Bubba Kush and my 1st DWC..

[beancounter]

Ever since i 1st layed eyes on dwc I wanted to give it a try..

Well a good friend of mine gifted me a dual outlet Rena 400 air pump, and i decided to give a couple buckets a run.

Since dwc increases veg spead/growth/stretch, i decided that i would commit all of my dwc to slow growing, low stretching, low yeilders.. The best candidates in my mother room was Bubba Kush and Deep Chunk, and because i have a serious weakness for the Bubba, she fills the buckets 1st, so that she can fill my jars post haste..

I'm doing 2 buckets for now, both are 3.5 gal right now, but i plan on putting the bigger 6" netpot Bubba into a 5 gal once she fills the 3.5 with roots..

I actualy only had enough hydroton for the 6", so i used rockwol cut up into 1cm cubes for the 3" netpot.. I know it's not the best stuff, but it's working.. I used some thick black plastic and cut a circle with a whole and slit in it to cover the rockwol to prevent algae.. The smaller 3" netpot plant was not put into the bucket until it had roots poking thru the netpot/rockwol cubes.. I did this by putting the 3" netpot in a beer cup for about 1 week of veg or so..


Anyways, i have only really documented the 1st 6" netpot clone..

It was pretty hurting when it went into the bucket, she was yellowing fairly bad..

Now I started this thread in the organic hydro section because i plan to flower the bigger 6" Bubba using PBP and calmag (10 ppm tap water), as i've always heard Bubba was better organic.. I looked into a few dif organic feeds, and i know PBP isn't 100% organic, but it seemed like the best option for DWC. I'm open to any and all suggestions.. I'd actualy prefer a flowering nutrient with less N in it, but Earth Juice gets much to stinky for 2 wk bucket changes..

I am feeding her with AN 3 part chem and calmag right now, as I couldn't get the PBP veg nutes right away.. I figure, and hope, that using the 3 part chems isn't going to make a difference 65-70 days later.. I'm open to suggestions tho, i still have a way to go for veg.

I'm going to do the smaller 3" netpot clone with 3 part in veg and flower, so I can do a comparo between both bubbas and see how much of a difference using organics in flower will make..

So altho this isn't a pure organic thread, there should still be some valuable info for people looking to switch.. or looking for comparos.. or looking for discussions on whether vegging with chems makes flowering with organics futile..


Here's the clone that will be going into the 5 gallon bucket, starting in a 3.5 gal bucket..

This clone was in a 1/3 sized 2'' rockwol cube, as i removed some of the rockwol, with only 2 1/4'' long roots poking out when i put it in the bucket.

2 days in the bucket:




5 days in the bucket:




7 days in the bucket:




10 days in the bucket:




14 days in the bucket:




15 days in the bucket (and the new 3" netpot clone on day 2):




17 days in the bucket (1.5 days later from last root shots):





So, if you guys have any questions, tips, constructive critisism, let me have it..


In the day 15 pics u can see some of the root tips are a bit brown.. I think that's because i didn't raise the water level soon enough.. as soon as i raised the water level 1-2" above the bottom of the pot late on day 15, the roots exploded, evident in the day 17 shot where they look like they should..

I started the bigger bubba at 700 ppm 3 part AN, before i had calmag.. I then upped the ppm to about 850 at 10 days, then added calmag on day 15 when i raised the water level and balanced the ppm out at about 800..

PH has been set at 5.6-5.8 and hasn't drifted past 6.1-6.2 yet. water temps are at about 16-20 * celcius (60-68 *F). And they're vegging under a 430w enhanced agrosun hood/bulb under a 20/4 light schedule.

 

[clowntown]

FRIST PROST!!!!11

 

[mtnjohn]

i love DWC
it's cool when i put the rooted cuts in netpots...usually they stall for awhile untill i see roots growing out the sides ....then they just take off.....like your pic shows
k+ to ya
mj

 

[Guest]

Good thread Bean. Got it subbed

I'm no bubba expert but i think she may be able to handle a higher ppm than 700-800. I also hear the ppm in dwc and aero can actually be lower than soil/soiless grows because of the roots' "direct interaction" with the water and food. I could be wrong and I prolly am...

Either way good luck

 

[beancounter]

thanks for stoppin by and checkin in folks... i was starting to think i put this thread in the wrong forum...

you're definately correct mt.john, that's why I'm gonna use a aero cloner on all my future DWC clones.. the difference in the 1st 2 weeks in huge.. with the aero rooted clones you can feed the roots down the middle, and get them in the water over a wk faster.. it really does make a big difference, but it'll work with rockwool/etc.


I hear ya S4vvy, she can definately take more than that, but not at the beginning.. Both of the plants responded perfectly to a starting ppm of 700, upping it about 100ppm per wk until about 2000ppm for late veg... My friends dwc bubba (same cut as yours) peaked at 3200 ppm in early flower...

Actualy, my bigger dwc bubba is 'N-tipping' a bit right now.. i know she won't go into the claw, so it's no biggy, she'll use up the excess N and the last cm of the leaves with straighten out.. then she'll be asking for more, and say thank you after..

She's exploded quite nicely in the last couple days, and the lil one is starting to take off aswell.. I'm gonna get a few pics tonight.. i expect the roots to be crazy with a K... Bubba is one of the most prolific root producing plants around, so it'll be cool to see her progress in dwc..

I plan on vegging the big one for at least another month.. in about a week or so I will probly move her to the 5 gallon bucket, once she starts drinking alot..


Contrary to popular opinion, bubba will stretch, especialy in dwc or when given a ton of rootspace just before flower.. I grew out a 6' bubba recently in soiless, in a 7 gallon pot, that only stretched a total of 6" (5.5 to 6' at finish)..

My friend who is DWCing bubba now got over double height by the time stretch was finished.. I'm looking to grow another monster here (6'+), with the bigger clone, so I will trigger her at 3.5-4' and hope she gives me some decent stretch.. the lil 3.5 gallon clone will be a more normal sized plant, probly 4' max..

I can't wait to compare the bud from the bubba flowered with PBP, to the one flowered with AN 3 part... I'm also curious as to whether vegging the PBP plant with 3 parts is going to make using organics in flower redundant?

any thoughts?

 

[Guest]

..I can't wait to compare the bud from the bubba flowered with PBP, to the one flowered with AN 3 part... I'm also curious as to whether vegging the PBP plant with 3 parts is going to make using organics in flower redundant?

any thoughts?

Good question on the hydro veg and Organic flower. I plan on going organic soon but i planned on running a staggered room that possibly was hydro vegged. Was gonna ask the same question when the time came I don't think it will be an issue, but you never know man...

 

[beancounter]

I'm sure someone has tried it before..

I'll get the PBP grow sooner or later to go mostly organic in veg/bloom...


Here's the pics I promised, day 19 for the bigger one, 4 for the smaller one.. The bigger one is starting to drink/eat faster now, knocking the ppm down to 730 and the PH up to 6.3.. I topped up the bucket with 1100 ppm 3 part with a touch of calmag set to a PH of about 4.5.. it brought the ppm up and PH down enough, i'll check it tommorow and add nutes/PH down if needed..

You can see, the one top fan leaf on the big one has slight-slight clawing, but it won't last.. I'm actualy pretty sure it's jus a build up of N in that one leaf from the topping I did about a week ago.. the leaves aren't cupping at all, and they should straighten out over time.. all the new growth is lush and green, perfect IMHO..

the root growth is pretty nice, some roots are already touching the bottom... it should jus get crazier from here..


The 4 day clone in the 3" pot has roots touching the water now, so i topped it up aswell.. it's been topped a couple days ago and is growing well.. I'm sure the next time i look at the roots there will be a big difference..



The bigger Bubba, 19 days in the bucket:






Here's both Bubbas, lil girl is at 4 days:




And a close up overhead shot of the 4 day clone:

 

[Neptune]

you got it under control, looking great bean...
Bubba is one stout plant aint she.. wow

 

[GirlWonderGrows]

Looking good, I'm excited to see how it turns out. What are you going to flower under? Do you think the 430W is better than a reg 4?

 

[ShroomDr]

BUMP

 

[T.doT.Toker]

Hey looks good beancounter, hopefully i grow this outdoors this season. A big jump from those freebie beans eh? Take it easy.

 

[Guest]

nice buckets bean looks really lush and happy

get ready for an explosion

 

[beancounter]

thanks guys and gals.. She definately is a stout plant, and she's putting out some serious fans now.. usualy, in soiless, i don't give the plants 'optimal' conditions.. usualy too small of pots, maybe underfed.. it's the price u pay with 30 or more mums.. So this DWC is really cool, u get to see the plant growing at it's best..

I like the 430w cause they usualy have enhanced spectrums, IOW additional blue light.. I suppose the extra 30w of HID lighting can't hurt either, giving u a lil more penetration and spread.. lol that sounded durty

They'll likely be flowered under a vert 1K super hort HPS.. I'm doing my version of super cropping (just slight pinching, no bending or twisting) on the big one now, getting her to grow like a bleacher, so i don't need to rotate her when she goes under the vertical.. It's very worth it IMHO, as it can be a pain in the ass to rotate..

There's a chance the small one will be flowered under the 430w.


I just checked ppm/PH on the buckets about 1.5 days ago.. The big bucket was at 700ppm (down from about 750-800) and 6.1 PH.. the lil one was at about 700, and 6 for PH.. So i upped the nute level to about 800 on the big one and lowered the PH to 5.7.. the lil one i upped to about 750 and lowered to the same PH..

The last time i had checked the buckets was almost a wk ago, so the drift is minor, and they seem to be using the perfect amount of nutrient.. They're not burning or clawing, and staying a healthy green.. the lil one was a bit pale for a bit but is nice and green now..

I'll take some pics soon and post em up..

thanks for the interest folks.

 

[Guest423]

get er done, nice one bean, i remember both of us talking about this in chat...looks like everything is going good....hows the veg rate compared to soil? bubba is one of the coolest looking plants imho...actually everything about her is awesome except the normally slower veg but not everything can be perfect.

3t- do you have ideas of when bubba would finish outdoors? i hope u give it a shot and start a thread....that would be a fun one to see.

 

[beancounter]

the growth rate is probly about 30% faster in DWC than soiless peat based that i normally use..


I actualy have kinda been neglecting these DWC bubbas a bit, and I let the big one go almost dry but luckily I caught it in time, and no damage was done..

The big one has been vegging 33 days now, and is 14" tall.. Without the supercropping/pinching I would say she'd be about 16"ish tall.. But I'd gladly give up a couple inches of height during veg in order to prevent having to rotate the plant in flower.. All of the branches are in their final place now, so the growth should be faster from here.. One thing that always amazes me on DWC is the thickness of the stem.. bubba is phat in soiless, but she's ridiculous in DWC..


So everything is looking pretty good, despite me being a lazy bastard and not checking PH/ppm as often as I should..

The lil ones at 18 days i think, big one is 33:

 

[nandro]

Oh, so you think you can just jump into DWCs and everything be cool, huh???

Well....yeah! You're doing it. It's a breeze, you're doing fine.

See ya' on tha flip,
Nandro

 

[beancounter]

LOL nandro! yeah, tis a breeze indeed.. today i noticed the big one needing N/mg so i gave her some micro and Cal/mag, and she's perked up..

it's a good way to grow, especialy for the slow veggers.. it doesn't suit my style to do a room full, but a couple buckets for Bubba, DC, HashPlants, slow purples, etc, it's absolutely perfect..

The 3.5 gal bucket with the big one is now full of roots, I gotta swap her over to the 5 gal, give her 3-4wks veg, then flower.. In dwc Bubba can double her height even when topped, so I'm shooting for about 2.5' before i flower.. I want her big.. the lil one in the 3'' will get flowered as soon as she fills the bucket with roots..

pics soon..

 

[bartender187]

doin the water thing bc, nice brother, lookin good. its not as hard as most think, peace bartender187

 

[beancounter]

thanks bartender.. yeah, it's easy cheesey for sheezy


I've been neglecting them bad, can't remember the last time i swapped the nutes out.. lol


I just noticed the big one getting very hungry, so I gave her a shot of Micro and Calmag (it was mostly N/mg she's hungry for) and checked ppm which was about 960.. it's greened up considerably but may need to break the 1000ppm soon.. I just don't wanna push her, as i'm in no hurry..

i still haven't swapped the big gal into the 5 gal, i will likely do it tommorow.. the lil one is fine and chuggin away at about 850ppm..

since i didn't have enough hydroton, and didnt' want to buy a 50l bag for one 3" netpot's worth, I ended up cutting rockwol up into small 1 cm squares, and just use that for medium instead.. I was worried about mold, algae, etc.. but it's been 100% ok, even when the rockwol stays in contact with the water..


Here's the pair.. sorry about the bad pics, it's hard to take good ones in there..

Bubba at 29 days and 44 days:



Bubba @ 44 days veg (flash makes N/mg def look worse than it is):



Bubba @ 29 days in rockwool cubes, starting to need a bit more food:

 

[mtnjohn]

nice thread BC

dwc is so easy eh? looks like everything is going well for ya..
i've been following with interest...and a good thing too cuz i just got a few bubba cuts today...rooting in the bubbler now

i usually run AN sensi bloom a&b , big bud and carboload ....but i'm gonna be trying
a little experiment on my next run(ice princess/twilight x bubblegum)

what im gonna do is run my regular program for the first 4.5 weeks then im gonna
switch out the AN 'chems' and use "metanaturals" bloom 1-5-5 for 2 weeks then flush
...i'll see if it makes a difference in taste and quality...not that my bud is bad but it can always get better..i think