Alien Rift & GG4 in RDWC under PLC LED...

[negative37dBA]

​ Hi all. Well it is my first real run with LED so I am going to document it here. My previous "run" under this light was a failure due to me. I put in plants hurriedly that were not healthy and I paid the price with a piss poor harvest. I could see the potential of the LED but the plants were not up to it. I got a bit and what I did get was real good. These plants are healthy and GTG. The Alien Rift is from seed from Ocean grown. Really like Vader and the way he does biz. My 10 pack had a low ratio of females to males. 3/10. Not disappointed. This one is super healthy and has that citrus/lime/spice to it. Very tight node spacing and large leaves. Classic OG Indica. The GG4 I have had for years. It is the original cut and is so gassy and frosty it is just awesome. I seem to run it every time. It is my all time fav smoke hands down. Here is a shot of the last run I did under MH/HPS...mmmmm

The light is a beast. A Pacific Light Concepts 630ish watt Photo Boost Strip DIY light. LED is so good now I had to switch so I built my own PLC light(link to build thread in my signature). It is unreal. So cool with such uniform coverage that I never could get from my old lamps. So happy I built it myself as well. Great amount of power savings as well. I am only running it at about 330 watts now. Plants seem to love it and can take higher amounts of nutes. It is a remote driver build so all electrics are in a cab outside the room.

Here are some shots of the plants on day 1 of flower. Rift is in the front and the GG is in the back, like you have a a hard time telling...lol

They are running in a DIY RDWC system built by me. 3, 5 gallon modules with a pump and a chiller. 1" lines and it is a 2 site set up. Works so good. I went hydro a few years ago and have never regretted it. Be back with some more soon to get you all up to date.
Have a great day all!! Peace, negative.

 

[negative37dBA]

Here we are at day 10 of flower running under 1 light just as they come on.

I have been cleaning out the undersides and filling in the trellis best I can. That Rift is so thicc!! The smell has just started to make itself known.
Here is some info from the breeder on the Rift.

Here is the light in the room as I was switching over from MH/HPS.

Have a great day all!! Peace, negative.

 

[negative37dBA]

Hi all. So I make my own base nutrients, grow and bloom. Once I realized the markup of commercial plant nutrients I decided to quit making those companies rich. I now make my own base nutes very simply from Masterblend 4-18-38, Epsom Salts and Sodium Benzoate. The benzoate is used as a preservative so you do not develop colonies of bacteria in your mix. The markup on nutes is absolutely astounding. You can save a lot by making your own and use that money for other things in your grow. I have reduced over the years what I use to flower. Sometimes less is more. I use A&B bloom, Calmag, Sweet, and a couple of bacteria products to flower. That's it.

Here is a shot of my RDWC system with the chiller installed. I have changed it a little bit from this configuration. Just spread out the modules a bit to allow for more growth between them and a slightly different pump config.. I added the chiller after 1 or 2 grows and that was the best thing I could have done. Keeping that water temp at a constant 66 or so makes for just a great growing environment. You cannot get more explosive growth than a properly tuned RDWC system. I love the control it gives me and it is so clean....I will NEVER use dirt again. I use water to grow through all stages of growth. Aeroponics for cloning, flood and drain for moms and vegging and then RDWC for flower. I have not bought soil for 2 plus years!! Also have not had any dirt related bugs since then either!! I use a Bluelab Guardian monitor...just awesome.

I have taken clones of these 2 so I can keep the genetics. I have kept the GG4 for about 5 years now with no problems. Really wanted to keep the Rift as well. I have a feeling it will be a keeper. I use a homemade aero cloner. Just a 5 gallon bucket with a small pump and spray nozzles....works 100% I use Clonex, Hormex and Pool shock in my mix along with dipping them in rooting gel and the results are amazing. Pretty much 100% success rate every time and the roots just explode out of the stems like a bottle brush. Sterile equipment and healthy moms are key to this. I also have a couple clones of GG4 from seed that I pulled out of some of my flowers that popped some nanners on me one run. Got a bit of seed from that one and it will be interesting to see what they turn out like compared to the original. Just for fun but if they turn out good that will be nice as I have hundreds of them...

Almost to the end of week 2 flower and things are going along very nicely. Smells are building daily. Just leaf pruning and thinning them out a bit for now.
Have a great day all!! Peace, negative.

 

[unnamedmike]

pulling up a chair

 

[negative37dBA]

Thanks for the interest there unamedmike. Hope I can show the potential of these awesome LED lights. It felt VERY weird to clear out the 2 hood MH/HPS system I used to run with for years. I am pretty slow to change but with all the good grow reports I had seen I knew it was time to make the move. The power savings and lower heat output are just great. Plus I saved quite a bit by building one myself. I came close to spending half of what you would on a similar Fluence light. Plus these are on a dimmer so that's a positive. I run them at about 50 to 55% now and I move them up in intensity every couple days by about 5%. I have the light about 18" above the canopy. The coverage is super good. My plants always used to lean in towards those 2 bulbs but no more! The sides and back are getting plenty of light now.
Here is a shot of how I used to run with a 600 and a 400 watt light.

I got some great results but there were always those low light spots. Here was a good run of some Afgooey & Super Silver Goo I made from seed.

I expect excellent results with the LED. Excited to see just what comes out of this run. I have ran the GG4 many times under HID so I know what it is like real well.
Have a great day all! Peace, negative.

 

[negative37dBA]

Hi all. Been doing a lot of pruning, defoliating and trellis filling...I have ran this GG4 probably 12 times now, I have had the cut for over 5 years. This is the most jungle like growth I have ever seen the Glue do! I feel like the light is the difference. The intensity and coverage are the keys. They are looking super lush and healthy as well. Been turning up the intensity about 5% every few days. I think I am at about 65% now. The stretch is happening on the GG4 for sure. The Rift is not going to do that to much. I will have to install my second trellis layer to keep the GG4 from flopping over late in flower like she likes to do. A bit of Silica in veg helps some with that, gets those stems a bit tougher to bending. I drop it when I go to flower tho. I am burning on some, what a surprise...GG4 today..lol. My fav smoke of all time. I just never tire of it. I have some Wonder Kid I will give some lung space to as well. It is a nice cross of some older strains...mmmm. My clones are kicking it nicely. Had 1 Rift not root but no biggie. I have a couple that did so now I have a cut of that. We will see how it comes out. From what I have read and seen it should be a keeper.
Have a great day all!! Peace negative.

 

[negative37dBA]

Hi all. Things have been going smoothly here. Have reached day 18 of flower. Just did a rez change out. Really have them thinned out now and ready to blow up. Going to put in the second trellis layer tonight, they are going to need it, at least the Glue will. Getting ready to transplant the clones into a F&D system today. They have blown up and are ready to go, the roots are amazing. I have 3 GG4, 1 Alien Rift and 2 GG4 from seed. Those seeds are from some plants that I grew that ended up seeded for some reason. Nor sure if it was light leaks or stress or what. I have noticed that all the seeds I have grown of that to sex out have looked very different from each other. Be interesting to see what comes of it.
Day 18 of flower. Alien Rift in front and GG4 in back.

Here is a shot of the light in action if you will. Just love this thing. My wires are a bit messy, I just moved some of the bars closer to better light the space. Part of the sweetness of this set up.

Getting ready to transplant to F&D. They love this set up. I have seen some crazy cool root growth in the past.

Have a great day all. Peace,negative.

 

[negative37dBA]

Got the transplant done today. This will be the next round for me. 2 GG4 from clone(original cut) 1 Alien Rift from seed(Ocean Grown) and a GG4 from seed I accidentally made..lol. Got them all set up in the flood and drain system. This thing rocks and makes it easy to grow. I use a air pump to keep the rez stirred up. A timer to control the flood cycles. If you look closely you will see that these 8" net pots are from Current Culture....Woot Woot. I am going to be running a 4 site undercurrent system this next run. Built by me of course because I love DIY. Have all the parts just waiting to put it together when the time comes...
Here is the tent pre planting.

And After with the 4 in place.....

Got about 7 weeks of veg time to go on these babies. Have a great day all! Peace, negative.

 

[negative37dBA]

Hi all. We have reached day 25 of flower. Things are going well. The buds are starting to form nicely and all the sires are clearly visable. Keeping up with the rez changes and de-leafing have been the main work with this. Put in a second trellis layer, only a few branches will probably use it but that's ok. Clones are going well. Had some trouble with my hydroton raising my ph up a bit to high because I did not rinse it enough...So week 4 is half over already. Probably looking at 10 weeks for the Glue to finish her how I like it. I go for a bit of amber in the heads as I like a heavy couch lock type stone. Been continuing to up the level of the light via the dimmer. I would guess I am at 75% now. Its hella bright in there. Wish I had a meter, but the plants seem to like it. Running at about 900 PPM, 65 degree water and 5.8 ph. Chiller and Blue Lab are the 2 best things I ever bought in hydro growing....That light is 18" above the second trellis.
Alien Rift and GG4 at day 25 of flower. Full room.

GG4 closer up of the buds at 25 days.

Have a great day all. Peace negative. Appreciate any comments or questions you all may have....

 

[negative37dBA]

Hi. We have reached day 35, end of week 5. Things are going along well. Seems to me the Glue is taking her time to smell the place up, not getting much off her yet... The Alien Rift has that nice either and spice to it. Not super impressed with the trichome development on this particular one though. Maybe it will really pack up in the last few weeks. Been doing some more leaf removal to get a bit more light through.
Running at about 750-800 ppm and they are drinking about 2 gallons a day. Still getting some leaves with what looks to be cal mag def and I do not think the Rift should have purple petioles. Then on the other hand I have what looks to be a bit of leaf tip burn at the same time so I am not sure. Still have prolly 4 to 5 weeks to go so there is a bit of time for them to swell.
I have the light at full bore now. What I thought was bright before at 50 and 75% looks dark now...lol. Loving the light and how it works. I just ordered some more strips from PLC to have as a backup. They are in stock as of yesterday so that is good news. Here are some shots of the ladies. Let me know what you think....been like crickets around here.
The whole room.

Lights on at day 35. Rift is in front GG4 in the rear.

Closer shot of the Glue...starting to get some real nice trich coverage.

Closer shot of the Alien rift...day 35.

The Glue again.

Hope you all have a great day! Peace, negative.

 

[negative37dBA]

Hi all. Here is a couple shots of whats cracking in the tent right now. These will be my next run, at least 4 of them will be. I have 3 GG4 clones, 1 Alien Rift clone and a GG4 from my own seed. They are doing great in the F&D system. It is just so easy to run that way. Getting excited to finish up this run and build the Under Current system. Going to put a coat of new paint of the room and I have leftover hardwood flooring from a project I am going to put in there. Make it look classy.
These are under 2, HLG 65 V2 4K LED Quantum boards. I have ditched almost all old lighting in favor of LED. I have 1 old t5 HO for clones and that's it. Woot Woot!

Have a great day all! Peace negative.

 

[negative37dBA]

Hi all. I have gotten to the end of week 6, day 42. Going along pretty well. I have had some deficiencies and excesses but I am learning a lot more about growing under LED's. The Glue and the Rift have very different nute requirements. I will be running all 4 Glues next run to eliminate that problem.
Here is a nice shot of the Alien Rift getting her trich on. No real resin rails like I have seen on some others but this is from seed so there will be a variance. Really nice smell of that Ether I have heard people describe it as that.
Day 42, Alien Rift from Ocean Grown Seeds.

Have a great day all. Peace, negative.

 

[negative37dBA]

Hi all. Did a small dry sift run today with a bunch of leftovers I had. It is hitting me pretty hard sprinkled on top of some Gelato Larry #2. Still have a bunch more to do then bubble all the rest.
Here is what was on top of the 160 screen.

This is the diamonds that ended up on the glass...so under 160.

Woot Woot! Have a great day all. Peace, negative.

 

[negative37dBA]

Hi all. Have gotten to the end of week 7, day 49. I cannot say all has been going smoothly but I will make it to harvest. Having some issues with the glue and nute shortages. I did not give it enough cal mag early on and have been chasing it ever since. Now they are really showing the lack here starting week 8. Changing rez out Monday to start the flush process. Growing under these LED's is a bit different than HID. I need to compensate more for the lack of cal mag....glue is a hog anyway so I need to give it more in veg. I am having the same problem with my veg plants having purple stems and such. Getting a hand on that now though. Been scoping trichs and seeing some amber on the Rift. These will probably go 9 weeks or so total.
Been running a bunch of dry sift lately. That stuff is so good. I have a large amount of trim to bubble now....getting ready to go get some ice right now and get my bubble on!!
Here are a couple shots of the Glue and the Rift. End week 7, day 49.
Alien Rift from Ocean grown.

Here is the Glue looking sad at day 49....still frosty and stinking of gas though!

Have a great weekend everyone. Peace, negative.

 

[negative37dBA]

Hi all. Thought I would share some pictures of what I am smoking on tonight. I have a nice line up and am getting very lit as I post this.
The list goes like this:
Wedding Cake.
Sticky Gorilla 4, aka gg4.
Gelato Larry#2.
2 grades of dry sift.
U25 bubble
Ice Cream Cake honey crystal......hell yeah!!!
The Wedding Cake.

Sticky Gorilla 4.

Gelato Larry #2.

The U25 bubble.

I am loving this night already....might make a fatty spliff with a little bit of everything rolled up together. I would love to talk nutes, strains, grow tech or lighting. Anything really, feels a bit lonely in here. Puff Puff. Have a great night all. Peace, negative.

 

[negative37dBA]

Hi all. So tonight I got super lit off all this great meds and decided to clean and calibrate my Ph meters. I have a Hanna 981504 for the veg. It is nice but does not have green lighting. It has been cranking for years so i cannot complain. I just have it on the same timer as the lights so it goes out when they do. I have a Bluelab Guardian that I really like. Super easy to calibrate and just feels quality. Had it for about 1.5 years and all is good.
So on to the point of the post. I was calibrating the Hanna and all came out fine. I went to do the Bluelab and noticed I was on PPM or 700 scale..??!!! I usually use TDS or 500 scale so they have been getting UNDERFUCKIN FED the whole time!!! Well that explains all this weird stuff and scratching my head about issues. I was like I know how to pull a good grow so what the fuck is up. Cannot change anything now as we are in the home stretch.
Lesson learned....honestly I have been getting real lazy with growing because of work shit. Been in a funk and just going through the motions. So I quit and let it all go!! I am now fully concentrated on my grow and my place. Going to be doing a ton of projects this summer and a lot of fun with my hounds and growing some fire!!! I will worry about work later. I am very lucky to be in a good place as far as that goes. Time for another dab.
Have a great night all. Peace, negative.

 

[negative37dBA]

Hi all. The tent is just kicking it!! Ready for the next run for sure. These are just really blowing up and the roots are sexy as heck.
Here is a shot from 4-20, so 12 days ago.

Then this is 12 days later, today, and bam!! Under 2, HLG 65 V2 LED lights.

I have 3 glues from clone and 1 from seed in here. Plus a Alien rift from clone that I will keep for a funture run. Probably do a full run of the Rift to get some real weight. the Glue is not a real big stacker but has that great quality. Flood and drain is so nice.
I found a seed in some Sticky Gorilla 4 I picked up a a local retailer. I popped it right away and now have it in the aero cloner getting some roots on. We will see if it is a male
or female and then go from there. It is a very good example of what GG4 should be like so kind of excited to see what comes of it. Getting close to the end of this run. Cant wait to be smoking on some of this goods.
Have a great day all. Peace, negative.

 

[negative37dBA]

Hi all. I took a sampler bud off the Glue in week 6. It was the lowest bud and it was 34-36 inches away from the light. It was very dense and fully loaded with trichs. Better than any low buds I have ever gotten with HID. If I kept stuff that far away from my old lights it would have been total larf. This is a very nice nugget that no one would tell it came from "down low" Impressed.
Here is my attempt at some macro photos of said bud.

I let it cure up for a bit and took some hits today....very nice for being pulled in the 6th week. I cannot wait for harvest to give the stuff that went 9 weeks and was near the top a try.
I told you guys a while back I was going to be running a full undercurrent system next run. Well here it is. Have all the parts, couple things not in the picture, and am ready to assemble. Really excited for this as it has been my dream set up if you will for a couple years. A undercurrent system with a high end LED bar fixture over top. These are 8 gallon modules with 2" pipe and bulkheads. I have a couple other improvements that I am going to do as well. Paint the room and put in some new vinyl flooring. I have a new RO system coming that will be piped to a 20 gallon rez on a float valve. I am tired of moving 5 gallon buckets all the time. I also have a UV sterilization filter for it coming as well. Going to have some real nice 0 ppm water with no nasties in there. I run a bacteria filled rez...mostly Hydroguard and Sensizym.

Getting super excited for the upcoming harvest. Looking forward to having some fire to smoke and a new system to run.
Have a great night all. Peace, negative.

 

[Terraplanisman]

Amazing! There's almost no bud on those trichomes (?)

 

[unnamedmike]

Ive been following your thread silently, but i think as a terraplanisman, Ive seemed to see a bit of bud behind your resin.
Good luck with the new system, looking super.