Sweet Leaf Grows Grows

[Stoneyluv]

You can clean chiller coils sure but the chiller is plumbed to the res not the RO barrel No cross contamination there.

What he was referring to is when you shut your system down the chiller remains full from whatever was in the res on the last grow. When you first turn it on you get a slug of old water into your new res.

that makes sense now,, i got ya!!

so it makes it sound like his barrel is open top?? what if we lined the barrel with a plastic bag then filled it up.. just as a test to know it's in the barrel.

 

[moe.red]

that makes sense now,, i got ya!!

so it makes it sound like his barrel is open top?? what if we lined the barrel with a plastic bag then filled it up.. just as a test to know it's in the barrel.

Not sure. Been too long since I saw his setup.

And I was wrong on the ph up and edit detecting metals. Anything that is getting picked up by an EC probe will be conductive/charged including any ammonium or other exudates from biologics. The EC probe will not pick up bacteria directly only the result from their waste.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Thanks guys for helping me figure this thing out.

Here are some photos of my setup. The one photo where you can see the hot water heater, it's like an unfinished closet where the well and pressure tank sit alongside the hot water heater. Thinking a roll of plastic on the inside might rule out contamination from that closed, which I have wondered. The barrel is food grade.

 

[moe.red]

A you grab a glass of water straight out of the RO filter and set it on the hot water tank? Presumably this will be 13 ppm.

Then check it over the next few days and see if it creeps up?

A couple of thoughts- that RO filter is potentially filled with a bacteria colony coming straight from a well with no treatment. Bacteria can pass an RO membrane.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

A you grab a glass of water straight out of the RO filter and set it on the hot water tank? Presumably this will be 13 ppm.

Yes, I have done this.

Then check it over the next few days and see if it creeps up?

Never did try that.

 

[moe.red]

Just to be clear there is no way for that black hose to syphon back from the res right? I assume you pump to the res from here. If the end of the hose is under water in the res when you turn the pump off you could get some back flow. I would think it would be noticeable tho.

 

[smoke]

Anything metal in the tank

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Just to be clear there is no way for that black hose to syphon back from the res right? I assume you pump to the res from here. If the end of the hose is under water in the res when you turn the pump off you could get some back flow. I would think it would be noticeable tho.

No, that is just a line coming out with a pump on the other end to withdraw water when I need it. I was getting water just prior to taking this photo and don't normally leave the pump in the water.

Anything metal in the tank

Not that I can think of unless you count that water pump, which is mostly plastic. Same pump I use in my rdwc with no issues that I am aware.

 

[Stoneyluv]

Yes, I have done this.


Never did try that.

i'm all for you trying this test.. cheap and easy and would confirm it's the barrel or not.

a clean glass with some RO from the tap and let it sit in that room. then compare to the tank water and if there's any difference then we know for sure its in the barrel. if they act the same then maybe in the filter.

IF it rose the same as in the barrel a second test would be good to do but sealing the glass of water the second time to rule out any airborn contamination.

i am so curious as to what it is.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

i'm all for you trying this test.. cheap and easy and would confirm it's the barrel or not.

Testing underway.

Pulled a glass of water straight off the filter, measured 37 ppm. Gonna let that sit on top of the water barrel and check it over the next couple of days.

 

[Zen_seeker]

Not sure how soon slg will be back but this has been going on since the farm days.

On a well so really high ppm tap. Went with RO and at first it think it was ok. Then he refinished his kitchen with drywall cabinets floor the whole works and this is in a room off the kitchen. He thought it was construction debris from sanding maybe getting in there. But that was done years ago and he is still dealing with this.

In order for this to be organic activity there would need to be a food source. At 13 ppm out of the RO it’s not in the water. Has to be something else but I can’t figure out what. Almost like a chunk of meat fell in there and is slowly rotting.

Bugs? Mice? Alligators?

I know he fully drained it and cleaned it after the kitchen was done. So if this is something getting into the tank it is still happening not a one time thing.

Slg does not have a bunch of energy to be screwing with this so whatever we come up with needs to be easy to do or I assume he will just live with it.

You said well. Something die in there maybe?

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Testing underway.

Pulled a glass of water straight off the filter, measured 37 ppm. Gonna let that sit on top of the water barrel and check it over the next couple of days.

I've ran this test long enough that I can be fairly certain I'm getting contamination from something in the room, perhaps that closet where the hot water heater and well is. Gonna pick up some plastic and put that up over that opening, see if that does anything.

Started out kind of high at 37 ppm. Tested on Sunday, 72.3 ppm. Then I tested today and hit 101.....gradual but noticeable uptick in ppm and I gotta get this figured out!

Thanks guys

 

[moe.red]

wtf. I’d be worried about you breathing it too.

Is that water heater electric?

What could it be bro? Any mold or wet spots/leaks?

I’m stumped.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Is that water heater electric?

What could it be bro? Any mold or wet spots/leaks?

Electric and no mold or wet spots anywhere.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

i don't know a lot about the chillers you guys use but in my cleanroom days we would clean out tank chillers out with a muriatic acid mix to cycle through for a few minutes and then flush clean. is that something that could apply here?

I don't physically clean the chiller but I do vacuum the water out with the shop vac when I change out the res. I would not think this the problem but could be.

 

[moe.red]

I don’t think this is organics. You can’t measure bacteria directly via EC. And in that RO water they would have nothing to eat

I’m really stumped on what this could be. Hopefully someone brighter than me will have an idea.

 

[Stoneyluv]

I don’t think this is organics. You can’t measure bacteria directly via EC. And in that RO water they would have nothing to eat

I’m really stumped on what this could be. Hopefully someone brighter than me will have an idea.

i don't know much about RO filters but could there be something in the membrane?

how about a UV filter, does it contain one of those and maybe the bulb is old?

 

[Stoneyluv]

just seems weird that it would be something airborne floating in the room...

at least now you know it's not in the barrel and to look before the barrel. not much left...

SLG, please do the same test again, only this time seal the jar of test water.

 

[steamroller]

just seems weird that it would be something airborne floating in the room...

at least now you know it's not in the barrel and to look before the barrel. not much left...

SLG, please do the same test again, only this time seal the jar of test water.

Not all contaminants will register in a TDS test.
I read about this trying to figure out your issue.

In the same respect all increases of TDS must have a 'solid' source.
Beyond concentration from evaporation, it really should only be from airborne particles.
Once water is through the RO system the system cannot have any further effect.
If the system was flawed the water would show it right away.

Interested in seeing what happens with sample covered.

 

[Stoneyluv]

Not all contaminants will register in a TDS test.
I read about this trying to figure out your issue.

In the same respect all increases of TDS must have a 'solid' source.
Beyond concentration from evaporation, it really should only be from airborne particles.
Once water is through the RO system the system cannot have any further effect.
If the system was flawed the water would show it right away.

Interested in seeing what happens with sample covered.

mw too man, because if the covered sample does not go up then it all goes back to like Moe said and wow are you possibly breathing whatever it is... one way says good we know we're not breathing it in and the other way goes to something possibly more serious.

either way i think he is getting closer to the answer.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Got the two tents going, one with theh Black Cherry Bliss frim Impulsive Grower and another AF Coup by Brother Mendel.....been wanting to try more of his stuff/

The AF Coup has been doing stellar, couldn't be better I think. The res has been super stable and running ppm's a bit higher than in the recent past at 650. She kept wanting more so I gave it to her and she seems super happy. I've defoliated a tad bit and topped her once. She's a hungry plant and I am looking forward to good things from this strain.

The Black Cherry Bliss is a bit of a different story. Had a heck of a time finding out what this plant wants. They are both the same age and you can really see the difference between a healthy and robust seedling and one that is less than. Not sure what is wrong with this seedling but have been trying different things to see if I can discover it and learn something. Raised the ppm's.....nope, she didn't like that. Raised the intensity of the light, not much difference after that but turned it back down not wanting to stress her with too much light. It's just going to be a learning experience so far and just trying different things till I find out what works, until I get fed up with that shit and toss it anyway.

LA Coup-




Black Cherry Bliss-






Not sure what the issues is.....both seeds started the same time and in almost identical systems and the same driver (ME) and what a difference. Gonna keep trying new and different things to see if I can solve this mystery.

I got a cover on my water barrel and it seems to be keeping the ppms down. Contamination coming from the room, most likely that unfinished closet. Get that done and I think the problem will be gone. Thanks guys!

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Thanks Grump, gonna take more than this to knock me down, although I have been getting back up when it sneaks one in, so ready for the next one!

I'm managing to keep all three grows going and they aren't doing too bad. My main weakness is in the training to get the most yield, still not very good at that, practicing on the Mendel's AF Coup but not doing all that great. She is also not stretching as much as I anticipated, I threw that scrog in there but realized it's too low to be able to check the water levels etc. So I raised it up some and hopeing this gal starts to stretch, been flipped to 1212 for about a week now, showing a good amount of pistils so gonna do what I can and try to do a major defoliation in a week or two.

In the 5x5 I have had issues with seeds not sprouting, and I also lost a clone recently, had a bad colony in the roots is all I can tell and it never did recover. So I am way behind on this one but starting to catch up. Went with Ethos Purple Zkittles RBX, keeping quite a bit of blue in the light and she is short and stout, topped her once and now just watching her take off, roots look fantastic.

In the other 3x3, same problems with seeds not sprouting got me behind, but I finally got a Mellow Fellow seed to sprout, and although she was very delicate with the root coming straight up, I babied her til she started to take off and now I got roots touching water so she is going to make it. This was a great strain for my meds and have high hopes for this pheno to me be similar.

Purple Zkittlez RBX






Mendel's AF Coup


Cult Classic Mellow Fellow

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

I forgot to mention earlier, I picked up a small website gig and talked my wife into a major purchase for the grow room, I scored a new chiller for that third tent. I've ran two or three grows in this tent without a chiller but that has mostly been during the winter time. Water temps are a problem and all the plants I've ran in this system seemed to me to be lethargic and just not as healthy as they are where I am using a chiller.

So wham bam, thank ya ma'am @MrsSweetLeaf papa's got a new chiller in da house

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

My bad luck with seedlings continues, unexplained. Everything was good except water temps have been in the high 70's and low 80's. The new chiller arrived but I have not hooked it up yet, gonna cut my losses on this seedling after what I see this morning, dang, she was looking very good two days ago and now this, well shit.

Got a new seed in 50-50 hydrogen peroxide and water, will put this one in the vertical germinator and then directly into the system which will have the chiller installed and a much better water temps! Gonna go with a cool strain called Violetta from Ace Seeds. Not a high thc strain but hoping it makes up for that with a cool terp profile. Most info I've found on this strain says medium difficulty, hope I can live up to that!

 

[steamroller]

That Mendels AF looks great.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

That Mendels AF looks great.

Thanks man, it looks good but what a mess with defoliation! I'm trying to keep her as short as possible because of this new light, has to have a good distance or bad things might happen I'm thinking anyway. With that scrog table so low, it;s all but impossible to get in there and trim what needs to be trimmed. Just gonna do what I can with lots of fans and call it good, but yea, she's starting to shine for sure!

 

[tevyat737]

Hey man, thanks for the update - seriously inspiring to see you pushing through all that and getting back into the grow. That Black Cherry Bliss and Trop Cherry cross sounds fire. Wishing you solid health and strong roots on this new round.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Hey man, thanks for the update - seriously inspiring to see you pushing through all that and getting back into the grow. That Black Cherry Bliss and Trop Cherry cross sounds fire. Wishing you solid health and strong roots on this new round.

Thank you! Going to have to try that Black Cherry Bliss again in the near future.