New Grower Northern Storm Auto DWC

[KkB]

Hello all. I am a new member and will be starting my second grow in a few weeks when my new brand brand arrive. I started with clones in RDWC using hydroton, general hydroponics nutes, two vivarspectra 600W LEDs, and two 300W LED s in a 4x4 well circulated and temp controlled tent. My four year old turned off the bubbles to the air stones with the dial on the pump when he snuck through the garage one day and my growing buddy and I spent a week trying to diagnose our sickly plants that took a nosedive after reservoir change in week 3 before I noticed the horrible case of pythium. The first grow was plagued by rookie mistakes all the way from clone selection to suffocation in the nutrient solution. Hopefully we learned alot.

We have selected Nothern Storm Auto from MSNL as our so-called do- over. My first question for the amazing growers here... Should I go DWC at all for these autos? I have been scanning grow journals here and learning quite alot, but not sure if soil would just make my life easier. Also, I have the 4 LED s mentioned above, but also an adjustable 6-1200 W ballast with a hortilux Super HPS bulb. Plus an array of CFLs and purple lights. We have a 5 gallon bucket system built with air stones in each bucket, top feed halos and bottom drain back to res with great circulation, and a 3.5 gallon bucket system set up the same way. Plus one each 5x5, 4x4, 4x8, and 8x8 tents. Before you ask about all the gear, the great state of Oregon tweaked a few regs for small time legit growers and forced a lot out of the market, so equipment can be found at a fraction of the cost right now.

That said, we currently have the 4x8 with the new HPS lamp dusted out (bulb says good to go for all life stages)and two 600W LEDs. Good circulation, venting ,temps, and even a bagged mycelial CO2 producer.

Can I grow these Autos in DWC, provided that I don't make the same mistakes? With the equipment mentioned above, if I wanted to start 6 beans, what equipment should be involved and when? Thanks in advance, everyone!

 

[KkB]

*brand new beans on the way
*HPS bulb set up, not dusted out

 

[Simplicio]

Hello all. I am a new member and will be starting my second grow in a few weeks when my new brand brand arrive. I started with clones in RDWC using hydroton, general hydroponics nutes, two vivarspectra 600W LEDs, and two 300W LED s in a 4x4 well circulated and temp controlled tent. My four year old turned off the bubbles to the air stones with the dial on the pump when he snuck through the garage one day and my growing buddy and I spent a week trying to diagnose our sickly plants that took a nosedive after reservoir change in week 3 before I noticed the horrible case of pythium. The first grow was plagued by rookie mistakes all the way from clone selection to suffocation in the nutrient solution. Hopefully we learned alot.

We have selected Nothern Storm Auto from MSNL as our so-called do- over. My first question for the amazing growers here... Should I go DWC at all for these autos? I have been scanning grow journals here and learning quite alot, but not sure if soil would just make my life easier. Also, I have the 4 LED s mentioned above, but also an adjustable 6-1200 W ballast with a hortilux Super HPS bulb. Plus an array of CFLs and purple lights. We have a 5 gallon bucket system built with air stones in each bucket, top feed halos and bottom drain back to res with great circulation, and a 3.5 gallon bucket system set up the same way. Plus one each 5x5, 4x4, 4x8, and 8x8 tents. Before you ask about all the gear, the great state of Oregon tweaked a few regs for small time legit growers and forced a lot out of the market, so equipment can be found at a fraction of the cost right now.

That said, we currently have the 4x8 with the new HPS lamp dusted out (bulb says good to go for all life stages)and two 600W LEDs. Good circulation, venting ,temps, and even a bagged mycelial CO2 producer.

Can I grow these Autos in DWC, provided that I don't make the same mistakes? With the equipment mentioned above, if I wanted to start 6 beans, what equipment should be involved and when? Thanks in advance, everyone!

I never considered growing any way except hydro.
You discovered one of the biggest reasons why: contamination from imported microbes.
It can come from clones or commercial soils.
I know little about it, but coco coir seems to be a compromise between soil and hydro.

 

[woody]

Growing autos is the same as photoperiods except you dont flip to 12/12 and they are lighter feeders so why not stick with the set up you have

 

[jingo]

Hey Brother

Welcome to The Forum and congratulations on starting your first real grow. You don't have to count one that didn't make it out of the gates.

I used to grow in deep water culture and I have one thing to say for you SM 90. That stuff will do more to keep you from getting root rot and other problems than any other Hydro additive in my opinion.

Lots of Growers have good success in Hydro with autoflowers. I think it is probably the most complex way 2 start learning to grow autos. I really recommend you switch over to Coco you need all the same meters and can use a lot of the same equipment. But it is far more forgiving and easy to learn at first than Hydro.

I haven't seen anybody growing in Hydro on the Forum that yields any larger than what I get in Coco. For that reason I would really recommend you look into it.

You can tag anybody you want to draw them into your diary by putting the @ symbol in front of their name. So like @jingo would do it.

Anyway good luck [emoji106]

 

[KkB]

Hey Brother

Welcome to The Forum and congratulations on starting your first real grow. You don't have to count one that didn't make it out of the gates.

I used to grow in deep water culture and I have one thing to say for you SM 90. That stuff will do more to keep you from getting root rot and other problems than any other Hydro additive in my opinion.

Lots of Growers have good success in Hydro with autoflowers. I think it is probably the most complex way 2 start learning to grow autos. I really recommend you switch over to Coco you need all the same meters and can use a lot of the same equipment. But it is far more forgiving and easy to learn at first than Hydro.

I haven't seen anybody growing in Hydro on the Forum that yields any larger than what I get in Coco. For that reason I would really recommend you look into it.

You can tag anybody you want to draw them into your diary by putting the @ symbol in front of their name. So like @jingo would do it.

Anyway good luck [emoji106]

Thanks Jingo! Gonna talk with my grow buddy (were learning this stuff together) and decide on the system. Got a few days before the beans get here, then gotta germinate, so a little time to decide!

 

[KkB]

Growing autos is the same as photoperiods except you dont flip to 12/12 and they are lighter feeders so why not stick with the set up you have

Thanks for the tips, Sanguine! Do you recommend a light cycle at all? 20/4, 24/7, 18/6, ect? I know we are gonna top, lst, and possibly supercrop if needed when the time comes, but we want lots of colas!

 

[KkB]

Thanks Jingo! Gonna talk with my grow buddy (were learning this stuff together) and decide on the system. Got a few days before the beans get here, then gotta germinate, so a little time to decide!

Dec gonna research sm90 and looking into recharge. Got a Monterrey complete full of bennies, but can't find any info for it in dwc systems.

 

[KkB]

I never considered growing any way except hydro.
You discovered one of the biggest reasons why: contamination from imported microbes.
It can come from clones or commercial soils.
I know little about it, but coco coir seems to be a compromise between soil and hydro.

Thanks Simplicio! Looking over all of the options and we have all the necessary stuff for dw c minus some additives. Mg deficiency was our very first misdiagnosed issue with the failed clones, then when things were rocking finally, I somehow managed to turn the air pump all the way down. No saving those clones no matter what so far. Gonna start fresh with the auto seeds when they come in. After researching this stuff (photoperiod plants) for almost a year before taking the leap, I still wasn't prepared for the grow. Gonna get it right this time. Not so much interested in DWC for increased yields, but it is the system we learned the most about-- and have lots of blood sweat and tears involved in building the systems.

 

[Troy01]

I grew DWC on my last crop and was pleased with the results. My current grow is in CoCo. While at first blush it looks like DWC would be easier my experience is that CoCo is much easier and very forgiving.

This first thing you need to realize that in DWC you have to change out your nutrients weekly or bi-weekly. While this is pretty easy when the plant is a seedling it becomes more difficult as the plant reaches maturity. If you scrog it becomes very difficult to get in to change the reservoir. What worked best for me was to buy a pump and pump the nutrient solution in and out of the container. Another difficulty I ran into was that I had no place to tie my LST down to .

As a couple other here have said. I think you might find CoCo more convenient. Another option would be to do some in DWC and CoCo and compare for yourself.