My first time starting a journal or a dwc growso I have no idea if I’ll do this right or what to expect but that’s also why I’m here lol.
Setup: 2x3 closet grow under the ES180
Running 188 cfm with carbon filter
Nutes: Jacks 321
Strain: Cream Mandarin…est flower time 85 days
Highlights from hand written notes:
Day 8: started 20 &4 light schedule
Day 11: roots hit the water. pH 6.4 @ 290 ppm, 67 degree res 50% rH. Showing signs of nute burn.
Day 17: dialed in at 6.0 @ 239 ppm 68F res
Day 21: pH good and steady. Res temp elevated at 71.2. Raised light. Res change 321 @ 33% strength w/1ml silica 1 cal mg per gallon. Added cal mg due to light colored leaves in inter leaf spaces. 6.0 @ 395 PPM 69F res 50% rH per accurite trashed bad hydrometers.
Day 23. Lights just came on. pH 6.2 @ 412 ppm. 67F res. Pushing her 6th node out. Planning to LST once she picks up a lil bit. First time I’m seeing her push out a node in 24 hrs or less so I think she’s gaining momentum. Roots are changing a lil in color idk if that’s normal? Also…do I need to follow this to get to it quickly?
No doubt im glad to have some eyes along side me cuz I literally have no idea what to expect haha. Roots don’t seem to be expanding too much throughout the bucket but she looks pretty satisfied. Gonna be interesting cuz I’ve always heard that autos dont do well with big root spaces because they dont have time.
How u feel about the foil paper plate haha I got gun shy about light leaks but been thinking to cut it off when the canopy gets bigger.
Heck yeah. I mean I’ve had some autos not fill in fabric pots to the point of being root bound but maybe that’s strain specific. The yields were stick debent too so who knows. Those roots are beasting. Are you using Jack’s?
The last couple in coco I ran into N toxicity so that’s why I drug my feet. I also periodically check somehiguy on YouTube that runs Jack’s for autos and he had the same experience. Photos…no prob at all. So with that would u just jump out there and go in then back it off if they dont like it or bump up slowly or even weekly? I did walk in today and saw she’s showing sex I’m like oh God welp…
That’s what I’d do. Autos generally tolerate lower TDS levels than photos but not always. You can also modify the formula and reduce the 15-0-0 (Part B?) if you see N toxicity.
Copy that. I got into this weird space where they hated the N but then was asking for Calcium. Found this chart that encourages adding some cal mg which I did at 1ML a gallon and she responded readily so I think you’re right if I keep supplementing. Im not following the chart to a T but it’s been a good foundation since I picked up Jack’s.
I ran 3-1-1 two grows ago and the N was good but they got peed off about cal in mid -late flower so i think the supplement will change the game if I need to pull part B back. Here’s the chart. Idk how I even found it actually. Hope it’s ok to post it. I think they also foiled how youre supposed to mix it up…again why I never follow charts 100% lol
A def or excess in one salt can affect uptake of other salts FYI.
You’re fine. I have the same feeding chart except: first 3 weeks of flower (first pistils) the ratio is changed to 2-2-2 with the addition of MKP (not sure of the ratio and would have to look at my notes). That put me at 1,100 ppm with my base water at 130 ppm and no issues with my photoperiod plants. @Not2SureYet has been using the Jack’s but just went back to GH as a comparison.
Something I had a hard time with early on. I don’t tend to keep major notes on the grow other than milestones like first pistils etc.
How large is the bucket rez and is there a check rez in the system? No chiller? Hydroguard? Silica? I ask about the capacity of your buckets; that is going to cause you fits in mid flower when your girl is drinking 2 gallons a day…if you like the medium you might look into upgrading to RDWC and add a chiller.
Yeah I’m def jumping on RDWC when I can upgrade my grow space. Wanted to make sure I didn’t bomb DWC first lol since all I know really is amended/supersoil (which I used to make) and coco with the GH 3 part lineup.
Res is 8 gal bucket. I jumped on these vs the 5s cuz they’re rectangular opposed to round. Plus I was gonna convert to rdwc myself and the 5 gal RDWC systems ive seen usually have issues with blockages due to roots - In essence I thought…maybe 8 gal buckets may curb this potential root problem when I switch to recirculating. Rn the res has 4 gals of water cuz the net bucket is super large- like 8 inchers.
(got it from PA hydroponics but also started wondering…why didnt they use smaller baskets now that I’m actually doing this lol)
Running 1 ML of silica fa sho per gal, 2 ML of hydro guard, Jack’s @ 33% strength and last res change threw in 1 ML of calmg per gal.
Yep check res there. No chiller but temps have been stellar with 1 day of 71F though it normally sits at 68F. Aside from a lil nute burn in week 2 she’s not asking for much. But we all know how murphys law works too right
No, thats with GH products (full line up). The blue rectangle in the left corner is a air stone an the pot I used is the hydrofarm from GH. I took it out to see why the drip ring quit working, it was the roots blocking the intake hole.
Awesome start! I’ll be watching for sure! Hope you don’t mind.
