OK folks, by popular demand here's a flower series. How to get over a pound a plant? Here's how! I put these into flower 10 days ago after a veging time of 15days. System, run to waste. 25 litre, 5 gallon grow pots. Automated feed. Medium, coco substrate with added perlite and volcanic rock for airation. Pre-mixed. A Quality coco will be flushed well, buy a good one. Lighting, 1k hps's with air cooled hoods for the hot months. Ventilation, activated carbon filter by mountain air with plenty of inlets. Additives, nutrients etc, I use an organic grow and bloom nutrient. Budlink soluable silicone, an "uptake", a blend of vitamins, fulvic acid and humates and micro minerals, and a PK top-up. That's it. And every one has a reason for being there. Technique. A run to waste system is just that, it runs off the waste. It is the easiest one to use and the best to boot! I have a pot that sits in a pot that collects the run-off and that is connected to a pipe that runs out to a drain. The feed is fed by a pump in my holding tank that has a stop cock which is fed by a 44 gallon tank that sits on a stand above it. From the pump I have looped the feed around the plants and have taken my feeders off that so pressure is equal to all feeders. The pump is controlled by a repeater switch, a timmer will do. An airation stone is in each tank too. I feed every 2 hours for 55 seconds. I need a minium of 20% run-off to avoid the pots getting hot, too high in built up salts. Trial and error taught me what to feed them and when. Last feed was 50-50 grow/bloom nutrients at an EC of1.6, it's still hot here. The hotter it gets, the lower your nutrients. Like drinking scotch and coke in the sun. Lower the scotch or you'll do yourself damage in the heat. The new mix of nutrients is 100% bloom at an EC of 2.4. I'll go higher in a few days.PH of 6.5 in flower, 6.0 in veg.Of course there's silicone in there too, wouldn't grow without it! I also added a bit of omegazone, a bull kelp product which is high in auxins and up-take. Remember, 98% of a great grow is down to enviromental conditions! That tell you something? Any questions?
feral m8 im growing 4plants at momant 4 pots in metre square tray ive only ever used a auto valve which is a simple device like toilet ballcock system along that line lol yu get me, i put it in the tray and wen tray empty its fills again maybe 2 centremetres anyway its fucked up but that only feeds em from bottom , anyway i hand watering now but just putting it in the tray , should i hand water through top do yu think , would it make any differance . like because when i just fill tray the food doesnt run hot but iff i fed em through top it would get hot wouldnt it , and i got no valve in my tray to run it off , what yu think id apreciate ur input
....i was just getting ready to stop in and see you ..and say WOW, after i saw what you get out of 5 plants. dag dude...that's some major production and efficiency!! seems you certainly have a "smartmind" and alot of knowledge on growing...and by looks, apply it well for sure!!!!
Great to see you got this started Feral. I know this grow will help me with my switch. Got a front row seat for this one. -Cif
The fun statrs about now. It's all boring in the veg and early flower stage. Well it is for me after all these years. Hey jimmy, watering from the bottom invites all sorts of problems. oxygen starvation for a start and that's bad enough. Go from the top buddy and wash those bad salts away. Mine have a fresh "buffet" every 2 hours and the run-off "clears" the dishes. My stop cock is exactly like the ones in a toilet. There is one thing growers MUST keep in mind, there are many ways to grow so long as you follow BASIC principiles. Like building a car, they all have wheels, seats, motor etc. If they forget one they are in trouble. It's a complicated plant with SIMPLE needs. Don't ever over complicate things in an attempt to get results. Know what your doing and more importantly, WHY! I have spent decades getting a grow that is "simple" and most importantly, repeatable in all conditions. And I'm at peace knowing that there's not much else I can do or give to the plants to improve them. Everything I do has a reason. If it hasn't, I don't do it. Growers all over are searching for the holy grail of growing. I've found mine. I know you lot are in for a suprise in the next 6 weeks! Stay tuned.
Thanks for putting this up and taking the time Feral, you and the other more advanced growers have been very forthcoming with information you could have easily kept to yourself to get the "OOOhhhoOOoo's and AAhhhhahHHha's". The more information the better and it's appreciated. Not to mention I want to see these ladies develop.
Thanks guys for the kind works. Especially you osprey. Keeping knowledge a secret is very poor form. I'm more than happy to put the time in knowing someone is getting a bit of help along the way. OK, enough of that. Day 15 of flower. What has feral been up to since you last heard from him? Not much. Made 2 tanks of nutrients up, a flush and that's it for the week. It's been unseasonaly hot and my girls have popped up a foot in the last week due to it. A big Grrrr on my part. I suppose this can turn out to be a thread on "plants gone wild"! Seeing that I have a hight problem now my plan is to wait till they fatten up start to fall over, then I'll tie the suckers up. I could hit them with PGR'S but I like my health the way it is. I'll work with the hight. My nutrient mix is made up of Bloom 100%, budlink silicone, omegazime, up-take. EC 2.4, should be 2.8 but it's too hot still. PH 6.5. Please note there's no yellowing of the lower leaves. It is a myth that plants shed them as they flower. A HEALTHY plant doesn't need to shed ANYTHING. The lower leaves are a great indicator if your doing things rite. So keep an eye on them and you'll know how your plant is going.
feral m8 i need ur secret lol , right ive got 4 plants under 2x600hps in 10litre pots but i use rockwool and clay pebbles , the pots sit in a metre square tray , and ive recently put a run off valve in this as i started hand watering as my auto valve fucked up , ive been following yu and grrayt , and i also start with budlink silicone , ive been gardening bout 3 or 4 yrs never used these sites but really cool place , anyway my next crop im gonna use seperate5 gallon pots, 3 plants in coco run to waste , was gonna hand water them like grrayt does but ur auto system sounds cool, yu say yu water every 2hrs for a minute on a pump , like im not thick lol but tell me more m8 break it down make it simple , im going ur way sounds to me like the only way to go , a few pics of ur watering system around ur pots would help is it like the wilma system , cheers pal
Run to waste is the way to go because; No nutrient exhaustion as the plant recieves a fresh nutrient every feed. PH stability over and above that of recycling systems. EC stability (in the nutrient tank) over and above that of recycling systems. Nutrient less prone to bacteria/pathogen buildup. Less maintenance. Bigger yield!!!! AS I said, I have reasons why I do things and they're good enough fo me to use coco and run to waste. So long as you understand and adhere to the principles behind it, how you set it up is up to you. These pictures I "pinched" from a friends book should help. And if you want a bible for growing, I use ""integral hydroponics". The best book I've come across for reference.
yes cheers m8 its as i thought they call it wilma zsystem over here, anyway another question -u kno were ur drip feeder is into ur pots do yu only have one or 2 one each side
Here we are at day 21 already, where does all the time go? Not growing that's for sure. What's feral been up to the last week? Guess, the same as last week. Made 2 tanks of nutrients and done a flush. Phew. The temps are below 90f finally. So up goes my Ec to 2.8, and my PH is still 6.5 and I added a few more seconds on my pump timmer. Next week the PK top-up begins. Heats not really a problem for me anyhow, except for the hight issue, see my thread about controling heat in the advanced section for info. It's how hot the root zone gets not the ambient temps that really matter. There are still 5 weeks to go so you'll see 1st hand good growing principles in place. Nothing else. Do yourself a favor and adopt them. I know what my plants are doing as I know what my medium is made up of and what I'm feeding them. I couldn't have that control if I was in say soil and adding all sorts of stuff. I snuck in just as lights on was happening so here's a few pics. Make my day, ask me a question!!!!! Or are you all getting the same results too?
