My first DWC setup. Stealth closet style. Pics! Nirvana Blackberry/others

Gageblackwood

Gageblackwood

Active Member
So, after a couple rounds of messing with soil, ive decided im a chemistry kind of guy, and DWC seems to be the thing for me. As of today my setup is complete, just waiting for beanlings to start rooting.

So for starters i ordered myself some nirvana Blackberry feminized seeds, the strain sounded cool. Nice for indoor supposedly. I only have 3 of those seeds though, got 5, messed around with 2, so only 3 left. I really would like to hold on to at least one of those seeds in case this grow doesnt work out as id like to, because this is my first time with dwc. If the plants died before i could clone them, id be really sad. So anyhoo, i will be doing one nirvana blackberry seed and at least one, maybe two random bag seed from some really good bud. This way, if the grow is a success late into veg state, i can still clone the blackberry, knowing it will be female. Then if one of the bag seeds comes up male, i wont have to shoot myself in the head, or spend 10 hours detangling roots if i dont want to.

Enough with seeds, this grow journal is about the setup. DWC lets see how you go.

Bought myself a medium sized grey bin, drilled holes for 3.75 inch net pots. Wanted to keep it a little small, dont have a ton of room in the closet, as you will see by the pictures. Drilled six total holes on top. Then put holes for the pump line and a simple water level reader. The bin was anything but light-tight, so i taped the hell out of the thing. Duct tape, til i ran out, then electrical tape for the rest. Once i was done taping, i threw some rinsed off hydroton in the pots to see how i was doing on darkness.

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While you obviously cant tell from the picture, it is in fact PITCH BLACK in there. Perfect. From what i understand that is very important to a dwc grow.

I dumped the rest of the the five gallon jug of RO water, that i hadnt already used for soaking the hydroton and equipment, into the tub. attached the two airstones i will be using, dropped em in. Hooked up the other ends of the lines to the air pump, plugged it in, and blam, a working dwc setup.

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Now before you start screaming at your monitor, no, that is not all the water i will use. For now i still have my seeds just starting in gro-plugs/rockwool.

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I have come to detest rockwool, but at the time it was all i had. I will probably try and transplant out of rockwool once that one cracks.

Anyway, here are the pics of the rest of my setup. For veg i will be using a 125 watt 6500k cfl. As the plants grow they will become surrounded by other supplemental lights as well. Enjoy!

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I will post more once i move the plugs into the system. Hoping for the best! Happy smoking and gardening until then :-).
 
Gageblackwood

Gageblackwood

Active Member
Got 5 gallons of distilled water this time, added almost all of it to the rez. Going with no nutrients until i at least see leaves. Water is just barely touching bottom of net pots.

For now i decided to go with one blackberry seed and 2 bagseed. One of the bagseeds has a decent beginning to its root. I carefully took it out of the rockwool and put it in a plug. In the future i will purely use gro-plugs, as the blackberry i put in it today already has cracked, so they will both likely sprout at similar times. The last bagseed i will just have to see. It looked like a very healthy seed, but if i want to replace it i have a couple others i may start.

i feel very confident going into this, ive had a lot of very knowledgable people give me advice. Hopefully that positive energy will continue to stay around myself and these plants. However, i must say, i am posting this mainly for the sake of more advice. I know there is nothing exciting yet, and i am simply impatient waiting, but for anyone who ever does read this, please feel free to post all comments, criticism, questions, what have you. The more feedback the get, the more i will know.

Moving on...

I put the water level right up to the bottom of the baskets. With a small amount of hydroton at the bottom you could see bubbles rising and popping right up into it. I am pretty sure the two medium size round airstones are enough to do the job here. They seem to be working pretty well.

Time for pictures! The front plug you see is the blackberry, the two on the other side of the bucket are the bagseed.
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Once again, happy smoking and gardening everyone!
 

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ValleGrown

ValleGrown

Well-Known Member
I'm sub'd dude I am excited for this grow. What's most important about DWC I've heard is the temps of your res and making sure no light gets in . None of that green stuff. Anyways me and my buddy did a drawing a few weeks ago to see what strain I was gonna get and I drew the blackberry by nirvana I'm way stoked to get em. I would say since you have a fem seed grow out a mom bro try to build a veg room with cfls or something. Thats what I did and I'm waiting for the girls to sprout

Happy growing man!!!! Feel free to ask anything man I'll do my best to help out in anyway possible
 
Gageblackwood

Gageblackwood

Active Member
Glad to have a follower!

Light and temp are definitely on my mind with this one. It looks like when the setup is under the powerful 125 watter, there was actually some light leakage through the hydroton. I rinsed some more and added as much as could fit in the pots to help it. Got rid of 99% of it, but there is still that very faint glow in a couple spots. Hoping this wont be a problem. sure it will go away once the light isnt so close. Thinking i might need to put some paper or something to try and cover it. Otherwise might just do a rez change when i add nutes if im worried. I dont have a ppm meter (saving for a fancy $200 ph, ppm, temp, etc reader) but ill be monitoring ph closely. Just in case, anyone know any easy way to tell if your water is growing shit? before you see it that is.

i turned the fan off to allow for higher temps while germing. Was at about 90 right before writing this. but im paranoid about getting that rez too hot. gonna turn that fan on. Going to bed now, will check tomorrow. Positive growing energy!

peace and love
 
Weedler

Weedler

Well-Known Member
Throw some frozen water bottles into the reservoir to maintain temps below 70F good luck with the rubbermaid they are hard to keep temps under control. There are a few of us running insulated coolers look into that trust me.
 
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threeandahook

Well-Known Member
Looks good. Im starting DWC around the same time so I am following!

What type of light are you using?

Are you concerend about the duct tape? I ahve read that if the duct tape is underneath the lid (by the water) it can leak chemicals into the water. I cut a hole too big and needed to tape, but was worried.

The lid I used was thicker and I used a jigsaw and I cut too much. power tools + being stoned = mistakes
 
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threeandahook

Well-Known Member
Weedler said:
Throw some frozen water bottles into the reservoir to maintain temps below 70F good luck with the rubbermaid they are hard to keep temps under control. There are a few of us running insulated coolers look into that trust me.
Click to expand...
Waht is the best water temp? Below 70F?
 
Gageblackwood

Gageblackwood

Active Member
woohoo, this post is starting to give me the positive energy and info i was hoping for! As much discretion as this hobby requires, its nice to have some portal to outlet some of the giddyness that comes with it.

I have definitely seen the cooler-style grows. Believe me, if this tub works at all i will only continue to spend the money and invest in a sweet dwc setup. The idea for this one was mainly cheap cheap cheap. Everything i have purchased (other than light and reflector, which i had) has still only run me 50 bucks. Including nutes, ph adjusters/testers, hydroton, and of course the bucket and pump system. So i think im doing pretty well on that front.

I used no tape on the inside of the bucket. purely the outside. plus all the tape around the top is electrical tape. Not that there is necessarily any less chemcials in it. Less smell, so i blindly feel it might. The light im using is a 125 watt 6500k CFL that uses a "medium" sized socket. Right now i have that in a rather nice parabolic reflector using super effective german textured aluminum. These get hot though, so be sure to have a fan running by it constantly so you can get it super close. The bulb itself only ran me 30 bucks at the local dro store. Reflector was around the same, maybe 35, but you can buy just the mogul base for like 10 bucks at the same shop. I only recommend that intense of a cfl if you veg for a while or a lot at a time. Otherwise surrounding with 46 watt light is just plain better. I will eventually use a combination of the two. For now this is a lot of light, as long as i keep temps low enough these babies should stay nice and stocky.

I will say, CFLs are where i have the most experience out of this whole setup. I have used cfl's in a few combinations up to this point. They are excellent for first time growers. But i will say, get a hps for flowering as soon as you can afford and manage having one. The "daylight spectrum" or 6500K cfl's actually provide a better vegetative spectrum than even a MH! When you add in a couple of 2700K cfls to the mix the spectrum range gets even sweeter. However, their penetration is horrific. You need to have lights as close as possible to every damn corner of that plant, or you simply wont get the most out of your lights. So at a point with big time grows, metal hallide will still become a better option, and contrary to some cfl rumors, mh remains more effective per watt. If you are like me, and are very small time, cannot deal with that much heat, just make sure to surround the hell out of your plant with those cfls. later today i will try and post a picture of one of the cheap bathroom lighting fixtures i use to give myself 4 sockets on a nice bendable base. I am desperate to get a HPS for flowering, and im pretty sure i will end up doing so, but im scared to death of the heat issues i may run into. that closet is pretty small, and i dont have the ability to drill vent holes. maybe ill just buy a lil guy, 150 or something, but then it hardly seems worth it. more on that later

Back to whats current,
Nobody has poked their head out into the light just yet, but im pretty sure the bagseed i took out of the rockwool is just about to. certainly by tomorrow. Hopefully that blackberry will follow close behind. ph still sitting nicely at 6. Kinda wish i had a digital reader so i could keep it closer to 5.8, but dont want to spend money on a cheap one if i may buy a nice one. I did my first rez temp check today. Very nice and cool at 63. I was thrilled with this, as ive let my temps around the top vary between 80 and 90 to promote germination and was worried. The iced water bottles are an excellent idea. Ive heard keeping it as cool as possible can result in better yields even. Also i like the clear glass idea. So simple yet so perfect. love how life works like that sometimes, all it takes is someone to tell you.

So, sorry, still nothing remotely exciting to most of you. Im still giddy with how easy this setup was. If i see any kind of results from this ill be a converted DWC man in no time.

Happy growing! =)
 
BeaverHuntr

BeaverHuntr

Well-Known Member
Gageblackwood said:
woohoo, this post is starting to give me the positive energy and info i was hoping for! As much discretion as this hobby requires, its nice to have some portal to outlet some of the giddyness that comes with it.

I have definitely seen the cooler-style grows. Believe me, if this tub works at all i will only continue to spend the money and invest in a sweet dwc setup. The idea for this one was mainly cheap cheap cheap. Everything i have purchased (other than light and reflector, which i had) has still only run me 50 bucks. Including nutes, ph adjusters/testers, hydroton, and of course the bucket and pump system. So i think im doing pretty well on that front.

I used no tape on the inside of the bucket. purely the outside. plus all the tape around the top is electrical tape. Not that there is necessarily any less chemcials in it. Less smell, so i blindly feel it might. The light im using is a 125 watt 6500k CFL that uses a "medium" sized socket. Right now i have that in a rather nice parabolic reflector using super effective german textured aluminum. These get hot though, so be sure to have a fan running by it constantly so you can get it super close. The bulb itself only ran me 30 bucks at the local dro store. Reflector was around the same, maybe 35, but you can buy just the mogul base for like 10 bucks at the same shop. I only recommend that intense of a cfl if you veg for a while or a lot at a time. Otherwise surrounding with 46 watt light is just plain better. I will eventually use a combination of the two. For now this is a lot of light, as long as i keep temps low enough these babies should stay nice and stocky.

I will say, CFLs are where i have the most experience out of this whole setup. I have used cfl's in a few combinations up to this point. They are excellent for first time growers. But i will say, get a hps for flowering as soon as you can afford and manage having one. The "daylight spectrum" or 6500K cfl's actually provide a better vegetative spectrum than even a MH! When you add in a couple of 2700K cfls to the mix the spectrum range gets even sweeter. However, their penetration is horrific. You need to have lights as close as possible to every damn corner of that plant, or you simply wont get the most out of your lights. So at a point with big time grows, metal hallide will still become a better option, and contrary to some cfl rumors, mh remains more effective per watt. If you are like me, and are very small time, cannot deal with that much heat, just make sure to surround the hell out of your plant with those cfls. later today i will try and post a picture of one of the cheap bathroom lighting fixtures i use to give myself 4 sockets on a nice bendable base. I am desperate to get a HPS for flowering, and im pretty sure i will end up doing so, but im scared to death of the heat issues i may run into. that closet is pretty small, and i dont have the ability to drill vent holes. maybe ill just buy a lil guy, 150 or something, but then it hardly seems worth it. more on that later

Back to whats current,
Nobody has poked their head out into the light just yet, but im pretty sure the bagseed i took out of the rockwool is just about to. certainly by tomorrow. Hopefully that blackberry will follow close behind. ph still sitting nicely at 6. Kinda wish i had a digital reader so i could keep it closer to 5.8, but dont want to spend money on a cheap one if i may buy a nice one. I did my first rez temp check today. Very nice and cool at 63. I was thrilled with this, as ive let my temps around the top vary between 80 and 90 to promote germination and was worried. The iced water bottles are an excellent idea. Ive heard keeping it as cool as possible can result in better yields even. Also i like the clear glass idea. So simple yet so perfect. love how life works like that sometimes, all it takes is someone to tell you.

So, sorry, still nothing remotely exciting to most of you. Im still giddy with how easy this setup was. If i see any kind of results from this ill be a converted DWC man in no time.

Happy growing! =)
Click to expand...

By keeping your reservoir cool between 65-68 you will avoid root rot plus its just good "housekeeping" for your plants... Are you doing the same strain in that reservoir? You are doing different genetics in the same reservoir? You might have a little trouble later on with that.
 
Gageblackwood

Gageblackwood

Active Member
really i will have trouble with different genetics in the same bin? never even crossed my mind other than strain size etc. but makes sense. Is it just purely for the way they may grow differently? or will they actually be bad for each other?
 
Gageblackwood

Gageblackwood

Active Member
Oh and here is that light setup i mentioned earlier. very simple. super cheap bathroom style light fixture. then take a cheap 2 prong extension cord and cut off the female end. Strip the two wires a bit and wrap them with the ends of the fixture wire. Then use either caps or electrical tape to seal the connection. voila! instant 4 useable sockets. There are many other ways of doing basically the same thing. This is just super easy for me, as everything is pretty much set to go, except the power cord.


Now back to smoking and watching my setup bubble away. Thank god for Black Ops or i'd be going nuts waiting for something to happen
 

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T

threeandahook

Well-Known Member
Looks good. I'm starting this weekend so I am sub'd and following you. Keep everything updated!

I plan on using Rickwool for the first time. I am soaking for 24 hours in 5.5 PH water first then sticking my germed seed in

Do I just shove the rockwool into the Hydrotron net with the seed in it? Does the rockwool need to touch the bottom of the net pot? Shoudl it just be flush with the top of the Hydrotron?
 
BeaverHuntr

BeaverHuntr

Well-Known Member
threeandahook said:
Looks good. I'm starting this weekend so I am sub'd and following you. Keep everything updated!

I plan on using Rickwool for the first time. I am soaking for 24 hours in 5.5 PH water first then sticking my germed seed in

Do I just shove the rockwool into the Hydrotron net with the seed in it? Does the rockwool need to touch the bottom of the net pot? Shoudl it just be flush with the top of the Hydrotron?
Click to expand...
After you soak the rockwool make sure to get some water out of it by putting it in your fist and shaking it do not wring it out or leave it soaked with water just shake your fist to get some water out of it. You will have over watering problems in early veg if you dont shake it.

No your rockwool does not have to touch the bottom of the net pot. I use 5.5'' net pots and I fill the bottom with about 1'' of hydroton then put my plug/cube on top then I add more hydroton and compact till I cover the plug/cube.
 
Gageblackwood

Gageblackwood

Active Member
still not finding much on different strains in the bucket. Ive now started to wonder a lot about how that will go. Cant believe i didnt think about all the different elements on that one. I dont mind the light adjustments and funky setup i might end up with as they grow differently. Finding crazy ways to get light to a plant is fun to me. But if their roots are gonna battle royale in the rez then im worried. Im sure feeding them will be a pain in the ass as well. they will probably want to eat differently. oh well, this is more just for the sake of trying out dwc anyway. So if i eventually decide to take out the blackberry and do something different with her i can be very flexible. perhaps ill just throw her in her own 5 gal bucket with a 5 or 6 inch net pot and let her be a supermother. The possibilities are endless :-)
 
BeaverHuntr

BeaverHuntr

Well-Known Member
Gageblackwood said:
still not finding much on different strains in the bucket. Ive now started to wonder a lot about how that will go. Cant believe i didnt think about all the different elements on that one. I dont mind the light adjustments and funky setup i might end up with as they grow differently. Finding crazy ways to get light to a plant is fun to me. But if their roots are gonna battle royale in the rez then im worried. Im sure feeding them will be a pain in the ass as well. they will probably want to eat differently. oh well, this is more just for the sake of trying out dwc anyway. So if i eventually decide to take out the blackberry and do something different with her i can be very flexible. perhaps ill just throw her in her own 5 gal bucket with a 5 or 6 inch net pot and let her be a supermother. The possibilities are endless :-)
Click to expand...
Yeah they will probably eat differently and make your PH a pain in the ass. But I'm sure a lot of growers do it too so dont harsh your mellow try it and see how it goes. Just know in DWC the 3 most important things are: PPM, PH , and stable reservoir temps. Keep posting / asking questions here lots of cool peeps who were in the same position you were in at one time, we are here to help.
 
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