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After a few grows using HPS lighting and a top feed system I decided to switch to DWC and LED lighting.
I have a 1mx1mx2m tent, cannafan, 100lt resevoir with 4 spaces for plants, 20 litre bucket with 1 space for plant. I'm using Viparspectra 400w LED switchable lights. Nutrients for this grow are courtesy of the good people over at Professor's Nutrients. The strain I'm growing this time around is an indica from Southern Star Seeds called Chung Lee (LA confidential x Afgooey).
Started the seeds with paper towel method and after 2 days they popped and placed in wool cubes.
Seedlings showing first root so placed cubes in clay pebbles in 23cm pots. Lights are switched to veg mode.
This is my first DWC so I will be asking a lot of questions about this technique. What is the best setting for the air pump? should it be on a low rate or is full blast better?
Welcome to team DWC MrMuchies! Firstly your air-pump setting can be low/medium. It really comes down to having a good air-stone! Maximum bubbles for maximum Surface-area/oxygenation!
Second - I noticed your PH is at 6.3. DWC plants want 5.8PH typically (more specifically a range of 5.6 to 6 PH)
Growth seems to be a slight be slower with LED's but I did expect that although I don't know what is affecting the slow growth rate, the LED's or the new DWC system.
How important is air temperature to the first stages of vegetative growth? With LED lights my air temp is lower and I wonder if the lower heat is affecting the early rate if growth?
Ok , Plants have a " Wellnesstemperature" its between 22-27 Degree. Under 20 Degree/Celsius the Growth slows down. Over 28 Degree the Plant is stressed and slows down too ( and more) Your Goal is to his the Space between to have an Optimal Grow. But it not only the Temperature. Temperature and Humidity goes Hand in Hand. they depend in each other. Its called Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD) there is anice Chart where you can look wich Temperature and Humidity you need in each Stage of your Grow. I will post it in the Comments
Growing nicely now apart from one plant which seems to be the runt of the litter. Roots on all apart from the runt are really coming along now. Nutrients are the same as last week as well as Grow Fast.
The four good plants are coming along nicely with a noticeable fat leaf indica growth. The roots are looking nice too. I think the change in weather is starting to help the growth rate.
This week the roots on all the plants except the runt are looking great so I decided to drop the level of water in the reservoirs. Since the roots of the runt are not very big I switched plants so all the good plants are in the same reservoir.
The nutrients for this week are the same as last week.
Early this week I topped the plants. Probably the best week of growth so far, even the solo runt starting to look ok. At the end of the week I gave the plant's their first defoliation. The main reservoir got less water again this week. The nutrients this week remain the same.
Now that the weather is warming up the growth rate seems to have picked up.
The main reservoir got less water again this week as well as the bucket. The nutrients this week remain the same
A bit of a trim this week. Still no sign of preflowers so will keep the lights on 16/8 cycle although it seems that they have been vegging for longer than usual. Same nutrients this week.
A slight trim this week. One of the plants is showing female pre flowers but can't tell about the others yet, fingers crossed I get a few ladies. Nutrients for this week remain the same.
Flip time! lady luck has blessed me and I have 5 out of 5 females. Now that I know the sex I have flipped and done a bit more lolipopping. All the plants are looking good so I'm hopeful for a big harvest.
A great week of growth with some good bud formation starting already. I no longer have one runt of the litter but it seems that most of them are not too different in size. I will keep putting the current smallest plant in the bucket. A light trim this week.
Hey there MrMunchies If you do wish to utilize a booster of this sort I highly recommend ensuring your roots are healthy and able to utilize the beneficial gains of added sugar! People have been known to start sugar supplementing as soon as flowering starts, but like I said I from my personal experience its best when your microbial life is on point to utilize the boost given by the added sugar! For DWC and hydroponics a simple product like "recharge" can help you achieve getting these microbes to the desired levels. Adding sugar at the start of flower with microbial life is the optimal move to make. Best of luck with your grow @MrMunchies feel free to ask any follow up questions you might have! 😎
Seeing some really nice growth now with good bud and trichomes forming. I have found this breeder's plants tend to have a mutation which buds grow on the fan leaves and stems. This is a good thing for me because I use leaf trimmings to make my cannabutter and oil capsules. This week I gave the plants a good trim according to breeder's instructions. Nutrients for this week remain the same
Not much vertical growth this week and not as much density added to the buds as I would like. Buds are getting quite frosty and smelly now. Some of the pistils are starting to turn orange but the trichomes are still clear.
Unfortunately I lost a few buds to mould. A little bit of growth in the nugs and more pistils turning orange. This will be the last week of veg as I have a house inspection in a few weeks and need to have harvested and cured my crop by then.
The quality of the smoke is great, awesome taste and nice indica high. Yield was terrible but that could be due to the fact I got a mould strike and had to lose mouldy buds and harvest a couple of weeks earlier than I would have liked. Took for ever to get some growth in veg but that could have been due to cold weather.
This was my first LED and I was happy with the savings in energy but miss the heat of HID. For a first attempt at DWC there's a lot more to improve although I don't know why I copped a major mould strike at the end of the grow. Very happy with the quality of the weed.
Ok , Plants have a " Wellnesstemperature" its between 22-27 Degree. Under 20 Degree/Celsius the Growth slows down. Over 28 Degree the Plant is stressed and slows down too ( and more) Your Goal is to his the Space between to have an Optimal Grow. But it not only the Temperature. Temperature and Humidity goes Hand in Hand. they depend in each other. Its called Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD) there is anice Chart where you can look wich Temperature and Humidity you need in each Stage of your Grow. I will post it in the Comments
http://www.just4growers.com/media/23631/vpd_2degree.gif
Do you have the Possibility to isolate your Growroom=? so that hte Heat stays inside=? Its the easiest way /and the Cheapest to look for Materials to isolate the Room / tent.
For more dare to ask per Pm or in the comments
@Mrs_Larimar,
Thank you for all your information. My tent is isolated but the problem is where I have to have it there is heating so in winter the temperature is low, luckily not like in the USA and Canada.
@HighTV,
It's still a bit early to compare this to previous grows but I am enjoying the growing experience. I was expecting this to be harder than it actually is. In the past I have only grown with soil outdoors which I find more like regular gardening and used cocos for my previous indoor grows. The most immediate difference so far for the better is it's a lot easier to move the plants and pots around whe.n I change the nutes.
hey @MrMunchies , i actually add that molasses starting on the last watering of veg, adding two table spoons dissolved in a glass of warm water before adding it to the plain water days. I found that it kicks off the flowering. Then keep adding it weekly or twice weekly during the flower stretch to sort of accompany the stretch with carbs and the micro nutrients. you want to tapper it off around week 4 or 5 of flowering so that you don t get weed that's too sweet - yes there is such a thing lol. Check out my grows, i think you can see it there. hope this helps bro ! 🚀
MrMunchies
