The Need to Succeed....My Hydroponic Grow Journal

Keep it simple!  There is less to go wrong. 
 
I grow in diy bubble buckets without a res.  Each bucket gets watered from a bucket of nutes with a large mug every day, as needed.  I do each bucket separately to avoid cross contamination and to give different strains the individual care they require.  I check the ppm and ph by sucking a little water out with a large syringe with a piece of air tubing on it.  I suck it out through a 7/16" hole I drilled in the edge of the lid with a built in net pot.  The air line goes in to the bucket through another hole in the edge of the lid too.  
 
I root cuttings in a home made bubble bucket cloner with EZ Clone neoprene cloning discs.  I get nearly 100% rooted within 10 days.  Pictured below.
 
I have recently begun to start my seeds directly in Hydroton with 100% success to date.  I make a bed of some of the smaller pellets on the bottom of a depression in the Hydroton so the seed doesn't drop too far and put the seed on it and cover it with a single layer of small pellets.  I fill the bucket with water up to about an inch and a half below the seed and spray water on them a couple of times a day until they are up.  Pictured below.
 
Don't assume the free seeds are shit seeds.  They may not be!  I got a Reserva Privada O.G. Kush $18 seed as a freebee, twice.  And I've gotten several other good seeds as free extras too.
 
I would let your plants go for a while longer before doing very much training.  You can pull a bud down under a string to another hole in your net anytime it is big enough to do it.  And I would make a net with more smaller holes in it.
 
All in all you're looking good.  Keep it up!  I learned by doing.  Made a lot of mistakes.  Still do.  I know I could get bigger harvests but since I started growing indoors under lights in DWC I haven't run out of really good bud!
 

 

looks good except for that last plant. looks like your ph is way off and it has nuteburn.

 

I take cuttings from the side branches near the bottom of the plant when ever they are big enough to.  Usually I cut one that is about 4 or 5 inches long and trim it down as needed.
 
I don't understand your second question.  I seed in Hydroton in 2" net pots.  I clone in EZ Clone type neoprene cloning discs.
 
I start seeds and clone in the water that comes from my well without treatment or additives.
 
I think a 3" hole is about right.
 
Good luck!

 

phosphorus deficient. interesting, don't usually see this. anyways, easy fix. make sure its not your ph, first though. common mistake for a lot of people is seeing an issue with their plant and immediately writing it off as burn or deficient, they add/dilute nutrients like they think they should and problem worsens. otherwise they look ok

 

NPK... second number is phosphorus. a nute with a high P number will fix that. but you really need to check your ph first. it's way off. like i said. note the leaves that are twisting, that is due to ph. and the leaf tips that are burnt, that is nute burn. your ph is off and you have nute lockout. i wouldn't add anything until i checked the ph and got that squared away.

 

If it is at 6 leave it alone.

 

 
6 is ok your target is 5.7-5.8 but .4 ponits in either direction is fine.
you shouldn't use ph adjusters. the best thing to adjust your ph in hydro is benificials to stabalize the water and a good micro nutrient. i use liquid karma to adjust mine. if the ph is high i know to add a bit of nutes and it levels out.try to stay away from anything chemical. even the adjusters.

 

 
 
I would use anything organic. water soluble.

 

This is just my feelings about this subject.  Organic is the best way to go in soil, especially outdoors.  But in hydro or aero there are nutes that are in the form a plant can take them up and use as well as it is possible for a plant to take up nutes and use them.  In fact many non organic nutes are more easily and efficiently taken up and used by plants than are most so called "organic" nutes for hydro systems.

 

Im not knocking anybody else's choice, I'm just saying after 9 yrs working with rdwc I know what I like. Results, time involved, and my laziness are a huge factor in why I like organic over chems.

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I don't use a reservoir.  I fill each bucket individually with a large mug from a bucket of nute solution.  Every day I fill it up to the bottom of the net pot, after checking the ph and ppm.