Mars Hydro Grow Journal SP 3000: Blue Kush, RDWC, ScrOG

Far red for sure. I picked up a couple far red pucks for different times in the grow.. After a few years experimenting i can easily see the difference in my plants grown with and without.
Experimentation is what it’s all about for me. I love it. I’m what some people might call a geek - a title which I hold close to my heart :laugh: I love to read and research and try things out.
 

Day 8 Flower​

The readings this morning:

EC : 0.9
PH : 5.9

Just what I like, nice and stable. The slight drift up in PH would suggest the plants are feeding. Happy days!


Ladies are filling up the screen fast!
 
So this is where the riff raff hangs out :passitleft:
Great looking room and setup bruv.
That information about far red and cheating the lights out time from ed is very interesting. His knowledge helped me get through my first and only so far (count my blessings) bout of WPM

I'm in:slide:
 
Hey buddy, loving the scrog and count me in for the ride along!

A little tip that will help you massively next time if you decide to run scrogs, use 50x50mm mesh (it can be nylon, metal or string), I've tested countless amounts and nylon works great for me, this size helps spread more colas as well as fill the screen faster and have way more colas per square foot (around 5-10).
 
I had the pleasure of meeting @copperrein earlier today, and she inspired me to put together a post about how I go from cloner to RDWC. So here it is:

How to use Coco in RDWC​

Whether I am going from seedling in rockwool, or a clone from my aerocloner


I go into coco in a very small pot


I mix some Great White in with the Coco, as well as sprinkle some on the roots directly. Place the little one in a pot and cover fill with coco. You want to pack it down, but not too hard. It should be firm, but not solid. Ideally, keep it warm with a heat matt, and feed little and often ideally. Try not to let the coco dry out, it should always be at least barely moist. This is coco, not soil. Coco is a hydroponic medium.

Within a week or so it should look like this:

I then transplant into a pot like this (1.5L pot):


I do the same thing as last time. I mix some Great White in with the coco. I put an inch of coco in the pot, sprinkle some great white on the bed where I will place the little one. And fill with coco. Same again, firm, but not hard.

After 2 weeks. The roots in this pot should be nice and dense, and look similar to they did in the smaller pot. At which point i move them to a net pot:





I lay a layer of clay pebbles, about an inch high (using mainly smaller pebbles if possible to keep the bed even). Then i lay some coco on top, sprinkle some great white, and place the plant from the 1.5L pot on top of it. Pack the sides with coco. I use a chopstick to gently push the coco down to fill the sides.

And you eventually end up with something like this:


I duct tape pipe cleaners to the outside of the pots for my LST.

Flipping to flowering​

Personally, I flip as soon as the roots of all 4 ladies are touching the water in the system (which is sat 1inch below the net pots. As soon as the roots are in the water, the root growth can be explosive:


Doing it this way, I end up with this come harvest

Some tips​

- Sprinkle Great White on the roots whenever you transplant. This stuff is amazing.
- Keep the rootzone of young plants warm. This will encourage faster root development. It will require more frequent feeding. But the results will speak for themselves.
- If the roots you are transplanting are root bound at the bottom, be sure to pick them apart a little (gently) at the bottom, before you move them to their new pot.
- Protect the net pots from light when you transplant them - roots don't like light. I place the net pots in the 1.5L pots for a day or so, as soon as I see roots I move them into the system and hand feed until I get something like this, and then I full the system up to 1 inch below the net pots.

Some bits of coco can end up in the res, but never enough to worry about. The system I built uses 32mm pipe and 19mm to and from chiller and i've never actually had a blockage caused from coco.

I hope this is helpful. This is just the way I work with Coco in DWC. Any questions, please don't hesitate to ask :peace:
Thats legend.
Way easier to get your roots to start off right with coco.
I'm the same way. Coco in a solo cup then transfer to promix hp wheb the roots hit the sides.
Keeps the roots breathing and reaching out easier. Keeps them from getting damaged or overwatered.
Really good journal fam alot of different info in here :goodjob:
 
Taking lots of mental notes here. DWC is something I'll definitely try one day but I don't feel it would be practical for my current setup. I'm toying with the idea of getting an Autopot flexipot and doing some coco grows. I just want to try and learn as many growing techniques as I can.
 
Taking lots of mental notes here. DWC is something I'll definitely try one day but I don't feel it would be practical for my current setup. I'm toying with the idea of getting an Autopot flexipot and doing some coco grows. I just want to try and learn as many growing techniques as I can.
I run partial parts from the Floraflex range which is really great if your not feeling the whole down on your knees watering or just in general unfit to water daily, I'm that ill I've had to run soil this past year just because I couldn't get out of bed and my tents are 2ft away lol.
 
I run partial parts from the Floraflex range which is really great if your not feeling the whole down on your knees watering or just in general unfit to water daily, I'm that ill I've had to run soil this past year just because I couldn't get out of bed and my tents are 2ft away lol.
Sorry to hear you've been unwell. My thinking is that I can scrog a plant in my little tent with a flexipot and not worry about having to remove the plant to get in there with a watering can and collecting run off etc. So the idea is partially from laziness and partially to explore different methods.

Just to add I grow in soil but in small pots in a small cabinet and tent. So even with soil I end up watering every other day a lot of the time.
 

Day 8 Flower​

The readings this morning:

EC : 0.9
PH : 5.9

Just what I like, nice and stable. The slight drift up in PH would suggest the plants are feeding. Happy days!


Ladies are filling up the screen fast!
Hey there GG I hope all is well. Nice looking set you you have here and your plants look great.
You have your hands full over here so I hope you don’t mind me pulling up a chair and watching.
Play safe and enjoy everyone
 
So this is where the riff raff hangs out :passitleft:
Welcome my friend! Pull up a chair :passitleft:

Great looking room and setup bruv.
Thank you very much, and right back at ya! You've got a pretty sweet setup with some very happy ladies yourself
That information about far red and cheating the lights out time from ed is very interesting. His knowledge helped me get through my first and only so far (count my blessings) bout of WPM

I'm in:slide:
Yea it blew my mind when i first came across it. Gave me a whole other perspective regarding how the plants interact with the light spectrum, and a whole other set of questions to find answers to. Me too though man, Ed's knowledge helped me a lot too. There is so much conflicting info out there when you're starting out, he served as a good solid reliable source of information when you don't have the experience yourself, and still is.

Happy to have you hear though mate :yahoo:
 
Hey buddy, loving the scrog and count me in for the ride along!

A little tip that will help you massively next time if you decide to run scrogs, use 50x50mm mesh (it can be nylon, metal or string), I've tested countless amounts and nylon works great for me, this size helps spread more colas as well as fill the screen faster and have way more colas per square foot (around 5-10).
Welcome @HigherTheHigh , great to have another scrog fan here :high-five:

That's a fantastic tip :thumb: You're absolutely right. The nets with the smaller holes are very effective.

Funnily enough I do usually use nets with smaller holes, for exactly the reasons you state.


A small drawback of using these, is I find myself having to cut through the net to remove the buds at harvest, especially near the back corners where i struggle to reach. This isn't really a problem because they're cheap, I just happened to butcher my last one at the end of the grow in the pic above :rofl: so i'm out of 2x2(50mlx50ml) nets atm.

As you say, with the smaller holes, you get more control to arrange the colas to get a nice even spread.


Great tip @HigherTheHigh
 
Taking lots of mental notes here. DWC is something I'll definitely try one day but I don't feel it would be practical for my current setup. I'm toying with the idea of getting an Autopot flexipot and doing some coco grows. I just want to try and learn as many growing techniques as I can.
Man after my own heart lol! I love playing around and learning new things.

DWC is a great way to grow, I don't know which I prefer, Coco or DWC - it's close.
 
I run partial parts from the Floraflex range which is really great if your not feeling the whole down on your knees watering or just in general unfit to water daily, I'm that ill I've had to run soil this past year just because I couldn't get out of bed and my tents are 2ft away lol.
I've been looking at FloraFlex, it looks really good. If i ever went back to coco I'd go FloraFlex i think. Also, sorry to hear you're unwell. I hope your condition improved. Sending positive vibes your way :Namaste:
 
Sorry to hear you've been unwell. My thinking is that I can scrog a plant in my little tent with a flexipot and not worry about having to remove the plant to get in there with a watering can and collecting run off etc. So the idea is partially from laziness and partially to explore different methods.

Just to add I grow in soil but in small pots in a small cabinet and tent. So even with soil I end up watering every other day a lot of the time.
I hear you with the run off. Such a pain. It's the main reason i grow DWC over coco. As i'm in a small space, collecting run off and flushing is a nightmare, especially when they're in a screen.

I ended up making myself some self draining saucers, which ran run off into a central bucket from the pots. It made collecting run off and flushing more manageable. Nothing fancy, but they get the job done.





I use them now for my veg with a dripper system.
 
Hey there GG I hope all is well. Nice looking set you you have here and your plants look great.
You have your hands full over here so I hope you don’t mind me pulling up a chair and watching.
Play safe and enjoy everyone
Thanks @KCCO 77 I really appreciate you coming along. I love your grow and your system.

I've been thinking about making myself a new system, potentially with bigger piping for my next run. I have problems with roots making their way where they shouldn't. If i do, I think i'm going to go with the Uniseals the way you have :high-five: I'm sure I may have some plumbing questions to fire at you :cheesygrinsmiley:
Take it steady brother!
 
I hear you with the run off. Such a pain. It's the main reason i grow DWC over coco. As i'm in a small space, collecting run off and flushing is a nightmare, especially when they're in a screen.

I ended up making myself some self draining saucers, which ran run off into a central bucket from the pots. It made collecting run off and flushing more manageable. Nothing fancy, but they get the job done.





I use them now for my veg with a dripper system.
Cheers. I had looked at DIY run off trays like yours. Could be an option for me at some point. I was thinking even if I use the autopot I will probably have to take it out and flush it a couple of times through the grow right? I don't flush my soil grows at all. Was thinking I'd still use mega crop for nutrients, so unsure if I would have to flush at all with coco. I'm guessing more likely if they're never being watered to run off.
 
Cheers. I had looked at DIY run off trays like yours. Could be an option for me at some point. I was thinking even if I use the autopot I will probably have to take it out and flush it a couple of times through the grow right? I don't flush my soil grows at all. Was thinking I'd still use mega crop for nutrients, so unsure if I would have to flush at all with coco. I'm guessing more likely if they're never being watered to run off.
I don't have any experience with autopots to be honest. But they're bottom fed arent they?

This is quite a controversial point, but I don't flush coco a lot if i can help it, a couple of times max throughout the entire grow and before harvest. Only other time is if i have a lockout or something. This is when growing with 100% coco. When growing with Coco/Perlite i work differently, I will regularly feed to run off due to the medium drying out quicker -> Which is why I dont use perlite anymore. I find pure coco easier to work with.

The only time i will feed to run off when using straight coco, is if i let the coco dry out. I do this try to clear any salt build up then and there. I'll feed some nutrient until i see a little run off. I let it sit 15mins, then feed another litre to try and push the salts out.
 
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