This will be my first auto grow dwc...

go for it!

i've tried just about everything til i broke down and bought a chiller. i even put my airpump in the freezer and tried to pump in cold air toe the res!

Civicsi06 said:

Has anyone tried a Styrofoam cooler with the 5 gallon bucket on the inside and then put blue ice packs around it to bring down the temp?

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I've not used that method myself as my temp was fine.
It make though,if your bucket is black,the colour black absorbs heat so if you could use something to reflect it then this could work.
Try using material that is non conductive. Make an mdf wooden box to sit the bucket inside as wood tends to stay cool.
Soz I've never been in that situation if I was I would only be doing what your doing and research.
Howz the little bitch doing now....post a pic.

auto1dwc said:

I've not used that method myself as my temp was fine.
It make though,if your bucket is black,the colour black absorbs heat so if you could use something to reflect it then this could work.
Try using material that is non conductive. Make an mdf wooden box to sit the bucket inside as wood tends to stay cool.
Soz I've never been in that situation if I was I would only be doing what your doing and research.
Howz the little bitch doing now....post a pic.

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Yea I am not sure how I am going to approach the cooling of the water just yet....I may just keep doing the frozen bottle method for a while. Here are some pics. I think she is doing pretty good.
View attachment 3898996 View attachment 3898997

auto1dwc said:

I've not used that method myself as my temp was fine.
It make though,if your bucket is black,the colour black absorbs heat so if you could use something to reflect it then this could work.
Try using material that is non conductive. Make an mdf wooden box to sit the bucket inside as wood tends to stay cool.
Soz I've never been in that situation if I was I would only be doing what your doing and research.
Howz the little bitch doing now....post a pic.

Click to expand...

Yea I am not sure how I am going to approach the cooling of the water just yet....I may just keep doing the frozen bottle method for a while. Here are some pics. I think she is doing pretty good.
View attachment 3898996 View attachment 3898997

Civicsi06 said:

Yea I am not sure how I am going to approach the cooling of the water just yet....I may just keep doing the frozen bottle method for a while. Here are some pics. I think she is doing pretty good.
View attachment 3898996 View attachment 3898997

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It seems pics are not working on this site yet....I just seen the message at the top of the page.

Ok so today I filled my second bucket up with tap water to perform my first flush tomorrow. I understand that I need to let the water sit in the bucket for 24 hours. Should I pH the water now or wait until tomorrow? Also, I seen some ppl would not add any nutes or any other kind of chemical to the water for another 24 hours once the plant is in the fresh water and then add in chemicals as needed. Is this wise to do?

why are you flushing?

i only flush for 2 conditions:

if i had nute burn from too strong an EC. tips start to yellow, than brown. then flush for 24 hrs of just pH'd water and start back on lighter nutes.

end of harvest. i give them 72 hrs of total dark. i give them just water (pH doensn't matter: they gonna die) for 24h, then change for the next 24 then change for the last 24. then chop em down.

rkymtnman said:

why are you flushing?

i only flush for 2 conditions:

if i had nute burn from too strong an EC. tips start to yellow, than brown. then flush for 24 hrs of just pH'd water and start back on lighter nutes.

end of harvest. i give them 72 hrs of total dark. i give them just water (pH doensn't matter: they gonna die) for 24h, then change for the next 24 then change for the last 24. then chop em down.

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hmmm...all the research I have done and by many ppl, the recommend to do a flush every 2-3 weeks. I guess it wouldn't hurt to so anyway right? I checked the roots of my plant today and they are a light brown color. I am not sure if it is root rot starting or if its just discoloration from the nutes I use which are the GH flora nova grow. This liquid looks like tar. I was under the impression that it is vital to keep the water and bucket as clean as possible on the inside hence the flushes.

it won't hurt but another way to look at it is the plant isn't getting any food for 24 hrs.

how is your air supply in your bucket? is it really boiling up the water??

i personally ddint' like the flora nova. was too thick and would leave junk at the bottom of my res which meant the plants weren't getting any of that stuff.

rkymtnman said:

it won't hurt but another way to look at it is the plant isn't getting any food for 24 hrs.

how is your air supply in your bucket? is it really boiling up the water??

i personally ddint' like the flora nova. was too thick and would leave junk at the bottom of my res which meant the plants weren't getting any of that stuff.

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I think the air supply is pretty good. I am using the round air stone connected to a 15 gallon pump. Yea the nute liquid was kind of thick. I am curious to see how much is at the bottom of the bucket when I clean it out tomorrow. I am waiting on the Styrofoam cooler to come in (should be in within a week hopefully) and I am going to try the blue ice packs inside of that against the bucket to see if I can get my water temps down. So do you suggest that I add all the stuff I use to the fresh pH water (nutes, cal mag, cannazym) and not wait another 24 hours?

Civicsi06 said:

So do you suggest that I add all the stuff I use to the fresh pH water (nutes, cal mag, cannazym) and not wait another 24 hours?

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I do. if looking healthy, just give a fresh batch of everything IMO.

How old is your plant.

auto1dwc said:

How old is your plant.

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3 weeks and 3 days.

Civicsi06 said:

3 weeks and 3 days.

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I would give it a 24 hour flush.
Reason being so you don't create nutrient build up which won't harm your plant but this will take longer to flush at the ripening stage.
If this isn't timed right then you could end up flushing to early or mybe to late which will result in either crap yield or over ripening.
If flushing is performed every week then this controls the plant relying on the stored foods while flushing and this way you should be able to do a full flush before harvest of around 5-7 days even earlier like 4 days with 2 days of complete darkness.
Soil normally takes around 2 weeks.
If you don't flush every week or two,this could also result in a longer flush period.
And remember autos are on a life span not a light schedule.

auto1dwc said:

able to do a full flush before harvest of around 5-7 days

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we'll have to agree to disagree on this.

why would you starve a plant during the last 5 to 7 days when buds grow and put on the most weight during the last 2 weeks?

auto1dwc said:

flushing to early or mybe to late which will result in either crap yield or over ripening

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you said it yourself. flush too early and you get a crap yield. yep, cause they are starved for food when they need it most.

rkymtnman said:

we'll have to agree to disagree on this.

why would you starve a plant during the last 5 to 7 days when buds grow and put on the most weight during the last 2 weeks?


you said it yourself. flush too early and you get a crap yield. yep, cause they are starved for food when they need it most.

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No because all the food during its life is also stored in the leaves.
When ripening the reason you only give it plain ph water is so the plant is using all the nutrients\food stored in the leaf,hence the leaves turning yellow.
So yes with me contradicting myself, this is why you watch tryhcone to tell if plants is ready or not.

to each his own.

Well unfort. its not looking to good for me. I believe my plant has developed root rot. I checked the roots today and from top to bottom all the roots have clumped together and has a slimy brown film on them. Also, a very pungent smell from the bucket. Any suggestions? I did some research and I am thinking of using a smaller bucket with just some pH water and the air stone for a couple days to maybe help get rid of it? I think since my water temps were averaging around 77 to 80 degrees, this has caused the root rot. What do you guys think?

Canna zym would have helped prevent this.
If you act quick it could help.
But with mentioning a strong smell in the bucket then every thing could be contaminated even net pot \ and rockwool.
It maybe best to start again.
You must use cannazym in your water just to protact the roots from bad bacteria which grows from warm water, light source leaking into your bucket or roots dying naturally and falling to the bottom of res and rotting.
Cannazym deals with all these problems.
Light on water and warm water create algae,if it has both light and warm water it will thrive.
Cannazym and calmag (which you are now using ) are a must in every water change.
If you cannot find cannazym,the you need an alternative know as a liquid formed bacterial enzym.

Civicsi06 said:

What do you guys think?

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if you act quick, you might save them.

get some hydrogen peroxide (3% in grocery stores, walgreens etc) . get a few bottles. take a separate bucket with just water and the h2o2 and dunk the whole thing in all the way up to the netpot a bunch of times. the roots will be foaming/bubbling like crazy and probably some will fall off too.

do it again until all the dead roots either fall off or are white.

start back on barely any nutes and hope for the best.

Thanks for the replies...I think this plant is a goner. I will be starting a new one using soil this time around. Any of you guys have any experience using soil for a grow medium?

This is what I have for a soil grow:
Auto Flower Seed
Fox Farms Happy Frog Soil
Fox Farms Ocean Forest Soil
8 Quart bag of Perlite
3 Gallon soft sided pot
*Maxicrop Liquid Seaweed Extract
*Botanicare Cal mag Plus
*Canna cannazym
*General Hydroponics Flora Nova Grow and Bloom

My plan of attack:

Soak seed in tap water for 12 hours.
Plant seed into red plastic drinking cup using 60% happy frog soil and 40% ocean forest soil.
Place cup inside humidity dome with heat mat and wait until seed sprouts. QUESTION: Should I add pH water to soil in cup while in dome or just some water on the dome base (will put holes in bottom of cup) or both?
Place sprouted seed under a small 12w led light for a couple days till I see some leaves. QUESTION: Along with pH water should I start adding any other nutrients listed above?
Transplant plant into 3 gallon pot using same mixture of soils.
Place pot into grow tent using 300w LED. QUESTION: Which nutrients should I start using at this point, if any? Also, this may be a really dumb question but when I start to mix all the nutrients (*) into a 1 gallon container, should I use all that water for one feeding or spread it out when the plant needs to be watered? Or how often should I use the nutrient water to water my plant in between just ph watering?

What is your method on a soil grow?