First Try at DWC

Hey city what's up? Never got to finish up my last grow log in organic soil, but I have a new grow going and want to know what you guys think.
 
Here is the current setup:
 
Room - 60"x60"x80" grow tent
 
Light - 400watt mh/hps, 20/4 veg
 
Air - 6" 440CFM inline fan for exhaust, 6" 240CFM duct fan for intake, and a small desktop fan moving air in tent and blowing over the girls.
 
Grow Medium - Each plant is in it's own 5gal bubble-bucket style DWC. Right now 2 buckets are splitting a whisper 60 air pump and the third is using two 20gal air pumps. This will only be temporary untill I order my 45LPM industrial pump on Friday.
 
Odor Control - 6" carbon filter, not connected yet
 
Nutes - None yet but will be using floranova bloom and possibly the 2-part kool bloom.
 
Future Plans - As stated above ordering a 45LPM hydrofarm air pump on Friday. Will be splitting between the three buckets, so should be plenty of air.
 
Last but not least is the girls of course.
 
World of Seeds - Afghan Kush x Skunk (feminized). The first to pop up from the soil, has been in her bucket about 5-7 days now and is the first and only to show roots through net pot so far.


 
KC Brains - Bahia Blackhead (regular). Up a day after AKS and has been in bucket for about 4-6 days. Expecting to see some roots out the bottom any time now.

 
KC Brains - Northern Lights Special (regular). She was a late seed to germinate, was up about 2 days after the BB. Has only been in bucket for 2 days but looking good IMO.

 
Here is a look at all 3 of the girls together. The other little plants in the shot glasses are Cregos and Marigolds. Also here is a pic of the light, do you think this is too far away for a 400watt mh?


 
Anyway guys that's the setup so far, please let me know what you think. I am definitely shooting to do a little better then my last soil grow. Also I promise this time I will keep my grow log up to date with pics and such. Anything else you would like to know please feel free to ask.
 
 
 
 

 

Thanks much man. Also if anyone is wondering I am using a digital pH meter running the girls at 5.9 and also have a digital ppm meter but have not started adding any nutes yet. I am using Tap water that has been left out over 24 hours and has a ppm of 150.

 

Oh and as soon as the time comes I will be main-lining for 8 tops per girl and am hoping to finish with at least 2 females.

 

They are rapid rooter cubes. Seeds were soaked for 8 hours in ph'd water then placed in rapid rooters cubes also soaked to pH. First seed popped a day after being placed in cube and the second a day later.

I have heard these cubes can be bad news because they are organic material but I have also seen plenty of proof of people using them without issues. All I know is my seedlings root through them like crazy.

 

I have personally seen amazing results with them. Roots like crazy. As far as my rock I am using sunleaves rocks they are made by superheating shale ad are sterile+pH nueteral. They were cheaper then hydroton clay and I think they will work equally well if not better.

 

Nice looking sprouts. I have the aster and marigolds in them as well and they have already rooted through. Will get some pics when I update the grow pics tomorrow.

Was going to update tonight but not a lot of top growth from last pics. Looks like the roots are working their way down nicely though.

 

Hey city, sorry for the late update but here it is.
 
AKS -She is still by far the strongest and the only one who's roots are worth picturing yet. Currently she is working on pushing out her fourth leaf set, not including the coty's. Also the roots look yellowish in the picture but I can assure you they are nice bright white.


 
 
BB - This girl seems to be pushing for top growth more then for root. She has the least impressive roots of the 3, and NL is way smaller and at least 3 days behind BB to sprout. That being said, you can't see any roots past the bottom of her net pot yet, but you can see them in the sides working their way down.

 
 
NL - Still a runt compared to AKS, but very impressive for how far behind she was starting out. Also for being behind she already has one good looking root that has come out the bottom of the net pot. A little bit of strange coloration on her first leaf set, but nothing to be concerned with.

 
 
And of course here is a pic of the whole crew for a bit of size comparison.

 
 
Oh and here are these little ones in the rapid rooter cubes with a root pic. They have been in the rooter cubes about 4 days and broke the surface about 3 days ago.
 
Marigolds

 
Aster

 
Roots

 
 
Wow anyway guys, sorry for the long post but trying to get everything. Logging this is more work then expected and I appreciate feedback, so please if you stop in to look let me know what you think.

 

Thanks for the reply snoop. I am doing a great job with my pH so far I think. Started all three buckets at 5.8, AKS is now 6.0, BB is 5.9 and NL is 6.1. AKS has been in her bucket a week now so not much fluctuation there. My water temps are sitting right at 68-70*F which I wish was a hair lower. As far as air goes, I am ordering a 20watt 45lpm commercial pump first thing tomorrow. Along with the pump I am also ordering 3 new ceramic air discs. As soon as it arrives the full power of that beast will be divided between the three buckets, which I'm hoping should be more then enough air and maybe even help to make up for the slightly higher water temp.
 
Have not fed anything yet, but plan on using floranova bloom and possibly the 2 part kool bloom. They were all started at 150ppm because I use tap water that has sat out for 24+ hours, but nothing extra added. Maybe you or any other blades out there could actually answer a few questions for me. Tomorrow is resevoir change day and here is what I need to know.
 
1) Since AKS has already grown rather large and is well rooted down into her bucket, would it be safe to start her at 300ppm? This would be the tap water at 150ppm+150ppm of floranova bloom.
 
2) If it is safe to try AKS at 300ppm, would it also be safe to try BB at 200ppm? Tap+50ppm nutes.
 
3) Would it be wise to use a spray bottle and mist my roots with hydrogen peroxide while doing a res change and letting them have their air bath? Have heard this can help to keep away root issues. If so can I use regular hydrogen peroxide from the store?
 
4) With temps at 70 and using that monster air pump for just 3 buckets, do you think I will need any additive to help keep roots clean and protected? If so what is a cheaper yet effective product?
 
5) I have heard adding bene's can help keep your roots safe. If so I have a bag of DTE granular root zone, would I be able to use this in a DWC? If so how would I go about it? If you don't have any root issues, is it worth it to pay for the bene's and use them?
 
6) What in your opinion is the cheapest solution on keeping your roots healthy and slime free? From everything I have read air/temps are the biggest deciding factors, but assuming you have that covered what is the best route to take additive wise?
 
 
Sorry for all the questions, but I had my trys to mess around and now I want to get this right.

 

By the way just have to throw this out there, but how sweet looking is that first true set of leaves on the marigold?

 

Damn yet again snoop, you the fucking man. I was thinking the same thing on the additives, the less the better. The reason I am tripping on the roots is because of that damn pic that made them look yellow. Now I go into the tent and look and I almost feel like I can see some yellowish/brownish on them, but I may have just hit the bong 1 too many times tonight. I have read so many horror stories of nasty root issues and seen the pics, I just want to make sure I keep from needing to use the peroxide.
 
Right now the AKS and BB are splitting a whisper 60 air pump and the NL has two smaller pumps connected together. If they did somehow manage to get some root issue before the new beast pump arrives, would increasing the air get rid of that issue? Or would I have to treat with something to get rid of it, and then the increased air would keep it from coming back?
 
Sorry again if all my questions seem noobish but I am a noob to this and I really just don't want to run into any problems that are going to be a massive pain in my ass to deal with.

 

Hey morning City, just finished up doing my reservoir changes and wanted to do a quick update of some changes. So all three girls were set to 6.0 pH today instead of 5.8, I'm hoping this will help to get some nitrogen going. AKS was started at 300ppm this time and BB at 200ppm. NL is still at the baseline of 150ppm. Also switched my lights from 20/4 to 18/6 in hopes that the extra 2 hours of dark will help to speed up some root growth. Do you think switching from 20/4 to 18/6 this early on will cause any problems, keep in mind one of my girls is femmed. Also popped off my order for the pump and it should be here by the 25th. Anyway guys going to get my blaze on but feel free to leave me some input. Might do some pic updates later tonight but only if there is enough new growth to make it worth it.

 

Thanks snoop, trying to get comfortable enough with it that I can sit back and relax. Any thoughts on if the small light change will be an issue this early on?