Kazman420
Cultivators Club
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2021
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- Mephisto Forum Stomper
Hey AFN!
With two coco grows now under my belt and a small second light available I've decided to give my first DWC a try! I know they can be tricky and you have to stay on top of them, but I'm sure with the awesome help of everybody at AFN that it'll be a success!
I'll be doing it in a 5g bucket (6" net pot) and pushing 38 Liters per minute (602GPH) through 4 BubbleMac air stones. Nutrients will be the last of my GH Flora 6 part series along with Hydroguard. The light is the HLG 100 Rspec and I've set up a 2x2 area in the corner of my grow room with light reflecting walls. (I grow in a sealed room in a basement). I'll start with RO water for the first week or two and then switch to tap. I have fairly good control over the VPD in the room, though this will be my first time growing in the summer so that could get interesting. I'm planning to start her in a root riot then transfer her to the net pot with hydroton and I'll manually top feed until her roots start popping out of the bottom of the net pot. Starting with 1 inch of space between the bottom of the net pot and top of the solution.
I have a second pump which I will use to pre-aerate the next batch of solution 24 hours in advance in an attempt to get the pH to stabilize. (I'll also be using half the lines on the manifold of the second pump to keep my coco res aerated, but it can work as a backup for just the DWC if needed in an emergency).
I'm actually a little conflicted on which bean to pop. I've a little selection of Mephisto seeds at this point and want to make sure it's something easy to grow in a DWC that can be done without too much training. I was thinking of topping (it would be my first time) and then I can do LST/tucking. I have the following to choose from: Forum Stomper, Skywalker, Double Grape, Northern Cheese Haze, Orange Biscuits. Any advice on which bean to pop would be greatly appreciated!
My plan is to play switch-a-roo with my spare bucket by just lifting the lid/plant with roots from the current bucket and gently placing it into the ready and waiting second bucket. Air stone lines will be drilled down through the lid and I'll try to set the initial slack as minimal as possible (and I'd imagine they'll get entangled in roots eventually anyway). This also lets me worry less about topping off the levels and just switching into full buckets of new solution. Will this work or am I setting myself up for failure before even getting to the general DWC questions?
This grow is heavily inspired by the DWC AvT Tent thread by @CannabisMingus. I'm also tagging in @derek420colorado since he's been helpful with regards to airflow and of course @Mañ'O'Green simply because he's MoG, hehe.
Here's the setup... I'll probably upgrade the white painted walls, but for now they are better than nothing. When the second one is placed properly and it makes a nice 2x2 area.
Unless I'm missing something glaringly obvious then I think I'm actually ready to go right now, I just need to pick a bean to drop! (See above for the selection I have, I'd love help picking one)
I do have questions though!
1. I know CalMag is used as a buffer with RO/Distilled. How many ppm's should I be starting with for my base water for week 1 and 2?
2. Same question but in regards to when I switch to tap water at week 3. My tap seems to fluctuate been 75~100 ppm (.5 scale). Would it even be necessary to add buffer CalMag to my starting tap water since this is DWC and not coco?
3. My initial/current plan is to try and only do new full batches of solution using a second bucket and not worry about too much about topping off the nutes, but this might not be feasible. (And I'm willing to adapt as needed). Regardless, once roots have been fully established, how low can I let the nutrient solution go?
4. I have Real Growers Recharge for my Coco grows. Is there any benefit to using this in a DWC and if so when would be the best time to do so?
Anyway, thanks all for reading and I hope to keep you updated with my first ever DWC attempt!
With two coco grows now under my belt and a small second light available I've decided to give my first DWC a try! I know they can be tricky and you have to stay on top of them, but I'm sure with the awesome help of everybody at AFN that it'll be a success!
I'll be doing it in a 5g bucket (6" net pot) and pushing 38 Liters per minute (602GPH) through 4 BubbleMac air stones. Nutrients will be the last of my GH Flora 6 part series along with Hydroguard. The light is the HLG 100 Rspec and I've set up a 2x2 area in the corner of my grow room with light reflecting walls. (I grow in a sealed room in a basement). I'll start with RO water for the first week or two and then switch to tap. I have fairly good control over the VPD in the room, though this will be my first time growing in the summer so that could get interesting. I'm planning to start her in a root riot then transfer her to the net pot with hydroton and I'll manually top feed until her roots start popping out of the bottom of the net pot. Starting with 1 inch of space between the bottom of the net pot and top of the solution.
I have a second pump which I will use to pre-aerate the next batch of solution 24 hours in advance in an attempt to get the pH to stabilize. (I'll also be using half the lines on the manifold of the second pump to keep my coco res aerated, but it can work as a backup for just the DWC if needed in an emergency).
I'm actually a little conflicted on which bean to pop. I've a little selection of Mephisto seeds at this point and want to make sure it's something easy to grow in a DWC that can be done without too much training. I was thinking of topping (it would be my first time) and then I can do LST/tucking. I have the following to choose from: Forum Stomper, Skywalker, Double Grape, Northern Cheese Haze, Orange Biscuits. Any advice on which bean to pop would be greatly appreciated!
My plan is to play switch-a-roo with my spare bucket by just lifting the lid/plant with roots from the current bucket and gently placing it into the ready and waiting second bucket. Air stone lines will be drilled down through the lid and I'll try to set the initial slack as minimal as possible (and I'd imagine they'll get entangled in roots eventually anyway). This also lets me worry less about topping off the levels and just switching into full buckets of new solution. Will this work or am I setting myself up for failure before even getting to the general DWC questions?
This grow is heavily inspired by the DWC AvT Tent thread by @CannabisMingus. I'm also tagging in @derek420colorado since he's been helpful with regards to airflow and of course @Mañ'O'Green simply because he's MoG, hehe.
Here's the setup... I'll probably upgrade the white painted walls, but for now they are better than nothing. When the second one is placed properly and it makes a nice 2x2 area.
Unless I'm missing something glaringly obvious then I think I'm actually ready to go right now, I just need to pick a bean to drop! (See above for the selection I have, I'd love help picking one)
I do have questions though!
1. I know CalMag is used as a buffer with RO/Distilled. How many ppm's should I be starting with for my base water for week 1 and 2?
2. Same question but in regards to when I switch to tap water at week 3. My tap seems to fluctuate been 75~100 ppm (.5 scale). Would it even be necessary to add buffer CalMag to my starting tap water since this is DWC and not coco?
3. My initial/current plan is to try and only do new full batches of solution using a second bucket and not worry about too much about topping off the nutes, but this might not be feasible. (And I'm willing to adapt as needed). Regardless, once roots have been fully established, how low can I let the nutrient solution go?
4. I have Real Growers Recharge for my Coco grows. Is there any benefit to using this in a DWC and if so when would be the best time to do so?
Anyway, thanks all for reading and I hope to keep you updated with my first ever DWC attempt!
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