Nirvana - Wonder Woman - Indoor Deep Water Culture - DWC Grow Journal - 2016

:welcome:_____________________:Namaste:​
1-3 9:00pm
pH: 5.4
PPM: 290
Res Temp: 71°f
Room Temp: 80°f
Room Humidity: 60%
Light height: 10" from plant top
Light intensity: Full 18/6
Nutrients: Dyna-Gro Foliage-Pro 2ml/gal, Cal-Mag 2ml/gal, Hydroguard 2ml/gal

Root Rot?
Issues: I noticed some brown on the roots. I cant tell if it is just some debris that might have washed through the pump and drained back down on the roots or if it is the start of root rot. After considering my known options, I added 50 ml of Hydrogen Peroxide (0.5 ml/gal of 3% H²O²). I removed the Plants before mixing in the 50 ml of Hydrogen Peroxide.
:cheertwo:Here are my girls and a little peek under their covers::cheertwo:​

this is the biggest one so far:



This is the one that i burnt with the foil hot spot:



This is the baby:


Hopefully all happy:

 
I think the roots might have picked up some muck or something floating on top of the water.
I did put the H²O² in. I added 50 ml to 10 gal (0.5 ml per gallon) yesterday so if it was some kind of root rot it is gone now.

While inspecting the roots I found a hunk of plastic where I had drilled a hole and the spiral shaving of plastic fell in the water some how. That's what made me think the pump might have spit out some muck that was stuck in it.
 
I think the roots might have picked up some muck or something floating on top of the water.
I did put the H²O² in. I added 50 ml to 10 gal (0.5 ml per gallon) yesterday so if it was some kind of root rot it is gone now.

While inspecting the roots I found a hunk of plastic where I had drilled a hole and the spiral shaving of plastic fell in the water some how. That's what made me think the pump might have spit out some muck that was stuck in it.

 
ISSUES Addressed here: High Reservoir Temperature & Burning my leaves with foil

I had an issue with the aluminum foil burning the leaves of my plants. I had covered my reservoir with the foil to keep light out. I did not know foil would focus intense light to one spot on the plant and cook it.
In the beginning I germinated and sprouted 5 healthy seeds. I immediately cooked 2 of them with 200w of T5 light 1" from the new seedlings. Lesson learned.



Anyhow, Later on I was getting brown spots on on of my leaves which quickly progressed



Along with cooking my seedlings And burning one of the survivors, my reservoir temperature was averaging between 75°f and 80°f. I was quickly told that the reservoir temperature needed to be lowered to between 65°f-70°f or I was going to have a good chance of being plagued with ROOT ROT.

Here is my fix:

First I covered the foil with Duct Tape. No more laser beam light cooking my leaves. (Easy Enough)

Now I had to figure out how to cool the Reservoir. Since I was cooling my tent with a portable A/C unit and dont have the money to buy a water chiller, I got a 27 gallon tote from home depot (on sale $9). I created a base out of 2x4s for my 15 gallon tote to sit on (inside of the 27 gallon tote) and would also allow plenty of airflow underneath. I set my 15 gallon Reservoir tote down on the base inside the 27 gallon tote.



Next I built a custom air handler to fit into the long narrow space between the two totes. Once again I am poor so I make do with what i have. I happen to have a half a roll of duct tape (left from the roll used to cover the lid of the reservoir) and a skinny cardboard box.



then I put it all together!



Before and after:



This Solved the burning leaves with foil and dropped my Reservoir temperature down to 65°f at lights off and 70°f when the lights are on. The only issue I am having with this is the A/C air is pushing up under my Reservoir lid and blowing cold air across the surface and up through the grow medium. Most of it is venting out of the empty net pot holes. It pops the cardboard disc up out of the pots. I am not even sure this is an isue. The plants have not responded negatively that i can tell so... I guess we will see.
 
1-9

Nothing exciting has happened happened. I topped(FIMed) my two smaller Wonder Woman plants two days ago and I topped (FIMed) my large one yesterday. I forgot to get pictures but the girls are down for their nap right now. I'll get pictures later. Here is a look at the girls before bedtime last night:
 
1-11

I changed out the reservoir and cleaned everything good. I am still keeping the PPM at about 300. My biggest Wonder Woman developed some leaf issues last night. I think it is because I switched from using the A/C to using outside air to cool the tent. It kind of looks like the light might have been up to bright also. I tried full power for today's light cycle.



Other Wonder Womans:

 
that looks like nitrogen claw aka too much nitrogen in the mix. looking good.
 
Thanks b.real. I'm having a hard time balancing out the Nutrients. The Dyna-Gro Foliage is 9-3-6 but I have to add the Cal-Mag which has 1.0% Nitrogen - 5.0% Calcium - 1.5% Magnesium. I think I need the Cal-Mag. I'm running RO water. The cal Mag is adding an extra part to the Nitrogen already present.

Anyway, I have had steady PPMs around the 300s and haven't changed anything. The only thing that I changed was the A/C to Outside air and I turned the Light up on full power. Whatever it is, if it is the only thing I have to deal with for the rest of the grow I would be happy.

I just switched her to her own 3gal bucket. got the PPM at 200 with the Cal-Mag and the pH is floating around 5.6. I have a steady stream trickling through the rocks so I hope it makers her happy.

I also noticed that the roots had formed a sort of root dreadlock up at the base of the basket. I'm wondering if that is normal.
 
1-14

4 Weeks Old Tomorrow!​

I got my girls an early Birthday Present. A new 3'x 6' x 7' tent and 300w of LED lighting.




They are looking good. When I was setting up the tent I knocked over my reservoir lid with the 2 smaller Wonder Woman Plants in it. I would have taken a picture but I think I threw my camera in a fit after all the plants landed face first on my bathroom floor. Anyway. They are looking ok now. I dropped them 2 days ago so I guess they will be ok. I have one all tied down trying to get it ready for a SCOG

 
who makes those led fixtures? make sure they're at least 18" away from the canopy.
 
HTGSupply is my local grow shop. The grow lights are is their brand. They sell AgroMax Brand also. My entire setup came from them.

7-Band 2.0 270w LED Grow Light $300.00

7-Band 2.0 180w LED Grow Light $200.00

I had a real debate between getting a 600w HPS or these 2 LEDs. I KNOW HPS works but I haven't found a whole lot of verifiable and up to date evidence or information about LEDs. All I have really seen are people trying to sell them and saying all this great stuff that they provide the plant. Anyway, I settled on the LEDs because I wan't to be frugal with electricity and I want my heat to stay under control.

So rite now I am running 5 t5's at about 50w each and the 2 LEDs that are 450w combined. That's a total of 700w. I have no idea if that even matters to the plants but I do care about my electric bill. I am also running a portable A/C. I can't live without that though.

If I get a 600w HPS and run it the same amount of time I guess I would be using less electricity in lighting but more in A/C cooling. I have the 4" vortex fan and a carbon filter now so I might be able to cool the light with the vortex like I see in all the grow tents. Once again though, I have NO experience with grow lights of any kind so I am kind of making educated guesses as to what is best to use.

If you have any suggestions about lighting, please let me know. I still have te ability to take these back and switch them out for something else.
 
1 watt will always produce 1 watt of heat no matter how it's used. I don't think those led fixtures truly draw that much power, it's just what they're marketed as. I think a 180 watt fixture draws about 90 watts and a 270 watt fixture about 135 watts. a 600 watt hps uses about 625 watts including ballast.
 
they make 400 watt hps fixtures. don't feel bad. I went from fluorescent to hid to fluorescent to led to hid to led to hid lol.
 
I like my hps fixture. I never really got a good run with leds because I don't have enough vertical space so they'd always stress my plants out.
 
I think I am going to go ahead and get a HPS. If the heat gets out of controle I'll just go back to LED. Maybe I can figure out how to use both.

After I read your post I raised my LEDs up from 15" to 18". The plants looked ok then. This morning I checked and the A/C had tripped a breaker and it had been 95°f inside the tent for the last 45 minutes. The plants were spotted and I remembered in an earlier post you had said that you had seen LED burn that looked like the issue I had with the foil burning my leaves. I think I might have laser beamed my girls.
 
yeah run 18" or even 24" for now and let them grow to 18" away. you don't wanna hurt your girls like I did to a few of mine.
 
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