Scrogdawgs 400W RDWC White Widow Fem Scrog Grow

[Omega Man]

So yesterday I figured I had about a week until I'd need to put in the scrog screen. The RDWC plants were 4" below the height where the screen would sit. Turns out I had to put it in last night and today I expect they'll be touching it. I did not anticipate how quickly a hydro grow can progress when you have your system running well. Not to say I won't have first timer issues tomorrow but today this things on fire.

Just for reference, My buckets are 16" tall and my screen is built to 24" tall leaving only 8" between the top of the buckets and the screen. If I'd have gone much taller with the screen I'd run into lighting trouble when the plants stretch. I believe I have enough, but not an abundance of overhead clearance.

I guess I'll be in the trim and train mode now for a few weeks. I'll have to tidy up some wiring and get some reflector material up as well.
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I'll sneak this one in...Day 44 of Veg.
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I like this journal, this is definitely the way to do DWC the right way. Lots of power and pressure to keep those little plants happy

Keep it up! I'm in coco coir now but I may try out deep water culture again this year

Can't wait to see your buds!

 

[Scrogdawg]

On Friday - I whipped up a new batch of nutrients that are simmering right now. I'll water change either this evening or tomorrow morning. I added Ca/Mg (CaliMagic) for the first time at 25% the bottle rating and that alone shot my TDS up by 100ppm, wasn't really expecting that. Also mixed my Flora series nutrients 10% heavier than in the past so now water is 200ppm, Ca/Mg is 100ppm and nutes are 400ppm. So the new recipe going into the system when it warms up a few more degrees goes like this: PH - 5.9, TDS - 700 ppm, EC - 1.40 µS and Solution Temp - 62 ⁰F. I did the water change on Friday evening.

Through Saturday and Sunday morning the PH continually dropped from 5.9 to 5.6 and TDS dropped from 720ppm to 660ppm with no noticeable growth on either plant. Some minor yellowing of the fan leaf tips could be seen. Sunday afternoon I pulled 3L of nutrient water from the system and replaced with 3L of tap water until I was measuring a PH of 5.8. My TDS also reduced to 640ppm by doing that. I left it for the afternoon and overnight. This morning (Monday) my PH is holding at 5.8 and TDS is flashing on the monitor between 640ppm and 620ppm. Both plants seem to be responding well to this and growth is noticeable again.

It seems I had the sweet spot for the nutes originally and will be going back to that recipe on the next water change. Lesson learned = "Shit can go south in a hurry".
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[Omega Man]

glad you caught it in time

 

[nivek]

what i like about your setup is the ability to monitor your situation so closely and accurately,, would i presume correctly that that machine does a lot of the monitoring for you, as in shows you highs and lows and probably prints out a chart as well??

since about last evening i have thot my dwc plant looked a bit droopy,, it took me till this morning to think about ph,, when i did check it it was in the upper sixes,,so,,

might i ask a q pls,, for ph adjusting,, to lower my ph i just used vinegar,, i have used vinegar to lower ph in my watering water since i started growing,

but i am not sure about using it in dwc,, just curious if you had an opinion on the use of vinegar,,

cheers

 

[Scrogdawg]

Hi nivek. Firstly, no my monitor is just a display of the current readings, a snapshot in time if you will. It monitors Temp of the solution, PH, EC, and TDS. It would be nice if it had a memory and could plot things but this one doesn't. However, I record the daily readings and plot PH and TDS on a graph in an Excel spreadsheet. I start a new plot on water change day. Doesn't say a lot but kind of shows me what works and what doesn't week by week.
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Now as far as the vinegar, I have no experience with it and can't comment. When I started the RDWC I used a PH down product designed for ponds as we have no hydro type stores in my town. That PH down caused my TDS to go through the roof and it half killed my plants. I changed out to a PH down product that was designed for aquiriums and it pretty near finished the plants off for good. I wound up driving 3 hours to purchase a hydro specific PH down and life was good again. You can see that on "week 1" on the graphs. Hmmm, guess maybe the graphs are good for something. lol.

Have a good one.

 

[Rider509]

I can't believe how much bigger the hydro plants are than the one in soil. Is this typical or is the one in soil not getting the same amount of care? Sorry, noob question I'm sure.

 

[Scrogdawg]

I can't believe how much bigger the hydro plants are than the one in soil. Is this typical or is the one in soil not getting the same amount of care? Sorry, noob question I'm sure.

Welcome Rider509, your welcome here anytime.. Don't be sorry, I'm a noob too and I ain't sorry. In answer to your question, just scroll up the page and read posts 16 and 17.

 

[Rider509]

Thank you, Scrogdawg! I may have to rethink my grow plans and research RDWC. The difference in growth rates is fricking amazing! I'm only a couple of weeks into veg using soil with White Widow but I just started some Red Leaf that I could use this method on. Hell, for all I know I may still be able to convert the soil grows to this method. I have zero knowledge of RDWC so I guess I'd better start reading.

 

[Rider509]

Ahh, I see that your plants DID spend some time in soil before moving them. I have a lot of catching up to do.

 

[nivek]

Thank you, Scrogdawg! I may have to rethink my grow plans and research RDWC. The difference in growth rates is fricking amazing! I'm only a couple of weeks into veg using soil with White Widow but I just started some Red Leaf that I could use this method on. Hell, for all I know I may still be able to convert the soil grows to this method. I have zero knowledge of RDWC so I guess I'd better start reading.

Heya friend,, i am a brand new dwc student myself and have thrown together an ultra dwc system together, just for experimentation purposes. Might help you with an idea or two, check out my journal iffin you like,, it it absolutely fresh today,,

Cheers

 

[Lazarus13]

Thank you, Scrogdawg! I may have to rethink my grow plans and research RDWC. The difference in growth rates is fricking amazing! I'm only a couple of weeks into veg using soil with White Widow but I just started some Red Leaf that I could use this method on. Hell, for all I know I may still be able to convert the soil grows to this method. I have zero knowledge of RDWC so I guess I'd better start reading.

The first time i tried dwc and soil next to each other is the last time i grew in soil. The dwc plant blew my soil plant out of the water(pun fully intended) i get 2"-4"+ a day veg growth on a properly running dwc system. Once the roots hit that water, man, its boom! Off to the races.

 

[Scrogdawg]

Not a great bunch been going on here the last few days. I've been slowly trimmin up the basement and watchin the girls start to fill out the screen. The soil plant seems to be taking a little burst lately although I don't know why. Generally speaking, all's good under the hood.
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[nivek]

Heya friend,, i am a brand new dwc student myself and have thrown together an ultra dwc system together, just for experimentation purposes. Might help you with an idea or two, check out my journal iffin you like,, it it absolutely fresh today,,

Cheers

Haha,, i had to laugh,, i posted ' ultra dwc system',, that is funny, to me anyway,,

I meant to say ultra frugal,, cheap, zero cost, ha

 

[nivek]

Dawgy, might I ask please,, the tinfoil covers,, is there any one specific reason you cover those pots?

Maybe,, temp control? Evaporation control? Outa control?

 

[Scrogdawg]

Dawgy, might I ask please,, the tinfoil covers,, is there any one specific reason you cover those pots?

Maybe,, temp control? Evaporation control? Outa control?

Just an attempt to keep stray light from getting to the water. Trying to keep the algae monster away.

 

[adamblues]

HI Scrogdawg, awesome setup and grow you have going. I'm also a newbie and am in the process of setting up 2 grow tents withe Mars Hydro LED's and 2 5 gal bubbler buckets, but after seeing your setup, I am thinking I will add the recirculating component. Any chance you could provide some details / a drawing of your setup showing flow direction and all? Would be much appreciated....trying to keep costs down wherever possible. I'm about 2 weeks away from staring my first grows and prefer to get it right the first time. Sure looks like you did...

 

[Rider509]

Holy smokes, Beav! Dad's gonna kill you when he finds out how much that Nutradip GrowBoss cost!

I was lusting after it until I checked the price. I'm going to have to do with duct tape and bailing wire for a minute.

 

[Scrogdawg]

Holy smokes, Beav! Dad's gonna kill you when he finds out how much that Nutradip GrowBoss cost!.

"Your being a little hard on the beaver Ward"...
June Cleaver

They're $80, just ask my wife.

 

[Scrogdawg]

Any chance you could provide some details / a drawing of your setup showing flow direction and all?

Thanks for the kind comments adamblues, hope you enjoy the journal and hope you start your own when you're ready to go.

Check out this video, it explains the principle of RDWC better than I could. If you have any questions just ask away, I'll help if I can.
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[video=youtube;qy1EoDqptJk]

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[Rider509]

There were enough crazies willing to risk life and limb in order to get tattooed or pierced that we stayed busy today. I've got my goodies but had no time to assemble it. Still waiting for the Gold Leaf to break out into the light anyway.

Gawd help us if our wives ever find out how much we spend.