Oaksterdam t-5 veg 600w hps flower

Someguy15 said:

The grow bible suggests 24 hours increases male/hermie chances. As does lack of n, light and other factors. Females have the highest resource requirements I suppose. I considered 24 for my mothers but decided on 20/4 instead. Guess I favor the more natural way over slightly quicker growth. How are the girls doin, bloom time soon?

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I think your off there......

Drella said:

cuttings from the bottom of the four plants that i plan to throw into bloom within a week. got 15 cuttings, 6 alone from the amazing bush. im using rapid rooters this time. i didn't soak them, i just sprayed them with 6.5ph water, nuted with weak dose of superthrive. i didn't soak them because the first cloning took a month to root, i think this is because the rock wool was soaked, not damp. i also added a heating pad this time. let's see what happens!

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Looking good Drella. Next time if you want to soak the plugs but you don't want them to be water-logged, just do like I do. Soak them for about 10 mins and roll them around in the water, and then when you're ready to use one just take it out of the water and give it a gentle squeeze to remove the excess water. This will leave it damp, but not dripping wet. If you squeeze out more than you wanted to, just dip it back in the water again and squeeze it gently until you get the right amount in it. You'll figure it out.

Remember - no nutes for clones until they're really rooted well, and seedlings don't get nutes until about the 4th node and then you start out really light and work your way up.

I only give my rooted cuttings Thrive Alive B1 after they have developed roots, once they start drawing N from leaves and only once before transplant into soil..... its because I wait till there are quite a lot of roots coming out of the cubes before I put them into soil (7-10 shoots out each side, and dense root development on the bottom of the cube)..... then they don't get any nutes at all until they start needing them (3-7 nodes depending), and slow build from there

rather than squeezing rock wool cubes, it is better to shake access water out until none comes out when shaken vigorously, and even then letting it sit on a dry surface for about 20 min before using ..... and presoaking rock wool is a necessity to balance the ph

theloadeddragon said:

I only give my rooted cuttings Thrive Alive B1 after they have developed roots, once they start drawing N from leaves and only once before transplant into soil..... its because I wait till there are quite a lot of roots coming out of the cubes before I put them into soil (7-10 shoots out each side, and dense root development on the bottom of the cube)..... then they don't get any nutes at all until they start needing them (3-7 nodes depending), and slow build from there

rather than squeezing rock wool cubes, it is better to shake access water out until none comes out when shaken vigorously, and even then letting it sit on a dry surface for about 20 min before using ..... and presoaking rock wool is a necessity to balance the ph

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Yeah, but we're talking about using Rapid Rooters dude...

I was responding to his post about using rock wool cubes, and how long it took for the cuttings to root, regarding the methods he used

rapid rooters are different, I don't use them, so I couldn't say about using them at all. I was pointing out the difference in practice though, so they didn't mesh together in a persons conceptual understanding of the practices of both , and they can note more easily the differences between using the two.

Edit: I am under the impression that using Thrive Alive during the cutting to clone process originated with me..... as I never noticed anyone doing it before myself, and have noticed the use of it quite a bit since then. I came up with the idea on my own the more I cloned, and it worked well. I am sure some other people have come up with it on their own as well. Having practiced it for almost two and a half years now, I feel comfortable making these claims.

Someguy15 said:

The grow bible suggests 24 hours increases male/hermie chances. As does lack of n, light and other factors. Females have the highest resource requirements I suppose. I considered 24 for my mothers but decided on 20/4 instead. Guess I favor the more natural way over slightly quicker growth. How are the girls doin, bloom time soon?

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yeah man, the ladies are within days of the bloom room, im super stoked. i just wanna wait till their new growths get a little more mature, and till the clones bounce back from shock. i know they say 24/0 increases stress to the plant, i think that's where you're getting the hermie association. but in this case i did 24/0 veg to reduce the risk of hermie. i run a veg/clone/mother closet. and i run the clones 24/0. last time my veg was 16/8. i just wanna keep the lighting uniform, and know my t5's are pretty energy efficient. i never noticed any strain, stunting, yellowing, drooping, of any headaches this grow. every clone is showing preflowers. i have five different strains, and they are all healthy, even after topping them all. i don't think that my grow is the best, but i do have a really great feeling about it. i love the 24/0 debates though, i will say it's working for me.

d.c. beard said:

Looking good Drella. Next time if you want to soak the plugs but you don't want them to be water-logged, just do like I do. Soak them for about 10 mins and roll them around in the water, and then when you're ready to use one just take it out of the water and give it a gentle squeeze to remove the excess water. This will leave it damp, but not dripping wet. If you squeeze out more than you wanted to, just dip it back in the water again and squeeze it gently until you get the right amount in it. You'll figure it out.

Remember - no nutes for clones until they're really rooted well, and seedlings don't get nutes until about the 4th node and then you start out really light and work your way up.

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thanks dc, for sure gonna do that next time! the clones have already perked a little from their initial droop. is 84* good for new clones. this is my first time using the heating pad. i didn't get a regulator for it, so its just running full speed. i do have the pad isolated from the humid dome with chop sticks!

theloadeddragon said:

I was responding to his post about using rock wool cubes, and how long it took for the cuttings to root, regarding the methods he used

rapid rooters are different, I don't use them, so I couldn't say about using them at all. I was pointing out the difference in practice though, so they didn't mesh together in a persons conceptual understanding of the practices of both , and they can note more easily the differences between using the two.

Edit: I am under the impression that using Thrive Alive during the cutting to clone process originated with me..... as I never noticed anyone doing it before myself, and have noticed the use of it quite a bit since then. I came up with the idea on my own the more I cloned, and it worked well. I am sure some other people have come up with it on their own as well. Having practiced it for almost two and a half years now, I feel comfortable making these claims.

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thanks LD. yeah i bought the rapid rooters this time because i was gonna get some rommulet seeds, i was gonna stick the seeds strait in the rapid rooters. but i ended up getting the clones. my next cutting i'm gonna use the dampening method you mentioned, makes sense with the rockwool. either way im happy to try more than one method, very liberating.

yeah the hydro shop guy told me to use superthrive for foliar feeding and veg nute additive. i heard it's not good for bloom, the vitamin B or something. either way i like it!

so many people confuse Thrive Alive B1 with Superthrive.......

d.c. beard said:

"i never bought ph up because the hydro store guy said i would never use it."

WOW, sounds like you either got 'the New guy' or you need to find a different shop! That's the FIRST thing you're going to need after buying any type of nutes!

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I would have to agree with the store guy here... my ph is nearly 8, even with nutes it's only 7. I got one of those kits with ph up and down, needless to say I havn't used the up a single time. But it all depends on your source. I guess a base water of 6 and then some acidic nutes could leave you too low? But it's well known that plants consuming nutes raises ph, not lower.

Excited for your bloom, finally some girls this time! Best of luck throughout the rest of your adventures.

I was thinking WTF happened to Drella but I guess I never sub'd to you new journal, I'm sub'd now I missed alot though.

Drella said:

thanks dc, for sure gonna do that next time! the clones have already perked a little from their initial droop. is 84* good for new clones. this is my first time using the heating pad. i didn't get a regulator for it, so its just running full speed. i do have the pad isolated from the humid dome with chop sticks!

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Well from what I've read you should aim for about 76 degrees for the substrate for anything on top of a seedling heat mat, and about 70 degrees for the above the ground-level environment. Apparently seedlings and clones like a slightly warmer substrate with a slightly cooler above-ground environment. I think you might want to get the variable regulator for the mat, I know it sucks that it's like $35.00 or something but 84 degrees might be a little bit too hot for them. But who knows, maybe that's fine. I've eyed the heat mat regulator myself in the past, and never bit on it either. But I don't really use the mat much, so it's not as much of an issue for me.

Someguy15 said:

I would have to agree with the store guy here... my ph is nearly 8, even with nutes it's only 7. I got one of those kits with ph up and down, needless to say I havn't used the up a single time. But it all depends on your source. I guess a base water of 6 and then some acidic nutes could leave you too low? But it's well known that plants consuming nutes raises ph, not lower.

Excited for your bloom, finally some girls this time! Best of luck throughout the rest of your adventures.

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It just depends on what your water's initial Ph was, what nutes you're using and how much, and what medium you're growing in (in my case, soil). My distilled starts out at about 7.5. Then when I add nutes, it drops to around 4.0 - 5.0 depending on which nutes I'm working with at the time. So I of course have to add Ph UP to get my mix in the acceptable range. I would never just use tap water to raise it, that's the whole reason I buy distilled. A giant container of organic Ph UP lasts me about 3 years, and it costs around $17.00. Money well spent.

And I'm pretty sure that continuously watering with synthetic nutes will steadily DROP the Ph of your substrate, not raise it. I'm not sure how it would raise it...

d.c. beard said:

And I'm pretty sure that continuously watering with synthetic nutes will steadily DROP the Ph of your substrate, not raise it. I'm not sure how it would raise it...

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In rockwool & hydroton, recirculating flood & drain... it goes no where but up. My tap water is pretty clean (city water, low chlorine) so I see no reason to spend the cash on distilled & then more on cal-mag. I guess if you have softened/well water you don't have much of a choice. Maybe my nutes are different (Ionic grow, bloom, boost) but they don't seem very acidic at all. If I ph the water after adding only nutes it drops from ~8 to about 7.5. Maybe other brands are different. Your ph actually falls day-to-day d.c.? Just seems strange to me because I haven't had that happen once. Maybe its the rockwool... or maybe there's just too many variables to say any one way is right?

hi-jack over, sry Drella!

Someguy15 said:

In rockwool & hydroton, recirculating flood & drain... it goes no where but up. My tap water is pretty clean (city water, low chlorine) so I see no reason to spend the cash on distilled & then more on cal-mag. I guess if you have softened/well water you don't have much of a choice. Maybe my nutes are different (Ionic grow, bloom, boost) but they don't seem very acidic at all. If I ph the water after adding only nutes it drops from ~8 to about 7.5. Maybe other brands are different. Your ph actually falls day-to-day d.c.? Just seems strange to me because I haven't had that happen once. Maybe its the rockwool... or maybe there's just too many variables to say any one way is right?

hi-jack over, sry Drella!

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lol Yeah hijack over! hehehe

Yeah, I don't know SomeGuy, I use all FF stuff (synthetics) in FF Happy Frog soil and that's how mine is. It doesn't fall 'day-to-day' as you said, but rather nutrient rich waterings will slowly and gradually over time lower the Ph of your substrate when growing in soil, that's a fact. Every nute combo I've ever used reacts like this for me, so I'm not sure where our differences are coming from. But hey, whatever works for ya! I've never gown in hydro, so I don't know about that. I know Drella's growing in soil too, so maybe your calculations are just for hydro? Shit, I wish my Ph was good out of the tap but I have to adjust mine continuously. But that's OK cause I grow some killer shit and it's def worth the time for me to adjust the Ph. I find if I just keep the input water at 6.6 everything works like a charm. But that's just me I guess!

I use water to "water in" when feeding. Don't have to ph it at all. I do test the ph of the feeding solution before feeding, and the runoff as I water in.... always ends up at 6-6.6 its the TDS that really fluctuates

theloadeddragon said:

so many people confuse Thrive Alive B1 with Superthrive.......

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oh, ok, i was confused too. is it the same thing?

Someguy15 said:

I would have to agree with the store guy here... my ph is nearly 8, even with nutes it's only 7. I got one of those kits with ph up and down, needless to say I havn't used the up a single time. But it all depends on your source. I guess a base water of 6 and then some acidic nutes could leave you too low? But it's well known that plants consuming nutes raises ph, not lower.

Excited for your bloom, finally some girls this time! Best of luck throughout the rest of your adventures.

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i think i finally figured it out, i never cleaned the bucket that i mix my nutes in, ever. even when i was using bloom nutes. dumb newb mistake, im being honest just incase someone is as air headed as me! im gonna clean it with soap and water, is this ok? or is there something better?

thanks SG! you rock man, i'm so stoked for my first 12/12 with all ladies! im gonna wait until friday, my day off. happy new years guys! i'm gonna go with on- 8am-8pm. off 8pm-8am. so i can spend time with them. i am an electrician on the side, so i got two 20amp/120vac breakers, isolated, just for the bloom room, i only use one breaker for now, i can expand if i want, it'll just be 2-600w hps's max though, don't want to be too crazy. so im gonna feed them their last veg feeding tomorrow, and throw them into 12/12 on friday morning!

terrorizer805 said:

I was thinking WTF happened to Drella but I guess I never sub'd to you new journal, I'm sub'd now I missed alot though.

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just in time for bloom terror, im right behind you! you can be like my big bro through this one! seeing as though you're a vet now. good luck to you, pull up a chair man, this is gonna be epic!

thanks dc, yeah i don't know about that heat mat, i got droopy clones man. the clone room i built stays around 76* on it's own. it's pretty air tight, and in an air cooled room. so it think i'm over the mat, unless if i do seeds, still i don't know. don't worry about hijacking my thread guys, it's all love!

d.c. beard said:

lol Yeah hijack over! hehehe

Yeah, I don't know SomeGuy, I use all FF stuff (synthetics) in FF Happy Frog soil and that's how mine is. It doesn't fall 'day-to-day' as you said, but rather nutrient rich waterings will slowly and gradually over time lower the Ph of your substrate when growing in soil, that's a fact. Every nute combo I've ever used reacts like this for me, so I'm not sure where our differences are coming from. But hey, whatever works for ya! I've never gown in hydro, so I don't know about that. I know Drella's growing in soil too, so maybe your calculations are just for hydro? Shit, I wish my Ph was good out of the tap but I have to adjust mine continuously. But that's OK cause I grow some killer shit and it's def worth the time for me to adjust the Ph. I find if I just keep the input water at 6.6 everything works like a charm. But that's just me I guess!

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do you mean you contantly check the ph of your soil, if so, how do you do that? does anyone test their runoff water, i heard that's inacurate. i have never check the ph of my soil, don't know if i should.