Daft DWC

[Deft]

You three are great, very good to have you here.

I think its the heat more than anything thats causing the build up because its only at the top of the rez (warm water usually rises) and on the inside of the plastic tub at the waterline where its usually fairly warm because of 80 degree ambient temps. I think the outer tub shell will help with that especially if I line it with foam or some other material with lots of micro air pockets.

I looked up hydroguard and I have some die hard bio rush and root dip for soil with bacillis subtillis and trichodermas and other beneficial helpers. I wonder if it would be a good idea to inoculate the roots with a small amount. I might pm guineapig since he seems to know about the die hard product line and uses it I think. I think the products like die hard piranha etc all contain similar species so it may be a good thing to use even in hydro but I'll check.

Arctic, your roots look great to me, very lilly white! And I noticed the slipper before I read the thing below the pic lol.

Here are some decent root porn shots just taken before the plants bed time showing the side views and how very different the root structures and foliar structures are. The long rooted one has very white roots also but I had to hold it out farther to get them all in the shot so the flash did not illuminate them as well as the little squat one.

 

[arcticsun]

oh now i see.. good pics mate.

you are probably right about the heat if that is what you think it is. the problem is clearly local and i chalk that up to the conditions rather then anything else.

looking at the pics the problems looks to stay local, doesnt seem to spread down the roots. so i am not sure if using chemicals is the best idea.

if the problem is the temperature, then i suggest that if you correct that, the roots will heal themselves. i think that given the right conditions, that problem might self-correct. because the part of the plant that has good conditions doesnt seem to be affected.

it seems to be solely restricted to the part of the roots which isnt under water. mby if you increase the water levels abit, so that it covers the area, that can help cool down that part of the roots. the airbubbles also helps cool the water.

my roots seem to look okeydokes atm, i did the same as you tho, and mixed the last feeding with too high ph, so i got some droopyness aswell. damn me, i really should be more attentive when i do these things.

peace mate, ill be around

 

[Deft]

Honestly I think they look great, there's a bit of discoloration on the roots in the air but that's just from the hydroton sediment. They are whiter than the second pic shows by a lot!

Plants look just awesome today, they really liked the gallon of tap that must have brought the ph up and brought the ppm down about 50. They continue to grow very well.

I love how my adjustments show results within the hour and full changes happen within a day! The side shoots are going to explode out any time now, they are just getting hit by direct light in places so that should get the auxin and other hormones straight.

 

[Deft]

I forgot to take a pic today, but heres one from yesterday

 

[SpoCannabis]

lol this is become a signature pose between dwc growers on here...the famous footie..lol

 

[arcticsun]

hahahaha i LOVE the footies

yea i think your roots looks great too, wouldnt worry too much

the leaves are looking very nice in that last pic, seems to be A-OK for now

 

[tgpfarm]

I put a towel over the top of my rubbermaid to try to keep light from going though the top and producing algea. Just a cheap idea for ya.

 

[Deft]

There is DEFINITELY something growing in the rez, the water is super cloudy and there is a lot of clear "slime" on the waterline of the rubbermaid. Funny thing is the plants have never looked better, they seem to love whatever it is and it has not slimed the roots at all for some reason. It must be aerobic and I'm thinking its beneficial bacteria.

It seems to eat SM90 and love the stuff (so do the plants). I thought SM90 was a poison to bacteria but maybe just anaerobic ones?

The side branches are poking out more and more and are just getting hit by direct light now so the plants should be taking off soon and I'll probably flip to flower once the side branches are all up and even and have their own side branches coming out for cloning.

Thanks for the idea TGPfarm, but I don't think there is any algae in the rez so I am going to wait till I have to change it out again (which might be soon with all the goop in there) to light proof it properly. I asked about bio buckets in the sticky since I think I might have set one up by accident!

 

[SumDumGuy]

Your plants are looking wonderful Deft... I'm watching...

 

[Deft]

Yea, I freak out about little things sometimes but overall I am VERY pleased with hydro so far! And I think things can only get better in further grows!

I just got my new ph56 in and got 68oz of ph down so I won't have to worry about running out for a LONG time. I also got some rockwool so I wont have to start seeds in peat pucks for hydro (even though it went very well this grow). Also got a medium sized bottle of GH floranova to make my life easier, when people say the stuff is thick they weren't kidding, gotta shake the shite outta it!

 

[Deft]

Todays update

Todays update

Rez is really cloudy, does not show up in pics very well but I took one anyways.

The plants are exploding outwards now after the topping, they seem to like it although it slowed progress a bit but maybe thats good since the roots and stalks are ahead of the game.

I got some close ups of the foliage, looks a little off but they are really photosynthesizing a lot the last two days, seems they like whatever is growing in the rez. Tell me if you think anything is off, I still need to correct PH now that I have a working meter again so take that into account, I been without accurate ph measurement for almost a week now!

Check out the thick stalks, I think you can get a glimpse in one pic, they are well over 1cm which is crazy thick for plants so short!

 

[Deft]

First ph reading in 6 days is 5.5, seems everything is A-ok for now. I am going to bump up the PPM to 650 tomorrow I think.

 

[arcticsun]

look at them babies go

now they look to be sprouting mate. good goings. 5,5 sounds ok for the veg phase, in flower they might have a little problem absorbing mag and cal under 5,6. id take it up a smidge, like to around 5,7-8 ish.

that wont matter much at all in this phase tho, they dont need much mag and cal atm.

what happends is that at lower ph's the plant locks out cal. which is in turn something which is vital for the plants ability to use mag. and mag is vital in flower phase for building buds. often people with low ph lockouts use cal/mag additives which is a big nono, only worsens the problem.

low ph problem in flower will be visible as yellowing of the leaves, yet with the leaf skeleton still staying green. so that you get a skeleton effect where you can clearly see the fiberthreads in the leaves. the yellowing will start as spots and continue to eat from the outlines of the leaves. leaf doesnt dry out.

high ph becomes visible as lockouts of the immobile factors such as zink, iron etc. often seen as leaves which starts to eat itself, the leaf tips dries out and becomes crunchy eventually devouring the whole leaf. the leaves will appear narrower then usual, they contract, which gives the clawing effect.
high ph is often more dangerous to your plants in veg then low ph. too high ph will inhibit the trichome production in the flowering stage, its vital to keep it down under 6,0 in hydro. its the big trick, THE secret to getting crystal covered buds.

keep up the good work, you are very attentive with your plants. detail oriented, i like that alot.

peace mate, ill be around, or well maybe im going to amsterdam tomorrow hehehe

someone offered me their ticket for 25g's of my ssh, i dont have a hotel room tho so i need to check that out.

 

[Deft]

Lucky!! Trading bud for a trip to Amsterdam!

Yea I know what lockouts are, have not ever had much problem with ph lockouts, most problems I have had were dry root rot in soil (very strange but it happens to all my house plants!) and that seems to have gone away in hydro which is excellent!

When flowering time comes I had planned on adjusting ph down to 5.6 or so then letting it rise to 6.0 then down again, should be a fast cycle judging from how fast ph goes up in veg!

In the root shot, you can see some sludge buildup (waterline too high) on the bottom of the left net pot. You can also see a root growing right through it like it didn't care lol! I'm pretty sure now that I have some friends living in my rez other than my plants!


If you do go to Amsterdam you better get seed! I know you said you don't like carrying it back but maybe you could send it back in the mail to a friend in exchange for a few grams!

 

[arcticsun]

ok im off... about to hit the shower right now. plane leaves in 3 hours



gotta hurryhurryhurry





laters mate ill smoke one up for you, think about me in say 6 hours or so when im landing at shiphol



yahhooooooo

 

[Deft]

So when do you guys think I should flower? How many days more? I'm getting itchy to flip!

 

[Hydro-Soil]

I'm thinking you're having all the same problems I've had with DWC.

Same reason I'm switching to Ebb & Flow.

DWC and heat/light issues do not mix.


You have an HID light in that space with a rubbermaid tub that doesn't really block the light all that well. (No....... really, it doesn't.)

Keep your res chilled. Frozen pop bottles are a cheap alternative to a res chiller.. This will increase your DO and your plants won't get that droopy under-watered look.

Try to think of additives as something you would add to your grow to improve on an already perfected method for your environment. Not something added to fix a problem that needs to be addressed by fixing the environment.

Until you have your grow completely dialed in and can't improve any further, the only thing that should go in your reservoir are plain nutrients.

 

[Deft]

I think your right on the plain nutes thing, aside from PH down thats what I will do from now on I think.

For now the plants are very happy and I am using frozen soda bottles to keep it under 75 degrees.

I eventually want to switch to ebb and flow but I'd need to set up a larger space to make it worth it IMO.


Edit: Hydrosoil, whats this problem you speak of? How did it manifest?

 

[Deft]

Todays update

Todays update

Took cuttings, they drooped fast so they should root fast. I'll watch them close since the light they are under might be a bit intense.





Here are the plants, Shoots coming out fast and PPM are up to 700, maybe a bit high but they are still doing fine. Not perfect but its my first show people! They drank more water today than nutes so I am going to lay off for a while, at least till the ppm drops and ph gets back up to 6.

 

[Deft]

I really want to know when you guys think I should flip!