First Time Trying DWC

[Pyke]

So I have tried my hand at soil grows 4 times and have been struggling for some reason. I have always really enjoyed watching DWC and other hydro types of grows. So after talking with my wife, she gave me the green light to build a small DWC system.

Samsara Holy Grail 69 Strain
18/6 Light Schedule
I have a 2'6"x4' Grow tent
Mars 300w led grow light
I built my bucket from a Lowe's bucket and wrapped it with aluminum tape to block out any unwanted light.
I am using General Hydroponics Flora Series Performance Pack w/ PH UP and Down
I picked up a ppm meter.

So I have never posted here and did not keep track of which days the pictures were taken. But I figured I would start this thread to help me track my grow and maybe get some advice if you guys see me doing something wrong. Keep in mind I am a newb at best so I may be doing some stupid things so please chime in.

The last 2 pictures were taken this morning and are 28 days from seed. How do they look? A little small?
Thanks in advance

 

[Anon Emaus]

Good work, looks great. Can't really see the roots with the light on but plant looks great. Size is fine it should explode in growth any day now.

 

[firsttimeARE]

Roots look dark.

Not bad growth for 28 days from seed. Not great. But for your first try its not bad.

 

[Pyke]

Thanks guys, I will try to start taking pictures with that light.
Yes I did notice the roots looked darker than most the pictures I usually see. Off to research a possible fix for this.

All you guys make this look easier than it has been for me, I just can't quit get the results I am aiming for, but I will eventually find the right schedule and setup for me.

 

[Anon Emaus]

Thanks guys, I will try to start taking pictures with that light.
Yes I did notice the roots looked darker than most the pictures I usually see. Off to research a possible fix for this.

All you guys make this look easier than it has been for me, I just can't quit get the results I am aiming for, but I will eventually find the right schedule and setup for me.

Welcome man! Throw up a pic without the led on and we could give a better root diagnosis. If it is rot it must be pretty new because you'd most likely be seeing it in the leaves shortly after. If it is you can kill it with H202 and then run some benneficial bacteria(great white, hydroguard, ect.) after the H202 dissolves to prevent it coming back. Or you could just run H202 all the time, up to personal preference.

Practice makes perfect!

 

[Gregor Eisenhorn]

Hey man love your setup!

I'm a little concerned about the roots, they look a bit slushy to me. Some nutrient lines can really stain roots, to the point that they're almost brown. Do your roots smell bad in any way? And do they feel slimey to the touch?

 

[Pyke]

Hey man love your setup!

I'm a little concerned about the roots, they look a bit slushy to me. Some nutrient lines can really stain roots, to the point that they're almost brown. Do your roots smell bad in any way? And do they feel slimey to the touch?

They don't stink or feel slimy. At first I thought it was maybe the floralicious plus that came in my pack of nutrients. It is thick, black and coats my spoon like crazy when added to the water.

 

[Hawzzy]

I think it looks pretty good. I do agree about the roots though....could use some beneficial bacteria tea. It downright saved my rdwc grow.

https://www.rollitup.org/t/dwc-root-slime-cure-aka-how-to-breed-beneficial-microbes.361430/page-202

Thats a link to Heisenburg's tea thread...full of great info. That particular page has pics of my roots before and after. I have a 2 tote rdwc...using the EXACT nutes as you.
As AE says above...those beneficial bacteria products work great....the idea behind the tea is breeding the bacteria these products contain to get WAY MORE bang for your buck and make them last 10 times longer.

See how your roots are abundant and full under the water level....but above they look a little thin and mushy....I found the same...maybe its just your light....the thread link above is still a great read tho.

 

[Rahz]

If those dark spots in the root pics are brown or discolored the tea is probably the best way to fix the root rot. Adding microbes directly can slow and perhaps reverse it but the tea can sometimes cause 24-48 hour reversals.

 

[Pyke]

Thanks for the advice guys. I will take some time to read up on that and see what I can do.

I had a death in the family and have not had much free time to spend helping my girl out. But I checked her this morning and she is growing pretty good after a fresh nute change. I am going to pick up another air stone because I am not getting as much bubbles in the bucket as I would like to see.
I will take some more pictures here soon to show my progress.

Another quick question though, I know I have read it or could find it but I am a little flustered at the moment but, how long do most people veg. their girls before switching them to flower? I am about 35 days from seed.

 

[rkymtnman]

how long do most people veg. their girls before switching them to flower?

depends on how tall your grow space is. and your light too. a 300w led won't do well wiht a 4 ft tall plant whereas a 1000 hps would do fine with a 4 footer

figure your plant will at least double in size too when you go to 12/12

 

[WeedFreak78]

Roots look fine to me, i think the brown people are seeing is just shadows. I could be wrong. My roots almost always have a slight brown tint to them, especially at/ just above the water line, caused by my nutes. If it smells good and isn't slimy, i wouldn't worry about it. You could try some hyroguard by Botanicare. Since i started using it i haven't had one spot of problems and i see mid upper 70's in my res's sometimes.

 

[Pyke]

I am wondering if my Hydroton is the cause of my roots being darker than what I want. I washed them off in PH'd water but when I clean my bucket every week I get a film on the side, very minimal but it looks like residue left over from dirty water. Not slime just a chalk like film. The dark part of my roots is mostly near the base of the net pot now. Either way she seems to be healthy. She is not huge by any means but looks better than any other plant I have tried to grow in soil.
Anyways here are a few pictures from last night. Sorry about the light, I have them in a dark area of my house that doesn't have any other type of light and I am too lazy to go get anything to take better pictures at the moment.

Day 41 from seed. Kind of small but that is okay as long as she seems healthy.
I just switched to 12/12 but may need to get a led light with more red to help throw her into flower. Am I thinking correctly when I say that?

Thanks for all the help and advice guys, I really appreciate it.

 

[Pyke]

Another question I have is should I trim anything off, there is a lot of small growth in the center of the plant that is not getting light. Is it beneficial to chop that stuff out or just leave it?

 

[Anon Emaus]

I am wondering if my Hydroton is the cause of my roots being darker than what I want. I washed them off in PH'd water but when I clean my bucket every week I get a film on the side, very minimal but it looks like residue left over from dirty water. Not slime just a chalk like film. The dark part of my roots is mostly near the base of the net pot now. Either way she seems to be healthy. She is not huge by any means but looks better than any other plant I have tried to grow in soil.
Anyways here are a few pictures from last night. Sorry about the light, I have them in a dark area of my house that doesn't have any other type of light and I am too lazy to go get anything to take better pictures at the moment.

Day 41 from seed. Kind of small but that is okay as long as she seems healthy.
I just switched to 12/12 but may need to get a led light with more red to help throw her into flower. Am I thinking correctly when I say that?

Thanks for all the help and advice guys, I really appreciate it.

It's probably just the nutes causing the discoloration and chalkyness on the side of res. Mine do the same. It's clearly not root rot or you'd know by now.

Not too bad for 41 days, good for your first dwc! As for the LED question idk anything about them so sorry can't help ya there.

 

[Anon Emaus]

Another question I have is should I trim anything off, there is a lot of small growth in the center of the plant that is not getting light. Is it beneficial to chop that stuff out or just leave it?

Yeah since you're flipping i'd start ridding of any tiny stragglers, they'll just be a waste anyway. Nothing up high though, just low stuff. It might not be too late to start LSTing(it is late but it'll only do good), i'd suggest tying some branches down/out to the edges and seeing if you can get some more light to the inside of the plant maybe there are some medium shoots in there that will become salvagable with some more light. Be careful though, with how it's been grown idk how stiff they are, don't wanna break any. If they're stiff just bend a little at a time.

 

[Gregor Eisenhorn]

Looking great mate!

If you live in America, try to get some HTH Pool Shock, it completely wipes out all the nasties in the reservoir, and it's cheap as can be.

 

[Pyke]

Looking great mate!

If you live in America, try to get some HTH Pool Shock, it completely wipes out all the nasties in the reservoir, and it's cheap as can be.

I will definitely get my hands on some of this. I could use a liltle cleaner reservoir.

Well it has been a crazy couple weeks at work. Haven't been spending as much time as I would like with her but she is doing extremely well with all the neglect she has been receiving.
I forgot to take any pictures last night but I will get them posted up soon.

I have been changing the reservoir weekly and adding fresh water w/ nutes as needed but probably not as often as I should.
I also trimmed her up a little bit and am already needing to do it again

Now my next obstacle I have to tackle is flowering. I switched to 12/12 2 weeks ago and nothing is happening except for rapid growth. No white hairs or any of the other signs on the last small grows I have done. Anyway I was reading why it may not be flowering. Everyone says to check for light leaks, check your timer etc. Me being stubborn tell myself my timer works and the lights are off 12/12 I guarantee it. Well 10 days goes by and I happen to need to go into the grow area when I see light coming from my tent when it should be off. What the hell, as I run over to open the tent and find the 2 additional cfl lights I put in to try to add some red light were not plugged into the damn timer.


So I am back to waiting another week to see if she will snap out of veg and into flower. If she won't I am going to probably buy another led with some red in it. Anybody know of a cheap light that will do what I am needing it to do?

 

[Bud Assasin]

I would double check your timer settings and verify they are coming on at the set times, then I would look to see if light was getting in anywhere like zipper seems, or stitching on tents ot door jams in a room etc.
If all is well it should flower, some take longer than others, ie: some Sativa dominant plants can take a while to start flowering.
Patience is virtuous.
I have a RDWC on the go and it has taken a week to show hairs, check at the nodes where the preflowers start.

 

[Anon Emaus]

I will definitely get my hands on some of this. I could use a liltle cleaner reservoir.

Well it has been a crazy couple weeks at work. Haven't been spending as much time as I would like with her but she is doing extremely well with all the neglect she has been receiving.
I forgot to take any pictures last night but I will get them posted up soon.

I have been changing the reservoir weekly and adding fresh water w/ nutes as needed but probably not as often as I should.
I also trimmed her up a little bit and am already needing to do it again

Now my next obstacle I have to tackle is flowering. I switched to 12/12 2 weeks ago and nothing is happening except for rapid growth. No white hairs or any of the other signs on the last small grows I have done. Anyway I was reading why it may not be flowering. Everyone says to check for light leaks, check your timer etc. Me being stubborn tell myself my timer works and the lights are off 12/12 I guarantee it. Well 10 days goes by and I happen to need to go into the grow area when I see light coming from my tent when it should be off. What the hell, as I run over to open the tent and find the 2 additional cfl lights I put in to try to add some red light were not plugged into the damn timer.


So I am back to waiting another week to see if she will snap out of veg and into flower. If she won't I am going to probably buy another led with some red in it. Anybody know of a cheap light that will do what I am needing it to do?

If you had a light leak bad enough to cause any problems you'd know. Minor light leaks are no worries. It's probably just the strain, I've had some take less than a week and another take 3 weeks. Just gotta give her time.