Repuk indoor (first ACE) run

[repuk]

Thanks Dubi! Yessssss, nothing like being well stashed and assorted on killer genetics for the summer!

Chop time for my Violeta.

I knew there was some spider mites on her, but I was shocked once I pulled her from the tent... aphids too

She doesn't seem to have been affected that much, I sprayed her well into flower... got really beautiful purple buds.

But fan leaves were a mess... buds doesn't seem to be affected but for one slightly webbed cola.

Hope any remaining aphids (not spotted in the buds) and any spider mites migrate while drying...

Day 0 flower:

As Dubi said: Malawi legs, Pakistani leaves.

Today, chop Day.

Main stem was three times fatter. Fat heavy buds from top to bottom.

Stalks felt like rigid plastic, incredibly strong.

Almost trimmed

Scent is incredible, mangoish, similar to my Zam. Yield I'm pretty sure will be around 200 grams. Buds are huge, full of fat purple calyxes, and even white hairs still.

Really impressed with this line. That's the problem with ACE, you want to try them all!

Will be running her again for sure, hopefully paying her a better service (no pests)! This pheno yield (anything Malawish I'd say) performance with training is stellar.

Malawi & Panama
Malawi & Panama are flowering there.

No more indoor plants until I completely erradicate the red mites and aphids.

Dubi do you advise on any product to treat the tent once is empty apart from thorough bleaching?

 

[repuk]

I must admit Neiko's recipe worked! Plants are spotless now!

Thanks Neiko!!

Panama has giant cone shaped buds, Malawi is not far away though nugs are smaller. Incredible, considering the pests. Lots off white hairs emerging all around...

Though having to fight heat and a different problem now: water.

Max temps are 31C now after some adjustments in airflow and power used, running 600W overall now.

Water from the well is unusable right now, sadly people tend to consider these as free resources, and emptied their swimming pools / refilled instead of treating the water from winter. PH is all over the place, stopped caring when EC reached 2.

Water from the tap became noticeably worse, guess due to previous year drought followed by heavy rains and the high consumption in summer.

Requires a lot of ph- to reach proper levels, which also aren't kept over time.

So following Dubi (Master!) advice ordered a R/O system. Got it from online seller an outlet section, 125€ for a 5-stage system with pump and automatic electronic control, around 200L/53gal daily regardless of water source pressure.

Will build a system to automatically have a 200L/53Gal drum (maybe two) automatically and constantly refilled.

This way it will be easy-peasy to have a source of "already-made" optimal water PH for soil (outdoor plants and vegetable garden), and to use it also for the indoor after lowering PH a tad more.

Considering also using a beneficial bacterial flora filter on it. (a small and cheap one for aquariums)

 

[Neiko]

Wow! Beautiful colors on that girl. That's great news on the bugs too!

 

[repuk]

Auto-Top 200L/50G per day RO System

Auto-Top 200L/50G per day RO System

Thanks again Neiko!

Repuk goes Reverse Osmosis

Really, really happy with the RO system outcome.

Market scene
Mine is Yatek brand, but it's based on a NW-RO50-A3QF, by Chinese OEM maker Yuyao Yadong Plastic who seems to manufacture 80% of RO systems; only difference on mine is Yatek fitted a better controller, with auto-flush.

NW-RO50-C1 would be a suitable model for our purpose (with controller + auto-flush).

No need to look for exactly the same, you will be able to find a similar system for less than $150 (including filters and membrane, fittings,) etc... just make sure it has auto-flush, and controller. Most sellers will just rebrand the Yuyao Yadong ones, mix and match some parts between models, etc so don't be worried if you see same system being sold for $100 or $250 or almost $400...

I spent 132€ total, including the aquarium float shutoff valve (7€):, system is completely automated and is able to produce 50gal+/200L+ per day, shutting off automatically when the 200L drum is full. Only drawback so far is the controller seems to have a safety mechanism built in and will stop after purifying 100L non stop... not a big deal, though will look if it can be fixed.

Picking it
Using a system with integrated or "booster" pump is essential, otherwise the ratio of ro/waste water would be off and unpredictable, 1:3, or even worse. I checked this: took two glasses and put one collecting ro and the other waste for a couple minutes; both glasses had the same water volume, so yield is 1:1, i.e. per each 1Gal of RO water, 1 gal of "dirty" water is produced.

The second important thing is Automated control. Thanks to the electronic controller, membrane flush/wash cycles are completely automatic; and most important, it adds the safety of having high/low pressure sensors, which is the basis for the unpressurized reservoir drum float shutoff valve to work (controller will sense high pressure returned from the closed float valve and will shutoff the RO unit automatically).

You won't need the pressurized tank nor the faucet, so look for incomplete kits on offer, returns, kits with no tanks, or scratched tanks, etc to save.

Deploying it
Install the filters in their respective cartridges: first the sediment filter on C, Granular carbon filter on E, Block carbon filter on F.

Install the membrane. The side with two rubber gaskets goes in first.

Mine is a 5 stage system, but I modified it to be a 4 stage one by omitting the fifth, which is usually a carbon filter (P) to enhance taste, which we neither need nor will spend on replacements simplifying the whole setup. Faucet (Q) is not used either, nor the pressurized storage tank/valve (N/M): the reddish shadowed area is omitted.

Modded Assembly

1. Connect water input (1).
2. 1. Instead of connecting the "clean water" membrane output (3) to the 12L pressurized tank (N), membrane clean output (3, after K) goes directly to the drum through an aquarium float valve, which also uses quick fittings (JACO) connectors.
      
   2. Drill the barrel/drum at desired water level, fix the float valve, and connect the hose coming from (3) to it through the quick-fit connector.
3. Leave the quick-fit JACO connector (4, the one going to the faucet) with the shipping plug.
   
4. Connect membrane waste output (2) to the drain, or to a drum if you'll be using that water for yard irrigation, etc.

Done.

Whole "system":

Details

(1) Water input connected, fittings included with kit; use tons of teflon tape and find the best accomodation while being tight:

(3) Shutoff Valve view from outside:

Float Valve view from inside: plastic shim + rubber gasket goes on same side where water is:

Once assembled, you can play with the "Elbow" angle the Float ball makes versus the stem by manually applying force.

Depending on drum "mouth", look and test for strategical placement of the float valve so that is possible to slide a regular bucket inside the drum for quick fills.

Thought on making it smaller with a ping pong ball or similar.

In summary
So to summarize, once the system is started, it will:

1.- Do a membrane Wash/flush cycle
2.- Start producing water
3.- Do a membrane flush cycle each two hours
4.- once open reservoir fills, float valve will shut the output, and the controller will stop the system signaling the reservoir as "Full".


Results
Water out of my tap is PH9 right now, EC 0.4-0.5.

I collect the waste water produced (0.6EC) to water the trees and grass.

The produced RO water is EC 0.05, PH 7.6, barely need to "show" the 60% Nitric Acid bottle to lower the whole reservoir to 6.2-6.5, for the outdoors plants on soil.

I just mixed the first tank using RO for the Panama and Malawi girls; while on previous weeks with tap water I had to use almost 7ml of 60% nitric acid (a no-no on hydro/100% salts with flowering girls!), and PH wasn't stable at all, slowly drifting/raising, this time I needed less than 1/4ml of 60% nitric acid to lower PH of the indoor 100L reservoir to 5.6 stable (only water)... possibly wouldn't need any if I would have mixed the salts first... will see next time.

Really, really happy. I have witnessed what good water produces (managed to pull an almost 100% rain water grow) and ain't looking back...

EDIT in 2020: This system worked fine for almost two years before failing (electronic sensor). While researching, I found you can assemble your own DIY RO system tailored to your growing needs and save money, Posted a howto.

 

[repuk]

Panama & Malawi update

Panama & Malawi update

First let's start acknowledging I lost the markings on the pots due to the heavy spraying, so... I don't know which one is Panama and which one is Malawi.

The one on the left (which I believe is the Panama) smells vaguely to vanilla. Has 5 monster conical tops, that weight so much the whole plant tipped over... on the runoff I strained and propped her, buds don't stop shooting pistils and is starting to foxtail...

The one on the right, which I believe is the Malawi, has packed also serious weight, though bud "mass" is more homogeneously spread along the stalks and aren't that huge.

What I believe is Panamá (sorry for the crossing Malawi Branch)

Sorry for the crappy pic, and beaten up appearance, the girls survived a serious aphid/spider mites infestation in early-mid flower.

 

[Kaskadian]

Lovely plants brother!

 

[repuk]

Thanks Kas! though I'm not that proud, cannot imagine what would have happened if the grow would have been spotlesss...

I almost cull them, but decided to try Neiko's treatment, as had nothing to lose...

It's incredible the amount of egg shells, mites, aphids, etc that went to the tent floor being washed out afterwards (I manually drain the runoff) and the hardness of these genetics!

 

[Kaskadian]

All things considered bro I think you did an excellent job with the difficulties you ran into. Dubi has some killer genetics; damn near bullet proof!

 

[therevverend]

A lesson I've learned. Summer is hot and dry. Mites and aphids love hot and dry. It's easy to bring mites in from outdoor gardens to indoor gardens no matter how careful you are. It's inevitable in fact.
Next time begin treatment early and throughout Veg. Treatment during flowering sucks and is too late.
Tents are especially prone to infestation and hard to cool. No matter how many fans or how much fresh air it'll still be hot. Misting with water every day is a good idea.
Summer really is the time for growing outdoors, winter indoors. I always had a terrible time, pest infestation, hermaphrodites, smaller yields, looser bud structure, difficulty cloning, losing strains, less colorful flowers.
Eventually I figured things out and I'd time things so I'd harvest in May. My next cycle would be set up so I'd begin flowering in September so my harvest would be October or November.

 

[repuk]

Couldn't agree more with you therevverend... learnt several lessons. I'm a perfectionist too, always looking how to enhance the grow.

The mite/aphids problem was there prior to starting the Panama & Malawi grow. I made a terrible mistake pulling the plants outside to take pictures, won't happen again.

Yes, treatment in flower is a no-no... I have always used neem during veg, but will use it regularly up to early flower, specially Neiko's recipe who covers everything: fungus, aphids, mites...

Now that you say misting... I had an idea while assembling the RO system... using that same PE tubing plus pressure misters creating a grid between lights and canopy to control humidity on the big tent by misting. This way I'll be able to mist when humidity asks for automatically, or at will, with better control versus a piezo-membrane humidifier.

Aphids trhive with high humidity and high N levels, two problems I had also... spider mites require dryness and heat... and they appeared when I left the lights too close to the canopy, and went overboard with the circulation / extraction fans.

I plan not to grow indoors next summer... this is my first outdoor year and I'm blasted... took a while to get used to see grasshopper and other typical outdoor damage, but now I think I'm getting the hang of it, and they've fared much better than my vegetables garden, where I'm about to throw the towel: all kind of pests, bugs, birds, invasive weeds... too much for a noob on his first year I'm afraid.

Thinking on a greenhouse in Autumn...

 

[repuk]

Panama and Malawi girls got their reservoir refilled with plain 5.7 PH'ed RO water, which should be their latest.

Completed the 50Gal/200L per day Auto-Top RO System Post with pictures.

 

[repuk]

Panama & Malawi Update

Panama & Malawi Update

Countdown is over for the girls...

Taking into acount the pests, and the heat (32C) I'm speechless how these plants managed to yield like this.

At one point it was either culling them, or applying "drastic" methods... thanks to Neiko recipe I managed to get them to finish.

Malawi

100% Crop:

Thinking on chopping now (milky). I have tons of tolerance and find difficult, even with sativas, to "cheer up". Not prone to paranoia (know how to "pilot" it) either.

Smells exactly like the Guawi: mango/apricot, though less aroma strength, possibly due to the pests.




Panama
Panama looks to be more resistant to spider mites, two of the six or so colas this size (bigger than a XXL fist).

100% Crop

I think she would benefit from an extra week or so?

Aroma: Hints of oily vanilla, pretty much odorless otherwise. Is the first plant I sniff with this terpene!

 

[repuk]

Both Ladies chopped... my bad one of the fans moving air inside had failed, and that paired with the worst heat so far in all summer... 4 of the 6 big cola tops had budrot

No complaints however, this lady yielded a lot, so still got well stashed.

Malawi
I will run her again, had lots of pests issues, but yielded a lot, and is not lacking in potency.

Didn't take pictures of the finished tops, they were way overripe as my previous one.

Smells to oily vanilla, once dried she got a slight incensey overtone.


Panama
Smells to fizzy lemon...

Love the flower structure, reminds me of an inverted grapefruit bunch (of foxtails)

Tops

100% Crop

Well overripe too... but hard to find amber trich.

I will cut them much sooner next time.

 

[dugzy]

Those have yielded nicely by the look of it repuk. You will have a fine menu for autumn and winter.


Once you enter a far orbit how will we bring you back to earth and will you even want to return?

 

[repuk]

2019 Came!!

2019 Came!!

Heheh guess I finally landed! including a month of total abstinence...

Now it´s time to grow some more!

Had some mixups with the tags, so not entirely sure but for the Thai:

- Lower Right: Fem Thai x Panama
- Upper Right: Unsexed Violeta
- Upper Left: Fem Zamaldelica x Kalichina
- Lower Left: Fem Malawi Killer/PCK x Nepal Jam

Tent & Pots were thoroughly bleached. Let's hope for a pest free grow this time.

All lights on: plastic grid SIL, HML, COBs, and HPS.

HPS is set to 275W for now, wanna check temp ranges; will rise it to 400W if temps are too low.

Manual feeding (Canna Coco) for now.

These plants are a month old and were untrained: I transplanted them to 7L pots (coco) crooking them to ease training, LST'd them and set lights to 13/11. Pic taken at day 0 (yesterday).

 

[unnamedmike]

Congrats bro, lovely diy work

 

[dubi]

Hi repuk friend

Nice to see you back in action. Hope your jars did welcome you well after your one month of abstinence

Best wishes for upcoming indoor and outdoor grows this year.

 

[repuk]

thanks unnamedmike!

Thanks dubi! well, let's say Jar, in singular the Purple Haze one.

Fingers crossed for the violeta!!! hope is a girl!!!!

 

[repuk]

no... it's a boy

no... it's a boy

Sadly... it's a boy! and a incredibly fast one, I didn't spot any preflowers then one day balls are hanging all over the place, noticeable even with my sight from outside the tent

They were all repotted to 7L, and DTW automatic system was setup on Wednesday: Same 100L reservoir, same 100% Salts recipe(Calcinit + Hakaphos Base 4), including Yara SOP (0.25gr/L). But this time using RO water since the beggining. PH- Nitric Acid.

Funny thing: with RO and Canna A+B (previous food) PH sit straight at 5.8, didn't use PH-.

Pictures of the rest to follow once the tent is lit again.

 

[repuk]

Now I'm unsure if this boy was Violeta, could a mislabeled Satori, there was some mixup with the pot Tags....

A shame, was really well developed.

2 weeks into flower. Far left: Violeta (I think). Far Right: Golden Tiger #3 x Panama Goddess I just brought from the vegging tent (Shed), so flowering starts from today for her.

Near Left: Malawi Killer/PCK 47 x Nepal Jam Near Right: Thai x Panama, she's absolutely owning the place.

Had to slightly adjust the dripping timer as Malawi drinks madly; if it keeps like that I'll add a second dripper to her.