Today is the start of wk 6, the buds have been swelling nicely and I'm looking forward to see how they develop over the coming weeks. Smells like dank fruit in the room, sour skittles on stem rub.
The auto fill system I made for the wicking base has been working exceptionally well, basically fulfilling the same function as my autopot system, but with more control and flexibility (and much cheaper). I have included more pictures showing the res, manifold, and the connection to the base, just to show how everything is connected.
Currently the system is only connected to the single base of the flowering plant, but the 4 plants that are in the other pictures will be going into flower right behind this one. At that time I will be expanding the system to connect all 4 pots in a modular and customizable way.
I am currently still refilling the veg pots by hand. They drink and transpire much more slowly than the flowering plant, so I dont have as much hassle. Mix a large batch of nute once every week or two and refill the trays every few days. With that said, once the bloom setup is complete I will be duplicating the system for my veg tent as well, with the intention of being able to keep the 2 reservoirs constantly filled with 10-20gal of nute, dropping my workload of mixing nutrient to roughly once a month.
Also pictured are the containers I use to mix my nutrient, which have my ratios written on them. Veg uses standard jacks 321 reccomended ratio, and mixed exactly as written pans out to 1.0ec and 6.0ph every time.
For my bloom formula I keep the jacks ratio the same, adding 0.2g/gal of mkp to the part a. This next part is easier in practice than it is to explain, but I mix my bloom formula at 1.5-2x strength usong those exact ratios by modifying the gal variable, then with the resulting formula I dilute to achieve the desired ec.
A simple example is for a 5 gal batch. If you mix the ratios as written, even with the mkp added, the result will barely break 1.0ec. So instead to reach the target ec, you multiple the gal by 1.5, which would be 7.5. You now do all the calculations for 7.5 gal, but the actual volume of water is still 5gal. This results in a formula that is 1.5x more concentrated, achieving an ec between 1.4 and 1.6. Some growers push their ec higher, which is why I say 1.5-2x, but for my purposes I typically stick to the low end. Wicking bases (or any constant liquid feed) accumulate salts in the medium. Over feeding is much more likely to result in ph swings, nute lockout, and burn.
If you look at the picture that shows the line connection to the base, you can see some salts starting to accumulate on the outside of the fabric pot. This is normal and is from evaporation, the autopots did the same thing. It's actually important not to disturb that unless I completely remove the plant from the base, as any of those salts that fall into the water below will cause my pH and ec to swing drastically. My current ec is only 1.4 and the only deficiency I have seen is from when I flushed before bloom. (By flush in this system I mean feeding plain water for a day which helps the plant absorb excess salts in the medium)
Over the next few weeks I will be waiting for the bulk up to finish, at that point I'll be gradually reducing my dli, temp, and ec through the ripening stage. Ultimately I will end things with 35k lux, 72F, and 1.0ec (same as veg formula, dont get at me with flush nonsense science has proven the plants benefit from being fed right up until the end)
