JCool09 Cabinet Hydro Caramelicious 9/2009

[jcool09]

From p.31 of Cervantes' "Marijuana Horticulture - The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower's Bible": "However, if mothers suffer stress, they produce weak clones." Not sure if that means the clones STAY weak, or just have a rougher go at the beginning.

I had some unique plants in some crappy soil. They were really suffering in the craptastic mix I had created. They got big enough to grab clones from, so I pulled clones and was happily impressed when the little clones took right off. my 2 cents. Cheers!

Thank you for your feedback guys. I am counting on my belief that if the top growth is vigorous the clones will have a chance for a frest start. I have become concerned about the long term prospect of using DWC to grow my clones through the flowering cycle. I have decided to build a different system for the 4 plants I have and their future clones. Details to follow next week.

 

[IMA]

i just took 7 clones oof a female mango i have had sitting in the same buucket for almost three weeks just add water she has been really stress check my journal periodicly t osee if this theory proves true i hope not.

 

[jcool09]

i just took 7 clones oof a female mango i have had sitting in the same buucket for almost three weeks just add water she has been really stress check my journal periodicly t osee if this theory proves true i hope not.

I got caught up on your thread tonight and will be staying tuned.

 

[jcool09]

Plant update

I have some new things to report in the last couple of days. First I have noticed some new damage on the large leaves of my previously perfect CAR2 plant. This means that there are still "issues" in the environment. Would anyone care to tak a stab at what is causing this?

CAR2 - 10/24/09 - WTF now?

Which leads to my second item. I am f*cking over DWC at this point. My conclusion is that the "administrative overhead" is too great for a system of my (small) size. Too many swings in PH which is blocking nutes and stressing my plants. Hydro is supposed to blow soil away and I am looking at my undersized plants waiting for the next problem to appear. I will be switching to a DIY drip system on Monday.

I was able to start taking clones from my plants last Thursday. I took 2 cuttings from CAR2 on Thurs and 1 from UNK1 and 1 from UNK2 on Friday. I hope to start flowering one cutting from each plant by the end of next week. I was not able to take any cuttings from CAR1 but if CAR2 is female then I really don't care.

Clones - 10/24/09

Here is a group photo after the cuttings were taken. The plants are filling in nicely and should continue to produce new shoots for cuttings in the coming weeks. I really need CAR1 (front left) to get with the program so I can hedge my bets on having a Caramelicious female. There are new sites developing at the nodes that should begin to take off this week. Here's hoping...

Group 10/24/09

 

[PHATBLUNT420]

hey Jcool srry to hear about the naggin issue with D.W.C's
plenty people have sucess with the system, one thing possibly wrong is the size of your bucket, many people use a 5gallon bucket or larger for Each plant
OBX being one of them.

I see your running 4 plants in a small bucket, the problem is the plant drains the nutes quickly and changes the structure of the Water, that changes the ph, theoretically the larger your container the longer it takes the plants to drink enough nutes to change the ph. At least thats how i understand the basics of DWC works. I know you dont wanna waste the hydro nutes, so lets try and work this out.

My first suggestion would be get a few 5g buckets a couple new airstones see where we go from there, i know the community is ganna jump in to help....Right?

 

[jcool09]

hey Jcool srry to hear about the naggin issue with D.W.C's
plenty people have sucess with the system, one thing possibly wrong is the size of your bucket, many people use a 5gallon bucket or larger for Each plant
OBX being one of them.

I see your running 4 plants in a small bucket, the problem is the plant drains the nutes quickly and changes the structure of the Water, that changes the ph, theoretically the larger your container the longer it takes the plants to drink enough nutes to change the ph. At least thats how i understand the basics of DWC works. I know you dont wanna waste the hydro nutes, so lets try and work this out.

My first suggestion would be get a few 5g buckets a couple new airstones see where we go from there, i know the community is ganna jump in to help....Right?

Hey PhatBlunt, thank you for your post. I was warned early on that a 1 gal bucket is too small for DWC. My challenge is managing the height of the apparatus in the cabinet so that I leave enough space for the plants to grow. I only have about 4' of grow space and I feel that 5 gal buckets are just too tall for this environment. I think I can design a more space efficient system using storage bins instead of buckets.

The DWC experiment was a good learning experience. Moving forward I want a system that requires less daily adjustment and will provide a consitantly healthy environment for my plants. I would also like a system that can be left alone for 4-5 days without refills or ajustments. I know the last part is asking a lot but it is something to shoot for.

 

[Tyrone Hamilton]

I think a drip system will definitely outperform a plain DWC, and I'm all for using bins instead of 5 gallon buckets... I have had 4 plants share 6-8 gallons in a 30 gallon tub without problems.

I have left my system alone for up to 9 days...

Maybe a Scrog for your height issues? Or just LST? I have definitely seen some killer cabinet grows in that size cabinet, I'd just put in the biggest tub you can fit.

Keep up the good work!

 

[jcool09]

Plant update

I have some new things to report in the last couple of days. First I have noticed some new damage on the large leaves of my previously perfect CAR2 plant. This means that there are still "issues" in the environment. Would anyone care to tak a stab at what is causing this?

CAR2 - 10/24/09 - WTF now?

From Nietzsche's Marijuana Plant Abuse:

Figure 6 (L) Figure 7 (R)

I think the photo on the right represents my issue. A description of the problem that was provided with the photo:

"pH Fluctuation:
Both of these leaves in figure 6 and figure 7 are from the same plant. It could be over fertilization, but more likely it is due to the pH being off. Too high or too low a pH can lock up nutrients in the form of un-dissolvable salts and compounds, some of which are actually toxic to the plants."

I think this is spot on. Anyone who has followed this thread knows what I have been struggling with. It is simply impossible to maintain the 5.2-6.2 PH range in my current DWC environment without hourly monitoring and multiple daily adjustments.

 

[Bolivar]

I agree.

 

[McBudz]

A larger res is the answer to your problems bud. Good luck with your reconfiguration. The upside is you are learning a lot.

 

[The Butcher]

i must 2nd all the remarks concerning these issues. Tubs give more room and a scrog in your sitch would be to your benefit. And if you go to a drip system, just make sure you dont get to small of a spaghetti tube. larger is better. It will help not to clogg the lines if you decide to take off for a few day, you can go without worrying about the lines clogging.

 

[Anubis420]

I think McBudz is right. I have a friend who is having some of the same issues that you are. He went to a larger reservoir, and seems to be showing some improvement.

 

[jcool09]

I think a drip system will definitely outperform a plain DWC, and I'm all for using bins instead of 5 gallon buckets... I have had 4 plants share 6-8 gallons in a 30 gallon tub without problems.

I have left my system alone for up to 9 days...

Maybe a Scrog for your height issues? Or just LST? I have definitely seen some killer cabinet grows in that size cabinet, I'd just put in the biggest tub you can fit.

Keep up the good work!

OBX. I appreciate your insight on the drip vs. DWC. My first hydro many years ago was a drip system and it must have been idiot-proof because I didn't know sh*t. ScrOG is in planned down the road.

I agree.

glad to have you around Bolivar.

A larger res is the answer to your problems bud. Good luck with your reconfiguration. The upside is you are learning a lot.

Good to see you McBudz. I hear that loud and clear.

i must 2nd all the remarks concerning these issues. Tubs give more room and a scrog in your sitch would be to your benefit. And if you go to a drip system, just make sure you dont get to small of a spaghetti tube. larger is better. It will help not to clogg the lines if you decide to take off for a few day, you can go without worrying about the lines clogging.

Yes Butcher, I think we have a consensus. Good suggestion on the tubing, I went with 1/4" black PVC; I can't imagine clogging would be an issue.

I think McBudz is right. I have a friend who is having some of the same issues that you are. He went to a larger reservoir, and seems to be showing some improvement.

Hi Anubius A larger res and a different hydro system are in the works. Straight DWC is just too high maintenance for me.

 

[jcool09]

New hydro system

The new system was built to address the rapid PH rise I encountered in the low capacity DWC. It is fairly simple, the main components are these storage bins from Lowe's. The bins are on separate shelves in the cabinet. The top bin has it's lid drilled with the 3" holes for the netpots and black masking tape has been used to block light penetration. There is a drain tube installed in the bottom that extends 2" up and 6" down. The 2" upward extension allows for a pool of solution to remain in the upper bin between pumpings. The 6" downward extension goes through a hole in the shelf and into a lower bin that serves as the main reservior. Right now the reservior has a 6.5 gallon capacity but this can be increased as required. The bottom bin is uncovered on the lower shelf and contains a 200 GPH pump that feeds water back into the upper bin. This may sound like overkill but you need the capacity to fight against gravity as you pump the solution to the upper shelf. There is a digital timer controlling the pump. There are no air pumps or stones with this solution; aeration is accomplished when the water falls from the upper bin back into the reservior. The bin can slide in and out easily for measurements and water changes.

I had to get the plants out of the bucket due to PH issues but also because they were getting crowded. I did not have a chance to complete the drip tubes today but I did move the plants to the new system. In lieu of drip lines the solution is just being circulated through the bottom of the upper bin for 30 minutes of every hour. Kind of like a hybrid between a DWC and NFT system.

I will post some pics tomorrow when I get the system finished.

 

[HerbInGrower]

try softening it up on the nutes man, treat it like a women you love, approach her softly man then warm her up to the beast inside.

 

[Mmmmick]

hi JC is that new rez ironing out your ph issues?
I hope so, I'm looking forward to some pics of carmelicious buds in their glory.

 

[PHATBLUNT420]

hook up us with some pics of the new system bro,
looking foward to seing you grow again, i know you cant wait

 

[The Butcher]

yeah cant wait to see the system. Noice to see you opted for a bigger one! Bigger roots = bigger buds

 

[jcool09]

try softening it up on the nutes man, treat it like a women you love, approach her softly man then warm her up to the beast inside.

Andrew Dice Clay would have been proud of how I have treated them so far. TLC is definitely the way to go. HerbInGrower you may have a future writing romance novels.

hi JC is that new rez ironing out your ph issues?
I hope so, I'm looking forward to some pics of carmelicious buds in their glory.

Hey Mmmmick thanks for asking. Things are much more stable; a .3 raise in 2 days.

hook up us with some pics of the new system bro,
looking foward to seing you grow again, i know you cant wait

Comin' up Phatblunt...

yeah cant wait to see the system. Noice to see you opted for a bigger one! Bigger roots = bigger buds

Yes Butcher and stable PH = healthy plants, an important short-term goal.

 

[Gordon d'Angelo]

hi mate mmm nice cuppa tea......wud of loved drinking it...with some scenery...give me some pics.....getta your lazy ass up ! ha ha....be lucky weedtastic