One_bell's first grow (F1 Epsilon auto, RDWC)

[One_Bell]

That my friend is bud set and the beginning of flowering!

Ramping up the light straight away lol

 

[Markjobs2020]

lol if I had a penny for every inline fan I put in the wrong way round I’d have at least 5 pence

I’m in the uk witch is not legal either least we have hydro shops where we can legally buy all the stuff.
That said I do have to source my food from Spain & USA as I use guano & the only guano I can find in the uk is 1.10.1 witch is rubbish
My old friend had a dwc set up but he couldn’t grow to save his life. He worked in a hydro store & would try everything never mastering one lol

Hopefully you’ll show us some good results
Good luck with the growing bud

Uk here too I grew on a huge scale using flood and drain was with a few lads that showed me the ropes I'd love to try dwc but I'm scared ill just mess it all up so I hand feed

 

[One_Bell]

Uk here too I grew on a huge scale using flood and drain was with a few lads that showed me the ropes I'd love to try dwc but I'm scared ill just mess it all up so I hand feed

You should try it, it really is easier then it seems in my opinion. I wouldn't know how much to water exactly, this way I don't have to worry about it. Same with feeding, which you can monitor.

Today I did a reservoir change, over the past few days I've been building up to 1,5 EC now in flowering. Cleaned out the reservoir and filled it for the first time with the flower nutrient program.

 

[One_Bell]

Day 45 (from sowing seeds, day 42 since sprouting and 30 days after transplanting from aero to rdwc):

Besides the reservoir change I also cleaned up some bottemleaves that were getting no light and in the way of airflow:

Below they are still bushy, so I had to defoiliate a bit to clean up some space.

I also did some more LST to spread out the canopy more evenly (despite not using a trellis net), after that I installed the under canopy lightning:

First day of using the Ionbeams S16, with the same Samsung LM301H EVO diodes as the main light. Besides the newer Samsung mint (could only find at Mammoth, but already bought the Mars Hydro FC4800EVO) one of the best led diodes on the market today. Currently running at level 1 but will ramp it up if the plants like it. 4 bars per set of 10W each, so 8 bars in total, adding a potential (of you dial it in to level 10) 80W extra.
Currently I run the mainlights at 50% (240W).

Anyone else using under canopy lightning?

 

[One_Bell]

A picture of the IR lights enabled. These come up 15 minutes before the mainlight, and 15 minutes after the mainlight stops (18/6).

IR 700-1200NM​

Deeper penetration, heat radiation and the shade-avoidance response for plants,IR can:
Increase the photosynthesis rate.Promote robust stem growth and proper node spacing.Stimulate flowering, shorter plant whole growing cycle.

Don't know if it really helps but I am trying it anyway. The disco is complete now with the addition of under canopy lightning, Deep red (previously blue), IR and UV.

 

[One_Bell]

Day 46 (from sowing seeds, day 43 since sprouting and 31 days after transplanting from aero to rdwc):

EC1.5 has been stable since changing the reservoir. I keep the pH-level a bit higher the during veg between 6 en 6.3, PPM is around 1070.

After installing the last piece of light I decided to see if I could finetune the environment more to arrive at the most ideal VPD. With the help of the VPD-gun I was able to determine the leave offset (1 degree C on average) and made this change in the controller. Quite a shock, despite being only 1 degree off, this had a impact on VPD which resulted in a too high VPD.
In order to make sure the temperature/humidity seeing on the controller I installed two little hygrometers. They are small and have a magnet build in so you can easily snap them on one of the poles or something else containing iron. Both have Bluetooth (80m range) so I can view them inside my appartment without opening the tent.
The main lesson learned here is that if you are using LED's your leave temperature is slightly higher then the air around them, without an infrared thermometer to measure the leaves and the option to correct for it in the system your VPD is probably too high.

As you can see in the picture above, I placed one just above the middle canopy just like the ACI sensor. The other one snapped on the pole to give me an idea of the humidity (and temp) difference between the two positions.

Now I was more sure the readings of the controller are checked against two other devices to rule out any calibration differences. 24,3C with a RH of 50% resulted in a way to high VPD. I kept the temperature in the same range (23C-24C), and increased the humidity to 60% to 65%. I hope I have not stunted the plants too much these past days, a too high VPD slows growth.

After googling a bit in search of the optimal VPD I came across an environmental calculator form growsensor.co, which you can download over here: https://www.growsensor.co/post/crop-steering-a-beginners-guide (at the bottom of the article you can find the download link). What struck me immediately is they advise to keep a VPD of 1.0 during the night for veg, early and late flower. Anyone else tried this? The calculator provides, after adding some of your own numbers, a weekplan with a temp and humidity strategy, very interesting.

 

[One_Bell]

Day 47 (from sowing seeds, day 44 since sprouting and 32 days after transplanting from aero to rdwc):

Should I using a trellis net to scrog? Or is it too late by now to do something with a net? @FloridaMike @THC_AeroGrower @BearWater what do you guys think and recommend?

I also increased the mainlight from 49% to 52%, and the under canopy light to level 2. EC of 1.5 was a bit too high, so by Perceys chart I lowered it too 1.3 again with fresh pH'ed RO water.

 

[FloridaMike]

Day 47 (from sowing seeds, day 44 since sprouting and 32 days after transplanting from aero to rdwc):

View attachment 2376646

Should I using a trellis net to scrog? Or is it too late by now to do something with a net? @FloridaMike @THC_AeroGrower @BearWater what do you guys think and recommend?

Looks like perfect time for a net so you can start separating the buds & filling in the canopy.
A second net may be needed when they get bigger.

 

[One_Bell]

Looks like perfect time for a net so you can start separating the buds & filling in the canopy.
A second net may be needed when they get bigger.

Ah thanks for the advice. I already have two nets so that will be alright. Do you think they will grow any bigger by heigth? And what will probably happen if I don't use the net?

 

[THC_AeroGrower]

I agree with @FloridaMike it looks like a good time to add a net if you plan to add one. I don't think this strain indoors will get tall enough to warrant a second net, they should stay under 3 ft tall according to RQS.

Ah thanks for the advice. I already have two nets so that will be alright. Do you think they will grow any bigger by heigth? And what will probably happen if I don't use the net?

You'd probably end up with a little bit of larf (underdeveloped, airy flowers you can't even classify as buds) since the light penetration wouldn't be as good from the main light. You've got the under canopy light which would help with that but nothing will beat getting your main light deeper into the canopy.

 

[One_Bell]

I agree with @FloridaMike it looks like a good time to add a net if you plan to add one. I don't think this strain indoors will get tall enough to warrant a second net, they should stay under 3 ft tall according to RQS.

You'd probably end up with a little bit of larf (underdeveloped, airy flowers you can't even classify as buds) since the light penetration wouldn't be as good from the main light. You've got the under canopy light which would help with that but nothing will beat getting your main light deeper into the canopy.

Thanks for your advice. I wanted to install one of the nets but unfortunately I did not pay attention enough and bought an adjustable net with for 1mx1m only 5 pockets. So I ended up ordering two new ones, specifically for 1mx1m. They just arrived so I can take a second try at this. Should I hang the net a little above canopy to let them grow into? Or would it be better to put the net against the canopy and already starting bending them through?

In the meantime I replaced the airmanifold and installed two extra airlines so each bucket has now 3 stones (instead of 1 OEM) since the airpump had the capacity I wanted to try this. Also because the bigger rootmass has now 3 points of aeration. Since I could not access the same spot as before to drill I made it easier in myself and drilled from the front:

And a picture of all the white pistol sites showing:

 

[One_Bell]

Day 49 (from sowing seeds, day 46 since sprouting and 34 days after transplanting from aero to rdwc):

At the end of week 7 currently.

So far the ladies seem to like their new nutrientregime. Both pH and EC have been rock steady and only the systemvolume is decreasing:

Made some more changes to the tent today. Instead of venting out left, I rerouted the exhaust trhough the roof of the tent to make it easier to vent outside in the future. Since I wanted to put up a trellisnet this had to be taken care of first.

With the trellisnet up it easier to flatten out the canopy:

I also took away some leaves that were in the way of the undercanopy airflow and lights:

Mars Hydro advises to use the UV 10 minutes an hour for a 12/12 cycle. When I added the UV to the system a couple of days ago I started out with 5 minutes an hour. I have now uncreased this to 7 minutes an hour. 120 minutes divided by 18 comes to 6,67 so I went with 7, we will see how it goes. I also increased the undercanopy lightning to level 3 out of 10.

 

[FloridaMike]

Looking really good homie

 

[One_Bell]

Looking really good homie

Awesome, really means a lot to me. Thanks! Atleast one thing going to right way in life lol And cheers haha!

 

[Gizmo_gardener]

They are looking really good One_Bell. I wish my GDP looked as good as yours does.

 

[One_Bell]

They are looking really good One_Bell. I wish my GDP looked as good as yours does.

Thanks @Gizmo_gardener really appreciate it! I hope it will continue this way and I don't screw it up near the finishline lol!

 

[One_Bell]

Day 50 (from sowing seeds, day 47 since sprouting and 35 days after transplanting from aero to rdwc):

Today I took some time to recalibrate the Bluelab Guardian, following this video makes it a breeze:

With the trellis net installed I can't turn the plants around anymore and I can only access the tent from the front. I installed a second tent camera so I can take a look behind. Both are PZT camera's so I can spin them around:

I also topped the reservoir with an additional 5 liters ( and with nutrients). EC up by 0.1 and pH stays stable. Currently at 1.4EC and 6.2pH (from 1.3EC and 6.3pH).
Lastly, I tucked away some leaves and budsites under the net. Already an upside of putting the net in. Here is how it looks now (mainlight with deep red and UV):

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

Funny, the low odor is also the reason I went with the Epsilon (and the fast seed to harvest time). From other people I found that some do smell it during (late) flower, so I hope it is not too bad. After purchasing the seeds I also noticed on growdiary that a lot of people need a lot more time then the promised weeks (60 days after sprouting according to RQS). I hope by providing the right growing conditions mine will be more towards the 60 days then 12 weeks I saw on GD.

I'm on the opposite spectrum of u 2, I wanna smell that sweet skunk smell! Unfortunately I don't get that smell yet till I open the tent :( Even w the charcoal inline exhaust, I hope that changes and my apartment smells like fresh skunk roadkill lol

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

View attachment 2375216

A picture of the IR lights enabled. These come up 15 minutes before the mainlight, and 15 minutes after the mainlight stops (18/6).

IR 700-1200NM​

Deeper penetration, heat radiation and the shade-avoidance response for plants,IR can:
Increase the photosynthesis rate.Promote robust stem growth and proper node spacing.Stimulate flowering, shorter plant whole growing cycle.

Don't know if it really helps but I am trying it anyway. The disco is complete now with the addition of under canopy lightning, Deep red (previously blue), IR and UV.

Dude! I thought I was decently set up for my first grow, than I c ur shit and realize, I am a slacker lol I just was looking into getting some far reds for 30mns per day, half just b4 light off. I'm a newb, but u come across as one that will b very successful at growing!!!

 

[One_Bell]

I'm on the opposite spectrum of u 2, I wanna smell that sweet skunk smell! Unfortunately I don't get that smell yet till I open the tent :( Even w the charcoal inline exhaust, I hope that changes and my apartment smells like fresh skunk roadkill lol

Haha I wish I could smell up the whole building here lol! Unfortunately I have to keep it on a down low, I truly hope within a few years people everywhere in the world can grow for themselves without consequences. How do you like the Mammoth light? That is really the pinnacle of LED lightning at the moment in my opinion. Bought mine before these came out, but still like the LM301H EVO led's.