Marathon OG Auto // DarkOwl // DWC

This is the second seed germinated from a 3(+2) pack of Marathon OG Auto by DarkOwl (Dark Horse Genetics x Night Owl collaboration). A few notes about this diary: 1. I add up my nutrient doses throughout the week and add those to the amounts listed below. Includes water changes when applicable. 2. I use values from the last day of the week values for weekly measurements. light distance, ppm, ph, etc. 3. When dosing nutrients and additives, I use RO water in a 1L water bottle. Shake and add to the reservoir. ------------------------------------- The Setup: ------------------------------------- I built a custom single-site RDWC similar to PA Hydroponics to co-exist with a two-site system running in parallel running another strain in a 4x4, leaving room for a heater/dehumidifier/intake. This allows me to control the nutrients and water specifically for the Marathon OG plant. I made several mods and the system is running three air stones in the sites and one air stone in the reservoir and a final air stone reserved for the top-off bucket, which I will install once they start noticeably drinking. The air stones run across two air pumps for redundancy in case one goes out. For the Marathon OG run, it will run in the single-site system. Here are some essential bullet points about how I'm going to crush this run. 1. I'll be mainlining (if she lets me), LST and Scrog with HST into flower to even out the canopy. I've had success with these techniques and will be applying them to this grow. 2. This plant may share a scrog net with the other isolated two-site RDWC system in the same tent. I'm playing with the idea of two 2x4 nets perpendicular to each other to allow me some crawl space to work in when training. 3. Microbial Mass Pro - Last run, I had great success with this product. On week five, I had roots going down the 3" drain pipe and clogging the inline pump leading out of the reservoir to the waterfall in the plant site. It will be a 15ml dose every two weeks because the single-site system is about 28L (with air gap) and it calls for 0.5ml per liter every two weeks. Beneficials only live for 48 hours then begin to die off, but Microbial Mass uses heavy metals to extend the bacteria's life (from what I've read). 4. Since I'll be using Microbial Mass Pro for beneficial bacteria base, I'll only be dosing Orca twice a week which will serve mycorrhizae needs and additional beneficial bacterias. I'll be using Sensizym for enzymes. 5. I'll be introducing RapidStart for the first time and I plan on using it until end of stretch. 6. I'll be using AN base nutrients for keeping things as automated as possible due to my schedule and time limitations. AN PH Perfect line allows uptake from PH value of 4-8 which becomes very forgiving as my work and family life schedule is demanding. 7. This plant will be grown under a CMH 315 with Phillips bulb but may have some overlap with the HLG Rspec next to it used to grow another strain. I will start the CMH up when the VPD and temps align and the plant is large enough to take the intensity. Until then, it will run under a T5, and possibly a Spider Farmer SF1000 for transition. 8. I'll add the top-off bucket once the plant starts noticeably drinking. 9. Last run (Sage Scout), I tested the results of only performing one single water change during the entire grow - when switching to flower nutrients late stretch. I was setting out to fix a problem I found in previous runs where the PH would swing and the plants would stall every time I performed a water change. I was rather pleased with the results! However this run, I may add an additional water change mid-flower. I had some nutrient build-up on the roots, a couple of spots of rot concern, possibly leading to a salt build-up displaying as a deficiency I was seeing in only one plant. I'm going to set out to only change the water under four conditions because I feel there is circumstantial balance for an optimal run. A. I'm re-using clay pebbles this time to see if I can avoid the PH rise that typically happens in the first two weeks of the run before the roots establish themselves. Once the roots establish, the PH values will settle, but I may need to swap the water on day 14 depending on how high the PH value climbs. It always seems like a cat & mouse game for the first two weeks. B . When we switch to flower nutrients (Week 6-7ish) C. Mid-flower (Week 11 - Salt flush) D. If the water quality degrades. To determine this, I'll smell the reservoir every few days. If it smells like fresh greens, we are good. If it smells like a dirty aquarium, we are not good. LFG! /-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/ GERMINATION /-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day 1 (Mar 05, 2022) I'll be starting day/week count from this germination date. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hour 0 (Mar 5, 2022 // 12:00am) Germinated at 12:00am in DVD case and paper towel misted with tap water. Wrapped in a t-shirt and placed in starter dome with a heat-mat set to 28c.