Kalorius' Hydroponic White Widow Grow Journal 2013!

[kalorius]

Okay, here we go. This is my second grow, but first hydroponic grow ever. Posting this journal for personal use, but also to get great and sound advice from all 420 users. Not too much chat, let's get to it!

What strain is it? Feminized White Widow, from seed

Is it in Veg or Flower stage? Veg. About 2 weeks in.

Size of light? 400 w magnetic HPS. Broad spectrum bulb for veg/flower

Is it aircooled? Nope

What are you growing in? Secret Jardin 120

Temp of Room/cab? 27 C

RH of Room/cab? 40 %

What type of hydroponic system? GHE Ecogrower drip system, in hydroton.

PH of media or res? Between 5.2-6

Type and strength of ferts used? GHE three-part series, using Lucas formula

Additional info I have a standard table fan for room circulation, and an airstone i the reservoir. For flowering i have a prima klima eco filter. I have built my own SCROG screen, which will be used when the plants are taller.

Room

My Scrog screen

(Painted my Ecogrower with matte white. Gives the growroom that cool ''lab'' feeling!

A few of the plants have this purple/red/brown color on the underisde of the leaves. Can anybody tell my why this is?

 

[Pyro88]

Looks like the girls are a little cold IMO how are u liking that hydro setup bro ? Good luck I'll be watching close A's I am doing white widow myself next

 

[lacongrower]

Check the temp of the room. Thermometers can be plant savers in some cases. The set up looks clean with lots of room for the plants to grow

 

[Sky Rocket]

Is that scrog screen at least 3'X3' because if not that screen looks small for 6 plants. I would suggest no more than 3 plants if that max scroggin under a 400 watter unless you plan not to veg long because your plants will explode in growth in your hydroponic setup and you will not have enough light to support all the colas nor the space to support all the colas above your scrog net. I read a journal earlier today. This guy 30 days from seed in a single dwc 5 gallon bucket scrog under 400 watter yielded around 6-8 zips. Another guy I read yielded 4 zips from scroggin with one plant under a 250 watter. I'm telling ya this because I want to see you succeed. So in my opinion less is best with your setup.

 

[kalorius]

Looks like the girls are a little cold IMO how are u liking that hydro setup bro ? Good luck I'll be watching close A's I am doing white widow myself next

Yep, i think i figured that out. put my circulation fan on a timer so it's off during the night when it's coldest. It's my first time doing hydro, so i can't really call it on the Ecogrower yet. Today i am buying a 600 l/m air pump, because the 100 l/m pump i have now is just not cutting it for the 15 gallon res.

 

[kalorius]

Check the temp of the room. Thermometers can be plant savers in some cases. The set up looks clean with lots of room for the plants to grow

Thanks man! Going to improve the room continually, so keep an eye out

 

[kalorius]

Is that scrog screen at least 3'X3' because if not that screen looks small for 6 plants. I would suggest no more than 3 plants if that max scroggin under a 400 watter unless you plan not to veg long because your plants will explode in growth in your hydroponic setup and you will not have enough light to support all the colas nor the space to support all the colas above your scrog net. I read a journal earlier today. This guy 30 days from seed in a single dwc 5 gallon bucket scrog under 400 watter yielded around 6-8 zips. Another guy I read yielded 4 zips from scroggin with one plant under a 250 watter. I'm telling ya this because I want to see you succeed. So in my opinion less is best with your setup.

Wow, lots of great suggestions. The screen is actually 3x3. It's fits like a glove in the room, so i think its big enough.

In regards to the plants, i realize it's a lot of plants for the size of the room and the light. But since i actually don't plan on vegging too long, and plan on doing some SERIOUS monster cropping, and possibly defoliation, i hope it's going to be okay. I read that the famous lucas (of the lucas formula) wrote somewhere that increasing the number of plants is the easiest way to increase yield. Also, i am going to buy a 600 w Gavita pro for the next grow, to get the full potential from my room (look it up. I did research and believe it's an AWESOME lamp. Pro growers in holland only use Gavita).

Yeah man, i know you're only trying to help, it's awesome you even care enough to give advice!

 

[Sky Rocket]

No problem man. Just did a quick look at the Gativa lights while on my lunch break and they are quite different. I'll look into them some more when I get off work. Now from light test results the best reflector on the market is the Luxor 8." I probably would have got one but i already have two XXXL 8" magnum hoods im about to fire up at the end of this month. I can pm you the link to the light test of over 20 lights they tested. I'm going to try if I have time and space to do a journal, 400 watt scrog in a single dwc 5 gallon bucket. Either super lemon haze from a clone or blue dream from a sead. My goal is half a pound and no less. I'll keep ya posted.

 

[kalorius]

No problem man. Just did a quick look at the Gativa lights while on my lunch break and they are quite different. I'll look into them some more when I get off work. Now from light test results the best reflector on the market is the Luxor 8." I probably would have got one but i already have two XXXL 8" magnum hoods im about to fire up at the end of this month. I can pm you the link to the light test of over 20 lights they tested. I'm going to try if I have time and space to do a journal, 400 watt scrog in a single dwc 5 gallon bucket. Either super lemon haze from a clone or blue dream from a sead. My goal is half a pound and no less. I'll keep ya posted.

Awesome, drop a link for the journal.

UPDATE TIIIIIIIME

Time for an update from the lab. Ladies are almost 3 weeks old.

First of all, bought some new toys. My 100mm exhaust blower has been replaced with an inline fan (220M^3/h-280m^3-/h), that can hopefully keep the temp down, even when the carbon filter gets attached.
I noticed that if i put my hand over the exhaust, the fan works harder. Is this normal? Does the fan have a chip inside it or something?

Also bought an air pump for the 15 gallon reservoir. 600 l/h, with four 4 inch airstones attached. Do you think this is enough air?
The first time i turned the pump on, I was really surprised at how much noise it made, and the fact that the friggin floor was vibrating. Well, necessity is the mother of invention, so i covered it in black plastic and placed it on the ledge outside my window. Noise is eliminated and the pump now pulls cold air in from the outside which cools the res to 65 F.


About the plants themselves, i made the grave mistake of overnuting a couple of days ago (1000 ppm with tap at 400 pmm!) which resulted in some burnt leaves and slow growth. I dumped the res and lowered the PPM to 550, with is very moderate, considering how hard my water is. They seem to have bounced back pretty well, although two are really lagging behind, with yellow lower leaves.

 

[KingJohnC]

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[kalorius]

subscribed

Awesome

 

[Hiker]

That's a nice clean setup you have there.

How big are the holes in that screen? You don't want them too small. I think 3-6" is good.

When you asked about the fan, are you saying you're blocking the exhaust with your hand, it sounds like it works harder? Well yes, it's supposed to. It's not that it's pushing harder, you're just hearing the motor work harder as it tried to maintain it's speed with increased resistance. It's not increasing the power it uses though.

I wouldn't worry about the purples on that plant. Some strains do it more than others. It can often be a reaction to temps, usually cold temps, but your environment sounds pretty good. I wouldn't worry about it. They look fine.

I can't say if you have enough air in that reservoir. I'm not a DWC guy, but in general, you can't have too much air.

Looking forward to seeing the tent full of buds!

 

[kalorius]

That's a nice clean setup you have there.

How big are the holes in that screen? You don't want them too small. I think 3-6" is good.

When you asked about the fan, are you saying you're blocking the exhaust with your hand, it sounds like it works harder? Well yes, it's supposed to. It's not that it's pushing harder, you're just hearing the motor work harder as it tried to maintain it's speed with increased resistance. It's not increasing the power it uses though.

I wouldn't worry about the purples on that plant. Some strains do it more than others. It can often be a reaction to temps, usually cold temps, but your environment sounds pretty good. I wouldn't worry about it. They look fine.

I can't say if you have enough air in that reservoir. I'm not a DWC guy, but in general, you can't have too much air.

Looking forward to seeing the tent full of buds!

Wow, thanks so much for the answers. The nets are 3x3, but they can move around a little, so i Think it'll be ok.

 

[kalorius]

What time you ask? Well, it's UPDATE TIIIIIIIMMEEEEEEEE. So, the Ladies are 3,5 weeks from seed. Generally they look alright. Been dealing with some issues though. There have been irregular growth, some discoloration and some hanging leaves. Fimmed them 4 days ago also, of which most are recovering well.
I think most of the problems have had to do with my extremely hard (450ppm) tap and water levels in the res kept too high. So i bought a new toy. A cheap RO system. The water really tastes great after filtration! Changed water to RO today and mixed up a weak Lucas formula (600ppm, about 10ml of bloom and 5ml of micro pr. Gallon). Also lowered the res to about 2 inches from bottom of net pots, with about 12 gallons in the res now.
Also lightproofed my res with diamondmylar and threw in some h2o2 after algae issues.

PICTURESSSSS!!!!!

Any and all feedback, suggestions and cadeau are gracefully accepted!

 

[cannasensei]

Nice grow man. Super clean. Subbed for sure

 

[Hiker]

450 ppm

Good call on RO. I think your tap might beat mine. Mine hits 450, but that's it's upper limit. It ranges from 380-420 most of the time. Of course, I got RO too, so it's not an issue now. I was having all kind of weird lockouts before I got RO. I think you're gonna be very happy.

Just make sure to add more Ca and Mg. That's what the 'hardness' usually is. Mostly Ca usually. If you're not already, you will need to start using calmag. And if you've been using that hard tap water for awhile, you might wanna consider a little epsom salt to get the Mg levels up a bit. Too much Ca can lockout Mg.

 

[kalorius]

450 ppm

Good call on RO. I think your tap might beat mine. Mine hits 450, but that's it's upper limit. It ranges from 380-420 most of the time. Of course, I got RO too, so it's not an issue now. I was having all kind of weird lockouts before I got RO. I think you're gonna be very happy.

Just make sure to add more Ca and Mg. That's what the 'hardness' usually is. Mostly Ca usually. If you're not already, you will need to start using calmag. And if you've been using that hard tap water for awhile, you might wanna consider a little epsom salt to get the Mg levels up a bit. Too much Ca can lockout Mg.

Yeah, its pretty crazy. The woes of living in a country with an underground consisting of calcium.

Yeah, thinking about adding cal/mag. But is it necessary with lucas formula?

 

[kalorius]

What time is it? It's HAMMER T....no. It's update time.

Decided to give defoliation a try. Going to defoliate three of the ladies, and compare the difference with the three others. Input and experience appreciated!

PICTUREEEEEEES

 

[Hiker]

Yeah, its pretty crazy. The woes of living in a country with an underground consisting of calcium.

Yeah, thinking about adding cal/mag. But is it necessary with lucas formula?

Never done Lucas. I know what you're referring too, but that concept wasn't around in the 90's

With RO? Yes, it is necessary. You can use other items. I forget what I used to use for Ca, but I always used to add Epsom to my GH Flora nutes back in the 90's. I'm still adding a little epsom, but now I'm also using calmag. The RO will strip all of it out and I don't think GH Micro has enough in it IMHO. If you have no calmag, you could add a little of your tap water for Ca and some Epsom for Mg. You won't be able to control the strength of Ca since you don't know what's in the water, but you can be sure it's mostly Ca. Trial and error will help you figure out the ratio that works best for you.

 

[kalorius]

Never done Lucas. I know what you're referring too, but that concept wasn't around in the 90's

With RO? Yes, it is necessary. You can use other items. I forget what I used to use for Ca, but I always used to add Epsom to my GH Flora nutes back in the 90's. I'm still adding a little epsom, but now I'm also using calmag. The RO will strip all of it out and I don't think GH Micro has enough in it IMHO. If you have no calmag, you could add a little of your tap water for Ca and some Epsom for Mg. You won't be able to control the strength of Ca since you don't know what's in the water, but you can be sure it's mostly Ca. Trial and error will help you figure out the ratio that works best for you.

Hm. I thought that GH was supposed to be used with RO water? And in the lucas formula you are using 8 ml pr gallon of flora micro. Which i was under the impression should cover the nees for cal/mag.