First RDWC Grow - Taking the Deep Water Culture Plunge

  • Thread starter SweetLeafGrow
  • Start date
  • Tagged users None
Deadstill

Deadstill

I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.
Supporter
2,161
263
View attachment 1247262

View attachment 1247263

These are my bottles of unicorn piss.

The reason is this: These nutes are widely available, properly chelated, separated as I like them to be customize the recipe, non-organic and not premium priced.

All basic nutes work fine in dirt, in Hydro, you need to have the right stuff to get the performance you want. GH has always been able to provide that. I buy it in quantity and put them in the 2.5 gal drink dispensers you see and use the beakers you also see. I find it incredibly easy to rifle shoot the EC target you are looking for in less than 5 minutes. Consistently. I also have it set up where I can dump the entire system with the flick of a switch, and refill with RO and start over completely in no time at all.


I suppose Panda Piss or maybe Panther Piss could improve my grow by 1- 2%, but it could also take it in the other direction.

I'm kind of surprised you use GH pH up and down. Not knockin' it, I've never actually needed pH up, but as far as pH down goes - Advanced Nutrients and Emerald Harvest both have a really potent pH down. Even a small bottle will go a really long way, and I'd recommend a dropper if you're not doing more than 50 gallon res treatments. Just in case ya never tried it before, figured I'd share that!

Love your setup though man! 🤠
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

26,480
638
Thanks guys for all that great info. I've been very busy and have not kept up on anything here at the Farm lately but in the meantime, I have been looking at various nutrient lines. I am wondering iuf ya'all have heard of this line?


They claim organic in a hydro set up and they have a snazzy nutrient calculator that would be super helpful in mixing the nutes. Curious as to what you think if this?

I still have some time to decide and get something ordered but I need to get with the program soon!

I picked up 3 snips of the new strain Apples and Bananas from @ImpulsiveGrower (Thanks so much Bro!) and one of them will go in the hydro set up, one is going in my greenhouse for the 2022 outdoor grow, and the other temporarily in a spare shower stall. Had a bit of an ordeal getting the snips thanks to the ever dependable USPS. IG sent the snips priority mail and it took them a week to get to me! Dirty buggers anyway. Anyhow, the snips survived, but barely. I was ready when they got here and immediately got them in my cloner, 300 ppm @ 5.8 ph. They were very weak and all three layed on the cloner lid. It took them a week, but they are all standing up fairly well and Iooked this morning and two of the three, which have a node down inside the cloner, are both putting down roots from the node itself! Woohooo 💚

View attachment 1251356

My wife had to get in on the action and asked me to clone one of her plants. That's what I call true love. 💚💚💚🍎🍌💚💚💚
Its not organic… it organically derived… plant cannot take up organic nutrients. Add to that its not all organically derived either.

Welcome to the nutrient industry of unicorn piss… i prefer unicorn farts myself.
 
B7E2BDF7 F92B 4649 B3B6 7825294FC016
Moe.Red

Moe.Red

5,044
313
I'm kind of surprised you use GH pH up and down. Not knockin' it, I've never actually needed pH up, but as far as pH down goes - Advanced Nutrients and Emerald Harvest both have a really potent pH down. Even a small bottle will go a really long way, and I'd recommend a dropper if you're not doing more than 50 gallon res treatments. Just in case ya never tried it before, figured I'd share that!

Love your setup though man! 🤠
I’m still learning about ph and dissolved gasses and some other stuff. Currently running a prototype ph dosing system. I may switch out but currently I’m calibrated and software written for the GH stuff.
 
ImpulsiveGrower

ImpulsiveGrower

Supporter
2,081
263
Today the RDWC begins in earnest....yay! But I'm nervous as hell 😬

The plant is a clone I got from @ImpulsiveGrower as a snip and I rooted her out in my clone bucket. The strain is Apples and Bananas.

Measured out the water for the system after I adjusted the 3" lines to bring the water level in the system down, totalled about 8.5 gallons. Using RO water and decided on Advanced Nutrients Sensi Grow/Bloom starter pack. Love that Advanced Nutrients is Cannabis specific and they have a 24/7 help line and I have used it and the help is great. Their nutrient calculator helped me get the res where I want it to be with the nutrients.

So the water is about 1/2" below the bottom of the net pots, there are air stones in the res and the plant site and the fallponics is circulating everything as it should.

Here is the clone in the cloner and a close look at the roots after taking it out.

View attachment 1256590

I gently placed the roots on the bottom of the basket and put the hydroton gently around the main stem. I am guessing I will need to prune off those lower branches and leaves but should I do that now or wait until I bring more hydroton in to fill the basket? How does everything look so far?

View attachment 1256592
Ohhhhh it’s time! Super stoked to follow your journey on this one. I wanna run some hydro eventually. Keep doin your thangggg broski 🤘
 
SweetLeafGrow

SweetLeafGrow

1,467
263
So temps in the res have been slowly climbing today and sitting around 71F, which I am figuring is too warm? I am running live bacteria with Hydroguard so I understand I can get a bit warmer with live vs sterile. Do you guys think I am too warm and I am going to have to get a chiller if I am going to be successful? I am hoping I don't have to spring for that, dang.

The plant is looking worse this afternoon and a couple of the fan leaves seem to be getting a bit pale but it could be me being paranoid.
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

26,480
638
So temps in the res have been slowly climbing today and sitting around 71F, which I am figuring is too warm? I am running live bacteria with Hydroguard so I understand I can get a bit warmer with live vs sterile. Do you guys think I am too warm and I am going to have to get a chiller if I am going to be successful? I am hoping I don't have to spring for that, dang.

The plant is looking worse this afternoon and a couple of the fan leaves seem to be getting a bit pale but it could be me being paranoid.
I run 72f as my ideal
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

26,480
638
So temps in the res have been slowly climbing today and sitting around 71F, which I am figuring is too warm? I am running live bacteria with Hydroguard so I understand I can get a bit warmer with live vs sterile. Do you guys think I am too warm and I am going to have to get a chiller if I am going to be successful? I am hoping I don't have to spring for that, dang.

The plant is looking worse this afternoon and a couple of the fan leaves seem to be getting a bit pale but it could be me being paranoid.
What nutrients are you using again?

Ph and ppm?

Temp and humidity?

Are you top feeding once a week to inoculate the hydroton?

Pics of the roots?
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

26,480
638
Once you put then in the system give very low light for a couple days to let then recover from any stress if you see issues
 
SweetLeafGrow

SweetLeafGrow

1,467
263
What nutrients are you using again?

Ph and ppm?

Temp and humidity?

Are you top feeding once a week to inoculate the hydroton?

Pics of the roots?

So I am using Advanced Nutrients Sensi Grow and Bloom and a few of their additives. I have been talking with their help line and the guy there explained some things that threw me off because they were contrary to what I have learned about ppm and ph. He told me that their products are formulated where they do not change the ph of the nutrient solution but rather, change the ability of the plants to uptake nutrients at ph levels that would normally lock out a bunch of vital nutrients. I was very surprised to hear him say that I would not need to adjust the ph as long as it's between 4-8. He added he has been growing for 25 years and when this first came out he was similarly dumbfounded. So I left it alone, added all the nutrients per their nutrient calculator and then placed a newly rooted clone in the basket. The roots weren't all that long and I thought I should wait but several folks said it was ready so I went with it.

Only been in the system for 24 hours at this point. I did dump a bit of the res water down through the hydroton earlier to make sure everything was getting moist.

Here is a pic of the roots yesterday right before they went in the system.

img_0658-jpg.1256591


Temp is 76F and humidity is 41% Ph 7.2 ppm 963 on the .7 scale at the moment.
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

26,480
638
So I am using Advanced Nutrients Sensi Grow and Bloom and a few of their additives. I have been talking with their help line and the guy there explained some things that threw me off because they were contrary to what I have learned about ppm and ph. He told me that their products are formulated where they do not change the ph of the nutrient solution but rather, change the ability of the plants to uptake nutrients at ph levels that would normally lock out a bunch of vital nutrients. I was very surprised to hear him say that I would not need to adjust the ph as long as it's between 4-8. He added he has been growing for 25 years and when this first came out he was similarly dumbfounded. So I left it alone, added all the nutrients per their nutrient calculator and then placed a newly rooted clone in the basket. The roots weren't all that long and I thought I should wait but several folks said it was ready so I went with it.

Only been in the system for 24 hours at this point. I did dump a bit of the res water down through the hydroton earlier to make sure everything was getting moist.

Here is a pic of the roots yesterday right before they went in the system.

img_0658-jpg.1256591


Temp is 76F and humidity is 41% Ph 7.2 ppm 963 on the .7 scale at the moment.
Ok air temp could be warmer but all is good.

You are absolutely right NEVER ph AN nutrients. You will almost aleays see issues if you do. They are designed to work in a wide range and you will fuck with the chelates they use trying to keep ph in the traditional range.

With that info id suggest a higher humidity if possible and if not just dial back on light intensity until they gain some foliage. Better to little light than to much at this stage
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

26,480
638
With those nutrients you want to run about 600 of the 500 scale because they need a certain ppm to function properly.


Which is right about where you are on the 700 scale.
 
SweetLeafGrow

SweetLeafGrow

1,467
263
Thanks so much bro!

Yea, under the .5 scale its 675 ppm. I currently have a MarsHydro sitting about 24" above at about 20% intensity. I will keep an eye on the humidity and get a humidifier in there if needed.
 
Buzzking

Buzzking

88
33
Today the RDWC begins in earnest....yay! But I'm nervous as hell 😬

The plant is a clone I got from @ImpulsiveGrower as a snip and I rooted her out in my clone bucket. The strain is Apples and Bananas.

Measured out the water for the system after I adjusted the 3" lines to bring the water level in the system down, totalled about 8.5 gallons. Using RO water and decided on Advanced Nutrients Sensi Grow/Bloom starter pack. Love that Advanced Nutrients is Cannabis specific and they have a 24/7 help line and I have used it and the help is great. Their nutrient calculator helped me get the res where I want it to be with the nutrients.

So the water is about 1/2" below the bottom of the net pots, there are air stones in the res and the plant site and the fallponics is circulating everything as it should.

Here is the clone in the cloner and a close look at the roots after taking it out.

View attachment 1256590

I gently placed the roots on the bottom of the basket and put the hydroton gently around the main stem. I am guessing I will need to prune off those lower branches and leaves but should I do that now or wait until I bring more hydroton in to fill the basket? How does everything look so far?

View attachment 1256592
Hi Sweet Leaf! Welcome to the fam. First let me say I’m a new grower just started my first run on April 1. Just finishing the 5th week of flower and learning a lot from the community here. Big thanks to @Aqua Man and @Moe.Red for getting me this far. One thing I noticed and someone can correct me if I’m wrong is that your hydroton is way too low. It’s my understanding that it’s purpose is not only to help support the plant when young but also to block the light from getting to the water in your reservoir and keep it from growing algae. The basket should be filled to the top and even crown over a little. I’ve got pictures of my grow from when I first put in my tent you can look at to see what I mean. FYI I have the same system that you’re running except mines the 4 grow site version. Feel free to reach out if you have questions on it. Good Luck!
 
Last edited:
SweetLeafGrow

SweetLeafGrow

1,467
263
Thanks for all your input BuzzKing! Yea, the hydroton is low because my clone did not have very long roots so I had to stick it way down in the basket. My plan was to snip off the lower branches and leaves once things start to take off and fill in the hydroton as I did that. I didn't think about the light issue, thanks for bringing that up. I wonder if I oughta put some tinfoil or something to temporarily block any light?

Temps in the res rose last night to over 73F. I am afraid I will need to get a chiller if I am going to run these nutrients by AN. The guy I talked to on their help line said I need to keep it under 70F. Looks to be impossible with my current setup. Dang. Do you guys think that I can avoid having to buy a chiller if I get a different nutrient lineup that will work in a live res with higher temps? I am going to call their help line again today just to verify that this will work or not with these higher temps.
 
Cashmeh

Cashmeh

2,007
263
I run 72f as my ideal
I cant really say if warmer than 72 is better because im quite sure i have a bottleneck. . cough co2. . . .aka 800 dollar dehumidifier.

Another fun fact. . i lost most my larger buds due to bud rot. Id say 1/4 to 1/3rd of harvest is gone. Its not on all of it. . just in center of my largest buds. .
Thanks for all your input BuzzKing! Yea, the hydroton is low because my clone did not have very long roots so I had to stick it way down in the basket. My plan was to snip off the lower branches and leaves once things start to take off and fill in the hydroton as I did that. I didn't think about the light issue, thanks for bringing that up. I wonder if I oughta put some tinfoil or something to temporarily block any light?

Temps in the res rose last night to over 73F. I am afraid I will need to get a chiller if I am going to run these nutrients by AN. The guy I talked to on their help line said I need to keep it under 70F. Looks to be impossible with my current setup. Dang. Do you guys think that I can avoid having to buy a chiller if I get a different nutrient lineup that will work in a live res with higher temps? I am going to call their help line again today just to verify that this will work or not with these higher temps.
If he mentions keeping temps down to combat root rot, ask him to clarify if there will be an uptake issue if the root zone is healthy at higher temps.

Im assuming he was telling you that so you dont get root rot. . cause with root rot. .all nutrients have a hard time. Warmer temps promote root rot is what im guessing he was talking about. I run 75f sometimes and have never seen an issue other than gunk building up faster in the res.
 
Cashmeh

Cashmeh

2,007
263
I seen my comment about you running a live system. What room is your airpump in? Whats the temp of the room your air pump and res is in? I have to cool my bedroom with a window unit. Anyways gotta go back inside work
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom