I Yielded 8 Oz Dry From A 5 Gal Dwc.

[The Mayor]

Howdy everyone!

 

Here are some of the things I do for my DWC grows that may or may not be of assistance. I was off to a running start getting the majority of my knowledge from the gracious Bubblegrower. I lurked in this forum for a mighty long time and came to you all with questions when I had them. Thank you again for all of the support.

 

Later on, I took a hydro class that was for plants in general that really helped me understand them better. Since then I have had much more success, and my last 5 gal bubble bucket plant yielded 8oz dry. So, I have been happy!

 

Here is what I have ended up with after really working things out during over half a year of a perpetual 12 plant grow. Again, these are just things I do because they are working for me. I hope you find it interesting.

 

STRAIN: The strain is Lemon Paw. A hybrid of Lemon Skunk and Monkey Paw. I started with a plant that came from a clone of the original breeder's. Through my couple years of growing, it is possible that I have stressed this strain into something other than what it once was, but I will say that where it is now is a very good thing! ;-)

 

MEDIUM: I am a hydro grower using DWC with 5 gal buckets and the totes that Bubblegrower suggests via his budget growing.

 

WATER: My TAP water has around 300ppm before I add anything to it, fyi. I bubble it for 24 hours prior to use. I also replenish water in my resevoirs using the water from my dehumidifier, but I never use it for res changes due to the low ppm. My plants enjoy the benefits of the contents of my tap water. If it ain't broke...

 

LUCAS METHOD: This is what I am doing using the GH Flora Micro and Flora Bloom. Other than pH control, the only other thing I typically add to my grow is Super Thrive.

 

SUPER THRIVE- The instructor in my class explained that it is great for clone root development and/or stressed plants. It isn't a fertilizer. It triggers plant processes. That is why you only need mere drops per gallon. Just enough to tell the plant to start doing it's thing! I will also add a drop or two if I have to add water to my cloner. Don't think it will help you get bigger plants/buds. It helps you maintain the health of your plant. This stuff has supporters and non-supporters I know. I have noticed the difference between using it and not using it. So I do.

 

NOTE: I adjust pH at least once a day during all phases of growth. Always adjust pH after adjusting ppms.

 

PH CONTROL: *** I keep the pH at 6.0 at all times other than in the aero cloner and first week of totes where I keep it at 5.5 for root development. I use standard pH down, and ProTekt Silicon solution for pH up. It works well and is an organic that helps build up cell wall strength. That way I am adding something beneficial to the plant whenever I have to raise the pH, and not just adding ppms. Only in the last weeks of flower do I switch from ProTekt to standard pH raise simply because I was told it might affect the taste.

 

CLONING: I use an aero cloner with the initial cuttings dipped in Clonex. I only add a couple drops of Super Thrive to the cloner in the beginning and pH kept at 5.5.

 

VEG: When transferring to the totes or bucket I start with a week of half strength nutes, a couple drops of Super Thrive per gallon. The ST helps the transplanted clone bounce back quicker from the shock of the transplant. It can cut "shock" recovery time in half.

 

When a week has passed with the plants in the totes, I will change the res to full nutes unless the roots have not dropped into the solution. Then I will continue to replenish the water in the res and monitor pH. I also add a couple drops of ST for every gallon replenished.

 

Once the plants are on their way I stick to the 5ml/10ml veg Lucas formula and I keep the ppms around 830 per the BG instructions.

 

***Now, here is where I stray a bit from the traditional Lucas. I change my res EVERY 10 days no matter what. This has proven effective in solving many deficiencies and/or plant issues that have started during my grows. A res change is often all that needs to happen to bring everything back into balance. If I see signs of a deficiency starting and I'm a couple days from a res change I might just change it early and watch for results, or I may even wait and just change it on schedule. So far, this has proven to keep my plants much healthier than when I was just replenishing with minimal changes. The reason this succeeds for me could be as simple as the fact that I do not start with RO water, and that my tap water has a substantial ppm.

 

Ok, that said I veg until the desired height has been reached. For a while I was doing the perpetual grow and mine was on a 21 day cycle, so I vegged for about 42 days. My 8 oz plant vegged for 99 days. I was using it as a mother for a few cycles.

 

When I put the plant in flower I typically switch it to flower nutes right away. 8ml/16ml. ppms are to be at 1330. I adjust the ppms as described a couple lines below.

 

I am at work so I don't recall the exact scheduling, but I use Bush Master to control the height of my plants during the beginning of flower. I follow BG's guidelines on this. I believe it is flush with water on Day 6, then on Day 7 change the res and have just the Bush Master in there and obviously pH correct. I run the Bush Master res for 5 days, replenishing with only water and adjusting pH. On day 10 (during this period) I prune the plant, usually lolli-popping it. From this point forward I also begin to tie the plant to a fence in a manner that keeps all bud sites as equal in height to the light as possible.

 

Day 12, I change the res to full dosage flower nutes. Typically, I have bud sites appearing by day 8-9. By Day 12 they are on their way for sure.

 

First, I put in the standard flowering dosage per volume at 8ml/16ml. Then I measure the ppm.

 

DIALING IN THE PPMS: ***Here is where I stray again from the Lucas formula a bit. If the ppms are not up to 1330 (which mine never are using the per gallon dosage), I use the equation to figure out what I need to add to bring the ppms up to the mark.

 

(1330-current reading)/1330 x (8ml) x (# of gallons in res) = ml per gallon you need to add of Micro

 

I forgot an important detail when typing this the first time.

 

Take the amount you get from the equation and multiply it times 1.25 (for a while I had stated that I multiplied it by 1.5, but after putting some more ladies into flower, I realized my mistake). This is the amount of Micro you add, and then it is also the figure you use to calculate the amount of Bloom. Let's call it "A" for Amount.

 

I add that to a gallon or so of water that I have pulled out of the res for this purpose. THEN I multiply that number (A) of ml x 4 (four, IV) rather than 2. This provides extra phosphorus and potassium that my plants seemed to need. Plus, the healthier your plants are and the more they are growing...the more of these nutes it will need to create big buds! The week I started doing this, my growing was never the same. Suddenly my flower stage became this wonderful time of flourishing plants.

 

Once again, I change this res every 10 days. In between I replenish the res every night using my 1:4 mix and bring the ppms to 1330...and I try to land it on that number as close as possible. Usually less than 5ppm variance. My 1:4 formula almost always lands me right there. Also, I always dial the pH to 6.0 at all times other than in the aero cloner.

 

I use Super Thrive, a couple drops per gallon put in the res every time up until about week 6 then I stop to avoid a taste.

I use ProTekt for pH up until flush, then if I need it I use standard pH raise to avoid possible taste issues.

 

I keep the light (600 hps) between 12-18 inches away, and keep the plants as equal distance as possible from the light. I keep the fan leaves that spawn with stems from buds trimmed down to the stalk. Do not leave stems in buds because mold likes to form there if they are dense and humidity is too high.

 

This big plant that yielded 8 oz I trimmed all of the fan leaves from the plant during week 6 due to a high humidity that I couldn't seem to control well enough. I had mold issues with the harvest just before it, and since they were in the same room I took this extreme measure and it did not seem to have any negative effects.

I also kept the air circulation moving as well as I could all throughout the plant without blasting it with the fan.

 

Finally, on my 8oz grow I had my industrial air pump (the smallest $50ish version) pumping bubbles with 2 stones into the 5 gal bucket. It was spoiled with bubbles. I think that helped a lot. I am now more focused on getting sufficient air into the totes.

 

Up until then, my 10 gal bubble totes with 2 plants each would yield me about 6-7 ounces on a 21 day interval perpetual cycle. 2 cycles in veg, and 3 in flower. This is what BG had said he was getting so I figured I was doing pretty well. I did not expect to achieve his same results so imagine how good I felt when I did!

 

Keep everything as clean as possible. The best protection for your plants is a clean grow area. Have shoes that you wear only in your grow area and NOT outside. Change your clothes before tending your plants if possible. I keep the water under 80 degrees, humidity under 60% and temps in the 70's. Nature often fights me on those last two.

 

Anyhow...my take on the Lucas method that has given me good yields and I hope I at least encourage you to work with your plants and find out what works for you even if it does stray a little from what others are doing. I spend time looking over my plants thoroughly and getting to know them so that I am aware of any changes as soon as they occur. I think a lot of us do this.

 

Let me know what you think, and if anyone has adjusted the Lucas method in any way to fit their needs I'd love to hear what you did.

 

The Mayor.

 

The picture is of the 8 oz plant within days of harvest. All fan leaves were cut off the plant at week six. So what you are seeing is all buds and bud leaves. Sorry about the poor quality. Phone pic.

[GanjaWarrior]

impressive

[cristinew]

how many watts of light to produce 8 oz per plant,

[kruztydj]

wow 3 month veg, did she have a tree swing too hehehehehe. nice.. I use those topsey turvey thing to house my mother plants as it keeps them out of the way and my last n/l mama was vegged about 2 months. She threw 5. I have a friend that has a chemdog in his greenhouse still and she has to be 15ft tall at least. prolly more like 20 as she curls down off the roof. Colas as big as my leg and stalk base bigger around then a pop can. God knows what that will throw when done. Couple more weeks and we'll know....

[The Mayor]

For my perpetual, my flower room had 2 600 watt lights going. I turned one off when I was done with the perpetual and let this single plant (the 8 oz yielder) have a 600 watt light all to itself. So, that was a bit indulgent. That and being the sole recipient of bubbles from the air pump certainly spoiled the plant. Spoiled in the good way!

 

I admit that the root ball in the bucket was pushing the limits. It made it difficult to drop a pump in there and change the res, and also a bit difficult to stir the res when adjusting pH or replenishing. Know that before letting the plant get this big.

 

 

The plant above the bucket wasn't super big because I kept trimming it down every few weeks while in veg. It probably stood about 5'4" near the end. Granted all the stalks were tied somehow to the fence in order to adjust their distance to the light. Plus, I use the Bushmaster to control the growth at the beginning of flower.

 

Oh, one last note. I use Mosquito dunks in my reservoirs to help control/repel some pests. They work well.

[Christopia]

Very nice!

[The Mayor]

I got the idea to increase the Bloom from learning of how the Ionic line works. They have a 3 part formula that includes a "Boost" for replenishing during the flower cycle. This consists of primarily Phosphorus and Potassium. Both of which I had experienced deficiencies of during flower with my strain.

 

So I simply tried to increase the results of the equation a little bit overall (multiply the amount you get by 1.25...but that didn't bring my ppms up to what I needed easily).

 

Then I really boosted the amount of Bloom (P & K) I added (multiplying the quantity by 4). This ended up getting me almost perfectly dialed in on my target 1330. Immediately my bud growth increased in every way. Size, density and quality. That, in addition to bringing my pH back to 6.0 at least once a day and staying on top of things. The more I got consistent the healthier the plants became.

 

I went from thinking I was doing alright to having magazine worthy grows. It was pretty exciting. So, I figured I would basically say...here is what I'm working with and here is how it worked for me. Do with it what you will, I hope it helps or at the very least inspires.

[DailyToker]

Wow, great post with a ton of helpful information. I've been pondering switching from soil to DWC for awhile now. The results and quality from DWC seem to hold true consistently.

[Motorbuds]

Keep trying different strains and you'll find that some respond even better to the dwc/Lucas combo. I did a grow not too long ago and just threw in 2 Dinafem critical+ I had laying around and they grew crazy. 12oz off of one and 6oz off the other, the other plants in the room only averaged about 5 or so. This was from seed and only had about 3 1/2 weeks veg after the roots hit the water.

 

I've also had some strains not respond very well. I've found that for yield, the strain's the name of the game. 8oz is a very nice yield though, congrats

[Medcnman]

I built my own aeropnics system from the stinkbud jr. plans in the 2010 High Times growers edition. I run a 2 week perpetual grow. I use Botanicare Pro Blend Grow and Liquid Karma in veg for a maximum of 14 days. Bushmaster the last 3 days of veg. In Veg, i run 150/ml Grow and 75/ml LK per 10 gallons in my veg tote. I transfer to my aeroponics after 14 days and us Botanicare Pro Blend Bloom 10ml/ gallon, Liquid Karma and Sweet Raw at 5ml/gallon. I change my rez every 10-14 days and flush with Advanced Nutrients Final Phase for 8 days. I average 2.5-3 ounces dry per plant. I use 1000 wat HPS above each 12 site unit and T-12 garden bulbs underneath. My plants are approxamately 8-10 inches when they go into bloom and finish at about 22-26 inches. Its a simple, inexpensive way to grow quality as well as quantity. Of course, with a proper environment, even miracle grow can produce some pretty nice nugs. Thanks, Medcnman.

[The Mayor]

Thanks DailyToker, I appreciate the kind words. Read up on everything that bubblegrower has put out there because that man has really made my life easier when it comes to getting into dwc and Lucas. Add to that all of the other info/experiences that the great people of this forum are sharing and your grows can be incredible.

 

Motorbuds, thanks for the feedback. I really like my strain and am tight on space so I have yet to try another. However, I have been told by others that it is a good "yielder" so I at least have that. I have access to some really great Blue Cheese clones that I am thinking about going with soon. The person I know that has it is growing in soil, so I would be curious as to my results vs his. He also grew Lemon Paw with pretty good results, and the Blue Cheese is not putting out as much in terms of yield as his LP did. So, we shall see.

 

Medcnman, I was doing a 19 day perpetual cycle and was getting very similar results. 2 plants in a tote would get me 6-7 oz under a 600 watt. Sounds like you've got your grow dialed in with a relatively short cycle. Nice work!

 

I just realized that I didn't mention that I use Florakleen to flush with just before my final flush. 24 hours with that in, then I shoot for 10 days flush overall. I know some people that just use water and it works fine for them so I would say to try it if curious and see if you like the results. I will also try to do 48 hours of darkness at the end of the grow when I am not doing a perpetual and am able. When I have done that in the past, the growth in the size of the buds has been noticeable in that period. Note: I did not do the lights out for the 8oz plant.

 

I just started another batch of 5 plants. 2 bubble totes and a 5 gal. When the roots hit the water the growth rate is almost something you can watch in real time. I am adjusting my T5 light daily. Nice!

 

Also, I went from using the blue long airstones that you can get from Meijer to the round gray ones. Although they are $1 more expensive (each), I find that I really like how well they work. Lots of nice small bubbles, and they stay in place well.

 

I love talking about this stuff.

[Big J]

wow 3 month veg, did she have a tree swing too hehehehehe. nice.. I use those topsey turvey thing to house my mother plants as it keeps them out of the way and my last n/l mama was vegged about 2 months. She threw 5. I have a friend that has a chemdog in his greenhouse still and she has to be 15ft tall at least. prolly more like 20 as she curls down off the roof. Colas as big as my leg and stalk base bigger around then a pop can. God knows what that will throw when done. Couple more weeks and we'll know....

LOL I Know the individual of which you speak I have yet to make the visit to his place. I would love to next summer around now. I have heard it is a sight to see.

[blackjack21]

I just want to make sure I'm understanding this right.

 

Lets say my ppms are 1100 so my calculation would be:

 

(1330-1100)/1330*8ml*50 gallons

 

Then take that numb and multiply it by 1.5 for a total of 103ml micro

 

Then multiply that by 4 which equals 415 ml of bloom.

[TheGanz]

[The Mayor]

I just want to make sure I'm understanding this right.

 

Lets say my ppms are 1100 so my calculation would be:

 

(1330-1100)/1330*8ml*50 gallons

 

Then take that numb and multiply it by 1.5 for a total of 103ml micro

 

Then multiply that by 4 which equals 415 ml of bloom.

 

 

Correction to my previous edits!!!...I multiply the micro amount by 1.25 NOT 1.5. That will pump your res full of too many nutes.

1.25 times your answer from the original Lucas equation for the micro quantity, then multiply that by 4 to get your bloom quantity (instead of 2).

 

I got the idea when learning about the Ionic line and it's Boost product that primarily adds P & K to your res when doing supplemental/replenishing. I kept coming up short with the normal equation so I experimented with ways to increase the amount of P&K that I was adding. I have only done this with the one strain I grow, and have not grown any others.

 

This was only during flower. During veg I use the standard dosage and that for some reason always seems to land me really close to where I should be.

 

Let me know if you try it and what your results are. It would be exciting to know that it works outside of my grow!

[The Mayor]

Also, in veg I replenish with water and Super Thrive only. I change the res every 10 days.

[blackjack21]

Yea I'm using this in my first system but I'm going to be adding a compost tea as well to be safe because I'm running into some issues with reiterate root rot or "the slime" in my second system.

 

So far it's running great but those plants have been in flower for less than a week so I can't wait to see how they are looking in about 5 or 6 weeks.

[The Mayor]

Yea I'm using this in my first system but I'm going to be adding a compost tea as well to be safe because I'm running into some issues with reiterate root rot or "the slime" in my second system.

 

So far it's running great but those plants have been in flower for less than a week so I can't wait to see how they are looking in about 5 or 6 weeks.

 

I just put 4 plants in flower and realized when calculating my nutes that I explained the formula wrong above so I am going to edit it to be correct.

 

I don't multiply the initial Micro total by 1.5, I multiply it by 1.25. Not a lot but it makes a big difference on the other end.

 

My sincere apologies for providing bad data.

 

 

So, it should be (1330-current ppms)/1330*8*# of gallons = ml of micro * 1.25 to get what I use

Then multiply your final answer above by 4 to get the bloom amount.

 

[blackjack21]

Yea it was a bit high on the ppms when I cjeched. Thought I had figured something wrong. Ran the numbers several times. Went with it. So far the plants in that system are doing great. I'll readjust the nutes on the next Res change in a couple days, right now I have another battle to fight in my other system.

 

Now I know I'm not going to get as big of a harvest since I'm only keeping my plants in veg for 14-18 days but I'm still interested to see the results.

 

When I run out of my old nutes I'm gonna switch 100% to Lucas method for both veg and flower.

 

 

Blackjack

[The Mayor]

I bet they were high. I really try to keep them right in the 1330-1340's at the highest.

 

I just put 4 plants in flower last night. They were in veg for 33 days. I trimmed them down twice but they were still about armpit height (including totes) when they went in. I have one shorter one that hasn't been keeping up with it's sisters. I always seem to have one of those.

 

I'll be sure to let everyone know what I get from these having 4 share the light.

[Nix]

Good post. I've been messing with Lucas Formula myself lately in a similar way. Good to see it turned out well for you without burning her up.

 

I think that your genetics, veg time, and especially the amount of light you're using is primarily what gave you an eight oz plant, rather than your nute schedule. I personally would never put all of my eggs in one basket (so to speak). If one plant dies (myriad ways this can happen) then I have others that will still provide a harvest. Looking forward to your next harvest pics. Good luck!

[The Mayor]

Oh for sure. I was actually running a perpetual for several months using this method and my yields kept increasing. I have a record of my yields I'll try to remember to list what the results were. My tampering with the formula started in order to overcome deficiencies, so it was indeed catered to the strain I have. I just used the Ionic approach as my inspiration.

I am not really putting all my eggs in the one basket to be honest. I'd have to say that I've found that all of the details of the grow are important. The most important thing is that you maintain all of your numbers in both nutes and environmental controls as well. Finally, keep it clean too. Thrips and several other pests can show up just because you have to much debris in the room. I learned that the hard way.

 

 

 

Out of curiosity, I added a Tetra Whisper pump to each of the two totes in my flower room. They were both sharing an Eco Plus 38 Liter pump that was bubbling nicely. In the two days since adding that, I have seen an increase in the rate of the bud growth. So, more bubbles definitely can add to the equation.

I'm about to try another strain that I am told does not yield nearly as much as the Lemon Paw along side the Lemon Paw. So, I will indeed see how well this method works as I apply it to another strain.