My First Official Grow: White Widow In DWC From Seed

[ChesPan]

So here we are back at it again, but this time everything is all set up and I have everything that I need (for the most part) so let's get this party started. I probably should have started this journal when I first popped the seeds but was high and lazy, but now we are about a month into veg and the girls seem to be happy but with some issues. Before we get to that let's get the important stuff out of the way first.


STATS/INFO

Tent Size - 48"x24"x72"
# of Plants - 2
Strain - White Widow Fem (Nirvana)
Grow Type - Hydro
Grow Stage - Veg
Setup - DWC
Light - 600w MH/Super HPS
Medium - Rockwool cubes + Hydroton
Nutrients - GH Flora Trio + Hydroguard
TDS - 120 - 150
PH - 5.2 - 7.1
RH - 35% - 50%
Room Temp - 72 - 83
Res Temp - Unknown



Now for a brief history of the girls. I started germinating the seeds on 5/21 and the next day they popped and started showing tap root. So I then put them into the rockwool cubes ph'ed to 5.5 and put them into their 5 gal buckets. I know most will say to start in small containers and transplant to larger ones but from what I understand the girls do not like to be transplanted and I am not comfortable with it so straight into their permanent home they go. Anyway, a few days after going into the buckets they sprouted, and at this time I had the light set on a 24-0 cycle at 50% power and a bit further away than they should be to allow the girls to get used to the intense light. After a few days I readjusted the lights and set them on 18-6 cycle at full power. I hand watered them up until about a 1 1/2 weeks ago when the roots finally reached the res water. About a week ago I attempted supercroping and one plant liked it and gave me another off-shoot. The other one not so much. Then yesterday I topped the good plant.

As for the issues that I was referring to earlier, about 2 1/2 weeks ago I noticed a small brown spot on one of the early fan leaves with some slight yellowing around it. Then, I noticed that the leaves were starting to look wrinkled starting in the center going outwards. Also the other day I the the leaves look like they have been partially eaten but I cannot find any signs of pests. Well so much for being brief lol, anyway will throw up some pics.


Side by side

Plant #1 (the sickly one)

Plant #2

 

[ShopGrow]

Subbed for this one.

 

[ChesPan]

So res change today reminded me that I forgot to mention my feeding schedule. Using the GH Flora Trio with hydroguard, I started out with about 1/2 tsp of each to approx 4 gallons of water for the first 2 weeks then I bumped up the hydroguard to 1 tsp. Then last week I bumped the nutes up to 1/2 tsp to 3 gallons of water keeping the hydroguard at 1 tsp. I did not make any changes this week. Now for the pics.


Plant #1

Plant #2

Thinking about it I really should give these girls some names instead of plant 1 and plant 2. anyone have any suggestions?

 

[ChesPan]

OK so way overdue for an update. Unfortunately last weekend I learned an important lesson which is not to mix nutes after smoking a bowl. lol. I accidentally mixed up a batch of full bloom nutes and did not realize it until waking up the next morning, so the girls sat in the wrong nutes for about 8 - 10 hours but luckily they did not seem to mind too much. Also, today I attempted to prune the girls and may have gotten a bit overzealous on one but we will see over the next few days. Oh and I realized that I have been negligent in posting stats so here are the stats from the last 3 res changes. (even the oopsie)



Plant #1 Plant #2

PH - 4.9 Room Temp - 79.0 F PH - 5.0
TDS - 177 RH - 53% TDS - 178
Res Temp - 65.3 F Res Temp - 65.8 F



PH - 5.4 Room Temp - 84.9 F PH - 5.1
TDS - 340 RH - 33% TDS - 321
Res Temp - 72.5 F Res Temp - 68.5 F



PH - 4.6 Room Temp - 80.2 F PH - 5.2
TDS - 341 RH - 40% TDS - 325
Res Temp - 73.0 F Res Temp - 71.4 F



Now for some pics

Plant #1





Plant #2

 

[Scrogdawg]

I'll sub in for this one.

Couple of things I noticed. Get your PH up to 5.6-6.0, shoot for 5.8 which is ideal. Heres a chart that will help you out.
.

 

[ChesPan]

Subbed for this one.

Welcome and thanks for joining.

 

[ChesPan]

I'll sub in for this one.

Couple of things I noticed. Get your PH up to 5.6-6.0, shoot for 5.8 which is ideal. Heres a chart that will help you out.
.

Welcome and thanks for joining. Also, thank you for the advice. I know that the ph has been off, I cannot seem to get it under control. The ph rises so quickly that I have to adjust it every few hours so I felt that it would be ok if I accidentally went a bit lower. That way the girls would get the full range. (and be good for them hopefully?)

 

[ChesPan]

Update. So this weekend I did a quick 3 day flush. and got some new liquid ph down, so hoping that I can get the ph under control. Though I did again go a bit low with the new round of nutes but thats only because I need a better way of mixing and measuring them with my unsteady hands. I will throw up some photos later on this evening when the lights come back on but here are the stats.


Room Temp - 78.3F
RH - 39%

Plant #1

PH - 5.0
TDS - 335
RST - 70.7F

Plant #2

PH - 4.9
TDS - 322
RST - 71.4F

 

[ShopGrow]

Have you tried using a big syringe? I use one. Mine holds up to 20ml and has a long extender for when the nutes get low in the bottle. When I grew dwc my pH was always going up. I liked mine at 5.8. So I'd put it lower and let it rise. Then I found if I got a couple buckets of water a head of time and took a few days I would finnaly get that water to a stable pH. Add my nutes then pH that up or down depending on what I used. I would get a more steady pH when my plant was in the water I took to get ready a head of time.

 

[ShopGrow]

Then I found dwc was to much for me so switched to soil and after that went to Coco. Coco is just like hydro if you want it to be. Without most of the hassle as other mediums.

 

[ChesPan]

Have you tried using a big syringe? I use one. Mine holds up to 20ml and has a long extender for when the nutes get low in the bottle. When I grew dwc my pH was always going up. I liked mine at 5.8. So I'd put it lower and let it rise. Then I found if I got a couple buckets of water a head of time and took a few days I would finnaly get that water to a stable pH. Add my nutes then pH that up or down depending on what I used. I would get a more steady pH when my plant was in the water I took to get ready a head of time.

Where did you get your syringe? I have been looking into getting some but have not found any that i think will work. Right now I am only using 1/2 tsp measuring spoon.

 

[ShopGrow]

Where did you get your syringe? I have been looking into getting some but have not found any that i think will work. Right now I am only using 1/2 tsp measuring spoon.

eBay.

 

[ShopGrow]

For now go and grab children cold med. They come with usually a small one but I found one in our drawer one day went up to 9ml. We had a crap ton thats what got me to buy a good one

 

[ChesPan]

eBay.

I do not know why I had not thought of that lol. Well I got some ordered and should be here by next res change. Although, I could not find the nice long ones that you have but these will do until I can find better.

 

[ShopGrow]

I do not know why I had not thought of that lol. Well I got some ordered and should be here by next res change. Although, I could not find the nice long ones that you have but these will do until I can find better.

I didn't even know mine had it till it arrived. It was a nice surprise.

 

[ChesPan]

eBay.

I do not know why I had not thought of that lol. Well I got some ordered and should be here by next res change. Although, I could not find the nice long ones that you have but these will do until I can find better.

 

[Apbeast87]

I would add some Cal Mag, I believe those yellow spots point to a deficiency.

Also if you have a chance check your water levels. I have a similar set up and found that if my bucket has too much water in it, then my plants look sad. Basically not enough oxygen. Do your buckets have air stones in them?

Grabbing a seat for your grow!

 

[ChesPan]

Quick update. I managed to get the ph better controlled. Not sure if it was the flush or the fact that I switched from a dry to liquid ph down. At any rate now I only have to adjust it only 20 times per day instead of 50 (I might be exaggerating a bit lol). Also, I forgot to mention that for the past week maybe two when I open the tent I do notice a slight green smell that is getting stronger. YAY!!! Now for the pics as promised.

The Girls




Shelly



Carol

 

[ChesPan]

I would add some Cal Mag, I believe those yellow spots point to a deficiency.

Also if you have a chance check your water levels. I have a similar set up and found that if my bucket has too much water in it, then my plants look sad. Basically not enough oxygen. Do your buckets have air stones in them?

Grabbing a seat for your grow!

Welcome to the party and thanks for the advice. Cal Mag is definitely on the top of the list of things to get (tough working with a budget). And yes the buckets do have air stones, though admittedly I could probably use better ones as the ones that I have are only the tiny ones that come with the bucket.

 

[Apbeast87]

Thanks! And yeah budgets suck when it comes to this stuff lol. Take a picture of your air stones and air pump when you get a chance, it could be a cheap fix.

I think Cal Mag runs about $17 for a little bottle. It should be all you need for the rest of your run. If you have some extra $17 get a bottle of silica as well.