Hear Ye- Hear Ye LED Tubes + HH Spray 2.0 + BrandX Seeds

[PetFlora]

I used to be super conscientious about pH, though I would let it swing between ~ 5.8-6.1

During veg I rarely test as typically it is stable

My RO water is 7.3. I made up fresh nutes to 450, resulted in 6.5 pH

I decided to check my rez - 6.8, that's high according to all the books I have read, but, plants are very happy so if it ain't broke, I ain't a fixin it


Thinking out loud, I know that as ppms increase pH drops, so MAYBE, higher is better for veg, will see about flowering

 

[PICOGRAV]

When are you planing to flower? Do you need to wait for the new panel to come?

 

[PetFlora]

Not until they're ~18" tall. At current pace 2-3 weeks. I hope to have the Chinese 2 x 2 panels @ 60w per by then

+Dialing in multiple plants under 2 HH Rings is not as easy as one would think. I really need to get the main tube (manifold) up higher than the rings, otherwise the flow is much less. Came home to 2 semi-wilted plants

The mystery panel that I will be beta testing I am planning to use upstairs, to replace my 8 bulb x 432w HOT5

 

[PICOGRAV]

Hydro sounds quite stressful if things start to go wrong, do you have anything set up in case the power cuts out? Maybe you could set up a passive system that just drips from a large reservoir, or two, one with nuts and one with water and use a battery operated programmable board, connected to the sensors and valves

http://www.adafruit.com/products/193

 

[PetFlora]

If the power is off I don't have lights either. Moving indoor plants to the outdoors would be plenty stressful

If I could, I would connect my grow equipment to solar panels. I figure I need ~ 250watts per tent. ~ 200w of light plus the timers, pumps...

Alas, setting it up would attract unwanted attention. During hurricane Wilma I was without power or water for 11 days. Good thing I wasn't growing back then

Thanks for the link. Assembly is above my pay grade, which is why I went with manufactured tubes, instead of making my own rails

 

[PetFlora]

While rearranging the LED tent plants I noticed that the base I was using to support the tray was broken. I had to take everything out to replace it, so I took 2 photos + one from upstairs

The pic with 2 plants are the G13xs, the others are from seeds I made from WH x WW (M + F)

The 2 upstairs are smaller due to not getting enough light, which forced my hand to move them even though I did not have the additional pump and HH Ring to make another Flooming RR Rez. Note 3 air stones in the bucket

I think the one in the back is a male. If so, I will pull it and move a WH x female in there. There's a good chance 4/5 are females, hoping for a variety from which to choose clones

 

[PICOGRAV]

View attachment 2804426

Looks like a sea of green

 

[PetFlora]

The one liter Air Pots do lend themselves to a powerful SOG, BUT, the HH Drip Rings do not.

I am making the HH Rings work, but it requires a lot of daily adjusting. The one liter APs diameter is too small for the 6" diameter HH Rings, which is why I drop them into the 6" net pot lids, but those lids take up too much space during early veg. ALSO, the tripod legs are too short to stabilize the rings above the APs. I cut a few pieces of dried main mj stalk and put it inside the tripod holes to stabilize the rings so they can water 2 plants.

For vegging, better to use 2 rows of straight ~1/2" PVC and drill a bunch of holes. This allows for easy spreading of the plants as they bust out of their Air Pots.

The PVC will require a fitting or two to attach to the pump riser

Update

I trimmed the lowest undergrowth as it was getting soaked by the drip and not getting any light anyway

The 2 babies I moved upstairs 2 days ago are making up for the loss of light, they look as full as the picture of 3 plants

 

[PetFlora]

I managed 31gms of uber dry and virtually stem free bud from the WH clones. I gave ~ 8gms away as a payment to a friend, so closer to 40gms. Scale Pics will be posted on my previous thread

Just a couple pics today

HOT5

The Reveg is not making it, which is fine, cause I need the space for one of the girls from the rockin LED tent. She didn't have much of a chance due to a couple lower branches getting broken right at the trunk

LED

One of the WH has put on a growth spurt almost equal to Sophia

I rearranged the A19s yesterday (something I should have done in the beginning) from WW/WW + NW/NW to WW/NW + WW/NW) + the closest of the 2 LED tubes is NW/5000K the other WW/3000K

Thinking when to turn on the other 2 tubes (on the far side of the A19s), which are both WW

They have been under 20/4. When should I lower to 18/6? I'm thinking soon, but maybe due to lack of radiant heat,, 20/4 is fine/better/best. Anybody?

 

[PICOGRAV]

Those look really good, are they starting to smell yet? What do they smell like?

 

[PetFlora]

Actually, when they get moved/jostled, they give off a hash smell same as the last 2 grows, but there is also G13 x in there, and I am not familiar with its' characteristics

 

[PetFlora]

Spent a couple hours this morning finalizing the upstairs set up with 3rd HH Ring + High Performance Rez. I have noticed that with 3 HH Rings that a larger pump than 250 gph is in order. The 320gph I am using in my led tent is fine for 3 rings

You might notice the net pot lid diameter is much wider than I need, (but the tripod legs require 6" net pot). A lot will depend on how bushy the plants get, but hoping to push to 4-6 plants...

I am testing whether the 4 liter APs are beneficial. I had really good results in one-liter APs in my very first DIY using low mist heads in pvc, even though they were only getting ~ 20% of the spray during each feeding. However, that showed me how little nutes a plant needs when growing in Lava Rock and fed from the top.

I switched to river rocks only because of the granular residue as the LRs slowly break down. No negative issues, it just bothered me to see a gritty tray

I am already thinking to get one-gallon jugs where spout is in the center and cut them down to where they channel 100% of each feeding into the AP. Also need longer tripod legs, all cheap DIY.

Each rez has ~ 10g of nutes. The led rez is been consuming 1g+ per day already, and the plants are pretty small, so I'm expecting to be mixing nutes daily. After the first 2G it takes 4 hours to pull another 2g, without installing a Booster pump, another expense but then 20g per day will be no problem

Had small hiccup with HOT5 plants not getting enough water to their roots. Hand-feeding every half hour until root system expands wider

LED tent plants seem to have stalled height-wise, but has wonderful full canopy

Pics in a couple hours- camera battery charging

 

[PetFlora]

It occurred to me that my 5ft tent will be too short for 3ft+ plants, especially when using 4 liter APs (see pic size comparison), so I have to go with 1 liter APs if I am to grow to harvest in my led tent

One problem with the large netpot lids is that the outer lip takes up too much space. I can only fit 3 per tray in 2 x 4 space, whereas I can get 6-8 one liter APs in the same space. The plants 'may' be smaller, but, I can grow more of them

The smaller APs have 'issues' too. Getting the nutes inside each one liter AP has been an issue as the Hydro Halo Rings have a larger diameter. Also, I am finding that even the 250 gph pump does not provide sufficient pressure with 3 rings

I found a simple & cheap solution that should be employed from the get go, but I managed to adapt

The Dollar Store sells a pack of 4 @ 7 " Jiffy Foil aluminum pans which are perfect for the 6" HH Rings. The tripod legs (still need to get longer legs) fit inside the bottom flat surface, so the whole pan can slide up and over the rings, thereby keeping 100% of each feeding inside the one liter AP.

I used a small drill bit to punch a bunch of holes to spread the nutes across the ~4" top surface of the AP.

Since my plants are already too big to slip the pan over, I cut it almost in half, then tied the 2 ends together

 

[PetFlora]

LOL, meant to write Remove, not Remote

In response to another thread, I said this and thought it worth posting here as well

I would not remove them when growing in anything other than my automated hydro system, where plants get fed ~ every 18 minutes. IMHO, my plants sense that they do not have to store anything. This allows me to remove fan leaves and get more light below. IMO more light helps secondary branches to grow

 

[PetFlora]

Leafs have been a pale green under 2 Quantum Grow + 2 UVL Aquasun. I looked at their spectral graphs and noted both are heavy blue, so late yesterday, I replaced one Q Grow with a Q Bloom. This morning the plants are much greener, so I replaced the other Q Grow with another Q Bloom.

Also, I wanted to start them stretching so less blue + more red

My DIY to capture more nutes into the center has paid off.

Thinking to eliminate the net pot lids and push the 7" Jiffy Pans inside the 4 liter APs. This will free up enough space for at least one more 4 liter AP.

I need to do the same Jiffy Pot in my led tent

 

[PetFlora]

One of the difficulties was due to attempting to use 1 liter APs, whose diameter is too small for HH Ring, the other from trying to use the net pot lids, whose lip diameter is too big for more than 3 plants + whose height is too tall for my 5ft LED tent.

1 liter APs

Due to the flexible 1/2" tubing keeping the rings parallel above the AP has been challenging, but the 7" Jiffy Pans pretty much solved that (see pics)

4 liter APs

Height is not an issue in my HOT5 tent, but surface area is. After removing the net pot lids, I had to remove some of the lava rock in order to get the top of the one liter AP below the lip of the 4 liter AP, then, use 7" Jiffy Pans inside (see pic)

When using the HH Rings, or any ring for that matter, it is difficult to get equal distribution of nutes. The tube closest to the pump gets the least amount of nutes. Those 2 plants were both were wilting

By placing one o/o valve in- line, between # 2 & 3 feeder tubes I am able to close down the nutes flowing to the end (# 3) thus getting more nutes to #1 & 2. Both # 1 plants are now regaining their turgid shade leafs. It took me 3 days to figure out

Plants are ~ 7" tall x 8-12" across, thick with undergrowth. When I moved the 1 liter APs out of the net pot lids roots were projecting out near the bottom. Also seeing roots at the bottom of # 1 in the 1 liter AP

 

[PetFlora]

Here we go again. COB A19s http://ledsmagazine.com/news/10/9/4?cmpid=EnlLEDsSeptember112013

 

[PICOGRAV]

Hey Pet, I can't remember if you said already but are the seeds you started with feminized? Even if they are could you point out what to look for when sexing, I suppose it's way to early to have any idea yet.

Cool design of those new blubs, is that the hole thing like no cover or anything?

 

[PetFlora]

Fem seeds is a marketing con job. Proper tech will produce > 90% females

Hotter everything will produce more males

Of course it has a globe

The thicker the undergrowth, the more likely it's female

 

[djwimbo]

I was doing some reading on agriculture on the pacific islands and high wind territories this week and thought of you. They use lava rock, and other rocks, beneficially for moisture and temperature control.
Their cultures (800-1200AD) figured out that in high regions, dark rocks should be used as they absorb more heat, and keep the roots at a more constant temperature than light rocks, during the dark periods.
The lava rock is what they would start their seedlings in, and transplant them out in fields.

Not many people mess with rocks, I know you're the type that would appreciate some historical backing of your hypothesis.