Dro’s Top-Feed DWC Green Crack Fem & Northern Lights Auto Journal, 2019

[Dro]

Day 25 since germination (Day 30 from seed drop)

So this is one of the many reasons I started to use cannabis on a daily basis... It's 2:54am and my mind will not stop racing. Since I can't sleep I figured I would do a quick update.

My buddy that was supposed to check on my plants after I left had to travel for some work emergency so he only got to check on them once early this week. He should be back Saturday so I am not that concerned (or least that is what I am telling myself lol)

I have been tracking their progress through the cam and oh my ganja! These girls are going through a growth spurt! Both GC and NL are twice as big now and NL is about to block my view! I can see both have their 3rd set of true leaves and maybe even 4th one coming?

My original plan was to have my buddy just do a water change, add z7 and hydroguard and pH it but now I am starting to think I should have him add 1/4 nutes. I am also going to have him remove the makeshift "green house" Tupperware dome and get a fan blowing. Let know what you guys think!

Also, the bottom leaves are still droopy but the new growth appears to be looking healthy. You can see those leaves in the GC that is in the back of the pic and the NL in the front. Should I be concerned?

 

[Dro]

Day 26

My buddy stopped by today to check on the plants. He went above and beyond helping me out. He was able to wrap the buckets with insulation that I ordered this week. Here is the update for this grow.

Based on the progress that I saw on the cam and the root growth, I had him add 1/4 GH nutes, z7 and hydroguard. Base water ppm 254, after adding nutrients 398ppm. pH level is at 5.85-5.94 for each bucket. I had him remove the dome and fan has been turned on to get some plant movement.

I am finally feeling like this is going to work out and leaving the plants alone for a week has helped.

I noticed some lower leaves with burnt tips on both plants but I think this was the damaged done a couple weeks back. The top leaves look good and healthy.

I think both girls will be ready to be topped next week when I get back. What do you guys think?

Thanks to @Pennywise and the others for the support! I think we have managed to get over the root rot and looking forward to some homemade buds!

Here are some pictures of the progress! Lots of changes thanks to my buddy! He can drink all my beer if he wants lol

GC roots

GC top leaves

NL roots

NL top leaves

New insulation

Side view

Tent Data

 

[West Hippie]

Looking good , healthy roots the friend is taking care very well!

 

[Dro]

Looking good , healthy roots the friend is taking care very well!

Yeah! I was so surprised to see those roots after week and a half of no roots near the pot! I am hoping after the nute feed they start growing faster.

 

[Dro]

So I hear we are experiencing some crappy windy weather in Michigan and made me think about losing power and what I could do to keep the plants alive without an air pump.

Anyone know what's the recommended procedure? I read somewhere to lift the bucket lid so some of the roots are submerged while the other half is in water. Is that the way?

 

[Rifleman]

So I hear we are experiencing some crappy windy weather in Michigan and made me think about losing power and what I could do to keep the plants alive without an air pump.

Anyone know what's the recommended procedure? I read somewhere to lift the bucket lid so some of the roots are submerged while the other half is in water. Is that the way?

Don't worry about it. I've unplugged my pump while working in the garden and didnt realize it for 18hrs before. No problems.

 

[West Hippie]

So I hear we are experiencing some crappy windy weather in Michigan and made me think about losing power and what I could do to keep the plants alive without an air pump.

Anyone know what's the recommended procedure? I read somewhere to lift the bucket lid so some of the roots are submerged while the other half is in water. Is that the way?

This new grow I have left the supply water off for 24 hours , once the water was on I physically watched for 7 minutes stand up in front of my eyes ! Came back an hour later all’s well!

 

[Dro]

Thanks guys! Looks like no power outage for me. I will prepare better for next time this happens. I see a new generator in the near future.

Quick question to the master growers out there. I took the picture through the Cam this morning and the plants look droopy to me again. This is the first week of nutes and fan use. Should I expect to see this reaction from them after these events? Nothing else has changed besides more stable nute water temp. It is sitting nicely at 67-70F now.

Let know @West Hippie @Rifleman @Pennywise @Emilya. Your advice would be great!

 

[West Hippie]

Thanks guys! Looks like no power outage for me. I will prepare better for next time this happens. I see a new generator in the near future.

Quick question to the master growers out there. I took the picture through the Cam this morning and the plants look droopy to me again. This is the first week of nutes and fan use. Should I expect to see this reaction from them after these events? Nothing else has changed besides more stable nute water temp. It is sitting nicely at 67-70F now.

Let know @West Hippie @Rifleman @Pennywise @Emilya. Your advice would be great!

Not with the lights on , can your friend get over there ? Check the the ph and check the air if it’s on ?

 

[Dro]

Not with the lights on , can your friend get over there ? Check the the ph and check the air if it’s on ?

He should be able to go out there later today and send me info. Those were the other things I was thinking could be an issue. Hopefully he didn't forget turn the air pump supply on

 

[Dro]

Ok guys. I got some info from my buddy. pH for GC res is 6.31 and NL res is 6.22. air pump is on and creating lots of bubbles.

The GC looks droopy but a good shade of green in my opinion. The bottom leave has that nute burn from a couple weeks ago but nothing else pops up to me.

The NL leaves are curling up and he said they look dry which is leading me to believe that the light may need to be moved up. The light has been at the same height since the beginning so the plant growth and maybe the reflective bucket cover are causing some light burn?

As for the droop... I am not sure. Here are some of the pics I have now. Let me know what you guys think.

Green crack

Green crack side

Northern light Auto side

NL top view

Green crack roots

NL roots

 

[Dro]

@West Hippie @Pennywise or others..

what do you think could be happening based on the pics you guys see? I had my buddy move the light up to the highest that it goes yesterday (around 40") and remove the reflective cover on the lids. He stopped to check on them today and sent me some pics. The green crack looks ok to me (besides the droop) but the Northern light auto bottom leaves are discolored and dry. Shouldn't the light affect the top leaves and not the bottom ones? I saw a small cut on one of the leaves and my buddy thinks it got damaged when he put/removed the reflective lids.

RH has been fluctuating between 35-52%. pH down was added to get the buckets to around 6. And ppm is steady around 319.

Your help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Rifleman]

With what are you checking pH? If it's a digital pen, when was the last time it was calibrated properly?

 

[Dro]

With what are you checking pH? If it's a digital pen, when was the last time it was calibrated properly?

Digital pen and it was last checked/calibrated a couple weeks ago. Do leaves get dry like that with pH inbalance?

 

[West Hippie]

Digital pen and it was last checked/calibrated a couple weeks ago. Do leaves get dry like that with pH inbalance?

If I feel the ph pen is off I double check with the cheap ph pen and a drop test. I don’t know why I check can’t change Advanced Nutrients ph Perfect. Looks like the rest of the plant sucked those leaves dry of nutrients. Is there enough nitrogen in your grow nutrients, flower nutrients wouldn’t have enough nitrogen in it ! The twist in the bottom leaves would indicate you had a ph problem. Top looks healthy!

 

[Dro]

If I feel the ph pen is off I double check with the cheap ph pen and a drop test. I don’t know why I check can’t change Advanced Nutrients ph Perfect. Looks like the rest of the plant sucked those leaves dry of nutrients. Is there enough nitrogen in your grow nutrients, flower nutrients wouldn’t have enough nitrogen in it ! The twist in the bottom leaves would indicate you had a ph problem. Top looks healthy!

I can walk my buddy through checking the pen calibration tonight to make sure. As far as nutrients, this week was the first round of 1/4 GH Flora, bloom and micro. It looked to me that the issue started after the res change as all last week they were running on pH water with z7 and hydroguard since my initial root rot issue and they didn't seem to have an issue.

I did also had him remove the Tupperware "dome" so it's quiet possible this was protecting it from too much light heat.

The new grow definitely looks fine, I just hope this issue doesn't start to creep up to the other leaves :/

 

[West Hippie]

I can walk my buddy through checking the pen calibration tonight to make sure. As far as nutrients, this week was the first round of 1/4 GH Flora, bloom and micro. It looked to me that the issue started after the res change as all last week they were running on pH water with z7 and hydroguard since my initial root rot issue and they didn't seem to have an issue.

I did also had him remove the Tupperware "dome" so it's quiet possible this was protecting it from too much light heat.

The new grow definitely looks fine, I just hope this issue doesn't start to creep up to the other leaves :/

Do you have any veg nutrients? Not the bloom and flower , something that says grow on it !

 

[Dro]

Do you have any veg nutrients? Not the bloom and flower , something that says grow on it !

Sorry, yes I do. I had to double check my Amazon order and got flower confused with grow. I am using floramicro, floragro and florabloom. The schedule that I am using is from here : Easy Nutrients: General Hydroponics Flora Trio Guide | Grow Weed Easy

Like I said, this is the first week of any nutes. Do you think last week of just pH water and no nutrients may be the cause?

 

[West Hippie]

Don’t think so , the upper leaves look very healthy ! Just those lower leaves like n def !

 

[Dro]

Ok here is a quick update. pH pen was 0.2 off from calibration so it got recalibrated last night. When in doubt... do a res change!! So I had my buddy do a res change just in case to make sure everything was ok and he found some sediment built up at the bottom of the bucket after 4 days! He described it as sand like sediment with some spots of jelly like consistency but no bad smell.... See pic below. I didn't have him touch the green crack as she seems to be happy.

I am banging my head against the phone and without being present it's hard to think of the causes of my problems. I think I have narrowed it down to 3 potential reasons for all my problems.

1) Hard water may have too much calcium causing nutrient lock and plant is not getting all the nutrients and causing the sandy sediment. Nutrients are bonding to calcium particles and dropping to the bottom.

2)My buddy may not be following all my directions and mixing the nutrients out of order. He said he didn't but never know. Maybe he added all of them together in a bucket then added water? I don't know..

3) Root rot again?!?!? I am not 100% convince but better be safe than sorry.

I was already going to do RO water when I got back from vacation so I am hoping they can make it until Saturday. I have GH calimagic on order and should arrive at the same time as I do. Where in the nute order does calimagic go?. Do I put that first, before any nutrients or last? I know Floramicro is always first but does this go before that?

Right now, the northern light auto is in a new res with z7 and hydroguard with water temp at 64F and slowly climbing. I am hoping this helps root rot if that is what I have... I will do water change again Saturday with RO water.

Green crack seems happy so she will get a res change on Saturday as well.

Any thoughts and guidance is always welcome.