Soft Secrets
weckels world of
33 Grow with W eckels
wonders By Weckels, the grow specialist from Atami
Top 44: after six weeks, the harvest (part 2) this piece if kit will filter out of your grow space. The collection tub will be filled to the brim twice a day with water. What many growers do not know is that this water has an EC of zero, also known as osmotic water. This water is ideal for bringing the EC of the feed water down, in cases where this it is too high or when we want to add more nutrients to the water (doing which would elevate the EC).
The flower heads keep getting bigger and bigger in size
The Top 44 plants that we have raised were provided with feed water with an EC of about 1.3. The ladies grew outstandingly well on it. Regular mains water always has an EC value, one that varies – in the Netherlands at least - between 0.3 and 0.7 depending on where the grow room is situated in the country. So the mains water in North Holland has an EC of 0.6 while in South Holland, the EC is just 0.4. The province of Zeeland has an EC of 0.3 – by far the lowest value. Limburg, down near the Belgian border, has a most useful EC value of 0.4. On the Internet there is a load of information to be found about the EC values of mains water supplies, and so for every grower there are useful tips to be had that are specific o the region in which they are growing. That goes for growers in many other countries too, and I advise all of you to do a check for your own situation. Having said that, it is probably the most easy thing to just check your own mains supply with the aid of an EC meter. Then at least you can be absolutely certain what numbers you are dealing with.
Differences
Top 44 plants often have in the beginning a flower head with many white THC threads. The bud itself is often a bit ball-shaped and round in dimensions.
The plants grow as compact bushes. This is just how we want to keep them, so we do not let them get too tall.
In the first part of this feature on Top 44 we saw how we could get the young clones to take root and how we partly brought them to maturity. I also explained which growing method we used for this and what advantages these grow tactics brought with them. In this article we will be able to see how the Top 44 ladies have further developed and what setbacks they are liable to have demonstrated. At the same time it forms the last part of the series about Top 44, given that these short blooming plants will be harvested when this issue comes out. After all, a Top 44 plant blooms, as her name suggests, after just 44 days (about six weeks) and so by the time this is up, the ladies will be positively exploding to go under the scissors.
The biggest problem we face when growing Top 44 indoors is that this variety gives off an amazing amount of moisture thanks to her large leaves and thick leaf coverage. Top 44 has brought many a humidity meter metaphorically to its knees. During the growth period they find this rather agreeable (provided that it doesn’t get too swampy from the high air moisture content). The young clones grow like mad and develop far better when they are started out in an environment that has a high air humidity. This is because the ladies have to evaporate less moisture through their leaves (given that the air moisture level is already pretty high), thanks to which they can use the energy they save for growing.
Air de-humidifier Later, during the blooming phase the (high) air humidity will really play a critical role and we need to do everything in our power to keep it down as low as possible. Make sure in any case that there is sufficient air ventilation and remove the largest leaves from the plants. This often has a substantial impact. I am also a supporter of using in addition to the above mentioned methods an air de-humidifier. This piece of equipment is well worth the money it would set you back at twice the price, and they have spared many a harvest from a good deal of trouble. Even though Top 44 is generally not particularly susceptible to fungal infection, the use of a de-humidifier such as a Carrier is still advisable. You will be astonished at just how much moisture
To come back briefly to the differences in EC value of mains water in the Netherlands. In general you can say that the growers in areas with low EC mains water have something of an advantage over the growers who are operating in areas where the EC is somewhat higher. Put briefly, it is the case that the lower the EC value the more liquid nutrients we can add to our (mains) feed water without raising the EC value too high. The Top 44 plants that we have raised were provided with feed water with an EC of about 1.3. The ladies grew outstandingly well on it. There are also growers who strive to keep the EC around the 1.1 point, but with a not so sensitive variety like Top 44 that is not really necessary. Even with an EC of 1.6 or 1.7, Top 44 can deliver good results. Even so, it is important that when you are growing you also measure the EC value of the water that runs out of the pots. Of course, when you are growing in a water medium (as we are in this article) this is not applicable, since the plants are stood in it continuously. After all, the feed water is tipped directly into the growing tubs.
