DWC - ILGM - Fire OG

Introduction - Week 02 Summary - Okay so another great week of growing! Overall, this week was a success! She's only been in the bucket for less than 2 weeks (writing this summary, it's been 10 days). But I'm amazed with the amount of root growth that has happened so far! None of my other seedlings came close to the amount of root growth this one has. She still only has one main root. But by the end of the week, it's reached all the way to the bottom of the bucket. So I'm very happy and hopeful for this one! So the low humidity readings at the end of last week were false. The issue has since been corrected (Obvious note to self: Do not drop the meter into the bucket solution). Midway through the week, I did add a bit of grow nutrients to help ease her into next week's reservoir change. After adding grow nutrients into the bucket, I did experience a bit of browning on her roots, but I quickly remedied the issue with a root inoculant consisting of Hydroguard and Voodoo Juice. Roots look nice and healthy now! Around the end of the week, her leaves started to curl in due to over saturation of the grow medium. In soil based growing, this is caused by overwatering. But in DWC, this issue is caused by too much water being wicked up through the hydroton/rockwool. So I fixed this by simply lowering the water level in the bucket. Now instead of 3gal of nutrient solution, the bucket only has around 2gal of solution (the water level is about 6-8" from the bottom of the net basket). Since then, the net basket is a lot drier and she seems happy about it! As expected, not much top growth, but excellent root development! Once the grow nutrient concentration is increased (next week), I should start to see vertical growth (I think). [START OF WEEK 02] Day 01 - Monday - 10/12/20 - Total Days: 10 ----------------------------------- - [0730]: Okay so I think the meter I dropped in the bucket is giving false humidity readings. --- Thankfully there are three meters in the tent (2 portable ones and one on the exhaust fan). --- I removed the bowl and placed the two meters on the lid right next to each other. --- The one that was under the bowl is reading about half the humidity (22%) than the other two (~53%). --- At least the temperature is still accurate. I just won't it for humidity readings anymore (so don't drop anything in the water). --- Looking back at last week, the humidity readings dropped right after I dunked it into the bucket. So using the dome was unnecessary. Great! --- At least I'm glad I noticed this early on. Plus the extra humidity for a day did not seem to slow down growth. --- Checked on her root and wow! I has gotten longer! But what I'm stoked about is I'm starting to see 'fish-boning' starting to form on the upper parts of the tap root! --- None of my previous seedlings had any kind of root growth even close to this one so I'm very happy with the current nutrient mix. --- Checked the bucket solution. --- PH was at 5.9 --- PPMs were at 295 --- Other than the false humidity readings, everything seems be going right with this grow. --- If her roots keep growing at this rate, I'll most likely be able to start feeding her grow nutrients next week! But again, I'll continue to check on the progress and will decide this weekend depending on overall growth. - [2030]: Wow! Looking good girl! --- Checked the root and wow it's grown! --- Checked the solution. --- PH was at 5.9 --- PPMs were at 294 --- Tent temps were at 77°F --- Humidity was at 63% --- Everything is looking perfect! --- Top fed about 10mL before placing her back into the bucket. --- Not too much vegetative growth, but enough to be noticeable. This is expected since I've only been feeding her straight CalMag and no grow nutrients. --- But wow on the root growth! Very happy with the development so far! Keep on growing girl! --- In a few days, hopefully the root will be long enough to reach the bottom of the bucket! Stoked to see what will happen after I add some grow nutrients! Day 02 - Tuesday - 10/13/20 - Total Days: 11 ----------------------------------- - [0800]: Okay Looking larger! --- Roots are looking great too! More fish-boning and growth! --- Checked the bucket solution. --- PH was at 5.9 --- PPMs were at 295 --- Just going to let her to continue on growing! - [2045]: She still only has the one root, but there's more growth! Nice! --- Checked bucket solution. --- PH was at 5.9 --- PPMs were at 294 --- Top fed 10mL before placing her back into the bucket. --- I think I'm going to hold off on a reservoir change until Monday. --- Because of this, I'm thinking about adding a little bit of grow nutrients to the bucket tomorrow or Thursday. --- Maybe 2mL each of Sensi Grow A&B along with 4mL of B-52. Then dilute the resulting solution down to 300-400PPMs before adding Hydroguard/Voodoo Juice. --- This way she can better acclimate to the grow nutrients before the reservoir change on Monday. Day 03 - Wednesday - 10/14/20 - Total Days: 12 ----------------------------------- - [0800]: Good morning! --- She still only has the one tap root, but the growth is looking great! --- Checked the bucket solution. --- PH was at 6.0 --- PPMs were at 296 --- Keep on growing girl! --- I will most likely start adding grow nutrients tonight. - [2045]: Okay time for a nutrient alteration! --- Plan to up the PPMs a bit (~400) and add some grow nutes! --- Checked the bucket solution. Roots are looking great! --- PH was at 6.1 --- PPMs were at 295 --- Added 3mL of Sensi Grow A --- Added 3mL of Sensi Grow B --- Added 3mL of B-52 --- Checked the PPMs which was at 426 --- I removed about 2 cups of the solution. --- Then added about 2-3 cups of straight distilled water mixed with a few drops of PH down. --- Basically I added a cup of water, then checked PPMs. Then repeated this until the PPMs dropped to the desired level. --- Final PPMs were at 399 --- PH was at 5.9 --- Finally I added additional beneficial bacteria to help keep everything clean. --- Added 2mL of Voodoo Juice --- Added 1mL of Hydroguard --- Checked the solution again and PH and PPMs did not change at all. --- Great! - [2100]: Top fed about 10mL before placing her back into the bucket. --- I really hope I did not shock her too much with the increased PPMs. --- Please keep growing strong girl! Day 04 - Thursday - 10/15/20 - Total Days: 13 ----------------------------------- - [0845]: Okay looking good! --- Roots are looking a bit brown. But still mostly white and definitely more growth. --- Checked the bucket solution. --- PH was at 5.9 --- PPMs were at 378 --- If more brown develops on the roots, I'll add more beneficial bacteria tonight. Worse case, I can always add a bit of Sensizym. Just a bit paranoid that the enzymes will also dissolve the young root so I'll add it as a last resort. - [2130]: Nice! More top growth! --- Hmm... Roots are really looking brown where they contact the nutrient solution. But still white above the water. --- Checked the bucket solution. --- PH was at 5.9 --- PPMs were at 406 --- 378 to 406? Could have been a false reading in the morning? --- Mixed up a concentrated Voodoo/Hydroguard spray solution. --- Added 250mL of straight distilled water to a measuring cup. --- Added 1mL of Voodoo Juice --- Added 1mL of Hydroguard --- Then PH'd down to 5.6 --- PPMs were only at 13 --- I poured the entire solution into a spray bottle to use as a root inoculant. --- In another bucket, I sprayed her roots until the brown algae build up was mostly gone. Thankfully the roots looked white and healthy underneath. --- Checked the air stones and brown build up seems to be forming there as well. --- Added 4mL of Hydroguard to the bucket solution. --- Checked the bucket solution. --- PH was at 6.0 --- PPMs were at 407 --- I gave her roots another spraying before placing her back into the bucket solution. --- If the brown algae/slime continues to build up, I may have to do a reservoir change early. --- Or I can add Sensizym? I really don't want to add any this early, but I may have to if the Hydroguard and Voodoo Juice can't keep the algae slime under control. I just don't want to dissolve her roots again. --- The good thing is that overall, the roots still look healthy and I'm starting to see a few more starting to poke through the side of the net basket. --- Plus top growth seems to be unaffected and healthy so going to wait on a res change. --- I just hope the slime doesn't get out of control again. --- I'll check in the morning to see if anymore build up occurs. Day 05 - Friday - 10/16/20 - Total Days: 14 ----------------------------------- - [0800]: Checked the roots and everything looks white now! --- Checked the bucket solution. --- PH was at 6.1 --- PPMs were at 409 --- Sprayed her roots with more of the Voodoo water before placing her back into the bucket solution. --- Seems that she's been drinking more water than nutrients. --- Going to add more water to the bucket and drop the PH a bit tonight. --- I'm also deciding on whether to reduce the PPMs or leave it the same for the next res change. For now, I think I plan to leave it the same (~400 PPMs) and will wait another week before upping the concentration. - [2130]: Leaves are looking larger! --- Roots are still white and healthy. Nice! --- Sprayed roots with more Voodoo water. --- Checked bucket solution. --- PH was at 6.2 --- PPMs were at 393 --- Added about a cup of distilled water mixed with PH down. --- PH dropped to 5.6 --- PPMs were at 399 --- Sprayed her roots again before placing her back in the bucket solution. Day 06 - Saturday - 10/17/20 - Total Days: 15 ----------------------------------- - [0815]: Morning! --- More leaf growth! Leaves are looking green with no yellowing. But growth is curling downwards. --- Checked the roots and they're still white and clean! Sprayed them again with more Voodoo water. --- Checked the bucket solution. --- PH was at 5.8 --- PPMs were at 393 --- Sprayed roots again before placing her back into the solution. - [0830]: After doing a bit of research online, I think the curling is either overwatering, or nitrogen toxicity/over-fertilization. --- PPMs are ~400 so I don't think it's over fertilization. --- Going to lower the CalMag ratio for the res change on Monday anyways. --- Since grow nutrients already have high levels of nitrogen, lowering the CaliMagic dosage (which has nitrogen) should balance out the nitrogen concentration when I add more grow nutrients. --- As for the potential overwatering issue, Not too sure how to address this. Growing in DWC, she's pretty much constantly watered, so the only thing I think of is to lower the water level. The increased air gap between the net basket and the surface of the water should allow the net pot to dry out more. I think. - [0845]: Removed 10 cups of water from the bucket. This dropped the water level by about 2 inches. --- Since she has roots reaching pretty far into the solution, I'll probably removed another 6 cups (16cups = 1gal) tonight or tomorrow to drop the levels even more. --- Also noticed the tent humidity was getting a bit low (~43%). The tray on the floor was drying up as well, so filled it with more tap water. Also I wet a towel and draped it over a corner of the table. As this dries, I hope the moisture released will increase the tents humidity as well. - [1600]: Aye she's looking better! --- So the curling and wilting of her leaves must have been due to over watering or in my case, oversaturated grow medium (hydroton was too wet). The lower water level seemed to have fixed the issue. Great! --- Root's still look healthy too! But I sprayed them again with more Voodoo water. --- Checked the bucket solution. --- PH was at 5.9 --- PPMs were at 384 --- Sprayed her roots again before placing her back in the bucket. --- Removed another 6 cups of water from the bucket. So now there's ~2gal of solution in the bucket. --- I think I'm going to leave the water level at this height for now. The basket was already a lot drier than before and I think I can see more roots forming. But what's most noticeable is that her leaves are starting to perk up a bit! --- If she is healthy with this water level, I'll probably be mixing 2gal (instead of 3gal) for future res changes. This will save me a bit of nutrients too which is great! Day 07 - Sunday - 10/18/20 - Total Days: 16 ----------------------------------- - [0845]: Voodoo water is getting a bit low so mixed up a fresh bath before checking the bucket. --- Added 300mL of distilled water into a measuring cup. --- Added 1mL of Voodoo Juice --- Added 1mL of Hydroguard --- Then PH'd down to 5.1 --- PPMs were at 13 --- Then poured solution into a spray bottle. - [0900]: Good morning little one! More top growth! --- Checked her roots and they're already reaching the bottom of the bucket! But they're looking a bit brown where they contact the water. --- In a different bucket, I sprayed the affected area clean with the Voodoo water solution. --- Checked the bucket solution. --- PH was at 5.8 --- PPMs were at 380 --- Added 3ml of Hydroguard --- PH stayed at 5.8 --- PPMs went up to 409 --- Sprayed her roots again before placing her back into the bucket. --- Her leaves are still looking a bit curled. but better than before. Hopefully her first reservoir change tomorrow night will correct any nutrient imbalances she may be having. --- Thinking about for 2gal of water: --- 8mL of Rhino Skin --- 4mL of CaliMagic --- 6mL each of Sensi Grow A&B (12mL total) --- 10mL of B-52 --- 8mL of Voodoo Juice --- 5mL of Hydroguard --- Then I'll add distilled water until the concentration is ~400 PPMs before PH adjusting to 5.5-5.8 --- Now that she has roots reaching to the bottom of the bucket, I think I'm going to be adding Rhino Skin for silica uptake to thicken her roots and stems. But still no Sensizym. - [1615]: Looking good girl! --- Checked the roots and they look white! Also I can see a second root poking out of the side of the basket. Nice! --- Checked the bucket solution. --- PH was at 5.9 --- PPMs were at 385 --- Sprayed roots again with more Voodoo water. --- Tomorrow is res change day so going to leave everything alone until then. [END OF WEEK 02]