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Driver attempts rdwc

Driver77 said:
Condensation would have to be addressed?
It's definitely strong enough to do it......you could play with temps to find a sweet spot.
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Yes condensation. I'm sure there are things I don't understand at play here too. A drip pan for the condensation but what about the humidity created by the condensation and drip pan? Might be trickier than just a way to get the space cool without molding the bud up. I'd need much better humidity control than just a set point humidifier.
 
Driver77 said:
Yes
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So you can leave it like it is and run it top drip the whole grow, or just disconnect the push to fit connectors and leave the input hose pointed into the root zone.

Once the roots are established I do not prefer to keep they hydroton wet all the time but it is a preference thing. But every leaf or anything that falls on the hydroton is going to also be wet and encourage bad stuff growing. You will never keep that hydroton 100% clean, it will get some organics in it. No sense speeding up the composting by making it wet IMO.

The other school of thought is that if you do keep it wet you might sustain a good bacterial colony there. My preference is to have all that activity in the root zone tho. There is only so much starch that will be put out by the roots (called exudates) to support helper bacteria and fungi. Spreading that over the surface area of the hydroton does not really get you anything in return except less bacteria at the roots. It's a boom - bust thing on bacteria. They grow until they reach the limits of food in their environment and then die off.

Sorry if I am going too deep here. TLDR if you follow my advice once the roots hit the water remove the drip ring from the equation.
 
Pipecarver said:
Yes condensation. I'm sure there are things I don't understand at play here too. A drip pan for the condensation but what about the humidity created by the condensation and drip pan? Might be trickier than just a way to get the space cool without molding the bud up. I'd need much better humidity control than just a set point humidifier.
Click to expand...
Seems to me that properly handled condensation is just drying out the buds. Kinda what you want. You just need to get it channeled out of the dry chamber.

Some people like to look at dew point rather than RH as the important factor in drying bud. That's how cannatrol does it. Condensation is dew point in action.
 
moe.red said:
So you can leave it like it is and run it top drip the whole grow, or just disconnect the push to fit connectors and leave the input hose pointed into the root zone.

Once the roots are established I do not prefer to keep they hydroton wet all the time but it is a preference thing. But every leaf or anything that falls on the hydroton is going to also be wet and encourage bad stuff growing. You will never keep that hydroton 100% clean, it will get some organics in it. No sense speeding up the composting by making it wet IMO.

The other school of thought is that if you do keep it wet you might sustain a good bacterial colony there. My preference is to have all that activity in the root zone tho. There is only so much starch that will be put out by the roots (called exudates) to support helper bacteria and fungi. Spreading that over the surface area of the hydroton does not really get you anything in return except less bacteria at the roots. It's a boom - bust thing on bacteria. They grow until they reach the limits of food in their environment and then die off.

Sorry if I am going too deep here. TLDR if you follow my advice once the roots hit the water remove the drip ring from the equation.
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Thanks! I appreciate the detail....it helps me think it through.
After reading instructions properly lol instead of just looking at pictures...it says to be sure and bury the drip lines to root level. I'm sure that would help with the wet hydroton on top all the time. I might heap another layer on after they get a little taller to help.
 
Thought I should check ec and ph....1.4ec and 5.7ph. Just Jacks, silica, and calmag in there....and Hydroguard
I wanted lower ec but the system doesn't hold as much water as I thought. I was going to drain some but they look happy enough.

rh is in the 40's today! Hopefully spring has sprung..

I have some hydroton outside I need to clean and use to bury the top drip ring. I'm afraid to bring anything in that might have pests though.
What's the best way to disinfect hydroton that's been outside??
 
Driver77 said:
Thought I should check ec and ph....1.4ec and 5.7ph. Just Jacks, silica, and calmag in there....and Hydroguard
I wanted lower ec but the system doesn't hold as much water as I thought. I was going to drain some but they look happy enough.

rh is in the 40's today! Hopefully spring has sprung..

I have some hydroton outside I need to clean and use to bury the top drip ring. I'm afraid to bring anything in that might have pests though.
What's the best way to disinfect hydroton that's been outside??
Click to expand...
It’s probably not a big deal just wash it really good in tap water. A colander helps.

If you have serious concerns let it soak for a bit in either a light bleach or peroxide solution. Wash it again after before putting in the system.

Agree EC is a bit high for seedlings. As long as nutes are balanced just keep topping off with RO (do you use RO?) as you go. I would want it below 1 at this stage. I typically run 250ppm or .5 EC on seedlings.

If you are concerned the nutes are not balanced based on the recipe you are using I’d look at a refill. Out of balance and high = bad. In balance and high = watch closely and trend down.

Watch for a white salt buildup on the hydroton.
 
moe.red said:
It’s probably not a big deal just wash it really good in tap water. A colander helps.

If you have serious concerns let it soak for a bit in either a light bleach or peroxide solution. Wash it again after before putting in the system.

Agree EC is a bit high for seedlings. As long as nutes are balanced just keep topping off with RO (do you use RO?) as you go. I would want it below 1 at this stage. I typically run 250ppm or .5 EC on seedlings.

If you are concerned the nutes are not balanced based on the recipe you are using I’d look at a refill. Out of balance and high = bad. In balance and high = watch closely and trend down.

Watch for a white salt buildup on the hydroton.
Click to expand...
Peroxide sounds like the answer for me. I'm paranoid...I battled aphids and pm last year and don't want a repeat!

Yes using ro and just topping off for now.
Balance must be in the ballpark...all look good and can almost watch them grow so I'll leave it alone for now.
Down to 980ppm from 1010ppm with a little top off. ph 5.9
 
Driver77 said:
Peroxide sounds like the answer for me. I'm paranoid...I battled aphids and pm last year and don't want a repeat!

Yes using ro and just topping off for now.
Balance must be in the ballpark...all look good and can almost watch them grow so I'll leave it alone for now.
Down to 980ppm from 1010ppm with a little top off. ph 5.9
Click to expand...
Yes peroxide will kill aphids go for it.
 
doublej said:
How far away are your lights? Brother
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Too far....I have an auto in there just starting flower so I have it on the stool to get enough light and not cook the seedlings.
 
Everybody seems happy! 1040ppm(700) 5.7ph getting a slow rise in ec and ph is static. Added a tbs of calmag and topped off with nutrient water today.
The Bourbon Berry auto is a real pain to work around.......sure looks good though. ;smoke I'm hoping I can leave it in for another 2 weeks till the Purple Cream get harvested and then throw it in that tent....may not be realistic but no other options.20250331_070658.jpg
 
Driver77 said:
I ordered another one of these with compressor setup. $150ish
Click to expand...
That's the exact one I have it looks like. Works great. Even held the water temp when lung room got to 100+ temps.
 
Bourbon Berry is trying to be as big a pain in the ass as she can. It's getting hit with the 440 blue so maybe it will stay shortish. Going to be a real pain in a couple more weeks. ;hw
Topped off again with solution from the aircube res, now at 1100ppm(700) in here and new chiller keeping things between 71f and 74f. I got most of the drip rings buried and the girls seem happy.
20250403_062257.jpg
 
Driver77 said:
Bourbon Berry is trying to be as big a pain in the ass as she can. It's getting hit with the 440 blue so maybe it will stay shortish. Going to be a real pain in a couple more weeks. ;hw
Topped off again with solution from the aircube res, now at 1100ppm(700) in here and new chiller keeping things between 71f and 74f. I got most of the drip rings buried and the girls seem happy.
View attachment 95834
Click to expand...
The big girl is for cloning? Or she's going into another tent for flower?

It looks like the clay pebbles are multiplying on some of them buckets lol
 
ninjadip said:
The big girl is for cloning? Or she's going into another tent for flower?

It looks like the clay pebbles are multiplying on some of them buckets lol
Click to expand...
Big girl is an auto I have nowhere to finish. It's been neglected and now it's looking so good I can't bring myself to cull it.
Right now the plan is to keep it in there till the other tent finishes up in 2 to 3 weeks. Not a great plan but it's all I got ;smoke

Yeah I tried to cover the drip rings to keep algae down. Next time I'll bury them deeper from the start.
 
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Driver77 said:
Big girl is an auto I have nowhere to finish. It's been neglected and now it's looking so good I can't bring myself to cull it.
Right now the plan is to keep it in there till the other tent finishes up in 2 to 3 weeks. Not a great plan but it's all I got ;smoke

Yeah I tried to cover the drip rings to keep algae down. Next time I'll bury them deeper from the start.
Click to expand...
Hey a plan is better than none. Not all are good but without bad ther'd be no point in a plan at all.
 
Driver77 said:
Big girl is an auto I have nowhere to finish. It's been neglected and now it's looking so good I can't bring myself to cull it.
Right now the plan is to keep it in there till the other tent finishes up in 2 to 3 weeks. Not a great plan but it's all I got ;smoke

Yeah I tried to cover the drip rings to keep algae down. Next time I'll bury them deeper from the start.
Click to expand...
no worries man, was just poking at ya, havin some fun
i couldn't stop looking at all them clay balls, no homo! lol

plants look good! always exciting in the beginning, seeing them take off

I looked at my chiller again, and i realized i have a slightly different build than you, mine is more cube like, i think my last one that i gave away to a friend to start up looked like exactly like yours and was a beast for sure, no complaints

1743869240516.jpeg
 
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ninjadip said:
no worries man, was just poking at ya, havin some fun
i couldn't stop looking at all them clay balls, no homo! lol

plants look good! always exciting in the beginning, seeing them take off

I looked at my chiller again, and i realized i have a slightly different build than you, mine is more cube like, i think my last one that i gave away to a friend to start up looked like exactly like yours and was a beast for sure, no complaints

View attachment 96083
Click to expand...
No offence taken at all....I've worked shipyards and construction, my skin is thick and sense of humor sick. So poke away my friend if we can't laugh at ourselves someone else should. ;)
Looks like the controller and the fittings are the same....I'd bet money they came from the same factory. Good chance the insides are identical too.
I'm happy my clay balls could entertain you, no homo! :LOL:
 
Driver77 said:
The girls seem happy and big girl has sprouted buds!View attachment 96158
Click to expand...
Hey bud that internode spacing is pretty big. Are these sativa leaning?

How much total height have you got to work with considering you max light height and the necessary gap between light and canopy?

I’m a little worried for you that you are going to grow into the lights if this gets away from you trying to flower and veg at the same time. The light really should be closer to the seedlings right now. It would shorten the internode if it was most likely.
 
moe.red said:
Hey bud that internode spacing is pretty big. Are these sativa leaning?

How much total height have you got to work with considering you max light height and the necessary gap between light and canopy?

I’m a little worried for you that you are going to grow into the lights if this gets away from you trying to flower and veg at the same time. The light really should be closer to the seedlings right now. It would shorten the internode if it was most likely.
Click to expand...
I wish being sativa was the issue!
They are autos that were gifted to me from a private breeder and I don't remember lineage ;smoke I'm sure stretch is from lighting.....I've been working on other solutions for big girl but coming up stuck for a few more weeks. I really figured I'd have some issues and have to restart at least once. lol or twice!

Big girl is a Bourbon Berry auto from Twenty20 and only seed I had of it sooo I really want to give it a chance...even at the expense of the new girls. ;hw
I'm hoping in a couple weeks I can get it out of there and have enough time for the others to still fill in a bit.
 
steamroller said:
Find 5 objects [boxes,buckets...] of equal height and raise up your hydro set up if you can.
It will make a difference.
They are all looking good~!
Click to expand...
I like the idea but lifting the buckets means lifting the plumbing too in this case. Which takes away the center for big girl sadly...I played with lowering her but it shaded the seedlings worse. Since their autos I think I'll be fine...they'll fill out the corners for now and have room to expand right around time for stretch....I hope. I can chop on them some if they get real crazy.
This damn Bourbon Berry better be worth it!
 
The Bourbon Berry is stacking nicely while the poor new girls stretch to the moon. They've been topped and are starting to look a little better......going to be interesting to see what happens when the BB is out of there. 1200ppm(700) and 5.7 this morning...ppm has been static for a few days and ph is rising .1/day right now.20250411_075057.jpg
 
Today in the rdwc auto tent.
They got a shot of fulvic acid and kelp for beginning of flower. Topping off every other day now as they consume more. They look great so keeping things where they are for now 1400-1450ppm(700) and ph I let drift from 5.6 to 5.9 over several days before knocking it back down with either addition nutrients or ph down. 20250423_073757.jpg20250423_073746.jpg
 
Today in the rdwc tent....1400ppm(700) 5.6-5.9 slow creep up in ppm and ph over a couple days but have been topping off the last few days from the Aircube res. They got another tbs of Fulvic acid and a tbs of kelp today also. All I've added other than the Jacks to this point is 2 tbs of Fulvic, 2 tbs of kelp, 1 tbs of calmag and 1 tbs silica.
Lights are down to 550w on the main, still supplementing ir and uva a little.
20250428_063804.jpg20250428_063753.jpg20250428_063736.jpg
 
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