Rdwc Undercurrent Cheesequake F2 Run

[DGP]

Seems like it is time for me to post up a diary. I have been growing for about 3 years now and it seems there have been many struggles along the way from a vandalized flower room to various F'ups on my part to bugs. Seems like a have a fairly stable grow program now and I am focusing the last few cycles on yield improvement.

My setup:

-Custom built (DIY) Undercurrent Hydro with 8 grow sites a control bucket and top off reservoir (5 gallon control with 15 gallon top off).
-Custom built COB LED system, 90 CRI Luminous COBS, dimmable but capable of 750 watts total (12 Cobs in a 4X3 array). Running 65W per sq ft at full flower, 3000 and 3500K mix.
-LED drivers outside the room for thermal efficiency.
-4X5 grow area in a 6X5 room.
-Ideal air AC unit drawing input air from inside the house.
-Room slightly elevated pressure to keep bugs and other crap out. Incoming air filtered.
-1/4 hp chiller outside the room.
-950GPH air pump outside the room as well.
-Jack's Hydro Pro, Jack's Calcium Nitrate and Epsom in a 3-2-1 mix.

The plants:

-My own F2 version (Cheesequake X Cheesequake)
-Sorted the girls out by size and productivity
-Saw the unicorn in the mix the first run but my clones of her failed so did a second run to find that one plant and did. Cloned her successfully (difficult hybrid to clone!).
-Current grow still has a mix of plants (all strong), next grow will have fully sorted and better plants because they will be clones of the my 2 favorite phenos

My goals:

-To have a more controlled healthy grow.
-To beat my last yield (want to exceed .7 gr per watt or better)

Some pictures of the setup:

Laying out the system:

UC leak and functional test:

First run with UC

Control bucket with return line from chiller. Temperature probes in control bucket and chiller return line:

 

[Thejoeybrown]

I like it. I’ll be tagging along!

 

[DGP]

I started this run in my first prototype UC system but it was replaced before I flipped. Since I am in the second week of visible flowers I will need to post up some older photos to show the development of the grow.

Did my initial veg in a 2X4 tent then moved them into the new system in the flower room

First UC Prototype:

 

[madgrower]

Seems like it is time for me to post up a diary. I have been growing for about 3 years now and it seems there have been many struggles along the way from a vandalized flower room to various F'ups on my part to bugs. Seems like a have a fairly stable grow program now and I am focusing the last few cycles on yield improvement.

My setup:

-Custom built (DIY) Undercurrent Hydro with 8 grow sites a control bucket and top off reservoir (5 gallon control with 15 gallon top off).
-Custom built COB LED system, 90 CRI Luminous COBS, dimmable but capable of 750 watts total (12 Cobs in a 4X3 array). Running 65W per sq ft at full flower, 3000 and 3500K mix.
-LED drivers outside the room for thermal efficiency.
-4X5 grow area in a 6X5 room.
-Ideal air AC unit drawing input air from inside the house.
-Room slightly elevated pressure to keep bugs and other crap out. Incoming air filtered.
-1/4 hp chiller outside the room.
-950GPH air pump outside the room as well.
-Jack's Hydro Pro, Jack's Calcium Nitrate and Epsom in a 3-2-1 mix.

The plants:

-My own F2 version (Cheesequake X Cheesequake)
-Sorted the girls out by size and productivity
-Saw the unicorn in the mix the first run but my clones of her failed so did a second run to find that one plant and did. Cloned her successfully (difficult hybrid to clone!).
-Current grow still has a mix of plants (all strong), next grow will have fully sorted and better plants because they will be clones of the my 2 favorite phenos

My goals:

-To have a more controlled healthy grow.
-To beat my last yield (want to exceed .7 gr per watt or better)

Some pictures of the setup:

Laying out the system:
View attachment 788906

UC leak and functional test:
View attachment 788907

First run with UC
View attachment 788908

Control bucket with return line from chiller. Temperature probes in control bucket and chiller return line:
View attachment 788909

View attachment 788910

View attachment 788911

View attachment 788912

Very impressed..does the ac work good drawing air from inside?

 

[DGP]

I like it. I’ll be tagging along!

Thanks! I need encouragement, have already been slapped around for being an idiot and not having "decent" yields. Some people nail their first few grows but I have to work for every inch of ground.

However, ever since starting have been scrounging just to have the equipment I need and that's why I do a lot of DIY. My grow budget is tight.....

Dee

 

[DGP]

Very impressed..does the ac work good drawing air from inside?

Yeah, it is one of those portable units made for growing and normally the intake and exhaust go out the window but I was concerned that the intake would pull in too much hot air from the exhaust and during the Summer and sometimes Fall the air outside gets too warm so since I have to condition the air in the house (very ill spouse that can't tolerate the heat in the Summer) I thought I would just duct some air in that is already fairly cool. It seems to work fine and even though I filter the air coming in (paranoid about bugs) it seems to be a fairly efficient way to do it.

Thanks,

Dee

 

[DGP]

Root development in mid-veg:

Canopy training:

Mid-Veg a couple weeks til flip:

 

[DGP]

More recent pictures, 1 week into visible flower (3 weeks since flip). Took them a full 2 weeks to show flowers:

3-21:

Fungus gnats eye view:

Early flower:

 

[DGP]

Latest photos 3-30:
The plants are drinking about 2-3 gallons a day now

Mother plants as well as upcoming outdoor plants:

Top Feed NFT Hydro Strawberries in my other room where I experiment with food crops. Top feed lines are shut off when roots are long enough to reach the film:

 

[Thejoeybrown]

Latest photos 3-30:
The plants are drinking about 2-3 gallons a day now
View attachment 788937

View attachment 788938
Mother plants as well as upcoming outdoor plants:
View attachment 788939
Top Feed NFT Hydro Strawberries in my other room where I experiment with food crops. Top feed lines are shut off when roots are long enough to reach the film:
View attachment 788940

View attachment 788941

That looks sweet! And the strawberries look great!

 

[DGP]

Tonight I had make a hard decision to pull an entire plant outta the flower room. It was one that just was not producing and was forming retarded mutant leaf clusters and just weird looking flowers. it looked entirely normal in veg but after flip just went totally weird. So, I cut it down. So my room is ideal for 8 of this strain that is vegged for 4-5 weeks. I lost one cause it was a male and now I lost a mutant plant. Down to 6 plants and they still fill the canopy fairly well but I have some wasted space.

Sure would like to know what this one plant did......Just makes random clusters of malformed flowers and leaves.

Dee

 

[PhatNuggz]

Im in. FYI, IMO you can eliminate the airstones in each RDWC bucket, which do increase pH due to air pump pulling co2 from th ambient air

 

[madgrower]

Love it

 

[DGP]

Im in. FYI, IMO you can eliminate the airstones in each RDWC bucket, which do increase pH due to air pump pulling co2 from th ambient air

If anything my ph falls slowly over time and the Jack's hydro 3-2-1 mix seems to stabilize the ph right were I want it when I do a partial or full change. I am following Current Cultures (even though I built the system it is identical in setup) recommended air flow for the system which with my pump comes in right in their range if I have a stone in each bucket and the control.

Was considering a dissolved O2 meter (~$100-200) but once I measure it, its not going to change much over time but I am probably going to order a test kit (~$40) which will test like 20 times (colored solutions react with your water). CC recommends not going overboard with extra stones or higher capacity pumps.

For those who have not stopped by to see it, here is my thread on how to build a UC system for $300 or so instead of $4K:

https://www.thcfarmer.com/community...formance-under-current-for-300-or-less.94487/

Dee

 

[PhatNuggz]

As long as you have adequate recirculation (breaking the surface) in your rez, you should be fine. Looking at your rez drain back, consider lowering the water level so that there is more splash/aeration

hth

 

[Maelstrom]

I've been considering doing an RDWC system for years but haven't shied away from Subcool's Super Soil yet. Love your strawberries! Very cool setup. Wondering if you've always used LED lighting. I'm thinking of switching to a DIY LED system to cut heat and power cost but everything I've read so far says they just don't yield the weight of HID lamps. What's your experience?

 

[DGP]

I've been considering doing an RDWC system for years but haven't shied away from Subcool's Super Soil yet. Love your strawberries! Very cool setup. Wondering if you've always used LED lighting. I'm thinking of switching to a DIY LED system to cut heat and power cost but everything I've read so far says they just don't yield the weight of HID lamps. What's your experience?

My own opinion is the people who say LEDs are not ready are basing that on the ridiculous Chinese imported, junky, blurple, pink, cheap packaged LED systems (always too close together to properly spread the light) that suck. They have out and out lies in their specifications and will grow plants but draw like 200W and get called 600 or 1200w lights. This BS is a totally different game than quality COBs or Quantum boards. Someone will always bring up the "light penetration" myth as well. I was an LED systems engineer designing high powered custom COBs, doing high level fluid analysis for cooling them and packaging them into COB systems (systems that produced up to 8-10K watts) and I know the LED world and it is ready if you use the right parts or manufacturers. For plug and play I recommend Timber or RapidLED, for kits and parts RapidLED and cobkits.com (other folks feel free to add sources you like).

These light penetration and other myths about spectrum persist but the reality is the light produced by quality systems is not only accurate but full spectrum (a term that has been stolen by the blurple light idiots). Personally I don't care if people keep following these myths and in the end wont listen. I still think a quality DE or CMH system is still quite valid but I am producing 1K watts worth of better light at an actual usage of 750 and I have the capability to dim the lights as the plants need in early flower and then increase as they can handle it. Also, my AC usage is much lower as I keep the drivers outside the room. Just so many advantages to me.

https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/sixstrings-led-cob-builds.85163/

https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/led-lighting-sh-t-or-shinola.94690/

Dee

 

[DGP]

As long as you have adequate recirculation (breaking the surface) in your rez, you should be fine. Looking at your rez drain back, consider lowering the water level so that there is more splash/aeration

hth

Need to redo my return line so it splashes more because right now the water is at the bottom of the net pots. I have seen conflicting information on water level though and again I was trying to follow CC's recommendations for now.

Thanks,

Dee

 

[Maelstrom]

My own opinion is the people who say LEDs are not ready are basing that on the ridiculous Chinese imported, junky, blurple, pink, cheap packaged LED systems (always too close together to properly spread the light) that suck. They have out and out lies in their specifications and will grow plants but draw like 200W and get called 600 or 1200w lights. This BS is a totally different game than quality COBs or Quantum boards. Someone will always bring up the "light penetration" myth as well. I was an LED systems engineer designing high powered custom COBs, doing high level fluid analysis for cooling them and packaging them into COB systems (systems that produced up to 8-10K watts) and I know the LED world and it is ready if you use the right parts or manufacturers. For plug and play I recommend Timber or RapidLED, for kits and parts RapidLED and cobkits.com (other folks feel free to add sources you like).

These light penetration and other myths about spectrum persist but the reality is the light produced by quality systems is not only accurate but full spectrum (a term that has been stolen by the blurple light idiots). Personally I don't care if people keep following these myths and in the end wont listen. I still think a quality DE or CMH system is still quite valid but I am producing 1K watts worth of better light at an actual usage of 750 and I have the capability to dim the lights as the plants need in early flower and then increase as they can handle it. Also, my AC usage is much lower as I keep the drivers outside the room. Just so many advantages to me.

https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/sixstrings-led-cob-builds.85163/

https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/led-lighting-sh-t-or-shinola.94690/

Dee[

 

[Maelstrom]

Wow! Thanks for all the data.