Outdoor Hydroponic Rooftop Grow - Recirculating DWC - No Airstones & No Medium!

[Crazy Chester]

Week 5 of flowering update (part 1)

Week 5 of flowering update (part 1)

Here's a little update on the roof garden. The plants continue to stay in flower and I'm confident with the steadily declining daylight hours it will continue to flower, despite there still being 14+ hours of daylight.

After cruising through the first two months in my veg stage - two problems started hitting me right after I started tarping: mosquitos in the reservoir and moths/caterpillars and grasshoppers outside of it on my plants.

I solved the former with a bunch of mosquito dunks in my reservoir (plus sealing a hole in the cover of one of my planters) and the latter with my IPM spraying (alcohol, sal suds and cold pressed neem oil).

Here's how they are looking:

First up, Fire OG -

 

[Crazy Chester]

Week 5 of flowering update (part 2)

Week 5 of flowering update (part 2)

Super Lemon Haze -

 

[Crazy Chester]

Week 5 of flowering update (part 3)

Week 5 of flowering update (part 3)

Last, but not least, Capstone -



This thing is 4 feet wide, 5 feet long and 3 feet tall!

 

[Crazy Chester]

A few weeks later...

A few weeks later...

I think I should have tarped them for three weeks instead of two - they didn't re-veg, but, I think flowering went on pause for a couple weeks, before resuming.

Here's how the plants look now:

Fire OG:



Super Lemon Haze:



Capstone:

 

[Crazy Chester]

Closeups

Closeups

Fire OG:



Super Lemon Haze:



Capstone:

 

[Crazy Chester]

Trouble With Super Lemon Haze

Trouble With Super Lemon Haze

Only four days after the last update, Super Lemon Haze now looks like this and appears to be critically ill:





Too bad - it was just starting to bud out nicely:



And has a robust candelabra like skeleton (see 1/2" pipe for size):



But her roots must be suffering and can no longer maintain the canopy, which is strange because she shares a reservoir with Capstone and Fire OG, who are doing fine.

 

[Crazy Chester]

Rooftop Capstone Update

Rooftop Capstone Update

Capstone is slowly beginning to make flowers and has a tangy stink to her:

 

[Crazy Chester]

Rooftop Fire OG Update

Rooftop Fire OG Update

Fire OG is starting to fatten up:



And she's making some trichomes:

 

[rootfingers]

Very happy to run across this thread. We have come so far from the days of hiding in basements, attics, and computer cases. Kudos to Crazy Chester for his willingness to experiment and push the envelope of traditional hydro thinking. This is progress, thank you.

 

[DARKSIDER]

Changed a lot since my last visit Crazy Chester shame about the slh but the others are getting ready to take off

 

[Crazy Chester]

Changed a lot since my last visit Crazy Chester shame about the slh but the others are getting ready to take off

Hi Darksider - strange dichotomy this - considering they share the same reservoir...

 

[Crazy Chester]

Very happy to run across this thread. We have come so far from the days of hiding in basements, attics, and computer cases. Kudos to Crazy Chester for his willingness to experiment and push the envelope of traditional hydro thinking. This is progress, thank you.

Thanks for the kind words, rootfingers. Yeah, I figure why not "push the envelope" - I just wouldn't know what would happen if I didn't try.

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

The wilting is a sign the roots are damaged and not uptaking oxygen properly. Does this plant get more sun than the other? More sun at some point in the day than the other plant? Carefully check the roots with a gentle tug, and they should stay firmly attached. Any softness will show the roots are rotting.

What've the pH changes been like the last few days?

 

[Green81]

Great journal Chester. Really good info.


G81

 

[Crazy Chester]

The wilting is a sign the roots are damaged and not uptaking oxygen properly. Does this plant get more sun than the other? More sun at some point in the day than the other plant? Carefully check the roots with a gentle tug, and they should stay firmly attached. Any softness will show the roots are rotting.

What've the pH changes been like the last few days?

High Douglas - PH has been rock-steady throughout. As to sun, she probably receives the least of the three (barely), simply because she is located between the others, but I suppose there might be a slight chance that she's more light sensitive than the others and may be suffering from sun burn.

I haven't looked at the roots, because, like you, I'm almost convinced that's what the problem was. I think the larvae I had in the res a couple weeks ago may have liked SLH's roots way better than it liked the others.

Now, since that time (and after I hit the res with nematodes), I'm seeing the very top leaves of the colas start to stand up - which is the only reason I haven't pulled the plant by now. That has to be because the roots are recovering.

So, it seems to me to be a race now between the recovering roots and the cellular damage the vegetation is going through in the meantime.

I'm figuring 50/50 odds on her survival at this point.

 

[Crazy Chester]

Great journal Chester. Really good info.


G81

Thanks, Green!

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

Yep, makes perfect sense to me. Even cannabis roots are different between strains, at least according to the taste bud of insects. I'm loving the nematode idea, and kicking myself for not applying them early this spring around my own place.

As long as the bugs are gone, perking up that quick is a sign she'll recover well enough to keep.

 

[Crazy Chester]

Roof Garden Update!

Roof Garden Update!

Hi Curtis - I delayed my response to you because I was hoping to bring you good news a few days later about the SLH - but, alas, it went the other way and is now all but dead:



But, Fire OG:







And Capstone:



Are progressing nicely...

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

It happens, and glad you have backups. Most likely the bugs ate through too much of the base of the stem. Once the plant is unable to keep liquids moving it's a slow decline to the crispy state. Been there with it being the only plant before... lol

Keep on trucking!

 

[Crazy Chester]

It happens, and glad you have backups. Most likely the bugs ate through too much of the base of the stem. Once the plant is unable to keep liquids moving it's a slow decline to the crispy state. Been there with it being the only plant before... lol

Keep on trucking!

Yup - what you described is exactly what I think happened.

But, SLH may have another chance outdoors this year. I may put the mom I've got bushing out right now into a bubbler in a different spot on the property. I also have an SLH clone that I just transplanted into soil, so, I think I'll get a chance to sample her at maturity sometime later this year.