The veg cycle went well and with out any major issues. Even the the pH was bouncing, she never showed signs of deficiency or stress. It wasnt until flower set in that they got real sensitive to the pH fluctuations and I had to change up some of my nutes to get her back in line but damage was doe that prevented her from swelling up in time before the trichs started to really go amber. Lesson learned, stick to tried and true nutrients and only change up a bit at a time. I have not given up on masterblend nutrients, they veg'd great on it. I will try it again this time with proper pH down instead of the TNB. Once I have processed the trim and larf into dry ice hash, I'll update with more pics and weights of hash. I also feel that heavy defoiling would have helped greatly as well. They both had thick bushy centers and I let Lloyd go more natural and Harry I defoiled some along the way. Harry produced more and nicer quality buds vs no defoil Lloyd.
Running a dutch bucket set up for the first time was a big learning curve from using the largest grade perlite to reservoir size to system layout and maintenance. I really enjoyed the overall hands off watering but would recommend going with a much larger reservoir than twice your buckets capacity, milder ec swings and less top offs.
Now I am fully impressed with the lighting. I only used 220 watts in a 4x2 tent, yes only 220 watts but still yielded 344g of dried buds or 1.57g/watt plus another 200g of larfy stuff for the hash/edible pile plus a good amount of trim. Never had any heat issues and they just simply put out the PAR like no other for the watts. I have ordered a 3rd qb288 to go in my tent for my next run going on now.
Lloyd dried over an 11 day period at a temp range of 64 to 69F with rh 58 to 64%. Harry had a better manicure trim and I removed a lot of small leaf matter from Harry and harry dried out in only 6 days in the same room. Harry is more foxtail sativa in structure vs Lloyd.
Smoke report I decided to try not flushing this grow to see how it goes. Being a hydro run, I feed all the way until harvest and the taste is very smooth, not harsh by any means. Very strong culinary herbs and spice flavors with a subtle fruit pie finish (think spiced christmas fruit pies). Absolutely delicious even without a long cure. Aroma is gaining daily and it just gets better.
Effect is immediately felt in the cerebral cortex. Very uplifting creative feeling pleasant high. It's great for brain storming, organizing the grow room, and very conversational (I'm more of a resevered person but cant shut up on this). If I had to guess potency, i would put her in the 15 to 20% range. Effects linger for hours but the main rush is done in about 90 to 120 minutes. I would definitely grow again.
Made dry ice hash today, hand shredded up 8 oz of larf and 2.5 oz of trim, sifted over a parchment paper lined table. I only have a 73 and 220 bag. 73 or purest yielded 9g, 220 first shake yielded an additional 16g, and 220 2nd shake yielded 30g for a total of 54g of kief