2nd Effort DIY DWC 1 x Fem Skywalker, 1 x Fem Brainstorm

Che Paddy

Well-Known Member
So Im back again for a second effort. Anyone that saw my ill fated first attempt will know how that ended. About time a have a go again. After about a year or so I got back into some research and have decided on a DWC set up. Soil is too messy for a apartment. Have Doctored a Ikea 4 drawer chest of drawers and figure that it could hold a maximum of four plants but gonna start with just 2. Not in the US so found a ikea tub that ive modified to hold the two net pots instead of a rubbermaid tub.Have figured that I need to put 6 litres of water in the tub to just reach the bottom of nets. Have started the two magic beans in rockwool in a propigator and they have broken surface and they will get moved to the cab one I get hold of a my bulb. Was relying on a blue spectrum cfl from a friend but it was broken and no grow shop in my city have 125w blue spectrum cfl so need to wait a day or 2 and hope the daylight will be okay for the sprouts. Wanted to do T5 but as I said im not in us and cant find a european stockiist. Does anyone know of anyobe place in europe that stocks New wave or sunblaze T5 fitting or will ship from america to europe. Anyway gonna veg under a 125w blue spctrum cfl then flower with 200w red spectrum cfl. Any opinions on whether that will be enough for 2 plants? Only gonna veg for 2 vweeks as grow space could be an issue and might try sog.
Got a handly Hesi starter hydro kit for €50 today that has everything I need.
http://www.hesi.nl/english/producten.htm

Have completely mylared the inside of the cab and even used mylar tape. Well worth the cost but very hard to handle. Not gonna worry about odour control for the minute but have a mini carbon filter in the pipe line that will fit perfectly. Cabs just being finished at the moment . SLowly coming together piece by piece.Will post pictures in the next day or two.

Anyway just an introduction to my grow journal and hope people will tag along for the ride. Promise as many pictures as possible.
:peace:Chepaddy
 

Che Paddy

Well-Known Member
Spent the afternoon light proofing and nearly have the cab perfect but had to make do with

one or two things thatmake it light proof but not perfectly stealth. Will improve in time. Moved sprouts into the dwc tub. Just need roots to find way down into resvoir.

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Che Paddy

Well-Known Member
Been a few days and they seem to be coming on well. The slightly taller one has its roots just reaching the nutrient solution. Need to start thinking about a exhaust fan. Girlfriend is pretty sensitive to noise so looking to see what the quietest fan out there would be. Have seen the panasonic whisperline but that seems kile it would take up alot of space inside. Was thinking of putting fan outside and ducting out from the small carbon filter inside. Other problem is that it stops it being stealth. Can anyone esitmate how long the roots will grow. Just got a bit worried about them covering the airstone. Resevoir isnt very deep. Any advice welcomed
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Does this seedling look a little strange colour. Thats the one that has reached the nutrient solution and worrying is it a bit stong. Its a third of the recommended dosage that was on the feeding schedule

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Che Paddy

Well-Known Member
So its been about 10 days since they were planted into their pots and put in the system. Roots have reached the nutrient solution and seem to be reacting well. I put some growth, root stimulator and power enzyme and a dorp of the super vit. All those amounts are a third of recommended dosage. Was in the grow shop the other day and got a cfl reflector that they were throwing out for cheap. Stops bulb hanging down and causing plants to turn. Currently on 18/6. Was reading somewhere that the veg process doesnt start till the 4th node. Is that correct?

Keeping light as close to them as possible cause want them as short and stocky as possible. Shouldnt be too hard with them being full indicas. Debating on lst them to conserve space. Can this only be done in the veg period? At what stage can you start to lst? As always opinions good or bad welcomed

New CFL relector

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You can just make out the root mass

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This one is the larger of the two with the big root mass. Just sort of dawned on me that I dont rememeber which one is which. Well it can be a competition to see if anyone can guess.

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mr west

Well-Known Member
looking good che mate, I think u can start lst as soon as the plant is strong enough i think.
 

mared juwan

Well-Known Member
Looks great man. I don't know much about dwc but I'll follow along here. Interesting strains. Best of luck dude.
 

Che Paddy

Well-Known Member
So the sprouts are just about 2 and a half weeks old. Coming along nicely. Can see a slight bit of nute burn from the first feeding I gave them. Doesn't seem to have caused too much damage. Went to change the water today and hit them with a second feeding and the bottom of the resevoir had algae on it. Not a lot but a small covering. Now Ive noticed that one of th root masses has alittle bit on it. Will that cause a lot of problems. Had to remove resevoir from cab so I took the top off and have it suspended on boxes for a bit while I clean tub and mix up some fresh nuts. Will that cause problems do you think or is it ok for an half hour or so?
Starting to think about lst. From the pictures does anyone think that it would be ok to start? Cant believe how big the roots had grown already!

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The burn victim

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Che Paddy

Well-Known Member
So my two babies are now 3 weeks old. Gonna give one more week of veg and then its time for 12/12. Girlfriend has mentioned that theres a smell of green in the room so decided it was time for carbon filter and fan. Shes also really sensitve to noise too so needed to get the quietest fan I could. Went to my hydro shop and the guy advised me on the quiestest one and hooked it up with fan control. Took it home and installed it. Pretty quiet if your not in the room but might try to get it more stealthy with a fan speed dimmer. Small cab too so don't need massive suction. ONly problem is that its taken up a bit of space in the cab but nessecary evil. Noticed algae in the resevoir and took it out to clean and refill. Ended up having a splif and fell asleep then woke up and after being out of the resevoir they were wilted. Gotr them straight back in and they perked right up. Was asking about a 250w hps in the hydro shop. Wondering if the cab space would be too small. He mentioned that in the 2 weeks prior to going to 12/12 and after 12/12 the plants will stretch for blue light. That mean I should keep 6500k bulb in for first two weeks of 12/12?

Anyone heard of doing this?
Think ive probably stressed them enough today so gonna tie them down tommorro and lst for the last week of veg. Enough of the crap and some pics

New Fan

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The root mass and stopped growing but there seems to be a little algae on some of the roots but nothing to major. Will be monitoring it

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The next two pictures I cant understand. THey are 2 aerial shots off the plants and the two strains are supposed to b 100% indica the the first pics look way more like a sativa being thin and long while the others are fat and stubby.

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Group shot

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mared juwan

Well-Known Member
Looks great bro. I've never tried keeping the blue light during the beginning of flower. Makes sense though I guess. There's no buds to fatten up with yellow light in the beginning. The only part that doesn't make sense is that he said they stretch for blue light in the two weeks PRIOR to switching to 12/12. How do the plants know when they will be switched? Anyways it would be interesting if you tried it.
 

Che Paddy

Well-Known Member
Looks great bro. I've never tried keeping the blue light during the beginning of flower. Makes sense though I guess. There's no buds to fatten up with yellow light in the beginning. The only part that doesn't make sense is that he said they stretch for blue light in the two weeks PRIOR to switching to 12/12. How do the plants know when they will be switched? Anyways it would be interesting if you tried it.
Just re read what I wrote and your right. How would they know they're gonna go 12/12. Duh!!! Think I'll try the blue spectrum for first 2 weeks of 12/12.. Growing is all about experimenting right?
Just had a quick look at them and the amount they have progressed in under 12 hours. Amazing how much water they've used overnight. Seem to love the dose of nutes I gave them too. Gonna tie them down now I think. Only one more week then the fun time begins!
 

mr west

Well-Known Member
So my two babies are now 3 weeks old. Gonna give one more week of veg and then its time for 12/12. Girlfriend has mentioned that theres a smell of green in the room so decided it was time for carbon filter and fan. Shes also really sensitve to noise too so needed to get the quietest fan I could. Went to my hydro shop and the guy advised me on the quiestest one and hooked it up with fan control. Took it home and installed it. Pretty quiet if your not in the room but might try to get it more stealthy with a fan speed dimmer. Small cab too so don't need massive suction. ONly problem is that its taken up a bit of space in the cab but nessecary evil. Noticed algae in the resevoir and took it out to clean and refill. Ended up having a splif and fell asleep then woke up and after being out of the resevoir they were wilted. Gotr them straight back in and they perked right up. Was asking about a 250w hps in the hydro shop. Wondering if the cab space would be too small. He mentioned that in the 2 weeks prior to going to 12/12 and after 12/12 the plants will stretch for blue light. That mean I should keep 6500k bulb in for first two weeks of 12/12?

Anyone heard of doing this?
Think ive probably stressed them enough today so gonna tie them down tommorro and lst for the last week of veg. Enough of the crap and some pics

New Fan

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The root mass and stopped growing but there seems to be a little algae on some of the roots but nothing to major. Will be monitoring it

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The next two pictures I cant understand. THey are 2 aerial shots off the plants and the two strains are supposed to b 100% indica the the first pics look way more like a sativa being thin and long while the others are fat and stubby.

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Group shot

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bumpin for the new page lol.
 

Che Paddy

Well-Known Member
Had decided on using a 250w cfl for flowering but after much thought decided research made up my mind that a 250w hps was gonna be the way forward. Next was the issue of heat in such a small cab. Have seen grows where people have used 250w in tiny spaces so went back to hydro store with my 250w cfl and got a 250w hps with a cool tube. Did some maintenece on the cab and have everything nicely installed.

Switched them to 12/12 yesterday hit them with a half strenght dose of flowering nutes. AGain think I might have slightly overdone it but adding fresh water to resevoir to dilute it further. Waiting on thermometer so dont know exact temps but they seem to be no warmer than with the 150 cfl. Can hold my hand an inch under the cooltube and can even touch the cool tube for a bit. Am very happy and plants seem to be loving the extra wattage and lumens.

Had toyed with the ide of leaving the blue spectrum for the first two weeeks of flower but only purchased a red spectrum Philips 250 watt Son-T Plus HPS Lamp. They didnt have a dual spectrum in a 250w.

Gave myself a little bit of a fright. Had thought that brainstorm was full indica and couldnt figure why it didnt look busy like the other one. Doing some research today and found that its actuall a indica and sativa hybrid and can gow to 1.2 m which is space I really dont have. Had myself convinced that it was indica. Proves that you can never do enough research. Is it possible to tie a plant while in the stretch phase?

Heres a few pictures of thee new set up and the babies.

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Ive started to notice some algae on the roots. Does anyone think that this is going to cause a problem. Change the resevoir ever week and wash it out but algae seems to come back. Any way to stop it apart from preventing all light, Need to put mylar on top of the resevoir i think.

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mr west

Well-Known Member
Yeah id stop all light getting into the roots area. I have bent plants in the stretch of 12/12, they turned too the light in bout an hour or so and the bend thickens up nicely during the rest of the grow.
 

Che Paddy

Well-Known Member
So iv been away for the last few days and fair play to my girlfriend she looked after the babies for me. Got back today and its the end of the first week of flowering. Plants have grown so much in the last week. They have been able to get really close to the light which I think has caused some bleaching on the leaves. Have moved the planst so they wont be as close. Plants have really sprout and a little bit concerned with height so may have tie them down a little.

Am i right in saying that I should be able to tell female at about two weeks and male a little earlier?

Also when Im changing the water in the resevoir and cleaning it will it greatly stress the plnts to be removing them from the water ?

Any tips or opinions greatly appreciated

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Ive figured that this is the Brainstorm cause its the more sativa looking of the two.


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This one is skywalker.


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The next two pictures are the yellowing that I think is because it was two close to the light

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Che Paddy

Well-Known Member
looking good man id be tempted to pinch n bend them over in a small cab. how much height have you to play with?
Cab is only a metre tall so its tight enough when you consider the 6 inches for the resevoir and then the cool tube and the space below it. Is it correct that the plants will stop growing up after the stretch phase and just start budding at the same height?
 
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