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Root rot was discovered in one of the K2s and it spread to every plant.
Deconstructed the entire system, added reflective tape to the bottom of the reservoir (oops), cleaned everything with antimicrobial soap, then white vinegar, and finally a rinse with H2O2.
Re-assembled and performed daily water changes for 3 days in the mornings and added 125ml of H2O2 in the evening to kill off the bacteria.
Plants finally began to see recovery. Trimmed all dead matter from leaves and removed some entire fan leaves as necessary after not seeing improvement matching the rest of the plant.
Crystal (top left) topped between 5th & 6th node
Aurora (top center) FIM'd rather accidentally by a tent flap gone wild.
All plants except the topped Cyrstal LST'd.
Doing twice daily leaf tucking to expose new growth sites to light.
Plants are growing up to an inch per day.
This difference in growth is mostly due to genetics, but also probably due to early light availability. Should not be as much of a consideration going forward as the light has been upgraded to better suit the grow environment.
Moved front center Aurora to front right and moved back right K2 to front center. This will hopefully increase the growth of the K2 and slow the Aurora so plant heights will be more even. Also gives the Aurora an entire 1/3 of the tent to spread out.
Additional LST on the K2 to expose more new growth sites.
Re-evaluating the number of plants in a 2x4 tent.
During this week's water change I flipped the rig end-for-end. I now have access to the reservoir through the hole where the dead K2 was so I no longer have to lift the lid to drain/fill. For future grows, I will look into a better method of draining and filling. Maybe a port on the reservoir, waterfall system... something. I won't be able to lift that lid much longer due to plants growing rapidly. OK for this grow, though.
Also during the rearrange, I moved the big Aurora to the top left and did some additional LST and moved the K2 to top middle. Aurora now occupies twice the space of the other plants, but brought the overall height back down to match the others. I have a feeling it won't last and that this plant will be MASSIVE compared to the others.
Plants are about to fill the grow space. Based on the chosen strains, three plants would have been sufficient, maybe even two in a 2x4 tent.
11/4 - plants reached 15" in height, which is about the maximum before I would be height-constrained by flowering, so started flowering today.
Working on the clone bucket and plan to take clones today or tomorrow.
11/5 - Clones taken, plants defoliated slightly. Plenty of canopy left and lots of bud sites. Will get a better count in the next few days
11/16 - Added a humidifier. Can't get humidity above 40% reliably. I think the can fan is too strong for the tent, even at the lowest setting. Future state - will be used for 2-3 tents of the same size, maybe more
11/17 - Root rot is back!? Soaked the roots in H2O2 and did a water change early. Plants don't seem affected. Added more reflective bits around the reservoir. Can't wait to get off this one-bucket system. Also turned off the water pump.
11/18 - Additional cleaning of roots. Already looking better. PH seems stable.
11/20 - Pulled the water pump, manifold, and tubes. Top feed isn't needed at this point per my research and may be causing the root gunk.
Slowly increasing light intensity through flowering.
11/21 - Defoliate large and covering fan leaves. Removed around 35% of leaves. Will probably remove more in a week or two after plants are fully stable
https://manicbotanix.com/hydroponic-nutrient-science/
Taking the above article and applying some nutrient science as well as a troubleshooting guide I ran across:
https://percysgrowroom.com/ec-and-ph-fluctuations-in-hydroponics/
Because of this, the numbers for weekly feedings are baselines only. Micro-adjustments are made as frequently as needed to keep plants happy by shooting for a naturally fluctuating pH between 5.8 & 6.1 and a close to static EC
Continued micro-adjustments. At this stage very easy as the plants are drinking 1-2 gallons of water per day.
Before the next grow, need to create a formula for target ECs based on nutrient ratios.
12/19 - heavy defoliation as I hit F45. Buds are starting to fill out nicely, some beginning to cloud.
RDWC 2.0 system built and tested. New grow starting soon.
Math. Let's do math!
First I took a baseline reading of my filtered water. It sits at .485 ec (after pH)
That's rather high. Probably will invest in a RO system at some point.
Next, let's look at nutrients and measure the change in ec per mL per gal.
Micro - .17
Gro - .0935
Bloom - .0755
Next, set target ECs for different stages (may need future adjustment, but let's pick something and go with it for now, then let the plants decide)
Seedling 0.5-0.7
Early veg 0.8-1
Veg 1.1-1.2
Transition 1.3-1.4
Flowering 1.6-1.8
Now, knowing EC delta and targets, we can easily calculate optimal nutes based on the recommended ratios (mL/gal)
Stage Mic Gro Bloom
Seedling 2.0 2.0 2.0
Early veg 2.5 2.5 2.5
Veg 3.2 4.8 1.6
Transition 4.0 4.0 4.0
Flowering 5.0 2.5 7.5
At least in theory! I'm hoping to develop a formula where I can micro-adjust nutes based on base EC of the water and plant reaction to feedings. Then, should I need to do a +/- EC for a res change I can plug in numbers and go.
After a week and a half of listening to the plants, this batch is most happy around 1.5 EC, so I'm feeding at just under that with the following formula:
Micro: 3.75/gal
Gro: 1.88/gal
Bloom: 5.63/gal
I have stabilized pH and EC now at 6.0/1.5, feeding at 1.45 which means the plants are happy
Nute regimen is balanced! Getting consistent daily readings of 6.0 pH and 1.5 EC. Plants are drinking 2-3 gallons of water a day, so probably no more res changes until harvest, just topping off for happy plants.
Tollas
