highchome (not competing)

[highchome]

Wow flip day arrived quickly! I switch the tent over to 12/12 (21:00-09:00) with T2 and T3. T1 is still lagging and has been moved to the clone tent.

 Some more testing with the mixing looks good. I'll look at how cost effective GHE is when the bottles arrive, I'm considering continuing to use hortimix for the clones + mothers. They are all looking fantastic, its a pity that they are not the competition plants. Perhaps I should show the two going into flower what they look like to create some envy...

 

I did tiny bit of trimming this morning, just trying to keep things even before the stretch.

 

There are a couple of signs of nutrient issues in a couple of the leaves. I'm very surprised that I've not seen that until now given the nutrient/precipitation issues I've been having. I expect this should not get much worse now that I have a good idea of what is going on and the upcoming nutrient switch.

    

 

[CreX]

@highchome yea man I don't think you will go wrong with the GHE... I have tried it now... And I must say... After only 2 feeds... My flower plants are fucking loving it and happy!!

But my veg plants are also fucken happy with my normal feed... So I may save costs by sticking with what's cheap and works in veg... And pumping the good shit for flower. 

And then when I can afford it more... Completely move over to it

[highchome]

Update: Week 2 of flower 

I moved to larger pots and did a bit of cleanup of the leaves. The two remaining plants are looking good, most of the signs of nutrient deficiency are sorted now. 

Its pretty cold at night though at times, which is not ideal. But I'm happy enough with how they are doing so I'm not going to worry about that too much for now.

 

I've started using the GHE FloroCoco ferts. Its a bit too soon to tell, but lets see how they do. However after figuring out what was going on with the hortimix I've also noticed a big improvement with my mother/clone plants. 
As @CreX says above the GHE is a lot more expensive than hortimix. I'll also only be using it during flower and after I have an idea of how far its going to go I'll decide if I'm going to stick with it. Perhaps only use it for special grows. I'm wanting to to a perpetual grow so I'm concerned it may end up being unnecessarily expensive. But we shall see.

 

 

(I'll use a ruler in the next photos. hard to judge scale here)

 

 

   

 

 

 

[highchome]

Update: Week 3 of flower 

 

Not much to say this week. Its been really cold, as low as 12 in the tent, plants are still looking healthy and growing well. I'm pretty sure there will be pistils to take pics of by next week

 

 

[highchome]

Update: Week 4 of flower 

 

 

First signs of pistils :). I thought they'd be a bit further along by now, but at least they are looking really healthy.

 

And some pics to show scale, quite a burst of growth over the last week.

 

         

 

 

The issues I had at the start seem to be entirely resolved now, though its probably why the plants are not as far along as some now. Still its been really great to see them recover so well.

 

One thing I forgot to mention when I repotted. I also repotted some of my mother plants for the first time in a long time. It was amazing to see the difference between the roots in fabric pots vs plastic. The plastic ones were all root bound, the fabric pots showed almost no signs of it, nice solid root balls all the way though. I know that is the theory but fun to see :)

Hope everyone and their plants are surviving the cold this week

 

[Pants]

Mine are also taking forever to start flowering. Pistols only starting now as well, but they also had a rough flip.


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[Totemic]

Something must be up with your environment to do with light... Perhaps a light leak or the light cycle is too long? 

I'm trying to understand why the genetics are doing that in your space... 

[highchome]

1 hour ago, Totemic said:

Something must be up with your environment to do with light... Perhaps a light leak or the light cycle is too long? 

I'm on 12/12 so the cycle should be ok. Light leaks are always a possibility despite what I've done to prevent them. So if you are worried I think I'll go double check everything (including the timer) and see if I can find any problems.

Thanks for the help 

[highchome]

3 hours ago, Totemic said:

I'm trying to understand why the genetics are doing that in your space... 

I'll check for light leaks tonight if I can. But also wondering if it could be related to the cold? 
My grow room is in the garage and its been pretty cold in the lately. Probably 13-23 most days, with a few dips to 12 and peaks to 25 (maybe). 

Odds are its me, but checking anyway :) 

[highchome]

Update: Week 4.5 of flower 

Ok, quite a bit more happening in few days since the last photo

 

     

 

@TotemicI cant see any light leaks... With my lights on full, and all other lights off I cant spot any signs of light coming out or under the tent. Ideally I'd climb in the tent and do it that way round too, but its a bit tricky with the raised floor. Perhaps I'll try make a plan this weekend.

I've also check the timer and it seems to be working fine, no accidental on periods. And when I randomly check during the day its always off during the times I'd expect.

I wont rule issues out completely, light can be sneaky. I'll keep looking, but nothing obvious at the moment 

[Pants]

You are about as far along as me. And I know I’ve got light leaks. Would be j retesting to see the next couple of weeks


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[highchome]

Update: Week 5 of flower 

The plants are getting pretty big now. Flowers are starting to come along as well.

I'll try get a few pics of these two outside in the sun tomorrow morning if possible. Hard to see the full plants like this

 

     

 

 

Edited July 31, 2021 by highchome

[highchome]

Update: Week 6 of flower  (mechanical failure )

I've still been checking for light leaks / timing issues on and off. Today I had some time and removed the timer to give it a proper test, and  mechanical failure...

My lights are supposed to be on from 21:00 for 12 hours. But it looks like there is an issue with at least the pins between 20:00 and 21:00.
Which means that effectively I've had lights on for 13 hours instead during flower. 

I think this pretty much screws up the comparison with everyone else in the competition. So I think I'm going to pull out.  (@420SA how do I make that official?)
I'm obviously miffed but things break... Between my fertilizer issues at the start and this its been a bit bumpy but I'm still very happy with what I've learned, so all good.

 

@420SAI'd like to keep posting updates, what is the best option. Closing this and linking to a new grow diary?

@TotemicFYI disregard my long flowering time in your feedback. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction there.

 

Final pics then

 

   

 

 

I'll comment more when I know where I should post further updates

I'm considering moving one of the two competition plants and one other to finish flowering outside. That will give me space to flower the other three I have that are ready to be flipped

 

Those three in the bottom right are the other three from @totemic's 2021 Summer pack (Chocolate Gelato, Palomino. Cherry Gelato CBD). Look at the size of those leaves compared to my other mothers/clones in my clone tent. Insane.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 7, 2021 by highchome

[Totemic]

That sucks man. I've had so many issues with timers in the past that I simply don't use them anymore, and I'm my plants timer. Means I need to be home at certain times daily without fail. 

[CreX]

Those dip switch timers are the absolute worst for our applications where we need higher dependability. 

The digital timers with the lcd are much more reliable and if you get a decent brand, it will work perfectly for years. 

I have been thinking about going sonoff for my timing needs... But man it's so important to have a stable light schedule for the ladies! 

I am sure you can continue posting here and if you really wanna pull out, then we will just stop issuing warnings for late diary entries... No biggie. 

I am sure Totemic would like to see how 13 h over 12 hours makes them grow and seeing how you can work with it. 

Good on you for finding it!! 

I have actually had a similar issue at my dad's place... And I have needed to reduce the timer from 12h a day, to 10 hours a day for the remainder of flower... That should trick them into hurrying up! 

[highchome]

2 hours ago, CreX said:

Those dip switch timers are the absolute worst for our applications where we need higher dependability. 

Ja and I actually decided against using the DIY electronic timer I had made, becaused I wanted something more tested for the competition. LOL!  
(I think the sonoffs use an esp8266. My DIY one does too, so I really should have gone that way)

The mechanical ones are also a total pain with loadshedding. So yeah, I'm going to move over asap.

 

2 hours ago, CreX said:

I am sure you can continue posting here and if you really wanna pull out, then we will just stop issuing warnings for late diary entries... No biggie. 

Thanks. Yes I think I must pull out, it seem the most reasonable option for me. I'll keep posting though, as it will be interesting to see how and when they finish now.

 

3 hours ago, Totemic said:

That sucks man. I've had so many issues with timers in the past that I simply don't use them anymore, and I'm my plants timer. Means I need to be home at certain times daily without fail. 

It does a bit :) But at least now I know what is going on. My main goal with entering the competition was to learn more. Between the fertilizer and this its been more than worth it for me. So I'm chilled.

 

Thanks everyone :)

[highchome]

Wow this has been quite the messy grow for me. I'm glad I pulled out when I did. Also found out that my tap water now has an EC of over 1300 (https://www.420sa.co.za/topic/5960-very-high-ec-tap-water/). Most annoying

 

There are some great looking plants, well done everyone (else :) )

 

 

[Batista]

Those dip switch timers are the absolute worst for our applications where we need higher dependability. 
The digital timers with the lcd are much more reliable and if you get a decent brand, it will work perfectly for years. 
I have been thinking about going sonoff for my timing needs... But man it's so important to have a stable light schedule for the ladies! 
I am sure you can continue posting here and if you really wanna pull out, then we will just stop issuing warnings for late diary entries... No biggie. 
I am sure Totemic would like to see how 13 h over 12 hours makes them grow and seeing how you can work with it. 
Good on you for finding it!! 
I have actually had a similar issue at my dad's place... And I have needed to reduce the timer from 12h a day, to 10 hours a day for the remainder of flower... That should trick them into hurrying up! 

I have a sonoff on my light and just found out that after a power trip, it doesn't come back on by itself the hard way, but luckily it was only a day. You have to manually switch it on :( There has got to be another way lol

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[Dookie69]

There is a way. You can toggle it’s “power-on” state to either on or off, however I don’t know if it compares this to what it was programmed for at the time. It’s fine for fans, heaters etc because they don’t impact on a plant like light does.
One thing is for sure, the Sonoff will eventually continue with its schedule after a power fail and return, when a programmed or environmental state is reached.

[CreX]

14 hours ago, Dookie69 said:

There is a way. You can toggle it’s “power-on” state to either on or off, however I don’t know if it compares this to what it was programmed for at the time. It’s fine for fans, heaters etc because they don’t impact on a plant like light does.
One thing is for sure, the Sonoff will eventually continue with its schedule after a power fail and return, when a programmed or environmental state is reached.

Still a bit too tricky for stability me thinks... 

[highchome]

16 hours ago, Dookie69 said:

Sonoff will eventually continue with its schedule after a power fail and return, when a programmed or environmental state is reached.

I understand it starting up with the switch off. But waiting for one of the programmed time events before correcting seems strange, if that it what it is doing. Those chips are more than powerful enough to work out what the current state should be

[Batista]

There is a way. You can toggle it’s “power-on” state to either on or off, however I don’t know if it compares this to what it was programmed for at the time. It’s fine for fans, heaters etc because they don’t impact on a plant like light does.
One thing is for sure, the Sonoff will eventually continue with its schedule after a power fail and return, when a programmed or environmental state is reached.

Apologies, I spoke too soon, it takes as long as your router takes to startup to resume it schedule, I was just impatient and outraged to think of this lol

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[CreX]

perhaps for an experienced grower who doesnt need to worry about his plants so much, then fancy upgrades like wifi switching are on the table  

but for a new grower, worrying about if your lights are on or off when they are supposed to be on or off shouldnt be on the forfront of your problem list.

 

also, even if the power comes back on and the switch goes into its last state or an on state, while its supposed to be lights off, the plants will have the lights on for a good few seconds, depending on your router it could be a few more seconds.

the one thing i learned very early on is the light cycle should never be disturbed at all costs - and to me, those few seconds of potential overlap is more than enough for me to stay away from wifi switching for my core program and stick to a mechanical digital timer with built in battery backup