Gelato rdwc grow - 1st for both

elobrand · Feb 20, 2022

Been some time since I had anything to post. So I started this grow and thought I would take pictures and keep updating here.

For starters new equipment including 4 x 5 x 80" tent, SE3000 lights, 1/10hp chiller and the other small things that added up. I also went the DIY route with the rdwc system built around Heisen's post some time ago and also with the 1-part fert from @BillFarthing. Many posters recommendations were taken into consideration when getting Mr. Fulvic and Hydroguard so I got those. Here are a few pics of the equipment and setup.

That's it for now. Got more but going to resize them first.

elobrand · Feb 20, 2022

Me the newb. Resizes what you see, I see. Here are a few more pics.

elobrand · Feb 20, 2022

Ok, next are the 2 girls about a week after the seeds showed a tail and I put them in rockwool. And they got overwatered. Moved them to clay pebbles in the net pots above water to wick and dry. Then they got a long thin root, nice, they must want air. Not really. The root got blasted off by the next day, should have waited. But I haven't turned the air on since and don't plan too. Anyway, they are thin here and don't look great.

But here they are now. About 15 days later.

elobrand · Feb 20, 2022

And 2 days later on 2-16.

On 2-17. A side view of front plant. You can see the leaves show early stress.

And the rear plant with similar twists and curls.

elobrand · Feb 20, 2022

Cont 2-17. Here are some roots.

Top view.

On to 2-18.

Next: It's not all good but not all bad.

elobrand · Feb 20, 2022

A few days before pics from 2-18, I got a new PPM meter with EC. Up until then my ppm was about 450. Theeeen, it was 1200 and my ec was 2.4. Time to get out with some old and in with some new liquid ph'd and all that. And it's slow. Even my ro at 7.0 took hours to get to 5.8 and I don't want to chase ph up and down. But now I am 1000 ppm and 2 ec +/- and later I'll get it even lower.
2-19

chemistry · Feb 20, 2022

Keep your mesh pots above your water level, go with a smaller air pump if the noise is bad.

elobrand · Feb 20, 2022

If I decide to use an air pump, it will be small. So far, no air seems ok but I am prepared to add it.

elobrand · Feb 20, 2022

Found a website that has lots of information about chem and science stuff. It's sciencing.com. Go to the science tab then find acids and bases. Start with the article "What is the ph of distilled water". The whole site is filled with articles and videos of science stuff. A good read.

elobrand · Feb 21, 2022

Have been busy chasing my tail. My new ph meter and my old ph meter don't read the same. Unless they are in the cal solution, then they both are close, maybe .05 to .1 to each other. So I have spent 2 days questioning my readings and have done 2 things. First I ordered a highly recommended meter, Apera PC-60 and second I prepped my 15 gal refill tank with an entire new batch with nutes and everything. When I get my meter tomorrow, I can finally be more confident in my measurements.

It was time for a flush anyway.

elobrand · Feb 24, 2022

Ok, been a few days and since then I have gotten the new meter, flush and a little bucket bottom clean, did a bit of leaf clearing and got temp and humidity stable enough. De-leafing and then a few hour later.
2-24 front and back

front and back after a few hours

elobrand · Feb 27, 2022

Not much of interest. Plants are growing. Here are some fresh pics.

elobrand · Mar 4, 2022

Update: Not about my grow. I had a computer malfunction. It may be the hard drive controller. Stopped reading all drives but one. Installed windows on that one. Am going for now. Lost my grow spreadsheets. Can go back and manually enter data though. bleh. I will be back with more pics and such. In short pH crash, sad girls, flush, nutes and stuff, happy girls again.

elobrand · Mar 11, 2022

The following charts may be for mature audiences (awful). Pretty sure my pH is XXX.

Currently stabilizing pH. Used a bit of tap water this time for more stable pH. May have used a bit too much because it's hard to lower pH now.
Plant pics next. They have grown some and have developed some spots (stress from pH fluctuations?)

elobrand · Mar 11, 2022

These show they have grown and some light leaves. I guess nutes not getting to the plants. Gave a folier of epson and some Mr. Fulvic (at different times).
Front and back, top and side pics.

Some damage to leaves was caused by me manhandling them.

elobrand · Mar 11, 2022

Also, gave up on Windows (seems to be giving me problems lately). Moved over to Linux and got everything set up. Felt like a genius because I got bluetooth fully working and then like an idiot because I couldn't figure out how to use the cp command.
Anyway the next pics will need some advice on. They have some neat looking patterns on the leaves. Not good.

elobrand · Mar 11, 2022

And here are the girls today. They are really growing and drinking so much. The top limit on my RDWC is 15 gallons. Since res change they have taken over 3 gal. This is different from before res change, in the same time they only took in about 1. The charts show my progress.

So, options? Heat? Nutes? pH?

Or lights? SE3000 at 50% right now. They are 18" from tops.

elobrand · Mar 11, 2022

Also, I water from a top off tank, pH'd and with nutes.

Oh, wow! Forgot this tidbit (just realized that tidbit is a mirror word - dumb brain). When I did the res change, I screwed up and didn't pH before I filled the system. Brain fog. Comes with the illness. And meds. I have been adding pH down and it is slowly coming down. I think this is from the tap water properties.

Got an Inkbird controller and now my heat is much more stable. It was on a flash deal at Amazon for $35.00 shipped. This was the wifi version normally $50. Wifi setup was a bear but got it done.

Anyone use Domoticz? It lets you see and control all of your devices at once from a web interface. Running into some install problems but once done, everything in one place sounds nice.