Grow Mediums freaky's growlog = NYC Diesel Auto + Berry Ryder + Trans Siberian Auto x 600w drip

[freaky]

Hey there AFN, I've been wanting to document my first proper grow now that I can do it legally. I assembled a proper setup for 3 plants and decided to start with a round of autoflowers because 3 will still produce more bud than I could ever smoke to myself.

I started these seeds on January 5 making them just more than 7 weeks old today. In this post, I'll catch you up to tonight on the plants and you'll also see some changes have been made to the original setup.

STRAINS:

1. New York Diesel Auto (Professional) - One of my favorite strains, I love the distinguishable smell and taste
2. Trans Siberian Automatic (Auto) - Honestly I just liked the pic and "very high" THC content
3. Berry Ryder (Auto) - Come on, it's blueberry
   
   Hoping to induce some blue flowers, we shall see!

METHOD:

• Drip to Waste system w/ 5 gallon buckets
• Pump in reservoir connects to a loop (1/2" tube) to 3 drip rings (1/4" tube) at 1/2 gallons/hr each.
• Res. and buckets all have airstones
• Pump is set on a timer to run for 15 minutes, 2x/day.
• I empty the buckets + res every week or two and refill res with nute water.
• Lights are 18/6 from start to finish
• Tent temps range 68-88ºf, res temp around 66ºf.

INGREDIENTS: (everything so far [minus seeds and nutes] is about $420 USD)

• 2'x4'x5' grow tent - $79
• 600w air-cooled HPS with dimmable, convertable ballast - $179
• 6" 400CFM In-Line Fan - $33
• w/ fan speed controller - $21
• and small clip fan for circulation - $15
• 3x black 5 gallon buckets w/ 4" net pots from the local hydro store - $25
• 17.5 gallon black reservoir from The Container Store - $20
• Water pump, Air pumps, tubing, fittings, etc. etc.
• Substrate: Royal Gold's Tupur mix, seems to be a mix of coco and perlite. Working great for moisture retention + drainage!

NUTRIENT FEEDING REGIMEN:

I really wanted a K.I.S.S. grow so I went with the uber simple start-to-finish "Lucas Formula" (8ml GH Flora Micro + 16ml Flora Bloom / gal H2O). I did screw it up a little bit for the first 5 weeks by only giving it 5/10, which I'm blaming on information overload.

 

[freaky]

The starting point is January 5.
The seeds took about 7 days to pop, but the the NYC Diesel took almost 2 weeks, which is strange and you will see why.

Day 15
Back left is the NYC Diesel Auto, back right is the Trans Siberian Auto, and front is the Berry Ryder.

Day 18 - You can already see the NYC Diesel is outgrowing the others by about 2x

Day 23

Day 26

Day 27 - I wanted to show the roots because they are all growing dramatically different than each other!

Trans Siberian - These roots took off the fastest and are more stringy than branched out.

Berry Ryder - These roots are growing downwards quite a bit but are also branching out a lot!

NYC Diesel: As you can see the roots have filled out the net pot very thoroughly but haven't reached out more than a half inch!

Day 31

Day 34:

Day 37:

Day 39: The Berry Ryder's leaves are curling inwards a bit; I checked the PH, which keeps drifting up to 6.5, and reset to 5.8.

Day 41: Plants really starting to fill out their space. So cool how each strain grows sooo differently! Flowers are coming in nicely on the NYCD.

 

[freaky]

Week 6: Had a major leak with the setup. One of the drip emitters came off of the main water line and by the time I checked, it had spat out half an hour's worth of water... Which in this case, was enough to completely empty the 10 or so gallons left in the reservoir. What happened was, as the plants got bigger (the indica Trans Siberian) it became harder to unplug and replug the drip loop for maintenance and that's where the noob mistake occurred.

No major damage though, only 3 air pumps which I had sitting on the floor (yes, I knew better

) all got fried. So I'm out about $30 on that.

Due to both that mishap and the fact that the res was taking up a lot of precious space inside the tent, I decided it was time for some remodeling.

I moved the res outside next to the tent and ran a straight 1/2" tube across the width. From there I attached the drip emitters and drip loops. There's also a plug on the end of the 1/2" tube so that I can easily drain the res that way when the time comes. Because of the drip emitters regulating the flow, there's no issues with pressure being higher up front than in the back.

Overall I think this setup is now just about perfect for a 3-plant op. Super easy to maintain, plenty of room for growth, and even showcases the plants very well. I also got a legit electronic TDS (HM Digital TDS-EZ) and PH meter (Milwaukee PH-600) so everything is tuned in. I'd been accidentally keeping my PH a little high around 6.5 and now it's a perfect 5.8.

Another goof that I realized I made: Somehow it occurred to me that the Lucas formula is 8 micro / 16 bloom per gal and I had been feeding it only 5 micro / 10 bloom per gal. Something which I also knew better. TDS went from 840ppm to about 1050ppm. I'm really excited to see how these changes affect the last few weeks of growth!

Here's the pics:

Day 48: Getting way more crowded than necessary.

Day 50: New setup! Looks a million times better! Berry Ryder is on the left, Trans Siberian Auto in the middle, and NYC Diesel Auto on the right.

NYC Diesel Buds:

Day 55

So that catches everything up to tonight! In the next update, I'll have some bud shots for you since they are finally coming in. The NYC Diesel Auto's nugs are truly mouthwatering!!!
Hit me with any questions or comments :gthumb:

 

[testor]

Nice Setup and pretty ladies! Will be watching this

 

[toke]

nice set up and great grow freaky:thumbs:

TOKE OUT

 

[leeold7]

:thumbs:

 

[Eljefemoe]

I just started a transsiberian. Can't wait to see some more pics!

 

[kung lao]

??? what happened?