400W DWC Mango/Afghani Grow

[ADLpotter]

Hey guys,

Thought the best way of me having a great harvest would to have a detailed journal so if anything goes wrong I can get help from all you guys


So some details:


Style of Grow:

Deep Water Culture System, LST and Topping to bush plant(s). If the plant gets too tall itll be stopped at a scrog screen although scrog won't be used as my primary method, it's only to control if I get any runaway plants.


Growing Medium:

4" Netpots with Hydroton in a 5 gal DWC bucket.


Lighting:

Veg: 300W CFL's
Flower: 400W HPS + 300W CFL's for side lighting


Number of plants:

Was aiming to grow one plant at a time in a perpetual setup but I currently have 3 mango seeds and 1 afghani seed germing and dunno how I'd be able to face culling off my babies, so we'll see

Nutrients:

Dutchmaster Advance A+B
Advance Nutrients Sensi Cal Mg





Ok so I received my seeds this morning (approx 12 hours ago) and starting germing them using the paper towel method. I used filtered water (I filter it myself) that was PH corrected to approx 6. 3 of the seeds are Mango and 1 of the seeds is a Pure Afghani. I was going to do one strain at a time but couldn't help myself to popping in the 1 Afghani just for a comparison. If it doesn't pop I won't be trying anymore til my next grow.

Tent is a DIY tent I made from PVC pipe and PVC plastic. It looks a mess in these photos because they were taken before I got my seeds, I had a pot of mint and a mini DWC bucket growing some coriander. The plastic on the right is hanging down because I undid it for cutting for extra ventilation. Until I get my required fan though, the door is left open with an oscillating fan pushing air in, as well as an oscillating fan that sits inside the tent pushing air out . Going to be getting an inline fan and a carbon filter soon though.


Here's some pics, I'll take some more when the seeds start popping:

 

[DarkCursade]

MMMm Mango, Im so jealous right now, its the next strain on my hit list, how big is your grow space there & how many plants are you going to run at a time?

 

[ADLpotter]

grow space doesn't have a big footprint, probably about 60cm x 50cm (23.5" x 20"). I'd go measure it but its in my bedroom where the missus is sleeping. It's about 6ft high though.


The plan was to grow 1 plant at a time and take cuttings before flower to go into my veg chamber.

That said though I've started 4 seeds and dunno what I'll do if all of them pop. I suppose I could fit the 1 DWC bucket and 3 smaller plants around it.

 

[DarkCursade]

Yer why dont you just grow all 4 of them, theres enough space there for 4 small plants, just grow the main colas

 

[ADLpotter]

well i really wanna learn how to get the most maximum yield out of 1 plant so I'll be focusing mainly on 1 plant, but I will be having extra side lighting so I could chuck 3 smaller plants in there no worries I suppose.

Hell if I get a male and female I might even chuck them in a sealed cab together to get some more seeds, save me having to risk losing cash through customs again.


Checked the seeds again, one of them looks like it is just starting to pop but it's that small its hard to tell, ill wait until the root is a bit more definitive before I go ahead and place into rockwool, pics will be coming when I do though

 

[ADLpotter]

Well overnight one of the Mango seeds has popped. The root isn't far out but I'm glad I caught it early as I prefer to put them into the rockwool sooner rather than later, the longer you leave the taproot to grow on the paper towel the weaker it gets I find.


Here's a photo of my 3 Mango seeds and the one that has popped. Kinda hard to see but was hard to get my camera to focus any closer.

So I then popped the seed into the rockwool at about the length of the seed deep, with the taproot facing down.

Pinched the top of the hole shut then chucked the rockwool into the humidity dome and into my veg cabinet under a soft fluro

This light will now be on 24/7. As each seed pops itll go through the same process. Once the seedlings sprout they will have 2-3 days under this fluro and then they'll be going into the flower tent for some more intense light. I'm not putting them into flower but since this is my first grow with this setup I'll do the whole thing in the one tent, then when I take clones start using the Veg cabinet more.

 

[eza82]

Hey mate great start !
Sounds like you have it nailed and done your home work.

Things I would of done ;
-Planted all of my seeds and found the ONE with best genetics, and grew that ONE plant of each strain and cloned offf that.

-If your getting enough air in and out - use a 600 W HPS for flower

-I get great success with just rock wool to germinate (to avoid seed caps). Inside a mini green house ontop the FOXTEL box or heat mat always helps .

-Change Dutch for Canna

- Get some Pk 13-14 for flower

Ez

 

[DarkCursade]

Eza is correct change to canna

I got a few tips that u may want to consider:

Check out this thread, https://www.rollitup.org/outdoor-growing/24703-its-all-bullsh-t-14.html as I know your grow space isnt huge, but you dont need any big pots in there taking up canopy grow area, try using square pots, I use them and they are great for stacking up close.

In my own experience I have grown in cocco/perlie in a small plastic cup a plant about atleast 30-40cm tall, I drilled the cup with 5 bottom drain holes, then multiple side drain holes all the way up the cup.

Also I think that this is a must, move your ballast out of the grow room, you will need a hole-saw to be able to fit the head part of the power lead from the ballast threw the wooden wall is that makes sense. Its better to get rid of as much heat as possible In a small op.

Also I dont know how you are for cash but cooltubes does wonders for heat, they cost about $60 on ebay.

With 400w, they come in 125mm or 150mm, and you should get away with an inlet fan pushing the air straight out, rather than using an exhaust fan aswell, if you run the inlet fan from inside the grow room, it will also draw air out of you grow room helping with removing stale air.

Now that I have had another look at your pics, if you move your ballast ouside you would gain space for another 1-2 plants in there you could extend your floor space.

Also remove most of the CLFs maybe keep 1 or 2, but 300w of CFL is over kill.

Also when you have ur lights on whats the room Temp & RH?

Hope I have been helpfull

 

[ADLpotter]

haha, ye i agree on removing the ballast itll be going in the next room when i add my venting. And even if I did, in order to get the extra floor space I'd have to pull apart the tent and rebuild it with new parts.


I'm not really well off for cash at all, unemployed and a bank account with about 32c in it at the moment haha. Temps reach as high as 90 (one severely hot days 94) but that's purely because I live in Australia and we have massive heatwaves, even with the aircon running full, thats my ambient temps, the light doesn't really seem to heatup the grow area that much. I will still be having an inline fan that exhausts into a seperate room though. My DWC res will be kept cool however.



I'll buy some Canna PK 13-14 when it comes closer to flowering time. Thanks for the advice guys.

 

[DarkCursade]

Um you mean Humtidy 90? or the temp at 90F

Im from Oz speak english

PS where I live its always hot!!!!

 

[laceygirl]

Hi there,

The very lovely gentleman who suggested Canna, was very wise... I have always grown with Canna and get kick arse results... They also have a 1300 number you can call in Oz, they know what you are growing and they don't care, they just want their products to work....

Next grow especially if you are growing in clayballs try the whole of the Canna's range... I use it and I love it....
Rhizotonic for amazing root growth and formation, when they are still cuttings
Vega A & B for vegging
Cannazyme to help the plants with root replacement and for sugar conversion
Flores A & B and Cannaboost for flowering

Check out my grow if you want....

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/282347-laceygirls-grow-4.html#post3599452

Keep up the excellent work...

 

[ADLpotter]

Um you mean Humtidy 90? or the temp at 90F

Im from Oz speak english

PS where I live its always hot!!!!

Haha sorry mate, ok 30 degrees it sits at on most days during summer. On scorching days it can go as high as 33. Sometimes if we get 40+ heat for 4-5 days straight it can even go as high as 35 in my grow space.


Humidity sits at around 30% when the tent is left untouched but if I just put some water in there (in a bowl or wherever) the humidity can rise as high as 60%, just depends how much water I put in there at a time so its controllable.



Another mango seed is starting to pop now, the shell has started opening up but the root hasn't pushed out yet so I'll leave it for just a little bit before putting it into a rockwool cube.

EDIT: ok literally 2 hours or so after I posted this my Afghani seed popped as well. So it's also in the rockwool. My 3rd Mango seed has shown no signs of life yet but its only been about 2 days so I'll leave it going.

 

[ADLpotter]

Alright so one of my Mango seeds broke the surface yesterday night. Overnight though she got to a decent size and the roots were sticking out the rockwool so I decided to chuck her into the DWC.


Rockwool cube goes into the netpot with the Hydroton

Check that the airpump is doing its job in the bucket, make sure its nice and bubbly

Pop the seedling into her new home

Last of all just chuck on a small humidity dome for the moment.

My afghani has also JUST started breaking the surface of the rockwool

 

[DarkCursade]

Nice I like the early stages they are so exciting and the pics,

 

[ADLpotter]

Well some good news and some bad news.

I was out last night, came back home this morning found 2 of my seedlings struggling badly. They look droopy and shrivelled. I've watered them put them into a humidity dome and under a T5 fluro but I don't think I can save them

That said though my remaining 2 mango seedlings are doing excellent if not a little stretched. I've tried to avoid the stretch by putting the CFL's about 1" away from them, but still they stretch...

Anyway here's a photo of my healthiest seedling.

And heres a photo of my Afghani seedling on the brink of death. Makes me feel like crying watching the poor bugger.

So ye, I don't think I'll be able to bring these 2 bad seedlings back to life but I'm gonna try my damndest.


v

 

[laceygirl]

Well some good news and some bad news.

I was out last night, came back home this morning found 2 of my seedlings struggling badly. They look droopy and shrivelled. I've watered them put them into a humidity dome and under a T5 fluro but I don't think I can save them

That said though my remaining 2 mango seedlings are doing excellent if not a little stretched. I've tried to avoid the stretch by putting the CFL's about 1" away from them, but still they stretch...

Anyway here's a photo of my healthiest seedling.

And heres a photo of my Afghani seedling on the brink of death. Makes me feel like crying watching the poor bugger.

So ye, I don't think I'll be able to bring these 2 bad seedlings back to life but I'm gonna try my damndest.


v

Get your sick little one into a humidity crib with almost 100% humidity.... Put a gentle day light flouro over him and you will bring him back.... Here are some photos of my 3 day old seedlings that I bred myself...They love this environment, its like a hospital, they thrive and its a relatively cheap fix....

 

[ADLpotter]

thanks for that, ye they're both in the humidity dome now and i mist the inside of the dome so humidity stays high. One single 15w T5 daylight fixture above them. I really hope they come back was looking forward to comparing the Afghani to the Mango. That and with 4 plants I have a much greater chance of a female.

 

[laceygirl]

thanks for that, ye they're both in the humidity dome now and i mist the inside of the dome so humidity stays high. One single 15w T5 daylight fixture above them. I really hope they come back was looking forward to comparing the Afghani to the Mango. That and with 4 plants I have a much greater chance of a female.

Hope it works for you... Its so distressing when you know its a strain you really really want... I feel that way about my White Rhino... I've only got two seeds going, one of them has to be a female!!!

I'm subscribed....

 

[laceygirl]

Hope it works for you... Its so distressing when you know its a strain you really really want... I feel that way about my White Rhino... I've only got two seeds going, one of them has to be a female!!!

I'm subscribed....

May I ask which seed bank you have used....???

 

[ADLpotter]

Well turns out my original order from marijuana-seeds.nl came through but i took about a month so I'd assumed customs had intervened.

Gonna go with a different one next time though for some quality strains, probably the one you suggested me.