Follow My Current RDWC Setup, helpful tips are welcome! JACKS 321

Fairly new at this and I'll be asking questions throughout the grow down below in the comments.
Working hard trying to dial in the nute ratios. These pics are taken day 1 of 12-12. Please feel free to comment on what needs to be changed or fixed. These are the current specs of the setup;

DIY RDWC System (fallponics)......
20 gallon water capacity
Chiller (65°F)
Air stones (under roots, not in res)
2 fans
Carbon filter and inline fan
4x4 tent (Usually around 80°F)
Hlg 550 rspec
Bluelab Guardian (PH, Temp and EC)
(No longer using res top off kit that is installed)

NUTES....
Jacks 321 (Using a considerated stock solution. Using only enough to get EC to correct numbers but still maintaining the 321 ratio)
Uc roots (2ml per gallon)

When should i defoliate and how much should i remove?
My target ec was 1.2 but the plants drank 1 gallon last night and dropped it .2 ec. Now it's 1 ec. Next water change in going to shoot for 1.4 ec?

EC dropping only .2....you are pretty close so I could keep it around there unless you start seeing bigger drops.
I like how clean you keep your area....that says a lot.
What has your PH been doing? Mine always started to tank during late flower but then again....I was running 20 gallons with 4 plants. Not much buffer there.

5BY5LEC said:

EC dropping only .2....you are pretty close so I could keep it around there unless you start seeing bigger drops.
I like how clean you keep your area....that says a lot.
What has your PH been doing? Mine always started to tank during late flower but then again....I was running 20 gallons with 4 plants. Not much buffer there.

Click to expand...

Thanks, i try to keep everything as clean as possible. My ph raised from 5.8 to 6.0 last night with that ec drop of .2. I try to have it between 5.8 and 6.2. Other grows ph was all over the place because i was over feeding. Trying to knuckle down and get everything dialed in this time.

I love your setup! I'm subbed. I'm trying to get off of my maxi addiction and would love to jump into Jack's 3-2-1. Some positive results in your thread might just give me the push I need to make it happen.

I would top and defoliate today. Every day you wait is a day of recovery and regeneration that you're wasting. Top every flower site. Then eliminate big leaves that will block your new flower sites from gaining light access. 7-10 days later you'll have twice the flower sites and you'll never be able to tell it was ever stripped down. Here's a blue dream I just topped and defoliated today. This is her second round. She'll get it one more time when she enters the flower room and then a final time at week 3 of flower. The goal is to nurture flower sites. Eliminate growth that impedes their growth and light access.

BEFORE:



AFTER

jonnynobody said:

I love your setup! I'm subbed. I'm trying to get off of my maxi addiction and would love to jump into Jack's 3-2-1. Some positive results in your thread might just give me the push I need to make it happen.

I would top and defoliate today. Every day you wait is a day of recovery and regeneration that you're wasting. Top every flower site. Then eliminate big leaves that will block your new flower sites from gaining light access. 7-10 days later you'll have twice the flower sites and you'll never be able to tell it was ever stripped down. Here's a blue dream I just topped and defoliated today. This is her second round. She'll get it one more time when she enters the flower room and then a final time at week 3 of flower. The goal is to nurture flower sites. Eliminate growth that impedes their growth and light access.

BEFORE:
View attachment 4767530
View attachment 4767531

AFTER
View attachment 4767532

Click to expand...

I never thought of topping in the beginning of flower. I usually only top once or twice in veg but never in flower?

When you switch your photo period to 12/12 the plant is still producing an immense amount of vegetative growth (more or less depending on the strain) in the first 3 weeks of flower. If you recently stripped / topped prior to placing your plants in 12/12 obviously there's no need to strip / top again at the beginning of flower. However, do make sure you give your ladies a hair cut at week 3 of flower. Strip down the unnecessary vegetation to expose your flower sites to light. The final strip isn't a "naked strip-down." It's more of a targeted gentle defoliation. You need leaves to grow buds obviously and she isn't going to regenerate any of those leaves after week 3, so don't make her naked. You just want to eliminate the "bush" growth that's covering up your flower sites while leaving necessary leaves to drive flower development. I'll snap some pics of my flower room just before lights on today and show you what my girls look like with this type of week 3 defoliation.

I'm trying a different way this run. These are clones from the last and im trying to test ways on improving so instead of removing the big fan leaves i removed all the small sucker branches that barely made it to the net. This opened up a decent amount of space for light penetration.

Question;
My res ec started at 1.2 two days ago. Water level dropped about 2 to 3 gallons and the ec is down to .9. Ph is rising a bit. Should i do another water change today and shoot for 1.4 ec this time?

RCJR said:

Thanks, i try to keep everything as clean as possible. My ph raised from 5.8 to 6.0 last night with that ec drop of .2. I try to have it between 5.8 and 6.2. Other grows ph was all over the place because i was over feeding. Trying to knuckle down and get everything dialed in this time.

Click to expand...

In my setup, when I mix my nutes, the ph normally goes to 5.5-5.6. As the ec drops, ph rises. I've heard, then experienced, that the drift is a good thing, because it makes more nutes available through the ph range. I believe I explained that right. Lol

Day 9 since the 1212 flip. I'm afraid they will stretch too close to the light that is already as far up to the top as possible. What can i do to prevent this?

Tying the branches down to your scrog net is an option. Supercrop as a last resort but try to avoid that.
Your going to end up limited as far as soft training goes soon. The branches will get quite woody and brittle the further into flower you get.

I've read that keeping night temps the same as day temps can reduce stretch. Never tried it myself. Double check it.

I can relate... Lol

So the stretch is finally over! I had to modify the tent, light and the bucket lids to gain more room for the plants to stretch. However I'm running into some sort of deficiency showing in the fan leaves. I allow the ph to drift from 5.8 to 6.2. The leaves are really pointed upwards I've noticed too. Any helpful tips are greatly appreciated.

RCJR said:

So the stretch is finally over! I had to modify the tent, light and the bucket lids to gain more room for the plants to stretch. However I'm running into some sort of deficiency showing in the fan leaves. I allow the ph to drift from 5.8 to 6.2. The leaves are really pointed upwards I've noticed too. Any helpful tips are greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

I had to look at your monitor picture a couple times to make sure I was seeing the number I thought I was seeing. Still waking up 1.1 EC? Brother you gotta get your concentration up to 1.6-1.8 consistently. That looks like a possible calcium deficiency. Get your EC up. Your girls are starving. I feed 1.8 EC from clone to flower. Dial down to 350ppm for the final 10 days before harvest.

RCJR said:

So the stretch is finally over! I had to modify the tent, light and the bucket lids to gain more room for the plants to stretch. However I'm running into some sort of deficiency showing in the fan leaves. I allow the ph to drift from 5.8 to 6.2. The leaves are really pointed upwards I've noticed too. Any helpful tips are greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

Res temp looks kinda low too, no?

Well call it bro science if ya want but the praying is for Magnesium.Add epsom at about 8 grams per 12 gallons.
The burnt edges is something you did 10 or so days ago?If you did nothing then your mix is a little off.Too much of one and not enough of etc....
Ea strain is different so my thoughts is always feed low.My self I stay around 1EC.Without issues.

jonnynobody said:

I had to look at your monitor picture a couple times to make sure I was seeing the number I thought I was seeing. Still waking up 1.1 EC? Brother you gotta get your concentration up to 1.6-1.8 consistently. That looks like a possible calcium deficiency. Get your EC up. Your girls are starving. I feed 1.8 EC from clone to flower. Dial down to 350ppm for the final 10 days before harvest.

Click to expand...

Last run i was around 1.8 ec and i had tons of issues with lockout or something. I dropped it to 1.3 ec (fresh change) and let it get down to 1.1 to 1 then i do a water change. This new method has given me the best results so far other than this current issue.

Hollatchaboy said:

Res temp looks kinda low too, no?

Click to expand...

Chiller seems to drift from 68 to 63 for some reason

myke said:

Well call it bro science if ya want but the praying is for Magnesium.Add epsom at about 8 grams per 12 gallons.
The burnt edges is something you did 10 or so days ago?If you did nothing then your mix is a little off.Too much of one and not enough of etc....
Ea strain is different so my thoughts is always feed low.My self I stay around 1EC.Without issues.

Click to expand...

I'm following jacks 321 chart with the mix. They recommend 3.6 2.4 and 1 g of epsom even tho most say 1.2 epsom. I'll up the epsom to 1.2 now