using a PK additive on its own for a week

[Roadblock]

A good strong mixing pump turned on once or twice a day keeps the nute mixed well most of the time.

 

For what its worth mate I think its wise to have a pump in your tank mixing 24/7 , not only as a chemical mixer but as part of your pathogen prevention also if you have a large surface area a pump just turning over the nute tank will oxygenate the tank better than an airstone , if you have a deep tank you can create more surface to air ratio by floating a flat sheet of styrene on 2 strips used as plontoons to get the sheet just off the water surface , then run the mixing pump via a hose over the top of the sheet , you can stack more sheets into this setup like wafers and direct the water via Tees to pump over each wafer , it works well .

 

Rod

[keepleft]

just pulled up. the G room with the PK added with the nutes over last 2 weeks yielded more than the one with the PK added without the nutes for 5 days at beg of wk 6.

 

for what its worth!

 

but could have been other variables anyway - rockjuice versus sudden impact. rockjuice at wk 3 yielded more than SI at start of 12/12

 

and no mold with rj at wk 3

[Luke Skywalker]

Yeah, there are soooo many variables involved. Only real, double blind trials with as many plants as possible in identical growrooms can provide definitive results.

 

Some have suggested, (and I concur generally, looking into nutrient concentration rates) that using any high proportion PK suppliment over an e.c. of about 2.0 could cause precipitation. If you're seeing any white sludge you'll definitely be seeing that.

 

Some water supplies are high in bicarbonates and other things that can make for a more difficult time in getting in all you want. Ideally, RO or rainwater allows you a lot more nutrient to go in before getting too high.

 

Precipitiation reactions typically take place in the reservoir, but if you aren't flushing regularly, you could see some effect in the media as well. Measure your runoff from the pots if possible to determine how much e.c. in salt is remaining behind in the media.

 

Hope that helps.

[thc24]

THANKS luke skywalker i think i could lower my ec a bit, i normally start clones at 1.8 to 2,0ec in RO, One of my strain needs well over 2.4 to stay green and keep all her leaves. but on the other hand a hash plant that disagrees with 2.0ec at full strength feeds run off is high over 3ec more like 3.4ec with 2.6 to 2.8ec going into pots. my run off is hard to judge because we have plants at different sizes all dripping into same tray. I get less white sludge now with the dark coloured res but more of a powdery salt build up when water evoporates in drain and sides of res.

 

 

Roadblock,

very good idea ,

 

The mix pump i use is 3000lpH, i may need to down size or i could end up with a flood fast would the foam sheet be simular size to the surface area of the res or much smaller? Bigger better?

 

At the moment there is 30 cm of hose from pump to a T connector, taking the warm water from heater mixing well but water never breaks the surface. Mixing 24/7 is the go im sure the less i run it the more build up i get in filters. i have dramas with the noise atm when water level drops below 30lt so i often turn the mixer off for the last few days/litres, but maby not with your idea.

 

Ill get to work on building for my 44 gallon res, my main problem i forsee is with the styrene pontoons, finding some dense enough to hold my 1kg+ pump while maintaining the gap between water. Any recomendations on dimentions 4 inch x 4inch maby for the pontoons maby even some of those kids foam pool stick things . or should i use a old 600lt hour fish pump,normaly the 600 doesnt have the power to mix well in 200lt of water.

 

Im sure ill sort it out, thanks heaps got me a weekend project now.

Edited May 19, 2006 by thc24

[keepleft]

im a bit perplexed actually. from 2 identical Grooms, the one with the biggest fatest buds pulled less than the other one. they were twice as fat! same strain. but when they dried they were light and airy whereas the others were very dense.

 

room 1 - Sudden impact (added at beg of 12/12), with PK added for 5 days at beg of week 6 with no nutes, and also h202 added every 2 days as directed. no H202 used for 2 weeks whilst using sudden impact. buds looked like footys at the end. but yield wasnt as high as second room. also they were very light and airy. more leafy and less pistils.

 

room 2 - rockjuice added at end of wk 3 in flower, with pk added at full strength for last 2 weeks with nutes, h202 used as above. they were not big buds in comparison but very very hard. higher yield by 10%

 

im thinking that using the h202 with the superbud was not a good idea? perhaps? otherwise i cant understand why they were so airy with a PGR? the rockjuice performed as expected - similar to superbud but great smell and resin content.

 

going to try current one with no PGR to get a true indication of the strain.

 

anyone know if using h202 can impact the results when using a PGR?

 

cheers

[Luke Skywalker]

Yes, there is some anectodal evidence to say that h2o2 should not be used with complex chemical pgr's like paclobutrazol. It's a complex organic chemical which is easily damaged by something like hydrogen peroxide. If in doubt, don't use it.

 

You can use oxyplus at half dose though, and make sure you dose the tank with oxy for at least 2 hours before adding anything like superbud/rockjuice/sudden impact etc. This will allow the oxyplus to dissapate and hopefully there would be nothing left by the time you add the pgr.

 

I have a feeling that the sudden impact plant may have gotten little to no effect due to the h2o2. Which may explain the light and airy buds. That said, you'll only really know if you trial one with sudden impact, one without, both using oxyplus, at the same time. Differences in climate from one harvest to the next could make enough change in room dynamics indoors to affect results otherwise.

 

But go the Rock Juice. Many peeps are happy with that stuff.

[thc24]

Roadblock i made one of those airators over the weekend working well, but needed a few minutes to set up. Alot of noise from the pump being so close to the surface might down size the pump but other than that it should work a treat.

 

Small sprinklers to spray onto the sheet foam to reduce noise water noise and carefully balanced pump to flow water evenly. I best take a pic to make sure i followed your instructions

 

nite peoples..

[Guest SOMEONE]

hey peeps,

i tried the pk at week 5 for 6 days

and unfortunately never got to see the finished product

wrong place wrong time and found myself locked up

 

but since i have been applying the pk at 1 ml per litre of nutes from day 14 12/12 and them in the 6th weeek i add it on its own at 2ml per litre and then commence flushing...

 

will do a comparrison grow with identicle clones of nl this time round

pk at 1ml from day 14

vs

pk as per bottle directions

 

will post results in about 3 1/2 months..

 

take care

s

[keepleft]

hi all

 

as it turns out after finishing cleaning all the material, the yields were almost identical b/w the rockjuice with the pk added for 2 weeks at the end as compared to the sudden impact with the pk added on its own for 5 days.

 

they was only an ounce more from the rockjuiice. which is only 1.5% difference in yield in comparison. when i initially posted a few days ago the rockjuice product was a bit moist in the centre which gave it the extra weight

 

once they were both dried completely there was negligible difference in yield

 

but a HUGE difference in the appearance, smell etc of the product from identical strains.

 

the main difference was that the rockjuice was dense buds (smaller) and very red and hairy, wheres the si was big fat muthers but light and airy and also light green and much less pistels

 

both were smelly, the rjuice smelled more like stinky socks (ie pungent) whereas the si was more fruity.

 

the end product (smoke wise) the rockjuice was great. still waiting for feedback on the si.

 

i was told by a shopowner that the si is expected to be light and fluffy. wereas the rockjiuce is expected to be dense and 'rocky'. doesnt think the h202 affects the products but then he didnt seem too sure of himself!

 

one thing he did say was that the new canna pk 13/14 pamphlets recommend that pk be used from end of wk 3 up to 2 weeks before harvest. which is different to what they previously said about using it for 1 week only. i didnt sight the evidence but he said thats what the new instructions will say. he also said dont use the pk products whilst using a PGR (wait till the 2 wk period is over before adding pk).

 

current grown im about to apply the rjuice at half recommended strength 1 wk into 12/12 and compare it to the same strain in another room with no PGR's applied. i wont to see if the PGR's are making a difference to yield or whether i can still yield the same without em. will update in 56 days!

[thc24]

DP Edited May 22, 2006 by thc24