First time DWC Bubble, White Widow XTRM

Discussion in 'Hydroponic Grow Journals' started by KD2K, Jan 23, 2016.

  1. Starting this as a journal since I know I'll have some questions as I go. Started with germination December 10th. I've grown two times prior indoor in soil, using bagseed, with OK results. Healthy plants but fair amount of seeds in final product. Sexing this crop is where I'll get nervous and will ask for some help. I also want to clone on this round and have setup a second grow area I'll describe later.


    Setup: Main area is 20" deep, 40" long, and about 55" in height. Lined with Mylar, running a 400W HPS with cool tube ducted outside with an inline exhaust fan. Also have a 6" clip fan for circulation.


    Bubble bucket is a 10 gallon Rubermaid with spots for (4) 5" net pots. Two air pumps and three airstones. Bucket was gray to start then painted black and then white (to reflect heat), top was painted with chrome spray paint to help reflect light.


    Seeds were from Amsterdam Marijuana Seed Company, White Widow XTRM, regular (not the feminized ones). Germinated 4 seeds in paper towels between plates on a heat pad. All four popped in 24-36 hours. Transplanted to rockwool cubes and all 4 rooted. Moved to the 5" netpots with hydroton. Lost one to drying out and had to manage other 3 with top watering to avoid drying out. One thing I'll do next grow is use 3" netpots. The cross section between 5" netpots and rockwool or roots is pretty big. I think 3" netpots would help cut this down a great deal and get roots to water sooner.


    I'll post several times at the outset since I'm now over a month in. I've taken photos each week and kept a daily journal.


    Last notes on setup is I'm in a northern climate. Outside temps have varied from 50's to low single digits. Humidity has been quite low, staying at around 16%.

     

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  2. Here are some photos of the plants. I mentioned in the first post I lost one of the four seedlings. I sprouted a new one from bagseed and added it to the group. I sprouted that one in a peat pellet, then cleaned the roots and put that seedling directly into a 5" netpot with hydroton (no rockwool) to see if it would root. I don't like rockwool and read GoldGrower saying he went directly to hydroton and wanted to try it myself. It worked, however that plant looks spindly and has non symmetrical growth. I'm assuming that's due to genetics not how it was planted.


    You'll also notice I named the plants. Wanted them to have some personality! All named after rather big ladies sending good vibes for getting females. Oprah, Rihanna, Beyonce, and Maggie (Maggie came from a baggie).


    Here are some pics of the first several weeks of growth. Each pic is taken one week from the other. The thing that amazed me was how different these plants look. The three primary plants are all from the same package of White Widow XTRM seeds and have been growing dramatically different! Here they are:
     

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  3. I guess I should talk about nutrients. I'm using Hydroguard and Mag-Cal that I started about 3 weeks into the grow. I'm also using the three pack of FoxFarm products. I had the FoxFarm from my earlier grows, and they're probably 3 years old at this point. I did some research and think they're still OK. In week 2, I started adding the FF nutes. In week 2 just got it to 200ppm, then 400ppm, then 600ppm, and this week, which is about 5 weeks from sprouting, I'm at 1,100 ppm now with about 50/50 FF Grow Big and Big Bloom.


    If you look at the last post and pics the amazing things (to me) are how different the four plants are progressing. Back right plant is Beyonce, she took off early, stretched and took off. Her leaves are lighter green. I topped her now two times and last week pruned some of the larger, lower fan leaves. Several of those were discolored and I didn't worry about setting her back since the others needed to catch up.


    Back left plant, Rihanna, took off later in the cycle and is taking over her corner with fan leaves bigger than my hand, and very dark green color. I've now topped her two times.


    Bottom right plant is Oprah, also an original WW XTRM seed, she's also looking healthy, but behind the other two. Oprah is also stretching upwards more than the other two. Oprah has been topped once at this point.


    Maggie is front left and has some discoloration on her leaves, is growing asymmetrically, and looks very different. I'm not as surprised by that since it's a different seed, but a bit worried that, if it's a "he" could mess up the crop.


    Here are pics of the four plants I just referenced in order: Beyonce, Rihanna, Oprah, and Maggie as of this week.




     

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  4. No questions at this point, but always open to comments and suggestions.


    My goal is to clone the WW plants in a separate room while the plants are in veg. Once the plants show sex remove the males (remember these are non-feminized seeds) and then use the clones for the next round.


    My concerns are cloning successfully. I've built a DWC bucket cloner but not tried it yet. It seems too early to take clones from these plants - but hopefully soon. My other, primary concern is sexing the plants I have. I know everyone says that it is easy, but I didn't do it right in the soil grows and I'd hate to F'up this time.


    I've been looking at the plants for signs of early flowing but nothing is showing. I guess this is to be expected since I'm still running 18/6. I don't expect signs to show until 12/12, which I don't want to switch to until I get some clones snipped.


    I'm reading everything I can and love the way information is shared on this forum and others - although GC seems to be the best. I love the community formed around helping everyone grow.


    Thanks for reading!
     
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  5. Hey everyone. Wednesday's are "picture day" for the girls and here they are.


    Few things in the last week. Rihanna (first pic) is blowing up! Fan leaves huge, bushy and low. I've topped her twice. Beyonce (second pic) is looking bleached out and lost some leaves. In the pic below I trimmed some of the worse looking ones. Her root system is a little darker than the others but pretty much the same. Oprah is looking good (third picture) but still "reaching". She has good color. Maggie (fourth pic, closest to camera) is spindly, light and dark color leaves, but growing.


    The four are in the same DWC bath running about 1150 ppm using about 50/50 FoxFarm Grow Big and Bloom. PH being kept at 5.8 with fluctuations in the 5.6 - 6.0, pretty tight. Temp still low of 60 at night and 80 in the day with res. temps staying in the 60-68 degree range (night vs. day).


    Last night I took clones from all but Maggie. These pics are after clones were taken. I'll talk about the cloner in the next post.


    Question: These are getting pretty crowded, I need to flower soon. Still hoping they're all girls but odds are some are not. Add to that, two of the four are not as strong. What do you think about when to flower? Thanks.
     

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  6. On to the cloner. I read a ton on the forums and built what you see below. Simple 3 gal Rubbermaid container painted black to block light. Running a single air pump and stone. Total DIY with the rubber inserts and holes in lid with hole saw. Made the mistake of painting the top lid black. The moisture is causing the paint to flake a bit but I'm doing my best to keep the flakes out of the reservoir.


    In the reservoir is about 2.5 gal of RO water, some Hydroguard and tiny amount of Cal-Mag. Res temp is 78 steady with fishtank heater and air is about 75 steady. CFL light above (65 Watt) and one of those Erligpowht 45W LED Red Blue Indoor Garden Plant Grow Light Hanging Lights off to the side. I have both mainly to keep the room temp to 75.


    Interested in any comments on the setup. Any experience with the Erligpowht lamps in veg etc. That lamp was pretty cheap, about $40. Any thoughts about the paint flaking? Should I cut a new, non-painted lid. Also, anything on temps etc.


    My goal is to flower the four plants, sex them (I'll ask for help there!) and keep the good mother clones. If Rihanna is a female she looks so strong I'd love to have a perpetual grow of those genetics.
     

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  7. Weekly update time. I switched to 12/12 this weekend (Jan 31). The room is getting so crowded I'll only post one pic this time. Hard to see the plants separately they're getting so big. Got a 30x loupe to try to see sex. Nothing is showing yet but I'm not worried since we're only 3 days into 12/12.


    The bagseed plant (Maggie, closest to camera) is not keeping up. Beyonce (furthest from the camera) is getting darker, probably due to increasing nutes, Oprah (far right corner) looks good but needs a stick to keep her from falling over. The weight of the stem plus fact it's in rockwool, in hydroton, isn't letting it support it's own weight. Rihanna (top left) is a monster and looking great.


    pH being kept at 5.8-ish, ppm up to 1,200, water temp staying in the 60's - creeping into low 70's a couple of times. Air temp ranges from 63-79 degrees F. Pretty close to ideal conditions. Just need them to be girls.


    Cloning project is starting to show results. All cuttings still look good on the topside, three are showing roots already. Water temp there is steady at 79 and air has been 75 degrees on 24 hour on lights.


    Hoping the next update will include information on sex, and pics showing white pistils! Send good thoughts their way.
     

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  8. Picture day again with some news. Last night one of the plants had to be removed. The one with the stake next to it could not support it's weight well and the main stem disconnected from the root structure. Oprah is gone. Very sad. That leaves me with a beast Rihanna and one that Rihanna is crowding out. Need some help from the community sexing Rihanna ASAP.


    If she's a he, I've got to pull her soon to give the other remaining plant a chance as that one is getting crowded out by Rihanna. Took some pics today. Let me know if you see a dude or a gal - or it's too early to tell. The plant is about 10 days into 12/12 flower cycle after vegging for about 45 days. These are all of the same plant thanks!
     

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  9. Another week and a few things to report. I jumped over to Absolute Beginners and posted a request to help sex the plants. I had to pull the beast, it had balls, very sad. The good news is the remaining plant showed white pistils! Now she has the DWC all to herself and she's spreading. Hard to believe how different two White Widow XTRM seeds can be. The male I pulled was big, bushy, and dense. The remaining girl is lighter color, a bit more spindly, with a more narrow stem.


    I was able to get roots from a female clone and that's growing in the veg room (big white pot). My plan is to veg her and take clones from her once she's bigger. If it works right that mother plant should produce the next round of clones for the DWC and maybe I'll take more to plant outside. The other two solo cup plants are rooted clones from another White Widow XTRM plant that died before showing sex. Figure I'll make one of those a mother too and hope her clones show female.


    Nice to be growing when it's cold outside. Hopefully setting up for a decent single plant harvest but more importantly getting some good genetics, known females, to have a good second round.


    First pic below is the single female WW, second is the clone/veg room, third are some good shots of the female pistils. Maybe these will help others.


    BTW, the first pic is 2.5 weeks into 12/12 following about 6 weeks of 18/6.
     

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  10. I had to pull some also. It sucked.
     
  11. Another week and another picture day! My single plant in DWC continues to progress. It's spreading out more and I'm thinking about making one more reservoir change this week and then adding a SCROG net above the plant to spread out the buds and give as much light as I can. She's a bit "stretchy" so the screen should give her some support too. Lot's of small bud sites. Hoping for some good bud growth in the next 5 weeks or so. As of this post she's 3.5 weeks into flowering cycle.


    If anyone has nute input I'd love to hear it. As mentioned earlier I'm using Fox Farm 3 pack, running Tiger Bloom and Big Bloom now about 50/50 with my PPM at about 1,250 which is holding steady. My pH is about 5.7 steady.


    The clones I took are taking off in soil too.


    Here's the pics:
     

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  12. Another Wednesday update. I scrogged the single WW to see if I could spread out the stems a bit and to get comfortable with that setup. I did it about 4 weeks into flower (way late I know) but it's really low stress movement just to separate the buds and give them better access to the 400W HPS.

    She's got lots of buds but 4 weeks into flower they're still small. Hopefully they'll plump up. PPM is about 1250. pH steady at about 5.8.

    FYI I am also running clones in a veg room and there's a pic of that one too. One of the big pots and the two clones in the bubbler are known females. The other big pot and solo cup are healthy unknown clones.

    Not sure how many folks are reading this but I'll keep posting. Hopefully it helps someone.

    Peace!
     

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  13. Hey, another week has gone by. I'm jumping in a day early this week with the pics. I'm now about 5 weeks into flowing (12/12) stage with one White Widow XTRM plant. Veg was about 6 weeks, using Fox Farm nutes that are a couple of years old now.

    I added the scrog to spread the plant out a bit however I probably should've done it a bit lower (or vegged a bit longer). The male I had to take out dictated the point I went to 12/12. Wish I had known it was a dude before switching to flower but what're you going to do?

    I'd like to see more bud growth by now. I have lot's of them, but they're all pretty small. Reading up on WW flower times there's a large group that says it can take up to 13 weeks, so maybe more bud growth is to come. Nutes still at about 1,250 ppm and pH at 5.6-5.8. Using Hydroguard and Mag-Cal with RO water. Reservoir is staying anywhere from 59 - 69 degrees. Running single 400 Watt HPS.

    Any comments about the bud growth at this stage. These look OK?, I'm looking for some bigger buds!
     

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  14. OK, another week and some more pics. Hopefully someone's reading this! I keep expecting the buds to really fill in but it seems to be taking it's time. In a batch of water for some newly transplanted clones I added Mag-Cal prior to the nutes and measured the ppm. I was surprised that the Mag-Cal alonge gave me a reading of about 350ppm, making me think my main flower DWC could be under-nuted. I'm also questioning if the Fox Farm nutes I'm using are too old - all with the objective of trying to figure why I'm not getting thicker bud growth... or maybe I'm just impatient.

    The pics here show a single White Widow XTRM, about 6 weeks into 12/12. She's healthy, good color, lots of buds, but again they are small. I've pruned some of the lower branches however left many of the lower branches too since those buds are roughly the same size as the higher ones.

    I also just got in some new General Hydroponics nutes (the three pack set). This weekend I'll do a reservoir change (with a submersible pump) get some fresh RO water in, minimize the Mag-Cal, and give them some of the new fresh nutes.

    Not sure if anyone is reading this but if you are, and know anything about bud growth at this stage, I'd love your input.

    Peace
     

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  15. Start to count from when you saw the first pistils which is usually about week 2 into 12/12. Looks good for its time. Thinking about dwc myself. I'm subbed.
     
  16. Thanks Islandgrower. Just back from a few days away and they're looking good, just slow. I've read they can take longer so I'm just being patient. I'll keep posting weekly pics. The buds are starting to fill it.


    Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app
     
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  17. Cool nice plants

    "carpe diem"
     
  18. Wow, time flies. Feel like I need to give an almost final update on this thread. Good to have closure right?

    I chopped Beyonce down May 2nd after a 24 hour dark period and about a week of only RO water. I spent a ton of time looking at White Widow harvest times and pics. In total she was 13 weeks in flower, quite a bit beyond what I'd expected.

    Based on how she looked that was the right amount. The trichomes were mostly cloudy at that point and about 5-10% of the leaves were yellowing. She was sticky!, barbell trichs, and good size. I didn't weigh her, she's been trimmed and is drying now. Some good size flowers.

    The scissors got pretty sticky, I scraped some of that off and smoked it in a one-hitter. Powerful stuff based on that test, but tasted a little harsh.

    Here are some pics, I'll update this again with the dry weight in a week or so. No clue if many folks are seeing this, but if you are hopefully it gives you an idea of White Widow XTRM via Amsterdam Seeds. I've got the second generation already going, moving two clones into the same flower room today. Those vegged for quite a bit longer and I think will be beasts. I hope the smoke is good.

    Peace!
     

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  19. OK, I've got some bad news/beginner stupidity... The White Widow has been drying for almost a week and I took a small nug that was fairly dry. It had seeds in it, quite a few. WTF!?

    All along there were hairs, the trichs were there, everything. From a small nug I got about 10 seeds.

    The smoke wasn't very strong either...

    The grow ended up being just one plant, however I did have another at the start that ended up being a male that I pulled. How can I tell if I pulled the male too late and it pollenated a female, or if the one plant I brought to maturity was a dude all along?

    Six months of this from seed too, fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuk!

    I cloned the plant and now have two clones just into flowering last week. They should show sex soon, but now I don't know if I know what the hell I'm doing? Did I mistakenly pollenate a girl or was it a dude all along??!?!?!?!?!?!
     
  20. Are you sure it didnt herm on you or put out nanners. If not you have seeds for your next run . And she should still be smokeable. Or make some edibles .
     

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