Cucumber DWC grow

Bella said:

What exactly are you going to be growing??

It is recommended to put nutes in the water, since plain water doesn't have all the needed nutrients for plants to grow.

My grow is more of an experiment. I've never done anything with hydroponics before. Because of this, I did not want to necessarily go out and buy extra nutrients,lighting, etc. If I was more of a serious grower, I would definitely invest in better lighting and nutrients.

I used a small amount of just regular all purpose 10-15-10 liquid fertilizer. It is meant for soil, but it didn't seem to harm the plants at all. I didn't do this until my plant was 5 days old (check out the pics from day 5 to see the size of my plant)

Fertilizers meant for soil usually use Urea/Ammonia as their source of nitrogen. When this is used in soil-less grows it tends to do more harm then good for the plants, as they cannot use the nitrogen effectively. I believe the ammonia can also disturb the PH balance of the water.

If you are taking your grow seriously, and want to most out of it... I would suggest getting a fertilizer meant for hydroponics. This will allow proper nutrients for your plants. Someone at a hydroponic shop should be able to help you.

Hope this helps!

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haha thanks bout time I got and answer that I couldn't find thanks lots deff rep for you, and its a test grow btw

Day 21

I finally built my trellis! I just used some clean twine I had laying around and a staple gun. It actually worked out better then I expected! It is going to be a little more challenging to access the reservoir, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it.

looking awesome!

looks good, i want to try this when my grow is done but i want to try with carrots and i wasnt sure if it would work and you seemed like you might know.
thanks

b-rad said:

looks good, i want to try this when my grow is done but i want to try with carrots and i wasnt sure if it would work and you seemed like you might know.
thanks

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I've been wondering that as well! It would definitely be neat to see. I think it would work, but I would be worried about the carrot itself getting "soggy"/moldy.

I think it's worth a shot. I'd definitely be watching

Here is a link on some info about growing potatoes/onions/carrots etc. in a hydro set up. I don't believe it's with a DWC, but some of the info may help.
Maximum Yield - GROWING ROOT VEGETABLES IN HYDROPONICS

Day 23

Well I believe I'm starting to get hit with a magnesium deficiency. You'll be able to see the yellowing of my newer leaves, with green veins still present in some of my pics below. I added 5teaspoons of Epsom salts tonight, along with 2.5ml of my all purpose ferts again just for good luck
During the next few night cycles I will foliar feed with some Epsom salt water. I'm hoping this will cure the problem.

On a more positive note You can still see my baby is growing and growing. It has started to shoot out many more of those "curly cue thingy's". I'm in awe in how it actually attaches itself to the trellis. So fun

I also had to lift up my lighting since my plant is getting taller. I'm getting so excited for those first little flowers!!

very cool

looks good

lmao, this is the first time I'm going to watch a cuke journal! I love it. TY

Are you going to be adding more light besides your flouros? (maybe i missed it, but i dont feel like reading the thread) hehe

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Day 26

2 days ago I decided to completely clean and replace the water in my reservoir. The magnesium deficient look was just not improving, and my plant started to look a bit droopy.

I remember from a previous grow where I used the same ferts as I did in this one, I had a similar look occurring on the leaves of the plant. (yellowing, green veins still present). I have now come to the conclusion that it was my ferts doing the harm (even though I hardly used any!)

Anywhoo, I cleaned and replaced the water in my reservoir. I did do some foliar feeding with Epsom salts, and the next day I rinsed away any dried on salt crystals (both were completed with my lights off). I did also remove some not so healthy bottom leaves from the base of my plant to allow for better airflow.

My plant has now been looking great since I cleaned/foliar fed. You'll be able to see in one of the pics below the smaller leaf that was very yellowish is now getting much more green. The larger leaf is still yellow. I think it will take some extra time for that one to heal.

AND! I believe I can see the start of some flower locations!!! You can see them in the pics below

We TaRdED said:

lmao, this is the first time I'm going to watch a cuke journal! I love it. TY

Are you going to be adding more light besides your flouros? (maybe i missed it, but i dont feel like reading the thread) hehe

Click to expand...

I'm glad everyone is liking my thread And yes, I plan on just using my fluorescent lighting throughout my grow. I've already had to raise my overhead tubes up twice The desk lamps that I use to light up the front/sides of my plant have very adjustable necks on them so it's great for projecting the light upwards.



Leaf that is doing much better :


Leaf that is going to take a bit longer to heal:


Flower sites!?!

Day 28

Things are still going good. I have not added anything besides filtered tap water to my reservoir. I have started foliar feeding with just water during the dark cycle.

My larger leaf (that was very yellowish) is starting to heal. Gradually I am noticing a green hue reappearing .

More and more of those "flower sites"? are appearing. If they are flowers, I'm going to have a ton of them!!

Looks good dude.

Day 30!!

Blooming Blooming Blooming!! 3 in total, many more to start. They are male blooms (no mini cucumbers as a stem).

I have been reading that the female flowers start later in the growth process, so I am eagerly awaiting their arrival If the male flowers start to die, I will collect them so I can save the pollen to pollinate my female flowers.

I have also read that I should cut off many of the male flowers, to allow female flowers to develop. Has anyone else heard of this?? Opinions?

that is bad ass man, did you have to change the light times to flower it?

Nope, Still kept my lights 16 on, 8 off. If I find after a while it doesn't start creating female flowers, I may make it 12/12.

Day 34

Things are going great The new growth on the top of my plant is doing awesome now that I flushed my reservoir.

You will notice I snipped off many of the lower unhealthy leaves. This will allow for better airflow, and more energy to be put towards the healthy new leaves (instead of the plant trying to heal it's sick leaves).

I've had about 5 blooms already fall off. I have kept them so I have the pollen to pollinate my female flowers. I can't wait for them to start blooming!

Very nice.

Cool grow!

Day 36

My first female flower!!!!! It's so small, but I'm sooo excited!!! I tried to pollinate it with a male flower that had just fallen off. I'm not sure the flower is large enough on the female though to pollinate properly. Oh well, was worth a shot. As it gets larger I'll keep trying.