Alien Rdwc Pro + Nebula Cheese

[Paddington]

Nebula Cheese + Alien RDWC Pro (55l pots)

HELLO UC FORUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very happy to be here..

Set up:
Im running an Alien RDWC Pro with 55l pots
E-Papillon 1000w lights
8 tube T5 lights mounted on the wall for side lighting
12" Airforce 2 / Isomax inlet fan with pre filter & changeable filters
12" Airforce 2 / Isomax outlet fan - high power
Haliea 500 chiller
Rhino 1200mm carbon filter
Mabo auto fire extinguishers x2
My room is insulated, ply lined and sound proofing has been fitted.

Blue labs EC truncheon + PH Pen + (x2) Guardian all in one EC/PH/Temp monitor
Filtered zero ec water
House & Garden Aqua flakes
House & Garden Multizyme
' ' Amino
' ' Root excel
I will look into flower booster nearer the time. I suppose for now I will stick with the House & Garden range.
What you all using?

Ive bought some Nebula Cheese clones, these are standard photo female plants (not auto).
A friend of mine has grown these out over the last few years and the results have been breath taking!
Amazing strong stinky smoke and super hi yield. Fingers crossed we get the same

History...
Ive done 3 soil grows in the last year or so and that was my first time ever in soil. Before then I last grew over 15 years ago, when I used NFT. Soil was not for me, mess and weight for one but I just never felt comfortable with it. My memory of NFT was it was easy as pie. I never once had a problem all those years ago. In soil I hit several problems on each grow and never got my head round it. That said I got some decent results but soil is gone and now Ive got to start over with hydro.

So the clones arrived on Friday and had just rooted there Jiffy Pellets.
I let them calm down for a day or so in an ordinary propagator then set up my new clone aeroponic machine do darr..
Ive used some Formulex nutrient in this clone tank as I understand its nice and easy on the plants. I figure as they have been travelling and pissed about with they will want things nice and gentle for a bit. EC 0.4/0.5 & PH 5.8/6.2

Im totally open to help, advice, constructive criticism, opinion and what ever you have to say.
Please dont hold back, please join in and be part of the grow.

 

[Paddington]

Filled system 2 inches from bottom of net pot.
PH 5.8/6
EC 0.7
Temp of res 18c
Temp of room 23c
Lights on 24 hours

All plants now transplanted into the Alien Pro. Some of my clones had roots 12" long.
Looks like there in shock a bit, I suppose Ive upset all the roots with the clay pebbles.
Half have already put out new roots and some in the res.

My DI Resin filter has expired, typical I only found out after I filled my 500l tank.
Apparently the resin lasts for so many thousands of litres. Fresh filter resin bought today from grow shop.

Got half my lights on and all at 600w. Room is nice and steady with temps and humidity.
I will change out the res tomorrow when the new filter resin arrives. Then I will be back on EC zero water.

Ive been flapping around all weekend but finally all the girls are in and settling down nicely.

 

[Paddington]

Questions:

1. How close to the bottom of the net pot do I fill the system?
Is the idea to have some clear space so the roots are hanging in mid air or is the idea to have the res very full?

2. If on zero EC water should I use Cal Mag from the off?
If so any ideas how much per litre?

3. If we want CO2 in the room for the girls to grow, do we want CO2 in the water as well?
Ive got air lines in every pot, is this to increase oxygen in the water or CO2 ?

I ask this as Ive bought some CO2 bags today to hang up in my room.
I know there not great but gotta help eh :)
Now these CO2 bags are hanging in my room and my air pumps are also in my grow room.
So am I now pumping more CO2 round my system when it would be better for cleaner more oxygenated air?

I can move my pumps out of the room if needs be.
Id be very grateful for your views on this :)

4. Im running House & Garden nutrients. I have Aqua Flakes A & B, Root excelarator, Amino and Multizyme. So far Ive bought no flowering nutrient supplements, like Top Shooter and Bud XL. Any thoughts on the nutes Im using? I read somewhere using House & Garden Amino is not good in RDWC, any thoughts please??? :)

5. Im not going in for bennies, so trying to have a clean hygienic system. Thats the plan at least.

All help, advice, opinion and comments VERY very welcome :)

 

[Paddington]

Here is a video of the Alien system like mine (hope its ok to post videos)

 

[NWElite89]

Looks like you have a good setup in front you. To be honest, all of the questions that you have are asking are pretty much answered in almost all of the UC threads out here. I spent most of my time in the "sticky" threads and just read over a few times until I found the stuff I was looking for. Also, the search function is highly useful and I would recommend it. I have been using the H&G line for almost five years now and have had really good success with it. I usually just stick to the base nutrients (A&B), Bud-XL and top shooter .The roots excel gets expensive and I have found alternatives that work just as good. I am pulling up a chair and subscribing!

 

[NWElite89]

Update?

 

[Paddington]

Sorry completely drowning in pain here. Ive done some decent diary's in the past but now its gone tits up Im struggling to be interested.
Im hoping this week things improve and I can stop the moaning. Its no fun writing up how shit everything is.
New to RDWC - Learning curve - Res temps - Cooler troubles - Fans went shit - New RO system just gone in. Its just been learn, fuck up, learn, fuck up all the way.

Peace :-|

 

[FooDoo]

Sorry completely drowning in pain here. Ive done some decent diary's in the past but now its gone tits up Im struggling to be interested.
Im hoping this week things improve and I can stop the moaning. Its no fun writing up how shit everything is.
New to RDWC - Learning curve - Res temps - Cooler troubles - Fans went shit - New RO system just gone in. Its just been learn, fuck up, learn, fuck up all the way.

Peace :-|

Its actually very standard problems when starting out RDWC. We've all been there

 

[Capulator]

You definitely don't need the t-5's. Your plants are gonna be right against them when they grow and they will get burned.

If you only had the center plant, you would be ok. And then, you would be better off using (4) 600w vert bulbs around the one plant. The t-5s draw pretty much the same amount of power anyway. 500w.

 

[Paddington]

Yea not used the T5's, it was just some mad idea.
They produce too much heat and as you say too close. Only a silly idea, they not even been on.

 

[Capulator]

Yea not used the T5's, it was just some mad idea.
They produce too much heat and as you say too close. Only a silly idea, they not even been on.

You got money to burn or what Paddington? Those aren't cheap fixtures.

CO2 is good if you can keep your temps up at around 85 and RH at 75%, but you will get too much growth for that little room. It's a headache waiting to happen. If you want the best advice I will give you some I learned here a long time ago:

Pick a strain you like. Grow that strain in the same system for at least a year. Take lots of notes. That is how you will master the system, and the strain. Oh and for rooting cuttings you can disconnect all the bulbs on that T-5 except for one, then switch that one out from a spectralux to a 3500k philips from home depot.

 

[FooDoo]

Ikr cap! Heck I'll buy one of those t5s off you for my mom tent lol was just about to hop on eBay

 

[DapperDon]

If I am not mistaken FooDoo, the Alien RDWC system is for our European Ent's across the pond and that our new friend Paddington here may be a Brit. So I think the shipping alone will cost you more than the T5's themselves. But I am no detective by any means.

 

[FooDoo]

Lol. I was only kidding. I think forum rules don't let people sell stuff on here anyway

 

[Paddington]

Thanks Cap, advice noted. Yea had a rush of blood and thought the T5's were a good idea.. No worries, its not as if money grows on tree's :)
Ive looked into CO2 and fancy that but for now Ive got enough going on. As you suggest Im sticking to this cheese strain and going to work things out.
As it happens things are picking up.

I made some very basic tea with Molasses and Great White powder. I had no earth worm castings at the time. I did 50 litres, each plant had a litre poured over and the rest went in the res. I did this twice and the ladies started to pick up. Since then Ive got my RO water sorted so no more concerns about my crazy hard water.

Weekend just gone I drained everything down, filled up with RO water and a fresh batch of tea. This time the tea had earth worm castings in it (what a twat to filter!). Again each plant got a litre poured over and the rest in the res. No nutes for 12 hours then added House & Garden Aqua flakes A & B with an hour between the A & B going in. Ive got EC at 0.3, PH at 6.1 and steady, res temp at 19c, room temp at 25c. Now Im just waiting to see if all is well. I can increase the nutes but thought for now lets start off low. Im not really sure what EC to be at but when on EC 0.5 the leaves were curling and showing signs of over fert.

Yea Im in Europe.
I will take some pics later and post, be interesting to see what you think.
There not in great shape but shit loads better than they were. If I can get a good week or two of growth I can turn the lights.

Cheers,
Paddy.

 

[Capulator]

Ditch the great white it's not great for RDWC. You can cause more problems than it's worth. EWC tea is good, unless you are running a sterile system, in which case you will be killing all the bacteria you are trying to introduce. EC can be at 1.0-2.0, depending on the strain and what week you are on. I think at 1.0 you would be good all the way through.

 

[Paddington]

The Great White is for my tea. I use earth worm castings, great white and molasses. I dont use great white direct in my res.
If you dont like great white, why and what would you recommend in its place?
Oh I also use a teaspoon of Myco Madness by Humboldt Nutrients. As far as I can see this is another brand of bacteria similar to great white.

Your comments are appreciated :)