Following will be more detail of my journey but right now with a real harvest in sight my baby is in trouble.
White Widow Auto
DWC in a 5 gallon bucket
It’s been a struggle to keep temperature on track. We’ve had cold nights and warm days.
PH has been a challenge. Ran out of PH up liquid and have been using a bit of baking soda. Been keeping it just over 6.
PPM about 1400. BTW What is PPM?
Day before yesterday had been cool so I turned off the A/C. Then yesterday the temp in my shed went to mid 90’s F and when I went to check this is what I saw:
She has a huge root ball and has been drinking nearly a gallon a day.
I swapped her to a fresh bucket of plain water and added a second bubbler. I have not added nutrients yet
PH is about 6.2
The rest of the story from first attempt:
They say that you learn best from the mistakes you make. And I made a few.
Years ago a friend was sponsoring a plant party. Like a Tupperware or lingerie party it was to present the product and make sales of which my friend would get a commission. The product was hydroponic potted plants, so I bought an English Ivy in an 8 inch pot full of clay pebbles. The process was easy, pour nutrient in the top until the bottom tray began to get wet. Well the ivy got planted in the yard and I started a seed from my stash. Before long I had a nice bush about two feet tall. Soon after I had to move and gave it to a neighbor. But I thought I knew what I needed to know about hydroponics.
I haven’t tried growing in a while and wanted to try it again.
So I set up a 2x4x6 tent and five gallon bucket kits with six inch nets. My plan was to have three buckets and cull it to two depending on growth. I had some old seeds and a couple newer ones from recent bags and wanted to do a trial run before I ordered good seed. Twelve germinated and I put two in each rockwool plug and two plugs in each pot.
So far, so good. One week old. But the first thing I notices was the babies were purple.
I knew I was borderline on temperature at this point and had not checked PH. I had a manual test kit, but was waiting on a meter.
Anyhow, equipment and then environment:
Environment:
It was about a month ago with late summer heat. With a portable AC running the temp was 77 – 82 F in the daytime and 70 F at night.
Water temp was 77 F – will be better since summer is done
PH was 7.5 to 7.7 – didn’t expect it to be so high.
PPM was 600 – What is PPM? Parts per million? Of what?
Nutrients – 2oz per 4 gallons of water
Two of the three bubbler tubes were translucent blue and both grew slime. I have ordered black latex to replace.
Exhaust fan with four inch duct from top of tent pushing thru a carbon filter with opposite vent open. (How do I deal with a vent in and not allow light?) I also saw and purchased a small oscillating fan that clamps on to the tent frame.
Nutrient change – Got a self-priming pump to attach to a power drill (don’t use battery operated drill) I drilled a hole in each lid and will have black rubber stoppers. The pump will drain four gallons in about two minutes. Seems like a good option to keep from moving the plants.
I started with the Yueme 1000w lamp. But with a four foot wide area it didn’t look like it would be adequate. So I later bought the Mars Hydro TS 1000. I have read some comments here about the Mars Hydro, but it didn’t seem to get too hot.
The shed was too hot for the seedlings however. The A/C wasn’t enough to cool the shed in the hot summer heat. The babies withered and died.
I later segmented a corner that the A/C had a chance of cooling.
These were Girl Scout Cookie, Bruce Banner, or some unknown strain
My White Widow autoflower seeds just arrived. I don’t want to waste them.
I went with autos because I hear they are easy, short grow cycle, and small enough for indoor tent growth. I went with White Widow because it reminded me of Barney’s Coffeehouse in Amsterdam. An unforgettable weekend and an awesome Irish breakfast on my last day there.
What caused the purple? Was it natural or due to PH or nutrients?
How best to start the seedlings until they have established themselves?
I have a couple clamp lamps which should solve the heat and dehydration issues.
At what point do I put them back under the big lights?
I’ve read that the water level should be below the net pots. But that can’t work until the roots have developed.
Attempt 2 - My little midget:
As summer ended we got a cold snap. That and a confused seedling and things got weird. Even with a small space heater in the area I ended up putting the bucket on a piece of 2 inch dense foam and added a submersible aquarium heater.
Three inches tall and starting to flower:
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It got to 6 inches and weighed 29 grams before drying. It did even start to get stinky and sticky
And the beginnings of baby 3.
The LED lights provide a huge amount of light. In years past using grow lights they were always tall with little vegetation. This one grew slow with heavy branching from the very bottom.
I had some rust spots early and got some cal-mag. Got some brown tips that looked like excess nutrients and changed the water.
But I don’t know what to do with this
Make sure the water levels are 2 inch below bottom of net pot.
What air flow do you have in the shed. Looks like it sat in a sauna without any air flow at all.
Dont put a heater in the water…water has to be below 70f to prevent root rot
Ppm is parts per million and being that high it’s to much nutrients.
Ph water to 5.8 for hydro
I have an exhaust fan pulling from the tent and pushing thru a charcoal filter. I’ve left one of the flaps open to all as much as I can thru. I also have a small oscillating fan.
In addition I had bought some mosquito eradicators for the yard and hung one in the tent about a week ago. It is essentially water sugar yeast and salt generating CO2.
The shed itself is about 10 x 20, the room with the tent is 6 x 8.
The water probably warmed up. I dropped a couple bottles of Ice water in it and got it down to about 69.
The aquarium heater I had set to 70 for the nights that have been chilly.
Any and all advice is most welcome.
Welcome to the forum. I am newbie so I am not going to give any suggestions. I have yet to do a DWC so… you are miles ahead of me. However I do one question. Where are you located (state)?
There is hope. One or two branches in the back look normal.
Water temp 68f, PH 7.1, PPM 620, humidity 56%
I did a full water change today, and leaving the tent door fully open.
