First Grow DWC, Happy to get feedback

thanks Tito! most the leaves died on that branch but plant is doing ok!

Flower Day 4
Nothing crazy to report on, just doing a water top off, the extra 300w bulb raised the temps from 72 to 78!

Looking good

Looking good so far! I have very similar lights right now and am on my 3rd grow with them. About to bite the bullet and upgrade to a COB system. Those cheap LED fixtures do okay for vegging but they really don't penetrate the canopy too well. Also, to avoid moving the plant when adding water and nutes I cut an extra whole in the lid of my DWC bucket. Even when the plants get bushy I can add water with a wide funnel that way. Just need to keep the extra hole covered so light doesn't get into the reservoir and cause algae to grow.

On my current grow im trying a little heavier pruning than I usually do to try and help the LEDs penetrate while I wait for my COBs to come in. Here are my girls after a quick haircut today. Sorry for the crappy picture quality. This is week 3 of flowering after a 28 days of vegging under both 300w lights.

Oh nice looking great! Yea the cheapos seemed like a good route to get started...
Which nutes are you running for your dwc?

Also what was your yield on your first 2 grows?

GreenScreenOG said:

Oh nice looking great! Yea the cheapos seemed like a good route to get started...
Which nutes are you running for your dwc?

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General Hydroponics full lineup. And yeah, they're definitely a good place to start.

GreenScreenOG said:

Also what was your yield on your first 2 grows?

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So I only grow for my head stash, so I never actually weigh my harvest unfortunately. I just bought a kitchen scale so this time I will.

Volume wise my first grow filled 3 quart Mason jars 3/4 full, but the bud was really fluffy. Second time through was only 2 jars but much denser buds and a better quality smoke. First time I let the tent get too crowded.

Best suggestions I can make is don’t use beneficial bacteria, use peroxide instead. With LED they seem to grow better 75+ degrees. Also using low wattage led defoliating for flower is your friend.

Thanks! Which week of flower do you start defoliating?

I wouldnt pull too much past week 3.

Normally ill pluck everything i want off a week or 2 before i flip then pull any last stragglers after the stretch

JohnDoeTho said:

Best suggestions I can make is don’t use beneficial bacteria, use peroxide instead. With LED they seem to grow better 75+ degrees. Also using low wattage led defoliating for flower is your friend.

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75 plus is high are you running synthetic nutes?

Day 7 Flower,
Not much new to report on, but she is definitely starting to stretch

Cold$moke said:

I wouldnt pull too much past week 3.

Normally ill pluck everything i want off a week or 2 before i flip then pull any last stragglers after the stretch


75 plus is high are you running synthetic nutes?

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Yes I tried going the beneficial bacteria route but found peroxide supremely better and more stable As well as significantly more affordable. As far as the three week rule, after that it will stop producing new leaves. I think we are talking about different kinds of defoliating. Defoliating a week before flower will help get rid of little shoots that won’t amount to much. However it won’t help you get rid of the big fans blocking the lower nugs from direct light. The scientific reasoning I’ve heard that back up the claims of LED performing better at higher temp is due to the lack of Infared light put out by them. The warmer temp is supposed to keep their metabolism up in spite of the lack of IR. I don’t think my temperature is the biggest key to my success though, that would be the simple peroxide.

I’m guessing your concern of temperature is reguarding root rot. I have a chiller that hasn’t been used yet because peroxide is doing the trick.

GreenScreenOG said:

Day 7 Flower,
Not much new to report on, but she is definitely starting to stretch
View attachment 4083849 View attachment 4083850

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Looks great! Great job especially on a first run!

Edit: if your sticking to data on your strain and not checking trichome, consider day one of flower not when you flipped to 12/12 but when your plant actually begins flowering.

we are talking the same type of defoliation

Thats why i said i wouldnt pluck past week 3 of 12/12

I am getting ready to give my girls their pre flip trim

Then after a week or 2 in bloom ill pluck of anything not in the light
After that its bent outa the way .

Looks good so far

Cold$moke said:

we are talking the same type of defoliation

Thats why i said i wouldnt pluck past week 3 of 12/12

I am getting ready to give my girls their pre flip trim

Then after a week or 2 in bloom ill pluck of anything not in the light
After that its bent outa the way .

Looks good so far

Click to expand...

Yea I’d call my defoliating a bit extreme. Seems to be working in my setup at least. I’d like it to be just one or two good trims, but the girls always fight back with a vengeance. Maybe I have just had bushy strains.

Definitely strain dependant

I got some squat midgets next to a huge stretcher lol.

I pull the stretcher to almost nothing and its back within 2 weeks lol


And im affraid to trim the squat ones that hard
But i still pluck nodes from under the canopy out

I should say in veg not bloom

Yea I’m no pro by any means, I’ve only grown two different strains so far. I just like to do a bit more reading then your average grower.

Thanks guys very useful info! Im going to so a little bit of clean up on the leaves this week expecially on the bottom leaves that arent as healthy

Ill try the peroxide also! i think its a good fit w my growing since my goal is to keep costs down so buying bateria + a chiller wouldnt make sense for me

Do you just use the 3% stuff from a dollar store?

This weekend I was to setup a system with two 5 gallon buckets with a pump going between them so I can change the nutrients without disturbing the plant