Diary PCBuds mini-grow

[PCBuds]

I watered my plant today and drained out the planter first.

I tested the PH of the runoff and it was up to 6.51 so I PHed my new solution to 5.65 and poured it in at the stalk to wash it through the planter.

I tested the new solution that drained through to the bottom and got this.

The PH went up quite a bit, but at least it's below 6.5



I think that I might start draining off the bottom of the planter, at least until the plant is bigger where she can probably deal with the PH change better.

I'm supposed to be draining to waste anyway, and if I consider my planter to be a reservoir setup, I'm supposed to be replacing the reservoir weekly.

I've never really drained the reservoir, and things seemed OK, but maybe I should start emptying it at least periodically.

When the plant is big, she drinks the entire reservoir every day, so there is probably no reason to drain it.



My plant is showing no signs of lockout deficiency or nute burn, so I'm not too concerned about it, especially since I didn't even check the PH or PPM on previous grows.

 

[f2obsession]

In vegetative phase runoff PH is usually about 0,5 higher than the solution ph you water with. I dont really know the details, but it's somehow connected to high nitrogen uptake. As far I know its okay.

 

[PCBuds]

In vegetative phase runoff PH is usually about 0,5 higher than the solution ph you water with. I dont really know the details, but it's somehow connected to high nitrogen uptake. As far I know its okay.

The problem for me was that I wasn't draining the reservoir. I just added nutrient solution when the level was low, and I was bottom feeding, putting the new solution right to the bottom of the planter.

When I first started checking the PH of the "reservoir", it was as high as 7.5 which is way off the chart.
That's when I started top feeding and adjusting the PH to 6.0 and now I put it in at about 5.5 or so, figuring it can float through the range and be at the right PH somewhere in the media.

Interestingly, the plants that I grew without knowing the PH, seemed OK.
I suppose that they would have been better with proper PH, but they did OK.


The one thing that really seemed to make a really big difference for me was the nutrient amount.

I remember having some sort of problem with my plant, and was advised to buy some proper nutrients.
I made a panic purchase of Maxigro and Maxibloom and followed the instructions on the package as best as I could understand them.

It says to apply nutrient once or twice weekly with plain water in between.
But I only water a seedling once a week or less, and I water a full size plant every day.

I mix up my nute solution 2 liters at a time and didn't think that I should apply the nutrients only once a month, so I decided to use the nutrient solution at 1/4 strength at every watering.


It took about a year of growing like that and noticed my plants were pale and not really thriving to finally check out the General Hydroponics website and found the feeding charts.

It turned out that I was only feeding my plants half of what they needed.
As soon as I doubled the nutrients, the plant greened up and really took off.

I realized too, that with my tap water and full strength nutes, my PH was just about perfect at 6.0 so that was just luck that everything worked out to be in the right range.

I've recently rechecked my nute solution and found that the PH was a bit high, so I just tried a 50/50 mix of RO and tap water, and I'll try straight RO water next to see if it comes out at about PH 5.5
I've added Potassium Silicate to the solution since I originally checked the PH and it raises the PH.

I figure that with my huge 34 liter planter, things balance out better and the PH is correct somewhere in the media?
I've got about 1/3 to 1/2 clay pellets at the bottom of the planter and the rest is 50/50 coco perlite, except for the hole I dig at the top and fill with seedling starter mix, which is 60%-70% sphagnum peat.

I still don't know if my planter is considered a soil or soil less grow media? (apparently I need to add clay and sand to the mix for it to count as "soil"? I dunno?)

And I don't know if my planter counts as a drain to waste or a recirculating setup, because I rarely drain the planter?

I figure if I keep my PH somewhere between 6.5 and 5.8 and my nute amounts somewhere in the middle, I should be OK.

These are the two feeding charts...

With the recirculating system, the nutrient amount is double, but you top up the reservoir with just plain water and empty it weekly, so I follow the drain to waste chart.

 

[exploziv]

Peat and/or organic matter is what would make it soil, not clay and sand.

 

[PCBuds]

Peat and/or organic matter is what would make it soil, not clay and sand.

OK, that helps.
So I do have a bit of peat in my media (I dig a hole about 4" across and 5" deep to plant the sprouted seed in un-nuted media), as well as a few small roots from previous plants, because I reuse the "soil".

I think that this plant is looking fine as far as nutrients are concerned, but the leaves look pretty weird, probably because of my low RH?

It still looks lush and happy to me.

She is still growing and is about 14" tall now, but she is looking pretty bushy and squat.
Her leaves are overlapping with each other.

I hope she will get her stretch on soon and spread out her nodes.

I don't want to broil this plant like I did the last one.
I do intend to turn the lights up to max, but I'm going to do it slowly.

She is getting "sleepy" about 2 hours before lights out now and this is her 1 hour after lights on.

She might be ready for an increase in lighting soon?

 

[PCBuds]

Sorry if its a really daft question, but what do the numbers in the body of the chart signify? I understand the vertical axis is temp, and the horizontal RH, with the green band the optimum for healthy plants at diff temp/RH combos, but what is being counted in the body of the chart?

I know what you mean.
It doesn't give the units of measurement, other than temperature/humidity, and I don't know if the numbers are a linear relationship, or if it's like PH where 1 PH decrease is 10 times more acidic and a 2 PH decrease is 100 times more acidic.

What I gather is that around 8.5 is optimal and 0 means that the plant can't transpire at all then the plant will rot.

I feel that I'm on the better red side of the chart where the plant transpires too much, but like f-e mentioned, they have discovered that the stoma can close up (like my old dry lips. lol) and limit the evaporation.

And some plants completely close their stoma at night. (I don't know if cannabis does this or not?)

I have noticed that my leaves are all wrinkly, which I think is the plant trying to limit airflow over the leaf surface to increase the amount of stagnant air around the leaves.

I aimed my circulation fan up over the plant to reduce the wind on the plant to try to help limit evaporation, and I turned off my exhaust fan to help keep moisture in the closet.

I do have my wine bubbling off CO2 in the closet so the plant should have some available.
(although, I have no idea how much. My CO2 meter is a piece of crap. I really need to stop buying junk instruments. lol)

The experiment continues...

 

[PCBuds]

The newer branches that are starting at the nodes are reaching up nicely, suggesting to me that she wants to reach up, but she is getting in the way of herself.

I found a lady bug ...

That's good to see.
I found out that lady bugs can live up to three years if they have something to eat and don't freeze to death during the winter.

It's getting harder to take pictures with a bigger plant.
My focus and color keep floating around and I found out that my phone doesn't allow manual focus.

I can't get in close enough for a close up picture without pestering the plant, so I have to try and zoom while holding the phone really steady.

 

[exploziv]

Most VPD charts are in kilopascals, some have that noted on them. I personally use milibars, cause it's easier for me to display it on my controller and also faster to read and understand it. I worked all my live with bars and mbars when pressure was concerned.
It can't be linear or logarithmic since it varies with the relationship between temp and rh. It's probably a weird sinusoid if you had it drawn. The formula to calculate it is like 50-100 chars long.
And you are not necesary better in the red, cause as you can see, she will do things to limit transpiration that also limit photosyntesis, to avoid drying itself out. At a lower level, the stomatas work less and consume more energy. Inefficient photosyntesis, as I told you before in my posts.

 

[PCBuds]

Most VPD charts are in kilopascals, some have that noted on them.

OK, that makes sense. It's talking about pressure.

I personally use milibars, cause it's easier for me to display it on my controller and also faster to read and understand it. I worked all my live with bars and mbars when pressure was concerned.

I'm used to PSI from my bicycles and cars.
I had a French bicycle once and the tire pressure was in kilopascals and the valve was all weird and different.

I had to go back to the bike shop and get an adapter and found out that I needed 110 PSI. Lol

And you are not necesary better in the red, cause as you can see, she will do things to limit transpiration that also limit photosyntesis, to avoid drying itself out. At a lower level, the stomatas work less and consume more energy.

I meant that if I was in the red, I would rather be in the red on the right side of the chart, because then my plant would maybe be able to do something about it.

But I notice that it's pretty hard to have 100% humidity, and even during the summer where my closet was up to 85% humidity and 93°F, I was still in the green at 8.

Inefficient photosyntesis, as I told you before in my posts.

I guess that I'm far from efficient, but I have a butt load of photons to throw at her. Lol

I don't mind wasting a couple hundred watts on lighting. It's kinda fun. It's like a car with 500 HP. Lol



I didn't like growing in the summer with the AC running all the time.

I spent $30 a month extra on electricity.
My house was fine for me and my cat but I had to try to accommodate a friggen plant. Lol

 

[Sampas92]

Freaky look of her buds

Peace

 

[PCBuds]

Freaky look of her buds

Peace

Yes, but she's my freak, and I still love her.


The older fan leaves look fine except for the serrations being curled under.

I think it's the plant trying to hold a cushion of air under the leaves to slow down evaporation?

Apparently the stoma are on the underside of the leaves.


I just soaked down the rag again.
It's turned out to be a really easy thing to do.

I turned up the lights a smidgen too.

I have a compulsion to pluck a bunch of fan leaves but I'm trying to fight it and just LITFA. Lol



I'm thinking that I may not be able to get a one pound plant this time, so I've changed my goal to 200 grams with No Mold!

Mold has been my most serious enemy.
I've got a bunch of predatory bugs and such to fend off the nasties, so it's just that damn mold this time.

 

[GanjaLion]

Yea the stomata is under the leaf

 

[PCBuds]

Yea the stomata is under the leaf

It's not the science and knowledge that I disagree with when it comes to VDP.

It's the fact that mold likes to grow in higher humidity as well.

I remember killing a sprout/seedling when it got moldy and my last plant ended with mold.

I ended up dunking the main cola in water with peroxide and then it ended up turning a brown color.

Now I've got 40 grams of brown buds.

I'm not too proud of it and I don't really want to smoke it or even give it away.

I might find someone who'll take it, but I probably washed half the trichomes off of it?


Since I switched to LED strips, my buds are really dense and they don't breathe very good at all and the mold can take hold.


If my only trade-off by growing in low humidity is wasting electricity due to lack of efficiency and taking longer to finish, then I'm fine with that if I can avoid mold.

 

[PCBuds]

aliceklar, I thought I'd try to share some info that I think I know.
(Anyone can feel free to correct me or elaborate if necessary. )

I used to use Miracle-Gro because it was cheap and readily available.
For some reason, it doesn't have any calcium or magnesium in it?

I also bought some Schultz's powdered fertilizer (Canadian stuff) and it has no calcium or magnesium either.
(it was $7 for two pounds. I use it for my outdoor plants)

I don't know why there is no calcium or magnesium, other than it is normally in the tap water, and calcium doesn't dissolve very quickly.
This fertilizer is designed to work with a garden hose spayer and it needs to dissolve instantly.

Perhaps gardeners are expected to use lime separately in their soil before planting?

Lime is dirt cheap too. I bought 35 pounds of garden lime for $6 lol.

Garden lime is just calcium, but Dolomite lime has magnesium in it as well, but it is more expensive and harder to find, and epsom salts are dirt cheap too for a magnesium source.

I know that tomatoes have much the same nutrient requirements as Cannibis and need lots of calcium and magnesium.
Perhaps tomato fertilizer has calcium and magnesium in it?



I know that purple stems can be a sign of stress on a plant, although some strains are more inclined to purpling.

In my case the purpling was mostly due to the copious amount of light, and it seems to affect the stems more than the leaves and buds.
I think strain related purpling is the entire plant?


I remember someone saying that increasing the calcium and magnesium can prevent the purpling of the stems, and that other sources of stress can purple the stems as well.

It is possible to overdo it with the calcium and magnesium though.
I remember a guy that poisoned his soil with lime, but he used two cups of it in his soil instead of two tablespoons, so it does take a lot to poison a plant.

I noticed that your seedlings have quite dark purple stems and the leaves look kinda pale, so maybe you are lacking calmag?

I didn't want to post on your thread because I don't necessarily know what the hell I'm talking about and tend to make shit up. Lol



On a related note, my Rolaids experiment didn't work out...

I put a 1000 mg Rolaids in a quart of RO water and it didn't dissolve.

My RO water reads 4 ppm from the filter and the water in the jar only read 26 ppm after a few days, so its not ionizing.

Perhaps if I use vinegar instead of water then PH it afterward, the calcium will ionize? I dunno? Lol

 

[GanjaLion]

Thats the purpose of the chart, if you have high humidity you need higher temps. If you have higher humidity with lower temps you will definitely get mold.

Edit: I also wanted to throw in if your gonna have high humidty/temperature and be operating in that section of the chart, you will need to giver her more light and more nutrients

 

[PCBuds]

Edit: I also wanted to throw in if your gonna have high humidty/temperature and be operating in that section of the chart, you will need to giver her more light and more nutrients

I have the lights turned to about half way, and that's keeping the temperatures lower and the RH higher.

I'll see how the numbers change as I turn up the lights.

I've got lots of light and nutes to throw at her but as f-e mentioned, if my plant is transpiring like crazy, it can suck up too many nutes and I can end up with nute burn, so right now I've been watering down the nutes a bit, and I will keep a close eye on the plant looking for nute burn while I slowly crank up the lights.

She's got lots of big leaves for transpiration, and I've got the wet rag hanging, so we'll see what the RH does as it gets warmer in the closet and the plant gets bigger.

I don't think that it will have the RH drop down to 22% again, and my hygrometers are cheap crap too.

I've had 4 or 5 of them in the closet at the same time (digital and analog) and they were giving wildly different numbers, so just watching the plant is probably my best bet.

 

[aliceklar]

aliceklar, I thought I'd try to share some info that I think I know.
(Anyone can feel free to correct me or elaborate if necessary. )

I used to use Miracle-Gro because it was cheap and readily available.
For some reason, it doesn't have any calcium or magnesium in it?...

I don't know why there is no calcium or magnesium, other than it is normally in the tap water, and calcium doesn't dissolve very quickly.
This fertilizer is designed to work with a garden hose spayer and it needs to dissolve instantly.

Perhaps gardeners are expected to use lime separately in their soil before planting?

Lime is dirt cheap too. I bought 35 pounds of garden lime for $6 lol.

Garden lime is just calcium, but Dolomite lime has magnesium in it as well, but it is more expensive and harder to find, and epsom salts are dirt cheap too for a magnesium source.

I know that tomatoes have much the same nutrient requirements as Cannibis and need lots of calcium and magnesium.
Perhaps tomato fertilizer has calcium and magnesium in it?

I know that purple stems can be a sign of stress on a plant, although some strains are more inclined to purpling.

In my case the purpling was mostly due to the copious amount of light, and it seems to affect the stems more than the leaves and buds.
I think strain related purpling is the entire plant?


I remember someone saying that increasing the calcium and magnesium can prevent the purpling of the stems, and that other sources of stress can purple the stems as well.

It is possible to overdo it with the calcium and magnesium though.
I remember a guy that poisoned his soil with lime, but he used two cups of it in his soil instead of two tablespoons, so it does take a lot to poison a plant.

I noticed that your seedlings have quite dark purple stems and the leaves look kinda pale, so maybe you are lacking calmag?

I didn't want to post on your thread because I don't necessarily know what the hell I'm talking about and tend to make shit up. Lol

On a related note, my Rolaids experiment didn't work out...

I put a 1000 mg Rolaids in a quart of RO water and it didn't dissolve.

My RO water reads 4 ppm from the filter and the water in the jar only read 26 ppm after a few days, so its not ionizing.

Perhaps if I use vinegar instead of water then PH it afterward, the calcium will ionize? I dunno? Lol

Lol no worries I dont mind you giving me advice! I am the destroyer of seedlings Yeah, outdoor gardeners whose soils need it use lime, but there must be lots of calcium floating round the soil eco system in most healthy soils - shells getting broken down and reprocessed by worms, birds perching on hedges or beanpoles and making their contributions, etc. Its just when we put the plants in pots we have to play god, all the things a good soil, sun and rain will just do free of charge. Just keep the soil healthy and the plants grow themselves... heh. Roll on the end of prohibition. Sorry bit rambling today. But yeah, I will try the calmag - I have plenty of seedlings to play with. Thank you dude. Good experiment btw - maybe using an acid like vinegar would help? Or just pH down a little water first. Am intrigued by what has been happening to all the calcium carbonate in my tapwater - are the plants getting any of it, or does it just turn into scale?

 

[GanjaLion]

I've got lots of light and nutes to throw at her but as f-e mentioned, if my plant is transpiring like crazy, it can suck up too many nutes and I can end up with nute burn, so right now I've been watering down the nutes a bit, and I will keep a close eye on the plant looking for nute burn while I slowly crank up the lights.

You dont have to worry about your plants transpiring too much at the moment, your not in that section of the chart. With high temperature and high humidity, thats when you have to worry about maximizing light and nutrients

 

[PCBuds]

Lol no worries I dont mind you giving me advice! I am the destroyer of seedlings

I'm the destroyer of seedlings and full grown plants too.
I remember trying to transplant a two foot tall plant into the ground outside, but only held it a foot off the ground when I flipped the planter upside down.
I snapped it in half. Lol
I suck at transplanting. I like Autoflowers. You're not supposed to transplant them which suits me just fine.

Yeah, outdoor gardeners whose soils need it use lime, but there must be lots of calcium floating round the soil eco system in most healthy soils - shells getting broken down and reprocessed by worms, birds perching on hedges or beanpoles and making their contributions, etc. Its just when we put the plants in pots we have to play god, all the things a good soil, sun and rain will just do free of charge. Just keep the soil healthy and the plants grow themselves... heh.

I remember saving the eggshells of 3 dozen eggs and putting them in my planter. (the Coleman cooler at the time.)
And I bought a pack of chalk at the dollar store and put a bunch of sticks at the bottom of the cooler.
They did dissolve somewhat by the time I dug them up for the next grow.

I threw in some rusty nails for iron, and a few galvanized nails for magnesium and a drill bit for molybdenum.
The grass is always greener over the septic tank, and the garbage dump. Lol

Roll on the end of prohibition.

It's legal in Canada , and in Ontario we can grow 4 plants legally.
No more hiding in the closet. Lol

Sorry bit rambling today.

That's fine.
My entire 331 page long thread is one big run-on sentence. Lol

But yeah, I will try the calmag - I have plenty of seedlings to play with. Thank you dude.

No problem.
I don't want to tell you what you already might know, just tell you what I've tried.
A lot of it hasn't worked.
I grew a 4" tall 1 gram autoflower last summer.

I was actually kinda proud of it. Lol
That was a record for me.

Good experiment btw - maybe using an acid like vinegar would help? Or just pH down a little water first. Am intrigued by what has been happening to all the calcium carbonate in my tapwater - are the plants getting any of it, or does it just turn into scale?

Yeah, I dunno?
And if I PH it back up higher after it's dissolved/ionized, does it precipitate back out of solution?

I'll keep messing around with it...

Meanwhile, I've got a shit load of Calcium and Magnesium. Lol

 

[PCBuds]

You dont have to worry about your plants transpiring too much at the moment, your not in that section of the chart. With high temperature and high humidity, thats when you have to worry about maximizing light and nutrients

I guess if the stoma are closing up enough, it may not be drawing up too much nutrition?

There's no sign of nute burn except for a few spots...

I don't know what this is?
I must have splashed when I was watering the plant?