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Diary PCBuds mini-grow
- Thread starter PCBuds
- Start date
SuperBadGrower
Active member
Photography is such a challenge under those lights. Great pics of the window plant! Reiko's stuff looking good
PCBuds
Well-known member
My camera doesn't have manual focus.
I can "lock" the focus in on a blurry picture if I want but that sucks.
I'm trying to get a picture that shows the colors that I see, so I post pictures with and without the flash.
I could take the plant outside for an accurate color rendering, but it's snowing. Lol
Your signature says this...
"3 out of 3 germinated!!! Fantastic strain! 5 Stars"
Are you talking about the seeds you bought from Purple City Genetics?
Sounds like you did better than I did.
Did you use the shot glass method? Lol
PCBuds
Well-known member
I decided to remove the hanging light and fire up the 2 footers at the top of the closet.
The ceiling strips are running at just over test current.
I didn't use the ceiling strips for the entirety of my last plant.
It was too damn short. Lol
I'm excited to fire them up again.
I like the parabolic nature of how I squeezed them in there. Lol
I hope she fills the closet.
The ceiling strips are running at just over test current.
I didn't use the ceiling strips for the entirety of my last plant.
It was too damn short. Lol
I'm excited to fire them up again.
I like the parabolic nature of how I squeezed them in there. Lol
I hope she fills the closet.
SuperBadGrower
Active member
Heh, no, it's just the most common type of review on seed sites. It's the least informative kind of review anyone could post. Oftentimes, the seed sites offer a % discount for user reviews.
A common variation is "5 out of 5 germinated! 5 stars. I will of course update this review." -january 2014, never updated, no follow-up
That's really annoying! Impatient people. Anyway, if you write something negative they'll filter it out too.
I haven't popped those PCG ones yet, rightnow I've got some male/female regular seeds from Karma going along side some other stuff. I guess I will make my own, like Reiko and many others.
SuperBadGrower
Active member
Hah! 
Those fuzzy root hairs are normal. that's not to say the roots are healthy or happy sitting in that water though, which is hard to tell.
Those fuzzy root hairs are normal. that's not to say the roots are healthy or happy sitting in that water though, which is hard to tell.
PCBuds
Well-known member
Hah!
Those fuzzy root hairs are normal. that's not to say the roots are healthy or happy sitting in that water though, which is hard to tell.
Yeah, I wonder about that.
I'm thinking that the roots wouldn't grow into the water if it was bad for the plant.
But then again, a plant will grow right into the lights and burn itself.
I wonder how smart the plants really are?
SuperBadGrower
Active member
I wanted to show something about container size,
That is a mother plant in a solo cup ... I think it's about the same size as your plant there. The stems are 100% purple because it's beyond rootbound. Other than that, it's quite healthy from top to bottom.
if you put the food in the water (hydro), you can get away with using a small container. that really helps with avoiding problems of wetness. The beauty of coco/rockwool is that we can keep feeding a rootbound plant.
It's the opposite with an organic method where the nutrients are in the substrate. The roots need a larger volume because wherever they go, NPK depletes.
So right now you have a big volume, feeding hydroponically. But when preparing your mix I believe you added dry NPK. what I mean is, it seems you have the container volume for "soil" but using methods for "hydro".
Nothing wrong with that. Weed doesn't care and will grow... Let that be said. But when it comes to problem diagnosing/fixing I think you make your own life a bit harder mixing methods like that.
just some random thoughts... With autos there are some nuances to keep in mind... some of them, when they get too rootbound in a small container & you transplant too late you can end up with a dwarf plant
Growing photoperiods, I would use a volume of maximum 5 L for your box size. But again the last paragraph can apply ... a smaller pot may produce a smaller plpant if it's an autoflowering one
That is a mother plant in a solo cup ... I think it's about the same size as your plant there. The stems are 100% purple because it's beyond rootbound. Other than that, it's quite healthy from top to bottom.
if you put the food in the water (hydro), you can get away with using a small container. that really helps with avoiding problems of wetness. The beauty of coco/rockwool is that we can keep feeding a rootbound plant.
It's the opposite with an organic method where the nutrients are in the substrate. The roots need a larger volume because wherever they go, NPK depletes.
So right now you have a big volume, feeding hydroponically. But when preparing your mix I believe you added dry NPK. what I mean is, it seems you have the container volume for "soil" but using methods for "hydro".
Nothing wrong with that. Weed doesn't care and will grow... Let that be said. But when it comes to problem diagnosing/fixing I think you make your own life a bit harder mixing methods like that.
just some random thoughts... With autos there are some nuances to keep in mind... some of them, when they get too rootbound in a small container & you transplant too late you can end up with a dwarf plant
Growing photoperiods, I would use a volume of maximum 5 L for your box size. But again the last paragraph can apply ... a smaller pot may produce a smaller plpant if it's an autoflowering one
PCBuds
Well-known member
Wow! I had no idea that you can grow such a big plant in a solo cup.
When I started my closet plant, I reused the "soil" from the previous plant. I didn't add any fertilizer except for 10 Tbsp of garden lime.
There was a bunch of small roots left in the soil, as well as some soil mites and other beni's.
I nuted the previous plant until the end so there were some nutes left in the soil.
I have been watering this plant from the top but only at the stalk, to help keep the surface of the soil dry, and to help wash the nutrients down through the roots and into the media.
When I ran into problems with a deficiency I didn't know what sort of PH I was supposed to have.
I do have some organic matter and bugs in the soil but not very much, so I don't know if I should be at 5.8 or 6.5 or somewhere in between, or if even matters?
I think what I did, with flushing it a few times with a PH'ed nute solution worked well and covered both a deficiency or a PH problem, as opposed to a plain water flush.
I've been PH'ing my nute solution to about 5.7 and the runoff (the solution that drains to the bottom) is reading about 6.4, so I think the plant is getting the proper range to avoid lockout whether my setup is considered either hydro or soil.
I do really like the SIP method because I just have to keep an eye on the water level and just add more when it's low.
I'm pretty much doing the same thing with the window plants, except the reservoir is visible with the window plants.
The only difference now compared to my previous grows, is that I'm watering from the top on all the plants, which I figure is helping to nute the media that may have been depleted by the roots near the surface of the soil.
The window plants have only perlite and coco, so I figure that it counts as 100% hydro.
When I started my closet plant, I reused the "soil" from the previous plant. I didn't add any fertilizer except for 10 Tbsp of garden lime.
There was a bunch of small roots left in the soil, as well as some soil mites and other beni's.
I nuted the previous plant until the end so there were some nutes left in the soil.
I have been watering this plant from the top but only at the stalk, to help keep the surface of the soil dry, and to help wash the nutrients down through the roots and into the media.
When I ran into problems with a deficiency I didn't know what sort of PH I was supposed to have.
I do have some organic matter and bugs in the soil but not very much, so I don't know if I should be at 5.8 or 6.5 or somewhere in between, or if even matters?
I think what I did, with flushing it a few times with a PH'ed nute solution worked well and covered both a deficiency or a PH problem, as opposed to a plain water flush.
I've been PH'ing my nute solution to about 5.7 and the runoff (the solution that drains to the bottom) is reading about 6.4, so I think the plant is getting the proper range to avoid lockout whether my setup is considered either hydro or soil.
I do really like the SIP method because I just have to keep an eye on the water level and just add more when it's low.
I'm pretty much doing the same thing with the window plants, except the reservoir is visible with the window plants.
The only difference now compared to my previous grows, is that I'm watering from the top on all the plants, which I figure is helping to nute the media that may have been depleted by the roots near the surface of the soil.
The window plants have only perlite and coco, so I figure that it counts as 100% hydro.
PCBuds
Well-known member
The window plants are about 21" and 19".
The water level dropped to about 1/4", so I drained it, cleaned the tray, and poured a gallon of new solution in at the stalks.
It was PH'ed to 5.2 and ran out at 6.5, so I think that's just about perfect.
The solution in the media should have a PH below 5.8 for a while to help them absorb the nutes that need a lower PH.
The roots in the solution appear healthy.
The water level dropped to about 1/4", so I drained it, cleaned the tray, and poured a gallon of new solution in at the stalks.
It was PH'ed to 5.2 and ran out at 6.5, so I think that's just about perfect.
The solution in the media should have a PH below 5.8 for a while to help them absorb the nutes that need a lower PH.
The roots in the solution appear healthy.
PCBuds
Well-known member
I've been turning my sidelights up a bit daily and decided to turn them up to max. (to the test current of 350 ma per strip)
I kinda want to hurry up my plant to get her done by my Christmas goal.
She is still stretching and I don't think I'll slow that down any with the side lighting at this point. (Assuming that the side lighting does have an impact on overall height, which I think it does.)
My grow is now drawing 305 Watts including the LED strips, the two power supplies, the circulation fan, and its 12 V transformer, and the exhaust fan.
I noticed yesterday that my timer screwed up and stopped turning the lights off at night.
I don't know how long the lights were on 24/7 but it was for at least a few days.
That's another reason why I like Autoflowers.
A photoperiod plant would have freaked out and hermed with that happening.
I'm really looking forward to growing one of ReikoX's plants in my closet.
They look like they will fit perfectly in there.
I almost feel like chopping the CandyCane now to get one started. Lol
I kinda want to hurry up my plant to get her done by my Christmas goal.
She is still stretching and I don't think I'll slow that down any with the side lighting at this point. (Assuming that the side lighting does have an impact on overall height, which I think it does.)
My grow is now drawing 305 Watts including the LED strips, the two power supplies, the circulation fan, and its 12 V transformer, and the exhaust fan.
I noticed yesterday that my timer screwed up and stopped turning the lights off at night.
I don't know how long the lights were on 24/7 but it was for at least a few days.
That's another reason why I like Autoflowers.
A photoperiod plant would have freaked out and hermed with that happening.
I'm really looking forward to growing one of ReikoX's plants in my closet.
They look like they will fit perfectly in there.
I almost feel like chopping the CandyCane now to get one started. Lol
