flowering with aquaponics, revisited

haole420

Active Member
Very nice grow. I am also doing a T5 grow and have been thinking about trying aquaponics.
thanks!

i'm actually impressed with how much the T5 side lighting is helping.

what spectrum bulbs are you using? 3k? i think i'm still using 6.5k from veg.

the effect of the side lighting noticeably drops off after about 1ft. the lower growth that's out of range of the overhead HPS and the side lighting is still fluffy and doesn't look like it's going to do much.
 

haole420

Active Member
almost 10 weeks, still no flush.


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silver haze starting to form some nice nugs. soo sticky! bent stems are getting heavy, so i have to string them up now. the aroma matures daily. i should be able to tell when they're done when they get "that" smell.

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great white shark was already turning amber before i put in the T5 side lighting a week or two ago, but i'm going to let it go until the silver haze finishes. will keep it as my CBD medicinal stash. still alive and kicking with plenty of new growth every day.
 

HeartlandHank

Well-Known Member
Yeah, nice. This is the first cannabis aquaponics I have seen.
I've got a culinary herb aquaponics setup... Just 9 fat goldfish keep me stocked in the kitchen
aps1.jpg
 

grouch

Well-Known Member
Here is an update of the scrog aquaponic grow I have going. It is a 42w cfl that has been remote ballasted.



 

haole420

Active Member
Here is an update of the scrog aquaponic grow I have going. It is a 42w cfl that has been remote ballasted.



Nice. Taking notes, as I'd like to eventually build a mini ap system.

How did you remote ballast the cfl? Separate bulb and ballast and just run wires? Good idea!
 

intenseneal

Well-Known Member
Looking very nice OP. Are you adding any nutes, camg or sweeteners to the water? This is appealing to me since I love fish, I have a 37G fresh water planted tank for my daughter and a 75G reef tank and I enjoy growing my own medical so putting the 2 together will be fun.
 

haole420

Active Member
Looking very nice OP. Are you adding any nutes, camg or sweeteners to the water? This is appealing to me since I love fish, I have a 37G fresh water planted tank for my daughter and a 75G reef tank and I enjoy growing my own medical so putting the 2 together will be fun.
everything is pretty much the same as hydro. feed as you normally would, any kind of nutes or supplements. no need for bennies, no h2o2 as that would kill all the good stuff. and you don't feed often, because you never flush. i feed to 1000ppm, then wait until it's down to 500ppm before i feed again.

you don't need to deliberately add nitrogen, but if it happens to be in your micro or calmag, i don't think that's a big deal. my fish food only contains about 1% phosphorus, which never proved to be enough during flowering without bottled nutes. if you're into all organic, check out vermiponics.

the only thing that gets depleted often is sulfur. i think it's slowly gassing off. i don't think it's unique to aquaponics, it's just that hydro growers never keep their solution around long enough for this to happen. you never flush with aquaponics, so the gassing off effect (if sulfur does, indeed, gas off) is noticeable over time. i now add a tablespoon of epsom salt to my 100gallon system every other week. if it's not gassing off, then my plants must just be sulfur-hungry.

what size of a system are you thinking of building?
 

grouch

Well-Known Member
I put 3 more clones into flower on the 15th. One was mainlined the other two were small single stem clones. I also added a remote ballast 55w cfl to the flower section. I put the 55w and the 42w in a cool tube to see what would happen to my temp. The whole setup with the lights on during flower and the fans running draws 150w. It only draws 40w during lights out. The veg room runs a 26w cfl that gives enough light to clone under.
 

haole420

Active Member
I put 3 more clones into flower on the 15th. One was mainlined the other two were small single stem clones. I also added a remote ballast 55w cfl to the flower section. I put the 55w and the 42w in a cool tube to see what would happen to my temp. The whole setup with the lights on during flower and the fans running draws 150w. It only draws 40w during lights out. The veg room runs a 26w cfl that gives enough light to clone under.
what strain are you working with? the narrow fingers look like a sativa.
 

haole420

Active Member
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silver haze just keeps going. lots of new new pistils every day, but a lot of them starting to turn orange. looking about 50% clear, 50% milky.


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great white shark slowing down. still getting new pistils, just not as many. about 15% clear, 80% white, 5% amber. waiting for more amber. i want this one to have more CBD.


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freebie seedlings, unknown strain. they cracked after about 4 days on top of the air-cooled reflector. they don't seem to mind the 1000ppm aquaponic water.


next update will be just before i chop...
 

grouch

Well-Known Member
With outdoor temps dropping I am able to run bigger and bigger lights in my cab. In the cool tube right now is a 100w cmh with a 42w remote ballast cfl providing some support lighting to some of the newer plants in veg. The whole system is running at 200w with pumps, fans, and all lights running. My water temps are not sitting very high right now and I am debating if I should add a small heater to the tank. The fish are not as spunky as normal and do not seem to eat as much. The water temps are in the low 60's.
 

haole420

Active Member
With outdoor temps dropping I am able to run bigger and bigger lights in my cab. In the cool tube right now is a 100w cmh with a 42w remote ballast cfl providing some support lighting to some of the newer plants in veg. The whole system is running at 200w with pumps, fans, and all lights running. My water temps are not sitting very high right now and I am debating if I should add a small heater to the tank. The fish are not as spunky as normal and do not seem to eat as much. The water temps are in the low 60's.
maybe it's time to move the ballast(s) back into the cab? what are your air temps running at?
 
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