Skunk #1 Mediumless Closet Grow

[Guest]

Ok...I've posted these pics already in the flower pix "free your budshots" thread already, but since I finally figured out this macro business (somewhat) I just HAD to post them here too. They deserve to be in this thread. Here's a better taste of what the new cam can do:

Skum Widow Haze #4









Skunk #1








I can't believe I took those pictures!

 

[Guest]

ahhh sweet camera mate! sure beats my crappy kodak easy share 5.0mp LOL ..

wishing you all the best with this run, looks very tidy indeed! love the buckets.
mediumless is allways pretty cool eh hehehe.

once there bigger how do ya support them? every mediumless i ran i scrogged, so no extra support needed, just curious?

all the best!

 

[Guest]

Hey Eulogy, thanks for poppin in again amigo!

I just let them fall over usually and take this as my cue to start the stringing! I tie the main stalk up very near the bottom, then tie it over sideways above this. I use the string and a little LST training to get my canopy. My LST training consists of tucking fan leaves behind the shoots on the previous node. I do this the whole way through the grow to let the side shoots get light. It's a bit tedious, but I get a good bit of spiritual relief tending to the plants.

Btw, I am really starting to love this camera. I have had a crappy little nothing for....well, forever. Thanks to things going good for me I've been able to get a few things I need.

Still can't believe I took these photos...this is so fun. I think this thread will become macro heaven. I'm gonna have to start another thread for these..

 

[Guest]

Ok, to answer you question Clowntown, the pump I have is a 240gph "garden treasures" pump from lowes.

I have splurged quite a bit on this grow, but I want good, clean, un-adultered sacrament grown properly with as little room for error as possible. Here's a few goodies I've stocked up on to make sure this grow runs smoothly.

I have a new hanna tds/ec/ph waterproof combo pen that works way better than my old $20 meters ever did. I also, for the first time ever have calibration solution for both ph and tds as well as Ph up and Ph down, if I ever actually need them with these nutes and RO/DI water. The point is, I can actually tell what's in the water now!

With all this new fangled stuff I could be dangerous now!

I also got a whole new set of nutes to replace my aging stash that I'm positive were no good.









Hope this works!

 

[Guest]

hehe, mate once you start spending...lol new this new that hell, upgarde the lot haha.,thats how it happens with me anyway. i think my nutes are aging also,over 2 years old now lol..i bought in bulk...will get one more run out of the veg nutes..have heaps of flower nutes haha thats telling me somthing, done alot of vegging without as much flowering errr...

great move on the meters, peice of mind value..as soon as the nutes change you know exactly what to do, (raise or drop the ppms);. they will love you for it

keep em green!

 

[Guest]

Time to report my setback. I had two sk#1 clones ready to go. Well, my dear friend that gave me those clones had some Dutch Passion Blueberry and Pineapple to give me. I was graciously gifted two BB clones and one pineapple (PA now) clone. Since this friend grows in soil, he starts the clones in something like a peat cube. Me being a wet grower, I usually pull away this plug and put them right in the system.

Well, I've heard some bad things about DP BB recently on this forum that I didn't know. Apparently not the best BB, but I got my choice of three mommas, and the bud did look very nice, but from what I can tell, they definitely don't respond to stress as easily as the sk#1 and skum. I usually lose a few roots here or there removing them, but not all, and the plants do fine.

Unfortunately, this time all three withered as I slept overnight. I had to cut the remaining roots off and start them again so they could transpire water again. The issue I believe lies in the fact that soil roots are mostly air roots where in hydro you get water roots that function differently and look totally different magnified if you've seen it. All three are alive and trying to root, one BB and one PA look pretty good. The third might not make it, but maybe still.....I have good luck rooting almost anything.

Here's the bad part. I tossed the rooted sk#1 clones thinking all would go well and now I'm stuck with nothing going for at least another week or so. I immediately started three fresh sk#1 clones which will, now, still be what goes on this run. In the meantime I will be trying to save the PA and BB clones for a future run.

I'll get some pics of the withered suckers and my mommas up in a few days when I get over this hiccup.

 

[hidingtree]

dang ... yer set up is nice ....except its lacking some sk#1 clones i believe .... doh! just a question ... what temps are your buckets getting that a chiller is necessary? sorry i'm not too familiar with the diy chiller (a modified drinking fountain))? ... does the compressor and condenser cause much additional heat in the room?

 

[Guest]

Hey hidingtree I just came to do an update and saw your post. With the lights on the buckets were staying at or above 80F at times, so a cooler was necessary. It's a water cooler that holds those 5 gallon jugs. I did like The Dopest's DIY and took the element and put it in my reservior.

As for heat, it was adding a TON of heat to my room bringing the room to almost 90F, which is part of what has delayed me. I have moved it to the water heater closet behind this one, which has a new sheet of drywall covering the opening. It's not painted, but I'll handle that tommorow.

Anyway...here's the update. I have two more sk#1 clones rooted and just got them in the system tonight 2-2-06. The lights will start cycling tommorow and they will start vegging immediately.

One Blueberry clone did not make it. However, one BB clone, and the pineapple have rooted and are looking ok.

With the cooler out of the closet and just the element passing through to the reservior, I had to move the res to the back of the closet, but I can water them from the front anyway just not as easy.

This will be THE first time in 3 years growing that I've got all the variables right. Here's what it looks like now.

Room temp: 76-80F lights on
Water temp: 60F lights on (still watching for daytime temps will eventually adjust to 65F stable)
515 ppm BC Technaflora Boost, Grow, and Thrive alive red. approximately half solution.
PH with RO/DI water stable 5.77
Humidity 30-50% low/high

I have never had control, or actually been able to read all of these variables. I finally have everything I need just right. This is gonna be the best grow I've ever run..................................

..............Unless I just stuck my foot in my mouth by saying that?

Oh well....I'm a long winded SOB. Maybe that's why not many people reply on my threads?

Here's pics:

Here's a view looking in the door. Looks like humble beginnings with two little baby sk#1 clones...but don't let it fool you. Doh, my silly ass forgot to flip the pic.



Here's a top down view of my setup. You can see the cooler line coming through the wall by the res bucket.



Here's the newly rooted clones getting their first taste of food and lovin it.





Here's room temp, water temp, humidity when photos were shot.



Oh yeah, and here's new 6" ducting with hurricane glass I got on the cheap. It was cheaper buying four than just two, so I have a couple spares!




The new ducting and moving the cooler out has made the room temps manageable again, and the water temps are great. This is unreal for me, really. It never works this good.

Keep your fingers crossed. If my spirituality included a god I would pray to him for a great harvest.

 

[Guest]

Ok...here's a look at my crop of mommas. I have recently cloned off my sk#1 and skum widow haze plants to keep their size down, so my mommas are small again thanks to the cabinet management program I have in place which involves killing the big momma and keeping a little clone or two to start over.

I've thrown in some shots of the blueberry and pineapple for comparison. Wait till I put these side by side with shots of them in a couple weeks. All plants are doing quite well, including the ugly bb and pa I'm trying to save, but since they are already rooted so well and on a good diet now, they will be fine.

Anyway...here's some pics. Just wait...you'll see.

 

[hidingtree]

here's ur reply ... yeah ! lookin/cookin well ! thanks for the answer . curious thing the cooler was to me .... i forgot you were 800w in the small area ..... i did a 400w with soiless in a cabby and summer time was kinda pushin it with temps near 100F in the closet lots of nutrient lockout due to temps that grow.can't wait to hear more ! many blessings , hidingtree

 

[Guest]

Yup, the cooler is a must for me. 800W in 3x5 closet is hard to keep cool. I have to keep my house cool during grows so that it can pull cool air from the house or it's a no go on temp in there. I am trying not to add another exhaust fan and up the power usage even more, but I may have to just to make sure it stays cool without a headache.

I have just about got this thing as perfect as can be now and I don't want to mess it up, lol! The clones are putting on more and more roots in the big room and starting to put on some growth. I am excited because the temps are so cool, I'm eager to see how they do.

Within a week I should have some awesome growth. I'm just going to veg until I feel they are big enough to give me about a pound of bud and then I'll flip em to flower. I might integrate a screen here soon, maybe not. I've gotta have some surgery here in the next week or so, so hopefully this thing will auto-pilot minus some res toppin.

I'm shooting for perfect health for me and the plants...wish me luck.

 

[True Blue]

hey bro. good move with the better ducting, temps are allways a bitch., (i know haha)
great to hear things are running well.

sorry to hear about all the rooting dramas from your mates clones.

wishing you all the best . what sorta vitals ya running? PPms/ph/temps

keep em green!

 

[Guest]

Hey True Blue! I dang sure had to do something. Two bulbs putting off mad heat makes cool temps a difficult proposition in such a small space!

As for the clones, I am starting to get them going again. I think they'll be ok if they don't hermie on me, lol!

Here's some shots from the momma cab showing their progress. They are actually starting to grow leaves and turn green now!







Here's a shot of each of the new sk#1's in the big bloom bloom room. They are starting to get their color back as well. Each have a healthy set of roots, and are just kicking into gear with the growth. Me thinks they could have rooted a few more days, but I will still count veg days from the time they were put in the big bloom bloom room which was 2-06.

Vitals for today 2-8-06 (6 days veg):
746 PPM
5.91 PH
78F Air temp
65.4 Water temp

 

[Guest]

BTW, if you look at the two clones I save, the BB and PA, you can see how little of a plant I had left to start with. Those are slices from a pool noodle that should give some size reference.

 

[Nept]

hehe good luck with the clones nice shots

 

[Guest]

Hey Nept Thanks for stoppin in. I'm hoping things go well now. The plants are starting to really take off, but we've got some little buggers trying to destroy them. Hopefully this post will help me identify them and then I can wipe them out.

I'm about to buy some predator mites or some lady bugs and dump a ton of them in my grow room. I just want to get a positive ID of what is eating at my plants so I can get the right predators.

So, here's some updated photos. You can see they've grown nicely in these pics. Today puts them at two weeks in the big room.





Here's the evidence I have against these critters. First, I keep finding these small balls attached to the stem. Mostly white in color, it just looks like a round ball, and I usually find them on the bottom of a leaf stem. I'm assuming this is an egg sack for whatever critter this is. These are some photos of one on a stem and one I knocked off and flipped around for a couple different shots.









Here is a shot of another thing I keep seeing on the bottom of my leaves. However, I don't see ANY critters. Someone please tell me what kind of pest I'm dealing with here.



This photo shows the damage they do to the leaves, which looks to me like spider mite damage, but I never see the fuckers, even with my magnifying glass.

 

[Guest]

Someone help a brother out? I just need to ID this pest so I can get this under control. I'll be ready to flower in less than two weeks possibly.

 

[gaiusmarius]

i don't know the english name, but the direct translation makes them in to; leaf flees. you have eggs on the stems, with time the whole stems are covered in those blobs. these things are best manually removed before you use an insecticide. i'm not sure if lady bugs kill them but they probably do.

if i was you i would post your question on this thread for pests and troubles, then you will find the english name for those buggers and also which predators you should use, if you don't want to use pyrethrum or some such insecticide, you could go with neem. but first i would gently vacuum all those blobs and fleas off the stems.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=45517

 

[Guest]

Thanks gaius, I posted there....just waiting for a response now.

I have hit the plants once with neem already. I just added a small humidifier today also because my humidity right now is 30% and won't go up, lol. Hopefully humidity will help deter pests. I know it helps with mites, and it will help the veggin plants anyway. It's just a "cool mist" humidifier for a "medium" size room. Hopefully it will work with the amount of exhaust I have in there.

I know in flower it's going to jack up to 50% or more on it's own, and then I have to buy the dehumidifier, heh!

I really don't like using the neem though cuz it makes the plants stink. Hopefully I can find a predator for these suckers.

 

[gaiusmarius]

well like i said picking them off is a good start, a spray of neem can and should be folloed by a spray of water only, to help rinse the neem off again, also so that the pores of the leaves can breath freely.

anyway good luck fighting the good fight, lol.