2k DIY UnderCurrent 6XL - 4x8 Gorilla - Plushberry Grow

Nice clean setup man. Your girls are very healthy looking. Can't wait to see the bloom!

Just in case anyone cares, I am not planning on doing a standard "flush" with this grow, as DWC is not an accumulating
medium. I will however, drop ppms toward the end. I also may try a few other "theories" so this will be an adventure for
me and an attempt to break the many stereotypical ideas we have all been told about cultivating this incredible plant.

What theories?

Thanks for visiting my thread! I'm more of a stay under 1000ppm in hydro and drain and refill at some point during the later half of flower person, but whatever works for you . I also flush at the end for at least 3 days with tap water.

Theories being, that while pretty much everyone says "Use HPS for flower!!!" I'll be using a FULL SPECTRUM Metal Halide (130,000 lumens)
to flower. According to specs, this MH bulb has more energy in the RED spectrum (630-660nm) than a Hortilux Super HPS. Also, MH supposedly
produces more UV, which it's been suggested can create a response in cannabis to increase resin/tricome production to act as a sort of "sun screen."

I have a few other theories to test, but that's for my own research right now.

poopstain2 said:

Thanks for visiting my thread! I'm more of a stay under 1000ppm in hydro and drain and refill at some point during the later half of flower person, but whatever works for you . I also flush at the end for at least 3 days with tap water.

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Hey poopstain! I've run these ones up to 1500ppm with no burn. I could probably go lower, and 1500ppm is usually the highest I'll go on purpose.
I also use R/O water never tap water (pH fluctuations) and am debating about whether or not do do any flush on these girls. I have done hydro before
with no flush and had zero taste/burning issues. (This is because I usually finish up with a week of sub-1000ppm and since DWC is a non-accumulating medium,
I shouldn't have excessive salt based nutrients in the plant, provided I don't over-fertilize)

GREAT information.... Thank you!

PattyWagon said:

What theories?

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One other theory that I've seen info on, is the idea that keeping your NIGHT temps HIGHER
than your DAY temps, may reduce overall stretch. We shall see...

awesome grow man, clean setup!!! ill be back

LivingCanvas said:

One other theory that I've seen info on, is the idea that keeping your NIGHT temps HIGHER
than your DAY temps, may reduce overall stretch. We shall see...

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Do you think high temps at night may affect trich production? Just like low temps seem to increase it at night

By 'higher' temps at night I mean usually ~77* at night with ~75* during lights on.
I'm not sure if it will affect trich production, especially since MH give off more UV, and
I may intstall a UV bulb to run on a timer during lights on to see if it stimulates more resin production.

Low temps as far as I've heard, can influence purple coloration of the buds, but haven't read anything
on it effecting resin content. Curious if you've heard differently?

I've had some bubba kush that turned purple on me with cold night time temps. Especially in the leaves. Little thicker resin layer IMO. But with heater added and next batch was green. I've seen some threads talking about thicker resin content in low temp environment.

PattyWagon said:

I've had some bubba kush that turned purple on me with cold night time temps. Especially in the leaves. Little thicker resin layer IMO. But with heater added and next batch was green. I've seen some threads talking about thicker resin content in low temp environment.

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As far as I am understanding (could be wrong) the colder temps causing purple shift (not sure about res content) are mainly related to
the root zone temp dropping. I have come across some suggestion that in DWC, using a chiller, dropping res temps lower, but not so
low as to drop metabolism, can bring out color traits.

Since I am using a chiller, I may drop water temps to ~60* near the end of flower, as Plushberry seems to have some potential for
reddish/purple tingeing. This being my first run using a chiller in DWC, it will be interesting to see what happens.

Quick Update:

Girls are about a week into flower now. I flushed the res for the first time. (Ran all through veg, 20days, with no dump)
Res pH had been dropping rapidly, so I added silica to bring the pH up, topped off, and hit is with 2-3ml 29% H2O2 /gal.
Reset the res @ 8ml/16ml LUCAS +1.5ml CalMg +SM90 + Silica @ ~1000ppm

Since the reset the pH is now going UP, and PPMs are dropping, implying that they are feeding at or above their drinking
levels. Everything is looking good, hoping to throw up some pistil shots here soon.

Also, more bottom leaf matter was removed, although it is now quite a pain trying to get at the back
plants for pruning.

Update: Day 11 Flower
pH 5.9 and SLOWLY dropping
Topped off system and added 1/3 nutes back.
Still running the MH lamps til ~ week 3 to help with stretch. So far it hasn't been an issue.

Looking really good.

Some nice bushes you got there. How tall are they from the floor now? I can see where 6.5 height might give you some problems. But like everything . There are ways to deal with it . My plants look a little smaller then yours when I flip them and I usually end up with my lights up to the ceiling. And that's with a screen . Keep us posted on your grow. .. again looking good!

Update:

Day 14 Flower
This ends the first two weeks of flower. I have been using Full Spectrum MHs x2000w up to this point.
The idea was to limit stretch, and to evaluate MH use in flower. (Full Spectrum) I am planning to switch
to HPS tomorrow, for the next 5 weeks. After that, for the last 2 weeks, I will switch back to MH.
(MH(FS): 266,000 lumens - HPS: 290,000 lumens)

Right now they seems to be pumping out bud sites quite nicely. I'd say things seem a bit ahead of schedule
but I'm certainly not complaining.

The pH has remained relatively stable from 5.9-6.2. I topped up the system tonight with fresh R/O, and will top
off nutrients tomorrow morning, after the pH/PPM have stabilized and dropped. Also cleaned the filter, as it sometimes
reduces flow. I'm glad I had it though, since I removed a root mass from it a while back, that never made it to the pump.

Finally! Some pictures of buds!

savana said:

Some nice bushes you got there. How tall are they from the floor now? I can see where 6.5 height might give you some problems. But like everything . There are ways to deal with it . My plants look a little smaller then yours when I flip them and I usually end up with my lights up to the ceiling. And that's with a screen . Keep us posted on your grow. .. again looking good!

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From the floor, Id guestimate ~3feet tall. I trained them out a lot to build an even canopy. It's not perfect, but at 2 weeks down I think these will do ok.
I want the buds to push to about 12" from the glass by harvest. I think the MH have been keeping stretch down a bit. I might wind up eating my words.

By leaf structure I'd guess this phenotype is ~50/50. I'm hoping the indica traits will keep bushing it and keep height somewhat manageable.

Thats a nice setup and real nice looking ladies, i'm a little late to the party but pulling up a chair for the bud porn