Undercurrent DWC Grow Journal

Thanks Pharmer, I did nothing to them, it is the system and the nutes, I can't take credit there, I am just watching lol. This is why I recommend this system to all level growers, the system performs, with or without you.

Wow that is a lot of light for a small area, gonna cost a bit to run. A 10 bucket system would fit in the tent just fine, 3x 3x 3x 1x(res), with this system the res does not need to be in the tent at all, the outlet pipes can go outside so there is working room. 9 buckets with 3.75 netpots will give you nice 4-5 footers and you will get 2 plants per bucket. You can also have 6" or 8" netpots for a bit bigger tree, one per bucket.

The cheapest and most efficient way is vertical growing, NFT style, again small plants, but lots of them in a small area. Have a look at Mr. Smiths grow, it is a performing system DIY Recirculating DWC PVC Tube. You do not have to go the same size or shape, you can make a U shape to fit in the tent, and still have flower space on the floor. You can use 5x5 pvc square fence post from Home Depot, $20 per 10 footer, Mr.Smith has the right idea, ONE light, 85 plants = cost effective. I run 4 10 ft NFT systems on my flower wall, it thrives on spill over light from my floor plants.
 
The lights I described are just the lights that I currently own, I wouldn't be using all of them in the tent, just one, or maybe two. I have another 5x5 tent that I usually use for veging. and a smaller 5x3 closet type room for clones and seedlings or veging as well. I got a bunch of cfl's and a 90w ufo for those two smaller rooms as well. I'm trying to come up with the simplest most efficient system to run in this type of space. I took a look at that journal, definately something to think about, as well as the 10bucket system you recomended. Thanks for the advice.
Peace,
NEPharmer
 
farmer.ed said:
Hey Hogdady I did not forget you either. If you are interested in the recirculating DWC I would recommend a system from Home : Current Culture Hydroponics, superior hydroponic systems. their systems are engineered for successful first grows.

I can offer help with building your own system, but by the time you are done you will save about $200 and have no support except your online vendors. Dan offers great customer support and is pretty much 1 on 1 with you so it is worth the extra $200.

Growing in an 8 x 10 with 7-8 foot ceiling I would recommend the 8 gal XL8, the 13 gal will really let your plants grow tall and fast, only if you have the room to expand get the 13. Just about anything growing in the 8 gal will also provide a bit of walk around space which is much needed in an 8x10.

The photos in the beginning of my journal are taken inside a 10 x 10 tent, I normally install 2 x 8XL systems in one tent. Dan offers several lids which make it easy to configure any growing size, I have run 8" netpots in the 8 gal and also 24 x 2" on top of an 8 gal for clones all with the same epicenter. Hope that helps, you can't go wrong with an 8 pack, you can add another 20 if you get the space.

Peace
Ed
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Thanks for the response. I will follow your advice...:)
 
farmer.ed said:
Hey Marley sorry I forgot to address your post, once brewed you will have a very strong concentrate, i never use more than 7ml per gallon on rockwool or coco, 10ml per gal DWC, 15 ml per gal for soil. It is very strong and will populate very fast. I usually take some charcoal (biochar) and let the tea soak into it for 10-12 days, then just float the biochar in the res or break up to mix in soil / coco. You will need to also feed it a bit of diluted black strap molasses usually 10 grams per gal warm water, you can warm it in the microwave then mix it in. Best temps are molasses mix around 100f and probiotics around 72f. Make sure you keep mixture refrigerated or stored in cool area no colder than 45f and no hotter than 85f.

Peace
Ed
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Thank you for the response, much appreciated. :rasta:

Loving the thread and knowledge you bring.


:peace:
 
Hi everyone, thanks for being patient. I have been super busy with planting season, work and bad health (screwed back).

Anyway the girls are doing just fine, i trimmed them down and left them in the dark for 3 days. They really liked it alot and have filled in again nicely.

I gave them a bit of extra attention after waking them. They were treated to a 3 micron dry mist of leaf green on the top of the leaves and the bottom treated with Bud Nurse to get rid of a few pesky critters that made it through my defenses. I also wanted to sort of inoculate the internode areas so I don't get surprised when the buds start stacking.

My additions this week so far:
100 ml Dutch Pro A&B flower
75 ml multi total
75 ml Explode
50 ml keep clean
10 grams sea kelp
50 ml socal biochar bugs
50 ml Prime from Heavy 16 (over 10 days)
250 ml leaf green
40 ml Bud Nurse

I drained 25 gal of system water and added 35 gal of well water ph 7.66 ppm 215. I let the system run with new water which brought ph to 6.2 overall after 45 minutes. I brought the ph down to 5.8 and started adding the above list. The stats came in at 5.9 ph 1150 ppm water temp 67.8 f. The girls are looking very happy, I feel bad they have been unattended for quite some time. Anyway they love the stress.

Onto the rescue girls, they are fully recovered and uptaking about .75 L per day of diluted bloom nutes and every other day just r/o water. The buds are finally compacting nicely and are gaining a bit of terps and stinking out my little room. A few of the buds will be ready to come down in about 2 weeks, the others are a bit slow but catching up.

Sorry about the last post being edited, I did not realize I was acting commercially by offering a discount on the gro vaults, if you want to see the pics, they are in my gallery. I will be starting my next journal in the gro vault hopefully tomorrow. I will be just transferring girls into the box and see how they fare while playing with lighting, climate controls etc.

Here are a few pics to show the progress before trimming down.
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Here are a few pics of the girls in final weeks, they seemed to recover from the dehydration, just in time for some mites to come and screw with them. I took them outside for the day and sprayed with Bud Nurse on the stems and bottoms of buds. I used a bit of liquid ladybug for the actual buds. I dried the buds down with s stocking over a micro computer vacuum hose and that seemed to work, no sign of eggs or mites so far.

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Hey Farmer, I was wondering if you were coming back, things are looking good, despite all of the issues. You seem to be handleing them fine even though your busy. Good stuff bro!
Peace, NEPharmer
 
Hey Pharmer and XLR8, glad to be back. I spent most of the day today with mite treatments in my grow. I let them go un noticed on my querkle and they spread like wildfire with no humidity last week. So I fogged em out with my new toy I built Fogzilla. I mixed up a batch of Bud Nurse and added it to my 12 headed fogger, upon inspection the mites were slimed out and the eggs pretty wet so they should not go much further. I will have to hit them again after lights out for an hour or so each night.

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NICE! I feel sorry for the mites that decided to f**k with your plants! You went space age on their ass! LOL:goodluck:getting rid of those bastards! I had to battle them on my first 3 grows, and it was non-stop. You seem to have some tricks up your sleeve for them, and for anything else for that matter! Good job Bro! I' 2 days from harvest on my first round of this grow, I'm getting excited, my first organic havest is lookin good, and smells AMAZING!!!
 
I've been following several Under Current grows over at THC farmer, but I have not seen anybody run the biolife, like you do, farmer.ed. Big props! Under Current looks to be the ticket for small number of plants and good yields.
 
I can't wait to see your harvest Pharmer, Yes mites suck, I learned about them here in SoCal, I never had them as a problem before, in Holland we had mold, mildew, fungus and root bugs. So I learned to tackle them organically. The mites are a different story, I have had to use Bayer Crop sciences Advanced Natria a few times for a very very large grow. I felt toxic for a week even with proper safety gear. So Moving to SoCal, I met up with the mites very early on and actually spent the good part of last summer controlling outbreaks for other co-op's. I have found Death Mite from Rasta Bobs, and Matt The Growers secret formula with Texas Cedar oils. I am giving Bud Nurse a shot since it is also organic and contains most of the same oils and a few others to help nurse the plants back. So far applying with the Fogzilla, I have seen no moving critters, the fog really gets into the webbing and their egg nests in the internodes.

Thanks medicine21, I try to keep things as organic as possible, I never use commercial nutes unless I am doing a controlled test for someone. There are some really great products out there, I just prefer know everything that goes into my meds and food. As far as yields go, I was away from my grow for too many days, I planned to SCROG 2 levels high which usually gets me about 2.5 lbs per 6 plants, 7 week veg and 10 week flower (depends on strain of course). I am trying to stagger this harvest so it is more a perpetual grow, 8-11 weeks of harvesting mini buds after the colas are gone. Thanks for reminding me to update my other journal too.
 
farmer, you mentioned that you started out with the Heisenberg formula. I wanted to try that out as a start. He says to add 1 cup/gallon of his tea every 3 days. A FOUR 13Gallon bucket UC XL system has a max capacity of 65G. This works out to 4 Gallons of custom brewed tea every 3 days. That sounds like a lot of tea making! Does it seem right to you?
 
Hey Medicine, yes that is alot to add to the system and to make continually. I started using his formula and then went a bit past with pro biotics and brewing different ways. My teas are now extracted and hold more colonies and I use much much less 3-5 ml per gal I used to use about 7-10 ml per gal of original formula max never a cup.

If you are using a tea for the first time it is always best to start slow, very slow. Add about 1/4 per gallon to start, after 10 days you should be able to increase to a full cup. If you are starting a fresh system, then inoculating the system with 4 cups per gallon to start with is best and let the system run for a week with no lights on. Then add a plant and see how it likes the biojuice for 24 hrs before adding anymore plants. After loaded up leave running and check roots daily for crispness and cleanliness they stay white with this formula. Starting with a fresh system is usually better than converting a system which was running chems.
 
You mentioned that you dealt with alot of root insects in Amsterdam, in your opinion, what is the best method of getting rid of fungus gnats? I would prefer an organic method, I was thinking of starting with sand on top of my soil, but I'm open to whatever you think would work best.
Thanks,
NEPharmer
 
We use another beneficial, - Bacillus thuringiensis, I do not know where to get it here, I will check around with my friends. My method if in dirt is to use a bit of coco mat and soak it in a mixture of diatomite or Diatomaceous earth and water 1 cup DE 8 cups water. Let it drip dry 45 minutes or so and ad the bacillus t. Place in the bottom of the pot and sprinkle with a bit of 7up or sprite, gets the gnats excited, then they meet their doom with the bacillus. If in hydro, I use Companion at full strength to increase my biobase then I add the bacillus thuringiensis soaked into biochar.

These beneficials can also turn on your beneficials so you should try to track what is already present or added to your system. Predator Worms are another great control item, they will fight to get to the larva and eat the young before they damage your roots. I do not know the proper names for this one family of worms, I will see if I can reach a friend back home for that answer.

There are lots of chemical ways I have seen people run, but I try to stay away from the Azamax and such.
 
farmer.ed said:
Hey Medicine, yes that is alot to add to the system and to make continually. I started using his formula and then went a bit past with pro biotics and brewing different ways. My teas are now extracted and hold more colonies and I use much much less 3-5 ml per gal I used to use about 7-10 ml per gal of original formula max never a cup.

If you are using a tea for the first time it is always best to start slow, very slow. Add about 1/4 per gallon to start, after 10 days you should be able to increase to a full cup. If you are starting a fresh system, then inoculating the system with 4 cups per gallon to start with is best and let the system run for a week with no lights on. Then add a plant and see how it likes the biojuice for 24 hrs before adding anymore plants. After loaded up leave running and check roots daily for crispness and cleanliness they stay white with this formula. Starting with a fresh system is usually better than converting a system which was running chems.
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That's great info, thanks, a lot for sharing! This journal will be great for reference on many topics.

I did want to run as few products as possible with the UC to start with and establish a baseline. I will start out with a brand new system and will populate it with the tea as you advise before planting. Should it be sterilized with bleach/H2O2 before?

Right now I am thinking Canna Aqua Vega/Flores with the Heisenberg tea throughout. The optionals would be H&G Root Excelurator (first 3 weeks flower) and Shooting Powder (last 3 weeks flower with nutes 1/2 strength).

I will also use Canna + Heisenberg + Root Excel in flood and drain veg table, where I will have the 8" netpots filled with straight diotomite (same as hygromite/dyna rock 2). After 3-4 weeks of veg the net pots go to the UC for flowering.

Your input is greatly appreciated!
 
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