Hello community! This is my first post and my first-ever indoor grow. I have decided on going DWC. My grow tent specs:
32”x32”x6’ Mars Hydro Tent
(1) Mars Hydro TS1000 LED
(3) clip on fans
(1) 4” exhaust fan w/ carbon filter
Dehumidifier
Humidifier
(1) The Exhale co2 Bag
R/O water throughout
5 Gallon bucket w/ net pot filled w/ clay pebbles
2 large air stones from ActiveAqua commercial air pump
Seed Germinated- 10/17/2020
Seed in rock wool and into net pot- 10/21/2020
Started with Canna Start and Canna Rhizotonic for first 3 weeks
Week one:
TDS- 535 PPM PH- 5.8 H2O- 71.50°F
Week Two:
TDS-630 PPM PH- 5.8 H2O- 69°F
Week Three:
TDS- 950 PPM PH-6.0 H2O- 66.6°F
Week Three I am starting the three-part PH Perfect line by Advanced Nutrients.
I have been doing LST since approximately week 1.5.
Due to the LST, she is still pretty short, about 6” tall. She has some big fan leaves, and today I tucked them away as much as I can to expose new growth. Although growth seems to be insane, She doesn’t look like other autos I’ve seen at this age.
I seem to be getting pistils starting today. I am assuming after tomorrow’s water change I should see pre flowering begin to ramp up?
I am worried that I’m trying to LST too much.
Please let me know what you think.
I will be updating all note-worthy moments, so feel free to follow my grow!
Your light is to close, your node spacing is sooo tight you want it about an inch, to much light will shrink node spacing and to little will stretch a plant.
When you lst an auto control the branches but don’t bend it right over like you see some people do, limited veg time in autos means you should avoid this until your familar with the genetic of a specified strain & breeder as well as your setup /results.
Just wathh your node spacing always, if it’s more than an inch turn up the intensity / drop the light closer, if it’s to tight raise it /turn down intensity.
You want 1 inch nodes ideally
On the note about node spacing… I’ve tried to find as much info as possible, and landed on this forum. What's the optimal distance between nodes? | Rollitup According to some, tighter node spacing may be better. I’m not trying to go against you @Nicky, I actually still am following your advice, I just wanted to share some further info on anyone that may be in my position.
It’s actually a very old thread I have read.
As you can see in there they say ideally an inch or under.
It’s true genetics does play a role for sure.
That being said I’ts important to control that node spacing with light considering the genetics.
I dose that you can’t have tight enough nodes, in the sence that it’s not ideal.
When you grow a plant and the nodes are stacked right on top of each other it’s very hard to control defoilation, light penetration and bud rot concerns.
I tell people 1 inch nodes so they have a general ball park to aim for and from there they can tweak it to their method of growing.
Learning the true art behind low stress training and now just tieing a plant sideways like everyone else is doing is a great skill to work on right along understanding node spacing and lighting as they all tie in together (this is why understanding DLI for lighting is important)
I’m all for hammering the light onto cannabis it’s very light loving but you still need to grow a plant and not a bush.
First off you want the stem from the pot to have a bit of stretch so you can get in there and deal with anything that needs dealing with, room to work.
Secondly the plant needs to grow up a bit and have space for bud to grow ideally (in my opinion) I also don’t belive you will get the same amount of bud if you don’t allow for some spacing but again haven’t tried this in a trial so by all means cut some clones and try two different tent setups.
Once your pushing high numbers you start to make the plant really hungry and calcium will quickly show deficiencies so be aware.
My current two mephistos are a prime example. I didn’t fim them because they were meant to be small plants to my understanding.
The one is a strawberry nuggets very heavy indica genetics, the other is a sweet and sour sativa hybrid. (right)
I hammered them with lots of light early on.
In the end read your plant and grow best you can with your knowledge.
I prefer to allow a bit of stretch once they have a couple set of leafs and you’ll notice many do. We give less light fortnhe first 2 or 3 weeks then we hammer them
@Nicky I appreciate all the fantastic info here!! I wonder if it’s too late for me to try changing things up a little. Bud sites have started stretching more also, I just don’t know if I should let some more space to grow above the bucket. I assume if they’re still flexible I might have a shot, if not I will do the best I can with what I have starting to set up. My ideas was to start a wide swirl and train bud sites as equally spaced as possible.
Just before dark last night I untied my lady. This morning she has perked up pretty well and I am already noticing more stretch.
This morning I looked at my roots and they’re starting to have a dark brown tinge to them.
Yesterday was water change day, and I started using Advanced Nutrient’s Ph Perfect 3 part nutrient system. I mixed 1 tablespoon (15ml) of each part- half of the instructed amount on the bottle.
I noticed that part 1, the Micro, is a dark brown. Could this stain my roots and that’s why I’m seeing discoloration?
I am not using an enzyme at this time. I would like to use AN’s Sensizym, but I need to wait another few days until my local store has more in stock. I’m hoping I can hold until Wednesday (day 28) when my next water change occurs. My local growing store rep advised me to just keep an eye on the roots and I should be okay to wait. I am attaching a photo for reference.
Yesterday before the water change they were as white as printer paper.
Water quality:
Temp- 69.2°f
Ph- 5.8
TDS- +/- 350 ppm
After speaking more with my local grow shop tech, I purchased some CalMag today. The plant is in pre flower as of right now, so I dosed res with 1 tablespoon CalMag. About 3 hours later I have these foamy bubbles forming on top of the water.
User Chief Greenleaf says “ I got in touch with Advanced and my buddy that runs a local grow shop who’s been usin AN since they first came out and they both said the exact same thing. AN uses a wetting agent in their base nutrient which causes a sudsy foam build up that looks like you dumped dish soap in the res! Bud Factor X, Scorpion Juice, [Voodoo Juice], Wet Betty (obviously) and a few other AN products are notorious for causing foam in the res, especially when using a strong air pump/air stone. My dude also told me that as long as your res doesnt smell rotten or sour foam is a good thing, its a sign of a high level of dissolved oxygen in the water which the roots love. BUT if your res has a rotten smell along with foamy build up that usually means youve got an algae or fungus problem.”
I will continue to keep an eye on the foam appearing, and I hope it will dissipate by tomorrow.
To be honest AN themselves are a great help, considering your using their products they will provide you with free one on one phone support and have a toll free number.
So give them a shout. I dont know enough about dwc to help you unfortunately.
Brown roots is not the best from my understanding. Glad the plants perked up.
AN is good stuff but it’s not cheap and with that comes money back guarantee as well as customer support so use it.
The Ph Perfect three-part nutrient line includes wetting agents and surfactants that allow the root system to absorb nutrients better.
These chemicals may create a sud-like foam from the air stones. It should not cause a problem.
The discoloration in the roots may be caused by the Micro component. If not, it could be root rot forming.
When I wipe the root with my finger there’s brown water on my fingers and wipes off the roots. The AN rep said it’s EXTREMELY rare for discoloration to begin within the same 24 hours of mixing the res solution.
The good news is that the rep advised me that root rot WILL NOT occur while water temp is below 70°f. I know I am under that threshold 90% of the time.
Furthermore, Andy emphasized that CalMag should NOT be added to the mix because AN’s three part base includes the precise amount for cannabis plants.
Since I’ve only added 1 tablespoon within my res I will be okay, though I will be removing the CalMag from the equation.
He did recommend using Sensizyme, so I will be picking that up and include it in my next water change.
Day 35: She’s really starting to fill in. I’ve now learned about “the stretch” as she has grew 3-4 inches in the last day and a half or so.
It looks like my bud sites are going to be spaced apart pretty well. Any suggestions?
I’ve also been trying to do some research on supplemental lighting and/or side/up lighting in the red spectrums. Anyone have first-hand experience with results?
