Mojuan's Indoor Hydro Grow Journal Dec 2019

It was all good till my chiller went down and the water temp went to 84 degrees, then the bubbles and then the yellow stuff showed up, gonna try to make it till Sunday but if not I have enough RO water to change it out, gonna use @KCCO 77 mixing routine. Thanks for chiming in guys, this is my first DWC run and I'd like for it not to nosedive.
:passitleft:
All good I try to keep my mix as basic as possible and my temps cool.
 
Covered the pots just now, and when I do my res change I'll have to watch the mixing, I really didn't know cal mag first.
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:passitleft:
 
All caught up and I'm in, what a set up you have!!
The plants look healthy! Good job so far and such a learning curve going straight to a big set up! Well done!
:morenutes:
 
All caught up and I'm in, what a set up you have!!
The plants look healthy! Good job so far and such a learning curve going straight to a big set up! Well done!
:morenutes:
Thanks, I've worked really hard and grew all last year for not very much. But I learned a lot.
Priority 1 is a controlled environment. I think I might have achieved that. Now if I can control the reservoir better, and learn more about DWC. Kinda expensive but I think once I figure it out I'll be on my way.
:passitleft:
 
Looks like you have things set up for success . Now just some observations . I read about the first chiller being used . You are already learning the lesson but whenever you get a used chiller or anything that your solution is going to flow through clean it out with h202 and also clean your whole system out between runs with h202 you will see some gunk .
Now with things you are seeing/dealing with anything that was in that old chiller has been introduced into your system.
You aren't going to want to here this but I would suggest taking your system apart as much as possible and cleaning it as well as possible to help you have less to no troubles from here forward. Fact is you don't know what kind of stuff was in that chiller and that is more than likely what is causing the issues you see now . Regardless of issues I would use z7,hydroguard,uc roots or whatever you are comfortable with to keep things under control.

Now your system is flood and drain not really dwc but hydro none the less and in regards to you covering the tops I feel that for your system its counterproductive . Ill explain you shouldn't have any issues with your lights interfering or causing root issues or reaching into the hydroton . Now the way your system operates is that it floods the buckets and then pulls the solution back and now is where the covers become and issue . When the solution is pulled back oxygen is pulled into the root zone and having the tops covered limits that.

everything looks great with the exception of what's going on in the solution and the covers IMHO.
 
Looks like you have things set up for success . Now just some observations . I read about the first chiller being used . You are already learning the lesson but whenever you get a used chiller or anything that your solution is going to flow through clean it out with h202 and also clean your whole system out between runs with h202 you will see some gunk .
Now with things you are seeing/dealing with anything that was in that old chiller has been introduced into your system.
You aren't going to want to here this but I would suggest taking your system apart as much as possible and cleaning it as well as possible to help you have less to no troubles from here forward. Fact is you don't know what kind of stuff was in that chiller and that is more than likely what is causing the issues you see now . Regardless of issues I would use z7,hydroguard,uc roots or whatever you are comfortable with to keep things under control.

Now your system is flood and drain not really dwc but hydro none the less and in regards to you covering the tops I feel that for your system its counterproductive . Ill explain you shouldn't have any issues with your lights interfering or causing root issues or reaching into the hydroton . Now the way your system operates is that it floods the buckets and then pulls the solution back and now is where the covers become and issue . When the solution is pulled back oxygen is pulled into the root zone and having the tops covered limits that.

everything looks great with the exception of what's going on in the solution and the covers IMHO.
Thanks
 
Looks like you have things set up for success . Now just some observations . I read about the first chiller being used . You are already learning the lesson but whenever you get a used chiller or anything that your solution is going to flow through clean it out with h202 and also clean your whole system out between runs with h202 you will see some gunk .
Now with things you are seeing/dealing with anything that was in that old chiller has been introduced into your system.
You aren't going to want to here this but I would suggest taking your system apart as much as possible and cleaning it as well as possible to help you have less to no troubles from here forward. Fact is you don't know what kind of stuff was in that chiller and that is more than likely what is causing the issues you see now . Regardless of issues I would use z7,hydroguard,uc roots or whatever you are comfortable with to keep things under control.

Now your system is flood and drain not really dwc but hydro none the less and in regards to you covering the tops I feel that for your system its counterproductive . Ill explain you shouldn't have any issues with your lights interfering or causing root issues or reaching into the hydroton . Now the way your system operates is that it floods the buckets and then pulls the solution back and now is where the covers become and issue . When the solution is pulled back oxygen is pulled into the root zone and having the tops covered limits that.

everything looks great with the exception of what's going on in the solution and the covers IMHO.
Nicely done. All great information
 
ok, I'll be at week 6 from germination on 1\14\2020. this could be a long post but at least I'm typing on the puter and not my thumbs lol. I cleaned the res today and the only thing is, there was that yellow cheese looking foam stuff floating on the top, nothing in the bottom. every time it drained and flooded it would muck up my PH monitoring probe though. I put the cal/mag in first and let cycle for about and hour while I did general cleaning. Then i added nuets and let cycle for about 30 min, then added z7 and let cycle another 30min, then added z7 and let that cycle for another 30 min. had 40 gallons of mixture, I've been running right around 950 to 1100 on ppm pen, I have a pic of the nuets and strength that I'll post. I'm using RO water so i know I'm starting at 0 on the ppm meter. when I was fixing to come inside i decided to check the ppm and it was at 2250, so i added water up to 49 gallons. ppm still high at 1900 I think. any suggestions on what I should be running on the ppm. I started running at a higher strength on the nuets, Veg formula ( full strength per mfg) I was running the strength at seedlings and clones ( 1/2 strength per mfg ). I decided to LST a couple to see what they do, i have a little experience doing that with the auto's from last year, not much, just a little. I did take the suggestion of @No Pain and took off the covers of my pots, sounded like he knew more than me about what i have going on, thank you. 1 observation I have about going from dirt to hydro is how fast they are growing, I'm gonna have my hands full when these girls go into bloom. now for some pics and I'll be checking up on here for comments today, thanks again for all the help.
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oh yea, I've been plucking leaves to get more light to some bottom bud sites, should i be doing more or less pruning.
 
yes the yellow gunk was on top and foaming , when there is bacteria in the solution you generally see things like that and the bottom feels slimy . You can aso get foaming from products that break the water tension just so you know . but the film you had along with the foam was screaming lean me out to me .

Yes plants grow extremely fast in hydro compared to soil they are night and day .
Training looks good , good job . now what i would be looking at is the ease of caring for them during flower after the stretch . depending on training and how long you let them grow before you initiate flowering decides that . Meanng if you let them get to large taking care of the ones in the center could be a bit of a chore . Always anticipate 1- 1 1/12 the stretch in height /diameter depending on your growing style .

You asked about feed . i am not familiar with the brand you are using . However for agruments sake lets say they are similar to other brands as far as strength and quality . Now me i am a low ppm style feeder . I do not go over 550 ppm on a 500 scale my entire grow and my plants will actually show signs of overfertilization if i do my system is quite efficient in nutrient delivery .

Now lets talk about yours and nutrient delivery yours is set to flood the pots and then drain them at specific times. The solution strength in that style system by following factory instructions is generally higher simply because of the time that solution is coming into contact with the roots . So look at it this way the less you flood the stronger your solution would need to be than if you flooded more often. Your medium does not hold nutrients it is merely there to help support the plant through the root structure . I feel that you would have greater success and less issues using less nutrients (about 1/2 strength) and flooding and draining twice as often then you would running full strength running a regular schedule . Why you ask? because you are moving twice as much oxygen through the pots as well as increasing the times that the plants can feed . If you do this and you start to see signs of deficiencies its easer to correct as all you need to do is increase the feed strength . Where as using a higher feed and starting to see signs of overfeeding/overfertaliztaion can truly be a pain in the rear to get under control . Less is more in alot of ways .

Now before you start thinking it will affect your yields . Understand this , every strain has a pre determined genetic amount it will produce . You are increasing feed times so you really aren't taking anything away . I produced over 5lbs from 6 plants in a 5x7 scrog never exceeding 550 ppm in my rdwc system and the yield exceeded the breeders range., i produced over 1/4 lb from one plant(3x3x6 tent,150w light) in coco(hempy style bucket) that was truly left to do it own thing only saturated and looked at once every 10 days ( not my style , but life was kicking my ass and i was very impressed with it living until the end let alone the yield) not going over 550 ppm the entire grow . Thats just some food for thought .

Now in regards to ph since you are using a controller you will have to monitor how much and how often its having tp correct ph . Me with having seen the slime i would not have it run for a couple days and adjust manually . Because if it fact it was and there is bacteria in your system watching ph at this stage of growth is a sure way to have a good idea as bacteria in hydro makes the ph drop , when i say drop i mean like easily past 5.5 down to the 4-5 range and fast . so you are running z7 .So lets say you do as suggested and see that your ph plummets ( not drift down ) after a day of feeding , it means you need a higher concentration z7 , hydroguard etc in your system to combat the bacteria . the res temp of 66 will aid in doing that in the res but you have to remember its flood and drain and the water left in the lines as well as the base of the modules is not being chilled and so that temp is alot higher and bacteria likes warmer places and the only time its getting the full strength of the z7 etc is when its being flooded. Thus increasing flood times and lowering nutrient strength also gives you the ability to combat what's in the lines/modules more effectivley .

here are a couple pics one of my shamefully neglected plant that i had spoken of and one of the last frow in my main room both never exceeding 550 ppm ...not that you asked but i use current culture nutrients ...i have used gh, and advanced nutes. I have to say i like current culture .
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yes the yellow gunk was on top and foaming , when there is bacteria in the solution you generally see things like that and the bottom feels slimy . You can aso get foaming from products that break the water tension just so you know . but the film you had along with the foam was screaming lean me out to me .

Yes plants grow extremely fast in hydro compared to soil they are night and day .
Training looks good , good job . now what i would be looking at is the ease of caring for them during flower after the stretch . depending on training and how long you let them grow before you initiate flowering decides that . Meanng if you let them get to large taking care of the ones in the center could be a bit of a chore . Always anticipate 1- 1 1/12 the stretch in height /diameter depending on your growing style .

You asked about feed . i am not familiar with the brand you are using . However for agruments sake lets say they are similar to other brands as far as strength and quality . Now me i am a low ppm style feeder . I do not go over 550 ppm on a 500 scale my entire grow and my plants will actually show signs of overfertilization if i do my system is quite efficient in nutrient delivery .

Now lets talk about yours and nutrient delivery yours is set to flood the pots and then drain them at specific times. The solution strength in that style system by following factory instructions is generally higher simply because of the time that solution is coming into contact with the roots . So look at it this way the less you flood the stronger your solution would need to be than if you flooded more often. Your medium does not hold nutrients it is merely there to help support the plant through the root structure . I feel that you would have greater success and less issues using less nutrients (about 1/2 strength) and flooding and draining twice as often then you would running full strength running a regular schedule . Why you ask? because you are moving twice as much oxygen through the pots as well as increasing the times that the plants can feed . If you do this and you start to see signs of deficiencies its easer to correct as all you need to do is increase the feed strength . Where as using a higher feed and starting to see signs of overfeeding/overfertaliztaion can truly be a pain in the rear to get under control . Less is more in alot of ways .

Now before you start thinking it will affect your yields . Understand this , every strain has a pre determined genetic amount it will produce . You are increasing feed times so you really aren't taking anything away . I produced over 5lbs from 6 plants in a 5x7 scrog never exceeding 550 ppm in my rdwc system and the yield exceeded the breeders range., i produced over 1/4 lb from one plant(3x3x6 tent,150w light) in coco(hempy style bucket) that was truly left to do it own thing only saturated and looked at once every 10 days ( not my style , but life was kicking my ass and i was very impressed with it living until the end let alone the yield) not going over 550 ppm the entire grow . Thats just some food for thought .

Now in regards to ph since you are using a controller you will have to monitor how much and how often its having tp correct ph . Me with having seen the slime i would not have it run for a couple days and adjust manually . Because if it fact it was and there is bacteria in your system watching ph at this stage of growth is a sure way to have a good idea as bacteria in hydro makes the ph drop , when i say drop i mean like easily past 5.5 down to the 4-5 range and fast . so you are running z7 .So lets say you do as suggested and see that your ph plummets ( not drift down ) after a day of feeding , it means you need a higher concentration z7 , hydroguard etc in your system to combat the bacteria . the res temp of 66 will aid in doing that in the res but you have to remember its flood and drain and the water left in the lines as well as the base of the modules is not being chilled and so that temp is alot higher and bacteria likes warmer places and the only time its getting the full strength of the z7 etc is when its being flooded. Thus increasing flood times and lowering nutrient strength also gives you the ability to combat what's in the lines/modules more effectivley .

here are a couple pics one of my shamefully neglected plant that i had spoken of and one of the last frow in my main room both never exceeding 550 ppm ...not that you asked but i use current culture nutrients ...i have used gh, and advanced nutes. I have to say i like current culture .
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IMG_5848.JPG
There wasn't any slime in the bottom this time. I'm a slow learner lol but every thing you've said so far is spot on. I can increase the number of times I feed. I'll have to reread all you wrote a couple times to get thru my thick skull lol. Being I added more water makes sense to add more z7. I'll keep a close eye on them today and tomorrow. Thanks
 
There wasn't any slime in the bottom this time. I'm a slow learner lol but every thing you've said so far is spot on. I can increase the number of times I feed. I'll have to reread all you wrote a couple times to get thru my thick skull lol. Being I added more water makes sense to add more z7. I'll keep a close eye on them today and tomorrow. Thanks
I'm running Cutters Edge 3 part micro, bloom, grow
 
There wasn't any slime in the bottom this time. I'm a slow learner lol but every thing you've said so far is spot on. I can increase the number of times I feed. I'll have to reread all you wrote a couple times to get thru my thick skull lol. Being I added more water makes sense to add more z7. I'll keep a close eye on them today and tomorrow. Thanks
No worries on the learning curve as one of my saying is "I find success through my failures". As far as being spot on I have played with hydro for a minute lol and made plenty of mistakes along the way and learning from them has made me the grower that I am as will you .
I'm running Cutters Edge 3 part micro, bloom, grow
yes I caught that in your first post in here in your journal . I have just never tried them nor aside from you come across anyone that does or has ..... One other thing I need to mention is never ever ever ever put anything organic into your solution . you can mist the hell out of the plants with a diluted mixture of something that's organic but your solution is a different world
 
Hey @mojuan, impressive grow space and set up you have. Plants are looking great. If using h2o2 you can’t use beneficial bacteria or biological nutes. I think that is what may have caused the scum you had in your reservoir, mixing the h2o2 with the Z9. Just use one or the other.
 
Week 6 update
doing some LST'ing today and res looks nice and clean, I did use z7 and H2O2 together, so I'm not sure which 1 is working but it's working. the girls have drank 12 gallons of water and the ppm is holding steady at 1820 to 1840. so far so good. I plan on deploying a scrog\trellis in the next couple weeks. I may have created a monster lol. if more quantity and quality is was i was shooting for I may have shot for the stars. now some pics.
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