Strip LEDs in the garden of Paradise

[Prawn Connery]

1) I measured the flow with a measuring cup. It's just a rough guide, as you can increase the number of waterings with the timer, or the flow with the tap/bypass. And yes, you're looking for runoff (about 10% is a good guide) and how the plants react. I just know from many years of experience that 5 x 1 minute intervals for the 550lph pump is a good starting point for my 8 x 2 gallon pots. I am now up to 6 waterings every 12 hours (every 2 hours 15 minutes).

2) Yes, you are either increasing the flow using the tap, or the number of waterings using the timer as the plants progress.

3) I normally run a liquid line cleaner through my system and give my reservoir a scrub.

4) You need to calculate 4 x 2hours 40 minutes (not five) to know the time between waterings. For example, my lights come on at 2030 and go off at 0830 (12 hours). Waterings would be 2020, 2300, 0140, 0420, 0700.

Currently I am watering 6 times at 2015, 2230, 0045, 0300, 0515, 0730

5) One minute is the minimum my timer can do. So then it comes down to how many times do I need to water in 1-minute intervals using my chosen pump, getting enough runoff to flush the pots and enough mileage out of my 60-litre reservoir? Everything is a balancing act, and I grew with this exact same system for more than 10 years, so I have an idea - based on experience - as to how to set the parameters.

But things obviously change and you have to respond.

In summer, the plants will drink more. In winter, less. The plants drink less to begin with as they fill out their pots, then more as they stretch, then more as they flower, then less as they ripen. You get a feel for it as you watch the plants, watch your runoff, and give the pots a lift every now and then to see is they are too heavy or too light. You want the coco to be moist at all times but not soaked all the time. If you get the balance right, every time the pump comes on - except the first time (after the drying period between the last and first watering) - there will be a small amount of runoff, which may increase with each watering, but with the pots drying out slightly in-between.

The golden rule is, the plants will tell you what they like.

 

[Prawn Connery]

The "catchment" buckets you're using,what exactly are they?

They look like buckets used for flowers.I got a bunch from the flower section at the grocery store one time.Was walkin by and the lady had a stack of them so i asked her what they were going to do with them and she said more than likely go to the dumpster......they came with me.

They're sold at local hydro shops specifically for RTW and recirculating systems and come in different sizes.

Any bucket or sealed pot will do as long as it has a lip for the inner bucket to rest on and keep it slightly raised above the bottom of the catchment pot so that it doesn't rest on your plumbing and disturb it - because it will likely break the seal and leak everywhere.

 

[Prawn Connery]

EDIT:

Ok, I've got some of the questions answered by watching this
[Video=youtube]

[/video]

It's funny watching that. I've never used a TDS meter. What he says makes perfect sense, of course, but when you do it for a while, you just watch the plants and the way they respond and you just know whether to up the nutrient or back it off a little at a time.

For the record, I feed every single watering, but I use about 3ml-3.5ml per litre of the recommended 5ml per litre on the bottle, as the recommended dosage is usually for a recirculating system.

You will get to know your nutrient, so that is not a hard and fast rule for everyone - it's just what works for me.

Initially, you will feed a little more - about 3.5ml per litre (or 70-75% of the recommended dosage) - to charge the coco and maintain growth well into flower. But by the end of the 5th week you'll start to back off a little to about 3ml per litre for the sixth and seventh weeks and then down to about 2ml per litre and finally fresh water for the last few days (for an 8-week strain).

This is because over time, nutrient salts will build up slightly in the coco - despite the flushing going on - and your plants' nutrient requirements will also drop off in the last couple of weeks as they ripen.

I don't believe in a long flush - I like to see my plants green at the end of the grow, because I know I have achieved near maximum growth and potential (yield) for the entire grow.

 

[Buck5050]

I skipped a beat on the not a "long flush" comment. How long do you usually flush for? I am just curios and not passing judgment. My understanding is everyone wants nice fading of the leaves as the plants cannibalizes as the trichs start to amber up. Something like 10-14 days before the chop.

 

[Prawn Connery]

Flushing is bullshit.

There. I said it.

Does it make your buds taste better? In all my years of growing, I've never noticed the difference and never seen any empirical evidence to support the theory.

There's plenty of "less nitrogen, blah, blah, blah . . .", but name me one edible crop that is flushed before harvest. Furthermore, name me one tobacco farmer who flushes before harvest. Or one coconut farmer (I'm being silly now).

IMO, it's one of those enduring cannabis myths.

Firstly, I see lots of "flushing" excuses for poor nutrient management in flowering plants.

Secondly, most strains pack on most of their weight in the second-last week of flowering, while many continue to bulk up in the last week.

Cannabis is not a deciduous plant. If the leaves are changing colour towards the end of the grow, then they are either suffering a magnesium, phosphorous or nitrogen (or all three) deficiency, or your room is too cold - leading to the same deficiencies.

You are simply hurting yield for no appreciable benefit.

But if it makes people feel better to flush, then they can keep doing it.

The only reason I do it a few days towards the end of harvest is because it's a waste of nutrient to keep supplying the plant when there is already enough in the coco.

 

[legalcanada]

Flushing is bullshit.

There. I said it.

Does it make your buds taste better? In all my years of growing, I've never noticed the difference and never seen any empirical evidence to support the theory.

There's plenty of "less nitrogen, blah, blah, blah . . .", but name me one edible crop that is flushed before harvest. Furthermore, name me one tobacco farmer who flushes before harvest. Or one coconut farmer (I'm being silly now).

IMO, it's one of those enduring cannabis myths.

Firstly, I see lots of "flushing" excuses for poor nutrient management in flowering plants.

Secondly, most strains pack on most of their weight in the second-last week of flowering, while many continue to bulk up in the last week.

Cannabis is not a deciduous plant. If the leaves are changing colour towards the end of the grow, then they are either suffering a magnesium, phosphorous or nitrogen (or all three) deficiency, or your room is too cold - leading to the same deficiencies.

You are simply hurting yield for no appreciable benefit.

But if it makes people feel better to flush, then they can keep doing it.

The only reason I do it a few days towards the end of harvest is because it's a waste of nutrient to keep supplying the plant when there is already enough in the coco.

would like to see a picture of your joints ash

 

[T-Time]

And thats why ^^ I've tried to boil by roots this run

 

[Prawn Connery]

would like to see a picture of your joints ash

The flushing debate is as old as time. I've grown a shit-load of pot over the past 30 years. I've smoked even more. I've never noticed an appreciable difference.

What do you think the difference is and - more importantly - why?

Also, I don't smoke many joints. Mainly bucket bongs and vapes.

 

[legalcanada]

because growers longer and more experienced than myself swear by it, that their ash never got pure white until they did heavy flushing. i believe it also has to do with the dry and cure as well but i'm not sure. it makes sense that you'd be smoking nutrients if you didn't flush. in my mind anyways. i'm about to find out though because i won't be flushing my plants well, just regular watering for the last week maybe

 

[Prawn Connery]

Yeah . . . nah. There's never been any scientific evidence to support the notion that starving plants of nutrient in the finale weeks of flower improves the finished product - it's all anecdotal.

Drying and curing has far more influence on final product, as that's when starches are converted to sugars.

If you're interested, there is a lot of debate on the subject that a bit of searching will produce. You might be surprised to see how many threads debunk the myth of flushing based on plant biology. After all, if it were the case, then hydro would always taste better than soil, as you can never flush all the nutrients out of soil - certainly not in the last two weeks.

But as I said, each to his/her own.

 

[projectinfo]

Update love the bridgelux light!

 

[klx]

Flushing is bullshit.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Stoner myth #236.

 

[Prawn Connery]

Update love the bridgelux light!

Lovely photos. I considered using Bridelux strips for my build, but the Samsungs just seemed to be a natural fit. For example, the Samsung F and H Series single row strips are 18mm wide, so you can mount two per 40mm aluminium U channel, while the F Series double row strips are just under 40mm and fit perfectly.

I also considered the new Q series Samsung strips, but the cost was a fair bit more for only a little gain in efficiency. Not really worth it for my simple needs.

 

[Prawn Connery]

The Dreaded Rent Inspection

So Friday was inspection day. That meant bagging up the plants, dismantling the tents and plumbing, packing everything up, and waiting . . .

Inspections are a PIA. But they're a bit like death and taxes. The only possible benefit is that you are forced to put everything back together again, which gives you an excuse to do some maintenance. And it was lucky I did, as I found a plant at the back corner (Sensi Star) that had a crimped drainage hose that was preventing the buckets from emptying properly.

So I replaced all the drain lines from the pots to the main drainage line, making them shorter so that the plastic pipes and T sections almost touched. This means there is still enough flexibility in the drain lines to move the pots, but not enough for the hoses to crimp shut if they are bent. This is a very different drainage set-up to my last vertical grow, so these are things I obviously needed to learn.

We all fuck-up. But it is important to recognise your fuck-ups as soon as you can and do something about it to salvage your grow. And it goes without saying, learn from the experience

This also gave me a chance to take some more photos of my plumbing set-up. You can see the new reticulation line and 4mm feeders branching off and going into the pots.


Another close-up of the feeder lines.

A photo of the retic line coming in, and drainage line going out of the tent on the right.


And of course, it was also time to do some pruning, so I cut off all the small branches that were never going to make it to the canopy, and removed some fan leaves. Just a few fan leaves at this stage, not a lot.

 

[Prawn Connery]

The plants are now at Week 3 of flowering. Most of the stretch is over and flowers are beginning to develop. I'm going to have to increase my nutrient regime, as I've noticed the odd brown spot and the plants are growing faster than I expected.




Sometimes when I open the tent, I find the plants have almost grown into the LEDs, so I'm having to adjust the frame almost every day. However, so far none have burned and none are bleaching.

I'm very happy with my choice of strips, because they seem to offer the best of both worlds in terms of light intensity and moderate heat. The weather has been unseasonably cool lately, so that could change.

The plants have stretched, but that is more to do with overcrowding.

 

[BuddyColas]

View attachment 4058884
The plants are now at Week 3 of flowering. Most of the stretch is over and flowers are beginning to develop. I'm going to have to increase my nutrient regime, as I've noticed the odd brown spot and the plants are growing faster than I expected.

View attachment 4058888

View attachment 4058889
Sometimes when I open the tent, I find the plants have almost grown into the LEDs, so I'm having to adjust the frame almost every day. However, so far none have burned and none are bleaching.

I'm very happy with my choice of strips, because they seem to offer the best of both worlds in terms of light intensity and moderate heat. The weather has been unseasonably cool lately, so that could change.

The plants have stretched, but that is more to do with overcrowding.

Great shot of the girls underneath that blanket of photons!

So annually you have do take it all down for an inspection? Do you take all your stuff over to a buddies place?

 

[Prawn Connery]

Every three months - sometimes longer. At least I'm hoping the next one will be longer.

I've been lucky in the past at other places, as I've been able to hide the grow in a shed that doesn't get inspected - you get to learn the agents' habits and what they want to see etc - and this one is similar, but we've just moved in, so I'm playing it safe for now. Even though it is hidden in the roof, there's no way to prevent access if someone wanted to poke their head up there.

I usually bag the plants up in garbage bags and put them in the boot of the car. No smell, and no-one can get into the vehicle. I know guys with large grows who hire a van when they need to avoid an inspection and do the same.

 

[BuddyColas]

Every three months - sometimes longer. At least I'm hoping the next one will be longer.

I've been lucky in the past at other places, as I've been able to hide the grow in a shed that doesn't get inspected - you get to learn the agents' habits and what they want to see etc - and this one is similar, but we've just moved in, so I'm playing it safe for now. Even though it is hidden in the roof, there's no way to prevent access if someone wanted to poke their head up there.

I usually bag the plants up in garbage bags and put them in the boot of the car. No smell, and no-one can get into the vehicle. I know guys with large grows who hire a van when they need to avoid an inspection and do the same.

At least they are not surprise inspections and they give you some warning. Much respect for having to take it all down 4 times a year and still making it look good! Good on ya!

 

[Buck5050]

Is all well down under?

 

[sethimus]

what kind of archaic renters law do you have over there?