Cannaculturalist's First Hydro Grow 600W RDWC ScrOG & Bag Seed

[cannacultural]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently growing a bunch of plants outdoors which are doing nicely in containers - these were grown from mixed bag seed I had kept over the years. Have been doing this for a couple of years, following on from my father who was stuck in the 60s and would be blown away with all the new techniques of growing. I'm well into my gardening and have decided to step things up and take it indoors and try my hand at hydroponics. After reading as far and wide as I can, I've setup a tent and RDWC system.

I have selected some of the more promising females from my outdoor grow for clones and currently have them in rockwool (first batch didn't do so well, I don't think the mothers were at peak health, so took another round and sowed some seed for insurance and curiosity).

The grow space is setup as so:
1.2x1.2.2.0 (4x4x6) tent
600w MH/HPS bulbs in extracooltube hood with dimable digital ballast
Carbon filter -> light -> fan -> silencer -> outside for ventilation
(will organise a fan for inside later, tent has ventilation from the bottom, should be ok for fresh intake)

The hydro setup is setup as so:
4x20l (5gal) buckets with 140mm (5") netpots
19mm (3/4") pipe work
2700l/hr (700gal/hr) pump
4 port air pump
4x50mm (2") air stones
35l (9gal) reservoir/control tank

Nutrients & stuff:
General Hydroponics Flora 3 part
General Hydroponics CaliMagic
Gro-Tek Pro-Silicate
General Hydrponics Liquid KoolBloom
Gro-Tek Monster Bloom

I've been looking around at the different recipes and concentrations people use for their hydro setups (and specifically those using General Hydro's Flora series and or DWC). Based on my reading I think I'll go with Highgrade's recipe with a slight modification (sourced from the drugs-forum FAQ). The change I propose is to swap the epsom salt for GenHydro's CaliMagic at half the label dosage, and instead of Pro-Tekt, to use Gro-Tek's Pro Silicate. Does this sound like a reasonable concoction? (included in the following table are the advised rates as per Highgrade's recipe, with calculation for my total water body of approx 80L). The main thing I'd appreciate feedback on is the decision to use CaliMagic over epsom salt at the suggested rate (I wasn't sure if using the full dosage of 1ml/1l was going to be too much).

Vegetative Growth Formula
Nutrient Nutrient 11.355L of Water Nutrient per 100L of Water Nutrient per 80L of water
Grow -----------------15ml-------------------------- 132ml-----------------------120ml
Micro-----------------10ml----------------------- 88ml----------------------------80ml
Bloom-----------------5ml-------------------------44ml---------------------------40ml
Silica -------------- 5ml---------------------------44ml----------------------------40ml
Epsom Salt-------¼ tsp------------------ 2 ½ tsp (little less)-------------------- 2 tsp
CaliMagic-----------5ml-------------------------- 44ml----------------------------40ml
Ratio 3 : 2 : 1 Target PPM 500-550

Transition from Growth to Bloom Formula
Nutrient Nutrient 11.355L of Water Nutrient per 100L of Water Nutrient per 80L of water
Grow ----------------10ml------------------------- 88ml-------------------------- 80ml
Micro-----------------10ml-------------------------88ml-------------------------- 80ml
Bloom---------------10ml--------------------------88ml---------------------------80ml
Silica -------------- 5ml---------------------------44ml----------------------------40ml
Epsom Salt-------¼ tsp------------------ 2 ½ tsp (little less)-------------------- 2 tsp
CaliMagic-----------5ml-------------------------- 44ml----------------------------40ml
Ratio 1 : 1 : 1 Target PPM 600

Flowering / Bloom Formula
Nutrient Nutrient 11.355L of Water Nutrient per 100L of Water Nutrient per 80L of water
Grow -------------- 5ml-------------------------- 44ml----------------------------40ml
Micro --------------10ml--------------------------88ml----------------------------80ml
Bloom--------------15ml------------------------132ml---------------------------120ml
Silica -------------- 5ml---------------------------44ml----------------------------40ml
Epsom Salt-------¼ tsp------------------ 2 ½ tsp (little less)-------------------- 2 tsp
CaliMagic-----------5ml-------------------------- 44ml----------------------------40ml
Ratio 1 : 2 : 3 Target PPM 600

Target pH will be 5.8 within a range of 5.5-6.2.

Other additives:

I'm also looking to use Gen Hydro's liquid Koolbloom from transition week onward. I've looked at some of the other additives (specifically sweeteners and other PK boosters) but didn't think I'll go that far on my first run - I'd like to see how the system and plants perform before investing further on additives). Other consideration was to source some SuperThrive as that seems to be quite popular (and I have found a local supplier), but am yet to be convinced - this with many of the other enzyme/hormone based additives seem a little hit and miss on effect from reports and I'd like to trawl some scientific literature prior to using them).

As a precautionary measure I'd also like to use Heisenberg's Tea recipe using what I can source locally (420 Premium Bacteria, Gen Hydro FloraBlend, EWC). I've not got the products or equipment for this yet, but will chase that down very quickly once the DWC is running.

Here's a closeup of what I'm working with. In the foreground are seedlings from seed, the back right are clones directly in coco and the back middle are clones in rockwool (the ones I'm most keen to use in this grow - as soon as I get roots showing, it's on!).

The plan:
To grow 4 plants with a ScrOG net in RDWC to yield the goal of 1 gram per watt ~1lb.
- I would like to note, that this is my Everest/Moon/Russia in Winter goal, and not what I expect to happen either on my early attempts or with setup as it currently stands. But this seems to be where most serious growers aim for, so I thought that seemed worthwhile. -

Current situation:
Clones rooting (I hope, in 40mm rockwool with Clonex gel under 250w MH on a heatmat set 25C. Tent temp range: 22-29C [71-84F) (lights off to lights on with outside temp of 40C [104F]), RH 40-60%. Have been there for 9 days. The first set of clones is rooting (have checked inside cubes) but stem and leaves all look wrecked, have ditched a few, very slow to root for most) they are 3 weeks old now). 4 clones direct into coco which are 12 days old) and 8 seedlings which are 2 weeks old and have been potted up with coco.

What's next:
Select the best clones to grow on and fire up the hydroponics rig. Veg time 4-6 weeks with 400-600w MH, flower time 8-? As I've not got a clue what strain or phenos I am working with, this will be a learning experience. I believe they are a Sativa/Indica hybrid (based on leaf shape, growth habit from others outside, but I'm no expert on that).

Comments/ideas/thoughts?

Cheers everyone

 

[cannacultural]

Up until embarking upon this current grow (indoor/hydro), outdoor hobby growing has been my focus. My father would usually grow a few plants in his own way - that is, relying upon the knowledge he attained in the 60s and making the rest up as he went. I never paid much attention to it all, but picked up the basics and did a few grows with what I had. I've since spent time reading up on new ideas and methods for growing and decided to mix things up a bit this year. I started off with 20 mixed seed a few months ago, and now have a nice little garden. I'm using 250mm pots (I should have gone to at least 300mm, but don't want to transplant again) with a 1 : 1 : 1 mix of coco, coarse perlite and chicken manure for the medium. Have been feeding every 1-2 weeks with a liquid feed with a NPK of N: 10.0 P: 2.0 K: 6.0. Most have showed sex and have subsequently got rid of any males or weaker plants. I was also given 2 seedlings by a friend.

These fems I've put on a makeshift ScrOG net

These two have had some extensive LST training

This one I think I burnt a little with fertiliser a few weeks ago - the newer tips got a bit fried, but has since come good

This one I have taken several clones from as a mother plant. Seems to be a good grower in high health - have also taken clones from some of the ScrOG'd plants too.

The two plants given to me

Question about this one: I have two plants like this, they started flowering really early and remain stunted with very little lateral growth. The leaves are very odd too - bar a couple of the lower leaves, each are single leaflets. I assumed these must be some sort of autoflower variety, though as the season has progressed to maximum daylight hours, it has started veg growing again (all the top shoots). Weird, huh?

Most of the plants are doing well, some signs of insect damage (thrips and leave miners), also this time of year is crazy for whitefly - and isn't helped by having so many tomatoes near by. I've sprayed a few times with neem and pyrethrum, but try to keep this to a minimum as it seems to be OK. All have been growing for about 3-4 months, and hopefully will begin flowering soon as we head toward the autumn equinox.

 

[cannacultural]

Hi yall,

As the new year dawns on us, I thought I'd wrap this one up with a few minor additions and an update. Yesterday I went outside and did some more LST and super cropping on me plants. All are looking swell today and am mighty impressed with the growth with the good run of weather we are having.

Today I had a think about the indoor setup while reflecting on more of my reading on here of others grows and looked at what I had on hand. I grabbed the reflective insulation I had stashed away from an attic extension and made some skirts for the grow buckets. Also used up some of the ducting tape I had and covered the lids. Now she's all shinny and looking more like a bunch of R2D2's or the set of an Alien film... With DWC, temp of the water seems to be a major influence on success or lack there of, so doing what I can prior to starting it up to reduce potential problems. I also grabbed one of the spare oscillating fans and put it in for later on - it's a bit too powerful to put on the seedlings. I'll position it in the middle of the buckets facing upwards on a wooden stand when the time comes.

This gives a better look at the plumbing setup too FYI. Feed line in the front from reservoir, split to first two buckets, then to two rear buckets with return line to pump back to reservoir. Initially I was going to use 4mm feed lines from the top, but couldn't find the appropriate fitting, so went with a more under current design. However I've also thought that perhaps using 13mm feeds from the top doing the waterfall effect could be a better idea. I'm going to leave that for now and see how it goes as is. If need be, I'll make changes for the next run. In hindsight I'd probably have used 2" PVC pipe work - but am not experienced with it and tools/fittings were a bit of an issue - so I stuck with what was familiar (irrigation fittings). Though what I also see as a plus is the system is modular (can remove buckets) - this seemed like a good idea if I go with my from seed seedlings (as I wont be able to sex them prior to putting them in netpots - well I could, but that'd take longer), I am hoping to still go with my clones as they are looking heaps better than my first lot.

And here's the reservoir return setup - using the bits I had - 19mm to 13mm adapter - 13mm bulkhead - 19mm grommet + 19mm hose to 19mm elbows x3. Should keep the reservoir nice an active as I don't have an extra airpump/stone for it.

I'm still keen to trial these from seed, seedlings as I'm needing to suss out what my multiple collected bags are like (when I sowed for my outdoor crop, I didn't keep a record of what was what - do'h!). If I don't use them, I'll put them up with coco+perlite and run them on the side for a bit of fun. Notice the two in the right corner - one has the first true leaves out, but is all mangled at the meristem and isn't growing, the other has strange shaped leaves, and threw out 3 at the second node.

Lights out after the maintenance and here's to a bit of fun in 2014

All the best, keep safe and all the best for 2014!

 

[Bong6900]

Sup cannaculturalist
How is the grow going ?

 

[David Bowman]

How did this grow turn out?

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