DWC Grow Journal White Widow Feminised/Auto First Grow

Hey guys, its Smokee. I posted this grow journal in the 'Grow Journal' section but is getting absolutely no attention or responses. Now, since this is my first grow, I could use some advice here and there, as I'm sure most of you know.

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  A few details about the system...
  
  - Two 5 gallon Deep Water Culture System
  - Two 4 in. air stones
  - Rockwool, hydrtoton, netpots, etc.
  - The seeds are AUTOFLOWERING Feminized White Widow seeds.
  - 4 23W CFL
  
  I've seen I need to be around a 5.8/9, is this correct. Room temperature is all good, and I also have two fans and a vent system, IF needed.
  
  These pictures below are from 5 days since placing in rockwool.
  
  ANY ADVICE AND SUGGESTIONS ARE APPRECIATED!!
  
  
  Thanks
  -Smoke
  
  
  

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Today is one week of vegetation . The girls are are looking beautiful in my opinion. Can I please get some opinions or advice please? How does everything look? Would you change anything?

thanks guys,
smoke

So far, so good. A couple of observations...I'm sure that you can loosen up a bit more on your pH range. 5.5 to 6.8 has always worked well for me and will save you lots of headaches and time trying to nail it at 5.8/9 everytime. I'd also upgrade to a stronger light asap. In the meantime, keep what you have as close to the plants as you possibly can. Good luck.

What light would you suggest. I can get hps at Home Depot/lowes no problem but I don't know where to get a hood. Any suggestions for a physical type location I should pick one up, or what exactly I should scoop. Today just completed day nine since germ. More pics either later tonight or tomorrow morning. Thanks!

If you want to stay small and not invest in ventilation, a 250w switchable lumatek ballast and a-wing reflector would be good.

Here's a ballast for $100... you would have to buy a reflector and the lamps separately. If money is a problem, a lot of people go with apollo or ipower kits off ebay or amazon... ever wut u need $150. I have seen a couple threads about the ipower and "cheapy" digital ballasts causing RF interference in neighbors' cable tv causing the cable company to come investigate... so if you live in apartment/condo/etc, might want to look at shielding, or just get a good digital ballast like lumatek, or get a magnetic ballast.

As for physical locations, you would probably have to go to a hydro shop. You could possibly find something that would work at an electrical supply store or something... craig's list is an option but always sketchy.

Along with moving those lights down to about 1 inch from the tops of the plants, I would take those cubes out of the hydroton now while the roots are still inside the rockwool and bury them deeper in the hydroton if you can. That will eliminate some of that super stretch you got going on. And the hydroton will support the stems so you dont have to hold them up with strings. I noticed that your hydroton looks very wet at the top and the plants seem to be wet as well. Why is this? What's the water level in your res? Once you get those CFLs close to the plants you want to avoid getting water on the foliage as the droplets will magnify the light and could cause burns on the leaves. Overall, good start, and definitely start thinking about way more CFLs or a HID light. Good luck.

Another suggestion would be after you lower the rockwool cubes in the hydroton lower and once the plant is above the pot.. Get that hydroton covered. With it being wet your asking for algae to build up eventually. You don't want that. First algae, then root slime.. You'll get PH swings thats gona throw your plant for a loop de loop. Keep everything as clean as you can. And if you haven't already, get yourself a PH pen and a ppm meter.

Hey guys. Lowered the rockwool, added hydroton, and STOPPED misting the plant. Tonight I am cutting out white circles to cover the hydroton and eliminate light. I have purchased a meter for the ph but have not bought a 'ppm' meter yet. Wasn't sure if it would be necessary for me, since I am using no nutrients until flowering. The plants are at 11 days since I placed them in the rockwool, and are both at about 2.5 in a piece. Both look beautifully green and I am noticing no ph burn and the roots that I have been able to see are bright white. Thanks for all the help. Can anyone tell me if I truly need the ppm meter and if so where can I get it at? Thanks again!

Why aren't you using grow nutes... just using high ppm tap water or something?

I am using spring water that tests at a 6.4. My dad is a little old school and wouldn't agree to the nutrients during the veg stage. But I insisted for flowering. I have seen it done before and everything worked out fine. But a far as the ppm I'm an amateur. Didn't know how necessary it was seeing as how I've never seen them used before.

Well it won't veg on just water and air.

He may be old school, but that means he probably hasn't grown hydro. Soil has some nutrients in it already. Hydro only has what you put into it.

I'm not knocking ur dad but even old dogs need to learn new tricks. You can get away without a ppm meter in the beginning because u only want the plant to get a light nute solution like 300 ppm for seedlings which is what u have. I use regular tap water until the second set of leaves (second set after the round leaves) then I start with mild nutes 200-300 ppm.
Get some better lights. Ur trying to gro plants in a Ferrari but with a VW engine-CFLs.
After about a week in mild nutes start increasing ur feed. This is when a ppm meter is important. As long as u stay below the recmended feed schedule on the back of nutrient bottles u shouldn't burn your plants. Of course it also depends on how many additives u add to ur feed schedule because e dry thing u add brings up ur ppm. If u were in soil u cod concentrate on ur ph & slack on ppms but hydro is no joke u can burn ur plant out in a day
Keep it simple. Keep nutes light but yes use veg nutes. Good luck cuz....

I should have said use only half the recamended nutes on the back of the bottles at least for the first few weeks of veg

ya ..what they all said..no nutes first days or week..the gradually work in the grow nutes..then do the same with bloom nutes (when its time)

bought some nutes! took care of that problem in a heartbeat once i explained to him what we were working with. looks like my second set of leaves is coming in so I will try to find a ppm meter somewhere close within the next day or so. the girls are still looking great though, more pictures tonight. there is no doubt that she has done much better since i quit misting her every so often. also, my first root has reached the water from the bottom of the pot. bright white, for now. thanks for all the help.

Hey guys I bought flora gro for nutrients. What ppm should I be at during this stage? Somewhere between 100-200? More pictures coming tomorrow for their two week birthdays. Girls are looking awesome. I now have everything I need, except for my 400w hps that is on the way. Does anyone also know how much the hps should affect my electric bill?

U got it smokee. Keep nutes light, less is more at this stage. They r still babies. The thing that I learned the hard way is the shit can go wrong quick if u over feed.
As far as ur electric bill the 400 shouldn't run u more than $20-$30 extra on ur electric bill. It's the guys running 10-1000 that have electric bills that get noticed. I have a buddy that pay $800 a month just for his setup but he runs 15000 watts and a shit load of fans all the pumps etc.

Awesome guys, right now I am giving them about 5 tsp a piece. But how often should I do this? Once a week when I clean bucket? Also, have questions about one of the roots. I noticed it looked a little grimy this morning. Wiped it all off. Notice it no where else inside of buckets. The roots are still bright white, but is this algae? If so, what actions should I take?



^^day 14^^

Hey guys these are pictures from this morning, day 16. I am beginning to worry a little bit about Abby, my little girl on the left. She is clearly the smaller of the two. While she looks completely healthy and green, her root has still not reached the water. My other girl Maddie, the stronger of the two already has a root three inches long in the water and is getting her fourth set of leaves it looks like. Any suggestions?