New grower, pics included and advice appreciated.

[FlintMegaBowl]

I've been lurking for a couple months and I started a grow for my personal medical use in California.

My goals are to learn the basics of MJ growing, educate and practice with my entry level hydro setup, as well as eventually perpetually supply myself with cost effective medicine.

I have the same recommended basic setup, but I'm using 2 Aero Deluxes facing each other with mylar reflection. This gives me 6 all purpose Aero CFL's for the top deck with what appears to be more than enough reflection for the bottom deck? All other specs are consistent with the basic setup, i.e. air pump/stones, vent fan, custom nutes, ph testing, etc. The grow is in my attic with this (hopefully)hearty, forgiving strain.

http://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk/world-of-seeds/world-of-seeds-autoflowering/world-of-seeds-pakistan-ryder-autoflowering-feminized/prod_494.html

3 weeks from germination of 4 seeds and I have 1 casualty (paper towel method). Next time for germination I think I'm going to just germ them in the aerogarden with the master gardeners kit. So... I have one stout, strong plant (on the right), with one that got its stem twisted which is now curled and anemic looking (back left) and one that got poor light after germination due to the seed shell covering the pod opening (so rough, dwarfed start... I hope).

Here's the pics, I know about the PH and nute issues and you can see my new growth looks better after making sure my nutes and PH'ed water are changed every week.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks.

 

[HSA]

Flintmegabowl: Looks great. Be sure to use good nutes. Please keep us posted on your progress. It looks like you have it under control.

 

[FlintMegaBowl]

Flintmegabowl: Looks great. Be sure to use good nutes. Please keep us posted on your progress. It looks like you have it under control.

Thanks for the reply HSA, my compliments on all the polite, informed advice you give around here.

For nutes I went simple with the FloraNova series. I have some Beastie Blooms I might sparingly try later in flowering.

 

[FlintMegaBowl]

Latest pics, week 3.

New growth has a bit of yellow in the creases, no burned edges (except for the old growth).

The issue is having 3 plants in 3 different conditions. Any suggestions on whether I should try to train the stem of the twisty gal? And, will my nute levels for my big plants torch my midget gal? (or is she in the same growth stage, just small, so ppm wise... it's fine?)

Reflective valley set back up, but I left one reflector down to allow for more airflow. PH balanced water (5.7) and nutes just changed.

Ditch the runts and finish the training grow with 1, or try to salvage the lot?

 

[HSA]

Flintmegabowl: some of the hydro classes I've had advised growing individual strains separately as they have different characteristics. I started that this year and life has been much simpler. My seeds are obviously indica and sativa and as soon as they show which they are I isolate them into separate A/G's.

You might try gently staking her with a bamboo shish-ka-bob skewer. I've done that and it's worked more times than not. They fit nicely into the holes in the panting cage. You just might have to cut some off of the top of the skewer with a pair of diagonal side cutters, 'dikes,' if its' too long. Usually in a couple of weeks it has straightened out. I tie it off loosely with some of my wife's sewing thread.

Overall it looks good. I like the arrangement of your A/G's and reflectors. How is it for serviceability? Please keep us posted on your progress.

 

[FlintMegaBowl]

Flintmegabowl: some of the hydro classes I've had advised growing individual strains separately as they have different characteristics. I started that this year and life has been much simpler. My seeds are obviously indica and sativa and as soon as they show which they are I isolate them into separate A/G's.

You might try gently staking her with a bamboo shish-ka-bob skewer. I've done that and it's worked more times than not. They fit nicely into the holes in the panting cage. You just might have to cut some off of the top of the skewer with a pair of diagonal side cutters, 'dikes,' if its' too long. Usually in a couple of weeks it has straightened out. I tie it off loosely with some of my wife's sewing thread.

Overall it looks good. I like the arrangement of your A/G's and reflectors. How is it for serviceability? Please keep us posted on your progress.

Sorry for the confusion, the seeds are all the same, the difference in size is due to the problems I talked about previously in the germination process... leaving me with 3 different looking plants of the same strain (AutoPaki).

I ghetto rigged a brace for the twisted stemmed plant by taking an empty pod holder, cutting it 1/2, inverted it and taped/padded it as a turtle neck support. (pics asap... fingers crossed)

Serviceability is fine, it's as simple as I can make it to be an effective (I hope) attic grow.

Looking at this strain for my next grow but I'm taking suggestions.
http://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk/sagarmatha-white-russian/prod_1300.html

Also, I'm looking to see which type (Auto vs. Regular) produces more yield and potency versus time... fast blooming mini auto's or photoperiod plants you can grow bigger and use topping methods.

I plan on having both variations lab tested (all things equal) for potency comparison.

 

[FlintMegaBowl]

As far as serviceability for water and roots goes, the reflectors break down fast and easy. I'll include some more detailed shots of the setup if you are interested?

The cool thing about having 2 units facing like this is I get some added lumens from the extra hood up top, as well as some boosted side reflection yields.

I also plan on running the same strain BUT from competing breeders. This way, not only can I find the strain I prefer, but I'll have some comparison data (in the same growing environment) on the best genetics, height, yield, potency, etc... Which will be nice to know since there are a lot of new and intriguing auto strains popping up.

 

[tissue999]

hey i need to extend my lights but cant get the extension arm in the UK anyone know a DIY way of doing this? thanks

 

[HSA]

hey i need to extend my lights but cant get the extension arm in the UK anyone know a DIY way of doing this? thanks

Tissue999: you can get an upgrade kit from Aerogarden that includes: the taller arm/light stand, a longer cord and a hood with three flat high intensity CFL's for about $110, (US). You should be able to order it on line.

 

[FlintMegaBowl]

Ok, gearing up for my week 4 water/nutes change and progress pics... in 8 hours or so.

Does anyone have some advice on if hydrogen peroxide is recommended for aerogardening?

Until then, here are some pics of some prescription meds I picked up. I felt in a mixed mood today so I mixed some Sour Diesel with some Strawberry Kush -- I think you can figure out which is which =).... Can't wait to harvest my own crops, peace.

 

[FlintMegaBowl]

Ok... got a nice surprise when I opened up the attic. Looks like the brace on my twisting tarded girl is working (so far). The very small one is doing ok, just very stunted. It will be comical to find out what its yield will be.

Here are the pics, I'm circulating some root cleaing solution right now, then I'll PH balance and raise the nutes a little... looks like the can handle it?

I haven't heard from anyone about hydrogen peroxide in areogardens, I'll surf around while I wait. Here are some pics, I'll put up some cleaner ones after I service everything, but this way you can see the before pics and see close ups of the setup.

 

[FlintMegaBowl]

Ok, week 4 pics after servicing. I noticed some wilting on the very edges of some bottom leaves but everything else looks good, especially the new growth on top.

I'll take some shots on Thursday/Friday to see how the boosted nutes are treating them. Tips and advice always appreciated, thanks.

 

[FlintMegaBowl]

Everything seems to be responding well to the increased nutes, I'll keep inching them up next week. Looks like I'll need to raise the hood then too.

Any advice on how much to prune during these last 4 weeks?

I had some time, cannabis and extra shiny material -- so I re-worked my mirrors... heh.

 

[FlintMegaBowl]

Checked again today, was worried about nute burn and sure enough spotted some yellowing on the very tips.

Nute change is in 3 days, is the current burn bad enough to flush now or wait and monitor?

 

[FlintMegaBowl]

AM check, nute monitoring. Nothing has worsened, maybe even improved. So yeah, probably just panic. Nutrient mixture change and servicing are in 2 days, I'll keep monitoring. Pics for anyone interested.

 

[Gary Elston]

Great thread. Really like your setup. I am thinking of doing something similar - just worried that the attic might be a bit cold this time of the year (I live in Ireland). Any advice?

 

[FlintMegaBowl]

Great thread. Really like your setup. I am thinking of doing something similar - just worried that the attic might be a bit cold this time of the year (I live in Ireland). Any advice?

Unless you want to pay the energy cost to climate control a non-insulated environment... which I chose not to do either, heh, I think your best hope is picking a strain that is forgiving and can take some environmental abuse. The indica/rudelaris strain I'm using makes them pretty sturdy... Search the seed banks, you'll find a strain right for your needs.

Good luck and enjoy the pics, thanks for the comment.

 

[FlintMegaBowl]

Ok, past nute scare, phew!

All looks good, they are growing like Barry Bonds!

Solo "Big Plant" is exactly 6 inches tall, the deformed braced plant has rallied back to 5 1/4 inches and the 3rd is comically unmeasurable and will soon suffer more when the light gets raised....

I'm kind of winging it on the pruning... sparingly once a week.

 

[FlintMegaBowl]

Checked growth... Big plant grew 1/4 inch in a day, niiiiiice.

 

[FlintMegaBowl]

Things look good, so good in fact I had to prune heavier than I wanted due to all the thick bushy leaves everywhere.

Hopefully I didn't get too aggressive and damage anything too badly.

Service went fine, I ran root cleaner for an hour, then circulated H2o2 for an hour before adding the nutes. I'm keeping the nutes at the same level since I'm worried about plant stress... I also raised the lights a belt notch.

I'll keep monitoring to see how it goes, enjoy the pics... advice always appreciated.