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DWC - Phoenix Seeds - OG Kush

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2 years ago
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Grow Conditions
Week 18
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4.445
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18 hrs
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Ensign420 Ensign420
4 years ago
Introduction - Week 18 Summary - This week will be my final entry for this grow log... Going to have to end this log as yet another failure.. I'm not sure exactly sure what went wrong, but I think it was mainly due to extreme PH and PPMs fluctuations in the tray. Or overwatering. Or both. I think I should have transplanted as soon as her tap roots started to poke out the bottom of the cube. I dunno... Throwing in the towel on this grow.. Actually I'm done with DWC and hydroponic growing in general... I may be giving up on hydro (for now), but not on growing! For the next grow log, I'll be attempting to grow some 'OG Kush' from 'Alien Genetics.' Also going organic and growing in soil! But more importantly, I plan to grow in a no-till living super soil. Even going to create my own compost using Bokashi and actual worms (Red Wigglers). Recently, I've been looking into Build-A-Soil and have been sold on their organic approach to growing. The information on both their site and YouTube channel has been incredibly helpful for me to learn and get started. Their super soil can be created from scratch using the exact ingredients on their site (Coots Mix derived). Or for a newbie like me, the same soil can also be purchased premixed and ready to grow in. Going to be growing in a sub-irrigated planter. Instead of a DIY setup, plan to try the EarthBox. The bottom reservoir will allow the water to wick-up through the soil without over-watering the top soil. Of course I won't be bottom watering until roots have been fully established in the soil. Planning to soak the seed in water for 12-24hrs before planting in Build-A-Soil's 'Light' soil mix. As for pot size, plan to start in solo cups before transplanting into the EarthBox. The EarthBox will be filled with 1 cubic foot of fully amended super soil using their signature '3.0' mix. Worms and Bokashi will be added to help produce nutrients for my plant (at least this is how I think it will work). Will also be top dressing and may even try brewing a compost tea. So... BIG CHANGES!! Will not be using my PH/PPM pens anymore which is going to be interesting. Of course, the biggest change will be the way I feed. Instead of force feeding her roots with chelated nutrients, I'll be feeding the soil, worms, and microbial life which will produce all the nutrients she'll need. More importantly, she'll be able to eat all the food she needs at the rate she needs it. In a way, soil growing seems like providing a buffet of all you can eat food that she can uptake naturally at her own pace. While hydro growing is more like feeding food intravenously at a determined rate. Growing in soil also means no more bottle nutrients. So posting a sale on eBay for my lot of Advanced Nutrients. I'm only selling the unopened bottles, but if the bidding goes well, I'll include the opened bottles too. To save on shipping I'm only doing local pickups. If interested, check out the listing below: https://www.ebay.com/itm/ADVANCED-NUTRIENTS-Sensi-Bloom-A-B-Nirvana-Overdrive-Big-Bud-Unopened-Lot-LOCAL/284263236220 Anyways that's about it for now. The tent has been reset and sterilized. Now just waiting for my organics to arrive for the next run (about a month or so waiting period). Until the next grow log, stay safe and keep growing on! LLAP. 🖖 [START OF WEEK 18] Day 01 - Monday - 04/12/21 - Total Days: 130 ----------------------------------- - [0930]: Did a quick morning check on temps! --- Dome temps were at 73°F at 72% RH --- Added the rest of the nutrient solution to the tray (PH'd to 5.5) --- She is starting to look a bit deficient. May have to increase the PPMs closer to 300-400 soon. - [2300]: Checked on temps. --- Dome temps were at 73°F at 72% RH --- Checked the tray solution. --- PH was at 6.2 --- PPMs were at 687 --- Woah PPMs are a bit high! But there was a lot of evaporation. --- Added distilled water and PH down --- PH dropped to 5.4 --- PPMs were at 188 --- Not sure what's wrong with her. She's looking stunted. --- Looking back at my logs, I had the temp a bit warmer (~85°F at 99% RH). --- Trying to match this, I removed 2 sheets of card board from the in between the heat mat and tray (now only 2 sheets of cardboard). If needed, I'll remove more. --- Also placed the lid of the dome back on without any gaps (both vents are now two thirds open). This should increase the RH back to 99%. Day 02 - Tuesday - 04/13/21 - Total Days: 131 ----------------------------------- - [0845]: Did a quick morning check on temps! --- Dome temps were at 78°F at 99% RH --- Did not need to add water to the tray. - [1040]: Checked on temps. --- Dome temps were at 79°F at 99% RH --- Checked the tray solution. --- PH was at 6.0 --- PPMs were at 354 --- Added distilled water and PH down --- PH dropped to 5.6 --- PPMs were at 299 --- Time to give her a CaliMagic foliar feeding! --- Filled a measuring cup with a cup of distilled water. --- PH was at 6.5 --- PPMs were at 8 --- Added 6 drops of Rhino Skin (17 PPMs) --- Added 4 drops of Sensi Grow A (94 PPMs) --- Added 3 drops of Sensi Grow B (179 PPMs) --- Added 3 drops of B-52 (229 PPMs) --- Added 6 drops of CaliMagic (566 PPMs) --- Added 10 drops of Voodoo Juice (566 PPMs) --- Added a dab of Great White (567 PPMs) --- PH was at 5.5 --- Did not adjust PH --- Poured most of the solution into a spray bottle. --- I held her upside-down above the tray and gave her a spraying. I made sure to spray the underside of every leaf. Then placed her back into the tray and sprayed the top. Going to save the rest for topping off. --- Had about a quarter left in the measuring cup. Topped it off to a full cup with distilled water. --- PH was at 5.7 --- PPMs were at 152 --- Going to save this to top off the tray. --- Also removed another sheet of cardboard. Now there's only a single sheet in-between the heat mat and the tray. --- Hopefully the boost of CalMag will help her recover. Day 03 - Wednesday - 04/14/21 - Total Days: 132 ----------------------------------- - [0930]: Did a quick morning check on temps! --- Dome temps were at 87°F at 99% RH --- Did not need to add water to the tray. - [1020]: Checked on temps. --- Dome temps were at 78°F at 99% RH --- Going to give her a Hydrogen Peroxide Flush (1:3 ratio). --- Filled a measuring cup with a 1/3 cup of Hydrogen Peroxide (pharmaceutical grade at 3% strength). --- Then topped the it off to 1 cup with distilled water. --- Since this is a flushing solution, I'm not going to bother to check PH nor PPMs. --- Removed her from the tray, held her over a sink and poured a bit of distilled water over the cube. --- Then poured more distilled water over the cube to re-saturate it. --- Shook out the water again before submerging her into the peroxide solution. --- Once the medium was fully saturated, I lifted her out and shook out as much as I could. --- Then gave her another dunk in the peroxide solution to fully saturate the medium again. --- Did this a few more times before leaving her in the solution to brew for a bit. --- While doing this, I noticed that the solution was bubbling. This is a good thing! The peroxide should be releasing fresh oxygen to her root zone while sterilizing the cube. --- Checked the tray solution. --- PH was at 5.8 --- PPMs were at 908 --- Added the entire cup of the diluted CalMag solution to the tray (PH 5.9 - 152 PPMs) --- Added a bit diluted PH down --- PH dropped to 5.5 --- PPMs were at 334 --- Poured out a bit of the tray solution. --- Removed her from the peroxide solution and shook out as much as I could before returning her to the tray. --- Hopefully this peroxide treatment will help to revitalize her. --- If she doesn't recover soon, then I may have to end this run a lot sooner than I thought.. Day 04 - Thursday - 04/15/21 - Total Days: 133 ----------------------------------- - [0930]: Did a quick morning check on temps. --- Dome temps were at 80°F at 99% RH --- Did not add any water. - [2150]: Checked on temps. --- Dome temps were at 78°F at 99% RH --- Checked the tray solution. --- PH was at 5.8 --- PPMs were at 820 --- Added distilled water and PH down --- PH dropped to 5.5 --- PPMs were at 304 Day 05 - Friday - 04/16/21 - Total Days: 134 ----------------------------------- - [0900]: Did a quick morning check on temps. --- Dome temps were at 80°F at 99% RH --- Did not add any water. --- Yea I think she's not going to make it. --- Damnit Ensign (*smokes a phat bowl).. --- Going to continue to grow on for now, but since I'm out of seeds for this strain, if she doesn;t recover soon, looks like I'll have to end this log as another failure.. This time, I'm not sure what I did wrong. Maybe I started feeding too early? Or was it over-watering? Or both? I dunno.. --- This grow journey has definitely been a struggle.. --- Think I'm going to finally throw in the towel for DWC and rockwool growing.. --- Was considering a switch to coco.. --- But recently I've been thinking about scrapping hydro and trying the basics. --- Which means soil growing. --- More specifically a living, no-till, super soil. --- Been researching a bit on organic cannabis growing and I guess if done right, all I have to do is add PH'd balanced water. --- I understand that soil yields less than hydro, but at this point, I'm not looking to yield a lot. I just want to learn to grow enough medicine to last me to the next harvest. --- The only crippling factor is that if I go soil (which I think I will), then most of my AN nutes will go to waste. I've barely opened a third of the nutes I purchased and haven't even used any bloom nutes yet. Damn. I guess instead of throwing everything away, I wonder if I can locally resell the unopened bottles on eBay at a discounted price to a fellow grower who could use them. - [1930]: Checked on temps. --- Dome temps were at 89°F at 99% RH --- Checked the tray solution. --- PH was at 5.6 --- PPMs were at 539 --- Did not adjust anything. --- To increase airflow in the dome, I opened both vents all the way. --- Will let her dry out a bit and check in the morning. --- I think I'll give her another week or so, but I think this run is over. --- Might take a bit, but have decided to make the switch from bottles to living soil. --- Been researching organic growing and since I'm probably only going to grow one plant (mainly due to budget). --- I think I might give EarthBox a try. Seems to be an ideal meld of organic compost growing with a bit of hydro. --- Plus if things grow well, I can easily fit a second one in the tent (I can fit up to 4). --- Seems to fit a cubic foot of soil perfectly and I can 'cook' the soil in it as I get the seedling started. --- Will most likely end this run on Sunday. - [+0135]: Ho damn! Well it's done. --- Placed an order at Build-A-Soil for an EarthBox! --- Planning to start the seed using the soak method before planting into a solo cup using BAS's 'Light' mix and will veg her to an appropriate size before transplanting into the EarthBox which will be filled with their latest '3.0' mix. --- Also ordered a few things like BAS's craft and bokashi blend to help jumpstart the compost. Even going to try and find a local source for fresh earth worms (red wigglers) that I can add to the soil. --- As for mulch, going to use the plastic bag cover along with any trimmings I defoliate throughout the grow. --- If things go well, may even try brewing a compost tea. --- The best part is that if I can get this right, the same soil should be re-useable and should get even better with time. Or at the worst, if I fail, then the plant material can be broken up and should decompose into more food for the next attempt. --- Don't need to worry about PH or PPMs anymore neither which is great! Not going to check PH nor PPMs unless an issue occurs. --- So I'm done with hydro and bottle nutrients (for now). Going fully organic! --- Build-A-Soil has a ton of useful growing videos on YouTube which has been the source for my inspiration. I am going to try to grow something similar to what they have in quadrant 1 in their 10x10 grow tent. --- Going to be another learning curve, but stoked none the less! Day 06 - Saturday - 04/17/21 - Total Days: 135 ----------------------------------- - [0820]: Did a quick morning check on temps. --- Dome temps were at 81°F at 49% RH --- Added a bit of distilled water to the tray. Did not adjust the PH. --- Based on what little I've learned from soil growing, I think I overwatered her. She looks stunted. --- Going to probably end this run tonight or tomorrow. - [2100]: Ending this log.. --- She is just not going to make it. --- RIP... --- Well my venture into hydro has been a difficult one and I'm disappointed that I couldn't make it to harvest. --- But hey, I might give it another go in the future after I've gained more experience. --- Going to try to sell my unopened bottles of Advanced Nutrients to see if I can get a partial return. --- --- Even though I'm done with DWC, I haven't given up on growing! Next run will be in organic no-till living soil. --- --- Might be a few weeks to a month (21 day wait to make, plus shipping), but I'll be back! --- --- There will be no further log entries. --- --- LLAP. 🖖 Day 07 - Sunday - 04/18/21 - Total Days: N/A ----------------------------------- - [MISSION ABORTED] - [END OF WEEK 18]
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sativaman
sativamanweek 8
I see you put a lot of energy and time in your grow. But their is something that you are doing that is not right. I cannot pinpoint it. I have zero experience in DWC. Could be small things like pH pen calibration not saying this is it...) But a 8 week old DWC plant should be a small tree. Your seedling is dying. Best thing you should do is subscribe to a cannabis forum like grasscity, rollitup etc and ask for help. I wish i will see in the future a growth of yours that is thriving and looking happy!! Best of luck! Edit looking at ppm number closely I see major drop from day to day, That is your problem but it is hard for me to explain what is going on. Maybe too much supplement not enough food? (sensi grow) Ppm variations affects ph. Look at Advance Nutrients feeding chart and check if you are on range. It seems low for DWC-hydro. Your total ppm would be fine with tap water and base nutrient only with coco coir growing medium. But with 5ml a gal this is good for first week of germination IMHO.
Ensign420
Ensign420
@sativaman, Well I'm done with hydro for now. Just too difficult for me at my level of experience. Going to try growing in soil for the next run. Just have to wait for my supplies to arrive in an about a month or two. This should give me a bit more time to learn more about organics and how to grow in a no-till super soil.
sativaman
sativaman
@Ensign420, Please look at my first comment in this conversation QUOTE : Looking at ppm number closely I see major drop from day to day, That is your problem, ************* You still have major day to day drop you need a bigger thank and in the mean time up your feeding and check it twice a day! Bertoxxulus just made you a comment and explained you the same. If you want to succeed with DWC you should stop doing the same things (sorry)
sativaman
sativaman
@Ensign420, just saw your reply! hope you can keep her happy now!
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ObiWanKaRobbie
ObiWanKaRobbieweek 12
Ive been doing DWC stand alone for over 20 years.. I'm a master gardener, Horticulturalist by trade, and an arborist.. I'm new here..nice to be able to lend some experience your way.. firstly, soil, Coco, or any media aside from mineral wool will have a negative effect.. organics belong outdoors where the soil biome has a hand in helping maintain positive microbiology...otherwise there's too much intervention.. now definitions.. organic means the inclusion of Carbon based amendments to the solution.. inorganic or rather mineral is the exclusion of carbon within the solution.. your water temps look good..as for pH, stop watching it and adjusting it at all.. they don't like it much.. Now that that's out of the way, I'll give you a fool proof way of doing this... Firstly, all your tap water, if chlorinated, has to sit uncovered for 24-36 hrs to evaporate the chlorine first..it's like kryptonite to them.. With the rockwool, switch to 2" cups and the square rockwool 2" plugs.. usually come in flats of 90 for around 20$..cheaper that way..Uline sells solid HDPE food grade pails and lids..lids are like 2$ each, use a 2" hole saw on a drill to make your hole for your cup..ALWAYS make sure to close up the sides with extra rockwool to block out ALL light..black pails and black lids..(tried white long a go...was a disaster)..easy peasy..cheap and easy.. Next the nutrients you should start using are the General Hydroponics three bottle system of green red and purple..follow the directions on the bottles for mixing ratios.. simple.. As for PPM schedule, I use fresh water for clones until roots show then raise the PPM to 300-400 for 2-3 weeks or until plant shows signs it's running out of nitrogen.. the light should be back far from them at this stage so they don't grow too quickly and can establish some main roots.. afterwards, I do a thorough deleaf to open them up for light, dropping the light down a bit as well, and increase the PPM to 600 for the remainder of the time in VEG... In Flower, I begin with a good deleaf, removing all leaves with purple or red petioles..then begin with a bucket of fresh water adjusted to 600ppm for 2 weeks, this keeps the nodes tighter and stops that runaway growth spurt in early flower.. two weeks later I up the PPM to 800-900 and tidy up the canopy, looking for red and purple petioles and leaves the are touching each other and leaving a wet spot.. Two more weeks and I bring the PPM up to 1200 for the remainder of the cycle, switching to just fresh water for the final 4-5 days before harvest.. I NEVER check my ph..in DWC MINERAL the plants balance it themselves.. Note, a complete water change might be beneficial mid way through flower with fresh nutes rebalanced to the right PPM.. Also, when it comes to light positions.. find a PAR map for your light..once you see it you'll comprehend.. clones need a par of 150-200, early and mid veg need a par of 300-400, with late veg at 600.. in flower use a par of 800-900, 1000max without supplimental CO2.. otherwise they will become carbon starved and being foxtailing or worse case, produce some seeds.. It really becomes simple when you eliminate the parts of the equation that are unnecessary.. Cheers..any questions, feel free to msg me
Bertoxxulous
Bertoxxulous
@Ensign420, I am also using almost entirely hydroton and a 6" net basket myself. I start my seeds in the small 2" (I think) rockwool cubes and then transplant into the net basket. On this grow, and in the past I put maybe around 1"+ of hydroton in the bottom of the net. I put the net on my bucket and then begin filling it with water until the water line is right at the top of my hydroton. I then put my seedling (that is in a 2" rockwool cube) in the middle of the net, and then fill it in all around with hydroton until the net is either completely or almost full. The reason I do this is that the water is at the bottom of the rockwool cube so it will naturally force the roots to grow down. Also, the rockwool cube is not completely submerged which prevents issues such as overwatering. I have a "sight tube" on my bucket so I can always see the water level. I see some guys use it for other things but my only purpose is to see the water level. When I do the transpant described above, I also mark with a sharpy on the tube where the water level is. I keep my water level at this mark the whole grow. I have not tried techniques such as lower water level to stress the plant for potential better harvest. I personally don't feel that there is a need in my case. Also, after this grow I've decided I'm changing the way I transplant. I never really thought to transplant into the bucket right after the cotyledon leaves show, but I've seen alot of guys doing that here without a hitch. My next grow I'm going to try that because if it works nicely it would cut 1+ weeks down in veg for me. Using that 150W CFL takes the plant a long time to spit out two or three sets of leaves. Not to mention I'm hand watering a rockwool cube maybe once or twice a day. If it went straight into the system you'd get the same speedy growth you do when I'm used to transplanting. To answer your question, when there is about 2 or 3 leaves on the plant is when roots start to show typically. So really what I'm looking for is roots poking out the bottom of the cube. I may get a 3.5 gallon bucket so I can use the same netpot, but less water while it's a seedling so I'm not wasting so much. My top-off gallon schedule right now is I'm having to mix it about every two days. I also mix in R/O water if the ppms are high. Both gallons go down about the same level in a two day period. So I'd say roughly right now this plant is pounding down about a gallon a day. This means my mixed water doesn't sit around for too long. It may be more of an issue sitting around longer during very early veg, but it was never an issue for me. I can't give you a 100% accurate answer that it stays fresh considering the organics. The Roots Excelurator is in a metal can with a water tight seal and then a lid on it. I don't think it was intended to be subject to much light, but in my case I'm mixing it in anyways. I don't think it's going to hurt anything but it does stain my plastic jug. If I felt the jug were an issue I'd just toss it and use a new one. With flushing I start it when the trichomes are 100% cloudy and maybe up to 5% or less are amber. In DWC I flush for 3 days typically. Yea ScrOGS and hydro is just a tricky thing. I'm not 100% happy with my setup and have been brainstorming alternatives for my next grow. I will ALWAYS ScrOG though. To me with confined space it is the way to maximize harvest. I'd like to do two Auto's next time so I need to come up with a better universal method. My pleasure growmie!
Ensign420
Ensign420
@Bertoxxulous, Nice! Any help is much appreciated! Yea, I've heard a lot of good things about the H&G nutrient line. Wish I could trade in my AN nutes for H&G, but not gonna happen. And good tip on the weekly res changes. Makes sense when using organic additives. Yea, for now I'm still going to try to use the hydroton along with a 6" net basket. I have them already and might as well use them. One question, what level do keep the water at during various stages of growth? When you transplant, do you keep the water level above the net basket or below? Do you lower the level every week? I think I've been having issues with over-watering. Also, just wondering, when do you usually transplant into the DWC bucket? As soon as the tap root pokes out? Or after a bit of root growth? Interesting, I never really considered topping off with the same nutrient mix. I've only been using distilled water along with more beneficial bacteria/fungi for my top-offs. Do you prepare your 'top-off' gallon at the same time as your weekly res change? Does it stay fresh all week? And yea, since I'm using organics too, going to continue to check my PH and PPMs daily. Cool! Yea, going to check PH and PPMs everyday! Good advice! Although I think I'm experiencing a bit of underfeeding right now. I think I need to supplement a bit of CaliMagic to bump the PPMs up a bit. But not too sure. Haven't made it to flushing quite yet. Haven't even made it to flower yet. But sound advice non-the-less! So when do you start to flush? Do you start to flush after you see the trichomes at the desired level or just before? Also, in DWC how long do you typically flush for? And wow! Your current grow is looking great! Really like the double bucket setup to help with the water temps. Great idea to keep temps lower without a chiller. Also the way your scrog is attached to the net basket is genius! Must make res changes a lot easier to do without messing up the trellis net. What you say about res changes and using organics makes a lot of sense. Since I too am using organics, I'll continue to do weekly res changes. Yea I'm still a bit confused on proper lighting height and intensity. But I think I've dialed my light (Mars Hydro TSW2000) to an appropriate setting and height for this stage of growth (~39" away at 25%). I originally had my light at 100% intensity which was way too bright for a tiny seedling. As for PAR and PPFD, I have no experience (but sort of understand the importance). Also a quantum PAR meter (from Apogee Instruments) is just too expensive for me to invest in at the moment. I have an app on my phone which kind of works (Photone), but not to confident on its accuracy. But to be honest, I'm not too concerned about my light at the moment. Wow! Lots of good tips! Thanks again for your input and advice growmie!
Bertoxxulous
Bertoxxulous
@Ensign420, It sounds like ObiWanKaRobbie has a lot of experience with DWC, wheras I only have two successful grows under my belt in DWC (I used to do Ebb & Flow before). That being said I thought I'd give you my perspective: I am using (originally two) three organic additives (Roots Excelurator, Liquid Karma, and Hydroguard) to my mix including the primary House & Garden mineral nuts (Aqua Flakes A+B, Multi Zen, CaliMagic, Bud XL, Top Booster, and Top Shooter). This is my first time using Roots Excelurator and Hydroguard, but both have made a big difference. I am a firm believer in the effects of Liquid Karma, and there may be better products out there that are similar but I'm happy with it. Because I use these "organic" supplements I have chosen to do water changes weekly. I wipe my bucket clean with fresh water only and make sure to dry everything (I prefer using paper towels) before I put my new mix in. I think there are many ways to skin a cat, but Hydroton is often used due to its neutrality. I don't think using Rockwool only is going to make that big a difference except giving you the ability to use a smaller net pot. I certainly could be wrong about that though. When it comes to nutrients and PH, I have found they all have different effects. I used to use a different brand of nutrients originally and they had a different effect on the PH than the H&G line. Additionally, Liquid Karma brings my PH way down so I have to use PH up during my water changes to pull it from ~5.2ph up to 5.8. PH fluctuations aren't a big deal if they aren't huge. I choose to PH my solution twice a day. However, this usually happens with me topping my bucket off with a mix of the same levels I used for that week in my weekly water change. Because the Liquid Karma brings the PH down, and my bucket PH tends to rise...just adding the mixed water brings my PH back down. This means I don't typically have to add PH up or down, just my top-off gallon mix. To keep my PH at roughly the same ppm I started at for that week I use a combination of my top-off mix gallon and another gallon of R/O water. You eventually figure out how much you need to put in of what to keep it at the same PPM. My main point about the PH here is that, depending on what nutrients/additives your adding to your rez is going to effect how your PH behaves. I think there are alot of factors to consider, and would just like to say that you should not ignore your PH. I think keeping PPMs low is a good idea. You can experiment with adding more if the plant looks like it's starting to have a deficiency (which happend with me and CaliMagic on my current grow). If your PPMs start dropping though, that is a sure sign to add more in my book. Right now I just started my 3rd week of flowering and I'm sitting at 1070ppm. My ppm's are going up between my checks, but not by much. When it comes to flushing, it's all about the trichomes...that is unless your plant is having serious problems and it may be a better decision to harvest early before it's a total wash. My suggestion is that you want almost 100% cloudy and maybe 5-10% amber...but that is a personal preference thing. Amber = couch lock to me and I don't like couch lock. I've got zero sleep or relaxation issues and prefer uplifting/upbeat/high-energy effects. If you have too much clear trichomes you get a fast buzz but it doesn't last very long. I would also like to add this will be my first time using Bud XL, Top Booster, and Top Shooter so I can't comment on what to expect. You can check my grow out when I harvest and we will both find out together...lol. When it comes to rez changes (I've already commented above with what I do) if your mineral only (no organics) I think you can get away with spacing rez changes out. In my opinion, with a small 5 gallon rez and using organics I feel like cleaning weekly is necessary. If you had a big 20 gallon or larger rez (what I used to roll with in Ebb & Flow) you could get away with spacing those rez changes out even more. This again is mostly my opinion from experience and also what I've researched online. For the LED light I'm using...it comes with a small manual and light height recommendations based on what cycle of growth...easy peasy. The PAR thing is interesting and I'd like to know more though. I've definitely come across that information before but I have not thoroughly researched it enough to really understand.
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BloodSweatBeers
BloodSweatBeersweek 6
How often do you calibrate your pens? I would recommend a bluelab pen, it's been a great investment for me.
BloodSweatBeers
BloodSweatBeers
@Ensign420, for the ppm pen I dont use storage solution, but for the pH i store it in KCI fluid. I'd check that out sooner or later, those bottles are pretty cheap from hydro stores and it might cause a headache later. I calibrate every 2 weeks
Ensign420
Ensign420
@BloodSweatBeers, To be honest, I don't ever calibrate them. I did calibrate my PH pen once. But never my PPM pen. Yea I've been really thinking about investing in a set of Bluelab pens and convert to EC instead of PPMs. I would also need bottles of calibration fluid (7.0 and 4.0). When I do, I'm going to check to see how off my current pens are. How do you store your pens? Would I need a bottle of storage solution too?
BloodSweatBeers
BloodSweatBeersweek 2
The coco is calling you my friend
sativaman
sativaman
@Ensign420, Coco coir is just a substrate like your rockwool. If you nutrients are for hydroponic they are coco friendly!!!
Ensign420
Ensign420
@BloodSweatBeers, Really tempted to give it a go. The one thing that is keeping me from trying are my base nutes. They're not made for coco. But still really tempted to try it anyways. Must resist the coco for now.
sativaman
sativamanweek 0
Hi mate I am growing same strain it will be nice to see what's going on on your side of the fence!!! Phoenix is great I loved their Super Kush and they have good rep. I see you have everything monitored closely. I am sure I will be watching sprouts on next update!
Ensign420
Ensign420
@ObiWanKaRobbie, Nice! Thanks for the rockwool tip!
ObiWanKaRobbie
ObiWanKaRobbie
@Ensign420,use a razor blade to open up one side of the rockwool cube, then lay the germinated seed in place and close the cube up, use an elastic band if it won't stay closed...cheers
sativaman
sativaman
@Ensign420, I have never worked with rockwoll. I do have great success using Rapid rooter or Jiffy pellets. Once the root is out I would soak my cube of water and make a hole about 0.25 to half inch deep to put seed in with root down. Then carefully adding some peat on the top.
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Bertoxxulous
Bertoxxulousweek 11
I'm wouldn't call myself a super experienced grower or anything but I've had some successful DWC grows years ago. I just started growing again a few weeks ago and doing DWC as well. Personally I have zero experience with the nuts your using. I've had good success with House and Garden. It was recommended to me by the dude at the grow store specifically for DWC. I can 100% guarantee that your problems look mostly PH related. When you grow in DWC the plant just explodes in no time. You have to be careful how long you veg normally because it will get too big if your grow area isn't large enough to facilitate. From my personal experience (again not a whole lot), PH is extreamely important. I used to do Ebb & Flow and it wasn't as big a deal. I would never let your PH drift plus/minus .3 off 5.7. 5.7/5.8 is magic. Things go south real fast with DWC. I really admire your persistance here, and second what sativaman said about going to the forums for help. When I first started growing I was ready to throw in the towel because nothing was working. Then some kind fellow from the UK steered me in the right direction, and I found the tent I was using was off-gasing (PVC made in China) and killing my plants. Once I got past that major hurdle I was in business.
Bertoxxulous
Bertoxxulous
@Ensign420, Cannabis is some hardy stuff. When I had my tent off-gassing issue, those plants looked like they would catch fire they were so burnt up. Once I fixed the tent problem though, I still got a good harvest. I'm not sure if your plant can recover or not being in that low ph for so long. If it does recover, be on the lookout for it going hermi on you. I haven't used those testing strips/drops before, but from what I've researched, they are not a long term solution if you want to continue down the DWC path. You have to be pretty nats ass with PH in DWC and that requires a good pen. My old pen cost as much as the BlueLab does now when I bought it (~one hundred dollars). One other thing too...Once you do make it into bloom, be prepared for larger ph fluctuations. Once your roots fill that bucket up you may only be working with less than 3 gallons to fill the bucket with the plant drinking close to half a gallon or more a day. Maintaining PH becomes quite a chore during bloom with such a small reservoir.
Ensign420
Ensign420
@Bertoxxulous, Woah nice, good catch! Glad you discovered your pen issue before things got worse! Wow, if just 0.5 off can be an issue.. No wonder why I've been struggling. I've been feeding a good 1.5 lower since I've started growing (which is ~7 months). So I've been feeding my girls ~4.3 to as a low as 3.5 PH.. This low PH could also be the reason why I've been experiencing extremely bad germination rates. Yea I really wish I had a set of Bluelab pens. Probably would have saved me a ton of pain and money if I had invested in a set from the beginning. But until I can afford them, I'm going to be using the pens I have along with PH testing drops (General Hydroponics) and PH test strips (Veratrue). The drops and strips are both cheap and reliable (or at least they read about the same PH whenever I tested using both).
Bertoxxulous
Bertoxxulous
@Ensign420, Like instant Karma or something I started having spotting on my leaves over the weekend after I fixed my root issues with lowering res. temp. and hydroguard. I checked my pen and it was -0.5 off so I had been running my res. ph at ~5.2 for I'm not sure how long. Quick lesson in how fast ph issues become a problem. I'm going to try to make this pen work for the rest of this grow by testing it at least weekly. Hopefully it will work because I'm not ready to drop $100 on a new pen. Before my next grow I'll definitely be getting a BlueLab pen (the hydro store I go to carries them).
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Hydro_Bins
Hydro_Binsweek 9
Don’t give up! Hydro can be a beauty for output and quality!
ObiWanKaRobbie
ObiWanKaRobbie
@BloodSweatBeers, coco carries pathogens and pests though
Hydro_Bins
Hydro_Bins
@BloodSweatBeers, very true!!
BloodSweatBeers
BloodSweatBeers
@Hydro_Bins, coco is technically hydro 😈
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sativaman
sativamanweek 9
Does your rockwool stays moist? Those small roots might not reach water at bottom? Maybe try to top feed. Just poor some nutrients and water from the top once a day.
ObiWanKaRobbie
ObiWanKaRobbie
@Ensign420,, no need to top feed, allow the plant to search for it's nutes below.. you really don't want a surface algae problem.. Cheers
Ensign420
Ensign420
@sativaman, Yea the rockwool stays pretty moist. Roots reach about halfway into the water. And I've been top feeding her every day (I use a syringe to top feed and make sure to saturate the rockwool cube). This week, I've been trying to do daily foliar feedings too. Not sure what else I can do her.
BlueDreamer1
BlueDreamer1week 14
Hey dude, what an awesome diary you have! I really enjoyed looking through. Really sorry to see your girl didnt make it. I was really hopeful when you discovered the PH issue! I'm a brand new grower, also going to grow DWC. I've spent a lot of time looking into it obviously. Which I'm sure you have also.. I'm a little nervous as to how it is going to go now. Do you have any tips/ advice that you have learned from your grow you could share? P.s good luck with the new grow. I've dropped you a follow and will be checking in :) Edit: I've been pondering PH. I'm also using advanced nutrients sensi. I believe other products (different manufacturers) can mess with the PH perfect technology. I noticed you're running some that arent by AN. Do you/anyone, think that this could cause serious fluctuations with it? Potentially making it unstable and harder to manage than not having PH perfect tech at all? Edit 2: I noticed you were having trouble with water temp. I read a tip about putting a few frozen water bottles in the res to bring temps down. You can change them out when needed obviously. This is a thing that I think I may need to do.
Ensign420
Ensign420
@BlueDreamer1, Hey thanks for checking out my diary! I was sad that she didn't make it. But have a new girl growing strong and healthy so happy that I moved on. Glad to meet a fellow grower! I'm a noob too and all I have to say is that DWC is a lot tougher than I thought it would be. Been struggling the whole way.. BUT this was due to a PH pen that was giving me wrong readings (which I was assuming were correct). By the time I figured it out, I'd already lost a ton of time, money, and seeds (15 seeds in 3 grow logs across 7+ months). So I guess I'm not too sure yet if DWC is actually tough. But it's been tough for me. Kinda like driving a car to a location you've never been using a GPS that is giving you incorrect directions which you're assuming are correct (not sure if this makes sense). This last seed of this strain (OG Kush by Phoenix Seeds) will be grown in better PH conditions and I'm already seeing differences in both the way the plant grows along with how I've been growing. Don't nearly have to adjust PH levels as often as I used to. As far as any DWC advice, there's really only one but please take what I have to say as just a suggestion as I too am a new grower with little to no experience. Also the experience I do have may not be quite valid because I was using faulty equipment for most of my grows. So if you've been reading my grow logs, then this is kinda obvious, but my only advice is to get a reliable way of testing your PH. Don't go cheap on this one and invest in a reliable PH/PPM pen (if you can get a BlueLab set then even better). This alone would have saved me a ton of time and headache (without even knowing it, I almost gave up on DWC because of this). Also, I HIGHLY recommend having multiple ways of testing your PH. I was using only one PH pen that I blindly assumed was telling me the correct readings. Now I'm using both PH testing drops and PH test strips. I personally recommend you get both. They're cheap and can be a quick way to double check if your pen is working properly (I don't use the drops/strips for every checkup now, but they're good to have and I check every week or so for peace of mind). Keep in mind that drops/strips are not as accurate, as a well calibrated pen, but they're simple to use and are reliable enough to get your solution balance to a general level. Also check/calibrate your pen periodically (kinda obvious, but as a new grower, I was not doing this at all until now so just thought I'd mention it). Kinda traumatized with PH right now so sorry if I'm sounding like a broken record. Just get a reliable way of testing your PH. Response to PS: The grow is not over yet growmie! But keep checking in as often as you like! Thanks for the positive vibes! Response to Edit 1: Personally I don't think that using different manufactures will disrupt the PH perfect technology. Looking back at my logs, the PH perfect technology was actually working just fine. The main issue was me adjusting it. Response to Edit 2: I was experiencing water temp issues, but I think I've corrected it when I fixed my overall heating/cooling issue. Are you growing in a tent? If you are, then I suggest you invest in a way of controlling the room temp (I had to get both an AC unit and heater). Once I managed to get the room temps at a stable level, getting the tent temp down to 70-73°F was easy. Keeping the bucket on the floor will keep the water a bit cooler than the room temp. So as long as you keep the tent temp at about 70-73°F, your water should stay nice and cool (I've been able to keep my water at a stable 67-69°F without a water chiller). I've heard of the frozen water bottle trick too, but have not tried it. If temps get out of control again, I may give it a try but not if there's a lot of roots in the bucket. I've heard that the direct contact with the cold ice to the roots will shock them.
ObiWanKaRobbie
ObiWanKaRobbieweek 13
The center of the growth tips is nice and green, so the plant is still growing...give her a chance to get growing again..there's nice new roots coming out, sometimes it takes several days for them to pick up again cheers...don't despair, if I had a dollar for every plant I lost over the years, I wouldn't have to work lol..try try again, and every time you get a little better and a little more efficient..cheers
Ensign420
Ensign420
@ObiWanKaRobbie, Yep! Trying again! Just have to keep on growing and learning!
Shooey
Shooeyweek 13
Mate you must be one of the most passionate growers on GD. The detail in your diaries is unbelievable. Mate it’s only a matter of time before you crack the code and grow some monsters👍👍 I wish I could give some advice, but I really don’t know much about hydro as I only grow outdoors. But I do know that it’s time to let this little girl go. After 13 weeks she’s just not killing it man. The next one might just be that diamond you are searching for... All the best Ensign 👍🍻
Ensign420
Ensign420
@Shooey, Yea, decided to reset and try the last bean of this strain. Hopefully she germinates. Otherwise will have to call it quits for this strain and go onto the next. Thanks for the positive vibes growmie! Still searching for that diamond and not giving up! 👍 🖖
sativaman
sativamanweek 11
YES!! very happy you found the key to your situation!
Ensign420
Ensign420
@sativaman, Yea, I really hope that these tester drops are more reliable than the pen I've been using. I think I can already see improvements on growth since I corrected the PH.
sativaman
sativamanweek 4
Happy to see you are getting started! Have a good week!
Ensign420
Ensign420
@sativaman, Thanks growmie! Last week went quite well! Hopefully this week goes just as smooth.
BloodSweatBeers
BloodSweatBeersweek 4
It's growing well!!! Good job!
Ensign420
Ensign420
@BloodSweatBeers, Thanks dude! Still growing well!
Smokwiri
Smokwiriweek 3
Looking good my friend, best wishes for the new year 2021
Ensign420
Ensign420
@Smokwiri, Much appreciated buddy! Happy growing for the year 2021!
Warhead
Warheadweek 7
Love this strain, keep up the good work 👌
BloodSweatBeers
BloodSweatBeersweek 0
Good luck!
sativaman
sativamanweek 13
why do you use low ph solution for foliar?
Ensign420
Ensign420
@sativaman, I read somewhere that certain nutrients require a very low PH to be up taken through the leaves. But I think if I foliar feed again, it won't be at the same high acidic levels I was feeding at.
sativaman
sativamanweek 11
oh mate... really you do not need to plug your filter at this point! Filters have a limited lifespan so you should wait t'ill you are flowering,.
Ensign420
Ensign420
@sativaman, Yea, didn't know that using tap water in the humidifier will create dust particles that can clog your filters. Opps.
BloodSweatBeers
BloodSweatBeersweek 7
I need a humidity controller as well.
Ensign420
Ensign420
@BloodSweatBeers, I highly recommend it! I got the Elitech STC-1000Pro-TH (non-wifi) and it's been great! Just make sure that the device you connect is compatible. I recommend staying away from devices with digital displays and go more for analog switches. The smart controller basically switches the power on and off based on relative temperature and humidity (programing is a bit tricky but not too difficult). I say this because I was borrowing a heater while waiting for mine to arrive. But that mini heater had a digital display and needed to be turned on every time it was plugged in (it did not automatically turn on when plugged in and needed a button to be pressed to turn it on). Thankfully both my humidifier (Vicks humidifier) and new mini heater (Honeywell heat bud) are analog based and not digital. So things work great! Also the whole setup was relatively inexpensive (~$120).