First Grow of 2022 - Double Grape (Auto) & O.G. Kush (Auto)

Day 36 - Notes:

Today, made an alternate alternate choice for the reservoir. Instead of 2-2-2-1.2 (Jack's A&B, Epsom and M-K-P), I made it more of a Bio-Stimulant Day.

I made up a mixture of the following:

(1) Mr. Fulvic (3ml)

(2) 1/4 tsp Flower Fuel (1-34-32)

(3) 1/4 Super Thrive (just using it up in places where it is just an extra)

(4) MSA - Stout (monosilicic acid)

FYI: Monosilicic acid: Si(OH)4: The naturally 100% plant available form of silicon: i.e silicon in the form that plants naturally take up. As above, all other forms of silicon have to break down or be broken down into mono over time before they can be used by plants. Applying Mono directly shortcuts the process and delivers silicon in the exact form plants have evolved to use.

(5) 1 tbsp - PeptideSP Protein Hydrolysate Biostimulant (HardyGro)

FYI: PeptideSP is a soy protein hydrolysate biostimulant fertilizer. A water-soluble powder produced enzymatically without animal by-products. It is derived from Non-GMO soy protein with a guaranteed minimum of 13% plant-available nitrogen and high amino acid content of 80%. Ideal for nitrogen-deficient crops and crops under stressful conditions.

PeptideSP reduces the effect of abiotic and biotic stresses, such as pesticides, heat, cold, drought and salinity by improving a plants natural defense mechanisms.

The amino acids and peptides in PeptideSP are also known to increase plant energy. This added energy increases biomass by stimulating root and foliage growth. It also improves nutrient uptake and assimilation, increased chlorophyll and foliar nitrogen levels. All of this results in a hardy healthy plant with greater yield potential.

PeptideSP is suitable for application on all agriculture and horticulture crops such as vegetables, orchards, vines and berries, hemp, turfgrass, flower beds and potted plants.

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I mixed up (MSA first) these items in 1-gal of water. Tested and was in low 5's pH, PPMs were through the roof. So, I diluted with another gallon of RO water.

The Rez took it well and I barely had to pH Up to get to 6.4. PPMs leveled off at 734.

My last experiment, with a hotter batch of feed water, caused some stress; new leaf curling and a couple burned tips on the baby leaves ... pics to follow this evening.

Day 38 (PM) - "Let There be Frost"

Today, Double Grape showed trichomes to the naked eye. Kush is behind, but not much (I hope).

Day 38 (PM) - Notes

OGK soil/moisture pressure was at 178 mB. But, she was drinking like crazy. Eventually, she stopped, but it takes a while to see how far the pressure dropped.

These two are drinking like no tomorrow. I'll add another couple gallons to the Rez in the morning.

The tank pH shows 6.13. However, when I checked it had leapfrogged to about 7.2. I hit it with pH down.

Day 38 (PM) - Stats

Wow nice set up and awesome journal dude. I'll be following along. Those girls are gonna be nice.

Rick Dirte' said:

Wow nice set up and awesome journal dude. I'll be following along. Those girls are gonna be nice.

Click to expand...

Thanks Rick. I'm thinking about going back to my AM & PM stat readings. I think it will keep me better engaged and give me fewer chances to get complacent.

VPD has been my frustration. Most of the time I get it "good enough," but my 2 humidifiers just don't want to get above 50% (RH), when I have to keep the tent under 78ºF. My cool-down exhaust fan keeps sucking the RH out of the tent. By averaging around 45%, I would need to get the tent to the lower 70s, but my light won't cooperate.

I'm not complaining, these are the sorts of problems in life I am ok with these days.

Day 39 (PM) - Notes

Tonight, the ladies got a special treat. I made them a super brown cocktail based on 1 liter split between the two -- see graphic below:

Yeah I'm having lockout issues because of low humidity. I just got a new humidifier for my room (72sqft)
and it's rated at 1000sqft lol. There is a direct correlation between your lung room and your tent. Get the humidity up in the room your tent is in if you can. Your stats and spreadsheets are very impressive. I just fly by the seat of my pants.
I have been gardening organically for 30 years but I have a lot to learn. The more I read and see on here makes me realize how much I don't know lol. I'm going to dig in a little deeper into your journal. Very interesting.

Rick Dirte' said:

Your stats and spreadsheets are very impressive. I just fly by the seat of my pants.

Click to expand...

Since this was my 2nd grow -- and I had a lot of guilt from doing nothing on my first grow -- I decided this time I would go at it hard.

Like many other noobs, I dove headfirst into books and YouTube videos. The categories deemed important were:

(1) PPFD
(2) DLI (from PPFD)
(3) VPD
(4) EC
(5) pH

I like including my BluMat moisture meters because the ebb & flow of those numbers give me an indicator as to how much water/nutes have been consumed over the last 12 hours. I only have 2 of those meters. Yet, I'm moving to 4 pots soon. This means I'll have to use the classic "one to two knuckles deep into the soil" or "pick up the damn pot and check how heavy or light it is," techniques. Admission: Even with all this data, I still continue to do those two things along with the technology.

As for the journal, I am not being as descriptive as I should. For instance, I give a light foliar of micronutrients once or twice a day. That's soon to end because of flowering.

The Brown Cocktail recipe above offers me some redemption because I gave an exact recipe.

By the way, I realize there is a whole host of overlap and redundancy to the recipe. I'm using up products I bought when I first started and have learned more about them since or found what seem like better options.

Onward and upward!

Let's Discuss this Chart:



There is a ton of redundancy and duplication in this list. That's because during my first grow I was buying the first products that I encountered that seemed logical. And some were logical, I just "think" I have found better sources going forward.

Let's start at the top:

(1) Stout MSA - this my (now) go to for Silica. This is the mono-salicic (instant uptake) version of silica. So, once the Silica Boost is gone I was stay with Stout MSA.

(2) Silica Boost - see above (1)

(3) Mr. Fulvic - I'll keep this version of Fulvic Acid (even though it's redundant). It's not from leonardite.





(4) Tribus - This is expensive. But the concentration is way more than say a Recharge.





(5) Photosynthesis Plus - last purchase. I think this is redundant to the powdered versions I have.

(6) Kelp (GS Plant Foods) - This is redundant, but I like it for a foliar.

(7) Humic (GS Plant Foods) - Redundant, but I will use it up.

(8) Super Thrive - Not convinced this does more than other products I have.

(9) Liquid Orca - This was a free sample. I have other products for this.

(10) Wetting Agent (Safergro) - Quality Yucca-based product. I will keep using this.

(11) Molasses - Probably redundant, but my grandmother would be proud I have Black Strap in the house.

(12) Superboost - Redundant, and you have to use too much.



These below, I recently discovered and based on the ingredient list, I have high hopes for (now).



(13) UltraBio (HardyGro) - I've posted about this before, look at the ingredients:

Genus Bacillus (46 Species)
Genus Psuedomonas (6 Species)
Genus Streptomycetes (7 Species)
Genus Trichoderma (6 Species)
Endomycorrhizal Fungi (4 Species)
Ectomycorrhizal Fungi (7 Species)

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS:
Organic Nitrogen.....5% water soluble
Derived from Soy Protein Hydrolysate
Containing 18 Amino Acids and Peptides

NON PLANT FOOD INGREDIENTS:
Humic Acid.........................27%
Fulvic Acid.........................11%
Derived from Leonardite

Endomycorrhizal Fungi:
Glomus Mossae, 1,133 propagules per lb
Glomus Intraradices 1,133 propagules per lb
Glomus Fasciculatum 1,133 propagules per lb
Glomus Clarium 565 propagules per lb
Glomus Monosporum 565 propagules per lb
Microaggregatrim 565 propagules per lb
Ectomycorrhizal Fungi:
Rhizopogon Tinctorius 11,250 spores per gram
Rhizopogon Villosulles 625 spores per gram
Rhizopogon Luteolus 625 spores per gram
Rhizopogon Amyylopogon 625 spores per gram
Rhizopogon Fulvigleba 625 spores per gram
Rhizbial Microorganisms:
Bacillus Subtilis 12,500,000 CFU per gram
Bacillus Licheniformis 12,500,000 CFU per gram
Bacillus Firmus 12,500,000 CFU per gram
Bacillus Megaterium 12,500,000 CFU per gram
Bacillus Pumulis 12,500,000 CFU per gram
Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens 12,500,000 CFU per gram
Bacillus Coagulans 12,500,000 CFU per gram
Peanibacillus Polymyxa 12,500,000 CFU per gram
Paenibacillus Durum 12,500,000 CFU per gram
Pseudomonas Putida 2,500,000 CFU per gram
Pseudomonas Fluorescens 2,500,000 CFU per gram
Streptomyces Lydicus 2,500,000 CFU per gram
Streptomyces Griseus 2,500,000 CFU per gram
Trichoderma Reesei 2,500,000 CFU per gram
Trichoderma Harzianum 2,500,000 CFU per gram

Now you see what I mean by overlap.



(14) PeptisideSP (HardyGro) - another of their bio-stimulant products with a different edge. Soy-based Protein Hydrolysate, Amino acids and Peptides. Will stay on my list as well. Be careful though, it adds nitrogen in.



(15) MicroGenics 0.75% - I've also posted about this. I love this as a foliate. I water this down to what's appropriate for a 300 ml mister and spritz them daily - nice light mist (even with the lights on - but that could be my foolishness).



In time, I will get to a minimum of products. However, this has been part of the fun of this new hobby. The science and the "why" behind these products is a lot of fun to learn about.

I ordered a bag of the UltraBio. I've been using Recharge for the last 3 years. I think I'll finish my grow out with it. I'll let you know what I think of it coming up.

Day 40 (PM) - Photos

Nothing much exciting today. They continue to eat, and I continue to defoliate.

I must confess, I am a weak man. I promised to stop pulling leaves, but I am helpless.

Double Grape is on a mission to create medicine. O.G. Kush is still trying to figure out why am intent on pulling and cutting leaves.

Day 41 Observations:

I don't know why I don't like these plants with one single-dominating top going up the center. With that in mind, I think that's why am so into LST. I like the look of the plants when everything is equal, or at least corrected so the lesser flower sites get a fighting chance.

More Day 41 Observations:

I spent a good part of my early morning lamenting about VPD and why I could not get my environment more consistent. I created charts and graphs and other nonsense to try and work it out. That post was quickly deleted when I realized I was on the wrong chart.

This dumb guy forgot to switch from Veg to the Flowering Chart. Once I started plugging in the numbers I realized I was doing just fine.

I understand there could be quite a few people out there that don't even track this. However, I decided to and I want to at least make it one of my many juggling chainsaws of growing.

I created the following graphic to go on the outside pocket of the tent so that I can make a few changes in the AM and PM.

Keep in mind, the Day numbers assume a leaf temperature of 2ºF below tent temp (lights on). As for the night, I am going to assume a Zero difference between the tent and leaf because of the lights-off period.

Day 41 - Notes

Drum Roll Please - Important Announcement

Like losing your virginity, this day will never be forgotten. As of TODAY, the letters PPM will never cross my lips and rarely get typed into this keyboard. I recently bought a semi-fancy Apera PC-60 EC/pH meter and learned that it is factory set at 700, yet all my previous stats have been calculated at 500 (see graphic):




Speaking of EC:

I found the following chart on Humboldt's website for ideal EC through cannabis stages of life. Do you agree?





In Other News:

• The two plants drank about a gallon (total) overnight.
• I raised the light 4 inches to get the PPFD below 800. From everything I have read, the correct DLI for 20 hours lights is 40. Yet, I can't bring myself to go that low. I'm staying in the 50s.
• I did some canopy work
• Not one leaf was plucked or cut today. (cue - Serenity Prayer) Can I get a hallelujah!

Day 41 (PM) - Stats:

Your gonna mess around and get good if you keep at it like this lol.