My First DWC Grow w/ Short Rider from Nirvana

Ok so i added the fan and I checked on them today. THe one plant is getting worse!!! SOME BODY HELP ME PLEASE!! I am freaking out... cause I cant have any disatrous problems. Only thing I can think of is airstones and where they are placed at cause the other two are great looking.

That is the only thing I can think of, I already looked up some problems in faq but cant pinpoint any to what pertains to my problem.

This is day 14. I am not sure what to expect progress wise. I wish I had some more up in soil. I am not sure if my current dwc setup is golden but I will find out. I was thinking about selling my second one which is a exact duplicate of what I have up and running.

I will be merging this grow journal with another one. As I purchased 5 auto ak47 fems and 1 red dwarf auto, I recieved la women and la sour cream for free both of those fem as well.

As far as the other seeds I germinated well I kinda knocked myself wasted good bagseed, but I consider it training as if it was actually those ak47 seeds. As those are going to be my cream of the crop, Hoping to finish those b4 christmas.

Anyways those will be started in some 1 year old unused fox farm ocean forest soil I had from previous soil grow. I will be doing them in a 3 gallo/2 gallon tall container. As I hear those roots like to grow alot. I would be really blessed if I get 2-3 oz off of the ak47 off of each plant.

btw for 14 days do those plants look small to you? Keep in mind they are short rider and suppose to be small, I just dont know if maybe I need to get that 400 hps up and running to help boost growth.

Hey SmartGuy,

My 2 cents as you requested, Don't worry about the size, they are VERY SLOW starters.... They take off after 4 or 5 weeks - I vegged mine for 7 weeks (Before anyone flames me for vegging an autoflowering plant - do your research on Short Riders)

As for your issues - with you DWC check PH every other day, your temps are abit high with lights on, maybe too cold when lights are off... I see you've got a fan now, maybe worth getting another smaller one just for good measure... I would suggest getting a PH and CFM truncheon (£60 or $110ish) I know its expensive, but if your serious about growing - they are a wise investment..

Short Rider is a light feeder during veg, 1/4 strength is what I'd recommend until 2 weeks into flowering then whack it up to 1/2 strength for a week then go full strength until you flush...

I hope this helps you out dude...

It sure does, thanks, yea I guess I need to start checking my ph levels. Yes temps are consistent with t5s only at 82 degrees F when lights are on, with exception of my 400 w hps.

When they are off they drop to about 70 degrees, as the weather here is getting colder, so I may not have to many temp issues but I will need to get a window ac unit to help out. I plan on using a room which is 10 ft X 9 ft X 8 ft with the closet which i am already using. That way I can have a flower room and a veg room.

Money has been real tight with me since I lost my job, but I am looking at doing this as a investment especially with the auto ak47. Still kind of concern about heat and lighting with my 400 hps. I am not sure if I should keep it in the closet inconjuction with the t5s.. Which would but out some pretty decent light. Then invest in some cfls for vegging other plants. I do plan on getting more accessories when my harvest is complete.

You set up is really nice i have no ideal about your plant prob im not doing hydro yet i have one built really thinking about aeroponics my short rider are looking nice sence i have built 2 150s hps im yousing dirt and they have been 20 4 light sence they sprouted they all flowered in 21 days they seem to like water they got nice buds all over then thinking i got less than 4 weeks till done cant wait havent smoked in months this rain has screwed up my job hoping id have a better set up by now but bills come first were did you get your nutes and stone wood and stuff at hope you get things worked out ill put some new pics up latter happy growing

I traded my 45 pistol for a bunch of stuff that included nutes, although there is a store 15 miles away from my house. I have always been found of fox farms. although I am not sure about there others like cha bling and whatever else they have. I cant wait to get my auto aks in as I will be using that in soil either 3-5 gallon tall containers. USing fox farm ocean soil mixed with perlite with grow rocks on bottom and at top. I also looking into getting blackstrap molasses.

I still need to get me some more lights, I am wondering if I should take my other two air stones and add them into the container, I mean it be more oxygen for the plants, I couldnt see how that could hurt but rather help. Seeing how I havent used the other dwc setup mise well use em.

hell yeah throw them airstones in there bud

From what ive read the more air the better ...traded your gun im a fellon so i have none to trade

These pics 22 days flowering 43 days total

Ok so I plan on going with the moonshine soil mix as I am favor of fox farms line of products and i heard good things about the soil. The soil will be good all the way till end without nutes, but I am still going to add em in flowerin none in veg stage tho.

Anyways this is day :

I set up the hps system ventilation. I talked to the guy at the hydro store and he is telling me that the kind of fan I have is designed to be at the end of the vent not in beginning. Meaning that instead of having it like I do now, I need to have it hooked up in the attic sucking air through it.

Is this true? Would I be better off doing it this waY? or would it work both ways effiecently?

I dont know what happen but one day I came in and seen massive growth on the other two plants. I decided to flush the system out today so that I could add 2 more air stones. So I now have a total of 4 10" inch airstones in the DWC. Still not sure why the one plant is stressing out.

I decided to buy Superthrive as I heard good things about the product. I added 1/4 tsp per gallon, as directed. I want to see if that will do anything.

I am still going with 1/4 tsp nutes per gallon. When should I go to 1/2 per gallon?

I bought a connector for a hose so when I drain the water out of the DWC I just hook it up directly to the house and out it goes. I really like this idea as I feel it speedys up the cleaning process. I say this because I have a little sprayer that allows me to clean the interior walls of DWC of any residue left behind to prevent any unwanted build up. As well being able to flush out any small particles towards the bottom. Problem is that it started leaking?! a small leak but I added teflon tape to slow it down to a stop. Then I added more silicone around it. I did not want to switch dwc containers as I already added my nutes and ph everything. I guess its good to know I have a spare container, speaking of which I should apply more if not the whole tube of silicone that i have left as extra precaution.

I have two fans up and running , a holmes air purifier for a large room and a nice size fan.

I included a pic of current temps inside and outside grow area. just after 4 mins of hps up and running temps already above desired levels..

What do i do?!!! I aam serioulsy thinking about getting a wall ac for that room to help but not sure if that will solve the problem.

BTW I smell a nice lil smell... mmmm mmm.. and those roots are looking nice!!!

Enjoy the new pics and please let me know your opinions on it.

^^ DAY 16 forgot to add that ^^^^ BTW I need all the input I can get!!!!

The guy at the hydro store is right. You can suck out much more air than you can blow through that ducting. Put the fan as close to the end of the ducting as possible.

K so if I put that in the attic then towards the end. Do I put the carbon filter at the other end and it will still get the job done?

The guy was telling me ideally to get 2 fans one for light and for airscrubber, but I am trying to conserve money. I guess what I will do is hook it up later today and see how it works.

BTW temps have dropped and are on avtg 80-83 degrees with both lights on.

I am still concerned about the one plant which is still kinda droopy. It is not showing any signs of getting better.

smartguy345 said:

Bump....will fishing weights harm my water at all? I was concerned as it is made up with lead. Just dont want to kill my self or the plants...

Click to expand...

I've done 7 grows with lead fishing weights tied to my air stones.

Bob Smith, HoemGrown Hairy and the BubbleHeads gave you great advice. You ought to join the BubbleHead Gang too.

Thank you, res all who have responded have given great input.

However my main concern is one of my plants is been real droopy and bottom leaves are yellowing. Top leaves the inside of the leave somewhat lighter green towards the outer edge of the leave. If you look at the recent photos.

Now keep in mind I have opted to NOT use a water pump to pump water directly to the roots. As the roots are completly submerged in highly oxygenated water.

I am only usint 1/4 tsp of grow big fox farms. I just dont know what to do with the plant and cant find a diagnosis for it.

That is my main concern.

BTW I will join the bubblehead gang upon completion of my first DWC grow. As I feel I need to get a complete run through it before I can really be apart of such a great group of people. I dont want to offer advice without first proving that I can grow successful yields and quality using bubbleheads ways.

Here i went ahead and took some more pics. When I did I checked the valve again and it was still leaking.

So looks like I am going to have to switch dwc containers next time I flush or if it starts to go real bad.

These pics are were taken within minutes of this post. I took pics of the current temps under lights and within the grow room. As well as the humidity.

Notice the plant and how it looks as well the roots, which the roots seem fine to me. The hps bulb is on which does not help the pic it is throwing off the green. however the bottom leave the one that is curled is the light color.

Temps are within desired range. as well as humidity. Of course it could a little higher but its not to low. PH checked. Temps should be fine.

Yeah that does looks pretty droopy but the roots looks healthy. What is your pH currently at and how do you handle it when it's out of range? What is the temp in the res? I looks a lot like over-watering/lack of oxygen. My guesses would be either res is too warm, not enough bubbles, or pH fluctuation.

I dunno what temp is but it is not hot at all. Ph is apx 5.5-6.0 I use ph down to adjust it as it is always high after adding nutes. So i checked on it and it is worsE!!!! I dont know what to do. I already added 4 airstones. so it has plenty of oxygen!!! Damn it my babies are looking horrible!