Right,
So im about to just completely kick DWC and instead make my move into coco.
I will give it one last go though and ask you guys to see if maybe you can come up with a reason why this f**cking system does not want to work for me,
So my very first grow was a simple one. It was when I was just starting so had very little funds.
It consisted of:
Tank/Rain Water (ppm of ~ 20)
600w HID + 2x200W LED
Grow Tent
4 stand alone DWC buckets (white)
DutchMaster Gold Hydroponic Nutrients. No additives apart from Zone/Add.27.
4 port Air Pump delivering approx 2.5 LPM to each bucket,
I had NO chiller or exhaust fan. This grow happened spring-summer in Australia.
The ambient temps would be about 26-38 degrees celsius. (About 96 faranheight)
Sometimes the temps in the tent would hit 40+ celsius
I repeat. I had NO chiller. I never checked water temperature. Never added chlorines or bleach.
The strain was AK-48.
I had a rather successful first grow. I pulled about 10 ounces from 3 plants (1 died, and 1 of those 3 was also picked early, so more like 10 ounces from 2 plants.)
Now, fast forward.
I moved house and set up a RDWC thinking "well if that was my first grow and I hardly controlled a thing, shits about to get real"
I upgraded and bought myself an exhaust fan, carbon scrubber and a 1/2HP aquarium chiller.
I shit you not, since I have moved house NOTHING has gone right.
Water temperatures sit at 17-19 degrees celsius (They dont get higher, the chiller kicks in automatically)
I bought all black buckets to prevent light leaks.
I also use black trash bags over the top of the bucket to keep any light from leaking in at all.
I have a single rez control bucket, which is automatically set to cycle the water from the rez to all 4 buckets once an hour.
The water level sits about 4 inches below the net pots. When the pump kicks over, it raises the water level in each bucket to just below the net pot for 15 minutes before draining back into the control bucket and leveling out.
I also bought another air pump to increase oxygen levels, and can safely say there is approx 40 LPM being pumped into the system over all (1 air stone in each bucket, 2 in the control tank)
My reward for going into so much effort and spending approx 500$ on all these things to better control my grow?
Root rot.
Every fucking time, its root rot.
The roots are healthy and fuzzy and white when emerging from the bottom of the net pot each time.
As soon as they begin to sit in the water, they start to get some sort slime on them, go brown, stop growing and my plants start going down hill. They get signs of under feeding as well as getting signs of nitrogen toxicity and fert burn on the leaves, purple leaf stems, seriously slow growth.
And the roots just do not grow any bigger.
Its like the water is poison to it or something.
This has happened to me the last 3 grows.
Could it just be my area? Have I moved somewhere that hydro just isnt going to work for me?
Ive tried pythoff, ive tried benes, ive tried a chiller ive tried blacking out and light proofing.
Nothing has worked.
Any ideas guys? Im ready to say fuck DWC and go to coco, as it seems much easier and less stressful at this point.
So im about to just completely kick DWC and instead make my move into coco.
I will give it one last go though and ask you guys to see if maybe you can come up with a reason why this f**cking system does not want to work for me,
So my very first grow was a simple one. It was when I was just starting so had very little funds.
It consisted of:
Tank/Rain Water (ppm of ~ 20)
600w HID + 2x200W LED
Grow Tent
4 stand alone DWC buckets (white)
DutchMaster Gold Hydroponic Nutrients. No additives apart from Zone/Add.27.
4 port Air Pump delivering approx 2.5 LPM to each bucket,
I had NO chiller or exhaust fan. This grow happened spring-summer in Australia.
The ambient temps would be about 26-38 degrees celsius. (About 96 faranheight)
Sometimes the temps in the tent would hit 40+ celsius
I repeat. I had NO chiller. I never checked water temperature. Never added chlorines or bleach.
The strain was AK-48.
I had a rather successful first grow. I pulled about 10 ounces from 3 plants (1 died, and 1 of those 3 was also picked early, so more like 10 ounces from 2 plants.)
Now, fast forward.
I moved house and set up a RDWC thinking "well if that was my first grow and I hardly controlled a thing, shits about to get real"
I upgraded and bought myself an exhaust fan, carbon scrubber and a 1/2HP aquarium chiller.
I shit you not, since I have moved house NOTHING has gone right.
Water temperatures sit at 17-19 degrees celsius (They dont get higher, the chiller kicks in automatically)
I bought all black buckets to prevent light leaks.
I also use black trash bags over the top of the bucket to keep any light from leaking in at all.
I have a single rez control bucket, which is automatically set to cycle the water from the rez to all 4 buckets once an hour.
The water level sits about 4 inches below the net pots. When the pump kicks over, it raises the water level in each bucket to just below the net pot for 15 minutes before draining back into the control bucket and leveling out.
I also bought another air pump to increase oxygen levels, and can safely say there is approx 40 LPM being pumped into the system over all (1 air stone in each bucket, 2 in the control tank)
My reward for going into so much effort and spending approx 500$ on all these things to better control my grow?
Root rot.
Every fucking time, its root rot.
The roots are healthy and fuzzy and white when emerging from the bottom of the net pot each time.
As soon as they begin to sit in the water, they start to get some sort slime on them, go brown, stop growing and my plants start going down hill. They get signs of under feeding as well as getting signs of nitrogen toxicity and fert burn on the leaves, purple leaf stems, seriously slow growth.
And the roots just do not grow any bigger.
Its like the water is poison to it or something.
This has happened to me the last 3 grows.
Could it just be my area? Have I moved somewhere that hydro just isnt going to work for me?
Ive tried pythoff, ive tried benes, ive tried a chiller ive tried blacking out and light proofing.
Nothing has worked.
Any ideas guys? Im ready to say fuck DWC and go to coco, as it seems much easier and less stressful at this point.
