1st Drip Hydro Grow - (10) Bubble Ice F/ Autoflowers, EcoGrowers, 357Magnum LEDs

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DemontauruS

Active Member
OK guys - finding this a bit odd - was checking out another thread called the autoflower cage match, where different strains of fem'd autos were competing to see which strains / seed banks were the best. I dont see my seed bank in there for one (and there are 10 different ones) - for the record mine was (abbrv'd) wws dot com - Im 35 days in and dont see tendrils or sex's of any kind, although the plants seem healthy enough. Mineralz - any signs of sex yet? Either way, with any plant? Cuz a good number of them from that cage match have little plants from 20-30 days old, already fluffin out with feminitiy

Got my PPM meter and did a new pH reading for each resv. This is what I came up with.

RES 1:
pH: 6.5
PPM: 390

RES 2:
pH: 6.5
PPM: 220

ordered a pH down
little concerned about the pH but I dont think its at a state where it would be holding anything back -
same with PPM's
do you?

will post new pics soon but its pretty much just a big veg'd conglomeration of leaves
one thing Im NEVER doing again is growing "a couple of white widows to see how they'll do" (alongside with short autos) just because I have a couple of open pots (got 10 AF seeds for a 12 site system)
the WW's are out of control and keep reaching the light and bleaching and forcing me to have to raise the lights
theyre now about a foot and a half (18") above the AF's and the WW's

they still get ample light down below - its just annoying
i guess I should top them - the ww's - do a pinch - but damn didnt want to do that
 
Mineralz

Mineralz

Well-Known Member
DemontauruS said:
OK guys - finding this a bit odd - was checking out another thread called the autoflower cage match, where different strains of fem'd autos were competing to see which strains / seed banks were the best. I dont see my seed bank in there for one (and there are 10 different ones) - for the record mine was (abbrv'd) wws dot com - Im 35 days in and dont see tendrils or sex's of any kind, although the plants seem healthy enough. Mineralz - any signs of sex yet? Either way, with any plant? Cuz a good number of them from that cage match have little plants from 20-30 days old, already fluffin out with feminitiy

Got my PPM meter and did a new pH reading for each resv. This is what I came up with.

RES 1:
pH: 6.5
PPM: 390

RES 2:
pH: 6.5
PPM: 220

ordered a pH down
little concerned about the pH but I dont think its at a state where it would be holding anything back -
same with PPM's
do you?

will post new pics soon but its pretty much just a big veg'd conglomeration of leaves
one thing Im NEVER doing again is growing "a couple of white widows to see how they'll do" (alongside with short autos) just because I have a couple of open pots (got 10 AF seeds for a 12 site system)
the WW's are out of control and keep reaching the light and bleaching and forcing me to have to raise the lights
theyre now about a foot and a half (18") above the AF's and the WW's

they still get ample light down below - its just annoying
i guess I should top them - the ww's - do a pinch - but damn didnt want to do that
Click to expand...
Supz man. Personally I'd be running higher PPMz;) Now Im running roughly 700PPMz total(500 ppmz of nutes) and they're gobbling it up and loving it. Try that out. Umm...I went ahead and topped my 3 ladiez. It was difficult, but damn did they fluff out! I also trimmed them up and got rid of some of the fan leaves and they seemed to dig it. I dont wanna hijack anymore of ur thread man, but just some food for thought. Either way you go they should be alright. Also try dropping your PH levels to around 5.5ish when you check/change so it'll take a little longer for it to work its way back up ;) I know it saves me some trouble. Thusfar I havent seen any signs of sex that I know of. Im gonna do somemore research just to be safe tho so I know what Im looking for because it should be like ANY time:D Cant wait for the pics bro! I'll be back for surez
 
Encomium

Encomium

Active Member
Looking good so far. Your Ph seems a bit high for hydro but it's something you seem aware of. Ph of 5.8 is usually recommended for hydro grows as operating within + or - .2 of this mark means that the majority of nutrients/minerals will be available for the plant.

As far as sexing goes I've read that plants under 18/6 lighting will exhibit preflowers faster than plants under 24/0 (Cervantes' Grower's Bible).
 
D

DemontauruS

Active Member
Ordered my pH down - but it'll be a week. 6.5 is not what I wanted but as long as there isnt a lockout ill hang in there. My plants must have heard me because most of them popped out tendrils in the last 24 hours and look like theyre starting to show signs of flowering. Putting nutrient in flower mode as of tonight. Will post pics soon. Thanks everybody.
 
D

DemontauruS

Active Member
Day 41 from Seed

ph's at 5.7-5.9
ppms at 565-690

My closet is out of control. I had no idea the entire thing would fill up wall to wall, and then upward.
Seems like Im moving the lights up every few days.
Main thing bugging me is the fem autos.
Says ready for harvest after 7 weeks?
I know thats got to be conservative, but Im in my fifth - sixth week, and although they look like theyre about to flower, no flowers yet.
Wheres the buds?
Cant imagine all 10 of them being herms.
Guess Im going to have to wait some extra time - and I will - as long as they bud dammit. Gettin a little worried.


GDSC00596.JPGDSC00598.JPGDSC00597.JPG
 
Encomium

Encomium

Active Member
I think they mean ready to harvest once 12/12 lighting is established and the plant goes into flowering stage for the 7 week estimate. In your case since preflowers have just begun to show then maybe start counting in a week once actual flowers start showing to begin the 7 week countdown. Even with a known timeline for harvesting you're still better off judging trich production to determine the best time for you to harvest.

Your girls are looking good. Are you planning on implementing a strategy for maximum yields through one of the various methods (ie scrog, sog, lst, topping, etc.)?
 
Mineralz

Mineralz

Well-Known Member
Supz broski. Your ladiez are looking KILLER! They wont show signs of sex or w/e until roughly the end of Week 1 or Week 2 of FLOWER. We just started 12/12 on Monday so we're expecting sex results for sure in at least a couple weeks. Food for thought ;) We also decided to do a SCROG:D Your grow would be perfect for that considering your tent is fluffing out like crazy. We thought since we're working with compact spaces and whatnot a little "resistance" would do them some good. Keep em shorter and raise our yield a bit ya know? We'll see how it goes for sure. Happy growing mane!
 
D

DemontauruS

Active Member
Thanks guys. The autoflowers are feminized and are SUPPOSED to just start budding on their own, no matter what the light period. Thats the confusion here. If I dont see anything start happening soon, Im considering putting them ALL into a gradual reduced light period. Right now Im doing 24/0. Going to raise the lights AGAIN, let them fluff up all they want, and reduce the light period one hour a week from there. Maybe it will spark flowering in the auto's. Wonder what would happen to the widows if they go from 24/0 to 23/1 to 22/2 etc... I just want to instigate flowering in the autos which should occur on its own, and then once thats harvested (praying) I will 12/12 the widows while starting another bach of autos outside, until the WW's are finished. After that - Im never mixing autos with regular plants again. That was my biggest mistake.

Have been pinching off leaves here and there - the ones that are blocking tops on the shorter plants, and everyone seems to be taking it well. A leaf or two here or there every couple of days. Im not prepared for a scrog, but next time I will for sure after seeing this explosion of growth. Had no idea it would actually blow up like that. Im amazed at the penetration as s. The light comes off the LEDs at different angles, and seems to be reflecting well of the mylar. I fish through he jungle of growth and can see red and blue and green and yellow beams of light getting through to even the toughest of areas - lots of nodes from top to bottom - and ive never seen stems like this ever. Thick as hell. The roots in the pots are insane. All white and spindly - no discolorization or anything. Minor "brown spots" on some of the leaves here and there, but it seems to come with the territory with my setup. PPMs and pH seem to be in range. Not sure what else I can really do with what Ive gotten myself into. Going to scrape through the autoflower threads for some advice on how to go from here.

Minz - you look like youve gotten pretty pro with the setup, and planned ahead. Once I harvest, Im going to have to start from scratch and recrack seeds and go from there. Only have the one closet in my room so I cant really set up much of a flower room vs veg room, but if these things bud the way theyre supposed to I should have more than enough to get me through.

Rock on!
 
D

DemontauruS

Active Member
OK - Ive resolved having to do what I didnt want to do - Im going to go to 12/12 with these autoflowers. Probably never going to do auto's again, after this botch. Why? Because they're lesser in THC - I could have just 12/12'd any full strain - which is what Im going to do next time. Ill report back in a couple of days with pictures. Tonight they sleep, and will for half the day for the remainder of the grow. Ill let you know what happens. Disappointing, but at least theyll be fems.

I have a choice to go full spectrum lighting - or to specify my lights for flowering lighting (red spectrum).

Anyone have experience with spectrums?
 
D

DemontauruS

Active Member
Day 43 from Germination - Day 2 of Flowering on 12/12

Ill make this quick. Was worried about these fem'd autos not flowering - maybe I panicked a litle ahead of the game - but not taking chances.
I see adequate growth and I have one bag seed, 10 autos and 2 white widows - so the solution to getting them all to flower at the same time is going to be moving them to 12/12 lighting schedule - downgraded from 41 days of 24/0.

Resv 1:
pH: 5.7
PPM: 720

Resv 2:
pH: 5.5
PPM: 690

Took pictures for the first time without the LED lights and you can see them below.
When I went to update the space - I noticed some problems that caught me by surprise.

The water was below half in both the reservois. Not sure how the hell it could go down so fast - didnt check for about 5 days - but either evap caused it or I dunno. Never the less, refilled water levels ad the data above was after they had been refilled and nuted for bloom. Have not done a flush as thw water has been within range and looks god every time I check it, not cloudy or anything, and roots are MAD healthy.

However I think the low water levels banged up the plants in the sense that bottom leaves were drying up and shriveling and/or coming off - looked like autumn in there, and the tops were looking a bit light green instead of dark like they were before. Dehydration or bleaching or a combo of both.

Moved the lights up much higher - the space retains light well - and cleaning out as many of the dead/dying leaves as possible.

I have madness in here, and Im not prepared for a scrog, so theyll have to co-exist as they are. Could I maybe take away some of the larger leaves, which are covering some of the tops from direct light? Wondering how much pinching I can get away with wihtout hurting, stunting, etc the plant. Anyone have any advice on that?

DSC00606.JPGDSC00604.JPGDSC00607.JPGDSC00603.JPGDSC00609.JPGDSC00605.JPGDSC00600.JPGDSC00608.JPGDSC00599.JPGDSC00602.JPGDSC00601.JPG
 
Mineralz

Mineralz

Well-Known Member
Sup man. Looks like you got some CRAZY growth goin on ;) Yur gonna be rollin in WW. I honestly dont think it would hurt to trim up the lower canopies of your ladiez a bit. If stuff is small or lanky, then its prolly because everything above it is blocking out its light. The less growth underneath(especially if its not gonna produce bud) equals more growth spurts towards your main cola sites:D They look nice and lush tho. Maybe a little nute burn on one of the pics, but other than that fuckin great stuff. Happy growing! Just swapped my girlz into the flowering cabinet we built and started a SCROG. Plz stop by and lemme know wut you think;)
 
D

DemontauruS

Active Member
Been pinching a few at a time, exposing as many tops as possible with minimal damage. Put on a 12/12 schedule. Brought water levels back up, have 5.6-5.8 pH's, 570-690 ppms, and good temps. Running it on a fully red spectrum during 12 hrs of light. Pure LEDs make this so convenient (357 Magnums - intense, no joke, no hype, all true if you get correct wavelength, strong wattage and good beam angles). And Im happy to report.

The tendrils are coming!!! The tendrils are coming!!!
​

 
Mineralz

Mineralz

Well-Known Member
DemontauruS said:
Been pinching a few at a time, exposing as many tops as possible with minimal damage. Put on a 12/12 schedule. Brought water levels back up, have 5.6-5.8 pH's, 570-690 ppms, and good temps. Running it on a fully red spectrum during 12 hrs of light. Pure LEDs make this so convenient (357 Magnums - intense, no joke, no hype, all true if you get correct wavelength, strong wattage and good beam angles). And Im happy to report.

The tendrils are coming!!! The tendrils are coming!!!
​
Click to expand...
AWESOME! I'm seein tendrils and preflowers EVERYWHERE as well :D Cant wait to see some pics man. Keep em comin!!
 
X

xyzxyz

Member
DemontauruS said:
Thanks guys. The autoflowers are feminized and are SUPPOSED to just start budding on their own, no matter what the light period. Thats the confusion here. If I dont see anything start happening soon, Im considering putting them ALL into a gradual reduced light period. Right now Im doing 24/0. Going to raise the lights AGAIN, let them fluff up all they want, and reduce the light period one hour a week from there. Maybe it will spark flowering in the auto's. Wonder what would happen to the widows if they go from 24/0 to 23/1 to 22/2 etc... I just want to instigate flowering in the autos which should occur on its own, and then once thats harvested (praying) I will 12/12 the widows while starting another bach of autos outside, until the WW's are finished. After that - Im never mixing autos with regular plants again. That was my biggest mistake.

Have been pinching off leaves here and there - the ones that are blocking tops on the shorter plants, and everyone seems to be taking it well. A leaf or two here or there every couple of days. Im not prepared for a scrog, but next time I will for sure after seeing this explosion of growth. Had no idea it would actually blow up like that. Im amazed at the penetration as s. The light comes off the LEDs at different angles, and seems to be reflecting well of the mylar. I fish through he jungle of growth and can see red and blue and green and yellow beams of light getting through to even the toughest of areas - lots of nodes from top to bottom - and ive never seen stems like this ever. Thick as hell. The roots in the pots are insane. All white and spindly - no discolorization or anything. Minor "brown spots" on some of the leaves here and there, but it seems to come with the territory with my setup. PPMs and pH seem to be in range. Not sure what else I can really do with what Ive gotten myself into. Going to scrape through the autoflower threads for some advice on how to go from here.

Minz - you look like youve gotten pretty pro with the setup, and planned ahead. Once I harvest, Im going to have to start from scratch and recrack seeds and go from there. Only have the one closet in my room so I cant really set up much of a flower room vs veg room, but if these things bud the way theyre supposed to I should have more than enough to get me through.

Rock on!
Click to expand...
I wonder if the LED's are having an effect on preventing the autos from flowering? Very interesting???
 
D

DemontauruS

Active Member
xyzxyz said:
I wonder if the LED's are having an effect on preventing the autos from flowering? Very interesting???
Click to expand...
I dont know, but I doubt it. Theyre on 12/12 and theyre all starting to flower now. The LED's have made everything else happen to the max. I have them on a red LED spectrum now, and lessened the light, and everybody in the pen is loving it.
 
X

xyzxyz

Member
DemontauruS said:
I dont know, but I doubt it. Theyre on 12/12 and theyre all starting to flower now. The LED's have made everything else happen to the max. I have them on a red LED spectrum now, and lessened the light, and everybody in the pen is loving it.
Click to expand...
Wasnt dissingLED's brother. Just the thought, wouldnt it be interesting if the LED's did prevent the autos from flowering meaning you could control the timing of autos, that could be benificial!

ledbud said:
You should check out LEDBUDGUYS new hydro setup. He's running 12 357 magnums and 8 ISIS-FX1's over 24 purple kush in the craziest fucking hydro syetem you have ever seen!!! http://ledbudguy.com/showthread.php/49-357-magnum-led-vs.-super-lemon-haze
Click to expand...
Excelent. Ill watch that for sure!
 
D

DemontauruS

Active Member
xyzxyz said:
Wasnt dissingLED's brother. Just the thought, wouldnt it be interesting if the LED's did prevent the autos from flowering meaning you could control the timing of autos, that could be benificial!
Click to expand...
Oh I wasnt taking it as a dis at all xyzxyz. I just considered that I DID take them off the full 24/0 lighting period after six weeks. I imagine they should have shown something before that as far as blooming. But they didnt, so I dont know for sure if I pulled too early, or if the 12/12 kicked it in. I imagine the 12/12 kicked it in, as theyre starting to flower now, as are the non-auto white widows (which seem to be girls / didnt know what sex there were going in).

The growth period with the LEDs was on 24/0, and full spectrum, and it grew like madness, with many leaf and bud sites, and the leaves grew to be massive 11 pointers much bigger than my hand. Normally this would be good, but another factor that may have played into this is that I have a pretty crowded grow space. I have 12 (what are supposed to be small-medium sized) plants growing in a 2.5 x 7 foot space, and the whole this is firm and bushy from end to end. And Im not prepared for a scrog, which I will do next time.

Ive begun clipping some of the larger leaves on the bottom half of the plants, some of which have come off on their own - others are THICK stemmed and huge, and Im snipping them close to their base to try and open up for more light to get thru to the lower budsites with the small underdeveloped leaves that are growing in the same spots.

My concern from here is, how much trimming is too much trimming - and what happens if you take a few too many too soon? Because it seems that I could go all day and pul out a crop of just leaves from the lower 6-8 inches of these plants alone. Ive pulled at least 10 leaves this morning - no more than 3-4 from a plant in a day - and Im worried I may hurt the plant. Its healed fine from everything Ive done thus far - but can you shock it or send it into a state where you hurt the budding process?

Im in day 7 of flowering on 12/12/ red spectrum lighting.

Thanks in advance for anyone who is following - RIU has been priceless in the support Ive received. Thanks everyone.
 
Encomium

Encomium

Active Member
I had a similar situation as yours Demon and I ended up trimming the bottom 1/3 of 2 (out of 4) of my plants and leaving the other 2 as is (not pruned). This pruning was done @ 2 1/2 weeks into flowering. The results were the 2 plants that I had pruned ended up with a much heftier main cola and several large secondary colas. So far, the yield on the untrimmed plants is about 75% of the yields from the trimmed plants. Because of this my next grow I'll be topping and pruning the bottom 1/3 of my plants in the last 2 weeks of veg to let them adjust to the shock and then putting them under 12/12.

DemontauruS said:
My concern from here is, how much trimming is too much trimming - and what happens if you take a few too many too soon? Because it seems that I could go all day and pul out a crop of just leaves from the lower 6-8 inches of these plants alone. Ive pulled at least 10 leaves this morning - no more than 3-4 from a plant in a day - and Im worried I may hurt the plant. Its healed fine from everything Ive done thus far - but can you shock it or send it into a state where you hurt the budding process?

Im in day 7 of flowering on 12/12/ red spectrum lighting.
Click to expand...
Any amount of trimming is going to stress your plants. My pruning was done in 2 days in the 2nd week of flowering and removed the bottom 1/3 of the plants. The bud formation on the pruned plants surpassed the unpruned plants but I believe this trimming did delay harvest time by a week (about the time I would have thought the plants take to recover).
 
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