-Drewberry - Gen Hydro vs. Dutch Master Battle of the Blooms - been flowering 2 weeks

[RonSwanson]

Thank You Senseimilla! In all honesty I spent way to much time and money making a really beautiful stained and varnished cabinet with routed edges and crazy gate hardware to conceal a grow that is totally legal. *shrug* At least if I'm ever not growing I will have a sweet-ass dresser! There are a couple new pics of it in the update I'm about to post. Thanks for stopping by and I am really excited to see these babies flower!

 

[RonSwanson]

Here are some updated pics for you all. First the PH, as promised:

First the Gen Hydro (was at 6.3, PH down'd it to 6.0 as was suggested earlier):

and then the Dutch Master (was at 6.2, PH down'd it to 6.0):

The water I used tonight was filtered city water from my associate. I am not sure of his exact setup but it is really good, that water is awesome. I either use his water, or distilled water from the store. Nothing makes me feel like more of a tweaker than going to the supermarket late at night and buying 5 gallons of distilled water and usually some Skittles.

Next I have some root shots. First the Dutch Master:

than the Gen Hydro:

For only having a little air stone in there, the roots are amazing. The pump I had before was one of those crazy industrial ones, that could run about 10 buckets I was told. Right now the air stone is just one of those 2 out aquarium pumps, but a decent sized one. Would like to add another one of those with an additional air stone in each bucket, as I cannot even see them in there anymore the roots have swarmed so much.

Lastly, Some pics of the girls! They haven't been trimmed yet this week so they are kinda bushy. I actually haven't trimmed them myself, yet and the thought of it makes me nervous. My friend always does it. It can't be that hard, right? You just take away the leaves that aren't getting light, right? Maybe I'll attempt it tomorrow.

Anyway here they are:

They have completely filled the tent. I almost expect these plants to say "FEED ME SEYMOUR!" when I open the tent.

Cabinet shot, you can see the 6" intake fan on the inside of the cab now, and how close the plants are to the light... 5 week veg a liiiiiitle to long for hydro *sarcasm*

Potential bud porn:

And finally, the little Drewberry clones living in my laundry room. Aren't they precious?

That's all for tonight, its bedtime. Well one more I suppose.

Gnight!

 

[RonSwanson]

After reading back thru I noticed that Jigfresh recommended 5.8 PH for hydro, not 6.0, noted! Now its bedtime!

 

[silverpanic99]

I am sub'd. Looking forward to seeing what the orange crush is all about. I'm also curious about the cfl's and led lights. I have lots of work with cfl and other flourescents. I know you can get good results. Maybe not the yield so much but can certainly get some good meds.

 

[RonSwanson]

Welcome aboard Silverpanic!

 

[SFguy]

looks great im subbd! i need to trim my skirts a bit, thanks for reminding me =)

 

[PetFlora]

Been using DM Gold- Add.27 + Silica + Zone + Grow/Flower A & B . Almost out of them with vg results. Switching to Silica + Zone + DM ONE + Potash+. Will be using ONE Grow for both stages, but add the Potash+ during flower. Much simpler (and cheaper), plus the plants will love it.

 

[Mineralz]

Dude I cant get over that "Potential Bud Porn" pic That LED really puts off a nice effect overall. Those bishes are THICK sir! Very nice and dense canopies on em both. My girl is a friggin jungle herself lulz. Looking awesome man Keep em comin

 

[Senseimilla]

Thank You Senseimilla! In all honesty I spent way to much time and money making a really beautiful stained and varnished cabinet with routed edges and crazy gate hardware to conceal a grow that is totally legal. *shrug* At least if I'm ever not growing I will have a sweet-ass dresser! There are a couple new pics of it in the update I'm about to post. Thanks for stopping by and I am really excited to see these babies flower!

I think your stealth cab is totally consistent with your namesake. There are a lot of reasons to conceal a grow op even if legal unless you never have visitors. All it takes is one person's loose lips to a friend or two = people breaking into your house to rob/kill you like that guy in Oregon. Then the cops treat you like the bad guy for your legal grow checking to make sure your plants and weight are all good while you bleed to death. Anyway, lots of reasons to stay stealth where possible There's no reason to advertise to anyone. The only people who know about my grow are my very best friend who I know won't tell anyone and my wife. I don't trust anyone else.

 

[RonSwanson]

Been using DM Gold- Add.27 + Silica + Zone + Grow/Flower A & B . Almost out of them with vg results. Switching to Silica + Zone + DM ONE + Potash+. Will be using ONE Grow for both stages, but add the Potash+ during flower. Much simpler (and cheaper), plus the plants will love it.

So far I am a big fan of the Dutch Master. I have a feeling those crazy Dutch know what they're doing when it comes to the ol cannabis plant.

 

[RonSwanson]

looks great im subbd! i need to trim my skirts a bit, thanks for reminding me =)

Gonna trim some now as I watch Parks and Rec where I got my namesake. Hooah!

 

[RonSwanson]

Dude I cant get over that "Potential Bud Porn" pic That LED really puts off a nice effect overall. Those bishes are THICK sir! Very nice and dense canopies on em both. My girl is a friggin jungle herself lulz. Looking awesome man Keep em comin

Mineralz: We're probably gonna drop another one of them in there. Have you seenb that movie Blade? Remember when they burn that fat disgusting vampire? Its pretty mich like that light. SCIENCE!

 

[silverpanic99]

parks and rec is a pretty funny show.

 

[RonSwanson]

Hey everybody!

Just wanted to post some pics of my trimming. I have never really done it before and was afraid I took to much off but as I look at the pictures it still looks like there is a lot of leaves that aren't getting much light.

I have heard that that is one of the main downfalls of Flouros... I know they are more of a blue spectrum and you want more red when budding, of course, but also they lack the penetration of and HPS...

I am curious to see the results I will get with this setup. However, the perfectionist in me has already gotten a 400w hps and crammed it in there... now if I can just find a good deal on Amazon..

Anyway: pics!

Once again, the before:

And now the after... did I take to much off?

The underbelly:

And a close-up of one of the bud sites:

 

[RonSwanson]

It is my understanding that at this point in the plants' life, you want to encourage the plant to put most of its energy into the buds, so I tried to trim a lot of the smaller branches with nodes on them off so as to force most of the nutrients up to the top of the biggest branches. Also, a lot of the bigger fan leaves becomes obsolete at this point, correct? because the new growth higher up is grabbing all the light?

Anyway I'm a total newbie and could be wrong, so any busting out of knowledge is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

P.S. Recommendations of good HPS will also be considered

 

[jigfresh]

Woah, you took off a lot. It's not a bad thing though. I personally would have left a little bit more than that, but it's cool. You didn't mess up imo. Only thing really is that you might have saved some time by not vegging them so long. You did a good job trimming it though. Some people just take off all the fan leaves which makes me shriek. Nice canopy left on your plants.

Is the question about the good HPS for a ballast or a bulb? If you have the money Lumatek digital ballasts are really good. You could get a 600w while you are spending the money. They dial down to 400w if you want to run that. Saying that I use about the cheapest ballast you can buy and it does alright for me. If you don't know the biggest difference between digital and magnetic (aside the price) is that the digitals produce litte to no heat, where the magnetic ones are fucking HOT. Mine is in the grow space and I need to have it's own little compartment to keep the heat from the plants.

As for bulbs... different folks have different ideas as to whether expensive bulbs make a difference or not. I have friends that are growing amazing plants with cheap as can be bulbs, and others that swear by the expensive ones. I use a hortilux eye which is one of the expensive ones... if you buy it new from a store. I got mine from a guy on craigslist who's brother worked for someone who tested them. Got it for less than half price. I would say get the best you are willing to spend the money for, if that makes sense.

Looking good bro.

 

[RonSwanson]

Jig: Thanks for the reply!

I did take a lot off, I was hoping to eliminate most of the "popcorn bud" sites, and try for some bigger main colas. My buddy said between 6-8 main bud sites per plant, and I know its all personal preference and grow style, but thats what I was aiming for anyway.

The digital ballasts looks awesome! I had been scared to get an HPS cause I heard that you can touch a match to them and ignite the match... that worries me. But if they stay cool, then all you have to do is vent the hood and then light heat shouldn't be a problem, right? Theres a 600 W one for $180 on amazon + like $90 for a good bulb.. thats not to terrible.

Anyway thanks for the feedback. I will definitely veg for about half the time next time... i am worried I am going to run out of vertical space as it is.. and don't know how to overcome that problem. I keep telling the plants to stop growing vertically and just to bud out, so i hope they listen. They seem pretty smart

 

[jigfresh]

You can tie them down in some way, using a screen or string. And yeah, the digi ballasts stay cool. However the bulb is just as hot as always (which is pretty hot). You'll need a good size fan to keep it cool, which will take away from the stealth bit as you will always have a fan going when the lights on.

I'm off to bed... have a good night.

 

[RonSwanson]

Also, What is a Dual ballast? Can they run 2 different bulbs? I.e. a HPS and a MH bulb? And are they both 600 W for a total of 1200?

 

[jigfresh]

Dual ballast? can you provide a link? I think all digi's are switchable, meaning they can run HPS and MH. Switchable is the term usually used for being able to run either. Not sure what the dual means.

EDIT: Just looked it up. I have no idea what that's about. Looks like you can run two bulbs at once. And I would guess it would be pulling 1200w. Interesting.

EDIT 2: I think what that is for is having two bulbs that fire at different times. So you could have one space run 12 hours... then the other space run the other 12 hours... and you only need the one ballast. Don't quote me on that... but I think that's the deal.

EDIT 3: I read some more on it. I have no idea, lol. I should just shut up now.