Hi guys, any advice and criticism welcome… be gentle.
So the seeds began germination saturday 11th in root riot cubes. I used 3 WW(fem) seeds i got for free with the seeds i ordered and thought best to use free ones for a trial run. 4 days later all three had popped out. I transplanted the two most similar in size on Saturday 25th, I was advised to do so sooner but I had some trouble getting my set up running (i modified a 4 pot system to a two pot) and wanted to have it running for at least 24h prior to transplant. The third one i have placed in soil I will maybe give it away to a friend. So i am on day 11 or 12 since sprouting.
Gear:
1mx1mx2m grow tent
600w MH and HPS bulbs with dimmable ballast
black lotus 4inch extractor (one of the centrifugal ones) with carbon filter
PlantIt! 4 pot RDWC system modified
SecretJardin oscillating clip fan
bunch of thermometers, hygrometers a ph and ppm tester.
Fluids:
Advanced Nutrients: Ph perfect grow and bloom parts a+b
Shogun Calmag
small bottles of Bio Bizz grow, bloom and top max
ph adjusting fluids.
current stats:
ppm 200
ph 5.4
air temp 19-22c
RH 45-55%
water temp 21c(stable)
Tthings seem to be going ok but getting the ph settled is a ballache im still kinda figuring it out, if anyone has a formula for ml per litre that would be much appreciated.
now some pictures.
Once roots hit reservoir (1 1/2 to 2" below net pot hopefully) you can start increasing nutrient concentration until hitting your target TDS. Not sure what AN wants you to be at.
Stable PH is greatly helped by having a large standing reservoir. This really becomes almost necessary in late flower when she’s drinking heavily.
Thanks for getting involved. I have a reservoir, I have calculated the whole system is about 36L. AN recommended 1ml per L for seedlings which I went for which gives me my current ppm and full strength is 4ml per L. So 800ppm for full strength? My tap water is only 30ppm. Does the pH up/down add ppm?
That’s a good place to be and I’d use my TDS meter to maintain that.
If you could use a larger rez you would benefit from it. Using something other than buckets for your plant rez too: a lot of us use yellow topped totes if they are available in your area.
Cool thanks for the advice. The reservoir that came with the kit has a level meter on the side and it’s leaking very slowly so wouldn’t be the worst idea to change it. I’m not sure I can acquire the exact thing you are talking about in the UK where I am but I get the idea. So what’s the ideal ratio? If my 2 bubble pots are twelve litres each do I want a 24 or even 36 litre Res?
I’m too stoned to do the calculation but just talking about this on another thread: the grower uses 27 gallon totes for a plant rez and an additional one for his standing reservoir.
Cool yeh I can’t get that exact thing. Incase it comes in handy later 27 gallons is 107L. I don’t think I’m gonna go that big for space reasons but presumably anything bigger than 12L (3.5 gallons roughly) is better. I’ll see how it works out with 10 gallons. I spent quite a lot on those stupid pots so want to find something that works for them first.
ph has really been all over the place i’m waiting on something i will convert to a larger reservoir and have splashed out on one of those continuous trimeters you get. Sould have those by the weekend. only thing mildly concerning is the bottom leaves of left#1 and still not seeing any roots come out the bottom of the net pots, there are some at the sides. Maybe drop the water level a bit?
pH 5.5 - PPM 330 - RH ranging 35% to 65% everytime i look at them its 55% - air temp around 21c did spot it had a low of 13c one night a few days ago - water temp 21c constant. Not much to report look pretty good to me, I’ve yet to switch out for the larger res it only arrived today.
i was hoping to FIM the hydro girls anyone chime in about the right time? i read between 3-4 nodes? they have just got the 3rd coming in. I also have my ballast dimmed to 400W any advantage to switching it up to 600W at this point? @Myfriendis410@HappyHydroGrower
I personally would wait till the third or forth set of five leaves and then top.
Going back looking at your growing conditions, you would be much better off doing a max of two plants in that amount of space.
Those plants will explode in your transition.
I have two plants in a 40 inch x 58 inch that is just about packed. I could have done one plant in there easily.
I vegged for 6 weeks and flipped the lights a little over 2 weeks ago.
As far as the size buckets and everything your using, in hydro, water is the key to success! And lots if it! The bigger you can get your res the easier life will be.
I have about an 8 gal (30.28 L) of liquid in my res and the two girls drink about 3 gals a day. Total volume, res and two 20 gal totes is about 22 gal of water
Hope this helps or gives you something to think about.
Thanks for your input. I believe I will have about 15 gal in total once I modify what I bought for a new res. I intend to rethink the whole system for the next time round I bought it as a kit and the more I talk to hydro guys the more it seems whoever made it is a little clueless. I think I had said before I didn’t really intend to keep the plant that is in soil (didn’t expect 100% germination success) just seemed to make sense to keep it in the tent whilst there is room I’m considering making it a mother or giving it away to a friend. Any input on the dimmable ballast? it has 250W, 400W, 600W and super lumens setting. Currently running at 400W.
Ok so this evening I switched the res for one 3 times the size and added a nutradip growboss trimeter to the setup. Spent an hour calibrating it so pretty sure my cheap Chinese water quality tester pens are now obsolete. I had to remix water for the new Res and the ppm has gone up from 330 to 450. I’m gonna leave it and see how they respond it may still be settling down anyway. I’ve left the light at 400W but I’ll maybe turn it up when they get a bit bigger. Everything is looking good to just leave them to it for a week or so without to much interference, only one thing I want to add is an old phone so I can check them and the trimeter without going in there.
Hi guys! here is an update. things seem to be going fine roots healthy and all conditions seem to have stabilized. I’m having a much better time of it Ph and PPM wise with my new monitor. I fimmed both plants after taking these photos. i need to figure out how to get the right settings in my wifes camera as i can never seem to get the whole plant in focus. I have couple questions, should i be looking to get up to full strength nutes at this point? and if I just fimmed them should i wait a bit before doing so? im assuming i dont want to shock them with anything.
So they have now been in the bubble pots for 16 days.
Ok thanks I was told to wait till at least the fourth set of full leaves to fim which I have done. So let’s say I messed up and I should have been running stronger nutes. Is it unwise to up the nutes during recovery from the HST?
