Top Shelf's 1st Grow: Indoor RDWC, LED, 4x4 Tent, White Widow, Jack Herer, Big Bud

[TopShelfCBD]

Hi folks,

I've been lurking for a few weeks while trying to get my tent and everything setup. This is my first grow, and I'm very excited. I had originally wanted to grow Blue Dream, but my seeds haven't shown up so I decided on a random mix. This will be a huge learning curve for me, and I'm open to any suggestions and will surely be asking lots of questions!

A big shout out to my buddy TheFrizz for the inspiration and help so far!

I've got the following components:

Grow Tent - Mars Hydro 4x4x7
Lights - 600W LED x 2 (Actual wattage 272 each, so 544 watts total)
Exhaust Fan and Filter - iPower 4 inch 190 CFM and 4 inch Carbon Filter
Fan speed controller - Active Air
Water pump - Hydrofarm AAPW250 250-GPH Active Aqua Submersible Pump
Air pump - Hydrofarm AAPA45L 20-Watt 45-LPM Active Aqua Commercial Air Pump
Grow medium - GROW!T GMC10L Horticultural Clay Pebbles 10L 4mm-16mm
Germination medium - General HydroponicsGH3255 General Hydroponics Rapid Rooter Replacement Plugs
RDWC - four 5 gallon buckets with 6 inch lid and net pot, 20 gallon resevoir, 3/4 inch hose for output from resevoir, 1 1/4 inch hose for return to resevoir, and 6 inch airstones

What strain is it? White Widow x2, Jack Herer and Big Bud, all Feminized
Indoor or outdoor? Indoor
Soil or Hydro? Hydro
Size of light? 600W LED x 2 (Actual wattage 272 each, so 544 watts total)
Is it aircooled? Yes
Temp of Room/cab? 19 Celsius, about 66 Fahrenheit
RH of Room/cab? Quite dry, between 20-30%, might look at adding a humidifier
PH of media or res? Out of the tap PH is a bit high at 7.6. Will be adding PH Down to resevoir
Any Pests ? Not yet!
How often are you watering? N/A
Type and strength of ferts used? Not started yet, have the General Hydroponics trio

Here are a few pictures of the tent and components, I still need to rewire the power for the lights once the extra long cables come in

Here are a few pictures of the germination. I germinated in Rapid Rooters in an old aquarium that has proved to be pretty effective at containing humidity.

Questions, Comments, Concerns, all are welcome, thank you!

 

[Asesino85]

Top Shelf's 1st Grow - Indoor RDWC, LED, 4x4 Tent, White Widow, Jack Herer, B...

I always applaud people who put some effort into getting a good startup. Problems are what most new growers do not know how to fix and ruin grows so to minimize problems by having a good setup is really smart! I kind of did the same thing and just keep expanding, but it's worth it! I'll follow along here and enjoy watching!

 

[TopShelfCBD]

Re: Top Shelf's 1st Grow - Indoor RDWC, LED, 4x4 Tent, White Widow, Jack Herer, Big B

December 4th - placed seeds in Rapid Rooters to begin germination. Had an old aquarium sitting around so I am using that as my “humidity dome”. Good RH so far!


December 7th - confirmed successful germination on all five plants. Will keep in the aquarium for another few days while I put the final touches on the tent.


December 11th - The two White Widow, the Jack Herer and one Big bug are looking great. I can see the large taproot already coming out of the bottom of the rapid rooter, so I'm thinking a few more days in the "germination station". Will probably cull the unlabeled one as it appears stunted already.

 

[TopShelfCBD]

Re: Top Shelf's 1st Grow - Indoor RDWC, LED, 4x4 Tent, White Widow, Jack Herer, B...

I always applaud people who put some effort into getting a good startup. Problems are what most new growers do not know how to fix and ruin grows so to minimize problems by having a good setup is really smart! I kind of did the same thing and just keep expanding, but it's worth it! I'll follow along here and enjoy watching!

Sounds good, I am going to check out your journals as well, thanks!

 

[TopShelfCBD]

Re: Top Shelf's 1st Grow - Indoor RDWC, LED, 4x4 Tent, White Widow, Jack Herer, Big B

So a few questions. My seedlings appear to be a bit "leggy". Is that normal? For example, the one below is twice the height of the rapid rooter with a small amount of leaf development in comparison.

Also, when should I move them to the net pots and the main LED lights?

 

[redmud]

Re: Top Shelf's 1st Grow - Indoor RDWC, LED, 4x4 Tent, White Widow, Jack Herer, Big B

They definately look like they want more light their stretching to get closer to the light source. In soil I would bury the stem in the media to stabilize it. I started my seedlings under the full sun this past summer no problems but since they have been in low light conditions I would start my lights out as far away as possible then move the lights a little closer every other day till I'm within the manufacturers recommended distance or I see heat stress or light burn and back it off a bit.

 

[TopShelfCBD]

Re: Top Shelf's 1st Grow - Indoor RDWC, LED, 4x4 Tent, White Widow, Jack Herer, Big B

They definately look like they want more light their stretching to get closer to the light source. In soil I would bury the stem in the media to stabilize it. I started my seedlings under the full sun this past summer no problems but since they have been in low light conditions I would start my lights out as far away as possible then move the lights a little closer every other day till I'm within the manufacturers recommended distance or I see heat stress or light burn and back it off a bit.

Thanks redmud I think I will transplant to the dwc buckets and main led lights tonight. I anticipate a lot of growth while I was at work today! .

 

[TopShelfCBD]

Re: Top Shelf's 1st Grow - Indoor RDWC, LED, 4x4 Tent, White Widow, Jack Herer, Big B

December 12th -. Moved the young ones from the aquarium into their final home inside the Dwc buckets. I have the lights set about 27 inches from the plants and am using a spray bottle to top feed until the roots hit the water

What amount of nutes should I be starting with? I have the General Hydroponic trio; FloraGro, FloraMicro and Flora blood. Should I start with the Gro and Micro?

 

[redmud]

Re: Top Shelf's 1st Grow - Indoor RDWC - LED - 4x4 Tent - White Widow/Jack Herer/Big

I'll read up on them but generally cut the nutes recommended feed amount in half for the first week we run 300 ppm in a similar system this set up isn't mine I work for a master grower he's been growing medical for 12 + years here's his set up I help run with a four grower team.
this is half of it

and the other half

.........

 

[TopShelfCBD]

Re: Top Shelf's 1st Grow - Indoor RDWC - LED - 4x4 Tent - White Widow/Jack Herer/Big

December 13th update

Working to lower PH, was at 7.7, down from 8.3 out of the tap.

Added some PH Down tonight and now sitting at 6.8

Reservoir temps are 18 Celsius which is about 64 Fahrenheit

Ppm sitting at about 154.

No nutrients deployed yet.

Looks like less stretch today and more leaf development, which is great news.

 

[TheFrizz]

Re: Top Shelf's 1st Grow - Indoor RDWC - LED - 4x4 Tent - White Widow/Jack Herer/Big

The setup looks great, I am proud of you! Did you make the RDWC yourself or buy a kit? Also nice strain choices, I particularly enjoy Jack Herer.

The reason the seedlings are so leggy is because they are not receiving enough light. One of the biggest mistakes folks who are new to gardening make is thinking that seedlings should be given less light to avoid getting burnt or something like that. Well think of it this way, in nature seeds germinate under full sunlight which can be almost twice as strong as even a powerful grow light. My first attempt at planting a vegetable garden involved seedlings too far away from weak lights and so here they were all stretched:

I ended up having to cull pretty much all of the salad greens because the spindly stalks couldn't hold up the weight. It was a really good lesson though, hehe.

I wish I could help more with specific detail about how high the light should be, but I haven't used LED's for a primary light source before. I am sure the wonderful folks of the forum can give some input! When in doubt though I would err on the side of more light rather than less

Keep up the good work!

~TheFrizz

 

[TopShelfCBD]

Re: Top Shelf's 1st Grow - Indoor RDWC - LED - 4x4 Tent - White Widow/Jack Herer/Big

Thanks, i enlisted the help of a local hydro store to build what I had in mind since I could not find anything prepackaged online that shipped to Canada.

Yeah that makes sense about the lack of light, hopefully they will fill out now that they are under the LED. The manufacturer recommends between 24-30 and I am right at 27 inches from light to plant.

Next time I might just germinate in the tent under the LED instead of the shitty light that was in the aquarium. Ah well, live and learn!




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[TopShelfCBD]

Re: Top Shelf's 1st Grow - Indoor RDWC - LED - 4x4 Tent - White Widow/Jack Herer/Big

Found this General Hydroponics nutrient schedule on a different site, so will probably start this soon.

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[SGreenman90]

Re: Top Shelf's 1st Grow - Indoor RDWC - LED - 4x4 Tent - White Widow/Jack Herer/Big

I've been looking for a feeding schedule for DWC, this is very helpful


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[redmud]

Re: Top Shelf's 1st Grow - Indoor RDWC - LED - 4x4 Tent - White Widow/Jack Herer/Big

That's an awsome feed chart pretty easily understood

 

[TopShelfCBD]

Re: Top Shelf's 1st Grow - Indoor RDWC - LED - 4x4 Tent - White Widow/Jack Herer/Big

Ahhh...so choked tonight. Went to check on the girls and there was a leak coming from the bottom of one of the buckets. Had to drain the entire system...so frustrating. The RDWC had been running well over a week to test for leaks and all of a sudden now it leaks....

 

[TopShelfCBD]

Re: Top Shelf's 1st Grow - Indoor RDWC - LED - 4x4 Tent - White Widow/Jack Herer/Big

Got a mini lesson from my local hydro store on gaskets and where they are supposed to be .

Leak is fixed, reservoir and buckets had to be totally drained and filled back up.

Currently sitting at 6.2 for PH, 312 for PPM and 11 degrees for temperature of the eater, 23 degrees for tent temp.

First batch of nutes and hydroguard in the system as well. Now we wait and see!

 

[redmud]

Re: Top Shelf's 1st Grow - Indoor RDWC - LED - 4x4 Tent - White Widow/Jack Herer/Big

I can't wait to see them in there we keep the ph a bit lower at around 5.8 usually

.........

 

[TopShelfCBD]

Re: Top Shelf's 1st Grow - Indoor RDWC - LED - 4x4 Tent - White Widow/Jack Herer/Big

So it's December 17th today and to be honest I was expecting a bit more growth by this point.

Temps and RH seem okay.

They do seem to be bending towards the light? They are 3w led's hung at 18 inches.

Any thoughts on what I can do to get more growth going?

 

[redmud]

Re: Top Shelf's 1st Grow - Indoor RDWC - LED - 4x4 Tent - White Widow/Jack Herer/Big

Right now they are working hard to push roots through the Rapid Rooters but once through and branching they will pick up the pace. The first 3 weeks is painfully slow growing sometimes but your patience is rewarded with great smoke lol

Oh one more thing I noted on your Temp/RH meter is a big temp swing try to get the daytime nighttime temperature difference to be around 10 degrees Fahrenheit for instance if day time temps are 81 try to keep night temps around 70 - 72.
and try to keep res Temps at around 64 to 68

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