Help have I saved my girls or done them in....

[Dr Herb]

I am or was growing a super skunk auto and a narcotherapy auto in a D.W.C, but couldn't keep on top of the pH. Every time I checked the PH it was about 7 up to approx 8.5, I would bring it back down to the required level then when I check again later its way up there again. My girls Eve and Eden have suffered badly as a result they are at day 23 and showed their sex at 21 days. Today day 23 I took them from the D.W.C they were sharing and transplanted them into 15L pots contains a mixture of compost potting grit and perlite.

Will they survive this and thrive or have I just signed there death warrant. Just in case I have started to germinate 1 northern lights xl auto and an auto blueberry, which I have room for in my grow tent even if I haven't killed off eve and eden, on a big learning curve here as I had never done hydro before and will not try it again until I can spend more time with my plants to keep on top of the PH fluctuations.....

Any help or advise on this would be greatly appreciated. Oh they are under a 300watt duel spectrum cfl.

 

[Dr Herb]

Another question is it better during veg/preflower stage to have the lights at a distance or as close as poss to my girls as in flowering stage?

 

[MediScrogs]

Hey man, sorry to hear about your troubles. I don't know anything about DWC, though I'm sure there's threads here in the Hydro section to learn from. Do your research and follow proven methods.

In general, a good soil mix is a forgiving medium for growing and probably an easier place to start until you have more experience. You can get very nice yields from autos in soils when all the other factors are also taken care of.

Kind Soil is a vendor here now, new, repping their complete soil mix. You just put some in the bottom of your container and top fill with a basic mix like Roots Organics or something similar (avoid Fox Farm soils!). You just water in with CalMag and you should be golden. There's a test thread or two for them here now in the Vendor section of the site. Like I said, they're new at AFN but their product has been used by med growers in Michigan for awhile I guess. You could also just use the nutes you have in most cases in a soil grow, what do you have on hand?

If you're really committed to your DWC set up, pore over the Hydro forum stickies and you should find what you need, good luck bro.

 

[Dr Herb]

Cheers mediscroggs did my research on dwc just didn't have the time I thought I would to keep on top of it hence going back to soil until I can commit more time to a dwc set up always grown out doors with photos so wanted to try something different with my first indoor auto grow thanks for the advice though......

 

[briman]

@Dr Herb, hey brother, I would keep the led at a distance that encourages the plant to stretch a bit in veg and open her up a bit, then in flower, get the led as close as you can, without bleaching the tips! DWC is a beast to keep up with, unless you know your water source or have a RO system. I tried it 3 times and went back to soil, but I now have a RO system that I will be setting up. Water source and PH are the biggest blunders in DWC.

 

[cantbuymeloveuh]

@Dr Herb, hey brother, I would keep the led at a distance that encourages the plant to stretch a bit in veg and open her up a bit, then in flower, get the led as close as you can, without bleaching the tips! DWC is a beast to keep up with, unless you know your water source or have a RO system. I tried it 3 times and went back to soil, but I now have a RO system that I will be setting up. Water source and PH are the biggest blunders in DWC.

Maybe I am just lucky, but I have had zero issues with keeping my PH balanced. I have been using Floraduo A & B from the get go and it always settles at about 5.9. Granted, I do have a PH automation system that monitors the PH level and delivers PHup and PHdown whenever the parameters fall out of range, however I think on average it will correct itself MAYBE once or twice a week.

The link shows the controller I have... you will need two 120v solenoids valves hooked up to a bottle of Ph up and ph down....Once you get it set-up thou, your set.

http://americanmarineusa.com/collections/pinpoint-controllers/products/pinpoint-ph-controller

 

[Waira]

Herb-- I'm not sure man, I've not seen this done before, and I'm not hydro experienced yet,... my guess is they'll really stall out, until the roots 'reboot", if at all..? try using something for shock, B vitamins, root tonics, something like this,.. You'll need to chat with a good DWC grower about your water,... like Brim says, it all starts there,... drifting up like that is kinda odd,...what nutrients are you using?

 

[Dr Herb]

Quick update on eve and eden. After 24hrs I returned to them thinking the worst but hoping for the best, as I unzipped the tent I unconsciously closed my eyes for fear of what I would see. Well when I opened them there in front of me were my two girls their leaves outstretched and on an even keel, really thought they would be droopy and sad but no. Other then the leaves that had lost colour before the transplant everything looked really really good. They are both very short though Eve comes in at 10.5cm and Eden at 8cm at 24 days I would have expected them to be taller so have adjusted the light to a greater distance from them both.

I do have one more really stupid problem though but I doubt if anyone can help me on this.... When I set the two new beans into there root riot cubes, I got disturbed by the wife and on my return to my germination station for the life of me I could not remember which was the northern lights xl auto and which was the auto blueberry how can I tell them apart when they get to the flowering stage if the blueberry doesn't colour up?

 

[MediScrogs]

Smell. 50% chance you'll be correct :smoking:

 

[Dr Herb]

Smell. 50% chance you'll be correct :smoking:

Yes,thank you. Will have to put my wife on to that one as she has a very heightened sense of smell......