Grow Mentorship

I just setup an E42A and it was pretty easy once I remembered my WiFi password :grin: Looking forward to letting it take care of the tent.

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The idea is to provide raw materials in the soil for microbes to then provide to a plant. The plant controls the balance of microbes and by extension nutrients by excreting exudates to attract and stimulate the particular critter needed to accomplish the task at hand.

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Rock dusts provide minerals. Bakashi, compost, EWC, and the like do have some nutritional value, but the main benefit is they bring lots of microbes to the soil. They consume unavailable organic compounds, minerals and each other and release plant available ions that the plant can take up. They also aid in providing resistance to pest, pathogens.

400px-Soil_food_webUSDA

Teas can also have some nutritional value, but are also a means of adding enzymes, hormones, and breeding large populations of microbes to inoculate the plant and soil. You can mix different ingredients and different methods to get different teas for a particular purpose.

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The development of inexpensive digital controllers that connect to your wifi network is the most important technological advance for small- to medium-sized growers since the introduction of LED grow-lights. The first time you check on your tent with an app on your phone and, perhaps, make adjustments – while you’re elsewhere in the house, at work, or out of town – you’ll wonder why they aren’t more common.

Welcome to the present! :partying_face:

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I just got me a 69 Pro+. Very excited to get it set. I hate the stupid rainbird contols I’m using now.

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You’ll wonder why you waited so long. :exploding_head: :+1:

The next step should be to add Bluetooth to our lights, fans, etc., so we can get rid of all the f*ing control cables and have them talk with the controller wirelessly.

We also need the manufacturers to standardize the communication and control protocols. That would mean anyone’s controller can control anyone else’s devices. The benefits would be analogous with the introduction of the MIDI standard for electronic instruments.

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Bluetooth sounds awesome. Wouldn’t mind setting up a couple cameras also.

Ugh, I was worried about cross platform compatibility. It’s like cordless tools and their damn battery packs. Get your roped in on a drill/driver combo, and then you can’t stomach the extra $80 for a battery to switch platforms. :supervillain:

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Dang, that 69 Pro+ looks nice. 8 devices is basically my whole operation at this point!

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That’s why I went ACI. That and they can support my heat and A/C without overloading the outlet device. Their outlet is rated for 1800w. I may or may not put my lights on it. They are supposed to be supported but I may not have space on the controller. We will see when I get there.

It would be, but it would also increase the cost. It’s still a new market. If they sell enough then they will probably add it eventually.

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Okay, here’s some pics with some questions about these plants.

Here’s OG1 2nd week flowering. She’s bushing out a lot. Trying to keep those main buds down.

My question is about the little buds in the image below. The 2 sites and accompanying leaves in the red circle. Should I prune these off? They are rather low on the plant, and not attached to the main stems.

Next up is the Gorilla Glue - 6 weeks flowering



Curious about chop time for her. Not sure the best time to harvest. I believe I’m a couple weeks out still, but just trying to get an estimation based off the information I can obtain.

Tyty
~Q

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I tried that with a simple wifi camera. If I could have steered it with a joystick and zoomed in and out, it might have been useful. The static image was useless.

Aside from AC outlets their controller can switch, they offer adapters that enable it to control lights that have RJ11 jacks and other connection types. (They also have adapters that enable their lights and, possibly, other products to be connected to non-ACI controllers.)

Nonetheless, once you choose a controller, it’s easier to stick with the same manufacturer for your other gear. That’s why I’d like the gear to include Bluetooth (which eliminates the problem of incompatible cables and connectors) and use a standardized control protocol.

I suspect much of our gear contains a microprocessor, in which case Bluetooth capability may be present already (but unused). The trend for at least the past 20 years has been to incorporate ever more functions onto one chip that once were performed by separate ones.

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Don’t pick anything off yet. Soon after she stops stretching( usually 3-5 weeks from flip depending on plant and conditions) you will notice the growth slows and buds start to thicken and deveolp You can pick off some of the lower stuff if you need to then. The better you do at keeping that canopy level during stretch the less you will need to take off(my opinion). If they are taller I’ll lolipop a little harder since the stuff at the bottom will be limited by light and hormones.

Your on the money there, buds are looking good but they still have weeks left to fatten. If I had to guess I’d say 3-4 weeks, but it’s just a rough guess.

My lights are supposed to be compatible, but that’s 3-4 channels that I may need for other equipment.

I like the ACI gear I have already and I can say from personal experience that their customer service is on point. I might even consider their lights, but HLG is just so well reviewed I’m not sure .

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Do you need to control each light separately? If not, this might help. (I assume you can’t daisy-chain, or you’d be doing it already.)

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good thought, that might open up one channel for me. Hopfully by the time I get all the pieces purchased I’ll have a plan.

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Howdy all, here is another update:

GG1 (7wks flowering) is smelling pretty strong lately. The buds have fattened up a bit and feel denser. Definitely not stretching anymore, but the buds do seem to be getting wider and denser. The rest of the plant looks healthy, some leaves are getting a bit more yellow and curling, but nothing too dramatic. Probably a couple weeks out still.

WW1 (4 weeks flowering) has stopped stretching and the buds are forming. Many buds surrounding the main colas. This plant has started to show some leaf discoloration. The leaves near the top of the plant have started to show some purpling. I’m guessing her ph isn’t quite right. Runoff was 6.2, PPM 1250 last time I watered her, so I might try some slightly more alkaline water next time to correct.

OG1 (3 weeks flowering) stretching has slowed. Trained the main colas way out to open up the middle. The main colas have gained some noticeable distance from the lower budsites on their respective stems. She takes up quite a bit of space like this in the tent right now. I’m looking into doing some final pruning for her. I removed her from the basket and brought her closer to the ground to prevent her from blocking out any of GG1’s lower budsites from getting the final couple weeks of good light. If all the interior buds are to be kept, I could easily see a well groomed specimen of this strain to take up a majority of light in a 3x3.

OG2 has grown out quite a bit. Focusing on really stretching her out. Did another pruning to OG3 and got a closer inspection of her roots/potting situation. She’s pretty clogged up around the roots. Lots of the soil is very damp there despite not being watered for almost 10 days. I’m sure I overwatered her and never managed her well enough to fix the issue. I’m just letting her drink what she can right now. The other plants in the tent are getting ready to go into flower, I’m not sure if I should bring her along to see what happens or just get rid of her.

The 3 WW clones all doing well. One of them showing some yellowing flares in the margins of her leaves. Might be just a ph issue. They have been in the same soil for 5 weeks, so maybe they need an amendment of some kind. They’ve all grown decently and I plan to flip them to flower soon. Keeping their environment rather humid and warm for now, slowly switching to drier air and then cooler air.

I got rid of a couple more of the OG clones that were struggling. I tried transitioning some of them into soil and I think they didn’t like leaving their domes very much. 2 of them are curling up around their stems quite a bit, but haven’t shown any signs of mold or their leaves drying too much. 2 of them were returned to clone domes and are doing well. trimmed OG2 a bit and took 3 cuttings from her. That puts me at 3 clones of OG1 & OG2 plus a cutting from one of the WW clones. I wanted to try cloning a clone, and so far, it’s been holding up okay.

I also started some seeds. 3 OG seeds just to be sure the winter crop is nice and full. I might end up not being able to keep the grow room cool enough in the summers, so those crops might be a bit smaller. I think getting a nice spring harvest will give me a large enough stash to get through a slim summer harvest, if need be. Plus I can always cull plants. I’d rather have plenty of choices then end up limited.

Lot of plants to monitor, but I’m getting into a system of it all. The growhub helps a ton with keeping the 4x4 in good shape. Added a dehumidifier for the lung room. A lot of the humidity from the 4x2 & 4x4 gets vented out when their exhausts kick on, and then it all just fills up the lung room. I’m considering routing the exhaust from the tents out into my attic. Might just install an exhaust fan in the lung room first and see if that helps. With the clones and seedlings in humidity domes now, the 4x2 doesn’t have a ton of excess humidity, but the 4x4 is a big space to keep humid, so it vents a bit when it recirculates the air.

Anyways, that’s all for this update, I’ll be posting some photos here soon.

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A small update. The WW1 leaves started to get yellow and the purpling expanded. Appears to be brownish/purple colors along the veins of the top leaves. The yellowing is sparse and limited to the uppermost leaves. The brownish spread on the veins feels slightly rough to the touch, but doesn’t scrape off. Tested the soil PH and it registered at 5.2 - probably too low for her to get any cal/mag. Ran 5 gallons of fresh, clean water through her pot. The first 2 gallons I tried ph of 7.5 and it didn’t seem to bring the ph of the soil up very much. I ramped it up to 9.7 & 11.5 for the next 2 gallons and got the runoff to measure at 6.3. Then I finished off with 1 gallon of 6.5 ph water. Runoff is still a bit lower than I’d like (6.2 after the 6.5 water) but I think she’s in a good enough space now to monitor if her condition improves.

I’m also noticing an acidifying of the other flowering plants soil. They have been getting mostly just water. The 2 younger plants got a dose of some FoxFarm nutes when they flipped. I added a bucket of DampRid to the tent, I don’t think it’s causing an issue, but it might?

The WW plant I sprinkled some chicken manure on the top of her soil after the first watering. I’m thinking that really acidified her soil, because it’s been a battle to get the ph back up. The other 2 haven’t shown any symptoms of nutrient lockout yet. I’ll have to be cautious about how to apply the chicken manure going forward, maybe it needs to be mixed with an alkaline amendment. The GG plant hasn’t gotten any nutes for 5 weeks, been getting 6.5 water, and her ph is steadily going down.

I plan to water the flowering plants with ph 7.0 going forward to try to keep their ph up. All 3 have had lower measurements during flower, varying between 5.8 - 6.2 with the exception of the WW1.

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I couldn’t say whats going on for sure without pics of the plants (both Whole plant and detail shots of any issues you see with labels) in question and some more info. I probably know a lot of this, but it makes it easier if we have it in one place
-What strain, Seed bank, or bag seed (photo or auto)
-Age of plant
-Method: Soil w/salt, Organic soil, Hydroponics, Aquaponics, KNF
-Vessels: Type and capacity of container (fabric, plastic, etc)
-PH and TDS of Water, Solution, runoff (if Applicable)
-PPM/TDS or EC of nutrient solution if applicable
-Method used to measure PH and TDS
-Indoor or Outdoor if indoor, size of grow space
-Light system List brand and wattage/spectrum
-Actual wattage draw of lights
-Current Light Schedule
-Temps; Day, Night
-Humidity; Day, Night
-Ventilation system; Yes, No, Size
-AC, Humidifier, De-humidifier,
-Co2; Yes, No
I can say that chicken manure should never be used fresh. It needs to be composted before use and even then used sparingly.

I will get some pics of the plant tonight when her day starts. I took some last night, but they didn’t show the discoloration very well. I’ll have to try different lighting tonight.

Here’s the details, pics come next.

Strain: White Widow - Royal Queen Seeds
Age: 110 days (16 weeks) - Flowering 29 days (4 weeks)
Method: Soil w/ salt (FFOF, at 6 weeks add Bone Meal, Blood Meal mixed with EWC, at 10 weeks gave round of FF preflower nutes, at 14 weeks added Chicken Manure+Kelp)
Vessels: 5 gallon fabric pot
PH: Was 5.2 when I tested after issue started, got it back up to 6.2 now.
PPM: 1250
I used a VivoSun calibrated PH meter & PPM meter.
Location: Indoor, 3x3 tent, shared with 2 other flowering plants.
Lights: Mars Hydro TSW2000, 310 watts, full spectrum LED.
Intensity: 80%
Canopy Distance: 15"
Actual Draw: I haven’t gotten my meter hooked up yet. I am getting it setup soon.
Schedule: 12 on, 12 off
Temps: Day - 75-77; Night - 73-75 (temps stay very stable)
Humidity: Day ~55%, Night ~50% (Humidity never gets to 60, doesn’t drop below 40)
Ventilation: VivoSun 4" Inline Duct Fan, runs constantly at high speed
Fans: 7" floor fan blows air into the fresh air intake at the bottom of the tent, 6" oscillating fan covers the top of the canopy, 4" stationary fan blows directly down on the light
AC: Lung Room AC, keeps lung room at about 70°F
Dehumidifier: Homelabs 8 pint in lung room, small bucket of DampRid & Eva-Dry 333 mini dehumidifier in tent.
Co2: No

I think the chicken manure was composted, it was part of a Vigoro Tomato & Vegetable soil amendment. The fertilizer is 2-5-5, derived from dehydrated chicken manure and sulfate of potash with a little kelp extract.

I noticed last night that the discolored leaves are all in direct lighting. The stalks and leaves on the back portion of the plant, further from the light, don’t have any discoloration. In light of this, I reduced the intensity to 50% for the remainder of their day.

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I have to turn all my lights off and use a 60w reading lamp to get good pics

Here are some pics of the plant that’s having some issues. Her condition doesn’t appear to have changed much since yesterday.





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Was that a slurry test or runoff test? This might have been your issue. Ca becomes unavailable in more acidic conditions. The damage is already done so what is there won’t get better, but you will know you fixed it if it stops spreading. In the case of Ca it starts in newer growth and progresses to older leaves.
The only other thing I see is that you should probably pick between salt based nutes and organic nutes. They generally don’t play well with one another. Since you already have the FF nutes I would use those for now. Organics will require you to buy more amendments to go with what you already have.

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