First grow journal! LED+DWC+Winter (PICS! :D)

Can't wait to see how it turns out!

Alright, came back tonight in under 24 hours to a bunch of new growth! Roots are an inch longer, easily poking out of the net pots.
New leaves seem to be ramhorning (is that what this is called?) a bit.. High PH?

Res temp: Jumped to 26C/80F.. got an ice pack in there now. No clue on how that happened, except for maybe me covering the top of the net pot to block light restricting airflow.
PH: Bounced up again.. 8.1, brought back down to 6
PPM: Also jumped up.. 630 ppm

Its all good....My 'Acid' had a slow start.


At 17 days....



At 39 days. Looking a lot better.

Wow, that is quite the change! Let's hope that's what's in store for my youngin'!

My 1st true leaves were a bit deformed too. (You can see on the day 39 pic.) They can still perform their function and all other leaves look beautiful.

Rams horn, nute burn, over fert. All the same anyways, too much nutrients

Your res temp is ALWAYS going to be naturally a couple degrees cooler than your ambient temps. What's the temps inside?

and heat has a direct affect on nutrient levels (ie higher temps cause higher ppm)

Dont get discouraged brother! It's too early for any of this to REALLY matter, it's when the roots are in the solution you really see the consequences of yur decisions

Up until now it's been the other way around - temps at 20C and house at 22-23C.. It was probably me restricting the evaporation that made the temperature go up (nearly air-sealed the reservoir, haha)
The ice pack brought it way down to 21C. Net pot's uncovered now.

So this next reservoir change (3 days or sooner if it gets smelly again), I'll get nutes up to what, 200 PPM?

Also if temperature remains an issue I can move the reservoir semi-outside (deck, stealth cab) and let the aquarium heater do the work, but then have to deal with maintaining environment temperatures, too.

Chronikool said:

Its all good....My 'Acid' had a slow start.

View attachment 2447482
At 17 days....

View attachment 2447515

At 39 days. Looking a lot better.

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But then again....good acid alwayz has a slow start...

Right after I had posted that I read it back to myself and knew I had bit my tongue, it's not ALWAYS going too, guess it depends on what it's sitting on, the conductivity of the container, thickness, etc etc.

Like I said, res temps aren't a HUGE concern right now, but when you've got roots hanging in the solution; they'll rot fast if you don't keep an eye.

200ppm sounds right in the ballpark to me but don't take my word I'm having my own troubles with that whole side of things. lol

Res down and stable at 20C again. The bubbling action really does cool it down! Don't think I'd even get close to this temperature with HIDs, I'd have to settle for higher temps.

I just need to make the F and C transition already.. lol

Yea if I ever went HID again it'd be CO2 so I could render those high temps as an advantage.


Keep us posted!

News at 10, with HC: PH bouncing to 7.7 repeatedly, probably need to get some real PH Down.. PPM down to 510ish. Smells fine, earthy, like the nutes.

More news in about 14 hours.

bwahahah Im so glad to know that other ppl live and breathe this forum like I do; the lady is on me constantly- read this thing like its The Elder Scroll itself.

I dono what would cause that ph to fly so quick..somethin's off.

I babied mine the first couple times and my water went noooowhere.

Did you wash your hydroton? I know you need to ph rockwool cubes before using them, dono about pellets...assuming not. idk..somethin.

Scotch089 said:

Did you wash your hydroton? I know you need to ph rockwool cubes before using them, dono about pellets...assuming not. idk..somethin.

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I rinsed the hydroton pretty well, but didn't soak in PH'd water.
Peat pellets are supposed to be acidic (low PH). Started those in the PH 8 tap water..

The problem was, I didn't start with a PH meter. Should've.

Late news update: Conditions normal. PPM is 450, PH swung up to 8.3 overnight. More roots. My seed that I started germinating on the 13th sprouted.

Tomorrow I'm going shopping.. Need PH Down and some good soil. Doin' a res change tomorrow, will dial in the nutrients.

My plants at that stage liked it right around 200 - 300 ppm and PH 5.7. Basically the plant will let you know what it wants. If PH is going down PPM will most likely go up and that means you have too much nutrients. If PH is going up PPM should be going down meaning the plant wants more nutes. After a while you'll figure out how to dial it in as you go.

Alright, did a res change at 8 PM last night:

• Rinsed the hell out of some fresh hydroton, soaked in PH'd water 24 hours
• Prepared a fresh, new black bucket
• Scrubbed air stone
• Gingerly flushed and transplanted to fresh net pot and fresh hydroton
• 1/2 strength Grow&Cal/Mag+
• PH'd to 5.8
• PPM read at 530

And 12 hours later:

• PH rose to 5.9
• PPM dropped to 510

Comments:

• PPM: Yeah, still a little high, but remember my tap water is 100-150, plus there's the peat plug in there.
• PH: Huge improvement with actual PH down. "Pure" 5% Acetic Acid (white vinegar) used to only last me like.. an hour. I think I had an algae problem.. The smell would get a bit off as PH rose, vinegar would neutralize the smell and bring it back much more to the "earthy" straight nutrient smell.

Sorry about the lack of pics, but give it a couple of days and I'll have a surprise!

Sounds like you are doing exactly what you need to do, As long as that ppms dropping and ph is going up they are on the right regime for easy veg!

Keep it up brother!

Shortly after writing that reply, something just didn't sit well with me for the nutrients. Went and recalibrated my EC meter @ 1000 ppm NaCl.. Read 850.

Recalibrate your meters! Three weeks of heavy use was enough to drain the battery that much. My tap water reads as 130 ppm and the nutrients I have in the tank are around 330 ppm - Woot.

I've found it definitely needs a system of Checks and Balances

I have calibrated my EC/TDS pen twice in two grows that was used twice a day through the first, and at least once a day now. Ive always swished it around in some RO before replacing the cap and storing it. Always been skeptical of PH meters due to their lack of holding calibration, so I have always ran with ph drops.

Well, the most suggested way to keep a ph probe in commission- keep it stored in solution, well...why cant it be stored in the solution its supposed to measure? !!!! BING!!!! Hello continuous meters.

Just recently purchased a used Hanna continuous meter off of eBay, and it's easily the best investment I have made in my hobby. Then I use my pen and drops to make sure everything runs well. havnt had to calibrate again since the start of this grow (6-7weeks)

-PH- drops are easily the safest way of going about it, just make sure you've got some on hand if you snag up a meter.
-EC/TDS- every body has their brand or homefront, but just make sure it has an adjustable Conversion Factor, you don't think it's "a big deal" till later on.

I'd like to get my hands on a Guardian and see how the accuracy runs compared to my Hanna, ph hasn't been more than .2 off so far.