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Project "Alice" - Testing grounds


CG420za
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Also, do you think I can feed with some the epsom salts solution again?  I fed epsom and water on Wednesday, nutes on Friday and again yesterday. They're due for watering tomorrow again.

 

Hey CK. Espom is great but using too much will cause salt build up which will throw your PH all over the place. Maybe use it every 4th feed. Do you ever water with just PHed water no nutes? It's good to alternate waterings with clean water and water mixed with nutes. You'll also get salt build up from the Nutriplex(or any chemical nutrient) if you don't flush your coco regularly.

 

This is what you should consider supplementing with instead of epsom. It's what I use now in hydro http://growguru.co.za/shop/cal-mag-calcium-magnesium-supplement/

@420SA, how often should I be flushing in coco? Over the past 3 weeks I've mostly been feeding at 5.7, runoff is at 5.9. I do let it fluctuate to about 6.3. How will I know if there's salt build up?

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I'm pretty sure that if you had a salt build up your run off PH will be lower than desirable. Your run off PH is indicating that you haven't got any salt build up. 

 

Personally I don't flush, maybe only before flowering. The reason for that is because of the plain watering's in between the feedings.  That usually keeps any salt build up from happening.

 

Have you got a TDS/EC Meter? Measure the TDS of the runoff, if the TDS is way higher than the PPM that you've been feeding with then it may be time for a flush

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Guest kimcarsons

Your run off don't mean shit. Don't stress a salt build up amd just flush well at the end. Such a loong lowering plant will want nutrients for a while. Also looks like your night temps are quite a bit cooler than day?

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Update on the girls. Day 23, these were taken yesterday.

 

@kimcarsons, I believe the run off means nothing, I've read that it's good to compare it to what you put in?

 

Started watering @ pH 6.5 between feeds. Wanna see how that works out. Also, my lights come on at 18H00, so the high temps are at night. Temps range between 28 and 17 for now...

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Guest kimcarsons

Try increase your night temps. A difference of 10 degrees will show you the lighter growing tips. Your runoff is just going to indicate a differential, depending on salt uptake/change. If anything, it will only make things worse, the water isn't going to just lose salts or gain salts (of different charges too), it will also lose water/gain gases. Don't feed/water at anything below 5.7 or above 6.1, no matter the runoff. Coco is soil-less, it is one of the best growing mediums and the more you concentrate on your water going in, the better results you will see. Remember hydro is about growing in inert mediums, something like rockwool will never affect the pH of your solution, if treated right. Anything over a pH of 6.3ish is a waste of your time. 5.8 is golden, even if it is just water. Think of ripeners/finishing products in a dwc system, they typically rely on a charged solution with no nutrient value. Ie, with no nutrients the solution has no charge/not enough charge and cannot be accessed by the plant, so by adding say a sugar solution, you gain a charge without any nutrient value. Applied to coco, you can use the existing the charged coco to keep your roots open to the water, provided the pH is correct, resulting in an effective flush/ripen.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks @Skolley, I am struggling with the stretch. They've pretty much been the same height for the last 3 days. Not sure what I'm gonna do when it happens. My lights can flip upward though, so I have another 10cm before I'm really in kak. I can't let it finish outside, the smell is way to strong and my neighbours too nosey.

 

As for the pruning, pointers please bro. I've been pulling about a handful of leaves everyday for the past 2 weeks, the light's hitting the pots at certain places, but I feel like I need to start cutting away the small buds close to the net maybe??

 

I've been feeding nutes daily, molasses and calmag once a week. 2ml to 2L water. Should I be adding more molasses?

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I think I'll trim them down a bit more this evening.

 

I've been feeding molasses on thursday's, so by tuesday/wednesday the runoff is alot lighter so I figure the plant may have used most of it by then. Since adding molasses to their diet, the sugar production has increased somewhat.

 

I'm struggling with humidity since day 1, do you think this is viable? http://www.solencosa.co.za/shop-online/dehumidifiers/cupboard-dehumidifier#1

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What humidity are you measuring?

 

The Solenco unit you've linked to will get the job done, and not too expensive, but depending on where you live, it may not be necessary. If you're in Cpt, go ahead and get it, but in Jhb, it's going to dry out your cab too much. You want the RH in your cab at around 30-40% now. During the coming weeks, the humidity in Jhb is going to drop, as winter approaches, while the opposite is true for Cpt.

 

I'm about to germ in Jhb, and I'll have a humidifier in my cab.

The humidity in the cab @Skolley. RH is between 50 and 65% during lights on (night time). Temps vary, at night it's constant 24. During the day, it's the same as whatever temp it is outside. The RH in lights out sometimes hits 85%.

 

I am in CPT and you're right, I've seen the RH gradually climb over the last two weeks. Strange bit of info, when the circulating fan is off and the extractor is on, the RH is quite a bit lower, but when both are on, the RH goes up into the 60's.

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I know that when air is propelled, it heats up, so that would make the humidity rise coz the plants transpire more? Well that's my theory anyways. Also, the fan generates some heat too.

 

I'm gonna order that Solenco unit tomorrow. I wonder if you just get a shit load of that silica granules and spread it out in the cab if it would make a difference? Coz that's what's inside that unit. The charger heats a plate in the middle of the unit and that dries the granules again.

 

I thought the cab would be perfect for winter, yet it seems to be problematic now... In summer it's too hot and in winter it's too humid. :-hairpull

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  • 3 weeks later...

Awe @Skolley.

 

The stretch is over and the fattening has started. They're starting to topple over. I've cleared the smallest buds over the last week. On the downside, I've been fighting with gnat flies, humidity and now I've got what looks like a Boron deficiency. I got that solenco unit in the cab, draws +- 150ml over 3 days, but the RH is still high.

 

Day 67, this is what's klapping.

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Shot, thanks boet. I got rid of the gnats with https://hydroponic.co.za/hydroponics/margaret-roberts-biological-mosquito-insecticide/ and pasted those yellow sticky traps in the cab. Seemed to work well. No flies on the traps though, but I did find 2 dead ones in the cab.

 

Reason I suspect a boron deficiency is coz of the symptoms, my run off pH is also constantly 6.4. So I stopped feeding at 5.8 and started at 5.5, runoff pH was on 6.1 lastnight, so I wanna see what happens. Anyways, I'll monitor the situation and report back.

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@Skolley, check here man. I think this is mostly the fungus gnats that's causing the kak. I bombed them lastnight, I'm gonna bomb them on friday again. Bastards. I haven't seen a fly in my cab since last week, but I checked these tiny grey/black goeters moving around in my run off. Tonight there was only one, on tuesday there were about 10. They're too small to photograph with my phone.

 

The other thing, do plants tend to burn more easily closer to the end of flower? The leaf tips are curling up and looking kak.

 

Also, today is day 73 and not one amber trichome yet. Can that have something to do with my humidity issue? I used a digital usb microscope to take the pics of the trichomes, but I couldn't hold it steady enough.

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