T Dub’s Durban Poison Winter Garden

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Wow KGB, you are getting into that advanced stuff! I would enjoy following along with your experiment. I was watching Marijan create seeds with some supplements. I could see trying that someday when I’m a more advanced grower. Let me read up on it because I’d love to save some money on seeds and I could experiment with the “mother” once I get my clones. I hadn’t even thought of using the hydroponic unit for that purpose…..very creative idea! It’s really all in the name of fun for me because saving the cost of 2-3 seeds per year doesn’t really justify the time and expense to make seeds.

Now I just need to pick a good feminized seed strain to grow. I misplaced my Godfather OG seeds (that was my first choice) but I have a Seedsman Purple Ghost Candy that I can grow!

I’m just planning to grow one plant in the small hydro garden and then source 5 clones from it. I’ll keep those alive and put two into the DWC buckets.
I thought about growing one with the 20 watt light that comes with the le pot brand one I have just because it’s so quiet! I could be in the room with it hidden as a speaker and I wouldn’t know it was running. I am guessing I could get 3/4 of an ounce out of an auto.

But I just grabbed it on sale for one specific reason….to make seeds for my stock, my friends stock and for contests
 
Another thanksgiving in the books. Sous-Vide Turkey was a big hit with the family once they accepted that slightly pink is acceptable with that cooking style. (3:30 at 145 degrees pasteurizes the 3 pound Turkey breast). I was thankful for Google to calm their fears. Amazing flavor and texture though. A MUCH better Thanksgiving experiment than the time I served Turducken. (Boneless stuffed duck stuffed into a boneless chicken stuffed into a Turkey. Oh…..with stuffing too). I like to experiment too much at times.

It’s one week post-flush and my plants have stopped taking up water again. This happens when salt buildup gets too heavy in the medium, but I flushed last week so that shouldn’t be the case. I flushed one plant with 4 gallons of Florakleen solution and the runoff ppm in the first gallon was only 700. That’s nothing, so it’s not a salt-buildup issue.

I realized that I hadn’t removed and cleaned these watering bases since I installed these reservoirs 7 weeks ago. So I pulled one out ( a pain to remove from a scrog) and found out why they weren’t wicking well. Look at those 8 black wicks covered in mold or mildew. No wonder it’s not wicking…..THESE WILL NEED TO BE CLEANED EVERY 2-3 WEEKS. My past use involved regular cleaning but I didn’t use these types of bases under a scrog net.

I’m hoping that this solves the poor wicking issue until the next regular cleaning.

Fortunately, they came in a four pack so I was able to quickly swap bases while holding the plant up in the scrog.
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Another thanksgiving in the books. Sous-Vide Turkey was a big hit with the family once they accepted that slightly pink is acceptable with that cooking style. (3:30 at 145 degrees pasteurizes the 3 pound Turkey breast). I was thankful for Google to calm their fears. Amazing flavor and texture though. A MUCH better Thanksgiving experiment than the time I served Turducken. (Boneless stuffed duck stuffed into a boneless chicken stuffed into a Turkey. Oh…..with stuffing too). I like to experiment too much at times.

It’s one week post-flush and my plants have stopped taking up water again. This happens when salt buildup gets too heavy in the medium, but I flushed last week so that shouldn’t be the case. I flushed one plant with 4 gallons of Florakleen solution and the runoff ppm in the first gallon was only 700. That’s nothing, so it’s not a salt-buildup issue.

I realized that I hadn’t removed and cleaned these watering bases since I installed these reservoirs 7 weeks ago. So I pulled one out ( a pain to remove from a scrog) and found out why they weren’t wicking well. Look at those 8 black wicks covered in mold or mildew. No wonder it’s not wicking…..THESE WILL NEED TO BE CLEANED EVERY 2-3 WEEKS. My past use involved regular cleaning but I didn’t use these types of bases under a scrog net.

I’m hoping that this solves the poor wicking issue until the next regular cleaning.

Fortunately, they came in a four pack so I was able to quickly swap bases while holding the plant up in the scrog.
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Are those shoelaces?
 
Interesting.....

That's a bummer. Them wicks look like ****. Good catch. Does the manufacturer mention this type of needed maintenance? Definitely a pain in the arse with a framed scrog.

I had read a few places where wicks gave guys fits. Easy grow method that obviously comes with some extra work. I'd imagine them floaters would be easier when it comes to have long to do this once a month.
 
Interesting.....

That's a bummer. Them wicks look like ****. Good catch. Does the manufacturer mention this type of needed maintenance? Definitely a pain in the arse with a framed scrog.

I had read a few places where wicks gave guys fits. Easy grow method that obviously comes with some extra work. I'd imagine them floaters would be easier when it comes to have long to do this once a month.

At least I was able to catch it before the leaves showed any damage. No instruction manual that I’m aware of, but it would make logical sense to clean them regularly like any other reservoir. That was totally user error on my part. Nasty wicks for sure.

Yep…a pain in the arse alrigh getting around the scrog! I’m only running two plants in the tent next time. Three was too many for your scrog technique but two should work well in a 2x4. My only concern is that I’ll be growing DWC next time so I’m worried about having to remove the entire net and plant from the buckets for cleaning. Looks like an easy way to snap a trunk.
 
At least I was able to catch it before the leaves showed any damage. No instruction manual that I’m aware of, but it would make logical sense to clean them regularly like any other reservoir. That was totally user error on my part. Nasty wicks for sure.

Yep…a pain in the arse alrigh getting around the scrog! I’m only running two plants in the tent next time. Three was too many for your scrog technique but two should work well in a 2x4. My only concern is that I’ll be growing DWC next time so I’m worried about having to remove the entire net and plant from the buckets for cleaning. Looks like an easy way to snap a trunk.
I went with this for my wick and it worked well. If you have amazon it’s cheap. Might be better than what they supplied don’t know

1/4 inch wick from amazon
 
I think I’m going to track my next grow (cloning and DWC) in another grow journal to prevent confusion and allow me to look back at mistakes. I may also need to ask for a lot more help with that journal because I’ve never cloned (successfully) or grown in DWC.

Seeds are planted…..now it’s time to finish my Durban Poison grow. Im only in week three so I need to stay focused on this grow.

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Me….i have a drill with a 1/4 inch bit

Your watering base….lookout he’s deranged and he’s got a drill

Carnage ensues
That’s funny! I like that and strongly considered drilling a larger hole because i already have 1/4 inch wick. I’d have to drill through small rubber grommets that the wick feeds through and I didn’t think I’d do well drilling holes in rubber. I could leave the rubber grommets out completely though.
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That’s funny! I like that and strongly considered drilling a larger hole because i already have 1/4 inch wick. I’d have to drill through small rubber grommets that the wick feeds through and I didn’t think I’d do well drilling holes in rubber. I could leave the rubber grommets out completely though.View attachment 366571
It looks like you could sneak a second set of wicks in the slots behind the rubber and still completely cover the wick correct?
 
It looks like you could sneak a second set of wicks in the slots behind the rubber and still completely cover the wick correct?
Good idea KGB! Always thinking of ways to improve…..I like it!!

When I clean and swap them out in 2 weeks, I will add additional wicks. I’ll also try to upgrade the size of the wicks in the unit to compare against the others.
 
Leaves on the Durban Poison aren’t looking great…maybe too many flushes and not enough nutrients. I believe it’s a deficiency in Phosphorous, so I confirmed that the ph is in range (6.1) and added more Liquid KoolBloom (0-10-10) to the reservoir when I topped off today.i ran the leaf pictures through the GroDoc app and it came back with three potential issues: phosphorous deficiency, calcium deficiency or ph issues. Reservoir Ph at 6.1 and ppm at reservoir 950.

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VIVOSUN SELF FEEDING BASE REVIEW - MID GROW

Another light (dry) pot today…..and that is with clean wicks! I don’t recall having this problem with my multiple runs using the AC Infinity self feeding bases. I believe their wick system is superior (layout and wick size). These self feeding pots are not keeping my coco damp. I’m really questioning the design of the wicks on these Vivosun pots and I’m making aggressive modifications because I’m tired of dealing with this. It makes me wonder if anyone actually grew a plant to finish using these before they released them for sale.

Here are the issues I see……current wicks are
1.). Too small….1/6 inch or smaller
2.). Don’t cover enough area on the top of the base, especially for larger pots.
3.). Are Restricted by a choke point with a very tight rubber grommet that they are fed through. This choke point probably clogs first with salts and minerals in nutrients
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Here is the revised wick system I’ve opted to try.
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Overall there are still two benefits of this design over the AC Infinity….the access panel (love it!!) and the extra 30% capacity. However, I believe vivosun wicks need to be modified to work properly.
 
First weed I ever grew as a kid was in wick pots with nothing but vermiculite and MG chemicals. Worked 'til Mom got clued in by my older brother that came home from college and gave the rez a little splash of bleach. o_O
What I'd give to have access to that strain again.
 

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