My Last Soil Grow

Philo2

Active Member
I've decided to make the switch to aeroponics but these girls were too pretty to lose. They are six "Mangos" and six "Heavy Duty Fruity". I'm not familiar with these strains but the initial growth and the appearance of the leaves is very similar for both

I got some well rooted clones 2 1/2 weeks ago and I put them in soil to veg. My soil mixture is 25% vermiculite, 25% peralite, and 50% of a local made soil which contains 14% worm castings.

Just 2 1/2 weeks into vegging and they are really growing fast. I've tied some down to limit vertical growth and that has led to some nice bushy plants.

I will be moving them to 12/12 this weekend due to a low ceiling.

There are pictures of the inside and outside of my cloner. Those babies will be staying in aeroponics once they root.
 

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esilva

Active Member
Looking real sexy mayne. I was wondering how much a cloner system like that cost you? Gonna be taking some clones here coming up pretty soon and going to the hydro store this weekend to pick up some supplies. But yea your ladies are definately looking good. Ill def follow if you keep updating.
 

Philo2

Active Member
Looking real sexy mayne. I was wondering how much a cloner system like that cost you? Gonna be taking some clones here coming up pretty soon and going to the hydro store this weekend to pick up some supplies. But yea your ladies are definately looking good. Ill def follow if you keep updating.

The whole system costs me about $50 bucks. $15 for a submersible pump, $15 for the bucket, $12 for 2" net pots and neoprene caps and a buck or two for PVC and spray jets.

I found those storage bins at Lowe's and they are perfect. They come with a 24 square grid at the top so I use that as the perfect guideline to drill my 2" holes. Make sure you get the right spray jets, the Home Depot ones tend to clog. Get the 360 degree red ones at your local grow store.

Now for some more pics. I've been reading a lot about vertical growing and it all make so much sense, so I decided to utilize some of the techniques on this grow. I took off my reflector to hang just the bulb in the middle of three shelves which I filled with the plants. After just one night the plants seemed to have a positive reaction. I've seen a lot of strong leaf development on the lower ends of the plants. I can also get them closer to the light now since the heat is not being concentrated by the reflector. My room temperature dropped by 1.5 degrees just from removing the reflector.

I didn't mention the lights I'm using. The clones started aeroponically under a basic floro, I then moved them under 2-250W; 1-MH, 1-HPS, for vegging. Right now they have one Galaxy 600W and I will be adding 2 more 600W for flowering. I am going to arrange the plants so that most of them have a light on each side. Since I am going vertical I am going to let the plants veg another week or so. If the lights are on the side of the plant they they can grow to the ceiling if they want.

I'm shooting for 4 ounces a plant. By all reviews, both personal and online, these strains produce big buds. If they get as big as I expect I will attach metal netting to the ceiling and tie the branches to the netting as needed for support.
 

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Philo2

Active Member
3 Weeks since the clones were transplanted to dirt and they are growing like crazy. Average height is 17 inches and they are growing close to 2 inches a day. When they hit 20 I'm switching the light over to 12/12. I'm going to transplant 4 of them into 5 gallon pots to see if there is a difference in production.

Over half of the Mango cuttings are showing roots, after just 6 days. No HDFs have roots.
 

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Philo2

Active Member
Since I took off the reflector and dropped the bulb down increase in height has tailed off but leaf production is out of this world. The picture doesn't do justice to how bushy the plants have become.

-I've been feeding every other watering with a 50% strength Botanicare Grow.
-Everyday I've been doing a light foliar feeding with Organica ADD.
-I took a total of 47 clones and it looks like I'll have 100% success on them.
-I added two Bubble Berry clones to the cloner.
-Installed my Can Fan and carbon filter. I need to work on noise reduction a little better but it's keeping temps at a healthy 78.


I wish they would be a little taller but due to time constraints, I will be throwing them into 12/12 this Sunday.

When is the best time to start a bloom fertilizer? Before I switch the lights or right after? I'll be going half grow/half bloom for the first 2 weeks.
 

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PBFseedco.

Well-Known Member
I would say flush them the first 3-4 days or more then hit them with the flowering nutes. But someone might have a better answer...bongsmilie
 

Philo2

Active Member
3 Days Into Flowering:

I had some major humidity problems after installing the inline fan. All the new growth was twisting and curling up. My humidity had dropped into the low 20s. I put in a humidifier and everything seems better but I lost close to a week of growth.

Everything seems to be back to their healthy ways. Some of the larger plants are up to 25 inches.

-I am going to fertilize ever other watering with a 50% grow/50% bloom mixture for the first 2 weeks of flowering
-humidity is now averaging 40%
-temps are around 75 degrees on average
 

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Philo2

Active Member
9 Days Into Flowering

Things are starting to look real nice. The plants in the 2 gallon pots were still curling up so I moved them all to 5 gallon pots.

I have been feeding them a 50/50 grow/bloom mixture. The bloom mixture a combo of Fox Farms Big Bloom, Fox Farms Tiger Bloom, and a cal/mag supplement.

Due to the low humidity issues I have scaled things back a little. I lost about a week of growth and realized that 3 lights in there would be a little too much. So there will only be 2 600W lights. My goals for plant size and yields have been lowered but I don't think I will be disappointed with the total output. I learned the limits of this room.

The white tent is my new clone/veg room.

-6X6 foot print
-It's a 1 inch PVC frame
-2 24 site cloners
-2 4' floros
-1 100W cfl
-1 humidifier set at 55%
 

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Philo2

Active Member
where did you buy that cloner? and how long did it take to get those roots?
It's a DIY. They sell those storage bins at Lowes. They have a 24 square grid on them that is perfect for 2 inch net pots. They also have a snap on lid which prevents leaks.

When I have them in a humidity controlled tent it takes less than 3 weeks to get to that point.
 

Philo2

Active Member
2 weeks into flowering and everything is looking great. I got the humidity issues under control and all plants are growing like crazy.

-switching to all bloom fertilizers tonight.
-intend to add molasses starting week 3

pic #1- roots that come out of the cloner.
 

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Philo2

Active Member
3rd Week of flowering and everything is going great. The buds are already getting big and I'm expecting some real monsters out of this grow.

I lollipopped 4 plants to due a little comparison on the outcome.

Here are a few pics of the canopy of green. :lol:
 

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Philo2

Active Member
5 Weeks into flowering and everything is doing fine. I started adding molasses 2 weeks ago and it seems to be having an impact. I'm seeing a lot of red hairs already and some leaves starting to yellow. I'm thinking these plants will be ready sooner than expected. I'll start checking the trichomes in 2 weeks but I expect to harvest in less than 60 days of flowering. The Heavy Duty Fruity buds are definitely bigger than the Mango but they also seem to be ripening sooner. I have a few more pics but what happened to the manage attachments button?
What do you think? How are they looking?
 

Philo2

Active Member
47 Days into Flowering and it looks like these girls are going to finish early. I'm going to start to really watch the trics next week but I think I will be pulling most of them around 55 days. One of the larger plants seems to be running a little slower.

I'm starting a flush now with molasses every other watering.

Smelling great and looking great.
 

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