RDWC ( kind of ) 400W Shiva Skunk grow log (newb+pics)

Here we are in the beginning of a log in my first Hydro setup.(pics follow)

-- backround--

After 2 rounds with soil - BigBud and one almost dead cutting that i try and sucesfully grow to my balcony
i setup some 'kind' of RDWC with 4 Sensi feminized Shiva Skunk and the bigger and better seed in soil for mother .

-- the setup --

One big container with 16 gallons (60 litre)of water and one small conatiner with 2 gallons (10 litre) of water connected together .
I am going to use the small container to top off water manualy , mix nutrients and ..... to keep water chilled when temps rise.
I will trow incide some ice packs wich i found that can keep the water @ 21-22 Celsius for 6-7 hours at least ,
i know it is hard work to keep them coming but i hope that i do not need them for the most of the time.

Another weapon to beat high water temps is my extreme oxygen supply to the container with
20 watt airpumps and 20 inch airstones with almost 1000 litre of air every hour going in the container
as i read from Ask Lucas posts somewhere in the net.
My lights is 250W flurosents for seedlings and early veg and 400 hps for the rest time 4 plants
this time and i am going to scrog in a screen 3' by 2' foot (100cm * 60 cm)..
I haven't found somewhere usefull in detail informations about how i must direct my plants under the screen but
i think that i will find my way when they are above the screen 2-3 inches i will train them under the screen
till 3/4 of the screen full and then going to 12/12 .
I am going to begin with the Lucas formula in R/O water i also have some h202 @ 17,5% and
some canna mononutrients Ca and Mg in case of defiances caused by R/O.

--Thanks and help request --

So you are everyone welcome to my grow log , i need every help that i can get and i must
say a big thanks to everyone around here because i learned almost EVERYTHING from you guys.


--pics--

I will post some pictures from the setup after cleaning and seting up and one pic from my outdoor
survivor Big Bud that i am going to harvest in about 2 weeks .


My outdoor survivor Big Bud height almost 3-4 foot (1-1,2 meters)
(survive with temps sometimes over 110 F (43 celsius) drinking over 1gallon - 6 liters per day )


My closet after cleaning with Bleach


Conatiners Installed


We are waiting seeds to sprout they germinate all 5 of them in 24 hours in paper towel and some make it to over half inch.
Rockwool will be hand watered 2-3 times a day with R/O with a bit of root stimulator inside





This is it for now , the next upate will come when we see the light for first time

we have a lift off !!!

we have a lift off !!!

Wow these seeds are racers !!!!

From seed to sprout in 48 hours i am amazed .
Here are 2 pics from the Shiva Skunk sprouts





And one pic from Big bud bondage

hi.!

if you want Rerciculating sustem you have to buy 1 water pump.
in that case you gonna need a small one-about 500l/hour or less-
put the water pump inside the small conatiner and rerciculate the
water.

good luck

@tjo

Happy to pass by ,
I have a 650l/hour water pump for the water circulation between these two containers and this is how i manage to keep water temps around 21 Celsious with the Ice packs as i told you and in your log.I have another water pump with 450l\h and i am thinking to install it in a way that it drip water above the net pots with hydroton what do you think about this ?

Hello again seedlings going fine in rockwool.
The one in soil Realy rocks.
I will post some new detailed pics tommorow but i need an answer.

The roots done it half inch out of the rockwool in the small green tray and i am thinking that is time for transplant the to the RDWC system.

If i place the rockwool in my big 5 inch netpots filled with clay how the water will reach the rockwool until the roots find the water.
Wich is the level of the water i must have ?

Bellow the net pot or half inch of the netpot/clay in the water ?
and if the water toches the netpot/clay is this enough to moist the rockwoll or i must top feed for start ,

thanks i will post some root pics tomorow.

Ok here i am with some new pics and the same question

Here you can see the roots of the seedlings , i place the rockwoll in netpots filled with clay , the rockwool is above water level but the water manage it to soak them.
The net pots is inside this little green tray with ph @5,8 and ppm(0,7) @ 400 with GH seedlings shedule R/O water.
The question is if this is the correct way to raise the seedlings until they have enough root mass for translant to the big netpots in the RDWC system.

Please every help is valuable







Look @ the difference the soil seddling is from the bigger seed , the rockwool seedlings until now they water feed with R/O and some root stimulator

come on guys !!!

come on guys !!!

come on guys !!! no one here to help ,

In the green container i put 2 liters of water @ 400 ppm(0.7) after 4 hours i notice that the ppm rise to 615.
Do you think that maybe i did not clean enough the clay rocks and this cause the ppm to rise?
I make 5 or 6 washes with plenty of tap water and the last wash with ph ed R/O water the runof is almost crystalclear.

I am thinking tomorow to remove the rockwool+seedling from the small netpot's and put them to the big 3,5 litre (almost 1 gallon) netpot's with a drip system that will feed 4 times/15 min in my 24/0 schedule

Come on pls give me some help .
Thanks

what i always do is transplant them into the dwc net pot as soon as i see 3to 4 roots coming through the rockwool. i have the water level about 1" above the bottom of the net pot. once i have the nutes mixed in the bucket i just use a plastic beer cup to dip in the bucket and then hand water the plant 1-2 times a day until the root grow down into the water and then i lower the water level till there is about 3-4" between the net pot and water level(i use 5gl dwc buckets). if your ppms are rising its probably too high try diluting it they don't need much when little. its probably not the hydroton pellets cause those tend to cause PH swings. not sure if I would go with dripper system just cause the roots will grow down and explode soon enough.

Difference kickstart soil vs hydro drain to waiste

Difference kickstart soil vs hydro drain to waiste

Hello , here i am with some updates and as always with some questions .

I am amazed from the growth rate difference between the seed in soil and the ones in rockwoll & clay watered drain to waist

(i admit that the one in soil was double the size from all the other seeds)

The hydro sprouts watered 2 or 3 times a day with GH nutes G,M,B @ about 400 ppm(.7) ph 5.8
I am waiting the roots from the sprouts to find the way out of the net pots so i can fill the tank with nutrient solution and i hope then to catch up the soil sprout.

The soil seed takes only some Hesi root stimulator.

Take a look @ the pics

Soil sprout



Family picture soil is going to be the mom



Another Family capture



This is it for now , any recomendations will be very helpfull
Any ideas for the growth difference will be helpfull too.

Soon more updates.

Two pics from my balcony soil Big Bud near harvest
Branches too heavy to support their self

johnny drama said:

what i always do is transplant them into the dwc net pot as soon as i see 3to 4 roots coming through the rockwool. i have the water level about 1" above the bottom of the net pot. once i have the nutes mixed in the bucket i just use a plastic beer cup to dip in the bucket and then hand water the plant 1-2 times a day until the root grow down into the water and then i lower the water level till there is about 3-4" between the net pot and water level(i use 5gl dwc buckets). if your ppms are rising its probably too high try diluting it they don't need much when little. its probably not the hydroton pellets cause those tend to cause PH swings. not sure if I would go with dripper system just cause the roots will grow down and explode soon enough.

Click to expand...

agree

your plants look nice and healthy (nice big bud by the way)

you gonna love the shiva skunk! its one of the most unique smokes in my opinion - keep us updated

Thanks for passing by johnny drama & Mr.Jones .

Yes i follow the exact instructions of johnny drama and i am waiting for roots to apear .

Mr.Jones Respect for you Vertical Sog

Ok i have some updates .
Nutes GH three part , GH seedling feeding schedule for RDWC 2,5 2,5 2,5 GMB / gallon @ 580 ppm(.7)
Ph @ 5.8
tank temp 23 Celsius / 74 F

I have two close ups from my almost finished outdoor BigBud





Also a picture of the development from the bigger and better seed planted in soil for mom.
Unfortunatly Florocents can fry a seedling that almost touching the bulb and you can see how bad my 110W neon hurt the leaves before i save her ,Anyway the Shiva mother recover fine and moved to her new home.



The RDWC seedlings is far behind , they germinate together with the Shiva mother but they watered with 200ppm drain to waiste.I belive that they will race once the roots touch the water . Take a look.







I can spot some roots coming for the water it is behind clay and i cannot take a photo i think it is matter of time 1 or 2 days maybe to get out from the net pot.

Ok , even i do not get many replies i will continue my regular updates with the issues that came up and my newb solutions for them.
I learned everything from here reading journals and posts and i will try to give back posting here one crop from seed to harvest.

As i imagine the roots make it to the water rapidly and the grow rating of the seedlings explode ,
With the GH's RDWC schedule @ almost 600ppm(.7) i spot some slight nute burns , I have 80 litre (21 gallons) running in the system
i replace 10 litres (2,5 gallons) of nutrient solution with pure R/O water and i drop ppm @ 530.

I also have ph drifting from 5.8 to 6,1 in less from 24 hours & the ppm readings stay constant.
I cannot find solid information for the reason that this is happend and if it is normal or not.
After the water exchange i ad 2ml GH ph down and set the ph from 6,2 to 5,5 i will let it drift up again to 6,1 - 6,2

The roots develop RAPIDLY in 10 12 hours i found some roots over 1+ inch (3-4 cm)longer.
I am waiting the root mass to grow and to see the ppm reading movement as a sign that my girls drinking up nutes.

The Shiva mother is fine in her new room and grow fine ,
she is bigger drom the hydro ones and much deeper green why this happend any clues ??
(I imagine cause the nutrient solution is more reach in N)

I will post some pics

The nute burns i notice


Root development if you can spot in undersized image


Hydro Girls team picture


And the Shiva mother



ppm 530(.7)
ph 5.5
Water temp 22,7 celsius

That's it for now , any help for my ph updrifting , ppm constant and for the color difference between mother and hydro girls be very helpfull

plants look great, i am actually suprised at the health of the seedlings while running GH's label dosage, always felt it was too strong.

Good luck erwingruber. A very clean set up. I'll be watching the show.

@ morrisgreenberg

Thnks for passing by indeed GH's feeding schedule from their website it slightly strong at least for Shiva Skung
seedling if you notice some posts before i notice slight nutburns
I replace 3 gallons (10 litre) of nutrient solution with pure R/O from 600 ppm(.7)
to 530ppm(.7) and seedlings look like they like it.
Here is GH's feeding schedule
GMB 2,5 2,5 2,5 ml per gallon

http://www.generalhydroponics.com/genhydro_US/feeding_charts/GH_KeepItSimple_Recirculating.pdf

@ 5th

Thanks for passing by , hope this grow to be a show for the moment i try to find some balances in the system

I make a new thread yelling for help for my ph updrifting issues i lower my water level 1 inch from the net pot's just to conclude if the clay causing the ph issues here is pic



My balcony Big Bud is full of milky trichromes but the amber ones coming toooo slowly i am waiting for them to appear over a week now , if nothing happens soon i will chop it down in the next 3 or 4 days

Your plants look good, the roots are white and spreading around.
What is the maximum pH reached, 6.1? Other issues from the ph updrifting?
PH 6.1 should not scare you too much, I think.
Have a nice day

@ tricky1

Hi thanks for passing by my higher ph is today @ 6,4.
6,1 is acceptable but it did not stay there .


Well i have an update first of all i will give you a link
from another post where i was yelling for help for my ph updrifts
cause it have some usefull answers.I did not manage to control my ph
yet and if i did not make it i will switch to Lucas or Useless formula.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=191537

The girls look almost fine and the roots are getting bigger and bigger
every hour.The Shiva mother in unfertilized soil is way helthier and
biger from the other 4 ladies that germinate the same time.
I have some pictures

Some captures of the ladies




And look @ the Shiva mother i think i miss my soil runs


My outdoor (balcony) Sensi BigBud is excellent and i am waiting some more
amber trichromes before chop it down.Maybe a week or two.Take a look i
think that this one will outyield my hydro pain closet

I saw that thread, useful indeed.
I like your "balcony", very sticky.
Do not despair, you will succeed.I think they will beat the mom, just a little patience.
Good luck
edit: I see you changed the bulb to 400W, now they will grow wild (i think )