And, due to demand, there are several "sustainable/organic" growers hawking their wares for very competitive prices. "Eat Fresh, Eat Healthy" is a big movement here, and we're on that wagon with bells on.

 

[jandre2k3]

Here's a picture of the base of the plant that I discarded upon learning it was having a sexual identity crisis (most of the roots had been cut away first and the hydroton recycled). Gives a little bit of an idea of how I try to manipulate these into being bushier to contain them indoors - these are mostly sativa plants that would be enormous with out considerable training. Instead of a more traditional christmas tree shape, I top them and try to shape them more like a candelabra to bush them out a bit. Pretty stout branches in relation to the size of the trunk (for a sativa hybrid) and shortish veg period...:

Ah! The Candelabra! A thing of functional beauty for the space conscious, and symetry wary grower. I love a well done, well trained plant as much as the next guy, and that, sir, seems to be very well done.

 

[jandre2k3]

Xlr8, I agree it is going to be a challenge to stop eating them lovely cheese burgers and all the other stuff we have come to enjoy.

I'm with you on expanding our growing area for veggies and stuff outside. We just put in 4 4' x 8' rasied garden beds and another one that is about 2' x 60' for berries. Should keep me fairly busy next year.

Eating a cheeseburger when it is prepared at home, with known fresh ingredients is actually quite healthy. It's a square in your hand; All the "groups" are there. The corner greasy spoon, however, is usually far from that.

 

[Growprincess]

Billy & Xlr8, just an FYI the Titan system does have the maxi jet 1200/295. Happy growing

 

[HomeMedGrower]

Eating a cheeseburger when it is prepared at home, with known fresh ingredients is actually quite healthy. It's a square in your hand; All the "groups" are there. The corner greasy spoon, however, is usually far from that.

To each thier own.

Known fresh ingeredients from animal, are still anima,l period.

 

[Xlr8]

Excellent !!! I ll go with 1200 then ! I thought it might be too powerfull pressure and disconnect the fittings ?!?!?
I'm wrong !!!! Im going to place my order, now ... lol
Yeah , the fittings are for your DIY veg dwc/flood system !!!!
I definitaly go with that too , I just love the set up , plus it seems to rock for the plants, plus is much easier for me (both for mothers and for veg)
Fittings and tubes can be found locally !! And btw 3 pumps, controller, 2x6pack kits , come arround 600 € !!

Nice info on cal mag too !
Btw as I told you, there is no calmag product here I live !!!!!
I found Epsom salts though and another product called calcium (PLAGRON)!
I'm sure those two will work fine in my case !!

Thank you once again my friend !!!!
It's so nice to have wonderfull ppl , arround you.

No prob Billy! Super glad if it was helpful - just let me know if you ever have other questions I can help with...

Billy & Xlr8, just an FYI the Titan system does have the maxi jet 1200/295. Happy growing

I thought it did now too, and that's what they recommended I use when I spoke to them about custom making part of my set-up. I believe it was originally supposed to have 1000's though if I remember correctly - I'm sure I saw 1000's in their literature somewhere. Thanks for chiming in on that Growprincess - great point, I wasn't 100% certain on that one.

 

[Xlr8]

Ah! The Candelabra! A thing of functional beauty for the space conscious, and symetry wary grower. I love a well done, well trained plant as much as the next guy, and that, sir, seems to be very well done.

Eating a cheeseburger when it is prepared at home, with known fresh ingredients is actually quite healthy. It's a square in your hand; All the "groups" are there. The corner greasy spoon, however, is usually far from that.

To each thier own.

Known fresh ingeredients from animal, are still anima,l period.

Yeah, "to each their own" is my take... I doubt I'll ever give up certain things that I really enjoy in my diet, but I have a lot of respect for those who do better than I in that regard. I try to make small changes along the way, so that I can look back at it collectively and say, "shoot, those small changes have amounted to a pretty big improvement". So far I can do that, but I need to stick with the small changes and continue to improve.

 

[Xlr8]

Pictures from Oct 22 (37 days bloom):

The last week or so has seen a considerable boost in flower size. I've pulled some more fan leaves to keep light penetration decent, but have also spread out the remaining plants a little after removing the "hermie" a few days ago. I'm happy with the amount of bulking/swelling on the lower, secondary budsites so far.

The Deadhead Ripper is insanely resinous and so far really takes after the Deadhead OG part of the lineage in most respects. The OG Ripper has really pretty torpedo/spear shaped buds and seems to be a nice mix of OG Kush mother and the Jack the Ripper father. Both nice looking plants so far - but the lemonade smell of the OG Ripper is driving me crazy with anticipation.

I forgot to take some pics of the Jack the Ripper, but will try to get some next time around. I took these pictures right before lights on yesterday.

OG Ripper

OG Ripper

Deadhead Ripper:

 

[Tony Sussan]

Looking good so far

 

[Vick074]

Wow those are looking frosty!!
Nice work X!