HYDRO My first post and my first grow!

[NickyChicks]

First set of serated leaves are getting bigger and I can see the second set on all but one NL which is no big deal, because I can't keep them all. I definitely need to put a humidifier in or near the tent, humidity has only gotten as high as 40% but over the past couple days it got much drier and it's been sitting between 25-30%.

​​​​​​Today marks one week since I moved the seeds into rapid rooters and into the reservoirs so I will be exchanging the water in them today.

Solo cups have sprouts poking up, the coco mix cup is just creeping up with it's helmet but the DWC is standing, proudly showing off it's it's helmet.

 

[SoOrbudgal]

Their looking happy

 

[NickyChicks]

If they're happy, I'm happy! I love watching how fast they grow.

 

[Farmall]

Naturally it’s hard to not look every day but in about 2 weeks if you don’t peek for 2-3 days, you’ll walk into the room and find a monster taking over the room and wonder what’s next....

 

[NickyChicks]

Oh I can only imagine, however I don't see me missing a day to at least look at them. I'm trying to not be obsessive but it's so exciting!

 

[NickyChicks]

I made a separate about this but figured I should post it here too to keep everything logged.

Not really sure what's going on with my chocolate kush seedling. It has a couple spots that are faint but I can see they're slightly discolored and also noticed the veins going down the first set of leaves are turning a red-ish color. This seedling is in a reservoir with 3 green crack seedlings and they seem to be fine. I just exchanged the reservoir water Monday and added week 2 strength nutes. Using GH trio 1/2tsp per gal. PH on Monday was about 5.7-5.8 and is now 6.4. I'll add PH down tonight to get it back down. Any thoughts on what could be going on?

 

[DingusKhan]

Re: reflective net pot covers. I'm of the opinion that if you have enough hydroton balls to block light from shining through the net cup, you don't need them.

 

[NickyChicks]

It's been 18 days since I started the seeds and day 15 in the reservoirs. Just changed out the water in the reservoirs and everyone is looking good, except the one Northern Lights. She is a slow grower and I don't think she's gonna make the team. The chocolate kush that has the spots on it's second set of leaves seems too be doing ok, no worse and the new growth looks healthy. Other good news, I think I have at least one but possibly two people to take some of the seedlings I'm not going to keep. I'd love to see them all grow so hopefully it works out.

Solo cups are doing good I guess lol. I don't know what to expect from my grow but I really don't know what to expect from these solo cups. The DWC cup doesn't seem to be growing as fast as the coco cup. Also, maybe I'm wrong but the seedling in the coco is growing it's second set of leaves and it looks like it's growing 2 pair of leaves and not one. Am I seeing that right?

I'm excited for these next couple weeks, looking forward to LST these girls. I've read a lot of the articles on the GWE site about LST, manifolding, super cropping ,etc. I originally wanted to use Nebulas manifold technique to create 8 main colas but I'm not sure if that's going to be the most effective way or even possible because I plan to flip to 12/12 no later than Feb. 9th which is 27 days from today. Would topping and LST be a better option? What's everyone's favorite way of training?

 

[SoOrbudgal]

I look at these dwc grows and try and see how one does training i'm no dwc/hydro person. I'm into LST, topping and supercropping when or if it becomes necessary.

 

[NickyChicks]

At the bare minimum I plan to top to the 3rd node once I have 6 nodes and then I'll bend and tie down as needed. Not sure where I'll go from there, I suppose I'll know when I get there

 

[dphipps1020]

I've been doing the manifold technique on GWE for the last couple grows and it's worked out great. This time I'm trying the quadlining technique and it seems to be going pretty good so far. Curiosity, are you wanting bigger plants or are you just trying to flower quick and get a little bit as quick as possible? Seems like you may sell yourself short if you only let them grow for 4 more weeks. Just my thought but I would see where they're at in a few weeks and go from there. Topping will add time to your grow so keep that in mind too. Also, a little trick with the magnetic ballast and taking pictures... Put a pair of sunglasses in front of your lens and the lines will disappear, at least most of the way. Looking good so far, good job

 

[NickyChicks]

dphipps1020 I'm trying to maximize my yield given the time constraint. I would love to veg for longer but I can't. Also, I've been trying to figure out how the hell to take decent pictures without having to wait until the lights are out because I'm usually sleeping by then so thank you I will most definitely be giving that a try.

 

[Farmall]

The manifold is a great way to achieve the 8 main colas but I ve seen some grows that just topping and LST provides an excellent plant and I’ve topped a few branches and those plants produced almost as good but topping will slow the process

 

[NickyChicks]

Yeah I really want to go the manifold route but I'm not sure that I'll have enough time to develop a strong plant. dphipps1020 mentioned quadlining which got me looking a few grow journals wondering if that could save me some time but still produce nicely

 

[DingusKhan]

To shorten your grow time, you might consider starting with bigger clones rather than seeds, especially if you can be selective, and get to working with multiples, and do, as you are already planning, a Sea of Green. But bigger plants, let them stretch a little longer in veg, that way you don't have to prune so much to give your colas room, and also LST a taler clone sideways to make a big, wide bush with long branches.

Of course, that means keeping a mother or finding a source or healthy, reliable clones. And if you can keep a small "library" of clone mother house plants, and trade with friends, that's all the genetics you need right there, man.

 

[NickyChicks]

Yeah starting from a clone wasn't an option. Living in a legal state makes it tough to find others with similar hobbies. I'm trying to get one of my buddies started so he can take a couple of the seedlings I'm not using. Other than that I literally only know 1 other person that grows. Luckily it looks like legalization is going to make it to the ballot this year and even though our governor is an idiot, he does support legalization.

Anyways.... Do you think I'll be able to do any training that would increase yield given my short veg time?

 

[Obi-Wan]

I think your original plan of topping to leave 6 mains is the best approach given your timing. If you want to fill your space using 6 week Veg times from seed I’d suggest running 6-8 plants trained in this manner. Trying to top more than once as is required with manifolding will actually lead to smaller plants when you’re wanting to flip. As you dial in your light with seedlings you’ll find that you can produce bigger plants in a shorter time and with lower wattage.

 

[NickyChicks]

I suppose keeping more seedlings is an option. Originally planned to keep 4, now plus 2 that are staying in solo cups per the challenge but I don't expect they will amount to anything massive lol. Being my first grow I didn't want to overwhelm myself but I definitely could keep more, I would just need to order another air pump and buy a couple more buckets.

 

[Farmall]

I believe the overwhelming feeling comes the day you decide to harvest.... trimming and cutting for hours are more back breaking than I’d ever thought but...it’s kinda like a good pain? Here’s hoping !

 

[NickyChicks]

No doubt the harvest is a ton of work. I got my first taste of trimming in the fall, I helped a friend who had 8 plants outdoors and it wasnt easy....but worth it