Hey everyone Pooshadeel here.
This is not my first grow but it is my first time using the growdiaries.com website. I think this is a great place to come together as a community and share information about cannabis and cannabis cultivation. I will be documenting this grow every step of the way and try to explain everything i am doing. All the videos on other sites or instructions for DWC hydroponics always leave out very important information, or the keys to success. I will try not to leave any aspect of this tutorial out. I hope you follow along and start your own grow. So without further delay lets get started with "Wedding Cake Auto" by Barneys Farm. This will be a quick 75 day grow and should yield around 2-3 ounces. Lets see if we can push the envelope and get 4-6 ounces. DWC growth is faster than regular grows if the basic rules are met and should yield more if done correctly. It may seem very overwhelming at first but it actually is very easy. There are simple guidelines to follow..............
First off you are not going to get good cannabis unless you have good genetics. Genetics are very important. So get good genetics or you will be very disappointed from all the time and effort you just wasted.
DWC Rules that must be met or you will run into trouble:
NOT LISTED IN ANY SPECIFIC ORDER
Oxygen........You must have sufficient oxygen in your water. Oxygen is the lifeline. I am using 2 two-outlet fish pumps regulated for 10-20 gallons. and 4 air stones. You cant add too much oxygen, but you can under-oxygenate, so more is better. Small bubbles are better so try out different air stones. Look at my picture on this page. The bubbles are large and could change my water temperature. You want tiny bubbles and almost a foam layer of bubbles on the top of the water.
Water Temperature........68 degrees is ideal. Whatever you do dont let the water temp go over 75 degrees or you just cooked your plant. And dont go under 60 degrees thats just too cold
Water and PH.........Water should be reverse osmosis or distilled. water. Read the labels on the water. Some brands like "Arrowhead and Sparkletts" add fluoride, chlorine and other additives for taste. You dont want any additives. The ideal PH is up for debate but as long as you keep it in the range of 5.8-6.2 you will be fine.
Bucket Color - Hose Color............Black is best for keeping light out of your water. Light causes algae to grow and the water can become slimy. I will discuss water changes later when we come to that.
Lights............I am using LED lights this entire grow.......HPS lights are too hot and too expensive and youll end up buying more equipment you dont need. Ive also done DWC using sunlight. It works but you need to watch water temps more than usual.
Designated grow are.........You can literally do DWC anywhere. To prove that point I will grow in a shower in my RV trailer. But you need at least a 3 foot by 3 foot space per plant. We will stay simple with this grow and further progress with other techniques in another grow. My personal favorite is one plant in a 12 foot by 12 foot space and we will slowly bend the top of the plant down until it stretches across the room and now we have a hedge with so many tops. This increases yield and light penetration
Fans and circulation.................I have a bathroom exhaust fan and will add more circulation as we go along. during germination as long as you have circulation you are fine. once our plants get bigger fans are necessary to circulate air and to help CO2 intake by blowing stagnant CO2 off the leaves..
OK if i left anything out I apologize.
Lets get growing............................
Germinated in a root pod. I’ve had great success using them. I'm going to also switch to a finer air stone. Smaller bubbles are better. Big bubbles cause friction and could change your water temperature. My water temp is holding at 68 degrees. I have added 12ml of Advanced Nutrients Connoisseur Part A and 12ml of Advanced Nutrients Part B to my 3 gallons of water from my well. To get my PH at 5.8-5.9 I add 12 eye drops of (CYCO Brand) PH down to each gallon of water. I have a 3.5 gallon bucket filled just enough to keep the rockwool cube wet. Once the roots start showing in the root pod then I will remove it from the rockwool and replace it with hydroton pellets. You can also use solid black marbles instead of hydroten as long as they are glass and not see through. When i reach this point i will lower my water level until i have a 1-2 inch gap between the water level and the bottom of the NetPot.
I f anyone is following along. The Adv Nutrients Connoisseur is said to be PH perfect....Do not think that these nutrients will PH the water for you. Thats not what it does at all. PH perfect means it will maintain a PH level that will be perfect for all nutrient uptake......ATTENTION. Always PH your water and check PPM's on a daily if not several times a day. There is no magic formula you can buy that will automatically PH your water. There are controllers and regulators that can maintain PH but this is a 1 plant grow Why waste a bunch of money?💪
Rule #1 in a DWC grow or any type of grow is cleanliness. Buy yourself a box of gloves, a box of booties for your shoes and some sterile suits (paint section home depot). I can not stress enough the importance of cleanliness. and don't go pet your dog or cat before entering your grow. Your grow area should be clean enough for a doctor to perform surgery. If you don't keep it very clean you are risking contamination.