OCCG Hydro - Round 2 - OG Kush

[occg.hydro]

did you find out what your airpumd puts out occg?

It's an EcoAir 2. The output's 4.5L/min

 

[swiftgt]

do you find thats enough?
i use a 7l/min in just my bubbler with a 12" airstone and it doesnt see, enough, and my water temps are'nt high about 21c

 

[occg.hydro]

do you find thats enough?
i use a 7l/min in just my bubbler with a 12" airstone and it doesnt see, enough, and my water temps are'nt high about 21c

Seems to work alright. I have 2 6" stones in there. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to have more air. I was kind of thinking about putting 6" airstones in each of the buckets and getting a second pump but that may be kind of overkill. I haven't really had any problems with algae or root rot or anything like that. Reservoir temp's about the same as yours

 

[occg.hydro]

Here they are at the beginning of week 4! Gotta take some pics at night so they don't turn out all yellow & overexposed.

 

[JBonez]

they seem to be a bit underexposed. What kind of camera do you use?

If you can, shoot in manual, set the white balance to "evaluate" and it should tell you what button to press to evaluate the lighting and adjust white balance accordingly. If you have a dslr this is even easier, but a point and shoot is fine, you just gotta change to manual, adjust white balance and start with the exposure in the middle setting, adjusting up or down until youve reached the desired exposure.

Plants are looking good brother, just started week four today myself, so its a race to the finish line! A couple of my plants will be ready in a few weeks, i can tell they are short flowering strains.

btw, Bloombastic is the TRUTH. Ive noticed a significant bud production campared to my last grow, im telling you, i know the strains are different, but ive got fricken nugs already and im only half way home.

check out my journal, and oh yeah, dont get mad, but im gonna be copying your grow verbatim, minus the environment, but ive got my res, buckets, fittings, timers, pumps and everything. Game time once i get a few clones from my potential mothers.

 

[occg.hydro]

I set the exposure a point lower b/c they all come out waaaay to bright when I don't. I use a nikon coolpix L18. Not the most complicated of cameras, just your basic point & shoot. That's sick that you're gonna give my system a try! I'm excited to see how it works out for you.

 

[highman]

dam cant wait to see what you yield!

 

[occg.hydro]

word! me too!!!

 

[swiftgt]

thats a fine crop you have there!

 

[occg.hydro]

Thank you sir!

 

[smokeup420]

mmmmmm!! lookin yummy

 

[JBonez]

hey brother! looking good, yo, i bought the 1 gallon per hour drippers, do you think that will be ok? They half gallon and 2 gallon per hour drippers, but i didnt exactly have your phone number while i was at the hydro shop to find out.

Here is my sativa dom, aint she cute! Click here

 

[JBonez]

oh yeah, i installed my RO unit, i also ran the outlet tubing to a trash can with a float valve so it stores my RO water and stays topped off, Cuz man that water comes out super slow!

I also put a pump in it, that way it can be pumped to my other garbage can which is on a stand high up. I will use it to gravity feed my res, keeping my res topped off at all times, all i will be doing is adding back nutes and adjusting ph. I bought a 40 gallon res since its more convenient and it will have two pumps. One for the drip and one to circulate the solution periodically. Also got a air pump keeping the bubbles up.

Im so excited bro, this is a dream to grow with this level of ease and convenience.

 

[swiftgt]

hay man i cut down my big bud, pop over to my g.j n cheak it out!

 

[occg.hydro]

Dude, that's the way to go far sure bonez. the 40 gal res. is going to make things a lot more stable, especially if it tops off automatically. I'm thinkin my next grow is probably going to have to be in one of those growlab tents. Just got accepted at a new school so I'm looking for a new spot to live at the moment. The dog and the trees don't make the search any easier. I'm definitely thinking about upgrading to a larger reservoir for the next grow. I was also thinking about putting the buckets on the ground, instead of on a table above the res, and using an inline pump to bring the runoff back to the reservoir.

 

[JBonez]

Dude, that's the way to go far sure bonez. the 40 gal res. is going to make things a lot more stable, especially if it tops off automatically. I'm thinkin my next grow is probably going to have to be in one of those growlab tents. Just got accepted at a new school so I'm looking for a new spot to live at the moment. The dog and the trees don't make the search any easier. I'm definitely thinking about upgrading to a larger reservoir for the next grow. I was also thinking about putting the buckets on the ground, instead of on a table above the res, and using an inline pump to bring the runoff back to the reservoir.

well, at my local grow shop, they have just setup a drip coco bucket setup with a 40 gallon res, and a controller bucket to remove any solution that accumulates in the controller. So thats exactly what you are talking about!

I must say tho, you would have to modify and wire in a float switch to the pump, that way the pump knows when to pump automatically with the solution reaches a certain level.

Ill get the details and let you know exactly how to do this, as i want to keep em on the ground as well. The guy at the hydro shop acted like his modified pump switch was some kinda secret, but, he said he would help me and i may be able to get the parts. Ill get you any info you need.

So, you're moving? Thats great, use your time wisely to pick out the ultimate top secret grow spot! oh wait your in cali, doh!

 

[JBonez]

actually, the inline pump thing would be better, but it would be kinda hard to know when to set the timer on the pump to come on, maybe not, but i wonder if the pump would get to hot and malfunction if it doesnt have enough solution flowing through it. just a thought.

So do you think that 1 gph drippers are ok?

 

[occg.hydro]

lol, seriously! gotta love cali!!! the 1ghp should be fine. I don't think the flow rate is going to make a huge difference with this setup. I was thinking about adding 3 buckets for 12 total and upgrading to the 40 gallon res. That way each bucket would hold 3.3 gal of solution MAX before being pumped back in to the reservoir. I would set it up so that the plants feed as usual for 15 min and then when the feed pump turns off the return pump turns on for however long it takes to fill the reservoir back up. no controller bucket necessary.The key all this is that the timing on the return pump has to be set up perfectly and the reservoir has to be kept at a constant level or the pump is going to run dry at the end of its cycle. Let me know what the guy says about his 'top secret' switch.

The babies are really starting to develop a nice smell. The master kush is taking on a nice pinkish/purplish tone on the inside of the buds. Pretty cool lookin! The SDxOG smells like fruity loops! I love it!!!

 

[occg.hydro]

Here's some new pics from today. Got the light balance thing a little better. my camera's so basic that it won't let me adjust anything. I tried messin' around with it for a minute and it looks a little better but I think it is what it is. Anyway, I've been keeping these things around 1100ppm.I'll probably take 'em up to 1200 - 1250 for a bit and then back down to 1150 or so until the last week. The light is literally tied to the eye hooks in the ceiling. It's about a 14" from the tops. I had gotten a little burning last week so I pulled it up as high as it goes. If I need any more space I can tie the plants out to the corners but it looks good for right now.

 

[swiftgt]

aw cool man
they look real good!
wont be too long now!
i had the same problem i had to keep training the branches away from the light to stop the buds burning!
and i added a fan to blow across the tops of the plants,
it worked great!