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DWC happy vs Stressed Glog

Okay well as some of you have probably seen, I started a thread about the heat of a pepper in different growing conditions and it sort of changed into a thread about the possibility of stressing a plant to increase production and potency in a hydroponic environment. So this is going to be an experiment to see the effects of DWC stressing of a plant as compared to a plant that is not stressed.

For this experiment, I have decided to keep some form of control. The pepper selected is the TS Moruga. The seeds are from the same pod and have been put to germinate at the same time. I will be selecting two seedlings that pop up within 2 days of each other or less if possible.
These 2 seedlings will be put into 2 identical black buckets with identical 6 inch net pot lids. The pots will be filled with the same amount of plant-it expanded clay and the 2 plants will spend their growth period both being fed the same amount of botanicare pure blend pro grow nutrients and water.

They will both be under the same light which I have yet to decide upon and the two DWC's will be oxygenated with the same 2 port air pump using identical air stones. It is noted that PH, TDS and EC will be monitored and kept identical throughout the growth of these 2 plants.

Now the fun will begin after this. During the bloom phase of the plants life, when I switch botanicare pure blend pro bloom, I will choose one of the DWC's to start adding advanced nutrients bud factor x in addition to the bloom nutrients. Bud factor x has chemicals in it that trigger defense mechanisms in plants to cause extra oil buildup in fruit. In addition to bud factor x, i will also raise the EC on that DWC to make it harder for the plant to uptake water as a higher EC affects the transfer potential between the water and the roots.

Now all this working according to plan, I hope to notice a physical difference between the 2 plants in hopefully yield quantity and health status. I will also supply a pod from each plant to willing members as well as performing a taste test myself to see if there is any difference in flavour and heat between the pods from the two plants. This will be a survey performed after the grow season which should help shed light on the best way to grow chili's in hydroponic setups to provide maximum yield and or best quality pods

Wish me luck and expect pictures of the germination setup soon and also lots of pictures along the way during this experiment.
 
Very ambitious experiment, Dan. Will be interested in seeing how it goes.
 
If you really wanted to go apples to apples, you should use two clones from the same plant. Last year i had difference in heat between plants from the same pack of seeds. The TSMB being the most noticeable.
Just a thought, as this would prove more definite.
Will be watching for the results regardless.
 
Glad you are trying this Dan, hopefully you got the discount on the Factor X. I'm hoping to see these pods dripping with oils once you get a harvest.
 
Alright so far I can confirm that i have my 2 seedling candidates. I am using sure to grow seed starter blocks for germination and so far, 2 seeds have popped tap roots both on the same day. I expect them to push up by tomorrow and will take a picture of the 2 candidates to post up then. I have been preparing the buckets and have them complete and waiting.

@ GA Growhead,

I really like the idea of using cuttings but I don't have any mature plants in which to acquire cuttings from right now hence I am using 2 seeds from the same pod and hoping they will be similar. I will keep your idea in my mind though and will take 2 cuttings from the most successful of these two plants. I will then root them in my aero setup and dump the 2 plants in this experiment after this experiment is completed and then I will repeat the experiment using the 2 cuttings in the same pots and dwc's that this setup will be using. Thanks for the idea and that way we will have 2 separate group of results to use towards our growing decisions in the future when growing plants in hydroponics.
 
Well here are some pictures

The 2 morugas I will be using pushing up through the sure to grow.
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This is just some random germination I am doing right now. Trying out a rapid rooter mat also next week for the rest of my plants.
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These are my first dirt plants.. About 2 and a half months old now and not doing too bad. Never see the light of day. Hate dirt but giving it a try. Hydro all the way!
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This is the DWC setup I have ready for the experiment. Within a week the seedlings will be living in here instead.
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Inside the DWC's. Identical air stones being driven by the same air pump. Wish me luck with this.
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Great progress, buddy! You should get some nice comparison results.
 
Well the 2 seedlings are in there new home. I only have plain water in the DWC's as no roots are near the water yet and it is more a humidity sort of thing right now allowing most air to flow up through the hydrotone.
Some may say I planted too early but I have had some horrible experiences where the hydrotone crushes the seedling so I have learnt to plant just as the seed is pushing up and allowing it to find its way through the expanded clay instead of trying to gingerly put the pebbles around the fragile stem. Will continue misting from the top until the roots grow down to the water level and then I will start adding nutrients.
I decided to isolate these two plants to a separate part of the basement in a corner. Using a single 2 foot T5 right now on 24 hours until second set of full leaves form. Then I will give it an 18 hour light schedule for the first 3 weeks before switching across to either one of my custom made CFL bars or a 125 watt single CFL lamp.

2 pictures now

That single T5 fixture is so light weight that it cannot keep the light hangers pulled down so had to use 2 bungee straps to hold it in place.
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Well it's been a bit over 2 months since the moruga's went into their hydro buckets. They are doing really well and I change the nutrs out every 2 weeks for now. I add cal mag every other nute change and so far the concentrations are identical for both plants. Last nute mixture was 778 ppm and 6.0 ph. The roots look healthy and the lower half is stained from the nutrient solution and are not dead from root rot. As I mentions I am using botanicare pure blend pro grow which is an organic base nutrient which utilizes work castings and sea weed etc. The mixed nute solution is very dark brown and causes the roots in the water to be brown. Anyway couple pictures of the progress. I can't wait to start adding the bud factor X to only one and also forcing a higher EC to stress it out and see what happens. Also for some reason one plant seems to be a little larger. Not sure why but it must just be a slight difference in the genetic code.

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Looking good Dan. I can't wait to see the results of this experiment.

Instead of intentionally stressing plants, I always chose hotter peppers but if Morugas aren't hot enough for you, I guess you have no choice but to stress it. :D


By the way, is that your loosing Prik in the corner? Looking happy in its home.
 
Yes that is the winning prik in the prik kee grow huge 2000... And I have always heard that stressing causes hotter peppers so this is a way to test that theory and also to see if stressing is possible in a hydroponic system. I am happy with the plant progress so far.
 
Well the two plants are coming along nicely. Root mass is getting impressively large. Soon the experiment will actually begin. So far they are being fed same nutes at same time with all variables kept constant for the two plants. The are at about the same stage in growth also. Here are the latest pictures.

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Well update time!

I have been changing nutes biweekly as I said and still using identical mixtures of botanicare pure blend pro grow and today the plants have reached a size where I am starting the transition from grow to bloom nutes. I mixed nutes today with 15ml grow and 15ml bloom per gallon and adjusted ph to 5.5.

The plants are putting out lots of buds now and have open flowers. I will switch to full bloom nutes next week and then on the second week of running pure blend pro grow bloom, I will introduce the bud factor x to the stressed plant and also increase the EC to a slightly elevated level above the happy plant to create a less favorable environment for the osmotic transfers to occur. This will make it more difficult for the stresses plant to absorb nutes and water which should help determine the happy vs stressed results.

If anyone sees any problem with this plan, please speak up so we can discuss the best methods to treat the two plants differently as they are identical now. Grown in same nutes under same light, germinated same time etc.

Pictures

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