Acapulco Gold DWC w/ Athena Nutrients

Qgoof Moved from AC Infinity Germination Tank to DWC. Used light nutrients.

Qgoof Some burned tips from too high initial nutrients. Lightened nutes and moved to a control bucket method with all sensors connected to main bucket in tent. Control bucket is fed from an RO reservoir in a larger tote. Prepping for vacation so unattended. Had humidity cover on for couple days before removing.

Qgoof Some burned tips from too high initial nutrients. Lightened nutes and moved to a control bucket method with all sensors connected to main bucket in tent. Control bucket is fed from an RO reservoir in a larger tote. Prepping for vacation so unattended. Had humidity cover on for couple days before removing.

Qgoof Wrapping up Week 4 (Day 28) and the canopy is getting incredibly bushy! After a closer look, what I thought were early pre-flower pistils a few days ago were actually just stipules and new vegetative growth. She is still firmly in the vegetative stage, focusing all her energy on building out a dense canopy rather than stretching for bloom. ​The environment is running absolutely flawlessly. VPD is sitting right in the golden zone at 0.98 kPa, meaning her stomata are wide open and she is transpiring perfectly. The water temperature is locked at 67.8°F, keeping dissolved oxygen levels high for the root mass. I double-checked the circulating fan to ensure it’s just providing a gentle rustle (the "dancing leaf" test) without causing wind burn. ​The only minor hiccup is a slight downward drift in reservoir pH, which hit 5.4 today. This just means she is drinking a bit more water than nutrients, concentrating the remaining salts slightly. I will be dosed back to the 5.8 - 6.0 sweet spot to prevent any calcium or magnesium lockout. Otherwise, she is thriving and prepping for the eventual stretch!

Qgoof End Week 5: Pre-Flower Stretch, LST Adjustments, & A New DIY Mixing Station ​ The Big News: We Have Pistils! I'm glad I didn't abandon the plant when I mistook the stipules for pistlles. A good lesson for me in understanding the dofference. However, now The Acapulco Gold auto has officially shown her sex. White pistils are popping up at the nodes, which means we are shifting gears from vegetative growth into the pre-flower stretch. Because she needs heavy nitrogen to fuel the upcoming vertical explosion, I am holding off on the Bloom bottles for now and continuing with the vegetative nutrient profile to build strong stems. ​Canopy Management & LST With the stretch imminent, I completely reworked the canopy to break the apical dominance. The main tip had naturally curled back up, so I pinned it down again to level the playing field. I used some custom 3D-printed LST clips anchored to the net pot to pull the lower side branches outward in a "starburst" pattern. This completely opened up the center of the plant. I also did some heavy leaf tucking (rather than plucking, to avoid stressing the autoflower) to ensure every new bud site gets unobstructed light. The canopy is sitting perfectly flat, and the AC Infinity LED is exactly where it needs to be to let her grow into the light. ​ Hardware Upgrade: DIY Quick-Connect Mixing Station To make reservoir changes completely seamless, I built a new dedicated mixing and transfer station this week. ​The Vessel: A heavy-duty 20-gallon round HDX tote. The round shape is critical—it allows the submersible pump to create a massive, uninterrupted whirlpool with zero dead spots for nutrients to settle. ​The Engine: A VIVOSUN 800 GPH submersible pump. ​The Plumbing: I ditched the stock barbed plastic fittings and adapted the pump's 1/2" NPT female port using a solid brass 1/2" Male NPT to 3/4" Male GHT adapter. From there, I threaded on a Gorilla solid brass quick-connect set attached to a 6-foot heavy-duty Orbit leader hose. ​The Workflow: I drop the pump in bare to mix the 9-gallon RO batch. When the pH and EC are locked, I just snap the transfer hose onto the running pump, and it blasts the perfectly mixed solution directly into the DWC control bucket in seconds. No lifting, no spills. ​Nutrient Mix & Chemistry (9-Gallon RO Batch) With the new vortex station, I dialed in the chemistry for the stretch. Because of the heavy calcium nitrate in Part A and the sulfates/phosphates in Part B, I strictly space out the additions to prevent the elements from reacting and precipitating into useless calcium phosphate rocks. ​18 mL Athena Balance: Added first to the bare RO water to build the buffer. ​22.5 mL Athena CaMg: Crucial armor for the RO water. ​(Mixed for 2 minutes) ​40 mL Athena Grow A: Poured into the vortex. ​(Mixed for 5 full minutes to heavily dilute and prevent lockout) ​40 mL Athena Grow B: Added only after Part A was fully homogenized. ​9 mL Monterey Complete Disease Control: Dropped in last to maintain the biological root biofilm. Roots are currently looking blindingly white with zero slime. ​Current Environment & Dashboard Stats The AC Infinity controller is keeping the environment in the absolute sweet spot. ​EC: 1.15 (1151 µS/cm) - The perfect concentration to fuel the stretch without burning. ​pH: 5.7 - A great starting floor that gives her plenty of room to naturally drift up to 6.0 as she eats. ​Water Temp: 69.8°F - Keeping dissolved oxygen high and pathogens at bay. ​Tent Environment: 75.3°F and 68.4% RH. ​VPD: 0.95 kPa - Stomata are open, and she is drinking heavily. ​Next up: Watching her explode upward over the next 7 to 14 days!

Qgoof Grow Diary: Day 41 – The Transition Week & The Great pH Crash Strain: Acapulco Gold (Autoflower) System: 9-Gallon Recirculating DWC (5-gal main bucket + control) Nutrients: Athena Blended Line Environment: 74.7°F / 60.9% RH / 1.14 kPa VPD / Water Temp 68.7°F Canopy & Plant Health She is officially crossing the threshold into Week 7, and the heavy Low-Stress Training (LST) alongside the 3D-printed clips has paid off perfectly. Instead of a single towering apical stalk, the canopy is wide, flat, and pushing 8 to 12 distinct tops. The nodes are tight, the foliage is a rich, healthy green, and the first white pistil "pom-poms" are starting to cluster. Because she's a Sativa-dominant auto, the real vertical stretch will happen concurrently with early flower production over the next 10 to 14 days. I’ve lowered the trellis net to sit just 1 to 2 inches above the current tips. As these individual shoots elongate, the strategy is to weave them outward into adjacent squares until the vertical stretch naturally halts. The Tribulation: The Peristaltic Pump Glitch This week featured a near-catastrophic hardware glitch that serves as a massive warning for anyone automating their DWC pH. During a brief power cycle, my AC Infinity peristaltic pump malfunctioned. Instead of returning to its normal state, the pump kicked on at Level 10 and dumped a massive dose of pH Down into the system. I caught it on the Genesis controller: the pH literally cliff-dived to 2.7, and the EC spiked from a stable 1348 µS/cm straight up to 1797 µS/cm. At 2.7 pH, the roots were sitting in pure acid. Thankfully, I was already running a diluted acid mix in the dosing bottle, but the sheer volume dumped was still enough to completely tank the 9-gallon system. The Fix & The Transition to Bloom I immediately drained the entire 9-gallon system (both the main and control buckets). Since we are hitting Day 41 and the vegetative phase is concluding, I used this emergency reset as the perfect opportunity to permanently drop the Athena Grow bottles and transition to the Bloom formula. Here is the exact 9-gallon transition mix I used to match the previous osmotic pressure while shifting the NPK ratio for flower production: * Water: 9 Gallons (mixed in a separate tote using an immersion pump) * Athena CaMg: 22.5 mL (2.5 mL/gal) * Athena Bloom A: 72 mL (8.0 mL/gal) * Athena Bloom B: 72 mL (8.0 mL/gal) I mixed the CaMg for 5 minutes until clear, followed by Bloom A (5 minutes), then Bloom B (5 minutes). This brought the fresh reservoir right back to a safe, comfortable 1305 µS/cm (1.3 EC) to prevent any root shock. New Dosing Failsafes Implemented To ensure a hardware glitch never nukes the grow again, I’ve implemented two strict protocols moving forward: * The Physical Volume Limit: I will never leave a full bottle of pH Down connected to the pump. The dosing reservoir will only hold 100mL to 150mL of diluted acid at a time. If the pump loses its mind and empties the entire container during a glitch, it mathematically will not contain enough acid to crash a 9-gallon volume of water. * The UIS Automation Loop: I reconfigured the AC Infinity app automation to run purely on a slow, restricted loop rather than a standard target trigger. When the pH creeps above 6.0, the pump activates at Level 1 for exactly 2 seconds, followed by a strict 10-minute OFF timer. This gives the diluted acid time to circulate fully from the control bucket to the main bucket, allowing the Genesis sensor to catch up before the system is allowed to add another drop. Crisis averted, the plant remains completely healthy with no signs of chemical burn, and we are officially locked in for the flowering stretch.