Rifleman's Roost Open 24/7: Perpetually Perplexed

[Rifleman]

I've been catching up on this grow. Do you always use hydrogaurd and z7? I'm thinking of picking up some hydrogaurd and using it alongside my z7. is that a waste?

We could probably get by with just one or the other.

However I have the greatest faith in H-guard when it comes to protecting my plants from high reservoir temps.

And the Z7 makes cleaning the buckets easier but I've never run it by itself to see if it will protect my plants when the reservoir temps hit the 78-80°F mark.

For the amount I grow it is cheap insurance.

 

[RedZedHead]

I used more z7 than i should of on accident. by like 5x when mixing soil nutes. My plants needed it to recover from their nitrogen toxicity so now I'm kinda glad I did it

 

[RedZedHead]

I've been using ph perfect for soil and now after reading your journal I feel like an idiot going out and buying GH and FF nutes for the jump to DWC
and to add to the problem I'm out of ph down. can I switch the nute company in early veg if it comes to that?
edit: I'm going to use pool ph down if I can't change nutes like that. only thing I can get my hands on before my GH ph down gets here

 

[Rifleman]

High there, I know this is kind of an old thread but hoping to get some info from it. I've read everything from the beginning of the DWC Tutorial up to page 134 so far. I haven't heard any mention of use of a water chiller. Are they needed for a single 5 gallon DWC bucket. I see your res temps hitting 80 & from what I can see you are just using Hydroguard to deal with the high res temps. I'm getting ready to attempt my 1st DWC bucket to see what it's like. Is a water chiller a must have or can I just use Hydroguard during this 1st grow to see what DWC is like ? It's just 1 - 5 gallon bucket in a 3' x 3' tent.
By the way, Thanks for all the info so far. It's been great !!!

Hey BB, I don't use a chiller of any sort. I dose my reservoirs with HydroGuard 9ml to 4 gal every time I change the water mixture. I know HG says 2ml per gal but I use 3ml droppers and its just easier to throw the extra ml in there and rock on.

Glad you're going to try DWC. I don't think you'll be disappointed unless you run into some oddball problem. It's slightly more work than soil growing but the size plants are worth it.

Feel free to message me or better yet if you have any problems toss them out here in the journal. It might be getting some age but there are a few DWC growers here that will be able to help if I can't.

Good luck.

 

[Rifleman]

I used more z7 than i should of on accident. by like 5x when mixing soil nutes. My plants needed it to recover from their nitrogen toxicity so now I'm kinda glad I did it

It'll be fine. HG is just a bacteria that's beneficial to the roots. No harm done.

I've been using ph perfect for soil and now after reading your journal I feel like an idiot going out and buying GH and FF nutes for the jump to DWC
and to add to the problem I'm out of ph down. can I switch the nute company in early veg if it comes to that?
edit: I'm going to use pool ph down if I can't change nutes like that. only thing I can get my hands on before my GH ph down gets here

I've switched nutrient brands in mid grow with no problems. Hell I've even used two different brands at the same time, Advanced and Remo mixed together.

It's a weed, it's hard to kill and if you give it the perfect DWC environment it'll grow into a tree.

 

[RedZedHead]

I've switched nutrient brands in mid grow with no problems. Hell I've even used two different brands at the same time, Advanced and Remo mixed together

well in that case, I guess my second journal is defunct until further notice

 

[Buds Buddy]

Hey BB, I don't use a chiller of any sort. I dose my reservoirs with HydroGuard 9ml to 4 gal every time I change the water mixture. I know HG says 2ml per gal but I use 3ml droppers and its just easier to throw the extra ml in there and rock on.

Glad you're going to try DWC. I don't think you'll be disappointed unless you run into some oddball problem. It's slightly more work than soil growing but the size plants are worth it.

Feel free to message me or better yet if you have any problems toss them out here in the journal. It might be getting some age but there are a few DWC growers here that will be able to help if I can't.

Good luck.

Thanks for the info. I was getting discouraged when I thought I had to have a chiller just to try it out.
If I were to run several buckets I'd get a chiller for it. But I want to see how it goes & get a feel for it 1st.

 

[RedZedHead]

I'm going to throw some premixed AN nutes with z7 into my 14 gallon tote with GH nutes in it. hopefully that will control the ph a bit.

Does this work?

• RedZedHead
• May 10, 2020

I put an air stone in it to keep it mixed then I threw a towel over it to prevent algae growth. does that work?
my soil plants didn't use it all last feeding
edit: ill pour some of that in there then ill do a full res swap with just AN to ease it in

 

[Grand Daddy Black]

It's slightly more work than soil growing but the size plants are worth it.

Sorry, Rifleman,but I had to laugh when I read that! I like to do both DWC and soil but I'd have to say that DWC is a tad bit more than "slightly" more work!

 

[Buds Buddy]

I'm going to throw some premixed AN nutes with z7

What is z7 ?

 

[Rifleman]

I'm going to throw some premixed AN nutes with z7 into my 14 gallon tote with GH nutes in it. hopefully that will control the ph a bit.

Does this work?

• RedZedHead
• May 10, 2020

I put an air stone in it to keep it mixed then I threw a towel over it to prevent algae growth. does that work?
my soil plants didn't use it all last feeding
edit: ill pour some of that in there then ill do a full res swap with just AN to ease it in

Probably get by with it this time. But don't make a habit of premixing nutrients. Fresh mixed is always better.

 

[Rifleman]

Sorry, Rifleman,but I had to laugh when I read that! I like to do both DWC and soil but I'd have to say that DWC is a tad bit more than "slightly" more work!

Awwwwww GDB, you know it's not that much work. I tried to streamline my DWC method and make it as easy as possible for everyone. Even call it The Lazy Man's DWC, but it does take some more attention than soil... which BTW I am about to pull off my first real successful soil grow.

13 plants in 7 felt bags days 56-60. ProMix and AN. Bottom watered and fed every three days with 2qts each. Nothing over two ft tall though. The entire grow won't net me as much grass as one bubbling bucket.

 

[Rifleman]

What is z7 ?

It's another bacterial additive made by Flying Skull. In Canada it is called Z9. Using buckets like I do they sometimes get nasty inside. Coated with excess nutrients, and plant "sludge". Not thick, but visable when servicing the buckets each week. I usually wipe it out with a paper towel during water changes. The Z7 just keeps the buckets cleaner and easier to wipe out for me. I'm sure it's also somehow beneficial for the roots, but that's not my main reason for using it.

If it ever came down to one or the other though, my choice would be Hydroguard for no other reason than it has saved me when running very high reservoir temps.

 

[Grand Daddy Black]

Awwwwww GDB, you know it's not that much work. I tried to streamline my DWC method and make it as easy as possible for everyone. Even call it The Lazy Man's DWC, but it does take some more attention than soil... which BTW I am about to pull off my first real successful soil grow.

13 plants in 7 felt bags days 56-60. ProMix and AN. Bottom watered and fed every three days with 2qts each. Nothing over two ft tall though. The entire grow won't net me as much grass as one bubbling bucket.

With 13 plants in 7 bags I'm not surprised they're small! But I feel you, Rifleman. My DWC autos grew waaay larger than my soil autos have grown (well, maybe except for my Chocolate Skunk auto, which got pretty big even in soil).

BTW, I do consider your process streamlined. I studied your methods extensively before I bubbled up my first DWC bucket! You did an outstanding job of explaining the process!

Still I think growing in soil with Mega Crop is almost like a walk in the park. While growing DWC is more like a walk in heavy downtown traffic!

 

[Rifleman]

With 13 plants in 7 bags I'm not surprised they're small! But I feel you, Rifleman. My DWC autos grew waaay larger than my soil autos have grown (well, maybe except for my Chocolate Skunk auto, which got pretty big even in soil).

BTW, I do consider your process streamlined. I studied your methods extensively before I bubbled up my first DWC bucket! You did an outstanding job of explaining the process!

Still I think growing in soil with Mega Crop is almost like a walk in the park. While growing DWC is more like a walk in heavy downtown traffic!

I'm happy it helped.

I might tend to agree with the downtown traffic comparison today. I just finished water changes on eight buckets... in a 5x5. Four of them will move to the 4x4 after the soil grow harvest.

yep, something I've never managed to do to any satisfaction, bring a soil grow to a plump harvest. Below are photos of 13 plants in 7 three gallon bags on days 60 -64. A few are going to harvest this week and a couple look like they might take three more weeks.

Yep, I'm proud.

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[Grand Daddy Black]

I'm happy it helped.

I might tend to agree with the downtown traffic comparison today. I just finished water changes on eight buckets... in a 5x5. Four of them will move to the 4x4 after the soil grow harvest.

yep, something I've never managed to do to any satisfaction, bring a soil grow to a plump harvest. Below are photos of 13 plants in 7 three gallon bags on days 60 -64. A few are going to harvest this week and a couple look like they might take three more weeks.

Yep, I'm proud.

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Nice Job!

 

[Rifleman]

Where has time gone? Hell if I know. When warm weather hits I'm rarely near the www.

Reckon I should update you on the harvest of the 13 plants in 7 felt bags(3 gal).

<drum roll> ......339g dry.

Now back to my two wheel therapy. Catch y'all soon.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Have fun, stay safe, and don't have any tank-slappers.

 

[DrDoob]

Just dropped three “Cheesy Monkey Ass” seeds I got. Will let you know how they turn out.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Why?