I love your journals, they are really informative and very well documented. Thanks for that.
Great work 
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Any coir growers?
I have used coir as a medium additive for the last few grows. I didn’t put a lot of thought and care into rehydrating the random, cheap brick coir I found on Amazon. I put it in a bag, poured in some water (don’t even remember if I used RO or tap), let it hydrate, fluffed it, and immediately mixed it, sopping wet, into my main medium.
I am thinking now that that was wrong? Or at the very least, not ideal.
This year, I bought some nicer organic coir. Not the best, but also not the worst.
I plan on up-potting tomorrow. I am only using ½ gallon of coco per 4½ gallons of my potting mixture, so it’s not a huge component. Should I go ahead with hydrating and rinsing the coco, then charge it with some calcium? Give it overnight to dry out, just a bit, before mixing it into my medium?
Or is that all wrong?
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I don’t know if it is wrong or not because I have never used coco before…but I thought about using coco for a very long time when I got my autopots.
I did a lot of research on it trying to decide which route I was gonna go after getting rid of DWC. I eventually decided against coco because almost all Cocos, except the top notch most expensive ones, needed to be buffered, and me being lazy wanted to do as little work as possible.
I remember reading if they weren’t buffered then that would actually keep magnesium and calcium(I think it was magnesium and calcium) from being available to the plant.
I can’t remember very well because it’s been close to a year since I was researching it so I’ll just put up some of the videos that I watched
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You are right. That’s what most of the articles I’ve read said. You have to buffer it if it’s not already prepared by the vendor (and most I’ve seen weren’t). You’re right on the nutrients thing also. Good memory!!!
Here’s where I got most of my info :
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So, my thinking is spot on, then? 
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Day#12/5 Final Home Day
Today was a busy day for The Girls! They got moved into 5 gallon Fabric Pots, each filled with:
2.5 gallons Promix HP
1 gallon Happy Frog
½ gallon organic Coco (see past post)
½ gallon organic Perlite
1 tsp Recharge mixed in
1 tsp Recharge placed into each hole
EXCEPT BIG BUDDHA BLUE CHEESE, she got:
2.75 gallons Promix HP
1.5 gallon Happy Frog
¼ gallon organic Coco (see past post)
1/16 tsp Life
All but BBBC watered in with 2¾ cups of this solution:
1 gallon Tap
1 tbsp Persephone
1 tsp Demeter
½ tsp Catalyst
1½ tsp each: Piranha, Voodoo, Tarantula
PH 6.2
BBBC received 2¾ cups of this solution:
½ gallon Tap
⅛ tsp Life
PH 6.2
Both tents are now up and running, including the main exhaust. Tent A has the exhaust, while Tent B has the passive intake and humidifier. I’ll be fiddling with things quite a bit til the VPD stabilizes. Right now, we’re looking at these Temps/RH:
Tent A: 75F/68%
Tent B:75F/66%
Huh, that’s pretty damned ok, isn’t it? Slightly high humidity, but not bad. I wasn’t expecting to see that when I just checked the hygrometers. It’s surprising to see Tent A having such high humidity. It does have 5 plants in it, compared to 4 in the other, though.
I will raise the grow room temp a degree to see if that will lower the humidity a point or two; the humidifier was turned down to medium about 4 hours ago.
Lighting
Tent A (resp QB)-120w/23"/15000ish lux/232.37ppfd
Tent B (v2 QB)-120w/26"/15500ish lux/225.89ppfd
I wanted to get them EXACTLYish the same ppfd, but after so much adjusting, I decided to settle on close-enough-til-I-fix-it-better-tomorrow. I just need to get the height right on Tent A.
We have gotten 16" of snow in 24 hours and it just keeps falling!!
I have pics, but apparently the internet does not want me to upload them, now. Thanks, Snow. When the signal is stronger, I’ll give you some eye candy.
Black Gold Perlite not pictured
The ones with dowel rods stuck in the left corner will be LST’d.
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sound good do you think the recharge does a excellent job worth the money?
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I just ordered a bigger bag.
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I have some recharge in my Amazon cart I guess I need to pull the trigger get it huh
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Damn, you go girl awesome
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Thank you!
Temps/RH are now holding steadily in range:
Tent A: 77/66%
Tent B: 77/63%
Room temp being kept at 71F, day and night. Humidifier running on medium 24/7; I will eventually only have it running during lights on, but that won’t happen for a couple weeks.
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Day 14
Watering Day
Push Day for BBBC, as well
Temps/RH both tents: Day 77F/66% Night 75F/67%
Light: no change
Gave everyone, except runty Chiesel (not pictured),
4 cups pH 6.3 tap water:
Veg + Bloom test:
Big Buddha Blue Cheese got a Push foliar treatment:
12 ml Push
1 qt RO
PH’d to 6.6 (started at 4.7!)
I gave her a good misting, let it sit for a few minutes, then rinsed her with RO and gently patted her dry. I like foliar feeding, but have been burnt before, so now I’m extra careful.
I prefer to apply foliar sprays just after lights on, when the stomata are usually wide open and I’m not fighting heat from the light. Tonight, I decided to just do it when I had time. Mostly, because I forgot to do it this morning.
Here she is after being sprayed, rinsed, and patted dry; pics with and without flash:
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Hydroponic Research is trying to tell me to foliar feed with a pH 4.7 solution. Yeah, they can gtfoh with that bs.
They also said she was too young. Guess they don’t realize she’s an auto and from my previous grows, I guarantee she’ll be in bloom by next week.
That company offers very little info on using their products, plus the labels/website don’t list all the ingredients in each product. They haven’t bothered to even make an effort to change their feeding charts for soil/peat users, either; all instructions are written as if you’re doing hydro.
They pissed me off first thing, before CBD, and now I hate them. So, this is gonna be a fun product test. Yay.
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https://hydroponic-research.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/feed_chart.pdf Lists the contents of their supplements. Mentions that Push contains silica, and that it’s pH buffered. Also mentioned the hormones present in Push can cause hermaphrodites.
There’s a different mix for different mediums.
I hope your day improves.
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It also asterisks that thing about pH/surfactant, saying to adjust, if needed. I admittedly adjusted it without first testing it, because I did not trust it to not burn this strain, which is I have found to be sensitive to nutrients over many grows. If the people over there say 4.7 is ok, I will do that next time.
Feedwise, Dirty is listed as using the exact same mix as their hydro products.
I have grown this strain several times, and I promise you, by day 21 it’s going to be throwing pistils. The bottle instructions say feed every 5 days throughout veg and a couple weeks into flower; veg for this strain starts now and ends in a week or so. I have been using kelp products during autoflower veg without any adverse reaction, as have many other growers.
I grow organically. I am sacrificing one of my favorite strains to test a product I would most likely never choose to use. Why? Because I like experimenting and testing things. I am not a pro. Just a home grower trying to grow the best weed I can for myself. Home growers do things differently than you might approve of or that a company might approve of. We have to, since most products are not developed with us in mind.
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And now welcome to this season’s premier episode of Cooking For Buds
Last night, at 10pm, I prepared The Girls’ First Meal. Since I feed Earth Juice, I bubble the main meal for about 40-48 hours, allowing the microbe herd to multiply and pH to start moving up. I can never get mine to move far, even after 48 hours of bubbling, so I do adjust up…to a point.
Bubbled Solution:
1 gal Tap
2 tbsp Grow
1.5 tbsp Catalyst
1.5 tsp Meta K
Once that’s bubbled for 40-48 hours, I’ll add:
1 gal Tap
2 tsp Demeter’s
1 tsp Microblast
Adding the above brings the pH into the range of 5.8-6.2, which I usually leave it at, unless my medium’s pH is testing too acidic, which has not happened, yet. Surprisingly, for this set-up, the pH likes to hit that 7 mark.
No pics, just talk radio today, really. Tune in tomorrow for exciting, live color commentary.
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Day# 17/10
First Feed
Light:
A. 120w/21.75"/16000 lux/247ppfd
B. 120w/22.5"/17000 lux/247ppfd
Temps/rh: holding steady at 75-77F/64-66%
Yes, these girls are young, but a few already have yellowing cots, plus I have found that starting the organics early really helps give the microbes time to do their thing. I decided to feed BB Blue Cheese, too, even though she’s getting non-organic nutes.
Seven Girls got 6 cups of the mix referenced in the post above, with a pH of 5.8.
BB Blue Cheese got 6 cups of the following pH 6.5 solution:
1 gal Tap
2.5 grams Veg + Bloom
Tent A
Tent B
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Day#18/10
Light Update
Last night, in a moment of panic, I realized my lights might be set weaker than they needed be. So, I did something, which could be a bad thing. It could also be a good thing. Whatever happens, it’s a thing of some sort.
Tent A: 140w/24"/17250/267
Tent B: 140w/24.5"/18250/265
Cycle: 20/4
Yesterday morning, I had already lowered the light down a few inches to take the ppfd from 225 to 247.
Then, late last night, I did many things that took it from 247 to 267.
I know, I know! From 225 to 267 in one day. Look, I panicked. They actually look wonderful, today.
Tomorrow, I plan on taking it from 20/4 to 18/6.
LST Day
I decided to train: Blue Dream’atic, Blue Amnesia xxl, Critical Blue, and Sweet CBD. Originally, I had planned on Blue Pearl, too, but she’s staying too squat to safely manhandle; close-up pic of her to follow.
I also ATTEMPTED to train Dinafem Blue Cheese, but was thwarted due to pistils! I hope I didn’t damage her. I had her all tied-up, but then when I went to take some pics for you perverts, I noticed pistils. I untied her, but she’s kinda listing to the side, now. Oopsy?
Pics on the way, I promise! Taking foreeeeeeeever to upload because of my signal.
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Day#20/13
Watering/Microbe/Calcium Day
Yesterday, all was well when I left the house at noon. At midnight, when I was able to check on them again, Big Buddha Blue Cheese was showing a major Calcium deficiency. Friday was technically Push Day, anyway, but still–such an insane deficiency showing in only 12 hours! I blame the higher ppfd from this morning in combo with the Veg + Bloom line not having enough Calcium for the lights.
BBBC Push Application at 1:30am:
12ml Push
1 qt RO
NOT pH adjusted, per the company
Applied just before lights off. Applied, allowed to set a few minutes, rinsed, then dried.
Main Solution
The 8 Girls: 6 cups to all but Chiesel, who got 2 cups
2¼ gallons Tap
2 tbsp Persephone’s Palate
1 tsp Recharge
pH 6.2
BB Blue Cheese: 6 cups given
1 gallon Tap
1 tsp Demeter’s Destiny
¼ tsp Persephone’s Palate
¼ tsp Life
pH 6.2
I wasn’t planning on adding any products except those included in the Veg+Bloom kit, but then I noticed a little loophole for myself: the instructions say to adjust everything up to an ec of .2-.3 using CalMag. Since this plant clearly needs the extra Calcium, I decided to add DD & PP to take my tap’s ec from .2 to just under .3. It was unnecessary for the ec, but I’ll use any excuse to get these girls the nutrients they need.
Pistils showing on all EXCEPT Expert Blue Cheese, Blue Amnesia, and Chiesel (surprise!).
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