Wheatbran's Third Grow - First Hydro DWC Buckets - Hydro - Oh No! 2011

[Wheatbran]

Hey Guys,



As you may have gathered from my title, that this is my third grow and my first dealing with any sort of hydro setup. Time to get my feet wet.

To start I was originally going to do one soil, one hydro bucket, different plants so it wasn't a comparison or anything, just doing two plants. Buut, the soil plant (la confidential) was having issues from bad previous soil and the transition to an ok plant is taking too long for my liking, so I snagged up a second clone from a local dispensary, purchased a second bucket setup, a new air pump to power both and new air stones. So this is where I currently stand.

2x 3.5 gallon buckets

2x tops with built in net pots

11 liter bag of hydroton - lots to spare

4 medium round air stones 2 per bucket

45 liter per minute air pump (could easily supply 3-6 buckets with air)


Nutrients:

General Hydroponics - floro bloom, micro and grow

dynagrow protekt silicate additive

For transition and late flowering MOAB (mother of all blooms)

Might add more as the grow goes, but this is what I need for now.


Lighting: Currently CFL but will probably be moving to a 400 watt hps if I can.

And my grow area is a 24" deep x 32" wide by 60" tall grow tent.



Oh and Picture time

Clone 1

OG skunk: 4 days old. Showing many roots through the bottom of the net pot

Clone 2

Rocklock: 2 days old, no roots yet but the plant is getting new leaves so it seems to be getting fed alright

Both plants together:

My new air pump, I'm pretty sure it could physically force so much air into my old pump, it would burst

And my nute closet, my hydro nutes and my dirt organic stuff Might grow a little fruit tree or something on my patio.

I'll keep things updated as often as I can and I have some plans for the little LA conf plant sitting in soil, will be making my own cloner most likely

Oh and if you get bored you can check out my last grow, I didn't journal it well, as I only got everything posted when I was right near the end of the grow but the whole 2 plant soil grow is here:


Wheatbrans second grow


Hmmmm Maybe I should make a signature some time

Wheatbran

 

[Wheatbran]

Re: Wheatbran's Third Grow,First hydro DWC buckets - Hydro-oh no! 2011



Just picked up a new light from a dude on craigslist

Sun system 600 watt hps ballast
Sun system Super Sun Reflector (I think)
600 watt hortilux bulb

75$

the ballast

This should make flowering a bit more interesting, both plants are putting on new leaves quickly so i'll get some shots of the tops and roots tomorrow

Wheatbran

 

[Wheatbran]

Re: Wheatbran's Third Grow,First hydro DWC buckets - Hydro-oh no! 2011

Update,

Plant 1 (OG skunk) is sitting at 1 week in the bucket and roots are going crazy, day 7 pics of the top and roots:

aand roots

Here we have plant number 2 (rocklock)still no roots through the hydroton, but i think i may have to assist.

Updates will continue, thanks much

wheatbran

 

[Wheatbran]

Re: Wheatbran's Third Grow,First hydro DWC buckets - Hydro-oh no! 2011

So i got impatient and adjusted the second clone (rocklock), since the roots were going crazy in the the hydroton, but wouldn't go down

sooo I pulled hydroton out and dropped the plant an inch down, and let some roots fall through I'll see what happens, I'm still on quarter strength nutes on both plants, I want them to get settled before I pump them up

Can't wait to make them grow

Wheatbran

 

[Wheatbran]

Re: Wheatbran's Third Grow,First hydro DWC buckets - Hydro-oh no! 2011

Question, for anyone viewing here. I have CFLs, mostly 3500k, I'm wondering if using my 600 watt hps with the hortilux extended spectrum bulb (has some blue/violet production,but not much ) would be better than my cfl's for the 2-4 weeks of growth period? Any thoughts?

 

[Wheatbran]

Re: Wheatbran's Third Grow,First hydro DWC buckets - Hydro-oh no! 2011

Hey all, updating again

First we have the tops of each plant and their corresponding roots


First the rocklock, at 5 days and roots finally busting on through

Aaaand the OG Skunk at 8 days of growth and the rocking roots

So I had some time today and noticed, that without the clothes rod in the closet (it fell on me long ago ) I could move the tent back and flush-er against the back wall. Made for a ton of room and lets me take better pics of the grow area I used to have to duck under the shelf and wedge myself between the tent and wall, sooo much better

So here it is, everything moved around and looking more organized, the next pics are the setup, the closet and the plants togother

The giant reflector I made, scattered with cfls on the other side

And the plants, sittin pretty.

The plants are sitting in quarter strength nutes, but sunday I plan to switch them up to full (well full for me being 2/3rd strength) since the roots are sucking up water and nutes pretty well at this point. I'm hoping for a week-3 more weeks of growth and and scrogging both plants

I'll see how it goes and as always, I will keep things updated and hopefully people will find some interest or information here

Later days

 

[Wheatbran]

Re: Wheatbran's Third Grow,First hydro DWC buckets - Hydro-oh no! 2011

Quick update, switched to higher strength nutes and purchased some more 6500k bulbs for growth, i was a little short, most of my compact floro bulbs were more for flowering (2700k) since those mattered most and a large portion of my blue range bulbs got moved to house lighting since the wife prefers the bluer light I have pics of the plants from today as well and will upload tomorrow, they are still looking good, roots going nuts on the OG skunk and starting to catch up on the rocklock. Hopefully i didnt burn them with the stronger nutes. I guess we'll see.

 

[Wheatbran]

Re: Wheatbran's Third Grow,First hydro DWC buckets - Hydro-oh no! 2011

hey guys, update for today with new pics.

the OG skunk is still looking like the better of the 2, hoping the Rocklock kicks in soon.


First off, pics of the Rocklock, top and roots from yesterday, the 1 week mark.

And the thriving OG Skunk, 1 week and 2 days, Top and bottom, it's looking good to me so far.

and the pair today. Gave my buckets little paper hats to see if it lowers heat a little in the buckets, I plan to wrap the buckets in aluminum foil tonight as well in the little dark time I've given them to cool down. Hopefully that too blocks a little heat from entering the buckets with the lights close.

I kicked the nutes up to about 2/3 what is suggested on the GH bottles for an established plant and noticed a tiny bit of what looks like burn on the very tip of a leaf or two on the OG skunk, but I can't tell for sure, that was yesterday and nothing else has happened to make me think I hurt the plant. Oh and I also added a little bowl with water and hydroton to increase the humidity a tiny bit, cant hurt since it seems bone dry in there.



I plan to veg the plants at least another week or two, maybe even three..... or 4... Meh I'll switch to flowering when they're both ready


on a side note, Moving the tent so the flaps are more easily accessable makes sitting and admiring my plants so much easier. I would get a comfortable chair in there if I wasn't planning to throw another tent in.

Well I think that's it for today. Enjoy.

 

[Wheatbran]

Re: Wheatbran's Third Grow,First hydro DWC buckets - Hydro-oh no! 2011

Sorry for the lack of delay Kiddos plants have been boosting up and I am changing water and nutrients out tomorrow, got at least 2-3 inches on each plant and way more roots, getting another week of growth or more before switching to 12/12. But ya figuring out how I want to go growth before flipping the time. I am actually currently doing 18 on and 6 off for heat reasons (most likely my retardation ) and looking to get a conversion bulb to replace all the compact florescent i have running for VEG soon my friends, soon. Unemployment only pays so much haha

 

[Wheatbran]

Re: Wheatbran's Third Grow,First hydro DWC buckets - Hydro-oh no! 2011

Okee dokee it's time for a full update, plants have grown another week and starting to fill out nicely. The rocklock is still behind, but its actually looking like 3 days less growth, rather than just being a runty chick so that's good haha.


I changed out nutes today, buffed them up closer to what the bottle says, but still not full strength, just don't want to burn um. I mixed up my nutes in a gallon of water added half to each empty bucket then filled to the line i made, just streamlining things a bit.

I personally think the plants are looking pretty good for 2 weeks (well 2 weeks and 3 days for the OG skunk) and better than I saw with soil on my previous two grows, nothing too too crazy, but i'm definitely happy with the progress.

And on to the show


First off we have both plants from up above, bushing out a bit as you can tell. Rocklock on the left, OG Skunk on the right.

The OG Skunk top and roots, Not bad looking, the camera yellows things a bit, they are a lot whiter in person I swear

And the same with the Rocklock, roots starting to catch up, that bucket tends to get warmer than the OG bucket, I don't know what it is, but I constantly have to adjust things to keep it cool. hopefully not hurting the growth too bad.

There are some more pictures in my gallery as well, but these were the best, but still not great from a cell phone camera and then shrunk down


So far so good I must say, gonna give the plants another week or two or more before I switch to the 600 watt HPS hopefully I can find a cheap conversion bulb or a cheap MH ballast and bulb, or even a 2 foot 4 bulb t5, the compact floros are ok, just not the most optimal for the job and my giant metal shield of doom gets pretty hot actually haha.

Oh good times, and till next time, later days

 

[Wheatbran]

Re: Wheatbran's Third Grow,First hydro DWC buckets - Hydro-oh no! 2011

Hey guys, Sorry for the delay in posting but the internets was down at my place and nope not gonna make a post from my phone, although possible it might be

On an amusing note, my wife looked at my grow journal and complained that I hadn't updated in a while, knowing full well that our internet was out.... she kills me sometimes.

I will be changing out nutes tomorrow, as well as posting new pics, things have moved on nicely plants are getting large but still giving another week before switching to flowering or more depending, I'm really trying for a fairly large harvest and trying to ramp up production from there. The wife claimed that her goal is to become "The Queen of Clones" and wants me to be able to just say, "honey I need some clones" and she'll go get the rockwool cubes ready and make cuts as needed, rather handy.

Updating with Pics tomorrow, of our current plants, the clones we cut last thursday as well as the seeds I popped into cubes. Looking good for me. Also, time to get a second tent haha.

 

[Wheatbran]

Re: Wheatbran's Third Grow,First hydro DWC buckets - Hydro-oh no! 2011

Hey hey,

I'm sorry for the massive delay in updates, but things have been a bit crazy, I am being forced to keep the two plants in veg till I am able to get a larger tent, which can't happen for a while due to apartment inspections. Sucks but it let my wife see that a fan and carbon filter was a good idea

Currently running a 6 inch oracle inline fan rated at 445 cubic feet a minute, but I got a fan controller to reduce the noise, and so it doesn't inhale the sides of my 2x3x5 tent haha Nice that that Canfilter 33 reduces the flow even more, but still blows my plants around when I unzip the front of the tent

I have also committed to a new nutrient line, Heavy 16. I like how simple it can be, yet with their advanced feeding schedule, you see how easily things from other companies mix in, so I have some plans. I was able to pick up the grow A/B, their professional foliar nutrient and their Prime enhancer. I have tried the foliar spray twice and noticed a little bit leaf movement right after spraying, like the leaves are reaching for the lights.

I also picked up some Cannazym to help with root health and boost things a bit and will be flushing with AN Final Phase before switching from the General Hydroponics 3 part grow/micro/bloom to the 2 part heavy 16 grow system

Nice thing is, the heavy 16 foliar spray is specifically made to reduce plant stress with 4 types of calcium and micro nutrients (says the bottle) such as when cloning the plant, changing plant environment and I would assume, flushing the plant and trying a full dose of new nutrients

I'll be flushing the plants with Final Phase tomorrow and in 24 hours, will be dosing with Heavy 16 veg a/b, cannazym, Dynagro pro-tek, and a tiny bit of thrive b1. I also plan to get house and garden roots excelurator (if my shop has it)

The upcoming goal is a 4x6 foot or 4x8 foot tent, 6 or more bucket dwc system with a 30+ gallon res, and recirculating ability (I will be building myself). As for nutrients the final setup looks like its going to be:

For growth: Heavy 16 Grow A/B, Heavy 16 prime, House and Garden Roots Excelurator, Liquid Karma, Great White, cannazym and dyna gro Pro-tek.

For bud: Heavy 16 Bud A/B, Heavy 16 prime, House and Garden Roots Excelurator, Liquid Karma, Great White, cannazym, dyna gro Pro-tek, AN Big bud, AN Overdrive, budswel, and probably some Purple Maxx sprayed on.

Any suggestions, insights or comments of any type I would be glad to hear and I will be posting pictures tomorrow, if all goes as planned, Plants are a bit more massive than last shown, so ya, good times.

 

[Wheatbran]

Well, I do believe it is time for an update, with PICTURES! it has been a while and a lot has changed.

My setup has changed a bit as I am currently the owner of a 4x8 tent which houses my (for the time) single 600 watt HPS, 2 big-ish plants in 5 gallon dwc buckets, a 6 inch inline fan and 2, 70 liter per minute air pumps(had the 2 big girls separated for a week and will be running 6 buckets or more eventually and the 2 will be needed). I'm also running my original 2x3 tent with a megagarden for vegging, with a 8x24 inch t5ho unit, aaand a little cabinet with 2x 24 t5ho and a clone tray with clones.

I just finally switched the two big plants, OG skunk and Rocklock to flowering nutes and the lights go off for the first time tomorrow at 8am so time to see what crazyness will occur

So time for a couple pictures of the inside of the flowering zone, pictures current as of, well now.

the OG skunk kills the other in height, but it is a bit more sativa than the other so I understand

Yaaa so my phone camera hates floro and HPS lighting so this all the best of the best, sorra

The little tent with the megagarden, plants were taken from clone, a week ago and 2 days ago, and the mom of the LA conf clones, shes not the best looking but she has had a hard life :surrender: She's the Neon looking one in the back middle

My nute shelf

Aaaand the cut clones

So my Nutes have changed officially, full on growth is: Heavy16 growth a/b, heavy 16 prime, Cannazym, Liquid Karma, pro-tekt silicate, rapid start, and great white.

Flowering is: Heavy16 bud a/b, heavy 16 prime, Cannazym, Liquid Karma, pro-tekt silicate, rapid start, great white (first 4-5 weeks), Bud candy, MOAB (first week to promote flowering start) Big bud (weeks 2-5) and overdrive (last week or two)

Should keep things interesting, had a little bit of a fungus gnat infest last week and had to do some killing with azatrol, but everything's looking good so far.

I Plan to throw in 2- 4 new plants every 2 weeks into the flowering room so I can harvest every 2 weeks or so. Fun times I say. Uhhh I think that's about it, I don't know what else to say, sooo, Yay prop 215 and legally doing this

 

[Wheatbran]

Little update.

It has been 3 days of 12/12 and the OG skunk is already showing white pistils in many spots, very awesome. I'm not sure what exactly is the cause for the fast switch over, the heavy 16 bud, the MOAB (mother of all blooms), bud candy, genetics, or all of the above. The Rocklock doesnt seem to be showing pistils yet, but appears be creating the locations for said pistils

I'll update with pictures when I can. I need to find my normal digi camera as the cell camera hates the HPS in all phases of light. Oh well.

 

[Wheatbran]

One more small update, I need to snap pics as the lights come on but I have been lazy. The OG skunk showing more improvement and at 1 week 4 days, there are tons of very obvious budding sights, so glad things are moving along. Unfortunately the Rocklock is once again slow behind the OG.

I'm having to bend the OG skunk under my scrog net, since the light is at the top of my tent now and the top branches are getting within the 6 inch range of the light, so ya without the bucket, the OG Skunk is around 4 feet tall. Fun times

 

[Wheatbran]

hey all,

I finally was able to get a few shots as the light was coming on, 12 days into flowering and the OG skunk is showing nice bud sites already, very happy about that

Soooo on with the show I guess


The first shot here is the whole shebang, OG skunk on the left and Rocklock on the right, which you really cant see in this pic, its just kinda a mess under the scrog

As you may be able to tell, the OG skunk is supposed to be about 80% sativa as the rocklock was sitting on a 6-8 inch tall stand and still isn't near the top. I have had to bend two of the top branches down since the hit the light, and the light is at the top (unless i strap it right to the support and forgo the pulleys, which I might)

But after I took the shots I lifted the net and moved the taller branches over a square or two (6 inch squares according to the hortitrellace package) to expose the middle a bit more and allow the long branches room to lean towards the light. Oh sorry, got distracted, I'll throw the other two pics up.

Here are two shots of the bud formations that are sprouting out everywhere across the OG skunk, the growth on the rocklock looks to be about 3-4 days behind the OG skunk, but really, I haven't had a plant show bud siting this quickly in my last few grows, so I'm not too worried

Well, it's a little late, so that's all for today. I'll try to update more often as things are showing change every day at this point and I couldn't be more excited

 

[Wheatbran]

On a side note, the clones I placed into the megagarden on the first of this month are doing well, some about a 18 inches tall, i may need to LST or top them...... I plan to move the two largest into the flowering tent this week or next. depending on height.

 

[Wheatbran]

Hey guys, a little bit of a mini update here. I was trying to figure out the best way to deal with the clones I have that are well rooted and should be moved from the clone trays (some have been in for a month now) so I did some searching around the forums here and the easiest setup seemed to be 18 ounce cups filled with perlite and a single hole a half inch from the bottom.


Hopefully things work out fairly well with the cups. From the cups the clones will go to the megagarden under a t5 HO 24x8 bulb set, which is full at this time, I have a mom and the biggest of my first round of clone cuttings in larger containers (the mom is a 2 gallon smart pot, very cool in the megagarden, roots just spiking out of the side and bottom like crazy and the big clone in a 7x7inch square pot, the normal pots are 5x5)

As you can see from the below picture, soaking root riot plugs in a gallon of water, with 5 mils each of heavy 16 a/b, 2.5 mils Rapid start, 5 mils liquid karma and 2.5 mils Protekt silicate works fairly well (about 5 were like this as well)

Weeeeee aaand the clones I put into cups, half went beside the clone tray in the little cabinet I use, and the others went beside the Megagarden. I think I may need a 3rd tent to do medium to large vegging.... probably with a flood tray.... I dont know though, not sure how much I can get off a 12-16 inch plant.....

And good times were had by all. I'll update in a few days, the big plants are getting more bud sites every day so ya, things are looking good so far

 

[Wheatbran]

Random update, the wife cut more clones today. Three of each strain I am running currently, Rocklock, OG Skunk and LA confidential. I tried a different mix for the plugs (readygro super plugs, I think I listed something different before, but I was mistaken, I have only used these and rockwool, which just didn't work as well as the plugs)

My mix tonight was rapid start, protekt, liquid karma and a tiny dash of great white, I let the plugs soak for about an hour before the wife cut clones. I guess we'll see what happens, but really, havent had an issue cutting clones since my first try, so not too too worried .

 

[Wheatbran]

Well I was able to take some shots as the lights were coming on showing the bud development and such, but too lazy to post now, so I'll throw those up tomorrow, things still looking great on the OG skunk, the rocklock is just halted pretty much..... YAY and damn