Deep Water Culture Tutorial, SH Kit & DIY

Re: Roseman's Deep Water Culture Tutorial, SH Kit & DIY

It is MUCH MUCH easier to do an indoor grow in Winter time,
than in the Summer time.


It is easier to bring heat to a cool room, than to bring COOL air
to a Hot room.


This is the last grow I will ever do without using a water pump filter bag. Everyone is using them now.

Hydro shops are starting to sell draw-string bags made from a fabric similar to window screen, but a much finer mesh. They are cheap and "must have" for Deep Water Culture or DWC growers.

By the time the water pump is in the tank for 3 weeks, it harbors too much trash, and dead root debris, and that really messes with the pH.
 
Re: Roseman's Deep Water Culture Tutorial, SH Kit & DIY

Increasing Potency, GROWTH, Yield and Trichomes
Some of these procedures are called SUPER CROPPING

This is something all growers obviously are interested in. Now the methods and facts I'm going to list I know will be scrutinized and criticised by some, and discredited by others, which is completely fine with me.
Some of these methods come across as pretty controversial, but they all have been researched and tested by people I know, or have talked to, or I have tried personally myself.
With that said lets get to the good stuff.

Basics
1) Plant health- It's obvious,but important to state having a healthy plant will produce more trichomes. I try not to throw any plants into flowering unless there all healthy and mature. Plants will not reach there full potential if they are sick or immature. So try to resolve all health issues prior to flipping to 12/12.
I also have experimented with and use a very slight addition of VEG nutes, during the Flowering Cycle. The extra N- Nitrogen, makes a great difference.
2) Cool room- having your temps lower in flowering will have your girls producing more resin or trichs.
3) Genetics-Obviously you want the best strain AND Got to be Indica!

Now the spooky advise:

How to increase Trichomes, Production, Yield

1) Very low humidity in BLOOMING- I think most people know that dryer conditions are more condusive to resin production. From my experience and from talking to other people that grow, its good to have extremely low humidity, or as low as you can get it, DURING FLOWERING, NOT IN VEG.
Try to shoot for 15% humidifity in flowering, if possible, keeping it nice and dry.
HAVE extreme temps, within range, like 80s in day, mid 60s in night.
NO MISTING
2) UVB lighting- there has been a lot of research and tests that indicate that exposing BUDS to UVB lighting in flowering increases trichome production. Naturally in parts of the world with high levels of UVB like Afghanastan or Kush Valley or Thailand have high levels of UVB in their atmosphere. Its believed the leaves makes a "Sun screen" to protect from the uvb, and that sun screen people say are trichomes. Adding UVB lighting in flowering DOES increase trichome production if done correctly.
*** UVB lighting is dangerous, it can cause skin cancer,and can turn you blind. You cant see the light it omits, but if your under it for 10-20 min you will get a sunburn. As long as the UVB is on in your grow area, you don't walk in while its on. As long as you do this everything is fine. I recommend you do from 6-8 hours in flowering starting around 2nd-3rd week of flowering. Start 1 hour a day and gradually increase to 6-8 hours, starting in the middle of its 12 hour cycle. Keep the UVB at least 2 feet away from your canopy. Get the reptile lights,they are cheap, they come in .5 and .10 uvb .10 is better obviously and they make special lamps to hold them, if you want a reflector for it. Make sure to rig the uvb to a seperate timer,to go on 6 hour into the light period. Please use caution with this, and dont allow the uvb to shine on you over a minute or two.

3) Intentional Stress- When your approaching the end of your flowering cycle, you start to stress the plant out.
Hey, they are about to die anyway. When plants THINK they are dying , the only thing they know how to do is grow or try to reproduce. If you start to stress them it is believed by many that the plant will try to get stickier in order to be able to catch more pollen from a flowering male.
4) ADD EXTRA COLD AIR
5)ADD A DARKNESS PERIOD
When you do this, there are some things to keep in mind.

**Never do this for more then 14 days before your harvest.** The key here is to stress them out just enough, to not give them time to turn hermaphrodite on you. You have to estimate when you think you might have 14 days left, start and harvest no more then 14 days after. Kick the plant pots everyday, shake the plant a little everyday, and give it a few minutes of HIGH FAN Air, like a wind storm.
Take little thumb tacks, drive them into every branch on the plant right below the last node. Do not break anything, or drive big nails into them, just use small thumb tacks. Just a tack into every lower branch will do the trick. You're not damaging them, your just annoying them to get a reaction.
TWISTING- hold one part of the large stem between a thumb and finger, and one inch higher, hold one part of the large stem between a thumb and finger, and TWIST it, to damage it.

Take your fingernail and scrap a piece of skin (bark) off, the size of a penny on the larger stems.

- I know a lot of people like to do 24 to 48 hours of darkness prior to harvest but you can try 2 days of darkness before u chop, or even mess with the light schedule a little, using less light. I know this seems crazy but it works. Just do it the LAST week before harvest.
 
Re: Roseman's Deep Water Culture Tutorial, SH Kit & DIY

I am starting to see trichs (trichomes) also called Resin Glands on some of my trim leaves. (the leaves that are part of the buds and grows out of the flowers)
The trichomes are where the highest concentration of THC can be found.

The warm low kelvin bulbs make the pistals look yellow or cream colored but they are actually very snowy white.

If you look very closely, you can find and see some trichomes starting to appear at the outer parts of the smaller trim leaves.

If you grow with CFLs and different Dual Spectrum bulbs, the first trichomes that appear are always near the high kelvin bulbs. (6500k bulbs)
This is another reason to ocasionally rotate the bulbs.


2009_Grow_00231.jpg


I have BUDs starting to form all over the plants.

2009_Grow_00330.jpg


Within the next 2 to 4 weeks, this TOP will fill in and make a nice cola. (Flower Top)

2009_Grow_00521.jpg


2009_Grow_00613.jpg



Just think, this pic only shows the tops of the plants, called the canopy. Those plants are averaging 4 feet tall, up to 52 inches on the tallest one.
2009_Grow_00711.jpg
 
Re: Roseman's Deep Water Culture Tutorial, SH Kit & DIY

Let me repeat, if you are growing with CFLs, and properly using two different kelvin bulbs, you will see the first trichs near the 6500k bulbs first.
It is very important that you have ample 6500k bulbs to pull those trichomes out, and are using both spectrums of bulbs and ocasionally rotate them.
I try to position one bulb of each kelvin near the largest colas and swap them around every two or three days.
 
Re: -------'s Deep Water Culture Tutorial, SH Kit & DIY

When I do my next grow, I will definitely take advangtage of using these Water Pump Filter Bags to keep the trash out of my water pumps.


Filter_Bag.jpg


Sunleaves Pump Filter Bag


9 inches by 8 inches.
Price: $7.99 at SH minus 10% for Deep Water Culture
 
Re: Roseman's Deep Water Culture Tutorial, SH Kit & DIY

On 8th grow now, and I am still learning.
Biggest mistake I made this grow was using two OLD bulbs, My new Light Meter told me that they are still lighting up, but not putting out any light or lumens.
A CFL bulb is only good for two grows, max.
And no matter how much wattage and lumens you have, CFLs do not penetrate deep, not even the 105 watt bulbs. I will still get 16 ounces of dried manicured buds tho.
2nd biggest mistake was I let a bulb and reflector fall right in the middle of my biggest plant and I lost 5 major branches or limbs! It still has 8 remaining limbs tho.
3rd mistake was I used one used 1/4 inch tube, (I bought 25 ft of new tube and I needed 26 feet) and letting the tube fall off the hub and I lost a baby sprout.
4th mistake was letting the water pump stay in a week too long and it was full of trash. I am using water pump filter bags on all my future grows.
5th mistake was not examining my air stones frequently enough.

By the way, I am pushing feedings to the max, I am approaching gettig nute burn, and I have 1/32 inch yellow tips on almost every upper leaf.
They are still very healthy and growing fast!
 
Re: Roseman's Deep Water Culture Tutorial, SH Kit & DIY

OK, let me tell you where I am at on my grow and with feeding.
And I am going out on a limb here too.

I did order and receive the ADVANCED NUTRIENTS.
I was told by many growers that use them that they will balance the pH for you and you can toss the pH UP and the pH Down if you use Advanced Nutrients.
Sounded good to me, so I ordered the BLOOM, and they came in two one gallon jugs, labeled Part A and Part B. The instructions say to add them separately to the tank and make the ppm 800 to 900 per reservoir or 1.8 tablespoon per gallon of water.
That was simple enough.

I noticed that one container contained NO Nitrogen, and very high on Phosperous and very little Potassium.
The other container was High on Nitrogen, Low on Phosperous and High on Potassium.
Hmmmmm??? Nitrogen in Bloom Nutes?????

ADVANCED NUTRIENTS is one of the very few nutrients sold and labeled that they are made especially for marijuana growing.

Hhhhhmmmm? Bloom Nutes High in Nitrogen??????

The container labeled High in Nitrogen looks like Liquid Karma, it is a brown liquid and not thin either. I decided to remain loyal to my SH pre-packaged nutes for this grow, but I wanted to try the ADVANCED NUTRIENTS, so I used them ONLY in my 5 gallon experimental bucket.

After two days, I noticed a couple of changes.
One, first thing I noticed is they started having a stronger skunk smell again, like when they were in the VEG cycle. A few days after I first started the BLOOM nutes , the strong smell diminshed. After adding the Advanced Nutrients with Nitrogen, the bad stink came back And strong too.
Two, secondly I noticed that the the lower third of the plant's leaves QUIT having dying off, falling off, yellowing leaves. I was averaging 3 or 4 leaves a day falling off, and suddenly NONE fell off. They quit yellowing and falling off.
Three, I noticed all kinds of new green leaves growing out of the flowers or bud sites.

Hhhhmmmm, had to be the Nitrogen!

So I spent almost an entire day googling and searching for info on adding Nitrogen during the Flowereing Cycle. VERY INTERESTING.
I ALSO LOOKED THROUGH 4 BOOKS. All I could find is advice saying DO NOT ADD VEG NUTES(Nitrogen) DURING THE BLOOM CYCLE, because of the affect on TASTE. There was no other reason NOT to do it.

So, I asked some expert growers.
Uncle Ben says he always adds a small amount of Nitrogen nutes to the Bloom Cycle and none of his lower leaves yellow and fall off.
A nameless large outdoor commerical grower that I know told me he digs a giant hole and throws all the dirt away and fills the hole back up with an assortment of different soils, peat moss, all kinds of different manure and bat poop and all kinds of nitrogen. He said when his plants naturally go to 12/12, they never shed a lower leaf. He never adds any phosperous or anything else either. He grows those 15 to 20 foot tall trees too.
He said he does not flush them, how could he flush an outdoor tree in soil? And he says that he never gets any nitrogen-fertilizer taste in his buds either.

And in my asking around, many indoor hydro growers say their secret trick is to add a little Nitrogen during BLOOM to get larger buds and a larger harvest.

So, on my other two tanks, when I added one gallon of water back, I added 1/6 packet of VEG nutes. Now they are not shedding any leaves and the bud sites are rapidly filling in too.

And they are all stinking to high heaven.

I am not suggesting or recommending that you do the same thing and add Nitrogen nutes to the Bloom Cycle. I might really be making a mistake. The buds might taste aweful later.
I might stop bud growth, I don't know for sure.
This is just an EXPERIMENT.
 
Re: Roseman's Deep Water Culture Tutorial, SH Kit & DIY

Hanging now are
2 6500k 85 watt bulbs (I had 3 and I found one to be old when I tested it with a light Meter, so I tossed it)
1 6500k 105 watt bulb
1 5000k 105 watt bulb
2 4100k 105 watt bulbs
2 3000k 105 watt bulbs
2 2700k 85 watt bulbs
over three containers, over 9 plants.

I have twice the light that I need and I should have more of the bulbs that I already have on the sides and down in between the plants. There is no room to place them on the sides or down inbetween the plants, so I live with what I got.

You do not need anywhere near this amount of bulbs or wattage, and half as many would still be too much.
 
Re: Roseman's Deep Water Culture Tutorial, SH Kit & DIY

Let me share with you a few things that I disagree with, from what other growers do believe. These are my opinions and my beliefs.

I am becoming more and more convinced that a little Nitogen in the Flowering Cycle is very desirable and beneficial.

I am becoming more and more convinced that FLUSHING before harvest is a big waste of time in Hydro grows.

I am becoming more and more convinced that
Vegging with 24/7 is superlative to 18/6 Vegging.
 
Re: Roseman's Deep Water Culture Tutorial, SH Kit & DIY

Look to the far left of the closet, at how tall the tallest one is, compared to the closet shelf. It is 52 inches tall.

Both ends of the closet are very full, VERY FULL.

The MYLAR is 50 inches wide (tall) and I have it at the same level as the top of the lid on the reservoir tank.
 
Re: Roseman's Deep Water Culture Tutorial, SH Kit & DIY

Look to the far left of the closet, at how tall the tallest one is, compared to the closet shelf. It is 52 inches tall.

Both ends of the closet are very full, VERY FULL.

The MYLAR is 50 inches wide (tall) and I have it at the same level as the top of the lid on the reservoir tank.

2009_Grow_0118.jpg


2009_Grow_0107.jpg


2009_Grow_0127.jpg


This pic shows the undergrowth. It is very thick and I never see or pick up one dead leaf since I started adding extra nitrogen. The bottom growth thickens instead of diminishing.
A week ago I started adding 1/6 dose of VEG Nutes every other day to the bucket and the other tank.
I did not mean to experiment with this grow, but I had to try the extra nitrogen.
A grower I admire named Uncle Ben taught me by showing me a lot of proof and evidence that instead of trying to have a lot of buds and flowers by going to a large dose of highly concentrated Phosphorous Nutes, to try and have a very healthy and happy plant by promoting its gorwth with some additional Nitrogen.
2009_Grow_0147.jpg


I already see some buds that are filling out and getting full. I can not imagine how dense or thick they will look like in 4 more weeks.


2009_Grow_0137.jpg



2009_Grow_0156.jpg


2009_Grow_0165.jpg
 
Re: Roseman's Deep Water Culture Tutorial, SH Kit & DIY

The plants have almost quit getting any taller. They actually quit getting taller a week or two weeks ago. They did grow about 6 to 12 inches taller in 12/12 the first two weeks of 12/12. I am glad I did not add VEG nutes those first two weeks. They may of gotten even taller.

It is difficult re-arranging the lights every other day, but I do it.

Daily I find a gallon of water missing from all the reservoirs.
Daily I arrive home to a 6.2 pH. They now seem to just level out at and seek that 6.2 pH.
The temps on the floor are 78, mid way up is 80 degrees, and the hottest near the tops are 82 and 83 is the highest I have seen since cool weather got here. Considering I have 1000 watts of light in that closet, I am very pleased with the temperature and the humidity. The humidity gets very high at night, up to 58%, but I keep two fans running 24/7.

Every other day, I top off with 6.0 plain water and every other day, I add 1/6 packet of SH Bloom nutes. About every three days, I add 1/6 packet of VEG nutes. With the additional Nitrogen added, I am not getting any bottom leaves dying off now. NOT A LEAF FALLS OFF!
Everything is sticky now. I can run my arm down into the growth and I smell like fresh green pot all day, if I sniff my arm.

I think I have tried everything in creation over the past three years of growing to take care of the odor and nothing works as well as ONA. I have had guests who did not have a clue that I had a growth going on.
 
Re: Roseman's Deep Water Culture Tutorial, SH Kit & DIY

Comparing this grow to my previous grow, I already know I am going to harvest over a pound of buds. And I already know that I have two plants that will yield over 5 ounces each. I have two runts that are pitiful looking and ought to be tossed, but I can not waste them.

If a grower has ample height space, he should VEG his plants until they are mature plants, until they have grown to be adults. In a rapid Hydro grow, that is 5 weeks of vEGGING. Normally, the first 3 to 4 weeks of Vegging Indica, all new leaves appear with opposing leaves. Every new leaf has a new leaf exactly and precisely across from it. When the plant becomes an adult and is mature, it will start making alternating leaves, staggered, one up from the other. This is a sign of the plant's maturity. Although most growers do it, You can't and shouldn't really determine when to start 12/12 by HEIGHT. My Northern Light strain gets much taller than say a Lowryder strain. I see many growers start 12/12 at 12 inches tall, 18 inches tall, 24 inches tall etc, but that is not the wisest way to determine when to start 12/12, unless you have a small grow space with limited height. It is always best to start 12/12 when your plants are grown up, instead of making babies have babies.
 
Re: Roseman's Deep Water Culture Tutorial, SH Kit & DIY

Everyday, I am asked
WOULDN'T YOU DO BETTER WITH LARGER TANKS OR LESS PLANTS IN THE TANK?

On the SH website it says about the 8 gallon tank:


Keeping Size in Perspective
This system was not designed to grow six 6-foot tall Christmas Trees. (Although we have grown 4 plants, 3, 4 and 5 feet tall in one tank.) We have heard a few growers tell us "I just realized that the 6 plants are going to get very crowded after they get 3 or 4 feet tall". This system was not designed for 6 giant plants. There is a reason that the tank is 21 and a half inches long. There is a reason it is called a STARTER KIT.
When this system was originally designed, many factors went into deciding what size tank and size pumps to use. The main factors were economy, simplicity, stealthness, and making sure the tank would fit into the end of a small closet, out of the way and out of sight. We've heard of a few growers that try to change to a much larger tank, and realize how much more work and trouble is involved in using a larger tank and moving larger quantities of water. Draining and replenishing the water can be a major task in a much larger tank. Not only are more larger and expensive air and water pumps needed for a larger tank, but larger pumps make more noise. Draining and cleaning a larger tank is a ton of work and trouble too. If you want to go with a bigger system, then connect two tanks together. And if you want to grow large plants, then start them in the Deep Water Culture System, then transfer them into the Bucketeer Large Bucket DWC system. Or do like most growers do and just grow 2 or 3 large plants in one tank by selecting and keeping the more desirable three plants and disposing of the other three.

I would like to repeat, this is a STARTER KIT.

That being said, if you read the Tutorial or study the pics, there are 5 plants in one tank to the left of the closet and 3 plants in the tank to the far right. Of the 5 in one tank, one is a runt about 18 inches tall, and one giant is 54 inchs tall. he other three average 38 to 42 inches tall. The walls of the closet help support them and hold them up.

Allow me to show you a friend's grow, a friend and a grower I truely admire and respect. His name is Jonnybtreed and he has 5 plants in this one 8 gallon tank. Ask yourself would you like to have that grow, or do you desire less???



user85171_pic71714_1248883143.jpg



user85171_pic71750_1248887177.jpg



user85171_pic71753_1248887356.jpg



user85171_pic75090_1250192461.jpg



user85171_pic75093_1250192461.jpg



What MORE does anyone want from an 8 gallon tank???

This is what we dream about and want and desire so bad!!!!
 
Re: Roseman's Deep Water Culture Tutorial, SH Kit & DIY

Everyone likes to show thier TOPS, so I thought I would show some undergrowth.

The first pic is my giant and largest plant. The pic does not really show how thick the bottom trunk is. It grows sideways two inches, then turns upward some, but still grows sideways, because of some training.

2009_Grow_00142.jpg



2009_Grow_00233.jpg

The pics of the undergrowth also show the affects of the extra nitrogen. NOT one leaf has fell off or yellowed.

The buds nearest the 6500k bulbs showed trichs first and faster.

The buds in between two bulbs, one 2700k and one 6500k are the largest and more fat and happier and are the fastest growing buds.

The buds in between two bulbs, one 2700k and one 6500k also have the most trichs.

2009_Grow_00332.jpg

These are some FREAKY looking buds, growing stems out the sides with flowers on them.
I am holding a bud about 8 inches long, and normal in the 8 inches, but there are two stems about 3 or 4 inches long, growing out of the tip of the bud.
Behind it is a giant bud about 12 or 14 inches long and very thick too.

2009_Grow_00523.jpg



2009_Grow_00614.jpg



2009_Grow_00713.jpg

The one tank to the far right and the bucket are showing yellowing and even reddish pistals.
One tank is still almost all white pistals.

2009_Grow_00812.jpg
 
Re: Roseman's Deep Water Culture Tutorial, SH Kit & DIY

Well, I was just studying the very thick undergrowth and looking at all those popcorn buds I have when I found this!

2009_Grow_00143.jpg



So far, I can not find any other buds like this. The very little branch was blocking my entrance into an empty cup when I noticed, HEY, THERE ARE NO HAIRS ON THAT BUD! Then I realized, IT IS SEEDS!

2009_Grow_00333.jpg


It means I have a HERMIE somewhere that impregnated that bud, and that closet is so crowded, I dare not try to pull the tank out to search all of the growth. The walls of the closet are supporting some very long tall branches! I am fairly sure judging by the maturity of the seeds that the hermie has long since shot it's pollen and probably impregnated other buds. Well, on the bright side, I will probably find some more seeds at harvest.

If I was younger and did not have this bad back, I would pull that tank out and give it a good searching today.

I don't know what to do next!!

Well, this at least gives you an idea what a fertilized female bud looks like after it has started making seeds.

I have looked and looked and I can not find any males or any other fertilized flowers.

I sugggest you look at every bud and make sure it still has pistals. (the hairs)
 
Back
Top Bottom