Diary PCBuds mini-grow

[PCBuds]

Keep your EC low, and the fluid should flow freely enough to keep the stomata moist.
... If the plant can provide enough moisture, the air can be dryer.

Yup.
That's what I've found...

This is right after opening the door.
She has been humidifying her environment .

This is after having the door open for a while.

I'm currently way off into the red on the VPD chart, but my plant looks awesome!!

 

[PCBuds]

 

[PCBuds]

Just before lights on...

 

[PCBuds]

My reservoir was down to 1/2" of water so I tested it...

Then I made my new 2,500 ml batch of solution with 900 ml of tap water and tested it...

Then I poured the solution in at the stalk and tested the reservoir again...

So being as the PH was still kinda high in the reservoir, I will make my next solution with just RO water to bring down my PH a bit more.

 

[aliceklar]

So being as the PH was still kinda high in the reservoir, I will make my next solution with just RO water to bring down my PH a bit more.

Good plan. How far down will you pH the RO water?

 

[PCBuds]

Good plan. How far down will you pH the RO water?

I'm not sure.
I whipped up my batch for tomorrow with just RO water and this is what I've got.

I'm considering using it the way it is.
The PH changed very little when I fed the 5.89 in to the plant, so I don't think that it's too far to feed in some 5.11?

I'll think about it.

I remember trying to lower the PH in the planter with a previous plant, and I had to water the solution through about 4 times and kept PH-ing it down and washing it through again.

I remember washing in some 4.** something solution to try to get the PH down.

The PH was stubborn.

 

[f2obsession]

Are you using pure RO water to make your feeding solutions, or do you mix it with some tap water?

 

[PCBuds]

Are you using pure RO water to make your feeding solutions, or do you mix it with some tap water?

I was using a 50/50 mix of RO and tap to leave my solution at about 6.0 PH, but my runoff/reservoir has drifted really high.

I just made a feeding solution with only RO water, and the PH is at 5.11.
I think I'm going to use it.
I may have lockouts?

I still don't know if I have a soil or Hydro grow, but I want to bring down the PH either way.



This is another PH chart.

I think I need to be between 5.4 and 6.9 to be in the right range for my soil/soiless/transitional grow or whatever, but it might be too high.(and so might I. lol)

I'm going to feed her the 5.11 tomorrow...

 

[PCBuds]

I just went outside for a smoke and when I came back in I noticed that my house really smells like weed. lol

I don't care.
It's legal in Canada and in Ontario we can grow 4 plants for recreational purposes.

 

[aliceklar]

I was using a 50/50 mix of RO and tap to leave my solution at about 6.0 PH, but my runoff/reservoir has drifted really high.

I just made a feeding solution with only RO water, and the PH is at 5.11.
I think I'm going to use it.
I may have lockouts?

I still don't know if I have a soil or Hydro grow, but I want to bring down the PH either way.

This is another PH chart.


I think I need to be between 5.4 and 6.9 to be in the right range for my soil/soiless/transitional grow or whatever, but it might be too high.(and so might I. lol)

I'm going to feed her the 5.11 tomorrow...

Given how high the pH raises by the time it gets to runoff, I cant imagine that input at 5.1 would be an issue. Its not low enough to burn the plant, and the pH will drift up as the new input mixes with the existing liquid in the medium... which should put you at the sweet spot. Maybe longer term increase the % of RO in your regular waterings? I used 4.9 as a flush on some of my plants when I had high pH issues and they came back fighting. Good luck!

 

[PCBuds]

My planter was down to 1/2" of water again so I took another reading...

And the solution I fed the plant...

And the reservoir after feeding the plant...

So the PH is slowly coming down.
I'll just keep using straight RO water for my solution now.
It should come down to around 6.0 PH eventually.

Meanwhile, I'm not really concerned about it.
The plant seems fine to me but having a lower PH is probably better.

 

[PCBuds]

I bought a spring scale so I can weigh my plant right after I chop it.
I want to see how much weight is lost as it dries.

I kinda think that my plants don't have much water in them compared to most people that seem to have 2/3rds water.

I want to hang the whole plant to dry before I go through it and trim it up so now I can weigh it just after cutting it and again after about 14 days of drying.

 

[aliceklar]

So the PH is slowly coming down.
I'll just keep using straight RO water for my solution now.
It should come down to around 6.0 PH eventually.

Are you just topping up the old res, or are you ditching the old high-pH stuff first? Not sure I understand the setup of your planter/reservoir. Does the planter have a net or mesh bottom with roots hanging through to a res underneath? I see there's a floaty-meter (lol cant remember what theyre called). Anyway, stoned ramble... I just meant to say (sorry if I misread) that it would go quicker if you get rid of the old stuff before flushing with new (but not sure how feasible this is with your setup)

 

[PCBuds]

Are you just topping up the old res, or are you ditching the old high-pH stuff first?

I'm just topping up the reservoir.
I used to pour the new solution down the tube to bottom feed the plant, but now I pour the new solution in at the stalk figuring it can wash through the media and spread the nutes around.

Not sure I understand the setup of your planter/reservoir. Does the planter have a net or mesh bottom with roots hanging through to a res underneath?
I see there's a floaty-meter (lol cant remember what theyre called).

This is my planter after I switched from my Coleman Cooler to the round pail.

I have the bottom 3rd of the planter filled with clay pellets. They are round spheres about the size of a nickel. They are very light and porous and float in water.

I put an old minnow net on top of the pellets with the coco coir/perlite on top of that.
The minnow net keeps the media from falling in amongst the pellets, but the roots can grow through the net to get to the bottom of the planter.

The bobber is just a cork with a stick stuck in it. lol

Anyway, stoned ramble... I just meant to say (sorry if I misread) that it would go quicker if you get rid of the old stuff before flushing with new (but not sure how feasible this is with your setup)

It would be easy enough to siphon off the remaining solution in the reservoir, and that's how I get my samples to test, but I just don't bother.
Partly because I'm lazy, partly because I don't want to waste my nutes, and partly because flushing nutrients down the drain isn't good for the environment.

So I'm not only stuck somewhere between a soil and soiless setup, I'm also stuck between a Drain To Waste setup and a Recirculation setup.

All I really know is that things seem to be working very well for me regardless of the multitude of things that I'm doing wrong. lol


I've found that PH doesn't seem to make a whole heap of difference one way or the other, and I've grown a few plants without knowing the PH at all because my meters were useless and I couldn't get a hang of how to read the colors of the PH test drops.


So I'm in no big rush to adjust my PH.
I'll just do it slowly by using RO water for now and watch for a change.


I guess I could get salt buildup in my media, but I haven't really noticed anything with my plants.
I think the fact that I have soil mites and other bennies in my media as well as 34 liters of media and pellets helps keep things from getting too salty or rich or out of wack.

 

[goingrey]

I used to pour the new solution down the tube to bottom feed the plant, but no//w I pour the new solution in at the stalk figuring it can wash through the media and spread the nutes around.

Have you noticed any difference?

Looking great btw, really making use of that space.

 

[PCBuds]

Have you noticed any difference?

It's kind of hard to say because every plant is different.
I was trying to do everything the same with this plant as with the big plant that I grew before, and that included feeding from the top.


One thing I do remember though is that when I was growing a plant a while back, I was bottom feeding and when I started adding nutes, my plant ended up deficient and was very pale.

I realized that the nutrients weren't getting to the roots even though my planter is wicking up nutrients from the bottom but it took too long to get to the plant, so I started feeding from the top down to get nutrients and proper PH to the roots.

The main reason that I wanted to bottom feed was to keep the surface of the soil dry to help keep mold away as well as the root eating flying bugs.

Now that I'm top feeding, I have the majority of the surface dry with just a 3 inch "moat" that fills with water.

I don't have any mold growing on the surface now, and I think that is because of my low humidity?

Interestingly, the water drains down through the soil all most as fast as I can pour it in.
It only takes about 20 seconds to pour in 2 liters of water.

The coco coir/perlite do a great job of aerating and the water just pours right through it.

The bobber starts to rise just seconds after I start to add water.

Looking great btw, really making use of that space.

Thanks

I've got a lot of plant crammed into a pretty small box. lol

 

[aliceklar]

I'm just topping up the reservoir.
I used to pour the new solution down the tube to bottom feed the plant, but now I pour the new solution in at the stalk figuring it can wash through the media and spread the nutes around.

...
It would be easy enough to siphon off the remaining solution in the reservoir, and that's how I get my samples to test, but I just don't bother.
Partly because I'm lazy, partly because I don't want to waste my nutes, and partly because flushing nutrients down the drain isn't good for the environment.

So I'm not only stuck somewhere between a soil and soiless setup, I'm also stuck between a Drain To Waste setup and a Recirculation setup.

All I really know is that things seem to be working very well for me regardless of the multitude of things that I'm doing wrong. lol
...
So I'm in no big rush to adjust my PH.
I'll just do it slowly by using RO water for now and watch for a change.

I guess I could get salt buildup in my media, but I haven't really noticed anything with my plants.
I think the fact that I have soil mites and other bennies in my media as well as 34 liters of media and pellets helps keep things from getting too salty or rich or out of wack.

yeah, whatever you are doing, the plant speaks for itself! Why make work? I've been kinda horrified by the volume of waste water created by drain-to-waste too, and was pouring it into one of my compost bins (with lots of shredded paper), but theres too much. So far I'm a fan of the coco/perlite combo, but pure perlite is a pita.

 

[PCBuds]

... So far I'm a fan of the coco/perlite combo, but pure perlite is a pita.

I reuse all my soil too. I just remove the stalk and roots.
I only have to add about 2 liters of new soil/media to the batch, so I don't have to deal with the perlite too much.

I don't have to deal with disposing of all my soil or buying new stuff either then.

 

[Sampas92]

How is the big girl buds?

 

[PCBuds]

How is the big girl buds?

She's looking good!!
I think that I may have a 1 pound plant?