Hulkberry Auto 1st grow DWC

Lance_dBoyle Stealth is everything to me and I will scrap this grow the moment I feel the odor is unmanageable. I say this because my grow setup is designed around that. I have a 120l rain barrel sitting on top of a 40l masons bucket. I've cut a hole in the bottom of the barrel that the net pot will sit in, a hole on the side of the barrel for the fan, and a hole in the lid for the carbon filter. The inside is lined with mylar and the lamp is hanging 5cm from the top of the lid and there is a wyze camera keeping an eye on things for me. There is a bluetooth hygrometer/temperature in the barrel too. The barrel has an air tight seal around the lid so the only way smell escapes is through the carbon filter, maybe the fan inlet and maybe through the net in the bottom. The mason's bucket has an aquarium thermometer/heat, air pump stones and an outlet at the bottom where I have attached a tube to drain and fill/test the water. I have everything set up so I can control the fan and lights remotely. I plan to only interact with the plant when I train it (week 2-3) and harvest, otherwise I will control all inputs from outside the barrel and let the plant grow as it wishes: hence the 'Cheesus Take the Wheel' technique: I don't plan on optimal yield as a result. The first week of veg was ok though it seemed to stall; I noticed only a slight increase in height and girth. It's hard to tell as I can't really see anything on the Wyze when the lights are on due to the strobing and when I turn the light off the camera switches to nightmode and so the image is not great and is in black and white. (next grow I will add another regular light so I can turn it on when I turn the LED off as I need to see the plant in color.)

Lance_dBoyle Week two started with light nutrients and issues with the water level and ph. I found the ph was really high after a few days and readjusted it via the outlet tube. I was able to extract water from the bucket, test it and adjust it making allowances for the difference in volume between sample and reservoir. I poured the adjusted solution down the outlet tube back into the reservoir and blew into the tube to ensure that all the water was reintroduced into the bucket. Again the plant seemed to be growing though a lot slower than I expected.

Lance_dBoyle Week 3 started with the idea of LST for the little guy. I gained access to the plant via the fan inlet and was shocked to see how small it was and how dry and yellow the bottom leaves were. I think this was due in part to the ph and water level as well as a constant 33% humidity and the piece of mylar I placed around the plant to prevent light seeping through the net cup into the water ( I think it is reflecting light up and focussing it on the plant which might be visible in my crappy pictures). As the plant was puny I decided not to train it yet and just let it have its way this time. I decided to add a separate reservoir to maintain the high water level at least until there is more growth and I'm sure the roots are well drenched in the solution. I took another 20l masons bucket and filled it up, threw in some nutrients (I've been going light on the nutes: 1/4 the first week and 1/3 thereafter of the recommended amount (I've heard that less is better)) and adjusted the ph. I then put a water pump in and a tube into the bucket through the hole that the other cords go into the bucket and pumped up the water level. What I didn't expect was that because to the suction created by the pump the two reservoirs now act as one and my internal level stays constant as it sucks up the water from the second bucket without the use of the pump and adjusting the height of the second bucket determines the water level in the reservoir tank. Another reason for introducing the external bucket is that I'll be away all week 4. I thought that sitting on top of 40l of water would be humid enough but obviously not so. I think in my next Bucket-Barrel grow I will drill a few holes in the bottom of the barrel and drop some rope through and secure it to a piece of styrofoam (to keep it at the top of the water) and then inside the barrel take the other end and put in a dish on the bottom of the barrel with something super absorbent (a towel, water gel beads, or that stuff you put in the soil that swells up and keeps the moisture at a constant level) the idea being that the rope will wick up water into the dish which I hope this will increase the humidity to acceptable levels. Any suggestion on a way to passively raise the humidity would be appreciated.

Lance_dBoyle I was away for week 4 so I set up the reserve reservoir so there would be enough water and nutrients for the week I was gone. I monitored from afar with my Wyze camera but if anything went awry there would be nothing I could do. Nothing untoward happened. She had a growth spurt during the week I was away and there are some big fan leaves now-- I think as a result of the corrected nutes and ph-- but I have no idea how big it is (I'm suspecting its probably 30-40 cm but since it's sealed in the barrel I don't know). When I came home I went to check on the reserve reservoir and upon entering the room I was greeted with a distinctive pungent stank. Panic ensued and I was worried I would need to scupper the whole grow asap. I grabbed a jar of Ozium odor suppressant right away. Next morning I did a quick inspection and found that a steady stream of air was exiting the hole I had made in the reservoir bucket for the cords to the air pump, water intake hose and the thermometer/heater, so I grabbed duck tape and sealed it up. I also secured the air/water tight seal on the lid. I think that may take care of the smell seepage but only time will tell. I also flushed all the water from both water containers (I drained and then refilled with tap water and drained and repeated one more time) and then refilled with bloom nutrient ratios and corrected the ph. My only concern regarding the flush is the ph of the flush water (tap water here is between 6.5 and 7.2) and the temp (the tap water temp is around 14C) so I hope it wasn't too much of a shock for the plant. The bloom water temp is about 17C so it should get up to the correct level fairly soon. I think I may have solved my humidity problem by sealing up the air hole in the mason bucket; it now read 75% but my air temp is low because of the water temp being low. One thing I have my eye on now is the air flow: previously when I viewed the plant the leaves were visibly moving but now after sealing up the 'exhaust' hole it looks really still inside (the fan is working but I don't see much or any leaf movement.) If it's truly sealed up, the only way for the air to get out is through the carbon filter and if the air flow is hindered I should see a spike in the temperature. Because of the stank, I'm assuming I've entered the blooming stage and will act accordingly.

Lance_dBoyle I had assumed that the little guy was going to be a pygmy since it had a rough time the first week and never really grew more than small house plant after that but I awoke on Wed to see fan leaves pushing up against the camera and the whole thing filling up the barrel. I did a complete flush last week (though I didn't clean the reservoir just flushed it twice with tap water) and switched the nutrients to bloom and then a few days later caboom it exploded in growth. I had heard about the explosive growth in the flowering stage but didn't expect it. With it has come a pervasive smell, which I've tried to seal up as best I can. As the airflow is just an intake fan mid barrel I assumed that it was not 'forcing' enough air through the carbon filter up top and I was getting a lot of back flow out the fan. I covered the fan with a carbon filter 'cloth' and noticed a reduction. I've also place a plastic bag over the carbon filter on the outside and stuff a tube leading to my chimney vent hoping that any air exiting the carbon filter will be persuaded to go up the chimney. My next step is to install a fan on the intake or the carbon filter inside the barrel to help pulled some of the pushed in air through the barrel and out the carbon filter. Finally I will also install a common (non led) light inside so I get a better image from the camera. I may tuck the fan leaves under branches if I can as well.

Lance_dBoyle Well be careful what you wish for. My little guy exploded in growth within a week more than doubling in height (or at least trying to). I needed to see what was going on inside and I needed to install an exhaust fan to cure my humidity and odor problem (though my odor issue had really reduced the previous two days-- I thought it was due to my having put the carbon filter over the intake fan and a few other light fixes). When I opened the lid the plant was pushing way up on the lights and the camera: it had filled the entire volume of the 120l barrel. Since the top leaves and baby buds were scorched I took them off and cut back the tallest stalk that was pushing against the light. I then went through and removed any big fan leaves that I could. I figure this grow is a wash now-- I cut and trimmed so much that I don't think it will be doing anything bud wise. In fact I think this was the case a few days ago when the smell started reducing: the scorching probably sent it into shock. I've got a week or two to go so I'll see it out and if I get anything I can use. I was too successful with the DWC. If I had grown in a tent with plenty of head room this would have been an epic first grow but alas..... I need to figure out how to do a pygmy-grow: I want to limit the height of the plant but not the bud output. I shall investigate

Lance_dBoyle I've started flushing and licking my wounds. My first grow was so successful that it failed. Main issue was I chose the wrong plant for the container. 120l is not huge and since many first time growers end up with underperformers, I thought I would be ok, but I think the combo of DWC and basically a mirrored enclosed space was just too tasty for the plant and it grew like crazy. That is testament to the genetics of the Hulkberry Auto seed and the power of DWC. I took another look under the hood and all I've really got is abundant veg growth. It's pushing up against the lights again and there is little to no bud growth-- hence the lack of stank. I think that when the plant got too close to the light it freaked out and reverted to veg stage (I've heard of autos doing this though rare). I'm flushing for a few days and then I'll harvest and maybe try to do something with the leaves and bud-lettes that did form. (I did try a budlette from when I trimmed: aside from clogging up my pipe with lots of chlorophyl resin I felt a strong buzz that disappeared in 5 minutes (more than likely it was from brain cells being deprived of oxygen). I will harvest to check the root structure and stem development. There is no doubt that the plant thrived, it just outgrew its space and never properly flowered. For my next stealth barrel grow, I'm choosing a smaller plant that should max out at 80 cm. It promises a smaller yield than did Hulkberry, but I think I'll have a better chance of getting a yield at least. I'm also swapping out my 1000w light (over-over kill) for a 50w LED COB light of my own design that should be strong enough for a one plant grow. I'll use my big light for a three plant attic grow in the next month. I'll also install a cft bulb so I can take better pictures.