GC's HLG grow show

[Mizzo81]

Of the 8 clones I took, about 5 have shown some rooting in roughly two weeks. I selected the one that did root well and transfered to a solo with OF medium. This plant will be the pollen donor.. I picked up everything I needed to start making S1 beans.

Cleaned the cloner as I always do between cuts, but went with isopropyl and water instead of bleach. Also now will set the res at 5.8 instead of 6.3 I used to do in the past.. and typically had over 90% success rate.

I did read where SkunkVA said that cloning time did increase over the years.. so I might not be far off. Just trying new things looking for better looking plants at that time frame, they were looking a bit rough.

Fresh cuts..
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And the mom as of tonight, trying to keep her low. Hoping to root these clones quickly and switch this cabinet to 12/12 well before I need to worry about stray pollen in the room.

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@Mizzo81 I appreciate the chat bud, I'm set to buffer the growpito in a week if these clones look good.

Any time. Here’s a tip for the ph pens. I leave mine in a jar with tap water covering the probes. Once in a while I just dump the water and put fresh water.

 

[Gone Camping]

I resorted to that trick myself with the jar of water.. only for it to go dry last summer in the heat during my month long absence from home. Let's face it, the bluelab pens are designed to take advantage of the stoner memory.. with eraser size sponge and a cap designed to push out any excess to crystallize on the bottom.

My new HM 200 has a much better design to hold much more KCI solution.. and replaceable probe should I still screw up.

 

[Mizzo81]

I’ve had mine dry up too. I take an old tooth brush put the probe in water and brush the sensors. Then I take and let it soak. I test it against the liquid drops I have and it has stayed accurate. How much was the new pen?

 

[Gone Camping]

Cheaper than the bluelabs..

Amazon product

For a few dollars more than a bluelab you could buy this.. and a replaceable probe.

Stands on end, drops into my cloner and sets there perfectly while I do something else, holds more storage solution and is stupid quick to calibrate.

Now with cloning alot more, and both tents running on reservoirs.. I'll use it much more often. Doubt I'll dry this out anytime soon.

 

[Gone Camping]

Ok... here we go. GC is learning new tricks and using new gear.. hopefully I learn a thing or two as I go.

Yesterday I started prepping for the new medium initial soak. My targets were 5.8ph and 250ppm over tap.

In a 27 gallon tote I poured in 19 gallon of tap water with 8g of Megacrop. Dropped in a pump to agitate the mixture to help dissolve as I went.. this worked fantastic by the way and I'll be mixing this way to keep reservoirs topped off. In total it took 27g to reach 310ppm.. (250 + 60tap).

Then ph down totaling 15ml to reach 5.8ph. All adjustments were small while monitoring and mixing.

Now it's time to add the beneficials. Recommendation for initial soak is half recommended dosage of 1tsp per 10gallon. I rounded to 20 gallons.. and added 1tsp beneficials. Remember.. half. At this point I'm feeling pretty good about myself as it's really the first time I mixed anything more than nutes, water and set ph. So I sit back and enjoy a doobie as I admire my work. Then I notice this on the beneficials....

WTF... a buzz kill. So I zip off an email to the salesman I dealt with, to my surprise I got a quick reply. I was told he didn't think it was an issue and would suggest continuing.. but he will look into the issue. I also mentioned the 250ppm over tap, and the ph set at 5.8. He said ppm is dead set but would lower ph for initial buffering at 5.0. At this point I'm confused so I decide to think it over and sleep on it.

This am I check and the ph has drifted up 4 points to 6.2. Ahh.. ph drift is the reason to drop down to 5.0 and await it to drift up? He also suggested a 5.5ph for filling the reservoirs on my autopots.. again drift?

It makes sense if I think about it, but I wasn't exactly aware of it prior to starting. To be honest, the directions and vids on youtv suck...

So, I think I'll readjust to 5.0 and then add a few bags of the Growpito medium. Anybody read this far in and can offer support.. or say whoa..hold on bro.. let me help ya out here. Keep in mind I have zero hydroponic experience.

 

[Mizzo81]

Yes u set the growpito to 5.5. As it dries ph will drift up a bit then go back down as is watered.

 

[Gone Camping]

Initial soak at 5.0 or 5.5?

Thank you dude.

I just added another ml.. target 5.2-5.3

 

[Gone Camping]

Readjusted to 5.2 and added two bags. Manufacturer recommends minimum 5 hour to 24 hour soak. I'll let it go to tomorrow am while I set up the first autopot setup.

 

[Mizzo81]

I do 5.5.

 

[Mizzo81]

I wouldn’t adjust now that it’s soaking. It should be fine. When u transplant I water in till I get run off. Make your feed around 5.6-5.7 and That’ll help make sure it’s where it needs to be.