First Round RDWC White Widow Auto

SatisfactionXOD This is my first post to the Grow Diary website, this is a bit of a work in progress. The RDWC Autopilot system is going exceedingly well, I am able to remote into and control the settings from my phone as I travel throughout the week. This has proven to be helpful for my personality of wanting to check in daily, however not being able to in person is impossible. Up until today, I have not done any pruning other than an early topping of the two plants when they were sprouting nodes 4-5. The leaves under the main canopy are starting to yellow and die due to the inability to absorb adequate light. The density of the plants are very high, allowing minimal penetration of light past the first 6-10". Looking at the development of the two plants, I suspect they will be harvested at different times. One is full on flower and is starting to swell and the other is smaller and just beginning to put on size. The stretch between the two plants is quite different. This being my second grow, I have now seen this occur twice. The first time I associated the differences with the pheno types of the seeds, however I am beginning to believe that it is light related. On my next grow, this theory will be confirmed. On one side of the tent, the right, the SF2000 was present and on the left side of the tent, the SF1000 was located. Both maintained similar heights throughout the grow, which makes me wonder if there is something going on with the light differences. Both times the SF1000 produced a large amount of stretch. I will wait until I finalize my findings in the future, one is a point, two is a line, three is a trend. I am going to switch the SF1000 to the other side of the tent on the next grow.

SatisfactionXOD This week was uneventful, all considering I did nothing to maintain the grow. The autopilot system is performing exceptional, after these 9 weeks I feel that I understand the nuances quite well. The EC levels did not fluctuate at all, dosing in around 3-6 seconds per day. Indicating that the plants are still growing and getting what they need to be thriving. The PH levels stuck between 5.6 and 5.8, the settings were held at 5.7 as I was purposely pushing down the PH. The total dosage amount of phosphoric acid for the week was approximately 4 seconds. I estimate that the plants drank between 10 and 12 gallons of water. The taller plant is starting to put on growth in the buds, the glands are looking good and the harvest is on track to be exceptional. The smaller phenotype is just now starting to develop good bud structure. I thinned the top layer of large leaves to allow for better light penetration. Will see how that helps next week when I get back to see the development. My anticipation is that the growth will definitely pick up. I doubt that they match each other in productivity. I am going to continue the same nutrient rate as the last two weeks, the plants are giving signals that they want to grow and my gut is telling me that stepping down the nitrogen levels is not appropriate at this point in the grow. Funny enough I found a 2.5 gallon bottle of Ripen for $33, needless to say, I purchased it. This is going to be enough to last me a very very long time, but I like the idea of controlled forced death of the plants. The concept makes sense to me and the addition of chlorine is a interesting way to kick start the process. On the research front, I have done more reading on folic and humic acids and will have a game plan on the next grow. This next week I am going to find documentation on Bacillus Subtilis and read up on how it works in hydroponics. I purchased a couple more sets of beans and plan on going forward with a batch of Mephesto Forum Stomper. If the Sour Crack becomes available to purchase I am going to go down that road instead. Going to be the luck of the draw when it comes to getting some of those seeds.

SatisfactionXOD This week the main buds have really grown out, looking at the daily pictures it was amazing to see them swell each day. They all look very healthy with no signs of bud rot. That said, I am concerned about the humidity levels in the basement. All summer long it has been dry here with just enough rain to keep the grass from completely drying out. It is ironic that the rains are here, now, right in the final stage of blooming. The basement dehumidifier is running constantly and I hooked up a 8" fan to the bottom of the tent to apply positive pressure and opened the vents at the top. The air circulation is on max, hopefully this additional flow that is moving through the plants will be enough to get me through this cycle without any issues. This weekend I calibrated my ph probes and finally got them to be very close to being in sync with each other. The measurement methods for the Bluelab Guardian and Bluelab Procontroller is different enough that they provide different figures(although close) from each other. If anyone knows how to calibrate the temperature probes for these systems, please let me know.

SatisfactionXOD Another uneventful week, the bloom continued as scheduled without much of a concern. Tonight I inspected the flowers as the humidity has consistently been in the upper 50's, no rot was found and thus it continues. The larger plant has slowed down on the swelling phase, day over day photos of the changes required very close observation of the before and after to see what was occurring. I decided to conduct a full water swap for the hydroponics, generally the changeouts have been 50-75% due to the reasoning it was working. For some reason this week the pH was dropping, bottoming out around 5.0. Overall I was not too worried as when it dropped below 5.2 I was on my way back home for the week. There were a couple changes that happened that may have contributed to the drop. First the recipe was different from before, I stopped using Armor Si, which has a pH increasing effect. Second, I started using Ripen for the first time. Finally, I dropped the EC down to 1.3, the lowest level since the beginning of the grow. To counter act this after the solution change, I am starting the pH off higher, @ 6.2 and redosing with hydroguard. Next, I am increasing the EC by 0.2, in case the plants are still wanting to grow. I will watch the progress closely to see if the changes are positive, if not I am going to setup the pH controller to dose pH up and hold it to where I want the range to be. The plants are so big now and trellised that I cannot lift them up without damaging them to check on the roots for signs of rot. Here is a learning opportunity for the next grow, do not trap them so I cannot see the bottom of the roots.

SatisfactionXOD I spent most of last week in town, which was a great change of pace. Besides sleeping in my own bed, I checked in on the grow in the evenings. This was enjoyable and therapeutic; it was nice to lay hands on the plants and watch the changes. The plants are continuing to do planty things, grow, and now beginning to fade off. The leaves are losing chlorophyll, and they are developing a nice yellow undertone. I dropped the nutrients further this week, eliminating CalMagic and Koolbloom additions. Next week I will provide water only. Since I am in the downward cycle, instead of adding hydroguard, I hit the reservoir with 100ml of 29% hydrogen peroxide. There was a couple of changes in the growth that occurred this week. First, the larger buds started showing signs of fox tailing, which is a shame as I had babied this grow all along. Interestingly enough, the smaller plant that was not growing at the same pace started showing signs, which means I can rule out light and heat, as the setups are completely different. It could come down to nutrient stress or simply genetics. With or without foxtails, the bud is still excellent. I tested one of the smaller green buds, and it provided an uplifting feeling. Quite nice. In two weeks my family will be back home for a couple of days, looking forward to sharing.

SatisfactionXOD The week is here, the trichomes are all white, and some are shifting amber. I am starting the flush cycle of the grow as harvest day is getting close. Instead of straight water, I am trying Florakleen at a high dose, at 300ml for the thirty gallons that the system holds. Since I am going to be home each night, I will watch the progression of trichrome development and finish off with approximately two days of the dark cycle. I went a little heavy on seed purchases over the last several months; soon, the big question will be... What comes next? Over the last 13 weeks in hydro been quite the pleasure, the work before the seeds were popped paid off with a low maintenance experience. I may have a total of 10-15 hours of effort invested from seed to harvest, which is not too bad from my perspective. I anticipate with time that the process will become even more efficient with a couple of key additions of system automation.