StealthDrobe v1 600w Hydro & Soil SCROG (+rep)

TweedleD

Active Member
.:StealthDrobe V1:.

Easy all!
Welcome to my 4th grow on this forum!
In the past i have grown outdoors, under CFL and most recently under LED.
I have experimented with all yeild incresing techniques and have decided to go all out and put theory into practise and try it out!

In this diary i will be growing 2 plants in Waterfarms, which is a completely new venture for me. I will be using the lucas formula throughout the grow.

I will have also 4 more plants in soil, Light-Mix to be specific.
These plants will be fed the lucas formula too once they start showing signs of using up all the nutes in the soil.

I plan to Veg for 3-4 weeks before flipping the switch to 12/12.
I will place a screen approximately 15" inches away from the top of the waterfarm. This should give enough head room for flower....i hope!

First off, i needed to construct or modify my wardrobe to accomidate all the growing stuff needed, so i actually started many months ago, but then got a new job and the project just sat there, til i got fired on New Years eve, so i decided to spend the next 3 months chilling out and watching the grass grow!

So heres a few pictures to see what it looks like during the building stage, and it finished now.










600w Sun Master CMH for vegging, but may also use during flower
600w GroLux HPS for flowering
Lumatek 600w dimmable electronic ballast...its fully adjustable and has a super bright mode! worth every penny!
RVK125 A1 Exhaust, very powerfull, but find it to be quite loud. I will see once its all build and hooked up how loud it really is.
GHE Waterfarms
A couple 6.5 ltr pots for flowering
A couple Robert Dyas timers
GHE FloraBloom
GHE FloraMicro Hard Water





This was my seed choice for the grow, and the two babies behind are Pineapple Express and BlueWidow from my LED grow, which you can check out below in my sig.



To bring you up to speed i decided to grow out the following seeds.

G13 Labs Pineapple Express x2,
Dinafem Blue Widow,
UGORG Smile,
Reserva Privada OG Kush #18,
Next Generation Romulan Diesel

Unfortunately, the first OG seed didnt germ, it just poked out a tap root, stalled and im assuming rotted away, so popped in my 2nd and last one, which managed to pull through and is growing away nicely.
The first romulan diesel seed didnt even crack open after 4 days so i popped in a 2nd seed which got a tap root, stalled and just rotted away aswell.

So i was very disappointed about not being able to grow out Romulan Diesel as it look like an amazing strain, anybody else grown it before? Is it worth me getting more beans for next time?

In its place, i have popped in a Barneys Farm LSD seed, which germed, sprouted and is vegging away as we speak!

I am currently in my 2nd week of Veg, more or less.
I start counting veg time from when the 2nd set of true leaves starts growing.



3 days ago at the 7 day mark i did a reservoir change and gave the PE and BW a 1/4 strength feeding.
Since day 6 i have noticed what looks like leaf burn on both seedlings, but more so on the BW which today seems to have got considerably worse!

What do you all reckon this could be?


Pineapple Express





Blue Widow



Smile



OG Kush #18



LSD




So that i think is everything!:hump:
I dont think i have missed anything out!
Any questions please feel free!
I need all the help i can get so i would also love all the help i can get! :D

Peace & Love to you all!:peace::weed:
Hope some of you subscribe!
+Rep will be given out for all possitive things said in this thread, be it strain talk, techniques, equiptment, nutes. As long as we are learning, i am reppin! ;)
 

TweedleD

Active Member
I think i found the problem.
I think the lead burn occured when the leaf tips touched the hydroton for a longer period, resulting in the tips to get burnt.
The new growth seems fine and the leaves look a healthier green, not the N difficient looking faded yellow.

Think all is good but there is a possibility that my pH meter is off by 0.2.
Placed it in some 7.0 buffer and it read 7.2...

What is the best way to look after a pH peter and EC/PPM Truncheon?

Thanks!
 

TweedleD

Active Member
Oh, also...since the start of the grow the pumps have been on 24/7 since i started the grow.
Should i have it set on a timer?
Please help...
 

two2brains

Well-Known Member
what kind of water are you using? tap? what is the ppm of your plain water?

I would advise if you are using tap to get some distilled water. Its only 0.80-1.00 a gallon at the grocery store and I found some at "Hills" for 0.99 with a ppm of 1!


edit: nice setup by the way!
 

Serapis

Well-Known Member
I think it is heat. it almost appears to be where the plant comes closest to that reflector underneath it. hot spots...
 

TweedleD

Active Member
I am using tap water, which varies from 250ppm to 300ppm.
I think the problem was 2 things; where the leaf tips touches the hydroton which has the nutrient rich solution flowing over it, causing the tips to be wet, followed by me fulling the leaf up and ontop of the reflective material drying the leaf out and causing the tips to burn.
New growth seems fine, although i would like to say that the Pineapple Express in the waterfarm looks like it is lacking in nitrogen compared to the one in soil.
I will post up some pics in a short while, gunna skin up, spark up, pic up! :P

Peace
 

TweedleD

Active Member
My temps are around 28'c at canopy level, but can reach to around 33'c when the light is closer.
That is an issue i will overcome when it comes.

Here is a video, and tell me, does the Pineapple Express in the waterfarm look like it needs nitrogen?

DAY 12! What is wrong?
[video=youtube;LHgYKGSo49w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHgYKGSo49w[/video]

Thanks and peace everyone!
 

TweedleD

Active Member

Day 14!! -Waterfarm top up & watering

Hi there ladies and gentlemen.....lurkers too! :P

Today is day 14, so it is 2 weeks since i have placed these babies into the drobe and have been growing well since!....well...more or less! Keep reading...

So here is a little run down of whats happeed.
Day 00 Plants in
Day 06 Notice burnt tips on the Pineapple Express & Blue Widow
Day 07 Waterchange and 1/4 strength nutes added to reservoir, 350ppm pH lowered to 5.8 and stabilised after 24 hours.
After 48 hours PPM stabilised at 450PPM (Why did my PPM raise??), but my pH kept fluctuating between 5.4 & 6.4.
Over the course of the next 7 days i have noticed that the burnt tips seem to be an isolated problem as is hasnt spread to the newer growth.

However, i have noticed the Pineapple express just doesnt look that healthy?? Or is it just my eyes? Compared to the one in soil it looks like dogs arse!
Now, heres something to note, the PPM was 450ppm 1/4 strength, and when i checked the run off from the light mix Pineapple Express it was 800PPM!! Maybe this plant is just very nutrient hungry, hence it looking a little pale, or is it some kind of other burn problem?





Mutated!


I only have maybe 2 very long roots that have dropped down into the reservoir below, whereas the Blue Widow seems to be thriving!!




With the water level i have left a small air pocket between the water level and the top pot, 9ltrs of water, 2 gallons, makes the lucas formula easier to calculate.
Question is, should i keep the level higher to the point where the water is "up" in the top pot? I would have thought this would mean there would be pools of non moving water in the pot, creating stagnant water and root rot. Correct me if i am wrong!

Today i have noticed some kind of patchy veins appear on the potted Pineapple Express, is this heat stress?




Smile is growing like mad! Very short and bushy! Look at the nodes growing out already!
I really hope this is a female, i will take cuttings for a mother just in case. Looks like amazing genetics already!



This OG Kush #18 has really sped up and caught up with the rest of the bunch and it is the same height as Smile, just 2 nodes less!
Has anyone grown out this strain? How does it grow?



And Little LSD, nothing to talk about yet really..





And that is it for now people.
I really really would like people opinions on why im having problems with the ladiesin the waterfarms.
Afterall i have a PE in Soil for comparison!
SCOTTY!! WHERE ARE YOU!! :D haha

Hope you all enjoy and hang around for flower time!
I will be making a screen this week!

Peace!

 

TweedleD

Active Member
When it comes to hydroponics and you over feed, do you just need to empty out the reservoir and refill with weaker solution? Simple as that or more complicated.
.
I have some Plagron Roots strimulator, and was wondering if i can use this in hydro
 

BluBerry

Well-Known Member
without draining all of your water out and refilling it. I take a pitcher and scoop out about 4 or 5 pitchers full of water then replace it with fresh cold water and it lowers my ppms that way i dont have to mix new nutrients. but my well water is 52ppm out of the faucet. versus completely draining and refilling and mixing nutes unless its just time to change the res. but my res is a little bigger. in your case it would be easier to change the res and start fresh. u mention an air pump bu i dont see one in the pics or see bubbling water. that could be an issue if you dont have oxygen in the water for the roots and get some water moving as well. air pumps should be left on 24/7. no timer needed.
 

TweedleD

Active Member
I really need some help with understanding hydroponics...
I have read countless threads and many books but i think i have created some worries in my mind because of it.
Let me elaborate some of the notes in my notepad about the grow and what theyve been eating.

My Tap Water = 7.9pH & 250ppm 0.5 EC
The below applies to both the Pineapple Express and Blue Widow in Waterfarms unless specified otherwise.

  • Day -07: Tap root placed into hydroton which has water that has been lowered to 5.8pH, after 24 hours, pH rose to 6.3 and and 0.25ml pH down added to 9ltr water, bringing back to 5.8pH
  • Veg START!
    Day 00: Water change and intoduction of nutes @ 1/4 Strength...i think! Someone please confirm! So I added things in this order:
    -5ml Micro (300PPM 0.6EC) , 10ml Bloom(350PPM 0.7EC) & 5ml pH Down (5.8pH). After 24 hours readings were 400PPM 0.8 EC 6.2pH.
    Can anyone explain why this happened to me please?
  • Day 07: Reservoir top up +1Litre, using addback calculator and aiming for 550PPM i added 2ml Micro, 4 ml Bloom and 1ml Supathrive for both Pineapple Express & Blue widow, achieved 550PPM.
  • Day 09: Both had a reading of 450PPM 0.9ec but a pH of 6.6/6.7!!!!!
    I have no idea why the pH would have spiked up like that so high!
    So adding back +1Litre and aiming for 600PPM i added 7.5ml Micro & 15ml Bloom, this is the first time the addback calculator didnt work for me, i went by the truncheon meter adding 2.5ml and 5ml at a time.
    I went ahead and just added the correct amount to the other

    I attempted to sort out the Blue Widow pH by adding 1ml down, which was waaaaaay too strong and brought my pH to something stupid like 4.2 or something. I then added 1.5ml of UP which seems to be weaker.
    pH went to 5.8.
    For the Pineapple Express i just added 0.5ml Down and 5.8ml was acheived straight away.
  • Day11 Today: Checked on both this morning and pH has gone up to 6.3 again!
    I have added 0.25ml Down to each reservoir and it seems to have lowered it for now.
  • Something to note is that the Pineapple Express has maybe 3 long roots dropping down into the water and no other roots visibly poking through, almost as if the hydroton has blocked up the hole. Is that possible? I thought if water can flow through then roots should grow and push it out the way.
    The Blue Widow however has a nice mass of roots forming as we speak.




  • Is it normal for the reservoir so constantly have a layer of brown crap forming at the bottom from the hydroton? Seems as if the more roots the plants has, the more debris comes away from the hydroton. Someone please confirm.

So the running total of nutes is:

Micro = 14.5ml
Bloom = 19ml
Suprathrive=1ml

PE= 3.25ml Down
BW= 3.75ml down 1.5ml Up

So so far i have an addback of 2Litres.
I am due to top up the reservoir today (I top up every 2 days) so some advice would be appreciated.

My babies in that stuff called dirt, are doing bloody amazing! Way better than the waterfarm, which i did not expect!!!
I have been feeding them nothing but 500ml water every 2 days, which ive realised is too much and im going to reduce to 250ml every 2 days once the pots go dry.

I think once the root mass builds in the waterfarm it will explode in growth.Til then all i can do is sit and look at them with a gloomy outlook...






Pineapple Express


Blue Widow


Pineapple Express-What is up with these yellow blotches?


Smile =D


OG Kush #18


LSD





A bit about the size of things and some input would be great.
The two waterfarm are 15" inches tall, and the pots are 10"inches tall (currently in 5inch tall ones on top of the 10" but will just be 10" on a tray once i pot up.

The screen is placed 10" above the waterfarm, 15" above the pots.
Is this too much or too little grow space for a SCROG?

Reminder, internal size is 1.14m x 0.44m

Head room from top of SCROG to bulb is 25"inches
This to me seems like more than enough head room and with proper trainign i reckon some sativas could even go in there.

Dont forget, in the future i will be running a perpetual grow, adding 2 vegged plans every 3 weeks, hopefully giving me pretty good yeilds on a regular basis.

So Phew! Somehow i havent finished this whole spliff and have managed to write everything i can to get everyone up to date.
Need some advice and reassurances on this one. dont forget im giving out +rep! :D

Im happy i have a few followers now! Good to have you on board chaps! :D

:leaf:Peace & Love!:leaf:

 

TweedleD

Active Member
...... u mention an air pump bu i dont see one in the pics or see bubbling water. that could be an issue if you dont have oxygen in the water for the roots and get some water moving as well. air pumps should be left on 24/7. no timer needed.
The pumps are behind the Blue Widow and the tubing runs behind the plants.
It is on 24/7 so there is always oxygen getting into the water throughg the hydroton...i beleive...
 

TweedleD

Active Member
Anybody got any suggestions or answers for my questions in the previous post?
Really want to sort out this pH problem.
Is the amount of up and down ive added too much and will adding more down cause any problems?!?
Please help.... :(
 

TweedleD

Active Member
I very much doubt anyone is still following this as nobody seems to ever reply!


Hell with it! Piccy & Video update with a few questions.

I will make it quick, no need to write alot anymore as nobody reads it anyway, haha.

Pineapple Express
New roots coming through.
I think my root problem was created by drilling the holes and not cleaning up the edges, leaving quite a bit of burring which the clay pebbles then clogg up like a plug. This is my only assumption.


http://www.aww-kittah-aww.com/up/public/197728/IMG_1095.JPGimg]
[IMG]http://www.aww-kittah-aww.com/up/public/197729/IMG_1125.JPG

Blue Widow
I am pretty sure when drilling the holes i drilled these ones before lighting up a spliff and becoming lazy.
I remember spending more some cleaning up the burring on one of the two waterfarms.
Harvest time will tell and modifications will be made!





Pineapple Express
I havent given it any epsom salts as the problem seemed to clear up by isself. It hasnt spread to any new growth.
I have purchased some salts today which i may use if anybody recommends it.
Look carefully at the leafs.






Smile
Out of all my plants, this one has had some amazing growth!
I will be happy even if it turns out to be male, means i can cross it with all the ladies inside and make some crazy new strain of my own!

All part of the fun growing reg seeds, but boy, i wish i had more space to grow out a whole pack!









OG Kush #18
Hmm, stretchy plant, more less bushy than all the others.






LSD






GROUP!




[video=youtube;qzZf7w06IPc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzZf7w06IPc[/video]
I have lowered the screen to 9" above the pots, should be enough room but have noticed it will be impossible to lift up the waterfarm to check on roots. Any suggestions? Mabe if i put a hinge on it? It is quite tight and snug in the drobe, dont even need screws to hold it up...but theyre there anyway, just in case


Now, so far the PE has had 5ltrs top up and the BW 6ltrs top up.
Should i do a full res change once i refill it with 9ltrs addback and start 12/12
Or should i keep adding water, filling up the screen and when it becomes 3/4 full, do a full res change with fresh nutes and flip to 12/12.
Please help.

Current waterfarm (PE&BW) ppm and pH for both is 500ppm and 6.0 pHI
I intend to add more nutes to the solution and bring it up to 700ppm.
Is that about right for plants that size and vigor?

ALL help is greatly appreciated! I do need some guidance!


Peace all!

TD420​
 
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