A sneek peek deep into N2's garden thread

[smoke]

So Smoke taught me a lesson about that. Measuring water displacement in his 13 gal buckets with the trees he grows, less than 5% displacement by the roots. Seems wrong, it looks like so much more. Counterintuitive for sure.

I think N2 has about 5 gallons or a little less to work with.

It still seems to me to be too low.

Crunch those roots together and they will fit in a gallon jug

 

[Aqua Man]

Ok so take the RO and add pot silicate to brin the ppm to 150. The ph down to 6-6.5 take a ppm reading and write it down.

Add nutrients with the transition ratio in the proper order. Start about 500ppm of nutrients. So take the ppm you wrote down and bring the ppm up by 500 more. Likely around 700 at this point. Ignore ppm at this point on.

Add 1/2 dose cal mag

PH down to about 5.8 if needed but your nutrients may drop it to about there so you may not have to.

Add the ocra/hydrogaurd

 

[Aqua Man]

From there we wait to see the plant response to nitrogen after about 3-7 days and adjust

 

[Aqua Man]

Whats your environment like?

 

[IamN2pot]

Whats your environment like?

I thought you'd never ask, . I do like my AC Infinity setup. Here is the past week. THe temp spike on Tue afternoon is from parking a hot car in the garage when the outside temp was over 80*. It's a little rule I have for keeping the garage cool on warm/hot days and someone forgot. It's all good, Mrs. N2.


I mixed my soup before I saw your response.
FTR: I added about 9.5gr od Potasium Silicate to 5 gal of RO for a TDS of 150/500 or .3EC
Added 4-5ml Phorphoric Acid to pH down to 6.9-7.0 and the TDS only went up to 160/500.

In a second bucket I mixed the 321 to a stregnth of 1650/500 or 3.3EC and a pH of 4.7. I mixed the amount on the sheet x3 in 1.5 gal of water, but FTR, the TDS does not add up to what the feed schedule states. They say 3.78gr A + .99gr Epsom + 2.52gr B = TDS of 1200/500 or 2.4EC. If that were so, I should have gotten an EC of 4.8? Not even close, so go figure...

I will add the Cal-Mag as you say as I mix the pHed RO and the nute soup.

Thinking out loud here, I'm going to wait until the lights go out to do the water change. The thinking is that after lights are out, the transporation is at a minimum, so I will have maximum time to get the res refilled with minimal shock to the plant from the new (and improved) soup. Sounds like it should work to me, ... ????
If that's wrong, let me know. Lights go out in 1 hour, 7 Colorado time.

 

[Aqua Man]

I thought you'd never ask, . I do like my AC Infinity setup. Here is the past week. THe temp spike on Tue afternoon is from parking a hot car in the garage when the outside temp was over 80*. It's a little rule I have for keeping the garage cool on warm/hot days and someone forgot. It's all good, Mrs. N2.
View attachment 2739

I mixed my soup before I saw your response.
FTR: I added about 9.5gr od Potasium Silicate to 5 gal of RO for a TDS of 150/500 or .3EC
Added 4-5ml Phorphoric Acid to pH down to 6.9-7.0 and the TDS only went up to 160/500.

In a second bucket I mixed the 321 to a stregnth of 1650/500 or 3.3EC and a pH of 4.7. I mixed the amount on the sheet x3 in 1.5 gal of water, but FTR, the TDS does not add up to what the feed schedule states. They say 3.78gr A + .99gr Epsom + 2.52gr B = TDS of 1200/500 or 2.4EC. If that were so, I should have gotten an EC of 4.8? Not even close, so go figure...

I will add the Cal-Mag as you say as I mix the pHed RO and the nute soup.

Thinking out loud here, I'm going to wait until the lights go out to do the water change. The thinking is that after lights are out, the transporation is at a minimum, so I will have maximum time to get the res refilled with minimal shock to the plant from the new (and improved) soup. Sounds like it should work to me, ... ????
If that's wrong, let me know. Lights go out in 1 hour, 7 Colorado time.

Perfectly fine to do that. Id drop your humidity to keep between 50-55% . The VPD calculation that those use does not take leaf temp into account. So the true VPD settings you want taking a 4f difference would be around 78-80f and 50% RH but between 50-55% should be perfect

 

[Cool_Beans]

Perfectly fine to do that. Id drop your humidity to keep between 50-55% . The VPD calculation that those use does not take leaf temp into account. So the true VPD settings you want taking a 4f difference would be around 78-80f and 50% RH but between 50-55% should be perfect

You can set leaf temp diff w ACI controllers.

 

[Aqua Man]

You can set leaf temp diff w ACI controllers.

Oooh nice feature. For reference HID lights 2f diff LED 4f diff. This wont be exact but usually very close.

 

[IamN2pot]

So no problem doing the water change AFTER lights out???

 

[Aqua Man]

So no problem doing the water change AFTER lights out???

Nope

 

[IamN2pot]

You can set leaf temp diff w ACI controllers.

That was easy! ...and done!
Thanks mate, @Cool_Beans

 

[Cool_Beans]

That was easy! ...and done!
Thanks mate, @Cool_Beans
View attachment 2753

No prob dude. I also found the transition settings for the exhaust fan useful, ie how aggressively it ramps up speed based on how many degrees or %rh it is over set point. Helps flatten the trend lines a bit.

 

[Rootsruler]

Maybe I got one of the good ones but my leaf temps vs controller temps are 1* off.

 

[IamN2pot]

Water change done. Not what I expected, but then what new? LOL!!! It took the entire 1.5 gal of 1650/500 TDS nutes for my 5'ish gallon system to raise the pHed 160ppm to 620ppm. And my 2 Bluelab TDS meters do NOT agree. I used my pen because I can calibrate it, and have. It reads 80/500 points lower than my Multi meter TDS probe, so 620 on my pen is 700 on my probe.

FTR: 160 tds after Potasium Silicate and pH down
Added 321 to reach 620 tds.
Added 10ml Cal-Mag, 7.5ml Orca, 10ml Hydroguard, 25ml Hygrozyme to reach a total of 720tds on the pen (800 on the probe)
pH is at 5.8 and temp is at 70*, but cooling to 68*

See ya'll in the morning!

 

[Aqua Man]

Water change done. Not what I expected, but then what new? LOL!!! It took the entire 1.5 gal of 1650/500 TDS nutes for my 5'ish gallon system to raise the pHed 160ppm to 620ppm. And my 2 Bluelab TDS meters do NOT agree. I used my pen because I can calibrate it, and have. It reads 80/500 points lower than my Multi meter TDS probe, so 620 on my pen is 700 on my probe.

FTR: 160 tds after Potasium Silicate and pH down
Added 321 to reach 620 tds.
Added 10ml Cal-Mag, 7.5ml Orca, 10ml Hydroguard, 25ml Hygrozyme to reach a total of 720tds on the pen (800 on the probe)
pH is at 5.8 and temp is at 70*, but cooling to 68*

See ya'll in the morning!

Ok lets see where this goes overnight and tomorrow. So now the hard oart… sit on the hands and dont touch anything

 

[IamN2pot]

Ok lets see where this goes overnight and tomorrow. So now the hard oart… sit on the hands and dont touch anything

Oh well, Guess I should have opened this before I checked on the res.
I checked her at 10 last night and the pH had risen to 6.1, so I let her go.
THis morning, 1/2 hour before lights come on, she was at 6.4pH and her TDS was dowm 50/500.
I did pH her down to 5.8, Sorry!

FTR: she went from 5.8 at 8PM up to 6.4 at 6:30AM
TDS went down from 720 to 670 overnight.
Water level dropped about normal, 1/4" below my fill line last night. (1" drop is my top up, about 1/2 gal)

That's the largest swing up AND the largest drop in TDS that has ever happened overnight, ...just sayin!
"Normally" she would drop .2 pH and the TDS woud remain the same and use about 1/4" of water.

Lights are about to come on, ..... Yeah!!!

 

[Aqua Man]

Oh well, Guess I should have opened this before I checked on the res.
I checked her at 10 last night and the pH had risen to 6.1, so I let her go.
THis morning, 1/2 hour before lights come on, she was at 6.4pH and her TDS was dowm 50/500.
I did pH her down to 5.8, Sorry!

FTR: she went from 5.8 at 8PM up to 6.4 at 6:30AM
TDS went down from 720 to 670 overnight.
Water level dropped about normal, 1/4" below my fill line last night. (1" drop is my top up, about 1/2 gal)

That's the largest swing up AND the largest drop in TDS that has ever happened overnight, ...just sayin!
"Normally" she would drop .2 pH and the TDS woud remain the same and use about 1/4" of water.

Lights are about to come on, ..... Yeah!!!

Ok we are trending better now. So from now on you adjust the final PH then adjust it again about 1-2hrs later. The swing should tame down now that you have readjusted it

 

[Aqua Man]

Also watch the color of the plants. They should start greening up a bit more. I have a feeling we may need to slightly increase the feed concentration but lets not get ahead of ourselves. Post back on the swing later tonight

 

[IamN2pot]

Thanks Aqua. I just checked her. It's been just over an hour since lights on and she has drifted upwards slightly, from 5.8 to 5.9. She has NEVER done that. Lights on = pH drifting down, ....until today!

So I'm wanting to know at what point should I adjust pH? SLG suggested in a previous post that he lets his drift from 5.4 - 6.1 and adjust when it's outside those parameters. Is that about right, or should I let it drift more?

On a possitive, she looks extreemly happy this morning. I'd swear I already see new, accelerated growth on her top cola.

 

[Aqua Man]

Thanks Aqua. I just checked her. It's been just over an hour since lights on and she has drifted upwards slightly, from 5.8 to 5.9. She has NEVER done that. Lights on = pH drifting down, ....until today!

So I'm wanting to know at what point should I adjust pH? SLG suggested in a previous post that he lets his drift from 5.4 - 6.1 and adjust when it's outside those parameters. Is that about right, or should I let it drift more?

On a possitive, she looks extreemly happy this morning. I'd swear I already see new, accelerated growth on her top cola.

SLG is bang on…. Good to hear man

 

[IamN2pot]

2PM and she was up to 6.2, so I dropped her back down to 5.8. Now I'm out there making up some fresh soup for her supper to top up with tonight and thought, It might be a good idea to check in and make sure I'm supose to top up with the same receipe I made last night and bring her back up to 720ppm?
I'm just thinking that is what I should do.
Is that right? or should I just use water? The TDS has dropped from 720 last night to 630 this afternoon and the water level is dropping as normal, about a 1/2 gal a day.

LOL, this is the exact oppisite of what she had been doing her entire life. pH drifting up while the TDS drops? A first for everything I guess...

 

[Aqua Man]

2PM and she was up to 6.2, so I dropped her back down to 5.8. Now I'm out there making up some fresh soup for her supper to top up with tonight and thought, It might be a good idea to check in and make sure I'm supose to top up with the same receipe I made last night and bring her back up to 720ppm?
I'm just thinking that is what I should do.
Is that right? or should I just use water? The TDS has dropped from 720 last night to 630 this afternoon and the water level is dropping as normal, about a 1/2 gal a day.

LOL, this is the exact oppisite of what she had been doing her entire life. pH drifting up while the TDS drops? A first for everything I guess...

Yeah you can top up with the same. In 3 days your going to do a water change so thats fine. If you were to have a larger volume then i have a slightly better way to do them

 

[steamroller]

I like the water change technique that is going to happen.
This completely eliminates any guess work on what the plant is using. The frequency makes up for limited volume of res.
If balanced properly and behaving this is similar to EI dosing which is proven to be an awesome way to grow.

 

[Aqua Man]

I like the water change technique that is going to happen.
This completely eliminates any guess work on what the plant is using. The frequency makes up for limited volume of res.
If balanced properly and behaving this is similar to EI dosing which is proven to be an awesome way to grow.

You absolutely read that like a book brother… best method for newer or struggling hydro grows IMO

 

[IamN2pot]

Lights are out and I topped her up. She had drifted up to 6.1 and TDS was down to 590/500.
FTR: adjusted pH to 5.8, TDS raised to 690/500 on the pen.

What a differant day. THings, including pH, seem to be lookin up!

 

[IamN2pot]

Quick update on todays adventures. pH was at 6.0 this morning and held all day. HooRay!!! Water dropped normal 1/2 gal and ppm's only dropped 30, from 780 to 750/500.
Topped up and adjusted pH to 5.8 and TDS to 800/500.
What a wonderful day.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Sorry I have not had much of a chance to follow your grow bro, glad to hear you are having some good days!

Hopefully things will settle down soon and I can catch up on your journey!

 

[steamroller]

Quick update on todays adventures. pH was at 6.0 this morning and held all day. HooRay!!! Water dropped normal 1/2 gal and ppm's only dropped 30, from 780 to 750/500.
Topped up and adjusted pH to 5.8 and TDS to 800/500.
What a wonderful day.

This wonderful news~!
Makes my day to hear this.

 

[Aqua Man]

Good shit bro…. How is the color looking?

Is new growth coning in nice and green?

Any signs of tox?

 

[smoke]

You absolutely read that like a book brother… best method for newer or struggling hydro grows IMO

If its a nutrient imbalance is it possible to get that balance back by just adding individual amounts of either np or k?

Thinking of using aquarium test strips to determine what's needed.