Senior Citizen Novice Advice For Getting Started!

GreatwhiteNorth

Global Moderator
Staff member
Heck, If he is like me then he is too old to know any kids with a source for weed and heading out to the hood to make a score is just not an option. Some of us old folk like to be self sufficient as well. Good luck with your grow Mojoman! Maybe we can start an old coots club. :bigjoint:
Self sufficency is the goal - kudos on the old coots club, I'm in.
Good luck Mojo.
GWN
 

Mojoman69

Member
Thanks for the company GWN!

The 4 "PK" in the tub never perked up even though their roots systems are in overdrive they looked droopy and the leaves were curling up a bit. Heat does rise to around 90 for about an hour if it gets really hot outside but I suspected the nutrient solution was icky and so since I was about to transplant the "MK" to their pots and add them to the system I decided to change water and clean everything just to be prudent. Before throwing out the water I tested it and the ph was a blistering 8.5! OMG no wonder those little "PK"'s are droopy.

Hmm, why is my ph rising so fast when there is nothing in the system but water? Maybe some leaching from the soil that remained on the root balls of the clones? Is it possible something in the system (tub, hoses, nozzles) is doing something? I don't see how simply sitting in a tub for 48 hours and being sprayed over the root system can cause such a dramatic rise in ph. This is something I will obviously have to monitor.

Meantime I did transplant the Master Kush clones into their pots and then into the tub. I added the tub to the system and set everything up to run all night. I finally put the lights on 18/6 for these guys and I mixed up a 1/3 strenght nutrient solution just to help them get through the first few days of transplant shock and new root development. I still haven't picked up a timer for the misting pump so I left it running all night. My first task this morning will be to test the nutrient solution ph to see if it is rising since about 12 hours ago.

Had to special order my ballast from the local store as nobody carries the lightweight stuff in stock around here. Since nearly everything I am using is revolving around these 2ft x 2ft screens and all my spaces are like 2 ft x 4 ft I decided to go with 250w bulbs so I can hang a 250 over every 2x2 screen, so to this end I ordered a Lumatek DUAL 250W digital ballast which should arrive today or tomorrow. Once it arrives and I get it set up if I like how it works and suite the space then I may order another one.

Gonna try to meet with a guy today that has some Goldtrainwreck and some GrandDaddy Purple clones for sale if he calls me and I finally broke down and placed a seed order for some feminized "RockLock" seeds. Should get those in about a week i guess if they make it!

Not sure how to do it but I guess pretty soon I should change this thread into a grow journal and start posting some of the pics I have been taking of my journey!
 

Someguy15

Well-Known Member
Ph rises as the plants consume nutrients. When you filled the system what water did you use? did you ph it AFTER adding nutrients and then check it again 24 hours later? If it's stable at that point you should be good. I have found medium like hydroton or rw can raise ph dramatically, but your doing a homeade aero system right? what are your water temps, they are important in aero.
 

Mojoman69

Member
Thanks SG15. The original problem was found while still running only ph adjusted water. No nutes, so the rise in ph was not from absorbtion. Reservior solution temperature is about 72F.

As for the medium that is another story. Yes I am using aero mist but I did using a few old recycled lavarock stones mostly to hold the pots down and support the main branch of the plants. I was very careful to wash the rocks in fresh water and they sat outdoors for several days soaking to leech out any bad stuff. I suppose they could still be the problem. I did spend most of the day yesterday monitoring the issue. I totally emptied the system and rinsed everything out with ph adjusted water then ran it so the roots got a good fresh water wash for several hours. Then I remixed some half strength nutes, checked the ph after mixing then refilled the system and turned it on. Soon as the wife wakes up I will go check on the kids to see how they all fared during the night.

If the medium is causing the ph rise then I will likely switch over to using the plain non porous glass beads I was considering from the beginning. They might be better as they do not have porous surfaces, easy to clean for re-use and will not leech anything into the nute solution. Marbles! But before I get crazy I must also get ahead of the nutrient requirement curve and have at least 5 gallons mixed and set for at least 24 hours prior to use!

Flushed out two more areas or actually one larger area for flowering. These spaces are 3ft x 3ft spaces over 8 feet high and there are two of them side by side. I put 4 buckets in the 3x3 space just for sizing things up and it looks like I could fit a total of 8 buckets in the two spaces easily and grow some taller strains not on screens. I am planning to put 400's over these so will be shopping for two 400 watt digital ballasts also. The Dual 250 I ordered should come today I think so it will likely get installed tonight. So it looks like my set up is gonna be 250's for the 2x2 spaces and 400's for the 3x3 spaces and I have a total of 6 2x2 and 2 3x3. The spaces can be easily reconfigured but for max use of the floor space it is just how it turned out. Since the two taller spaces are 3x3 making 9sqft, following the 50w /sqft guideline then the 400's would be a little under powered for the space but a 600 would be too much.

So if heat is not an issue and neither is investment cost then does it make sense to go with the greater wattage?

Seems to me you can always raise the reflector if it's too much for the girls but you can't exactly do the opposite if they want more light. I'm thinkin I should scrap the idea of 400's and just get 600's from the start.
 

Someguy15

Well-Known Member
Thanks SG15. The original problem was found while still running only ph adjusted water. No nutes, so the rise in ph was not from absorbtion. Reservior solution temperature is about 72F.

As for the medium that is another story. Yes I am using aero mist but I did using a few old recycled lavarock stones mostly to hold the pots down and support the main branch of the plants. I was very careful to wash the rocks in fresh water and they sat outdoors for several days soaking to leech out any bad stuff. I suppose they could still be the problem. I did spend most of the day yesterday monitoring the issue. I totally emptied the system and rinsed everything out with ph adjusted water then ran it so the roots got a good fresh water wash for several hours. Then I remixed some half strength nutes, checked the ph after mixing then refilled the system and turned it on. Soon as the wife wakes up I will go check on the kids to see how they all fared during the night.

If the medium is causing the ph rise then I will likely switch over to using the plain non porous glass beads I was considering from the beginning. They might be better as they do not have porous surfaces, easy to clean for re-use and will not leech anything into the nute solution. Marbles! But before I get crazy I must also get ahead of the nutrient requirement curve and have at least 5 gallons mixed and set for at least 24 hours prior to use!

Flushed out two more areas or actually one larger area for flowering. These spaces are 3ft x 3ft spaces over 8 feet high and there are two of them side by side. I put 4 buckets in the 3x3 space just for sizing things up and it looks like I could fit a total of 8 buckets in the two spaces easily and grow some taller strains not on screens. I am planning to put 400's over these so will be shopping for two 400 watt digital ballasts also. The Dual 250 I ordered should come today I think so it will likely get installed tonight. So it looks like my set up is gonna be 250's for the 2x2 spaces and 400's for the 3x3 spaces and I have a total of 6 2x2 and 2 3x3. The spaces can be easily reconfigured but for max use of the floor space it is just how it turned out. Since the two taller spaces are 3x3 making 9sqft, following the 50w /sqft guideline then the 400's would be a little under powered for the space but a 600 would be too much.

So if heat is not an issue and neither is investment cost then does it make sense to go with the greater wattage?

Seems to me you can always raise the reflector if it's too much for the girls but you can't exactly do the opposite if they want more light. I'm thinkin I should scrap the idea of 400's and just get 600's from the start.
Go with the 600s for a 3x3, you'll be way happy you did in 6 months. I wish I skipped my 400 personally, but u gotta start somewhere.
 

Mojoman69

Member
Had to special order the Dual 250 watt ballast so drove out to the shop to pick it up and the clerck said the owner didn't set a price for it yet so I would have to come back. So today I will head back and try again. He said he would give me a great deal on it so now I guess it's an even better deal for my trouble! No biggie really I have to have stuff to get me out of the house.

I hear ya SG15! Gonna take your advice and just go w the 600's. They are all over the place out here used so just gonna start watching for a couple of 'em. Really want to get digital ballasts though so I can switch bulbs when needed.

Everything looked great in the nursery yesterday. All 8 of the mixed unknown seeds I saved that were found in 1/8's purchased from dispensaries over the last 6 months all popped, survived their first transplant and are sprouting nicely. No telling what these are but as I said they all came from dispensary bags so they should be something good.

Also not sure I mentioned it earlier but I salvaged (saved is more like it) 1 little skinny shriveled "Trainwreck" clone from the disp. It was there all alone and nearly dead looking a bit like the Charlie Brown christmas tree. The guy just told me to take it for free and I was sure it would die but my TLC has paid off so far and the little girl is making a strong comeback. Although she does look a bit Bonsai, shrunken, with full 5 finger leaves but no bigger than a nickel and 1/4 inch internode spacing w branches starting to shoot out all over the place. I'm thinkin I'm gonna try to bring her along and then take those lower branches off as cuttings and then let her go full flower so I can see her potential. At least then if she turns out good I have her genetics for the future!

The 4 "MK" never really seemed to have any transplant shock at all and were not in the system when the first ph problem arose so they didnt get burned like the 4 "PK" did but they were a little smaller anyway so they are a little closer to the same size as the "PK"'s which slowed down for a couple days after they got their roots ph fried. Put them all back on 24 hr light again now that they are adjusted to the tubs and root development is explosive.

I'm kind of wishing I had made my screens a little closer to the tubs because the plants are at least 3 to 4 inches away from the screens yet. I can see now why a lot of folks maybe don't like Scrog because of the extra time it takes to veg. Mostly I think I just need to be patient at this stage! Nothing to do but keep working on getting the other spaces ready to go and let the girls do their thing. Twice a day check on ph is enough and then leave them alone!
 

BoomerBloomer57

Well-Known Member
Well poo poo on the scrog haters,,,j/k

I love to scrog! Weight baby, weight. You have to keep the screens down low. Weave those stems through the screen, it's an art form that takes patience, too much pressure and SNAP!

I was going to start one today but need to wait one more day.

I started a grow journal, may or may not help. Can't hurt to take a peakski.

I'm an Ol' Man myself, 53 and doing this thing for forty years. I don't have it down pat yet, but I'm trying, Lord knows I'm trying.

Keep at it and keep learning. This plant will open many doors, along with your mind. Love and care and do not rush the program. It takes time to learn and time to grow QUALITY.

Best of luck.

bb57


ftp
 

Attachments

Mojoman69

Member
Nice pics BB57! And my wife thought our place was starting to look like a moon base. LoL!

Got the DUAL 250W ballast today and bought the MH bulbs and cheapest reflectors. Installed everything in the high 2x4 space beside the existing low 2x4 floro space. Looks great, should work well for that space

Added 8 new clones to the nursery today.
4 "Redwood Kush"
4 "Blue Cross"
Set them all outside to sit on the sunshelf while I was installing their lights.
They all got a good watering, a cleaning and blow off.

All 8 new ones and the single "TW" is about the same size and are going under the MH's tonight. Approx 20 inches below the bulbs and temps are around 82, humidity 40%.

Lights are at 24/0 for now

Everything in the Floro space looks good. All plants look rejuvinated and growing again. ph still rose over the night 1 point. Added ph- til i got ph back to around 6.0 removed 1 gallon and added another w fresh nutes and all the new additives. Rhizotonic & Cannazyme. Used the tonic at a very low amount cant remember what it was, and used the zyme as directed for 5 gallons. Checked ph was 6.0 and ppm was around 625 or so. Still need to try to push this a bit higher from here on out!

Have been running the pump 24/0 so it is a constant rain of nutes in the root boxes. Didn't check the roots today so should be interesting tomorrow.
 

Mojoman69

Member
Last night at bedtime ph check I noticed the misting heads weren't spraying as they should. Investigation revealed the filter for the pump intake was clogged. Checked it out and found the filter was indeed clogged with all sorts of nasty looking organic gunk. I'm thinkin the soil that was all over the roots is still flushing out and contributing to the buildup of detritus. This is likely breaking down organic matter and trowing off my readings.

I totally cleaned the reservior and replaced all the tubing and ran fresh ph 6.0 water over the roots for a couple hours while I prepped the new solution. Filled the res with 5 gallons of new nutes exactly as the directions say. Everything looked great after and all measurments were good but the ppm was only 680. Still trying not to go crazy w the nutes at least until the system settles down.

This morning the nute solution is up a full point again. I know this should happen but it seems a bit accelerated to me.

> Is it normal for the nute solution ph to rise a full point in around 12 hours?

Also I have looked all over this forum and as usual I found an abundance of info but nothing that seems to answer my question. Some of the leaves are "corkscrewing". Even the tiny new ones are starting to twist. The info says the twisting is usually caused by over watering or too much nutes. Since they are constantly immersed in the fog/mist the "too much water" option doesn't seem likely, and the nute strength has never been higher than around 700 ppm. Heat has never been over 85 or lower than 75.

> Any ideas about why the leaves are twisting?
 

nailz92002

Active Member
Also I have looked all over this forum and as usual I found an abundance of info but nothing that seems to answer my question. Some of the leaves are "corkscrewing". Even the tiny new ones are starting to twist. The info says the twisting is usually caused by over watering or too much nutes. Since they are constantly immersed in the fog/mist the "too much water" option doesn't seem likely, and the nute strength has never been higher than around 700 ppm. Heat has never been over 85 or lower than 75.

> Any ideas about why the leaves are twisting?
Are you misting? Curled leaves are the result of mixing and applying sprays that are too strong. The other reason people see twisting and curled leaves is a unstable photo period. If you have any light leaks during the dark period this may cause the plant to freak out and twist up leaves. Hope this helped.

Peace and positive energy to you

:joint:
 

Mojoman69

Member
Welcome nailz! Well yes I am misting but not the foliage, and have been keeping the nutes fairly light. As for the light cycle, they are all on 24/0 right now so maybe it was an adjustment from their previous home. Today will be the day to see if they are still having the problem or not.

I am using a self built "aero" system it uses two misting heads inside each rubbermaid tub. When running the "booster pump" increases the line pressure to over 100 psi which causes the heads to spray or more accurately "fogs" the roots. It actually fills up the tubs with a nutrient fog which condenses all over anything that is in the tubs and then recirculates back into the reservior. I read a lot on these sites about "dissolved oxygen" and in fact unless I misunderstood, that is the main idea behind all the DWC, bubblers, misters, drippers etc.

While on vacation in Arizona I noticed nearly everyplace had these "dry mist" cooling systems and while sipping a nice cold beverage I started thinking about modifying one of these systems to a hydroponic application. I did some research for a couple weeks and then bought a few pieces to start experimenting. So in effect the system I am running now is my first running beta prototype of the system. Since I never indoor gardened before I have no way of comparing this system to any other one but the theory seems sound and so far the mechanics are working. I need now to run and refine the system and my methods for at least a couple grows before deciding if I like the results.

From a purely mechanical and theoretical angle it seems to be working better than planned so far! The mist is finer than I thought it would be and is in fact more like a fog. Suposedly the particles are 5 micron in size. I can actually see the particles floating around like a thick fog and an unexpected note is that the fog emitted inside the tub is slightly lower temperature than the air in the tub so the fog tends to wanna stay in the tub on it's own. It just sits in there like a very thick soupy lookin fog and if I wave my hand around in it, it will spill over the side and run down like a monster movie effect. The roots seem to love this environment but the bottom line is it's only been not even two weeks yet! Long way to go!

Added genetics:
4 - "Green Crack" clones

Also my seeds arrived! Feminized "RockLock" gonna hang on to these until my system is a bit more stable and dialed in!
 

Someguy15

Well-Known Member
If it is a fogger, keep your nutrients very low... I've heard 50% strength (of what the bottle recommends) is the max u wanna go with a fog system, u just don't need the high ec's like u do for flood & drain, dwc ect. Any reason u chose 24/0 over 18/6 or 20/4? Plants still grow in the dark and in fact the roots grow best during the dark period. What's on bottom ends up = what's on top if u get what I mean.
 

Mojoman69

Member
Ok it's been a busy few days! First to catch up. Thanks SG15 for the heads up on nutrient strength for foggers. I had not read that anywhere before but after you suggested it I started to dig deeper and sure enough there is some info on keeping nute ppm's lower when fogging that for dwc or flood systems. So the eentire time I was thinking I was keeping the nutes at a low level just to start off the new rootlings but now I see I was actually at about maximum! No harm done fortunately but I have since been studying more about the specific nuances of fogging. It appears there is more to it than what I thought which was simply smaller particles of solution being sprayed on the roots. Apparently the particles being so small really effects the way the plants uptake through the root system which is what I wanted but didn't think about how that would effect nute uptake.

To "try" to explain some of my choices:
everyting I read says there are trade off's for almost everything so I am attempting to use a sort of trading system to allow or compensate for whatever is the issue. Example: the 24 hour light question. I have read a lot about how a 24 hour light cycle during veg can be a huge benefit with the caveat that there might be a penalty to the root system as you point out. So in my twisted logic I deduced that this might be mitigated or negated by the fogging system I am using. The results (before the disaster! info on that coming up) that I see by comparing the now kicking ass "Master Kush" roots which were started a week after the "Pure Kush" ones. The roots systems are probably twice or 3 times the size and biomass of the vegetation and growing like crazy. So right or wrong (learning as I go) I decided the 24hour light would be a good thing as long as my root systems were lookin good.

Now for the update: YIKES! How do you say OMG without using the letters OMG? When they say things can happen fast in hydro they really mean it! So everything is going along great and all the little girls are looking fab until a few days ago I wanted to take a look at the roots and take a photo of them cause they look so fantastic. BUT, what are these tiny little things? At first I thought it was just dirt or some organic crap still flushing out of the original rootball but closer look and NO WAY! These things are bugs! Little black bugs literally hundreds of them infesting the root systems of two of the four "PK" in the tub together! ARGH!

So the first thing I do is go onlie to try to find out what these are. Although they don't fit the description exactly I determine these things are a super strain of "Root Aphid". Nasty little buggers! Well the next thing I do is panic and start thinking about all 32 plants now in the system and all being infected! Inspection revealed that they seemed to be only on the two plants and not even on the other two in the same tub so my hope is they can't spread fast and maybe I have stopped them. For one thing they are too large as adults or even half grown to pass through the tiny holes in the misting nozzles. For another I have multiple redundant filters, one at each tubs drain hole and another at the pump intake.

What happens next is just plain stupid! Suffice it to say it was after midnight, I was tired, stoned, and panicked and I shut the system down pulled out the infected tub and proceeded to nearly kill the plants by spraying some crap directly on the roots! DUMB ASS! Although the bugs were there I most certainly hurt the plants more than the bugs were for sure! The roots immediately turned brown and shriveled and looked burned and mushy like they do when they have rot. I rinsed well with ph 'd water and left to sit over night in a mixture of nothing but Rhizo and also gave thm a foliar dose incase the roots cant uptake. I also isolated them from the rest of the girls cried and went to bed!

Lesson: DONT PANIC! Take the hipocratic oath. "Do no harm!"

Next day. Basically ripped the entire system apart and cleaned everything. Checked all filters for signs and nothing. Replaced everything all clean. Took a few of the pests in a jar to the local "expert" actually the guy I bought the clones from and he confirmed the Root Aphid diagnosis. Destroy everything and start over was his advice along with a good luck and an offer to replace the clones. I saw no reason to take more clones if that is where the bugs came from initially so I declined for now. I can't just destroy everyting and start over so another method had to be found. This time I took the bugs to one of the guys that works in one of the local hydro stores and this guy really seemed to know his stuff. He suggested a product and a regime that might work if I am dilligent and take care to keep them at bay. The regime so far seems to be working but only time will tell. The infected plants seem to be making a slow recovery. New leaves look good but the root system is still very damaged so they will need lots of extra care from here on out.

Meantime I have seen one of the drawbacks of a closed system and one that includes the entire stock of vegging plants. I have ordered another pump and will set up a seperate system as a quarantine and or clinic for new or sick plants to be treated without effecting the rest of the stock.

Lesson: Do not put dispensary bopught clones directly into the system! Either isolate them until they are known to be clean or keep them isolated and vegging until they can be used as mothers for new and known to be clean clones that were never rooted in soil to start with. Ah yes I am seeing the wisdom and the need for me to develop a good set of genetically superior mothers for cloning and not have to buy them at all unless as I said it is just for the genes.

To this end the little charlie Brown Trainwreck clone i adopted is now flourishing and is almost ready to take some cuttings off of so I guess I'd better get busy and build a cloner!
 

Someguy15

Well-Known Member
Ok it's been a busy few days! First to catch up. Thanks SG15 for the heads up on nutrient strength for foggers. I had not read that anywhere before but after you suggested it I started to dig deeper and sure enough there is some info on keeping nute ppm's lower when fogging that for dwc or flood systems. So the eentire time I was thinking I was keeping the nutes at a low level just to start off the new rootlings but now I see I was actually at about maximum! No harm done fortunately but I have since been studying more about the specific nuances of fogging. It appears there is more to it than what I thought which was simply smaller particles of solution being sprayed on the roots. Apparently the particles being so small really effects the way the plants uptake through the root system which is what I wanted but didn't think about how that would effect nute uptake.

To "try" to explain some of my choices:
everyting I read says there are trade off's for almost everything so I am attempting to use a sort of trading system to allow or compensate for whatever is the issue. Example: the 24 hour light question. I have read a lot about how a 24 hour light cycle during veg can be a huge benefit with the caveat that there might be a penalty to the root system as you point out. So in my twisted logic I deduced that this might be mitigated or negated by the fogging system I am using. The results (before the disaster! info on that coming up) that I see by comparing the now kicking ass "Master Kush" roots which were started a week after the "Pure Kush" ones. The roots systems are probably twice or 3 times the size and biomass of the vegetation and growing like crazy. So right or wrong (learning as I go) I decided the 24hour light would be a good thing as long as my root systems were lookin good.

Now for the update: YIKES! How do you say OMG without using the letters OMG? When they say things can happen fast in hydro they really mean it! So everything is going along great and all the little girls are looking fab until a few days ago I wanted to take a look at the roots and take a photo of them cause they look so fantastic. BUT, what are these tiny little things? At first I thought it was just dirt or some organic crap still flushing out of the original rootball but closer look and NO WAY! These things are bugs! Little black bugs literally hundreds of them infesting the root systems of two of the four "PK" in the tub together! ARGH!

So the first thing I do is go onlie to try to find out what these are. Although they don't fit the description exactly I determine these things are a super strain of "Root Aphid". Nasty little buggers! Well the next thing I do is panic and start thinking about all 32 plants now in the system and all being infected! Inspection revealed that they seemed to be only on the two plants and not even on the other two in the same tub so my hope is they can't spread fast and maybe I have stopped them. For one thing they are too large as adults or even half grown to pass through the tiny holes in the misting nozzles. For another I have multiple redundant filters, one at each tubs drain hole and another at the pump intake.

What happens next is just plain stupid! Suffice it to say it was after midnight, I was tired, stoned, and panicked and I shut the system down pulled out the infected tub and proceeded to nearly kill the plants by spraying some crap directly on the roots! DUMB ASS! Although the bugs were there I most certainly hurt the plants more than the bugs were for sure! The roots immediately turned brown and shriveled and looked burned and mushy like they do when they have rot. I rinsed well with ph 'd water and left to sit over night in a mixture of nothing but Rhizo and also gave thm a foliar dose incase the roots cant uptake. I also isolated them from the rest of the girls cried and went to bed!

Lesson: DONT PANIC! Take the hipocratic oath. "Do no harm!"

Next day. Basically ripped the entire system apart and cleaned everything. Checked all filters for signs and nothing. Replaced everything all clean. Took a few of the pests in a jar to the local "expert" actually the guy I bought the clones from and he confirmed the Root Aphid diagnosis. Destroy everything and start over was his advice along with a good luck and an offer to replace the clones. I saw no reason to take more clones if that is where the bugs came from initially so I declined for now. I can't just destroy everyting and start over so another method had to be found. This time I took the bugs to one of the guys that works in one of the local hydro stores and this guy really seemed to know his stuff. He suggested a product and a regime that might work if I am dilligent and take care to keep them at bay. The regime so far seems to be working but only time will tell. The infected plants seem to be making a slow recovery. New leaves look good but the root system is still very damaged so they will need lots of extra care from here on out.

Meantime I have seen one of the drawbacks of a closed system and one that includes the entire stock of vegging plants. I have ordered another pump and will set up a seperate system as a quarantine and or clinic for new or sick plants to be treated without effecting the rest of the stock.

Lesson: Do not put dispensary bopught clones directly into the system! Either isolate them until they are known to be clean or keep them isolated and vegging until they can be used as mothers for new and known to be clean clones that were never rooted in soil to start with. Ah yes I am seeing the wisdom and the need for me to develop a good set of genetically superior mothers for cloning and not have to buy them at all unless as I said it is just for the genes.

To this end the little charlie Brown Trainwreck clone i adopted is now flourishing and is almost ready to take some cuttings off of so I guess I'd better get busy and build a cloner!
Sorry to hear about the bugs, ever consider making your own mothers and clones to prevent this problem? If you start everything from seed, use sterile mediums and keep your space clean, you have very little chance of getting these nasty infections. Getting clones from anyone is like unprotected sex, for your garden lol
 

Mojoman69

Member
YEs! the idea all along was to become self sufficient. This would include the keeping of a good genetic pool be it moms or seeds that would eventually become mothers. I never even considered buying seeds until recently and now that I have done it I will certainly be doing it more to get the strains I want. The more short term idea was to aquire clones locally and put them into the system right away just to get something going. Then I was going to take cuttings off them for replanting. Either way I always planned to eventually not need anything from outside sources unless it is in seed form. That is still the goal.

Meantime the "PK" that had the bugs are slowly coming back. the new leaves are small but look healthy and more importantly this morning I see signs of a new heathy root explosion about to happen. I can see bunches of very tiny micro thin little root filaments all white and healthy looking starting to shoot out of the root base. It is interesting that the new roots are starting at the plant base and it doesnt even seem interested in repairing the old ones. My guess is at this point that the plant will eventually shed all the damaged roots and just grow new ones instead.

The "MK" that were needing to catch up to the more mature "PK" are now WAY in the lead, They look great with huge root masses and lots of good foliage and branching. These guys are big enough now to touch the screens so I put the screen there and sure enough it pushed the tops of the plants over a little bit. Their training has begun!

The "BC" BlueCross and the "RWK" RedwoodKushes are not quite tall enough yet to be screened and all the chaos due to the bugs has slowed these down a little bit but otherwise they look ok.

The Green Crack clones are still quite small and are still in a bubbler nursery waiting for more root development before I decide what to do with them.

That crazy little Trainwreck plant is becoming the real star of the family. She is lookin fantastic except for the whole thing seems smaller than I would imagine as normal. It's like the whole plant is stunted because of its early childhood. It is almost a foot tall now and quite bushy and sort of lanky. It has quite a few small branches that are screaming to become cuttings but i want her to get bigger stronger and more mature before she gives up her cuttings.

The mixbag seedlings are looking fantastic! All 8 are still crankin and they are beginning to show their particular characteristics. There are two particularly that have my attention because they are so different from the rest. One is very very short with very fat short stubby leaves and the internode spacing is almost non existent but it seems to be growing like sideways. It looks more like a small watermellon plant than a cannabis plant. The other one is completely purple on stem and the undersides of the leaves! The tops of the leaves look green and healthy and normal but everything underneath is purple. These 8 little surprise packages are going to be fun. I cant wait too see their sex!
 

farmboss

Well-Known Member
mojo, there is TONS of information here is the bug and pest section. Don't panic.

I can promise you, without even posting, the answer to every question ever is already posted somewhere.

This thread, will LITERALLY save you YEARS of time. I swear by it. just take time, and read. Reading is fun. Think of all those women reading dumb crap, not LEARNING.

if your gonna read, read something to learn.
 

Mojoman69

Member
Thanks Farmboss for the advice and the encouragement! I agree that there are Tons of good info on this forum and I do spend a lot of time reading the threads here. I was reading these threads at least a year prior to ever thinking about growing at home and I do love reading and learning about stuff that relates to my new hobby. And your right it is always better to sit down calmly and do a little research before panicking and doing something stupid!

Short Update:
Everyone is looking great! Had one bad day where the "Green Crack" cuttings started to yellow and droop and it was happening very fast. Fortunately the answerr had to be fairly simple because they are just in plugs and sitting in a bubble cloner. the only thing they were getting was a direct foliar spray of 1/2 strenght Rhizotonic. Decided to do a ph check on the Rhizo solution and sure enough it was off the scale high! WoW! another mystery for me to figure out but it just goes to show how important it is to mix solutions 24 hours ahead and then retest ph and ppm's prior to use! Dumped out the solution and started over for those little cuttings they are now in just plain water with 1/2 strength Rhizo and proper ph adjusted, and they perked right back up. I think the cuttings were too small for foliar feeding so no more for them until they get bigger.

"PK" are still recovering nicely and have lots of new root development. The "RWK" and the "BC" which were the 8 that were added latest and probably a little too early now in hind sight are all still struggling to get their roots established. Only now am I starting to see little shoots protruding from the pot. It is also interesting to me how different the roots are on the strains. The "PK"s have huge honking roots fat and sturdy where as the "RWK" & the "BC" all seem to have these hair fine like roots and zillions of them rather than the fewer burly ones.

Once I get to the point of rooting all my own clones and doing it soiless from the beginning I beleive it will give me better control over when the roots are developed enough to go into full vegging, and to minimize the chance of infestations and reduce the transplant shock.
 

Jozikins

Well-Known Member
Sounds like a great grow Mojo! you need to get some pictures up ASAP, my imagination is running wild and I am dying to see what you are doing. As for your infestation problem, although the insects are gone, you may be interested in purchasing goGnats, it's a organic product made out of cedar oil and will DESTROY all small soft-bodied insects leaching your garden. It is safe for foliar spraying, surface spraying, room spraying, drain-to-waste feeding as well as recirculating systems. It's so delicate you can spray it directly on a freshly cut "fim" without a sign of stress in sight. It's a beautiful product and in my experience 95% effective 90% of the time... and I like them numbers a lot. Growing with seeds has so many advantages, but so many draw backs. But it is definitely the way to go for Mom's! Just grow a lot out and pick your favorite, trash or flower the rest, it's up to you, depends on how cold you can be. lol.

I don't remember if you had specified but the 600w are wayyyy better than 400's for your space, too much is def better than not enough. This is almost always the rule unless it is nutes. And the "cork screw" growth is often from environmental stress, as well as other things. My guess is that you knocked the living shit out of your plant and root system getting rid of all that dirt (guessing you agitated the soil off) and it probably ripped off a large portion of the precious thin root hairs, and more. This will recover as time goes on, and as SomeGuy said (been following his grows and holy shit does he know what he is talking about) use 50% on mist systems. I personally wouldn't know, I used soiless peatmoss/perlite/vermiculite/hydroton combo so I load up the PPM's like mad on mine.

Anyways, good luck, and get some darn pictures up!
 
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