HYDRO Project Deuxberry

[UndergroundFarmer]

Project Deuxberry is here at last! This will be another grow for seed stock. Blueberry is the absolute favorite of a friend I grow for and the supply is thinning from the original Project Blueberry - the first hydro grow in my 3x3 tent. I considered calling it Project Blueberry 2.0 or Blueberry Prime but I've decided it's better to not name projects directly after strain names going forward.

Here is the RDWC setup with fresh irrigation tubing about to be filled with water for its test run. I had to add Ty-Raps to all the fittings to stop leaks unlike in Murcott. I also replaced all the airstones and trashed the cheap hollow ones I've used since building this setup.



I've put six seeds in rooter plugs in the starter tray in the "autozone" tent and added some stuff I call seedling soup. It's a gallon of filtered tap water with 2.5 mL root enhancer and 2.5 mL of Soul Grow with pH adjusted to 5.8. It works great for watering baby autos in their big pots too.

 

[bboyfromwayback]

My wife’s favorite is Glueberry OG from Dutch Passion. It’s their cross between Blueberry, Gorilla Glue and OG Kush. Everything I’ve grown from them were strong plants

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

I hope so. This will be the first time I grow from DP's beans.

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

At this moment, five of six Blueberries have pushed up above the surface of their rooter plugs and I can see something light colored in the hole where the number six is, so that one shouldn't be far behind. By this time next week I hope to be ready to move them into the tent. This time, I will try not to move them too soon like I did in Project Murcott. Luckily, when you're working with good genetics, there's more wiggle room for mistakes.

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

Four Blueberries went hydro today!

The four with the longest taproots got to go here. The other two are in solo cups in coco as a consolation prize. All six sprouts were still quite uniform in germination time and size and in health at this writing.

 

[Ckbrew]

Way cool. I'm along for the ride.

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

I totally forgot to take pics for this grow yesterday because of the Murcott flood. Everything looks good still. Babies are getting their second set of leaves, yadda yadda. Tomorrow, I'll be flushing this system out to be sure I get all the crap out of the dirty hydroton I accidentally used. Well, accidentally used it because I thought I'd cleaned it anyway. I'll try to grab a pic or three tomorrow.

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

With the ordeal in Murcott over, here's week 2 of veg.

Deuxberry didn't suffer as much because the problems in Murcott alerted me to what must be done here as well. They all got their net pots rinsed out a few times, water pump filter media got bleached, strained out bits floating in reservoir, etc. All six seedling for this project are doing well so far and the two in coco are just about ready to transfer to fabric pots.

Here are the other babies in their solo cups in the "Autozone" tent. One will displace that bucket and the air pump will likely be moved aside, maybe even suspended from the tent frame to keep it out of harm's way. The other will go into the 4x4 tent for coco and finish as sinsemilla unless they are both males.

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

I've cleaned the hell out of this system and the one in Murcott and still the roots are slimed the day after.

One of the BBs is in the seedling tray trying to recover and likely won't.

I even tried using unfiltered water to let the chloramine kill off whatever is attacking but no use. Even with a dose of Hydroguard.

This grow and Murcott may have to be moved to coco if the plants can survive the move, otherwise I'm starting a few new seeds. At least the two in coco are healthy and about ready to move into a real pot.

 

[Ckbrew]

Have u tried hydrogen peroxide? Use 34% available at hydro store. Caution it is corrosive to skin and other stuff and is a strong oxidizer at this concentration, gloves and safety glasses recommended. I use at a rate of 2.5ml/gallon of water. Can be used with nutes in solution. Add last to your solution, then add solution to grow and run normally. Will not affect Ph or TDS. Run your grow normally with this added for 2-3 days. U should see a big improvement. H2O2 degrades to O2 and H2O so no worries about contaminants. I grow in coco, and use this 1-2 times per week. Keeps all the microbes away from the hardware.

I use this at a rate of 6.8% to spray down all my equipment before using in tent. Wet down, let sit for 15 minutes, rinse with water. Still use gloves at this concentration.

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

I've tried using the 3% over the counter strength to no avail, but not that. I'm leaning heavily toward moving to coco because things are going downhill so fast.

 

[Ckbrew]

I use coco/perlite. I think it is more forgiving if something gets forgotten or messed up. U never know when u may be suddenly unavailable to tend a grow. I think coco would outlast neglect longer than DWC.

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

As of right now, Deuxberry is an all-coco grow. I moved the one under the seedling dome to a solo cup and the healthier ones to one gallon fabric pots. They've all been given a fresh feed fortified with House & Garden Root Excelulator to hopefully spark some fresh growth. Murcott will be done the same in a day or two after a trip to the shop for another block of coco and other necessities.

This is an airstone from Deuxberry's RDWC system. I blasted this stuff off of it Sunday.

 

[Ckbrew]

A few things to offer. For you plants that are having a hard time, I was recently turned on to this for clones with damaged roots. Take your nute solution and add the juice/gel from the leaf of an aloe plant. Don't add the outer green part, just squeeze out the gel from the inside. Shake and mix with 1 gallon of solution then feed that to your plants. The aloe contains hormones that stimulate root growth. Do this for 3-4 days.

As far as coco goes, I did the block thing, hydrate, rinse, remove salt, sand, rocks, fines, drain, saturate with cal mag, drain, repeat, then mix in perlite. After 2 blocks of this, I got fed up and bought some Mother earth preprocessed coco in a bag, mixed in some perlite when the coco was mostly dry, then filled the bags, transplant, then add nutrient solution. 1000% easier imo. Just saying...

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

I'll have to remember the aloe for later. I did get some root booster to add to their nutrients and it may be the only reason they are still alive. I just bought a bag of loose coco instead of the cheapo blocks which I've found foreign seeds in on occasion.

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

Friday update: The one Blueberry I moved to the seedling tray earlier is probably dead. The rest are dealing with transplant shock but are still reaching for the lights. I moved the two Blueberries in solo cups to 3 gallon pots and they are doing great.

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

Week four(?) is underway. I've lost the Blueberry that I feared I would but I can definitely make it work with five Blueberries. The ones in coco are getting close to being topped, even. I'm hoping to get the other three out of the one gallon pots I put them in provisionally by next weekend.

I feel optimistic for a quick turnaround because they all are still reaching for the lights.

Oh yeah. I learned that those things I've been calling trivets are called "elevators" by the manufacturer. I like my word better and so did the guy at the grow shop.

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

Week 5 of veg came with just a routine feed for the Blueberries. My optimism was not in vain because they are starting to take off. I even got to top one of the bigger ones. I expect to put the smaller ones into full size pots next weekend.

[pic later when iCloud allows]

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

Week 6 of veg and they continue to thrive! I will repot the smallest three soonish. I am also considering moving one of the big ones to the new 4x4 tent to flower out. I just jarred up the recent harvest from that tent and this is the first time in forever that the grow room wasn't absolutely dank.

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

Week 7(!) of veg and this project is finally taking off. I've moved the tallest Blueberry to the 4x4 flower tent where the autos are finishing (but not fast enough for my tastes). The smaller ones are now in three gallon pots to finish out their lives in. I've invested in a bag of worm castings after watching some Mr. Canuck's Grow videos. Since I'm out of the hydro business for a few more months at least, I'm working on moving my coco game past the basics. Basic was good enough to get a killer Purple Haze crop, so I'm expecting big-ass things going forward. Besides, it's oddly satisfying to work the castings into the top level of the coco. I've also had to work on my coco prep. I grabbed a tub that was once going to be a RDWC reservoir to make big batches of coco/perlite/castings mixes instead of a clumsy five gallon bucket. Anyway, all the BBs are topped and in their final pots so staking and tying should happen by next weekend.

Now to see if I even have any males in the mix....