Testing Beneficial Bacteria in Ebb and Flow (AK47 with Great White)

beardogg

Member
Day 57 today and this is their last week. Things are looking pretty chunky so I'm excited to see what the final weight comes in at. My previous AK47 grow under these new bulbs and in this exact tray yielded 20 ounces on the dot so hopefully we'll see an increase when using Great White. Aroma, bud structure and plant health all seem to be 'normal' so other than a potential bump in yield, GW doesn't seem to be making a difference as of yet.

In regards to their final week, I wont be flushing. I'm not a flusher and know for a fact that plants have nutritional needs in the last weeks of their life. I'll be feeding at a little over 1.0 EC and today will in all likelihood be their last res change.

I also like to harvest when I see a combination of signs. Swollen calyxes, red pistols and cloudy trics all signify that my plants are done. Based on the look of things now, I'd say day 64 or 65 will be chopping day.

Here are the ladies, I'll take some final pics when I decide to chop in about a week. Cheers!
Just these couple of things you adressed..
...what bulbs are you using?
...very light nute solution seems like a good hypothesis, but most people/places say to flush. What prompted you to not flush and continue to (not)do so?
 

Illumination

New Member
Day 57 today and this is their last week. Things are looking pretty chunky so I'm excited to see what the final weight comes in at. My previous AK47 grow under these new bulbs and in this exact tray yielded 20 ounces on the dot so hopefully we'll see an increase when using Great White. Aroma, bud structure and plant health all seem to be 'normal' so other than a potential bump in yield, GW doesn't seem to be making a difference as of yet.

In regards to their final week, I wont be flushing. I'm not a flusher and know for a fact that plants have nutritional needs in the last weeks of their life. I'll be feeding at a little over 1.0 EC and today will in all likelihood be their last res change.

I also like to harvest when I see a combination of signs. Swollen calyxes, red pistols and cloudy trics all signify that my plants are done. Based on the look of things now, I'd say day 64 or 65 will be chopping day.

Here are the ladies, I'll take some final pics when I decide to chop in about a week. Cheers!
Beautiful job as always my talented friend:clap: Maybe I should link above to my flushing post?? lol....

Namaste':eyesmoke:
 

homebrewer

Well-Known Member
Just these couple of things you adressed..
...what bulbs are you using?
I've always used 600's from Hortilux, I just happened to change them back in November.
...very light nute solution seems like a good hypothesis, but most people/places say to flush. What prompted you to not flush and continue to (not)do so?
Common sense prompted me to stop flushing years ago. I don't flush my garden veggies and none of the produce that you buy from the store is flushed either. Why flush cannabis? Uncle Ben has a theory that flushing was invented by the dutch to atone for the sins of over-feeding and I tend agree with that.

In addition to common sense, plants still have nutritional needs in the last weeks of their life. Flushing deprives them of what they need most so if you flush, I can promise you're hurting your yields and the overall quality and potency of your product.

Illumination has an excellent post about the science behind flushing and why flushing simply doesn't do anything, found here: https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/393940-smoke-n-grow-nutes-versus-44.html

Stick around until the end of the journal. I'll be donating a sample of product to a member or three and I'd appriciate if they'd comment on the overall quality, including taste or harshness or whatever.
 

beardogg

Member
Thanks for the link and I'll def be around and looking forward to your journals!!! Great info, great tests, great Buds and Thanks!

Also, side point....When "we" say 1 g/watt what is expected? I have an L shaped space and have 2 600w, 1 over each tray, should I aim for 600g per tray?
 
HB- Again Much appreciated shared knowledge, I'm certainly not kissing A$$ fellas, this is how I have been with my friends and fellow online growers. It is always adds up to KaRmA in the end. PeAcE!
 

medicine21

Active Member
Your plants look pretty dialed-in, no doubt, homebrewer. :leaf:

What is the white stuff on your cubes, is that salt build-up?

Been trying to dial in RW cubes and wondering whether salt build up matters in the cube. Can you take a sample of the water in the cube in between watering and let us know how it compares to that of your rez?

I would greatly appreciate that, since I am constantly finding higher EC in the cube than in the rez. I'd love to know whether that is build up of nutes they will not consume, so irrelevant, or whether I need to drop the nutes in the rez.
 

Icannabis

Well-Known Member
Beardog to really test that 1gram per watt to be elite...you need a kilowatt tester or simular...to test if you really used the power. It's been awhile sense I read Homebrewers attempt and I don't know if he used one or not. But everyone knows he's a pro or elite or whatever. Good looking buds Homebrewer...
 

homebrewer

Well-Known Member
Also, side point....When "we" say 1 g/watt what is expected? I have an L shaped space and have 2 600w, 1 over each tray, should I aim for 600g per tray?
Aim for 800 grams per tray and hope to get half that ;). One gram per watt is a pretty good measure of efficiency and skill, though it's dependent on a lot of things like strain, the style of your reflector, the age of your bulbs, NPK ratios and growing set-up. Vertical setups and light movers make hitting that goal a lot easier but my goal is quality first, then quantity. Luckily, I've found they go hand-in-hand. I'm using a 600 in this journal so if I yield 600 grams, that's 1 gram per watt. But some take into account the amount of time as well so if I hit 600 grams but took 90 days to do so, that's good but not efficient from a commercial stand-point. For me, that's still great as 600 grams is 600 grams :).

What is the white stuff on your cubes, is that salt build-up?

Been trying to dial in RW cubes and wondering whether salt build up matters in the cube. Can you take a sample of the water in the cube in between watering and let us know how it compares to that of your rez?

I would greatly appreciate that, since I am constantly finding higher EC in the cube than in the rez. I'd love to know whether that is build up of nutes they will not consume, so irrelevant, or whether I need to drop the nutes in the rez.
That is a white mold on my rockwool blocks and it's there because my airflow under my plants isn't as good as it should be. My fans are all pointed at the canopy's around the room.

I don't know how to take a sample of the water in my cubes as my cubes dry out in short amount of time. I'd imagine salt buildups occur in a number of weeks which is why I leach the cubes 2-3 times per grow. Gotta keep them clean.
 

G37Kush

Active Member
Homebewer very nice grow! Buds look frosty and the weight is really packing on now. You quickly touched upon the subject of enzymes. I've used hygrozyme in my last grow and have some left over for my current grow but I'm running low. Should I re-up on more hygrozyme or is that just a waste of money?
Also, I'm running low on floranectar but I read in a previous post u preferred sweet over floranectar. So I'll try using sweet for the rest of veg and continue into flower.
 

homebrewer

Well-Known Member
Homebewer very nice grow! Buds look frosty and the weight is really packing on now. You quickly touched upon the subject of enzymes. I've used hygrozyme in my last grow and have some left over for my current grow but I'm running low. Should I re-up on more hygrozyme or is that just a waste of money?
Also, I'm running low on floranectar but I read in a previous post u preferred sweet over floranectar. So I'll try using sweet for the rest of veg and continue into flower.
I try to only use products that not only justify their price, but warrant the extra trips to the grow store and added time on res change days. I've used enzyme products in the past and don't use them any more.

Sweet is better than floranectar but neither are 'necessary' unless you're lacking magnesium and sulfur or are running microbes and need a food source. Sweet will increase resin production due to its sulfur content but the drawback is that it's kinda potent from a ppm standpoint.

When I'm not running microbes, I use magpro as it not only has a similar sulfur and magnesium content to sweet, but also has a nice NPK content. Sweet also has amino acids and whether those do anything or not is up to the user to decide, but I'm a big fan of Floralicious Plus which supplies aminos and feeds microbes.

Long story short, between the mineral content of magpro and the fulvic/humic acid and amino content of Floralicious plus, I've found that I won't have a 'need' for sweet after I run out.
 

G37Kush

Active Member
I've also noticed that switching to heavy-16 A&B nute line compared to the fox farm nute line w/ calmag. The plants look healthier and does work better since heavy-16 is designed for RO water.
It could also be because of floralicious plus which I've never used until this grow.
I'm glad I read ur experiment on clearex because I was going to pick up a bottle soon.
 

Icannabis

Well-Known Member
Interesting...I use the General Hydroponics Maxi series with Dutch Master Zone and Sm-90...I've used Magi-cal from Techna too...I think that the general doesn't put enough mag in there for cannabis. I thought about giving fulvic/humic acid a try I've read some research that said it might help. What are your views HB? I've totally cut my nutrient line up back to basic I even tried to get rid of the magi-cal this auto's grow.
 

homebrewer

Well-Known Member
I thought about giving fulvic/humic acid a try I've read some research that said it might help. What are your views HB? I've totally cut my nutrient line up back to basic I even tried to get rid of the magi-cal this auto's grow.
In regards to yields, nothing beats a complete base nutrient that supplies the desirable NPK ratios for flower (1-3-2). Two additives from GH that I already have and have been pairing up with DG are Florablend (sea kelp, alpha meal) and Floralicious Plus (sea kelp, humics and fulvics). I've found that I get slightly better resin production and better aroma when using these products. It doesn't make the end product any more potent and I wouldn't go around the forum guaranteeing results from these either, if that makes sense. Check out this article posted by UB: http://forages.tamu.edu/PDF/Alternative.pdf
 

rosecitypapa

Active Member
Hey Homebrewer, thanks for the exceptionally informative posts and grow journals. You rock!

Would you be willing to clarify something? I thought the use of beneficial microbes is for their ability to create fulvic from humic. Isn't adding the Floralicious duplicating what you are testing Great White to do?
 

homebrewer

Well-Known Member
Would you be willing to clarify something? I thought the use of beneficial microbes is for their ability to create fulvic from humic. Isn't adding the Floralicious duplicating what you are testing Great White to do?
I don't think microbes can create fulvic acids in the time frame we're talking. In regards to duplicating efforts, I have always been under the impression that humics/fulvics can increase nutrient availability which is what the microbes have done to a greater degree. So in a sense, I'm doubling up on items that supposedly increase nutrient availability to the roots.

A few informative links below:

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/fulvic.htm

http://www.hydroponics.com/howtoinfo/hydroponics articles/gold_fulvic.html
 

G37Kush

Active Member
I don't think microbes can create fulvic acids in the time frame we're talking. In regards to duplicating efforts, I have always been under the impression that humics/fulvics can increase nutrient availability which is what the microbes have done to a greater degree. So in a sense, I'm doubling up on items that supposedly increase nutrient availability to the roots.

A few informative links below:

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/fulvic.htm

http://www.hydroponics.com/howtoinfo/hydroponics articles/gold_fulvic.html
On that note is Great White worth the $$$?
 

Heisenberg

Well-Known Member
On that note is Great White worth the $$$?
Fungi.com mycogrow soluble powder is the exact same product as Great White minus the "bio-stimulant" (food) and vitamins. It's $6 an OZ, slightly less than Great White (~$7.5 oz) but you can purchase just one OZ if your wanting to try microbes. As long as your adding food for the microbes you don't need the bio-stimulant, and everything else is identical. If you multiply your microbes in a tea style brew, one OZ can last many, many months, so cost should never be an issue when considering using microbes.
 
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