DWC Hydro grow with Godfather OG

[Brother_Antioch]

did you really see a drastic change from side light its like 7 watts and its not even close to your plants.
i got the ac infity ones they are 10watts and real close to the lamp i got 20 000 lux enough for a seedling stage. it gave back color to my under-canopy but didn't really do much

I did notice an increase in my PPFD from them, yes. It brought it up by around 40-60 PPFD below the manifold. Not huge, but it helps. I'm thinking of mounting them on something moveable so I can get the side lights closer and most likely beneath and pointing up.. At only 8W per bar, there isn't much heat from them but I honestly noticed more growth coming on rapidly as soon as they'd been in for a day. From what I've read, they'll be more beneficial once the canopy starts to really fill in and help with the very bottom and mid canopy level. It didn't hurt that they were less than $80 for the set, too.

Cheers,

BA.

 

[Brother_Antioch]

I been doing this grow gig for a minute and ive given side lighting a thought...and then like a spliff in the night it went poof! Lol

Light penetration is a tough one indoors. Its the main reason I concentrate all I have available for the plants in the canopy. I also work hard with training them so as they are in the right position to catch the artificial ight.

Ive thought about undercarriage lights but they just dont fit my style of growing and to be honest...not going to produce much. I strip a lot of lard below the canopy.

Well, they were on sale when I bought them ($80 CDN), and if I can make a way of mounting them differently once the scrog starts to fill in more I'll do so for more direct under canopy lighting. Even with doing a mild lollipop on her, I figure light from directly underneath will help with the penetration factor so it won't hurt. I've got them on the sides right now to try and coax some more lateral growth to fill the canopy to about 70% prior to flipping. I'll work out some sort of mounting system so they're underneath pointing directly up when the time comes, even if it's just a box built around the base of the lid with them lying on it, pointing straight up into the canopy.

Cheers,

BA.

 

[amneziaHaze]

I did notice an increase in my PPFD from them, yes. It brought it up by around 40-60 PPFD below the manifold. Not huge, but it helps. I'm thinking of mounting them on something moveable so I can get the side lights closer and most likely beneath and pointing up.. At only 8W per bar, there isn't much heat from them but I honestly noticed more growth coming on rapidly as soon as they'd been in for a day. From what I've read, they'll be more beneficial once the canopy starts to really fill in and help with the very bottom and mid canopy level. It didn't hurt that they were less than $80 for the set, too.

Cheers,

BA.

i managed to burn a leaf.they let the bottom mature.i bought them mid flower soo bottoms where tiny but close to end when i cut

 

[gmonster714]

Colouring is not from staining .
That browning shit is just that. Shit suffocating your plant.

Yeah man, maybe lead with..so what are the temps in your res? To me i see a stained healthy rootball.

Here's a prime example of Shit Suffocating..lol This is called my res is to hot.

These are damaged roots and im not real proud to say they were mine. But hey I make mistakes. Id been away from growing for 10yrs and forgot some important things..oh well.

I took this plant and ripped it from the net pot. Threw it in a 5gal bucket of promix and it did finish nice.

 

[Brother_Antioch]

i managed to burn a leaf.they let the bottom mature.i bought them mid flower soo bottoms where tiny but close to end when i cut

Ahh. Yeah, I wanted to make sure they were in during the early/mid veg phase. Hoping the distance currently will just encourage further lateral growth, but again, will move them underneath once the canopy fills out and I'm flipping. Who knows, if it works, it works. If it doesn't, I've got a multi-angle reading light that looks real cool!

Cheers,

BA.

 

[Brother_Antioch]

Yeah man, maybe lead with..so what are the temps in your res? To me i see a stained healthy rootball.

Here's a prime example of Shit Suffocating..lol This is called my res is to hot.
View attachment 2612724
These are damaged roots and im not real proud to say they were mine. But hey I make mistakes. Id been away from growing for 10yrs and forgot some important things..oh well.
View attachment 2612725
I took this plant and ripped it from the net pot. Threw it in a 5gal bucket of promix and it did finish nice.

Thanks. Res temperatures for me are a steady 65.5F rising up to around 67.5 by the end of the day. I'm also adding 25ml of H2O2 every 3 days to keep it sterile. That being said, I will probably try using bennies on the next run and clock the difference. Although I'm considering the next run going with a RDWC system with 2 plants, so that throws all my baselines completely off anyway...lol. But when I changed the buckets yesterday, I did make sure to inspect the roots, and no rot at all. Just stained, as expected.

Cheers,

BA.

 

[amneziaHaze]

Yeah man, maybe lead with..so what are the temps in your res? To me i see a stained healthy rootball.

Here's a prime example of Shit Suffocating..lol This is called my res is to hot.
View attachment 2612724
These are damaged roots and im not real proud to say they were mine. But hey I make mistakes. Id been away from growing for 10yrs and forgot some important things..oh well.
View attachment 2612725
I took this plant and ripped it from the net pot. Threw it in a 5gal bucket of promix and it did finish nice.

buy trichoderma i do summer grows with no cooling 1 res change they do all the work for you.

you will smell it when you get it.

 

[gmonster714]

buy trichoderma i do summer grows with no cooling 1 res change they do all the work for you.

Thanks but I found a solution to do for now....irs called Promix..lol

I got excited when I first got back into growing. Thought id start with the old dwc I used to run. I had some issues and come to the conclusion that I didn't want to chase ppm, rh, ec, res temps, pumps, ect.

Today its promix, Jack's, calnit, and epsom w tap water. No checks just feed them an watchem grow.

That dwc mishap was the best thing to happen to me. Someday when im in a different place ill give dwc a go again but for now promix is doing the job without all the extra stuff.

 

[Brother_Antioch]

Good morning, folks. Time for the Saturday update.

Res change was a success. I bumped the EC up to 1.295 (was aiming for 1.30 so not bad!) and did the usual swap over. I've noticed that since adding the trellis and using it as a "soft guide" I'm getting much better lateral growth and training. Definitely was time for it, as I'd run out of space on my tie downs installed on the bucket lid sides. Canopy is now about 19x19 and sitting at 5.5" high above the lid.

My EC is consistently dropping by about 0.02 per day and water level is dropping by about a 1/4" per day so look like I nailed the EC for this stage of growth. PPFD is around 650 at the canopy top and it seems to be handling it beautifully. I'm not seeing any signs of light burn, or deficiencies at all, but then again, I'm still learning so if you see something in the pictures, please point it out to me!

Since picking up the IR thermometer I've been dialing in my VPD as Leaf VPD instead of air VPD. This seems to have helped out a touch, as I've noticed an increase in growth and vigour since doing that and adding the side lights. As for the side lights...later this week I am picking up some white PVC pipe and fittings to build 2 frames to hold the side lights that are currently at the ends of the tent. I'm going to make them like track-meet hurdles with the lights attached to the cross bars. By leaving them press fit, I can rotate the angle of the bars and aim the lighting exactly where it needs to be. I can also move them in and out as the width of the canopy increases. I've also moved my 4" fan so it blows gently underneath the canopy, deflecting slightly off the lid diagonally across the underside. It's not blasting directly on any leaves, just moving air in the best way possible through that zone. I still have the 6" clip on oscillating fan going above and the 8" stationary floor fan blowing up on a slight angle and deflecting off the back wall to create that vortex of air movement.

I relocated the humidifier and added the extension hose to get the mist away from the small 4" undercanopy fan, as I didn't want the mist blown directly underneath, creating micro climates from hell. Now it's attached to the back right post with a zip tie, just above the oscillating fan. I've noticed this gives me a much more consistent humidity level throughout the entire tent rather than isolated pockets around where it's emitting from the humidifier. So far, so good.

I've continued on with the light "tucking" stage of training, but haven't yet started any "weaving" through the trellis. As she gets a bit bigger, I'll make that transition. For now, I'm more concerned about guiding each branch and growth node into its own square and continuing to fill the grid. Once I hit around 70% full, I'll let it grow up for a bit (about 6" of vertical growth) then flip her to 12/12. I'm honestly hoping that it's no more than 2 weeks away from that point. That should set me up for celebrating on my deck at the trailer on Canada Day long weekend and enjoying the fruits of my labour, dried and cured properly.

Anyway, enough of the novel, and on to the pics! I've taken shots from 3 angles, pre-tuck (how it looked this morning) and post-tuck (how it looked after my morning session with it).

General overall shots:

Pre-tuck

Post-tuck

Overhead pre-tuck

Overhead post-tuck

Canopy level pre-tuck

Canopy level post-tuck

Anyway, that's it for now. I'll do another full update on Wednesday unless anything changes between now and then, and as always, I'll pop in to answer any questions or reply to comments in the mean time. To all who stopped by to check on my little adventure, thanks!

Cheers,

BA.

 

[Brother_Antioch]

Hi, folks. Update time.

I flipped her to 12/12 today. Did a full res change and bumped the EC up to 1.375 and increased the Bloom component. She's definitely increased in size and growth speed over the last week, spreading out nicely throughout the scrog netting. Root growth has been quite good, and my previous solution seemed to be ideal, as it drifted downwards very slowly since the last res change. I'll be keeping an eye on EC and pH trends over the next few days to make sure everything is still on track.

PPFD is around 700 at canopy level, but not showing any signs of stress or light burn. No signs of nutrient burn yet either, but I'll be keeping a close eye on that as well. If things go as planned, I'll be harvesting around the end of May and able to enjoy some good smoking on Canada Day long weekend (July 1) on the deck at the trailer. One thing is for sure, next winter's indoor grow I will definitely be having an RO system up and running. I'd pick one up now, but in all reality, there are other priorities (lot fees for the park, a new Gazebo build for over the bar on the deck and an upgraded pump on my infinity edge vortex fountain water feature) and I'd like to get those projects out of the way within the first week of May once our park opens up.

Environment is dialed right in now. I've tweaked the triggers for the heater and humidifier to give me a leaf VPD reading of around 1.15 kPa. Since the humidifier is triggered by the temperature, and the temperature is controlled by the T3 heater, it's shown to be very very stable both through the day and the night cycles. The addition of an IR thermometer to the equipment list has made a huge difference in dialing it in, something I should really have had from the start. Oh well, I have it now (and I can take it to the trailer for using when I fire up the 24" griddle!!!)

Anyway, enough of the novel and on to the pictures.

A general over all shot of her:

An overhead shot:

One from the canopy level to see her structure and underside:

And finally, a shot of her roots as I transferred her over to the new solution:

Anyway, thanks to all who stopped by for a visit, and as always, if you see anything, please let me know!

Cheers,

BA.

 

[Brother_Antioch]

Hi, folks. Update time.

Well, it's been 3 days since flipping to 12/12 and just over 7 weeks since she popped from a seed (51 days now). Things seem to be progressing well so far. Canopy is starting to get taller every day so I'm tucking where I can to keep the height from exceeding my 60" tent. So far, so good. EC is stable with a slight and slow decline. I'm thinking in the next couple of days I'll bump it up a touch when I do a top up, so long as the EC trend keeps showing she's handling it with ease. Don't need to get it too hot and have nutrient burn.

The roots are nice and healthy, and have really expanded over the last week, along with the canopy. I'm probably going to do my first real defoliation in the next 3 or 4 days, once the colas start to push up and the architecture makes itself clear. I've only been taking off selective leaves so far as needed, and only when they're actively blocking a growth site or creating problems for air flow. Maybe 2 or 3 every few days, and anything I can tuck cleanly under the net, I do. When I was checking her this afternoon and taking my readings, I took a really close look and saw the pistils just starting to come out (always a good sign!) although it was from a feminized seed, and all the others from that batch of seeds were females last year.

The environment seems completely dialed in now. My VPD readings are about as stable as you can get during both night and day time. Having the heater maintain the temperature and the humidifier set to maintain a specific VPD really seems to be paying off. Reservoir temps are staying between 65 and 66 F all day and night, so the Reflectix insulation is really doing a great job of keeping the heat out during the day, and preventing it from getting too cold during the night. Temps in the tent are around 69-71F during the night and hovering right around 80-82F during the day. It's a little higher than I wanted, but still in that safe zone. I'm thinking of adding another clip fan, and possibly switching the exhaust fan from outside the tent to inside, assuming I'll have enough room above the light as I raise it. I am hoping it'll help to pull the hot air out quicker that way, and give it a more direct (read: straight) run out of the tent. I suppose if need be, I can always relocate it back outside the tent if I have to when I raise the lights as she stretches. We'll see.

Anyway, on to the pics.

A general overall shot of her:

And here's a straight on from the canopy level:

The small fan sitting on the power bar is a low-power 4" fan set up to deflect on a slight angle off the lid of the bucket. This gives me a nice air flow under the canopy without blowing directly on the leaves. When I build the bar system to hold the side lights, I'll mount it to the framework as well, and get it off the lid of the humidifier. But, it works for now.

As always, thanks to those who dropped by to join me on my adventure. Questions, comments, or even a "Nice Job" are always welcome.

Cheers,

BA.

 

[Brother_Antioch]

Hi, folks. Update time.

It's been 7 days since flipping her to 12/12 now and she's starting to stretch. I've stopped lateral training and am allowing her to establish her architecture. I figure a few more days and I'll be ready for that first defoliation, then in 2 more weeks I'll do a serious defoliation/lolipop on her. Bumped the EC up to 1.3 today and she seems to be loving it. I'd tried initially to get her to 1.275 but it was too hot for the initial flip so diluted it back down to about 1.1 and she was fine. Had to move the under canopy lighting a bit as I noticed the very start of some light burn on a few of the tips closest to the back lights. Nothing serious and only on about 4 fan leaves for about 1/8" (caught it within a few hours) and I've made the adjustments needed.

Other than that, she's healthy, happy, and starting to reach for the (artificial) sky. What more is there to say?

On to the pictures!

Here's a general shot of her:

Here's one from directly overhead:

And here's one of the canopy. The main stem is almost as thick as my thumb now:

Thanks as always to all who stopped by for a quick check in. I appreciate you following along on my first Hydro grow with me!

Cheers,

BA.

 

[BearWater]

Hi, folks. Update time.

It's been 7 days since flipping her to 12/12 now and she's starting to stretch. I've stopped lateral training and am allowing her to establish her architecture. I figure a few more days and I'll be ready for that first defoliation, then in 2 more weeks I'll do a serious defoliation/lolipop on her. Bumped the EC up to 1.3 today and she seems to be loving it. I'd tried initially to get her to 1.275 but it was too hot for the initial flip so diluted it back down to about 1.1 and she was fine. Had to move the under canopy lighting a bit as I noticed the very start of some light burn on a few of the tips closest to the back lights. Nothing serious and only on about 4 fan leaves for about 1/8" (caught it within a few hours) and I've made the adjustments needed.

Other than that, she's healthy, happy, and starting to reach for the (artificial) sky. What more is there to say?

On to the pictures!

Here's a general shot of her:

View attachment 2618043

Here's one from directly overhead:

View attachment 2618041

And here's one of the canopy. The main stem is almost as thick as my thumb now:

View attachment 2618042

Thanks as always to all who stopped by for a quick check in. I appreciate you following along on my first Hydro grow with me!

Cheers,

BA.

Awesome growth! Great looking canopy.

 

[Brother_Antioch]

Awesome growth! Great looking canopy.

Thanks, Bear. I'm really happy (and completely surprised) with the amount of growth over the last week or so. Pistils are really starting to come in nicely, and the spacing between nodes is miniscule on the new growth. A couple more days and it should be ready to do some decent defoliation. In the lead up to this point, I kept doubting myself as far as the manifold/tucking method I was using, as it just seemed to be taking forever, but now that it's in flower mode, I'm seeing how much it was worth the extra time and effort. I'll definitely be using this method on all my indoor grows moving forward.

Here's a close up of some of the upper growth. You can see the pistils just starting in it and the internodal spacing.

Using the AI for reference seemed to have helped me a lot (but I do make a habit of double checking its answers with verifiable sources) but man can it differ in predictions! Chat GPT says I'm going to get around 14-18 oz from her, and Grok AI says anywhere from 2 to 3 lbs! Somehow, I just can't see that happening, as it's only 552W in total lighting, and that would give me around 2.5g/W which I find hard to believe. If I get anything over a pound off her I'll be dancing a jig in the street!!!

Cheers,

BA.

 

[Brother_Antioch]

Hi, folks. Update time again.

Did my res change yesterday evening, as I was on day 9 and needed a top up anyway. Brought my EC up to 1.3 and as of this morning, she's sitting at 1.285, so practically stable overnight. I'll monitor it as the week goes on and adjust if needed. I'll be changing it again by mid next week, as that'll put me to around 10 days again. Probably bump up the EC again at that point.

PPFD is staying a stable 750 right now at canopy level. My VPD and temperature/humidity are dialed right in, no issues at all. I've kept up on the tucking for this last 10 days during the initial stretch to make as many of the tops stay at the same height. I'll most likely let it all go the way she wants starting this week as the stretch starts to kick in then taper off. Ideally, I'd like to have all the tops at more or less the exact same height once the stretch is over and the stacking starts. Pistils are really starting to show up on all the nodes, and the new growth is that beautiful lime green and healthy.

Roots have probably tripled in size over the last 10 days! The canopy is now 30x25x14 (width x depth x height) so now it's just the odd tucking here and there to maintain constant height, and some mild defoliation to clean up the air flow and light penetration. I finally got around to picking up the white PVC 3/4" schedule 40 pipe and fittings to build the mounts for the side lights. Got them in and can adjust the angle by rotating the bar they're attached to as necessary. I can also move them closer and farther from the base as needed. Seems a much more efficient method than just mounting them to the far walls as I had initially done. I'll keep an eye on the underside for any signs of light burn over the course of the day, and make any adjustments needed.

Now into day 11 since flipping to 12/12, and day 5 since she grew her first pistils. Figure I've got another 8 to 9 weeks left before harvest time, but that'll be determined by how she represents, not a hard and fixed date.

Anyway, on to the latest pictures!

Here's a general overall shot of her after some slight tucking and training:

Here's the canopy level shot, aiming to keep it flat like a table:

Here's the roots as they are as of last night when I switched the reservoir over (going to have to use the pump from now on as she grows up through the trellis):

And finally, here's the 2 mounts I built with the side lights on them.

To all who stopped in, thanks for visiting. Let me know if you see anything concerning, or have any comments.

Cheers,

BA.

 

[Brother_Antioch]

New tent is on the way!

55"x28"x80" Spider Farmer Tent

It should be here in the next 3 to 5 days, so I'll swap it out with my current 24x48x60" old tent on the next res change. Scrog net is still low enough that it shouldn't damage any tops in the move...or so I hope!

Cheers,

BA.

 

[BearWater]

New tent is on the way!

55"x28"x80" Spider Farmer Tent

It should be here in the next 3 to 5 days, so I'll swap it out with my current 24x48x60" old tent on the next res change. Scrog net is still low enough that it shouldn't damage any tops in the move...or so I hope!

Cheers,

BA.

Don’t go all mongo pulling it out of the net and youll be golden!

 

[Brother_Antioch]

Don’t go all mongo pulling it out of the net and youll be golden!

lol. Well, currently the tops are only poking through the scrog squares by a few inches. The buds are only just starting, so I'm a good week away from being in the start of the "danger zone", so to speak. I'll just keep sliding the net up the poles by a tiny bit each day to match the growth so when the tent gets here later this week (fingers crossed!) I'll just slip the net up, take the whole bucket out, and start the process. Lights, fans, more fans, even more fans, more lights...lmao...the things we do to ourselves for "fun", huh?

I'll be doing my bi-weekly update tomorrow, so I'll be sure to post a pic showing how much the tops are above the net so you can see exactly what I'm going to be dealing with.

Cheers, and thanks for stopping in!

BA.

 

[Brother_Antioch]

Hi, folks. Update time.

Well not much going on except smooth sailing and more growth, so I'll keep it short and sweet. EC is currently holding at 1.3 and pH very slowly creeps from 5.8-6.1 and I bring it back down. Takes about 2-1/2 days or so for that creep, so essentially stable. She's drinking about 2L of water per day...kinda wishing I had put in that RO system for the convenience. Oh well, it'll happen before I start the next grow.

Waiting patiently for the new tent to arrive. My guess is that with the Easter weekend it won't be shipped out until Tuesday or Wednesday, here by Friday. Hopefully it's faster, but they did say 3-7 days from when the order is processed, and it "in stock" instead of a pre-order, like my SE4500 was... Anyway, when it gets here I'll take my time and set the new tent up to maximize everything. Cable management, vent placement, etc. learning from the problems on this current tent. The extra 20" in height is really going to helpful, and the extra 4" in depth and 7" in width won't hurt either.

As for the current tent...

I'm thinking if I can find the room for it (aka convince the g/f I can make the room for it) I can set it up as a clone or veg tent. I have my SF1000 that I'd bought new and never ended up using (bought the SE4500 instead) and they're good, and fairly cheap. I can pick up a second, a few fans, and an exhaust fan, I'm good to go. If I end up getting a better exhaust system, I can look into getting the Spider Farmer gear to tie in with the GGS system, and see if I can get it all working together. Who knows, that's a "next grow" problem.

Anyway, here's the latest pics, and we're 14 days from flipping to 12/12, 8 days from when she started showing her first pistils, and 61 days from emerging from the seed.

Just an overall shot of her canopy:

Trying to keep the tops relatively the same height:

Here's her sexy undercarriage:

And finally, here's a few closeups of some of the tops:

To all who popped by, thanks for stopping in. We're finally getting to the exciting part!

Cheers,

BA.

 

[Brother_Antioch]

Quick update on the tent:

Got the email from Spider Farmer this morning. The tent was dropped off at the Post Office in Richmond Hill, ON, at 7pm last night. They're saying the expected delivery date is "by end of day April 8". Richmond Hill is about a 2 hour drive west from me, maybe 3 if you get stuck in Toronto rush hour traffic. I could literally walk there and back, with the tent, in half the time it's going to take our National Postal Service to get it to me, and that's if they bother bringing it to my door. They have a very nasty reputation of just shoving the "We tried but no one was home" cards into the mail box rather than actually try knocking on the door and see if...*gasp*...someone is actually home.

Oh well, the good news is it'll be here by end of next week. The better news is, they now claim that's a "worst case scenario", due mostly to them having tomorrow off work and Monday off work. So best case scenario, I should receive it by Tuesday or possibly Wednesday. Time to roll up a little "patience", if ya know what I mean...