Clone Cabinet Specs:
2 x 105w CFLs (6500K) (24/0, switching to 18/6)
Bagseed
Emergency Blankets ($4 at Walmart)
General Hydroponics Flora Nutrients (FloraGro/Micro/Bloom)
2 gallon container
2 x 10" airstones
2-outlet air pump
2 x 120mm PC Case fans
Using this as a sort of journal/help for any other DWC newbies going through the same thing. The pics below are of my cloner/seedling cabinet. Ignore the humidity reading, the hygro got wet and has been pegged at 40 since, waiting on my digital to come in. I'll update with the bloom cabinet pics when the time comes.
I sprouted the seeds in paper towels, then transferred them to Jiffy pellets because rockwool wasn't available. Once I had finished setting up the DWC bucket I transferred them into net pots. First I used electrical tape on the top 2/3rds of the pot to prevent any light leaking in through the hydroton. Then I laid down a thin layer of Hydroton; just enough so that the bottoms of the Jiffy pellets would be near the water and in contact with the wet pebbles, but not submerged and getting peat everywhere. One thing I forgot was to wash the hydroton to remove all that red dust. In the DWC Bubbles pic you see some of the dust collected on the bottom that I get to rinse out next Wednesday.
Nutrients are 5.0ml each (Gro/Micro/Bloom) in 2 gallons distilled water (1 tsp/gal). It's a little strong for seedlings but they're doing alright and the reservoir is being changed in less than a week. I'm debating switching to tap after reading Roseman's advice on pH fluctuation, but I have extremely hard water here so I may stick with distilled.
The seedlings were put into the DWC setup on Wednesday, Feb 9. The pictures were taken less than two days later early Friday morning (2:30 AM.) I'm about to set the timers to shutoff at midnight and turn on at 0600, but till then I can't stop staring at them at all hours of the night
I'm impressed with the fast root development. Yesterday roots weren't really visible, but now almost all the pots are showing root tips growing out. The pics show closeups of my three strongest seedlings which I nicknamed Fatty, Skinny, and 3-Leaf which, of course, has 3 leaves. Two of the net pots have 2 seedlings per Jiffy pellet because I had a good germination rate. I'll grow out the pairs and then whoever is looking weakest gets voted off the island.
One interesting note is the closeup pic of one of the pairs. One of the seedlings just shed its seed coat today, but is showing an odd set of true leaves. They are quite noticeably yellow compared to all the others despite healthy looking cotyledons; I hope it's from a unique strain and not a result of my nutes. I'll see what happens over the next few days.
Next Steps
Wednesday, Feb 16: Reservoir change. If plants are showing 2-3 true sets of leaves, I'll go ahead with the growth feeding schedule. Till then it's daily misting, water level, temp/humidity, and pH checking.
2 x 105w CFLs (6500K) (24/0, switching to 18/6)
Bagseed
Emergency Blankets ($4 at Walmart)
General Hydroponics Flora Nutrients (FloraGro/Micro/Bloom)
2 gallon container
2 x 10" airstones
2-outlet air pump
2 x 120mm PC Case fans
Using this as a sort of journal/help for any other DWC newbies going through the same thing. The pics below are of my cloner/seedling cabinet. Ignore the humidity reading, the hygro got wet and has been pegged at 40 since, waiting on my digital to come in. I'll update with the bloom cabinet pics when the time comes.
I sprouted the seeds in paper towels, then transferred them to Jiffy pellets because rockwool wasn't available. Once I had finished setting up the DWC bucket I transferred them into net pots. First I used electrical tape on the top 2/3rds of the pot to prevent any light leaking in through the hydroton. Then I laid down a thin layer of Hydroton; just enough so that the bottoms of the Jiffy pellets would be near the water and in contact with the wet pebbles, but not submerged and getting peat everywhere. One thing I forgot was to wash the hydroton to remove all that red dust. In the DWC Bubbles pic you see some of the dust collected on the bottom that I get to rinse out next Wednesday.
Nutrients are 5.0ml each (Gro/Micro/Bloom) in 2 gallons distilled water (1 tsp/gal). It's a little strong for seedlings but they're doing alright and the reservoir is being changed in less than a week. I'm debating switching to tap after reading Roseman's advice on pH fluctuation, but I have extremely hard water here so I may stick with distilled.
The seedlings were put into the DWC setup on Wednesday, Feb 9. The pictures were taken less than two days later early Friday morning (2:30 AM.) I'm about to set the timers to shutoff at midnight and turn on at 0600, but till then I can't stop staring at them at all hours of the night
I'm impressed with the fast root development. Yesterday roots weren't really visible, but now almost all the pots are showing root tips growing out. The pics show closeups of my three strongest seedlings which I nicknamed Fatty, Skinny, and 3-Leaf which, of course, has 3 leaves. Two of the net pots have 2 seedlings per Jiffy pellet because I had a good germination rate. I'll grow out the pairs and then whoever is looking weakest gets voted off the island.
One interesting note is the closeup pic of one of the pairs. One of the seedlings just shed its seed coat today, but is showing an odd set of true leaves. They are quite noticeably yellow compared to all the others despite healthy looking cotyledons; I hope it's from a unique strain and not a result of my nutes. I'll see what happens over the next few days.
Next Steps
Wednesday, Feb 16: Reservoir change. If plants are showing 2-3 true sets of leaves, I'll go ahead with the growth feeding schedule. Till then it's daily misting, water level, temp/humidity, and pH checking.
