1st Grow - 42W CFL's 5 Gallon DWC

[the1ulove]

So, I have read many journals and books and after a little preparation. (emphasis on little) I've finally jumped into the world of growing.

The journal is going to start today. Wed. Feb 9 but the actual grow has just gone into flowering 2 days ago.

I started with bag seeds. From a bag that i really liked. The seeds were germinated in paper towel and put into jiffy cups. After about a week. I put the plant (in the jiffy cup) into net pots using hydroton for the medium. ( I was not sure if/how this would effect the plants growth. Specifically the root system.) So far though. No problems. Any information on this would be appreciated.

The lighting is provided through 6 42w cfl lights. 3 in one reflector 2 in another and a single unreflected bulb. so far this seems to be more then enough light for the girls. I am also ready to add more as needed.

As for the DWC setup.... I am using 5 gal homedepot style buckets wrapped in aluminum foil. inside the buckets sit 2 air stones. I bought $10 air pumps. They work but, not as good as the $13 pump. No where near as good!!!! an aquarium heater and a fresh supply of FOXFaRM nutes.

This grow is on a budget and I understand that there are many things I can add to the grow space to improve yield. I am using this as an 'experimental' project to prepare for a much more elaborate system.

^ this is what the system looked like as i was figuring out how/where to set up

^ sprouts in their homes

^ germinating

Thats all for now. I will finish 'catching up' to get things going in real time in the next day or 2.

Thanks for your interest. any questions comments suggestions or criticisms are very much welcomed

 

[HempRocket]

I'm subbed.

 

[the1ulove]

Well, this being my first journal. I'm a little unorganized.... as you can see in the last pic of my 1st post. I have 5 girls growing right now. I had started with 4 seeds originally. And 2 didnt make it past the first week. So I planted my other 3 beans help out my odds of getting females.

Also, as you can see in some pics. I had a cfl that burned 2 plants slightly. The both seem to be doing well now.

After vegging for 3 weeks (4 for the original seeds) I have switched the plants over to 12/12

I used FoxFarm Grow big hydro for the veg cycle. And no other suppliments. My tap water has a very low ppm.(65) I had wanted to get some cal mag because of this. Due to my budget... no cal mag. i had no problems w/o it.

Currently I am using a mixture of grow big hydro and big bloom nutes. And, have also gotten some magi/cal.

Throughout the veg cycle. I kept the nutes @ 1200-1280ppm grow big hydro only
This, the first week of 12/12. I am keeping the nutes @ 1420 ppm mixing big bloom and grow big hydro 50/50 and adding about 6ml of magi cal/gal.

Well, I think that is pretty caught up. Lights are on now so... I'll get some more pics up asap.

 

[the1ulove]

rocket-nice! I just started to catch up on your grow. Looking good. I'm planning on attempting lst on the clones i get from this crop. @ least the ones that will veg for more than 4-5 weeks.

 

[the1ulove]

these are the 3 late starters

here is the biggest of the 5 plants.

 

[the1ulove]

so far so good. you can see the 3 I had started late are not as stout as the other 2. They also have some nutrient burn. Over all looking good. Also. I topped one of the smaller plants 2 days ago. Im hoping to see if this will work with such a short veg time. Off to work...

 

[the1ulove]

This post is going to get me caught up to 'real time'. Last post apparently didnt get posted...

So, the largest of the plants is about 11" tall x 16" diam. with the next largest not far behind!!!!!

Last week, I decided to L.S.T. the 3 smaller plants. Topping only 1. I did this so I could see for myself the effects of topping. The topped plant is not much larger but its stem structure is definately more stout.

I also decided to use a light set-up I got for when I move. Its just 1 reflector and I have been rotating it 2 days with a 400watt mh and 5-6 cfl's and 3 days under a 600watt hps. This will definately help my yield? I hope! It is also a way for me to see what I have to look forward to once the other house is set-up.

thats all for now. I'll take and post some new pics tomorrow. Any input always welcome.

 

[the1ulove]

I have not given up on this journal. Well, not 100%. I am however going to wait a few more weeks (once plants are drying) to update. Should be about 5 weeks. I was hoping to get some feedback and, since there was pretty much none. I have no reason to keep this up to date. I do however want to post what I have/will learn from this, my first grow.
****update***
I am down to 2 plants. both are doing very well under the 600watt hps.

 

[HempRocket]

You only have 2 plants left? What happened to the rest?

 

[HempRocket]

Oh I just want to mention that...since you only posted 9 times total on this site....and 7 of those times was in your own journal...I would just like to point out that if you post on other journals, people will come and check out yours. Just a thought.

 

[the1ulove]

Oh I just want to mention that...since you only posted 9 times total on this site....and 7 of those times was in your own journal...I would just like to point out that if you post on other journals, people will come and check out yours. Just a thought.

Ok. I appreciate your input. I am very new to this.(posting online) and this being my first grow. I dont have much information to share...

 

[Growing247]

Nice job on the home made netpot lids! Also, like the light hood made from a Papa Johns pizza box I saw in one of the photos. Classic. DWC is great when it works good and it sucks really bad when it doesn't. My suggestion is to put a line with permanent marker on the inside of the res to mark the water level. Then periodically check it because when they start flowering they will drink up 2.6 to 3 gallons in 24 hours no problem. Then you have a PH problem and your grow is basically screwed and your buds are all stunted while your soil plants laugh at you! I know this from experience and its why I am getting away from growing in DWC. I grew a haze plant in DWC. Everything was looking peachy keen and all of a sudden she just went down hill on me in a hurry. Crispy leaves the whole deal. I'm flushing with pure PH water and crossing my fingers but just goes to show hydro is really really sensitive to PH. Not sure its the best method for growing if you're sort of a laid back grower. If you can check on your plants every day DWC is great. Otherwise stick to soil. However, when it works, it works great. Good luck. Plants look great.

 

[HempRocket]

Ok. I appreciate your input. I am very new to this.(posting online) and this being my first grow. I dont have much information to share...

The great thing about this site is that everyone is still learning and people are usually here just to hang out. So don't be afraid just to say "hi"

 

[the1ulove]

G247-This was a somewhat last minute thing... So, I did what I could at first. Glad that someone likes my 'urban engineering' Thankfully, I have been able to upgrade to a 600watt hps with a 24"x24" reflector. As for the DWC. I was a little hessitant at first due to ph/nute/root problems. So far so good though! I am able to check on my ladies daily and have definately seen how fast small changes effect the plants. Im not sure about ph changes. But, I did over feed one of the girls. It took all of 15 min for her to start wiltting! Luckily I caught it and did the same as you are with your Haze. She perked right up in about 30-45 min. Good luck.

 

[the1ulove]

Rocket- Yeah, the other 4 were males.... the 2 girls are doing excellent though! I'll be taking pictures once its lights on and will post tomorrow

 

[Growing247]

You know I really like growing in hydro, I feel like I'm actually participating in making the plant grow like I'm Bill Nye the Science guy with my chemistry set, testing PH, using shot glass measuring cups and oral syringes to get accurate measurements. When I grow in soil you just basically water when the plant get's dry and prune the dead leaves and that's the end of it. So hydro is a lot more involved I guess. If I can give you 1 key piece of advice is no matter what nutes you use (I like Advanced Nutrients personally) make sure you flush for @ least 21 days. The plant will still grow and the buds will get rock hard and put on tons of weight in those 21 days. Then check the buds under a scope. I use a 60-100x lighted Carson pocket microscope that cost about 15 bucks. All trichs should be milky to amber and buds should be rock hard with very little white hairs mostly dry hairs. The big mistake ALOT of people make is they think their bud is done and they are so eager to try the weed they been staring at for 8 weeks they don't let the weed go the extra 10 days and when you let the weed mature to the fullest it tastes better and the high is way better and also the bud puts on all its weight in the final weeks of growing because it knows it is going to die so it goes all out. Right now I am growing some hash plant and letting it go 10 weeks and have been flushing for 2 weeks now...the buds are so stanky the whole house is begging to stank even with the PHRESH filter LOL. Good luck on the DWC and if you run into PH problems just use regular water for a week or 2 and SensiZym, I love that stuff, it makes your roots way bigger and healthier. Peace and good luck on the grow.

 

[the1ulove]

the girls are doing great!!! No problems at all. They are drinking about 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 liters of water a day. Ive been keeping the ppm around 1400 and monitoring the ph closely. The buds are full of white hairs. Way more than I had imagined there would be.
I'm hoping to harvest in late April. Which means the bigger topped plant(kaya) would have vegged for 10 days and the other plant(big momma) has vegged for 6 or 7 days. and both will have been in flower for 8-10 weeks.

sorry about the hps pics. I'll get a few more later just before the lights come on

 

[the1ulove]

You know I really like growing in hydro, I feel like I'm actually participating in making the plant grow like I'm Bill Nye the Science guy with my chemistry set, testing PH, using shot glass measuring cups and oral syringes to get accurate measurements. When I grow in soil you just basically water when the plant get's dry and prune the dead leaves and that's the end of it. So hydro is a lot more involved I guess. If I can give you 1 key piece of advice is no matter what nutes you use (I like Advanced Nutrients personally) make sure you flush for @ least 21 days. The plant will still grow and the buds will get rock hard and put on tons of weight in those 21 days. Then check the buds under a scope. I use a 60-100x lighted Carson pocket microscope that cost about 15 bucks. All trichs should be milky to amber and buds should be rock hard with very little white hairs mostly dry hairs. The big mistake ALOT of people make is they think their bud is done and they are so eager to try the weed they been staring at for 8 weeks they don't let the weed go the extra 10 days and when you let the weed mature to the fullest it tastes better and the high is way better and also the bud puts on all its weight in the final weeks of growing because it knows it is going to die so it goes all out. Right now I am growing some hash plant and letting it go 10 weeks and have been flushing for 2 weeks now...the buds are so stanky the whole house is begging to stank even with the PHRESH filter LOL. Good luck on the DWC and if you run into PH problems just use regular water for a week or 2 and SensiZym, I love that stuff, it makes your roots way bigger and healthier. Peace and good luck on the grow.

well, luckily I am a VERY patient person. I did know to flush. But, didnt realize it would be for 21 days. Based on the plan I have.(from seemorebuds buds for less 8oz for under $100) the plants will be ready on/around April 2nd. I feel that they wont be ready by then. I am thinking they will be ready around the 20th of April? But, have nothing to base this on except that I feel that way.... So, I was wondering when you would start the flush if you were me? Thanks for the information!

 

[Growing247]

You don't really NEED to flush for 21 days. The guys I hang out with grow some seriously good bud and if I roll up with some bud the first thing they want to know is how long it was flushed for lol. I don't blame people. People are using this stuff for medicine. It's up to you how long to flush for but at the end of week 6 is when I cut off all nutrients and use regular water and also sometimes and Enzyme product to help break down the built up fertilizers in the medium. I have had very good luck with this strategy and it helps in 2 ways. If you are growing a Sativa strain in hydro I think this is the hardest thing to do growing weed personally. Sativa dominant strains like haze seem to be way more sensitive to the tiniest change in PH where the Indicas take a lot more fertilizer before the leaves turn brittle and start to die. I don't want to lecture people on how to grow bud, but just take what strains you grow into account when growing hydro cause some of those Sativas (and some Indicas too) will flower and flower and flower if you keep giving them nutes they will never stop growing. They will go on flowering for 12 weeks +. The reason I bring this up is if you find your strain not maturing kick the light up to 14-10 and cut off nutes and watch those girls mature!

 

[the1ulove]

You don't really NEED to flush for 21 days. The guys I hang out with grow some seriously good bud and if I roll up with some bud the first thing they want to know is how long it was flushed for lol. I don't blame people. People are using this stuff for medicine. It's up to you how long to flush for but at the end of week 6 is when I cut off all nutrients and use regular water and also sometimes and Enzyme product to help break down the built up fertilizers in the medium. I have had very good luck with this strategy and it helps in 2 ways. If you are growing a Sativa strain in hydro I think this is the hardest thing to do growing weed personally. Sativa dominant strains like haze seem to be way more sensitive to the tiniest change in PH where the Indicas take a lot more fertilizer before the leaves turn brittle and start to die. I don't want to lecture people on how to grow bud, but just take what strains you grow into account when growing hydro cause some of those Sativas (and some Indicas too) will flower and flower and flower if you keep giving them nutes they will never stop growing. They will go on flowering for 12 weeks +. The reason I bring this up is if you find your strain not maturing kick the light up to 14-10 and cut off nutes and watch those girls mature!

That makes sense. I'm pretty sure the people I know won't be so picky but, I might be... I'm 5 weeks into flower and planned on 3-5 more. Next week or the one after. I'll put at least 1 maybe both on just water.