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Rapid growth, and running out of vertical space without having to modify exhaust, shelves, etc. of my steel cabinet. Hope she stops growing upward early week 7.
Vertical growth has stopped for the most part at the beginning of the week and the flowers have really picked up last couple days. Slight drop in water intake, and she’s stays in the sweet spot with nutrients and ph so I gave the EC a bump to test her skills. Feeling lucky so far, no whammies!
Brought down nutrients, her ph persisted downward. Back at 1.2. At day 47, I should have been more aggressive on defol/prune. First hydro autoflower in this steel grow box. As expected with hydro, MASSIVE difference. Would have filled this 36 x 24 cabinet if there wasn’t a staggered grow at play, and she was trained well.
10-14 week breeders timeline leaves me wondering. Possibly 5 more weeks to harvest? Still all white pistols on the flowers and the last 3-4 days have plumped them nicely. If flower goes on for another 2 weeks at this rate I’ll be happy camper.
8” light distance to the canopy is starting to cook the upper parts. I could lower brightness but it won’t change the focal which is equally important. It’s not bad, but the upper leaves have a slight yellow hue, and some serrated leaf edges. I will stay on course for the time being as my PPFD is hitting my DLI near the bottom of the plant too!
Last 10 days packed on some noticeable weight. I was a little worried in week 8, but maybe for not.
Ph dropped hard at one point regardless of effort, so I mixed a new batch at 1/4 strength GH Trio nutrients and work my way up till she chokes. Ph levels have been a gentle drift the whole grow with very few hard adjustments. Then out of nowhere, WHAM!!
Trichomes in calyx areas mostly cloudy today, some amber but not many. Time to change out reservoir, and get things right for the home stretch!
I think I started my flush early. Can one take an in-progress DWC flush (2 days with GH FloraKleen) and start feeding again as to let her to bulk a bit more? Then start another "final-final" flush in 7 or so days? Will she get bent on me?
I wish I found this earlier to add to my question above, but any thoughts to the validity/science of this statement attached? The claim is flowering starts in autos on vegetative maturity/size. Horse pooh, or does hydro(speed) has some impact on when autoflowers start flowering?
Usually auto plants in hydro flower earlier and finish quicker then grown in soil. The reason for this is you feed the plants what they need and they can take in the nutrients quicker and easier then in soil. But you have to keep on top of the reservoir because mistakes show up fast when you make them. All ways of growing have there pros and cons.
A step back recently:
Started a final flush (2 days in), and decided to start feeding her again - thanks to some great GD input!
250 ppm at re-start and will work my way to 500ppm? She's still rockin' along - like nothing happened.
She topped out at 350 ppm without tanking PH, so she is stable here.
PH is now swinging down fairly quickly last 12 hours. Drained off 1/3 of reservoir and get reservoir down to 250PPM.
5 days later, major PH swings down again. Mixed another fresh reservoir. I am using Zero Water 5 gallon system, and just realized the PPM coming out was 100, and PH at 3! If I am at 100 today, that means these filters have been shot for a while, maybe since start of my PH issue. There is also interesting information about when zero water filters reach their expectancy. They put out fishy smell and otherwise. I will be watching my filters more often and taking more notes since this ZeroWater 5 gal system is really the way to go if you are only growing a plant or two. Filters are a bit spendy but when you take time, gas, convenience etc. its a no brainer (if the water coming out is zero:) - I get about 15 gallons per filter (175ppm from tap).
Day 70. It’s been about a day since new res change. Steady Eddie at 250 ppm and 6.2. I’ll let her drink the bucket down a good ways if things remain stable with a drift down. I doubt it though, 5 gallon is fine for 12” autos but at 2’ she really needed 8 gal. Time to up the R&D on the cabinet! Also checked Zero Water again and filter is now putting out 200ppm of 3.0 water. New filters installed!
Hope she finishes soon, the top of her canopy slowly getting cooked over the last 10 days. 8" of light distance is too little. PPFD 2000+ at the top, but leaf temps are in the upper 70's. Gotta hit a decent DLI on these lower buds - without nuking the top nugs, right?!
As the week concludes, she’s in a fresh bath, at 250ppm @ 6.0 and running stable again. New water filters installed so zero water variable removed. Last serving of half+ teaspoon of GH dry KB ripening, and will reduce ppm by 25/day until I reach 10-15%. 1-2 day flush, if at all.
I'll be checking more often based on what I see, but anyone want to play the trichome game? Best guess to how long for 10-15% amber? I'm currently day 66 ILGM | Zkittlez Auto | Breeder 10-14 weeks.
6 days ago, 350ppm constant but PH starting dropping hard. Did nutrient change and things stabilized for a bit at 250ppm. Yesterday, same thing occurring with PPM/PH. Roots are fine, PPM now at 200. Is she being underfed now at this stage of flower? Lower PPM more? Start flush?
hey there OuterBanks, you're alright all the way up to 400-600 PPM, but if it aint broke dont fix it (and double check your ppm meter is not broken and correctly calibrated) . My advice is dont be like these noobs that " flush " in hydro , you dont need to flush more than a day before the chop, that's actually one of the reasons why i like it : you get real precise with the flush . Hope this helps ! 🚀
Hoping that this week will not be a tennis match with my PH and my nutrient solution. Last week I saw my solution drop a full point in a matter of hours - consistently. I also ditched the PH up/down dosers crutch two grows ago, and I am not missing it as the intel is far better without them. IMO PH dosers do not give you real-time feeding feel from your plant - yet they adjust your PH to the "Perfect" level. Less is more in this craft, and in more ways than not. There is a balance between technology, automation, efficiency and most importantly - humans. If we removed the human element out of a grow, the product will be inferior, right?
- trichome check showed mostly cloudy, with a few random amber if one looks hard enough.
She’s ripening nice and reservoir running fairly normal for late flower. Wonder if that zero water filters-gone-bad caused my major PH crashes.
Fed her KookBloom dry only this week and now in a 2 day flush. Should be about 10% amber.
5 gallon running stable at 200 PPM. PH casually ticks down, but not tanking. If I am following the PH/PPM dance should I knock the nutes down until I hit equilibrium? Is one guessing at the end because of root mass and reduced bucket volume doing whacky things?
Hello i don't think you need to reduce the nutes. To have less fluctuations of ph i use Tri-acid ph down which helps to regulate ph. Then you can use silica like mineral magic which helps to stabilize your solution and have less variations. Hope it helps you. Bye
Started my Autoflower journey in soil a few grows ago, and was happy with 2-4 ounces. Using my hydro cabinet with this strain was off the charts compared to soil. Maybe 8 ounces when dried? Time will tell, but this lady put out!
Hydronaut
