First Grow-Nirvana Snow White, Attic XXX

[flybyshooting]

Hey guys, just started my first ever grow a few days ago. At the moment the germed seeds are in rockwool in my tent.

Here is some background info:
Seeds: Nirvana Snow White, Feminized
(I Germed 3, all three grew taproot in under 30 hours)
Grow Medium: Stealth Hydro Deep Water Culture (I know, cheaper to build one blah blah)

I soaked 3 rockwool cubes while the seeds germed (30 hours) in a gallon of pH ~5.5 solution with really tiny amounts of nutrients
(1/4 package for 6 plants sprouting in 6 gallons->1/8 for 3 plants-> ~1/48 package for 1 gallon)

Put the seeds root down into the rockwool and inverted the tupperware thing to make a diy propagator (I turned off the ventilation in my attic so it's warm enough)
also duct taped the sides so light only hits the top

I have a 120W LED grow light (triband, 7red:1blue:1orange) only 170$ on ebay, brand new

My tent is a GYO supplies 36x20x62" tent with mylar insides, pretty cheap (100$ inc. shipping)
it was a bitch to setup though, especially with such limited ceiling space

Also threw in a CFL for now for heat

Here's the catch: I'm leaving in July for 3 weeks.
I have the necessary items for a reservoir (extra pump, tubing, dripper, etc)
So i am going to fill a ~20 gallon container with water while I'm gone and have it pump in a gallon a day, my hydro system has an overflow that I will show at some point.
Here's what my reservoir is based off of:
HOWTO: Office Irrigation System
imagine that but with a 20 gallon trash can and instead of feeding into soil it feeds to my Deep Water Culture sytem

(Any suggestions for what to do while I'm gone? I've got some cannazyme to prevent root rot while I'm away)

Also 1 question: If I need 1/4 a packet to feed 6 babies in a SH system, do I need 1/8 for 3 babies? Or do I want to keep the same ppm level as with 6 babies?

2 all the growers out there

I rearranged them in a triangle afterwards so they get equal lighting

 

[Green007]

Re: First Grow-Nirvana Snow White, Attic Hydro LED grow

Glad you got it going, this should be interesting. I can't wait to see how that irrigation system works out.

I'm in

 

[flybyshooting]

Re: First Grow-Nirvana Snow White, Attic Hydro LED grow

One of them has sprouted, one is close
just waiting for the little guy now, i put him closer to the cfl

Also still hoping someone can answer this:

Also 1 question: If I need 1/4 a packet to feed 6 babies in a SH system, do I need 1/8 for 3 babies? Or do I want to keep the same ppm level as with 6 babies?

thanks!

 

[CocoJoe]

Re: First Grow-Nirvana Snow White, Attic Hydro LED grow

Good question. I'm not a BH but should be the same.

 

[flybyshooting]

Re: First Grow-Nirvana Snow White, Attic Hydro LED grow

Okay I guess I'll just do the nutes for 6 plants and back down if I see some nute burn

and WOW the thermometer/hygrometer included was shitty

Chinese made piece of crap
I hung it up and the thermometer bulb fell out, and I tried to snap it back in and it shattered, leaking mercury all over itself

 

[Green007]

Re: First Grow-Nirvana Snow White, Attic Hydro LED grow

1/4 nutes for the res size, your nutes should always be based on how much water you are adding them to. Really makes no difference if you have 1 plant or 6 plants. You just want to offer them a little bit of food and see what they eat.

 

[flybyshooting]

Re: First Grow-Nirvana Snow White, Attic Hydro LED grow

1/4 nutes for the res size, your nutes should always be based on how much water you are adding them to. Really makes no difference if you have 1 plant or 6 plants. You just want to offer them a little bit of food and see what they eat.

awesome, thank you so much

EDIT: new question, for Deep Water Culture I supposed

The pump attachment has 6 hoses, but I'm only growing 3 plants. Do I shut the valves for these hoses, leave them on in empty netpots, double them up, etc?

 

[Green007]

Re: First Grow-Nirvana Snow White, Attic Hydro LED grow

You can do pretty much what you want. The only thing you want to watch would be not to water the rockwool so much that it goes mush on you. (although there is some debate about being able to over water rockwool or not also) Anyway, if it were me, I would put 1 in each pot and just let the other 3 blow into the res. They will add to the bubbles and help cool the res too.

BTW, you're better making a new post with a new question. That way anyone subscribed to the thread will see a new post and go read it. If you edit your last post, it does not show the thread having any new posts and no one will see it. I just happened to hit your thread by mistake and saw the "edit".

 

[flybyshooting]

Re: First Grow-Nirvana Snow White, Attic Hydro LED grow

Alright next time I'll post a new one, I didn't want to seem annoying

One of the sprouts died
It might have been from overwatering, not sure
It still hadn't sprouted so I opened up the rockwool with some tweezers and sure enough the seed had disconnected from the taproot some how

The other 2 are looking kind of funky, their cotyledons are brown and the stems are a little too
Is this normal?
I just put them in the system today
Maybe it was an overwatering problem?
The pH of my res is 6 after I put in a little less than 1/4 grow and veg nutes and balanced it

Here is the newly set up Deep Water Culture thing:

that epoxy-covered piping in the bottom right is my unfinished overflow valve
I have all 6 water tubes stuck in the nets, but I covered over the unused ones so light doesn't hit the roots. I'll surround the sprouts' hydroton with paper once they've put out roots.

That little guy in the right was the rockwool with my dead sprout. I put a new seed in that will hopefully grow to some extent before I leave in July:

Some close ups of the other sprouts:

 

[VapedOutJoe]

Re: First Grow-Nirvana Snow White, Attic Hydro LED grow

I just found your grow! Make sure your irrigation lines are 1/4 to 1/2 way up the rockwool, but not higher. That should keep you from getting stem rot. It looks a bit wet in the pics, so wanted to be sure you have it placed right. Also, adding covers over your netpots, with a hole cut out for the plant is recommended to keep light out. Make sure your air pump is higher then the res, in case the power goes out you won't get flooded.

 

[flybyshooting]

Re: First Grow-Nirvana Snow White, Attic Hydro LED grow

Glad you made it, thanks for the tips.
I have the irrigation line on the bottom of the rockwool

as in the diagram below:

\HHRRHH/
\HHRRHH/
\HH\|HH/
\HHH==/==
where H=hydroton and R=rockwool
I don't know if you can tell from that
should I move the tube?

 

[Green007]

Re: First Grow-Nirvana Snow White, Attic Hydro LED grow

Move it up like so

HHRRHH
HHRRHH
HHRRHH
HHRRHH<<<<<
HHRRHH
HHHHHH

I can't beleive I didn't catch this before....No Nutes Yet!
Do a res change with just PH balanced water!

Your plants aren't ready for them yet. Wait till the second node of leaves.
Read the 1st post in the "Feeding in Deep Water Culture" link in my sig by Roseman.

 

[ItsChrome]

Re: First Grow-Nirvana Snow White, Attic Hydro LED grow

I''m not an expert grower, But I cant help but feel like your rushing things. Those seedlings are not ready to be in the hydro set up yet. They are also like Green said, not ready for nutes.

I like the set up though and I will be following this grow for sure! Best of luck!

 

[Green007]

Re: First Grow-Nirvana Snow White, Attic Hydro LED grow

Your OK having them in the Deep Water Culture system. Some people even germinate in it, but I don't like that idea. Once the seeds crack and have a tap root, put em in rockwool and start the bubbles!

Definitely too soon for nutes tho, sorry I didn't catch it earlier before you lost one.

 

[flybyshooting]

Re: First Grow-Nirvana Snow White, Attic Hydro LED grow

I cant help but feel like your rushing things. Those seedlings are not ready to be in the hydro set up yet.

Roseman said that he puts them in right after they show taproot
I felt like that was too early but I thought they would be ready now

Definitely too soon for nutes tho, sorry I didn't catch it earlier before you lost one.

okay shoot
took forever to get all that water up there
but I guess I will flush the res

 

[ItsChrome]

Re: First Grow-Nirvana Snow White, Attic Hydro LED grow

Yeah, I'd listen to Roseman then. That guy knows what he's talking about!

 

[Green007]

Re: First Grow-Nirvana Snow White, Attic Hydro LED grow

Yep.

+reps for having good character ItsChrome

 

[flybyshooting]

Re: First Grow-Nirvana Snow White, Attic Hydro LED grow

Alright earlier this morning I flushed the res and rearraged the tubing as Green007 suggested.

You can see the first leaves on the sprouts, but they are sort of blocked by the brown cotyledons
I'm tempted to part the cotyledons with tweezers, but i figured I should let the plant do its own thing (any suggestions?)

I hope I didn't stunt them too much by feeding them nutrients early
also what temp. water should go in the reservoir?

Here are some pics of the little guys struggling to survive

Please grow tall, little ones

 

[Green007]

Re: First Grow-Nirvana Snow White, Attic Hydro LED grow

You'll be fine, they should bounce back.

Res temp optimal = 65°
A good range = 62°-70°
Over 72° and you are asking for trouble with root rot.

If you havn't read RM's tut on Temps and Humidity in Deep Water Culture, See the link in my sig.

Oh ya, and if you havn't yet, check out the Deep Water Culture Home Thread. Tons of people on there that are willing to answer questions. But be warned, it is a fast moving thread to be sure. The link is in my sig too.

Probably a good idea to post a link to your journal there. That should get more of the Deep Water Culture to come check you out.

 

[flybyshooting]

Re: First Grow-Nirvana Snow White, Attic Hydro LED grow

Yeah
I read Rosemans's entire tutorial but I must have forgotten all the details

for some reason I remembered him saying "babies are hungry but don't want a steak"
so i thought for some reason the baby sprouts would be hungry
I don't know man must have been really out of it

I think I'll reread it hehe
don't know if I have the patience to read an entire 648 pages of forum but I will definitely introduce myself