Great White Kush 2010-2011

[purpleskunk777]

Welcome everyone! This is my 1st log, but 2nd grow.

Strain is Great White Kush, (great white shark X master kush) crossed by a friend of mine. Have been working with this strain for about 2 months. It's a Sativa-dominant hybrid (wouldn't expect it though considering the parentals crossed), with an approximate 11 week flower period.

I'm trying my hand at hydro. but have been growing soil until now. Currently, I'm growing using both methods. The soil I use is Scotts Premium Potting Soil.

I have two rooms, for veg. and flower.
The setup is as follows:
Veg room (closet):
Smaller T5 (2 double-bulbs = 4 total bulbs => 10,000 lumens)
DWC
Use in hydro: FF Trio (base), Liquid Karma (intermittent), Superthrive (intermittent)

Flower room (grow tent):
400W HPS (Hortilux lamp)
170 cfm inline fan attached to carbon filter
Use in soil: FF trio (base), grandma's unsulphured molasses (regularly)

3 soil plants in flower, 1 veg plant in hydro

Here we go, lets grow some headie pot! :hippy: :jointsmile:
am more than open to any suggestions/thoughts/comments..please leave them!
...enjoy and thanks for stopping by...

[purpleskunk777]

Temp: 67F
RH: 28%
Nutrient Temp: 65F
PPM: 650-700
pH: 5.5

Please leave inputs, they're much appreciated as this is my 1st hydro grow!

Thanks,
-ps

[Terps]

Looks good!

first thing that came to mind when i saw the picture of the baby in dwc under 4 T5's with a room temp holding 65 - 70 degrees was, move the light down (or raise the plant, which looks ezer in your situation) closer to the plants! a good way to test is ether A) measure your temp at canopy height B) place the TOP of your hand directly under the light and move your hand up towards the light tell you feel alot of heat

Your Humidity is a little low, maybe you could place a dish (larger the surface area the better) in front of a fan...

On a side note, what are your first impressions of DWC? are you having pH fluctuations? How often are you doing res changes while you veg (do you go off TDS/EC readings or just change every other week or w/e)

[purpleskunk777]

Thanks a lot for your interest in my grow and the great advice Terps!



first thing that came to mind when i saw the picture of the baby in dwc under 4 T5's with a room temp holding 65 - 70 degrees was, move the light down

done! good call!


Your Humidity is a little low, maybe you could place a dish (larger the surface area the better) in front of a fan...

done!


On a side note, what are your first impressions of DWC? are you having pH fluctuations? How often are you doing res changes while you veg (do you go off TDS/EC readings or just change every other week or w/e)

My first impression was "sh** that plant's growing fast!!" lol
-I did notice some serious pH fluctuations at first, especially when I tried using the 1 gal res (in the above pic) in place of the 5 gal. that I was using. The pH stabilizes 1-2 days after the rez change, though.
-I change the res once/7 days, regardless of the tds reading; if i don't the res water gets really, fairly dirty with algae/bacterial-looking growth. I use h2o2 at the rate of 15mL/gal, which doesn't seem to inhibit this slimy growth.
-I have a 60 gal, 2-outlet aquarium pump connected to 2 (5" and 1") air stones in the res

I was hoping you could answer a few questions:
1. Is the slimy growth (whether bacterial or algae) something that should really concern me considering the frequency I change my res water?
2. My leaves are very 'wrinkly.' Upon reading this forum, I concluded this is due to pH fluctuations (please correct me if i'm wrong). Is there anything I can do to buffer out the pH from fluctuating so much other than keep temps stable?
3. My leaves are fairly droopy, which I've read is due to a too small of a air:water ratio in the rez.(again, please correct me if I'm wrong). How can I fix this considering I already have 2 airstones pumping a massive amount of air through this system?

Here are update pics; the wrinkling & dropping are evident here:

[Terps]

Make sure your res is light proof! The only way algae will grow in a res is if its getter light!

also, the number 1 reason why beginners have such a hard time controlling pH is because they dont rinse and soak there grow rocks or rockwool enough (you should also soak your air stones in a pH'd solution!). about a week before i start a grow using hydrotron or rockwool i will start soaking my equipment. At first i just wash my stones for ALONG time (if you notice there is ALOT of dust and residue on those stones!) then i let them sit in pH'd water for a few hours, then i come back and test the pH of the stone/water solution, if its changed i strain the water out and start over again until the pH doesn't change at all! then you have properly pH'd and washed stones. (same process can be used for rockwool)

Also, durring res changes you should SCRUB your res out (and i mean SCRUB!) you want to get rid of any built up salts that may accumulate on the inside of your res.

When it comes to oxygen in DWC you rly cant get enough, it is NOT POSSIBLE to overload your plants with oxygen! ...the more oxygen you can provide the better! Also another thing ppl dont rly understand about DWC is you want SMALL air bubbles (TONS AND TONS of small air bubbles) i use Micro-Pore oxygen diffuser's they are a bit expensive to buy but they will not clog or break down like cheap walmart air stones. i also use a GH dual Diaphram Air Pump (Which has 4 outlets, i use 2 outlets per 5 gallon DWC setup with to micro-pore diffusers in each res. You want there to be a froth of bubbles on the top of your res...

1. Is the slimy growth (whether bacterial or algae) something that should really concern me considering the frequency I change my res water?
-Yes, it should concern you, it means light is getting into your res, and could eventually lead to root rot and the death of your plants (Work on it!) id look into products like Hygrozyme or hydrogaurd (flourasheild is another one i think) and start using that and stop using H2O2
2. My leaves are very 'wrinkly.' Upon reading this forum, I concluded this is due to pH fluctuations (please correct me if i'm wrong). Is there anything I can do to buffer out the pH from fluctuating so much other than keep temps stable?
- your kinda along for the ride now, you could try and get some properly washed and pH'd hydrotron and change out as many of the pebbles as you can without disrupting the root zone but u arnt going to be able to get them all, hopefully your res will wash all of your hydrotron soon and your pH will stop fluctuating
3. My leaves are fairly droopy, which I've read is due to a too small of a air:water ratio in the rez.(again, please correct me if I'm wrong). How can I fix this considering I already have 2 airstones pumping a massive amount of air through this system?
-like i said, you can not physically have enough oxygen in that res, go out and purchase a bigger air pump and some better air stones, your plants will love you!

[Terps]

another quick heads up, i noticed you left your pH pen with the cap off...there is a little glass bulb in there and they can dry out and u can wreck your pH pen if this happens. The best thing you can do to get prolonged life out of your pH pen is to keep it in a storage solution (you can purchase this) or keep the dang cap on your pen! they are somewhat expensive little tools, treat it better!