My First Grow Journal - SWC - Tips & Advice Welcome

[SmoQueedAlDay]

Hello all, I'm new to this forum and to growing cannabis. I've been smoking the plant for over 8 years but just recently got the interest of actually growing.Let me start off from the beginning. I live with 3 women in a 1 bd apartment who have random people over at random times, so growing openly was out of the option, I started looking into "stealth" grow boxes that kind of fit my budget.
I stumbled upon something called the Cash Crop 2.7, its dimensions were 36" T x 16" W x 9.5" D. I intended it for 6 plants.(I did not do research before ordering it, stupid me). I also ordered seeds (Advanced Bio Diesel Mass and Heavyweight Fast and Vast). The Cash Crop 2.7 came with rapid rooter plugs and net pots, and so I germinated the seeds (100% success) and planted them.

The cash crop 2.7 introduces a small hydroponic system (SWC), per whose instructions i was to submerge net pots 1/4 inch into small 1 gallon water reservoir. The seedlings really liked it and grew pretty damn fast, on 2nd day the head came out of the rooter plugs and roots were reaching into the water from net . Then I had a buddy come over and ruin my excitement bubble by saying " dude that box will barely fit 1 plant how r u gonna grow 6?". After some thought, he was right, no way I can pull off 6 plants in there unless I want an eighth off of each plant. So I got this brilliant idea to build my own bigger box, the entire idea came to me from seeing how the cash crop 2.7 works. I went to home depot and some hydroponic stores around and spent exactly or a bit less than what I had to pay fro the cash crop 2.7 to assemble a box thats 3x times the size and has 5x times better equipment. The box's dimensions are 2 x 3 x 3 ft. I know its small but once again I gotta make it not so noticable and make it fit into the closet. Its an air tight box(future smell proof).
with a
4" 100 cfm fan blowing in
a 70 cfm 4" fan inside rotation the air
,and a 6" 240 cfm fan as the exhaust.
I also mounted a 150w HPS light insid the box ( approx 2 feet from the plants),
As the reservoir Im using 2 5gal totes which i first taped over with white tape and over it foil tape.
Currently I have 3 plants per tote, with a round airstone pumping pretty huge amount of bubbles underneath each of the net pots.
I laso have 4 CFL bulbs (6500k) suspended from the ceiling of the box approx 2-3 inches away from plants(planning to add 2 more, per calculations of lumens/sqft i need more, but once again im using a small space so i need professional advice on this too.)
Im using the eco air 1 commercial pump ( its strong and very quiet).
Here are pics of the box I made.

Here are the current specs of my grow.
Air temp 75-90 (depending on night or day) during night i have an airduct that i extend out to the patio poutside to bring cooler air into the box to cool it down a bit( althought it doesnt rly need it)
water reservoir temp(65-70),
water ph levels- i do not let it get past 6.5 and not below 5.5. I use ph up and ph down from concentrate, I add litterally 1-2 drops ( small reservoir i was adviced to go drop by drop not to hurt the plants and to change reservoir every week.)
I remove plants from their reservoir ofcourse, while adjusting their ph levels.
I did not plant all seeds exactly in one day, 4 of them in one day, 3 more about a week later, I use rapid rooter plugs for all of them, I alsao have a 6pack of the plug container that i keep the babies in and just have hem sitting in 1/4 inch of ph adjusted water. i dont water them from top because the plugs are moist from me keeping them 1/4inch in water. I use distilled water only for my reservoir. I DO NOT use ANY nutrients yet, was advised not to til about 3rd - 4th week of grow.

SO to sum all of that up, I have 3 small(10 day old) plants that have been replanted into clean(none soaked in ph adjusted water) clay pebbles, I carefully helped the small long root coming from each rooter plug to go through the 5" net pots when replanting so that it hangs out a bit, then put the pebbles in all around. At the moment the ewater reservoir is barely touching the netpots, but the skinny roots are dangling in water right above air stone bubbles( little strong but i heard more bubbles dont hurt.) and the other 4 are still in rooter plugs.

Im still a bit confused about when to exactly replant the seedlings, I mean one of the 4 babies that I haveent replanted yet has roots all over sticking out of the rooter plug but no long string of a root from the bottom like the other 3, so im still not sure exactly how to plant it so that the roots get water and the rooter plug doesnt get soaked to damage the roots. But thats not the problem.

Here's my concern, sorry for the long ass story but i think i had to bring you guys up to date to help you help me.) The plants( to me atleast) look fine? i mean I do not see any yellowing( only light green) but the plants look kinda small. I dont mean to sound jealous but i look at pics of other people that grow in soil and their plants look a bit bigger and beefier than mine. but once again this is the reason I came here to get advice from experts, im not expert to be able to tell and have no one IRL who i can really consult with, internet is my friend.

The plants that im talking about being small are about 1"-1 1/2" tall (from the rooter plugs) they all have their first and second set of leafs(after the initial two). They are not yellow, they do not have any yellow or brown spotting, they look a little bit light green. If you need pictures ill be glad to post them i just need to turn off my lights(they interfere with the color spectrum of the camara).
2 of the bigger babies kinda started "LEANING" a bit, the other one is straight as a pole.

OH one more important thing i really forgot to mention. Before i got my totes covered up and all, I was using a tote with a clear lid, I did not have enough tape to cover the lid, so i left it as is for about 2 days, the water temps got warm, and the same day i felt the water warm i threw that tote away and got myself the ones im using now. i did not see any significant damage or anything out of the ordinary with the roots.(once again not an expert). but the tote was covered with a bit of slime, not visible, but if u drag ur finger across the inside it will slide. After i replaced the tote and water reservoir along with airstones and air tubes, i started noticing SMALL pieces of this white/clear goo or snot looking like substance on curtain parts of the netpots. Its such a small amount you litterally wouldnt notice if you didnt look close. I immidiately took the plants out of those clay pebbles and washed and replaced the water reservoir once again. It has been about 10 hours now and I dod not see any slime since. thought id tell you this incase that has anythoing to do with slow growth.

I know most of you will tell me since I'm a first time grower to stay the fuck away from DWC or SWC for thats too much to handle for afirst timer and thats exactly what I will do probably, but I'd really like to make this work, so far I dont have any problems but the slow growth.

If you need anymore information and/or pictures please feel free to ask. Thank you before hand for reading this and trying to help out.

 

[SmoQueedAlDay]

Re: My first grow journal (SWC), in need of helpful tips/advice.

Here are the pics of the fast and vast plants that I think are growing a bit slow(7 days old not including 2 days of germination)
In need of some professional advice.

Here is a picture of my setup, the airpump is outside and feeding air through a 10 ft tube, i put it outside the box so it would blow cooler air into the reservoir, i figurted thats the only way to keep the reservoir colder than the air temp, is to pump colder air into it.

here is how much the root is exposed on each plant, its dangling in the water bubbles.

This is the plant that Im not sure when or how exaclty to replant it into clay pebbles without getting the rooter plug soaked:

and finally here is a pic of the water reservoir, please tell me if thats too many bubble or thats too strong, i have a way of lowering it a bit.

 

[SmoQueedAlDay]

Re: My first grow journal (SWC), in need of helpful tips/advice.

Im about to go buy a digital Thermometer/Hygrometer, figures the one that im using to measure room temp is a "Floating Thermometer for aquariums", i dont know if it makes a difference in the actual reading i mean temperature is temperature, but to be safe ima get one so i can also know the humidity. I tested the EC of my water reservoir, its 0.2, is that bad? is so how would i go about raising it?

 

[SmoQueedAlDay]

Re: My first grow journal (SWC), in need of helpful tips/advice.

Quick update:

Ph water reservoir - 6.1
Humidity level 25%
Air temp 88F
Water temp 71.7f
EC 0.2

 

[Green Knight]

Re: My first grow journal (SWC), in need of helpful tips/advice.

Hey smoqueed, all's looking good, nice work on the build and everything. Looks like you're on top of things and good work watching the pH, it's the most important thing in hydro. 6.5 is a little high - fine for the moment because they're in the rapid rooters, but when the roots have fully grown out of the net pots and hit the res it will be full hydro so you'll want to keep the pH between 5.2-6.1, and ideally 5.8.

Now the roots are leaving the pots and hitting the water level you could think about adding some nutes (EC 0.2 is very low), but while they're small like that run 1/4 strength. I would highly recommend running Dutch Masters Zone at all times - it will prevent root rot and other problems, it's excellent stuff for DWC.

You could probably lower your CFL's a bit nearer the plants if you wanted; they're really only effective 2-4" away and this will help speed up growth a bit. Will you be using CFL's for the whole grow?

Good work mate, looks like you're well on top of things

 

[SmoQueedAlDay]

Re: My first grow journal (SWC), in need of helpful tips/advice.

Hey smoqueed, all's looking good, nice work on the build and everything. Looks like you're on top of things and good work watching the pH, it's the most important thing in hydro. 6.5 is a little high - fine for the moment because they're in the rapid rooters, but when the roots have fully grown out of the net pots and hit the res it will be full hydro so you'll want to keep the pH between 5.2-6.1, and ideally 5.8.

Now the roots are leaving the pots and hitting the water level you could think about adding some nutes (EC 0.2 is very low), but while they're small like that run 1/4 strength. I would highly recommend running Dutch Masters Zone at all times - it will prevent root rot and other problems, it's excellent stuff for DWC.

You could probably lower your CFL's a bit nearer the plants if you wanted; they're really only effective 2-4" away and this will help speed up growth a bit. Will you be using CFL's for the whole grow?

Good work mate, looks like you're well on top of things

You have no idea how good it feels right now to hear your positive feedback
I will go invest into some Dutch Masters, but by the sounds of it I need to get some gloves to avoid blisters
It sounds like a good product, seems it helps the plants when water temps reach above normal.


And about the lights is what I need advice on, I was thinking to have maybe 4 24w CFL above each tote (total 8 in the box) while they are in veg and then just turn on the HPS when I want them to start flowering and turn off the CFL's, like one or the other because both of them running at same time is heating up the box little by little.
Im also thinking the plants might be in shock because I have changed their environment quiet often. They started their life under 2 14w cfl's, then got placed into the box under 150W HPS 2 feet away, then about 3 days ago I added the 4 cfl's and a 240 cfm exhaust fan and a 100 cfm intake fan, the temps seem to rise up to being almost not ok, like yesterday water temp got to 71.7 i was told not to ever let it go past 72, and during night ( as I extend the airduct onto the patio so it can suck in cold air) the temps drop.

Also I saw these fluorescent bulbs at walmart, 1 at 6500k 2k lumens 42w and the other 6500k 65w 6k lumens, are these good to invest into? or its better to get those t5 lights if im gona go with fluorescents?




Specs update(7:00 am)
Ph was 7.1, readjusted to 5.5
water temp 69.5
room temp 81
humidity 35%
ec 0.2


I have to go to work and not sure when ill be back, ill post update when i get back home, I hope its not critical lol

 

[SmoQueedAlDay]

Re: My first grow journal (SWC), in need of helpful tips/advice.

Also, im thinking the other 4 plants ill put them into soil next to the ones in hydro, so that way i can have noth ways and study and learn from both ways. Is that a good idea? to have DWC and a soil plant in the same atmosphere?

 

[Green Knight]

Re: My first grow journal (SWC), in need of helpful tips/advice.

DM Zone is fine, you won't get blisters all anything, it's really mild. Just a very low concentration of copper (I think) which stops bacteria and algae growing and keeps the sytem sterile. It goes a very long way too so is quite cheap, I run it 4ml per 10l and still haven't finished my first bottle. Definitely a must if your res temps are climbing (and if they are, then in reference to one of your previous posts, you can't have too many bubbles).

Lights; you'll get much better growth with the hps or an led so I'd be inclined to switch to the hps sooner rather than later, but the key thing you'll be battling is heat, even with cfls. Because the space is relatively small keeping it cool will be important, but the more light you can get in there without compromising temps will make a difference. My first couple of grows were cfl and then I switched to led; I just can't have an hps in my space, it gets too hot. I've been really impressed with the difference over the cfls, and it puts out even less heat, even though it's a higher wattage. If you can then I would highly recommend an led for small spaces!

Re: the soil, there shouldn't be any problem at all having soil and hydro in the same environment, it would be a good comparison of the difference between the two

 

[SmoQueedAlDay]

Re: My first grow journal (SWC), in need of helpful tips/advice.

DM Zone is fine, you won't get blisters all anything, it's really mild. Just a very low concentration of copper (I think) which stops bacteria and algae growing and keeps the sytem sterile. It goes a very long way too so is quite cheap, I run it 4ml per 10l and still haven't finished my first bottle. Definitely a must if your res temps are climbing (and if they are, then in reference to one of your previous posts, you can't have too many bubbles).

Lights; you'll get much better growth with the hps or an led so I'd be inclined to switch to the hps sooner rather than later, but the key thing you'll be battling is heat, even with cfls. Because the space is relatively small keeping it cool will be important, but the more light you can get in there without compromising temps will make a difference. My first couple of grows were cfl and then I switched to led; I just can't have an hps in my space, it gets too hot. I've been really impressed with the difference over the cfls, and it puts out even less heat, even though it's a higher wattage. If you can then I would highly recommend an led for small spaces!

Re: the soil, there shouldn't be any problem at all having soil and hydro in the same environment, it would be a good comparison of the difference between the two

Hey all i just got back from work to find my plants suffering ((

air temp was 94 and water temp was 74, I completely washed out and changed the water in the reservoir, the ph is at 6.0.

I'm afraid Ill have to switch to full on fluorescents or those new LED lights, since they dont create much heat.....

Also I think I might have a slight beginning case of Pythium, the water reservoir smells like a "FISH TANK" litterally.... and found some white resedue on my air tubes...

I have not gotten aroun d tpo getting the Dutch Masters Zone yet and i wont be able to probably until next Monday.....

I really hope that Dutch Master stuff will help me a bit...... Im gona turn off my CFL's over night and see what the difference is with just having the HPS working, if it goes back to the same temps ill just use Fluorescents. Or I will invest into some LED's.



Before doing so how many CFL's and what wattage I should get for the room that I have? I was thinking 8 24w?
Or if I invest into the LED's that I see on your grows( which are so beautiful) which ones would you recommend? and can i use the same lights from beginning to harvest?

Also if growing with CFL's all I do is swqitch to 2700k bulbs when i want the to start flowering right?

 

[stealthgrow]

Re: My first grow journal (SWC), in need of helpful tips/advice.

Hi SmoQueed. Subscribed.

Your seedlings look good but I agree with Gknight's advise, now that they have roots sticking out of the bottom of net cups you should try a very light 1/4 strength feeding of nutes. This should help with the smaller seedling you say aren't growing as well as the others.
Not glad to hear your having issues when you got back from work, Air temp at 94F is way high for seedlings and is the cause of your problem for sure, heat stress will stunt the growth. LED lights will help your temps for sure.

Not to sure about your CFL in flower question, I use LED and would recommend them if you can afford the extra cash up front. There are LED light companies that are 420 site sponsors, and have some very nice LED lights. Check out the site sponsor link.

For your seedling in the rooter plug, can't you just stick the rooter plug into the net pot and surround it with clay pebbles? I use rock wool cubes to start my seedlings, and once the seedling is ready I leave it in the rockwool cube and just put the whole thing into the net pots surrounded by clay pebbles, it doesn't hurt the plant at all to leave it in the rockwool, and I'm assuming the rooter plugs are probably the same.

Good luck with your grow.

 

[SmoQueedAlDay]

Re: My first grow journal (SWC), in need of helpful tips/advice.

Hi SmoQueed. Subscribed.

Your seedlings look good but I agree with Gknight's advise, now that they have roots sticking out of the bottom of net cups you should try a very light 1/4 strength feeding of nutes. This should help with the smaller seedling you say aren't growing as well as the others.
Not glad to hear your having issues when you got back from work, Air temp at 94F is way high for seedlings and is the cause of your problem for sure, heat stress will stunt the growth. LED lights will help your temps for sure.

Not to sure about your CFL in flower question, I use LED and would recommend them if you can afford the extra cash up front. There are LED light companies that are 420 site sponsors, and have some very nice LED lights. Check out the site sponsor link.

For your seedling in the rooter plug, can't you just stick the rooter plug into the net pot and surround it with clay pebbles? I use rock wool cubes to start my seedlings, and once the seedling is ready I leave it in the rockwool cube and just put the whole thing into the net pots surrounded by clay pebbles, it doesn't hurt the plant at all to leave it in the rockwool, and I'm assuming the rooter plugs are probably the same.

Good luck with your grow.

Thanks for your input stealth, and thank you for subscribing!
I will go tomorrow after school to buy dutch masters and nutes, i heard synthetic is what most use for DWC but that leaves a chem taste, can you back that info up? And also if you recommend any nutes which one would they be?

I am really looking into LED's at the moment I have my eye set on the Diamond Series 100. Do you think this would be enough for my little grow space? it syays 2.5 x 2ft my grow box is 3 x 2, but i have 7 plants(hopefully).

I decided that ill pout the other 4 babies into soil, also tomorrow after school, so ill have to get nutes for them too i guess.

 

[SmoQueedAlDay]

Re: My first grow journal (SWC), in need of helpful tips/advice.

Quick update on the grow:

Yesterday came home to find air temps spiked to 95 during day when I was working....
Water temp was at 73...
Humidity at 16%.....

FUCK THIS HPS LIGHT MANG

I turned off the HPS for the night and just let the cfl's work their thing....brought them closer too

Temps dropped to : Room - 71F
Water - 65F
Humidity went back up to 28%.

Here are the pictures I took 5 mins ago.....


The roots of the 3 plants in the SWC ( they grew ), but does that look like root rot?

These are the pics of the plants at the moment.

And these are the ones that I will plant into soil tomorrow, I think I was over watering them because the biggest ones began showing signs of it:

I let it dry out a bit the whole day and only added a small amount yesterday after work, here are the pics of it now(I think it looks better)

Let me know what you think

 

[SmoQueedAlDay]

Re: My first grow journal (SWC), in need of helpful tips/advice.

Hello all, quick update on things, turning off the HPS definitely stabilized room and water temps to perfection (without even having to extend the air duct outside over night for colder air)

Room Temps: high 82 low 71

water temps: high 70 low 64

Ph keep on climbing up a bit everyday, yesterday came home to 7.0, adjusted to 5.5.

Humidity high 32% low 28%


Plants seem to like it, some of the roots have regained more white to them, which still leaves me guesiing if I have Pythium or not.


But anyway I'm gona go grab some dutch masters, some nutes, some coco coir and probably a few more CFL's until I can get my hands on one of those LED's.

Like I mentioned in my previous post, Im looking into getting the Diamond Series 100 from AdvancedLED sponsor of 420 Magazine. Its manufactured in the USA and has amazing reviews....I dont mind the extra spend only If i know it will be enough for my 2x3x3 area with 6-7 plants there.(I do not plan on the plants getting too huge, max 24 in. high.)

Gona plant the other 4 babies in coco coir today, will post pictures after.

 

[stealthgrow]

Re: My first grow journal (SWC), in need of helpful tips/advice.

Hi again, the seedling are definitely growing.
The brownish color to the roots is the start of root rot as you thought. Its due mainly to the high temps, you can use your CFL's only if you want during veg for a while until you get your LED light, it won't hurt the plant and will help keep temps down. Another thing I used during the summer months to keep the reservoir water cool, was to put in bottles of frozen water, it worked wonders.

I've heard good things about advanced LED, there are a couple of journals I've read through that used them with good results.
Good luck.

 

[SmoQueedAlDay]

Re: My first grow journal (SWC), in need of helpful tips/advice.

Hi again, the seedling are definitely growing.
The brownish color to the roots is the start of root rot as you thought. Its due mainly to the high temps, you can use your CFL's only if you want during veg for a while until you get your LED light, it won't hurt the plant and will help keep temps down. Another thing I used during the summer months to keep the reservoir water cool, was to put in bottles of frozen water, it worked wonders.

I've heard good things about advanced LED, there are a couple of journals I've read through that used them with good results.
Good luck.

Hey again stealthgrow and thank you again for feedback...... I'm glad to say that the roots have whitened up a bit, the plants GREW but their color is now what worries me. I returned the HPS lamp today and ordered the Diamond Series 100, with it I will install two 125w CFL bulbs, that should be enough light in there and almost no heat. perfect.

But yeah the plants started to turn a bit light color, and the leaves are ( not curling) but twisting a bit. I will show somew pics tomorrow, its too late for pics atm .

I went and bought Dutch Master Gold range Zone today along with some Canna Aqua Vega nutes..... have made a brand new water reservoir with the appropriate doseges, for dutch master i used the exact dosage described on the back of the container but for the nutes I went 25% strength just like per GreenKnight's and stealthgrows advice.'

Also bought coco coir, replanted the 4 babies into coco coir and watered them with 5.5 ph water, the coco coir is moist and there is water resedue on the bottom pots, I think i did everything correctly, once again tomorrow pics .

At the moment current specs:

Room temp ( stabilized after removal of HPS): High 79 low 71
RH: high 30 low 25%
Water Temp: high 69 low 64
PH: 5.8 (rises up everyday which is a signal of healthy growth from what I read)
E.C: 0.4(after the added nutrients 25%)

Thank you, anyfeedback would be appriciated...pics tomorrow.

 

[SmoQueedAlDay]

Re: My first grow journal (SWC), in need of helpful tips/advice.

quick specs before I go to work,
6:00 am

room temp : 73
water temp 64
ph 6.8 readjusted tro 5.7
RH 30%
ec 0.3-0.4 (fluctuating, but yesterday was 0.4 stable)
ppm 220-230.

I see growth on 2 of the plants(extra set of leafs)

As soon as I get back from work ill update you guys with pics. Thank you

 

[SmoQueedAlDay]

Re: My first grow journal (SWC), in need of helpful tips/advice.

Hi everyone and anyone who reading this

The plants have grown quiet a bit, i still have not gotten a chance to take any pics but will today ( I hope)

current specs:

RH 30%
Room temp : 75
water temp: 69
EC 0.5
ph 5.5

I ordered the diamond series 100, its awaititng fulfillment i hope its shipped soon.
I planted the 4 babiues into canna coco coir, and also watering them with 1/4 canna aqua nutes.

So far so good they have gotten taller and a bit bigger, but only peoblem is that they all look a bit wierd, ill post pics today.

do you guys recommend using 2 125w CFL bulbs along with the diamond series LED? in my 2x3x3 room. ty

 

[SmoQueedAlDay]

Re: My first grow journal (SWC), in need of helpful tips/advice.

Hey guys! heres an update with pictures.

Sorry I have been lagging on the pics but I have alos been busy with a lot of stuff.

I have gone and bought a deeper water reservoir, I think when the plants get bigger the one I have will simply be not big enough. Its a thick green tote, I font think ill cover it up with reflective tape because the light doesnt really go through it, I added a 3/4 inch layer of Styrofoam to the lid so I can raise the plants a bit(to expose the roots to some air because right now they dont have any room between net pots and the water reservoir). The LED is coming in tomorrow, it should speed up the growth by a lot from what I hear.

Like i mentioned in my previous update, I started using canna aqua vega at 1/4 strength as sugested by stealthgrow and Green Knight.
I used distilled 5.5 ph water for the water reservoir, although the instruction state to use tap water( I thought distilled is cleaner and healthier) but now the plants are starting to show small brown spotting on tips and leafs. ( from what I have read thats Boron or Calcium deficiency, is this true?) if so would using tap water fix this? since i heard it has some elements in it already. Ill try that today when I change out the reservoir.

Current specs of grow room:

Room temp 72
Water temp 64
RH 31
PH 5.7
ec 0.5

Here are the pics:

 

[Green Knight]

Re: My first grow journal (SWC), in need of helpful tips/advice.

Hey smoqueed, I'm sorry to hear the roots have had some issues. They don't look too bad and stealth is right, it's the start of root rot and high res temps will be a big factor. The DM will really help, though it could be worth running it at a slightly higher concentration until the roots are nice and healthy again - I go 6ml per 10l of water if there are signs of stress, and drop back down to 4ml when everything's healthy again. Stealth is spot on with res temps and stuff, if you can keep them down it will make a huge difference, but the DM will help prevent future issues if temps climb a bit again. Don't worry about it leaving chemical residue, this shouldnt be an issue, and you can flush for the last 10-14 days before harvest to remove anything, though the DM just sterilises the tank etc., I don't think it's taken up and used by the plant as such.
The led will also definitely help, and with the extra light vs the CFL's and lower heat vs the hps things should recover quickly.

The plants do look a little hungry and this could be due to the roots being a little unhealthy and not taking nutes up properly. Keep running the nutes around 1/4 strength and keep the pH in range until she's greened up and is looking nice and healthy. It can be tempting to increase the concentration of the nutes but this can cause nute toxicity if she's not taking things up properly.
If you're using distilled water some CalMag may help, though I've never used it so can't really advise, but lots of others on here have. Otherwise you're spot on regarding using tap water as this has some level of calcium in it. I use normal tap water without any issues so it could be a quick fix without having to shell out for more additives.

 

[SmoQueedAlDay]

Re: My first grow journal (SWC), in need of helpful tips/advice.

Hey smoqueed, I'm sorry to hear the roots have had some issues. They don't look too bad and stealth is right, it's the start of root rot and high res temps will be a big factor. The DM will really help, though it could be worth running it at a slightly higher concentration until the roots are nice and healthy again - I go 6ml per 10l of water if there are signs of stress, and drop back down to 4ml when everything's healthy again. Stealth is spot on with res temps and stuff, if you can keep them down it will make a huge difference, but the DM will help prevent future issues if temps climb a bit again. Don't worry about it leaving chemical residue, this shouldnt be an issue, and you can flush for the last 10-14 days before harvest to remove anything, though the DM just sterilises the tank etc., I don't think it's taken up and used by the plant as such.
The led will also definitely help, and with the extra light vs the CFL's and lower heat vs the hps things should recover quickly.

The plants do look a little hungry and this could be due to the roots being a little unhealthy and not taking nutes up properly. Keep running the nutes around 1/4 strength and keep the pH in range until she's greened up and is looking nice and healthy. It can be tempting to increase the concentration of the nutes but this can cause nute toxicity if she's not taking things up properly.
If you're using distilled water some CalMag may help, though I've never used it so can't really advise, but lots of others on here have. Otherwise you're spot on regarding using tap water as this has some level of calcium in it. I use normal tap water without any issues so it could be a quick fix without having to shell out for more additives.

Hey Green Knight thanks so much for your feedback dude, you're one of few who actually follows up and helps

The res temps are a problem no more. After I get got rid of the 150w HPS the temps have stabilized(although not sure now that I have added the LED). The plants are DEFINITELY growing, notice them grow every day. The only thing is that some leaves(older) are twisting sideways and stuff and some look a bit pale(yellowish). I hope its some sort of deficiency that I can figure out soon. I switched the reservoir bucket (3rd time) and pout in the new one, tap water, 1/4 strength Canna Aqua Vega A(5-0-2) and B(0-3-4), extra strength Dutch Master Gold Zone as per Green Knight's advice AND the "extra strength" instructions on the bottle. I will post update a bit later.

Current specs:

Room Temp: 75
Water temp: 65
PH: 5.8
RH 40
PPM 400
EC 0.9

I have today in the morning noticed my Ph meter is acting funny(Milwaukie's Ph 600), after doing some trial and error tests it figures its a fucked up meter(I did a calibration before first use in a 7.0 Ph buffer.) So GOD KNOWS wtf my actualy Ph was this whole time(I hope i didnt dmg my babies too much). I have went and invested extra money for a good stable Ph meter. I will monitor them closely for the next 24 hours to see and improvement(hopefully).

Is it ok for me to use 4 24W CFL's along with the 100W LED? in my 2 x 3 x 3 grow space?
Im about to take some pics of the new light and all and post. Thank you guys and especially Green Knight.