It just became legal in Virginia to grow four plants a couple of months ago. I gave some old bag seed to my brother and father, and they both started growing in soil. I have some gardening experience, but I do not get good sun, and would prefer to grow indoors. I home-brewed previously, and really got into the chemistry and science, including water chemistry. When researching growing, hydroponics sounded right up my alley. So I did some research and decided to start with a four bucket DWC system. This is my first grow, and I know I am being a bit ambitious growing 4 plants and two different strains in DWC. I have help from my wife and son, who are adopting one plant each. I expect to make mistakes and learn from them. Hopefully, I will end up with some bud at the end 
Here is my initial purchase list:
VIVOSUN 48"x48"x80" Grow Tent Complete Kit with VS4000 LED Grow Light
Levoit Humidifier
Oscillating Fan
Reflective Mylar Sheets
Smartplug Outlet Extender
Wyze Camera & storage card
Bluetooth Hygrometers x2
4 Pack Digital Hygrometer/Thermometer
Deep Water Culture (DWC) Hydroponic Bubbler Bucket Kit by PowerGrow Systems (4) 5 Gallon - 6" Buckets
Vivosun Air Pump (Extra pump)
12 pack 4x2 air stones (Extra stones)
Air Tubing
Extra Bucket - Black 5g
Extra 6" netpots x6
Grow!T Clay Pebbles
pH Meter + TDS
pH Up/Down - Water adjuster
Advanced Nutrients - Bloom, Micro & Grow 1L pack
Advanced Nutrients - B-52 1L
Advanced Nutrients Voodoo Juice 500ml
Hydroguard 1qt
Cal-Mag Plus supplement
Advanced Nutrients (Budding)
Advanced Nutrients (Finishing)
Advanced Nutrients Overdrive 250ml
Hindu Kush Feminized - Pack of 10
White Widow Feminized - Pack of 10
Vivosun Seedling Mat & Thermostat
EZ-gro Plugs
10pk Seed trays
CloneX Solution
Marijuana Horticulture: Growers Bible
And the specs:
What strain is it? White Widow (Hybrid) x 2, Hindu Kush (Indica) x 2
Is it in Veg or Flower stage? Starting Veg
If in Veg... For how long? Two seeds planted 21 days ago, two planted 15 days ago
Indoor or outdoor? Indoor
If indoor...Dimensions (L x W x D) of grow space? 4' x 4' x 8' (4x4x8)
Soil or Hydro? Hydroponic DWC in 5 gallon buckets
Size of light? VS4000 - 400w LED
Temp of basement? 68f
RH of basement? 60% humidity
Temp of tent? 72f
RH of tent? 65% humidity
PH of media or res? 5.8-6.0
Any Pests ? Trying to keep them at bay
Type and strength of ferts used? Advanced Nutrients, 1/4 strength
Grow diary so far....
9/12/21 - Planted 4 seeds in EZ-rooter cells (White widow x2, Hindu Kush x2), re-hydrated with tap water adjusted to pH 6.0. Put seeds under the dome, set temp @ 75. Water in the bottom of the planter covering the bottom of the plugs
9/14/21 - More reading, rooter plugs should not be kept in water. Drained the water out of the bottom and took the dome off (over-reacted).
9/15/21 - First sprout (Kini)
9/16/21 - Second plant sprouted (Demeter). The other two look like they are about to sprout. Moved all plants into the buckets with clay pebbles.
9/18/21 - The two plants that had not sprouted still have not sprouted. Planted two more seeds, 'just in case'.
End of Week 1: Made some mistakes and learned some lessons this week. I took the first plugs out of the tray too soon. When starting four seeds, start them in four different trays. Use a light solution of clonex to soak the plugs and roots grow faster. Keep a little water on the bottom of the tray, but make sure the plug is not sitting in water. Keep the heat mat at 74f and the dome closed (90-95% humidity). Once the seed sprouts, open the vents on the dome for the first day. This takes humidity down from 90% to 75% over the course of the day. After the first day, remove the dome. Check the roots daily, and once you have 1-2" roots out of the bottom of the cube, then go to buckets. Of the first four seeds planted, only two made it to seedling. Both of the second two made it and grew faster with more roots.
Also still earning about pH. I am using well water, filtered through a 40m pre-filter and two 5m carbon filters. Water starts at 80ppm, 8.1 pH (I expect results from the well test soon). I am using phosphoric acid (AN pH Down) to bring down the pH of the water. The AN nutrients are supposed to be pH perfect, but with the low quantities I am using right now it is only bringing the pH down to about 6.7. I am hoping that once the quantities are increased, pH will hold better. However, using well water I may still need to reduce pH before mixing.
9/22/21 - First of the new seeds (Lorraine) sprouted. Opened dome.
9/23/21 - Second of new seeds (Alice) sprouted, opened dome. Removed dome from Lorraine.
9/24/21 - Checked Lorraine, and had 2" root coming out of the cube. Moved both new seedlings into buckets.
End of Week 2: Much better week. Glad I started two more plants, all four look healthy. Still small, but getting bigger every day.
9/25/21 - Three of the four (except Alice) now have roots in the water.
9/26/21 - Demeter is starting to show some rust colored spots. Checked the lights, and they were at 17k LUX, a bit too high. The previous day, we had sprayed Demeter with water, and the leaves got burned. Turned down the light, and moved a bit away.
10/1/21 - Saw a spider in the tent, and went on full bug control. Spread diatomaceous earth all around the basement, in the tent, and on the buckets. Placed glue bug traps all around the basement and especially around the tent. Watching for now...
10/3/21 - Added a second air pump and a second 4/2 stone to each of the buckets. You can never have too much air, right?
End of week 3: Plants are growing great. Kini is leading the pack; she will be going up to 1/2 nutrient schedule tomorrow. Demeter is recovering nicely from some light burn, and Loraine and Alice are starting their third node to begin vegetative stage. I learned that I should not just trust what the manufacturer states, and need to measure LUX/light levels to make sure they stay appropriate. LEDs give off so little heat, it is hard to tell by heat alone if you are too close.
The plants are really starting to grow now. We are still monitoring daily. I plan on updating this journal at least once per week. Stay tuned...
Here is my initial purchase list:
VIVOSUN 48"x48"x80" Grow Tent Complete Kit with VS4000 LED Grow Light
Levoit Humidifier
Oscillating Fan
Reflective Mylar Sheets
Smartplug Outlet Extender
Wyze Camera & storage card
Bluetooth Hygrometers x2
4 Pack Digital Hygrometer/Thermometer
Deep Water Culture (DWC) Hydroponic Bubbler Bucket Kit by PowerGrow Systems (4) 5 Gallon - 6" Buckets
Vivosun Air Pump (Extra pump)
12 pack 4x2 air stones (Extra stones)
Air Tubing
Extra Bucket - Black 5g
Extra 6" netpots x6
Grow!T Clay Pebbles
pH Meter + TDS
pH Up/Down - Water adjuster
Advanced Nutrients - Bloom, Micro & Grow 1L pack
Advanced Nutrients - B-52 1L
Advanced Nutrients Voodoo Juice 500ml
Hydroguard 1qt
Cal-Mag Plus supplement
Advanced Nutrients (Budding)
Advanced Nutrients (Finishing)
Advanced Nutrients Overdrive 250ml
Hindu Kush Feminized - Pack of 10
White Widow Feminized - Pack of 10
Vivosun Seedling Mat & Thermostat
EZ-gro Plugs
10pk Seed trays
CloneX Solution
Marijuana Horticulture: Growers Bible
And the specs:
What strain is it? White Widow (Hybrid) x 2, Hindu Kush (Indica) x 2
Is it in Veg or Flower stage? Starting Veg
If in Veg... For how long? Two seeds planted 21 days ago, two planted 15 days ago
Indoor or outdoor? Indoor
If indoor...Dimensions (L x W x D) of grow space? 4' x 4' x 8' (4x4x8)
Soil or Hydro? Hydroponic DWC in 5 gallon buckets
Size of light? VS4000 - 400w LED
Temp of basement? 68f
RH of basement? 60% humidity
Temp of tent? 72f
RH of tent? 65% humidity
PH of media or res? 5.8-6.0
Any Pests ? Trying to keep them at bay
Type and strength of ferts used? Advanced Nutrients, 1/4 strength
Grow diary so far....
9/12/21 - Planted 4 seeds in EZ-rooter cells (White widow x2, Hindu Kush x2), re-hydrated with tap water adjusted to pH 6.0. Put seeds under the dome, set temp @ 75. Water in the bottom of the planter covering the bottom of the plugs
9/14/21 - More reading, rooter plugs should not be kept in water. Drained the water out of the bottom and took the dome off (over-reacted).
9/15/21 - First sprout (Kini)
9/16/21 - Second plant sprouted (Demeter). The other two look like they are about to sprout. Moved all plants into the buckets with clay pebbles.
9/18/21 - The two plants that had not sprouted still have not sprouted. Planted two more seeds, 'just in case'.
End of Week 1: Made some mistakes and learned some lessons this week. I took the first plugs out of the tray too soon. When starting four seeds, start them in four different trays. Use a light solution of clonex to soak the plugs and roots grow faster. Keep a little water on the bottom of the tray, but make sure the plug is not sitting in water. Keep the heat mat at 74f and the dome closed (90-95% humidity). Once the seed sprouts, open the vents on the dome for the first day. This takes humidity down from 90% to 75% over the course of the day. After the first day, remove the dome. Check the roots daily, and once you have 1-2" roots out of the bottom of the cube, then go to buckets. Of the first four seeds planted, only two made it to seedling. Both of the second two made it and grew faster with more roots.
Also still earning about pH. I am using well water, filtered through a 40m pre-filter and two 5m carbon filters. Water starts at 80ppm, 8.1 pH (I expect results from the well test soon). I am using phosphoric acid (AN pH Down) to bring down the pH of the water. The AN nutrients are supposed to be pH perfect, but with the low quantities I am using right now it is only bringing the pH down to about 6.7. I am hoping that once the quantities are increased, pH will hold better. However, using well water I may still need to reduce pH before mixing.
9/22/21 - First of the new seeds (Lorraine) sprouted. Opened dome.
9/23/21 - Second of new seeds (Alice) sprouted, opened dome. Removed dome from Lorraine.
9/24/21 - Checked Lorraine, and had 2" root coming out of the cube. Moved both new seedlings into buckets.
End of Week 2: Much better week. Glad I started two more plants, all four look healthy. Still small, but getting bigger every day.
9/25/21 - Three of the four (except Alice) now have roots in the water.
9/26/21 - Demeter is starting to show some rust colored spots. Checked the lights, and they were at 17k LUX, a bit too high. The previous day, we had sprayed Demeter with water, and the leaves got burned. Turned down the light, and moved a bit away.
10/1/21 - Saw a spider in the tent, and went on full bug control. Spread diatomaceous earth all around the basement, in the tent, and on the buckets. Placed glue bug traps all around the basement and especially around the tent. Watching for now...
10/3/21 - Added a second air pump and a second 4/2 stone to each of the buckets. You can never have too much air, right?
End of week 3: Plants are growing great. Kini is leading the pack; she will be going up to 1/2 nutrient schedule tomorrow. Demeter is recovering nicely from some light burn, and Loraine and Alice are starting their third node to begin vegetative stage. I learned that I should not just trust what the manufacturer states, and need to measure LUX/light levels to make sure they stay appropriate. LEDs give off so little heat, it is hard to tell by heat alone if you are too close.
The plants are really starting to grow now. We are still monitoring daily. I plan on updating this journal at least once per week. Stay tuned...
