BudtenderAlex: RDWC, Blue Dream

[BudtenderAlexSZ]

Good morning ladies and gentlemen,

This is my first grow ever so I'm a little bit of a newbie. That's okay tho cause I'm a newbie that's done aot of research. I landed on RDWC because it's a method that I felt made the mast sense. I've always had a green thumb and cant wait to give these ladies a run for their money.

My growroom will be 48" x 36" x 72" Vivosun tent with the Vivosun 6" 440 CFM exhaust being pulled through a carbon filter. It took me forever to choose a light but I ended up going with a SF2000. Its made for my tent size and I've seen alot of other journals speak highly of this light. I could not find a reasonable RDWC system anywhere. I ended up finding one from a little shop called PA Hydroponics. The owner Gary was very nice and knowledgable and set me up with a 4 bucket system with a res that will sit outside my tent (shipping was cheap cause everything literally gets thrown In the buckets.. My exaust will run up and vent outside on my roof.

I tested water I sealed in a 5 gallon bucket and it naturaly sits at 65 degrees. I think with the light going inside the tent and everything else on the outside I'll hit the sweet spot of 68-72. I'm also insulating my buckets with 1/4" foil bubble wrap. If temps ever get to high I have 6 2 liter bottles with saltwater I can throw In the res 1 by 1 and get it cooled down.

For nutrients I plan to use the Flora series, hydroguard, and CALi-MAG. I'm open to any other nutrients to help the buds develope into delicious stick goodness. I am lucky enough to get a few clones from my buddy. So this run I will be doing WW and Chemdog-Zittles. Next run my Blue Dream mother plant should be all grown up and I will use the clones from her.

Bucket Size - 5 gallon
Medium - Rockwool started in hydroton rock
Lights - SF 2000
Nutrients - Flora series, CALi-MAG, Hydroguard
Strain(s) - Blue Dream
# of Plants: 4

I really hope you guys enjoy the show and give me some helpful advice along the way.

 

[BudtenderAlexSZ]

Below are some pictures. I'm worries about the sprout in the back right. I can tell she is growing but she's not going upwards. Hoping this is just temporary and she will sprout up like the rest. I got 2 fans one on the shelf and 1 hanging at the top to get good air circulation. Tonight I will be dropping in the hydro system and placing the rockwool in the hydroton and net pots. Am I doing this to early? How did I do for my first time setting up the tent? Appreciate the feedback in advance!

 

[BeanTownFan420]

 

[BudtenderAlexSZ]

Glad to have you... that nug of the month photo you got looks phenomenal. Please drop any advice if you have any. What's your thoughts on my nutrients?

 

[JamesBong502]

I don’t see the need to place them in the RDWC system yet. Keep them in the rock wool cubes until you get some roots showing. Then move them, have you already started feeding them nutrients?

 

[BudtenderAlexSZ]

I don’t see the need to place them in the RDWC system yet. Keep them in the rock wool cubes until you get some roots showing. Then move them, have you already started feeding them nutrients?

No there going to get a feeding with a splash of nutrients tonight from the flora series

 

[JamesBong502]

No there going to get a feeding with a splash of nutrients tonight from the flora series

Actually you don’t want to feed yet, I would suggest just giving them ph balanced water until they get their first set of true leaves (typically the 3rd set) then its safe to start with a very light feeding

 

[BudtenderAlexSZ]

Actually you don’t want to feed yet, I would suggest just giving them ph balanced water until they get their first set of true leaves (typically the 3rd set) then its safe to start with a very light feeding

Whoops! I gave them a tiny feeding of 60 PPM so was very light. 3 of them shot up overnight tho so I think they liked it. The one in the back right is still way behind. Really hoping she catches up if not ima get a clone from a friend to add into the mix. Would be a white widow clone.

 

[BudtenderAlexSZ]

@JamesBong502 @BeanTownFan420
Well it's been a week. The one seedling sadly did not make it. Should I get a clone of White Widdow and throw it in here and see what happens? I didnt get a pic but my roots started coming out the bottom of the rockwool. I did mess up nutrients a little bit but have fixed since then and my water has about 100 PPM. Very light till the roots hit the res and I top feed 3-4 times a day with wakipter from the res.

The poly pipe leaked bad so I took 1" clamps and some JB Weld and it wont ever leak or come apart again lol. Next build will definitly be done with PVC. How are my temps looking? Res water is 72 degrees and I do have hydroguard and the flora trio for nutrients going. Thank you guys!

 

[BeanTownFan420]

I have heard horrors stories about clones if you want to stay bug free you should only do in house grows from seed then clone yourself.

 

[Cannabomb62]

Yeah what beantownfriend420 said, be careful with outsourced clones even if its a gem you could accidentally bring in pests. I havent bought a clone since 2014

 

[BudtenderAlexSZ]

@Cannabomb62 @BeanTownFan420 @JamesBong502 @Pennywise
Quick update!

I think I should consider this day 1 of veg because plants 1 and 3's roots hit the resivore. I also did my first flush today and added 3/4 strength of the Flora series, CaliMag, Hydroguard. PPMs are at 400 (were at 150), water temp is 68, and PH is 5.6

My first feeding I messed up a little bit so they got a little nutrient burn but this didnt stop them from doing their thing. I did add a humidifier as my humidity levels were getting very low and decreased the speed of my fan. Humidity seems to stay arround 40% now with it running for 1 hours and then 3 hours off.

What's everyones thoughts or concerns! This is my first grow so I want to learn.

Questions:
How far should my SpiderFarmer SF 2000 LED be away from my plants? They don't seem to be over stretching but wanna get advise on this.
Also since I am not using the veg chamber in this tent should I add another SpiderFarmer SF 2000 when I switch to flower?
What are tour thoughts on topping when I hit 6 nodes down to the 3rd and then doing some LST to break the plant down into 8 main colas?

Appreciate everyone's support through my first grow!

 

[Pennywise]

If your plants aren’t stretching or burning I would fool with it. In flower lights make a huge difference.

 

[JamesBong502]

Best advice I can give you is “crawl before you walk”
Just take this first grow day by day and do what it takes to get to harvest healthy and I promise you will be thrilled with the results. Don’t get to caught up in the 1000s of different techniques you can try.

With that said topping and LST are pretty simple and effective for all levels of growers. But you’ve got some time until you need to worry about all that.
Lights you can play with but it’s still EARLY in the process.
Cheers

 

[Cannabomb62]

Lookin good. Thats a solid light. Adding another in that wouldnt hurt at all. Just mess with the dimmers. If they get light in green then raise the light or dim it down. I like adding epsome salt at 1g per gal since they eat more magnesium under LED's.

 

[BudtenderAlexSZ]

@Cannabomb62 @JamesBong502 @Pennywise

I have 2 healthy plants and 1 is kinda droopy and roots have not his the resivore yet like my other two. I am still top feeding the droopy one with RO water like I di the other two until they hit the resivore. What do you think it could be? I think the leaves on this one were damaged as a seedling like the other ones just maybe a little worse which has cause her to be temperamental? Any suggestions other than to continue top feeding RO water in Hope's the roots make it to the resivore?

 

[Cannabomb62]

The rockwool cub or whatever you sprouted it in might be over saturated.

 

[Pennywise]

I agree let the rockwool dry back for a day or 2

 

[BudtenderAlexSZ]

Thank you both! I'll do that and hope for the best. Once the roots hit the resivore the other two grew up fast.

 

[BudtenderAlexSZ]

@Pennywise @Cannabomb62
Here is some pictures! Let me know your thoughts. Should I top now? Also some of the leaves are getting a little damage and i cant find a chart to reference what I'm seeing. Have you all experienced anything like this? My PPMs are arround 400. Water temp stays around 70. Running the flora series, hydroguard, and calimag. Appreciate you guys!