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OldOne's 2nd cab run - PLL / PPK / Arjan's Haze 3

ImaginaryFriend

Fuck Entropy.
Veteran
Well, build yourself a high-stress grow system that you have to micro-manage...

Quick update: D9 said it was cool if I summarized his thread. I'm halfway through it. (B.T.W. your first post was #402...)
 

ImaginaryFriend

Fuck Entropy.
Veteran
Want to show respect for the originator himself, you know... credit where credit is due.

I guess all of this info has been around for ages (*mistress* has been doing versions of this for years, 'maybe' under different names), but the way he compiled it, documented it, and made it coherent is something most others don't bother with...

I got to jump right in with the simplified system (post #481)... I'd like to say that that's how I'd've done it from the beginning, but the fact is he did do it from the beginning... and documented all of it for anyone with the attention span to follow right along with him.
 

oldone

Member
IF, I find it amazing that a technology thats gotta be literally thousands of years old is kinda being re-discovered. Whats old is new again.

For those of you who are following along wondering what IF and I are talking about;
We have converted to a wick style of growing that is absurdly simple and we are bitching about the fact that it is so simple we are bored. I still find it hard to believe, but the results are hard to argue with. I am having a small problem that appears to be an over-fert but "The Bitch" as I call her is growing phenomenally well. She is my first sativa and I have a lot to learn about them.

Comments anyone?
OO
 

ImaginaryFriend

Fuck Entropy.
Veteran
Well, I've just reviewed all 58 pages of D9s thread...

and

I'm not going to start mine today.

Maybe tomorrow?

Logging off now, but I'm going to order Jacks like I promised.

Best wishes...
 

oldone

Member
Looking great, you could improve it with bending them down to form a more even canopy but nonetheless its looking great.

Thanks Garuda...I've bent and squished and tied down "The Bitch" many many times but she always beats me. My "problem" is that growth is so dense that I cant get into the back without damaging growth in the front. Its something I have to solve for run 3.

Update coming later today, just got home from camping...
OO
 

ImaginaryFriend

Fuck Entropy.
Veteran
OO,

I was poking through your pics and saw your cab layout.

Between grows, can you install a sliding shelf in the left hand side of your cab? Slide the whole system out for access to all sides?

If you choose, you can find a shallower bottom res, plumb it to the bulk res with a little extra pipe for mobility and make make up for the couple of inches of vertical you'll loose when the shelf got installed.

If you do a modular-SCROG the whole system would move as a unit, and you'd still have access to the bottom reservoir.
 

oldone

Member
OO,

I was poking through your pics and saw your cab layout.

Between grows, can you install a sliding shelf in the left hand side of your cab? Slide the whole system out for access to all sides?

If you choose, you can find a shallower bottom res, plumb it to the bulk res with a little extra pipe for mobility and make make up for the couple of inches of vertical you'll loose when the shelf got installed.

If you do a modular-SCROG the whole system would move as a unit, and you'd still have access to the bottom reservoir.

What you dont see in the pics is that I have only 24" or so in front of the cab and thats where my fat ass has to go. Its very cramped in there. So while I could do a slider kind of thing as you suggest it would only allow me to admire my girls from afar.

My "problem" is that The Bitch is just too damn big for the space. My first sativa...live and learn. But the good news is that I have something to tinker with and think about again!

Since I'm into this grow your own meds hobby just for personal enjoyment rather than financial gain, my priorities are stealth then quality. I can see (and appreciate) that you and D9 are taking PPKs to the max. Maybe my niche is the slightly simpler version for those of us where quantity is not a primary concern.

Its gonna be a great ride,
OO
 

oldone

Member
day 57 flower

day 57 flower

day 49...............................day 57


budshots;

I cant find many pistols that are turning brown yet. I wonder if she'll go longer than Greenhouse Seeds 11 week spec (only 21 days away!)


Last week, D9 suggested I drop my EC to 1.2 and I did. I also used that solution to top water with about 2 liters @ 5.7 Ph. I'm not sure if it has made any difference since the earlier noted deficiency is still slowly spreading:



My Jack's has arrived...only 5 days after ordering, very cool. Great news is that the word hydroponic does not appear anywhere on the outside of the box. It is on the packing list which was not disturbed when I received it. I have enough nutes mixed already and with 3 weeks left do I switch or not?

Any sativa experts out there? How does she look?
OO
 

delta9nxs

No Jive Productions
Veteran
OO, i would change it if it's not too much trouble. while your at it pour a gal or two of ro water through the medium. don't worry about ph'ing it.

after draining and flushing add the jack's at ec .8 and the calcinit at ec .5. this will give you ec 1.3 and a ratio of 1/.63. close enough and easy to do with your meter. i believe you said it reads in 10ths.

if it does read in 100ths ec .72 and ec .48 gives 1.2 and a 1/.67 ratio.

either way should work fine. your ph in ro water should be 5.4-5.6. just leave it alone and you should be ok.

the plant looks like it's budding up nicely so i feel this tip display is not too dangerous.

maybe, since you might change out the solution, you might try popping off those brown tips just to see if it reoccurs. looks like you are do for a little DF'ing anyway.

d9
 

ImaginaryFriend

Fuck Entropy.
Veteran
I agree with D9, in that if you flush your media, clean out the damage, and start with Jacks everything is fresh and new again. If there is a nute related problem, that process should correct for it.

With the 3-1-4 ratio you should be fine, but I think I remember the Fatman saying that sativas usually are a little heavier on N than indicas due to their more extensive leaf and branch structures... (Of course, well out of stretch, this should not be much of a problem...) The Fatman always seemed to have access to mad knowledge. Maybe because he studies MJ in a lab environment.

How low key was the packaging from jrpeters? Front step low key, or stay home from work that day low key...?
 

oldone

Member
I think I'm going to let her go guys.

There are thousands of springtails in there and I dont want them to spread. I cant wait for the day that those bucking fugs meet Mr Raid. Unless there's an easy non toxic way to kill them in place. Also I dont have a pump that fits in the ppk rez and I cant move it until I cut her down. Its so close to the floor that a siphon is extremely difficult. I'm kinda trapped between a rock and a hard place.

Besides it will make an interesting experiment to grow a clone under exact same conditions except for nute regime.

Since I have only one plant, where do you guys stand on the great to flush or not to flush debate. If I'm going to do it I'll have to start soon.

Thanks guys,
OO
 

ImaginaryFriend

Fuck Entropy.
Veteran
My feeling on flush is influenced by some linkage Carl C. threw up on D9s thread (here).

Summarized:
I found the Osmocote Plus thread. The search let me find posts by Doc, and then found his method in the 'Un-Lucky Queen' journal.

Summary:
-He grew from seed (he finished single cola plants that were three and a half feet tall).
-He mixed Controlled Release Ferts (CRFs) into his hempys and soil pots.
-He fed one hempy and one soil with Advanced Nutrients connoisseur line without the osmocote plus.
-The CRF's dominated the Advanced Nute's line.
-The osmocote plus showed no yellowing in fan leaves through harvest, an only one plant showed a momentary zinc deficiency. (Harvest times seemed longer than he expected.)
-His observations suggested that the osmotic qualities of the CRF's kept his plants fed at a steady rate of 300-400ppm.
(N.B.: One of the studies he cited showed optimum results with a CRF fed medium and a 300ppm Nitrogen pulse feed...)
-This thesis and method (i.e. consistent even feed of consistent nutes results in extremely healthy plants) is in keeping with the PPK approach.
-With steady, light feedings, he found that he didn't need a flush for clean finished product (i.e. if the CRFs still had food at the end of the cycle, it wasn't negatively affecting the smoke).

Yeah, I just quoted myself.



Fatman7574 over on uk420 (in classic about-to-be-banned-form):

"Duh, it is really more proper to consider why are you even trying to remove the nutrients a plants still needs.

pH balanced water should always be used. PERIOD. All nutrients are available at a pH between 5.5 and 5.8 All nutrients are not available at pH of 7. Ie if some of the nutrients are not available due to the high pH then those nutrients can not be removed.

Now consider nutrient mobility from storage in old plant tissues. If the water is at a pH between 5.5 and 5.8 (some say 6.2) nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are very mobile and can be removed from the large leaves in just a day or two. Magnesium, sulfur and molybdenum are moderately mobile so afirly easy to remove and take just 2 to 4 days with a pH of 5.5 to 5.8 and no reservoir water EC. The other nutrients you will likely never remove with flushing.

So dude your wrong about the pH issue amd all flushes are improper growing methodology and using a flush longer that about 4 days is just flat out ludicrous.

Obviously you are in correct. With a pH of 7.0 the plants roots would try to maintain their pH at the reservoir water at 7.0 As your plants fluids have been maintained at a ph of 5.5 to 5.8 since the beginning why would you now want the roots to now maintain a pH of 7.0. That would simply mean the plants would release only salts that will cause a rise in ph in the plants roots and not a balance of salts based upon those taken up when the pH was 5.5 to 5.8. Nutrient availability is a two way street DUDE. The roots are an osmotic barrier where ionic balances are maintained (equalized). You want the pH in the reservoir to start and equalize both at 5.5 to 5.8 not 7.0

IE the water should be pH balanced to between 5.5 and 5.8 and the water checked daily. If the EC rises dump the water. always keep the pH between 5.5 and 5.8.

That is one is so misguided as to actually flush their plants. A good taste is simply a matter of properly drying and curing the mj buds."

Because your leaves are showing a little something may have been a little off;
And because "nutrient availability is a two way street DUDE":

It might be worth while to run a couple of days of pH'd RO through your plant and res... or just bulk res if that's all you can get to, and monitor any EC shifts in the plant res. The whole nutrient system, from res to media to plant, seeks equilibrium. I don't know if it'll happen fast enough to be relevant, but I'd be curious to watch you watch it.
 

oldone

Member
A very thoughtful post IF as always. Thanks.

I'm going to buy a hand drill water pump so I can deal with the PPK rez. To deal with possible bug migration (latching onto the hose) I thought maybe spraying it with Raid would work. So now I can empty my rez...but should I?

If left alone I would end up with a quantity of meds of x quality. If I change the nutes to remove any feeding variables would my quality go up? Or just quantity?

Another thing puzzles me...Ph. Soil is supposed to be 6.2 to 6.8 while hydro 5.3 to 5.8. Why the difference? Is it the nature of the ferts themselves? If coco's natural Ph is 6.2 and I'm feeding hydro nutes, dosen't this suggest that my ferts are unavailable?

Maybe this is why top watering is so successful. But D9 grew early runs without top watering using the same FNB nutes.

There's something I have not mentioned about The Bitch. She is actually growing through a 2" plastic net pot. I wonder if her roots are choking off.

Still not sure what I'm going to do,
OO
 

ImaginaryFriend

Fuck Entropy.
Veteran
Nice thought on the hand-drill pump. I forgot I used to have one of those... and it was useful. I think I might get another one, as draining my res is a pain in the ass right now. (I only did it after I found out about that nasty NWG hose...)

Personally, I wouldn't use Raid in the draining process. I'd pump out the reservoir. If I was concerned about contamination, I'd mix up 1:50 bleach concentration in a bucket of water. I'd run that through the pump and hose for a little while (prob 30 seconds is enough, but why not two minutes?) back into the bucket. If I wanted really thorough, I could repeat with fresh water. Sterile, and no bugs.

*Should you bother changing it out?*

If the leaves are telling you that there was an imbalance in the system at one point, and you can flush with pH'd water, you will have taken action to address that issue.

You believe that Jacks is going to be a superior food for your girl, otherwise you wouldn't have ordered it. Why not use it now?

If I was in your position, I think I would top water that pretty lady with pH'd water. Lots of run-off (how about pouring through three times the total volume of the pot) once a day for two days. Pump the reservoir out with your drill pump. (I'd be interested in checking the EC, for no other reason that curiosity.)

After two days of that, I'd recharge my medium with some fresh Jacks, fill up my bulk reservoir, and then sit back and watch to see how much she loved it.

If nothing else, it'll give you something to do. You'll feel productive, and your self esteem will improve.

If left alone I would end up with a quantity of meds of x quality. If I change the nutes to remove any feeding variables would my quality go up? Or just quantity?
I think this process would be the best for the health of your lady. In any honest relationship, I think my job is to do the best I can for her, and in return, she'll do the best she can for me. Quality and quantity are the product of our relationship.

EDIT: On the pH question... I think the difference in recommended pH is based on fundamentally different presumptions between the systems.

There are charts that show the availability of a nutrient to a plant's metabolism relative to pH levels. 5.3-5.8 is when most nutes are most available. Generally, hydroponic systems try and deliver pH accessible nutes directly to the root zone for immediate plant up take.

A successful soil grow is usually based (whether the grower knows it or not) on its capacity to host a complicated network of micro-organisms living in a synergistic relationship with the plant. My understanding of soil science is shallow, but essentially, the microbes both feed of exudates from the root zone, and digest complex chemicals into simpler ones that are then available to the plant. The recommended pH levels for a soil grow is higher to maintain an environment in which they can live. And if they're alive, they can break down the chemicals and feed the plant directly, even when the pH is higher than 5.8. When people talk about the forgiveness of a soil grow, it relates (at least in part) to this relationship.
 

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