DWC First Timer - Day 1 - RQS Fat Banana Automatic & Diesel Automatic

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Hello friends!

Update:

Aug 5 - did nothing today except check pump lines and look on with hope.

Aug 6 - found the res had a build up of white foam. Panicked and googled. Turns out the Biobizz Ph down is made using citric acid and definitely not suitable. I could smell the solution turning.

Emptied the res, washed thoroughly and refilled, this time without ph adjustment. Purchased calibration fluid for conductivity meter, Orca liquid mycorrhizae and hydro specific ph down!!! What an idiot!!!

Day 1 - Aug 7 - WE HAVE LIFTOFF!!!

Fat Banana has her first touch of the water. Diesel is a day or two behind. Solution bubbled overnight, temp is 75f. Added a 1/2 dose of Orca. Will fill up the Banana net pot with hydroton and cover with something that I’m yet to make.
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Comments

MissUniverse
Keep the ph round 5.8 itll be good, I ens up needing a lot of ph up. Depending on the grow, I'll go through up to 16 ounces of it's a 110 day strain like auto ultimate. I still use my ph down even though it does that same thing and it works out fine if I let it bubble through for a day before life starts. Maybe I shouldn't but I do:shrug:. Any way, as Derek says, pics please :biggrin:
And good luck on your first start. Make sure you watch the humidity for the first few days and keep the root cube wet or itll die and keep the area around the cube wet so the roots seek the water and once its tap root reaches water, do it for another day then stop.
Here comes the fun
:d5:
 
derek420colorado
The Growerer said:
They’re showing in the gallery...
Click to expand...
Lol I am still getting used to all these fancy blog thingys. Oh can you do me a favor and take a picture of your res and the bubbles? One of the most critical things about the max O2 technique is to NOT BREAK THE TAPROOT lol. If there is too much air causing too much turbulence it can break it. I think you are totally fine because you have a pretty big res. I just wanted to make sure
 
T
derek420colorado said:
Lol I am still getting used to all these fancy blog thingys. Oh can you do me a favor and take a picture of your res and the bubbles? One of the most critical things about the max O2 technique is to NOT BREAK THE TAPROOT lol. If there is too much air causing too much turbulence it can break it. I think you are totally fine because you have a pretty big res. I just wanted to make sure
Click to expand...

tried to post a video but didn’t work

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derek420colorado
T
derek420colorado said:
Ok I am glad I asked. I think it is a little to turbulent from the looks of the picture. Your pump should have come with a manifold. I didn’t see it hooked up in your picture. But my advice would be to hook up the manifold and open up a couple of the valves. Then once you see the taproot getting nice and strong you can ramp it up
Click to expand...
Attached the manifold which has 6 outlets. With 2 going to the stones and 4 left open there were no bubbles so I closed off one by one until I saw something. Final result is 2 lines going to stones and 3 others closed leaving one open. It is bubbling gently.
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T
My ph is still very high, 8.0/8.2! This is after adding 10 drops of ph down. I have very hard tap water @ 9.4 and currently no access to RO. My ph down solution which is very high in phosphoric acid indicates on the website that it can cause phosphorus buildups over time which can inhibit nutrient uptake.

Any advice on this would be appreciated.
 
T
I’ve just read that the correct method when using such a high concentration is:

1. Add water to separate res 60litres (16 US gallon)
2. Add ph down to reach 5.8-6.5
3. Bubble for 24 hours
4. Add nutrients
5. Bubble for 24 hours
6. Transfer to DWC
 
derek420colorado
The Growerer said:
I’ve just read that the correct method when using such a high concentration is:

1. Add water to separate res 60litres (16 US gallon)
2. Add ph down to reach 5.8-6.5
3. Bubble for 24 hours
4. Add nutrients
5. Bubble for 24 hours
6. Transfer to DWC
Click to expand...
Yep that’s the way right there! If you do each of these steps you should be aOK
 
T
derek420colorado said:
And your bubbles look good, you can even go a littttle higher, but if it’s too much fiddling then you are fine.
Click to expand...
Fiddled a lot and using manifold I’m losing bubbles from second stone which leaves the diesel dry underneath.
Tried to find a balance but not sure what the problem is. Maybe a faulty stone!
 
derek420colorado
The Growerer said:
Fiddled a lot and using manifold I’m losing bubbles from second stone which leaves the diesel dry underneath.
Tried to find a balance but not sure what the problem is. Maybe a faulty stone!
Click to expand...
Ah ok gotcha. Yes messing with the manifolds can be suuuuuuuuper annoying. But it’s required at first imo. So what does it look like with only 1 manifold open. In the original pic it didn’t look like you needed to go down that much. Again if too much trouble leave as is til taproot is large enough to handle it three crank her up
 
T
derek420colorado said:
Ah ok gotcha. Yes messing with the manifolds can be suuuuuuuuper annoying. But it’s required at first imo. So what does it look like with only 1 manifold open. In the original pic it didn’t look like you needed to go down that much. Again if too much trouble leave as is til taproot is large enough to handle it three crank her up
Click to expand...
You’re right it’s tedious.
image.jpg
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4 manifolds open = no bubbles
3 manifolds open = no bubbles
2 manifolds open = no bubbles
1 manifold open = pics...

Rather than take a risk I’ll leave as is until some strength has built up. Thanks for the tips man
 
derek420colorado
derek420colorado
Let me ask you this when all the manifolds are closed would you describe the bubbles as a gentle bath of nice bubbles gently hugging the roots? Or would you describe it as a torrent of rushing bubbles like at the bottom of a waterfall?
 
derek420colorado
It is always hard to tell from pictures how turbulent the water is. Can you take a short video? The only reason to pay this much attention is that if the tap root breaks you might as well start over. It just stunts the plant beyond repair imo

but you also wanna give it as much air as possible from start to finish. I know I am bein a little confusing lol but this part can be tricky and is the only part you really have to get a “feel” for.
 
T
derek420colorado said:
Let me ask you this when all the manifolds are closed would you describe the bubbles as a gentle bath of nice bubbles gently hugging the roots? Or would you describe it as a torrent of rushing bubbles like at the bottom of a waterfall?
Click to expand...
It’s hard to know where on the scale I am. It doesn’t seem too turbulent but the tap root was being pushed around
 
T
derek420colorado said:
It is always hard to tell from pictures how turbulent the water is. Can you take a short video? The only reason to pay this much attention is that if the tap root breaks you might as well start over. It just stunts the plant beyond repair imo

but you also wanna give it as much air as possible from start to finish. I know I am bein a little confusing lol but this part can be tricky and is the only part you really have to get a “feel” for.
Click to expand...
No I totally get it, max 02 technique from early as possible.

move taken video but can’t seem to post. I’ll try again
 

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The Growerer
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