Dutch passion C-vibes & CBD Skunk Haze. DWC

Day 0

We have germination, approx 3 days from placing into paper towel with tap water, now in root riot cubes, no light or feed yet.
2x CBD Skunk Haze (dutch passion)
1x C-vibes (dutch passion)

System:
Tent 1x1x1.8m
Oxypot 4 DWC
300w maxibright LED
6" Mammoth Juiced EC fan
EuroPebbles clay balls
Shogun soft water Hydro ferts, 1 part 'start' fert, Grow A&B, Bloom A&B

Day 3

Forgot to add, and comments/advice welcome, it'll be my first DWC coming from compost.

Bit more sprouting, no artificial light yet. Out of the dark but just getting natural light through the window.

Was just moist with tap water at PH 7.4, Ec 0.1.

Have just mixed up a mild feed to re-moist the cubes, Shogun 'start' npk 1.9/1.1/2
0.5ml per 250ml.

Feed is PH 6.7, EC 0.4, but I didn't put much on the cubes so, the cubes are at a guess now about PH 7, EC 0.2

Update, I should have probably got the 4" or 5" EC extractor fan, these things are like jet engines at full power...crazy crazy air flow...

My 6" is rated at 40 watts, so I'll have to basically dial it down to about 10/15% power.

So if the hype is to be belived, it'll only be using about 6w...madness.
EC fans are expensive to buy, but they are also small, super powerfull and super efficient.

And not loud volume either, reletivley speaking... I can't even hear it at up to about 20% power... but at 100% power it does sound like a supercharger or a jet engine or something, hahah!

Day 5

I have tap roots out the bottom of the cubes, and these girls are stretching for light.....

Into the tent we go. 18/6 light cycle, 300w LED on 20% power.

Lamp is approx 41" or 104cm above the seedlings.

The cubes are still very damp so they have not been re-watered.

I'm new to LED and DWC so I'm gonna have to monitor the temps as the hopfully get a bit higher before I can dial in the exractor fan.

Here we go!

I'm concerned about the really skinny root on the plant on the left, so I've propped it up with a little roll of card.. Hopefully it will recover.

After a few hours of the tent being zipped up, it's up to 20c , 40%RH, the LED is only on 20% power.

That's with the extractor running on minimum, So I think If I use a plug timer for the fan so as to not suck the warm air out so fast.. I think I have a plan and can balance things a bit.

Day 18

They have been in the DWC for 3 days now, EC 0.9.
Bumped the light up to 40% but they wilted a bit, so back down to 20%, so air temp is still a little on the cool side, nute temp perfect at 18.5c

Day 17

Got my days mixed up

We have root

EC now 0.8 .. ph pens are saying way too much acid, but better and up to like PH4.5 now, but my litmus tests are suggesting it PH5/6, maybe 6+

I've added a careful drizzle of PH up, and a drop of the starter feed as the root growth looks agressive and good., but leaf growth is slow.

I figure the plants are going all in on root growth rather than putting leafs out at the moment.

Day 19

Temps and ph better today, good root growth, despite my confusion over the PH difference between the paper tests and the Electronic stick.

EC back up to 0.9

Day 23

PH stable, EC has risen from 0.9 to 1.0.. so no more extra nutes for a few days, maybe a week. Water level has dropped a bit, so Will top up with a little water before feeding again.

Plants seem to not be stretching which I like, but nice new looking growth.

I've upped the 300w LED from 20% power to 40% power, will see how they react tomorrow. so from 60w to about 120w

Random observation, the top side of the plants all look pretty much identical so far, but the CBD strains at the back seem to have much more agressive root growth than the high THC strain (foreground).

So I've had a nightmare with high res tmps, but hopfuly back on track now, light back down to 20% and treating early root rot.

Aliunimum duct tape over the lid seems to be helpimg too. Rez temp has dropped a bit.

Day 27


Ok so a lot had happened, I think im stablised for now plants look fine but stunted and not growing, roots a little caramel rather than white, and still have some snot globules but I think the issue has slowed/stopped with the silver bullet treatment.

I've cleaned up as best I can and have fished this out of the rez:

View attachment 5219829

So ive deffo got cooties, and im sure it' my water temp which flucuates between 14 -23c

Next... a full rez drain and clean, but i'm just keeping things under control for a few more days as i've got some preventative measures on order:

• Helia water chiller, pump, filter and black water lines.
• Black sillicone air lines
• one way valves for the air lines
• new air stones
• Silver bullet misting spray - gonna spray a bunch of this on the top side of the clay pebbles to hopefully kill any cooties that have progressed into the baskets. Death from above. And below.

I plan to use the output hose of the chiller as a little waterfall too, hopefully that will help keep oxygen levels high along with the air stones, as well as cooling the rez.

View attachment 5219833

View attachment 5219834

The black curely thing, I think is one of my head hairs that must have fallen into the rez, and was being used as a raft for the the bacteria to cling to.

Day 29

Water has cleared up a bit, visible growth on the plants top side, so hopefully they have resumed from the stalling.

Roots look a bit better but still some slime.. will continue with the silver bullet treatment, another 80 ml per 100L of nute solution today.
Chiller arrived but not fitted yet as waiting on a filter and will do a rez change before fitting it, the new hoses and stones.

PH and EC good.

Day 32

reasonable veg growth and roots look fatter.

The silver bullet is working but it's expensive to use in 'emergency' doses'

Roots still look a bit creamy rather than pure white, but better than they were. I snipped off the worst bits.

The rez looks a bit murky though so I really need to get on with the full rez clean and refill...

I need to top them soon, but I don't feel confident doing that with the state the nute solution is in.

Day 35

It's been a bit frantic, the plants are looking good, and growing but i'm fighting a battle against what I can only assume is root rot or some kinda bacterial infection.

So today I took the plants out, and stood them in a makeshift stand whilst I did a clean up, this took about 1.5 hours where the roots were just dangling in the air.

*i also mercilessly scissored off any roots that looked a bit brown, so the roots have had a good haircut.

I timed this job at the beginning of lights on to hopefully minimise stress. (they are on 18/6 photoperiod)

So I did a full rez change, and clean and a quick wash down with a mild hydrogen peroxide solution. I prepped the new feed for PH and EC in my bathtub whilst pumping the old liquid into the sink

The feed was a mixture of Shogun 'start' and shogun veg A&B before, its pure shogun veg feed now, a 50/50 mix of A&B balanced at EC 0.9. ph is about 5.5 I hope, but im having a nightmare figuring out what PH my rez is.. Ive got paper tests, liquid tests and a bluelab pen, and they all dissagree with each other, but I'm thinking I'm in the right ball park as the plants are really starting to go now.

You can see how filthy the water is in pic 1. So the airstones have been replaced, and the hoses replaced with black hoses, and I've added one way valves to prevent water traveling up the air line. Pic 1 is difficult to look at due to reflections, but you can see the cooties in the water if you look close...it was really bad, I just hope I caught it in time.

The plants look a bit droopy, but they have literally been hung out to dry for an hour or so, so hopefully they will perk back up.

I knocked the 300w light down from 40% to 20% to allow a recovery period.

I really don't want to pull the plants out when the roots get bigger, as that will be a nightmare to minimise stress.

So I hope I can get away with this res change, and think a partial like 90% water change when I transition to flower photoperiod and bloom nutes.

I didnt realise how bad it got, the water/fert mix is crystal clear now..