Barneys Farm Blueberry OG RDWC Tent Grow

[Michael Hunt]

Hey 420 family, my name’s Mike. We are about to embark on another grow journal. This one is going to be single bucket RDWC, under a MarsHydro TSW2000. I’d like to attempt a SCROG again, if for any reason, to support the plant in the final stages. Whether or not it’s a “true” scrog, doesnt really matter.

Here are some of the details of our space.

~ environment: 3x3 tent, inside a closet, inside a garage.
~ Light: Mars Hydro TSW2000
~ Genetics: Barneys Farm Blueberry OG
~ Medium: DIY single bucket RDWC
~ Exhaust: AC infinity 6” w/ thermostat
~ AC: portable unit outside tent hooked to an Inkbird controller
~ AC: portable unit outside tent hooked to an Inkbird controller
~ Dehumidifier: 40L outside the tent, mini unit inside the tent
~ Water pumps: 250gph inline pump feeding the bucket and a second 250gph inline pump for the chiller
~ Chiller: 1/10hp ecoplus
~ Nutrients: General Hydroponics trio, floranectar, Hydroguard, CaMg, and I'm sure a few others I'm forgetting

So far we have the bean popped and in a cube, spreading her roots in preparation for going into her forever home.

Below are some photos of the setup.

^ this deserves an explanation. The bottom pipe is the drain (2”). The second pipe up is the feed line (1/2”). And the top little sharkbite connector seen is my cleaning “ring”. It is a 1/2” pvc loop inside the bucket with 3 small 360* sprayers pointed to the bottom of the bucket. This is for weekly res changes and cleanings. I can connect our filter line right to the sharkbite, and pump clean water into the bucket to flush the system back to the drain in the main reservoir. The sprayers help even out the water entering the bucket and spray down the roots in case i get lazy with root management.

Last 2 are where the little bean stands this morning since popping from her casing in a wet paper towel on the 24th.

I’m not striving for a monster plant this round. But with my track record, it’ll probably be unruly as can be. Should be fun regardless, learn a few things along the way, and get some decent buds out of her.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

[politoed]

i have grown this cultivar a few times and i have to say it is my favorite strain of all time. at least on the indica side. the best flavor and high, an enchanting smell. i wish you luck and cant wait to see how your pheno expresses itself!

 

[Michael Hunt]

i have grown this cultivar a few times and i have to say it is my favorite strain of all time. at least on the indica side. the best flavor and high, an enchanting smell. i wish you luck and cant wait to see how your pheno expresses itself!

Thanks @politoed your description makes the misses and I very excited to see what we get

 

[Michael Hunt]

She’s just about ready to go into the bucket if not tonight, she’ll make the plunge tomorrow night.

 

[Michael Hunt]

Finally got the little lady transplanted into her new bucket. Starting off with a small dose of nutes to see how she takes it. She’s had nothing but clone solution up until now.

Still shopping around for a ph controller. Was considering the bluelab unit until I started hearing bad things about their meters. Now we are leaning towards the Milwaukee controller and dosing pump to keep the ph right where it needs to be. For now manual readings and adjustments will work.

Thats all for now. Nothing too exciting to report. Happy Wednesday everybody!

 

[Michael Hunt]

Well, that reservoir made it about two days, then this morning i went to check the vitals and it was cloudy and starting to smell like stank

This was why i made the switch to H2O2 in our last run. Chocked it up to an old batch of hydroguard and made the switch. This time around, i got a fresh bottle of the stuff and checked the numbers on the bottle to ensure freshness. 2 days and splat. Gonna change out the solution this afternoon and possibly switch back to H2O2 already. Everything is insulated from light and heat. chiller is set to 66*. Not really sure what's going on here. I'll be back later with an update on the situation.

 

[Rexer]

Well, that reservoir made it about two days, then this morning i went to check the vitals and it was cloudy and starting to smell like stank

This was why i made the switch to H2O2 in our last run. Chocked it up to an old batch of hydroguard and made the switch. This time around, i got a fresh bottle of the stuff and checked the numbers on the bottle to ensure freshness. 2 days and splat. Gonna change out the solution this afternoon and possibly switch back to H2O2 already. Everything is insulated from light and heat. chiller is set to 66*. Not really sure what's going on here. I'll be back later with an update on the situation.

Hey Mike! Glad to see you back up and running! I'll pull up my usual chair in the back if you don't mind

Hydroguard is over priced- well up here it is anyways. Don't think I'll ever buy it again. If h202 works and you like using it, then go for it, ain't nothing wrong with that. If you decide to venture back into beneficials, go with Orca and pair it with Mycos Chum if you can. Those two are a winning combination in my books.

 

[Michael Hunt]

Hey Mike! Glad to see you back up and running! I'll pull up my usual chair in the back if you don't mind

Hydroguard is over priced- well up here it is anyways. Don't think I'll ever buy it again. If h202 works and you like using it, then go for it, ain't nothing wrong with that. If you decide to venture back into beneficials, go with Orca and pair it with Mycos Chum if you can. Those two are a winning combination in my books.

Hey Rex! Always glad to have you hanging out man

My local hydro shop guy gave a little insight on the hydroguard issue abroad (outside the US anyway). Apparently, most countries prohibit the import and export of bacteria/microbe cultures of certain kinds. Most enzyme solutions for plants tend to fall into those prohibited categories. Apparently, some companies have started opening facilities in other countries to grow the organisms locally to the markets they want to sell them in.

May have to give that combo a try. i know i can get them both locally, and today at that. The fisherman in me has some reservations about pouring something with the name "CHUM" in it, into our reservoir

 

[Rexer]

Hey Rex! Always glad to have you hanging out man

My local hydro shop guy gave a little insight on the hydroguard issue abroad (outside the US anyway). Apparently, most countries prohibit the import and export of bacteria/microbe cultures of certain kinds. Most enzyme solutions for plants tend to fall into those prohibited categories. Apparently, some companies have started opening facilities in other countries to grow the organisms locally to the markets they want to sell them in.

May have to give that combo a try. i know i can get them both locally, and today at that. The fisherman in me has some reservations about pouring something with the name "CHUM" in it, into our reservoir

Lol it takes a bit of tweaking, and to be honest I wish the chum was cheaper up here...I'd buy a huge jug of it. But I had the best roots I've had with that combo. And I'm not sure how much is dry/cure and placebo, but it tasted damn good too. Couldn't tell it wasnt soil grown.

The chum I use in small amounts- it has an added benefit of bringing ph down when using it. And keeps the usage of the orca down (as it feeds them and they multiply).

And always make sure you put your bennies (aka orca hydroguard, UC roots, etc.) in last after you've ph'd.

The reason I prefer it- the h202 dissipates quickly. The bennies stay and require less topping up, especially with the chum.

Really to me it comes down to just trying the odd new thing, and rolling with what makes you comfortable. Both routes bennies vs sterile get results.

 

[Michael Hunt]

Lol it takes a bit of tweaking, and to be honest I wish the chum was cheaper up here...I'd buy a huge jug of it. But I had the best roots I've had with that combo. And I'm not sure how much is dry/cure and placebo, but it tasted damn good too. Couldn't tell it wasnt soil grown.

The chum I use in small amounts- it has an added benefit of bringing ph down when using it. And keeps the usage of the orca down (as it feeds them and they multiply).

And always make sure you put your bennies (aka orca hydroguard, UC roots, etc.) in last after you've ph'd.

The reason I prefer it- the h202 dissipates quickly. The bennies stay and require less topping up, especially with the chum.

Really to me it comes down to just trying the odd new thing, and rolling with what makes you comfortable. Both routes bennies vs sterile get results.

@Rexer You are the man Rex. I've been working 2 jobs for the past few months, days and nights almost every day of the week. A funky res was the last thing i wanted to wake up to this morning. I truly appreciate your insight on this as i have very little free time these days to research something new. I'm going to give your combo a try this afternoon. Taking the family to the lake for the weekend so i gotta get this sorted ASAP.

 

[Michael Hunt]

Well, the little lady survived the weekend.

Unfortunately, i couldnt find any myco-chum locally so i ran the res with h2o2 just to make sure things stayed clean. Also realized we still have leftover floranectar (carb sweetener) from the last run that i could use to feed the enzymes in the hydroguard. We’ll give that a whirl over the weekend and see what happens.

We are also starting to develop a slight calcium deficiency. Burning tips, rust spots appearing on older growth first, working its way to the newer growth. I’m chocking it up to root growth right now. We dont run any kind of top feed system to help the little ones in the beginning. Just raise the water level to the bottom of the netpot and let aeration do the rest. I know plants consume a good bit of calcium to produce roots and she’s really been working hard to get down into the water. She’s almost there. Once she hits the water, calmag will have it’s time to shine.

I’ll get a pic or two tomorrow. It’s late, just got home from job #2 and i just wanna burn one and hit the sack. Goodnight all

 

[Michael Hunt]

Here’s the damage.

 

[Michael Hunt]

Time for another update

The little one’s roots have finally made it to water. It was painfully obvious the day it happened since the leaves were up and praying to the light like never before. I also think i sorted the calcium issue as it appears to have stopped spreading finally. Our calmag was from our last run and had been opened WELL over 6 months ago. Picked up a new bottle of a different brand and voila, she’s happier than ever.

Here’s a pic of the new calmag. This stuff is great. No crazy ph swings, you don't even have to add it in the very beginning. They even do their dosing based on how hard or soft your water is. Pretty well thought out stuff from what i can tell so far.

I also managed to pick a new air pump. Its a 45l “commercial” air pump and it freaking cranks.

And last but not least, roots and leaves. You can tell she’s much happier now despite the rust spots on the leaves.

That’s all for now. Nothing exciting will happen for a few more weeks but she’s happily chugging away. Happy Friday everyone!

 

[Rexer]

Look at them pearly white roots! That's always nice to see and reassuring.

Good job getting ahead of the calmag deficiency

 

[Michael Hunt]

Look at them pearly white roots! That's always nice to see and reassuring.

Good job getting ahead of the calmag deficiency

Thanks @Rexer It feels good to see some healthy growth and a mess of roots again. Now it's time to finally turn this light back up to 100%

 

[Michael Hunt]

So we have some drooping happening. Not sure if it’s from the light getting turned up to 100%. We solved the calcium deficiency, and the environment hasnt changed at all. Aside from the light intensity.

The ph climbs daily as usual, water level dropping slightly, and the ppm is static. According to “the chart”, the res is right on track. So it’s gotta be the light unless someone has another idea

Gonna give her another day or two, and maybe change the res if things dont improve in that time

 

[Rexer]

Gonna give her another day or two, and maybe change the res if things dont improve in that time

thats exactly what I was going to suggest. How's your VPD?

 

[Michael Hunt]

thats exactly what I was going to suggest. How's your VPD?

Honestly, i have no idea. Never taken the time to calculate the VPD

 

[Rexer]

No need to calculate- got a handy chart for that

 

[Michael Hunt]

@Rexer Yet again, Here you are for the win! Thanks for the chart. Going to save that one right away.

According to that chart, im still in the green/blue on VPD as well.

Our temps swing around a few degrees throughout the day. This is due to the Inkbird controller cycling the AC on and off periodically.

Our temps and humidity at their lowest are 70*f and 50-55%RH. This occurs together as well. The humidity drops as the AC kicks on and cools things down. On the high side, things get up to about 78-79*f and the humidity will spike to about 65-68% before the AC cycles.

She seems to have taken a turn a few days after our last res change. Went a bit lighter on the food due to the burning, but maybe she's just hungry and wants a little more N. She seems a little light to me anyways.