Niwashi's First Grow

[Niwashi]

Rider and Spec420, welcome! Thank you for joining the adventure. I need every set of eyeballs I can get!

 

[Niwashi]

Oh yea, that's totally a pineapple .

 

[Scrogdawg]

Water temps in the low 80's are going to be a killer on the root system. As a cheap remedy I'd suggest covering the yellow lid on the bucket with foil or something to repel the light. Frozen water bottles placed in the reservoir will also help with the res temps. Lastly, look into a product by Flying Skull called Z7. This is a 2 part thats added to the reservoir water. Best thing you can do to protect roots from slime due to high water temps. It will protect into the mid 70's but being over 80 degrees you'll have to address the res temps right away if the roots are hitting the water..

 

[JustMeds]

If the leaves show any sign of life (still soft) leave them on for now. I don't think you want to stress the plants anymore then they are. Water on the leaves and then being under the light will burn the shit out of them also. They look a bit better then they did the other day. As SD said you need to get the water temp in control. I don't think you can make it to the end with it hitting 80, unless you want to change res every 24 hours. You need to get water, temp and humidity in check before it starts growing much or problems will just get bigger.

 

[Old TimingMan]

Nice Pineapple Niwashi! going to have to start calling you NW from now on, keep forgetting how to spell your screen name.

Agree with JM & SD, temps are make you or break you in Hydro, Z7 will help and I not only used it in hydro, I use it in coco. If your tent temps rise when you turn your fan down, it tells me that;
1. You have the exhaust fan hooked up right!
2. Your air flow through the tent needs to increase if your temps outside are lower than inside, open the bottom vents and close all top vents except the fan.
a. Try lowering the temps in the room by closing heat ducts, draw shades, and if you can and keeping the door closed to the room it is in.
b. Make sure your exhaust air is far away from your grow area.
c. Purchase a single room humidifier and place it in the grow area, and if that doesn't help, place it in the tent...basic single room wick style, $30-40.00
3. Think about RDWC designs that keep your reservoir outside the tent and if you can utilize a concrete floor to have it set on that is a plus...anything that creates heat (air, water pumps) need to be located outside the tent, water pumps should be external.
4. As SD suggested, block any light from entering the reservoir, at those temps, the light will encourage the nasties to grow in the reservoir and attack your roots.

Once the roots hit the water, watch out, things will really start to happen, you will see growth and changes daily...try to get it dialed in now while you have a couple days.

 

[Niwashi]

1/28

Air temp: 77°
RH: 45%
Water temp: ?
PH: 5.79
TDS: 230

Alright! Thanks for all the feedback! I'm waiting for my new water temp probe to arrive as the first one failed, but I think water temps are in check now. I think next weekend it's time to build a 2 bucket RDWC system for my two ladies.

I'm managing humidity by keeping the door to the grow tent open and that seems to be working. I have an old single room humidifier that I ordered new filters for and that will go in the tent when the filters arrive.

In regards to the first seedling, the brown leaves popped right off the plant! She's looking better and I'm seeing root activity. Her growth is still stunted from the earlier PH issues but I think we're headed in the right direction.

The second seedling is growing rapidly. Roots are very close to touching the water. Only issue I see with her is that the first set of leaves are very strangely shaped.

Now, when for the first feeding? I have the GH trio.

 

[JustMeds]

Them are looking good. Just give them a few days and you will see a huge change, them roots are sniffing that water out. When they get to it..... Bang!

Air stones in tub?

Do you plan to shut the top feed off as soon as roots touch water? I would.

 

[Niwashi]

Thanks!

Yea, I have 2 airstones in the res. If I shut the top feed off should I still keep the pump on for circulation?

 

[JustMeds]

Once all plants have roots in water you can stop with the pump unless it is pulling from a res somewhere else and recirculating (RDWC). The air stones will keep a DWC mixed just fine.

 

[Niwashi]

Thanks JM!

Any suggestions on when to start feeding?

 

[Scrogdawg]

Everything is looking good Niwashi. If you are going to build an RDWC, then introduce nutes when you move the plants into it in a week.

Heres a starting recipe using the GH Flora Series Trio that I've developed for myself and use with every grow. Feel free to use it, use it for reference, or ignore it as you see fit. You'd have to do a ratio to get the right amount of nutrients for the volume of your RDWC system.
.

 

[JustMeds]

They are ready for a mild start on feeding. SD will be a better source of that info. I got a lot of info from him myself.

 

[Niwashi]

Thanks Scrogdawg! Going to try to put together the rdwc this week. What size uni seals do I need for 1 1/2" pvc? Going to hook two 5 gal buckets to the res for the two plants I have!

1/28

Air Temp: 81
Water temp: 79
Rh: 55%
PH: 5.91
TDS: 223


The second plant's roots have hit the water. I stopped the top drip and put a piece of tinfoil over the growing media to keep light off the roots.

 

[Scrogdawg]

What size uni seals do I need for 1 1/2" pvc? Going to hook two 5 gal buckets to the res for the two plants I have!

1.5" pipe (UNISEAL-0150) = 2.50 Hole Saw

Drill the holes slowly without a lot of pressure on the buckets, then carefully debur the inside/outside edge of the drilled holes. This will really help avoid leaks.
Bevel the ends of the PVC before pushing them through the Uniseals and rub a little olive oil on them. They fit tight and this helps a bunch too.

I would recommend 6" net pots for the lids. They are plenty big enough without using tons of hydroton to fill them up.

 

[Old TimingMan]

Now that your roots are getting their feet wet, things will start happening fast!

If you are building a RDWC, try to find black buckets to keep the light out, if you can't find any local, you can get them on the net. If that is not an option, you can get foil coated bubble wrap insulation at most any big box home improvement store which works well.

What type of RDWC are you building, Top Feed Bottom Feed?

 

[JustMeds]

That stuff ^^^^^ will work good.

 

[Niwashi]

1/30

Hey guys, thanks for the feedback. Not sure if im going for a top or feed or bottom feed RDWC, OTM. Which one would you reccomend?

Also, need some help. The girls were looking droopy yesterday and still do this morning. Temp is air and water temp are both 80, PH is 5.95. I have not added anything to the res except for rotating frozen water bottles to keep it cool.

Any advice??

 

[Scrogdawg]

Gotta get that water temp down 10 degrees Niwashi. Thats most likely your problem.

 

[Niwashi]

Ok, so aim for 70° water temps? I was just trying to keep them under 80

 

[Scrogdawg]

65 -70 deg is ideal.