By continuing to use the website or clicking Accept you consent to our cookies and personal data policy and confirm that you are at least 18 year old. For details please see Privacy Policy and Terms
OFFICIAL SET UP
Gorilla Grow Tent Shorty 2 ft X 4 ft X 5 ft
(2) G8 Led grow lights 140 actual watts each
(2) G8 Led bloom lights 245 actual watts each
Hydrofarm PPF/PAR meter
3 Gallon Maxi pots
(4) 1020 reinforced drainage trays
(1) Exhale Co2 bags
Autopilot Temperature/Humidity/Co2 monitor
(2) 6 inch 2-speed circulation fans
4 inch 190 cfm variable speed exhaust fan with carbon filter
H&M tds meter (0.5 ppm scale)
Hanna ph meter
Customized Air innovations 2 gallon cool mist ultrasonic humidifier
Precision hand held watering device (Turkey baster)
SOIL COMPONENTS
Canna Coco Coir mix
Fox Farm Ocean Forest mix
Perlite
Azos nitrogen fixing bacteria
Mykos
Bulk mix proportions
65% Fox Farm Ocean Forest
30% Canna Coco Coir
5% Perlite
Seedling mix proportions
7 parts Biobizz light
1 part Canna Coco Coir
1 part Perlite
SEEDLING / VEG. NUTRIENTS
Canna Bio Rhizotonic
Canna Bio Vega
BLOOM NUTRIENTS
Advanced Nutrients
Connoisseur Bloom A & B
Big Bud
Canna PK 13/14
Canna Boost
SUPPLEMENTS
AN B-52
AN Bud Candy
Botanicare Cal/Mag
Cannazyme
General Hydroponics Armor Si
Organic Blackstrap Molasses
LABS Serum (Lactic Acid Bacteria Serum) https://themodern.farm/why/
Epsom Salt
FLUSHING SOLUTION
General Hydroponics Flora-kleen
LED Light Intensities
Recommended LED PPF/PAR Values / DLI Based on 20 hrs of light.
Seedlings 150 - 200 umoles / DLI 10.80 - 14.4 moles per day
Veg up to 9" 450 umoles / DLI 32.40 moles per day
Early bloom 500 umoles / DLI 36.00 moles per day
Mid bloom 650 umoles / DLI 46.80 moles per day
Late bloom 750 umoles / DLI 54.00 moles per day
Ripen 400 umoles / DLI 28.80 moles per day
*** Use extreme caution going 700 umoles or higher @ 20 hrs/day this could cause leaf burn***
PPF measures the total amount of PAR emitted from the lighting system per second.
PAR is the amount of light in the 400 - 700 nm color spectrum that can actually be used by the plant.
PAR does not measure the amount of UV and Infrared that plays a part in trichome formation and cell quality.
DLI is the total amount of PAR the plant has received per day
Our goal is to have a minimum DLI in the 38-40 mole range when it bloom.
https://www.waveformlighting.com/horticulture/daily-light-integral-dli-calculator
https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/blogs/news/horticulture-metrics-par-ppf-ppfd-dli
Having your plants in the optimum LVPD (Leaf Vapor Pressure Deficit) ranges helps them absorb Co2 to properly conduct photosynthesis and allows the root system to adequately utilize water and nutrients. Using average leaf temperature is the best way to calculate LVPD. Measure this temperature using an infrared thermometer.
LED lights tend to have leaf temperatures lower than atmospheric temperatures in the grow room. Growers using HID, Fluorescent bulbs typically will have temperatures higher than room temperature. With HPS leaf temperature can be 8 - 10 F higher than room temperatures due to the amount of infrared emitted by the bulb.
Recommended LVPD
Seedlings/Early Veg 0.4 - 0.8 kPa
Late Veg/Early Bloom 0.8 - 1.2 kPa
Mid/Late Bloom 1.2 - 1.6 kPa
*** Danger Zone*** Below 0.4 kPa / Over 1.6 kPa
https://www.dimluxlighting.com/knowledge/vapor-pressure-deficit-vpd-calculator/
https://vpdcalculator.com/vpd-calculator
https://www.blackdogled.com/lst
It depends. I only feed foliar 3 types of lets say nutrients. Kelp, silica and fishmix. 1/5 to 1/3 of normal feeding amount. I would use normal like grow nutrients or calmag if some deficiencies would show up.
But with kelp, silica(i found it even better as foliar because normally its changing ph too much) and fish mix you cant go wrong during veg..
Which product do you think is better for strengthening plant stems to hold up those heavy buds a simple affordable Silica additive or the expensive form Silicic Acid ?
Most nutrient brands will contain some sort of silica. You don't need to buy every product available! Indoors the stems will never be the same as on an outdoor plant but you can give them plenty of wind from an oscilating fan and support them 🌱👍
Hey man good question. You're talking about LST here not HST. Lst is just bending and tying back the taller shoots to let the ones underneath gain some dominance other the central stem and shouldn't cause much of any harm to the plant. When you start from strain to strain can be a little different but you need a central stem long enough and enough substantial side/under shoots to benefit from this techie. So I would say similar to topping between 3rd and 5th node. 👍🌱Good luck!
Week 3 Update
Just using Bio Rhizotonic about every 3 to 4 days minimal watering not to the point of run off yet. I see a few roots starting to poke out the bottom.
Started LST work as soon as they were tall enough. I've been holding off on starting LST too soon and bending them over 4 to 6 inches above the root crown then arrange the rest for best position then pull back any large fan leaves to allow more light to the bud sites. They started stretching and first pistils appeared around day 17.
Lowered my light a few inches and dropped my humidity to increase plant transpiration which should induce heavier feeding in my opinion.
Week 4 Update
They are stretching showing off some nice pre-flowers.
Performed some leaf tucking and moved branches to their final positions.
Gave them them some light nutes end of the week to the point of slight run off.
Lights are at about 18 inches, dropped humidity to around 55%
Week 5 Update
Girls are officially in bloom. Started with bloom nutes this week.
Dealing with a low runoff ph of like 5.2 ph not good. I top dressed the pots with 4 Table spoons of pelletized lime it's pretty slow acting. Looks like Fox Farm strikes again they see to be very inconsistent with soil ph from batch to batch.
Week 6 Update
Lazy week 6 for photos. Got 2 feedings in this week. About every 3 to 4 days depending on the plant. Added extra Armor Si to raise the ph of my feedings to 6.8 this stuff is very alkaline. This along with the top dressing of pelletized lime is slowly bringing the run off ph in most of my pots but one is only at 5.5. Interestingly she is also the one feeding the slowest. Hopefully she will be higher next week.
Week 7 Update
Buds are filling in nicely. Looks like one is a purple phenotype. I'm feeding/watering about every third day letting them dry out well. I'm probably pushing them a bit hard in each direction feeding-watering -drying out to induce a bit of stress. Push them to their limits. Runoff ph is running around 6.1 which is much better than it was the previous weeks. Some leaves are showing some light stress/burn but are holding up well. Struggling with the summer heat to keep temperatures under 82 F while in bloom.
Week 8 Update
Buds are starting to bulk up nicely. Trichomes are becoming cloudy no ambers yet. They looked a bit hungry so I kicked up they nutes a bit. They are getting close showing some fade in coloration but are stacking on some weight still. Each phenotype seems to be feeding differently. They get what I give them and they will like it! I started using using a diluted LABS(Lactic Acid Bacteria Serum) and Blackstrap Molasses lightly drizzled on the surface of the pots after the feeding in week 7 and 8. Going to try to get in a couple of more feedings in before the big flush. Still using wet then dry drought stress to push then to their limits.
Week 9 Update
I started flushing this week. Oddly/Weird enough seems like most of the trichomes are milky with just a couple of ambers showing up. Never really seen this before. Usually I see a mixture of clear/half cloudy/milky with ambers starting to show on most of my grows. Leaf color change was very rapid fastest I've seen. They're all throwing our some nice colors. Started removing more fan leaves to allow more light to hit all the buds almost forgot to get photos before doing this on one plant.👍
@Bigrobbud, I love my G8 lights. I've had great success using them. I just up graded. I am running two 2 x 4 ft tents. One tent I am using two 240 watt G8 veg/ bloom. Then they go into the second tent with two 450 watt G8 bloom lights. So when in bloom I'm getting 60 true watts per square foot.
@Hempfam420, I personally don't top my autos. I usually do LST training on them. Some growers have had good sucess topping autos but it creates stress. Check out TheFrozenPineapple he doesn't top but does some aggressive LST training.You can also try using a FIM technique.
@Canna96, These girls took a beating and are still cranking out some nice buds. I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Seems like a very resilient strain.👍
@HazeyBobby, The white stuff is TOP SECRET ! Just kidding😂 . I had some issues with fungus gnats on my Bloody Skunk grow more like a nightmare I was using air pots those bastards were attacked from 365 degrees I was wrapping the pots with plastic food wrap to keep them out. I've switched to 3 gallon Maxipots which work well for autos. Then began using a product called Mosquito bits on the surface of the soil from day 1. They contain BTI (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis). Then around week 3-4 when I start watering more I was topping the pots with a product called Gnat Nix about 1 1/4 inch worth which drys very quickly but has been discontinued. I also hang yellow sticky traps on my pots to see how much activity I have from them which is minimal. Since Gnat nix was discontinued I started using 3/16 " pumice (Amazon.com) which has a neutral ph and dries quickly. Knock on wood I haven't had any issues with them ever since. I reuse the pumice each grow. I know it seems extreme but it works well for me. I also would like to mention I stopped buying soil that has Mycorrhiza already added to it seems like these types of soil are pre-infested with fungus gnats right out of the bag. Also I won't buy any soil etc. that was stored outside from any distributor. I add my own microbes when I mix my own soil components. Better than pumping chemicals into your plants/ buds deal with those gnats.
Looking good man. But ya, Fox farm is a big thumbs down for me. Used it once, constant pH and deficiency/excess issues😒. Never again. I hope it gets better and she balances out with your feeds. Best of luck this week man👍
@Philindicus, Definitely feel it's a storage issue too. Opened up a bag once and it was literally a brick so I didn't use it (ocean forest). Probably fantastic fresh, but as you said, limited options. It's hard for me to find any non nutrient amended soils at my hydro shop😕. I don't know why...
And agreed. I don't believe there is a 'perfect' grow we can point to and say "yep!". Resigned myself to the idea that there will always be an issue that needs addressing. If there isn't? Huge frigging bonus, but I'm not seeing much of that in my grows or anywhere else's😅. Nature of the game brother! Keeps us on our toes at least, hahaha.
@JinksyGrows, I've read a few articles about Fox Farm soil issues and that if you get a fresh batch of soil it's better but if it's a old batch that's been sitting around in some warehouse the bacteria break it down and it goes acid. I do remember that my last 2 bags the soil was very dry it may have been old. But who know for sure. The distributors near me ave very limited selections of soil and amendments. I'm beginning to think that the perfect grow is a myth. Always some kind of issue always show up.
@Philindicus, Jesus. This sounds exactly what I went through at the start of this grow. Didn't do a slurry test and first runoff was -5pH 😬 when running 6.5. The good thing everything will be okay, and I know you know that👌. Just going to take time to balance out that sucker. I feel she looks pretty good despite the pH issue. I have more then enough faith in ya that you'll set things right. It is strange that the lime addition didn't raise it much...but imagine what would she would look like without it😮.
Boo Happy Frog and Ocean Forest, haha. Keep it up man. Every little thing going to be okay👌
hey! lovely grow diary, i have some questions regarding your lst! What material did you use to tie down certain stems? Im having trouble with the training wire i got on amazon, and I was wondering if you could paste a link to your training wire here.
@Freeglocks, https://www.htgsupply.com/products/htg-super-foam-tie/ Hope this helps I've found similar wire in hardware stores. It holds up well for several grows
"Dealing with a low runoff ph of like 5.2 ph not good."
Test your ppm and pH before putting in soil.
pH/ppm before going in soil is better measurement then pH/ppm out of soil.
Never once in my life have I tested whats coming out if it's not in flush already.
You don't need to be concerned with what comes out of the soil, only what goes in.
People may argue this, but I've never tested after feeding, only before, and never had a pH issue in my entire life.
The soil is a living organism, its gonna fuck with everything that goes in it. But if what goes in it is prepared in a way that's usable, the chelation action and pH changes from morphing unusable molecules into usable molecular food doesn't matter when it's out of the soil because that excess is not being utilized by the plant, and could even explain WHY you get such off readings, the plant takes in what it wants at the right pH and casts everything aside to drain out...
Good luck in flower!
What drops out of your soil isn't used by your plant, only what you pour in it
Control that you control everything else.
@420Consinc, Thanks for the advice. I'm already a control freak/perfectionist type of pain-in-the ass,but you have to admit you can't control everything and no ones perfect. I have not used anything acidic in my soil mixture or added anything to make my soil acidic. Rhizotonic is actually alkaline .I failed to do a slurry test on my soil mixture before hand. If I had noticed the issue I would have added more pelletized lime. I don't feel comfortable using a fast acting type lime could have the opposite effect. I feel it's a manufacturing issue by fox farm. Unfortunately a lot of growers complain about inconsistency with their soils. They definately have a quality control issues. Too much peat or phosphorus can cause acidic conditions in soil also if they don't add enough lime/calcium it can lead to issues. I pre-moisten my potting mixture and create a pocket for my seedling starter mixture just enough moisture to hold it together yet falls apart when touched. I always measure my run off ph and ppm weekly starting end of week 4 which is the first time I can water to the point of run off. By the end of week 4 the root mass is large enough to utilize that amount of water. It gives me an idea of how they are feeding and how much to feed. Since I'm growing Auto flower from seed each one can be genetically different. Meaning they can and will grow and will feed differently. It's just a fact. I have actually top dressed the pots will more pelleted lime and will water/feed at a higher ph I feel this should gradually increase the soil ph enough to avoid shocking the root system. Time and patients will tell.
Philindicus
