First DWC Adventure Need Feed Back and Advice

  • Thread starter cayocho
  • Start date
  • Tagged users None
cayocho

cayocho

12
3
Hello all, I have learned so much reading the other threads. This is all a first for me but I am learning very quickly. Up until now, my grow has been somewhat slow, but patience is the best lesson to learn yeah? This is my Autoflower Northern Lights Indica 16 days from sprouting. She took 5 whole days to germinate in rockwool (germination temps too low). I have a question and possibly a pressing issue, but first a rundown of the grow so far.

First dwc adventure need feed back and advice


  • 2x2x4 Tent (I know, I already regret the height but space is very limited)
  • 3.5 gallon bucket wrapped till light proof in double thick layer tinfoil and a ton of duct tape.
  • Dimmable 1000W 230 True Watt Blurple light (Way to big for the space, but oh well, I have to make do)
  • Inline Airflow plus filter
  • 7.8L/M Hydrofarm air pump to two large airstones
  • small water pump (recently uninstalled since roots have found water)
  • Temps (68-73 at night) (70-80 at day)
  • RH never above 80 and always above 45: average 60
I have been using GH trio for nutrients. My current mix is as follows: 1 part distilled to 1 part tap water, 1/4 tsp of all three nutes (micro first) per gallon, and 2 ml hydro guard per gallon. Here is how the grow has gone so far.

1. Day 10 I realized (thanks to aquaman) that my lights where too bright and had stunted growth; now around 2500 to 3500 lux per google play meter, noticable improvement in growth. I suspect this has lead to the general lightening of the green color on the plant. It was very dark green for a while.

2. Day 13 realized my ppm might have been too high, I have hard water so I have since switch to the 1 part distilled 1 part tap ratio. Now my ppm is around 280-320 with everything added. Plant seemed to respond well.

3. Day 14 Roots finally hit water (water line is an inch away from pot but I planted my rockwool way to high up) They look healthy and are currently growing vigorously. The offshoots on this root appeared overnight. but this brings me to my ultimate question. And one I am afraid I know the answer to.

First dwc adventure need feed back and advice 2


I did my third resevoir change on 10/25 with the distilled water 50/50 for the first time. As you can sorta see in the picture, there is a line of algea like stuff growing near the water line and on the airline tubing (which is clear, I have since ordered black tubing). I suspect light leaks, I closed up a few today and covered more of my clear tubing on the exterior. I'm hoping this is some transient algea and not root rot. It smells a little, but not a terrribly offensive smell. All of this being said, the Roots seem to be growing RAPIDLY. And are 99.9% pearly white. Any advice on any part of my process would be appreciated, I am glad to be here to learn with everyone.
 
Smokey0418

Smokey0418

610
143
Just an opinion

If there is algae then yes your bang on the light leak, hose, bucket , lid colour.

Dont use those particular nutes , but as an eg. Ro water I use is 6
I would added between 3-5 ml per gallon of calmag. ( so 4 takes me to 225-230 ppm on a 500 scale .
I would then add base and grow in there there recommend measures to each other until I got to a level I was looking for.

A plant your size . Maybe 400ppm

Your roots look fine and they very well may stay like that but I would be prepared to have to tackled that if trouble arises.

This could be as simple as h202 or a pool shock treatment every 3-4 days to ensure you don’t get anything nasty growing in there.

You could also use good bacteria’s, hydroguard or orca In your tote to combat issues , it’s cheaper lol not cheap

With your plant being so small , you may be able to go quite some time without changing your water, but one must keep it in good shape.

I run a recycling system so I will go sometime (many weeks) between changes .
 
Last edited:
Smokey0418

Smokey0418

610
143
This is too much light , yellowing in the tips . Just a bit too much pic 1

When they yellow and change shape its way to close pic 2
 
F79CDDE0 4099 40EA 94E0 A3414588304D
C482B1E1 EAB4 4AC3 A85A 5D0D1222C23D
cayocho

cayocho

12
3
Thanks for the response and advice.

I am currently running HydroGuard, striving for a live culture environment (without algea) so I will likely clean the reservoir tomorrow. I am curious to learn more about how you are using ppm to dose nutrients? What is your step by step?

I opted to go without CaliMag this grow (to reduce complexity and cost) and since my tap water is naturally hard at like 220+ppms I figured it would be okay without(incorrect assumption?). I would be open to adding CaliMag if the consensus is that I should. Is it a must have?

Also depending on how tomorrow and the next day goes I may increase light like you implied. Right now they are turned down quite a bit and are exactly 24 inches away (almost the farthest away it can go). I run a 18/6 light schedule.
 
Smokey0418

Smokey0418

610
143
Hydroguard is good I have added a bit of orca in the mix to mine and love running them both.
If I had to choose just one , orca as once I added things just started to grow crazy.

Your plant is a bit small and until it starts to consume your mixture it going to be difficult at first to measure the difference.

There is a guide about that has many scenarios of what a mixture can do.

comparing water level, ph and your ppm in the mixture.

it’s simple, veg ph 5.9. Flower ph 6.0

i many threads you will see many people take about how there ph goes up over a day or goes down over a day

Once you figure you shit out , imho your ph should stay the same ( yes if your plant just eats fertilizer with no water your ph will change and vise versus uses water and no nute ph changes)

the best it to find the ppm were nothing changes .

for example I changed my water 9 days ago .
I was just entering flower and left off a very stable vegging platform.
Ph 5.9 ppm 400

first I emptied my system, everything but maybe 4 gallons as I can get it all.
Now I fill my system with ro water less 5 gallons for nute mixing.
I use silica so I would take 2 gallons athen put my full dose of silica in, mix the life out of it. Then I would ph it down to 6 from 10 mix it some more, check ph again and if it’s good add to the system.

now again 2 more gallons of ro water.

Taking my total 35 gallons botanicare directs to add 3-5 calmag per gallon to ro water
35gallons at 4ml per is 140ml calmag. ( 220 ppm )

now I just need to figure the other.

a good way would be to take an amount of water and mix a fulll strength mix to get an idea what 100 does.

then guage accordingly. Myself this would be 25 percent.
My mix says 12 ml base to 10 ml flower eg

so 3ml to 2.5 would be 25 percent
3ml times 35 = 105 ml base
2.5ml times 35 = 87.5ml bloom

mix the base in really good, then mix the grow really good

now I would need ph up and it would be low , so I add ph up until I hit my number 6
Mix it again. Really well, check ph again, if it’s good , I will slowly add this to my water , slowly as this mixture is super concentrated.

im my system is moves around quick , but I use a small battery operated pump , adding it over 4-5 minutes.

Once you plants starts to consume nute and water , what you do is measure your staring point 400ppm and water level and ph
Tomorrow you check , ppm and water level ph.
And we just the plant looks like.

looks good, ph is stable, ppm is rising water level is going down
This means there not eating food and water is going down , ph could even be going up slightly.
This means your ppm is too much .

Its way easier to go up than down

another ppm was 400

a day later plant looks good , ppm is 380 and water level has gone down.
this is means there eating and using water ,much better but if you added water to the level you were at yesterday your ppm would even lower so you may want to try and raise your ppm by 50 on the volume your using.

I hope that’s not too much but really once you grasp it will become easier.
 
cayocho

cayocho

12
3
Okay, gave your write up a good read, the information is very valuable thank you. More roots have hit the water so I am hoping for my ppms to begin decreasing from around 300 soon, Will be doing a water change today, and will likely up the ppms to 350-400.
 
cayocho

cayocho

12
3
Ok, here we are, now on day 21. Two days ago I changed the water she was in, to a full tap water/increased nutes (.5 tsp per gallons as per the schedule). Afterwards she seemed ok for a couple days but starting last night she seemed to start drooping, or rather just become slightly limp. Several of the leaves are now in contact with the bucket. As you can see in the pictures.

20211102 084917   Copy


At first I thought it was low humidity (got close to 40%), so I turned the humidifier on last night with no improvement. This also makes me think that it is not cyclical drooping before her night period as I have read elsewhere. I am a little stumped but keeping a really close eye on her today. I am following the general GH nutes schedule from GWE. The ppm of the water as of today was at 480, down from 500 when the water was fresh. This makes me think that the Roots are as healthy as they look and they are up taking nutrients as intended. The water in the res is a little more Foamy than before, but I assumed it was from the increased nutrients.
20211102 084927   Copy


As always, maybe I am over reacting to something insignificant, but would love a second opinion on the status of everything.
Thanks all.
 
Smokey0418

Smokey0418

610
143
If your plants had there leaves raised high , like on a 45 degree or more and were praying hard all day then possibly at day end you may see dropping as it’s reached it’s max dli.

Roots seem to look ok , what I may have done is pulled the roots a bit to separate roots stuck together in the roll and make sure there is no slime.

Imho, i think the ppm is a bit high but if your reading right and it’s falling that’s great.

And the other were I may take some flack , but hey , I see what happens on my turf and maybe it could help.

I would try and bubble a bit less, I have found too much bubbles in my set up and roots do not grow quickly.
People add extra stones and such but i think the turbulence is not good but again that’s just my opinion. Lol

If you have slime all I would suggest is more guard , orca. And then light leaks.

enjoy and good luck.
 
Smokey0418

Smokey0418

610
143
If there is any slime , wash off with water preferably not to far off the temp and then double up on the guard.

I have been running my set up with it most time touching the pots so bacteria should be making it into my pot.

Mix running lower one may , weekly inoculate your net pot, yes it does splash and maybe reach it but a pour over will assure it has 100 %
 
Smokey0418

Smokey0418

610
143
Also If you into measure and stuff, I have added photone app to my iPhone and then payed for full spectrum app . 8 something usa a year

Once calibrated this give me a very good idea what’s going on ppfd wise and dli.
 
Cashmeh

Cashmeh

2,007
263
So your using the same nutrients as me. If I were you, I would only use RO water and calmag. You can do it your way im sure, but since your new, I would just start with the basics that way you know. I was contemplating seeing how yours worked and possibly switching, but this works so well for me I dont want to change anything. So id say get you some calmag, and lower your ppms. The red stems and heavy dark green leafs tell me your overfeeding it. I try to stay at 250ppm until they are big enough to top, then ill up it to 300ppm lol. . Veg doesnt need high ppm with flora trio.

Ill also say its impossible to under feed it. You will either not give it a nutrient, give it a nutrient or give it to much of a nutrient. Meaning if you have a fresh batch, and you think your ppms are low, they are not lol. Your plants will adapt to a 350ppm eventually, but it will slow your growth.

Forgot to add always use half their reccomended dosage, which will put you right where im suggesting.
 
cayocho

cayocho

12
3
Good information cashmeh, thank you. I am certiainly considering cal mag for my next grow, I just dont have the money to invest right now so I am gonna stick with the half and half mixture. I followed my schedule and not what my plant was telling me (mistake) and upped the nutrients, with my half RO mixture it got to be 500 ppms which she did not like. I believe I am also combating some root rot right now, so I followed aquamans remediation process as close as possible and also made the move of excising two root clusters that had the worst infection. I have also raised my water level to the bottom of the pot similar to how cashmeh does it in hopes that more of my hydroton (and in addition my upper root structures) will stay inncoulated.
 
Cashmeh

Cashmeh

2,007
263
Good information cashmeh, thank you. I am certiainly considering cal mag for my next grow, I just dont have the money to invest right now so I am gonna stick with the half and half mixture. I followed my schedule and not what my plant was telling me (mistake) and upped the nutrients, with my half RO mixture it got to be 500 ppms which she did not like. I believe I am also combating some root rot right now, so I followed aquamans remediation process as close as possible and also made the move of excising two root clusters that had the worst infection. I have also raised my water level to the bottom of the pot similar to how cashmeh does it in hopes that more of my hydroton (and in addition my upper root structures) will stay inncoulated.
I might lose out on a little growth by submerging my rockwool, but not having to worry about root rot is amazing.
 
cayocho

cayocho

12
3
bro, id be lucky to have plants like yours, Im hoping a higher water line will help.
 
cayocho

cayocho

12
3
Okay, seems like after day one, the plant seems a little bit better, but not by much. I poured the hydroguard again today per instructions. Separately, my PH has been swinging wildly since I changed the water yesterday. My three theories are
1. that the increased bacteria growth (good or bad idk) are causing the res to drift from 5.55 to mid sixes in approx 12 hours.
2. My ~50/50 ratio of tap water to RO (plus more distilled water because of the aquaman technique) has less buffering capabilities (crackpot theory sorta)
3. I am not accurately measuring my res (likely not allowing enough time to mix)
Any thoughts?

I am also going to germ three more seeds according to cashmeh's method in case this drawn out learning exercise fails :(
 
Cashmeh

Cashmeh

2,007
263
Your ph should climb, the reason it's climbing fast is due to a low res size. The only time I notice my ph drop is when I cut a bunch of roots during transplant. I think the floating mass of roots allowed the bacteria to multiple faster than usual. A large colony should make your ph drop. Sometimes my ph stays the same for days.. Prolly cause I need to feed it since I keep ppms low. Anyways, hope that helped. I'm sure with your drive you will also have plants like mine if not better. I'm still new too
 
Smokey0418

Smokey0418

610
143
Ph moves for a two reason on my notes.

1- fertilzer is mix incorrect for application.
2- issue with roots will make it do strand things .

roots fixed, hmm sounds like it.

Enjoy your grow , your getting close.
 
cayocho

cayocho

12
3
After obsessively checking my PH today, I seem to have confirmed it is at a nice 5.7-5.8. It will be interesting to see how much it climbs today. I see some encouraging new root growth, but I am not counting my chickens so to speak
 
cayocho

cayocho

12
3
I am blessed enough to have an incredible hydroponics supply store near me so I picked up some Orca and some GH Root growth formula (the little bottle) at the recommendation of the people working there. The ORCA was something I was considering anyway so I added 2ml to my ~3 gallons of water. My plant continues to look much better today, leaves are quite a bit perkier. Some of the larger fan leaves have a slight yellowing to them with some faded brown spots. I am chalking this up to the root distress. Thoughts on ORCA?

As I have been applying the Double Hydro guard solution for 3 days now and my resevoir is getting quite full about a half a centimeter above the bottom of the net pot. It seems to be helping, but I don't think I want to raise the water line anymore. Thoughts?

As an aside the new root growth has been exponential but there are still small signs of light infection (brickish colored specks on small sections of older roots). Should I continue to excise the infected portions?
Lots of questions, but moving in the right direction. I've always found that if you arent asking questions, you arent learning.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom