LUCAS FORMULA - Hydroponic Grow Journal

don2009 said:

Wheres the link i'll head over there ?

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GreenThumbSucker said:

This will be my first true grow journal.

I have been growing off and on since the 1980s, but didn't begin toying with Hydroponics until last fall. I have successfully grown three crops hydroponically. I believe that I have the basics down enough to do a journal that you and I can learn from.

Here are some factoids for my grow:

• I will be growing 'up to' 15 plants this grow (more on this later.)
• I will be using a commercially made, 'Ebb and Grow,' ebb and flow system
• My room is 4'x10' completely papered by Mylar
• I will be using 3 x 1000 watt sodium lamps for flowering
• I will use the LUCAS FORMULA for flowering, but not for the vegetative stage
• I am growing in a half finished basement which gets cold in cool weather
• I am using tap water, last time I checked it, was 23 PPM right out of the tap
• I am a legal Medical grower

Short term do list:

1. Clean up room/equipment from last grow
2. Rebuild room
3. acquire clones

As it sits now, my grow room is a train wreck. I finished my last grow in mid July and haven't done much in the way of cleaning up the mess.

Last night I took the old hydroton from the previous grow and cleaned it out. It still had the roots (half rotten) from last July mixed in it. I carefully pulled out the root mass and banged it against the sides of a five gallon bucket to knock loose the hydroton. As it fell into the bucket, I picked out as much root as could. I then put a screen over the top of the five gallon bucket and put a hose into the hydroton and let it run for about half an hour. Whatever is left of the roots rise to the top and stick to the screen. Doing this gets about 99% of the leftover root bits out of the hydroton.

I put the hydroton back into the grow buckets and let them dry overnight. This morning I filled a five gallon pail with three gallons of water and put 7 tablespoons of 35% H2O2 in. I dipped each bucket this solution 5 or 6 times to kill any virus', mould, or bacteria that are still lurking.

Last crop I grew 12 plants and last night it took me about 3 hours to clean all that hydroton. This will be the second time I've reused this same batch of hydroton.

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GreenThumbSucker said:

Four things I have noticed from going on too long between change outs using the Lucas Formula:

1. Slower growth: The further away you get from a solution change out, the more lackluster the growth becomes.

2. Nute burn: During flowering they use nitrogen at a lesser rate than phosphorus, thus it builds up. I have noticed leaf tip burn after going a couple of weeks between change outs, particularly in later bloom.

3. Unidentified deficiencies: Ive had leaves turn yellow, the veins of the shade leaves turn colors, scale looking crap on older leaves (magnesium deficiency). When you see any sign of deficiency it is time to change out solution, except in very late bloom when the plant begins dying and turning yellow.

4. Nutrient lockout: When I started getting random deficiencies after a couple of weeks, giving them more fertilizer didnt solve the problem. They plants just wouldnt use it. I suspect that some nutrients lock out for whatever reason after a while.

In every case changing the solution solved it.

There are two rules for changing out solution.

Addback rule: When you have added back an amount equal to the size of the reservoir, change out the solution. Keep track of how much water you give when you top off.

PH Rule: When PH starts dropping instead of rising, change out solution.

My rule: Change out solution every week OR do a half change out, then every other week do a full change out of solution.

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GreenThumbSucker said:

Everything has dried. I ended up keeping a pound total. Everything else went to the dispensary.

The total finished weight is 94.8 oz or 5.8 lbs. I got 5 lbs and 14.8 oz. The last eight plants yielded 54 oz or 6.75 oz per plant.

Mistakes: What would I do different?

First thing, when I vegetated them, I turned them when the plants filled about half the floor space. Ended up being packed in like sardines within a week. Next time I will turn them when they fill 1/3 of the floor space. All in all though they dont seem to mind so much being tightly together. Just made it hard to move around in the room.

The plants under the cheap 'econo wing' reflector seemed to do better than the plants under the expensive parabolic reflector. The parabolic reflector spread the light out evenly over a wide circle though, very good for vegetative.

I access my grow room from the end instead of from the side. This makes it hard to maneuver around inside the room to do work. This is something that needs to be dealt with in the future and the room reconfigured. I am using half of an unfinished bedroom in the basement.

Questions, comments, suggestions?

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Kushmann1434 said:

I am new to this ebb and grow system. Why do you only flood twice per day? Could this be the reason my plants look crappy? I started flooding every other hour and have since increased to every hour. I thought the whole process was about getting oxygen to the roots. When you only flood twice per day, how do the clones survive?

Thanks for your reply--I really need help from an expert!! =)

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cgrizzle3 said:

What kind of medium are you using? Hydroton, rockwool? I flood 4 times a day, only during the light cycle, and it works wonderfully for me. I use a ebb and grow bucket system with only hydroton.

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thefr13nd said:

How would I apply Lucas formula apply to seedlings and germination stage. First time grow looking for a couple answers.

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GreenThumbSucker said:

Some people turn tomato cages upside down.

I get a metal plant stake and stick it into the hydroton right next to the main stalk and use long twist ties to attach it to the main cola.

If they start falling over I may just have to let them grow however they end up, too much bud in the way to get to the back of the room. Might do a little tying this coming weekend but after that nature will take its course.

Hey, Ive endured worse problems.

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