bubblescrogs
Well-Known Member
Long time lurker, first time journaler. Haven't done a grow for 5 years so thought I'd throw up a journal for anybody else doing similar stuff to learn from my mistakes (and hopefully get some tips from the pros!). Normally I run 2 x 400w HPS in a top fed recirc system. So LEDs and RDWC will be a new challenge.
As the title says, I've got 2x Nirvana Gelato (feminized) that I'm trying to SCRoG in a RDWC system I pieced together. It's a bit different to most RDWCs I've seen here, as the water fills from the bottom of the pot and drains through a centre pipe with a drain fitting on top:
First lesson learned - 19mm pipe for the drain was too small. I used it for most of veg but it was a bitch to get the flow rate right so that it would fill both pots equally and not overflow (pumping more in than the drain could take out). Moved to 32mm fittings and it works a treat. Wasn't sure how this design would go for roots clogging up the drain but they survived veg with decent enough root systems after 4 weeks from seed:
This approach does have a couple of benefits though - middle of the root ball is getting heaps of air, have had issues with big clumps in the middle before going bad. Also creates a waterfall effect to oxygenate the res as the water falls down the pipe and gravity feeds/burps back into the res. I've got some air stones in each pot but this is a decent half-ass backup if an air pump goes on me.
Vegged them for a couple of weeks under a HLG100 4000K but quickly ran out of space under the garage bench. Plan was to get them started there and then move to the flower room but (un?)fortunately their growth exceeded my build time. Topped them at the 5th set and did some minimal LST to spread them out a bit
They were getting pummelled by that HLG at about 700 umol with no headspace to move the light, so I had to act before they started frying up. I had an old 3 x 3 tent laying around so I'll finish them in there to get a feel for how this strain stretches and can do the flower room properly. If anybody has experience with similar looking gelato phenos, would love to hear from you! Nirvana says this strain packs tight nodes and smashing them with that much light no doubt contributed to it growing like a head of lettuce instead of the devil's lettuce
They are in the tent now, shoddy emergency SCRoG deployed and flipped to flower 2 nights ago:
I'll probably try and rebuild the net tonight before things get too hectic. Bought a dehumidifier in my rush and figure it'll fit under the net if I give it another inch of height. The net only has two legs and I'm using the dehuey as support for the other side. That is going to end in tears real quick from emptying the dehuey plus I'd like the extra 6" x 36" of net in case these stretch their legs. I picked up two Migro Aray 3's for the flower room but I'm only using one for this tent run:
After some (quick) research, these seemed like a decent LED option. My flower room is very height constrained - usually have some growth around the sides of the cool tubes on the 400s
These can run optimally in flower at 6-8" from the canopy with much more even distribution. At 16" in veg they pump pretty hard (750-800 umol) so we'll see how that works out.
Any constructive feedback welcomed and I'll try keep this updated as I try/fail to finish these off.
As the title says, I've got 2x Nirvana Gelato (feminized) that I'm trying to SCRoG in a RDWC system I pieced together. It's a bit different to most RDWCs I've seen here, as the water fills from the bottom of the pot and drains through a centre pipe with a drain fitting on top:
First lesson learned - 19mm pipe for the drain was too small. I used it for most of veg but it was a bitch to get the flow rate right so that it would fill both pots equally and not overflow (pumping more in than the drain could take out). Moved to 32mm fittings and it works a treat. Wasn't sure how this design would go for roots clogging up the drain but they survived veg with decent enough root systems after 4 weeks from seed:
This approach does have a couple of benefits though - middle of the root ball is getting heaps of air, have had issues with big clumps in the middle before going bad. Also creates a waterfall effect to oxygenate the res as the water falls down the pipe and gravity feeds/burps back into the res. I've got some air stones in each pot but this is a decent half-ass backup if an air pump goes on me.
Vegged them for a couple of weeks under a HLG100 4000K but quickly ran out of space under the garage bench. Plan was to get them started there and then move to the flower room but (un?)fortunately their growth exceeded my build time. Topped them at the 5th set and did some minimal LST to spread them out a bit
They were getting pummelled by that HLG at about 700 umol with no headspace to move the light, so I had to act before they started frying up. I had an old 3 x 3 tent laying around so I'll finish them in there to get a feel for how this strain stretches and can do the flower room properly. If anybody has experience with similar looking gelato phenos, would love to hear from you! Nirvana says this strain packs tight nodes and smashing them with that much light no doubt contributed to it growing like a head of lettuce instead of the devil's lettuce
They are in the tent now, shoddy emergency SCRoG deployed and flipped to flower 2 nights ago:
I'll probably try and rebuild the net tonight before things get too hectic. Bought a dehumidifier in my rush and figure it'll fit under the net if I give it another inch of height. The net only has two legs and I'm using the dehuey as support for the other side. That is going to end in tears real quick from emptying the dehuey plus I'd like the extra 6" x 36" of net in case these stretch their legs. I picked up two Migro Aray 3's for the flower room but I'm only using one for this tent run:
After some (quick) research, these seemed like a decent LED option. My flower room is very height constrained - usually have some growth around the sides of the cool tubes on the 400s
These can run optimally in flower at 6-8" from the canopy with much more even distribution. At 16" in veg they pump pretty hard (750-800 umol) so we'll see how that works out.Any constructive feedback welcomed and I'll try keep this updated as I try/fail to finish these off.
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