Grow Mediums Olderfart does solos

[Bob's Auto's]

Hello again mate. As a result of your comment, I checked the pH in my reservoir (which I had not yet bothered with) and it is ~6.4 and change. Completely out of bounds for coco IMO, so I have to sadly confirm your experience that the pH control in this stuff is inadequate at the EC levels that I use for autos. This is with very benign water at ~6.8 mostly from melted snow. I am surprised that I have not run into obvious nute issues at this pH yet. In any case, I am going to have to pH the bloody reservoir manually now which is what I was trying to avoid by using this stuff in the first place. Given the cost of this stuff, the nice (apparently) balanced nute mix is not justified to me if the pH control does not work. Damn shame that. That's me back to 2 part MC or Jack's for solos too if I do more solos after the AN runs out.

Thanks for the head's up, I should have checked the pH behaviour earlier.

I use an airpump in my reservoir. for aerating and keeping the solution in motion.
Usually I only have to adjust the pH the next day after mixing up a new batch.
I did notice that when I used additives like the Pure Zym or Bacillus strains the pH does get altered and needs to be adjusted on a daily basis.

 

[Olderfart]

Further on the AN nutes, the inadequate buffering in the autoflower EC may not be good enough to pH for coco, but it makes the process of pH'ing the mix a bigger PIA because you are fighting the buffering to lower the pH to where you want it. Good thing I did not order more of this stuff. Thumbs down on AN for autos for me.

 

[Olderfart]

Hello peeps, here they are at Day 25.

First up, Mephisto 4 Assed Monkey:

Next up, Canuk Auto PK:

Next, two Dinamed Auto CBD x Dinamed Auto CBD Kush:

That'll do peeps, thanks for checking in.

 

[Olderfart]

Thanks @AutoBobje, early days yet my friend, but so far so good. The girls seem to be keen to stretch at the moment.

 

[DCLXVI]

Hey despite the pH thing, they really look good. I can't remember what strength it was that the ph perfect kicked in but it was quite high. It's possible you could use it as they progress but I don't know what effect swapping nute lines in the midst of a grow would do.

 

[Olderfart]

Hey despite the pH thing, they really look good. I can't remember what strength it was that the ph perfect kicked in but it was quite high. It's possible you could use it as they progress but I don't know what effect swapping nute lines in the midst of a grow would do.

The solo girls are doing fine now. One of the CBD cross girls is on the dark green side and shows a little bit of clawing, so 1100 EC total seems to be the limit for this grow, otherwise I might up the EC a notch to see how the other three plants like it.

As to the AN line, I can deal with the ph part, it is just extra hassle that the extra expense was supposed to avoid. I think the main AN lines are decent nutes, just not for me if the pH buffering does not work at the EC's that autos want. This batch of AN will likely do two or three solo grows for me, and after that I will go to two part MegaCrop or Jack's for any grows using salt nutes, solos or otherwise. If I have to fiddle with pH, there are plenty of options that do the job perfectly well at a fraction of the cost of AN.

Happy growing @DCLXVI, and thanks for checking in.

 

[Olderfart]

Well peeps, here they are at Day 32.

First up, the Canuk Auto PK:

Miss Auto PK is going to be the tallest so far, it will be interesting to see how the buds fill out on this stretched out girl.

Next up, the Mephisto 4 Assed Monkey:

Miss Monkey is likely the happiest of the bunch by a little bit, the nutes seem to be just about right for her at the moment.

Next up, the two Dinamed Auto CBD X Dinamed Auto CBD Kush:

This girl is the largest of the two by a bit, and coloring up a bit sooner than her sister - a slightly different pheno perhaps.

This cbd cross girl is the darkest green of the bunch, and has shown a bit of clawing, so she seems to be close to the limit of her nute tolerance, but doing fine anyway.

All the solo girls have suffered a bit while I fussed with auto fertigation. I think I finally have it sorted, but they got a bit too dry a few times, and it showed with a bit of leaf mischief. They are now on 6 fertigations/day, each a 10 second pump, followed by a minute to soak it in, and then another 10 second pump. The problem was that now that the solos are pretty much plugged with roots, it is not possible to get proper runoff unless the application of nutes is done in a couple of doses. If I do less than 20 or so seconds, I don't get enough runoff, but if I do 20, the top of the solo overflows. A couple doses of 10 seconds seems to do the trick, but I am still watching to see how things go for a couple days. Programming the timer to accomplish this was a bit of a pain, but it seems to be done now.

That's it peeps, thanks for checking in.

ps. @AutoBobje, I fixed up the pics.

 

[St. Tom]

Well peeps, here they are at Day 32.

First up, the Canuk Auto PK:
View attachment 1408119

Miss Auto PK is going to be the tallest so far, it will be interesting to see how the buds fill out on this stretched out girl.

Next up, the Mephisto 4 Assed Monkey:
View attachment 1408122

Miss Monkey is likely the happiest of the bunch by a little bit, the nutes seem to be just about right for her at the moment.

Next up, the two Dinamed Auto CBD X Dinamed Auto CBD Kush:
View attachment 1408121
This girl is the largest of the two by a bit, and coloring up a bit sooner than her sister - a slightly different pheno perhaps.

View attachment 1408120

This cbd cross girl is the darkest green of the bunch, and has shown a bit of clawing, so she seems to be close to the limit of her nute tolerance, but doing fine anyway.

All the solo girls have suffered a bit while I fussed with auto fertigation. I think I finally have it sorted, but they got a bit too dry a few times, and it showed with a bit of leaf mischief. They are now on 6 fertigations/day, each a 10 second pump, followed by a minute to soak it in, and then another 10 second pump. The problem was that now that the solos are pretty much plugged with roots, it is not possible to get proper runoff unless the application of nutes is done in a couple of doses. If I do less than 20 or so seconds, I don't get enough runoff, but if I do 20, the top of the solo overflows. A couple doses of 10 seconds seems to do the trick, but I am still watching to see how things go for a couple days. Programming the timer to accomplish this was a bit of a pain, but it seems to be done now.

That's it peeps, thanks for checking in.

ps. @AutoBobje, I fixed up the pics.

looking superb bro also can I ask what ec your feeding at this age

 

[Olderfart]

looking superb bro also can I ask what ec your feeding at this age

They are on a combo of AN Connoisseur Coco grow and bloom. They probably should be on straight bloom a and b, but I didn't have the heart to toss the reservoir of nutes. They will get more combo for a while, then I will put them on straight bloom.

The AN nutes do not control the pH at the ~1100-1200 EC I am using, so I have to pH it, which is even more of a PIA than with normal nutes because adjusting the pH seems to be resisted by the buffering. Or so it seems to me anyway. This will be my one and only excursion into the AN world. The expense might have been worthwhile for solo grows if the pH worked, but not for me when it doesn't.

Thanks for checking in on my solos @St. Tom, I confess I have been wondering what you would think. You have the solo game dialed!

 

[Cave Dirt Cody]

Looking good.