SquirtleSquads adventures in DWC

[SquirtleSquad]

Nothing too exciting going on

Just vegging from seeds

TH Seeds Critical Hog and Chocolate Chunk in the line up

Cracked 5 seeds each. All 5 critical hog made it. One chocolate chunk germed but quickly got over taken by mold?? Weird. And another I neglected to top feed until roots hit water but it’s still clinging on. So most likely will be left with only 3 which is perfect for my 8 site rdwc.

They are slow going right now, but just started taking off. I made the mistake of going too hot on the nutrients too fast and stalled em. Will transfer to own buckets in a week.

[sk1]

How’s not exciting ? When they grow I will be here, at this first post looking at them… Memories…

Good vibes !!!

[SquirtleSquad]

New seeds to add to the mix. Also got some TH Seeds chicle and strawberry glue and 12 freebies including more critical hog

[HappyHemper]

How old are they from sprout?
I’m trying to get into DWC, but having some growing pains, pun intended

Will be following closely

[SquirtleSquad]

I’d say around 4 weeks. I lost I’d say 2 weeks due to stalled growth trying to match what other growers use for feeds and by keeping them in rapid rooters for 2 weeks too long. I also just got unlucky with a lot of finicky seeds.

The real quick growth with DWC starts when roots are in the water. So the quicker you get them into the buckets the faster growth you will experience.

I have been starting seeds in my aero cloner for two years now and I’m new to rapid rooters. I don’t think I’ll use them again. I like having a long root mass in the aero so I can weave the roots into the buckets day 1 of transfer. I’ve found this to be the quickest method although time consuming if you grow a ton of plants.

[Bongedtobits]

You will love the FDM stuff. I still have my ESB mum from years ago. The generals daughter is also amazing cannabis. My mate still asks about it from time to time.

FDM Cindy was also the first strain I grew. Super easy to grow with amazing buzzy nugs.

May have to procure a pack of the GD now I think about it lol.

Will be keeping an eye in this one for sure.

[FunkyPhantom]

Nice.

3.5" net pots? Your setup looks like mine, except I used 5" netpots.
Are you also using an aerator?

[SquirtleSquad]

4" netpots from cz hydroponics. They have a wide lip and fit perfectly with a 4" holesaw.

[SquirtleSquad]

Looking forward to these. I may start the C99 as my first run at FDM. I never grew it before. Will crack those once I bring these to flower

[SquirtleSquad]

Leaves are getting big for only a few days

[sk1]

Sub’d. Really nice strains there

[SquirtleSquad]

Been a while since I grew a 100% indica. Leaves are getting huge and barely any vertical growth.

The one in the back right corners margins are curling. Only plant affected. I thought maybe the light, but perhaps it is the fan. It’s been blowing mostly at that plant.

Tote to the right is at 0.8EC and the left was 0.9EC as of yesterday but dropped to 0.8 already. One more day of a drop and I’m upping to 1.0EC

[SquirtleSquad]

Setup my 6 site RDWC with 12 gal totes.

Set the RDWC at 0.9EC (1.1EC with tap)

The two smaller plants in individual buckets at 0.7EC (0.9EC with tap)

Done for the day.

Tomorrow I will set this baby up

[SquirtleSquad]

Finally got the pH doser up and running. Have it set to run for 20sec and off for 10 minutes. Pump is 500gph and system is about 45-50gal so should make a full mix in under 10 minutes. I manually overrode rhe pump and got about 2-3ml in 20seconds. Just not sure when it kicks in. Set high alarm at 6.1 and low at 5.6 but not sure if that’s when the pump triggers

I’m sure I’ll have a little learning curve with it.

[SquirtleSquad]

So far the pH doser has been working like a charm.

There are high and low alarms. Not sure if they trigger the pump to dispense pH up or down based on settings.

It has been stuck at 5.8 for the past couple of days and I never see it fluctuate. The low alarms is 5.6 and high is 6.1 so to me that sounds like once it reaches 6.1 it brings it down to 5.6, but given that it’s always at 5.8 I’m not sure. I wish there was logging available. There is a pump run time so I could look at that to see if the pump ran at all. This would at least let me know the unit was working and the pH was drifting.

I guess I’ll do some experiments on a 5 gal bucket later.

An issue I’m having right now is do I defoliate or not? These indicas have 10-12 inch leaves and i keep tucking them back so the lower growth can get light but they keep lifting back up. Not digging how the fan leaves are looking either.

I added about 0.5g/gal Epsom salt since these appear to be mag deficient. So far no correction has shown.

ReikoX autos have sprouted (LA diva and UV #1 crosses 4 each) the UV germed with long taproots seemingly overnight. The LA diva took a full 36Hrs extra

[SquirtleSquad]

This look like a mag deficiency in the making?

Thinking I need to up feeds. Set at 1.16EC 48 hours ago and now it’s 1.04EC

[SquirtleSquad]

Mmm love fuzzy white roots

[anon32470837]

Oh!! Fuzzy roots!!! Im getting all excited!! I love fuzzy roots!

Ok, I’ll calm down, but those look great. That means you have the perfect root environment - at least above the water

Well done!

[sk1]

@SquirtleSquad

Thinking I need to up feeds. Set at 1.16EC 48 hours ago and now it’s 1.04EC

By the leaves color I think that they have enough food. Perhaps upping feeds will show some slight burns.
But the EC lowering is a bit on the high side. I would watch a few days to see if the pattern continues. And perhaps add a lil Mag.
BTW lovely setup

[SquirtleSquad]

Yeah it’s unseasonably warm here and the water temps are 69-71F with 76F ambient.

I don’t have a chiller for this setup. My 27gal tote 8 site has a chiller and these are going to transfer to that system once they are bigger.

I topped them 4 days ago so hopefully I get more branching.