First dwc attempt, few questions...

[MrWhi7e]

Hello everybody! This is my first dwc attempt. I have grown various things outdoors but this will be my first inside grow.

I am on a tight budget and tried to make do with what I could while always looking for the best value. This will be for personal use.

Going to go with dwc in 5 gal buckets.
I purchased seeds from OGS and received them promptly. Blue snow dog and mastodon are the strains. I was disappointed to not get any freebies though as I was lead on to believe that everybody who used the online payment method did.

I converted a 24" x 32" x 84" closet space into a semi stealth grow cabinet. I found a 192 cfm 4in fan for $10. I made a DIY carbon filter from mesh pen cup and 5" net pot. I'm skeptical if it will work but will give it a go. Seemed to make exhaust fan a little louder so may be too restrictive. I currently have 12 5000k bulbs for veg and will switch those with recomended cfl for flowering.

I want to try the easy Lucas formula with Gh maxi grow.

1. Are the bulbs enough for this grow and
2. is that windshield reflector okay like that?
Do I need to keep it from touching the bulbs in risk of fire?

I hope to flower at least 2 in this space... But will veg 5 and then sex as soon as I start flowering.
3. Could I flower 3 plants or would it be too tight?

 

[warble]

Looks like you're having fun. You can probably get two done in there. If the reflector isn't melting, I think you'll do fine. I would keep it off the bulbs, the heat will degrade your bulbs faster and could be a fire hazard. You could veg twenty in solo cups there, but you would probably do just as well flowering one rather than two. If you're just learning, go w/ two, in case one dies. You could go three, but I don't recommend it. Two will be pushing it.

 

[MrWhi7e]

Are these okay to use as humidity domes? We put 4 taproots in rock wool two days ago and put them in 5 gal docs. The root was almost inch long but nothing sprouting yet. Are the lights okay that close/much for seedlings?

Water was ph'd. No nutrients of course.

 

[Doer]

I always get a root ball in a 6 inch Azazel cup first. That way I don't just depend on the tap root finally making it to the water.

I've tried starting them directly into 5 gals but it never worked well for me.

 

[MrWhi7e]

Never worked well? Should I start germinating 5 more seeds in preparation for most likely failure or... be patient?

Also, I tried googling "Azazel cup" with no obvious info... same for ROI forum search... mind elaborating?

 

[Terry385]

5 plants is going to be tight in there, I have two on this side of a 28 inch wide tent about 4 weeks under t5 light

 

[GREEN ARROW WORKS]

To judge if the light is too close. I use my method call the "hand method" basically you put your hand close to plant under the light for 5 minutes. See if your hand gets too hot if it doesn't get too hot you should be ok for your lighting to be at that position. It always better to add more bulbs if you can. If your in veg stage. I try to throw some 6500k in the mix if anything. While in flowering throw some 2700k. I always like to add some CFLs towards the base of the plant. You really want the light to spread evenly around so you max on your growth. Don't forget to pinch your plants too when they begin to flower!

 

[MrWhi7e]

5 plants is going to be tight in there, I have two on this side of a 28 inch wide tent about 4 weeks under t5 light
View attachment 3358372

Yah... I definately will learn a lot this grow but I don't have feminized seeds so I wanted to try to veg as many as possible... and hope to flower 2 in the whole space.... which should work?

Last time I looked for seeds, the market within US was limited...

And thanks guys, for all of the info!

 

[GREEN ARROW WORKS]

If you can get feminized seeds. It takes the headache out of growing which is damn complicated already. I would go to attitude seed bank. They do have good promos from here to there.

I did a DWC with 10. Got 5 males and 5 females. This would of equalled an F- in school.

Do you have separate box setup for flowering? If you do get a female. Its best you take a couple of clones from it before you throw it into flowering. More than half the time you should see signs the type of baby your going to get a baby girl or boy. The signs will be there. If you see fine hair that are between the nodes which is that intersect from the branch and stem. You can tell if its a girl and boy. If you need help. Just post a pic. Most can tell you what type of baby your going to get.

It depends on how big you want to grow them. Just remember the plant doubles in size when thrown into flowering. So if you plan a feet. Its going to be two feet after flowering is done. During the early on of the flowering stage. The plant grows still.

How much space do you have to work with?

Yah... I definately will learn a lot this grow but I don't have feminized seeds so I wanted to try to veg as many as possible... and hope to flower 2 in the whole space.... which should work?

Last time I looked for seeds, the market within US was limited...

And thanks guys, for all of the info!

 

[nomofatum]

You are a bit weak still on light. With CFLs you will be best served with around 75w per sqft. At 5.333 sqft you want about 400w of CFL for flower. You can go less with more efficient lights. You want 5000-7500 lumens per sqft.

 

[MrWhi7e]

How much space do you have to work with?

24" x 32" x 84
I only have the one room for now but can convert another space if needed. I wanted to keep it simple but fear having to hedge my bets on sex may make things super cramped....

What is absolutely fastest way to determine sex? I thought I couldn't until either taking a clone or during flower.. So what is earliest to take a clone?

 

[MrWhi7e]

You are a bit weak still on light. With CFLs you will be best served with around 75w per sqft. At 5.333 sqft you want about 400w of CFL for flower. You can go less with more efficient lights. You want 5000-7500 lumens per sqft.

I'll upgrade and add some more bulbs with flexi socket things I ordered from china...

 

[nomofatum]

Just start the seeds in 12/12 light. They will flower as soon as they can mature enough. Once you can tell sex, switch to a veg cycle and toss the males if not breeding.

 

[nomofatum]

Add one of these too for flower.

www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-Repti-Glo-Fluorescent-Terrarium/dp/B00101GDIG

6500k and 2700-3500k are the bulbs I would recommend looking at. 2/3 6500k in veg, 2/3 2700-3500k in flower, always a mix. Your 5000k will do fine for veg though.

 

[MrWhi7e]

Add one of these too for flower.

www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-Repti-Glo-Fluorescent-Terrarium/dp/B00101GDIG

6500k and 2700-3500k are the bulbs I would recommend looking at. 2/3 6500k in veg, 2/3 2700-3500k in flower, always a mix. Your 5000k will do fine for veg though.

Yah I thought the bulbs at wal-mart was 6500k but it was the 5k and I bought them anyways as I seen some threads saying they would be fine for veg....
Maybe next grow I will upgrade lighting but for now I can add some more cfls...

First time ever even reading about UVB lighting in grows.... I will have to keep reading... And you suggest just adding 1? or more?

Reading up on 12-12 from seed... since I'm using the lucas formula, going from flower to veg back to flower shouldn't be a problem with the nutrient management... I'm trying to think of any other issues....

Seems like some people re-veg with 100% success rate...
https://www.rollitup.org/t/have-you-ever-put-flowering-plant-back-into-veg.626020/
"I'm a seasoned re-vegger. cut back the plant removing as much bud(ish) as possible while leaving the leaf. flush. dark period 24-48 hours. back on veg nutes and light"

Seems too perfect for me.. what are the downsides besides the trimming and increased-reveg time?

 

[nomofatum]

First time ever even reading about UVB lighting in grows.... I will have to keep reading... And you suggest just adding 1? or more?

Seems too perfect for me.. what are the downsides besides the trimming and increased-reveg time?

I would suggest 3-4w of UVB 10% per sqft. That one bulb in the center in your small space should be about right. One note, white doesn't reflect UVB well, so mylar or aluminum is what you want for any reflectors.

None.

 

[GREEN ARROW WORKS]

I would suggest 3-4w of UVB 10% per sqft. That one bulb in the center in your small space should be about right. One note, white doesn't reflect UVB well, so mylar or aluminum is what you want for any reflectors.

None.

I agree with nomofatum. You want to add mylar and aluminum to the mix. Its a highly reflective up to 95 percent of light. If your dealing cramp spaces I would SOG method if you have tight spaces. SOG will bring you a consistent flow of green. Growing big plants does not maximize time and space.

You also might want to add a small fan into the mix. The breeze from the small fan will make the plant move in circular shape which will actually help strength the plant especially the stem.

The problem of re veg is higher chance you'll get hermies. No one want hermies. Unless you want to be seed breeder or retailer. Some people are lucky and some are not. So its like rolling with dice. Ultimately your playing God when turning plant back into the veg state.

 

[MrWhi7e]

Just wanted to add that I did get a couple freebies from OGS.. I overlooked them originally.

I agree with nomofatum. You want to add mylar and aluminum to the mix. Its a highly reflective up to 95 percent of light. If your dealing cramp spaces I would SOG method if you have tight spaces. SOG will bring you a consistent flow of green. Growing big plants does not maximize time and space.

You also might want to add a small fan into the mix. The breeze from the small fan will make the plant move in circular shape which will actually help strength the plant especially the stem.

The problem of re veg is higher chance you'll get hermies. No one want hermies. Unless you want to be seed breeder or retailer. Some people are lucky and some are not. So its like rolling with dice. Ultimately your playing God when turning plant back into the veg state.

I will be ordering some mylar and already purchased an oscillating fan for the space. I want to wire up a pc fan or two that i have laying around sucking the air up through the makeshift reflector.

Did some reading on SoG. I was mistaking it for SCroG at first.... but this seems like an almost ideal solution for my personal needs. Im confident I could get a cloner going and all that jaz but not sure about it for the first grow because I'd have to reconfigure my buckets/lids for more plants...

Also, I have 4 little sprouts now. Pretty exciting.

 

[GREEN ARROW WORKS]

Just wanted to add that I did get a couple freebies from OGS.. I overlooked them originally.



I will be ordering some mylar and already purchased an oscillating fan for the space. I want to wire up a pc fan or two that i have laying around sucking the air up through the makeshift reflector.

Did some reading on SoG. I was mistaking it for SCroG at first.... but this seems like an almost ideal solution for my personal needs. Im confident I could get a cloner going and all that jaz but not sure about it for the first grow because I'd have to reconfigure my buckets/lids for more plants...

Also, I have 4 little sprouts now. Pretty exciting.

I see from your pictures that you use white paint. White paint will reflect around 80% of the light. Make sure when you put up any room that light does not leak out of room.
Try the computer fan and see. When you put light breeze on it. The plants will move in a circular position. The breeze in the beginning will help the young sprout to grow a strong stem. A strong stem will go a long way.

With the SOG. You don't need to go overboard with it. Start now practicing on other plants. So when the time comes to implement SOG. Your ready to go. No one clones at 100% rate. Getting 90-95 percent is good enough. If you have enough room get more buckets and lids. If not my suggestion is use those little red solo cups. Work as well. Take a cutting. Root them for a week. Grow them to 6 inches and then flower.
If you plan to do SOG. I would plan some space for mother plant. If you get your timing right. You should produce some yield every month.

If you plan to do SOG. MAKE SURE YOU PRACTICE TECHNIQUE AND PRACTICE. Before you start cutting the mother plant. The more experience you gain from other plants you get your routine down. So start slow and practice. Once you get your technique down. Your good to go Boss.

 

[MrWhi7e]

Thanks! I am going to put these little fuckers in when the lights come back on. I have light proofed the room but still need to block off the passive vents at the bottom.., which brings me to my next upgrade... going to put 2 120mm fans blowing into the 4" passive holes so i have more fresh air coming in... Should I cut up an ac filter to put over the holes for helping block the light or how do you guys handle that? It is coming from an almost entirely enclosed water heater area anyways which is near darkness.

As far as the fans and sprouts... at what size do you take the humidity dome off? I was toying with the idea of going ahead and removing one to see how to does. The Res is getting a lot of bubble and humidity in cab is was around 33% last night....

I love the SOG idea and will probably be my ultimate goal. This first grow I will going with the straight to flowering to sex and then back to veg. I Will make another cabinet for a mother plant all the while learning from this grow.

So many ideas i want to try out... I already asked the ole lady about converting our massive bath tub that never gets used... hah!