New Grower Northern Storm Auto DWC

[woody]

+1 on the sm90 i wouldnt try hydro without it. As for lighting schedules any of those is good i run 24/0 cause my space is so cold and it keeps temps and humidity steady

 

[Troy01]

Thanks Troy! We have an extra pumps and reservoirs, so res changes are a breeze. Talked to my grow buddy today and decided to do half in coco and half in the DWC. Same Strain, Same Lights, Same Everything Else, just to get the side by side comparison. Thanks for your input. Did you need anything beneficial bacteria or products like recharge, SM 90, Great White, or Hydroguard in the DWC?

Anxious to watch as she progresses. Treat your CoCo just like your hydro as far as nutrients go. They need to be watered at least daily. If your nutes don't have it make sure you add Cal-Mag to your regular feedings in both DWC and CoCo.

I use Hydroguard in both DWC and in my CoCo.

 

[KkB]

Anxious to watch as she progresses. Treat your CoCo just like your hydro as far as nutrients go. They need to be watered at least daily. If your nutes don't have it make sure you add Cal-Mag to your regular feedings in both DWC and CoCo.

I use Hydroguard in both DWC and in my CoCo.

Awesome . Cal -Mag deficiency was our very first of many boneheaded mistakes the first try. Thinking SM 90 over Hydrogaurd now thatch have read more about it, also the guy at the grow shop was telling me about how after Hydrogaurd sold to a bigger company, the formula was diluted. It was like 90 something percent inert ingredients, so he sold me Monterrey Complete, which has 1 beneficial strain, but at 98 % concentrate instead of the other way around. It wasn't enough to stop the root rot with the clones as it had gone for at least three days without air infusion. Poor bastards. I still feel terrible and it has been a few weeks, lol. Can you tell me why you use Hydrogaurd? I only know what I heard from grow shop dude, and his info on some other stuff was a little sketch. However, we assume ingredients labels are giving us the correct info, and on paper, the Monterrey seemed superior. Thanks for taking the time to help, to all of you, your responses have been tremendous and inspiring!

 

[Troy01]

I used Hydroguard as a recovery aid. I screwed up on my first grow in DWC and accidentally knocked my power cord to my bubbler out for a couple days and had a good dose of root rot. Hydroguard was recommended as an aid to clear up the root rot and induce rapid root production. It worked perfectly and I recovered and brought the plant to harvest and was rewarded with 3 ounces of nice firm buds.

I've heard good things about SM90 and if going natural is important to you then I would go with that product.

 

[KkB]

That's awesome that your crop recovered to harvest. When it happened to us with the first grow attempt, I went with another product over hydroguard and it didn't work, so that speaks volumes!

We decided to go with slf-100 and possibly recharge, GH Flora Series (because I have 5 gallons of each that was gifted to us) with Dyna Grow Pro-Tekt silicon solition, Cal-mag, and we have some different bloom additives to try when the time comes. We'll decide which to go with later. We are starting the little beans in root riot plugs, then planting in Mix2 from The Constant Gardener (Eugene, Oregon) consisting of coco, peet, and perlite, and their final homes will be 5 gallon handcrafted air pots.

We are considering adding a small amount of hydroton. Is this recommended?

We will be running these side by side with same strain in a bucket RDWC system with 10" net pots of hydroton. Seeds came yesterday, gonna check and recheck the systems before sprouting these bad boys. Northern Storm Auto from MSNL.

We are setting up a 4x8 tent, an adjustable ballast hood with a Hortilux MH or HPS At 600, 800,or 1000 Watts, 2 Vivarspectra 600 Watt LEDs With Veg And bloom Settings. Half In The Coco Mix 2 from The Constant Gardener (Eugene, OR), And half in DWC.

Thank All Of You For Your Help And Insight So Far!

I will update again when we decide to germinate! @Troy01, @sanguine, @Simplicio, @jingo, @A-Train

 

[A-Train]

What' up man. Good luck on the upcoming grow

 

[Troy01]

I've never used hydorton so can not give you any insight. Looks like you have a nice line up and will be anxious to watch.

 

[jingo]

I always put the hydroton right on top of my Coco. It makes a real nice barrier to flying insects that would otherwise crawl down in there to the cocoa and lay their eggs. Things like thrips have a larva stage down there as well as the hated root aphids. In fact, the only time I've had root aphids in years was one fall I just decided not to put those Pebbles on top.

You really need to wash the heck out of your hydroton before use, it's very alkaline and the dust can really throw off your pH. Especially if you're using it in deep water culture.

 

[Boradan]

I just finished my first grow, and I used 2 x 600W Viparspectras and RDWC.
Started with 4 seeds. One didn't sprout and another turned out to be a Photo.
From the 2 remaining, the first yielded 130g dry (62%). (link to the journal is in my sig)
The second (a week later) is currently being harvested, but the buds are much denser, so I think its going to be a good bit bigger.
I used the full line of Remo Nutrients, Great White Myco, Atamai Ata-clean (when I remembered about it - 8 weeks into the grow I think) and a Silica Additive.
Here is a few things I learned on this grow:

1. Make sure to have pH up and pH down - I had one large issue when I ran out of pH down and had to go a week using vinegar and Lemon juice to try and control my pH - Vinegar and Lemon Juice last NO time in RDWC as a pH adjuster - I was adjusting 4 times a DAY (turns out my bottle of pH down was sub-standard - I was using 30ml++ per rez change to set the pH. With the replacement bottle I bought (same brand), I was using 2-3ml).
2. Get a GOOD pH pen (bluelab highly recommended) and EC meter. A cheap-ass pH meter will screw your grow in RDWC.
3. Write EVERYTHING down. Good notes recording pH, EC(ppm), Feed volumes used at rez changes (plus any you add due to deficiencies etc), LST, defoliation, rez topups etc etc. With this you can keep track of your EC /pH and know WHEN to decrease and increase feeds.
4. Alongside [HASHTAG]#3[/HASHTAG], use this chart:
   
   
   
   
5. Keep on top of the rez temperature. This will boost root growth and reduce the risk of Pythium.
6. Give a light dose of CalMag right from the start using LEDs. I had a calmag issue on one plant in the first 10 days.

Apart from one or two minor issues, I was really happy with the grow and had no issues with 'the complexity of DWC'.
I actually much prefer it over what I have read about soil/coco.

 

[KkB]

First of all, many, many thanks to ALL of you.

A-train, I pulled you in because I saw your thread on LST and am an admirer after checking out your stuff. Thanks For Checking In!

Boradan, What a nice surprise. Glad you stopped to read, and happier with the info. Thanks, Bro. That Chart Is Bad Ass!

Jingo, Was Thinking Exactly That, Put The Pellets On Top. Thanks!

Nobody Was Bullshitting When They Said AFN Has The Coolest, Most Helpful, and Friendly Members.

Seeds Are Germinating, Hope To See Sprouts Soon!