This will be round 2 using a cooler DWC system I built. I will be growing a Feminized Dark Phoenix by Green House Seed Co and a Feminized Mimosa Evo by Barney’s Farm. I am super excited for both genetics! I have germinated both plants and they have joined life above the surface. The cooler internals are: 6.2pH, water temp 64F, 0.2 EC. The tent is running 70F. Not sure of the humidity as it doesn’t seem to matter much when running DWC. It’s winter in my neck of the woods so I would guess it’s between 30-40%. I plan to post weekly updates. Onward!
Week 1 Well week 1 is over and the little ladies are happy and healthy. The cooler internals are: 6.2 pH Solution is 65F 0.2 EC Tent Temp is 72 A little info on my setup: I am running in a vivosun 36”x36”x72” tent I have a HLG 300W quantum board along with 2 HLG 135W Q2 Rspecs and a 30W HLG UVA light for flower. The cooler has an aquarium cooling probe to keep things in the habitable zone and I have a AL-40 Air pump to keep the roots happy. I will also have a top off rez (18 gallons) that I hook up once flowering starts. Onward!
Week 2: Things are chugging along nicely. Both little ladies are happy and heathy at the two week mark. Cooler and tent specs are: 6.2 ph 0.2 EC 65 F solution temp Tent at 73 F lights on Onward
Are the eye hooks for LST training? And can you move the power strip up a couple feet, I don't want you getting electrocuted!!
Yes, the eye hooks are for LST during the mainlining process. And yeah I’ll raise the power bar lol. It must have slid down when I was installing a new fan and I failed to notice. Although, the way I have structured my setup there is a very low probability of water coming in contact with my power supplies. I have a drain port out the left side of the cooler that will be hooked up once the top off rez is connected to my cooler via a float valve. This ensures that should the float valve fail open any excess water will exit the drain hole and go to a holding tote outside of the tent. also as long as the power is above the tray below the cooler the tray will contain any leaks/spills/overflows. I built in two leak protection systems incase one fails. But I will still move the power bar for piece of mind so thanks for the heads up ;-). I have also considered getting a Bluetooth flood alarm and putting it in the tray which would give me a warning should things start to get wet.
I meant to reply directly but instead added a post in the journal, oops, so see the journal for the reply. Thanks for chiming in and watching out for a fellow grower…. Cheers.
Week 3 There was a lot of new growth this week. It looked good until I cut most of it off lol. Main-lining has commenced. Things are chugging along nicely at this point. Cooler internals are : 6.1pH 0.2 EC 65 F solution temp 72 F tent temp. onward
Week 4 LST has started which is always exciting. It’s fun creating the look of the plant to come. Things are chugging along as expected growth wise. If anything things are a bit ahead of schedule. Both ladies seem happy and healthy and I am excited to see what the next week brings! Cooler internals: 6.0 pH 0.3 EC 65 F solution Temp Onward
Week 5 Well, I have both plants up to 4 tops. Won’t be long until I am at the magic number, 8, at which point I will get the plants laid out how I want and then flip. I am happy with the growth rates and look of both plants. Cooler internals: 6.2pH 0.4EC 65 F solution temp. onward….
Current Culture H2O. I love their nutes! Their feeding schedule is idiot proof. I have nothing but good things to say about their products.
I did a little LST today and trimmed a few leaves off. The mainline is really starting to take shape now. I have left a few extra leaves on the Dark Phoenix (top plant in the pic) in the hopes that it helps her growth keep pace with the Mimosa EVO.
Week 6 The Ladies are happy… that’s it that’s the update lol. Cooler internals: 6. 0 pH 0.4 EC 65 F solution temp onward I’ll try to post a pic or two later. For some reason I can’t upload right now.
Dang! nice mainline. Thats exactly what I'm gonna try... when I can get some new tents. lol. Yea, I could only post one in my journal too.
Thanks. FYI main-lining is more time consuming but well worth it in the end imo. It does require some extra patience and dedication. Some say it adds 4 weeks to a grow which I’d argue 2-3 if you’re in DWC or 3 of your in soil and know what you’re doing. Although 4 weeks is a decent rule of thumb if you’re new to the technique. I like the line of thought on how main-lining equalizes the plants production/energy to every cola (in my case it will be 8 tops x 2 plants so = 16 tops total which fills my 3x3 beautifully. Each cola gets lots of room to grow). It also gets rid of all the popcorn at the bottom of plant too which is a waste of plant energy that could have gone to main colas. The light penetration makes the plants explode and thicken like no other method I have seen or tried! Although SCROG methods seem good when done correctly but I can see the net you have to use being a huge pain in the arse. It would be especially annoying in my case since I need to access my cooler regularly. Plus I love looking at nice white roots (root porn lol). I have done some main-lining outdoor with 32 tops and the plants are always heavy yielding beast. There is usually a lot of staking the buds up when I grow outside! It’s also nice too, in that main-lining allows you to train the plant to the exact spot you want each coal to be as well as give ample room for each cola to grow and maximize the light penetration. It’s all about Fat Buds! Running a tent that is mainlined means you absolutely MUST NOT have high humidity or you may get the much feared Bud Rot. I personally like to see it 40% RH or lower. I can’t say enough good things about main-lining tbh. I’ll check your journal out.
my profile pic is a mainlined plant with 32 tops. I had given up on trying to keep the colas from falling over in the last week or so of that grow. She was a heavy Girl!!
Yea, i'm not really worried about time. I have a 5x5 that I fill so the DWC i am planning on just doing in a 2x4 tent so there's 2 going.
I wrote a thread on my cooler setup. If you’re interested in how to build something like it check that thread out. It was cheap compared to what you can spend if you get a chiller etc but it still cost a little bit as I got a nice cooler and my air pump is the cats ass. Plus I put a few extra bells and whistles on it (like an aquarium cooling probe to keep the roots in the happy zone, a float valve to actuate the external rez.. etc. ) DWC is fun once you have things dialled in.