First time DWC, 1 small question.

[User43]

So ive helped many friends over the years with their grow rooms, much bigger operations than what im trying. But they all used soil and I decided
to go DWC on my first attempt, with absolutely no knowledge in the area whatsoever. Just happened to notice the massive change in lighting cost and electricity one day and decided its worth the investment now. Not sure if you need to know but heres a few specs on the room, very low budget.

2x2x4 feet grow tent
1000w LED light
4in inline fan and carbon filter
Tall constant fan(cylinder type)
small space heater
no humidifier (one is otw but I wasn't sure I would have room this is all very recent)
temp control set to 72 minimum and 82 maximum (would love advice on what to set this to, and humidity as well)


So germination started 2/29/20 just to give you an idea on plant age (VERY young)
3/4/20 I put her into the DWC because 3/4 first leaves were out of the shell, it was just waiting to fall off.
Started with the light about 28 inches away, lowered it to 26 inches yesterday no signs of light burn, but might not lower any more.
You will see the root in the picture. Its grown to be just over an inch long growing straight downward.
The water line when I first put the seedling into DWC was almost 2 inches higher, so this thirsty girl has drank roughly 20 ounces of
water, the vast majority of which in the last 2 days. OH yea and the water has no nutes, just hydroguard and balanced to 5.7 once
and has naturally stayed 5.7 every day, multiple readings.

So that's about all the info I can think of that might be relevant, all this about that, my question is this.
I am about to refresh the water, should I refresh it to the current level it is at and let the root continue to drink it down
and "force" it to keep growing nice and long?? Or is it safe to fill it back to where I did the first time so that other roots can more easily reach it?

 

[Airwalker16]

How many times am I and the good semeritans of this forum going to have to do this?
First off... TLDR. TOO MUCH to read.
Also, your light is NOT 1000watts. Probably like 120.

 

[User43]

LEDs are always refered to by their wattage equivalent. so yes, it draws less wattage at the wall, and that is the main reason they are the best light choice when budgets are involved. Also im betting if I wrote the PAR or umol/m2s output the first response would be whats the wattage equivalent....

 

[rkymtnman]

1. time for nutrients-- keep them light maybe 0.2 to 0.3EC
2. keep water about an inch below netpot

 

[User43]

1. time for nutrients-- keep them light maybe 0.2 to 0.3EC
2. keep water about an inch below netpot

Ill add them thank you

 

[User43]

How many times am I and the good semeritans of this forum going to have to do this?
First off... TLDR. TOO MUCH to read.
Also, your light is NOT 1000watts. Probably like 120.

Just got my first reply on 420 magazine forum and guess what it is. A question, FOR MORE INFORMATION... cant please anyone today lol

 

[rkymtnman]

Ill add them thank you

i run my lights 24/0 in veg. helps prevent stretching of seedlings and it's easier to keep temps consistent.

and no, cannabis doesn't need to sleep like humans.

 

[Airwalker16]

i run my lights 24/0 in veg. helps prevent stretching of seedlings and it's easier to keep temps consistent.

and no, cannabis doesn't need to sleep like humans.

I don't know what you're talking about man. Cannabis sleeps every day whether you have the lights off or not, they sleep. You're acting like far red initiators are all just a load of bull shit?
If you check your plants out right as lights turn back ON from being off for 12hrs, you can visibly see they are resting. The leaves are curls down and inwards. Color lightens up a bit and the leaf surface is almost kinda wrinkly.
After an hour under their normal light. They perk up, start photosynthesis again, and the leaves fill with water again, making them pray to the heavens above.

 

[rkymtnman]

If you check your plants out right as lights turn off

kinda hard to do when the lights are on 24/7. C3 plants don't need a dark time for vegging.

 

[User43]

i run my lights 24/0 in veg. helps prevent stretching of seedlings and it's easier to keep temps consistent.

and no, cannabis doesn't need to sleep like humans.

Why is stretching a bad thing for seedlings? is it for final size? because i have a 4x4x7 tent for flowering, when do you typically make the switch?

 

[rkymtnman]

Why is stretching a bad thing for seedlings? is it for final size? because i have a 4x4x7 tent for flowering, when do you typically make the switch?

they will flop over on themselves if they stretch too much. the stem can't handle being so top heavy.

i don't switch over: 24/0 the whole way until 12/12. shorter veg times and shorter node distances with 24/0. and i can keep my grow room temp constant too. if i had a dark period, id' have to run a heater.

there is always a debate about 24/0 vs 18/6 vs 20/4 and i'd suggest running different veg times for yourself. i've tried them all and always come back to 24/0. even Jorge Cervantes recommends 24/0 so i'm in good company. lol.

 

[Airwalker16]

kinda hard to do when the lights are on 24/7. C3 plants don't need a dark time for vegging.

They'll drop for a 6-8 hr period every day at the same time regardless of darkness or not.

 

[rkymtnman]

They'll drop for a 6-8 hr period every day at the same time regardless of darkness or not.

not around here. they pray all day long. gotta keep your light at the right height to not exceed DLI (at least that's my theory)

 

[Airwalker16]

not around here. they pray all day long. gotta keep your light at the right height to not exceed DLI (at least that's my theory)

Agree to disagree I suppose. I beg to differ. @fragileassassin whatchoo think?

 

[fragileassassin]

Plants dont really "sleep" in the same sense that humans and animals do since they dont have a central nervous system. They do however have circadian rhythms/cycles that are somewhat similar.

Our circadian cycles control hormones in our brain that tell us it's time to wake up or it's getting close to bed time mostly due to light stimuli. After a while of a regular sleep/wake cycle, your body starts to anticipate the cycle and will start like pre wakeup and pre bedtime procedures. This is what makes you wake up 5 minutes before your alarm clock goes off or makes it hard to sleep in on the weekends if you always get up at the same time on the week days.

Plants have fewer basic functions. Eat, grow, survive. Their circadian cycles are geared towards these things. They will learn to anticipate sunrise and perk up to maximize the amount of light exposure they get while the sun is up. So as soon as the sun is up they're already reaching for it. They can also use their cycles to help ward off predators. If they pick up that theres a certain time of day that things are feeding on it, it can automatically take a more defensive stance to try to protect itself. Much like our cycles, they will become more pronounced and easily noticeable on a set schedule. This is why we see plants praying before our lights come on and before they go off. In a 24 hour light situation, the cycles are still there but are less pronounced and can become so minor they're unnoticeable. It's like if you were to live with no alarms in a house with no windows and woke up and went to bed at random times. If theres no pattern for your cycle to sync up to, your body wont anticipate when it's time to wake up or go to bed.

 

[Airwalker16]

Plants dont really "sleep" in the same sense that humans and animals do since they dont have a central nervous system. They do however have circadian rhythms/cycles that are somewhat similar.

Our circadian cycles control hormones in our brain that tell us it's time to wake up or it's getting close to bed time mostly due to light stimuli. After a while of a regular sleep/wake cycle, your body starts to anticipate the cycle and will start like pre wakeup and pre bedtime procedures. This is what makes you wake up 5 minutes before your alarm clock goes off or makes it hard to sleep in on the weekends if you always get up at the same time on the week days.

Plants have fewer basic functions. Eat, grow, survive. Their circadian cycles are geared towards these things. They will learn to anticipate sunrise and perk up to maximize the amount of light exposure they get while the sun is up. So as soon as the sun is up they're already reaching for it. They can also use their cycles to help ward off predators. If they pick up that theres a certain time of day that things are feeding on it, it can automatically take a more defensive stance to try to protect itself. Much like our cycles, they will become more pronounced and easily noticeable on a set schedule. This is why we see plants praying before our lights come on and before they go off. In a 24 hour light situation, the cycles are still there but are less pronounced and can become so minor they're unnoticeable. It's like if you were to live with no alarms in a house with no windows and woke up and went to bed at random times. If theres no pattern for your cycle to sync up to, your body wont anticipate when it's time to wake up or go to bed.

Now that's what I call an analogy!!!

 

[User43]

they will flop over on themselves if they stretch too much. the stem can't handle being so top heavy.

i don't switch over: 24/0 the whole way until 12/12. shorter veg times and shorter node distances with 24/0. and i can keep my grow room temp constant too. if i had a dark period, id' have to run a heater.

there is always a debate about 24/0 vs 18/6 vs 20/4 and i'd suggest running different veg times for yourself. i've tried them all and always come back to 24/0. even Jorge Cervantes recommends 24/0 so i'm in good company. lol.

I have planned to veg a longer time, my plan is to have the final height of the plant to be about 4 ft. It will flower in a 7ft tent I think that's about
the max before they just block light. maybe 4.5 ft. Its all for personal use so im also in no hurry, and ive heard the later weeks are crucial for potency. But maybe im missing some reasons to grow smaller plants more frequently, is there less risk of disease or mites or something?