Ok, lots to talk about.
The ladies are doing wonderfully. As I stated earlier, I do believe that this setup still lacks some sort of infra-red signal (and possibly UV signals) that the plant needs to know it’s receiving light and it can stop reaching for the sky. They’ve been in the 5” net pots with hydroton pebbles for a week now, and they’re looking great. Most of the large tap roots have reached through 2 inches of pebbles then all the way down to the reservoir, and there are little branches reaching off the sides of the larger ones, like tentacles.
The recycling timer for the pump arrived yesterday (when all of the pictures were taken), and mine went on the timer today. This should promote even more root growth of arms & hairs, making one giant root ball. Hydrogen Peroxide still hasn’t been acquired, though the roots are nice and white. Any brown spots you see are actually because I didn’t quite wash the hydroton pebbles well enough. They’re loving the oxygen that the air diffuser & pump bring in.
When I showed up Monday morning, they looked like strong plants, though just a tiny bit stretchy for so young. I strongly believe it’s because they’re searching for that IR/UV signal that the LEDs aren’t giving them. Until they find it, their genetics tell them, “get as tall as you can!” For this reason, I added 2 very small CFL bulbs. They’re the cheap-o diffused reflector/clip light, and I put an 11W CFL (40W incandescent equivalent) soft white 2700K in each one.
You may argue: This isn’t a true test of LEDs, how can we see how LEDs perform if you’re adding other types of light? Perhaps you’re right. My goal is to compensate for the very small shortcomings of the LEDs with a low-power light of another type. The CFLs only use 12.8% of the total power consumed by lights. That means 87.2% is still going to LEDs. Besides, my first priority on this grow is to get it started… I’ll do what I can to help the mothers grow and have some clones ready for me. The real experiment can be with the new babies.
Compared to my friend’s clones from the same mother, mine are about as tall as his average plants, and they were planted a couple days later. His have fatter stems, though. I believe this is from a combination of no IR/UV light (causing stretch) and because he moved his fan back on his plants, so mine weren’t getting any wind. It probably doesn’t hurt that he’s running 3x600W HPS in a 4x8 reflective grow room. Some of his plants that saw a bit too much wind have massive stalks. Burly lookin’.
You may notice, there is some nutrient burn on the edges of some leaves. I think they were given 400ppm a day or two too early, though the main culprit was probably the 185ppm foliar spray my friend gave them. Some of his weaker plants felt the pain too, so he didn’t do that again. We’ll probably start a new foliar schedule, though I don’t think it’s set in stone yet.
A couple hours after I added the two lights and fan, there was an impressive change. In the picture of all three girls when the CFLs were first added, they’re all a light green, almost fluorescent. To me, that means they’re not bringing in many nutrients (correct me if I’m wrong). About an hour later, it was like they were switched on. The leaves were already a much darker and healthier green. My friend told me this morning that the stalks already look stronger and more substantial in about 16 hours. We can’t know if that was from the fan or CFLs, but the color change is definitely from the CFLs.
It’s so cool to zoom way in on the pictures. My advice to every first time grower: Get a camera, take pictures, then zoom way in to study your plants. Look really close at the tops of the leaves, the bottoms, the nodes, the roots, the medium, the newest growth, etc. It will teach you so much about your plants, and you may catch something you had missed before.
I bought “Marijuana Horticulture – The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower’s Bible” by Jorge Cervantes, which has excellent illustrations and pictures of EVERYTHING. In my short and limited experience of the book so far, it’s a bit difficult to navigate. If you don’t know exactly what problem you have, it may be hard to look it up by symptom. Maybe I just haven’t found the right section of the book, though. The Index and Table of Contents haven’t helped much yet. It’s such an incredible wealth of information, I should probably just read the whole damn thing anyway.
Here’s the stats:
Added SuperThrive – 1 drop per gallon
455ppm total
pH was 6.2, lowered to 5.6
Temp – broken gauge, but it feels a good moderately-cool temp
Lowered the light about 3 inches after the pictures were taken
What’s Next:
Bump to 600ppm tomorrow
Build an aero/hydro cloner (similar to the mothers unit, but bigger and with more sprinklers)
Hydrogen Peroxide (hopefully)
Pictures:
Pic 1 – The whole she-bang.
Pic 2 – The new light setup. Talk about serious cross-lighting.
Pic 3 – All of the mothers with just the LED lights on.
Pic 4 – All of the mothers with all lights on.
Pic 5 – Root Porn – plant #1
Pic 6 – Root Porn – plant #2 (see my black outdoor light timer on the ground)
Pic 7 – Root Porn – plant #3 (you can see the bubbles in the res from the air diffuser)
Side Note: I know it’s really just kiddy porn at this point, but I’m excited!
Side Side Note: Just to clear up any misconceptions, I’m not into kiddy porn.
Pic 8 – Plant 1 – the strongest *
Pic 9 – Plant 2 – runner up *
Pic 10 – Plant 3 – a strong third *
Pic 11 – All three ladies when the CFLs were just added – bright green (it had been daytime for about an hour) *
Pic 12 – All three ladies a couple hours after the CFLs were added – look how they’ve darkened to a healthier green *
Pic 13 – Zoomed in on one… so stinkin’ cool.
*Shown only under CFL light
Thanks for reading… any comments?
C2C
P.S. I tried to rotate the pictures, but it doesn't appear to have saved that way.
