My First Journal: GG#4 In DWC & Soil

BubbleBucketz said:
I think it was legit perfect timing....she was just starting to lose the color right as I was upping the nutes for her to feed. Even though it's been over a week....still feels soooooooo weird doing the DWC grow. I can't wait until I am comfortable with it. I even got all the tiny holes covered in the netting pot too. Amazed at the difference a few hours can make. I also think the PH being a little high could have locked out nitrogen. Even though the PH wasnt to too high.
Click to expand...
I thought the same thing when I first tried Dwc will I ever get comfortable. Honestly the beginning when the plant is small is the trickiest part it doesn't drink enough to drain the bucket at all. When it gets more established she will drain the bucket and all you'll be doing is topping up with water and adjusting ph.

I did notice in your pic that the holes were covered up that's perfect! You'll get the hang of it and when you do you will probably like it more then soil growing I know I do.
 
N420 said:
I thought the same thing when I first tried Dwc will I ever get comfortable. Honestly the beginning when the plant is small is the trickiest part it doesn't drink enough to drain the bucket at all. When it gets more established she will drain the bucket and all you'll be doing is topping up with water and adjusting ph.

I did notice in your pic that the holes were covered up that's perfect! You'll get the hang of it and when you do you will probably like it more then soil growing I know I do.
Click to expand...
I can do the soil thing no problems at all...I still finding myself checking levels every couple hours. I love the extra time with the plant in general though. Where in soil, the most time spent is with training. ( at least for me anyways ) I feel like I am getting the hang of it anyways. Out of curiousity....when the plant gets larger ( 2 months old per say ) ....how often is res topping needed?
 
BubbleBucketz said:
I can do the soil thing no problems at all...I still finding myself checking levels every couple hours. I love the extra time with the plant in general though. Where in soil, the most time spent is with training. ( at least for me anyways ) I feel like I am getting the hang of it anyways. Out of curiousity....when the plant gets larger ( 2 months old per say ) ....how often is res topping needed?
Click to expand...
By the time the plant is 2 months old or so you'll be topping off pretty much every day. My plants in flower can take half a gallon of water daily. I also use top offs to control my Ppm. If it's rising it means your mix is too strong and the top off will bring it back down. You want the ppm to either be dropping slightly or staying stable.
 
N420 said:
By the time the plant is 2 months old or so you'll be topping off pretty much every day. My plants in flower can take half a gallon of water daily. I also use top offs to control my Ppm. If it's rising it means your mix is too strong and the top off will bring it back down. You want the ppm to either be dropping slightly or staying stable.
Click to expand...
I printed out the chart posted earlier with static, rising and falling levels for hydroponics. Basically my bible right now....You all have me on the right track too. ( something I am truly grateful for ). I am sure I'll have a million more questions as time goes by...I figure another couple weeks and Ill have the grow dialed in and feeling confident that I'll make it to the finish line. If I plan to upgrade to a 4 site system after this run...which is my plan as of now....I'll switch to a res that is for all 4. Not sure of the exact name for that off hand....
 
One thing in RDWC is you can't tailer nutes to each specific plant

Why I do DWC

I'm mixing up 3 gals of nutes cuz my HUGE GG4 is drinking well over a gallon a day
 
Chris Scorpio said:
One thing in RDWC is you can't tailer nutes to each specific plant

Why I do DWC

I'm mixing up 3 gals of nutes cuz my HUGE GG4 is drinking well over a gallon a day
Click to expand...
Very good point that I didnt think about at all. I know my soil plants feed differently so I guess it's nature DWC is the same.


When the plant starts feeding and drinking heavier, is it better to add nutrients with res changes only? ( which I'll be doing once a week every weekend ) I know I'll need to top the res off with water.
 
Hypothetical situation..........plant is 4 weeks old, res changed today with PPM levels of 1100. Then 3 days later the PPM levels are 900. Does that mean the plant is feeding more then I am providing and that the next feed I need to bump the PPM to lets say 1300.
 
I changed my Rez once a week so I didn’t raise the ppm until then. PH is more critical on a daily basis. Most deficiencies are PH related.
 
Pennywise said:
I changed my Rez once a week so I didn’t raise the ppm until then. PH is more critical on a daily basis. Most deficiencies are PH related.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I noticed how PH can affect a plant. ( or happened to be perfect timing ).....my plant was lighter green almost yellowish last night. I recalibrated my PH meter last night realized it was a tad high. By morning, she has her green back. A major turnaround from 12 hours ago.
 
Any time you have what you suspect is a defiency always test your ph. It will save you a lot of issues in the future.
 
Pennywise said:
Any time you have what you suspect is a defiency always test your ph. It will save you a lot of issues in the future.
Click to expand...
Just took a major mental note. Thank you.
 
How important is water temps? I have read they can make or break a grow but I have also seen growers not really monitor the temps? Right now I average around 75F and know ideally I am a few degrees warmer then desirable. Should I even worry or toss a frozen water bottle in the res?
 
Pennywise said:
75 isn’t bad, I think most growers use an enzyme cleaner to keep algae and goopies to a minimum.
Click to expand...
I have Z7 being shipped currently and I might add hydroguard as well. I wasn't sure if the temps were more for the roots to intake or to keep fungus and bacteria down. If the world wasnt in a crisis at the moment, I would probobaly have it by now.
 
Z7 will help eliminate bad microbes. If I remember right when I first started using Z7 with @Rich Farmer i had a Rez temp in the mid 80’s and the plants never skipped a beat.
 
Back
Top Bottom