Hot Diggity's Lab

I did the 1st full blown water test today and success! Had a few leaks but they were very minor and easily fixed. The pump configuration is probably going to be cleaned up and improved - but it certainly works. Even flow to each of the 93 sites.





The 75 gallon per day RO unit I installed is not performing well. The water pressure just isn't there....which is odd because the 1st RO unit I ran for years never had that problem. I think I need to upgrade to a 300 gallon per day and get a booster pump. Maybe the 75 will be fine with a booster...still chewing on it.

I've been spending all of my time over the last week working with DIY nutes. Doing test mixes and comparing the results to Hydrobuddy and basically just trying to wrap my head around all of it. I made great strides over the last 2 days and after wasting a lot of ingredients, I have a plan for this first round. I'm not going to go into chemistry nerd mode but if anyone wants to know, just ask and I'll obviously share.

Now that the water test and nutes test are close enough to being done, I feel like the big ticket items are out of the way and it's safe to start seeds! Expect to do that this week.

Great to hear that the irrigation system is performing as expected. It looks fantastic!

I’ve been intrigued with DIY nutes the last few years but have been nervous to pull the trigger. Definitely going to be following along closely. Maybe your results will give me the motivation I need to give it a shot.

What pot sizes will you be running? This is insane.. wow

SoD4nk said:

What pot sizes will you be running? This is insane.. wow

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A little over 1 gallon. These are the Hydrofarm Active Aqua 7" x 7" x 9". It's a pretty optimal size for my style.
We're going for 93 of these:



Minimal veg time. Will put into flower when they are approximately 5 or 6 inches tall. Untopped. All side branches removed. All of the energy into a beautiful top cola with a few high quality nugs beneath. No larf.

This is going to be great. Following along.

could you put a tank with fish on top of one of those? For over the top of over the top.

Amazing room , I want to try a SOG setup line this someday. Gonna slay it ! Look forward to updates

This is a very conceptual and artistic approach to gardening . And it’s also very scientific which makes it so interesting .

How much weight are you expecting from these big colas? This is very elite style growing. You could never find this type of style weed for sale in any pot shop. Not grown for the average Joe that’s for sure. I imagine your clientele is rather special , underground has very eccentric taste and some cash to throw around. You get a lot of respect .

Dr.Amber Trichome said:

This is a very conceptual and artistic approach to gardening . And it’s also very scientific which makes it so interesting .

How much weight are you expecting from these big colas? This is very elite style growing. You could never find this type of style weed for sale in any pot shop. Not grown for the average Joe that’s for sure. I imagine your clientele is rather special , underground has very eccentric taste and some cash to throw around. You get a lot of respect .

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You interpret my effort and goals very well.

The colas should average between around 14 grams.

Seeds are getting wet. I've had a minor change of plans on what I'll be working with. The Skunk #1/Afghani that I was promised has fallen through. I'm told I'll still get it just not right now. The closet approximation I have is Appalachian Super Skunk from Bodhi. I've never worked with it but hope it will be close enough to what I'm looking for.

The room is not going to be packed full - I'm doing pheno hunting for now.

Here is the modest plan:
(10) Chem 91 S1's
(10) Appalachian Super Skunk (Regular)
(6) Feminized 30:1 CBD strain - my wife wants me to do these

Looks like a worthy lineup to me!

colocowboy said:

Looks like a worthy lineup to me!

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I hope so. Looking for one or two Chem's that are good enough to stand on their own but also as one of the starting points for my breeding projects I have planned.

I think that Appalachian Super Skunk has a lot of potential too. I think I already see where you’re going.

@NukaKola
I've been going full OCD on DIY nutes and feel pretty good about where I'm at. One of my challenges is that it is very difficult to make RO in quantity during the winter. Automating the removal of the waste water is nearly impossible because drain lines to the outside just freeze up. So in addition to having to create possible recipes for RO, I have to create them for my well water which is very hard water.

I originally set out to make a traditional 2 part formula...A and B. I quickly realized how inflexible this is and ended up crafting my concentrated solutions as such:

Part A Micros
Currently only Iron

Part A Macros
Calcium Nitrate
Potassium Nitrate

Part B Micros
Copper Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Borate, Sodium Molybdate and Zinc Sulfate

Part B Macros
Magnesium Sulfate
Monopotassium Phosphate

This ends up giving me a 6 part recipe. Part A Micro and Part B Micro never change regardless if I use Well water or RO water and they never change based on the age/stage of the plant.

Having Part A Macros split into 2 parts and Part B macros split into 2 parts, I now have massive flexibility in tweaking the recipe depending on which water I use as well as what stage the plants are in.

The last thing I will be using, but have not received yet, is a Kelp/Fulvic/Humic Acid mix. This should finish off everything I need.

colocowboy said:

I think that Appalachian Super Skunk has a lot of potential too. I think I already see where you’re going.

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Is it that obvious? Haha. Trying to turn the clock back and recreate some approximations of the classics. I'm kind of weird when it comes to genetics. I'm not interested in clones that a lot of people have. I want something that only I have and something that I made. And that's not to say I'm being selfish and won't share, but it's that there is something special to me in this approach.

I’m fixing to do similar but totally gonna share. I think I might try for a local cup this year just to get started.

colocowboy said:

I’m fixing to do similar but totally gonna share. I think I might try for a local cup this year just to get started.

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What genetics are you working with and what part of the country are you in (assuming US)?

I’m in southeast New Mexico these days. I have some original sour diesel from Cali connection that I was working into sweet tooth, herijuana, and chemdog d. There’s others but this is where I am picking up. I just popped a bunch to go ahead and kick the ball down the field. The three frosty males I was working with were an original sour d, Cinderella 99 pineapple pheno f4, and elephant stomper from hazeman. All three were killer.
I have a special bubba kush x (white romulan x biker kush) that I know has something crazy in there. Those are a little ways out but a special project.

Wanted to share a small update on the DIY Nutrients.

I wasted a bunch of ingredients trying some stuff - and especially trying to get too fancy without first checking the solubility charts. Pretty much my MO, whatever.

Here is my 6 part mix:







Why did I choose 189x for these? Because Hydrobuddy told me the PPM's would be such that I could add exactly 5ml per gallon. But this wasn't the case. The takeaway is that concentration does not matter. Pick 100. 200. Whatever. Just don't run into the issue of trying to dissolve more than is possible, like I did (take Copper Sulfate, for example)

Given a specific ingredient, with a known composition, mix it with Distilled water. Sample it with an accurate EC meter and find out what the PPM's are. Calculate the core ingredients, and there you have it.

I chose to approach it this way because a Part A and Part B was simply too generic. I know that Part A Micros (Iron) and Part B Micros (Copper, Zinc, Boron, Manganese, Molybdate) can be in fixed amounts from start to finish, so why not mix those in concentrate and leave the macro's separate so I can fiddle?

So...whether I'm using RO water or well water. Whether I'm in pre-flower or late bloom, I can easily adjust.

Compared, mine just looks like shit