A Complete Newb's DWC

Ok, so I'm 35 years old now... When I was in college, I got some bag seed from a friend (I wasn't a smoker until a few weeks ago, lol)... I germinated about 12 seeds in styrofoam cups and grew them up on the window ledge. I had to get rid of them when my landlord started asking what the smell was. That was 15 years ago.

Like I said, I wasn't a smoker until very recently... No need to go into those details, but I'm glad to finally be part of the club. Because I do NOTHING in moderation and I'm a DIY'er... I figured I'd grow my own... I did weeks and weeks of research on strains, lighting, spaces, methods, nutes, etc... And I decided on the following for my first ever start to finish grow:

1. HSO's Blue Dream - Feminized (I germinated only 2 for my first run, from The Attitude)
2. 5 gallon deep water culture (6" net pots and hydroton)
3. 2' x 8 lamp T5 lights (6400k) for veg
4. 2' x 8 lamp T5 lights (2700k) for flowering (maybe I'll upgrade to a 400w HPS for flowering)
5. GH Grow/Micro/Bloom nutes
6. 2'x2' ScROG (to get the most out of my T5 setup)

(upside-friggin-down... Also replaced 10" net pots to make more room for nute solution)

The plan is to take a few clippings during veg from the plant which looks like the better pheno of the two. Then take the best clipping and grow that up bonsai style. My dad is going to keep her under 2x 27w (6500k) cfl's at his place... Then I'll repeat the grow from her clones.



I'm currently in day 5 from starting germination... Here's what's going on so far... All advice and comments are appreciated!

Germinated in paper towel. Roots popped inside of 24 hours...




Transplanted to rockwool. Both girls popped less than 12 hours later.




Another 12 hours later, both girls showed their first set of serrated leaves. (no idea why that uploaded upside down)





... 3 days later, we're still looking great (I think). Both taproots were sticking out of the bottom of the rockwool, so I transplanted them to their buckets.





I'm surprised how fast they germed and took root. I almost wasn't expecting it. I have the bucket water just touching the bottom of the net pots... Air pumps are on... I'm also hand watering them from the top twice a day. Is that ok? Since I've never done this before, I'm still concerned about trying out the roots until they find their way out of the bottom of the net pot. I had the girls in a humidity dome until I transplanted them last night. I have the light about 3" from the plants. They seem to love it. I haven't started nutes yet... I'm not sure exactly when I should. Advice would be great.

Thanks everyone... I can't take my eyes off them... I'm excited about my first grow...

My first update on this grow is a big one...

I mentioned to a friend of mine that I was beginning a new grow and he offered to sell me his 8x4x6 grow tent for $150 and his 600w HPS (air-cooled hood, digital ballast, HPS bulb) for $150, so I couldn't pass that up. I have that set up now but am still going to veg under the T5's for a while. I still plan on scrogging, but I'll be upping the width/height from 2x2 to 4x4. Mmm hmm...

Once the ladies are capable of taking on 600w of MH, I'll take some cuttings... Still going to bonsai a mother plant... The T5's are plenty right now, so I'm going to save the HID lighting until about week 4 of veg (depending on the size).

On to the ladies' progress reports. Both plants were transplanted into the 6" net pots before my first post. Not much has changed. Still on ph'd water only... I'm tempted to start giving them nutes, but I'm trying not to be impatient about it. I think I'll keep using water until I see the roots pop the net pot.

The initial fan leaves have doubled in size and I have a second set cropping up now (see pics). Topside the development is slower than I expected. I can't see roots through the bottom/sides of the net pot yet, so I got curious and took a peek inside the hydroton by pulling the pellets out one at a time until I could see a super nice root wad surrounding the rockwool. I immediately put the hydroton back, lol...

Neither plant is more than a quarter inch taller than last time. I have the T5 bulbs about 2-3" from the plants, so they're happy with the light... They're just spending all their energy on root development. I'm happy they're not stretching.



I feel like I'm still on top of things... Doing it right...

Advice, support, cheers, etc... graciously accepted.

I was going to add an update last night, but it got late fast and besides, there wasn't really much to report, so I left it alone...

I changes out the reservoirs last night. I started with grocery store distilled water (3.25 gallons per bucket) and added my first nutes to the equation. I'm using the GH Flora series and followed the directions on the bottle:

1/4 tsp FloraGro per gal
1/4 tsp FloraMicro per gal
1/4 tsp FloraBloom per gal.

The tds of the distilled water started at 20ppm and jumped to 220 with the nutes.... I PH'd to 6.3 before wrapping my chemistry project up. I scooped a cup or so of the nutrient solution from the bucket and gave them a topside watering to get things going.

I was hoping to see results right away and I wasn't let down at all... 12+ hours after getting their first meal, each girl's second set of fan leaves more than doubled in size (compare pics from my last update with the opurnes here:



Also, I can see the beginnings of a third set about to burst. Here a day later, no signs of nute burn, which I would imagine with seedlings this small and in hydro I would see by now if it were coming. I'm not an expert, but I don't know that they could be healthier... Their color looks good, the fan leaves are sturdy, and the stems are firm.

I have the bubblers going and the net pot drips when I lift them out of the bucket, so I'm pretty sure the roots are getting wet... I'll continue to feed them from the top once a day for good measure though until the roots are reaching into the solution.

I'm expecting the growth rate to pick up now based on what I'm seeing.

I see you guys/gals peeking in on me... Thanks for that. Comments, suggestions, questions are very welcome.

Updating nightly wasn't my intent, but milestones are milestones I suppose. So I spent the day on the boat with my family, came home and put the kids to bed. I checked in on my girls to find some wonderful new growth. It seems as though my ladies love their new food. Like I said in my last post, I expect much more rapid growth than I've seen until now... Here's why:



I have a 4" root dangling from the bottom of my 6" pot on my first plant. It wasn't there last night while I was writing my journal entry. It's not alone.. There's a second root about 1.5" on the opposite side of the pot. It'll be tough to see, but in the lower left-hand part of the pot in the second image is the first root reaching out for food. It's an exciting milestone for me. I wasn't sure I'd be able to get the ladies to grow through the transplant to the DWC buckets. I got a little impatient when I didn't see much growth those first few days too. I kept telling myself "Root development is happening; you just can't see it." but I also never fully believed I'd do so well...

Look at the difference just one day makes... I'm excited to check them again tomorrow..



Everything is looking healthy... Now that I have roots in the nutes... I expect it to be on like Donkey Kong.

I guess no comments means I'm doing ok, lol?

hard to see change in plants if your with them multiple times a day. i am exactly like you are. i check constantly! i love visiting with my females. looking good. keep it up!

looking good so far! keep it up!