DWC with Top-Feeding for Aurora Indica

DWC with Top-Feeding for Aurora Indica

• February
• March
• April
• June

DWC or Deep Water Culture is considered as the purest form of hydroponics. Through this method, you won’t need soil because the grow medium will be the nutrient-water in which the plants are immersed.

This practice may seem odd for people who are constantly worried about overwatering. Won’t constant water exposure drown the plants? Turns out that if enough air is bubbled into the water and the plants are kept at the right temperature, the plants will thrive! With the addition of some nutrients and you have a powerful growing setup.

In order for the DWC method to be successful, it needs to have mineral-based nutrients. Most well-established brands work well especially if they have balanced mineral ratios designed for hydroponic applications.

Don’t be too liberal in the application of nutes, though because it might affect your reservoir’s pH. DWC requires a pH range of 5.5 to 6.5 for optimal vegetative growth and pH 5.7 to 5.9 for flowering and fruiting. Also keep the EC/TDS on the low side. If you’re unsure, try half of the recommended dose first when the plants are still young.

Nutrient solution should be replaced every 2 to 3 weeks but this may also depend on how big or how fast your plants are growing.

Some DWC setups are supplemented with top-feeding. Top-feeding takes water from the reservoir and trickles it directly onto your seedling roots to encourage the seedlings to grow faster. Some people also refer to this method as “bubbleponics.”

Is it worth it to add top-feeding to the setup? Growers claim seedlings sprout and develop leaves faster in the beginning but benefits are also said to diminish after a few weeks. This grow journal will explore the effects of a DWC grow with top-feeding.

Grower: Nulife
Yield: 5.65 ounces or 160.33g
Location: NA

September 4^th

This grow starts out with 3 Aurora Indica Feminized seeds. Two days ago, the seeds were soaked in water for 6 hours, then started with the paper towel method overnight, on top of a heating pad and a bowl covering the paper towel. Two of the seeds popped open but one didn’t. Still, all three were planted into Rapid Rooters then in the DWC tank by September 3^rd.

The other supplies used in this grow are:

• Grow tent – 2’ x 4’ x 6.5’
• Grow medium – Top-Fed DWC with 10 gallons of Sterilite Tote, 3.75-inch Netpots, and clay pebbles soaked in pH 5.45 water
• Lights – 300W 9 band LEDs positioned 40 inches away from the top of the plants
• Light schedule – 24 hour light schedule until switch to flowering (12/12)
• Nutrients – General Hydroponics FloraMicro, Gro, and Bloom
• Pest control – Amdro Home Defense Pest Killer used 24 hours prior to starting the grow
• Tank maintenance – Reservoir replacement every 7 days
• Tent temperature – 77 to 81 degrees Fahrenheit
• Tent Humidity – 50 to 60%

Here are some photos of the setup.

September 6^th

Three days from planting and a winner is born! She’ll be called A1. She’s only just about sprouted and she still has her seed cap on.

However, just a few hours later, the mistake made became apparent. The seeds weren’t planted low enough so they were gently pushed down the hole. They’re fragile seedlings but they should be able to survive.
You can see the roots sticking out in this photo.

And here are some photos after pushing them back in.

September 10^th

Since two of the plants are showing leaves, they were given nutes for the first time. The following measurements were used for a 5-gallon tank at pH 5.5:

• Microflora 1.25 tsp
• Groflora – 1.25 tsp
• Bloomflora – 1.25 tsp
• pH Down – 2.25 tsp

Here are the two plants side by side.

And check out the awesome photo of the first root showing from Plant 2.

September 17^th

Seed 3 never sprouted so it was replaced with a new seed which was planted yesterday.

Meanwhile, Plant 2 has quite a decent amount of roots showing. Plant 1 does not have any roots showing. The reservoir was given the same nutes as Week 1 because there’s a new seedling in the tank. 10mL of Hydroguard was also added to the water.

The newly-planted seed is under this bowl.

September 18^th

Today marks the start of Week 2. An ice pack was placed into the water because even with only one 300W LED and insulation, tent temperatures are higher than desired. After adding the ice pack, temps immediately dropped to about 74 degrees Fahrenheit.

Plant 1’s roots are finally starting to show.

Meanwhile, Plant 2 has roots that are much more advanced.

September 23^rd

Decided to top Plants 1 and 2 today. Seed 3 still hasn’t popped up so it was took out and is now undergoing the paper towel method with a heating pad underneath it to try to get it to pop.

Here are plants 1 (left) and 2 (right).

Some tops were taken from the plants.

September 24^th

It’s the start of the 3^rd week. The reservoir water was changed to the following:

• 5 gallons of pH 5.5 (552 PPMs)
• Micro – 2.5 tsp
• Gro – 2.5 tsp
• Bloom – 2.5 tsp
• pH Down – 2.5 tsp
• Hydroguar