1st Grow: Sweet Tooth and Platinum Master Kush DWC w Heavy 16

[BattleAxe]

Very nice. Gonna get my dwc on in a few weeks. I've done aero in the past and found that a bubble bucket was easier and more reliable.

I debated building an aero setup but found the same things in my research. DWC is a fair compromise between the two without the added stress of clogged sprayers which are hard to monitor when you get sprayed when the lid comes off. I like DWC because of how easy it is to build. I think I will eventually step up to RDWC as keeping up with the 5 res I have now is a pain, let alone any more.

 

[BattleAxe]

It's been a min since I have updated. Been busy battling algae and trying to dial in my neg pressure, to keep my CO2 in.

Algae nearly killed my ST mom. I have doubled up on buckets after discovering algae which I suspect was being fed by the light from the fill line indicator. New buckets don't have em as I check levels daily.

I made a new veg tub with 24 sites but you can see that I forgot to cut an access hole. It's ok for now though, plants are still small and can lift lid to make changes. Plants will only be here til they go to 4 site tubs to flower. I used EZ cloner pucks a 27 Gl tough box from Lowes and some 2 x 2 1/2" and 2 1/4" reducers. The puck sits right inside and shouldn't fall through. I used both sizes for smaller and bigger plants. Also started toe tagging my plants for positive ID instead of stakes.


Moms are looking healthy and bloom room is good

Veg:

heavy 16

Veg A 8 ml/Gl
Veg B 8 ml/Gl
Hygrozyme 8 ml/Gl
H2O2 3 ml/Gl
Cal-Mag 5 ml/Gl

Flower:

heavy 16

Bud A 10 ml/Gl
Bud B 10ml/Gl
Prime 10 ml/Gl
H2O2 3/ml/Gl
Cal-Mag 5ml/GL

Still got work to do on ventilation, damn room is defying the laws of air flow. Also gonna take some cuts.

Thanks for stopping in.

 

[smoothkriminal]

First grow ever?? Looks like your off to a good start. I'll be watching

 

[BattleAxe]

First grow ever?? Looks like your off to a good start. I'll be watching

First grow here, I researched for about a year or so while waiting to have a space. Finally got my space and trying to apply the research.

This ventilation is kicking my ass though. Any ventilation experts in the house? Here's the deal.

I share the atmosphere between my veg and bloom. Bloom contains a minisplit that is shared via an 8" active 747 CFM exhaust into the bloom from the veg. My intake that passively allows air into veg consists of 2 x 8" holes, each with an S. I just added the 2nd intake hole. Currently, there is a 9 degree drop between the 2 rooms. 70 bloom / 79 veg. I had it down to a 5 degree drop with an active intake. It was however, creating positive pressure and my CO2 was leaking out the space by way of the veg area.

An 8" exhaust should only require 2 x 8" intake correct? I don't want to cut too many holes if I am not barking up the right tree.
I am thinking that maybe the S's are creating some turbulence, thereby reducing the the intakes and the fan is suffering. That's one theory.

I just realized that as I was typing this, If I open the door from the Veg to bloom and let it run, the open door is now a big ass intake. Even with that big intake, I can only get it down to a 6 degree drop. That doesn't jive with my understanding of ventilation but what do I know? Somebody please help me make some sense of this.

I think I'm gonna go and hook up that intake fan. I'd rather waist CO2 than my plants.

Any input is greatly appreciated. Will provide pics of ventilation when I do my nightly checks.

 

[BattleAxe]

Ok folks, I'm back. I see that many have read but few have replied....

Here are the pics of the ventilation between the two rooms. I forgot to get a pic of the exhaust fan and lights are now off. Nothing special about it though, just an 8" 747 CFM fan located caddy corner from the intake ports. It looks busted, I know, it's the best that I can do right now until I can figure out a perm solution.



Here are some shots of the bud sites. I hope these fill in nicely.and a flower from one of my ST.



Here is a shot of everything in bloom. The back two in the tub along with the 1st one on the left, also in the tub are ST the front one in the R in tub and the bucket next to it are PM. The bucket is outperforming the tub PM. It's not crammed in their fighting for space. I think I may experiment with 2 site 27 Gl tubs in the future to compare differences in yield when not having to fight like they are now.



I could still use some help with my vent issues guys.

 

[budshoteyes]

Are you running a sealed room setup?

 

[BattleAxe]

Are you running a sealed room setup?

yes, my lights are on a closed loop, it doesn't mix with the closed room. The veg and bloom are seperate areas that share a minisplit that is located in the bloom room.

 

[olddirtybastard]

my first thoughts were those roots look really good, when you move up to RDWC make sure you plan for roots to clog the drain lines, if i were gonna do my system all over again i would have done a more undercurrent style

 

[budshoteyes]

Are the two rooms using one wall..I'm gonna assume they are!

There should only be one 8 inch hole up high,almost to the ceiling on the adjoining wall with a vent going to towards the opposing wall within the flower room!

A second hole should be near the floor on the same adjoining wall and a vent going towards the opposing wall of the veg room!

I would concentrate the air-conditioning exclusively to the flower room first and foremost! Get that room cool and cooling the vegroom will happen during exchange of air between both rooms.....I'm assuming your flower room lights and plant size will produce the most heat!

You may need timer/s on your fan/s to allow the air conditioner to cool the room?

 

[BattleAxe]

Are the two rooms using one wall..I'm gonna assume they are!

There should only be one 8 inch hole up high,almost to the ceiling on the adjoining wall with a vent going to towards the opposing wall within the flower room!

A second hole should be near the floor on the same adjoining wall and a vent going towards the opposing wall of the veg room!

I would concentrate the air-conditioning exclusively to the flower room first and foremost! Get that room cool and cooling the vegroom will happen during exchange of air between both rooms.....I'm assuming your flower room lights and plant size will produce the most heat!

You may need timer/s on your fan/s to allow the air conditioner to cool the room?

I think I have it set up just like you say here. The wall is shared. I have one hole which is the active exhaust up high on the shared wall in one corner with 2 passive intake holes low and caddy corner to the exhaust hole but on same wall so it's high, left side exhaust and low right side intake as you look at the wall. I never thought of the timer for the exhaust. Being that it is active exhaust, it should just pull more colder air in from the bloom. I think the timer would make more sense if I had an active intake and the hot air wasn't allowed enough room to escape but in this case it is the opposite. I feel the issue is that I am not pulling in enough cold air but then the door thing hits me in the face. I am gonna hook up a timer tomorrow just for shits though. I am at a loss with this shit. Thanks for the advice.

 

[budshoteyes]

You can go into your room during lights out if you have a green light...I have the type that attaches to my hat.

If you can have a temperature on/off controller for the fan/s it would be even better as no timer would be needed....where I live $40.00...if your in the states I would guess at $20.00

 

[hotboxes]

I posted on your problem about your negative air problem before I looked at your whole grow over here, your temps are fine when using Co2 but I am kind of worried about your algae problem and this is common when using DWC with hygrozyme. personally I would cut out the hygrozyme all together that is what is causing your algae problem I am willing to bet on it. I ran DWC for about a year and had this problem every time when using hygrozyme. You could add a mycorizie to your water to get a benificial bacteria to help combat the algae, but running stand alone buckets with out a chiller is also hard to do because your buckets will eventually come to room temp. after so long witch helps the algae to grow. I battled the algae for about 2 months before switching to Coco all together. After I switched to Coco I never had to worry about the algae anymore. You still get the massive growth from a hydo set but half of the worry and no more algae. just my .02 cents and hope it can help you.

 

[Harvest]

Sup Axe, what sweet tooth are you growing? seed? clone? breeder? Just popped some of Steve's Swt#3....good luck, the ladies look healthy.

-H

 

[BattleAxe]

I posted on your problem about your negative air problem before I looked at your whole grow over here, your temps are fine when using Co2 but I am kind of worried about your algae problem and this is common when using DWC with hygrozyme. personally I would cut out the hygrozyme all together that is what is causing your algae problem I am willing to bet on it. I ran DWC for about a year and had this problem every time when using hygrozyme. You could add a mycorizie to your water to get a benificial bacteria to help combat the algae, but running stand alone buckets with out a chiller is also hard to do because your buckets will eventually come to room temp. after so long witch helps the algae to grow. I battled the algae for about 2 months before switching to Coco all together. After I switched to Coco I never had to worry about the algae anymore. You still get the massive growth from a hydo set but half of the worry and no more algae. just my .02 cents and hope it can help you.

I just replied to your post in the other thread. Thanks for stopping by here also.

I use the hygrozyme as a safeguard for root rot at these high temps. I would love to do away with it after I dial the room in. This shit is some expensive peace of mind. How did Coco stop the algae from growing? Is there a compound in the coco? Please elaborate.

 

[BattleAxe]

Sup Axe, what sweet tooth are you growing? seed? clone? breeder? Just popped some of Steve's Swt#3....good luck, the ladies look healthy.

-H

No clue bud. I picked the clones up from a local dispensary. You know how that shit goes. Hell, it might not even be ST lol. Kinda like a grab bag from the ice cream man huh?

Thanks for stopping by and good luck with the run.

 

[BattleAxe]

You can go into your room during lights out if you have a green light...I have the type that attaches to my hat.

If you can have a temperature on/off controller for the fan/s it would be even better as no timer would be needed....where I live $40.00...if your in the states I would guess at $20.00

Thanks for you continued support with this issue. This may be worth something. I never thought of a controller for the fan. I called an nobody has any in stock now so I have some other suggestions and ideas to try, if none of them work, this worth looking into more.

 

[hotboxes]

when using Coco you don't have to worry about the algae because there is no water around the roots to grow the algae. You almost have to have a beneficial bacteria in your water already for the hygrozyme to work. I noticed when I refilled my buckets with fresh water and added the hygrozyme is when the algae would grow,but if I added it after the water had already been in the buckets for at least a week the hygrozyme did not effect the plants and the algae would not form. I mostly used the hygrozyme in my vegging plants because my water was always being added and never totally replaced if you can understand that, because there was a beneficial bacteria colonized in the water already. personally just ditch the hygrozyme all together it is just snake oil IMO and it is not needed to get good results. always remember K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid) hope this helps you

 

[BattleAxe]

Here is a diagram. I hope this helps clear up any confusion and helps in gaining a lasting resolution to this abortion.

 

[BattleAxe]

when using Coco you don't have to worry about the algae because there is no water around the roots to grow the algae. You almost have to have a beneficial bacteria in your water already for the hygrozyme to work. I noticed when I refilled my buckets with fresh water and added the hygrozyme is when the algae would grow,but if I added it after the water had already been in the buckets for at least a week the hygrozyme did not effect the plants and the algae would not form. I mostly used the hygrozyme in my vegging plants because my water was always being added and never totally replaced if you can understand that, because there was a beneficial bacteria colonized in the water already. personally just ditch the hygrozyme all together it is just snake oil IMO and it is not needed to get good results. always remember K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid) hope this helps you

I've been thinking the same thing as of lately. It just hasn't been worth it to test my assumptions and risk my crop. I figured, it would be safer to forego the snake oil once the temp variables have been eliminated. As for the coco. I was thinking of coco in a hydro application where you would employ the plots similar to netpots with holes cut out for roots lol. It makes sense now.

However stubborn this may sound, I would really like to dial in the veg room to 72 degrees and not have to worry about temp issues. My understanding of ventilation theories tells me that it can be done. I am hoping that it is just a problem with my application.

Thanks again for all your input. I know a lot of people have read here but only a few offered any help. That says alot given this is one of your initial 100 posts.

 

[hotboxes]

lol yeah I was a member here since 2008 but I had to switch handles because of security reasons. I stopped growing also because of those security problems until just recently and even now I only grow for personal. I am in the process of building a cab for a perpetual garden now after being away for about a year I have had the same mother plant growing for almost a year and a half now she is in the middle of flowering outside right now. I just took a few clones from her about a week ago while I build my cab. I have just recently started coming back to the site.