Diary PCBuds mini-grow

[Chevy cHaze]

Doing much better eh?
Is that nute burn on the tips?


Keep it up Amigo!!!
CC

 

[PCBuds]

Doing much better eh?
Is that nute burn on the tips?

I think so but I don't think it's recent.

I had been using 1/2 tsp of nutes with tap water but with 1/4 tsp and CalMag, I still had a pretty high PPM.

I just started using my PH and TDS meters.

Keep it up Amigo!!!
CC

Thanks.

I'm going to do it by the book from now on.
I just have to get used to the procedures until it becomes routine.

 

[SuperBadGrower]

good stuff!
You know, I see plenty of people creating imaginary problems when they go this route. Endlessly chasing PH this PH that, EC this n that. Oh no, the runoff is 0.3 PH lower, let me take immediate action. good way to fuck it all up. Even Canna warns people against this lol. People start tinkering, think they know better than the plant, they put doubts to a hydroponic nutrient recipe (and method) which is not only almost universal but also has been in use for decades.

Religiously measuring runoff (edit: in a non-recirculating system, lol) is a good way to waste time in my book. Learn to set your inputs correctly and drain that mother well. you should never have issues. Learn your water and your products... eventually you'll only need to measure to check yourself. Because you'll already know that (X) ml/gal of PH down decreases the PH by (Y) when you have a nutrient mix of (Z) EC in the tank. Just some 2c

If I have a DTW setup, in week 5, the plants looking fantastic. Input is 5.7-6.1 PH... but the runoff is 6.4? Well guess what, I don't give a damn, hell I don't even measure it. Thats why it is drain to waste. It's a system so simple that if you just do what the name says (drain it to waste) you can hardly fuck it up. Online you will find bro science written by people who think they can explain exactly what happens in the medium when the runoff PH or EC is 0.2 lower.

Another one, plants appreciate consistency. So if you have a small amount of plants and you make new water every day, or every 2-3 days, it's not going to help if you are undisciplined. "My plants look like they need X. I gave them X" then 2 days later "they look like they need Z, I gave them Z" It doesnt work like that. You give them X and Z, and also A through Y, every time you water. You never have to play Guess The Deficiency with the online bro scientists when your plant gets everything it needs all the time.
A good way to approach this is, if your grow uses 4 gallons of water per week, make 4 gallons of water. Then you can only mess with it once every week. You'll force yourself to try to do it right. You dont want to be the guy dropping 4ml of A&B in a stupid jug of water every day, that gets real old real fast.
Of course 4 gal warms up to room temperature quite a big quicker than, say, 30 gals.

Feel like I wrote this before, getting a Deja vu feeling

 

[PCBuds]

Great post.
Thanks.

I want to get back to being a lazy farmer. Lol

If I start spending more time, effort, and money on a plant than I spend on my cat or myself, then I need to check my priorities. Lol

l will need to study the numbers at the start though, ... Just to set a baseline.



It does bug me to send all that expensive nute solution down the drain, as well as the wastewater from my new RO filter, but I can pour the nute solution on my outdoor plants and run the RO wastewater into the toilet tank.

 

[PCBuds]

A good way to approach this is, if your grow uses 4 gallons of water per week, make 4 gallons of water...
Of course 4 gal warms up to room temperature quite a big quicker than, say, 30 gals.

Can I mix up a weeks worth of solution at time.

Does anything "spoil" or go funky if it sits, if I'm using chemical nutes.

The maximum I've used in the closet is less than 2 liters a day.
Mixing up 15 liters at a time would be good.

I didn't have runoff with my SIP container so now I might need around 3-4 lters a day max.?

 

[indagroove]

good stuff!
You know, I see plenty of people creating imaginary problems when they go this route. Endlessly chasing PH this PH that, EC this n that. Oh no, the runoff is 0.3 PH lower, let me take immediate action. good way to fuck it all up. Even Canna warns people against this lol. People start tinkering, think they know better than the plant, they put doubts to a hydroponic nutrient recipe (and method) which is not only almost universal but also has been in use for decades.

Religiously measuring runoff (edit: in a non-recirculating system, lol) is a good way to waste time in my book. Learn to set your inputs correctly and drain that mother well. you should never have issues. Learn your water and your products... eventually you'll only need to measure to check yourself. Because you'll already know that (X) ml/gal of PH down decreases the PH by (Y) when you have a nutrient mix of (Z) EC in the tank. Just some 2c

Another one, plants appreciate consistency. So if you have a small amount of plants and you make new water every day, or every 2-3 days, it's not going to help if you are undisciplined. "My plants look like they need X. I gave them X" then 2 days later "they look like they need Z, I gave them Z" It doesnt work like that. You give them X and Z, and also A through Y, every time you water. You never have to play Guess The Deficiency with the online bro scientists when your plant gets everything it needs all the time.
A good way to approach this is, if your grow uses 4 gallons of water per week, make 4 gallons of water. Then you can only mess with it once every week. You'll force yourself to try to do it right. You dont want to be the guy dropping 4ml of A&B in a stupid jug of water every day, that gets real old real fast.
Of course 4 gal warms up to room temperature quite a big quicker than, say, 30 gals.

Feel like I wrote this before, getting a Deja vu feeling

I agree with most of that, except the part of checking the EC of runoff. Unless you are working with a strain you have grown multiple times in the past, checking runoff EC is a great way to determine how light or heavy to feed a specific strain. That said, I agree that checking ph of runoff is a waste of time.

Great post.
Thanks.

I want to get back to being a lazy farmer. Lol

If I start spending more time, effort, and money on a plant than I spend on my cat or myself, then I need to check my priorities. Lol

l will need to study the numbers at the start though, ... Just to set a baseline.



It does bug me to send all that expensive nute solution down the drain, as well as the wastewater from my new RO filter, but I can pour the nute solution on my outdoor plants and run the RO wastewater into the toilet tank.

I always collect my runoff and use it to feed my outdoor plants. My tomatoes are looking especially amazing this year.

 

[indagroove]

Can I mix up a weeks worth of solution at time.

Does anything "spoil" or go funky if it sits, if I'm using chemical nutes.

The maximum I've used in the closet is less than 2 liters a day.
Mixing up 15 liters at a time would be good.

I didn't have runoff with my SIP container so now I might need around 3-4 lters a day max.?

I mix up 15-gallons at a time, 3 5-gallon buckets to be specific. It doesn't go bad, but I also add H2O2 to keep it sterile. I buy the strong 35% H2O2 at the local hydro store for around $30/gallon, and use it at a rate of around 2ml/gallon.

 

[indagroove]

Great post.
Thanks.

I want to get back to being a lazy farmer. Lol

I hear you there. One thing I've found that allows me to be lazy when I want to be lazy, is doing the work on the backend in terms of set-up. Once you have an autowater system set up and dialed in, you can potentially not look into your grow room for a week, while the grow just does it's thing.

Years ago, I had a scheduled family camping trip in the middle of a grow cycle, and wasn't sure what to do. I considered inviting my grow buddy over to tend to the grow for a week, but that seemed like a lot of work to ask him, and he didn't know my specific style, etc.. Anyway, that's when I decided to do it right and make it automated. That particular situation, I set up a large res and drain, and it was all good for a week. Came back from camping, and the plants were all happy as can be, and a week closer to harvest. Money.

 

[SuperBadGrower]

I agree with most of that, except the part of checking the EC of runoff. Unless you are working with a strain you have grown multiple times in the past, checking runoff EC is a great way to determine how light or heavy to feed a specific strain. That said, I agree that checking ph of runoff is a waste of time.



I always collect my runoff and use it to feed my outdoor plants. My tomatoes are looking especially amazing this year.

Yeah man, good point! I agree EC runoff is informative
& Depending on the medium it's really essential to keep an eye on it. Should have mentioned this.

I would add, the runoff EC is kinda complicated by the medium CEC, which wildly differs even between some hydroponic media... e.g. most people's favorite Coco is kind of misleading in that regard.

Sometimes you can be totally shocked, like when your input is 2 EC and the output is 1 EC. I have experienced those kind of surprises with different media... I'm sure many of us have.. the jist of what I learned with that is, if you just run enough nutrient water through it, it seems like you'll be OK 95% of the time! (Just flush/ "reset" it as close to your input as you can)

 

[SuperBadGrower]

Does anything "spoil" or go funky if it sits, if I'm using chemical nutes.

Exactly that's the beauty of it, they are stable in water and stay clean. unlike many organic inputs which indeed go funky after 24-48h. BTW "chemical nutes" makes it sound really bad haha, it's mostly just minerals. Its not like they synthesize it in a lab.

So yeah, important thing is to be wise about which products you use. Many "boosters" include things which gunk up a reservoir. Additives like root stimulant (seaweed or kelp, what was it) are a guaranteed mess of course. There are products I'd like to try but don't, simply because I like to keep my water as long as possible, and also keep my stuff as clean as possible without too much effort.

And yep peroxide as Indagroove said, also bleach, dish soap. Some sand for containers that you can close & shake like bottles or sprayers. Make it a habit to clean stuff once every 2 weeks or so.

So many sprayers I've thrown away because the foliar stuff ruined them after I was too lazy to clean them out within a day or 2. Hahah


edit: BTW you might wanna scale down on the pots a bit. If youre gonna go with coco, the plants really perform best when the medium is well-rooted, and you can water at a higher frequency. Ideally you'd water multiple times per day but you can still have a totally fine coco grow by watering every other day. A 2x2 size plant in a 1 gallon will need less frequent watering than the same size plant in a solo cup.

 

[PCBuds]

This is what I'm intending for my next grow.







A milk crate in a tote.
I intend to just siphon off the runoff.

The crate measures 12" X 12" X 10 1/2" deep.

I intend to put 2"-3" of sterilized clay pellets at the bottom of the crate, so 12" X 12" X 7 1/2"-8 1/2" of coco and perlite.
So, 1.47 cubic feet or 4.7-5.3 US gallons of coco/perlite (17-20 liters).


The tote won't fit in my closet right now so I'm going to cut it down and leave 5"-6" of walls.



I'm kinda drunk right now so I bought a special tool to cut the tote.
I added a bunch of cat treats to bring me over $35 so I get free shipping. Lol

My cat will like that.








The cool part is that I can go back to a SIP design if I let the tote fill up with runoff...

I can keep an eye on the PPM's and PH and drain/ flush it as required.


I could have something like this going on in the closet. Lol

 

[PCBuds]

I've got these options for cutting the tote, but the scissors just won't cut it, (note the pun. Lol), the snips are from the dollar store, and I might get all buzzed up and cut a finger off with my power tools. Lol

 

[PCBuds]

Gratuitous cat pictures...

 

[PCBuds]

My closet plant is starting to look frosty...

 

[SuperBadGrower]

Mate instead of cutting totes and milk jugs why don't you just use a square plant pot? You dont need clay pebbles. Chuck 100% coco in a pot, follow the instructions and you can have success. (This is what all coco makers/sellers recommend) The more shit you introduce to your systems, the more problems you invite. Like if i'm honest, the reason I think your indoor looks bad compared to the outdoor may (partly) be because it's in an environment of uncleanliness & pathogens.

what do you see happening here?







These pics will have guys mumbling some stupid shit about "NUTEZ", "PH", EC, lights, this & that. Well actually this is the progression of ROOT ROT. it is a plant suffering cause it's in an environment which promotes the growth of everything that is bad for the plant.

(edit: the example is from a little hempy where the drain hole got clogged)

I agree now, the plant in the box is looking better than before. See you took the right action there

 

[PCBuds]

Mate instead of cutting totes and milk jugs why don't you just use a square plant pot?

I need the tote to catch the runoff.

Regardless of what container I use, I need to catch the runoff.

The milk crate is basically a square plant pot but it is elevated above the runoff so it won't be sitting in the flushed nute solution.

The entire bottom of the crate will breathe nicely but I want to put a screen across the bottom with some clay pellets so the coco doesn't get washed through it.


This is how I did my outdoor plant.








I'm not going to mess around with a SIP type approach and standing water. I just like how I could easily convert it to SIP with a reservoir.

 

[SuperBadGrower]

Oh it could/would work fine, no doubt
It's just way easier to have a decent pot & saucer/tray



You could put it on a DIY table like that, little tray underneath. After watering you would take out the tray and dump the water. it just looks like a pain in the ass to have a plant in its container, inside another container, that you have to take out every time you water it, to dump the waste water. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding the system.

 

[PCBuds]

... After watering you would take out the tray and dump the water. it just looks like a pain in the ass to have a plant in its container, inside another container, that you have to take out every time you water it, to dump the waste water.

I can leave the crate in the tote, (which will be trimmed down to have about 4" walls), then just siphon off the wastewater.


The whole thing will be on a small table to give me some drop for siphoning.
The bottom of the crate will be raised about 2" so I don't have to completely drain the tote.

 

[PCBuds]

My window plant is filling in nicely.








My closet plant is looking great too.
Her leaves have darkened right up and she looks quite healthy now.

I've started PHing my nute solution and they are both responding and really taking off.

 

[PCBuds]