Second Grow - Going Hydro, Baby!

[Weedly]

Once there was this bad ass chick who had led a weirdly interesting life and single-handedly kept the local pharmacy in business. One day a friend said, “Hey, maybe try some CBD for all your fuckuppedness?” So this chick said. “Hell, if CBD is good, maybe THC would be even better.”

2 years later, she has a cooler full of weed, a nearby pharmacy going out of business, and two little sprouts gently swaying in the breeze.

This is the story of those two little sprouts.

After learning invaluable lessons from both my first plants and the guys here on the farm (and also a giant hat tip to the folks at Grow Weed Easy), I feel well armed to do it again. This time, in order to satisfy my need to tinker and satiate my OCD, I’m going to do it hydro, or more specifically as GWE calls it—bubbleponically.

First, my setup:
Tent: 2.3’x4.6’ Spider Farmer
Lights: (3) Spider Farmer SF1000
Exhaust: 4” Spider Farmer fan & inline carbon filter
Hydro system: Spider Farmer 7 gallon DWC with recirculating drip (2 buckets)
AC Infinity Humidifier
Vivosun AreoWave 6” tent fans (2)
Nutrients: General Hydroponics Flora Trio & Calimagic; Botanicare HydroGuard & SilicaBlast

(I know I'll have to figure out a better solution to heating as soon as the plants get bigger.)

My hopes for this grow journal are to keep a record of my grow, help out any other newbies who might be running into the same problems I will be, and (most importantly) attempt to force the seasoned experts here to keep an eye on my plants and their blonde guardian.

As you have probably already noticed, I tend to be very wordy, so I will try to do my best to keep post brief and to the point. So here goes… !

 

[Weedly]

Knowing that one of the main reasons for going hydro was that I wanted to be able to leave the plants for 3-4 days every now and then, I wanted to make reservoirs that I could fill and let the water keep the pots at the proper depth. I didn’t have time to construct the entire setup, so I just attached fittings to the pots with a shutoff valve and I’ll add in the other components when the plants start drink more. I epoxied a piece of PVC pipe with a bit of landscape fabric ziptied to it over the bulkhead fitting I installed in the front of the pot to hopefully prevent roots from growing into the fitting and clogging it. I'm not sure this was necessary, but being my first hydro grow, I wanted to be prepared.

 

[Weedly]

I mixed up some water with nutes at about 1/8 strength, no CaliMagic, a little HydroGuard, and adjusted the ph to 6.0. I let the water bubble in the pots for 48 hours while I got the tent temperature and humidity settled and when I checked it again, the ph had risen all the way to 7.1, so I readjusted that. Every day now the ph seems to raise .3 to .5, so I’ll have to keep an eye on it daily. My well water is 7.2 with an PPM of 232, which I know may not be ideal, but using anything other than my tap water for the entire grow is just not realistic. Maybe at least I can go a little lighter on the CaliMagic than the recommended 1 tsp per gallon.

 

[Weedly]

Now that I was all set up, I was ready to start the seeds I got from Royal Queen Seeds. I used their starter plugs because I could buy 5 for just a few dollars with the seed order. I assumed they would be like Rapid Rooters, but they came dry. They are also a lot more like coco than Rapid Rooters, which I like since it seems there's less chance of over-soaking the sprout. I ph’d some water and let it sit for 24 hours, readjusted it, and then dunked the plugs for just a minute. Everything was looking good so I dropped in the seeds and put the plugs in a Solo cup with some sand in the bottom. I put these in the tent since it's the only warm place in my house. We like it brisk in here!

1 Punch Pie by Tyson 2.0 (90% Indica), feminized photoperiod

1 OG Kush (75% Indica), feminized photoperiod

 

[Bobcat.Branch]

Your second grow, and you're going hydro, and you are taking it to this level? Badass indeed!

I'm hanging out here to see where this is going. Personally, I love the wordiness. Would you happen to be a writer?

 

[Greenadian]

Welcome Welcome!! Love the wordly posts by @Weedly . This place is the only reading I do, so its extra special when someone like you comes around!!!
I sucked twice at hydro and have given up a second time, but sire do enjoy others who can kill it in the water systems!! Pull'n up a chair

 

[Weedly]

After a couple days, I got the temp and humidity settled in the tent—what seems to be a perfect 75 degrees and 65% humidity. The water in the pots was 366 PPM, 5.9 ph, and 72.3 degrees, so I set the plugs in the rock and turned on the top drippers. A few hours later the plugs looked very soggy, so I turned off the drippers and just left the airstones on.

3 ½ days later, I could see the seeds just starting to crack the surface, and 16 hours later I had sprouts up. The seed casings were still firmly on each plant though. I think what may have happened was that the hole in the top of the starter plug was kinda large and perhaps I didn’t fill it in enough, so the seeds had enough moisture to germinate, but not enough to soften the seed enough to pop open and let the cotyledons spread out.

I had inadvertently turned off the humidifier and it got down to 45% in the tent, which couldn’t have helped the seed casings come off, so I got it back up and running and over the next several hours I occasionally dripped a drop of water onto the seed hoping it would soften enough to come off, but the next day, the casings were still firmly on, so I very carefully pried them off. It was probably just in time because the cotyledons of one plant looked like they had been squished up really tight.

So exactly five days from dropping the seed, I had two little plants wiggling happily in the light breeze.

 

[Weedly]

Personally, I love the wordiness. Would you happen to be a writer?

That's good to hear, thanks! One of the few things I can be unabashedly proud of (other than my daughter) is graduating Summa Cum Laude with degrees in English and Creative Writing. They tried over and over again to instill a sense of brevity in me, but I'm far too stubborn to learn anything!

 

[Weedly]

Pull'n up a chair

Thanks! Yes, I'm afraid you might need a chair to get through all my rambling!

 

[Weedly]

And here we are today! 3 days from breaking ground. My little hula girls. They shot up what I think is kind of leggy so I increased the lights to 225 ppfd and I’ll keep an eye on them. Last grow I think I kept the lights right at the brink of too high when they were young and the plants grew really squat—I guess not a bad thing in a tent, so I’ll keep that phenomenon in mind. I won’t be scrogging this grow and I’ll need to watch the heights they are getting up to.

I think one of the big lessons I learned from the last grow is that quantity is not the most important thing. Half a pound of popcorny, seedy, larfy weed from one plant isn’t nearly as good to me as 3 ounces of primo buds. Especially when 2 ounces will probably last me a year!

 

[Bobcat.Branch]

That's good to hear, thanks! One of the few things I can be unabashedly proud of (other than my daughter) is graduating Summa Cum Laude with degrees in English and Creative Writing. They tried over and over again to instill a sense of brevity in me, but I'm far too stubborn to learn anything!

Kindred ...

 

[Weedly]

Noticed some yellowing already on the one little sprout and since I’m in hydro, I feel like I should try to address the situation immediately. Since it’s mainly yellowing between the veins and the plant is so young, I can only assume that it’s some sort of deficiency, maybe calcium or magnesium or even nitrogen? I’ve been keeping a very close eye on the ph. I know I’m being a helicopter parent, but it looks bad enough to tell me something isn’t right and in hydro I should probably do something. The other sprout seems a little more limey than I would think, so I did a water change for both. I upped the nutrients just a tad to meet the GWE feeding chart and this time I added a little CaliMagic, since my best guess on that sprout is magnesium shortage. I’ve read plants under led lights require more calcium and magnesium, but I thought my moderately hard water would contain enough for a little guy. (The issue looks like quite a bit more pronounced in person than in the pic. I know, as someone wisely has as their signature on this board, that I'm going to kill them with love, aren't I?)

And I was pretty pissed I missed both 4:20’s today. Just a little toke at one or the other would really have been special at this point in my life.

 

[Weedly]

One thing I’m a little worried about is the fact I only have two seeds brewing. Last grow I planted two seeds of each strain in each pot with the intentions of culling the weakest one, which I’m glad I did because one plant seemed to be doing fantastic and then the below happened in just a few days.

Then again, my current plants are also photos, so if I end up having to, I can replant one and then just make the flip early for one and late for the other.

 

[Weedly]

Not much going on in the tent today, so… my deepest apologies for what follows—>

Yesterday, I drove
Miles and miles of open road
Made up weed haiku


Wibbly wobbly runts
Dancing in the playful wind
Dream of amber trichs


Not soggy, nor dry
Not too humid, bright, or hot
Spring, in summertime


Herb wafts out window
Happy hippies toke and joke
Hush… cops near. Be cool.


Three inch sprouts growing
Growing tall and green and lush
Keep growing, I’ll wait


Stopped at gas station
Fuck I had to pee so bad
Forgot the best one


Ph 6.0
EC up around .9
Happy cannabis


Marijuana heals
A gift bestowed, free for all
Thank you Mother Earth


(I think I just trainwrecked my own trainwreck of a thread.)

 

[voltage]

The og kush from rqs seems to be a very robust plant. It took all of the light and a lot of nutes i threw at it my last run.
Luckily i have 2 clones which are rocking atm.

 

[Bobcat.Branch]

Not much going on in the tent today, so… my deepest apologies for what follows—>

Yesterday, I drove
Miles and miles of open road
Made up weed haiku


Wibbly wobbly runts
Dancing in the playful wind
Dream of amber trichs


Not soggy, nor dry
Not too humid, bright, or hot
Spring, in summertime


Herb wafts out window
Happy hippies toke and joke
Hush… cops near. Be cool.


Three inch sprouts growing
Growing tall and green and lush
Keep growing, I’ll wait


Stopped at gas station
Fuck I had to pee so bad
Forgot the best one


Ph 6.0
EC up around .9
Happy cannabis


Marijuana heals
A gift bestowed, free for all
Thank you Mother Earth


(I think I just trainwrecked my own trainwreck of a thread.)

PLEASE, apologize no longer for being creative and putting yourself out there!

 

[JIMKSI64]

I tried hydro and failed spectacularly. Could not get the PH correct. My problem was the 29.95 ph-ec pen. Should not have trusted it. I now have an apera kit and may do a one plant rdwc if I get bored with Organics.
Looking good and keep up the writing. I did a lot of very dry technical writing for oems in a training environment.

 

[Greenadian]

You're not the only one......I killed all my clones and my Space Jelly reveg in a small cloning machine!!! Stick to what I know from now on

 

[Weedly]

My problem was the 29.95 ph-ec pen. Should not have trusted it.

I’m realizing I have this same problem. The pen is all over the place, even with the calibration solution.

I now have an apera kit

I think I need to get one of these. My grant proposal for a new board stretcher has been denied, so I can’t get the more spendy kits at the moment. Do you think the $50 AI209 Apera would be an improvement over my el cheapo pen?

 

[Weedly]

Stick to what I know from now on

This is simple for me—I know equally nothing about any style, so whichever method I pick is the one I instantly know the most about!