New Grower First time DWC - Girl Scout Cookies Auto by FastBuds

[FlickOfTheWrist]

Hey all. This is my first time growing DWC.
I have grown two plants before this, using soil and were successful. I heard so many good things about DWC, I had to give it a shot.
I hope this grow journal helps someone else out there!


What I'm feeding her:

• General Hydroponics
  • Micro
  • Grow
  • Bloom
• Botanicare Hydroguard (1tsp/5gal)
• General Hydroponics Rapid Start (2ml)
• General Hydroponics pH Down / Up (6.0)

Also, because I started this grow a little over a month ago, I will attach multiple pictures so that you can see the progress.

Grow pictures:

10/23 I put her in rockwool!


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10/27 - This was the first day I moved the rockwool to my bucket

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11/04

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11/07

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11/09

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11/10

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11/11

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11/12

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11/15


Next post I will continue on the pictures until I'm caught up until today!

 

[FlickOfTheWrist]

CONTINUED...

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11/18

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11/20 -- This day I noticed a green root in my bucket, which prompted me to make another thread in hydroponics. (thanks @Mañ'O'Green for assisting so quickly!!) -- turns out, the blue buckets were letting in light that was causing algae to form. If you'll notice, the next day I wrapped my bucket in HVAC Adhesive Foil Tape. I have been watching it like a hawk over the last 4 days and the algae appears to be going away.


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11/21

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11/22
I went to a family gathering this day and did not monitor the pH very closely. I'm honestly not sure how I messed up, but when I got home; the pH was at 7.2. I freaked out and fixed it as soon as I got home (8+ hours of it sitting in high pH) It caused some burns on some of the leaves... so I have learned to better monitor it before I go somewhere.
Here's the picture of the burns caused by it:

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11/23
I did not make a picture, but I did remove majority of the burned leaves.

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11/24

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

@FlickOfTheWrist I have had more problems with PH than all other environmental factors combined! I had a cheap faulty PH pen that cost me a 6 week old crop of 6 plants.

Check your PH at least twice a day. Aerate your water at least overnight, longer is better. Aeration helps to precipitate some of the calcium carbonate that is in the water, this in turn helps to stabilize the PH before it goes into the reservoir.

When your plants shift from pre-flower to full on flowering they will exude substances that in soil stimulate the microbes to produce more P-K. In DWC this will drop the PH from 5.8 to less than 5.0 in just a few hours. Be ready for this because you do not want to leave it that low for long. Then this is the signal to start your transition week nutrients with a P-K boost.

Have Fun! It is a learning adventure.

 

[Anasazi]

Great looking plant! if you end up liking DWC you should look into RDWC, it's much easier.

 

[FlickOfTheWrist]

Great looking plant! if you end up liking DWC you should look into RDWC, it's much easier.

Thank you so much! I will have to look into it. this is all very new to me. at first RDWC scared me away because of pumps and extra buckets..it seemed really complicated

 

[Anasazi]

Thank you so much! I will have to look into it. this is all very new to me. at first RDWC scared me away because of pumps and extra buckets..it seemed really complicated

It's a little tiny bit more complicated to setup at the start but its like 10x easier to maintain once it is setup. ph stays stable for longer, and the big one is the water changes. Once your plant gets bigger you will feel the pain when it starts drinking water extremely fast. You won't be able to leave that plant alone for any length of time because you're going to come back to an empty bucket.

I'm so not a diy person so I know how you feel haha. If I can do it anyone can! good luck with your grow!

 

[FlickOfTheWrist]

It's been a week or so since I've updated this.

12/04


@Mañ'O'Green I appreciate you giving me the heads up on the pH dropping when the plant starts to flower. I have no doubt you saved her!!
I have been closely monitoring the pH 2-5 times a day and I have been able to keep it around 5.8-6.0. It tends to flux quite a bit it seems.

 

[FlickOfTheWrist]

It's a little tiny bit more complicated to setup at the start but its like 10x easier to maintain once it is setup. ph stays stable for longer, and the big one is the water changes. Once your plant gets bigger you will feel the pain when it starts drinking water extremely fast. You won't be able to leave that plant alone for any length of time because you're going to come back to an empty bucket.

I'm so not a diy person so I know how you feel haha. If I can do it anyone can! good luck with your grow!

I took a look at your grow thread and noticed that you had a chiller. Is that a requirement? I'm thinking that if I was to do RDWC, I would have to put the RES outside. I don't think I have the room for a tank as large as 10g

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

It's been a week or so since I've updated this.

12/04
View attachment 1261175View attachment 1261176View attachment 1261177View attachment 1261178

@Mañ'O'Green I appreciate you giving me the heads up on the pH dropping when the plant starts to flower. I have no doubt you saved her!!
I have been closely monitoring the pH 2-5 times a day and I have been able to keep it around 5.8-6.0. It tends to flux quite a bit it seems.

Looking good!


I added a float valve and top-off tank to keep the reservoir at a constant level. It really is helpful. If you fill the top-off tank with 25% strength nutrients it keeps the reservoir pretty close to the starting numbers all week.

 

[FlickOfTheWrist]

Looking good!


I added a float valve and top-off tank to keep the reservoir at a constant level. It really is helpful. If you fill the top-off tank with 25% strength nutrients it keeps the reservoir pretty close to the starting numbers all week.

Thank you so much!!
do you think that the roots would end up causing problems and blocking the float from moving?
I think my next grow, i will use something different than a 5 gallon bucket so that i have more room.
something like this:

Is this suggested over a 5gal bucket? im trying to picture myself changing the bucket with a fresh clean one every few weeks, I see it being a problem soon..as the roots are taking over!

also, do you have a recommended float that should be used?