Ok, After cruising this site for several months now, and gaining lots of valuable knowledge, I decided to go for it. I built my own 6 cup dwc system that will be run under a 400 w hps and using GH flora nutes...heres all the info. Space: 2.5 x 2 x 7 (feet) Light: 400 watt hps method: 6 3.5 inch cup DWC diy system.....SCROG to be added at approx.12-15 inches (too high?) nutes: GH 3 part flora series (maybe some supplements later) Water: Tap water ( I live in the rocky mountains and therefore have very clean mildly treated water. P.H. 6.4 Strain: Blue God (blueberry x God bud) Vancouver seed bank Medium: Rockwool and Hydroton Ok so first off, I got a little eager to see some form of green growing as I decided wether to go with soil, dwc or aero. So i germed two of my seeds and planted into soil. The one is currently doing very well, and the other is not doing great really, but i have transferred them into my system anyway. previous to putting the two soil bound plants in the system i germd 4 other seeds to fill the remaining pots. Germd in paper towel and then transplanted immediately to rockwool and hydroton and into the bubbler. Now here is where I know I am going to take some criticism, but i made the decision and went with it. I added the 3 part nutes at about a 70 percent ratio of what GH suggests for seedlings and cuttings.after I let the bubbler aerate for awhile and mix the nutes, I ph'd to 5.9 and put in both the two soil plants as well as the 4 other seeds that had just germd. So that brings us to now...I plants the soil plants about 10-12 days ago, germd the new seeds this past thurs night. They popped sat morning and sat aft they all went into the bubbler. Since then the 4 germd seeds have sprouted and her looking rather healthy to me, the 1 plant i transplanted from soil is taking off it seems, not growing up but getting bushier and bushier....With very nice indica looking leaves... So there you have it...as always comments and suggestions will be more than appreciated, I will try and update at least every few days. with pics. I have a nikon d40 but not sure exactly how to get good closeups with that ight in the background but ill try ... I have o put in many, many hours of research into this so I feel like I have a good chance. I have no expectations on yields, nor do I overly care if I dont yield anything. I am doing this to hopefully learn the ropes, and develop the skills to grow my own herb...Thats it... Last but not least, here are a few pics so far
ok so as expected, nute burn on my one plant that started in soil...so i flushed the entire system and started again with a 25 % strength solution of nutes.....I also did some work with temps, and finally am sittign at 79 f for my room temp, and about 69 for my res...is this ok ?? these ladies are currenlty sitting in 25 % solution,,,,when should i bump it up?? I also got a nother 20 gallon pump and 3 more airstones today woohoo hopefully all workes out'
Looks nice man. I never give my plants nutes until they are more than 2 weeks old then I put them on 1/4 let them adjust to this for a few and then step them up to 1/2 if there are no signs of burn. Your temps sound real nice. So lets see some more pics man.
Ok so, after flusihing the water yesterday due to inexperience and adding nutes right away. Things are looking good. My one lady is standing up nice and tall and looking good.... I have a question about other growth though. With the 4 that I started from seed in this system, they dont seem to be growing very qickly at all.. After they sprouted on sunday they havent really grown at all since then. I was expecting them to shoot up as soon as there roots hit the water. Is this normal?? How long does i take before seedlings begin vertical growth. I will post some new pics later today, but not sure much has changed..... AND ONE MORE THING: As well as the nute burn, I noticed that the underside of many of the fan leaves on the bigger plant are dark purple? normal? or another symptom of the nutes Afetr nute burn, does the plant fully recover?? Will the affected leaves die? Or will they just stay the way they are?
You can check the seedling in my journal for comparison. From my experience, you should be able to notice some new growth in your seedling every day or every other day. If you are not seeing any growth, then there is probably a problem stunting your growth. If I remember correctly, the purple could be a sign of Magnesium def. However, the purple is quite common and you should focus on keeping your ph. As long as your ph is good and you do not have any over fert problems, you should not be having any nute def problems. Sure, the plant recovers from nute burn. Those burn marks will be there, but after the shock, your plant will just continue growing. You may need to veg a bit longer to compensate for the stunted growth, but other than that you should be good.
couple more pics...more cause I just want to compare them ....the two that are growing were transplanted from soil and are about 3 weeks old....not sure what is wrong with the littler one...and the others were germ'd last thurs night and sprouted on sun...
I was just wondering, you are do not have your tub taped up. Light can get in. Do you have any algae growing in your tub or on your roots, this can lead to root rot. If you have algae in ther, that will stunt your growth. I am just guessing that this is something that you will need to take care of sometime. I taped my tubs up with aluminum tape from Home Depot. It runs about $15 a roll. Ya I know, but you only need 1 for your tub. This will light proof your tub. So the plants that you are worried about, how are the roots? Can you see them growing into the tub?
hey .....thanks for the tip I will do that very soon...possibly tomorrow should i tape the entire box??top bottm sides and everything.... yea the roots are growing into the water...i don`t know if there is algae in there??? I just flushed two days ago, so i guess i should be ok for that for now.....will taping the box with reflective tape help to cool the box ?? I am assuming that if it refeclting light it will be absorbing heat??...either way i will tape that up and thanks for the tip....All the kids seem to be growing nicely after changing the water and nutes. Currently my res temp is about 68-69 wich id like to lower and the room temp is 75-79 f ALSO....what do you recommend for killing the algae and stuff....I cant really get a hold of h202 Unless its the 3% shit.....Hygrozyme?? would that help?
hygrozome can't hurt and I agree with whoever said your temps are fine. if you feel the sides of your res and it's slippery - you have algae (or something) beginning to form and it will need a decent cleaning between dumps (dont use soap or anything, just scrub it out really well) and I wouldn't add hydrogen peroxide to the res whats the ppm of your tap water and did you let it sit for at least 24 hours to let chlorine evaporate?
Ok looking for some advice here,...I am still waiting for stores to open around here so that I can get some metal tape to cover my box in ....things are looking good... Basically the two plants that are growing well in here were transplanted from soil when they were quite small, and the other four were put in germd in rockwool. They seem to be a it slow to get going. So basically as you can see from the pics, the big girl in the middle seems like she is growing very quickly, and will soon be taking up lots of the space. Not sure what I should be doing to take care of that problems,,,Ive read a lot about topping and pruning, not sure if either of these are good ideas. Anyway here are some pics, open to suggestions...
Your plants look good man. Ya I see what you are saying with that one growing, the others may have to fight for light. Topping may not be the thing for you per say. the reason being is that that will jsut make it more bushy. To be honest I suggest that you turn your grow into a SCROG and put a screen above your plants and then train them to grow across the screen horizontally. I am doing SCROG with mine so that all of my plants can have light penetration to the bud sites. It is just a suggestion, but I do think that this will help. I would top your larger plant to stunt its growth a little so that your others can catch up. this will also let you see the difference between plants that you top and ones that you don't top.
Sweet thanks for the tip...I was already planning on doing a scrog, just am debating and researching what are effective heights for the screen....I was thinking probably about 10-14 inches from the box...what do you think?? The reason i was planning on this is i still have to get rid of whatever males are lurking about in there....But when I do as long as i have one or two females, i will be able to fill the screen im sure....as for that big plant, thats why i was kind of thinking about topping,....I think i need to slow down the groth big time, or the one plant little one directly beside it will soon not have any light,....You may not be able to tell from the pic but it is quite leafy...very bushy lots of undergrowth.....So just to clarify//... I should scrog...Do you agree with 10-14 inches? lower or higher??? basically I just want to have that entire space in the screen full... I should top the big plant just to stunt growth?? When should i put the screen up??? It ownt really be doing aything yet so there isnt a point... I was thinking of adding 25-50 % veg nutes....Do you think it is too early for my little ones?(there is currently a 10% seedling solution in there... Thanks for the answers man much +rep for sure
Yes you should SCROG. I would not make the screen more than 10" above your tub. If you were growing a pure Indica you could make it as low as 8" but any less and you will not have room to train the plant thruogh the screen. I put my screen at 10" above the tubs. You can use nutes as early as 2 weeks from seed. I would start out with like 25% and then bump it up to 50%.
Ok not too much to update here, but i will anyway....The babies are looking good starting to grow a lil. The big girl in the middle is starting to get sooooo bushy...not sure if i should trim it so there is ample light getting to the whole plant...or just let it stay as bushy as it is .,.,,..,I am going to take them out and clean the entire res this sat....and maybe use the lucas formula for GH nutes...Is this a bad idea??? I just kinda like the idea of not having to change my res too much....When I clean the res, I will also be covering the whole box and top with aluminum tape to hopefully block any light and maybe even cool the res a bit..anyway heres pics....( by he way I topped the one big plant already, hoping to stunt growth and allow others to catch up. but the undergrowth is thriving with the new light and has grown well above the top So not sure if the top will start growing again or not) As always suggestions are appreicated....I am working on making a screen for my scrog as well....Which will be installed soon enough ... Cheers
Sounds like you are on the right path Sean. How big is your screen going to be? I would not worry about that big girl you have. The top will come in and the screen will equal things out for eash of the plants. You can even trim some of that bushy growth away if you think it is crowding the others. Do not worry she will take this fine, you have been doing a good job with them. I can not tell you anything about Luca, I only use General Hydroponics, sorry. However, I think you will like SCROG and remember after this run you will have a good idea of how you can improve on the next one. You are on a Great start.
ok well.....i just trimmed 4 big fans off the big girl.....She looks like shit....Hopefully shell perk up....if not lesson learned.....hopefully everything is ok tho ...il post picks in a few days when the verdict is in....I know many people are against trimming fan leaves....i think it is good that the plant will now get alot of light over all of the plant rather than just those 4 big leaves
It is ok, she will recover. I am doing a SCROG, I will end up trimming all of the foliage beneath my screens and probably some on the top of the screen also. She is just stressed out from cutting on her. In a day or two, she will have forgotten all about it.
Thanks haze....Your are like my mentor for this grow ...much appreciated...for real...I figured it would be ok , as it will let my other girls catch up in growth, and maybe provide more ample bud spacing.... +rep
No problem man. I enjoy this and the more I help you the better I will be for the future. We all need help sometimes, I know I have had to ask for it at times. Not to mention after your hard work, I would hate for you to not get to smoke some good in the end.