new caregiver WA: DWC TIPS PLEASE!!

[us2004mc]

Hey all! I'm a noob grower of cannabis as well as the medium with which my main focus is: DWC. So here's the info on the grow so far and would love some help!

5 x 5 tent
6" 350 cfm exhaust fan
1 1000w hid mh/hps mag ballast (mh currently running 24hrs 10th day for all seedlings)
6 single 5gal bucket dwc systems w/ 10" net pots
Floratechnics "recipe for success" kit nutes
All buckets are aerated with medium air stones
Also have 6 in blackgold soil less mix 1 in 3 gallon container, others in smaller containers until transplanting is possible
3 maxi gom's, 5 pure afghans, a w.w x cheese, auto somango, and 2 sleeskunks, all 10days above ground.
Unfortunately they got mixed up in a horrible stoned transplanting accident (my patient had smoked some crazy chronic b4 helping out haha) so hopefully I tell the photoperiods apart.
PPM: 280-300 PH: 6.0-6.3
Here are some pics so far: I have some light yellowing, was told possible iron deficiency. Currently all buckets are on veg nutes (1/3 suggested feeding i.e. 1gallon nutes diluted with 2 gal water). Want to make the best meds possible so all help is welcomed!
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[stickyfing3rs]

Your ppms are way high for seedlings imo, ph a well for dwc. But mainly I'd start seeds in something other then those 10" pots. Styrofoam cups with holes in the bottom and soil is easiest, straight r.o. Water until you see deficiencies, then like 100-150 ppms. Once they have a good root system you can rinse off all the soil lightly and transplant. Otherwise id just cut back on the nutes and ph to 5.5-6.0. Good luck man.

 

[lambrettats1]

I agree. When starting from seed only use r.o water until the second set of true leaves appear. Then keep the nutes low until the seedlings are well established. I usually veg for around 7-8weeks if starting for seed and in that time i probably have them at full nute strength for about the last 3 wks.

 

[us2004mc]

Awesome thanks for the tips, looking into getting an r/o machine, my tap water comes out at 30 ppm and 8.0 I ph down to 5.5-5.7 and have all buckets like this now. Pics to come, Ihave noticed some getting better. But still having some problems, Ido have a few in soil less mix and they are doing better for sure. Will transplant into dwc later, and have a few stay in the mix.

 

[woodsmaneh]

This is what I see,
orange buckets, they need to be light proofed, if you don't your asking for trouble, algae, pathogenic root issues to name a few.

Fill your net pots to cover all the holes for the same reasons ^^^^

Make sure if you use RO to add 20% regular water.

Here is a great tip for those who use reverse osmosis water to buffer your water and help stabilize pH. There are two ways, both efficient.
- For those who prefer simplicity, all you have to do is add 20% tap water to your reverse osmosis water.
- For the purists who do not want to use tap water, or whose water is particularly bad, here are two easy steps:
1 – First increase your pH up to 10.0 with pH Up or potassium carbonate
2 – Then bring it down to 6.0 with pH Down
In both cases you’ll obtain water well adapted to hydroponic nutritive solutions, while avoiding untimely pH fluctuations.
You need to raise pH first because the “buffer” elements have a very high pH or very low pH. You can start by adding acid, but then you will need pH up to raise your pH.
You need to buffer R.O. water simply because pure water has no buffering capacity. It is subject to big swings in pH every time you add something to the solution, making it unsuited for cultivation. Using pure R.O. is a classic source of failure.

If you’re using reverse osmosis water, add 50-100 ppm of Cal/Mg; this helps to buffer your water so nutrients absorb better. From Advanced Nutrients site http://www.rosebudmag.com/hydroponic-tips-ideas/insider-tips-for-maximum-yield-in-urban-garden

 

[us2004mc]

I have the base of the buckets where the roots will be taped over. The white ones? Same problem? Also, no r/o water, tap is 8.0 and 30ppm , I usually just ph down (acid), since Ihave stopped with the nutes to make up for the nute burn. All plants but 3 are now in black gold soil less mix. 2 are from above that bounced back and have poked roots through the net pots, 1 is a white rhino clone that had been growing a few weeks in a 1gallon soil pot.

On the white rhino: ph 5.8 ppm 130 flora-recipe4success veg nutes. Just cleaned resevoir today. Transplanted 3 days ago- nutes too low or still getting used to new environment?
On the afghan: hand watered , roots out of net pot but not down to water level, ph5.6 ppm 80 veg nutes
Room temp was 80° b4 lights out, still haven't received my humidity meter. No info there.

 

[Analog]

looking really nice although I usually wait until my seedling are bigger than that before they go into the big pots. others may disagree but I run them in a starter/cloner until at least double the size of the above simply because smaller systems are easier to control and quite frankly I don't see the need for tiny plants to sit in that much nutrient using all the extra power that goes with bigger buckets. DWC is a hungry system to feed and needs maintanence so I figure don't transplant until they can use what your giving them but I am a cheap bastard. I'm not someone to listen to for the finer points as I don't even really bother checking my ph that often though I can say keep a check on your airstones as they can get grimy and block which will hurt and a little hydrogen peroxide (h202?) every now and then keeps your system clean and will temporarily up your D/O content. I know this is all really simple but also keep your pumps well above water level, if the noise isn't to your liking hang the pumps but only if they continue working correctly, don't use excessive airhose... can't really think of much else but not to worry you will learn as you go and be pulling killer wands of bud in no time

 

[smknfire]

Looks like you're on the right track. I used to run DWC with FloraNova Bloom and had great results! Def hand water the little ones til the roots are staying moist. DWC is explosive! Here's my Grape Ape mother, almost too fast for mothers but I need a lot of cuts. One thing I've found is if your root zone temps are not ideal 65*-72* problems can arise. Never wait til then, use a root zone conditioner such as UC Roots or ZONE. With this setup my mother produces 50+ BIG cuts every 2 weeks! Good luck!

 

[Analog]

that is impressive. How many airstones/what type pump is being used to keep that beast ticking over?

 

[DrRabbit]

Totally agree with all the advice given above. Nice to see someone getting good advice on this sometimes tricky topic. I keep everything at 5.9, and that keeps the critical micronutrients flowing.

The 20% 'regular' water idea probably shouldn't be followed if your on a well, IMO. That's probably the only departure from what's above.

 

[us2004mc]

So, I have to let it be known, the taller plant is a clone Igot from the dispensary, the other two in the system were from seed. Both started at the same time.

Is there any reason other than just getting used to the new environment/medium you think is causing the leaves to droop on the larger plant? I understand overwatering, but it has been in the bucket for 5 days now,, should have leveled out by now right? Haha probably just some noob jitters.

But anyways, here's some more pics, thanks for all the advice!

 

[us2004mc]

Just pulled clones this morning @ 3am and @ 11 they were almost wilted, just fallen over. I have them in rockwool soaked in ph'd water for 24hrs, rooting gel, I scraped the ends to get good surface areafor roots to form.. and then ... fallen over.

 

[Fasheeryfo]

Just pulled clones this morning @ 3am and @ 11 they were almost wilted, just fallen over. I have them in rockwool soaked in ph'd water for 24hrs, rooting gel, I scraped the ends to get good surface areafor roots to form.. and then ... fallen over.

Hey what's your humidity and temp inside your tent? I had really good results having an intake as well as an exhaust fan in my tent

 

[us2004mc]

I don't have a hygrometer right now, one is ordered though. I also only have the exhaust fan and a tower fan w/ screens open on the bottom of the tent. I have a plain water bubble bucket in the room to add humidity. So.. here are the ones Ihave in system now. The sad droopy one was just transplanted 2 days ago, from soil less, into technaflora's trans nutes, sugardaddy and root 66, ppm @trans: 225 ph 6.0. Current: 266ppm and 6.1 nute recipe says 2 days in that resevoir so it will be changed in the morning. Next pic is one that has been in the system for 2weeks, first 2days of technafloras veg nutes start @ 170ppm 6.0 ph, current:181ppm 6.0ph still no roots out of the pot! Could it be it doesn't have to reach to far for moisture? 2.5 gallons of media... same as the others, and the 3rd pic has been in just as long, w/ roots reaching for water. 3rd pic: 215ppm veg 6.0 ph current 201 ppm 6.3 ph . Last pic is white rhino clone, 2days veg nutes start:335 ppm ph 6.0 current: 304 after topping off (403 b4) and 6.0 ph. Any tips would be great!

Also: leaves curling on strawberry cough... any tips? (5th pic)

 

[us2004mc]

So.. 3rd pic above is def one of my autos it is starting to flower today.damn.. way to stunted :(

 

[us2004mc]

Anybody have tips for the white rhino pictured above? It is still droopy, but the leaves are bcoming more green and lively, its been a week like this.

 

[Fasheeryfo]

I really think its a humidity issue from personal experience but I'm no expert in resolving issues so maybe someone else can chime in if its something different, if its hydro how are the bubbles? Is it getting enough oxygen or is it drowning. I dunno if a bucket of water in the tent produces sufficient enough humidity especially if there isn't much surface area for the water to evaporate. Try spraying the sheets out of the area and mist the plants lightly not so there's buildup/runoff or they won't uptake the moisture as good. Again I could be way off but if you don't know the humidity it's a good place to start and you can notice results quickly

 

[us2004mc]

Here is a quick view of the garden so far, plus some have problems Icould use some help with. The tall skinny one is a white rhino clone believe it or not. Flushed twice, and last time was with max hygrozyme per gallon, though my method is questionable? I just mixed the zyme water and poured it onto the plant/medium sitting in a clean empty bucket. Better to mix zyme water and let it bubble for an hour or so? Suggestions? The purple stem and little leaf won't go away! But the leaves are turning a lot brighter green than they were. Still curled. I do have a cool mist humdifier going 24/7 to help with humidity issues. Thanks everyone! Trying to turn all plants to flower within the end of the month.

 

[1bagmonster]

next time run air line or lines threw the net lid so your roots can grow around the air stones and that way you don't break any roots changing the res learned the hard way and tore up a shit lode of roots ,like this picture of my roots ,,,.hope this tip helps-happy farming!

 

[us2004mc]

So you are saying having the air linesr come in from the side of the bucket will cause the roots to rip off of the tubing when changing.the res?