Daft DWC

[hehateme19]

Yo Deft looking nice brotha
Thought maybe I could add some info here:
I have been using 5 gallon buckets for a couple of months now (first time hydro for me) and I dont run a res and I like you have struggled with the hows, whys, and whens of changing out the mix in the bucket. I forgot what kind of nutes you said you were running (or maybe you didnt say) but I use the lucas method. (I have a link but posting those is still a little hard for me) You can use google and just type "lucas method" and its like one of the first ones..............But anyways with this method their is a addback formula which I have been using. So I have been doing that (and its working great) And with this formula once you add back "so much" RO water it says you should change out the "res" (I figure my res is the bucket I'm growing in....right?).....................................................................................................Very wordy post, sorry for that..............so basically I redo my mix in the bucket (res) about once a week (or at least thats the schedule I'm trying to get on) but also remember that Im growing in 5 gallon buckets so the total water level is at most about 4 gallons................

So thats what I do, but as you know (if you read my thread) I am very new to hydro myself so Im just trying to figure things out as well.

So if there's any peeps out there with more "reliable" information I'll be watching as well.

 

[Larc]

Nice looking grow! Looking forward to watching these babies grow!

 

[Deft]

Thanks for the info frezerboy, I think I'll just wait and see if deficiencies form, maybe I won't have to change out ever with this 60-70 day strain.

Hehateme: I started it off with a weak lucas formula but I added in a little grow also since I thought N would be low with 400 ppm. I intend to do add backs with the 0-8-16 formula but the ec has not dropped at all and ppm are steady so not yet. Also feel free to say whatever you want, there's no off topic in this thread as far as I am concerned!

Larc: Thanks! If you look at the last 3 days photos you can already see them grow!

 

[SpoCannabis]

Lookin good - still lurking in the back...heh

 

[Deft]

I just checked the rez since theres some deficiencies showing up. The right plant is curling downwards a little and growth slowed today although roots seem to continue to grow.

The left plant has a few leaves that are a little light in color but it seems to keep on going, the roots and growth are a little different so heres hoping I have a male and female. The right plant is squatter in structure both in roots and foliage and the left is the opposite.

PPM finaly dropped to 380 today, and ph is back up to 5.9 again. I added a very little shot of nutes in about a 1/2/1 ration of GH flora to see what happens, I am hesitant to raise the level just yet.

The plants are not sucking much water so I moved a fan that circulates air around them more today.


The side shoots are starting to put out real leaves and I expect that within 3 days they will be getting direct light. I may top when there are 8 or 10 side branches, seems to do well on holy grail from what Verite relays from his test growers.

 

[Deft]

Todays update

Todays update

Lookin good - still lurking in the back...heh

I do the same thing mostly. Good to have your feedback.

Heres todays pics, if anyone ever sees anything wrong or thinks I'm screwing up let me know!

 

[thekingofNY]

That's the idea I had exactally, spray in some great stuff insulation foam and plop one inside the other, seems it would work awesome for insulation from heat and light.

dunno if its been said yet but, thats going to also insulate it from cooling off... so if it gets warm, its gonna stay warm.

have u considerred a aquarium cooler/chiller? although they are a bit of money... stay safe and high and good luck... ill be around'

 

[fred_light]

Looking good Deft!

 

[Deft]

Thanks guys, appreciate anyone stopping in and checking it out. Hoping someone will catch something I don't or maybe even learn something from my mistakes/successes.

KingofNY, yea I realize that, but It gets pretty cold at night so that may be a good thing during winter at least. I've looked into the chiller thing but its damn expensive, and I think I'll wait to see if the mid 70s during lights on is a problem. So far roots are shiny white and temps are better at low-mid 70s during lights on. I forgot to open the closet doors today and the rez only got up to 78 looking at it just now, air is 80.

 

[Deft]

Todays update

Todays update

The plants seem to have enjoyed the little .05 ec shot of nutes I gave them. I think they may have used up most of the N that was in the rez. They also seem to enjoy having the fan moved much closer so now its blowing on them, they are sucking up much more water today than has been usual and the ppm actually rose by itself for the first time so I will lay off on the nutes for a little while longer.

I noticed that the roots are only really growing vigerously in the bubble zone so I am going to buy a second cheepo air pump, this time larger to run the big stone and I will have two little stones running on the existing pump in the corners not hit by the big one via a splitter.

They continue to grow noticeably day by day and have uber thick stems compared to what I am used to inside. The leaves start to droop later in the day and perk up in morning.

 

[SpoCannabis]

.....bubbles shot??

 

[Deft]

I don't really want to lift the lid lol, I'll get a before and after shot tomorrow if I remember, I'll have to lift the lid then.

Edit: I noticed some differences today and I am going to make a call, I am thinking the left one will be male and the right female. No preflowers at all but based on structure I have had in other plants I think they are telling me something.

 

[SpoCannabis]

lol why are you afraid of lifting the lid??

 

[Deft]

I have no where to rest it right now, I have some shelf inserts I can rummage up to rest it on and that may be very convienient. Worst comes to worst I can pull up two saw horses and use them.

 

[hehateme19]

Or you could try and just run a wire through your hole that you have the turkey baster thru and hook it up to the chain you have the light on. Just a temporary thing but at least you could open the lid. Or if you dont want to open it just pop one of the pots out and take a quick picture. Or you know what if you dont want to take a bubble pick screw dont do it.
Its your world bro we're just living in it.

 

[Deft]

I'll take one tomorrow since I have to open it anyways. I'll figure something out.

 

[Deft]

I went to take the before pic after getting the new air pump. The roots look ok but they are starting to turn upwards and are fattening up at the surface instead of going down. Tells me there's something wrong.

The roots are still healthy and white and I felt them and they are not slimy, but the outside of the rez is, where the warm air hits it. There's also a lot of sediment from not pre-washing the hydroton (duhhh). So I took the rez out and washed it and the lid and am in the process of re filling it. I'm going to add a lot of SM-90 and maybe a tiny bit of H2O2 to start things off.

 

[hehateme19]

Yeah dude that sounds weird. Did you have any PH issues with the hydroton dirt gettin in there? I had read somewhere that that can be a problem. I guess you did the right thing by changing everything out that is always a good idea in times of trouble. Rinse the crap out of that hrydroton (thats like the most tedious part of the whole deal for me)

 

[Deft]

Yea at first I was freaking out because when the netpots with hydroton with the water it sent the ph skywards within a few hours. Lucky for me I went into chat and hillie set me straight and calmed my fears. I still have trouble with high ph due to tap water but that may change with the plants sucking up more and more water.

 

[Deft]

Todays update, changed rez

Todays update, changed rez

So I changed out the rez, did entirely 0-8-16 this time (at least a 1-2 ratio) and the plants are all perked up again and looking good. I also topped and should get 8-10 branches off of each plant.

Here is the before pic, enough bubbles I think but there were some dead zones in the lower left and upper right corners which now have bubbles too. You may be able to see the brown hydroton silt on the bottom in this pic.





I took a 99c plastic tub and cut holes so that my plants would not dry up during the hour or two I redid the rez (lots of buckets in and out). I think I might have a little pond pump and might use that to drain the rez straight out the window like I do with my fish tank when I change the water. You can see the roots look pretty good still, no slime on them but there was a layer ont eh outside of the tub I assume because thats where it comes in contact with the higher temp air.






And here is the whole thing back together with new pump, I just realized I didn't get an after pic of the bubbles but there are 2x as many at least. The plants responded to being put in the new water by perking up. I'm going to stick with the 0-8-16 ratio from now on, I think my screwing around with a little of this and a little of that was not the best idea but at least the plants look fine for it.




I also broke my damn ph meter, there goes $60. Off to the pet store to get a temporary drop kit.