6 of the best? Under LEDs

[growinggold]

How you finding vaping @Shumroom?  

 

 

[Shumroom]

On 19/02/2021 at 10:55 PM, Shumroom said:

haven't gotten round to trying out my Dynavap or the IH yet.

 

I've told myself that by the time what's just about to come down from being in bloom atm,

that's when I'll start to make the switch to vaping

Just switched off the lights t'other day, 

so chop chop, 

I'll be hanging the hacks etc up later today. 

 

To be trimmed dry. 

 

So I will make sure the battery in the IH is all charged up and ready to go. 

 

I'll update this diary in the next couple of days once I've got my feet on the ground. 

 

Atb 

 

 

[Shumroom]

Sweet Seeds

Update to 25th February 2021

 

 

 

I hope you have all been keeping well,

it's a wee while since my last proper update.

 

So let's dive on in  

 

Starting off with:

Group 1

The weather 

 

 

Lighting ~120W 20hrs on, 4hrs off

I was feeding the Mohan Ram and Red Hot Cookies last week and decided it was time to remove some of the lowest branches.

 

I did this partly due to the fact that these branches are unlikely to reach the canopy level,

plus I need to consider the amount of space required be all 6 plants going into a Secret Jardin dr150w which measures just 1.5m x 90cm x 2.0m.

 

My intake is at the top of the tent so my CarboAir 60 is sitting on the floor in order to draw warm air down from the LEDs over the plants, this reduces the amount of space I have slightly.

 

Removing these lowest branches and leaves also gave me a nice bit of room to top up a couple of pots with more coco as a couple of them had sunk more than I expected them to after watering them in,

it also means I don't have those bottom leaves sitting on the surface of the coco getting splashed with nutes every time I feed them.

 

When I took the first bottom branches off a Mohan Ram they looked so good that I started to get my cloning kit out,

but after thinking about things for a moment I realised how many clones I would end up with even if I only took just 2 clones from each plant, because if I only took selected cuts at this stage I'd probably wish I'd gotten one that I hadn't taken a clone from.

 

So I'll stick with just the Sweet Tai 1 and 2(from group 2) cloning for the moment and see how/if they come along.

 

Sweet Clones 

 

 

The Nursery/Veg Drobe

I'm not sure if I went into the details about the veg drobe,

where group 2 are currently living.

 

There's a large heat mat on the floor and a tube heater,

both controlled by the same Inkbird heat controller.

 

It's about 1.2m wide x 60cm deep x 1.4m tall.

 

Lighting is a Par+275 LED from @diyleduk,

which is currently running at just 85W for now,

is approx 36"(90cm) above the highest top of any of the plants.

 

It's got an AirComfort wireless hygrometer which set to take a new measurement every 40 minutes.

 

I also brew some alcohol in the Drobe(you may have seen in the previous post photos) to provide some extra CO2,

i've always done this as the drobe didn't used to be connected to the Bloom-room with ducting so it's kinda just habit really.

 

I do use VPD charts to try to guide some of my inputs in all of my grow spaces,

but I don't like to use extra unnecessary/noisey equipment and electricity wherever possible,

so I'm not too concerned about the odd bit of low/high humidity here or there.

 

 

The plants

I haven't topped the Red Hot Cookies runt at all, though she's not so much of a runt anymore,

she was just fashionably late.

 

My current thinking is to grow her out with minimal training,

just the occasional bend to the main stem here and there mostly to build strength and keep height relatively low.

 

I'm just aiming for one main cola with her,

rather than all the other multi-topped plants.

 

But that idea could change I'm a strong believer in being flexible when necessary.

 

I've not gotten around to taking any up to date photos of the Girls of Group 1,

i'll try to remember to get some snaps tomorrow.

 

 

 

Did I mention my Essentials pH pen stopped working¿

 

It was gonna take nearly a week for my new Blulab pH pen to arrive,

so at the same time I also bought a cheap one as I didn't wanna screw up the feed,

well it would be helpful having a spare one just in case.

 

First job when the first pH pen arrived was to calibrate it,

then I was able to check some of the feed which I had needed to make up the day before without a working pH pen.

 

It tested as pH 5.9 which means my guesstimate on how many drops of Down'n Dirty to add was fairly accurate 

 

It worked for 2 days before I must've picked it up with damp hands and it stopped working  

 

I took the battery compartment appart and set it near a radiator to dry out.

 

 

A few days later...

 

My new Blulab pH tester arrived and after hydrating the tip in some KCl(Pottassium Chloride) solution for almost 24hrs and then calibrating it was ready to go to work  

 

I was really glad it arrived earlier than expected because the other one still wasn't working after being dried out 

 

 

 

 

Feeding

At the end of last week groups 1 and 2 were both being fed at EC 1.2 and pH 5.8 - 6.0 this keeps things fairly easy to keep track of,

for now  

At the weekend I reduced the feed strength slightly and gave a dose of 1g/l of Ecothrive Biosys tea to the mix,

making sure to give each plant just one feed like this,

before I upped the feed to 1.3 EC as my runoff was still reading a point or 2 lower than what was going in.

 

I could probably have gone up to 1.4 EC but I'd rather not push my luck since it's the same feed for everyone.

 

I have now increased the feed strength to EC 1.5 and I didn't check the ph because I forgot,

i've still got some of it to use for the others tomorrow so I can check it then.

 

BTW: Sometimes I'll check the runoff of individual plants but to save time occasionally I just collect all the runoff together and check that.

 

So the feed now is:

 

Intense Nutrients

MagCal to EC 0.4

60/40 to EC 1.5

Foundation 1-1.5ml/l

Runzyme 1ml/l

Every couple of batches I make up I usually end up giving roughly 0.25ml/l of Great White Liquid Mycorrhizae,

I also give the same amount of Tribus beneficial bacteria sometimes(this stuff was not cheap)

 

 

 

Group 2
 

The weather 

 

Lighting combined ~120W

20hrs on, 4hrs off

 

1 of the Sweet Zkittlez (from about a week ago)

 

The 2 x Sweet Tai (also about a week ago)

 

 

Underneath (still from about a week ago, you can tell since there's no sign of the roots yet)

 

Definitely 3 litre pots  

 

 

 

Most of group 2 have been potted up since the above photos were taken.

 

Here's how things looked a few minutes ago 

Sweet Zkittlez this side

Sweet Tai and SAD s1 this side 

with BigFoot near the middle(can you guess which one ¿)

 

 

 

 

Flanked by the 3 x Sweet Zkittlez 

BigFoot at the back

 

 

 

I've already had to tie one knot on the hygrometer string it looks like I'll need to tie another one soon

The 2 x Sweet Tai on this side behind a Sweet Zkittlez in the foreground

Can't really see the 3 x SAD s1 on this side level with the Sweet Tai

 

 

Now you you can see the 3 x SAD s1 at the back on the right(down to the hygrometer)

You can  probably work out now which one is the BigFoot

 

 

Just in case the you were wondering how packed in we're getting in here

 

 

Potting up

 

I've just got to pot up one of the Sweet Zkittlez and the 3 x SAD s1.

 

They will probably be done tomorrow as they are starting to get drier than I'd like in between my visits,

until the I'll be keeping a close eye on them.

 

On Tuesday I potted up 2 of the Sweet Zkittlez and the Bigfoot(who is definitely starting to live up to her name) she's just a little bigger than everyone else in this group.

 

BigFoot's roots 

 

 

Sweet Zkittlez

I also got the plants some TNC Mycormax

to go along with the Azos

and TNC Bactor 13

to colonise the root zone with loads of different species of beneficial bacteria and fungi.

 

So a little of each of these went into the holes I made in the newly prepared pots of coco,

before placing the roots in and topping up the new pots with more Ecothrive coco as before with the others.

 

 

 

They're all growing so quickly.....

 

I'm really looking forward to getting group 1 out of the veg drobe and into the dr150w,

in order to give group 2 some more room to spread out a bit,

so they don't end up all stretched due to shade avoidance growth.

 

I've done some more strategic topping here and there to all of these plants,

as I intend to(try) and create a nice even canopy at least to begin with.

 

Hopefully 

I'll have the dr150w cleared of the test run,

cleaned up plus a couple of minor adjustments and ready for the girls of Group 1 within the next couple of weeks,

ready to do their thing 

 

Before that they'll soon need to be potted up a size into some 7.5l pots,

It's a good job I got plenty of coco from Diyleduk when it was available 

 

I'm thinking that I'll probably stick with the 7.5l size root pruning pots for final/flowering,

it's either that or 12.5l pots which I think might be a bit bigger than necessary.

 

I'll make the decision on final pot size nearer the time,

but it will be the 7.5l ones I'm fairly sure,

like 98% 

 

Also might give a topdress with some Ecothrive lifecycle after this weekend coming.

 

 

Well I believe that brings us up to date with proceedings.

Thanks for reading.

 

I'll try to make sure to get some photos up of group 1(the Mohan Ram and Red Hot Cookies) before the next update.

 

 

Atvb

 

 

Edited February 26, 2021 by Shumroom
Eta

[Amo]

12 hours ago, Shumroom said:

Definitely 3 litre pots  

Nice one, let me know how handy the pot up go’s Shum dude. 

Cool update as your getting into your diary stride in ere now. 
Nice ole root’s you got going there, is good to see the tnc working wonder’s, I’m on my first girl with it now, pot up in a few days so will see the benefits then. 
Tribus ain’t cheap but does seem to be very beneficial to plant health an for the roots, as I tried it a couple years ago in the pnc.
Your building a real solid foundation soil level-down for the root’s, so your girls should really take off even more. 

KUTGW an good luck mate. 

[Shumroom]

Thanks very much,

will do 

 

Atvb

 

 

[Whatwentwrong]

Definitely some solid white balls you have there mate. Root balls of course. 

 

Plants look sweet

Edited February 26, 2021 by Whatwentwrong

[growinggold]

Top update mate, some really nice roots. 

Plenty of lovely healthy plants rock on mate.

 

 

98% percent chance 7.5l pot tickled me, whats the 2%? 

 

[jadenugs]

Great stuff mate, the girls look lush in your capable hands and cracking healthy roots  

 

KCl(Pottassium Chloride)  Is this the same as the storage solution you get with the PH pen? Reason I ask is I think I let mine get a bit dry when I hadn't used it for ages. It still works ok and calibrates but seems to take ages to get to a stable reading. 

[Shumroom]

2 hours ago, Whatwentwrong said:

Definitely some solid white balls you have there mate. Root balls of course. 

 

Plants look sweet

Cheers Www 

 

1 hour ago, growinggold said:

98% percent chance 7.5l pot tickled me, whats the 2%? 

12.5 litre pot,

too big i think  

 

12 minutes ago, jadenugs said:

KCl(Pottassium Chloride)  Is this the same as the storage solution you get with the PH pen?

Yeah that's the stuff it is for the Blulab pH pen,

not the EC truncheon.

 

I'm trying my best  

 

 

Have a great weekend,

looking after the indoor garden.

 

Atb

 

 

[jadenugs]

Cheers dude, I bought a bottle of storage solution for when the sample ran out. I've never read the label on it though, so don't know what's in it. Just wondered if KCI was something different or better at keeping the pen tip top.  Dumb moment, I'll read the label next time  

[Shumroom]

Update to 28th February 2021

 

I hope you you all had a good weekend, 

It's been nice and sunny here with temp highs of between 5-8°C 

 

 

I have raised the feed strength to EC 1.7 for everyone, 

but judging by the runoff I could probably have some of group 1 certainly on EC 2.0 or higher 

 

 

I took some photos at the weekend, 

I've just got to resize them for uploading. 

 

I might need to start taking them out for individual shots as they all just merge into 1 big plant

 

Atb 

 

 

[Notorious B.U.D]

Coming along nicely again mate  

 

Good choice on the Blulab Ph pen I purchased one of them myself earlier this year but I did wonder before I got it if it would be worth the extra cost as I used to just use the cheapo ones which to be honest worked just as well as the essentials ones which costed a fair bit more but I have to say it is definitely worth the money just make sure you look after it properly and keep that little sponge inside the cap wet with the KCI solution. I don’t know if you remember the PH truncheon they released years ago (similar to the EC truncheon) that thing was an absolute nightmare and I think they pulled it from production pretty fast.

 

Also just watch raising the EC to much mate I would be surprised if you really needed to go above 1.6 and that would be in flower, I know your checking the run off but that can be a little misleading at times so just err on the side of caution 

[Shumroom]

Thanks very much @Notorious B.U.Dfor the advice 

 

Atvb 

 

 

[Shumroom]

After advice from @Notorious B.U.D the feed yesterday was at EC 1.6 which is approx 2.5ml/l of A and B on top of the MagCal. 

 

Atb 

 

 

[Cookeh]

@Shumroom

 Could you help me bud. Would PM if I could but I’m still not allowed!

I fed last week at 0.9 EC, 0.4 EC CalMag then A&B to 0.9. If I were to raise it, do I raise calmag to 0.5 then A&B to the desired EC or do I keep Calmag at 0.4 always and A&B to the desired EC.