She’s such a little lady. Only about 12 inches tall. But she did come from a seed that’s 2 years old. So I’m glad she’s alive!
Is it time to do the pre flower defoliation?
I don’t recommend defoliating…I don’t grow auto’s…I would be expecting some more growth…just keep on doing what you’re doing…she’s looking lovely 
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I currently have no way to chill my water, at least not until next month. Retirement sometimes sucks.
My water is holding a consistent 76.6 degrees F. I know that high.
I understand a good temp is 68° to 72°.
What should i be looking for with temp issues?
Should i do a full water change every 10 days? Or weekly?
I was thinking that when i do a full water change I’ll flush them for 6 hours with plain ph balanced water, to touch any buildup from the coco.
@RightAway I’ve seen some of your grow pics. Very impressive yields and beautiful plants.
Also, I’m growing autos just to get a quick stock in place. It’s medicine for my wife. She’s a vet with PTSD and the VA wants her taking a ton of pills a day and being a zombie. The smoke replaces all of that stuff.
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Brother I’m sorry to hear of your wifes condition…thank God for Marijuana…the water temp. is high …my last crop I used frozen gal. Jugs when temps went much over 72…pain but effective …to high water temps. can lead to serious issues…water changes are important to keep your nutrient solution balanced…the best is to follow nute mfg. directions…I like to do mine every 10 days…adding ph’d water or nute solution as needed to keep ppm in parameters… I have found that excessive flushing brings negative results…evry tim.e you flush it depletes the magnesium and other trace ele.ments in your media… this is why you want to limit your time on fertigation…more frequent and shorter duration is better…you only want to rewet the media…follow me?..this helps to keep salt build-up to a minimum thus reducing need to flush …some growers only flush at the very end…with fast autos you may be able to follow that process…I veg my photos longer for maximum growth thus increasing probable need to flush…flush sparingly…making certain to properly ph flush water(this is critical)…hope this helps…Good Growing
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I’m honestly amazed at how well these ladies are doing with this Dutch bucket setup. It’s been 6 days since the conversion to the buckets. Look at this! And the roots are growing out the bottom and sides of the 5 gallon bags. Amazing!
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Many people just freeze water bottles and put them in the reservoir, if they have big res’s, they use 2L bottles. Temps aren’t such a big deal with medium growing, as it is with pure-hydro, but even GH says to not let their solution get over 75. My little 5 gallon plant takes 2 of the generic 16 ounce water bottles every 8 hours to keep the water 65-75 degrees in an 80 degree day-temp room. Wide temp swings aren’t ideal for plants either, but it’s better than root rot in my DWC. You could use Reflectix to both wrap your tubs for light protection, and slightly insulate for chill insulation.
Yes, it’s a PITA, but mine is temporary for just this grow. Not sure your long term plans… I’m retired as well (officially next Monday), so money planning is real, I get it.
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As i expected there is now algae growing in my tubs. They are clear, so plenty of light gets in.
So, algae is bad? Right?
It’s been 7 days since i started this adventure so i guess it’s time to change the water and clean the tubs.
My water solution has been and still is very stable. PH stays between 5.8 & 6.2. No smell and the EC is between 1.2 & 1.5.
Do i really need to clean the tubs since the plants are very happy and the nutrients are stable?
I took apart and cleaned the entire system. I also painted the tubs a nice flat black.
I’m running water with no nutrients right now and yes it PH balanced for 15 gallons.
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Yes algae isn’t good…if you use hydrogen peroxide in your solution it will help with the algae issue…34% h2o2 added @ 2 ml. per gal should help…some algae may still occur but it will keep it in check…sorry I didn’t tell you about this earlier… it is widely used in h2o systems…kinda slipped my feeble brain…
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By the way…your plants look GREAT…GOOD JOB…
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I upgraded the reservoir go to a 28 gallon heavy duty tote with lid. With the 4 tubs it’s running about 35 gallons.
PH is staying stable between 5.8-6.2. The EC is staying between .9-1.2. But I’m turning that up a little because they are transitioning to flower now.
They seem happy.
These are both ILGM seeds. Wedding Cake. They look totally different.
This is the reservoir. $10 at Lowe’s.
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Your plants are growing beautifully…your set-up is working great…bout to see what your buds look …great job …keep up the good work !!!
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Good morning grow masters!
My little auto ladies are coming along nicely during their transition to flower.
My runoff oh is maintain a very steady 5.8. I’m aiming for 5.2-6.2 PH range as per the nutrients recommendation. The EC is a nice 1.4 this morning, down from 1.8 last night.
The environment is seeming to be very acceptable to the ladies as well.
I’m honestly very surprised at how well these autos are doing with everything that they have been through.
I’m really enjoying the Dutch Bucket system. Thank you everyone for your help and advice.
IsIs it possible to convert this thread to a grow journal?
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Your grow looks beautiful …
You seem to have achieved the best of both worlds…Excellent Work…
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Thanks, That’s what I’m hoping.
I’m looking forward to my next grow where they will run the entire time in the buckets.
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I need stronger lights.
Or, more lights.
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I honestly grow with the strongest lights I can get. It does make a huge difference. The plants will get bigger the buds get bigger the yield is way bigger. But you’re doing a fine job with what you’re doing. Those plants are growing like fire. If you let them grow longer they probably get much bigger before you switch the light you know?
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I decided to redo my lights. I have two blurples that i used for my very first grow. They actually grew very nice plants.
So I added them to the system. Might as well use em if I got em!
Each is 200w
So now i have 600 over the two on the left and 200 each on the right.
With everything I’ve done I can’t believe my plants are still alive! 
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These are the specs on the lights.
900W LED Grow Light Full Spectrum with Veg&Bloom Switch,GREENGO Triple-Chips LED Grow Lamp with Daisy Chain for Indoor Plants Veg and Flower https://a.co/d/fgxwJkd