First Timer, DIY Stealth CFL DWC w/ AutoAK47, Purple Lady, & Gigabud

Ok, so I started my grow from seed on Thursday, April 2nd. I germinated 6 Lowlife AK47s, and a Purple Lady feminized bean a day later. I germinated all of them in pH watered rockwool, with 100% germination rate.

My water levels got a bit low under my nose a few days in, and two seedlings dried out and died, both AK.

I started germinating 2 more AKs on the 12th and a feminized Gigabud a day later, both currently sprouting.

I am using a DIY DWC system with 3gal tubs, and the AKs have 2 18" airstones running off a 30-60gal pump while the Purple Lady/soon to be Gigabud have 1 10" airstone running off a 10-30gal pump.

The res tops are covered in foil tape, and the grow walls are lined with mylar wrapping paper. I made little reflectors out of cardboard and foil tape.

I currently have 13 cfl bulbs in the room, 5 over the Full size, 8 over the autos.

The Purple Lady has 1x 42w, 2x 26w, and 2x 23w cfl bulbs...

The Autos have 5x 23w and 3x 26w cfls...

I will be using FoxFarm nutes starting this Friday at their res change.

I will be updating very often, and will also be posting pics with each update.

Thanks for stoppin in everyone! All help, advise, comments, and concerns all greatly appreciated.

Edit:
Pics 1-2 are the setup
Pic 3 is the germin' seeds
Pics 4-11 are the Auto AK47s
Pics 12-15 are the Purple Lady
Pic 16 is my nutes
Pic 17 is my thermometer with current temp/humidity
Pic 18 is the AK roots... Sorry, forgot this one...

Update 04/16

Day 14

Sorry for not updating in a while, I figured it would be a waste of space to post about every millimeter of growth, etc...

The new seedlings are lookin great... They're stretching a bit, but simply because the lights are a bit higher to make room for the older kids...

One of the AKs and the Gigabud have already stretched their roots down to the water. The other new AK seed was a bit runty, so that one's in a little humidity dome. I'll throw it in the DWC once its roots come out of the rockwool. It looks healthy, though.

I'm starting nutes tomorrow on the next res change (Friday). I'm probably gonna go a little under 1/4 strength to make up for the newer plants.

All the roots are looking amazing, and foliage growth is pretty good as well. There are a few brown spots on my two inner AKs, but I think that's from the lights being too close. I'll post pictures tomorrow night, after a day of nutes...

Temps are staying in the low 80s, and the humidifier keeps it at 40%

pH has been most triumphant, staying at a solid 6 every time I check... Both reservoirs, too. I love it!

I ordered 3 80mm pc fans off ebay and they guy threw in a free one, so I'll have four brand new pc fans to wire into the boards I'm getting cut. They'll be the exhaust for the cabs.

Thanks for stoppin by! Like I said, all input is greatly appreciated and most welcome.

Update 04/20

Day 18

Happy 420 Everyone!!! Take the time today, no matter what you're going through, to stop and toke up with your good friend Mary Jane... Enjoy yo' muthafuckin' lives!

Alright, so things seem to be going pretty well so far. I finished the majority of the work on the room, and the plants are adapting nicely.

Pics 1-3 are of the new setup. The area on the left will be the flowering area, and the bigger area is the veg area. As you can see, I have two passive intakes cut in the veg area, and two active pc fan exhausts coming out the top. The top fans will each be covered by a homemade carbon filter soon. The flowering area will have one passive intake hole and one active exhaust in the top.

My question is... Did I do that right for a passive intake/active exhaust system? Will the pc fans be strong enough?

The temps stay in the mid 80s and the humidity stays around 40%. Both the humidifier and a bigger fan are pointed in the direction of the vegging area.

Pics 4-10 are the autos... They are staying really short, so I raised the lights a bit. I can't really tell, but it looks like little pistils are growing from the bigger two. Can anyone tell from the pics? Sorry, shitty cam. The roots are yellow, but I think that is from the nutes. Water temps stay around 60.

Pics 11-13 are the fems. The Purple Lady is looking real nice, and she is very perky. She reaches up a bit with her leaves...

I'm really excited that things are going so well for my first grow. Some of the leaves have browned just a tad in some spots, but I think that's from having the lights too low early on.

Enjoy the pics, enjoy your day, and thanks for stoppin by!!!

Update 04/22

Day 20

Woke up this morning to the greatest surprise EVER!!!!

Three of the AKs are a definite female, with little white pistils growing out from the nodes, and only one of them has balls!

The other two are still seedlings, so obviously I don't know the sex yet.

As far as the Purple Lady and Gigabud, they are feminized seeds so I'm pretty sure they'll be female.

Pics included.

1-2 are Autos and their roots. I moved the male closer to the front, away from the females, for my own organizational purposes.

3-4 are the feminized plants and their roots.

Today's a triumphant day... Thanks for checkin' in! Any advice is most welcome.

there coming along real nice mate good job..

BARBI said:

there coming along real nice mate good job..

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Thanks, I really appreciate it!

Love it 420, plus rep bro, Scribed!

Zypher said:

Love it 420, plus rep bro, Scribed!

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Hey, thanks, bro! Respect.

Update 04/24

Day 22

Today is the second res change for the autos, and the fems get theirs tomorrow.

I added 1/3 strength nutes this time, hopefully that won't be too strong for them.

Everything is coming along great. I couldn't ask for an easier grow. I was so afraid I was gonna fuck shit up, but everything's goin' smooth.

The AK females, and male actually, look like they are preflowering already.

I'm having trouble deciding something, and need some further input.

Should I:

A.) Grow the Autos as planned, plant 6 White Russian seeds in a week, and grow out the fems for buds;

B.) Seed the Autos with my male, plant a new 6 every month, and grow out the fems for buds;

C.) Turn one of my Auto females into a hermie via light poisoning and pollinate another fem with it, thus creating fem seeds but wasting two female Autos. I would then run a perpetual Auto AK grow;

or

D.) Grow these out as planned, grow my 6 white russians as planned, then clone my Purple Lady/Gigabud for a perpetual clone harvest.

I'll post pics tonight after the Autos' first day on stronger nutes.

Thanks for stoppin' in!

Update 04/25

Day 23

All the plants are on their second week of nutrients now... This week they're at 1/3 strength. Everything's looking amazing, I'm so happy. I thought I'd fuck this up for sure.

I separated the male from the entire room. I'm going to collect his pollen regardless of what I choose to do. I made a little DIY pot for him. I cut a 2L soda bottle about 2/3 of the way up. I filled the bottom portion with pHed water, then I just stuck the top in upside down and threw the netpot in, guiding the roots through the mouth. This way, the top of the bottle will collect the pollen. I have the male cleaning the air in my living room, lol.

Pics 1 & 2 are the AutoAKs and their roots.

Pics 3-5 are the Purple Lady/Gigabud and their roots. Can you tell I did some LST on the Lady? I only pinned down the main stem so far. I'm letting it grow some more before I pin it again. I'm using plastic coated paper clips, and they bend so easily I can just hook them onto anything.

Pic 6 is my AK male that I separated.

Please check my last update and help me make a decision on what to do as far as breeding. This is really important, and I need some advice fast. Thanks again!

Effin' bump, man...

Bumpity bump bump, bumpity bump...

Update 05/02

Day 30.

Just a little update to let you know what's going on. The AKs are showing a bit of nute burn, but not horribly, so I think they'll work it out.

The smallest one showed male today so I pulled it. Not a bad female to male ratio, though... 4:2 is ok with me.

If you got somethin' on your mind, let it out. I wanna hear your opinions. I wanna know how I'm doin.

Lookin good man. +Rep on the DWCs. i had one goin myself, until my clones hermied out.. but w/e.... How much wattage do u have total with all those CFLs??

geekin69 said:

Lookin good man. +Rep on the DWCs. i had one goin myself, until my clones hermied out.. but w/e.... How much wattage do u have total with all those CFLs??

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It's 380 watts combined. 25,550 lumens. I'll be upgrading that soon, though.

I'm gonna have 588 watts for 39,200 lumens.

The veg room is gonna be 252 watts for 16,800 lumens.

That's just for the lights, though. I have no idea what the pumps are rated for, and the fans are like 2w each. I bet the humidifier takes up quite a bit, though. I'll look into it all tomorrow.

how do you change the res out with all those roots? drain it out or just swap tanks...i have spare tubs but my plants arent that big yet

stickyburke said:

how do you change the res out with all those roots? drain it out or just swap tanks...i have spare tubs but my plants arent that big yet

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I have a spare tub with dechlorinated water. I also don't take the hoses all the way out. I have two hoses in each res at all times, even the extras. Tomorrow I'll be picking up some more air stones so I don't have to worry about that. All I have to do is switch out the tops. I take the top with the plants and put it on the new res, then I wash the old res and store it until I need another res change. For top-offs, I have 4 3L bottles all full of pHed, dechlorinated water.

Hope that explains it clear enough for ya. I don't know if I described it properly, lol. Thanks for stoppin by, man! Good luck with your babies!

hey man, cheers for the well wishes , well i only took 2 small buds off and was planning to harvest the rest on the 10th....but im not so sure now, the majority of pistils on the main cola are still white so i dunno, but i shall be watching your grow now man....hate it when no one talks on the journals....sucks major donkey shlong! anywho ill be watching man +rep for the job done so far!

cheddarchops said:

hey man, cheers for the well wishes , well i only took 2 small buds off and was planning to harvest the rest on the 10th....but im not so sure now, the majority of pistils on the main cola are still white so i dunno, but i shall be watching your grow now man....hate it when no one talks on the journals....sucks major donkey shlong! anywho ill be watching man +rep for the job done so far!

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Hell yeah, man. I know what you mean. I subscribed to your journal, man. Lookin forward to hearing how the autos smoke.