cob | sip | scrog

Humanrob

Humanrob

Well-Known Member
Evil-Mobo said:
Same here which is why thus far I have just been feeding tap to my SIP's and the plants have been fine. I moved from a DWC setup to this and not doing the ppm, ph, thing etc has been wonderful. Same with carrying buckets of water around and waiting for R/O to fill a container etc. Easier to always have a gallon jug of tap on hand and fill as necessary for me.

I will go read on their page thanks for the info. And yes I like to read and do a lot of research to find what works best for me. I also am not after record breaking yields, as this is all for personal use, what I am after is the best quality fire I can grow. This is like exercising with weights, focus on your form, and the strength (yields in this case) will follow once everything starts to get dialed in.
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One thing they say that I've probably quoted before that I find very interesting is:

A major cause of pH swings in an Octopot Grow System is the misuse of air stones. Running an air stone continuously in an Octopot Grow System disrupts oxygen levels causing pH swings. To prevent pH levels from fluctuating when using air stones set them on a timer with equal cycles on and off so the water in the Hydro Reservoir has the time to recover.

Several of us here are using air stones continuously... I wonder how we would even know if we are causing problems, since I'm not aware of anyone testing their water for PH? Honestly, I've only done soil and never tested for PH, don't even own a PH meter. Is anyone testing their water?
 
Evil-Mobo

Evil-Mobo

Well-Known Member
I will see how I can test my water later. I am not running stones myself, just using my root spa DWC bucket as the res and the air pump pushes air through the sight tube bubbling the water inside that way. I didn't want to deal with the stones and roots all mangled up etc, especially when I had this other option available. I'm just not sure how the PH reading from the res will be any different than when I put it in from the tap as if it's in the res the plant has taken it in yet, so what would cause the PH to change?
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Evil-Mobo said:
I will see how I can test my water later. I am not running stones myself, just using my root spa DWC bucket as the res and the air pump pushes air through the sight tube bubbling the water inside that way. I didn't want to deal with the stones and roots all mangled up etc, especially when I had this other option available. I'm just not sure how the PH reading from the res will be any different than when I put it in from the tap as if it's in the res the plant has taken it in yet, so what would cause the PH to change?
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Ya never know, so take the measurements and let them tell you.
 
Humanrob

Humanrob

Well-Known Member
Evil-Mobo said:
I will see how I can test my water later. I am not running stones myself, just using my root spa DWC bucket as the res and the air pump pushes air through the sight tube bubbling the water inside that way. I didn't want to deal with the stones and roots all mangled up etc, especially when I had this other option available. I'm just not sure how the PH reading from the res will be any different than when I put it in from the tap as if it's in the res the plant has taken it in yet, so what would cause the PH to change?
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There is interaction between the water and the wick, which is full of organic material. There are variables... I only know bits and pieces about this, but from what I understand once organic matter gets in the water, you will have life forms and an ecosystem start. If you do or don't have air stones, that will impact what is comfortable living there. Life makes waste, and over time I suspect that can alter the ph. There are a lot of factors, like the temp of the tent and therefor the water, the size of the res, well water vs tap water, how often you top feed, and what is in your wick (I have a coco/peat moss mix, but it is hydro store bought and has additives)... are some that come to mind.
 
Evil-Mobo

Evil-Mobo

Well-Known Member
I put the same soil I use (FFOF) in the cup for my wick and it has performed just fine thus far in both. You're right I did not think of the interaction of the wick with the water I will get a reading in a bit to compare and see. Need to dig up my PH and PPM meters lol.....
 
Evil-Mobo

Evil-Mobo

Well-Known Member
Ok so to be fair I will say again up front, both of these SIP's were top fed dry nutes in a trench last week so I do not know if that has any affect what so ever on the readings. I only top fed some water with seaweed extract properly PH'd when I initially set up the SIP to get the soil moist, and then when I did the dry nutes last week I moistened the area a bit with plain tap water straight from the tap.

The clear measuring cup is the water from the SIP my Northern Lights plant is in, the red solo cup is my tap water as it comes out of the faucet.

I find the results interesting, even more so that I have two nice plants growing with how high the PH is, I guess the soil is a good PH buffer because there's no way to get growth like this with a bad PH right LOL.......

Picture of my res water to show the clarity:
IMG_20160523_140854.jpg

PH on the res water of the NL:
IMG_20160523_140910.jpg

PH on the tap water:
IMG_20160523_140929.jpg

PPM on the res water:
IMG_20160523_141008.jpg

PPM on the tap water:
IMG_20160523_141020.jpg

So where does this leave us lol.... I for one am a bit confused.......
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Evil-Mobo said:
Ok so to be fair I will say again up front, both of these SIP's were top fed dry nutes in a trench last week so I do not know if that has any affect what so ever on the readings. I only top fed some water with seaweed extract properly PH'd when I initially set up the SIP to get the soil moist, and then when I did the dry nutes last week I moistened the area a bit with plain tap water straight from the tap.

The clear measuring cup is the water from the SIP my Northern Lights plant is in, the red solo cup is my tap water as it comes out of the faucet.

I find the results interesting, even more so that I have two nice plants growing with how high the PH is, I guess the soil is a good PH buffer because there's no way to get growth like this with a bad PH right LOL.......

Picture of my res water to show the clarity:
View attachment 3688920

PH on the res water of the NL:
View attachment 3688921

PH on the tap water:
View attachment 3688922

PPM on the res water:
View attachment 3688923

PPM on the tap water:
View attachment 3688924

So where does this leave us lol.... I for one am a bit confused.......
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I'm having trouble seeing the numbers in the pics. Could you write them out for me?
 
Evil-Mobo

Evil-Mobo

Well-Known Member
ttystikk said:
I'm having trouble seeing the numbers in the pics. Could you write them out for me?
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Not a problem, they're crystal clear on my end so not sure.........

Res water PH: 8.37
Tap water PH: 7.77
Res water PPM: 596
Tap water PPM: 276

Let me know if you need anything else from the pics :D
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Evil-Mobo said:
Not a problem, they're crystal clear on my end so not sure.........

Res water PH: 8.37
Tap water PH: 7.77
Res water PPM: 596
Tap water PPM: 276

Let me know if you need anything else from the pics :D
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Cuz I'm going blind, bro.

Thanks.

None of those numbers look unreasonable.
 
Evil-Mobo

Evil-Mobo

Well-Known Member
ttystikk said:
Cuz I'm going blind, bro.

Thanks.

None of those numbers look unreasonable.
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It's all good bro I'm a lot younger and blind as a bat too was just messing with ya.

Yeah I'm ok with the numbers, but more importantly the plants show me what's up. There's been a few times in this grow had I followed some advice given to others in the past I would have killed my plants lol..... that's the other thing I like about the soil, it gives you time to wait and see what is really going on, vs forcing you to act rash in a different setup where you need to act quicker. For a newb grower like me this has been beneficial.

With the DWC if there was an issue and I couldn't figure it out the answer is always just dump your res and start over but you really don't learn a lot like that as a new guy.

And I am in no way against hydro, I like the idea and what not hence why I started there. I am still very much wanting to try coco, tupur, or a peat mix in fabric pots or nursery pots that are bottom fed in a flood and drain setup but don't see much of that on here....... one more thing to keep me busy looking at lol.....
 
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Humanrob

Humanrob

Well-Known Member
Sunday Update -- Day 37

Another week rolls by. The best part is that I have no news. :)

Just more filling out, and some pretty healthy looking plants I think.

First the Bruce Banner #3. It's still short... best seen from a side shot between the screens where all of its action is happening. The hairs are starting to turn brown/orange, and she's mighty frosty.
05.29_BB-top.jpg 05.29_BB-between-the-screens.jpg 05.29_bb-frost.jpg

Then there's the OG. Her bud structures are running roughly from 6" below to 12" above the top screen. She seems really happy. I've never grown a plant this close to these lights before, but she seems to just drink it up.

05.29_og-canopy.jpg05.29_OG-full-height.jpg

One thing I noticed is that her buds near the center of the tent are more tightly stacked than the ones near the outside. It might not come through in the pics, but its definitely noticeable to the eye. I'm wondering if this is because of my light configuration -- I have my 4000k and 5000k COBs in the middle, and the 3000k COBs to the outside. Could the 3000's be causing the buds to "stretch"? They aren't any taller really, just longer gaps between the buds.

tight/center
05.29_og-tight-buds.jpg

loose/outside
05.29_og-loose-buds.jpg
 
Tim Fox

Tim Fox

Well-Known Member
SomeGuy said:
-Center supports for the lid to help hold up the softpot.
-remove feed tubes and make it a window type opening
-more airstones in rez

I'll make the improvement over summer. Only gonna run the led section in summer. I have.the outdoor going anyway so small grow through summer inside.
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i do like the window idea you and Rob are going with
 
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