Timmy Haha's First DWC C4 Auto Grow Journal - 2016

[TimmyHaHa]

I am! The link should be in the signature now, I'd love to have your eyes along for the journey! I'm excited to watch how our plants differ, not only bc of the strain, but more so bc you're going hydro.

Thanks, JM! I'm gonna follow your journal for sure. As for hydro, this will be interesting. I think I'm gonna have a bit of work to do because I'm finding my pH goes up pretty quickly and I'm having to add pH Down almost daily. But maybe once the roots really start to grow in, they'll help stabilize the pH.

 

[TimmyHaHa]

Update on my earlier question. After making my post I was checking out some pictures in the various galleries and I saw one that had a wet towel hanging in the tent for humidity, so I thought that looks like a simple, easy fix. So after soaking and wringing out a hand towel and hanging it from one of the top bars in the tent, I let it sit closed for the last couple of hours. I just checked the humidity and it's at a beautiful 55%! I'll just have to remember to wet and hang a towel every day to keep it consistent.

Here are my Day 12 pictures:

This picture of the tent was taken before I hung the towel. Note the humidity!

That's it for my updates today. Happy New Year Everyone!

 

[Icemann420]

What type of rocks are u useing in there

Sent from my iPhone using 420 Magazine Mobile App

 

[Icemann420]

I basically have the same setup and I've learned that different types of rocks can effect the ph like limestone really makes or swing also pea gravel also I've herd that u should soak your rocks in ph water like 5.8 is my goal number maybe this could b your ph prob


Sent from my iPhone using 420 Magazine Mobile App

 

[TimmyHaHa]

I basically have the same setup and I've learned that different types of rocks can effect the ph like limestone really makes or swing also pea gravel also I've herd that u should soak your rocks in ph water like 5.8 is my goal number maybe this could b your ph prob


Sent from my iPhone using 420 Magazine Mobile App

Ah! I bet that's it, Icemann! I don't know the name of the rocks - they came with the package I bought. I just call them grow stones. I did soak them, but I didn't adjust the pH in the water. My tap water comes out at around 9! So I bet they soaked up pH and now they're leaching it out. Damn!

 

[Icemann420]

How's your air lines hook up through the bucket or the lid and how often r u going go before water changes


Sent from my iPhone using 420 Magazine Mobile App

 

[TimmyHaHa]

How's your air lines hook up through the bucket or the lid and how often r u going go before water changes


Sent from my iPhone using 420 Magazine Mobile App

Hey Icemann!
The buckets has a 1/2" diameter hole drilled into the side just below the rim. When I bought it, it was already ore drilled. Here's a pic:

Sent from my iPad using 420 Magazine Mobile App

 

[Cannabomb62]

Good luck I will be following this grow. One thing with hydro is make sure to keep your ph in check at 5.8 is best. I'm sure you know lol. But also check it everyday.

CannaBomb62000000

 

[TimmyHaHa]

Good luck I will be following this grow. One thing with hydro is make sure to keep your ph in check at 5.8 is best. I'm sure you know lol. But also check it everyday.

CannaBomb62000000

Thanks Canna! Will be great to have you along for the journey!

Yes, I've already noticed that my pH tends to rise pretty quickly. I plan on checking it daily. Luckily it didn't rise too dramatically from yesterday to today, so I'm hoping the pH is done leeching out of my growstones (after I mistakenly rinsed them in my tap water before testing it and it turned out to be around 9!).

Thanks for subbing and please feel free to offer any advice you wish!


Sent from my iPad using 420 Magazine Mobile App

 

[TimmyHaHa]

Day 13 Update

Happy New Year 420 peeps!

My girl, Ruth, seems to be adapting to her grow tent really well. I noticed a lot of little white roots starting to poke out around the bottom sides of the net pot today, so I'm pretty psyched! I know once the roots really get going, then I'll start seeing some faster growth of the foliage. In the meantime, to satisfy my lust, I'm binge-reading journals and drooling over pictures of other grows when they're about a week older than mine so I can see what to expect.

I also ordered a MarsHydro Mars600 LED from eBay yesterday and I expect it to arrive sometime this week. In a 2x2 tent, I expect there to be no problem getting light to my entire plant, especially when I start doing a little LST. Then let's see what happens!

Interested in seeing today's pics? Here they are:

In general I'm happy with my progress over the last two weeks. But I'm just a bit concerned that my pH seems to continue rising quite a bit every day (it went from 5.1 yesterday to 6.5 today). I think part of the problem might have been with how I set up the grow bucket initially. Since I did it sooner than planned (refer back to 12/28/16) and didn't really prepare the water properly (I didn't let it sit for 24+ hours = chlorine?), I think the nutrient solution might be a bit off. So I filled my extra bucket yesterday with water and will use it after it sits for 48 hours to begin a new batch of solution.

Today's readings: Ambient temp 74.5, RH 44, Water temp 73.4, pH 6.5.

Comments? Advice?

Thanks for reading and happy toking in 2017!

 

[Tunkers]

Day 13 Update

Happy New Year 420 peeps!

My girl, Ruth, seems to be adapting to her grow tent really well. I noticed a lot of little white roots starting to poke out around the bottom sides of the net pot today, so I'm pretty psyched! I know once the roots really get going, then I'll start seeing some faster growth of the foliage. In the meantime, to satisfy my lust, I'm binge-reading journals and drooling over pictures of other grows when they're about a week older than mine so I can see what to expect.

I also ordered a MarsHydro Mars600 LED from eBay yesterday and I expect it to arrive sometime this week. In a 2x2 tent, I expect there to be no problem getting light to my entire plant, especially when I start doing a little LST. Then let's see what happens!

Interested in seeing today's pics? Here they are:

In general I'm happy with my progress over the last two weeks. But I'm just a bit concerned that my pH seems to continue rising quite a bit every day (it went from 5.1 yesterday to 6.5 today). I think part of the problem might have been with how I set up the grow bucket initially. Since I did it sooner than planned (refer back to 12/28/16) and didn't really prepare the water properly (I didn't let it sit for 24+ hours = chlorine?), I think the nutrient solution might be a bit off. So I filled my extra bucket yesterday with water and will use it after it sits for 48 hours to begin a new batch of solution.

Today's readings: Ambient temp 74.5, RH 44, Water temp 73.4, pH 6.5.

Comments? Advice?

Thanks for reading and happy toking in 2017!

What sort of temps your res?

I had trouble with rising pH in my bucket grow and once I lowered temps and added a little bit of hydrogen peroxide my pH stays put for days.

Might not be relevant but every bit of info helps

Sorry, just realised this had been mentioned. Shouldn't get baked and hop on 420 haha

Sent from my Pixel using 420 Magazine Mobile App

 

[JM26]

She's looking mighty fine!


Sent from my iPhone using 420 Magazine Mobile App

 

[Icemann420]

Ph is to high try for 5.8 always rh is good but water temp is to high that's the main thing I'd suggest going to Walmart or anywhere and get a role or two of reflective duct tape and do the whole bucket bottom also as the lid all the way it keeps my plants minimum 3*cooler then my room temp my bucket is 63-65* also I know u r using the rapid rooter drops that came with the general hydro kit I used it for a bit also then I switched to a product called great white it's a bacteria there goes in the water and helps roots explode lol really does and keeps the water cleaner by using up all the organic mater like broken roots or whatever really helped my grow explode u r also correct about letting the water sit just a question what is the ppm of your tap water. Also I'd suggest just skipping tap water and Geri g reverse osmosis in my state they have it for 25c a gallon just add cal-mag and u have no worries and also it holds ph really well due to none of the crap that's in city water good luck


Sent from my iPhone using 420 Magazine Mobile App

 

[TimmyHaHa]

Thanks for the feedback guys and gals! I'll be doing a water change later today, so let's see if that helps with my pH issue. I'll post a before and after pH reading after I do the water change and post the results here, if anyone's interested. I also plan on cooling the water down quite a bit before adding nutes to the new water and hopefully the temps will then stay a bit lower.

More info later. For now, it's time to take down the Xmas tree. Booo.....

 

[TimmyHaHa]

Day 14 Update

Now Christmas is officially over - the trees on the sidewalk and my grow tent is in its permanent home!

As mentioned in my previous entry, I made a new batch of nutrient solution today with water that sat for 48 hours out of the tap. I added 1/4 the strength of the GH Flora series nutrients (see first post in thread) as recommended on the GH feeding chart for week 2 and a dose of the Rapid Start Root Enhancer to the solution. The water temp at the time of water transfer was 66.2 degrees F and the pH was 5.1 to start (more on this in a bit).

I made sure to lower the water level a bit in the new bucket of solution so that it came to just below where I'm seeing the roots starting to poke out of the net pot. Then I made sure to turn up the air pump to get the solution bubbling so that those roots get teased down into the bucket. Once that was all set, all I had to do was take the net pot off the old bucket, move it to the new bucket, and make the switch in my tent. Very easy to do!

Here's how the roots were looking at transfer time:

Now about the pH issue. Remember I mentioned the pH was at 5.1 when I made the transfer? That was at 4pm (EST) today. I just took measurements again at 8pm and the pH is now up to 5.7. Tomorrow it will most likely be around 6.5. I'm hoping that over time the rate of rise will naturally slow down (maybe as the water level lowers and then the stones will no longer actually be in the water.) For my next grown, which will be a Super Lemon Haze auto, I'm going to use clay pebble medium and see if I have the same issues.

Here are today's pictures:

You can see from the side pic that the third node is about to develop and the fourth node won't be far behind. So now I have to make a decision...

I've been reading a number of awesome grow journals here and I am intrigued by the ones who are doing some serious HST such as topping on their autos and supplementing it with LST. It's contrary to what I initially read when I began my research, but the pictures I've seen tell quite a different story! So my decision now is, should I top after the third node is well developed, or should I let my first grow just be a basic grow and learn to get the basics down before I get too fancy? I'm just so excited about everything I read that I want to try it all on this first grow!

Coming up - tomorrow I'll post another picture of the roots to see what kind of growth results from the lower water level. And, of course, I'll have a new picture of the pretty girl to share. Tomorrow is also the first day my new LED might be delivered. Might I be lucky and have it waiting for me when I get home from work? We'll see!

Until then, night 420 peeps! Time for a toke and stroke! LOL

 

[AFnOOb420]

Hey! Gonna sit in on this one and learn how to do hydro, your setup looks great! I think the rocks are the most logical cause of the ph spikes was wondering if maybe you should try and flush them out with some phd water in the sink before the roots get too big. Just a thought I've never done hydro so don't know if you can do that. Seems like it would take several water changes for it to flush out. Hopes this helps!

 

[AFnOOb420]

Oh and I say if it's healthy and good genetics then top it. But definitely read this thread Auto Topping Thread before you do it's lengthy but the first few pages will show you how and the rest is a bunch of different peoples topped autos. I think I topped mine just above the 4th node and wound up with 8 main branches spread out

 

[JM26]

Man you're making me want to top one of my girls too hahaha. That's a nice plant noob!


Sent from my iPhone using 420 Magazine Mobile App

 

[AFnOOb420]

I should say I would definitely fix the ph issue before you try and top. Your plant needs to be strong and healthy so the "stunt" is minimal or non existent.

 

[Icemann420]

I believe that ph issue is the rocks u should look into hydrotun Clay pebbles maybe take a few of your rocks out and put them in re water and check ph bad pre and after adding and c if that's the prob also I'd try flushing the rocks good with a 5.8 ph b4 your roots get any bigger


Sent from my iPhone using 420 Magazine Mobile App