Winter DWC Grow - Northern Lights - AK-48

[nightOWL]

Hello all, this is officially my first grow. I've been lurking around the site for quite a while and with my new living situation I can finally get a grow set up.

Hardware:

• 2'x4'x8' Grow tent by Lighthouse Hydro
• T5 EnviroGro 4Ft 6 Tube
• 2x 5 gallon buckets w/ netpot lids
• Hydroton grow media
• general hydroponics blue stone air pump
• 2x 4" airstones with tubing

Nutrients:

• basic flora series, gro, micro, and bloom

Strains:

• Northern Light - Feminized - 1 plant
• AK-48 - Feminized - 1 plant

I've used this tent/light setup for the past 2 years to grow super hot peppers. I understand from friends that the light itself may work for the veg phase but may not be strong enough for flowering... i'll be researching and purchasing an HID prior to flowering and I'll update the journal accordingly...

Other than that, I'm waiting to see how the temps go in the tent - I've got it setup in an unheated attached garage. The outside temps are dropping into the low 40s at night and although the garage is insulated, it still gets pretty cold... I'm going to run the lights at night to try to offset the possible cold temps. I've budgeted for an inline fan, ductwork, etc when I buy my new light... may have to get all that in place sooner if the temps are too much in either direction.

ok... on to the growing!

Update 01 - week 1, germination

I followed Xlr8's germination tutorial. Seeds are now in the rapid rooters under the T5s set for 18/6

Temp in the tent is holding at 72 with 4 of the 6 tubes on.

Here is my first picture from day 1, week 1, not much to look at, but I wanted to get in the habit of taking a picture each week:

 

[nightOWL]

Update 02 - Day 11, transfer to DWC setup

Hello everyone! I've got an update on my grow... plants looked ready on wednesday, but with the holiday wasn't able to move them over until this afternoon. I'm using the flora series for my nutrients. Since I filled each bucket with 3 gallons I went with 1.5ml/3ml/1.5ml for grow/micro/bloom.

Thanks for looking...

Front view of the tent


Almost forgot the fan


AK-48


Northern Lights

 

[DrewDrop]

Looking good nightOWL.
Ive only ever used cfl's in my tent and they've worked just fine for flowering. I managed .6 grams per what in my last DWC grow. The HID may be a good solution to the cold night temps, all I'm saying is dont be afraid to use fluorescents for flowering. It can work.
Im subbed! Looking forward to seeing how all this pans out, keep up the good work

 

[nightOWL]

Looking good nightOWL.
Ive only ever used cfl's in my tent and they've worked just fine for flowering. I managed .6 grams per what in my last DWC grow. The HID may be a good solution to the cold night temps, all I'm saying is dont be afraid to use fluorescents for flowering. It can work.
Im subbed! Looking forward to seeing how all this pans out, keep up the good work

Thanks... i've been reading a lot of posts on this site and others and I'm surprised with the lighting some folks use... my light puts out 5,000 lumens per tube for a total of 30,000 with full spectrum bulbs so it could work... my buddies that said it wouldn't work said that it might not have the strength to get below the canopy... i was planning on doing some mainlining/fluxing/whatever-it's-called to space the plant out anyway, so maybe I'll just give it a try?

what does anyone else think?

 

[Jimmy6000]

Welcome nightOWL.
Very clean set-up.
I think you T5 will do great for veg and will work for flower but I know you will get much better result's with a Hid or better yet led.
Id look into one of our sponsor's..Good leds can be affordable.
Are the T5 bulb's 2 year's old also?If so,even more reason to upgrade.
Id try top led with a grow/Bloom switch.

 

[DrewDrop]

Thanks... i've been reading a lot of posts on this site and others and I'm surprised with the lighting some folks use... my light puts out 5,000 lumens per tube for a total of 30,000 with full spectrum bulbs so it could work... my buddies that said it wouldn't work said that it might not have the strength to get below the canopy... i was planning on doing some mainlining/fluxing/whatever-it's-called to space the plant out anyway, so maybe I'll just give it a try?

what does anyone else think?

Your friends are correct about the fluorescents not having the penetration to get through the canopy. I always LST my plants to maintain a nice even canopy anyway so it doesnt hold me back. (A manicured plant is a happy plant)
Jimmy 6000 also has a good point. Instead of spending money on an HID you could probly get descent LED for about the same cost and the LED will last much longer. Ive never used them but plenty of growers on this site swear by them, I just cant get past how un natural the light looks. Im a skeptic lol

 

[nightOWL]

Your friends are correct about the fluorescents not having the penetration to get through the canopy. I always LST my plants to maintain a nice even canopy anyway so it doesnt hold me back. (A manicured plant is a happy plant)
Jimmy 6000 also has a good point. Instead of spending money on an HID you could probly get descent LED for about the same cost and the LED will last much longer. Ive never used them but plenty of growers on this site swear by them, I just cant get past how un natural the light looks. Im a skeptic lol

I did some research on the LEDs... i'm on the fence, but I may go for it... one question though... my tent is in my unheated attached garage. january & february temps in my area average mid40s-mid30s (F). I have wooden doors and we don't use the garage for cars so the doors will always be closed, but the light i have now kicks off enough heat that even though the garage is in the 40s-50s, the tent stays around 72-75. As I understand it LEDs don't kick off too much heat... will I have to explore heating the tent if I go with LEDs? F

 

[Jimmy6000]

I would say your gonna need some kind of heat for the light;s of period ,no matter what light you go with.I think led will keep it warm enough during light;s on tho.Maybe there is a way you can draw some warmer air from in side your house to your tent using some flex ducting?

 

[mastertek2000]

nice NO can i ask why you use a rack in your tent ??

 

[DrewDrop]

LED's dont "project" heat. Meaning they dont direct it towards your plants but all lights produce heat. (Light is energy, energy is heat). If your not worried about burning your garage down you could just place a small space heater in there near the tent. I suggest a radiator heater, much more safe and reliable. It'll be fine

I did some research on the LEDs... i'm on the fence, but I may go for it... one question though... my tent is in my unheated attached garage. january & february temps in my area average mid40s-mid30s (F). I have wooden doors and we don't use the garage for cars so the doors will always be closed, but the light i have now kicks off enough heat that even though the garage is in the 40s-50s, the tent stays around 72-75. As I understand it LEDs don't kick off too much heat... will I have to explore heating the tent if I go with LEDs? F

 

[Johnboy6006]

Subbed.

 

[nightOWL]

nice NO can i ask why you use a rack in your tent ??

Are you talking about the shelving? I initially had a two shelf setup in the tent so my germination tray was up off the ground and closer to the lights... i took the top shelf off when i moved to the DWC buckets, but left the sides... figured since the garage it cold, it might be better to keep the buckets off the ground... I'm not going to scrog these plants, but I figured if I mainline/flux/whatever-you-call-it I can use the side bars of the shelving unit to anchor the plants? I'm waiting to see how the plants grow over the next week or so... if it looks like the lights are too far away, I may bring the second shelf back, maybe halfway up the side bars and put the buckets on that...

 

[DrewDrop]

Are you talking about the shelving? I initially had a two shelf setup in the tent so my germination tray was up off the ground and closer to the lights... i took the top shelf off when i moved to the DWC buckets, but left the sides... figured since the garage it cold, it might be better to keep the buckets off the ground... I'm not going to scrog these plants, but I figured if I mainline/flux/whatever-you-call-it I can use the side bars of the shelving unit to anchor the plants? I'm waiting to see how the plants grow over the next week or so... if it looks like the lights are too far away, I may bring the second shelf back, maybe halfway up the side bars and put the buckets on that...

I was also Wondering about the rack..... I had to look up main lining. I guess its the same as low stress training (LST). That's how I did my first few grows.... well all my grows until now. I had great results with it other than "knuckling". I tried it with my first grow and it seemed to do more harm than good.

 

[nightOWL]

Update 03 - Day 22, week 02 of veg

Had some company staying with us so I went a little longer than I wanted to before changing the nutrients. I'm going with the second week of veg on the nutrient schedule, filling my buckets with 3 gallons and 6ml/7.5ml/1.5ml for gro/micro/bloom. I'm starting to see roots popping out of the bottom of the net baskets.

I am a little concerned though... I'm seeing several levels of leaves now, but they're not nearly as large as I thought they'd be...given some of the pictures I've seen on the grow journals here. I'm also concerned that there isn't much in the way of space between the nodes. Do the plants look normal to everyone? I have three things i'm worried about:

1. my light... is it too close? or perhaps not strong enough? the bulbs i'm running have only 4 months on them, they're complete spectrum, 5000 lumens each x 6 for a total of 30,000. is that too much for the early stages?

2. temps... as you can see in the picture below, i've got a remote temp sensor sitting on the bucket. i'm averaging mid 70s to mid 80s lights on (depending on ambient temp of garage), mid 60s with the light off... is this too hot?

3. water temps... as i'm growing in an unheated garage i was worried about the temp being too cold, that's why i have the buckets up off the ground. I added temperature probes in each bucket and I'm averaging mid 70s for the water temps? is this ok?

As mentioned above, i did have to wait 11 days to change the nutrients so maybe i just waited too long? Or maybe I'm just paranoid and all is well?

Overall view of my tent... showing position of light


Northern Lights


AK-48


Roots!

 

[DrewDrop]

Looking good man, the lights are fine they could actually be a little closer. Your plants look normal for their size. Flourescents keep the nodes really stacked so that's normal. The leaves are maybe a little pale but that's to be expected if the roots just made it to the water. Your reservoir is fine to leave for that long, especially since the little girls arn't taking much water or nutrients from it at all.

 

[DrewDrop]

As for temp: 85f is the max you want it to get without using co2. 60 is fine for plant growth but certain strains are less tolerable of temp shifts than others. I dont think you"ll have any temp related issues.

Reservoir temp: Don't let your reservoir temp get above 74f. (the more reflective your buckets are, the cooler the'll stay) I love silver duct tape! keep it up

 

[nightOWL]

As for temp: 85f is the max you want it to get without using co2. 60 is fine for plant growth but certain strains are less tolerable of temp shifts than others. I dont think you"ll have any temp related issues.

Reservoir temp: Don't let your reservoir temp get above 74f. (the more reflective your buckets are, the cooler the'll stay) I love silver duct tape! keep it up

thanks drewdrop! just checked on the plants - water is holding at 68... i'll definitely keep an eye on that.

 

[DrewDrop]

thanks drewdrop! just checked on the plants - water is holding at 68... i'll definitely keep an eye on that.

68 is perfect!!

 

[nightOWL]

Update 04 - Day 30, week 03 of veg

Things are plugging along, upped the nutrients to 7.5ml/7.5ml/3ml of gro/micro/bloom for 3 gallons of water for week 3...

plants are showing good growth, but under leaves on the northern lights are looking weak, yellow, and and have a few dots on them.... they're looking pretty beat. I tried to get a picture, it's the last one below. If i need to get a better shot to help diagnose the issue, let me know I can grab the tripod and get a better shot... I've looked up example images of various nutrient issues and don't really see a match... As I understand it, my light may not have the strength for these under leaves... could this be cause? do I trim them off now?

thanks for looking...

Overall Look of the tent


AK-48, a little smaller


Northern Lights, growing a little faster


Under Leaves...

​

 

[Jimmy6000]

I wouldn't worry to much about those first set of leave's(cotyledons).At that stage of growth your plant's are getting plenty of light.
Thats normal for them to die away.Just keep an eye on color of the new growth coming in.
Looking good