Barney's F - Vanilla Kush / TGA Subcool - Ace of Spades = Waterfarm - 600w

mr.green123 said:

looking good mate theres quite a difference between them already

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Yeah - the Ace of Spades is having a slow start, but since I now know it's root is in the rez, I'll let it do it's thing. We'll see how it likes the scrog - I'm guessing the VK will do a bit better than the AoS once they're bigger - but really, it's too soon to tell.

splifchris said:

I am so looking forward to to having a go of one of these waterfarms.... On my things to do list for 2012!!!

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For sure man - makes it a lot simpler to grow - less mess and noticably faster than soil.

mr2shim said:

They are amazing little buckets! Love mine.. Looking good Dayzt. That VK already has a root coming through the bucket? Geez... Not even 2 weeks yet?

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Yeah, both plants have a root coming through the bottom - good sign that there's sufficient moisture down in the hydroton to draw them down. The one on the VK is noticably thicker and coming out a hole along the bottom edge - which is a great sign that the root system is spreading out nice in the grow chamber... I added a touch of Flora Nova Bloom to it's add-back water last night - we'll see what it thinks about that..lol.

ironheadxl said:

man you are no slouch ya know that? lol I was over at worms way today and purused the inline fans briefly, like I would glance at a super model stepping out of a Bugati, you know it's good but it's just out of reach for now looking good mang.

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I really needed that 440 cfm fan to cool this tent - and I still don't know what it's going to be like once both lights are on - I hope I can keep the temps down with running the filtered air across 2 lights though that ducting... I did it once before but only had a filter with a small fan built-in to it...we'll see. So far so good!

Just curious, how much did you spend on your ducting and fan equipment? right now, I'm leaving the top of my grow tent unzipped and open, and box fans blowing in (from outside of the tent thru the breathe vents) hoping that will do the trick for me..

runpinto said:

Just curious, how much did you spend on your ducting and fan equipment? right now, I'm leaving the top of my grow tent unzipped and open, and box fans blowing in (from outside of the tent thru the breathe vents) hoping that will do the trick for me..

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I spent about $175 on the fan/carbon-filter combo and they threw in about 12 feet of ducting as well, but I already had good ducting from before. If you're growing in a tent and the tent is in a dark room or basement, you can get away with leaving flaps open a bit or unzipped - just make sure the room is light-tight during your night-time hours. Like you said, the bottom vents in the tent will always let in fresh-air, even more so if you have extra ventilation causing that 'negative pressure'.

fairly self-explanatory. Going to switch out my water res at day 14; I think that's fairly safe since it's 14 gallons. Every two weeks for a res that big about right?

sounds good but man 14 gal? lol I have the same container I run about five lol. I keep a spare container on hand so when I switch I just lift the top off turn and drop it down, have you added any nutes?

runpinto said:

fairly self-explanatory. Going to switch out my water res at day 14; I think that's fairly safe since it's 14 gallons. Every two weeks for a res that big about right?View attachment 1808363View attachment 1808362

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ironheadxl said:

sounds good but man 14 gal? lol I have the same container I run about five lol. I keep a spare container on hand so when I switch I just lift the top off turn and drop it down, have you added any nutes?

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14 gallons is a big reservoir - being my first time trying a hydro grow, I don't think I'm qualified to answer that question appropriately... with the waterfarm, it's quite simple to keep the small rez happy although it obviously takes more maintinance. I suppose 2 weeks should be fine for you though - at this point those sized plants don't use nearly as much water yet as it will down the road, and you probably haven't started giving nutes yet..? I normally start adding nutrient at the 3 week mark, but even then it's a lot about looking at the plant to see if it needs it yet. Regardless, fresh water is important so I think you should be good with a 2 week rotation.

Great idea ironhead... if I had an extra rez bucket for my waterfarm, that would be an awesome way to change the rez! Once the screen is down that's no longer an option, but still - it would work great for the first weeks.

So it's been about 2 weeks now since the seeds were put in the hydroton - I don't know what stage you'd consider them to be starting 'veg' though... if you consider veg to start when the lights are officially on a 'cycle', (not 24 hrs) then this is just their first week still..lol.

The VK now has a 6-7 inch 'wingspan' on it's second set of leaves which is far and away bigger than the TD was at this point - I actually plan to start the LST on the VK in the next few days! Stay tuned for pics - should be by Thurs of this week - I'll try to get a before and after pic of the tie-down.

My little Ace of Spades seedling is finally starting to take off! That first set of leaves is half shriveled and dried up - remnants of what fresh hydroton will do in a new waterfarm I'm guessing... but the next set of leaves is now wider than the first and looking healthy! She'll take a while to catch up to the VK (if it ever does), but I'm glad I didn't ditch her now - from past experience with slow-starters, I'm thinking it will be a gem!

Notes:

Compared to my last grow, I haven't been watching the pH or ppm that close yet at this point - I've pH'd down my filtered water slightly but I haven't been checking it every day yet. I find that if I check it too often I tend to over-think things and just fuck it up by trying to constantly 'adjust' it. Once the nutes are started, pH becomes extremely stable (5.5-6.5) and is no longer a concern. My focus this time though will be to not over-nute and actually try and stay at around 14-1500 ppms max, unless I see any deficiencies. Towards the end of my last grow, I could tell it was getting some bad nute build-up when the ppms stayed quite high even after dialing back my solution to 5-600 ppm... if it were earlier on in flowering, I would have flushed and ran straight RO water for a week or so to clear it up - but things finished out good being that close to harvest.

I'm still pouring 3-4 tubs of water through the top of the waterfarms every day - (draining it from the water-level tube and circulating it back through the top) as the stems often look dry as well as the hydroton close to it - trying to keep the closer roots as moist as possible. The 600w noticably makes this more necessary as the heat dries up the top 1-2 inches much faster than the 400 did.

I've got 2 fans blowing and circulating right now - it's a big tent, so the extra fan helps since there's more space to keep cool. They're also helping the plants develop stronger stems, as the breeze keeps them moving pretty much constantly. The fans and filter are all on 24/7 - seems to help them just as much when the lights are out...

ur last grow was amazing and im sure this one will be 2, will watch for sure

xgiovanni03x said:

ur last grow was amazing and im sure this one will be 2, will watch for sure

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Thanks - glad you're here! I can't wait to see what the VK can do in a waterfarm!!

Well I'm rolling with a standard DWC so I need the water level attainable for the roots and btw my VK roots are hanging about 7 inches below my netpot already!

Looks great! I just started my first Hydro grow with the WF. I have a GHS Ladyburn 1974 in for a week now and it's growing super quick. Gonna watch this one.

So it's been a few days... got a pic update! Enjoy!

Group Shot:



Vanilla Kush - tied down and ready to bush out!



Ace of Spades - finally starting to take off - got a bit of nute burn as she seems to be a bit sensitive! Bouncing back nicely now though...

not topping? or just gonna swirl around?

I'm not going to top her, at least not yet. It's real easy to bend at this point, so I've found that starting the LST early makes for a wider, easier to screen plant...

MY Day 17 Vanilla Kush along with her Friend, Royal Queen Ice (10 Days.) Switched out the water yesterday and threw in some more nute solution.

Hello Dayzt, came to check in the ladies are looking very good, that vanilla kush is a warrior, she's really taking off man. I wanted to ask you about an idea I had, actually by accident. I bought this air stone (preparing for my first grow ) like the one you purchased (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ZXA3NE) but it came with double entry points for the air tubes (not sure if they sent me the wrong one or not). Meaning I can connect it from both ends to a air pump. So I also bought a 50 gal air pump to use in conjunction with the one that comes with the waterfarm and have them both work the double air stone and the drip ring.I placed it in a circle twirling inside itself and it fills the entire bottom of the reservoir. I tried it with some water inside and the water becomes totally "bubblefied"; they are really small bubbles but it looks very oxygenated, and this is without the drip ring tube with also makes bubbles once it is in the reservoir. Would you think this would be beneficial for the grow? I was able to get the tubing in with a custom one inch tube I put to replace the stock one from the WF and all 3 lines fit in very well. I'm not sure though how the stone with react when it encounters the roots. Any thoughts?

P.S. I also tried taking off one of the entry pointy things and just have one but the cap that came with it would not hold much and did not produce half as many bubbles as when it's connected on both ends to a air pump. Really makes the water bubble man, it's incredible. Just a heads up, you might run into problem keeping that air stone air tight if the air is only coming from one end. The cap (without the air entry) they used on the opposite end sucks.

Nice journal ... my girls are 3 weeks younger. With you every step...

runpinto said:

MY Day 17 Vanilla Kush along with her Friend, Royal Queen Ice (10 Days.) Switched out the water yesterday and threw in some more nute solution.

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Right on man - looking good!

AWnox said:

Hello Dayzt, came to check in the ladies are looking very good, that vanilla kush is a warrior, she's really taking off man. I wanted to ask you about an idea I had, actually by accident. I bought this air stone (preparing for my first grow ) like the one you purchased (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ZXA3NE) but it came with double entry points for the air tubes (not sure if they sent me the wrong one or not). Meaning I can connect it from both ends to a air pump. So I also bought a 50 gal air pump to use in conjunction with the one that comes with the waterfarm and have them both work the double air stone and the drip ring.I placed it in a circle twirling inside itself and it fills the entire bottom of the reservoir. I tried it with some water inside and the water becomes totally "bubblefied"; they are really small bubbles but it looks very oxygenated, and this is without the drip ring tube with also makes bubbles once it is in the reservoir. Would you think this would be beneficial for the grow? I was able to get the tubing in with a custom one inch tube I put to replace the stock one from the WF and all 3 lines fit in very well. I'm not sure though how the stone with react when it encounters the roots. Any thoughts?

P.S. I also tried taking off one of the entry pointy things and just have one but the cap that came with it would not hold much and did not produce half as many bubbles as when it's connected on both ends to a air pump. Really makes the water bubble man, it's incredible. Just a heads up, you might run into problem keeping that air stone air tight if the air is only coming from one end. The cap (without the air entry) they used on the opposite end sucks.

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Yeah that airstone works great. Mine is actually closed off completely at one end, no cap on it. It sounds like you've got plenty of oxygen going on there - your roots will love it! I don't think these tube-type airstones will be a problem once the roots reach the bottom - the roots will simply grow around it. Like other airstones, the roots eventually get thick enough that they start to slow the bubbles down. I suppose it would be a good idea to check your pump close to the end of the grow and make sure it's not burning out trying to push air through a clogged airstone..lol.. due diligence though - try to keep things clean in your rez and it'll be fine.

ezgreentumb said:

Nice journal ... my girls are 3 weeks younger. With you every step...

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Cool man - welcome! Feel free to post pics and such here if you like.

HI Dayzt, Another wonderful Waterfarm jouney journal..love it!
im getting my waterfarm stuff together.I bought my wood for the frame last night. I noticed how cool your frame is with the twine i think..? really pretty and wonderfully crafted. I would love to make mine like that but dont think i have the proper skills so i think im going to get some chicken wire.. what size should the squares be if you dont mind me asking?
I wish you the bestest of luck with this grow!
peace
amber

Dr.Amber Trichome said:

HI Dayzt, Another wonderful Waterfarm jouney journal..love it!
im getting my waterfarm stuff together.I bought my wood for the frame last night. I noticed how cool your frame is with the twine i think..? really pretty and wonderfully crafted. I would love to make mine like that but dont think i have the proper skills so i think im going to get some chicken wire.. what size should the squares be if you dont mind me asking?
I wish you the bestest of luck with this grow!
peace
amber

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Thanks Amber! The screen I made for that last grow was made with a plastic snow-fence I bought at Home Depot. I cut the squares out bigger to about 3.5 inches square for each hole. I don't think I'll use that screen again though - I'm going to build better ones this time around by getting lengths of pvc piping and those elbow fittings for the corners, then drill eyelets along each edge and string it like a big racket - I plan to make 2 of them, one for each plant - then get some of those small 'jumper-cable type' clamps to clamp to my tent poles to rest the screen on like Kriznarf did... should be good.