Grow Mediums New Grower using Hempy Buckets and LED with Canna nutes.

[SkatterBrayne]

I like your excitement and preparation. Willingness to learn is all you need to be successful. Subscribed for the ride.

I only grow in hydro, so I should be able to help. I have done hempy buckets, but with coco / perlite. Im not familiar with the quirks of vermiculite such as it's cation exchange capacity and other nuances, but generally speaking its all the same.

A few comments to get you going off the bat.

- A few additives that you shoukd try to pick up if at all possible. Calmag+, Silica Blast (or any potassium silicate product), and rapid start to accelerate root growth. Autos under LED use alot of calmag, you will likely need to be using it with every feeding. Silica helps strengthen the plants, and increase their stress resistance (SIGNIFICANTLY). The rapid start is key also, to develop those roots faster. It makes a huge difference. The second he roots hit the hempy res, the plant will go crazy. Since they are on a fixed timetable (being autoflowers), everything to accelerate the process will increase the eventual size of your plants, and buds. Hopefully you can find similar products where you are. If not, you will get by just fine, but they all make Significant and observable difference. You will NEED calmag before flower, though. Don't bother with the bud candy, pickup some unsulphured blackstrap molasses. It's cheap and all the sweetener you could want.

- Your growing medium is completely inert. There is nothing in it, in terms of usable plant nutrients. In your setup, you are going to want to begin feeding a very light dose of nutes (Start at 1/8 the reccomend dosage) around the 3rd day they are above ground. They have nutrient reserves and the ability to perform photosynthesis in their baby cotelydon leaves, which can easily get them to that third day. From there you'll gradually increase her diet, but it's best to play it safe and feed less unless she looks hungry..

-PH is the most critical aspect of hydroponics. A digital PH meter is essential for accurate readings. You also need a PH 4.0 and PH 7 calibration solutions to calibrate and test your PH meters accuracy every week or two. The PH 4.0 calibration solution can also be used as a storage solution for your PH meter. Pour some in its cap, and make sure the Ph probe stays in the solution when not being used. Dry storage will fuck up your meter, which will fuck up your plants.

Certain nutrients can only be absorbed at certain PH ranges. There 're plenty of graphs and charts online. You don't have to memorize it, but print one out and familiarize yourself with it. Keep it near your nuts mixing area as a reference. Keep your PH within the 5.7-6.1 range and you will be golden. Lower is better early on, for increased availability of Nitrogen.

 

[UrbanFarmer]

I grow hempy style and love it. Something i found helpful is to wash your perlite before using it as medium. All that dust goes to the bottom and solidifies if you dont in my experience.

 

[Betelnut]

***Pre-Grow Update***

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the well wishes :tiphat:

Some good news; My lights came in!

They seem to be exactly as described: Two 133x3w 9-band 400 watt LED boards. I got them for $170 each as a pack of two. So about $340 for both.

They are bright as hell. They just about blinded me, and after testing them everything I looked at was tinted green for a minute.

They came with a hanging kit and a short power cord but nothing else. No documentation or anything.

Not that it needs it. There are no switches or anything. But that is fine since they will be run by the timer.

All the fans run fine and everything seems to be legit.

Here are some pics:








It is hard to show how bright these things really are. I am going to use a PAR or lumen reader and test them once I get them hung up.

I hope to get most of the garden set up this weekend. My plan is to get everything ready, then run the lights and water the pots for about two or three days before I actually germinate the seeds. That way I can get readings of the temperature and humidity fluctuations throughout a few days. That should help me dial in air-conditioner/dehumidifier settings.
I also might need to get a CO2 tank set up. But that is only if we cant ventilate the room well enough.

- A few additives that you should try to pick up if at all possible. Calmag+, Silica Blast (or any potassium silicate product), and rapid start to accelerate root growth.

Yeah I was thinking about things like that. I am not sure what is available around here, but anything that is commonly used in standard gardening should be easy to get (I'm thinking Cal/Mag and some equivalent to Rapid Start must be used in vegetable gardening as well). If not I might need to make it. But I have access to some pretty good lab grade equipment.

Do you know of the best places to get things like Silica Blast online?

Cheers,
Betelnut

 

[SkatterBrayne]

Hahaha that reminds me of when I got my little UFO led in the mail
Plugged that sucker in while I was staring straight down the barrel of it.Whoops. Damn diodes were burned into my retinas for an hour.

That sounds like a great deal for those LEDs. A family member wants to begin growing, could you PM me the link or vendor you got those from?

You can locate just about everything on either Amazon or Ebay. Whether or not they will ship to your location though I'm not sure.

 

[Betelnut]

***Update*** (Pre-Grow T Minus ???)

Hi Guys,

I finally have some new information to report.
I got my lights hung and wired and the pots drilled and ready. Now I just need to fill them with the mix and rinse them of dust before getting started.

Here are some pics with Lumen readings:


"The Room" (Unfinished)




These are just rough measurements. I did not adjust the height of the lights or anything, I just hung them at about head level and gave a quick measurement of the light at the top of the pots. I still don't know enough about light to know if 3000 lumens for seedlings is good or not.



I get about 55,000lm a foot under one of the lights, and around a million right next to it. That seems to be sufficient, but I still wonder if two 400w 9-band LEDs in a 1.5mx2.5m space is enough.


I also need to get some more fans, my ScrOG (I decided to do a ScrOG since the pots in the back will be hard to LST), and my CO2 system set-up, but that stuff won't be needed during the first week, so I might go ahead and germinate in a few days.

I also still have tons of questions about the nutrient/supplement schedule.
Like when to use the Vega and when to use the Flores, also should I start using the Pk 13/14 as soon as the little pre-buds show or should I wait until upward growth stops?

There is a lot about Autoflower nutrient feeding that is still a bit unclear.

As for nutes/supps I decided to bite the bullet and not be stingy. So I paid (a ridiculous amount) to get everything sent to me.

I am using:

Canna Aqua Vega A+B, and Aqua Flores A+B as base nutrients.

I am using the entire Canna supplement line:
Rhizotonic, Seems to be hormones and vitamins (like AN B-52 or Rapid Start?).
Cannazym, This says it is for "Dead Root Breakdown" but I am thinking this is also to convert the ammonia based nitrogen in the Nutrient formulas into bio-available nitrogen.
Cannaboost, I am still not sure what this is, but it might be some kind of carb load. It claims to "Increase Metabolism" and says a lot about giving "Energy" to the plants, so I am guessing it is some kind of sugar based supplement. If it turns out it is not a carb boost I will use molasses as well.

And Pk 13/14, is a well known mixture of phosphorus and potassium for the flowering stage.



I am also using:

Advanced Nutrients:
Piranha, a mix of living beneficial fungi that symbiotically join with the roots. This is something that I think should really help with plant health and nutrient uptake
Voodoo Juice, a mix of beneficial bacteria. Again I think a strong healthy micro environment for the roots is a great idea.

And from Botanicare:
Cal-mag+, this needs no introduction.
Silica Blast, silicate is very important for plant health and should give added protection from harmful molds and bugs etc. Not to mention added stem strength to hold up all those massive buds I am hoping for
(Thanks for the info SkatterBrayne)

So that is it for my mix.
Now I just need to make a massive spreadsheet of what to use when, and how much of it. I think that is going to take a few more hours of research though.

That sounds like a great deal for those LEDs. A family member wants to begin growing, could you PM me the link or vendor you got those from?

Certainly, I apologize for the late response, I will PM you that info directly. They seem to be perfect and at an amazing price, but I can't say if they will last until the grow is finished.

Cheers,
Betelnut

 

[SkatterBrayne]

Hopefully you're grow is up and running and nothing set you back. You have done your research, which is the recipe for success.

That rhizotonic I have heard good things about. Im pretty sure all of those root stimulants are basically the same thing. Some kimd of b1 derivitave. They aren't necessary but they really make a difference getting.the most out of the autos during their brief veg time.

Beneficial bacteria are GREAT. I am always hesitant to buy anything "living" off of a shelf, though. You may want to add your own Actively Airated composite tea every week or two to keep the microbial levels strong. Molasses is great food to fuel bacterial life. About a teaspoon (5mg) per gallon every couple watering s is a very safe dose.

Seaweed extract such as Maxicrop liquid seaweed is a great food for the fungi in your root zone, and also provides loads of plant hormones. Tons of benefits of seaweed, and its super inexpensive. It makes for a great foliage spray as well.

**Important info about Enzymes**

those enzymes do exactly what they say (Decompose dead root matter). If something catastrophic happens and you get root rot, and the beneficials cant take care of it, the enzymes may help. HOWEVER, Enzymes and Beneficials will NOT coexist. The enzymes will wreak havoc on your micro-life.

The best way to incorporate enzymes is to water them in during the final 2 weeks before harvest to allow them to establish. Then after harvest, remove the bulk of the root mass by hand. Then chop up the remaining soil/roots nicely, and you can re-pot the used soil and plant your seeds right back in there. Keep applying the enzymes for the first two weeks of the plants life, and it will take care of all those dead roots.

By the time the plant is 2 weeks old or so, you can discontinue the enzymes, and begin re-building your micro life by applying those aerated composite teas.


Anyway, I would love to see how the plants are coming along.

 

[Betelnut]

***Update*** Grow Day 7


Hi Guys,

Hopefully you're grow is up and running and nothing set you back.

Yep! Last week I finally germinated!
I just went straight into the local version of Jiffy pots right in the Hempy Buckets.

Unfortunately one of the fifteen seeds did not sprout. It was one of the Think Differents, which might be a blessing in disguise since that gives me more room for the other two now, and it is known to be a monster.

For the first week I just used a half strength mix of the minimum recommended dosage of:
Rhizotonic
Cal-Mag+
Sillica Blast
Voodoo Juice
Piranha
Tarantula (I decided to add this since it is another good micro environment enhancer)

EC 0.5-ish (I am still learning how to convert ppm to EC...)

And then adjusted the Ph down with apple vinegar.

I went with a Ph of 5.2, but I will start to bump that up to 5.7 this week. I will also start the Canna Aqua Vega A+B at half of minimum suggested strength, and I might add a touch (say 25% strength) of the Canna Boost just one watering to give the bacteria and fungi I am adding some carbs to grow on.

But the biggest development is that I decided to double up on the lights.
So now I am using 4x 400w LEDs, but the LEDs are only being driven at about 2 watts so in reality they are more like 266w each. I am planning on adding one more before the flowering stage, but I will have to wait until next payday to order.
I also added the CO2 monitor and the CO2 tank. Right now it is just a matter of looking at the monitor and adding CO2 manually to keep the ppm at about 1300, but I hope to automate that in the future.

those enzymes do exactly what they say (Decompose dead root matter). If something catastrophic happens and you get root rot, and the beneficials cant take care of it, the enzymes may help. HOWEVER, Enzymes and Beneficials will NOT coexist. The enzymes will wreak havoc on your micro-life.

Thanks for the info SkatterBrayne!
Since this is the first run with this substrate I might hold off with the enzymes until the next run. I might even just use them between runs and water the buckets as if I was growing so that I don't mess with the beneficials during my grow.

Here are some pics of the current situation:


With the new lights, I also added Mylar to the walls and hung a Mylar curtain, and I strung up the mesh for the ScrOG. I still need to add more fans, so that is this week's #1 project.



From above.



One of the babies.



Curtain open.



Curtain closed (you can see the outer two fans blow cool air up and under the edge of the curtain, once I add fans blowing out from above the lights and a few more blowing up from the back I should get a nice rolling wind circulating in-up-out and back down).


Thanks again.

Cheers,
Betelnut

 

[Betelnut]

I just realized that when the site auto-resizes my pics down to 800x800px they get blurry as hell.
From now on I will resize them myself and run an unsharp-mask on them before I upload so they are clearer.

Cheers,
Betelnut

 

[Betelnut]

***Update*** Day 12

Hi Guys,

A couple of funny things, happened.
One is that I got my "Method Seven" LED Grow Room sunglasses. I went with the Aviator style clip-ons because they are the cheapest and actually have the largest lenses so you get the most "Green-for-your-Green" if you know what I mean.
Also because they are clip on it is easier to use them as a lens filter for my camera. I just popped the lenses out of some cheap $2 reading classes and use those as frames for the clip-ons when I am wearing them.

Man do these things make a difference! You can really see what is going on way better with them than without. They do filter out some of the light, darkening up what you are seeing a bit, so I think for a really close important inspection you would still be better off using a flashlight during lights off or something, but for daily work they are fantastic.

The second funny thing was that when I went to read the ppm of my mix today it read '420' exactly! That gave me a laugh!
The best I can tell using the 0.5 conversion factor most TDS meters for salt water tanks use (I think mine is from HM), it should mean I am at about 0.84. A bit high for this batch (I was aiming for about 0.65), but not too bad I think, since this is already day 12.

I took some pics trying to use the Method 7 Lenses as a filter:


Without lens.


With lens.





Here are just some random pics of the babies using the M7 lens at day 12. Most of these are A. Blueberry, A. Extreme, and A. Critical Jack. There is still some pink, but it is way easier to see a truer color than without the lens.


I did notice a touch of yellowing on the first set of "real" leaves from one of the A. Critical Jacks, but it was the largest of the three and otherwise looked quite healthy. So I am wondering if that first set of single finger leaves (after the cotyledon leaves) just naturally die off sooner once they have served their purpose?

Any ideas?


Cheers,
Betelnut

 

[Betelnut]

***Update*** Day 14

Hi Guys,


So I was messing around with my camera and my LED grow room lenses to try and get some good shots of the sprouts.

Even shooting through the Method Seven LED lenses the shots still look a little pink, but when wearing the lenses as they were designed there is no pink at all, so I wonder if the way it filters out the light affects the camera different than the way it works with actual eyes.

I'm still learning but here are a few pics that turned out ok:





I also made a mix for tomorrow's feeding at PH 5.5 and about EC 0.7.
I added an air-pump and air-stone to keep the mix oxygenated until it is used.
I figure with the added iron from the Cal-Mag+ any loss of iron from oxidization shouldn't be a problem as long as I use the mix in the next two days or so.


Cheers,
Betelnut