Back in the Saddle

NEEDMMASAP

Well-Known Member
Thanks guys! I'm going to try to put up some new pics tomorrow or Thursday, the amount of weight they've packed on in just the last two days since Sunday's weekly feeding is amazing. I really need to figure something out to get better pics instead of using my phones camera, for every one pic I post they are probably 10 more that I took that didn't focus, were too dark or over exposed.
Hi Huel just a couple more questions , do the net pots that the plants are growing in on your cloner fit the lid on your 5 gal buckets , did you make your own system or buy it already made ? What are the size of the net pots ? You say you feed on a weekly cycle , how often do you change the water ? Your system seems to be working really good .
 

Huel Perkins

Well-Known Member
Hi Huel just a couple more questions , do the net pots that the plants are growing in on your cloner fit the lid on your 5 gal buckets , did you make your own system or buy it already made ? What are the size of the net pots ? You say you feed on a weekly cycle , how often do you change the water ? Your system seems to be working really good .
Just a little while ago today i tried to get some root system pics for you but they didn't turn out well enough to post. Honestly at this point root pics just aren't going to happen, the plants are all too big and heavy to lift up to get a decent shot.

I do not use net pots in my aero cloner, instead i just use 2" neoprene plugs with a slit cut to the center to hold the stem of the clone. They are available at any hydro store.

Everything in my system is home made. I use 5 gallon used paint buckets and lids that i painted black to block out the light. I used a 3.5" hole saw to cut the holes in the lids to fit 3.5" net pots.

As for my feeding schedule, reservoir changes, or flushes, lots of people might not agree with my methods... Over the years of growing hydro i've done a lot of experiments just to see what would happen, trying to improve my grow and make things easier... I never change my reservoir, start to finish. Some people insist you need to change your reservoir every 2 weeks but I've gone as long as 15 weeks straight without changing the water/nutrient solution or flushing without any problems. My entire grow consists or a very basic feeding and maintenance schedule, every Sunday i add my nutrients and top off each bucket with ph adjusted water, then every Thursday i top off each bucket with ph adjusted water. That's it! It really couldn't get any easier...

I'm uploading new pics from today now, another update coming tonight!
 

NEEDMMASAP

Well-Known Member
Just a little while ago today i tried to get some root system pics for you but they didn't turn out well enough to post. Honestly at this point root pics just aren't going to happen, the plants are all too big and heavy to lift up to get a decent shot.

I do not use net pots in my aero cloner, instead i just use 2" neoprene plugs with a slit cut to the center to hold the stem of the clone. They are available at any hydro store.

Everything in my system is home made. I use 5 gallon used paint buckets and lids that i painted black to block out the light. I used a 3.5" hole saw to cut the holes in the lids to fit 3.5" net pots.

As for my feeding schedule, reservoir changes, or flushes, lots of people might not agree with my methods... Over the years of growing hydro i've done a lot of experiments just to see what would happen, trying to improve my grow and make things easier... I never change my reservoir, start to finish. Some people insist you need to change your reservoir every 2 weeks but I've gone as long as 15 weeks straight without changing the water/nutrient solution or flushing without any problems. My entire grow consists or a very basic feeding and maintenance schedule, every Sunday i add my nutrients and top off each bucket with ph adjusted water, then every Thursday i top off each bucket with ph adjusted water. That's it! It really couldn't get any easier...

I'm uploading new pics from today now, another update coming tonight!
I found the items below on amazon , would it be the same Flora Line you are using ? and when you set your water level in your bucket how far up on the net pot do you come up to , judging from the picture it looks like the pot will be about 4 in. into the bucket ? I like the idea of just using the same water all through the grow , it sounds like with the amount of water they drink , it would be like changing it anyway correct ? One more question what kind of meters did you get ? and do you like them ? Thanks

This item: Round Net Pots 3.75 inch, Heavy Duty, 1 Dozen by Hydrofarm $11.87
Hydroton GMHT10L Hydroponic Grow Rocks, 10 Liter Bag by Hydrofarm $6.60
General Hydroponics Flora Series QT - FloraGro, FloraBloom, and FloraMicro by General Hydroponics $34.90
 

Huel Perkins

Well-Known Member
I found the items below on amazon , would it be the same Flora Line you are using ? and when you set your water level in your bucket how far up on the net pot do you come up to , judging from the picture it looks like the pot will be about 4 in. into the bucket ? I like the idea of just using the same water all through the grow , it sounds like with the amount of water they drink , it would be like changing it anyway correct ? One more question what kind of meters did you get ? and do you like them ? Thanks

This item: Round Net Pots 3.75 inch, Heavy Duty, 1 Dozen by Hydrofarm $11.87
Hydroton GMHT10L Hydroponic Grow Rocks, 10 Liter Bag by Hydrofarm $6.60
General Hydroponics Flora Series QT - FloraGro, FloraBloom, and FloraMicro by General Hydroponics $34.90
Yes, i used General Hydroponics Flora line. I usually fill my buckets as high as i can because the plants drink it up so fast, in the beginning i fill it just up to the bottom of the net pot. Not sure what you mean by meters... Although i am very confident in my techniques i always advise people to try other methods as well, this is the internet and there are a lot of idiots out there handing out advise!
 

Huel Perkins

Well-Known Member
11/28 This is day 24 of flowering for the AK-47 and Cheesequake, day 18 for the Cannatonic. Nothing special to comment on today. The AK-47 is getting fatter by the day, some of the top colas have filled in and are about the size of a beer bottle already. The Cheesequake is looking great. The Cannatonic is continuing to stretch and is now taller than the AK-47. On with the pics!

AK-47




Cheesequake




Cannatonic




1128ak1.jpg 1128ak2.jpg 1128cq1.jpg 1128cq2.jpg 1128c1.jpg 1128c2.jpg
 

NEEDMMASAP

Well-Known Member
11/28 This is day 24 of flowering for the AK-47 and Cheesequake, day 18 for the Cannatonic. Nothing special to comment on today. The AK-47 is getting fatter by the day, some of the top colas have filled in and are about the size of a beer bottle already. The Cheesequake is looking great. The Cannatonic is continuing to stretch and is now taller than the AK-47. On with the pics!

AK-47




Cheesequake




Cannatonic




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Those sure are nice plants , thanks for the info , by meters I meant a Ph and a PPM , there must be a hundred different brands , thought you might know of a good one .
 

drgreentm

Well-Known Member
Those sure are nice plants , thanks for the info , by meters I meant a Ph and a PPM , there must be a hundred different brands , thought you might know of a good one .
Oakton is a good company, I have had my same water proof meters for almost 3 years still running strong, 100 bucks each.

@huel perkins looking real good bro, those colas are looking fat and frosty already. :)
 

Huel Perkins

Well-Known Member
Those sure are nice plants , thanks for the info , by meters I meant a Ph and a PPM , there must be a hundred different brands , thought you might know of a good one .
I use cheap chinese knock off meters from ebay. I don't even use my ppm meter anymore, I just judge how much nutes to feed my plants based on what the plants look like. My current ph meter cost me $13 shipped to my door and has been working flawlessly for about 3 years now. The only problems I've ever has with the cheap meters is that they break easily if they are dropped...
 

Guzias1

Well-Known Member
WOW.. AK at day 27 looks so nicee. good job mang, from clone to bud, im in love with your process..
 

gladstoned

Well-Known Member
Oakton is a good company, I have had my same water proof meters for almost 3 years still running strong, 100 bucks each.

@huel perkins looking real good bro, those colas are looking fat and frosty already. :)
Same here, few years each for mine and they were more like $125 each. Very good tools.
 

NEEDMMASAP

Well-Known Member

Huel Perkins

Well-Known Member
I'd like to let it be known that i'm all about buying quality equipment and i believe 9 times out of 10 you get what you pay for. This just happens to be that one time that the cheap part turned out to be a great value. I'd also like to add that 6 months ago i calibrated it for the first time in over a year and it was still spot on. You really should calibrate your meters at least once per grow, some hydro stores will even do it for you free of charge.

On a side note, i did my first few hydro grows very successfully without a ph meter or even adjusting ph at all. Interpret that any way you want to... lol!
 

Huel Perkins

Well-Known Member
12/2 Today is day 28 for the AK-47 and Cheesequake and day 21 for the Cannatonic. I don't really have anything special to update today but i took some pics anyway. Still dialing in the new room and learning from it, ended up losing a few leaves this week. I've been making adjustments on the fly trying to learn how the plants will respond to the new set up but one of the downsides to hydro is that things happen so fast, leaves can be sucked dry of nutrients in a day or two when plants get really hungry. Even though i've upped my feeding regiment the plants just didn't have enough food so i had a few upper leaves go pale yellow on me, i also noticed my ph was pretty acidic today which i'm sure didn't help. Live and learn, i took notes on my calendar to prepare myself for my next grow so its all good!

The buds are continuing to fill in, one cool thing is how full some of my lower buds are. Thanks to my cfl's that i have added for side lighting i'm getting buds forming down at the level of the bucket tops that are almost as fat as my top colas. Most people trim out the bottoms of the plants to prevent popcorn buds, i just grow those popcorn buds into big heavy colas!

AK-47 top cola



AK-47 lower bud down at bucket level, completely shaded from the HID lights but growing off the CFL side lighting.



Cheesequake




Cannatonic




ak1.jpg ak2.jpg cq1.jpg cq2.jpg c1.jpg c2.jpg
 

NEEDMMASAP

Well-Known Member
12/2 Today is day 28 for the AK-47 and Cheesequake and day 21 for the Cannatonic. I don't really have anything special to update today but i took some pics anyway. Still dialing in the new room and learning from it, ended up losing a few leaves this week. I've been making adjustments on the fly trying to learn how the plants will respond to the new set up but one of the downsides to hydro is that things happen so fast, leaves can be sucked dry of nutrients in a day or two when plants get really hungry. Even though i've upped my feeding regiment the plants just didn't have enough food so i had a few upper leaves go pale yellow on me, i also noticed my ph was pretty acidic today which i'm sure didn't help. Live and learn, i took notes on my calendar to prepare myself for my next grow so its all good!

The buds are continuing to fill in, one cool thing is how full some of my lower buds are. Thanks to my cfl's that i have added for side lighting i'm getting buds forming down at the level of the bucket tops that are almost as fat as my top colas. Most people trim out the bottoms of the plants to prevent popcorn buds, i just grow those popcorn buds into big heavy colas!

AK-47 top cola



AK-47 lower bud down at bucket level, completely shaded from the HID lights but growing off the CFL side lighting.



Cheesequake




Cannatonic




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Real nice Huel , it looks like those 4 CFL's are well worth it , the cannatonic seems to be changing fast .
 

stumpjumper

Well-Known Member
Know what's crazy? The AK's that I defoliated has bottom buds that look identical to those.. But if course I don't have the side lighting, and not as many leaves.
 
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