Al B. FAQt

[Al B. Fuct]

ABF, your patience is truly admirable. A public service, I say.

second that, dont know how u answer all these quesetions...especially when it is the 30th time u heard it. Thanks

Thanks and thanks

250 watt mh or 400 watt mh??? at htg they are only a 2 dollar difference so which one would u recommend for the veg stage

[...]

i want to keep my mothers with my veg stage room is that possible? I also want to make two ebb n flow systems like i was shown earlier one for vegging one for budding and im gonna get a daisy cloner for my clones or just go basic with a tray and humidome al b help me out man

Yes, you can share veg space with the mums. Mind, I don't know why you're wasting floorspace on vegging plants that you will later flower. If you grow SoG style, you only need a clonebox, a small veg space for mums and then your flowering area. No space is given to vegging clones that will later be flowered. SoG also cuts 2-3 weeks out of the time from cutting a clone to harvesting bud. If you insist on vegging plants you will late flower, get the 400. If your senses return soon and you decide all you need to veg is mums, get the 250.

yea I got the right thermo, Hey check this out, is this a good one or not?

You've succeeded in finding a Chinese knock-off of the real deal.

the genuine Bluelab article

the fraud!

I bet Bluelab would like to see this...

Avoid the fake! You'll get what you pay for.

Green's Horticulture has the real thing for about 60 squid. Prices vary, shop around.

First off, THANK YOU very much Al for the postings that you do.

No worries.

What I need is to see what the recommended flowering time is for the different varieties.
[...]
Can anyone suggest where I can go to look up that info ? I need to make sure the strain that I choose is one that suitable for an indoor grow and is ready for harvest within 8 weeks.

Check with the seedbanks.

I tried using the search function on this website to no avail (probably my fault, I know).

Not just you. I can't find things I've written only recently with the search function.

I don't know if the ppms on that go high enough

Doesn't. You need to measure up to 2000ppm. Also, it is not waterproof. This meter will last approximately 6-8 weeks.

The last time I saw inside one of these Hanna pen meters, they were using screw-compression connections to tie the sensing electrode to the main circuit board. The lack of waterproofing gaskets means this meter's innards WILL get wet, soon after the first use. The screw-compression connectors will corrode with exposure to acidic and corrosive nute solutions. This will cause the meter to fail in about 8 weeks, however, it will also immediately cause it to be inaccurate. This meter is usually sold as 'disposable.' Avoid this meter (and any other Hanna product, for that matter).

 

[stucklikechuck]

hey al, i just copied and pasted this from my post. i know you can help me out!


huge swing in pH, what could be causing this?
permalink

a brief intro:

i am running a recirculating system using 6" rockwool cubes. i have 35 plants in a 4'x8' table with a built in 40 gallon resevoir. i am using cutting edge solution nutes with the following additives: uncle john, mag amp, plant amp, sweet, hygrozime, Van De Zwaan Roots Excelurator. i have a res chiller and a co2 setup. i have 2x1000w MH bulbs in a cooltube and a light mover. water temp is 66-68 and room temp is 76-78 (78-86 with co2 enrichment). i do a weekly res change on sundays and this is my 2nd week of vegging. i was using 50% nutes (33% on the van de zwaan) and for the second week bumped it to 75% nutes with 50% on van de zwaan.

i use tap water which is 7.0 and 80ppm which has been sitting for 24hrs and i add my nutes and pH to 5.5.

here is my problem:
i checked the pH yesterday (Thursday) and it jumped to 6.8. i dumped the nutes out of the res and adjusted the pH to 5.5 and put the nute water back in. today i checked it and the pH was 4.7! i am pretty sure my hana combo pH ppm meter is accurate as i calibrated it 3 times yesterday and once today. can someone help me out please? thanks!!!!!

 

[stucklikechuck]

oh another thing:
i saw this comment on an info sheet for shooting powder:

'Contrary to what you might have heard with other nutrients, never use an oxygen pump in the nutrient container or in the growth table. This may have serious consequences for the stability of the nutrients.'


is this true?!? i use a diffuser on my table, is that a bad thing?

 

[Al B. Fuct]

here is my problem:
i checked the pH yesterday (Thursday) and it jumped to 6.8. i dumped the nutes out of the res and adjusted the pH to 5.5 and put the nute water back in. today i checked it and the pH was 4.7! i am pretty sure my hana combo pH ppm meter is accurate as i calibrated it 3 times yesterday and once today. can someone help me out please? thanks!!!!!

pH fluctuations can be caused by pathogens in the system. Treat with H2O2 50% grade @ 1ml/L every 3-4 days

However, you have such a miasma of 'magic sauces' in there that damn near anything's possible. Does your hydro shop guy chuckle and rub his hands together when he sees you coming? 99% of magic sauces contain mainly water and profit, but the profit is squeezed out (of your wallet) before you get the jug of magic sauce out of the shop.

I'd stop using ALL of that but nutes & H2O2.

When the Hanna meter breaks (won't be long now...), replace it with separate pH & EC meters. pH meter electrodes last 2 years then must be replaced. If your pH meter does not have a user replaceable electrode, you must send the unit to be serviced. pH meter electrodes must also be stored damp. If not, they will fail prematurely and their readings may be errant.

oh another thing:
i saw this comment on an info sheet for shooting powder:

'Contrary to what you might have heard with other nutrients, never use an oxygen pump in the nutrient container or in the growth table. This may have serious consequences for the stability of the nutrients.'

is this true?!? i use a diffuser on my table, is that a bad thing?

'shooting powder'?! WTF?

If any nutrient maker told me not to aerate a tank, I'd buy other nutes. I've never heard of a nutrient that was incompatible with aeration. Every other makers' nutes work fine with aeration, why not theirs? Aeration is highly desirable for root development and thus vigorous growth. It's high levels of O2 to the roots that makes hydroponics work so much better than soil.

 

[Al B. Fuct]

i dumped the nutes out of the res and adjusted the pH to 5.5 and put the nute water back in

Forgive me, but what did you do? Dumped the tanks... and adjusted pH... of what? Then you put the stuff you dumped out back in? whaaa?

5.5 is too low, BTW. You'll begin to see some nutrient lockout at 5.5. Shoot for 5.8.

 

[Al B. Fuct]

one thing while I'm thinking of it... it's really quite surprising how LITTLE you need to grow great dope with hydroponics. Nutes and pathogen control, pH adjustment as needed. That's all. No bloom blaster, bud lead, monster hooey, bee semen or other madness are needed. P & K supplements might be needed in late flowering, but are optional. You'll still get nice dense nugs if the room conditions are right (lots of light, effective ventilation & temp control to 24-26C).

Many growers buy magic sauces off the shelf after having a read of the labels, which are usually long on oblique or vague benefit statements (of course, they can't say 'makes your cannabis plants yield more bud!' and it's a good thing too because it probably isn't duplicatable or corroboratable) and daaaaaaaamn short on actual ingredients.

Incidentally, don't depend on your local hydro shop clerk for advice on magic sauces. If s/he really knew what they were talking about, they'd not be hawking magic sauces at minimum wage for a crust- they'd be running productive grow ops.

 

[specialkayme]

Hey Al, just wondering in your opinion how much vertical space is necesary for a SOG grow with a 250 watt HPS? i.e. assuming 12 inches for the container, then how high do the plants usually get + how much space between the plants and the 250 + the space of the light itself = your wonderful estimate. Any ideas?

 

[LBS OF DANK]

alright AL B im gonna try and do like your two week program and go sog.im also gonna try 2 build a ebb n flow system, if u didnt tell me to try n build it i probably wouldve spent 200 bucks and bought an econojet. 1 ? if i get a 2x2 planter 7 inches high can i use 10 gall rubbermaid or it needs 2 be a bigger res then from there just connect tubing to the fittings and pump. plug the pump in the timer then i got my own system. is it that easy???

 

[LBS OF DANK]

the reason y i was thinking dwc cause i thought it was the cheapest being all u need is 5 gallon bucket mesh pot/lid and a air pump i could make 4

 

[LBS OF DANK]

is a 185 cfm active air blower good for taking out my hot air for my 400 watt hps????

 

[gvega187]

dam al, I just realized to make the pebbles work in your system I would need 3 more of those expensive CAP timers. Cos flooding only takes 3 mins about every hour or so.

Are there cheaper timers that I could make work for this system?

I friggin hate the CAP timers anyways...mine degraded somehow in about a month and started creating its own feeding schedules.

Despite my lack of skill and knowledge, my feeding schedules were much more efficient than the ones it glitched out on.

 

[LoudBlunts]

gvega, try sentinels digital recycling timer. for 100 bucks, its pound for pound the best recycling timer your money can buy! and why would you need three? why not plug all the pumps into the same timer? surely all the pumps cant be stronger than the timer

 

[LoudBlunts]

al b, what other forums do you frequent?

 

[gvega187]

hell yeah blunts...i need to put this B out it seems...dur dur dur

good question 2!

 

[DR. VonDankenstine]

one thing while I'm thinking of it... it's really quite surprising how LITTLE you need to grow great dope with hydroponics. Nutes and pathogen control, pH adjustment as needed. That's all. No bloom blaster, bud lead, monster hooey, bee semen or other madness are needed. P & K supplements might be needed in late flowering, but are optional. You'll still get nice dense nugs if the room conditions are right (lots of light, effective ventilation & temp control to 24-26C).

Many growers buy magic sauces off the shelf after having a read of the labels, which are usually long on oblique or vague benefit statements (of course, they can't say 'makes your cannabis plants yield more bud!' and it's a good thing too because it probably isn't duplicatable or corroboratable) and daaaaaaaamn short on actual ingredients.

Incidentally, don't depend on your local hydro shop clerk for advice on magic sauces. If s/he really knew what they were talking about, they'd not be hawking magic sauces at minimum wage for a crust- they'd be running productive grow ops.

Al----Thanks alot for all your help in the past and great information---best of health and happiness to you my friend.

 

[Al B. Fuct]

Hey Al, just wondering in your opinion how much vertical space is necesary for a SOG grow with a 250 watt HPS? i.e. assuming 12 inches for the container, then how high do the plants usually get + how much space between the plants and the 250 + the space of the light itself = your wonderful estimate. Any ideas?

I've not flowered a SoG op with a 250; smallest HPS I've used in a SoG was a 400. Plants still came up to about 900mm-1m tall as they do under my 1000s.

Plan on having 1m for plants and about 300mm lamp clearance. The rest is dependent on how tall your flood tray stands off the floor.

alright AL B im gonna try and do like your two week program and go sog.im also gonna try 2 build a ebb n flow system, if u didnt tell me to try n build it i probably wouldve spent 200 bucks and bought an econojet.

When I talk about avoiding kits, I don't necessarily mean avoiding the articles that are included in kits, rather buying only the items you need and avoiding the add-ons the shop wants to sell you along with them. Shop alternative sources like your local hdwe store or aquarium/pet store. Make sure you shop & compare; some aquarium/pet shops are even more overpriced than a hydro shop.

There's really no good DIY substitute for moulded plastic flood trays. Those will best be sourced from a hydro shop, but do phone around and compare.

However, your local hdwe store probably has the 25mm (1") square aluminium tubing and Qubelok plastic connectors to make a stand. The res tank can just as easily be a cheap plastic storage tub from the local cheeeep Chinese junk dollar shop.

if i get a 2x2 planter 7 inches high can i use 10 gall rubbermaid or it needs 2 be a bigger res then from there just connect tubing to the fittings and pump. plug the pump in the timer then i got my own system. is it that easy???

Yes, the setup really is that easy. Plan on about 5L of tank volume per plant.

the reason y i was thinking dwc cause i thought it was the cheapest being all u need is 5 gallon bucket mesh pot/lid and a air pump i could make 4

DWC is not for beginners. As you also know from reading this thread carefully, DWC is also dependent on 24/7 air supply- a power outage lasting more than a couple of hours can be curtains for DWC plants.

is a 185 cfm active air blower good for taking out my hot air for my 400 watt hps????

Exhaust blower size is dependent on the room's volume. The minimum fan size should be one which can shift the volume of the room airmass in about 3 mins. A 500cu ft room needs a minimum 167CFM blower.

However, ventilation is one of the VERY few things in a grow room where more is always better. 185CFM isn't a whole lot of air; I use a 150mm/200CFM axial blower just to run my cooltubes. My 500cu ft room is exhausted with a 600CFM, 250mm centrif and has a pair of 150mm axials as intake blowers.

dam al, I just realized to make the pebbles work in your system I would need 3 more of those expensive CAP timers. Cos flooding only takes 3 mins about every hour or so.

Are there cheaper timers that I could make work for this system?

I friggin hate the CAP timers anyways...

What's a CAP timer?

The ordinary digital timers I can get from the local hdwe store allow 24 programs per 24 hours, with runtimes programmable in single minute increments.

al b, what other forums do you frequent?

I'm registered on more boards than I can recall. Aside from RIU, I'm also registered as Al B. on Grass City & OSA, several others. I don't look in on the others often.

 

[Al B. Fuct]

Mythbusting time.

This is a cross-post from another thread. I want it in here because this thread is getting 3-400 reads a day.

Good excuse for some new shots of what's on in my op at the moment, too.

Your pH will never stabilize using tapwater.

Switch to RO or your grow will be poor.

Absolutely false. I really wish you'd stop propagating this myth, Earl. You've done it in several places on RIU. You're allowed to fool yourself but you're NOT allowed to fool others.

I've run nothing but tapwater for more than 20 years. My pH stays dead steady after mixing a tank. There's lots of causes for wandering pH but tapwater isn't one of them.

Please point out the tapwater damage to these plants! Where's it all going wrong for me?

(click img for full size)



















This cherry tomato plant growing in soil in my organic veg patch is for those who insist that chlorination will kill beneficial microbes in soil. This plant yielded more than 450 fruit- on evil, evil tapwater out of the garden hose. Chlorination is in fact the indoor growers' friend. It suppresses pathogens while the water is in the pipes on the way to you and also for a couple of days in an open nute tank until the chlorine evaporates. After that, you must use a pathogen suppressor like H2O2.

A lot of people complain about a high ppm reading on their tapwater. Guess what? That's caused mainly by dissolved Ca & Mg, which the plant needs anyway and which you must replace if you remove it with RO or use distilled water.

Any water you can safely drink will grow fine plants.

 

[sparkafire]

Absolutely false. I really wish you'd stop propagating this myth, Earl. You've done it in several places on RIU. You're allowed to fool yourself but you're NOT allowed to fool others.

OK Note to self........ Dont bring up RO VS Tap water to ABF. LOL

ABF You are one of the good ones!!! Thanks for helping us all out here. I realize it must take an ENORMOUS amount of time to reply to all the questions.
Just wanted to say thanks. kiss-ass

Did you ever get your royalty check I sent?

Sparky

 

[Al B. Fuct]

OK Note to self........ Dont bring up RO VS Tap water to ABF. LOL

I wouldn't be so militant about it if there were not people- who really ought to know better- deliberately propagating mythinformation.

ABF You are one of the good ones!!! Thanks for helping us all out here. I realize it must take an ENORMOUS amount of time to reply to all the questions.

Just wanted to say thanks.

Thanks. It takes me a few hours a day, but I also type at 90-100wpm. I like thinking about the problems and forming a solution. My real payoff is when folks come back later and tell me that my suggestion fixed the problem.

Did you ever get your royalty check I sent?

I sure did.

You should now have a supply of Fuct Intellectual Property LLP licences in a convenient dispenser roll, right beside your dunny.

 

[llLOU]

AL B, Is there a book that you created ? I'll buy it!
I'm just a beginner with all of this , and hungry for info that is reliable , and understandable, some of these posts,????, I swear I need an interpretor . Thanks for being there.