Rurumo's Mars Hydro FC6500 grow journal

[Rurumo]

I measured my light distance this morning-the canopy is exactly 32 inches away right now. Pretty far honestly, but they are growing fast and loving it, so my plan is to let them do their thing and grow into the light during stretch, then I'll adjust the light once that is over to get it closer without causing any bleaching. During my last grow I was surprised at the excellent quality of the buds that were further away from the light than my main colas-I definitely had it too close last time. I've been using a lux meter this time and plan on getting a PAR meter sometime soon too. Here is a pic from this morning, this is going to be a packed tent!

 

[1212ham]

I measured my light distance this morning-the canopy is exactly 32 inches away right now. Pretty far honestly, but they are growing fast and loving it, so my plan is to let them do their thing and grow into the light during stretch, then I'll adjust the light once that is over to get it closer without causing any bleaching. During my last grow I was surprised at the excellent quality of the buds that were further away from the light than my main colas-I definitely had it too close last time. I've been using a lux meter this time and plan on getting a PAR meter sometime soon too. Here is a pic from this morning, this is going to be a packed tent!
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You might try the Photone PAR meter app, people say the iPhone version is fairly accurate. Unfortunately i have an android.

Photone - Grow Light Meter

The grow light meter app to measure PAR / PPFD, DLI, lux / fc, or Kelvin with your iOS or Android phone. Including PPFD meter and DLI conversion for plants.

growlightmeter.com

 

[FirstCavApache64]

This is my method of taking single clones. I use a root riot cube, double dip in cloning gel/powder, then put it in a cut up solo cup with a wet/wrung out paper towel to hold it in place, and zip a quart zip lock over the whole thing. It's a good space saver because you can stick these little guys in small spaces (any tent that is 18/6 or 24/0, you know the drill).
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First, congrats on winning the light. Second, thanks for posting that. I've struggled with them in Rockwool so much. A simple cloning method would make my grow so much easier. No separate humidity dome! Hell yes! The pictures really help make it easy to visualize. I'm loving the 90s widow plant, it was a favorite of mine the few times I stumbled across it back then. I can almost see see the frost on the buds already. I'm looking forward to watching the skunk too as I grow for medical as well.

 

[myke]

You might try the Photone PAR meter app, people say the iPhone version is fairly accurate. Unfortunately i have an android.

Photone - Grow Light Meter

The grow light meter app to measure PAR / PPFD, DLI, lux / fc, or Kelvin with your iOS or Android phone. Including PPFD meter and DLI conversion for plants.

growlightmeter.com

I just got that Par meter app for my iphone 8,Says Im at 8-900 with my sp3000 with the paper diffuser over it.Handy,I also have some strip lights 4' 48w they do real good at 2" away.Meter says 800 at 2" away

 

[MisterKister]

You might try the Photone PAR meter app, people say the iPhone version is fairly accurate. Unfortunately i have an android.

Photone - Grow Light Meter

The grow light meter app to measure PAR / PPFD, DLI, lux / fc, or Kelvin with your iOS or Android phone. Including PPFD meter and DLI conversion for plants.

growlightmeter.com

I have it on my android Samsung note20 ultra and it's the least accurate out of 3 different apps (tent buddy, ppfd meter, and photone) according to my par quantum sensor.

 

[Rurumo]

I have it on my android Samsung note20 ultra and it's the least accurate out of 3 different apps (tent buddy, ppfd meter, and photone) according to my par quantum sensor.

I saw someone with a par meter that connected to their phone wirelessly and it was pretty reasonably priced, I need to do some research to see which ones are accurate. I want to make sure I get something decent. I'm actually surprised at how much I like my lux meter. It was just a $30 deal but it seems accurate and now I'm not blinding myself with led lights on my phone screen lol.

 

[MisterKister]

I saw someone with a par meter that connected to their phone wirelessly and it was pretty reasonably priced, I need to do some research to see which ones are accurate. I want to make sure I get something decent. I'm actually surprised at how much I like my lux meter. It was just a $30 deal but it seems accurate and now I'm not blinding myself with led lights on my phone screen lol.

The glare is awful right?? Better have your shades on.

 

[Rurumo]

So, the plant in the front left of the pics I posted above is the Old Red Sour, which is the Sour Diesel "riri cut" x (jamaican blueberry x Red Khyber). Old School Genetics has some neat landrace breeding stock and I wanted to share a couple of pics of theirs posted in another forum. Their Red Khyber is an old line from Alex la mano negra (RIP), who was a legendary landrace breeder/preservationist from Spain. He isn't as well known in the states, but you can find some interesting info and stories at ICmag. Good to pay respects to the breeders who do the hard work of keeping these landrace treasures around for future generations.
Red Khyber male/Old School Genetics:


Here is their Jamaican Blueberry, which came from a 90s Cannabiogen line:


I always like to go back and look at the ancestry of a strain and then look for those traits in the plants we grow.

 

[Rurumo]

Plants have filled out nicely, pistils just starting to form on the White Widow. I removed quite a few leaves from under the canopy, and just the fan leaves that were shading primary bud sites from the top. I also added a second fan under the canopy which has really helped equalize the RH down there with the rest of the tent. I have an AC Infinity 8" vent fan running on the 2nd lowest setting, which is still an impressive amount of air exchange, but one thing I've learned is that air movement under the canopy is at least as important as the air blowing across the top.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend, and take care with the crazy weather (depending on where you live of course.)

 

[M.O.]

I use ziplocks for cloning too even with my dome. They just seem to love being sealed in there to start. My last batch I put some in the dome without ziplocks and they shriveled right up. Put one lone survivor in a ziplock and she looks fine now and might root. Love low tech that works that well.

Looking forward to seeing it all. I’m running a bunch of TG gear too this coming year and finally made a journal to share.

I’ve heard mixed reviews on the air pots. What’s your take? Plants look great!

 

[Rurumo]

I use ziplocks for cloning too even with my dome. They just seem to love being sealed in there to start. My last batch I put some in the dome without ziplocks and they shriveled right up. Put one lone survivor in a ziplock and she looks fine now and might root. Love low tech that works that well.

Looking forward to seeing it all. I’m running a bunch of TG gear too this coming year and finally made a journal to share.

I’ve heard mixed reviews on the air pots. What’s your take? Plants look great!

I didn't try the air pots for a long time, but I've used them all this year and now I have sets of three different sizes. I love them-the convenience, the air pruning, and how well they drain. Some people feel like they dry out too quick, but that's not an issue when you are feeding everyday in coco.

 

[.Smoke]

Your grow is looking great.

What kind of lux readings are you seeing/shooting for?
I'm kinda in the same boat as you. Just switched to led and haven't dropped the money on a par meter yet and you can't seem to find too much good info on lux #'s.

 

[Rurumo]

Your grow is looking great.

What kind of lux readings are you seeing/shooting for?
I'm kinda in the same boat as you. Just switched to led and haven't dropped the money on a par meter yet and you can't seem to find too much good info on lux #'s.

I'll double check for you tonight, but they were at about 40k. It's kind of amazing the difference it makes if you zip the tent mostly up, then stick your arm in to take a reading-those reflective walls really do their job! I lowered my light to 28 inches and will keep it there for now and see how they do. I'm pretty sure I got some light burn when I went up to 55k to 60k last time so I'll take it slow and just really observe the leaves this time.

 

[M.O.]

I didn't try the air pots for a long time, but I've used them all this year and now I have sets of three different sizes. I love them-the convenience, the air pruning, and how well they drain. Some people feel like they dry out too quick, but that's not an issue when you are feeding everyday in coco.

Nice, thanks for that. I might have to try a set. I’ve been using fabric pots almost my whole time growing.

Actually believe it or not my first grow I took 5 gallon food grade buckets and drilled hundreds of holes in the sides and bottom trying to simulate this. It wasn’t completely horrible but the straight sides ended up leaking too much I felt.

Anyway, good stuff and looking forward to your updates.

 

[Rurumo]

Nice, thanks for that. I might have to try a set. I’ve been using fabric pots almost my whole time growing.

Actually believe it or not my first grow I took 5 gallon food grade buckets and drilled hundreds of holes in the sides and bottom trying to simulate this. It wasn’t completely horrible but the straight sides ended up leaking too much I felt.

Anyway, good stuff and looking forward to your updates.

Thank's M.O.! I started out with quite a collection of drilled containers too, when I got my first light during my college days. I kept a single AK-47 mother in my fish tank stand under HO flurorescent reef lights lol. Lots of repurposed equipment, and it all worked great too.

 

[Rurumo]

Just a quick pic of the Widow, she wants to be the first to flower!


And here, I just wanted to show you guys something neat I learned from PJ Diaz. I only have one of the wood strips in right now, but if you guys get a lot of negative pressure from cranking up your vent fan to cool things down, or by putting filters on your intakes, an easy solution to the sides sucking in too hard is to put in some wood strips. These are just 1 by 2" strips, measure from bar to bar and cut (or have them cut) to size, drill a hole near each end, then zip tie in place. Keeps the sides from sucking in. I keep this strip in because it keeps the fan's rope ratchets from pushing on the light. Actually, I got the idea for the horizontal tower fan from PJ too, and I love it! Slight dead zone near the base end, but it pushes a perfect carpet of air across the canopy.

 

[Rurumo]

Hey guys, great news, Mars Hydro has sent me a tracking number for the FC6500, it's on its way! Thank you again Mars Hydro!



In the meantime, I will give a quick update. Last night I gave the girls their second (and last) dose of aspirin in their nutrient solution. 1 315 mg tablet per gallon. There is an incredible body of research on salicylic acid and plant growth, SAR, as well as its direct anti-fungal properties (I also use it as a foliar). It's impossible to know how well these things work in a home grow setting, but I do it for all my plants (and veggie garden) and one thing I can tell you for sure, is that the plants are always standing tall and look super happy the next day. They are still being fed twice per day at 600 ppms Megacrop a/b (5.8 ph) at pretty close to the Jack's 321 ratio-I add slightly less calnit and epsom salts, but also add 1/4 teaspoon per gallon 80% soy hydrolysate powder. Liquid Kelp and Mr. Fulvic during one feed each day, and Yucca extract powder (1/2 teaspoon per 4 gallons) every feeding. My water is naturally high in calcium and runs at 140 ppm from the tap. I always dechlorinate first with vitamin C-1/8 teaspoon per 4 gallons. Citric acid for PH down. I should have said all of that in the first post, but oh well. Almost forgot....Light was at 22 inches this morning, I raised to 24, lux readings average around 50k.

Tomorrow I will review my new Inkbird Temp Gun and take some leaf temp readings. So far I've tested it on my turtle tank-I put a piece of masking tape on the side just to get the most accurate reading-and it came up with the EXACT same temperature as my digital thermometer: 80.2. Most impressive accuracy.

 

[Hobbes]

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Rurumo do you only give them aspirin in veg and not flower?

How long have you been doing this?

.

 

[Rurumo]

.

Rurumo do you only give them aspirin in veg and not flower?

How long have you been doing this?

.

Hi Hobbes, I usually give it to them a week prior to flipping to 12/12 and a week or two after. I know someone who gives it to them every two weeks throughout the grow with good success too. Advanced has an expensive product, I'm forgetting the name at the moment, but it contains chitosan, salicylic acid, and harpin protein, and their schedule has people feeding that every day-I think that's wayyy too much. I'm still trying to figure out the optimal feeding schedule for aspirin. I may do like my friend does and continue to feed it every other week since I'd like to avoid the small bit of bud rot I got in a few of my colas last time. I've been feeding aspirin to my outdoor plants and tomatoes for the past ten years at least.

 

[ooof-da]

looks dialed and a ton of good info here.