1 Gallon dwc, first grow without soil

[GrassBurner]

Just left Lowes, had to grab materials for a job today. Went ahead and grabbed a 10 Gallon Craftsman tote. Has a much sturdier lid, and is better constructed than mine
. I'll cut 2 holes for the net cups, and drill some holes for the air lines, and use the whole tote for a reservoir. I reckon I'll be needing more Jack's

 

[rkymtnman]

and use the whole tote for a reservoir

you just saved yourself a lot of headaches.

 

[myke]

Just left Lowes, had to grab materials for a job today. Went ahead and grabbed a 10 Gallon Craftsman tote. Has a much sturdier lid, and is better constructed than mine
. I'll cut 2 holes for the net cups, and drill some holes for the air lines, and use the whole tote for a reservoir. I reckon I'll be needing more Jack's

 

[GrassBurner]

Well I figure if the people that know what they're doing tell you to do something, do it Thanks again for steering me in the right direction

 

[GrassBurner]

Picked up a nice scale today for measuring nutrients. While I was out I grabbed some shock, 58% calcium hypochlorite I believe. Any of you guys run this in your res? I don't think I can keep 10 gallons of water cool, sterile sounds like my best bet. Planning on 2ppm. Seems like there is some debate between shock/bleach/uc roots

 

[GrassBurner]

Time to get this party started

 

[myke]

Time to get this party started
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Nice! What is the black paper over the sips?

 

[GrassBurner]

Nice! What is the black paper over the sips?

It's just a cover they give you with the planters. Feels like a thick landscaping fabric.

 

[myke]

It's just a cover they give you with the planters. Feels like a thick landscaping fabric.

Was thinking omg it’s building paper lol.

 

[GrassBurner]

Was thinking omg it’s building paper lol.

Turns out it might as well be construction paper Absolutely worthless for moisture retention or light blocking I ended up cutting some reflective bubble insulation I have, and covered the soil with that, then the little cheap landscaping fabric cover they give you. Almost instantly dropped the humidity in my cabin 20%.

 

[GrassBurner]

Well we're growing...sort of I believe when I transplanted the stunted plant on the left, I broke its tap root off Started with the Jack's, but after talking to my buddy who grows dwc, I ordered some H&G Aqua Flakes. He has been using it for a long time, and likes it. Recommended that I just run the multi zen with it. Also ordered a ph pen from HM, these drops aren't gonna cut it much longer.
The plant on the right has been growing, but it didn't look to happy with the Jack's. Plant on the left, has been clinging to life. It looks like it finally has a decent root into the nutrient solution.
Swapped the res out last night, cleaned it out and filled it back up with the aqua flakes. The big plant looks much happier, and seems to have better coloring today. You can see the first set of leaves on the bottom, it was a bumpy start.


Here are the differences in the roots.




So thats where I'm at. Waiting on my ph pen and multi zen. When I mixed the solution up last night, my ph was less than 6, but more than 5, according to the ph drops. This evening when I checked it, it had drifted up closer to 7. Dropped the ph back around 5/6. Ill check it again in the morning.

 

[GrassBurner]

Down the rabbit hole I go Hopefully I have everything I need for a successful grow now, minus knowledge and experience I pulled the plant that was stunted due to my error. The big plant is still alive and healthy

 

[myke]

How are the Sips doing?

 

[GrassBurner]

They have gone wild! The growth is incredible. I'm extremely happy with the Dr. Earth dry ammendments, they seem to be a great compliment to the coots mix soil. 6 of the plants in the sips have been topped once. Been in the sips 17 days.

My Dough-Lato in the dwc is doing okay. When I grew this strain in soil, I couldn't seem to keep up with their thirst for cal mag. So I added 3 mL to my nutrient mix. From what I'm reading, aqua flakes should have ample calcium and magnesium. Maybe the spots on the lower leaves is from the extra cal mag? I'm using Calimagic from GH.
I'm fixing to mix up a fresh batch of water this afternoon. I'll be using the Multi Zen with Aqua Flakes, and omit the cm for now.

 

[GrassBurner]

Here is the Dough-Lato today. EC is at 1.4, ph at 5.7. Swapped the res over and added multi zen yesterday, 6.5mL/gal of a/b, 3.8mL gal of Multi Zen. Ph was at 5.6, 24 hours later it had risen to 6.2. Dropped it back down to 5.7. What do yall think?

 

[J232]

Here is the Dough-Lato today. EC is at 1.4, ph at 5.7. Swapped the res over and added multi zen yesterday, 6.5mL/gal of a/b, 3.8mL gal of Multi Zen. Ph was at 5.6, 24 hours later it had risen to 6.2. Dropped it back down to 5.7. What do yall think?
View attachment 4886023
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Sharp rise in ph and seeing you are at 1.4 ec, I would recommend lowering ec and it should get more stable, 1.4 is pretty high... Is the ec stable? I don’t recognize the product you have but is any for root health, rot preventive?

 

[J232]

This is good to have on hand, if you haven’t seen it before, it will trouble shoot fluctuations and give you an idea of what to shoot for.

 

[GrassBurner]

Thanks for the info! How much do you think I should drop the EC? It seems to be holding pretty steady. I want to say I read about others using Aqua Flakes, the ph would rise in the first 24 hours, then after adjusted it stays pretty steady. I reckon I'll find out

 

[Gazza308]

What’s your res temp at with lights on and off? Fluctuations with temperature will fluctuate your ph.

 

[GrassBurner]

This is good to have on hand, if you haven’t seen it before, it will trouble shoot fluctuations and give you an idea of what to shoot for.

View attachment 4886124

Thank you so much for the chart!! Im gonna print it out and laminate it.