BREWTUS presents: Blackberry soda and bubblegum

[BREWTUS]

Looks great, Interesting to watch the bubble buckets growth vs groots head! I have never run my DWC buckets yet, but been hankering to try,

Thanks, and that's a good idea to compare the two. I didn't think about that. As for the DWC buckets, I personally love them and they work great for our situation. I didn't care much for when the neighbors notice me getting rid of any old soil. Some say the taste growing with soil is better, but I haven't noticed any huge difference. It would be interesting to try a side by side comparison sometime.

 

[Zaphod420]

Thanks, and that's a good idea to compare the two. I didn't think about that. As for the DWC buckets, I personally love them and they work great for our situation. I didn't care much for when the neighbors notice me getting rid of any old soil. Some say the taste growing with soil is better, but I haven't noticed any huge difference. It would be interesting to try a side by side comparison sometime.

I totally feel the same and I wish we could setup some kind of grow/contest in the future where all the participants grow the same cut from some bad ass Mom in their preferred medium and then the top 5 cured soiler vs the top 5 hydro nugs could somehow get sent to a panel of non partisan OG judges that for real have no idea what medium those nugs were grown in and then judge them for taste and see the results.

 

[Nobighurry]

Thanks, and that's a good idea to compare the two. I didn't think about that. As for the DWC buckets, I personally love them and they work great for our situation. I didn't care much for when the neighbors notice me getting rid of any old soil. Some say the taste growing with soil is better, but I haven't noticed any huge difference. It would be interesting to try a side by side comparison sometime.

I recently put some seedlings in soil for some buddies outdoor grow and forget how differnt they grow then coco I suspect DWC is quicker than coco once the roots touch the juice?

 

[BREWTUS]

I recently put some seedlings in soil for some buddies outdoor grow and forget how differnt they grow then coco I suspect DWC is quicker than coco once the roots touch the juice?

I can't attest for coco, but DWC is definitely known for quicker growth once the roots touch down. There are alot of days where significant growth is noticeable in a day or two. I've noticed around week 3-4 is when they really start to take off IME

 

[BREWTUS]

Week 5-
VPD in the tent has been on point throughout the whole grow (picture is with tent open). Largely in part due to the humidifier keeping RH in that optimum range around 80%. The central air and basement location is cooler so that helps keep the temperature in a comfortable range from 77-80°F. Outside has been around 95°F on average this week. Safe to say summertime has arrived. Both girls were topped as of Sunday night.


Bubblegum:
Out came the chopstick the day of me updating for week 4. She's standing all on her own now. Still a little crooked but I'm hoping she straightens up. Her stem also has an indentation due to the stem growing into the plant wire. As of Tuesday it seems both those issues are working themselves out as she grows. I also notice what appears to be slight nute burn on the new growth. Other than that she is looking good.


Ph: 5.8
Ppm: 460
Res temp: 70°F

Blackberry soda:
Looks good and moving right along. Looks like she and her sister are responding well to topping. Leaves look nice and lush right now. So far so good for this gal. Hoping it's an easy ride for the next 3 weeks into the flip.


Ph: 5.7
Ppm: 230
Res temp: 70°F

 

[BREWTUS]

Week 6-
Two weeks til flipping these two! Did a little bit of defoliation Sunday evening. I'd say I took off probably 10 big fan leaves off of each one. I'll let them recover for a day or two, and will consider topping the side branches as well. The ph has been pretty stable and I have not really had to increase the nutrients other than providing a couple random extra shots of silica. The groot AvT auto looks pretty damn happy as well. I just let her butt chug whenever her soil gets dry. From here on out I may just keep throwing auto's in the veg tent. Next one will go in a bigger pot though.



Bubblegum:
The past week I mainly just gave her water aside from an extra boost of silica. The slight nute burn told me I needed to scale it back a little bit. Saturday and Sunday she did get nutrient feedings as her ph went down. The bottom of her stem looks fine and is patching up. I took off 10 big fan leaves that were covering up bud sites and to open her up.

Ph: 5.8
Ppm: 477
Res temp: 70°F


Blackberry soda:
She's officially caught up with her sister. She may even end up being bigger at this rate. Her root system looks more extensive telling me this will possibly be the case. Ironically she isn't demanding as much nutrients. Fan leaves were removed to open her up. I noticed some leaves are more interwoven on the side branches and some are growing more toward the inner part than the outer. Which may lead to more defoliation to keep her open. But I'm not trying to go too crazy

Ph: 5.9
Ppm: 214
Res temp: 70°F

 

[BREWTUS]

Week 7-
It is the last week before the stretch and flip. I get more excited by the day in anticipation of putting these two gals into flower. I still got a few things to do leading up to moving them into the flower tent. Like cleaning the flower tent itself. I've been battling herms off and on the past few runs so I always try to make sure to spray everything down and clean the shit out of it with an alcohol/water solution. I'll need to change my carbon filter. Plus I got some hydroton to boil some airstones to soak and a ph pen that will probably need another calibration. Not mention a couple buckets to clean to be ready for another round of new seedlings once these ones start the official flower stage. It's a labor of love sometimes.



Bubblegum:
She's been doing alright aside from her ph dropping. Adding more nutrients helps to bring it up, but it just drops back down again. Monday I ended up adding ph up to 5.8. I figured I'd see new growth not show any signs of nute burn, but I still see it slightly. Weird. The wife did some defoliation in the middle Monday morning. As of Tuesday the ph is sorting itself out after a nutrient feeding. I don't want any crazy ph fluctuations if we're trying to flip them soon.

Ph: 5.6
Ppm: 765
Res temp: 71°F


Blackberry soda:
Unlike her sister this ones ph has been going up, so I've been adding water to bring it down. Monday I added ph down to get her to 5.8. She also got a defoliation in the middle of her as well. We will have to decide about doing a bit more defoliation and/or stripping before flipping by next week. I don't want to do too much to stress them out. As of Tuesday her ph is also sorting itself out.

Ph: 5.8
Ppm: 318
Res temp: 71°F


Side note: groot is in stretch and flower now. She's always thirsty and perked right up after taking this picture. Just needed a drink

 

[Danka Claus]

Nice grow! I found your journal just in time for the fun part. Can't wait to see these blow up.

 

[BREWTUS]

Nice grow! I found your journal just in time for the fun part. Can't wait to see these blow up.

Hey thanks man, and welcome aboard! The blow up starts this week. I think we're moving these into the flower tent this evening

 

[BREWTUS]

Week 8-
The time has come for the flip and stretch run. The flower tent has been cleaned and the ladies are transferred over. I cleaned the absolute shit out of the tent. It was needed and hopefully helps remedy any issues I've had the past few runs. Groot will stay in the veg tent and will begin a flower regimen at the same time the other two do. We gave them a feeding of 2-2-2 this week. After doing some research I believe I've figured out bubblegums leaf tip situation. I have since installed a lux meter app on my phone. More on that below



Bubblegum:
Did a little bit of research after last week's post. I've come to find out it very well could be too much light causing the yellow tips. This actually makes sense since I've noticed an increase in solution uptake which can tend to go with it. I did lower the amount of nutrients added so the ph doesn't shoot up too high yet stays at an acceptable range. The lights were already moved up, but the affected leaves will still have the yellow tips on them for good, and now I'm seeing some crisp tips = nute burn..damn. Otherwise she's looking healthy and it's definitely not too extreme or everywhere. The temperature is fine and I have plenty of air circulation so I'm not worried about that part as much. I just don't want any sort of stress happening and throwing caution to the wind. Last night she was defoliated before the flip

Ph: 5.7
Ppm: 750
Res temp: 72°F


Blackberry soda:
As of this past weekend I did notice some nute burn around the edges of her leaves.. I did try to stay ahead of that already so I expect it to be minimal. She has since been defoliated last night as well.. other than that, hell what else can I say? She's been a breeze to grow and hasn't required much nutrients at all to keep happy. She's almost the same height as her sister. Oh, and her roots are sexy as fuck.. I love me some root porn


Ph: 6.1
Ppm: 331
Res temp: 72°F

 

[BREWTUS]

Week 9-
They both are stretching and have nice structure. I'm on the lookout for pistils, preflowers, and any issue should it so happen to arise. Honestly this part has been more nerve wracking to me the past few runs.. Due to the 4th of July weekend my attention wasn't totally devoted to them. It was more devoted to ice cold beers, fireworks, and BBQ. Cause murica'..
As of Monday I finally gave them some attention. They drank 3 gallons combined. I had nutes premixed at 2-2-3 and filled em up with what I had mixed plus some R/O water.


Bubblegum:
Getting her stretch on and looks better now. I've kept an eye on her ph and leaves. I've been scanning her main branches for signs of pistils or any issues. I don't imagine I'll really start to see anything for another week. The defoliation we did before the flip doesn't even look noticeable anymore. She's filled right back out.

Ph: 5.9
Ppm: 871
Res temp: 70°F


Blackberry soda:
The burn mentioned last week seems to have run it's course. It almost looked like a potassium problem but I'm not sure. It hasn't spread anywhere aside from on the older leaves that already had it. The ph at its highest has been up to 6.3 and has been in a suitable range. I think/hope she's grown out of it. Also checking her for pistils or any issues. She's already putting out a nice smell everytime I open the tent.

Ph: 6.3
Ppm: 371
Res temp: 70°F

 

[Streetpro09]

Week 9-
They both are stretching and have nice structure. I'm on the lookout for pistils, preflowers, and any issue should it so happen to arise. Honestly this part has been more nerve wracking to me the past few runs.. Due to the 4th of July weekend my attention wasn't totally devoted to them. It was more devoted to ice cold beers, fireworks, and BBQ. Cause murica'..
As of Monday I finally gave them some attention. They drank 3 gallons combined. I had nutes premixed at 2-2-3 and filled em up with what I had mixed plus some R/O water.
View attachment 95560

Bubblegum:
Getting her stretch on and looks better now. I've kept an eye on her ph and leaves. I've been scanning her main branches for signs of pistils or any issues. I don't imagine I'll really start to see anything for another week. The defoliation we did before the flip doesn't even look noticeable anymore. She's filled right back out.

Ph: 5.9
Ppm: 871
Res temp: 70°F
View attachment 95561View attachment 95562View attachment 95563

Blackberry soda:
The burn mentioned last week seems to have run it's course. It almost looked like a potassium problem but I'm not sure. It hasn't spread anywhere aside from on the older leaves that already had it. The ph at its highest has been up to 6.3 and has been in a suitable range. I think/hope she's grown out of it. Also checking her for pistils or any issues. She's already putting out a nice smell everytime I open the tent.

Ph: 6.3
Ppm: 371
Res temp: 70°F
View attachment 95564View attachment 95565View attachment 95566

This might be a dumb question but why are you feeding one at over 800 ppm and the other at under 400 ppm? Seems like a big difference to me. What light are you running?

 

[BREWTUS]

This might be a dumb question but why are you feeding one at over 800 ppm and the other at under 400 ppm? Seems like a big difference to me. What light are you running?

One seemed to take in more nutes than the other at the time I started feeding them. I admit I did overdo it a little bit on the bubblegum and had to scale back. If I give Blackberry more nutes her ph shoots up. Admittedly I've never really had this much of a difference before in previous runs. Numbers have always been within a ball park of 100-200+ ppm with each other give or take. I just try to read the plant and read the ph more often than ppm. I also always use the same mixture for all the same plants so I don't have a bunch at different levels mixed. If it seems like one needs water I'll just add water, whereas if their sister needs nutes I'll just top off with more nutes. Hope that makes sense...
In flower I've gotten past runs up to 6.2 ph then would top off with water until they go back down to 5.8. Then repeat the process..
In veg I run 2 3700k (I think?) autocobs and an old 300 watt Mars hydro. In flower I run 2 600 watt platinum leds. The veg tent stays slightly warmer than the flower tent. Keeping everything in a suitable temperature range for the most part.

 

[Streetpro09]

One seemed to take in more nutes than the other at the time I started feeding them. I admit I did overdo it a little bit on the bubblegum and had to scale back. If I give Blackberry more nutes her ph shoots up. Admittedly I've never really had this much of a difference before in previous runs. Numbers have always been within a ball park of 100-200+ ppm with each other give or take. I just try to read the plant and read the ph more often than ppm. I also always use the same mixture for all the same plants so I don't have a bunch at different levels mixed. If it seems like one needs water I'll just add water, whereas if their sister needs nutes I'll just top off with more nutes. Hope that makes sense...
In flower I've gotten past runs up to 6.2 ph then would top off with water until they go back down to 5.8. Then repeat the process..
In veg I run 2 autocobs and a 300 watt old Mars hydro. In flower I run 2 600 watt platinum leds.

That sounds very similar to what i do for topping off water levels in buckets. I watch my ppms though.

-If ppm is going up and water level going down I'll lower the overall ppm.

-If ppm is going down and water level is going down I'll raise the overall ppm.

I ph water every other day and let it raise to no more than 6.2. If it goes over 6.2 i just know to ph lower the next time. I've found in my rdwc systems that a more stable or gradual change of ph and ppm through flower seem to work best.

I guess i understand the different ppms. I had one strain that i couldn't go over 450 or the tips would start to burn. Others under the same light were closer to 650.

 

[BREWTUS]

That sounds very similar to what i do for topping off water levels in buckets. I watch my ppms though.

-If ppm is going up and water level going down I'll lower the overall ppm.

-If ppm is going down and water level is going down I'll raise the overall ppm.

I ph water every other day and let it raise to no more than 6.2. If it goes over 6.2 i just know to ph lower the next time. I've found in my rdwc systems that a more stable or gradual change of ph and ppm through flower seem to work best.

I guess i understand the different ppms. I had one strain that i couldn't go over 450 or the tips would start to burn. Others under the same light were closer to 650.

Yea for sure. There is a term for it, but I'm currently drawing a blank to what it's called. It's too early to think too much right now,haha.
I started out doing that with Ppm as well, but usually read ph the most anymore. Not having my pen calibrated has screwed me up before though so I try to be diligent on that. I do still read both about every 1-2 days.

A more stable or gradual change is definitely best I agree. Ph being from one extreme to another puts alot of stress on em. I'd like to eventually get an rdwc at some point too.

This is the 1st time that one has been more than the other by this much of a margin, but they look pretty happy. Ironically blackberry (with the lower ppm) has a bigger root mass.

 

[Zaphod420]

Salute Brewtus, plants are looking good man! Have you ever considered upping your bucket size from say 5 gallons(2.5-3 gallon res size depending on your net pot shape) to say 8 gallon.(5 gallon res size) really seems to help me with ph drift/spikes and cuts down on the need for a daily ph checks as well. And the root booty meat goes BIG.

Cheers, Z.

 

[BREWTUS]

Salute Brewtus, plants are looking good man! Have you ever considered upping your bucket size from say 5 gallons(2.5-3 gallon res size depending on your net pot shape) to say 8 gallon.(5 gallon res size) really seems to help me with ph drift/spikes and cuts down on the need for a daily ph checks as well. And the root booty meat goes BIG.

Cheers, Z.

Thanks Zaphod!
I would love to look into that moving forward. I have been kicking around ideas and wanting to expand in the not so distant future if/when I can. Anything to put more junk in the trunk sounds intriguing to me. I have the 6 inch rhizocore lids from htg supply, and really like them. The current set up I feel is personally more lowkey and less to deal with if I had to tear down shop for any reason.
I've never seen 8 gallon buckets before. Yet I've never shopped around for them either I guess. I may have to poke around and see what I can find. Are they more tall than wide by chance? Height would be my only concern.

 

[Zaphod420]

Thanks Zaphod!
I would love to look into that moving forward. I have been kicking around ideas and wanting to expand in the not so distant future if/when I can. Anything to put more junk in the trunk sounds intriguing to me. I have the 6 inch rhizocore lids from htg supply, and really like them. The current set up I feel is personally more lowkey and less to deal with if I had to tear down shop for any reason.
I've never seen 8 gallon buckets before. Yet I've never shopped around for them either I guess. I may have to poke around and see what I can find. Are they more tall than wide by chance? Height would be my only concern.

I have a couple of 10" net pots and many 6" net pots which I definitely prefer because they take maybe a 1/4 of hydroton to fill them. If you have some MacGyver(and most hombrewers do ) next time you're at wally pick up 1 of their 3$ 5 gal blk buckets and then give it the chop.

I call this a "dwc collar" and it is very nice to have as you can do a bunch of cool things with it. you could slap it on your existing 5 gal buckets and it would raise your nute capacity from 2.5 gal to 3.5. You can even go around 4 gals if you get a 4 rim bucket that would gain you another inch in height. But the ultimate 1 plant dwc bucket(imho) is basically a square 8 gal trash can with a really nice handle that a dwc collar slips in perfect on top. This leaves 4 small little triangles in the corners that you have to cover so I broke out my duck tape and cut 4 little triangles from the bottom of the bucket left over from making the original collar and BAM! 5gal of nute capacity.

What's really cool if you are running different strains that may share a scrog is you can adjust the canopy with a collar or the appropriate sized bucket. I have 1 size bigger than my 8 gal and it is a 12 gal which is currently making it's first test run with the shorter pheno of the AD X AC in the YouTube comp. I am calling it Deep Blue.

 

[Streetpro09]

Yea for sure. There is a term for it, but I'm currently drawing a blank to what it's called. It's too early to think too much right now,haha.
I started out doing that with Ppm as well, but usually read ph the most anymore. Not having my pen calibrated has screwed me up before though so I try to be diligent on that. I do still read both about every 1-2 days.

A more stable or gradual change is definitely best I agree. Ph being from one extreme to another puts alot of stress on em. I'd like to eventually get an rdwc at some point too.

This is the 1st time that one has been more than the other by this much of a margin, but they look pretty happy. Ironically blackberry (with the lower ppm) has a bigger root mass.

I find staying on the lower side of ppm seems to be better. I need to look for this chart i found when i first got into hydro. It showed the different variables and what to do to correct the issue. I think it might have been posted by someone else here but can't remember where.

I once thought root mass equated to flower mass but from my experience, not so much. I once had a plant with this beautiful root mass that filled a 5 gallon bucket. Plant barely produced 4 oz. A plant right next to it, with a not so good root mass, produced over 6 oz. Same strain different seeds. Sometimes genetics play more of a role than overall health.

 

[BREWTUS]

Week 10/week 1 of flower-
I would probably and technically call this the 1st official week of flower. I used to count it as soon as the flip happens but now I wait until I see the first onset of pistils and preflowers. At this point, one is doing just that while the other has a little bit more stretch in her. I anticipate her to slow down here eventually soon though. I've kept on the 2-2-3 base nute feeding for this week. I will probably go down to either 123 or 213 when I have to premix again. Both are at good heights.



Bubblegum:
Still has a bit of a stretch in her yet, but I have a feeling she'll be slowing down soon. I've been inspecting her branches and bud sights for any issues or pistils. So far so good with no issues and I believe I'm starting to see the slightest of preflowers starting to come in. Upon a stem rub I thought I could smell a sweetness start to come through. Fingers crossed for some bubblegum funk


Ph: 5.8
Ppm: 805
Res temp: 71°F


Blackberry soda:
Has officially gone to full flower mode. She's throwing pistils out everywhere and I believe by pure estimation, she will be finishing before her sister by atleast 1-2 weeks. Upon inspection of the branches I do not see any issues. She's already starting to give off a lovely sweet and funky smell when her stem is rubbed. Ph is currently 6.3. Tomorrow, I'll adjust it down slowly if it stays the same or goes up.

Ph: 6.3
Ppm: 400
Res temp: 71°F



Groot is just chilling