We've Skipped the Intro

[Guest]

Starting a grow journal just a couple days into flower. Rolling with a aero-DWC hybrid in a rubbermaid tub, growing AK48, motarebel's Killa Queen V2, and a plant I think is from a BCGA mix pack, purchased a couple of years ago. About 5.5 sq ft in the cab under a 400W hps. Got three females, the BCGA? plant and the two biggest Killa Queens. Think there's female preflowers starting to show on the scrawniest AK48, should know for sure in a day or two.

Here's a recent cab pic:


Gonna run a ScrOG over the plants, which I need to install this weekend, along with finishing up my carbon scrubber and bubble cloner. Along with a bunch of other stuff, so we'll see what I get done.

 

[Guest]

Hey looking good!
I will pull up a chair and a to watch the show
The killa queen sounds interesting have you grown her before?
Good luck with the grow!
~neilspotshop

 

[Guest]

Hey Neil! Never grown Killa Queen... or AK, for that matter.

It's been a couple of years since my previous grows which were in soil. It's my first hydro try and it's been quite a journey.

Here's the latest cab shot, 6 days into flowering. It's about time to install the screen for my ScrOG.


Things have been going pretty smoothly with the exception of a constantly dropping pH. For some reason, I've been fighting to keep the pH up where it should be... the exact opposite problem I had thorugh veg. Using GH Flora nutes with the Lucas formula plus Diamond Nectar, Hydroguard, Hygrozyme, and Pro-Tekt silicon. Just started using the Pro-Tekt recently... could that be the cause of the dropping pH as the silicon slowly gets buffered in the solution?

 

[Guest]

Sorry man i am a soil guy not sure about the ph, i am sure someone will be able to help though!

 

[Guest]

hey bro, looking good. are you using RO water? hard water tends to "bounce" all over the shop....just a thought..

keep em green and good luck!

 

[mpro]

looks good skip.

 

[Guest]

Here comes the ScrOG

Here comes the ScrOG

I've put up the screen... check it out:

 

[Guest]

lookin nice, ill stay tuned!

 

[Guest]

hey bro, looking good. are you using RO water? hard water tends to "bounce" all over the shop....just a thought..

Nope, just tap water. It's definitely hard (160-180ppm) but not overwhelmingly so. The strange thing is that I never had problems with dropping pH through veg, even using the same water. Actually, hard water does have some built-in buffering that RO doesn't, which can help sometimes.

At any rate, I added 3 gallons of tap 2 days ago and it seems to have stabilized things. Letting it hang around 6.3 yesterday and today to let the plants have a chance at all the nutes that were locked out in lower pH ranges. We'll drop it back down to 5.6 tonight just before lights out.

 

[Jenna]

Nice set up!
I love Mota's KQv2... potent potent potent!
How do you like hydro compared to soil?

 

[Guest]

Nice set up!
I love Mota's KQv2... potent potent potent!
How do you like hydro compared to soil?

Thanks Jenna! Also glad to hear another person give a thumbs up for Mota's KQ.

Unfortunately, I think one of the KQs is showing male and it was one I was counting on being female. It's still too early to say for sure, but it's not looking good.

I really like hydro. Things happen quicker (which has worked both for and against me so far), I think the plants grow faster, and it requires a more hands-on approach, which I like. But it's also been way more expensive to get started and I've run into a couple rough patches learning about pythium and other nasties that can take over the reservoir if you aren't careful.

All in all, I think I will keep my mother plants in soil but use hydro from here on out.

Another mysterious pH drop today, but not as big or sudden. It's just strange to see pH dropping when the TDS is dropping as well. I'm starting to wonder if my pH meter is going on the blink..

 

[Jenna]

We've really enjoyed the KQv2 and version 1 too.... there's a frosty pheno in there that looks like its been dipped in sugar. I'll cross my fingers you get your girl! Here's a pic of a heavy kq that finished up in March. Darn thing just wouldn't stay upright anymore.




Ppl sure get some incredible results with hydro. The root systems are amazing! Your plants look great so you must have it figured out pretty good! I am gonna lurk around and watch your grow. Good Luck!!

 

[Guest]

Your plants look great so you must have it figured out pretty good!

Eh, I had plenty of stumbles out of the starting block... you're just seeing it after I managed to kill my first half-dozen seedlings and almost trash the ones now growing due to a pythium infection. Hydro's a different world but when it works, it's awesome. When it doesn't, you beat your head against a wall and curse yourself for forsaking soil. That's an awesome looking KQ pic, though. When the plant can't hold itself up, you know you've pegged the yield meter!

At day 9 of flowering, we're sitting at 3 confirmed females (2 KQ and that BCGA plant) 2 probable males (the other KQ and one of the AKs) and nothing showing yet on the other 2 AKs. Hoping that AK is one of those strains that shows early if male, doesn't if female. I don't want to cut a male out of the ScrOG screen in a couple weeks. And I really want to take at least one AK to harvest.

I'm also running a veg cab with three seedlings in a couple of DWC bubbler buckets. I haven't been paying much attention to it... kind of a "set it and forget it" type of thing, more of an experiment really, but the plants are fine. 8 cuttings are also chilling in a bubble cloner, no roots after 8 or 9 days but they also look good.

Now if that $#@%$ing activated carbon would finally show up so I can hook up my homebrewed scrubber...

 

[Guest]

Carbon showed up this AM... the scrubber is filled, hooked up, and (i think) working. There's still some smell in the grow room, but I also had the exhaust running straight into the room for about a half hour. Were it up to me, that's the way I would leave it, but neighbors, houseguests, landlords, and LEO makes the scrubbin' necessary. I'll have Mrs. Intro (she of the sensitive nose) check it this evening and give it her professional smell-pinion.

Also chopped out one of the KQs today. It was definitely showing male and I could use the space it was in for another (unfortunately smaller) KQ that was getting squeezed out by the two big plants. Also changed my opinion on the largest of the remaining AKs from probable male to probable female, since I saw the beginning of hairs emerging from the pre-flowers. That leaves us with the two undecideds, of which one is I think leaning female and one is not showing anything.

 

[Jenna]

We have a couple carbon filters going round here. Hubby made the first one and the next year, we got another one plus copious amounts of bounce sheets and febreeze for harvest days.

Congrats on the females! You've got a great line up

 

[stinkleaf]

looking nice man keep up the good work

 

[Guest]

Thanks all for stopping by and your kind words.

Everything cruising along here. The carbon scrubber build is a success, Mrs. Intro gave the smell 2 nostrils up. Or down. Or whatever means she couldn't smell the grow anymore. But open up the cabinet and WOW! That sweet, sweet smell smacks you in the face.

Now up to 4 for-sure females as the biggest remaining AK showed me those wonderful little white hairs. I still don't know which way the other two are going to turn, time will soon tell.

Here's the latest cab pic:


pH is back to behaving and all the temps are inline. I'm going to inch the TDS up a little more over the weekend and see if the plants hang with it.

 

[wolverine-419]

looking good

looking good

nice man..thanks the whole hydo with screen is my next project... im going to use a tub like yours and try to put in capucheno,and ak47 also r u useing a resurivour?? looking good

 

[Guest]

Hi, wolverine-419!

I don't have a separate reservoir, just the rubbermaid tub. There's a pump in there that sends solution to 4 sprayers that sit above the solution and below the bottom of the net cups. I've attached a pic from the build to give you an idea...

It's kind of an aero/DWC hybrid. Some folks also don't think it's "true aero" because the sprayers don't make a fine enough spray. Whatever it is, it's been working. Latest cab pic:



Two weeks into flower and there's 5 out of 6 confirmed female, one is still shy about showing off it's privates. Two males have already been removed and await inclusion in the hash pile after harvest.

The dropping pH has returned. I was out of town overnight, gone about 28 hours total, and the pH went from 5.6 to 4.8. Added some water and silicon to bring it back up to 5.9 this evening. I can't figure it out.

Everything else is fine and the plants keep on growing, so

 

[Guest]

I think I sussed out the falling pH. It starts with the premise that less water in reservoirs means a less stable pH. Follow that with the observation that quite the root mass has grown into the reservoir, making the measurements of actual water volume appear higher than they actually are, i.e.: While an observed water volume of 8 gallons last month meant there was 8 gallons of solution, the same measurement today might mean only 6 gallons.

At any rate, I added water up to 11 gallons (previously aimed for 8-9) and the pH stayed stable through the day.

The screen continues to fill... and it looks like all 6 remaining plants are female at just over 2 weeks into flower.