Strawberry OG Kush @ 400 Watts, recirculating DWC.

DAY 8 (VEG STAGE/ 18x6)
 
CURRENT PPM: N/A
 
CURRENT PH: 5.8
 
PH CHANGE OVER THE PAST 12 HOURS: .1 (from 5.8 to 5.9)
 
CURRENT WATER LEVEL: SAME AS BEFORE (little low, but the roots are reaching so it's all good. My RES looks like it needs one gallon added, so I may do that tomorrow or Friday)
 
CURRENT TEMPS: The cab will sit in the high 70's during most of the day and about 80 - 83 during the day if it gets particularly warm (which it has been lately). At nighttime it probably sits in the low to mid 70's. Today my cab was a steady 80 degrees from about 12:00pm - 5:30pm.
 
HEIGHT: Three of my girls are sitting at about 10 inches, give or take. My smaller one in the back is at about 7 or 8 inches...it is catching up but it is my runt. I usually begin to flower after 3 weeks of veg, or when the plants are fleshed out and sitting at about 2 1/2 - 3 feet. I can't allow them to get much larger than that due to space restrictions. My cab is ample, but based on past experiences those babies will more than triple in size during flower. I will play it by ear and see what happens.
 
JOURNAL ENTRY
Well, the babies continue to grow upwards, outwards, and rootwards. As you may notice from the pictures, there's one extra plant sitting in my cab now: soil based. This is the extra clone I usually buy just to sit in soil next to our other houseplants. I thought it might enjoy sitting in the cab for a while. What I didn't realize when I put it in there was it's hitchhiker: a large and nasty black spider that I saw scurry away inside my cab. I tried to kill it, but I only managed to maim it somewhat before it scurried away. It's hiding somewhere in my cab now I don't actually mind beneficial critters in my cab (preying mantis, ladybugs, etc.)...and spiders don't do harm to the plant...but I fucking HATE spiders so it had/has to die.
 
I would like to know what my PPM's should be sitting at right now. I eased my plants into their new hydroponic home with a PPM sitting at 850. I basically cut the Lucas formula in half for this first week. Now that my ladies are blasting off, WHAT should my PPM's be (Maxibloom with Lucas formula)?
 
Enjoy the pics.
 
-TPM

 

Thanks for sharing that information Cherokee, it is appreciated!
 
My PPM's rose slightly over night into the high 800's. After reading other grow joirnals, I believe that's becuase the plants are taking up more water than nutes. I may keep my nutes at this level, so when I add a gallon or two into my res I probably wont add any nutes. If it lowers the PPM's too much, I'll add maybe a half or quarter teaspoon of the Maxibloom to bring it back up into that mid 800 range.
 
-TPM

 

DAY 9 (VEG STAGE/ 18x6)
 
CURRENT PPM: 890
 
CURRENT PH: 5.8
 
PH CHANGE OVER THE PAST 12 HOURS: .1 (from 5.8 to 5.9)
 
CURRENT WATER LEVEL: SAME AS BEFORE (I am most definitely adding some water back into the res tomorrow)
 
CURRENT TEMPS: It was cooler today than it has been, so my cab has been chilling at 75 - 79 degrees all day.
 
HEIGHT: The leaves are really starting to flesh out and the plants continue to grow. About 1/4 to 1/2 inch per plant. I am considering switching my runt in the corner with one of my stronger plants. With my netpots, it's easy to move the ladies to different buckets (at this stage).
 
JOURNAL ENTRY
Not much else to report. If someone can tell me how I can attach images to these posts so that you may view them in their full sized glory, I'd appreciate it. All i can do now is attach the photos in a way that shrinks the size.

 

DAY 10 (VEG STAGE/ 18x6)
 
CURRENT PPM: 810
 
CURRENT PH: 5.8
 
PH CHANGE OVER THE PAST 12 HOURS: N/A (It was 5.8 when I added 1 1/2 gallons of non ph'd/nuted tap water to the res and that made the res rise to 6.1 where it sat for about 20 minutes until I ph'd back to 5.8)
 
CURRENT WATER LEVEL: The water level rose just a bit as I added about 1 1/2 - 2 gallons of water to the res. It should last me another 10 days or more if it stays cool.
 
CURRENT TEMPS: 75 - 79 all day.
 
HEIGHT: One of my babies just about reached 1 foot so they are doing really well. I adjusted my light and moved it slightly back so it hit my runty plant and back plants a little better. The big ones don't mind and have already moved towards it.
.
 
JOURNAL ENTRY
Well, I finally added water back to my res. I used about one and a half / two gallons of tap water I let sit for a while. I did not PH it or nute it before adding it in. After I poured it in and let it sit for about 40 minutes to circulate through my system, I tested the PH and it was at 6.1, so I adjusted it back down to 5.8.
 
I tested my PPM's after adding water and adjusting PH and they were at 810....so I don't know if I should leave the ppms where they are at and not add nutes or mix or if I should be adding some to raise the PPM. My plants seem to be just fine as they are and happy taking up what they like, so I think I will leave it alone until I see a drop in PPM's....then I'll add some nutes back. Sound good?
 
-TPM

 

DAY 11 (VEG STAGE/ 18x6)
 
CURRENT PPM: 810 - 820
 
CURRENT PH: 5.8
 
PH CHANGE OVER THE PAST 12 HOURS: 0
 
CURRENT WATER LEVEL: Water leve is just right, just barely kissing the bottom of the netpot and the roots nicely immersed.
 
CURRENT TEMPS: 73 - 78 all day.
 
HEIGHT: My two tallest are about a foot tall now with the runty plant quickly catching up now that I moved the lights back.
 
JOURNAL ENTRY
Two big projects today: I cleared the side of my house of weeds. It had turned into a forest and took picks, hoes, and a bolt cutter to get everything cleared. I am trying to be as proactive as possible in keeping pests out of my garden.
 
My second project was mixing up a batch of Azamax (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005JVSWSC/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) in a preemptive measure against infestation. I have aphids all around my house gobbling up my wife's roses so I sprayed the roses and my babies.
 
Other than that excitement, things continue to roll along without any problems. I am LOVING this recirculating system in comparison to the standard DWC system I used in the past. A LOT less work and fuss!
 
-TPM

 

DAY 12 (VEG STAGE/ 18x6)
 
CURRENT PPM: 810 - 820
 
CURRENT PH: 5.8
 
PH CHANGE OVER THE PAST 12 HOURS:  .1 (5.8 to 5.9)
 
CURRENT WATER LEVEL: Water level is just right, just barely kissing the bottom of the netpot and the roots nicely immersed.
 
CURRENT TEMPS: 73 - 78 all day.
 
HEIGHT: My two tallest are over a foot tall now with the runty plant quickly catching up now that I moved the lights back.
 
JOURNAL ENTRY
My plants continue to take off. I am glad I did not add nutrients to my addback. I figured that with 4X5 gallon buckets, each holding about 4 gallons a piece, I have 16 gallons of nuted water sitting in the bucket. I also have about 16 gallons of nuted water sitting in my res constantly recirculating, so it's not surprise that there are plenty of nutes available for the plants to eat. I MAY add some more next week to bring it up to the 900/950 range, but we'll see.
 
With the plants growing as they are, I MAY flower in as little as a week, two at most. I am not fond of growing christmas trees due to the work involved so I will flower once they reach 2 feet.
 
A little history here: I have done all of my previous grows using straight DWC method, 4X5 gallon  buckets. I used RO water, FoxFarm nutes (3 liquid, 3 dry, LOTS OF FUCKING $$$) and switched drained/refilled each bucket every weekend. That meat DRAINING each, individual buket every weekend. That meant mixing up each individual new nute refill for EACH bucket. That meant refilling each and ervy bucket, including ph'ing it. ARRRGGHH, It took me 45 minutes to an hour each weekend. To make matters worse, I had to RACE home from work during my 12/12 cycle to make sure I could get into my cab while the lights were still on (otherwise, I had to wait another 12 hours (so 24 total) to adjust the PH) and I had to wake up a half our early before I usually woke up to make sure I could PH the buckets before I headed off for work.  A HUGE headache and a lot of work. With this 18 gallon recirculating system, not only is everything remaiing stable continuously...but even if the lights in my tent are out, I can still PH and adjust the water. No more waking up early or rushing home. With the Lucas formula, I simply need to use ONE SINGLE DRY NUTE at whatever PPM the plant likes.......no draining, no fuss, no muss. I am actually ENJOYING the process of growing my own medicine again, especially compared to my past experiences.
 
-TPM

 

DAY 12 UPDATE
 
I just bent my biggest plant a little; my own version of LST. In the past, I glued anchors onto the bucket lids and bent them early. I often had a nice circular "trunk" around the bucket lid, although NOTHING as impressive as Poke's awesome LST examples hehehehe. I have used this "severe bending" or moderate LST technique during my fist grow and I have had excellent success. I suppose it's the same thing as LST....bending the branch away from the light in order to create multiple colas, but I didn't bend it as low/far/early as I usually do for a traditional LST.
 
I hope to create a few extra tops using this process and also allow my smaller plant to catch up in sync with the larger plants. I did not prepare adequately for a sea of green grow which was my initial idea (next time!)....and I wasn't prepared lid/anchor wise for an LST....so I improvised and started tying and bending ;-) 
 
As I mentioned, I estimate a week, two weeks TOPS before I start flower. I am mindful of the space that I have--as big as it MAY seem--and how fast the plants will grow in hydro (at LEAST 3X their current size at time of flower, at least this has been my experience during my BlueDream hydro/DWC grows).
 
-TPM

 

DAY 13 (VEG STAGE/ 18x6)
 
CURRENT PPM: 850
 
CURRENT PH: 5.8
 
PH CHANGE OVER THE PAST 12 HOURS:  .1 (5.8 to 5.9)
 
CURRENT WATER LEVEL: Water level is starting to lower again. I will need to addback in a day or two. The PPM's are remaining absolutely stable (anywhere from 820 - 850) which I am ASSUMING is a good thing.
 
CURRENT TEMPS: 73 - 78 all day. The cab is usualy sitting at 72 - 76 for most of the day, and 75 - 79 during the peak hot hours.
 
HEIGHT: My tallest girl was bent but last night and has already begun to curve back towards the light. I will work on tying my second largest baby when I get home tonight.
 
JOURNAL ENTRY
 
Things keep on rolling. I am receiving virtually no feedback on my journal entries so I am assuming I am doing everything correctly. I still have not added any more nutes to my res than when I fuirst began with at 850 - 870 PPM's. I am resisting the urge to add more nutes becuase....so far....my ladies seem to love the solution they are in now and are growing as expected.
 
If my understanding of the Lucas formula is correct, so long as the PPM's remain at a level the plants like and I maintain that level, I am FINE. Once the PPM's drop, I can add back until I reach the desired PPM level. So that's what  am doing.
 
-TPM

 

TheLetter, thanks for the replies and suggestions.
 
I DID have a fan but it broke, so i ordered a new one that arrived yesterday....only to discover that it was WAY to big for my tent. So I am heading to walmart tomorrow to pick up a small oscilating fan. I have had several fans in all of my previous grows, I've just been lazy in replacing the broken fans this time around, so good eye there I do have a large fan sitting on the outside of my tent aimed at the vents, so fresh air is constantly cirucatling (as well as the powerful intake that I use).....but you are absolutely right in that I need an oscilating fan in the tent giving a gentle breeze to the ladies.
 
As for a temp/rh meter, I do have one; it's mounted on the outside of my tent (which is why you don't see it) and the meter itself is resting near my plants. My RH has been extremely low....as in, 10% low. I know, I know....not good. It's been really dry where I live. I have somewhat the opposite problem you were facing. I have a humidifier I may set up that I have used in the past....I'm just hesitatnt becuase this is an indoor grow in my office where I have a computer and other electronics, so I am hesitant to add humididty. I may set the humidifer on super low and see what happens.
 
Again, thanks for the good advice and suggestions, it is appreciated!!!!
 
-TPM

 

DAY 14 (VEG STAGE/ 18x6)
 
CURRENT PPM: 875
 
CURRENT PH: 5.8
 
PH CHANGE OVER THE PAST 12 HOURS:  .1 (5.8 to 5.9)
 
CURRENT WATER LEVEL: Water level is starting to lower again. I will need to addback in a day or two. The PPM's rose slightly but that's becuase--I am assuming--the plants are gulping down more water than nutes.
 
CURRENT TEMPS: 73 - 78 all day. The cab is usualy sitting at 72 - 76 for most of the day, and 75 - 79 during the peak hot hours.
 
HEIGHT: Plants continue to flesh themselves out. Little white hairs are appearing on the ladies
 
JOURNAL ENTRY
Not much new to report: I am going to be adding a small, oscialting fan to my tent in a day or two. I am STILL amazed at how I have not had to add any nutes since I began the grow (two weeks now!), but everything is stable so I see no need to mess with it.
 
-TPM

 

Yoda, awesome to see you post here; it's your design schematics that got me energized and motivated to begin growing again in the first place so THANK YOU for taking the time to create the post that ultimately led to me starting this grow
 
I think you are right about the fill line and I am slowly letting water drain/evaporate lower and lower. In my (limited) past experiences, I was able to allow the water to drain/evaporate so long as the roots kept dipping into the water. That's what I love about DWC and this system in particular.
 
Thanks for the support!
 
-TPM

 

Hi OneDay,
   I used to run straight DWC systems as well. I would start with 4X5 gallon buckets, but several weeks in I'd be down to 2 (small grow cab, inexperience, and some plants towering over others were the cause). As mentioned in this thread, what started off as fun and exciting quickly escalated into stressful WORK and constant upkeep. I did a few grows with a little success and a lot of failure and finally gave up; it was heartbreaking spending all the time, energy AND MONEY on projects I was ultimately failing at. So I STOPPED for a year but was always thinking about modifying my DWC system into some sort of recirculating system.....I just didn't know how to do it. Flash forward a year and I stumbled onto Yoda's thread about his RDWC system and I was LOOKING at the answer to my problem. YES, I could have spent hundreds of dollars on a pre-made system, but I am all about DIY.....so I built the darn thing.
 
 As you can see with the pics, I didn't do nearly as nice/neat of a job as Yoda; now that I know the system works, once I am finished with this grow I will probably go in an fine tune some of my cuts (make everything tighter and install some brackets around the pipe fittings I think)
 
Folks with a lot more experience than I have might be better commentators on this, but I'll offer my own insight as well: I think you could EASILY run this system using 2 gal buckets if space is an issue. You can also run LST by gluing or anchoring things to the bucket lids (that has worked well for me in the past) saving even more space.
 
Probably the biggest advantage this system has over a standard DWC system is the draining/filling. Now I am using the Lucas formula so I don't need to drain at all during the grow (opinions vary on this of course), but if I DID chose to drain once a week-as I did in my previous DWC grows-it's as simple as me dipping the end of my (wet) shopvac hose into the res and sucking all of the water from ALL of the buckets all at once. NO MORE INDIVIDUAL DRAINING AND FILLING, which used to take me over an hour…..if I hurried. Take that with the ability to easily control water temps, constant circulation of nutes, and the aeration it causes (along with bubble stones in the res and buckets) and it's DWC on steroids!
 
SO, THANKS for viewing my thread and commenting, but also...I say GO FOR IT during your next grow and try this design out. ALL of the hassle I experienced in my past grows...effort wise at any rate....was solved by this RDWC system.
 
-TPM

 

DAY 15 (VEG STAGE/ 18x6)
 
CURRENT PPM: 840
 
CURRENT PH: 5.8
 
PH CHANGE OVER THE PAST 12 HOURS:  .1 (5.8 to 5.9)
 
CURRENT WATER LEVEL: Water level is starting to lower again. The babies drank about a gallon and a half by the looks of it. I have an 18 gallon res so I am going to let it lower a little more before adding back.
 
CURRENT TEMPS: 72 - 77 all day. The cab sat in a nice 73 degree tent all day (weather is nice and rainy today) and is currently sitting at 73.
 
RH: 33%
 
HEIGHT: Plants continue to flesh themselves out. The trunks are thick and the branches are getting stronger. Little white hairs cover the node sections
 
JOURNAL ENTRY
 
A few updates. First, I discovered that I was reading my RH/temp meter incorrectly. I had it set to MINIMUM RH, which always showed me 10%. The CURRENT PH is in the 30% range, with the highest RH reaching 50%. I can live with 30% humidity and am glad for it; I was getting nervous with what I thought was a constant 10% RH.
 
Second update is that my plants have been stinking up the house for the past several days. I always thought these ladies would stink during flower, not veg, but there you go. I am going to install my carbon filter over the weekend. I have always installed it at the start of the grow during my previous grows, but this time I decided to wait (laziness and its a PITA to do it by myself). STINK! STINKY! STINKY!
 
Other than that, the ladies continue to grow at an amazing pace and I am impressed with how the trunks/stems/branches are really starting to thicken up. I have my two largest tied back a little to allow my two smaller ones to catch up. They are nearly there, and the tied plants aren't phased at all.
 
I may begin to flower in as little as 3 - 6 days due to the size of the ladies at this stage. I will play it by ear; I am just not eager to deal with 4 humungous plants and want to keep them medium in size if possible I know, most people would love to grow christmas trees....but it's a LOT of work and a lot can go wrong. If something goes wrong, it's easier to move things/make adjustments between the 4 ladies when they are a manageable size and not trees intertwined with each other. I'm going to play it by ear.
-TPM