Durban Poison RDWC 600W HPS/MH/LED Grow

I finally remember my password for my original account (this one!) and am re-starting my Durban Poison grow journal under this name. You can now look back on my previous grow journals from this account.

Background

I have 7 grows that I have completed, with 4 being extremely successful, 2 annihilated by spider mites weeks into flowering, and one that was half destroyed by mold/fungus. All of these, save for the last, were Deep Water Culture (DWC) grows. I have used the Lucas formula (loved it) as well as Fox Farms nutrients. All of my grows were of Blue Dream which was incredibly resilient, easy to clone, and for the most part, aggressive in growth.

My last grow was a Recirculating DWC (RDWC) using ¾ inch tubing for the pump AND return lines. As you would expect, while it worked pretty well for the first few weeks (amazing, in fact!), eventually roots and debris clogged the lines and leaks began to form due to the cheap parts I used and little knowledge of how to build water tight containers/seals. The humidity went through the roof, some strange mold/fungus appeared on half the plants, and I had to trash more than half the crop. That was 6 years ago, almost 7.

I live in a medical/recreational legal state, and the spider mite grows and the fungus grow-ad the lost time, money, and energy spent on the process-made me retire my growing equipment.


First Attempt at RDWC for New Grow

Stuck in quarantine and bored out of my mind, I decided I need to revive my old hobby. With more funds at my disposal for better parts, more access to online videos and build instructions, and recent statewide legislation that has resulted in an explosion of hydroponic and marijuana based business in my area, I decided to start a new grow. I had a few criteria:

1. I wanted a RDWC system with an external res built to withstand roots and debris, and built sturdy.

2. I would keep a mother cab for clones, having bubble cloned all of the plants for my previous grows based off of my very first plant.

3. I wanted to use lights I was used to and have experience wit (MH and HPS), but I also wanted to test these-to me anyway-new and affordable LED systems.

I started off with searching for a grow tent. Now, I know this might seem sacrilege to some, but I cut my tents up to fit the systems I build (which are often defined by the space I have to build it in). I have had to cut into my past tents I buy or build to accommodate piping. So for me, getting some crazy expensive tent like a Gorilla does not make much sense. So I ordered a well rated “imported/knockoff” brand from Amazon, measuring 96 X 48 X 80, that had metal joints and poles (no plastic).

I’ll admit, even with a tape measure and measuring out the space in my room….I had no idea it would be this massive! The tents I had grown in before were about 1/3 the size of what arrived and I realized this tent would take up over ¾ of the room it was being setup inside. I nearly had a mental break down trying to put the thing together by myself (QUARNETINE!) because you basically have to construct this giant frame, then slip the tent over and under the frame. Very difficult to do with a tent this size, but somehow, I managed. I did wind up ripping a corner at the zipper, but I am unphased seeing as I cut the tent for my pipes. I just taped up the rip, added light protection/barriers, and it’s not a problem.


After I get the tent setup, I installed my lights/fans, filter/etc.

The light is a 600W HPS/MH fixture. I’ve used this fixture in the past, but of course bought new MH and HPS bulbs for this grow. I have a VIVOSUN 6 Inch Air Carbon Filter hooked up to a TerraBloom 6" 395 CFM Inline Fan. The air is expelled outside via a 6 inch air duct connected to an AC window connection. All of my windows are blocked with cardboard and the tent is inside a completely dark room.


The (FAILED) System

Next, it was on to build the hydro system. I am BY NO MEANS a handy man. I have zero experience with crafting, woodworking, pipe fitting, any of that. I am a complete novice when it comes to constructing ANYTHING. But with the internet and YouTube…..anyone can accomplish anything!

I had several designs that involved three buckets…..until I setup the tent and realized the size of my work space, so I decided to go ahead and add a 4th. In my state, I can grow up to 6 plants legally, but 4 is more than enough to manage, especially when they turn into jungles.

I finally settled on the “U” shaped system where you have a central reservoir with pipes on either side, leading into the tent and connecting to buckets in a U shape. I also decided that I would use 1 ½ inch pipe for the gravity return lines, and 1 inch pipe for the feed line. This was a huge leap for me incoming from my last attempt using ¾ of an inch hydroponic tubing! While most of the “pros” that use RDWC systems recommended a MINIMUM of 1 1/2 , with the ideal being 3 inches, I decided to start “small” and go with the 1 ½ inch pipe. I am glad I did as that required pipe cutters and tools/techniques I had never used before, and I think it would have been harder (and more expensive! The large the gasket, the more $$$ and harder to find they are) if I had gone up to 3 or even 2 inches.

After cutting the pipes, I ordered what turned out to be a huge mistake and the ultimate downfall of the system uniseals. Not only did I injure myself wrestling the pipes into the seals (even using dish soap), but the system leaked like crazy. It also made it incredibly difficult if not impossible to remove buckets from the system for cleaning in between grows as the uniseals really latched on to the pipe.


My second mistake was getting too creative in the design before making sure the BASIC design would work. I added off flow pipes and valves so I could more easily drain the system without removing the main pump that weighed down the piping in general, which added pressure onto the seals and ultimately contributed to the failure of the uniseal.

The entire system was unusable, and I just about gave up at that point and decided to do another straight DWC grow because hell, it works and I know how to use those systems.

<img src="https://i.ibb.co/HDHJzk9/Failed-Design-01.jpg" alt="Failed-Design-01" border="0">
<img src="https://i.ibb.co/8Pr22xT/Failed-Design-02.jpg" alt="Failed-Design-02" border="0">
<img src="https://i.ibb.co/d59wJxh/Failed-Design-03.jpg" alt="Failed-Design-03" border="0">

The NEWER, FINAL Version

After sleeping on it, I decided I was looking at this failure ALL WRONG. Look how much time and energy it took me to research possible systems, research types of pipes and cutting techniques, water pumps, different types of seals and how they work, cutting pipe, putting everything together, etc…..I realized that I actually appreciated the distraction this failure was providing me, which is exactly why I began this project in the first place! So I decided to go back to the drawing board and redesigned the system.

My first redesign involved abandoning the U shape design, and instead going with a “chassis” design, almost like building a car. Each bucket would be connected to the bucket across from it, and those would be connected by a main line back to the res.
<img src="https://i.ibb.co/P6LZgc2/Chassis-Foundation.jpg" alt="Chassis-Foundation" border="0">

I also decided to use bulkheads with slip PVC to slip PVC ends, which was perfect for the “chassis” design. While I did have to cement/glue the gasket onto the chassis, it actually lent more adjustability and customization than the previous system design. I could remove/add buckets to the system in between grows because the gasket nut was all that held the bucket to the system, just like tores attached to a car. In my old/original system, once a pipe was in that uniseal, it took a lot of muscle and a HUGE disruption to the system to remove.

I did discover that the bulkheads were not as easy to tighten with my wrench because the curve of the bucket, but because the buckets were spaced out enough and because they were mounted on the chassis, I was able to manipulate the buckets and twist them each tight so they did not leak. But DAMN did I need to apply a LOT of force to get those buckets tight enough to not leak. The system is hooked up to a Uniclife 550GPH in line pump.

A few more tweaks here and there, and I had myself a RDWC.
<img src="https://i.ibb.co/9ZDHyyz/Final-System-Hooked-Up.jpg" alt="Final-System-Hooked-Up" border="0">

After the system was built, I realized I needed upgrades for the NEXT chassis build.
I want to use square buckets (which I did buy….after the system was built) for my next grow as I think it will be easier to tighten the nut on those (and as a matter of fact, I already tested it and it is much easier).

I also want to replace the T PVC connector I have at the end of the gravity return line and swap that out with a cross connector, so I can add a valve at the end for easy draining.

Since the buckets were snug and not leaking, and I had injured my biceps muscling the uniseals AND the gaskets….I decided to leave well enough alone and kept the buckets for this grow.


Finally…..


DAY 1

Finally! I had the tent set up, the equipment was installed, and my system was running. I use city tap water for my hydro grows and I let the system run all night as I slept both to test the system and to let any city water chemicals evaporate out. You better believe I was nervous that I was going to wake up to a 30 gallon lake in the next room over. So far though, so good!

In my state, getting specific genetics/clones is as easy as walking a few blocks down the street to a local cannabis store. I drove, but I was able to buy 6 Durban Poison clones at 10 dollars each. I asked for Blue Dream, but out of the 25 or so strains (most of them I was unfamiliar with and all but 4 were Indica…I wanted Sativa). I had done some research before plant shopping, and Durban Poison was on my list of desired strains. It is of African origination (good because it gets HOT in my area during the summer) and a strong Sativa. It is also supposed to be lenient for newer growers which I still consider myself to be. If Durban Poison was not available, they had the strain Euphoria which I have heard great things about.

I have 4 plants in my system, while of the remaining 2, one is waiting for a small mother cab and LED system (going to test it out on my mother first) and the other is an “insurance policy” I keep around for a few weeks until the grow is going strong. I keep it sitting near a well-lit plant loving window just in case I need to take clones, toss it in for flower, whatever I want. I’ll keep both in their own DWC systems with one serving as my mother plant.

As always, you can never wash that nasty hydroton ENOUGH, and as you can see in my video I have a bit of clay debris in my res because of it (that’s the rest colored stuff at the bottom). When I switch from veg to flower, I’ll drain the entire system and vacuum that crap out.

I am using the General Hydroponics Flora Grow, Bloom, Micro Combo Fertilizer hydroponics nutrients for this grow. I LOVE the Lucas formula, especially when a 12 dollar bag of powdered FloraMax will last me an entire grow and then some….but I thought, to give myself the BEST chance for this “redemption grow”, I will go with the more robust GH nutrients. That said, I am pretty liberal in interpreting the GH recommended nutrients, and add my own strength/mix for the most part, especially early on.

For this first week, I keep the PPM’s to around 400…..once those roots dunk down into the water the plants will let me know when they want more nutrients and that’s when I will start to slowly increase depending on what they do. For today, I added my nutrients, PH’d to 5.8, and the PPM came out to……420! This is a good sign!

If these Durban Poison plants are anything like my Blue Dream strains, it will have dangling roots popping out of the net pots in a week, and then growth will explode. I plan to top all 4 plants and LST (have done this in several of my past grows with great success).

I plan to update this grow regularly as, again, this hobby is sprung out of quarantine boredom and a real need to do something.


See the glug glug glug of the gravity return line and res: Reservoir

Inside the tent:
Rear Door 02
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Rear Door 01
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Main Door

 

Day 2

Not much of anything exciting happens during this first week, so I spent today continuing to adjust the wiring, adding and moving plants, and adding/moving equipment. No leaks so far!

I started with hooking up my Simple Deluxe LGPUMPAIR38 602 GPH 18W 38L/min 6 Outlets air pump which replaced3 pumps I had in storage that I had used during my past grows over 6 years ago. I had intended to use the beefy simple deluxe from the get go but I needed a larger diameter tbing to connect the pump to the 6 outlet port. It’s a much nicer improvement over the wimpy fish tank pumps, and much quieter compared to 3 pumps going all at once.

The next adjustment I had as to “plant” my remaining 2 clones. I have net pot bucket lids on the way through online order, but hey won’t arrive until next week. So I decided to don my mask and drive down to my local hydroponics store. They were AWESOME! They had some of the bucket lid bet pots in the back and when he brought out the two I wanted, he just handed them to me and told me I could have them. Yet another auspicious and positive vibe going into this grow. I left them a great review on YELP and I will be going there for my nutrient and ph balance solution purchases in a few weeks.

I set up two bubble buckets: one in an 8-gallon square/rectangular type container that sits in front on a kitchen window, and another “regular”, 5-gallon bubble bucket that I have sitting in my main cab. It is a simple DWC bucket and not connected to y main 4 plant chassis system.

The main tent DWC bucket is sitting under a 600W BLOOMSPECT LED Grow Light. My original intention was to put this bubble bucket and LED light into a mother tent, but I am now considering just leaving it with the rest and running it on the same light cycle just to compare the results side by side of an LED plant vs. my MH/HPS setup.

As for the kitchen top bubble bucket, I have it sitting in a spot where flowers and plants always thrive, and I have a CFL fixture hanging above it for when it gets dark to keep it on an 18/6 cycle. If it lives, I will use that for my clones. If it dies, I’ll remove the tent bubble bucket and install it inside its own tent to be a mother.

Due to this new light and new buckets, I had to move the electrical around a bit. While I don’t expect any major gushing type leaks, if one does occur, I have arranged all of my cabling so that any plug or electrical component that can actually electrocute me is very high up and elevated. I do have 30 gallons of water sloshing around an active system so if there is a bit of a flood, I have plugs, power strips, and pumps all elevated above any level of flooding that might occur.

I added a power strip to my main timer power cable that I had the MH light plugged into, and I plugged the main MH light and the LED light into the power strip so they will turn off/on at the same time. I also went around and added foil tape to cover the air tubing holes so no light enters the buckets.

I lost about a gallon over the past 24 hours between the 4 plants in my main system. I added a few gallons of PH’s water back to keep my res well stocked. In doing so I got to play around a bit with adjusting the gravity flow to get it just right. I’m loving the precision this setup allows and I already am planning improvements and upgrades for a future chassis build.

I am keeping the PPM’s very low, in the 150 – 250 range with the top off and I’ll keep it that way until I see roots pop out and begin dangling inside the water. Once that happens I will slowly raise the nutrients closer to 500 and see what they tell me. I’ll continue to incrementally add nutrients so long as they gobble them up. But that won’t begin until the roots pop out.

 

Day 3

Still nothing exciting going on. The plants seem to be doing well and are smelling quite nice. They appear to be perking up a bit. Still no roots poking out of the netpot. I busied myself with basic maintenance chores today, including spraying for pests.

I combined a mixture of NeemOil/fungicide and peppermint oil with RO water and sprayed the mixture generously over my ladies as a preventative measure for pests. I will probably spray daily. It smells fantastic and the plants don’t mind at all.

My “sunlit lady” window bubbler is also doing well. I hung a CFL fixture from an old grow above her to turn on when the sun goes down since I want her on an 18/6 schedule and the sun is most definitely on a 12/12 schedule right now. I’m going to laugh if natural sunlight and a CFL produces better growth than my new LED light!

My temps are on point: my minimum for today was 67, my max 84, with the average tent temp holding at 77.8F RH is averaging at 31%, a little on the low side but I can probably adjust that slightly once my humidifier arrives.

It’s just a waiting game now for the roots to poke into the water and then the real growth begins.

 

DAY 4

Still no roots popping out. The amazing pictures don’t really start coming until explosive root growth, plant growth, and eventual flowering occurs. The PPM’s are sitting at around 500, but probably 150 of that is tap water junk. Just a game of patience now.

There was a little foam in my res this morning, and the PH had risen from 5.8 – 6.5 overnight. I adjusted the PH and the foam eventually went away. I’m not worried; I’m pretty sure it’s due to the aeration and the nutrients. Nothing smells bad. The PH continued to creep upwards through the day. I’ll OH it back down to 5.8 before I go to bed tonight. I’m hoping that these fluctuations are a sign that roots are growing and starting to take in nutrients and water, which will adjust the ph level. If it turns out that is not the case, it’s best to have major problems or failure early on so I can start fresh without having invested a lot of time/work so in either case I will be satisfied.

I raised my LED light; it was hovering about 16 inches above my bubble bucket and further research into my specific light suggested it should be in the 28inch – 36 inch range for veg, so I raised it to 28 inches.

I also added two bubble stones to my reservoir. I had an extra pump laying around so I figured why not? I have two stones in each bucket, with a waterfall effect on top, and now two in the res.

I am mostly surprised at how perky and happy my Sunlit/CFL Lady is doing. I really expected this thing to be dead within a day or two, but she seems to be thriving. She just sits next to an open window that gets a lot of sun, and when the sun goes down (to keep her on an 18/6 schedule) I lower a CFL over her. I added 2X 2 inch high paver stones that elevated the bubble bucket 4 inches so it gets more sun for a bit longer.

My temps are within acceptable ranges: the lowest night time temp reached 64.2, and the highest temp today reached 85.1, with the average daily temp of 77. The humidity is still hovering at 32% reaching up to 40% overnight (probably because I’m not constantly opening up the cab to inspect/tinker with them!).

Of course, my main focus and attention is on my 4 bucket chassis grow, but I am pleasantly surprised with the LED bubble bucket and the Sunlit/CFL bubble bucket. I believe they will both be quickly outpaced (the Sunlit/CFL more so than the LED) once the chassis plants pop roots and begin to dangle into the water, but we will have to wait and see what happens.

 

DAY 4 (UPDATE)
After taking a closer look at the pictures I took, I believed the Sunlit Lady was thriving and the tent plants looked a bit sad. MH/LED lights make plants look strange in general, but something about them just looks off to me. I TDS tested my Sunlit Lady and she came in at 330ish. I tested my ladies in the tent, and the bubble bucket was at a whopping 650 (woah!) and my 4 bucket system was hoovering in the low 500’s. I decided to thin the nutrient mix down to a lower concentration using RO water, and was able to bring it down to 400 by taking out a few gallons from the res, and replacing it with ph'd RO water. I’ll see how they do overnight and move from there. I just didn't like them sitting at such a high TDS with no roots dangling into the bucket.

I also consulted some of my notes from older grows, and decided to reduce the water level in the buckets. The bottom of the net pots were all sitting about a half inch or so in the bubbling water. Now the water sits just a hair below the net pot and the bubbles are spraying the bottoms of the pots. I think this will encourage root popping.

Besides lowering the water level, this gave me an opportunity to play with the water flow control valves. My original (failed) system design had a valve for each bucket and each return line, something I plan to incorporate into the next chassis system I build. For this system, I only have two control valves: one that is connected to the two buckets in the rear, and one that connects the front two buckets/chassis to the reservoir. To my surprise, the simple two nozzle design is surprisingly precise. I was able to adjust the water levels in the buckets by:

1. Closing the rear bucket valve just a fraction to slow the return water exiting the rear buckets.

2. Opening the valve that connects the system/front buckets to the res all the way for a two or three seconds to drain all buckets to the desire level.

3. A gentle/precise turn of the front bucket/res valve back into its “mostly open” position to equalize the flow level.

It worked precisely as it was supposed to! More control/valves would be better, but this works near perfect with just the two.

 

Day 5

Still no roots

I had to cut and connect a new, longer piece of 6 inch metallic vent tubing connecting my intake fan/carbon filter to my light since the piece I had on there was prohibiting how far I could lower the MH light and the plants look a bit stretchy. I also lowered my LED light; I’m trying to get them just right. The plants looked nice in the morning but looked sort of sad to me during the day. Again, maybe it’s just the lights, but hey look sad. They appeared to perk up to me when I lowered the lights.


I drained the water level so there’s at least an inch, nabe 2 of space between the bottom of the netpot and the water. The bubbles are causing spray to constantly hit the bottom of the netpot,


I’m going to drain the system on day 7 just to clean it out after adding that messy hydroton. My original system design had fancy outlets but this one that I am using now doesn’t have any. So, I built a little reservoir/bubble bucket drain pipe that I am going to use with my spare pump and extra 1 inch tubing. It will pump directly into a drain so I think I can have the entire system drained in a matter of minutes. Once it is drained, I’ll quickly get in the reservoir and clean up the mush and junk. The plants will be without water for what I estimate to be no longer than 15 or 20 minutes, so I don’t think it will be an issue. I think it’s best to do this now before the roots pop or, fingers crossed, before they get too long and this becomes more of a chore.

The Sunlit Lady continues to love life. It loves the sun from 6am – 5pm, and it loves the old CFL lig from 5pm – 12am. I used this CFL bulb once about 7 years ago for a short-lived small cab grow. I pulled it out of storage because this “countertop experiment” was not expected to survive past a day or two and I thought I’d test the old equipment. The plant absolutely loves it.

The main system PH has remained pretty steady at 5.8, going up slightly overnight to 5.9. TDS was also slightly lower, from 450 to 430. The tent bubble bucket went from 5.8 to 6.3 overnight, so I adjusted back down to 5.8

 

DAY 6 (morning)

ROOTS HAVE POPPED! Two of my ladies, #2 and #3, have some roots poking out of the netpot. Hopefully the others follow suit over today and tonight. They really liked my lowering the water level and, apparently, the lights.

 

DAY 6 (Continued)

As noted this morning, plants #2 and #3 have popped roots. #1 and #4 are still chilling, looking healthy, but no roots yet. #1 and #4 had a slightly higher water level than #3 and #4 (by about 1/8th on an inch, not much) for a longer period of time, so I expect to see roots any day now that I have lowered the water level on all buckets significantly. I'd say there's about 2 1/2 to 3 gallons in each 5 gallon bucket at the moment, with an estimated 12 - 14 gallons in my reservoir. I like having a lot of water to help buffer nutrient/ph adjustments.

The PH in my main system dipped slightly from 5.85 to 5.77 over the course of the day and the PPM's dipped a hair from 455 to 444. This is a good sign, suggesting that the nutrients are being gobbled up by the plants.

My spare pump that I ordered, which is the same model/make as what I have hooked up to my system, arrived and I hooked it up to my drain pipe to test it out on a bucket before my reservoir drain tomorrow. The pump did not function! It turned on but there was almost no suction. It didn't suction any water and I felt no suction with my hand over it. ARGH! Pumps do go out on these systems; they run 24/7 and they can fail. I need a spare since they are pretty cheap and a vital component. I re-ordered another pump, but a different brand this time. It should be here in time for my reservoir change.

Right now I have a 27 gallon "mix tank" bin sitting in my grow room with 20 gallons of tap water and 2 bubble stones going overnight. I am allowing 24 hours for the water to aerate and evaporate any chlorine or other crap that may be sitting in there. I'll mix my nutrients in the tank with the 20 gallons of water a few hours before my res drain, then fill my main system 17 gallon res with the 20 gallon PH'd nutrient mixture from the mix tank. I think 20 gallons will give me a good water line in my system, and I can add it all slowly into my res to see if I need all 20 gallons or, if that's not enough, just add some more PH'd tap water into the res.

 

DAY 7 (part 01)

Roots continue to grow in Plants #2, #3, and #4. This morning I began the low stress training of plants #2 and #3. I will work on #4 later in the day but I need more rings to glue down onto the bucket lid.

I also have my res change this evening!

 

Week 2, Day 8

All of my tent plants- 4 in my main system and the one LED DWC bucket-have popped roots. I have LST’d all of them, and the plants I LST’d last night are already converting side branches into main branches.

The roots are exploding and forming “spines”. PH is trending upwards but I PH’d it from 6.3 to 5.8. The PPM rose slightly, and the water level looks a little lower in my res, so that tells me they are gulping up water at the moment. I’ll add a few gallons of ph’d fresh water this evening.

 

Week 2, Day 8 (part 2)

The root explosion continues, with new roots appearing by the hour. The plants also continue to bend back towards the sun so it's continuous bucket lid turning and tying down branches until 3 or 4 main branches form. I see a few starting to form already.

In past grows, the "real" top of the plant, if trained properly, can easily be trained back up so it can stay a top alongside the new tops. I have also "topped"/cut the top off the plants before, but LST gives virtually the same results, at least in my experience, and that's my plan for this grow.

The PPMs have started to drop a little, and the PH has stopped rising. The plants are taking in the nutes and have slowed down their drinking, it seems! I think I'll leave everything alone (no water addition tonight) and see what the situation is tomorrow.

I have a 17 gallon reservoir with 22 gallons total running through the RDWC system. I have about 3 gallons (or thereabouts) in each 5 gallon bucket, so that gives me 12 gallons in the buckets with 9 gallons remaining in the reservoir. That's a lot of extra water and nutes for the plants--about 2 gallons per plant--to use up before I have to add anything back. If and when that happens, that will be a great sign!

 

Week 2, Day 9 (Veg Stage)

The plants continue to do very well. All of my tent plants have been bent LST and all have already turned back up towards the light. The sunlit plant is not being bent/LST.

To my surprise and delight, my “window” sunlit plant (although to be fair, it does sit under a CFL for 6 hours) has popped roots. This means all 6 of my clones are now rooted and taking up nutrients. I’m just going to let this thing sit there for the entire grow; I see no need to put it inside of a tent. I think it will be able to provide me with clones in 8 – 10 weeks. I originally purchased the LED light to serve as the mother tent light…but apparently the sun and an old CFL light are enough in a DWC system to get healthy growth. I’ll keep my eye on this plant and if I need to put in inside of a tent, I have one. But so far, no need.

My PPM’s started at 650 after my nutrient/water changeout yesterday, and now my PPM dropped to 615 this morning. The PH has stayed within the 5.8 range. The plants seem happy taking up both nutrients and water.

Looking back on my previous grow journals and my best performing plant PPM levels at this stage of the grow, I realized that my PPMs were too low and I decided to try and bump up my PPM’s to around 800.

I mixed in 50% strength of GH recommended nutrients (I added 40% strength yesterday) to 2 gallons of RO water, mixed, and let sit for a while. I did not PH because I decided to make my system work for me, and to dump the concentrated mixture into my res. I shut off my pump and closed the gravity feedback valve to the close position, so my recirculating system was now a DWC system. I dumped about 1 gallon into the res, mixed, waited, THEN Ph’d. I turned the pump back on, opened the valve, and tested for PPM and PH about 15 minutes later. I had dialed it in to 750PPM/5.82 PH. I added ½ gallon more, and managed to get the entire system to 807; I was shooting for 800 so that about nailed it. As custom dictates, I immediately played Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” in celebratory victory.

Now that the plants have plenty of water and nutrients at their disposal, I should see continuous growth every day. LST slows things down by about a week, which is why I usually veg for 4 weeks instead of 3, and that’s because not only are the real tops of my plants still growing outwards and upwards, but now all of these little sub/lower node branches are suddenly turning upwards as tops themselves. The plants almost look like menorahs So I have to give them a little time to get some height and sub branches themselves before I start the flowering, but it is well worth the extra time. I now have about 3 – 4 main tops for each plant. Topping does the same thing (and you can get more tops), but LST is just so darn easy, I decided to stick with that method for this grow.

My LED DWC plant looks smaller than the rest, but it is growing. I am completely unfamiliar with LED lights and bought the 600W LED just for vegging a mother, I never intended to grow the LED plant alongside my main system and, as I am now planning, into flower. I really like my MH/HPS lights because I have used them for so long…..but I see people with monster grows using LED lights, and they are so much cooler and less expensive to run, so I am happy to run this little side plant as an experiment. If nothing else, it has already shown me how impressive a 50$ LED light can perform. It makes me want to look more into more professional (expensive!), higher quality lights for a dedicated LED grow.

 

Week 2, Day 10 (VEG)

The plants continue to explode with root growth. Although it doesn’t look like much from the top foliage due to LST, the roots tell another story.

This LST will certainly add at least an additional week to my veg, maybe more. I have the plants LST’d to just about level now, where the “true” top is level in vertical height with the new vertical branches that have appeared. Once they all start taking off, I won’t need to be bending and tying down as often. The consequence of this constant bending is that the plant has now shifted energy into producing 4 or so new main tops, so I am basically starting a “new” veg cycle for these new main tops, which start off very small.

The benefit, beyond the multiple colas, is that once all of these tops begin to grow level with one another, because the roots are so well established in nutrient rich water, they will grow fast. At about the end of WEEK 4, I’ll probably be ready to flower. I’m basically waiting for each new top to reach 24 - 36 inches in vertical height. They will usually more than double their height once they go into flower in a system like this but this strain is new to me so I have no idea what it will do.

For today, the main system plants alternated between taking in nutrients and water. For the first half of the day, they took in water (PPM rose, PH lowered slightly) then towards the afternoon, they started gobbling up nutrients (PPM lowered) but also water PH remain ever stable: fluctuate from 5.7 to 5.. I noticed that the plants will switch to taking in water after I bend them. After 12 hours of not bending, they will start to take up nutrients. Again, LST is adding to the length of veg as the plants need to adjust their nutrient/water focus to the new shape, but once it adjusts it begins gobbling nutrients.

I bumped my two DWC buckets from 350PPM to 800 range PPM. So now both my main RDWC system and my two DWC buckets are in the low 800PPM range. PH continues to remain stable within the 5.7 – 5.9 range. That’s where I like to keep things for veg. My LED/tent DWC bucket is duplicating the PH/PPM fluctuations of the main system because I am bending it as well. My Sunshine/CFL plant is steadily gobbling nutrients and slowly drinking water because I am letting it grow straight up for the purpose of cutting clones and it's not dealing with the stress of bending.

With no leaks at day 10 and the system running exactly as it is supposed to, I am very impressed with this “beefier” RDWC build. Time will tell if the 1 ½ inch return pipes are large enough to prevent clogging from roots, but beyond that potential annoyance, this extremely basic design (which can easily be enhanced and built upon) is working like a charm. Even in my past grows, I was not seeing roots like this until day 14, so to see it on day 10 is amazing. I am nicknaming this rig the NX-01. My next build will be beefier, better constructed, and more complex. I am working on the design now. Its nickname is, of course, NCC-1701.

 

Week 2, Day 11 (VEG)

Video Link: PXL_20201219_232637597

The plants are drinking a lot of water. This is a reaction to the LST and explosive new foliage growth of main stems. I am happy to report that I had no need to bend today, although I did go in and prune a few old/dying leaves so resources were not wasted on them and to free up the canopy for lower leaves.


MAIN SYSTEM: The PPM’s have risen slightly and my PH lowered slightly from 8.5 to 8.2. This is how I know the plants are taking in water. The roots continue to explode and the plant foliage, now that it’s all growing in the upwards direction, is stating to flesh out. I predict rapid growth in the leaves and height over the next few days.


I have not had to adjust PH at all; I let it meander from the high 5.7 to the high 5.8 range and it has remained perfectly in balance within that range. I think one reason the plants are drinking a lot of water is due to the low humidity. It’s 20% or lower, even with my humidifier. I have been spraying the foliage with RO water every hour to try and help.

LED/SWC: I think I finally found the right height for the LED light. I had the light MUCH too close to the plant. It seems like that would make sense since you can do that with CFL’s, and these put off about as much heat as a CFL so it would seem sensible to hang it as close to the plant as possible, I think it was a bit too much for the plant, so now I have it hanging much higher and the plant seems to be happy with that. PPM and PH are mimicking my main system.

Sunlit/CFL Plant: This plant is also taking in a lot of water but slowly eating nutrients as well. It is growing tall and bushy. It will give me many nice clones! It also smells nice and skunky.

 

WEEK 2, DAY 12 (VEG)

Video of Day 12 of RDWC Grow:


The plants are really sprucing up and looking fantastic. They spent the morning guzzling water, and then they guzzled some nutrients towards the afternoon, then continued to guzzle water. I have included a few pics of the daily notes that I keep on my levels.

I have pruned some leaves here and there and did a little bending last night right before bed. I continue to mist the the plants every hour with regular RO water due to my low humidity. They seem to enjoy this. My LED plant also is finally looking good now that I have the light at a good height.

The PH is remaining very stable; it fluctuates fractions of point up and down depending on if the plant is drinking or eating (or both).

Tomorrow I will fill my mixing tank with 20 gallons of tap water, turn on the bubblers, and let it sit all day/night. I’ll mix my nutrients into the tank the day of the drain/refill and let it sit for 12 hours before adding it all into my res. I plan on bumping up my nutrient mix to 60% or so recommended nutrient mix, get it into the 900 PPM range or thereabouts.

I ordered a new part for my system that I hope arrives in a few days. If it does, I can install it during my third water changeout in a week. I ordered 4 suction line strainers that fit over 1-1/2" PVC, so I plan to slip them over my drainage pipe inside each bucket to help prevent roots from getting into the pipes.

My Sunshine/CFL Mother is also doing great. I am already salivating at all the clones I see her producing. I definitely want the same genetics for my next grow, using the Lucas formula and one 12$ package of dry nutrients for the entire grow. I’ll di a blind smoke test with friends to see which “grow” they prefer and if “expensive” liquid nutrients really do make a difference.

 

WEEK 2, Day 13 (VEG)

I fell asleep before posting my update from yesterday:

Things continue to run smoothly, despite some warmer than usual weather. The weather is dropping significantly over the next 10 days by at least 10 degrees so it’s back into prime temp territory, but I was misting the plants every hour today. It may even rain in a few days so hopefully that will raise the humidity.

I continue to bend slightly here and there, not nearly as severely as the first few bending sessions. I am letting the plants flesh out now. One has an almost perfect 90 degree bend with a new, main branch spouting on top (see picture). I have noticed the main stem on all plants REALLY started to thicken up. This is my first grow using silica blast and it looks like it is working.

I have 19 gallons of tap water bubbling away in my 27-gallon mix tank. I’ll mix my nutrients tomorrow morning and then do a changeout towards the evening. Because I am doing a 4 week veg, I am treating this upcoming week 3 as another week 2, and since the plants have been fairly stable in their PPM readings and PH levels, I am going to repeat my 50% - 60% week 2 nutrients for week 3. During week 4, I’ll bump it up to 80% of the recommended week 3 nutrient measurements. Flower begins at the start of week 5.

 

WEEK 3, DAY 14 & 15, (VEG)

I did my nutrient/water transfer on day 14. Here are the baseline ntrueint mixes, PH, and PPM/EC for this week. I will add plain RO water or nutrient mix based upon the daily changes/needs of the plants.


Main, 4 bucket RDWC system:

WATER: 17 gallons, tap water

PH: 5.81

EC/PPM: 1,571EC/789PPM

Nutrient Mix: 65% strength of General Hydroponics recommended strength level for week 3, including

- FloraMicro

- FloraGro

- FloraBloom

- FloralicousPlus

- BotanicareHydroguard Bacillus Root Inoculant (100% strength)

- Silica Blast (100% strength)

- CALiMAGic (1/8th recommended dosage since I am using tap water)


LED DWC System:

WATER: 3 gallons, RO water

PH: 5.88

EC/PPM: 1,406/708

Nutrient Mix: 65% strength of General Hydroponics recommended strength level for week 3, including

- FloraMicro

- FloraGro

- FloraBloom

- FloralicousPlus

- BotanicareHydroguard Bacillus Root Inoculant (100% strength)

- Silica Blast (100% strength)

- CALiMAGic (100% strength)


Sunshine/CFL Mother DWC Plant:

Water: 4 gallons, RO water

PH: 5.72

EC/PPM: 1,798/836

Nutrient Mix: 65% strength of General Hydroponics recommended strength level for week 3, including

- FloraMicro

- FloraGro

- FloraBloom

- FloralicousPlus

- BotanicareHydroguard Bacillus Root Inoculant (100% strength)

- Silica Blast (100% strength)

- CALiMAGic (100% strength)


This is my first time ever using silica blast/silicone in a grow….and maybe it’s psychosomatic, but I swear the stalks look beefy as hell since I started adding the silica blast to the mix!


WEEK 3, DAY 15 (VEG)

The plants are exploding with growth and are flush with color. Although the tape measure show they are all around 8 inches to 10 inches, keep in mind the stems are bending around in a curve so they are actually longer than they appear from the canopy. The actual stems are closer to 12 inches when using a measuring tape used for inseam measurements.

The length of the plant is important because it will triple in size during flower, and from what I have read from other journals and reviews of Durban Poison, these will stretch more than that. So I need to really be careful on how big I let them get during veg. I usually consider veg when they get to be 18 inches – 24 inches. Any taller than that and it’s risking outgrowing my light, which has happened before in past grows. Keep in mind that if I had allowed these to grow straight up, I’d have foot tall Christmas trees in there, but they look smaller due to my bending them over. So it could be a week, it could be more, but the overall length and bushiness/width will determine for me when to begin flower….and I am still a few inches away from that.

As expected, the GH nutes stained my beautiful roots. I freaked out the first time this happened years ago and thought my plants were dying….now I now better. The plants communicate very well when they are having problems; right now they are communicating they are extremely happy.

As the nutrient mix settled in overnight with the plants, they sucked up some water. The PPM/EC was higher and continued to rise all day. I added a gallon and a half of RO water to the reservoir which brought the PPM/EC mix to their original range, and that’s how I plan to manage my res this grow. If the PPM/EC continues to rise, I’ll lower the PPM/EC even more with my next top off, until it balances itself out, or I see the EC/PPM fall…then I add nute water.

My biggest surprise continues to be this 6 year old CFL bulb/sunshine mother plant that is just about 12 inches tall now and already sporting at least 5 or 6 future clones I am greedily watching grow before me. Not only did I never expect the initial shrimpy clone to survive in my hastily built bubble bucket, but it seems to be doing just fine without the—stuck in the mail-- 24"x24"x48" mother cab I have been waiting for.

 

WEEK 3, DAY 16 (VEG)


Main System: I continue to bend and the plants continue to grow. They continue to drink a lot of water. The PPM/EC/PH are remaining relatively stable.


LED DWC: I am so happy with how this plant is turning out. This one is gobbling water and nutrients.


Sunshine/CFL: Still growing up; I had to move the light up a rung on the chain.




I am now considering starting flower at the beginning of week 4. The plants are fleshed out and healthy, and I think in 5 days they will be the perfect height and width to begin the flower stretch. I’ll hold it a few days more if necessary, but based on what I have seen over the past 2 days, I don’t think I’ll need a 4 week veg. Exciting!

 

WEEK 3, DAY 18 (VEG)


Main System: Plants continue to explode with growth. It’s getting very bushy all around. I think I will start my flower in 3 days at the start of week 4 as the main system plants are just about ready to go. Or should I give them another week?


LED DWC: This plant has just about caught up to the main system. It isn’t quite as bushy, but it is very healthy. Also going into flower at the start of WEEK 4 if the main system starts flower.


Sunshine/CFL Plant: Holy cow, this thing has taken off. It now stands at about 14 inches!




As has been noted in several of the Durban Poison grow journals I have read in preparation for this grow, this strain really likes a lower PPM/EC range and this has been very true for this grow. I am using 60% of the recommended nutrient mix as is, and the plants continue to drink water and prefer to be in the LOW 800 range. This is true for the plants in my DWC as well as the RDWC system. By adding RO water and bringing them to a low 800 level, they are completely happy and I can ignore the PH until my next water changeout. In fact, I haven’t adjusted the PH since the last water changeout. I’ve just added RO water and/or nutrient mix to get the PPM/EC to where I want, but no PH has been needed. Low 800's seems to be the sweet spot for this veg stage.


I will assess the situation in three days and make a decision on flower. This strain is reported to be incredibly stretchy, and I think my small bushes are just about there.