600 Watt DWC Closet Grow - Power Kush/Critical +/CA Hash Plant

After being seriously dissatisfied with my yield under 150 Watts of CFL's I decided to step my game up to a 600 Watt HID/25 gallon DWC Bubbler.

The Setup: I've converted my sliding door bedroom closet into a grow box.

I've set up the 600 Watt HID approximately. 38 inches above the DWC box. I expect my fully grown ladies to reach 18 to 24 inches in height, so there should be about a foot between the mature plants and the 600 watt.

The DWC: 25 gallon Sterlite container with 12 3.5 inch net pots. Sure To Grow foam cubes and hydroton are used as the grow medium.

An Active Aqua 7.8L pump & an Active Aqua 8" Round Air Stone provide 24/7 oxygen. I'm holding between 65-73 degrees in the nutrient reservoir. If temperatures rise above 75 I have a few syrup bottles filled with frozen water that I can use to cool the soup when necessary.

Ventilation: primary venting comes from the closet door staying open during the daylight hours. I'm also running 4 fans in the grow area.

Two "whole room" fans are positioned in the closet. One fan is above the light on a shelf pushing air towards the open closet door. The second whole room fan sits on the floor angled to create air circulation in the area below the light. I also have this fan facing the open door.

One high velocity floor fan is pointed toward the back wall beneath the light. I did this to increase the air circulation in the area between the light and the DWC. The last fan is a plain oscillating fan on top of a dresser that sits just below the a/c vent.

I've managed to maintain temps between 77-83 in an upstairs bedroom closet during the summer.

The Nutrients: General Hydroponics Flora Nova Series.

Seeds: Dinafem Feminized Power Kush, Critical + and CA Hash Plant. After germination of 6/8 seeds I started the DWC Sunday...hopefully it all goes well for me.

 

Day 4 update: looking good!

 

Day 5: I'm loving the early growth in these Sure To Grow Cubes.

Also, I'm adding Floraliscous plus & spray n's grow to the feeding schedule.

 

Day 6: I've got roots!

Looks like this whole DWC thing is legit. All plants are approximately 2 inches in height. Now, I'm seeing some surprising leaf growth combined with a nice green color.

I'm going to move the feeding schedule up by a day and I'll start week two tomorrow. I'll be adding floraliscous plus and a foliar spray...week two looks promising.

 

Day 6 & 7: first nutrient swap.

So, I changed the soup today. Although the process was a success, I noticed some weird stuff.

1. Not all distilled water is the same. Wal-Mart's distilled water has a Ph of 9 (I calibrated and checked again)

2. I did not have to Ph down the Wal-Mart water. The nutrients did that for me. Once I added the GH FloraNova and Floraliscious Plus to the reservoir the Ph dropped to 5.5 and within two hours it was at 5.0 so I added Ph up.

I also added a 91 chem bubble clone to the closet. It's a soil grow, so I won't spend too much time talking about it here.

 

Day 10:

Everything looks good. I've never seen this kind of rapid growth before. It seems like the plants get bigger every time I check on them.

A couple of potential issues.

1. We've had a few really hot days in a row (high 90's). The closet has been pushing 84-85 degrees toward late evening.
The latest weather report says a cool week is coming, so hopefully the highs return to 82-83

2. Could I be developing Root Rot?

I've been holding temperatures in the reservoir between 70 and 72. With the recent heat surge I've seen some browning on my roots. A friend said it was most likely the nutrients accumulating on the roots. Since I think he's full of shit I'm asking any GC vet that can help me identify root rot.

I'm going to attach some updated pics shortly.

 

Day 10: updated pics
The tiny runt in one of the pics is a late starter trying to catch up.

 

Day 11:

I continue to be amazed by the growth this thing is giving me.

I ripped off a portion of one plants roots while I was moving the net pots to new locations. I didn't even realize what happened until it was too late.

 

New pictures

 

Sweet. Should I clean the roots or is this optional?

Also, do you have a process for cleaning the roots?

 

Day 12: HPS for a day.

So, I was forced to run the HPS for yesterdays cycle because my son managed to blow out my old MH bulb jumping from our bed (my wife's story).

I've read HPS is fine for veg, but can produce stretching in some strains. I'm back to MH today, but I'm noticing the slightest flicker every so often.

Tonight, when the cycle ends I'm going to make sure the bulb is secure.

Some pics from yesterday

 

Day 14: Nutrient Swap #2

Changed the soup for the second time, so week three has started.

The plants showed some minor signs of stress when moved. That's something I was concerned about when I started this dwc grow, but two straight swaps without any issues is reassuring.

The four girls look great. This week I significantly increased the GH nutrients, so ill be watching for nute burn.

 

The girls

 

Day 15: This is crazy!

it's a mini forest in there. At this point I think I'm doing a good job. The plants are big and healthy with little to no signs of stress. I'm just wondering if it gets easier or harder from here.

new pics of my girls. I'm curious as to what the yield per plant might end up being. I have a good feeling about this grow.

 

Day 17:

Words can't describe what I'm feeling.

 

Sounds promising. How long did you veg them? I'm thinking about three weeks veg instead of four.