First Grow Journal - PC Grow Box

OK - so it's been suggested that I start a grow journal in order to keep track of do's an don'ts. Here go's...

I purchased the PC Grow Box from Homegrown-Hydroponics.com and I will say that I wouldn't recommend this website to anyone. After some of my own modifications I felt the box was ready. There's about 10' of vertical growth, but 17' of sideways. I plan to use LST method to utilize the horizontal grow.

I purchased 5 feminized Snow White seeds from Nirvana...so this is the order of events:

Aug 1 - placed 3 seeds (3 plant DWC system) in between damp paper towelon top of a dinner plate, placed a bowl on top of them, and placed them on top of my cable box. I have a small hygrometer/thermometer and the temp under the bowl was approx 85 F.

My first mistake (of many) was I didn't realize how quickly the towel would dry out. In order to keep the towel moist I had to sprintz them 3 times a day with distilled water.

zip loc bag wit a little hole in it works great i dont even have to check it until it germs about 24hours later.. cable box is a good heat source too.

Is stealth an issue bra?

It looks like an nice system but way too expensive.
Yea LST is the way to go when you have height issues bra. Is this your first grow?
did they give you bad service not to recommend cause i was thinkin about a bloom box from em.
Expect sum decent bud tho bra.

Aug 2 - one of the seeds sprouted a white root
Aug 3 - a second seed sprouted, right on track!

My second mistake was that I waited too long before putting the sprouted seeds in the rockwool. I waited becuase the 3rd seed had not yet sprouted and I wanted them to be all planted at the same time. So I waited until Aug 4 to put the 2 sprouted seeds in the rockwool. The tap roots were probably 1/2 inch long and dried out.

Another issue I had was due to the super small size of my kit. I received rockwool cubes and hydro rocks but no direction on how to use them - new grower here!
The two inch net pots I got were not large enough to accomodate the rockwool and/or the hydro rocks! I cut the rockwool down to a diameter that would fit in the net pots. Also, I'm assuming (still unclear) that it's important to have hydro rocks underneath the rockwool for root growth. In order to have hydro rocks in the bottom, rockwool on top with the seed, and the more hydro rocks on top of the rockwool I had to make the rockwool only 3/4" deep. Any thoughts on this?

Aug 4 - Time to plant. I bought a ppm meter which was imperative as I had no idea what the mixture should look like. I used a hydro veg formula and mixed to 250 ppm. I first soaked the rockwool in plain water as was suggested, I then let them dry off shortly in a paper towel and then let them soak in the mild nute mix. I squezzed them so they were not soaked and placed then in the net pots on to of 1" of hydro rocks. Comments are encouraged!!

You soaked in 5.5ph water right? cause reg rockwool kinda has a high ph. you kinda dont need nutes now bra until they sprout well i dont. they cant handle it yet.

Aug 4 continued - I placed the net pots with the hydro rocks and the rockwool in a small prop tray with about 1/2" of the mild nute mix. I placed the 2 sprouted seeds in the holes and covered the with a small, lose piece of rockwool so they would not be exposed to the light. My third seed still hasn't sprouted and I suspect that it won't.

Also, I filled a small spary bottle with the mild nute mix with the idea that I would just spray them when they appeard dry. It's been two day and they still seem very wet, even too wet! Is this because of the nute mix I left in the bottom of the tray? I made sure that it wasn't able to touch the rockwool, but the nutes were touching the hydro rocks.

Is the net pot filled with hydro rocks and rockwool acting like a wick and keeping my seeds too wet? Should or shouldn't there be nute at the bottome of the prop tray?

mane2008 said:

You soaked in 5.5ph water right? cause reg rockwool kinda has a high ph. you kinda dont need nutes now bra until they sprout well i dont. they cant handle it yet.

Click to expand...

Yes - I checked ph as well

mane2008 said:

zip loc bag wit a little hole in it works great i dont even have to check it until it germs about 24hours later.. cable box is a good heat source too.

Is stealth an issue bra?

It looks like an nice system but way too expensive.
Yea LST is the way to go when you have height issues bra. Is this your first grow?
did they give you bad service not to recommend cause i was thinkin about a bloom box from em.
Expect sum decent bud tho bra.

Click to expand...

Hey Mane - Homegrown-Hydroponics sucks, customer service is one guy who really had no interest in talking to me. I received a broken light, spilled nutes, and missing items. When I called I was told it was my fault for not checking the package before UPS left. I would recommend Homegrown-Hydroponics to my worst enemy.

The Bloom Box, however, I believe is made by BC Northern Lights, which I here is a pretty reputable company

Oh i coulnt be you i'd be too pissed at him one person? damn he doesn't desrve to be in business then. Spilled nutes did you get new stuff from him. He shouldve taped dat tops of da nutes.
Bra i feel for you, he a fag n wont even get one dime from me.
By sprout i mean showin leaves n like 2 days after dat u should induce 1/4th strength nutes.

Aug 6 - Life!! One of me seeds has broken through the rockwool and there's a small sprout. The net pots are not in the DWC system yet they're in a prop tray with a zip lock bag over it with a bunch of air holes. The new sprout is about 3-4" away from the light. So out of 3 seeds one didn't germ (yet, been 5 days), and one I suspect I killed by waiting too long to plant them. But I have one sprout!!

Sorry, the light is 125W CFL 6500 Kelvin

The middle of the sprout is looking brown, like the color of the seed. Is this normal? Is it too close to the light? Is it too wet? Are the nutes too strong, too weak?

Help!! Please comment on anything. This is my first grow ever and I'd really like to save this last palnt. I don't have a camera rigth now so I can't provide pics...sorry

i dont think you killed it by waitin to long to plant if it didnt germ you shouldve kept it in the towel until small tap root came out den planted.

Okay you know those jagged leaves right? are those the ones that are brown. is the seed shell still on there?
You want the rockwool to be moist not wet if you got em in a dome or ziploc like u said.
U dont need to water and spray all the time I planted my carnival and white widow in rockwool already germed with small tap root coming out sunday and haven't watered them since. Nutes only when they sprout leaves. if you keep a high humidity you dont need major water non sprouted seeds dont need major water only to be moist.

First... congrats on your first official grow JayDoe =]

Now your first grow can be frustrated because you are going to make mistakes and maybe even have some plants die on you... but don't get discouraged... It will all be a learning experience, and you will only get better and better at all this.

looks like you are off to a good start.
Pictures are going to be you best tool on here... but for now, keep giving us detailed updates like you have.

I wish I could see your netpots with the rockwool and clay pellets.... the pellets are not a necessity in DWC... there main purpose is to give your plants something to hold on to and support it when it's bigger.... but you can get the same result from the rockwool alone if it's nicely secured in it's net pot.

When I first saoked my rockwool I ph'ed the water to 5.8 which is ideal for hydro, but I didn't know that the rockwool it's self had a slightly high ph. Next time I will soak them in water with a ph of 5.5......... but I didn't have any problems myself, so i'm sure you will be fine too... I only added a pinch of fish emulsion to the water when soaking... I read some were that it helps.... So a pinch of nutes should be fine.

After 24 hours of soaking I placed the rockwool in the net pots with the pellets to secure it in place... but since your rockwool was already bigger then the net pots... I'm sure you would have gotten away with just trimming the rockwool so it would fit snugly in the netpot, and just skip the pellets.

I then placed the net pots in the DWC tubs. I pored in ph'ed water until the lower part of the netpots was submerged, but what I was really aiming for... is to have the water level just below the rockwool so the rockwool will act as a wick and stay most, but not soaked, and you should do the same.

Instead of plastic bags, I used clear plastic cups. I only misted inside the cup itself when ever the cup was dry... I just wanted to keep the humidity up inside.

After all that. It was all down hill... I just checked the ph every night, and changed the rez every 3 to 4 days.... some people will till you that you don't have to change the rez that often, but with these micro grows, it helps a lot.


I take it that the DWC system comes with an airstone and pump right?

Be patient when germinating seeds... I germed 6 seeds. 4 of the seeds cracked... 1 with in hours, 2 a couple of days later, and that last one took 4 days.... So I would keep them in the moist towel for at least a week before giving up on them.


As for the browning on your baby... don't worry too much about it now... my first sprout had whitish/yellowing going on, and it recovered nicely.

Good luck man and keep us updated.

.


_________________
Micro ebb/flow (NOW DWC), all CFL ScrOG, perpetual Stealth locker

Thanks, Wolf

Thanks exactly the input I was looking for, everything I see and read is dealing with a system that is much bigger then mine. I still believe I can yeild an oz or more if I utilize the space using LST. I like the idea of the scrog, but I don't know how I could fit a screen into such a small area.

My one plant sprouted up from the rockwool this morning and I'm concerned because the sprout itself looks dry and brown, however the rockwool it's in is very moist. Also, I haven't seen any change from this morning to now, which worries me because before it was growing so fast!

Could it be the sprout is too close to the light, it's about 3-4" away?

How important is it that the seed not be exposed to the light before it sprouts? I'll admit pushing aside the rockwool several times before it sprouted to check on progress. Before the seed sprouted above the rockwool all seeded to be going great. But now that it's sprouted it's seemed to have haulted. Any thoughts?

I sprizted the sprout with the mild solution of 250 ppm.

My net pots are not in the DWC system yet, they're in a prop tray that started with about 1/2" of the mild nute. I read that you should see some good root growth before putting seedlings into the system.

Well as you can see, I put mine in the system as soon as the seeds cracked, and had no big problems at all....

I'm not to sure about whats wrong with your little sprout but it doesn't sound good, most likely it's nute burn.

I beleave it's your spraying that may have burnt it... seedlings can obsorb a lot through there leaves, including the nutes.... From now on, the only thing I would spray is just clean water.

I would also dump out what ever solution is in the prop tray leaving it empty... then place your netpot back in it and water the netpot with water ph'ed at 5.5. Let the rockwool drain in the prop tray for a day. We are trying to flush the nutes out of the rockwool.

prepare the dwc tub for operation, and place the netpot in it's new home.


If the kit came with plenty of rockwool cubes, you could also transplant the seedling into a new cube, if it's roots having token hold.

With any luck, it may not be too late to save.... but even if it doesn't make it... you have already gained some knowledge.... Germinate a couple more seeds and start again.

How many plants is the dwc tub built for?

.


_________________
Micro ebb/flow (NOW DWC), all CFL ScrOG, perpetual Stealth locker

Aug 7 - We have life!! After reading the Wolfman's advice last night I half followed it. I scrubbed the 3 plant DWC res, mixed nutes to approx 250-260 ppm, and put my two struggling seeds in for better or for worse. Also, I checked my ph, around 5.5-6. One of the seeds I believe I killed by waiting too long to put it in the rockwool, it's not showing any signs of life.

But much to my pleasant surprise my last seed is now an 1 1/2" sprout!! I think giving it the right amount of nutes and feeding it the oxygen via the airstone recovered it in a hurry.

So here's where I'm at, please offer any advice possible:

-1 or 1 1/2" sprout, granted this is my first grow ever, but it looks pretty healthy to me

-I have it 4 or 5" from a 125w CFL with a humity done over it. I've read that the light can be as close as an inch away but this seems like it would be harmful to me. The CFL does create a good amount of heat.

-Nutes are approx. 250ppm and ph is around 5.5-6. I plan on checking this every night, andjusting, and flushing once a week.

-Temps look good, between 70-75 F with 45-55 RH...the box does have great air circulation.

-the sprout is in a 2' dia net pot, very small. The pot has hydro rocks on the bottom, and then rockwool with the sprout in it. I left some room on top to cover with more hydro rocks when the plant gets a little bigger. The net pot is in the DWC and is submerged to where the water is touching the rockwool, probably about an 1.5" from the bottom of the net pot. I'm wondering it's submerged too far.

Another note, my third seed still hasn't germed after 6 days. I'm assuming it's a lost cause.

Please anyone, everyone, help me keep my last baby girl alive!!!!

All right things are sounding better.... and congrats on passing the first mile stone.. you have a sprout =]

You shouldn't use nutes right now... just ph'd water in the rez...
And you are right the net pot sounds a bit too deep... just have the net pot submerged a half an inch.

and things get easy after that... just check the ph every night keeping. Set the ph at 5.5 and let it drift up to 6.0/6.1, then drop it down to 5.5... and so on. Every 3 days or so... change the rez.

Keep your temps under 90* and light close, but not too close... put your hand over the humid/dome, and bring the light closer until you can feel the heat... if you can feel it, so will your plant.... The only cfl's that you can plae with in an inch from the plant are the smaller 26w or smaller cfls....

After that, just sit back and watch her grow =]
.


_________________
Micro ebb/flow (NOW DWC), all CFL ScrOG, perpetual Stealth locker

Aug 9 (morning) - A very sudden turn of events. The seed that I thought I had killed is now a green sprout and the sprout that I thought looked healthy now looks withered, brownish, and not good. I knocked the ppm down to 200 and only submerged the net pots half of inch. PH is good.

Could it be that I just overhandled them? Again, I will admit to probably overhandling them in order to check on progress, and to try to squeeze out the rockwool as it seemed soaked. Am I over watered? Over Nuted at 200ppm? I wish I had pics for everyone but I don't.

I just put two more seeds in to germ...maybe I'll just buy some weed..LOL