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

[Gizmo_gardener]

Ok scratch that I went back u start in peet pods. And then moved into the rdwc this grow. I have read on places that goin that route can cause root rot due to the soil can dry up so for them when u add to the rdwc system it starts to get a little hydrophobic and root rot can set in.

I am new to this growing here but I do grow plenty of hydroponic vegetables in many different forms of systems I have always started my seeds in the system I'm using never having to swap from water to keep moist just using the hydro system to do so for me

 

[One_Bell]

Ya I do not think you can really clean hoses and stones after root rot. Buckets and stuff sure. I ran with hydroguard and had no root issues. In some environments where a specific pathogen being mold or mildew is present the only way to hydro is sterile. Here is the thing though. When bennies are used up fighting an infection it kicks pH around. I followed the post for a while and it looked like you kept up on pH. In addition great white is a Benni but it looks like a booster of nutrition as some of the ingredients are just total Humic Acid components. It would eat organic matter but I am not sure it would eat algae.
. I had a lot of fun developing my tent for DWC. I was using inkbird controllers and a humidifier in tent to hold humidity and lights were the only source of heat. Used some reptile bulbs and the inkbird and could keep temps within say .6 degrees up and down. Made a split floor so the floor was even with the DWC buckets and on lanyards you could lift it up and swap buckets. I used the temp of the basement to hold the buckets between 66-69.
But after all the issues I just said I need to grow some pot and went to soil as I have grown food organically outside for 30 years. 2nd grow did white widow and got 7.5 oz useable.

Aight, thanks for the comment thinking of swapping them out for new ones on the next grow. It is clear that only Great White won't cut it here so I need something else to try on my third grow.

One_bell sad to here you having issues the second grow around. In my one sec my first grow I put some fresh water clams/ muscles in water to help with algae. Not to sure what helped keep my phone balance steady at 5.7-6.0 maybe they helped that also as I was only using the Fox farm trio for nutes. Did u start in the dwc this time or did u start in the aeroponic system u started with ur first grow?

I started in RDwc this time to prevent the shock from the first grow (transfer from aero to hydro).

 

[Gizmo_gardener]

Yes seen that but instead of leaving you peat pods in the tray u do start them out in your rdwc buckets. Yes water level may need to be a lil higher so the clay pebbles stay moist to keep the peat pods moist.

I started my first hydro in my counter top system (aero garden) when swapped to the bucket had a lil shock this time I started in my peat pods in the clay pebbles in the basket with water level 1/4" up the basket to keep clay pebbles moist also hold you air stones off the bottom of the buckets close to water level to creat more bubbles at top to help with keeping everything moist. Once root system is established lower level as needed and the air stone but keep at least 1/2" off bottom of bucket.

In 10 yrs of veggies in hydro systems this has helped with best production of plants. Also nutrients is all a preference and everyone has their opinions with them but from a master gardener at the University of Arizona stock to a tomato based nutrient feeding is best

 

[Florida_Mike]

Hey Bell, are you feeding the Great White? In hydro,
the benis need food, especially in a very clean running
system. Molasses is good for the plants and the benis.
(personally, I don't like Great White in hydro)

I was using Orca, HiBrix Molasses and Hydrogard w/
GH nutes. I later switched from GH to Greenleaf nutes,
which uses "Sweet Candy".) Greenleaf nutes are
endorsed by @Captspaulding,
which is why I switched. (also, much easier than GH).
I now rarely ever have to adjust PH.

Truth be told though, they don't need any of that.
In the past we were getting 8-10Lbs out of a 1x3m
footprint (open room grow. (You will see me do this
again when I fire back up after the AZ summer heat
(115°f+) All that was used was nutrients. No chillers,
no Great White no Orca, or Hydrogaurd, just nutes.

The key, imo, is to do a full 1-2hr flush with plain Ph'ed
water every 7-10 days religiously (add h2o2 if you have
or suspect rot problems). I've seen comments saying
you don't have to flush in DWC, but I don't believe
it. After the flush, reset the res at full strength, rinse
and repeat. (I know there are varying opinions on this,
but I tend to err on the side of caution). This solves,
problems with deficiencies, ph, algae, slime, rot etc.
by not giving them enough time to establish. It's like
you're starting over brand new, every week. It
eliminates guesswork. It costs a little more in time
and nutes, but I believe it's worth it in the end.
I'll let my results speak for themselves.

Cannabis in hydro likes a PH between 5.5 & 6.5, with
the sweet spot being 5.8-6.2. It is actually best to let
it drift within this range, rather than trying to chase a
reading to within 0.1, multiple times per day. Iron,
manganese, boron, copper & zink are more readily
available at lower PH & Mg, Ca & P are more readily
available at a higher PH... There is no mystery in this.
If a strain has a known specific PH number that it
prefers, then by all means, roll with that. Otherwise,
let it drift a little.

My problem my last grow wasn't growing them, it
was trying to control them, and then bud rot in the
biggest buds towards the end bc I couldn't get
nighttime rh in check, it was a good failure tho, I
learned a lot, plus I pulled 4+ lbs out of a 4x8 tent,
even with tossing away at least a pound of the biggest
buds.

 

[Captspaulding]

As my friend said Greenleaf nutrients the mega crop one part fertilizer is easy Peezy in any grow medium, and I’m dipping my toes and DWC right now to grow a couple of mothers for clone box and everything seems to be pretty good with my seedlings at 2 g per gallon And it is absolutely easy to use. It’s cheap and you get a lot of that shit. Some people are stickler about the fact that it’s not all organic, but there are OMRI available nutrients that they sell as well but the mega crop and sweet candy, I don’t think I could live without either one of those though I do use their cal mag their pk booster as well as their sea kelp extract to some pretty rockin results. It’s the most versatile nutrient that I’ve come across as well. I was able to grow 31 strains at the same time and not catered to any single strain. The entire grow to me that’s 100% proof in the pudding not to be fucked with Florida hasGot your back dude knows this shit.