WillyB's First DWC Noob Grow

[WillyBudz]

Hi all, Starting my very first hydro and will be posting progress and pics. I am sure I will have plenty of questions as it goes along and I welcome all constructive posts good or bad.

The setup:
12 x 8 room with 6' 6" ceilings (storage room in the basement)
1 400w MH
1 600w HPS (both light setups $275.00 total w / bulbs)
4 output 180 gallon aquarium pump (only 2 in use atm, and a backup pump new in box(tested) just in case) $24.99 x2 (1 is a backup, not in use)
co2 setup for use during flowering (Tank, timer and tubes: $159.99)(refills $13.00 every 75-90 days when growing all indoor soil)
2 fans and 1 exhaust fan (exhaust fan is a rigged gas stove vent fan on a timer and 4inch flex pipe, actually works great !!) $50.00

Buckets, lids, tubing and stones (8 stones, I keep a backup for everything.) $45.00

Total setup cost : approx $580.00 (just medicated might have screwed up on calculator... lol)

Room runs 76f - 78f and 45-50% humidity when everything is fired up. 70f - 72f and same humidity when dark.

atm it is a 4 bucket (5 gallons ea) bubbler with 2 Bubba Kush (Indica) and 2 Lambsbread (think this is the xbreed Sativa dominant, never grew this before. Clones a gift from a friend.)

Going to add 2 buckets every 3 weeks till I have 8 total in flowering area. I grow clones in a different room and grow for myself and my wife , both MMJ patients.

I also have 2 old, old stripped mothers in soil in the area that I am going to flower out and get rid of. Durban Poison and Sour D and lastly my very favorite for any time of day my very last soil Jack H clone. So 7 plants total to start with.. the soil goes away after harvest.

I have grown outdoors for awhile with no issues but indoor soil has been eye opening, hoping a cheap hydro does better.

Looking forward to posting some pics this weekend and asking many many questions as the grow moves forward.

Thank you again for any input and good luck to all.

WillyB

 

[Ugodmade]

Re: WillyB's first DWC n00b grow

looks like this will be a great grow .good luck

 

[WillyBudz]

Re: WillyB's first DWC n00b grow

Buckets have 4" bubblers in them going 24/7, 2 in back are Bubba Kush 2 in front are Lambsbread. 4 days in buckets.

The 3 plants in back are Sour D on left (what is left of it) 2 weeks in soil Jack H in middle and Durban Poison on right (what is left of it).

I know it looks sparse atm but I wanted to start slow and add as I go to try and eventually get it to where I can harvest 1x every 6 - 8 weeks or so. The plants in soil I am just trying to get what I can from their abused bodies and be done with indoor soil. I will be adding 2 buckets in 2.5 weeks both will prolly be Jack H. Jack is not my favorite for a specific time but it is my favorite all purpose weed.

Forgive the pics, I am a nub at taking them and trying to get them posted.

 

[SmokeyMacPots]

Re: WillyB's first DWC n00b grow

Looks good man! Can't wait to see how this turns out. You got some really good strains there.

to

 

[WillyBudz]

Re: WillyB's first DWC n00b grow

Plants all doing great. They have all grown about 3 inches in 3 days... the few in soil have alot of new growth also. The Sour D and Durban have spent their entire life (both almost a year old) under a 6 light T5 and kinda freaked out under the MH / HPS but they are loving it. Hope they do not end up root bound.....

Think Turkey day I will change nutes / water and throw into 12/12. I'll post pics this weekend.

I have used an aerogarden for clones and seedlings since my wife got a new 1 and was gonna toss out this 1. It is a pro 200 with the extended lamp/ trellis system and works great for nub plants. It is a drip system and I added a 2" bubbler in it... love it to death.. Might try some LowRyder in it some day.....1 thing at a time tho. Need to get this 1st hydro done and see what happens.

I was going to add a couple of JH to the grow room but I have a few unknown seedlings ( I toss any seeds into the same jar =/. I need to stop being a lazy ass.) close to being in need of transplant sooo..... Think I will toss a couple of those in the mix. Never went 12/12 right from 4" seedling but think I will check it out and see what I get for shaving off 1-2 weeks of veg.

I was going to add 2 buckets every few weeks till 8 total, did a space and light check and I think I am going to add till I have 12 buckets. I have the room and light so we will see.

The unkown seedlings are not totally unknown, they will be 1 of the following:

White Widow
Durban Poison
Millenium
Jack H

I am rooting for the WW but any good girls will do just fine.

Have a Great Thanksgiving if you celebrate it , pics in a couple of days.

WillyB

 

[WillyBudz]

Re: WillyB's first DWC n00b grow

Not worried about this but, anybody have any idea why this Sour D is growing 3 leaf fan leaves? It is an old mother I am getting rid of, went from 6 light T5 to 400w MH / 600W HPS about 2 weeks ago.

Jack H 2.5 weeks in soil doing well.

pic of the Bubba Kush, 6 days in bucket.... all four in buckets doing well.

All doing great, just wondering about the Sour D 3 leaf....... never seen this before unless I threw it back into veg from flower but this has been a purpetual veg mother for a long time.


WillyB

 

[SmokeyMacPots]

Re: WillyB's first DWC n00b grow

Number of leaf points is mainly a genetic trait. More than likely not an issue at all, and has nothing to do with anything you could be doing.

Keep on keepin on brother!

 

[WillyBudz]

Re: WillyB's first DWC n00b grow

10 days veg in buckets. Throwing into flower Saturday, the Durban and Sour D in Soil in the back getting too tall. The Durban Poison is about 40" and the Sour D is about 37" - 38". Only 6'6" ceiling but with lights only about 5'5" of useable height.

Jack Herer

Lambsbread

My little garden of fun.

The Bubba Kush and Lambsbread doing great, my old soil mothers are getting too tall for the room. I am going to have to tie them over sometime in flower so 12/12 time Saturday. No issues at all so far with the 4 in DWC. They are all 12" - 13" tall , growing fast and strong.


WillyB

 

[trailblazer]

Re: WillyB's first DWC n00b grow

Firstly n00b grow my ass! lol very nice!

 

[WillyBudz]

Re: WillyB's first DWC n00b grow

=) and TY


It says first DWC n00b grow, I am an outdoor gardener with alot of outdoor exp. I only have 3 soil harvests indoors under my belt and this is my first try at hydro.

I knew to expect less from my plants indoors but indoor soil was somewhat disappointing after growing outdoors forever. Do not get me wrong, I got some great buds and a nice amount.. but I would like a little more. I am hoping hydro does a little better and if not at least I am learning something.

I still grow outdoors during l8 spring / summer and fall. I do this indoors to keep me busy and learn in the winter. My small greenhouse I can grow four 8' tall and 8'- 10' around mini trees... and NO electric bill!!! No lights, no fans no nothing, it rocks. I need either a better greenhouse and I can use lights in the winter or a state you can grow year round needs to legalize it for at least MMJ.

I am hoping my small seedlings in buckets are ready to move in here next week... it will be close. I am thinking it might be 2 weeks tho..... so off to a messed up schedule already.

I am getting nervous about my 2 retired soil mothers getting rootbound.. I so wish it was springtime so I could harden them up a bit and toss out into my greenhouse. Any tips on transplanting right before flowering or will it need awhile to get its act together after repotting. I have only transplanted clones and seedlings, never a fully mature plant.


WillyB

 

[WillyBudz]

Re: WillyB's first DWC n00b grow

4 days flower

Jack Herer , couple of the top leaves curved ?????? not curling up or down, look good just ............ ?

Couple of "unkown" seedlings. WW, JH, Millenium or Durban...... ?

My old mothers getting rootbound so I cheated. I drilled a bunch of holes in bottom of pot, set on a couple of old plastic pop racks and into about 4" of water in old underbed rubbermaid tub. Bubblers under all, roots growing out all over the place.... seems to be working fine. Guess they are soil / hydro now ? They took off as soon as I did this.


WillyB

 

[WillyBudz]

Re: WillyB's first DWC n00b grow

Let the fun begin.

Bubba Kush and Lambsbread clones.

Jack Herer

My cheap $10.00 300cfm exhaust fan.

1 week of veg and 1 week of flower so far. All is going well, no issues I can't deal w / yet.


WillyB

 

[monstermunch]

Re: WillyB's first DWC n00b grow

Very nice dude, I'm locked in!!

 

[WillyBudz]

Re: WillyB's first DWC n00b grow

lol, till I looked at the pics didn't know such a difference in 2weeks.....

2 weeks ago, just fired up veg.

1 week of Veg and 1 week into flower.
<<<<<<<< Unkown Seedling in bucket added today. WW, Millenium, Jack Herer ???????? Hoping for WW......


WillyB

 

[Growing247]

Re: WillyB's first DWC n00b grow

Very nice grow. I too am running DWC and a few plants in soil growing in Smart Pots also. For my next grow I am going to grow all DWC in black 5 gallon buckets with 8" net pots.. I love the simplicity. I also run my GH Water Farm as a DWC once the roots hit the res. No need to run the drip ring once they start flowering if you don't want to. I also buy just the Water Farm "Farm Kits" which comes with the drip ring and the water level indicator and grommets for cheap. 24 bucks I think. I poke a hole in the bottom of the netpot along the side and run the drip ring along the inside of the netpot and shorten the drip ring if needed to fit the inside circumfrince (sp?). Then I transplant my clone and bury the drip ring in HYDROTON. MY DWC are all super pimped out water farms basically. They have drip rings and some of them have 2 airstones for extra bubbles. I use Sensizym to keep bugs and slime away and keep my roots super healthy and FF Grow Big to veg and Advanced Nutes Connoisseur 2 part premium nutes for flowering and my my my I have so much frosting covering my buds it is unbelievable. Also, the buds are super dense and covered in red hairs. Colas are forming up nicely. The roots are so big they literally take up the whole bucket and drink a gallon of nutrient solution a day some days at this late stage in flowering. I can only hope the 6 I have in veg (Haze,Hash Plant, Warlock, and a few other strains I got up my sleeve will do as well. I had a infestation of spider mites but was able to beat the bastards back with a bunch of HOT SHOT no pest strips, Industrial Pyrethryn bombs, set off 3 days apart and also cleaned the heck out of the area and have not seen another mite for days. Kind of a random trip but my point is its good to see another person growing with DWC. They are so easy to grow and I don't even bother using a PH meter or a PPM meter or a EC meter. I am on well water and don't have the same kind of PH and chlorine issues some other growers have. Thank god for that. I also have a rain collection system (kiddy pool) which the plants love. The water is full of nutrients and is perfectly PH balanced. Great water to use for DWC or hydro as long as its clean with no leaves in it.

 

[Growing247]

Re: WillyB's first DWC n00b grow

One other thing I forgot to mention is I add AZAMAX to my reservoir also. Sensizym or hygrozym is not enough to keeping bugs out of your roots. It is a pest control stuff designed for recirculating hydroponics systems made by Gen. Hydroponics and also works on soil as a drench or as a leaf spray. Stuff is vegetable based and is safe and won't hurt the plants as long as you follow the directions and use it at the right concentration. The second highest concentration is the highest you want to go for fungus gnats. The reason I suggest doing this is if you don't use anything in your res to ward off bugs fungus gnats or god knows whatever else will lay maggots in your root ball and they will feed off your roots. It is disgusting thing to witness first hand. Went to change my res water one time and noticed maggots crawling around my roots! I was on the war path! When really, I should have prevented this from ever happening in the first place. AZAMAX turns your nute water a milkey white color but that is normal. Since I have started using it I haven't had any fungus gnats problems at all and it does not hurt the plant at all.

 

[WillyBudz]

Re: WillyB's first DWC n00b grow

Thanks for the tips on root maintenance. I will definitely be keeping an eye out and get some of those products for "just in case".

I do have some hot shot strips in the area, fungus gnats were an issue a few soil grows ago and I decided to just waste everything in the basement. I take them down after week 2 in flower and it seems to work. I also have to keep an eye on the PH. Although I do use just over 50% distilled water, the tap water I mix it with is 8.5ph and 220-260 ppm... nothing like water out in the countryside......

I balance my tap / distilled water mix to 5.9 - 6.0 ph before AND after nutes. Ater balance and adding nutes it does not change more than .1-.2 so post nute adjustment isn't much. The water mix itself unadjusted usually comes in at about 7.2 - 7.5 ph and 100 - 130 ppm

My co2 stays around 1200, and for flower nute mix I am using:

8 ml per gallon GH micro
5 ml per gallon GH gro (this goes away after week 2 of flower)
15 ml per gallon GH bloom

Lucas Formula is 0/8/16 in flower, I will be doing 0/8/15 and /5 KoolBloom

After week 2 in flower, instead of gro I will be adding 5 ml per gallon liquid KoolBloom for 2 weeks then bump it to 8ml until 7-10 days before harvest.

Being my first hydro grow I am not going to mess around with any budbooster type nutes this grow other than the KoolBloom. Next grow or perpetual I will start messing around but want to get the basics down first.


WillyB

 

[WillyBudz]

Re: WillyB's first DWC n00b grow

I've heard of this happening but being new to indoors and hydro it suprised me. My old mothers that I thought would suck to try and flower exploded over the last 3 days. (Compared to what they started as) The Lambsbread clones also shot up 6 inches in 2 days.

Two mothers on right , first day in flower room, was gonna just trash them.

Last night, both "woke" up.... not great but remember they were stripped clean just a couple o weeks ago. Had to tie the Durban and the Sour D back, they were up into the lights about 6 inches away.

Lambsbread on the right just sprouted 6 inches in 2 days... added a cheator CFL to 1 side of the Bubba Kush, both old mothers even tied back are trying to steal her light.

All just starting to bud so....... I hate waiting and have 6 - 9 weeks before they are all done.


WillyB

 

[WillyBudz]

Re: WillyB's first DWC n00b grow

They have been tied down and back... any ideas ??

and to think I almost killed them to go all DWC.


WillyB

 

[WillyBudz]

Re: WillyB's first DWC n00b grow

3 1/2 weeks ago

Last night

Durban Poison , 6 weeks to go. This is a secondary branch, tops all tied over. Untied it is about 7' tall in a 6'6" room.....Branch front / right of pic is part of the Sour D.

All going well except for running out of room height for the 2 old mothers.. I jusy keep tying them down and did minor pruning at day 14 of flower now at about day 22....looks like they will do ok for their last hurrah tho. Took two clones of the Durban and Sour D. 1 ea will be a new hydro mother, the others come into flower room when ready. About 14 days till they come in here.



1 of my bagseed that was getting ready to go into flower room in another week...... Dirty little ratbastard male... DIE !!!! 6 bagseed planted 2 male 2 female and waiting on last 2... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

WillyB