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This was one of my projects during the past few weeks. It is a cabinet that I got in a second hand shop and that I decided to transform into a growing cabinet. I took out the drawer, cut a few holes, installed all the fans needed (only AC Infinity by the way, sponsor me ! ;) ), I had a hard time finding a light that would work, I first tried with a 150w HPS but the fans didn't cool it down enough that I went for a LED and I chose a thin one to try and respect the distance in between the light and the plant.
I then had to choose the growing medium, I went for a 2 Gallon Bucket that I painted in black and changed into a DWC system, I made two lids, one with two 2" net pots for germination and one with a 4" net pot for the rest of the growing.
I still have adjustments to make but it seems to work well for now.
This is my first time doing hydroponic and it is going to be a challenge, especially in such small space, but I loved building the furniture and I will love using it.
I first started with 2 seeds of Cheese from Dinafem that I got a while ago for free. The first one germinated but then froze since the cabinet was outside at that time, I brought it inside to finish it and the second seed germinated. To replace the other seed, I wanted to try another free seed that I got a while back from Paradise Seeds, the Nebula, I put it in Rockwool on Nov 1st. I will only grow one of them, let's see if it pops, then you will choose which strain you want !
UPDATE : 11/06 - Found out that the other Cheese seed was rotten (probably was cause of the freeze like the other one I'm thinking), had to throw it away and replaced it by another Nebula seed from PS. Changed the solution and here we go for a new run !
UPDATE : 11/22 - None of the Nebula seeds in the Rockwool has popped so I decided to germinate them another way and filled small jars of tap water, shook them for O2 and dumped another seed of Nebula and a seed of Original Cheese, also from Paradise seeds (both where given as samples a while ago). 8 days later none of them has popped yet so I decided to try out another sample I received, but a couple month ago this time. Same technique in the jar and 2 days later, BOOM ! Meringue seed from Dutch Passion has popped. Made the usual solution and put it in Rockwool.
I also added two extra LED that I will be using during flowering and a small heater cause nights (and days) are getting chilly...
UPDATE : 12/01 - The Meringue seedling is doing great, none of the other seeds have cracked yet. But I am very happy with this Dutch Passion strain, I wanted to try it out anyways, but in other conditions.
This little Meringue is going strong ! A lil more than a week after germination she is lushy green and I am very excited to show you the grow !
As you can see I am basing my nutrient feeding solution on House & Garden line (I've always wanted to try them out) but I am also trying not spend any money on nut's so I'm only using products that I already own. So first Aqua Flakes A & B, that I got for free at a thrift shop, still brand new (long story). Than Roots Excelurator that I previously used outdoor (see other journal), probably one of the best root supplement out there. I added some Drip Clean (used to remove salt from materials and root structure) that I also used outdoor, but probably won't do it often since I don't think it will help that much in DWC.
To replace the "Amino Treatment" from H&G, I went for General Hydroponics' Floraliscious Plus that previously bought but never used so pretty excited about that !
Finally, and this is the only product I bought, Hydroguard from Botanicare, to keep everything clean and diseaseless.
UPDATE : 12/04 - Meringue is looking a lil upset... I changed her net pot two days ago to avoid roots getting caught in it, added some perlite rocks and a lot of love!
Not sure if I'm doing everything right frankly, Meringue is not looking that great and doesn't grow that much either these past few days... Maybe the transplant?
I have also noticed that there were not a high volume of Nitrogen available in the H&G Aqua Flakes A & B program so I decided I will add a tiny bit of Humboldt's Secret Verde which has a very high Nitrogen Potency just to try it out. I also found a tiny bottle of Primordial Solution's Sea Green that I bought a while ago for outdoor plants, I also added a little of that. Let's see the result !
UPDATE : 12/10 - Thank you for solving my grow question,Esoteric_growing, I was pretty sure low humidity was the problem and I already ordered a tiny humidifier but putting the humidity dome on it helped a lot, it is already feeling way better!
UPDATE : 12/13 - Meringue doesn't fit in her humidity dome anymore... And the small humidifier is still not here so I will have to believe in her, I did put a couple water "sources" to try and raise the humidity a little. Let's see !
I sprayed her with some Neem oil and a little Dyna-Gro Pro-Tekt as a preventive treatment for bugs, as well as foliar polish.I will also be spraying Lost coast's Plant Therapy from time to time.
Environment wise 40% humidity is a little low at this stage, I would put the dome back on to try and increase it if not already done and get it to around 50-70.
A plant will look like that normally for 3 reasons, too intense light, over watered/not enough oxygen to roots or low humidity usually when a plant has had its dome removed or not hardened off before transplant.
It’s hard to see if there is any tip burn on the leaf due to my crappy phone but my last port of call if changing any of the above fails would be too lower the EC a touch as I find in dwc you need very low EC compared to all other grow systems.
If possible get the humidity back to where it should be, then if it doesn’t rectify itself it’s either a case of raising the light a touch, dropping the EC a point or two and lastly maybe trying to add a little more aeration.
Hard to pin point exactly what it could be but hope this helps pal
A new solution for a new week ! Nothing fency, a little more Aqua flakes A & B and I added some Plant Success Orca, very beneficial bacterias ! Loved them in soil, can't wait to see them in action in hydroponics. Other than that I would say that all is going well !
UPDATE : 12/17 - Meringue received her first spray of H&G's Magic Green on the 15th, pretty sure she liked it. ;) I noticed a couple stains on the lower leaves, pretty sure it's a calcium deficiency, and it wouldn't surprise me since I use hardly any calcium in the solution. I sprayed her this time with CalCarb from Xtreme Gardening, I used it for my outdoor grow and have a tiny left (the idea again is to try not to buy any other nutes... I already have what is needed I think.) so I sprayed some on the 16th. Today finally, I topped her in between the 4th and 5th nod, seems to react well !
UPDATE : 12/19 - Everything is fine is the small cabinet, I gave her her foliar protection in the form of Lost Coast's Plant Therapy today, and wash off these horrible blue stains made by Calcarb. So by the way, I thought maybe I'ld cheat again and stop by my grow store to pick up some General Hydroponics CaliMagic (Cocorico!) so I did... Oh well, it won't hurt me, and help her a lot!
Starting all fresh this week, I completely cleaned her bucket while I still can and gave her pretty much the same food as last week, CaiMagic added to the list of course. I also thought she would be ready for her first training so I bent the main branch at about 90' angle and will wait a few days for the others to grow a little before shaping the plant a little more.
UPDATE : 12/22 - Finally received my mini humidifier and my bigger domes but the plant is now way too big for them so let's just stick with the mini humidifier, already great cause it brings the level over 50%, finally, don't have to spray every few hours to try and get it nice and humid ! Very thrilled ! Other than that Meringue is awesome, soon ready to be LSTed a lil more. The calcium stains on the lower first leaves are worse than before but the new ones don't seem to be affected by the deficiency. What do you think?
UPDATE : 12/25 - Meringue is turning a little light green and has her tips kind of brownish, what could it be? Other than that she is growing fine. I will train her a little more.
Sprayed her with Neem oil and Dyna-Gro Pro-Tekt in prevention for bugs.
UPDATE : 12/26 - I trained 4 branches using LST technics, I will top them in a few days now.
This week I gave her more Verde than usual to try and boost her growth a little bit with more Nitrogen and also put the level of CalMag a lil higher cause she seems to lack Calcium... I need to spray her with Magic Green as soon as I can.
The LST continues and she gets wider and wider every day. Soon another topping!
UPDATE : 12/29 - Sprayed her with H&G's Magic Green and also some plant therapy, just in case. Trained her a little more, looking good, the bucket is almost covered!
UPDATE : 12/31 - Pretty sure Meringue has some nute's burns but not sure what... Topped 4 branches that were sticking out to try and make them all even. Soon gonna put the netting structure on top and start weaving for ScrOG.
UPDATE : 01/02 - Happy new year to everyone first, and thank you to BluntZilla for helping me in my grow question, the others also, I took your advice. Next feeding will be different, I will lower the dosage of Aqua Flakes A and a lil more B and get rid of Verde since it has a lot of N and the most P. Let's try it out and hope it all works out! I also noticed the Ca deficiency and have been trying to fix it, pretty sure it's done since no other leave has start to show any signs. I took out some ugly big leaves and also some that were in the way.
Can't really determine what's going on from the picture but from the diary it seems like your plant suffers from a Phosphorous (P) toxicity! - top leaves grow thinner with interveinal chlorosis while Calcium (Ca) and Magnesium (Mg) deficiencies are showing at the mid-bottom of the plant.
I'd suggest lowering the "Aqua-Flakes B" dosage by half and checking it daily for any improvements. If the problem gets better then keep going until she looks completely healthy then start increasing slowly as the plant matures, if it doesn't get better then try flushing your system and providing her with tap water for a couple of days to clear out the toxicity (this may cause deficiencies of other nutrients so be careful!)
Hope this helps! Good luck and happy growing :)
As you can see, new week and a few new stuff for Meringue, first of all, I put the ScrOG I built in the cabinet and I'm going to start weaving the plant along the week, probably her last week in 18-6 of light. I also backed off my feeding program a little cause I learnt that I went a little too far with my nutes... Finally, I turned on the 2 extra LED strips that are on both sides to have her get a little more light.
UPDATE : 01/05 - I believe Meringue is doing better, she still has some burns on the tips but she might need a few days... I've taken a few big leaves out as well as tiny branches in the bottom that won't be needed. Sprayed her also with some Neem seed oil and Pro-tekt, just to insure being bug free last night.
UPATE : 01/07 - She is defiantly growing but unfortunately her new veg are still burnt it seems... I don't really have time to wash the roots cause the surface of the net is almost full and I'm gonna have to switch it to flower at the end of the week, I'm sure she will be fine but I'm a lil sad... Sprayed her with some Magic Green last night from H&G. And topped one last branche cause I didn't know where to put it in the net. ^^
UPDATE : 01/09 - Last day of veg today ! Most of the screen is full and the transition will take care of the rest! Can't wait to see buds all over the place! Sprayed her with some Plant Therapy on the 8th.
Switched the light schedule to 12-12 today and fed her the first flowering nutes, I'm gonna be using Fox Farm's powder trio since I haven't finished it completely after the Outdoor grow last summer. Adding also some Terpinator because I feel it really helped for the outddor also and I found a bottle of H&G's Multi Zen in a house I am currently cleaning so I am putting in my program as well.
I cut a few branches and leaves under the net but not all of it yet since the whole plant hasn't made it there.
UPDATE : 01/14 All seems to go pretty well this week, I have been a lil less here for her but, I've been defoliating and knitting the branches in the net when needed. Cleaned it a lot actually...
I would say a lil more than 80% of the area is covered.
UPDATE : 01/16 Growing and growing, sprayed DG's Neem oil and Pro-tekt night of 14th and some Magic Green the next day. Still no sign of flower or sex.
Another new week and solution for the girl! Still in her stretch which is good since I still have to fill a little less than 10% of the surface. I keep on knitting the other tops so they don't get too high and I can tell you there are a few right now. Hopefully she will start confirming being a girl by the end of the week... I'ld like to see flowers as soon as possible! :)
UPDATE : 01/20 - Growing and growing! Sprayed her with Plant Therapy last night.
UPDATE : 01/23 - We have our first flowers and female sexes! This is a whole new game! I'm happy and she is too. I gave her her last spray of Magic Green yesterday night and will spray Neem oil with Pro-Tekt tonight. Almost all the net is covered but will sure be by the end of that grow! :)
This will be my last week before next month talking on that diary. I'm leaving Meringue in the good care and hands of one of my friends so I can take some vacations, I will be back a lil before harvest and I will ask him to take a few pictures so you and I can follow the grow... She is doing fine otherwise I would say, ready to give us what she has to offer! Can't wait!
UPDATE : 01/28 - Flowers are slowly growing and it's looking good, they are everywhere so hopefully they'll grow tall and wide! Colas everywhere I want! ^^
UPDATE : 01 /31 - Sprayed some Plant Therapy on the 29th since flowers aren't too big yet. Other than that I'm almost on holidays and hitting for NO !
Finally back home and back to Meringue, I missed her! I was pretty happy when I saw how the buds look now, they've grown but more importantly they're full of crystals! Shiny diamonds!
Cleaned the plants from the dead and dry leaves but not completely. I fed her with some top booster for a few days.
Took out a few more dead leaves, buds are slowly growing. Couple weeks left before flushing.
UPDATE : 02/26 - Still growing, a lilttle slowly but she's losing all her leaves...
UPDATE : 03/01 - Ending the week with some pretty nice flowers, I don't know what you think,
UPDATE : 03/09 - Meringue is almost ready to cut I started the flush today with distilled water to try it out, adding some Drip Clean. Can't wait to try that smoke!
meko23
