DWC Mistakes I made

[Roseman]

These are mistakes I made with DWC, Hydro growing, and in Bubbleponics


Mistakes I made in the beginning and errors I posted here, that I wish I could take back:

You should start the seeds in the cubes, in the system, with the water flowing, but with NO nutes, and not in a wet papertowel so they have to be transferred.
You should start 2 or 3 EXTRA seeds in a wet paper towel to replace the new sprouts that are weak, deformed or runts.
DO NOT USE THE SYSTEM TO RINSE THE HYDROTON ROCKS. AND rinse those rocks ten times, over and over in a collander, until the water runs clear.
DO NOT LISTEN TO ANYONE OFFERING ADVISE THAT IS A SOIL GROWER OR HAS NOT DONE DWC.
I wish I had added 1/4 nutes at the first sight of 4 full leaves, and another 1/4 every other day aftwerwards.
I wish I had done 24/7 lights THE FIRST DAY, and NOT gradually built up to 24/7.
I wish I had not tried 18/6 Lights, BIG WASTE OF TIME.
When it was time to flower, I wish I had not wasted the time gradually going to 12/12. BIG MISTAKE.
I wish I had not went for the SOG grow and had VEGGED 5 FULL WEEKS, and then started BLOOMing to get a bigger yield.
I wish I had not taken any advise about additives, and supplements.
I wish I had used an extra air stone and arger air pump the first grow.
I wish I had used some CFL SIDE LIGHTS the first grow. You get a bushier plant and more tops.
I wish I had not listened to anyone who said to remove the big fan leaves near the bottom.
I wish I had snipped the tops off, about onehalf inch, at 2 and 4 weeks, along with the ends of any large branch.
I wish I had never done anything thinking "I wonder what will happen if I ...............................?"
I wish I had not added miracle grow to the tank. BIG MISTAKE!!!
I wish I had made cup covers the first grow.
I was very wrong about doing a SOG.
I WAS WRONG ABOUT MIRRORS AND TIN FOIL.
I was not putting the cube low enough in the cup. Put it half way down.
I was WRONG about introducing the nutes THE FIRST DAY.
I wish I had butted the feeder tube right into the side of the cube.
I was VERY Wrong about City WATER, (It is probably better, but do not let it sit)
I DO Advise going for large plants, you can do 3 or 4 in the one tank.
You DO soak the cubes.
I wish I had learned to DRAIN AND REPLINISH more often, earlier, providing an oxygen bath.
I wished I had checked the feeder tubes more often to see if they were still connected to the hub AND NOT CLOGGED.
I wish I had learned how to let the pump empty the tank, instead of siphoning it out.
I wish I had learned to pH the water first, then add the nutes.
I wish I had spent the $59 on a pH meter, earlier.
I wish I had spent the $89 on a ppm meter earlier.

I WAS WRONG IN WANTING TO KEEP DOING SOMETHING. YOU CAN REST AND LET THE SYSTEM DO THE WORK.

Trimming, Pruning, Fimming, LSTing, PINCHING, TWISTING and Adding Nutes are like WORDS. AFTER they are said and done, they are said and done and you can not take them back. Like toothpaste, once you squeeze it out, you can't put it back. What I'm trying to say, that when you experiment, take it easy, don't go hog wild crazy doing anything to them. Go slow and learn, go gradual. Too little is just too little and can be fixed. TOO MUCH is TOO MUCH and you can't go back and do less, it's too late. It is so easy to get stoned and ask yourself "I wonder what will happen if I...." DON'T DO THAT! If you don't know what will happen, don't do it!

AND I wish I had listened more to Al B Fuct, Fdd2blk, Potroast, Mogie and Filtyfletch.
I wish I had never listened to NGT and VM.

 

[dbo24242]

Good stuff, Roseman, I'm glad I actually considered most of these and won't run into the problems, except maybe the germination process. Didn't think that through fully from the start.

I'm in my first DWC and am doing 18/6, I'm gonna change to 24/7 now though.

I disagree about the flushing of the hydroton, unless you have pumps and lines which risk getting clogged. Easy to find clog-free equpiment though. The reason I don't think flushing it entirely, maybe a lil is good, is a good idea is because larger particles, like sand and clay and perlite, are healthy for root systems. The perlite dust is some of the best stuff in the perlite, and shouldn't be rinsed away. The physical and electromagnetic presence of the finer particles in root systems makes for greater surface area and better ion transfer, at least in soil.

To add to your list


I am never again going to purchase and use rockwool because it is the slowest medium ever. I am fully convinced that rapid rooters are the way to go.


and from my first grow

Won't ever top or fim, not worth waiting for recovery
Won't try to grow a batch of non-feminized seeds for the females
Won't use non-phed solutions
Would never again start out by buying a 1000w light when I don't have that many plants or that much space (I bought a 400w because the 1000w was absurd)

I wish I had never done anything thinking "I wonder what will happen if I ...............................?"

this is by far the best one.

 

[Roseman]

+ REP, dbo24242.................

I wonder what other mistakes growers commonly make???

 

[dbo24242]

haha tons man

pH has to be the most common, then heat and overfertilization.

 

[KaliKitsune]

I agree with 18/6 being somewhat of a waste. I run 16/8 in my DWC and I have great growth and tight internode spacing. The majority of cell division and growth happens during the dark periods (mitochondrial a.k.a 'dark' respiration) so I can't recommend 24/7 lighting.

Good list though. I'd say ditch rockwool. It just gets algae way to easily. I love my rapid rooters.

 

[KaliKitsune]

haha tons man

pH has to be the most common, then heat and overfertilization.

I've never had a heat issue running DWC. I even have two DWC buckets going outdoors in full sunlight, no algae, no heat problems, no slime, huge healthy root system.

One to add for those with unreliable power - get a backup battery-operated pump! You will thank yourself come sumer brownout season in the southwest and hurricane season for the southeast!

 

[Love1Fear]

Hey Roseman can u give me some pointers on when and how to top so I can have a plant end product look like your advatar pic.
I had a successful grow and this is my second grow the seeds just cracked in rockwool im just waiting for them to sprout now.
Thanks Roseman ive been catching up on all your posting since yesterday and today and would love to hear what u had to say.
Check my first grow to see how astute I am with carrying out great information.

 

[olosto]

Your phing AFTER adding the nutes right?

 

[KaliKitsune]

I always pH before adding nutes to ensure maximum initial iron availability. Otherwise you just end up with rust forming in your reservoir (one source of people's gunk) and half your chelated iron is wasted.

 

[Roseman]

Hey Roseman can u give me some pointers on when and how to top so I can have a plant end product look like your advatar pic.
I had a successful grow and this is my second grow the seeds just cracked in rockwool im just waiting for them to sprout now.
Thanks Roseman ive been catching up on all your posting since yesterday and today and would love to hear what u had to say.
Check my first grow to see how astute I am with carrying out great information.

I'm always glad to help an old friend. How ya doing? 2nd grow now huh? Wow, seems like only yesterday...................you are an astute student for sure.

The expert on this site for Trimming is Uncle Ben at https://www.rollitup.org/advanced-marijuana-cultivation/151706-uncle-bens-topping-technique-get.html

I have a small amount of info on Trimming, Pruning and Topping here on this page with pics:
Topping, Trimming, Pruning

 

[olosto]

I always pH before adding nutes to ensure maximum initial iron availability. Otherwise you just end up with rust forming in your reservoir (one source of people's gunk) and half your chelated iron is wasted.

You then re-ph after adding nutes right? I see a 1.5 point swing when adding nutes to my res. As in 6.0 to 7.5.

Where is the range for ph when adding nutes for iron?

I have always thought to ph after nutes and just to mix each nute well before adding the next.

 

[Roseman]

Your phing AFTER adding the nutes right?

I take water from my faucet, well water, and I ppm test it first. It is at about 190. Then I pH it cause I use nutes that are pH balanced. It is 6.0. When I then add my nutes, it is still 5.8 to 6.2. I've tried both ways, and the best proper way is ADD NUTES, then pH it.

 

[KaliKitsune]

You then re-ph after adding nutes right? I see a 1.5 point swing when adding nutes to my res. As in 6.0 to 7.5.

Where is the range for ph when adding nutes for iron?

I have always thought to ph after nutes and just to mix each nute well before adding the next.

I don't pH after nutes get added, I do check the pH after an hour, but I get almost nil change in pH. So it's pretty much every res change it's scrub bucket down, rinse, refill with water, drop pH, add nutes, let sit for an hour, check again, walk away for three days and come back to check pH/add more nutes.

 

[KaliKitsune]

You then re-ph after adding nutes right? I see a 1.5 point swing when adding nutes to my res. As in 6.0 to 7.5.

Where is the range for ph when adding nutes for iron?

I have always thought to ph after nutes and just to mix each nute well before adding the next.

I don't pH after nutes get added, I do check the pH after an hour, but I get almost nil change in pH. So it's pretty much every res change it's scrub bucket down, rinse, refill with water, drop pH, add nutes, let sit for an hour, check again, walk away for three days and come back to check pH/add more nutes.

Oh, and I add in my nutes at 5.5 pH. Iron's most bioavailable at pH 4.5 but that's to low for most plants and buffered nutrient solutions.

 

[olosto]

Ahhh FF nutes are not ph balanced. You HAVE to re ph after adding.

 

[Love1Fear]

Roseman, I just saw your post on my first grow, thanks im reading it now. Sorry I didnt see it b4 I posted post above.
No one knows (3 years live together girlfriend and I)about our grow, the sister was visiting from San Diego [(she was drunk and thought it was funny) horibble sence of humor]. Thank you very much for responding. I cant wait to finish typing this so I can go back and read your post!!

 

[dbo24242]

I say pH before you feed your plants.

It really doesn't matter the details of when its done, just as long as the pH is right when the plants get the solutions. Better to wait until after nutes are added so you don't adjust it one way add nutes then adjust it the other way, although a lot of hydro nutes have pH buffers so this won't really happen.
As long as you have the meter and the up/down its really not that much of an issue.

 

[hotboxhatchback]

i was going down the list and had some questions, naturally...

I wish I had added 1/4 nutes at the first sight of 4 full leaves, and another 1/4 every other day aftwerwards.

i'll be starting with clones, should i start with clear water or would it be okay to give nutrients as soon as i get them into the system?

I wish I had done 24/7 lights THE FIRST DAY, and NOT gradually built up to 24/7.

I wish I had not tried 18/6 Lights, BIG WASTE OF TIME.

i'm interested in reading more about what KaliKitsune was saying about dark periods. that's the first arguement i've come across stating a need for dark periods.

I wish I had not taken any advise about additives, and supplements.

???

I wish I had made cup covers the first grow.

i'll assume you mean covers for the net pots. what's the purpose of this?

I WAS WRONG ABOUT MIRRORS AND TIN FOIL.

how so?

I was not putting the cube low enough in the cup. Put it half way down.

thanks, i've been wondering.

I was WRONG about introducing the nutes THE FIRST DAY.

again, is it okay to use nutrients from day one on rooted clones?

I wish I had butted the feeder tube right into the side of the cube.

i'm getting confused about just what a DWC system includes. do i need a little hose squirting water into each plant's pot? i read in another thread that top watering is pointless in DWC, or is that another subject?

I wish I had learned to DRAIN AND REPLINISH more often, earlier, providing an oxygen bath.

i was working out an elaborate method to change water without exposing the roots to open air but it seems you're saying that exposure is good, right?

I wished I had checked the feeder tubes more often to see if they were still connected to the hub AND NOT CLOGGED.

more about top watering i guess?

I wish I had spent the $59 on a pH meter, earlier.

I wish I had spent the $89 on a ppm meter earlier.

brand/model recommendations? i'd love to have these but i've spend my budget already.

thanks
hatch

 

[wilsoncr17]

I wish I had not listened to anyone who said to remove the big fan leaves near the bottom.

I think you should consider that when you did this, you may have not been doing it for the right reasons. Or may have done it improperly.

I'm not saying it's right for every grow, or grower, just depends on what you are going for.

 

[Roseman]

i was going down the list and had some questions, naturally...


Certainly a lot of questions, I suggest you read a book on growing too.


i'll be starting with clones, should i start with clear water or would it be okay to give nutrients as soon as i get them into the system?
No, Clones can handle full strenght nutes.





i'm interested in reading more about what KaliKitsune was saying about dark periods. that's the first arguement i've come across stating a need for dark periods.

ask KaliKitsune, he'll have to respond to that one.








i'll assume you mean covers for the net pots. what's the purpose of this?

To prevent LIGHT from entering the tank and causing ALGAE










again, is it okay to use nutrients from day one on rooted clones?

Yep, still is.




i'm getting confused about just what a DWC system includes. do i need a little hose squirting water into each plant's pot? i read in another thread that top watering is pointless in DWC, or is that another subject?

There are dozens of HYDROPONIC Systems; Ebb and Flow, DWC, Bubbleponics, etc, and each is different.





i was working out an elaborate method to change water without exposing the roots to open air but it seems you're saying that exposure is good, right?


Roots love Oxygen, and Oxygen baths.


more about top watering i guess?


More what?


brand/model recommendations? i'd love to have these but i've spend my budget already.

thanks
hatch

I use the System at
www.stealthhydro.com
THE Bubbleponics system.