First RDWC Grow - Taking the Deep Water Culture Plunge

[SweetLeafGrow]

Took in few more close-ups today, my gut feeling says to wait a little longer.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Ok so today marks day 56 and 8 weeks of flower, Really working my patience gene on overtime. lol

Here are some more close ups and some blossom shots. My thoughts are today is the day but also open to second and third opinions from experts who know way more than me.

 

[smokedareefer]

Ok so today marks day 56 and 8 weeks of flower, Really working my patience gene on overtime. lol

Here are some more close ups and some blossom shots. My thoughts are today is the day but also open to second and third opinions from experts who know way more than me.

Another week to 10 days

 

[Moe.Red]

OK, so there is some science to this. For many years, people have said that clear trichs give you an up heady high. Cloudy / amber is couch lock. That observation is sometimes congruent with what is happening in the buds during that time.

CBG becomes THCa and CBDa. So you see a spike in CBG prior to the others if measuring along the harvest over a few weeks. The problem is there is not a lot of data on this phenomenon, but I have personally seen it play out in my grows testing with TLC. I think we talked about that.

Minor cannabinoids are tougher to gauge. Things like THCv are only present after a very long flower and then only if genetics allow. Same genetics issue with most minors, they have been bred out of most commercial weed these days.

So if I am going for complexity, I flower longer as a rule. If I am going for maximum THC harvest, IMO you have reached that point on the pictures shown and can harvest now. Lower buds may not be as far along, you might want to take a close look where the lighting is not penetrating.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

So if I am going for complexity, I flower longer as a rule. If I am going for maximum THC harvest, IMO you have reached that point on the pictures shown and can harvest now. Lower buds may not be as far along, you might want to take a close look where the lighting is not penetrating.

Great information. Still thinking about it but I am def inclined to chop today and go for max thc. Not sure if the terps will change much going forward, which might cause me to wait a while longer, but I think she is about ready.

 

[Moe.Red]

Great information. Still thinking about it but I am def inclined to chop today and go for max thc. Not sure if the terps will change much going forward, which might cause me to wait a while longer, but I think she is about ready.

Go for it.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Go for it.

Music to my ears brother

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

So I chopped yesterday and everything hanging out to dry presently. I tried to take a few photos, we'll see how they came out when I have time later. Looking at what is hanging, I do not think there will be 10 oz but what is there is super dense and very terpy. Even most of the lower buds were really tight and hard, I don't expect them to shrink up that much as they dry. There was some larf and I learned a lot about branches I should have taken out. I did try fwiw but I was not prepared for the speed of the hydro grow and it got away from me, especially the back of the tent where I couldn't reach as easily. I hope to do better next time with the training.

I didn't have time yesterday but I am going to clean out the system today. Do you guys recommend breaking everything down to clean better? Going to pull the water pumps apart and clean them and thought it might be a good idea to run some clean well water through the system after I get everything clean and put back together. Also wondering if I should throw some H2O2 in there during that final rinsing out?

I have an unrelated question, but thinking ahead to what I will be doing in my grow room. The question is, is it wise to run two different grows in the same room where one is in flower and one is in veg? Different environments but do you think it's doable? I would like it if I could keep zero downtime in my hydro grow and I do plan on having TWO hydro grows at the same time in the near future but I'm wondering if they need to be somewhat synchronized. My thoughts are I could clean out this system and get another grow going in the same tent, same hydro system, and then in about 6 weeks start up another hydro grow, the one that I have been talking to Moe and Aman about. If I did that, this one just starting will likely be in flower by the time I start the new one in 6 weeks, which will obviously be in veg. Do you think it wise?

Thanks again guys for all your help, no words of gratitude cover it! Once this flower is dried I do plan on getting it lab tested to see what I have here. I will post that once I have that test in hand.

 

[Moe.Red]

So I chopped yesterday and everything hanging out to dry presently. I tried to take a few photos, we'll see how they came out when I have time later. Looking at what is hanging, I do not think there will be 10 oz but what is there is super dense and very terpy. Even most of the lower buds were really tight and hard, I don't expect them to shrink up that much as they dry. There was some larf and I learned a lot about branches I should have taken out. I did try fwiw but I was not prepared for the speed of the hydro grow and it got away from me, especially the back of the tent where I couldn't reach as easily. I hope to do better next time with the training.

I didn't have time yesterday but I am going to clean out the system today. Do you guys recommend breaking everything down to clean better? Going to pull the water pumps apart and clean them and thought it might be a good idea to run some clean well water through the system after I get everything clean and put back together. Also wondering if I should throw some H2O2 in there during that final rinsing out?

I have an unrelated question, but thinking ahead to what I will be doing in my grow room. The question is, is it wise to run two different grows in the same room where one is in flower and one is in veg? Different environments but do you think it's doable? I would like it if I could keep zero downtime in my hydro grow and I do plan on having TWO hydro grows at the same time in the near future but I'm wondering if they need to be somewhat synchronized. My thoughts are I could clean out this system and get another grow going in the same tent, same hydro system, and then in about 6 weeks start up another hydro grow, the one that I have been talking to Moe and Aman about. If I did that, this one just starting will likely be in flower by the time I start the new one in 6 weeks, which will obviously be in veg. Do you think it wise?

Thanks again guys for all your help, no words of gratitude cover it! Once this flower is dried I do plan on getting it lab tested to see what I have here. I will post that once I have that test in hand.

I'm one of those guys who doesn't bother with larf. If any makes it to the end, I just throw those branches away. I don't think I could be this aggressive without access to all sides of the plants. In all my spaces, I can get all the way around. Not sure if you can figure a way to make that happen in your space? Alternatively, leave the net off until necessary, and spin the pot in the 13 gal res and do each side individually from the front.

Cleaning is one of 2 things - I wanna sterilize, or I wanna maintain my existing BB colony. Since we had a bout with potential root rot on this grow, I would lean towards sterilization. Just drain and refill the system, then dump in a bunch of H2O2 and run it for a day. Everything will be dead. Then just fully flush and refill. I also get in there with a toilet brush kinda thing while the H2O2 is running to break up the biofilm on all the surfaces.

I'm not sure I understand the flower / veg question. In general, you need 3 growspaces to properly do a perpetual harvest with photos.

Tent 1 - veg. Plants stay in 1 month, then move to
Tent 2 - flower. They will stay here until harvest - about 2 months. In the meantime, start another grow in the veg tent.
Once the 2nd veg is done, it goes to
Tent 3 - flower. Where they will stay for 2 months.

Now, you need to restart the veg tent with the 3rd grow. That will take 1 month and will be ready to move to flower at the same time Tent 2 is harvesting.

Anything less than that you will just have to fudge things around to meet the current needs. You may end up painting yourself into a corner with stuff ready and no where to go, so you have to get creative with clones and revegging in that scenario.

 

[Cashmeh]

@SweetLeafGrow what did you end up using to boost alkalinity and keep your ph stable? Im trying to make my res last longer yet didnt have good luck with "silica blast" although it might just have been a bio film and not a silica film.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Thanks Moe-

I'm one of those guys who doesn't bother with larf. If any makes it to the end, I just throw those branches away. I don't think I could be this aggressive without access to all sides of the plants. In all my spaces, I can get all the way around. Not sure if you can figure a way to make that happen in your space? Alternatively, leave the net off until necessary, and spin the pot in the 13 gal res and do each side individually from the front.

Yea, it's impossible for me in my space to get to the back and one side of the tent. My second tent that I can use in this room would give me access to 3 sides so may be easier. Good idea about spinning the net pot, at least until a trellis is installed. I will get better with the trellis too.

Cleaning is one of 2 things - I wanna sterilize, or I wanna maintain my existing BB colony. Since we had a bout with potential root rot on this grow, I would lean towards sterilization. Just drain and refill the system, then dump in a bunch of H2O2 and run it for a day. Everything will be dead. Then just fully flush and refill. I also get in there with a toilet brush kinda thing while the H2O2 is running to break up the biofilm on all the surfaces.

Perfect, exactly what I was wanting to know, thank you.

I'm not sure I understand the flower / veg question. In general, you need 3 growspaces to properly do a perpetual harvest with photos.

Tent 1 - veg. Plants stay in 1 month, then move to
Tent 2 - flower. They will stay here until harvest - about 2 months. In the meantime, start another grow in the veg tent.
Once the 2nd veg is done, it goes to
Tent 3 - flower. Where they will stay for 2 months.

Now, you need to restart the veg tent with the 3rd grow. That will take 1 month and will be ready to move to flower at the same time Tent 2 is harvesting.

Anything less than that you will just have to fudge things around to meet the current needs. You may end up painting yourself into a corner with stuff ready and no where to go, so you have to get creative with clones and revegging in that scenario.

To clarify, I just would like to be able to run both tents in the same room and wondered if this would be difficult with one tent in veg and one in flower at the same time, not so much concerned with a "perpetual grow' per se, just don't want to see a full tent and hydro set up sitting idle for very long. For my situation, I can run soil in other rooms of my house but I only have one room that I dare run hydro because of all the water involved and the chance of spills etc. Also convenience. I have my 50 gal RO res in the same room as my hydro tent and it's super easy to get the water from there to the system with a small water pump. I also have a big utility sink that room that is also super useful and helps me keep the mess to a minimum which is important to my wife.

Example- We won't tell her this, but I had what could have been a major catastrophe the other day in my room. I JUST finished remodelling that room a few months ago down to bare studs and it has a linoleum floor. My 50 gal RO res has a pump in the bottom hooked to a switch and a hose that I use to fill my system and other water jugs. I stow the hose end back in the res itself and close the lid on it to hold it in place, which is very important because I found out the hard way that even when the pump is switched off, water will still siphon out if the end of the hose goes below the water level. Anyhow, not sure if one of the cats got in there and pulled that hose out but it happened and when I found it the res was all but empty! doht! I couldn't believe it and looked around and there as no water on the floor. What happened was that room is far from level (hey I just remodeled it, I didn't build it!) and the floor slopes down toward the well where there is some gaps between the floor and the small crawl space underneath. All the water just ran toward the well and drained right back into the well and crawl space around the well. Whew! Dodged a bullet there. Shit happens and if it does, it has to be in THAT room. lol

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

@SweetLeafGrow what did you end up using to boost alkalinity and keep your ph stable? Im trying to make my res last longer yet didnt have good luck with "silica blast" although it might just have been a bio film and not a silica film.

Hey Cash-

Not sure if I fought root rot the whole time or not but the trend in this grow once I switched to GH nutrients was for the first day a steady drift down in ph. I used a silica product by Humboldts Secret called Tree Trunk. After about a day, it would stabilize but still drift down 2 or 3 points during a 24 hour period. 3 mL of the Tree Trunk would bring me back to about 6.1 and I would let it drift down to about 5.7 before I would adjust back up but I would have to do that most every day. From what I understand, the norm is a steady drift up in ph? If that is true, the my steady drift down would be more indicator to me that I did have a bout with root rot over this grow but was somehow able to get to the finish line.

 

[Moe.Red]

Putting 2 tents in one room and running them on different cycles is perfectly fine. My basement is a case in point.

I think if I was to start over, I would build a room out of cheap foamboard rather than put up tents. With a little handyman skill, it is both cheaper and potentially a better fit since you can customize the openings to fit your space. And no humps.

 

[Cashmeh]

Hey Cash-

Not sure if I fought root rot the whole time or not but the trend in this grow once I switched to GH nutrients was for the first day a steady drift down in ph. I used a silica product by Humboldts Secret called Tree Trunk. After about a day, it would stabilize but still drift down 2 or 3 points during a 24 hour period. 3 mL of the Tree Trunk would bring me back to about 6.1 and I would let it drift down to about 5.7 before I would adjust back up but I would have to do that most every day. From what I understand, the norm is a steady drift up in ph? If that is true, the my steady drift down would be more indicator to me that I did have a bout with root rot over this grow but was somehow able to get to the finish line.

Ok so mine slowly drifts down in the pots I have issues with. My evo res has never drifted down.

Im attributing root rot from a high flow ventiri pump blasting in the roots. They were not slimy but were more than tinted. The pump had no mesh filter to clean so yea. . the water had some floaties after I massaged the root ball. It was like they were all tangled and the top center down was for sure darker.

So im assuming we both also lack real alkalinity, but it could be root issues. My ppms hit 1700 for a few days after a top off. . . could be lockout. . Idk. . imma get the same pump the mimosa tote has, those roots are fire. Forgot the flow rates on its though. Works great for 30 gal. Anyways. Imma look into some new catalysts for a bit.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Just drain and refill the system, then dump in a bunch of H2O2 and run it for a day.

OK, so I got everything emptied out and filled back up. I added 1 cup of H2O2, I think it's like 3%, whatever they sell in the grocery store is what I have. Do you think that enough?

 

[Moe.Red]

OK, so I got everything emptied out and filled back up. I added 1 cup of H2O2, I think it's like 3%, whatever they sell in the grocery store is what I have. Do you think that enough?

Haha, you don't want to ask me. I dump in 1/2 a gallon of 12%.

I'm sure thats overkill. But I literally get in the tent with a scrub brush and dip it in that water as I clean everything. Floor, pipes, everything.

I even mop the floor with the stuff.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Cool, do you know how long the H2O2 is active? In other words, how long till its broken down into h2o and o2 and no longer considered hydrogen peroxide?

I guess I am wondering because if it breaks down quickly I would think it important to do the scrubbing etc right then while the h2o2 is most active and not several hours later? Maybe a dumb question but I'm full of em

 

[Moe.Red]

Cool, do you know how long the H2O2 is active? In other words, how long till its broken down into h2o and o2 and no longer considered hydrogen peroxide?

I guess I am wondering because if it breaks down quickly I would think it important to do the scrubbing etc right then while the h2o2 is most active and not several hours later? Maybe a dumb question but I'm full of em

Well, it is most active when it is first introduced. But it stays a while and continues working. Any time you can clean is a good time to do it.

As far as knowing how much, that will depend on the load it faces in the system. You need to use these

Amazon.com

Or guess.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

OK guys, did the final trim and weigh in and I couldn't be happier. Moe, you nailed it when you said 10 oz. Came in at 300g which equates to 10.71 oz, about an ounce of that was larf but I threw it in because it's all going into oil anyway and I need as much as I can get.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

I’m making RSO from this plant today, 5 ounces in this batch. I don’t have any other strains to mix in and just relying on my homegrown 100% for this batch.

Making oil, I noticed this plant was stressed out way more than I thought, and she hermied and there were quite a few seeds. Is what it is and I am even more thankful that I was able to get This plant to the finish line. Got a sample in for testing and will post the results here later in the week.