So my rookie Hydro grow is going well. I've been reading a lot over the past 2 years. After 2.75 grows, I thought I would be a little more "worthy" to post. I learned from reading the details in hundreds of posts, had success and thought I would be a little more technical with some of my operations in this post. (I may do a real journal when i start the next grow in august or sept.) Maybe it will help someone....sorry if its boring.
In this flood tray I have 3 female plants all started at the same time. 1 White Russian (WR), and 2 AKs. One AK is a runt. The WR is on the left and the pics are tagged. Right now we are at day 60.
I posted 2 additional pics from day 30 and day 45 so you could see the growth progression. I dont know if this is atypical for Autos in Hydro, but these things (not the runt) are so much larger than my Soil grows. The stalks are easily 1 1/2" thick at the rocks. I'm impressed.
The 2 large plants are equal in size. I LST'd them. I counted 17 tops at, or near, the same height. The colas on each these are between 8-12" long. you should be able to see the canopy is pretty even. I did not use a trellis net. Right now the stems are supporting the weight. I am amazed at how the trichs are all over the fan leaves on the and on some of the stems. I tried to capture that in a picture, but dont know how that will show up.
The runt is more consistent with a small soil lowryder...it looks very healthy and just fine. I think that ones going to be ready to cut at day 70 or so, I wont be able to flush it because the 2 shrubs will still need time with the nutes. The funny thing is that I cant even see it without parting the big plants. I try not to touch them at all, so it will be interesting getting it out - I dont have much room on the side to work.
Here's a recap about this garden/grow setup:
(1) 400w HPS and I added a secondary 150w HPS at day 39, and there's a 100 w fluor
Ebb/Flow - 10 gal res (Im using plain tap H2O, my ppm is high at 250...i ignore it)
5.8 pH - (very strict monitoring)
Technaflora Recipe for Success. (started slowly at 50%, 90% at around day 29, 100% at day 35.
I change the tank about every 7-10 days. They have been drinking about 1.5 gallons a day over the past 2 weeks. When it hits 7 gallons, I add 3 gallons of tap, and nutrients measured for one gallon of water (so those 3 gallons of fresh water get about 33% nutes). Seems like its working. (I'm keeping this around 1500 ppm. I dont know if its good or bad, but the plants seem to be healthy.)
I dont know what to expect to see from this hydro compared to soil. I was going to lollipop one of the plants, either the WR or the AK, but I couldnt decide, and I dont mind the popcorn buds. I may experiment on the next grow with a lollipop to see what they do.
(Is anyone still reading this?)
Regarding flood schedules: I was flooding 3 times a day for about 24 minutes. the plants did not show any stress. So I am currently experimenting with a longer flood cycle. My rationale is that the plants are in serious "bud-swell" mode. Seems like a little more water and nutes wouldnt hurt. So I upped it to 1 hour 3x day, and one 12 minute burst at the middle of the 2nd and 3rd flood. The plants are not showing any stress or over watering signs, and I have seen some growth from day to day.
Are there recommended flood schedules? what do others do with ebb/flow system flood cycles?
Should be a good experiment. I'll keep you posted if anyone is interested.
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