40+ lbs with 12 Plants in 2 Rooms on a Flip

[hybridway2]

About 1.5 gallons a day per plant.

Damn, would have guessed more.

 

[hybridway2]

I built this flood and drain setup using coco. The chip I use is much more coarse. Reason for that using flood and drain its easy to saturate the pots. The pots in this setup sit on a 10mm mesh to allow for drainage.

Tent size is 3mx1.5mx2mh,
The table is a sheet of ply 2.4l x1.2w
Hold about 100 plants sog.
Preferred fert is GH, however its difficult to get in New Zealand so I end up importing myself.

This is the first one using LEDs. I do use HPS 600s in the other 4 tents. 3 lights per tent 1800watts and the best harvest last yr was 5.3lb of bud, The strain was Bruce Banner from Ilovegrowingmarijuan website. The black tub will be removed, have some newly rooted clones in it.

This table has a mixture. My bro gave my this clone called Pink Plant . See how it runs.

View attachment 4522791

I just received some seeds from Greenpointseeds, Don't know much about them but this is what I got so far.

View attachment 4522796

I want to give Renfro a huge thanks for sharing his knowledge. Any advice on my setup is welcome, plus am always keen to hear about new strains.

Just to let you know Cannabis is still illegal in New Zealand , hence the price of a lb 5k.

And we are currently in full lockdown.

I am having good luck with GPS. Can't beat the price options either. Hard to decide on keepers.

 

[Sif1]

I am having good luck with GPS. Can't beat the price options either. Hard to decide on keepers.

I got 100% germination. The Rum Runners are powering. I'm excited about Sundar Banana Cookies.

I also ordered a heap of seed from Ilovegrowingmarijuana. That was two months ago and nothing has arrived. I don't recommend this seed bank because of that.

 

[ryan s]

I'm interested to see how your water experiment goes as I am also getting my water from the Pueblo reservoir and using 6 gallons of R/O water a day is producing a lot of waste water and is a lot of effort. Are you still de-chlorinating?

 

[Renfro]

So you have not given the tap a go yet? Goodluck with the experiment!. How long you been there?
When i switched locations the water was less then desirable to drink or even bath in compared to the prior spot. I was literally carrying 20gal at a time from that opp to this one to feed veg. This went on for a minute then harvested n bought a (mustve been $800) RO machine/filtration.
I had problems using RO. Who knows then cuz i had other dialing in issues to worry about simultaneously switching to led.
After a few runs i ditched the RO for plants & used for drinking. It comes out 0. Shell-Shocked when replacement filters cost me $200 a piece x2 (luckily got $100 off), then a pre-filter the other day. Bought so to bottle water, especially if our water sources get contaminated or can't get out to buy some. You know, the Zombies are just around the corner. Lol!
After giving my tap a chance (110ppm/.2ec) & dialing in led, it works fine. I don't drink it but the plants seam to like it good enough.
You say the water source fluctuates between seasons? Each run would adapt fine hopefully.
Good to see you back in action. You give me goals! Peace n be safe!

I kinda got stuck on RO because it's all I have ever run with hydro. When I switched to soiless mix I just kept on going with it. Will see how it does.

 

[Sif1]

I kinda got stuck on RO because it's all I have ever run with hydro. When I switched to soiless mix I just kept on going with it. Will see how it does.

I'm on rainwater here. After coming from town water it's much different mixing your ferts etc. With chlorine, you can fill your reservoir up and let it evaporate over a couple of days. The other thing I have done is used that stuff you put in your fish tanks that take the minerals out. Unsure how that affects your fertilizer though

 

[Sif1]

@Renfro.

I decided to up my ppm to 1100-1200 ppm from reading your numbers. With this reading using the Bluelab Truncheon which ppm are you using . TDS 500 or EC 700?

Cheers

 

[Renfro]

@Renfro.

I decided to up my ppm to 1100-1200 ppm from reading your numbers. With this reading using the Bluelab Truncheon which ppm are you using . TDS 500 or EC 700?

Cheers

500. thats pretty standard for us growers to use.

 

[Sif1]

500. thats pretty standard for us growers to use.

Thanks, Had to make sure so I'm on the same page. i noticed an very fast difference putting it up rather than slowly increasing.

 

[Sif1]

This thread has been so good, it's motivated me to go over everything and fix all the small things. Its unreal. Almost as good as surfing a 10ft barrel over shallow coral and surviving.

 

[Renfro]

i noticed an very fast difference putting it up rather than slowly increasing.

kinda like stomping on the accelerator pedal... lol

I have learned that, at least for me, taking my well rooted clones directly to an EC of 2.0 really makes them pop. I have done the same with seedlings on their first feed (I wait until they have the first multi-bladed leaves) and they love it. I don't see the need to start low and ease up. This also made it easier for my veg room nutrients, one tank for all plant ages.

I often wonder if plants get burnt, not from the higher PPM overall, but too much of just a specific nutrient. Like say nitrogen (just tossing that out there not saying it is the problem child), or even just the NO3- or NH4+ form nitrogen. I have run some pretty high PPM's like 1400's and didn't notice any burn so perhaps I didn't have too much of any one element/compound? I never sat down and did any experiments in this area but it could possibly glean some good information about what elements / compounds can't be tolerated at higher levels so easily. Heck the information is probably out there for excavation at will.

damn I really rattle on when I am stoned.

anyways I am glad your plants reacted kindly to the bump.

This thread has been so good, it's motivated me to go over everything and fix all the small things. Its unreal. Almost as good as surfing a 10ft barrel over shallow coral and surviving.

hmm, I don't know what that is like firsthand but I will assume it's a rush.

 

[Renfro]

So I have been using the tap H2O and it's doing good so far, still vegging them into the trellis though. This strain has woody stems that don't like a hard press when super cropping them out sideways. I therefore take them in the room smaller and grow them into the trellis with less smashery. Of course this eats more power but whaddya gonna do? Better than busted branches. That was one thing about the glue, you could really get aggressive with training her. I still have that cut as a mother in veg, maybe I will do a re-run of it for Christmas.

I have been running the overhead lights and vertical lamps between rows for 12 hours and the row end 400's for 6 more hours to get 18. It's funny how when the end row lights are on the leaves angle down and face the lower angle of light. One might be inclined to think they aren't happy but very much the opposite.

I've noted that when I veg them in the flowering rooms if I turn all the lights on for 18 hours they get really stressed, just too much at once. Giving them the light as I have described keeps them really happy, the less intense light for the last 6 hours of each day also seems to prevent them from getting that tired look that they get for the last few hours of each day when under the intense overhead LED or CMH in my veg room.

That is definitely something to consider for longer veg cycles, have lighting ramp down at the end of each day, say after 12 hours on start ramping down and have around 60% power for the last 2-4 hours. Ramping up as well probably, but faster like in the first hour go from low to high. This would save energy and probably make for happier plants. I know there are controllers out there just for this like gavita's but I never figured it would actually be better than just going on and off with intense light. Would be nice to make a controller that would automatically ramp up and down my DIY LED's.

So yeah someone is gonna say that this should all be self evident because thats how nature works. I will respond by saying as indoor growers back in the day we started out with lights that were on or off. Dimmable's are a more recent invention that came along with digital ballasts. It is easy to be stuck in your ways and thinking that more light is better and it's worked fine for 30 years, why change it. Well saving energy is nice but it's not why I think this is good, it's because of how the plants seem to respond kindly.

Well here I go again all stoned and blabbering.

Anyways, back to the tap water. Ive noticed that I have to mix things differently. Just for starters I always let the tank mix really well before adding another nute and I am not currently using calimagic with the tap h2o.

If I do the normal SI,M,G,B order directly into the mix tank I get a LOT of precipitation after the grow goes in. I experimented with small mixes and found that the Si is problematic with the tap h2o if it's added first as you would normally do with RO h2o. What I started doing is adding the M,G,B and then using the Si as the pH up. Doing it like this I haven't had anything dropping out of solution.

 

[Bignutes]

I have been running the overhead lights and vertical lamps between rows for 12 hours and the row end 400's for 6 more hours to get 18. It's funny how when the end row lights are on the leaves angle down and face the lower angle of light. One might be inclined to think they aren't happy but very much the opposite.

I've noted that when I veg them in the flowering rooms if I turn all the lights on for 18 hours they get really stressed, just too much at once. Giving them the light as I have described keeps them really happy, the less intense light for the last 6 hours of each day also seems to prevent them from getting that tired look that they get for the last few hours of each day when under the intense overhead LED or CMH in my veg room.

That is definitely something to consider for longer veg cycles, have lighting ramp down at the end of each day, say after 12 hours on start ramping down and have around 60% power for the last 2-4 hours. Ramping up as well probably, but faster like in the first hour go from low to high. This would save energy and probably make for happier plants. I know there are controllers out there just for this like gavita's but I never figured it would actually be better than just going on and off with intense light. Would be nice to make a controller that would automatically ramp up and down my DIY LED's.

So yeah someone is gonna say that this should all be self evident because thats how nature works. I will respond by saying as indoor growers back in the day we started out with lights that were on or off. Dimmable's are a more recent invention that came along with digital ballasts. It is easy to be stuck in your ways and thinking that more light is better and it's worked fine for 30 years, why change it. Well saving energy is nice but it's not why I think this is good, it's because of how the plants seem to respond kindly.

I agree on the ramp up and down of light. I notice as the plants get a little older their tolerance for the same light levels go down, that droopy giving up at the end of the day comes on quicker, not sure if thats from age or something in my grow. I either raise the light more than otherwise or reduce the time.

Something that gets overlooked is plants get their food from the sun, not from the soil or hydro those inputs just facilitate the plants. An analogy is we eat food, plants eat sunshine. When you think of it like that who would be happy eating oatmeal all the time, or worse having a shit sandwich for 20+ hours a day (insert blurple steroid grower here). Hell i dont know of any naturally occurring ruderalis strain that receives more than 15.5 hours of sun a day, yet 24 Is given?

This set my frame of mind when I built my LED's, ease into sunrise ramp up and back down for sunset. Gives the girls some balanced food. I've heard a rumor that there is more of a push going to 16 hour veg on the west coast, plants seem to do better, more resilient, healthier.........no shit hey! Genetically programmed to get an absolute max of about 14.5 hours on summer solstice at cannabis latitudes, we treat our plants like assembly line robots and looking at all the grow problems on here it's little wonder why. Master growers push the limits and it pays off great but it's thru years of dialing it in or being mentoring by someone, no one starts at the top. For an average grower or new grower they should dumb it down and go back to basics instead of bro logic and slowly piece it together, gain knowledge. Sit with your plants, observe, pay attention, research, ask questions.

 

[Teag]

Is the calmag already in the tap water readily available? I thought calmag products would still be necessary in a soiless/hydro setup since the plant can't access the calmag in the tap water easily.

 

[Renfro]

I notice as the plants get a little older their tolerance for the same light levels go down, that droopy giving up at the end of the day comes on quicker, not sure if thats from age or something in my grow.

hmm I noticed the opposite. I seem to note that they harden with age and take more.

I've heard a rumor that there is more of a push going to 16 hour veg on the west coast, plants seem to do better, more resilient, healthier.........no shit hey

16 hour veg is in fact very logical. I think I may give it a try.

 

[Renfro]

Is the calmag readily available in tap water? I thought calmag products would still be necessary in a soiless/hydro setup since the plant can't access the calmag in the tap water easily.

all depends on your tap water. definitely need calmag with RO, may not need it with tap or may need some or may just need epsom because there is already ample calcium.

 

[Bignutes]

hmm I noticed the opposite. I seem to note that they harden with age and take more.

16 hour veg is in fact very logical. I think I may give it a try.

I noticed they can take more intensity till late veg, its corrected with fewer hours, so perhaps along the lines of DLI? Not sure. Maybe the ramp up and down has something to do with it or its my grow.

 

[Bignutes]

I noticed they can take more intensity till late veg, its corrected with fewer hours, so perhaps along the lines of DLI? Not sure. Maybe the ramp up and down has something to do with it or its my grow.

I'll correct that, the same intensity for the same duration is what I'm referring to during late veg. They can take more intensity as I ramp it up towards flower but I drop the hours which is what we all do to flower. It makes me think that going with a 15 hour day veg with higher intensities to meet the DLI would be the "natural" way. Same amount of total energy just fewer hours. It would make the transition to flower not so much of a shock. Would need to be tested.

 

[hybridway2]

So I have been using the tap H2O and it's doing good so far, still vegging them into the trellis though. This strain has woody stems that don't like a hard press when super cropping them out sideways. I therefore take them in the room smaller and grow them into the trellis with less smashery. Of course this eats more power but whaddya gonna do? Better than busted branches. That was one thing about the glue, you could really get aggressive with training her. I still have that cut as a mother in veg, maybe I will do a re-run of it for Christmas.

I have been running the overhead lights and vertical lamps between rows for 12 hours and the row end 400's for 6 more hours to get 18. It's funny how when the end row lights are on the leaves angle down and face the lower angle of light. One might be inclined to think they aren't happy but very much the opposite.

I've noted that when I veg them in the flowering rooms if I turn all the lights on for 18 hours they get really stressed, just too much at once. Giving them the light as I have described keeps them really happy, the less intense light for the last 6 hours of each day also seems to prevent them from getting that tired look that they get for the last few hours of each day when under the intense overhead LED or CMH in my veg room.

That is definitely something to consider for longer veg cycles, have lighting ramp down at the end of each day, say after 12 hours on start ramping down and have around 60% power for the last 2-4 hours. Ramping up as well probably, but faster like in the first hour go from low to high. This would save energy and probably make for happier plants. I know there are controllers out there just for this like gavita's but I never figured it would actually be better than just going on and off with intense light. Would be nice to make a controller that would automatically ramp up and down my DIY LED's.

So yeah someone is gonna say that this should all be self evident because thats how nature works. I will respond by saying as indoor growers back in the day we started out with lights that were on or off. Dimmable's are a more recent invention that came along with digital ballasts. It is easy to be stuck in your ways and thinking that more light is better and it's worked fine for 30 years, why change it. Well saving energy is nice but it's not why I think this is good, it's because of how the plants seem to respond kindly.

Well here I go again all stoned and blabbering.

Anyways, back to the tap water. Ive noticed that I have to mix things differently. Just for starters I always let the tank mix really well before adding another nute and I am not currently using calimagic with the tap h2o.

If I do the normal SI,M,G,B order directly into the mix tank I get a LOT of precipitation after the grow goes in. I experimented with small mixes and found that the Si is problematic with the tap h2o if it's added first as you would normally do with RO h2o. What I started doing is adding the M,G,B and then using the Si as the pH up. Doing it like this I haven't had anything dropping out of solution.

Agreed on the ramping down the last 4 hrs of veg. When i check on them 2 hrs before lights out, they are already look like they're ready for bed. The TrollMaster doesn't do this stuff?
I was pleasantly surprised when i got off the RO. Prob a dumb question for you but do you bubble your rez for 24 hrs before mixing or feeding? I found that a high psi bubbler with a few stones can really make a difference fast.

 

[hybridway2]

I'll correct that, the same intensity for the same duration is what I'm referring to during late veg. They can take more intensity as I ramp it up towards flower but I drop the hours which is what we all do to flower. It makes me think that going with a 15 hour day veg with higher intensities to meet the DLI would be the "natural" way. Same amount of total energy just fewer hours. It would make the transition to flower not so much of a shock. Would need to be tested.

I add hrs of darkness to veg 3wks before flower. They love it!