[krazycure]

Ok. So it took a little while, but let me show you guys something cool.
This is going to be a combo post DWC Guide/Diary. Here is the setup: 150W HPS inside an old gutted projection television (about 10 hours of work), for spec monkeys this cab is 38" wide, 14" deep and has about 3ft clearance for pot+plant height. It runs at a comfortable 80-82 degrees @ 40-50% humidity. I run a 16/8 light schedule purely because the plants never seem to notice and this allows me to have the lights off while I'm at work. What's more, the speakers are wired to internet radio and cover the noise of the DWC and the exhaust quite nicely. It will be using custom DWC pods, running Lucas Formula. On to the pics!

(for my last DWC grow diary which I was able to save most of from HB, click here)



We have 9 SNL seeds about 2 days in wet vermiculite which will be washed off when the seedlings are transferred to the pods. Stay Tuned!

tips: Use 16 oz cups instead of 8 oz, it allows for more space for root growth in the beginning. Also, I never use plastic wrap on top of the cups to keep in water until I see sprouts, I just spray until wet everyday until I see sprouts. I figure the fresh air must be good for something, even if it is a little more of a hassle. And if you do it that way, make sure to SPRAY and not pour, or else you will probably end up moving the seed around alot as the vermiculite shifts.

[krazycure]

For those not familiar, let me introduce you to the old-school way of dro. Now, today there are many options from foggers to NFT trays and all sorts of ways, but I stick with good old DWC for simplicity. To grow effectively, you don't have to do much more than follow the Lucas Formula, which is basically broken down to this:

tips: ONLY use Reverse Osmosis water. You CANNOT use tap (unless you use hard water formula). And ALWAYS mix the micro before adding the bloom or you will have messed up ph and caused nute lockout.

Using General Hydroponics (GH) Micro and Bloom (No Grow is used), we use this ratio per gallon:

G-M-B (Grow-Micro-Bloom)
0-5-10 - For seedlings / young plants (AF this mean only about first two-three weeks depending on strain)
0-8-16 - For Flowering cycle (3rd week and beyond)

You will notice I dont use any of the Flora “Grow” formula, do not need to, the Flora "Micro" provides plenty of Nitrogen.

There are two ways to work with this formula:

1. Top off the reservoir daily using a pH corrected water solution as required to maintain full reservoir level. After adding back an amount of water equal to the amount of your reservoir capacity you should change the reservoir and put in fresh solution.

2. Top off the reservoir daily using a pH corrected 100% strength nutrient solution as required to maintain full reservoir level. Continue to use this nutrient solution without dumping the tank unless the PPM rises above acceptable levels.

(I personally use method #1 with autoflowers)

NOTE: The Lucas formula eliminates the need for Epsom salts to correct (Magnesium) Mg deficiencies in most normal feeding programs recommended by manufacturers. Cannabis needs a lot of Magnesium to thrive.



EC microsiemen:
0-4-8: 946 µS
0-5-10: 1184 µS
0-8-16: 1894 µS

TDS @ 0.5 conversion:
0-4-8 = 473 ppm
0-5-10 = 592 ppm
0-8-16 = 947 ppm

TDS @ 0.7 conversion:
0-4-8 = 663 ppm
0-5-10 = 829 ppm
0-8-16 = 1326 ppm

Addback Calculator - (For Advanced Users)

Say you were running the 0-8-16 formula, at 0.7 conversion with a 2 gallon res. When you first fill it up, your ppm will be around 1330.

Now you have been growing for a week, and some of the water has been taken up by the plants, some has evaporated, and now your res is at 947 ppm. You need to get your ppm from 947 to 1330. Here is the equation:

((target - current) / target) * 8 ml per gallon * res gallons = Flora Micro (ml) double this figure to get Flora Bloom (ml)

Example:

((1330 - 947) / 1330) * 8 * 2
(383 / 1330) * 8 * 2
0.3 * 8 * 2 = ~5ml Flora Micro

5 ml Flora Micro, double that and you get 10 ml Flora Bloom. So 5 ml Flora Micro and 10 ml Flora Bloom to add back to your 2 gallon res to get you from 947 to 1330.

[krazycure]

SNL is Sweet 'N Low. It is Masterlow Micro x (Sweet Tooth #3 Micro x LR x LR).

These are straight from the hands of Mdanzig. I merely bred them out to create the cross.

[midwestganja]

Krazycure, nice idea with the tv cab, I like it.

[lordbudly]

respectfully withdrawn, sounds like a good show

Originally Posted by krazycure

SNL is Sweet 'N Low. It is Masterlow Micro x (Sweet Tooth #3 Micro x LR x LR).

These are straight from the hands of Mdanzig. I merely bred them out to create the cross.

I thought Polm did the early work to make them AF???

[krazycure]

No, both were already AF, Polm and I just crossed the two micro genetics (Masterlow Micro was smaller than the ST#3 Micro so the cross ended up being somewhere in the middle... not a nano but a little bigger than most micros.)

[krazycure]

2/9 popped after about 72 hours. Others should be up shortly. Sorry I'm dividing this up into a few posts instead of one giant one... trying to get my post count up.

[krazycure]

So here we are, 6 out of 9 popped after 96 hours, 2 more after another 24 (one looks sickly and was term'd), and one dud seed that just got black and mushy. With enough roots to reach water, the chosen are now being transferred to the aluminum army. note to self, try perlite next time. either that or I need to find a way to start the seed and get some starter roots completely mediumless.

[krazycure]

Some of you might be wondering more about the pods i use for this. When I started with dro and autoflower, I quickly found the need for interchangeable reservoirs of different sizes with a common and removable 'netcup'. This was kind of hard to approach going in, and if you look at my LR dro diary you'll see the first iteration was somewhat clumsy but worked alright (the netcup consisted of a yogurt cup, cut to size with strands of weather stripping layered into it to make a catch for lava rocks, also the res was wrapped with foil then covered in duct tape, now I just use aluminum tape and save a step). As I progressed and learned more and read more I found mediumless to be much less hassle and that is what I use today. Eventually came up with these:



Pretty simple design really. Not completely ideal since the lids twist off instead of pop, but they suit my purposes and are a great size and shape for starting plants off in. It's a dollar store cereal container, wrapped in aluminum foil tape (holds up against spills well, insulates against heat, blocks light completely in one wrap) with the bottom done in several layers of duct tape for durability. One hole for air tube in the lid and one for the netcup. Netcup comprised of styro cup + cut pool noodle ring + cut foam sprout holder insert. These can be removed from the one gallon pod without hassle and inserted, plant and all, into a larger reservoir when ready (after plants have sexed).

Another aspect of this design is that all the netcup parts can be replaced completely, cheaply, and quickly instead of having to wash and sterilize like with lava rocks and etc.

tip: I use the cheapo air stones in the beginning, when the plants are a bit larger you can just leave a tube dangling in there bare, they won't skip a beat.