Blackberry (Fastbuds)+ Quantum Boards

INTRODUCTION ============== Hi there, this is my third grow. So far I've grown Fastbuds Gorilla Glue and Fastbuds Zkittles. In this grow I'll be growing FastBuds Blackberry. This plant yields purple buds! Thank you for coming along for the journey with me. Please feel free to comment, ask questions and make suggestions - all feedback and interaction from other growers is highly welcome. AIMS FOR THIS GROW ================== I intend to attempt to fill the tent space (1.44 square metres) with 9 untrained plants (xmas tree style) with the intention of maximising the amount of bud produced. My core goal for each grow is to get 1000g from a 12 week autoflower grow (2g/watt). However, the target range I am aiming for and would be happy with is from 750g to 1250g (1.6g/watt to 2.6g/watt). AIMS FOR THIS DIARY ================= My primary goal is to document my grow setup, process and method to the level of detail required for someone else to be able to take this diary and use it as a complete growing manual. To this end I will document the entire setup and all the equipment used in the first page. I will then continue over the period of the grow to document every single detail of all of the growing processes, all the feedings and all actions taken during the grow. My hope is that this will ultimately provide anyone who wants it a complete, detailed and understandable guide that can be used to reproduce the results I have achieved. My secondary goal with this diary is to document absolutely everything I do as part of the growing process, each day, and to use this diary as a means to help me diagnose any problems or issues with the grow. This is based on the idea that if honest complete details are kept, any issue or problem should be able to be diagnosed by looking through the previous steps taken in the growing process, and correlating them with the issue at hand. My third goal for this diary is to use each grow, via the diary, to refine and improve my growing setup and processes by implementing new/better techniques in each subsequent grow by learning from the mistakes/problems in the previous grows. Hopefully this will mean each grow improves on the previous in quality and quantity, as well as in the lack of major catastrophes/unexpected problems. GROW SETUP ============ This grow is 9 BLACKBERRY Auto plants from FASTBUDS, in a 1.2m by 1.2m by 2.0m grow tent. I plan to just let the plants grow naturally without any major training, with the aim of getting a field of mini xmas trees filling as much of the tent space as possible, creating the biggest canopy possible. They are growing in 11.4 Litres airpots. Each Airpot has 2 Litres of Canna expanded clay balls in the base, followed by a 30/70 mix of Perlite and Canna pro plus coco coir. The top 4cm of the pots is straight coco coir. This is because I find this more aesthetically pleasing to look at, and it stops the perlite from floating up to the top and creating a perlite layer on the top of the coco. LIGHTING ======== * The lighting is four quantum q288 boards, each has 288 samsung LM301b diodes for a total of 1156 diodes, they are 3500k spectrum. * They are running at a combined 480watts for a total PPDF of 1176 umol. * This is a DIY clone version of the HLG-550 (purchased from Kingbrite on Alibaba for $400USD including International Express DHL Shipping) * I have built my own custom frame out of 20mm x 20mm x 3mm angle aluminium to spread the lights to the same dimensions as the original HLG-550 light. This light doesn't necessitate any active cooling even at full wattage, and it ticks along at around 40c at 240w, and gets to around 50c at a full 480w (Heatsink temp tested with infrared gun). * Each light is fitted with an inline wattage meter of eBay. This cheap but awesome accessory allows me to see the exact wattage the light is set to and using. It even allows for w/H cumulative usage display. Its about $8 USD and the LCD screen has a blue glow. Every Quantum Board should have one of these for accurate light intensity setting. * I generally start with a very low wattage for new seedlings, then move to 240w at 80cm for the first stage of vegetative growth. As the plants go into flower, I slowly increase the light intensity and lower the height above the canopy until its at 480w at 60cm. I try to get it to this point around week 8/9 so that the key bud growth weeks are done under maximum light intensity. COCO PRETREATMENT ================ I use CANNA Pro+ coco. The Coco was given an initial pretreatment watering with a EC 0.8 solution of full strength Flairform ROOTS and CMX additives. I put 3000ml through each pot a few days before the seedlings went in, and then again a day before they were planted into the coco. [NOTE: I think this pretreatment was not the best formulation, and was probably too much for the seedlings. Next time I will just stick with an 0.8EC solution using the basic 1-part nutrient feed, and a smaller proportion of ROOTS and CMX additives]. GERMINATION ============ The seeds were germinated using the tissue paper technique. They were left to germinate and then transplanted directly into their final pots. After tap roots were about 1-2cm long, I made narrow holes in the coco and carefully placed the tap root into the hole (gently holding the seed shell with tweezers). I left the unopened cotyledon/seed hull just above the surface of the coco and then sprinkled a little coco over it. This seems to have worked well and as soon as after the first light cycle came on the seedlings had pushed up and were visible. By the second light cycle the cotyledons had opened and tiny first leaves were visible. The light was set to 120w at 90cm for germination day, and then once the first leaves appeared they were set to 1/2 intensity for this initial seedling stage (240w) at 80cm above the canopy. This arrangement feels about right. ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROLS ========================= Air circulation is to be provided is via two (soon to be three) pole-grip 18cm oscillating fans. These are placed at a height above the canopy to give a gentle breeze for the seedlings. They are lowered as the plants go into flower, to give more forceful air circulation around the buds. Air Ventilation is being provided via a (max 330m3/h & 160Kpa) 100mm inline mixed flow fan and 300mm Carbon Filter that ducts (via 100mm ducting) out of the grow room and into the roof space. I have two tents ducting to a Y joiner, that then ducts via one duct to the roof space. The Y joiner is mounted on the grow room wall between the tents, and will allow me to easily vent back into the room and setup a recycling air system should I decide (most likely in the coldest part of winter in order to conserve heat) however I imagine this option will necessitate the use of dehumidifier. Humidity/Temp monitoring is provided by a wireless monitoring station with 3 wireless monitors. I have one in each of my tents and one in the grow room itself, and the monitoring station is in my bedroom, allowing me to keep an eye on the growing environment whenever I like without needing to open up the grow room or the tents. (You can get one of these on eBay for around $30 USD with 3 remote sensors). Spot temp measuring is being done with an infrared temp gun. This technology is incredibly cheap (around $7 on eBay), and allows for checking leaf temps, coco temp etc from pot to pot. It is a remarkably useful tool. PH monitoring is done via a bluelabs PH Pen. (Top quality NZ made device). Heating is provided in the grow room by the lights, the dehumidifier, and occasionally a fan heater in the grow room NUTRIENTS ========== My Nutrients are the full Flairform range (Flairform.com) as follows: GreenDream-1 Grow : ONE-part Vegetative nutrient for hydroponics, coco and soil GreenDream-1 Bloom : ONE-part Flowering nutrient for hydroponics, coco and soil Roots : Promotes vigorous root growth CMX : Calcium, magnesium & iron additive GroStorm : The All-in-One organic additive SilikaMajic : Silica additive for enhancing plant weight & strength BudStorm : The All-in-One flowering additive BudGenie : For improving resin output I also have "Plantmate" Trichoderma powder. This range is not coco specific. This I think leads to some Cal/Mag issues. I'm trying to mitigate with foliar sprays with epsom salts and possibly the CMX additive. I'm going to drop Flairform BudGenie. I found out from the MSDS that its just a dilute version of Flairform Budstorm. EC OR PPM ========= I've decided to do everything in E.C. measurements. Mostly because PPM is not standardised and there are 2 or 3 base PPM standards, which effectively makes comparing PPM numbers impossible. EC is simple, and always the same. My feeding/watering schedule is based entirely on PH and EC numbers. FEEDING/WATERING STRATEGY FOR THIS GROW ======================================== After two grows, I've decided that the best way to do coco is to water to run-off daily (after the first water to run-off, so about 2 weeks or so in to the grow) and to set the nutrient concentration using basic EC ranges for each stage of the plants grow. This effectively flushes the pot every day and I'm guessing gives the most consistent pot conditions (EC and PH value). With periodic waterings, I found I would have salt build ups and or swings in pot EC conditions and probably PH as well. I loosely base my feeding schedule on the following structure I found on the autoflower network. Its based on my tap water EC level of 3.4 and would ultimately be implemented based on how the plants are responding on a day to day basis. It should be noted this schedule is based on my municipal tap water having an EC of 0.34 SEEDLING WEEK 1 EC 0.65-0.75 (Probably just tap water and the ROOTS additive. Maybe some CMX) WEEK 2 EC 0.95-1.15 (The full 5 product flairform veg range. The NPK, the ROOTS profuct, The CMX micronutrient product, and the organic kelp based humvic/fulvic product GROSTORM, and the silica additive product SILIKAMAJIC. VEGETATIVE WEEK 3 0.95-1.35 Increase EC by 0.1 per day DEPENDING ON HOW PLANTS RESPOND WEEK 4 EC 1.15-1.35 FLOWER WEEK 5 ONWARD - EC 1.5-2.0 DEPENDING ON HOW PLANTS RESPOND. USING THE WHOLE Product Flairform Flowering nutrient range. PH - At this stage I have decided to aim for a nutrient PH of between 5.5 - 6.3 (so generally I try to let the nutrient PH swing between 5.8 to 6.3 and back if I can co-ordinate that over successive waterings. With nine 11.4L pots, I have found with daily waterings that I am ending up feeding about 1600ml per pot (15L total) with a 600ml (6L total) runoff. I check the Runoff EC on every daily feed. If it starts to go up or gets over the level going in, then something has gone wrong and I would flush the pots with FloraKleen and restart feeding with a 0.8 EC level nutrient feed. WATER TREATMENT ================ My municipal tap water is around PH 7.5-8.0 and around 0.34 EC out of the tap. The Bluelabs PH pen was expensive, but given how important and frequent PH checks are, it was pretty much essential, the budget PH meter I got worked.. sort of.. and was almost usable if you wanted to calibrate it every other day. The Bluelabs pen just works. And it has a lid with a probe storage solution holder that keeps the sensor stored in the KCL Storage solution. This apparently keeps safe and ensures to maximise probe life stopping it drying out. For PH Control I have a standard PH-UP and PH-DOWN, as well as PH 7.0 and PH 4.0 Calibration solutions, and KCL probe storage solution. I'm finding the amount of PH down needed a little annoying and mildly concerning. Eventually I would like to implement a Reverse Osmosis walter filter for the water used for the plants. REMOTE MONITORING ==================== As mentioned I have remote humidity/temp sensors in each tent and the grow room itself. I also use a webcam in each of my tents, this allows me to remotely view each tent from anywhere else, and allows me to keep a half eye always on them, which enables very fast awareness of problems like plant wilt/droop and allows me to be "with" the plants whenever I like, as opposed to just seeing them when I water them.. Sometimes issues like droop might only occur during parts of the grow cycle that you are not checking on them, and it could potentially go completely unseen until it eentually is happening for so long it overlaps I have the remote humidity/temp sensor display next to the plants screen. HUMIDITY/TEMP CONTROL ======================= Each tent has a humidity controller and temp controller. These have a wall socket in them to enable the control of any device that can be plugged in. Nothings currently plugged into either. I generally control the tent temperature and humidity by 1) leaving the extraction fan on 24/7. 2) Leaving the ventilation fans on 24/7. 3) Turning up the light wattage to get the right tent temperature, and then moving the light far enough away to get the appropriate intensity. I've found even though they don't get massively hot, four Quantum Boards in a 1.2by 1.2 tent is the most cost effective heating solution. I ventilate to the roof space usually. When the grow room gets very cold in winter I recirculate the tent air back into the grow room, so the heat isn't lost. I run a dehumidifier on high mode pretty much 24/7. It runs at under 250w which is fine with me. This warms up the room air a bit, which is great during the colder half of the year. TENT TEMPERATURE / ROOM TEMP ============================= The "ideal" goal temp and humidity at any given week are set based on Vapour Pressure Deficit (VPD) metrics, and optimal photosynthesis temperatures which research shows is a Leaf Surface Temperature between 25-35c. As a general rule and any stage of the grow I try to keep the tents in the 25-30c range with a humidity in the 65-75% range. I leave the dehumidifier on High continuously and as flowering progressed I try to keep the tent humidity low enough to avoid bud-rot if possible. If its particularly cold I sometimes put a fan heater in the grow room. I imagine in Summer Humidity and Temp will be easier to maintain at optimal ranges. I leave the extraction fan/carbon filter on 24/7 during day and night cycle. I also leave the circulation fans on 24/7 and adjust their height above the canopy in order to get gentle leaf movement sweeping across all of the tent area. WEEK 1 ====== DAY -3 - Gave coco pretreament with 0.8EC solution made up with ROOTS and CMX additives. PH to 5.7 and 3000ml put through each pot DAY -2 - No changes DAY -1 - Gave coco pretreament with 0.8EC solution made up with ROOTS and CMX additives. PH to 5.7 and 3000ml put through each pot DAY 0 - Planted the sprouts in the coco. DAY 1 - Seedlings appear and cotyledons open. So this is Day 1. DAY 2 - Gave plants 1000ml each of 0.7EC with PH 6.5 of basic nutrient solution (Greendream1-Grow) DAY 3 - No changes DAY 4 - No changes - two of the seedlings are a bit yellow, I think my pretreatment mix was a bit wrong and had to much of the ROOTS and CMX additives. I will try and "flush" the pots with a heavier watering with a basic seedling strength nutrient feed over the next several days. Normally I would only feed around 500-600ml per plant each day, but I'll increase this to 1000ml to try and mitigate the pretreatment problems. DAY 5 - Fed plants with 0.8EC nutrient solution (Greendream1-Grow and CMX additive) with PH 5.9. Gave 1000ml per plant. DAY 6 - Fed plants with 0.8EC nutrient solution (Greendream1-Grow and CMX additive) with PH 5.9. Gave 1000ml per plant. The plants seem to be growing and responding well to the conditions. Here's hoping they continue onward and upward from here on out! DAY 7 - No feeding today. The pots were looking a bit overwet. Could probably do with some time to dry out a little. END OF WEEK 1 - Well, apart from the slightly rough start with the (probably) invalid coco pretreatment, the plants aren't doing to badly. Two of the seedlings are kind of yellow, which is a bit odd, and two of the others are dwarves, but I'm used to at least one of the bunch being a dwarf, so this isn't to unusual. The yellow plants have me scratching my head though!