Winter 2022/23 Gro & Flo (Ebb and Flow) Run

Cabrone said:

I start my seeds in promix. Once I can determine sex, and I can see the plant structure, it is big enough to cut enough clones and root them in an aero cloner(clone king). Once they root and start growing in the cloner, usually 2-3 weeks soak the hydroton, then carefully transplant to the baskets. Depending on root structure and depth you may or may not have to hand water for a few days until the roots get established.

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Thanks man, that was one of my thoughts.
I am considering going to NM and buying clones, closest place to me.
I have a buddy living there that says the clones he has purchased are the real deal. There is cost to doing it this way.
Starting with seeds will add addition time to the grow, plus you never know what your going to get, the seeds may say 20% but then turn out to be crap.
The hand watering is taken care of by using the waterfall effect during the initial rooting in the ebb and flow buckets. But as @rkymtnman said the waterfall effect adds additional DO2 to the plants, so my keep it working that way.

Good morning Walmart shoppers,
Here are a few pics of the progress, I removed the one LSD that was having issues and replaced it with a clone of Blueberry that I got from a friend. This is that LSD that has done very little since transplant. When I removed it from it's bucket it had about 10 single roots about two inches long. Not much more than when I put it in the buckets.


And the Blueberry.

No transplant shock at all. Happy about that.
Here are the rest of the flock at 10 days since transplanting from cloner to the ebb and flow system.

Just beginning to see roots coming from some of the holes in the upper part of the pots, should be out of the bottom of the pots in a day or so, they are taking off now.

Made up a new 30 gallon batch of solution for the rez, 0.9 EC and will be adding it to the rez tomorrow after I remove the solution in the rez now and clean the barrel. pH is 6.1 without adding any pH up or down, normally when I make a new rez it is at least 6.9 to 7..3.
I will calibrate the pH pin when I add the solution to the rez tomorrow.

I have a question, does anyone use two pH pins for checking their pH. I have been questioning the reliability of my main pin and am waiting for a new probe for my other pin to arrive.

If you successfully calibrate your pen with 4 and 7 and your solution isn't old you should be good. It can go bad. I use drops for a second test if I think it's needed.

Turpman said:

If you successfully calibrate your pen with 4 and 7 and your solution isn't old you should be good. It can go bad. I use drops for a second test if I think it's needed.

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As I stated I did a calibration this morning after I replant the solution in the rez. Got a reading of 6.2 so I added a little pH down and the solution now reads 5.8. The Torus XpH Capsule Model pH stabilizer has been placed back in the rez so will need to check it for the next few days to make sure it stabilizes and keeps the pH within range. It stayed within range, 5.8 to 6.1, with this last rez so hoping it does with the rez.

Very please with the way the Blueberry has taken off, it's only been 6 days since the transplant.
12/19


12/24


The flock 12/10 Day they went into the tent.


14 days later 12/24


I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a great grow this coming year.

Looking great!
Merry Christmas.

Just trying to find my journal, not sure where Admin put it..

gr865 said:

Just trying to find my journal, not sure where Admin put it..

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Here.. In journals

This morning while checking the ladies the reservoir was down just over 3 gallons so I added the 3 gallons back with RO, last added water two days ago. The EC was down to 0.6, so I added 30 ml each of Micro and Bloom which brought the EC back to 0.9, spot on. The pH was perfect at 6.01. The ladies are drinking well and taking up nutrients like they should be. The fan leaves are the size of my hand so I removed a few from each plant the were covering other bud sites. Will do a lite defoliation this coming week in preparation for flowering which should start in a few weeks. I know not everyone is a fan of defoliation but I have been doing it on my plants for years/ Very lite defoliation to a bit over the top, but have always had good yield numbers.
Have had to be careful removing the fan leaves as these plants do not like to be messed with and tend to want to break bud shoots. My buddy who I got the clones from said he broke a lot when working on his plants.


I have not been able to cover the Hydroton do to the emitters I am using and during early growth a little algae began forming on the surface, but now that the leaves are covering the Hydroton the algae has subsided and is non existent now. When I do the lollypop on the plants over the next few weeks I will be able to add a reflective film layer over the surface of the Hydroton and not have to worry about the light causing algae growth.
One thing I have noticed is the growth of the plants is amazing. I thought that I got good growth with my Coco/Perlite grows but this Gro & Flo system is out growing any of my Coco grows at least by half or more. I am astonished every morning when I open the tent.
Another thing I am liking is the way the Blueberry has responded, it was planted from a small clone 10 days after the LSD's went into the pots and has caught up to the other plants in size. Cool Beans!

Y'all have a very Happy New Years! If you go out please be careful.

We decided to take a look at the roots today.
All plants but one are LSD and the one is the Blueberry.
Here is the Blueberry, was transplanted into the pot on 12/19 and looked like this.

The Blueberry plant and the roots 12 days later.


The 5 LSD roots.


Happy camper here! Great way to start the New Year. Happy plants and roots.

Roots look great.you have anything preventing roots from blocking off the drain

Turpman said:

Roots look great.you have anything preventing roots from blocking off the drain

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No, I have considered using Copper padding but unsure. Do you or anyone have any suggestions.
Thanks, yes I like the way the plants are doing, roots and growth. So far all is good.

I’ve seen the round ones. They just turn the top one every so often. But I see your have square. May be able to just turn, not sure if you have the ability.

Turpman said:

I’ve seen the round ones. They just turn the top one every so often. But I see your have square. May be able to just turn, not sure if you have the ability.

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I want to thank you for your response. I feel a bit dumb on the subject! Can you please explain, I do not understand what you mean by "they just turn the top one ever so often." "But I see your have square. May be able to just turn, not sure if you have the ability."
Are you saying that you need to turn the inner bucket? I do have the ability to do that, I lift them out of the outer bucket and rotate them every few days to aid in even lighting. So if I have a pad in the base of the outer bucket rotate the inner bucket occasionally.
The roots are getting big like this one from an earlier grow that failed due to my health issues this year. Got lock out and did not catch it in time. But here are the roots, I did not have anything in the bottom to prevent the roots from blocking the drain.

Can you also explain how copper screen keeps roots from entering the drain?

Ya so the round top container in a round bottom one, the top one is just rotated say 1/4 turn every so often. They have one drain hole at the side so the roots that are working their way down the drain get pulld out when the top is turned. Square in square may be difficult. As the round ones only need to be raised a small amount.

I'm guessing the roots don't like to be touching copper so they stop growing when in contact.

Guess you could do like the undercurrent systems and have a large bottom drain pipe.

Do you pump out the water out of the bottoms after the flood? Looks like you see is the same height.

Turpman said:

Ya so the round top container in a round bottom one, the top one is just rotated say 1/4 turn every so often. They have one drain hole at the side so the roots that are working their way down the drain get pulld out when the top is turned. Square in square may be difficult. As the round ones only need to be raised a small amount.

I'm guessing the roots don't like to be touching copper so they stop growing when in contact.

Guess you could do like the undercurrent systems and have a large bottom drain pipe.

Do you pump out the water out of the bottoms after the flood? Looks like you see is the same height.

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The system works by pumping solution from the reservoir into a control bucket that allows, through gravity to fill the grow buckets until a level is reached and the reservoir pump shuts down. When the buckets are full and after they sit in the solution for X amount of time a pump in the bottom of the control bucket pumps the solution back to the reservoir.
I can lift the square buckets and turn them 25% each time. Will that lift the screen?

gr865 said:

The system works by pumping solution from the reservoir into a control bucket that allows, through gravity to fill the grow buckets until a level is reached and the reservoir pump shuts down. When the buckets are full and after they sit in the solution for X amount of time a pump in the bottom of the control bucket pumps the solution back to the reservoir.
I can lift the square buckets and turn them 25% each time. Will that lift the screen?

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Not sure not familiar with your buckets.

Turpman said:

Not sure not familiar with your buckets.

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This is the set up!

gr865 said:

This is the set up!
View attachment 5244075

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Do they have a copper screen in the bottom?

Turpman said:

Do they have a copper screen in the bottom?

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Not yet I just ordered two 99.9% Pure Copper Wire 40 Mesh- 12.5" x 38" Dense Filter Screens. Will cut them to 12.5 x 12.5 lay them on the bottom of the lower bucket. Have also been looking at the root control disc used in the AutoPots. Just don't want to use something that will effect the growth of the plants.