First Time Grow DWC System, Viparspectra 600w LED

[maner]

Week 3 (04.02.2019)

Weekly change of reservoir done, brown sediment was less than 4 days ago ( i started to put ice bottles daily or twice a day maybe it affected)

water solution:
- 10ml pH down
- 20ml Flora trio (micro-gro-bloom)
- 5ml Great White Mic.

Final rates (30L):
- 6.11pH 677ppm (NaCl)
-RH: 45%
-Temperature: 23° C
-Reservoir Temperature: 21°C
-LED disctance: 75cm - 29,5"

[maner]

-12 hours later, after the reservoir change i checked the pH and it was 7.90 (at 12.30 pm). 7ml pH down added to a little RO water mixed and added to reservoir, new pH was 6.49, 674PPM

-checked ph again at 8.30pm it was: pH 7.10 , 3ml pH down added to a little RO water mixed and added to reservoir, new pH was 6.11, 680PPM

is this much fluctation normal? i just changed the reservoir water yesterday cleaned every tube and nearly everything.

- Are my roots ok?

[Eliot Pryor]

I use regular tap water and I don't get that much movement. I think my tap water is very good the PPM is about 170 the PH is 7.0. In my dwc setup 1 ml of ph down per gallon drops 1 point. Your roots look great !!

[maner]

Guys i have some questions and one of them is important because one of my plant (Big Buddha Silver Cheese) has some reactions on it's leaves, i haven't figured out against what and i need your help.

- Im sending pictures of BBSC's leaves hope we can understand what it is there is also a little hole on the leaf you can see that in the picture which i put my finger backside of it, i also attached the Kilimanjaro as last picture

- havent figured out why i still have pH fluctations yet but after 2 interventions of taking pH to desired levels reservoir water's pH nearly stabilizes, i use min 2 different water sources while im preparing solution, because my water purifier gives me high ppm levels, can it be the reason?

- Height of my plants are still 2-3" is this normal?

[Jsimo]

I was having huge ph fluctuations in my first month as well. I think it may have been the tote being new because after about a month it slowed down quite a bit. Now it seems that i will change out the res with solution ph'd to 5.5, after a night it'll usually have raised by about 1, I'll ph it back down to around 5.7ish and then it'll usually settle in around 6.2 for the rest of the week. I also had some small dead looking spots on the first couple nodes leaves, not sure what the deal was but the newer leaves that came in were fine after that.

I think i went through a 1/3 of a bottle of ph down in the first month alone. Now i usually use about 3 capfulls between the initial PHing of the solution and adjusting after each res change. (I usually change every week, 15 gallons of water)

[FlyingDutchPaddy]

i've seen similar fluctuations with pH, in that when i change the water i bring it down to 5.8 ish.
couple of days later it was up near 7.0.

added extra pH down and seems stable at 6.1 (last 2 days)

im using pH down from GH now.... supposedly made with "food grade" acids.
before i had pH down from Essentials, and that was much more stable imo.

[maner]

my pH down is home made which a store here made it and there is no brand, can that cause fluctations also?
it stabilizes after 2 interventions in first 1-2 days.

- do you think those colour fluctations and hole on leaves because of pH fluctations?

- im in the middle of the 3rd week, what do you think about the growth of my plants? are they on track or not grown enough compared to 3rd week plant?

[FlyingDutchPaddy]

i don't know how much of a difference home-made pH down would be compared to that what you can buy 'branded'.
Seems that most of the commercial pH down solutions are "food grade" phosphoric acids (the Essentials one is 81%).

Reading up online would suggest that 'extreme' fluctuations or sudden changes of pH are associated with the need to change the water, or at least, new nutrients are needed.

color fluctuations & hole in leaves
- quite possible, but I can't say for certain.

Growth rate of your plants
- see my post below, as I can't put pictures in the comments.

[BlueBudz]

It may help you to have some water set aside with an air stone in it for a day or two before you add to res. Balance and stabilize levels before doing your weekly res change. This will prevent the plant from suffering major ph swings(leaf spots) hope this helps

ps I find even an hour or two does the trick

[maner]

i have antoher box for reservoir so i prepare my new water solution it. it wont be an issue to keep airstone in it for 1 day but i dont have extra airpump and im confused a bit, its not enough to keep airstone in water right? i also should turn on another airpump and connect the airstone to that?

- do you think those reactions because of pH fluctations, and that little hole?

- im in the middle of the 3rd week, what do you think about the growth of my plants? are they on track or not grown enough compared to 3rd week plant?

[Eliot Pryor]

Perhaps when I commented about my water I should have mentioned that I keep several 1 gallon milk jugs on the floor all the time. It lets it get stable I think.

[BlueBudz]

Nothing wrong with your plants, you don’t need to use an air stone in the standing water I just like oxygenating it. The key is to stabilize the fluctuations before subjecting the plant to it. With the air stones it also keeps a current going so getting accurate reading of levels is easier. It’s gonna be a bit rough for your first couple but if you have patience and pay attention you will begin to be able to diagnose and solve these issues on the fly.

[FlyingDutchPaddy]

Maner, sorry for 'hijacking' your grow thread with pictures of mine, but its to indicate potential growth rates as asked.

1st is 2 days after transplant,
2nd is 1 week after,
3rd is 2 wks after,
4th is almost 3 wks in,
5th is 4 wks + 3 days.

average temp : 14C - 18C
RH: 50 - 70 %

as an additional FYI, I have my lights on constantly since planting into the pebbles.

[maner]

hijacking? you are giving me exactly what i need mate, i can't find this much accurate information with searching threads one by one, thank you!

- im going to post a reply so i can attach photo about timing of main lining, are my plants ready or not?

[maner]

Timing of main lining

- Are my plants ready or not?

what do you guys think about it?

[FlyingDutchPaddy]

so it looks like it has 3 nodes (pair of leaves) now, working on the 4th.

if it were my plant, i'd clip the 1st set of leaves, and top it where it is now (assuming you can cut safely without damaging the new grow tips).
1st leaves i refer to are those at the same hight of the cotyledons.
clip that entirely, also the growth tips.

the other 2 pairs, i'd leave the fan leaves on so that your plant has 2 pairs of proper leaves.

looking at your pics, i'd snip where you have the bottom red lines, and the top.
leave the middle for now, that is if you want to quadline the plant.

There's a thread on quadlining here: https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...356-quadlining

if just mainlining, yes, snip all red lines carefully.

[maner]

1. You mean on the first level should i cut cotyledons and growth tips also?

2. At the top red line should i cut it of entirely from exactly that line? cause there is no growth tips under that line.

[FlyingDutchPaddy]

bottom yellow line - snip everything - to the stem.
middle - snip some from the leave stem.
top - maybe a little extra time so you can cut safely without damaging the growth tips.

that is, if you want to Quadline the plant.

Mainline, i'd follow the 2nd pic.

[maner]

Week 4 (11.02.2019)

Weekly change of reservoir done, i have started to put 50ml ice bottle 2 times a day

water solution:
- 10ml pH down
- 20ml Flora trio (micro-gro-bloom)
- 5ml Great White Mic.

Final rates (30L):
- 5.5pH 593ppm (NaCl)
-RH: 40%
-Temperature: 22° C
-Reservoir Temperature: 20°C
-LED disctance: 71cm - 28"

Main Lining:
- Kilimanjaro topped and bottom, mid lines cleared. (pictures attached)
- BBSC bottom and mid lines cleared, not topped yet.

Questions:
- Roots are growing so fast, colours in the begining of the roots are seems brownish but rest of them which stays in water solution look so health with snow white colour. what are your thoughts?

- im going to use main lining low stress training as you can see, i wonder how much time is it going to add to vegetative stage if i make it 3 times (to reach 8 main colas cause my both strains are sativa dominan or 100% sativa)

- if this will add weeks for each topping and lining, how should i arrange my nutrients dosage? (im following Sirius Fourside's trio schedule which sirius mentioned in "top fed dwc cannabis setup guide" as you can see im using 1/2 of flora trio nutrients +great white)

- there is no ready to use scrog net here, what should be the good height and width of the scrog net's squares. I found badminton net and fishnet with 2,5-3cm witdh squares, i think i can fit those to the tent, what do you think about it?

- I have read something about great white and it says that if you are using great white and if you add starch to your solution, the micro organisms in great white absorbs starch and produces sugar which later used for plant food. What do you think? (https://fifthseasongardening.com/mor...elous-microbes)


thanks

[SinsemillaScientist]

LurkingInTheGrass look at the sweet carbo line, its for hydro and comes with a lot of compellling research. (Not sure Im completely sold) Although it seems to be working for most users

[maner]

LurkingInTheGrass thanks for your infromative and encouriging reply, i couldnt get back to you but i read the post right away when you sent it, because its not that easy to reply from here.

[LurkingInTheGrass]

SinsemillaScientist my hydro store carries the Sweet line (a huge frigging wall of Botanicare products) everything from 'raw' to 'grape' Now I have to do some reading

[RagWeedDWC]

As far as your roots look, to me they look fine, here are some root shots. One is my mothers (Now flowering to close out year) and the other is two clones that are 52 days from cutting.

[LurkingInTheGrass]

your roots are looking great

[maner]

Week 6

Hi guys my work has kept me busy on these last 2 weeks i couldn’t make a time to write notes of week 5 and now today m going to change the reservoir for week 6. In week 5 lot of things have happened, i made the second topping to make 4 main colas, but when i was bending i broke BBSC’s 2nd main stem, then i taped it with duct tape. On the following day of this injury, 1 of the symmetrically growing 2 fan leaves continued growing like nothing has happened but the other one seems dead (on the same stem’scracked side). I made second topping on that day (9 day after the first topping), it was a bit risky cause growth tips are not grown enough to avoid cutting them but i thought that it may help them to get better when getting all the energy and i waited 1 more day and dead side has nearly ressurected, it has resistance when i press the fan leaves’s stem a bit down and leaves seems alive when i touch and pat them carefully, now it already has growth tips 2-4 days away from 3rd topping.



Now my questions are:

- Should i cut old fan leaves on my second topping?

- is 9 days too long? Too short? Or is it on time?

- Do you suggest any methods for bending stems, im not sure that if i bended them too early or too late. I tried to be very careful and have bended them day-by-day even with my fingers before tying them.

- photos belong to 21.02.2019 minutes before second topping, but i only made topping and not removed any other fan leaves or anything

[LurkingInTheGrass]

hey maner

It is amazing how much damage we can do to them, and with a little extra care, they can recover from and even strengthen from

when it comes to topping and trimming - time is almost irrelevant, its a guide for us to do things, not the plant look at the plant - is she thriving enough? leaves up and facing the light? then she can take a topping or trimming

taking leaves is a bigger topic: there are no real hard and fast 'rules', more like philosophies

quick and dirty guideline to leaf defoliation: (in veg) try not to take more than 25% of your leaves

[maner]

Week 7
-Third and final topping done
- Reservoir changed, ½ dosage of flora trio added, 5ml great white added
- I added the photos of the third topping and recovery of BBSC. I removed the duckt tape and everything seems fine for me, what do you think about it?

Questions:

• Im going to install scrog net this week, what should be the dimensions of the squares of the scrog net?
• My plants doesnt stretch much they are still so short what do you think about it
• Which fan leaves should i remove?
• When should i start transition dosage of flora trio?
• How long should i stay more in vegetative phase?

[maner]

My last questions still waiting for answers and here is my other questions:

-what do you think about the size of my tent? should i buy larger one? (my tent is 120x60x180 and my friend adviced me to buy 120x120x200 tent before i start to get the max efficiency)

-Im planning to install scrog net as i mentioned before and im not sure that should i buy ready to use scrog net or should i arrange square gaps myself. ready to use scrog net square size is 10cm but the scrog tutorial on LBH's famous scrog tutorial they said that square sizes are 2.5" which means 6.25cm does this difference affect much?)

- Im so curious that how im going to change reservoir when i install scrog net? is there any common method that i can use?

[LurkingInTheGrass]

Hey maner

-changing reservoir after installing scrog net
I went back your top post - you have 2 ports in your DWC (for 2 netpots). you will need to add another port and fashion a lid for it (just a plate will do, something heavy enough to 'seal' the hole from light)

like Rag mentions - a battery operated pump
This is the one I use: https://www.amazon.ca/OEMTOOLS-Tools...gateway&sr=8-5

-Veg and Transition
Vegetation stage: you are allowing the plant to establish itself - and build a nice little foundation, to support and supply the plant through its life.
Transition: you are allowing the plant to come to terms with her internal changes, as she starts to flower

a plant that has light training (topped twice and LST) you Veg until you are 1/3 or 1/2 the size your space can support, flip lights to 12/12.
(In this situation, I continue to run Veg nutes for a week or so - until I see pistils, then switch to Transition nutes for another week or so, then switch to Flower nutes.)

scrog is a different schedule
you are vegging to fill the screen (so expect a slightly longer veg than normal)
once the screen is almost full (70-75%) you think about flipping to 12/12 (same protocol with nutes)

[LurkingInTheGrass]

not 'stretching' much (growing)

what are you Temperatures and RH?
If your ambient RH is low - you need to bring your temperatures down
if your ambient RH is high - you can allow a higher room temperature

look into Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD)
you don't have to read deeply into it (gets to be a sciencey rabbit hole) - there are charts to assist you. you are comparing Temp to RH and finding the sweet spot for your plants to transpire (breath and sweat) in their specific state (early veg, late veg, early flower, late flower)
My RH is fairly static (low) so, I try to keep my grow room as cool as I can

http://www.just4growers.com/media/23631/vpd_2degree.gif

[maner]

hey @lurkinginthegrass,

- yeah i can use battery operated pump, i alread have the manually operated pump but i clean everything in the reservoir weekly while im changing water solution because some stuff in the res. gets covered up with slimy (orange red residue) thing and i wash them weekly while im changing the res and if i use a pump like that i wont be able to do that so. ( i also removed water pump because of that. hoses that connected to roots were filled with dark brown stuff and i was nearly impossible to clean and roots were developed enough so i removed water pump)

- im not using exhaust fan yet, i will buy and install them when i start flowering stage because of the smell issues, can it effect my RH? because i leave the windows of the room which tent is in open and when even the RH on the wheather forecast is like 80-90 my RH doesnt go up and stays 30-40. im using steam generator and can take RH level 50-60% cause tent's temperature leve is 22-24 celcius.

[RagWeedDWC]

"-what do you think about the size of my tent? should i buy larger one? (my tent is 120x60x180 and my friend adviced me to buy 120x120x200 tent before i start to get the max efficiency). "

Bigger is always better, you can move things around easier and of course grow more. I can not speak to the efficiency side of the discussion.

"-Im planning to install scrog net as i mentioned before and im not sure that should i buy ready to use scrog net or should i arrange square gaps myself. ready to use scrog net square size is 10cm but the scrog tutorial on LBH's famous scrog tutorial they said that square sizes are 2.5" which means 6.25cm does this difference affect much?)"

I use 2 inch chicken wire as a reference, 6 inches seems to be a lot of vertical growth before you bend, or run it down the line. I can not really help you on this one, I have not used the large squares.

Currently I'm just using garden wire that I pull the limb down and attach to a wire I have running around the perimeter of my DWC Tank.

"- Im so curious that how im going to change reservoir when i install scrog net? is there any common method that i can use?"

I have a battery operated pump that I remove the nutrients, a small pond pump replaces the fresh. My DWC tanks are mounted on 3/4 plywood that has 3 inch casters below, I just unzip the front of my grow space and roll it out for trimming or replacement nutrients. I have a very tall space so no big deal, just not a lot of floor space.

[LurkingInTheGrass]

SWEET THINKING on the rig

do you use scrog nets? you could attach it to the platform and move the whole unit as one for easy access/cleaning tent/etc

[RagWeedDWC]

The plan is to have four metal rods, one at each corner.