Kali Mist, Black Domina, & Haze Skunk 1 oh my! ~ 30gal DWC, 400W HPS, 12/12 from seed

[maryjanesjungle]

Well I cant afford an RO unit,.. and I'm sure a lot of folks are in that same boat,.. so whats the next best way to get good water? I don't mind buying it but what kind is best? I've heard Arrowhead water was good for clones because of all the minerals in it but how about a 35 Gal res?

 

[bbing]

Well, I certainly appreciate how hard it can be (no pun intended) to find good RO w/o buying a unit. (but definitely put it on the list).

I scored and found a Machine in front of a little market that dispenses carbon filtered UV sterilized RO. Load up a few 6 gal containers and pop $.25/gal.
If you have access to non filtered tap, that could be an option if your willing to PH buffer (not just adjust with acid). Some have landscape irragation that is pre water softener as well.

The good news is your life will get alot easier by having your water nailed down. i promise you that.

Great observation btw re: hollow stems. Some strains do, and some dont. be carefull w/ hollow stems and LST, although they seem to hold the most wieght vertically. (whatever happened to Mighty Might???)

Dont loose hope on your Sativas in DWC! Cutting the edge brother, and remeber to keep each res, strain specific. I got Agent Orange running in 18gl DWC right now and your gonna trip at what she does without LST screens and just a little suggestive positioning in DWC. I know some sativas that I have attempted to FIM or Top just go on strike for the rest of the run.

 

[maryjanesjungle]

I did a search on here for "Culligan" and found a few threads, no one seems to say its bad, actually the fill up places in Walmart were on more then one occasion called RO stations, and I remember reading something on the machine when I was filling up about UV light. Now maybe they add salts I don't know,.. is there a way to test for that? And if they do a way to counteract that?

What do you mean "If you have access to non filtered tap", I have access to my sink, isn't that "non filtered tap"?

As stated before I can't keep each strain in a different res this grow, maybe next time though,.. and I've already topped 4 of my 5 girls (all but the black domina indica so it can catch up with the Haze and Kali Mist) and I'm doing SCROG not LST. I don't know what you mean about them going on strike but they seem to still be growing fine
.....just a little concerned about the leaves I took picks of above.

 

[maryjanesjungle]

564ppm
5.48pH
68.5F res temp

Maybe the plants are going through a I'm not so hungry stage now that I topped them and growth is more relegated to the branches?

 

[maryjanesjungle]

5.46pH
568ppm
69.8F res temp

 

[maryjanesjungle]

570ppm
5.42pH
68.7F

STILL rising,.. i cant believe this is too much nutes,... wtf??

 

[maryjanesjungle]

Still got rising ppm and falling pH but i made some adjustments today and I'm going to stop trimming for a few days and see if it turns around. I'm still getting growth through the SCROG but over all plants just don't seem to be as hungry as they were. Sure wish I knew if this was normal.


550pH
5.62ppm
70F

 

[bbing]

rising PPM and falling water means your plants are drinking more than they are eating.

you may be running a little rich. I know the PPM's are not metering that high somethings awry.

i din't notice your nute regimine?

as ph drifts down the plant will loose its ability to drink and develop def's.

The H2O machines use multiple stages yes, however (this may be important) the machines I use have a "low sodium" option which I think essentially removes the salts through membrane. The UV sterilizer is harmless to the water but does kill bacteria and other bugs.

One last consideration. I know when your chasing PH issues that the more consistent and slow to change you can make it (ph change), the better response you will get from your plants. If your water chemistry is all over the place and fluctuates too quickly, you WILL stress the plants and be dealing with the fallout of stressed plants whatever that may be. This is why I use Lucas formula and top off with 1/3 dilutions or straight RO. Lucas formula was developed with RO and is problematic using other sources.


PH drifting down is either an issue related to your water softness or your running a little rich and as H20 to nute level decreases, the natural tendency of most nutes is to have an acidfying effect in your water chemistry.


Keep us posted.

 

[maryjanesjungle]

Today I have 5.39 pH,.. quite the drop from yesterday but ppms only went up 6 to 556. Can colder res temps cause pH to fall? Got colder here last night and I'm at a chilly 62.1F. I might have to adjust the thermostat on it eh? The wate cooler is working hella good though!

When I had pH rising and ppm's of around this much falling a weeks ago I hadn't started trimming them daily. I've cut a few branches off here and there, a little each day. I'm still getting growth out the top of the SCROG like I said but could all that be keeping the plants from eating as much? Do they stop eating after being trimmed till they heal? The same if not higher ppm's a weeks ago was being eaten up fine, now it seems too much.

I'll be adding pH up again today to get in the right range, and posting the readings later..... what else can I do other then wait for them to start eating more?

...temp atop the scrog right under the 400W HPS is 81F by the way,.. im pretty happy with that ;-)

 

[maryjanesjungle]

Black Domina finally made it to the screen!

 

[bbing]

they don't look overly distressed. I would always give em a little recovery time w/o trim or water adj. some sativas absolutely hate trimming of any kind, some seem to benefit from it.

i am worried at how many floral sites appear to be burried way below the canopy and how strecthed it is already looking.

where are you at in veg? looks like you should flipped awhile back and scrog'd at the 2nd or 3rd internode.

 

[maryjanesjungle]

I'm 12/12 from seed, so I've been in veg from the get go, plants are 5 weeks old though if that helps. As for berried bud sites ain't much i can do about um. If they make it to the top they make it, if not i trim um so the plant doesn't waste energy on them right? I've got such a fast variety growing what with the haze being hardcore sativa and the black domina being total indica I'm just happy there all finally all at the canopy level. I topped the 2 kali mist and the 2 haze, left the black D grow. What recommendation if any do you have bbing?

Thanks for looking in too by the way

 

[maryjanesjungle]

566ppm --still going up for some reason
5.37pH --i know i added pH up but I forgot to update,.. reguardless the ppms are still going up and pH is dropped like a rock yet again today
66F res temp

 

[maryjanesjungle]

after today's add of water and pH up,..*sigh*

5.76pH
530ppm
67F res temp

some of you will be happy to know i broke down and bought mylar,
still not sure if it really works but figured it cant hurt. pic below. Ive got it underneath atop the res lid and on 2 sides, figure i gotta keep the two small sides open for air flow though.

 

[maryjanesjungle]

5.28pH
542 ppm
68F res temp

adding more pH up and still kinda confused,.. should pH drop this much per day if ppm's only rise as much as mine are? is this a normal reaction?

 

[maryjanesjungle]

5.78pH
525ppm
69F

...after my daily adjust

 

[stickyickyicky]

i am worried at how many floral sites appear to be burried way below the canopy and how strecthed it is already looking.

Someone tell me if i'm foolish... but i agree with this statement.

i would think the screen should be much closer to the rez and alot more of the budsites would be exposed to the light. gettting all of the buds exposed should create a larger harvest.

Every thing else seems top notch!

How is the smell as of now?

 

[Skrappie]

Someone tell me if i'm foolish... but i agree with this statement.

i would think the screen should be much closer to the rez and alot more of the budsites would be exposed to the light. gettting all of the buds exposed should create a larger harvest.

Every thing else seems top notch!

How is the smell as of now?

I'm not a pro, so take this with a grain of salt, though i don't think it matters much when it comes to rez to screen space. As a Scrog'er all you care about is what happens above the screen. everthing below the screen gets mangled and clipped anyway after "above the screen" takes off.


This girl has TOO many sites below the screen, havent got rid of any in about a week. Lazy.

 

[maryjanesjungle]

It feels weird to me too to have the screen so high above the res, but not only were the plants only 4 weeks old when I put the fence above them, I think you gotta also take into consideration the strains I'm growing. How on earth I would have ever kept the Haze and Kali Mist under a a lower screen is beyond me. My topping of both those strains didn't even stop them from being monsters and stretching. I'm happy with the equal height of all 3 strains at the moment now that the black D has caught up, feel I have plenty of bud spots, and ill only get more over the next few weeks I'm sure. There is always stuff to be trimmed away underneath with a scrog and mine will be no different. I'm much more concerned with the falling pH everyday

oh and to answer your Q stickyickyicky, smell isn't that bad. I have an air purifier in the room and i put a carbon filter pad in front of the HEPA filter in it so it not only filters the air but helps with the odor as well ;-)

 

[bbing]

tame those bitches !

Dude I hear you. Those can be weildy suckerz. Thats why I like my little Agent Orange Hybrid. She's about 70% Sat but really takes to training w/o stretching in protest to every fucking bat of an eye like super tropical Sativas and Haze derivitives. Xnode spacing baby.

I have to say you are focused on the most critical element of your grow at this point your water chemistry. Its not like you can shrink the stretch once it occurs anyway.

I dont know what the general consenses is re: veg time, the longer I veg the longer my flower time will have to be to finish correctly. You better think about flippin' soon.

Skrappie, LMAO, i can relate. I have a few with 5:00 o'clock shadows as well, but get on it early and the energy of the plant is better directed elsewhere. Sometimes I leave the lower scrub if I am going to attempt to reveg and cut down right above it.