Ak48 - DWC - CFL

[DrewDrop]

Thats what I had read so i was writing it off as something that looks similar but not exactly brown algae. Idk. Especially since I'm using the z7 I was very surprised to see anything at all so wishful thinking told me it was the light and the fact I didnt totally sterelize the system. Im definately using correct doses of z7 an rez temps are fine. This is my secongd grow with this exact setup just different strain and the 1st one made me a believer in the z7. Either way we'll see if this is going to continue to be a problem in a few days when it either comes back or stays away. Thanks HunterNitro, I could use some luck.

 

[DrewDrop]

Still no signs of algae since I changed the rez yesterday so fingers crossed that it wont come back.
Ive done research on brown algae and cant seem to find any good info on what causes it. I know the obvious things but from the way people talk about it, its like it just materializes out of nothing. People who have done things the same way for years with no problems then suddenly boom, that damned algae......any info would be greatly appreciated.
Yesterday morning there was only 1 root coming from one pot now there's a good few coming from each so the roots are developing pretty well. The over stretched stems are nice and sturdy now and the 3rd set of leaves are starting to appear.

BIGGIE GOT A LITTLE BURNT WHEN THE BULB TOUCHED IT FOR A FEW HOURS. OOPS!

LETS GO ROOTS!!

 

[HunterHunt]

Awesome to see roots! Great sign. As far as the algae, my opioion is that the only way to prevent algae, root rot, and slime which are all 3 different problems is to either run beneficiary bacteria(the best) or run a H2O2 product like bleach or hydrogen peroxide. I dont even really sterilize anything anymore because it doesn't matter how much you do the problem will still come up.... at some point. When i run DWC my reservoir temps reach almost 90 degrees. As long as i run my beanies i dont worry about anything.

Also a tip for you, you need to cover the top of that rockwool or it will start growing green algae. Personally i usually put the rockwool cube further down so a layer of hydroton will cover the top of it. But yours is ok just cover it up from getting light.

You got this!

 

[DrewDrop]

Awesome to see roots! Great sign. As far as the algae, my opioion is that the only way to prevent algae, root rot, and slime which are all 3 different problems is to either run beneficiary bacteria(the best) or run a H2O2 product like bleach or hydrogen peroxide. I dont even really sterilize anything anymore because it doesn't matter how much you do the problem will still come up.... at some point. When i run DWC my reservoir temps reach almost 90 degrees. As long as i run my beanies i dont worry about anything.

Also a tip for you, you need to cover the top of that rockwool or it will start growing green algae. Personally i usually put the rockwool cube further down so a layer of hydroton will cover the top of it. But yours is ok just cover it up from getting light.

You got this!

Yea there really going. Ill take more pics after work. Wow 90 degrees?!?!? Thats crazy. Yea ive looked into the Heisenberg tea recipe and hear great things about it. I'm really hoping the z7 is going to continue to work tho because its not cheap and I really like the simplicity of it. Only time will tell. The cubes have never had any kind of organic matter on them. Just treated water and bottled water and the cubes themselves are sterile and inorganic so there shouldn't be anything to grow. They stayed nice and clean last time when I did it like this.

I feel like were gaining speed on this grow!

 

[DrewDrop]

My 2 AK-48's are 11 days old today! WhooHoo

The roots are developing 3 fold every day since they appeared just 2 days ago and the rez is staying clean so I'm just sitting back watching the show

Here's how everything is going top side.

I LOVE ROOT PORN!

Big thanks to everyone who's helped out so far. I am a new to growing so i appreciate all of the support

 

[tempo1983]

Best wishes on your journal subscribe

 

[DrewDrop]

Thanks tempo. Same to you

 

[DrewDrop]

UPDATE: Ill post pics later.
The reservoir is starting to smell a bit like a fish tank that needs to b cleaned. The roots look great tho. Fish boned and pearly white I did some research on z7 website and learned that in some cases people had to re apply after 3 days to maintain a clean system. Im going to change the rez tomorrow, 1 week since last change. Im also going to stop using the superthrive in order to rid the system of any and all organic matter. Wish the ladys luck.

 

[DrewDrop]

This is the update i wasn't able to post on 9/25.

Plants have been alive for 11 days and smallie has started showing very faint blemishes on her larger leaves.

Everything else is going fine tho. The slime is staying away and i think the slight odor is just from the superthrive being trapped in the tote for hours on end. (Superthrive smells very pungent and earthy)

Heres biggie

Biggies Roots

Smallies Roots

 

[DrewDrop]

Calcium deficiency???

Those faint blemishes I noticed a few days ago went south quick. Gotta love hydroponics. It looks like calcium deficiency to me but i'm no expert. Im using Ionic which has calcium and the PH is fine. I'm about to change the rez so hopefully a clean fresh system will at least slow down the problem.
Any help friends would be greatly appreciated.

 

[KingJohnC]

Your leaf damage appears to be from either heat stress, pH fluctuation or a phosphorous deficiency.

You want pH 5.8 for hydroponic and soiless (peat moss and coco coir) and pH 6.5 for soil.

Here is a nutrient availability chart

Here is a cannabis leaf deficiency chart

here is the Cannabis Plant and Pest Problem Solver and the Plant Abuse Chart

Cannabis Plant and Pest Problem Solver: Pictorial

Plant Abuse Chart

 

[DrewDrop]

Thanks KingJohn. Im afraid its not as simple as PH issues tho. The PH is stable and im giving them complete nutrients. I didnt have a clue what the problems was until slime appeared on the roots. Im blaming the slime. I used H2o2 to kill it and unfortunately damaged my girls pretty badly. Im about to abort them and start fresh. My major flaw was getting comfortable. I thought I knew what's was doing. I used superthrive for the first time in hydro thinking the z7 would prevent any ill affects but I was wrong. Let this be a lesson to whoever can learn from my costly mistake. LEAVE THE ORGANICS OUT OF DWC.

 

[HunterHunt]

If it did its job it would have kept it away. I know other growers that use Z7 with success. Either your z7 is bad, wrong dosage, or you put something in the reservoir to kill the z7 is the only 3 things i can think of that happened like we talked earlier. Im still not knowledgeable enough on z7 or have used it to give advice on it. I just know if you run beneficiary bacteria you wont have that problem. Theres many products with beneficiary bacteria and also a super tea you can make that will solve all your root problems. I hope they come around! Good luck!

 

[DrewDrop]

If it did its job it would have kept it away. I know other growers that use Z7 with success. Either your z7 is bad, wrong dosage, or you put something in the reservoir to kill the z7 is the only 3 things i can think of that happened like we talked earlier. Im still not knowledgeable enough on z7 or have used it to give advice on it. I just know if you run beneficiary bacteria you wont have that problem. Theres many products with beneficiary bacteria and also a super tea you can make that will solve all your root problems. I hope they come around! Good luck!

Im going to call there tech support and ask some questions about storage temps and shelf life or anything that could compromise the product. The bottle says 2 years and its less than a year old. However; My AC broke this summer and temps reached around 100 in my house for a few days. I would understand if this caused some problems with the product. Im definitely using correct dosages, I use RO water and i PH the water pre z7 so the z7 only touches compatible elements.....unless my synthetic nutes can kill the z7? (that just occured to me so ill have to ask them that as well.) The bottle says that it eliminates "inanimate" slime and acts as a PH stabilizer. (Inanimate being the key word) so maybe its just a nicely marketed product but isn't equipped to fend off parasitic fungus and bacteria. Ill hopefully find some answers when i can talk to the people behind the name.

I Really appreciate the support, guys. But im very sad to say that Its over..... (crying not laughing) My attempt to use H2o2 to kill the gunk sadly also damaged the young girls to the point where i felt it best to just start over now before more time and energy is wasted.

Maybe over time they might have recovered, but its worth it to me to learn from my mistakes, start fresh and run a flawless system all the way through. At least i have a point to improve on. (Much better than being weedless AND clueless) Im going to confirm that the z7 is the product for me and if not i will find what i need. Im also going to keep all organics out of the system and ensure a 100% sterile environment also buying an air filter to keep out air born spored and dust.

I've already sterilized the system, soaking rockwool cubes in PH adjusted water and have 3 AK 48's germinating in a bottle of drinking water. Ill have everything i need (if not already) by the time the seeds sprout so if everything goes as planned ill be able to pick up where i left off without too much of a delay.
Ill continue the journal in this thread for all those who subscribed expecting to see some AK 48's. I hate to disappoint.

BEFORE I EMBARK AGAIN:
Could someone with experience please tell me if im doing something wrong with this setup.

*Non organic, complete plant nutrients. (correct doses)
*One hydroponic additive. (z7,hydroguard,bennies,etc)
*Sterile environment(tent,hydro system, nutrient solution,etc)
*No light Leaks in reservoir
*Optimal oxygen levels
*Optimal reservoir temps & PH
*Optimal environment( Temp, RH, Light, Airflow)
If there'rs anything i need to know or should research please feel free to give me your criticism. As you can see i am an inexperienced hydro grower and could use all the help i can get on my journey to becoming a successful cannabis cultivator.

STAY SUBBED FOR ATTEMPT # 2.

 

[KingJohnC]

You may want to use Heisenberg Tea to inoculate your plants with beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizae

Tea recipe: How to get pearly white roots and accellerate vegetative growth - Blogs - 420 Magazine ®

 

[DrewDrop]

You may want to use Heisenberg Tea to inoculate your plants with beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizae

Tea recipe: How to get pearly white roots and accellerate vegetative growth - Blogs - 420 Magazine ®

I will try this this for sure if there isn't a pre made solution such as hydroguard or z7 that will work for me. I like the simplicity of the pre made products but will do whatever necessary to ensure success

 

[DrewDrop]

Thursday I dropped my 3 remaining ak48's in a bottle of water then moved them to a petri dish full of moist cheesecloth after 24 hrs. All 3 seeds popped and tailed nicely so last night I put them in their cubes and the're now under a 36 w cfl. 6500k

 

[DrewDrop]

I talked with the guys at flying skull and they suggested using the z7 at double strength. They say DWC systems are a perfect breeding ground for pythium and other harmful bacteria so basically (more pythium needs more z7.) They seemed very confident that this would solve the problem. I have 3 sprouts that are 4 days old which I will move to the dwc in a few more days so we will see if this is going to be a smooth start or not.
Ill post pics later with another spec sheet of what ive done so far.

Peace Love and Happy Growing.

 

[DrewDrop]

Hello 420 friends!
This is my 2nd attempt at my AK 48 feminized grow. I kept it in the same journal so ya'll can look back through the first few pages and see what went wrong the first time.

*My setup is identical to the last attempt (refer to top of page 1) except I removed the superthrive.

Thursday Oct.2nd i began germinating my remaining 3 seeds by dropping them in a bottle of water, then moving them to a petri dish with wet cheesecloth after a 24hr soak. (100% germination)
Sunday Oct.5th i put the tailed seedlings into their rockwool cubes.
Tuesday Oct. 7th they break ground.

.

 

[DrewDrop]

Hello guys and gals, sorry i havent been updating regularly, work is consuming all of my time.
My 3 Ak-48 seedlings are down to 1 Ak-48. All 3 sprouted just fine but 2 quickly went south for unknown reasons...(weak seeds i think).
The surviving one was the ugly duckling from the start. One cotyledon was 3 times the size of the other and its first leaves above the cotyledons were badly deformed; Only one grew at first in a strange clover, blob shape and it had what looked like a tiny pistil hanging from the tip. The other leaf finally appeared a few days later and it had the pistil on the leaf as well.
Worried that none of my Ak's would survive, I cloned one of my friends plants and added it to the Dwc. My remaining Ak still hadn't shown roots so i figured they might develop at about the same rate.

Here's the clone before she was rooted

Here's the Ak the day she showed roots on 10/21

AK 10/23

CLONE SHOWED ROOTS ON 10/23

Clone 10/26

Ak 10/26

CLONE ROOTS 10/26

Ak ROOTS 10/26

.

Well that's how its going so far. Hopefully I can get these two plants to maturity without any major problems. I plan on manicuring them to replicate the scrog affect. I would use an actual scrog but it makes me nervous with the DWC system needing to be changed regularly. IDk we'll see. Ive lost valuable time and medicine with this last grow failing so my plan is to try and fill up my 4x2x5 tent with these two plants. Shouldnt be hard as long as i can run enough cfl's in there.

Thanks for following along friends, happy growing

UPDATE ON z7!!! Ive been using double strength as the guys at flying skull suggested and my reservoir has been slime free for over a week