Continued from my thread in the gallery, documenting the rest of this grow. This is my first in about 10 years or so, it was off to a rough start but got things back on track. - Galaxy Hydro "600W" lights - DWC in home made tough tote buckets - FoxFarm nutrients Just about 3 weeks into flower now, pushing heavy on the nutrients to develop these beautiful buds. IMG_8411crop1 by toshin posted Aug 29, 2016 at 3:14 PM IMG_8409crop1 by toshin posted Aug 29, 2016 at 3:07 PM
Also just some added info on nutes, if you ever want to try something new that works great for some of us DWC growers here, there is a tweeked General Hydroponic 3 part series weekly formula that ROCKS in both veg and flower. It was made by a well known fellow grower here who is not only a top grower but a well known breeder also. If you look under the hydroponic fourm at the top section there is a sticky thread by "useless" Its the GH3 formula thread.
Thanks will check that out. Doesn't look too complicated. I've been watching the PH to tell how well they are taking up the nutrients. So far they are doing quite well on their current schedule. They aren't stretching much though when switched to 12/12. My last grow years ago didn't have enough light and the plants stretched badly. This time I made sure to have plenty of light. IMG_8414crop1 by toshin posted Aug 29, 2016 at 8:57 PM
Update, the density of the plant caused some mold to form. I've remove all affected parts, and treated some of the stems where there was some more mold spots with 200 proof grain alcohol. I might lose another cola from the alcohol treatment but have only lost a small fraction of the plant. I've also placed a box fan in the room to keep thing drier. While I am not too happy that the overall yield is going to be fairly small, given this is my first grow in a long time I am not surprised. I have learned much about the genetics and growing needs of this strain and have clones to grow a much larger set of plants the next time around. Here is a photo after the trimming. Lights were still on this time. 20160902_123716 by toshin posted Sep 2, 2016 at 4:29 PM
Not a bad looking plant. Is there a fan blowing on the plant? mold happens because of excess moisture and or two many plants crowded together. How is the room vented/exhausted. Oh and what is the humidity level at in the room?
The room itself is vented with a bathroom type exhaust fan that is constantly running. I didn't have a fan in the room, but I have since put one on the plants themselves. Humidity is my real problem here. I am near the coast in the mountains, where I am at the coastal fog is at the same elevation. At night the humidity level is easily over 80%. Currently midday it is still over 50% humidity. So far the mold problem is gone. The heavy trimming and fan helped quite a bit, some of the spots that I tried to save by just cleaning ended up having a light mold come back so I removed those as well. My clones of this plant are still growing, I've had to covert the seed tray they are growing in to a mini DWC setup with a spare air pump I had. Still putting together a separate vegging area so I can have a continuous grow cycle going soon.
You're gonna burn out that bathroom exhaust fan in short order, they're not made for 24/7 running. Good luck on the mold, moving as much air as possible is the best way to fight it. I'd also caution against using alcohol on plants. 3% H2O2 sprayed directly on the plants is a better fungicide and is safer for your garden.
Going to try the H2O2 for sure. Still fighting mold here and there. I've had to remove the top of one of the colas that started molding just in the top. The humidity is killing me, I may have to go get a dedicated dehumidifier for the room. 20160906_140957 by toshin posted Sep 6, 2016 at 2:55 PM
Looks like the mold problem is solved. Today I took some nice macro pics to try and gauge the readiness. Looks like we are still mostly clear/cloudy with a couple amber here and there. A few more weeks maybe? IMG_8419crop1 by toshin posted Sep 9, 2016 at 10:17 PM IMG_8423crop1 by toshin posted Sep 9, 2016 at 10:17 PM
Not sure. I had the strain written down somewhere. Where that is escapes me currently. It is a GDP cross with something, which explains the nice color. Low evening temps here certainly help that along. While I am disappointed that the grow will not end up with as much quantity as I originally planned for the entire point of this grow was to learn these things so the next will be improved. I've got a different mindset and much more patience than I did 10 years ago. I'm quite happy with the results and challenges I've been able overcome so far. I've got a feeling the next couple weeks are going to see some good growth. Currently this is only 4, not quite 5 weeks into flowering. I am thinking this should be 8-9 weeks but I'd be just guessing. I don't have a loupe to check trichomes but the camera seems good enough. These last few pics are about the closest I can get with my macro lens. Bulk is still building, yesterday drained and refilled the tanks. It is absorbing all the nutrients I can throw at it, and now that the mold problem has been dealt with it is visibly a happier plant. I was nervous when I first looked in on it today and saw that it looked pretty dusty. Turns out it was the good kind of dusty -- many more trichomes continue to emerge and the remaining branches of the tops I had to cut are bulking up. Still continuing at full strength flowering nutrient, using the FoxFarm trio but on my own schedule. My water is pretty hard with a relatively high ph of 8.8 and 320ppm. Nothing else is needed but those three as the water has enough of the minerals already. I'm expecting to start tapering at the end of week 6 to nearly only ph adjusted water at week 8.
Another development however is the poor health of the clones. I really should have had the space prepared and budget concerns have kept it from continuing. They are still in the cloning tray, with way too large root mass, and difficult to control the ph and keep unwanted algae out. I have done what I can to salvage them but really can't do much more for a couple weeks. I've cleaned it up, mixed up a light nutrient solution, and tossed in an airstone and pump to try and revive them. Failing that I will leave a few branches and reveg this one in order to get a full set of clones to fill the space properly.
Update, things are still slowly moving along. I've got some new clones going and a veg setup for them now. This lady is still going strong, growing more dense as the days go on. 20160921_210349 by toshin posted Sep 23, 2016 at 11:13 AM
This plant is nearing its end. I pushed a little hard on the nutrients and it got a little burn. The last week and half I have been using ph adjusted water only. The latest photo shows that nearly all trichomes are cloudy, some amber. Any remaining fan leaves are yellowing from the lack of nutrients. Harvest time likely this weekend. On the positive side, I learned quite a bit on this grow. It looks like I'm gonna get an ounce or more from this plant. Using everything I've learned the next grow should net several ounces per plant. I also have upgraded my dwc setup. I got a new set of clones from a neighbor, mature outdoor plants that weren't quite flowering yet. I bought a smaller led light as the prices have plummeted. Upgraded the buckets from tough totes to actual buckets with lids. The pic here was the first day after taking them out of the cloning tray, one clone didn't do so well but looks like it is coming back. 20161005_171239 by toshin posted Oct 5, 2016 at 8:54 PM 20161003_192157 by toshin posted Oct 5, 2016 at 8:54 PM
Looking pretty good man, nice job.. One thing on your clone issue.. Rather than let them sit in the tray so long you could simply move them to solo cups filled with perlite or a decent soil mix and they'll last for months. An inexpensive two tube shop light will provide more than enough light to keep then healthy until they're needed. looking forward to seeing round two! Cheers Duc
Final pic, the end result. Round two pictures up soon, the clones are being moved into the main room soon. 20161027_223016 by toshin posted Oct 27, 2016 at 10:34 PM
