With my new buckets and RDWC setup finally some pictures. Refilled the water and check nutrient/ph. Slightly concerned about the water temps due to the ongoing heatwave. 20170708_164116 by toshin posted Jul 8, 2017 at 4:58 PM 20170708_164100 by toshin posted Jul 8, 2017 at 4:58 PM 20170708_164237 by toshin posted Jul 8, 2017 at 4:58 PM
Things are looking good today. PH was stable, plants are taking up the nutrients well. Topped the res back up and added some more nutrients in, balanced the PH. Things are growing much quicker than expected, keeping the water better controlled is definitely helping. The mold that plagued the last grow is nowhere to be seen. At this stage last time I was cutting mold out of places. With how nice and fast these are going looks like a week or so until time for flowering.
Haven't even looked in on the plants since Monday. Checked today and all is well. PH was slightly up, PPM slightly down. Reservoir temp still a little warm, but roots are looking good. Sprayed a small amount of peroxide onto the surface of the reservoir to prevent algae growth. I've avoided trimming the plants so far, but the time has come. Not a lot of light is reaching the inside of the plants and there is lots of spindly growth that needs removed. This weekend I'm trimming things up and switching to flowering. 20170714_215326 by toshin posted Jul 14, 2017 at 10:10 PM 20170714_215400 by toshin posted Jul 14, 2017 at 10:10 PM 20170714_215406 by toshin posted Jul 14, 2017 at 10:10 PM 20170714_215947 by toshin posted Jul 14, 2017 at 10:10 PM
A few days before flowering is a good time to trim off the lower branches and a good portion of the fan leaves but I generally hold off and heavy trimming until week two of flower. But that's just what workS for me in my garden. What you have cooking looks good buddy however it's then impossible to tell because you took the pick with the lights on. Everything will look ok under those fancy pants violet lights. Cheers Duc
Instead of spraying top of water just use 29% at 3 ml a gallon twice a week. It will help cut back on unwanted bacterial growth and add a little oxygen to the water. Its better to stop a problem before it starts in hydro. I would highly recommend running sterile
If you're talking about the green algae that typically forms on the top of the media, H2O2 won't touch it when it's diluted. I used 1.5 ml/g 35% H2O2 in my Hempy bucket nutrient solution for years and still had intermittent stinky root problems. The guy at the local hydro store and I had a chat about this. He recommended that I lay off the H2O2 and try a product called Cyco Zyme and he even gave me a free bottle. He said I'd be back for more. He was right, as I'm now on my third bottle. Though the stuff isn't cheap, I've used it for about a year and not had any stinky roots nor used any H2O2. I'm told that this stuff breaks down dead roots. Whatever it does, it seems to work. I use it at 4 ml/g. It doesn't seem to affect pH or ppms significantly. That almost sounds like a commercial.
You can always run physan 20. But that coco zyme sounds interesting. Ive tried hydrozyme and its totally a waste of money in my opinion.
Caught that one As I was quickly putting this RDWC system together, the PH went too high for a bit. The older leaves look pretty ugly, but all the growth since putting them in here looks great. After I trim all that ugly crap off I'll post a nice picture.
With the algae, there is none that I can see yet. Trying to be proactive this time around. With the buckets only system the water was getting switched so frequently algae never had a chance. I've been wary with the yellow lid on the tub instead of a black one.
you got to stay on top of bacteria specially if running warm. you'll get root rot out of no where it seems but it's because it slowly builds. honestly cleaning is prob one of the biggest draw backs of RDWC or DWC in general unless you have cool water temps or run sterile. some people can pull off adding the good bacteria to combat, but i just find it easier to use products to stop that to begin with or keep lower ressy temps. I swear my old grow house had water temps in winter that would literally make your hands burn then go numb from being so cold. The best harvests of rock solid nugs and healthiest plants i've ever ran in hydro though
Yes. In RDWC cold is your friend. I re- purposed an old dehumidifier I got on CL for $3o and turned it into a reservoir chiller. Way back when. I did a thread on it here somewheres. Next run do a day by day so we can marvel at the crazy growth rates.
I was going to switch the lights and all Sunday. Was unable to. System ran unattended for ~6 days. The system worked well, PH was still within limits. Growth: crazy. I've got res temps back into the 60's now so things are looking good. Pictures today with the lights off.
20170720_123352 by toshin posted Jul 20, 2017 at 1:09 PM 20170720_124321 by toshin posted Jul 20, 2017 at 1:09 PM 20170720_124345 by toshin posted Jul 20, 2017 at 1:09 PM 20170720_124411 by toshin posted Jul 20, 2017 at 1:09 PM 20170720_124608 by toshin posted Jul 20, 2017 at 1:09 PM
One thing I have noticed with this RDWC, the roots seem to be much less stable. The size and color is good but the plant is not anchored into the medium as well as before. I think it has something to do with the constantly high bucket levels.
One of these days I'll find a camera that works with shaking hands. Until then slightly blurry pictures. Plants are growing well, no problems. They are really taking up the water fast now. A shot of the lights that I am using as well. 20170723_132419 by toshin posted Jul 23, 2017 at 1:35 PM 20170723_132304 by toshin posted Jul 23, 2017 at 1:35 PM 20170723_132317 by toshin posted Jul 23, 2017 at 1:35 PM 20170723_132344 by toshin posted Jul 23, 2017 at 1:35 PM
Trying to take the wide angle picture here at the same level so you can see the growth. Compare the point behind the plants where the mylar is stapled to the wall. The growth is amazing, these fan leaves are huge. Everything is going fairly well. PH is stable, PPM is currently at 1100. Reservoir temps still a little high, but roots are looking good. 20170727_230003 by toshin posted Jul 27, 2017 at 11:24 PM 20170727_230047 by toshin posted Jul 27, 2017 at 11:24 PM 20170727_231459 by toshin posted Jul 27, 2017 at 11:24 PM
Checked things again today, things are growing like crazy.... Then I noticed the timer for the lights was turned off . Lights have been on 24/7 for a while now. So I guess today is really day 1 of flowering. Hopefully I don't run out of space. On the positive side, compared to the last grow that would be a much better problem to have.
I've done this at least a few times. Your in good company. Also good you caught it. It's easy to set em and forget em.