Feral's Adventures In Homemade DWC - 2015 - 400W HPS

[Sorenna]

Hi, Feral. I really thought I was in on this journal long ago. This is what happens when I start doing my own thinking. lol Im here now and I just want to say.. Wow. Your ladies are beyond lovely. Im with Radogast about the leaves. I love their color and perfectness. I also love the definition of the "lines" or ridges, even from a distance. While I was reading and looking through your pictures, I really enjoyed watching them stretch.

You do great work, Feral.

 

[FeralA9X]

Thanks Sorenna, i thought you were already here aswell hehe, I hope i didnt bore you too much with the long updates as i often find myself reading back through them thinking "damn i talk a lot about nothing"

 

[Sorenna]

Bored?! No way. It was a pure pleasure to watch your girls stretch their little limbs. Now I cant wait to watch them flower like nobody's business.

 

[FeralA9X]

Feral's Midnight Updates are in session

As per usual, boiling hot here all day today but this afternoon we had a massive downpoor of rain for about 20 mins, this raised humidity through the roof however was not as bad as i thought in the tent, sitting on 68% i will not bother with any foliar feeding tonight. Temps were 28c at 10pm but i will be back in there to check up on them in a couple of hours. No real notable stretch overnight, MM still at 32", Atomic at 28" and GWS did actually still have some stretch in her now measures in at 21". I managed to get a few more better pictures of Money Maker tonight, GWS was still a pain to get to however tomorrow i will get a better picture of her. I worked out the only way im going to be able to keep GWS in the tent and be able to check on her without damaging the others is to physically move one of the other girls out of the tent, damn they are heavy lol, after i moved Atomic out i could have taken a pretty good pic of GWS but at that point i had already turned the HPS back on. I did not cover clones in this check but will be commenting on them later, quite a lot of root growth on #1

Atomic Bomb:
PH 5.8, EC 2.5
Added 2L water to her res, will check later.

Money Maker:
PH 5.9, EC 2.5
Added 1.5L water to her res, checking later.

Great White Shark:
PH 5.8, EC 1.9
Nothing added today only down 500ml

And that brings us up to date, as always thanks for taking the time to read my journal, means a lot and keeps me motivated to do the best i can (even though i may screw up every now and then haha). See ya's in a bit

 

[FeralA9X]

Second lot of updates for tonight, Re-checked both Atomic and MM after their topup earlier, Both girls gave the same readings, PH: 5.8 and EC: 2.4. From here on out i will be adding water each day instead of leaving it so long, i think that way the nutrient solution by rights should stay stronger for longer. I know at the end of the day im adding the same amount of water each week but my theory (lol, so not technical) is adding 2L to 12L of mix will only bring it down slightly or if i leave it and add say 6L to only 8L of mix it will basically halve the nute strength. I hear "yeah but you add water every day instead of every 2 days", but im adding a small amount to a larger mix so it will only weaken it slightly. Man i think im going nuts

Anyhoo, a toke before i continue lol...
On to the clones, significant root growth overnight and surprisingly enough Atomic#1 looks like she is starting to get some new growth about her, I thought i would go back a few days to confirm. Pics from tonight were shocking, no flash just under the CFL and it looked ok on the camera, better ones tomorrow. I wouldnt make a good photographer thats for sure, maybe abstract?

As you can see there was only 2 larger sets of leaves a few days ago and now today we have 3 larger sets, i will let her grow a little more before i top her. I need to have a look back through and see when i put them in the res as im seeing some slight Calmag defs, DM gold line has heaps in there and i have not needed to add any to the big girls yet but this was a pretty weak mix and im guessing under CFL they are going to need more calmag, res will be changed out or added to in a couple of days, not decided yet, i may even run them a few weeks just adding some nutes here and there just to see how long it takes for the res to get dirty and it would save some dollars on nutes lol (This doesnt mean cutting corners in any way, if they need it they will get it).

So now its 3:20am, i suppose it has to be 420 somewhere, Have a great day, im off to smoke a bowl, watch a movie and get some sleep

 

[FeralA9X]

Hello everyone, sorry i did not make it on here yesterday, there will be quite a lot to cover and go over, If i bore you too much just pretend its a childrens book and look at all the pretty pictures

Right so onto the big girls first then clones after, Temps were at 26c with a humidity reading of 64%, very comfy. Not much has happened in the way of stretch overnight, Money Maker grew another inch bringing her to 33" where as both Atomic(28") and GWS(21") had no stretch overnight, pretty happy to call stretch period done and dusted. One thing that is really getting to me is the lack of space i have in the tent right now so i stripped most of GWS lower growth and just left the main branches, this has now allowed me to push her almost right up against the back wall giving me a lot more space to work with. all photos today were taken before anything was touched.

Atomic Bomb:
PH 5.8, EC 2.6
Added 2L of water to her res.

Money Maker:
PH 5.8, EC 2.6
Added 1.5L water to her res.

Great White Shark:
PH 5.9, EC 1.9
Nothing added to her res today.

Moving onto yesterdays results for the clones, PH was sitting on 5.8 and Atomic#1 was standing 68mm tall, first recorded height i noted in my book was on the 13th at around 60mm so they are growing slowly hehe.

So for todays results with the clones, PH had risen to 6.2, i didnt bother adjusting anything, Atomic#1 now stands at 71mm. Root growth is going just the way i like to see so i decided to top both clones today, force a few of these lower branches to start shooting.

Back on over to the main tent yet again tonight and the temps are 27c with 63% Humidity, Perfect yet again. Worked out today i have not been getting paid the right amount for the past 6 months so have been sorting that out all day, The good news, they owe me quite a lot in backpay and it will be in my acc on tuesday. Im thinking of setting up another 4x4 tent, nanolux OG 600w digi ballast, cooled OG reflector. This way i would have my new tent for flower and use the old tent with the 400w for veg, a somewhat perpetual garden
So back to the girls lol, stretch has not happened at all today, MM still sitting on 33", Atomic on 28" and GWS on 21".

Atomic Bomb:
PH 5.7, EC 2.4
Added 2L water to her res.

Money Maker:
PH 5.7, EC 2.4
Added 1.5L water to her res.
One thing id like to mention about her today is the snapped branch i was talking about the other day, seems almost completely healed now and starting to get a bit of a knuckle, I removed the pipe cleaner that i was using to support her so she can now grow naturally again.

Great White Shark:
PH 5.9, EC 2.0
Added 1L water to her res.

so we have reached the final part of these updates, thanks again for checking in. If you have any thoughts or ideas on how i should setup my new tent etc please let me know, Hope you all are having a great week

 

[Sorenna]

Lovely! Im ready to watch them fatten up now.

 

[Radogast]

I vote for perpetual harvesting over batch harvesting. I find it a lot easier to harvest and trim a 1-6 oz harvest every 1-3 weeks, than a 10-20 oz harvest every 8-10 weeks. For my situation, it also helps me keep the supply on hand within state legal limits.

I also find it more interesting to be tending girls of all ages. I find the first 4 weeks and the last 4 weeks of a marijuana plants life somewhat boring, and sometimes all the weeks in between. With a perpetual grow, there is always some plant at an interesting age

 

[FeralA9X]

Thats actually a good idea, never thought of doing it that way. Would be as simple as adding a new plant to the flower tent every couple of weeks, will defo be thinking about this. I originally was thinking veg while one flowers then when harvest move veg over to flower etc. Still very undecided on my exact direction, need to sort out the tent situation first, got one in mind but depends...

The package i have selected is on sale right now and is at a very reasonable price, only issue is i am not sure how long the sale goes for and i wont have the money till tuesday. If i manage to grab it, the tent is 140cm x 140cm x 200cm which is a little bit bigger than my current 4x4 but is not quite a 5x5, will be running a Growlite OG Reflector (air cooled vertical bulb, supposedly 30% more efficient and beat a 1000w setup in yield) and a 600w nanolux digital ballast, also comes with a lot of other essential stuff like hygrometer, PPM wand, ratchet hangers, 7" clip fan, MH & HPS bulbs etc. This will become my flower room and my 4x4 will be veg, has got me thinking though, to produce seeds i am going to need a 3rd, smaller tent

Just dont want to get my hopes up so im not looking anymore till the money clears hehe

 

[FeralA9X]

Right so on to tonight's updates, going to make them short and sweet as its 4am lol
Temps in the tent today were a little high at 29 but hey, it was damn hot everywhere, no wind just a dry heat. I expected a lot higher, Humidity was up around 58%.

Not a lot was done today, i did not bother checking in on GWS as it risks damage to the other girls each time i have to move them around, PH has been pretty stable with her since i changed her res out almost 2 weeks ago, has only drifted back and forth between 5.7-5.9 with no adjustments since. Another thing im not sure if i mentioned, the water i have been adding each day to all girls has not been PH'd at all, My water has a PH of about 6.8-6.9. The only thing i seem to be adjusting PH on right now is the clones.

Atomic Bomb:
PH: 5.6, EC 2.4
2L water added today

Money Maker:
PH 5.7, EC 2.4
1.5L water added today

So straight on to clones, Atomic#1 has already shown growth at some of her nodes with the tiny leaves already opening up, these were invisible to the eye yesterday. Root growth is going really well, good coverage of roots the whole way around the net pots now.The CFL Reflector now sits 12" from the tops of the clones.

Hope you all have a great day

 

[Sorenna]

I like your clones.. and I think they like you too. All your plants are lovely. Fun watching them flower and frost and fatten.

 

[db003]

man now I want to do a dwc lol great plants bro

 

[FeralA9X]

Hello everyone, I didnt do any checks last night, Heat wave over here at the moment and just didnt have the energy or motivation to do much at all lol. I did take a quick peek in there and everything looked pretty normal, temps were a bit high and almost at the 30c mark. Water will be added tonight as they will be needing quite a bit, probably a gallon for each however i will be doing the usual res changes tomorrow if the EC drops too far. I may leave them if the EC stays above 2.0, GWS will not be changed yet again, she still has not shown any signs of deficiencies so no point wasting money in nutes on her. Really hanging to get my new setup purchased so i can get the ball rolling on some new strains for mothers.

I like your clones.. and I think they like you too. All your plants are lovely. Fun watching them flower and frost and fatten.

Thanks Sorenna, clones are coming along really nicely, they showed quite a lot of new growth at all nodes last night and will probably be looking even better tonight.Im surprised how much frosting Atomic has already, they are way above and beyond what i expected for my first DWC grow

man now I want to do a dwc lol great plants bro

Definitely have to give it a go mate, I would really love to see a huge auto grow in one, Have a few auto seeds on the way i may do some tests with hehe

Thanks everyone for stopping by and showing some love, I will be back later tonight with some juicy updates

 

[FeralA9X]

G'day ladies and gents, time for todays updates. Temps in the tent today are high at 30.4c, as i have been saying for days, its a damn heatwave here right now, if i can keep this under control im pretty good for the summer lol. Humidity today was low also at 49%, been so dry and the girls have drank a lot from their reservoirs but apart from that, heat does not seem to be affecting them one bit. I will cover clones quickly before i go any further, They are looking great and the new growth is exploding from everywhere hehe, root growth on Atomic#2 is quickly catching Atomic#1, really happy with their progress so far and they will get a little feed tomorrow.

So not much has changed height-wise with the big girls, Seems to me like a lot more bud growth and trichomes forming more than anything but they look amazing as usual. Really getting quite frosty for their age, especially Atomic. I will be checking in on the girls a lot earlier tomorrow to see if they will need a res change, a fair bit of water was added today to them all, results are from before any water was added to their reservoirs.

Atomic Bomb:
PH 5.5, EC 2.7
Added 4.5L water.

Money Maker:
PH 5.5, EC 2.7
Added 4L water.

Great White Shark:
PH 5.7, EC 2.3
Added 2L water.

Thanks again for stopping by and checking in on the girls, we will see you all tomorrow

 

[FeralA9X]

So i thought i would update, Just made a pretty substantial purchase hehe, lets just say santa will be bringing me lots of goodies just after xmas
140cm x 140cm x 2m tent, Growlite OG 6" Reflector, Nanolux Digital 600w ballast, another 6"duct fan with ducting and a carbon filter and a whole heap of smaller needed items. Also just purchased a whole heap of new seeds (32 in total), should be some interesting journals coming up soon

 

[FeralA9X]

Well plans changed yet again when they contacted me to let me know they had sold out of the 140x140x200 tents they have now upgraded me to a 150x150x200 German made GroCell tent for free

 

[Sorenna]

Woo Hoo!

 

[Radogast]

So i thought i would update, Just made a pretty substantial purchase hehe, lets just say santa will be bringing me lots of goodies just after xmas
140cm x 140cm x 2m tent, Growlite OG 6" Reflector, Nanolux Digital 600w ballast, another 6"duct fan with ducting and a carbon filter and a whole heap of smaller needed items. Also just purchased a whole heap of new seeds (32 in total), should be some interesting journals coming up soon

Beautiful looking girls, update after update.

Good looking growth too

I have had a pair of Nanolux 600W ballasts for almost 2 years now. I am darn happy with them.

 

[FeralA9X]

Thanks Rad

Probably the healthiest girls i have grown in the last 15 years, always dealt with pests and diseases outdoors, yield has always been decent but never looked as lush as these girls. I have been thinking about upgrading my 400w ballast to a digi also but will wait til the new year and give this one a few weeks test first, will probably leave veg room as 400w and flower room as 600w.

 

[FeralA9X]

Gday everyone again, I decided to have a day off yesterday and not do anything with the girls so no photos or readings will be noted, only time i actually checked on them was just checking temps which were steady around 25-26c. Today I have been so busy yet again and just noticed its like 3am... doh!! So todays temps were a little lower at 24-25c, much cooler rainy weather outside compared to the heatwave, Inside the tent showed signs of the humidity at 70% so no foliar feed was given tonight, pretty much done with foliar feeding at this point as dont want the flowers to go moldy by trapping moisture etc. One thing i want to comment on is my fan, you may have seen it in a couple of pics here and there, its an oscillating tower fan only miniaturized, only stands about 13" tall and pumps out the perfect amount of air for the girls but the oscillating feature has been broken ever since my last grow, to my surprise i opened the tent today to find it working again
I accidentally brushed past Money maker today while taking pictures and almost instantly the smell, oh my god, did i just die and go to heaven but seriously all i could smell was a real sour lemony but also really sweet at the same time, i just had to go back and smell again so i touched a couple of trichomes on one of the real low popcorn buds and the smell completely changed to a more bubblegum smell, If it tastes anything like it smells right now after cure then damn im sold, stick a fork in me im done
I didnt touch Atomic indecently in any way today, with the potent smell of MM on my fingers and up my nostrils i wouldnt be able to give a good comparison lmfao. that just sounds so wrong

Atomic Bomb:
Height: 29"
PH 5.7, EC 2.4
Added 3.5L water.

Money Maker:
Height: 34"
PH 5.7, EC 2.3
Added 3L water.

Great White Shark:
Nothing done today, not even checked her res.

Clones:
Atomic#1 is showing some awesome growth now, starting to bush right up. Atomic#2 seems to be spending more time in the root department right now, almost on par with #1. They are doing really well just like their mum.

And thats about all the time we have for tonight folks, tune in tomorrow, same time, same journal for another exciting update of feral proportions

Night Night and thanks for reading