These nutes from Nectar For The Gods are simply amazing! I really wish I had been able to figure how to get the NFTG soil #8 and use that instead of the FF Happy Frog. I think I am going to delay the DWC attempt for a bit and track down some #4 or #8 soil and do a 100% NFTG grow. I'll have to look to see how much it will cost to get into the next regimen up too.
Managing the heat from the new light from Electric Sun has been tricky. There's no heat from the ballast. It is simply the ES-180 heating the air from the power of the photons themselves. Mid-air photonic friction I believe it would be. I got a new input fan for fresh air so that just jumped from 97 to 205 CFM but even THAT didn't help as much. Thankfully a cold snap rolled through so the input air has been colder than normal. Granted, you could hang slabs of beef in my frigid living room now but at least The Princess is nice and comfy now. LOL! This gives me time to work on contingency plans. The very precise and instructional dimmer has helped immensely also. There is definitely a learning curve with this light since it is so different from a normal LED.
Finishing up germination week and she is looking nice. Been doing 18/6 and 6.2 pH water with 1/4 strength FF Big Bloom. That's the stinky bat guano, worm casings, and what not. Nothing wrong with her getting a little taste of the good life now. Arriving on Wednesday will be the Spartan Regiment from Nectar of the Gods.
I did a slurry test on the FF Happy Frog I have her in and my Hanna GroLine came back with 5.95 pH. I'll take it for now! This will be the first grow where I did not use a specific autoflower living soil. I have had soil pH issues on every grow including my current #5 a couple of weeks from harvest. Every single fan leaf turned yellow and dropped off all mottled from, what I am assuming was, a potassium uptake issue. Not 100% certain but that's my uneducated guess. Rather than take the chance again I added NO amendments to the soil other than perlite. The soil is somewhere around 65/35 - 75/25 with another 2 inch layer of perlite at the bottom of the bag to help control root issues.
After ALL of these issues with soil pH I've decided that I want to try to control the pH grow medium of my plants itself. I've been looking at DWC and think that's may just may be the solution. Have everything I need ordered and on the way.
@KingSalomonsWeed,
Various levels of failure. Some worse than others but for the most part centering around soil pH issues. I didn't understand what a proper flush was and paid the price. I was just running enough water for testable runnoff and that's it. I had no idea that a proper flush consisted of 2 gallons of water for every gallon of pot size. So for me that would be TEN gallons of water and here I was thinking a 2-liter bottle was enough to mitigate soil issues.
Oh...and don't confuse normal calyx growth with that of nanners. #2 got the chop because of false accusations of maleness. LOL!
I have been the epitome of a grower flying by the seat of their pants with no clue what to do and a stubbornness to learn...up until recently.
I have a couple last parts on the way like the 4" rubber O-ring collar to better attach the fan to the filter and I have some shiny aluminum air vents for the ends of the hoses in the tent. Plus I want to silence the exhaust fan at the top of the tent like I did with its intake cousin. That thing is LOUD! I'll before and after photos of the change in decibel levels. It's amazing!
Outside of this I think this tent is done and ready to grow a massive Afghan Mass XXL. Here is the post that inspired this grow. The main cola dried and trimmed at 7 ounces with 13 ounces total in a DWC setup. I figure with some new approaches to lights and nutrients with a very scientific approach to feeding then I am doing great at even half that harvest. This is definitely what I am using as a rule of thumb, at least.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Autoflowers/comments/ql3atu/anyone_looking_for_an_auto_that_has_amazing/
Here are the upgrades to date:
* Adjustable Bluetooth canopy level thermo-hygrometer. (H/DH controller sensor attached.) pat. pend.
* Adjustable soon to be silenced Spider Farmer 205 CFM exhaust fan terminating in charcoal filter.
* Adjustable silenced Spider Farmer dual port 205 CFM air intake; 62db -> 19db.
* Adjustable aeration 6L dual port CO2 bubbler feeding pure CO2 to base of plant.
* Adjustable Electric Sun ES-180 V3 wideband LED grow light.
* Adjustable 2x40w 2 ft. Szhlux daylight LED side-lighting.
* Adjustable 44# turntable for even canopy light in later veg.
* Hum/Dehum controller with water recycling system (DH pipes to H).
* Velco closure upgraded.
* Nectar For The Gods non-NPK calcium based nutrient system.