FryingPanFlyer
Active Member
The day has finally arrived, it's time to switch from veg to flowering stage.
So, I drained the res, mixed up some bloom nutes (I'm using Advanced) and refilled the res. I mixed up a 1/2 dose of nutes for the first day. I want to see how the plants react to the new nutes. Reading the bottle it says to use 1.84 tsp/gal of water of both parts A & B for an 800 ppm concentration. I'm using the 8 gal res. with 6 gal of water so 1.84 x 6 = 11.04 tsp. 3 tsp = 1 tbs. so 3 2/3 tbs of each part per res change. But I'm going with 1/2 dose for the first day so I'm adding just about 2 tbs of each part for today's change. If everything is copacetic tomorrow I'll add the rest.
As to the nutrient content of the nutes I'm using. Parts A and B combine for an analysis of 5.8-6.1-8.8 (NPK). This seems to be a moderate amount of the P & K while maintaining a level of N to keep the plant healthy through flowering. today I've used a half dose so I should be in the neighborhood of a 400 ppm concentration, tomorrow I'll add the other half to get me to a concentration of ~800. This should be a good starting point. I did buy some Big Bud additive which has an analysis of 0-2-4. I'm thinking I'll add it in a week or two (I'm still reading), this will bring my nutes to a 5.8-8.1-12.8, again, maintaining the N throughout flowering but raising the P & K even higher. That should be a good balance of what the plants will need through flowering. I'm crossing my fingers hoping this is right, but from what I've read I feel pretty confident. I'll walk into the nutes concentrations carefully, even the big guys burn them from time to time.
I then switched the bulb from the MH to the HPS. I raised it about a foot to see how much additional heat this one generates, if any at all. Talk about different color! I remember when I was a kid seeing these lights for the first time, that orange glow brings back memories! This bulb puts out 51,000 lumens, about 15,000 more than the MH so I'm curious about the heat. But so far I see no real difference. I'm leaving the light on for now to check out operation prior to turning it off.
So, here's some pics, wanted to document the way they are today. The have grown about 4" in the last week after fimming, that's after an 8" growth spurt the week before. Check out those roots! some are 1/8" thick, they are fire hoses! And the shear mass, they are taking up the entire bottom of the res, must be 6" thick on the bottom. I swear only 5 1/2 gals of water now fills the res to the 6 gal line! And they are drinking 2 gals a day.
This is getting good! And now, for a glass of wine and the fruit of someone else's labor, this G-13 is great!
So, I drained the res, mixed up some bloom nutes (I'm using Advanced) and refilled the res. I mixed up a 1/2 dose of nutes for the first day. I want to see how the plants react to the new nutes. Reading the bottle it says to use 1.84 tsp/gal of water of both parts A & B for an 800 ppm concentration. I'm using the 8 gal res. with 6 gal of water so 1.84 x 6 = 11.04 tsp. 3 tsp = 1 tbs. so 3 2/3 tbs of each part per res change. But I'm going with 1/2 dose for the first day so I'm adding just about 2 tbs of each part for today's change. If everything is copacetic tomorrow I'll add the rest.
As to the nutrient content of the nutes I'm using. Parts A and B combine for an analysis of 5.8-6.1-8.8 (NPK). This seems to be a moderate amount of the P & K while maintaining a level of N to keep the plant healthy through flowering. today I've used a half dose so I should be in the neighborhood of a 400 ppm concentration, tomorrow I'll add the other half to get me to a concentration of ~800. This should be a good starting point. I did buy some Big Bud additive which has an analysis of 0-2-4. I'm thinking I'll add it in a week or two (I'm still reading), this will bring my nutes to a 5.8-8.1-12.8, again, maintaining the N throughout flowering but raising the P & K even higher. That should be a good balance of what the plants will need through flowering. I'm crossing my fingers hoping this is right, but from what I've read I feel pretty confident. I'll walk into the nutes concentrations carefully, even the big guys burn them from time to time.
I then switched the bulb from the MH to the HPS. I raised it about a foot to see how much additional heat this one generates, if any at all. Talk about different color! I remember when I was a kid seeing these lights for the first time, that orange glow brings back memories! This bulb puts out 51,000 lumens, about 15,000 more than the MH so I'm curious about the heat. But so far I see no real difference. I'm leaving the light on for now to check out operation prior to turning it off.
So, here's some pics, wanted to document the way they are today. The have grown about 4" in the last week after fimming, that's after an 8" growth spurt the week before. Check out those roots! some are 1/8" thick, they are fire hoses! And the shear mass, they are taking up the entire bottom of the res, must be 6" thick on the bottom. I swear only 5 1/2 gals of water now fills the res to the 6 gal line! And they are drinking 2 gals a day.
This is getting good! And now, for a glass of wine and the fruit of someone else's labor, this G-13 is great!
