Rurumo's Mars Hydro FC6500 grow journal

crimsonecho

crimsonecho

Well-Known Member
Rurumo said:
Thanks Hobbes! It's funny, I'm not 100% sure why they are so green this time-I'm feeding them almost exactly the same as the last grow. The only additional thing I'm feeding them is Spirulina-about 1/2 teaspoon per 3 gallons. I realized quickly that the spirulina was a highly available source of N early on when I started getting N tox at low EC-when I reduced the amount of Spirulina, the N tox went away. Well, I did raise it back up for the past two weeks of stretch, thinking they could use the extra N at this time anyway. Spirulina also has a lot of Iron. It's much more powerful than I thought it would be when I started experimenting with using it instead of my usual kelp extract.
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are you loving the spirulina thus far tho? i added a good amount to my 2,5l pots turned perlite blue it was like i mulched with shredded smurfs or something lol same colour haha and it seems make for a good deep leaf colour.
 
Rurumo

Rurumo

Well-Known Member
Hobbes said:
.

Thanks, I'll try some Spirulina on my next grow!

,
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So far I'm loving it, as a combo amino acid/biostimulent, it can easily take the place of kelp and an amino acid supplement. The biostimulant studies are what drew me to it, I had no idea the amino acids were so freely available, but this stuff works very much like the 80% soy hydrolysate powder I use sometimes. I bet we see a lot of overpriced Spirulina bottled products in the next few years.
 
Rurumo

Rurumo

Well-Known Member
crimsonecho said:
are you loving the spirulina thus far tho? i added a good amount to my 2,5l pots turned perlite blue it was like i mulched with shredded smurfs or something lol same colour haha and it seems make for a good deep leaf colour.
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Yeah, it's actually very powerful stuff! And I like that it makes my nutrient solution look like blue Kool Aid.
 
crimsonecho

crimsonecho

Well-Known Member
Rurumo said:
Yeah, it's actually very powerful stuff! And I like that it makes my nutrient solution look like blue Kool Aid.
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then it looked like i watered with blue kool aid for a while perlites look yummy hahha

i’m liking it very much so far but i’ve ran out of it should order right this second lol

wish there were an easy rig i can produce my own though that would serve even better.
 
Rurumo

Rurumo

Well-Known Member
crimsonecho said:
then it looked like i watered with blue kool aid for a while perlites look yummy hahha

i’m liking it very much so far but i’ve ran out of it should order right this second lol

wish there were an easy rig i can produce my own though that would serve even better.
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That blue color is amazing! You should definitely get more, it's one of the most economical supplements-it's cheaper than buying kelp and soy hydrolysate for sure.
 
crimsonecho

crimsonecho

Well-Known Member
Rurumo said:
That blue color is amazing! You should definitely get more, it's one of the most economical supplements-it's cheaper than buying kelp and soy hydrolysate for sure.
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so after trying it out this run you definitely see it as a replacement for all those other supplements?

i agree its an expensive material but little goes a long way and in those scarce amounts its used it works out to be a very economical option.
 
Rurumo

Rurumo

Well-Known Member
crimsonecho said:
so after trying it out this run you definitely see it as a replacement for all those other supplements?

i agree its an expensive material but little goes a long way and in those scarce amounts its used it works out to be a very economical option.
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I'd love to do a side by side grow with it and kelp extract the next time I run clones, but for now I'm sold on it. Besides the noticeable effects, I also like that it's a powder (trying to eliminate all liquid bottles), and that it's lower in heavy metals than kelp extracts. It really doesn't take much to have an effect, either in a root drench or foliar.
 
crimsonecho

crimsonecho

Well-Known Member
Rurumo said:
I'd love to do a side by side grow with it and kelp extract the next time I run clones, but for now I'm sold on it. Besides the noticeable effects, I also like that it's a powder (trying to eliminate all liquid bottles), and that it's lower in heavy metals than kelp extracts. It really doesn't take much to have an effect, either in a root drench or foliar.
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i’m sold on it too definitely. i love adding the stuff to my worm bin also. just in small amounts but its a good organic food source for the worms and microbes and mites and collembola etc. just like a booster shot if the bin was neglected for a while.

think about this for a while; tablets as slow release spirulina supplementation for plants haha
 
Rurumo

Rurumo

Well-Known Member
crimsonecho said:
i’m sold on it too definitely. i love adding the stuff to my worm bin also. just in small amounts but its a good organic food source for the worms and microbes and mites and collembola etc. just like a booster shot if the bin was neglected for a while.

think about this for a while; tablets as slow release spirulina supplementation for plants haha
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Feeding spirulina to worms is a great idea, you'll end up with some of the most potent worm castings ever! I've been so impressed with the effects of Spirulina compared to kelp/seaweed extract-from what I've observed, they have very similar benefits, with Spirulina being much more potent. It turns out spirulina contains auxins, cytokinins, and gibberellins just as kelp does-which explains some of the similarities. I mean it makes sense, one is a microalgae and one is a macroalgae-I've just never thought of them as being so similar before.
 
crimsonecho

crimsonecho

Well-Known Member
Rurumo said:
Feeding spirulina to worms is a great idea, you'll end up with some of the most potent worm castings ever! I've been so impressed with the effects of Spirulina compared to kelp/seaweed extract-from what I've observed, they have very similar benefits, with Spirulina being much more potent. It turns out spirulina contains auxins, cytokinins, and gibberellins just as kelp does-which explains some of the similarities. I mean it makes sense, one is a microalgae and one is a macroalgae-I've just never thought of them as being so similar before.
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in all honesty i’ve never thought kelp as an algae haha

but yeah i guess they re pretty similar but spirulina is just more potent as you stated especially in the amino content.

now i ordered some spirulina tablets and gonna mix them into the 20 gallon pots i’m gonna use next run. i really do believe they could work as a slow release fertilizer because when i was dissolving the tablets to make spirulina water it was so hard to dissolve them after 24hrs in the water most of the tablet was still intact so i dumped some into the worm bin and after about a week or 2 they were still there.

my hope is in the soil whenever i water they’re gonna release a little bit of the goodies and probably the worms and microbes are gonna be very happy colonizing around those tablets. i really believe i’ll see the positive effects of it.

of course powder form is great as well ordered some more of that too haha
 
Rurumo

Rurumo

Well-Known Member
crimsonecho said:
in all honesty i’ve never thought kelp as an algae haha

but yeah i guess they re pretty similar but spirulina is just more potent as you stated especially in the amino content.

now i ordered some spirulina tablets and gonna mix them into the 20 gallon pots i’m gonna use next run. i really do believe they could work as a slow release fertilizer because when i was dissolving the tablets to make spirulina water it was so hard to dissolve them after 24hrs in the water most of the tablet was still intact so i dumped some into the worm bin and after about a week or 2 they were still there.

my hope is in the soil whenever i water they’re gonna release a little bit of the goodies and probably the worms and microbes are gonna be very happy colonizing around those tablets. i really believe i’ll see the positive effects of it.

of course powder form is great as well ordered some more of that too haha
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That's a cool idea, I'd be interested to know how it works for you, let me know.
 
crimsonecho

crimsonecho

Well-Known Member
Rurumo said:
That's a cool idea, I'd be interested to know how it works for you, let me know.
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shit i missed the boat on this but it would be really cool to mix those tablets into 2 pots and not mixing into to the other 2 in my 2x2 and do a clone run with plain water start to finish but tent is going atm and with a multi strain grow nonetheless haha

will do man i may even do that side by side next run with the tablets and straight water that would be nice!
 
FirstCavApache64

FirstCavApache64

Well-Known Member
Rurumo said:
Hello everyone! The girls are doing excellent this week, everyone is showing proper flowers and the tent is pretty well filled out. One big difference I notice with the smaller 2 gallon pots I'm using this time is that I'm not getting the massive trunk size at the base-I think the trunk thickness might be proportional to root ball size. They've grown a LOT in the last two days, so I don't think stretch is quite over. Nutrients same as last week. I now have clones of all of them, including the Jelly Breath which took a few tries-she really didn't want to develop roots. As you know I'm a huge fan of salicylic acid and citric acid (i use it for a PH down) and use both in foliar sprays, as well as root drenches. Here is an interesting study that showed a foliar spray of both increased mineral absorption, stem thickness, and other growth parameters: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2014.00573/full. Citric acid is my favorite PH down-I think it has a lot to offer over phosphoric acid in terms of plant growth and not just economy. There is your research study for the day, on to the plants!

QUOTE]
What a great article. I switched to citric acid for ph down about a year or two ago when I first thought about using organics. It seems to help buffer some of the high Calcium in my well water as I don't get Calcium lockout like I used to but that's purely anecdotal, I can't prove it or anything. I don't use it every watering as my tap is 7.0-7.15 which is fine for organics but I do lower it down to 6.2 once a week when they're in veg just to help keep the media ph a little lower. I'm sure it's not necessary but it seems to help with the version of dry amendment growing I do. I noticed that the article talked about the results applying mainly to hydroponics as the microbes would alter the results but I'm still interested in seeing how it works out for you. I'll have to read up on SA, I have Humic acid and Citric acid but no SA so I'll look into it. I'm always looking for ways to fine time things to be just a degree better. Thanks for the help.
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Rurumo

Rurumo

Well-Known Member
One day away from week 4, and I'm still getting a lot of stretch from the Apples and Bananas cross, which is the tallest plant in the tent. Everyone is looking good and on track. I've been adjusting PH a bit higher than I usually do-6.3 in flower-and I've had no trace of magnesium issues this grow even through stretch, so the higher PH may have impacted mag absorption positively, so I'm sticking with it from now on. EC is just 1.1, fed twice daily to plenty of runoff, but in a week or so, I'll bring that up to 1.2 through the addition of MKP for a couple of weeks. I sprayed these girls with 1% mkp solution during week 1 of 12/12 as part of my IPM program, it's a useful substance to keep around. That's all for now!

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Jelly Breath

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Flapjacks looking good!

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Apples and Bananas X Medellin-I stopped supercropping it daily to give it a rest and it went back to full stretch mode-It's a nice plant though

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NSFSHEEESH-my precious....getting super sticky

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This is shaping up to be a great run and I think I'll end up with one or more excellent plants and hopefully some unique terps. Thanks for stopping by folks, it's only going to get better next week!
 
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