finally got everything set up and hoping all goes well. I'm growing 2 White Widow (feminized) from Nirvana in a DWC setup. I'm using 2 5-gallon DWC buckets in a 2' x 4' x 5' grow tent with a 400W HPS/MH light. I hope the seeds that cracked open are okay though..on the first day I did the paper plate/wet paper towels inside a bag method and nothing...then I put them inside the tent with a small room heater on low and they cracked right open....only the heater dried out the paper towels...dammit. the setup is not at my house so I don't have the luxury of checking on it every few hours but I can go 2-3 times a day to check the water... will this (dried paper towels) be a problem? below are pics of the seeds & tent... if I need to germinate more seeds it won't be a problem but I hope I don't have to. I filled both buckets with tap water that sat for 2 days to evaporate the bleach... right now the PH in both buckets is 5.8 and the PPM is 223-230. I added 1/2 the nutes that the GH label says to use for germination so we'll see what happens. I plan on updating this journal frequently so any/all advice & info is appreciated!!
just checked the twins and one is beastin' her way up...she should pop through the rockwool by tomorrow...the other I really can't tell yet... turned on the 400w MH at 75% along with the inline fan/filter to get some of the heat out of the tent...it was 90 degrees in there without the inline turned on...way to hot I think. added an extra 6" portable fan to blow on the light and the temp is now an even 75 degrees with 26% humidity. PH was 5.7 in both buckets and PPM was 240-249 respectively. I hope that other beeyatch wakes up... once I turned that light on today that one woke right up...pushing her way to the outside world... can someone recommend a decent feeding schedule?? preferably someone who's grown White Widow? I hear they're a bit fickle with the feeding..... I figured I'd keep the light on until they both pop through the move to 18/6 schedule. if anyone feels I need to do something or add something please let me know. thanks.
checked on the twins today... PH is 5.8 in both buckets and the one strong plant seems to be trying to push her way out of the rockwool...the other one is doing nothing...at all...from what I can see. also, I thought that rockwool "holds moisture well"?? mine were both dry today when I checked on them...hope that doesn't EF everything up...but if it did/does I'll start fresh with 2 new seeds....but hopefully I won't have to do that.
ended up tossing the first two since the rockwool dried out... now I re-germinated 2 more and put them in 16oz plastic beer cups with wet rockwool & a plastic bag over the top with a few holes in them. so far one is popping up about an inch and the other looks like it might be growing upside down or something....
been checking on these plants the past few days and weird shit happened.... the one that looked like the weaker one & was taking forever to show her head above the rockwool just started growing...taller than the one I thought was stronger since it popped up first... the one still had the seed attached to it....debating if I should leave it or not since it's been on for 3 days now and hasn't fell off yet...I keep misting it so it doesn't dry out...any recommendations??? leave it?? remove it?? here's some pics--- seed is still attached after 3 days...wish it would fall off dammit. and this is the one I thought wasn't gonna live, which is looking ok...actually this one is taller than the other one. if anyone has any recommendations please don't hesitate to let me know.
id leave them with the cfls just now IMO, it looks a tadge heat stress on your seedling you can see the leaf slightly curling up, id wait until they where a bit bigger before you put the HPS on them, I hear you talking 90 degrees, way to hot to be healthy
Hey dude, thot i`d stop by and help you with some worry and struggles. Take a small ziplock baggie and cover up the top of that beer cup with it...and cut a hole in the top for air to escape. This will create the humidity this seedling loves.Put the CFL`s directly over it if uwant it to stop it from stretching, but these lil guys only need a tad bit of light right now. feed just ph`d water for a couple days until u see the first leaf set is done growing, and there`s another node ready to come out. At this point, there should be roots coming out the bottom of the rockwool... what i do, is i layer the bottom of the netpot (about an inch of hydroton) and then place the rockwool (carefully ...dont damage the root) into the layer of hydroton, and then carefully surround the rockwool with more hydroton...i dont cover up the top of it just yet...i let it dry it out...(it will create moisture issues in the stem and u dont want that) HID lighting and a lil fan will help with that. At this stage i just mix quarter strength nutes and i dip the bottom part of the netpot into aerated nute solution as to not saturate the RW. u can leave the ziplock baggy off at this point..just make sure the rh is above 40% at the very minimum. u can safely put them under the 400w mh...just make sure they are far away from it...like 3ft is a good starting point. i keep it even 4 ft away and they`re ok. u`ll see whether or not it likes it...it should look like it`s reaching for the light... AS for pH, and this in my opinion, i think 5.5 - 5.9ish for veg is ok and like 5.8 - 6.0 for flower. As for feeding schedule...there really is only the base u can follow, and then watch along for deficiencies, as it varies from strain to strain. YOu may only need CALMAG supplement. I`ll be watching when i can...
yeah i took the plastic off and I'm gonna put the 400w on in a day or so... is there a good way to maintain humidity at 40-ish %? I bought Dyna-Grow to strengthen it up but haven't used it yet, or haven't used any nutes yet...once I put them in the DWC I was gonna use 1/4 strength nutes... the one thing I can't seem to find a clear answer on is should the netpot be IN the water at all? some say yes, others say no...I would figure in order to get the water to the roots, at first anyway, the hydroton should be a little submerged so it can draw the water up a little.....that right or no? here's pics from just now...the seed finally fell off the one smaller plant...the other one seems to have a root growing upwards from when it was originally placed in the rockwool...when it cracked open the taproot was sideways & I didn't wanna break it so I just put it in the RW....this gonna be a problem? this one above finally dropped the seed that was stuck to it.... and this one seems to be doing fine...has a long root sticking out the bottom....and a few more beginning to pop out...I think... here's the root growing upward that I mentioned...although it does look like it turned back down... if anyone has any suggestions or sees/hears I'm doing something wrong please lt me know. Thanks!
Only way to control humidity is with the proper air flow. If you live in an area where it`s particularly dry, look into getting a humidifier. And vice versa a dehumidifier if you need to control it the other way. THere are some thing at the grow store that might help absorb moisture outta the air, but if it`s a constant battle, i`d invest in one of the above. and like isaid before...layer about an inch or so of hydroton...and put the rockwool with the root carefully on it... WHen u put it in the DWC, the bubbles that pop on the surface will keep the area moist enough that the roots go searching for the water so u do NOT want the netpot fully submerged. I keep the water level always roughly 1`` BELOW the netpot. As for the sideways taproot...it`s fine, it`ll weave its way to the bottom where the nutrients are...they have a knack for doing so.
the humidity has been steady 30% for days...if I need to raise it I'll grab something. inch of hydroton with the water 1" below the netpot. NICE. that one taproot does look like it turned itself downward... THANKS.
Id put a plastic baggie over top of the netpot once u`ve transplanted it...this should keep the humidity up ....30 per cent aint that bad, but its not optimal thats for sure. its okay for flowering though, once it gets to t he end...
ok so I moved the rockwool into the DWC/hydroton but left the RW on the rockwool...didn't fully cover the RW yet and put the 400w on 50% since the plants are still small.... added 1/4 nutes to the water as well.... I have Dyna-Gro Pro-Tekt but not sure when to add it to the water..is it too early to add it?
small issue with the plants...I moved them from the cups & rockwool to hydroton,,,,the root on the better of the 2 turned a very pale tan so I removed them both and put them back into the cups. Was that the right thing to do?
I'd keep them in your buckets. 50% light 20/4, just pH'd water and high humidity. Give em a few days to settle. Once you get a couple shoots, switch 18/6 with 1/4 nutrients. As for Protek, it's a potassium fertilizer. I'd wait a week or two before adding to your reservoir. While the seedlings are starting life, provide optimal environment conditions.
I'll do it in a day or two...that root that was turning made me a bit nervous.... I had the ballast on 50%...is it to early (once placed back in the dwc) to do 18/6? and thanks.