Hi Friends! Thought I would start my own grow journal for this years outdoor grow here in So Cal. It’s only my second grow. Did well last year thanks to all the good folks helping me on this forum, and great ILGM genetics. That said, I made a lot of mistakes too and hope to learn from them.
Target seeding start date: 1rst week of April
Transition date to solely outdoors: June 1
Pots: 15 gallon molded nursery style
Soil: Root Organics 707
Nutes: Botanicare line
Target harvest: 1lb per plant of primo cured buds
So I’m in the preparation stages now trying to make some improvements and avoid some problems. Last year was bad for the devil louper moths/catepillars. Also had powdery mildew issues. Lost at least 20% of my yield.
For improvements, watering was quite a chore. I have a small RO system in the kitchen that runs about 2.5 gallons an hour but only holds 3 gallons. Keeping up with the demand meant collecting water at every possible chance. Plus I hand mixed the nutes and PH balanced each gallon. A drip system is a top priority.
I may go completely off the rails and take some clones and make a mother plant. My indoor setup is a converted bathroom, with only 1-22 inch Sun Blaze flourescent fixture to get the seeds started. So…COB’s or Quantum boards will be needed. Who knows where this will go!
Anyways, everyone likes bud porn so here’s a bit from last year to get this started. This was Roberts blueberry, and my drying room after the harvest
This is the crazy self-contained drip system I’m wrestling with. I want a 2 stage system, stage 1 is a nutrient mix cycle, running just before the watering cycle, stage 2. A 33 trash can to hold the stuff. The lid is plywood, with a piano hinge for an access hatch. The pump is mounted to the lid, with 2 Harbor Freight digital timers (1 for each stage). The are in a tupperware enclosure to help with the weather, to be mounted on a wood backing plate elevated with angle iron. Inside the trash can I threw a Harbor Freight pump I had. It should really mix it up.
Big thanks to @Growit and @1BigFella for their help with this setup!
Here’s some pics that hopefully make sense. If it stops drizzing, I’m hoping to get it painted and assembled today. I’ll talk about the water source a bit later after some more filter testing.
Thanks for joining me all! So…I just did a bunch of research about water filters. As best I could determine even the pricey non-RO systems will not reduce the PPM, just like with a small unit I tried yesterday with the same results. Plus it seems that any form of chlorine kills the beneficial organisms for organic nutes, which I use.
My tap water PPM is about 440, way too high for any level of comfort to not lock the girls up, even if the chlorine is removed. The kitchen RO system I have already has an upgraded one that increases the output so 4 times faster. It’s less than $300 installed. I hate the idea of the water wasted with this process, but…it feels like I will compromise the quality of the buds if I don’t stick with RO. So that’s the plan for now.
@growit I wasn’t kidding about your girls hitting the lid on your killer setup bro. I pinched mine a bunch to keep them around 6 feet tall so they didn’t tower over the fence. This is going to be fun eh!!!
You are talking about filtering the tap water?
I use big brand water systems for maintenance and it removes everything from the water down to .5 of a micron. I’m not sure how good you are with plumbing. @DaGoose
Hi @Covertgrower thanks for the information! Yes, it’s filtering my tap water. I’m not a great plumber, plus my plumbing is really old so everything is a PITA to do. I have no clue if .5 microns will reduce the PPM. What I read seemed to suggest I could buy a nice non-RO system and still not reduce the PPM. I don’t want to risk it. But…I still have a lot to learn!!!
Cool but there are way better RO systems available in that price range and you can add diaphrams and other parts to make em super efficient there is a web site by brother used for his set up let me get it for you so you cancheck it out
You seem like a diy guy like me and probably work hard for your money
This site has all top shelf parts and systems at blue collar prices and are way better and reliable than your house hold units
Thank you @Growit! Yeah…I’m not made of money and pretty much DIY for everything, but I know my limitations too lol. I will check out the links…and probably have many more questions. I also tend to overthink everything in case you didn’t know that already
