1st time grower

Discussion in 'Hydroponic Growing' started by 42Orasta, Jul 24, 2013.

  1. #1 42Orasta, Jul 24, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 24, 2013
    I've researched the hell out of this for about two years now.
    But all that reading dosent give me field experience.

    So here what Iwas thinking as far as equipment:
    10 fem'd white widows seeds
    10 fem'd ice seeds
    600w hps/mh w/cooling ballast
    4" inline 165cfm
    4"*12" carbon filter (for odor)
    Propagation dome
    Dundas jafine 6"*25' duct for lights ventilation
    Fiskars
    1.5" RW
    Superponics 8 plant hdydro. Sys.??? ( not sure though)
    Ph test kit
    Tds test kit
    All purpose 20*20*20
    Cost of equipment is around 400$
    Possibly a RO sys. 520$ 1000gpd or distilled waters for now

    am I forgetting anything also i want to build a grow room 6'h*5'w*2'd
    Suggestions and insight are more than welcome
     
  2. Also was looking to do a scrog but I'm rather clueless about how to approach it
     
  3. forget the 20-20-20. Get a good hydro line of nutes, I like GH. Check out Lucas formula, it's cheap and easy. Dont skimp on lighting. A good socket, bulb, ballast and air cooled hood is goona cost 300-400 so be prepared to spend more than the 400 you were thinking. A chiller for the rez should also be used. You're also going to need a fan for the air cooled hood, 6" with at least 400cfm (the filter needs to be 6", recommend a phresh brand). The 4" duct and fan is for intake. You can use a smaller size ro filter to save some dough, it will just run slower.
     
  4. The 20-20-20 is for the seedlings
    If the case of the light is about bulb socket and air cooled hood you could spend 2k on lights
    I found apollo horticulture for less than 200$ and its air cooled ballast and hood
    I figured I would need a fan for the intake/ outtake of air for the light
    But what's this res. Chiller? Never heard of this
     
  5. Seedlings won't need any nutrients for some time.  Lucas formula is one bottle of nutrients for all stages of plant growth.   It's simple, and very effective.  It's the best way to learn hydroponics.
     
    On that note, check out a Hempy bucket, as your first method of hyrdoponics, and try Lucas as your first nutrient regime.  It's tough to go wrong in that regard.
     
  6. #6 GoldGrower, Aug 4, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 4, 2013
    what hydro system are you planning to use? for first timers I would recommend DWC or one of its variants.
     
    I would use proper cannabis aimed hydro nutes.
    why use reverse osmosis water? what's wrong with your tap water?
    give your seedlings regular veg nutes, in the correct strength obviosly.
     
    what's fiskers?
    what's rw?
     
    I'm not sure what a PH and ppm kit is, just get some cheap digital meters. I use the £10 Chinese ones and they work perfectly well and last many years. 
     
    your  total spend sounds ridiculous. you don't need to spend that sort of cash.
     
    what size is your grow area?
     
  7. * I plan on making a simple d.w.c. setup 4-5gal buckets, 6" bucket lids, and a couple air-pumps.
    * I've had GH floral series performance, the ro would be for the 200ppm tap water, really its more for the fluoride content that's end the water tho.
    I plan on starting the nutes about a 1/4-1/3tsp strength. and add more gradually.
    * Fiskers fancy name for $10 trimmers
    RW is an abbreveation for rockwool
    * As for the ppm meter ph meter and ec meter its just been research on the best one to use for multi-fuction.
    * My grow room is going to be 4'x4'x6.5' or 120cm*120cm*200cm
    The reason for the cost is all this will be purchased
     
  8. #8 GoldGrower, Aug 4, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 4, 2013
    DWC is a nice and simple place to start, but make sure you have enough air going through the system. more air = more bud. I recommend no less than 10L/m per 5 gallon bucket

    my tap water is 0.1 so I guess yours is quite a bit stronger, but are you sure you need it? it's quite expensive

    don't add nutes like that, use an EC or ppm meter and do it properly. having the EC exactly how the plants want it makes a huge difference. the meter will tell you exactly what the plants require, you just need to match it.

    use the smallest piece of rockwool you can get away with. that stuff holds way too much water

    your better off just buying a cheap Chinese £10 EC and PH meters, they are easy to use, cheap and last for years. their accuracy is way more than you need.

    that's a nice size grow area for a 600w I would probably have 9x 5gallon buckets in there
     

  9. * I was looking at a 571gph air pump its a little less than 7L/m but I that should be okay, right?

    * I was doin some research on ro and found that a store down the road sells it for $1/gal, still haven't decided rather to use the tap or not.

    * do you know an equation for getting the right or maybe some type of link for info because I'm lost on the e.c.-ppm portion.

    * The rw is 1.5" or 4cm

    * I'm hoping to get 12 plants in there down the road and also add 200w led for the side to increase yield of lower branches possibly even add some dry ice as well as scrog but that will be awile from now :(
     
  10. #10 GoldGrower, Aug 5, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 5, 2013
    some of this is fact, and some of this is my opinion..

    one of those pumps per bucket will do ok, more air = more bud, but dropping to 7L/m is certainly not going to harm the plant

    if I were you I would buy the water and mix it with your tap water until you see an EC of 0.2, that won't harm your plant at all and it will save you buying so much water.

    I would do that for the first grow and then switch to tap water for the second, if you see any problems just top up your tank with the store bought water.

    test your nutrient solution every day. if the strength rises its too strong. if the strength falls, it's too weak.
    the idea is to get the water and dissolved solids the same ratio as the plant is currently using. that's the goldgrower method. it works for me, I never get any nutrient issues be it under or over fertilised

    I would cut a 1cm cube of rockwool and use that to germinate each seed. you can put it in the system right away then and it gets more air and grows faster.

    ScrOG is a great way to maximize the usage of the light. with a 600w lamp there's probably not that much need to go to the trouble as it has so much penetration of good light. for smaller grows it makes a big difference though

    I wouldn't bother with led, they are total rubbish compared to hps watt for watt or cost for cost. if you want to up the lighting I suggest buying a dimmable 600 watt hps now, and when you want to add more light buy another 600w dimmable hps. you can then run both on 400watts giving you 800watts and you will have a far far better result compared to adding 200w of led. you can then have both running on 600 if your ventilation can handle it.

    if your reason of adding dry ice is to add co2, in my experience adding co2 only makes a difference if you have everything else spot on and even then your far better off using co2 from a bottle or fire extinguisher. using dry ice isn't worth bothering with. when using co2 you need to have cool tubes so you can close all other ventilation while adding it. otherwise it will get sucked out straight away. your better off spending your money on a bigger exhaust fan and better circulatory fans. this will give you plenty of co2
     
  11. * I like your idea of mixing the ro water with tap water thanks for bringing that
    To my attention definitely. Noted.
    Well that was some good advice to know ^\\/^

    * I'm curious would a 4" 165cfm be enough to sustain enough CO2 for the grow room or I heard about increase veg and increase bloom that supposed to be ion&charged CO2
     
  12. I think a 4" fan maybe ok but to be sure I would use a 6" fan to draw air out and a 4-5" bringing air in.

    the 4" exhaust may be ok if it has no ducting and no filter to move air through
     
  13. I will be applying a filter for any odors the plants may give.
    The carbon filter dimensions: 4"*12" virgin charcoal carbon filter with pad around it to mask any particles from enter the filter chamber.

    The fans are quite expensive so I was trying to find way to reduce budget.
    do you have any experience using, *Increase veg and Increase bloom?
    * it says it has ionized and charged CO2 that's applicable directly to the leaves. Its also highly concentrated at 1800ppm per bottle.
    I'm really considering adding this to the nute list.
     
  14. I have no idea what that is but in my 20+ years of experience to get any benefit from any of these "magic" potions you need to have everything spot on, and I really do mean spot on. even now after countless successful grows rarely do I get everything spot on. it's hard to give the plants enough light to the leaves and oxygen to the roots.

    my advice is to keep things simple, get one nutrient program and practice getting it right a few times. getting your nutes in balance will give you far more extra bud than any booster
     
  15. Well shoot, thanks for that advice you just save me a whole bundle of time.
    Theoretically speaking if I had 2 oscillating fan blowing on the plants as well as the 400cfm exhaust, would that allow the plant to use a liquid form of CO2; that was sprayed directly on the foliage to induce massive colas if it was spot on.
    I hope to be able to fulfil my passion for 20+ years one day.
    Just thought id say that's kick-ass!
     
  16. if you sprayed the plants with liquid co2 it would freeze them. I don't understand what you mean. do you have a link to this product for sale? adding co2 in its gas state is only useful if you have the plants metabolism running very fast. it's really not something worth concerning yourself about. learn to get your nutes balanced, light fully utilized and get as much oxygen to the roots as possible. if you get all this right then adding co2 can help. but then you will have to change your ventilation set up to quite a degree. in my opinion your better off adding more light if you ever get to that stage
     
  17. I see your point well I plan on making my own strain one day, so it best I take the words of a experienced farmer.
    Here the link:
    http://www.hydroponics.net/i/138701
    The way they sell there product seems easy yet confusing.
     
  18. thanks for the link. it looks like they have mixed some nutes in with carbonated water. in my opinion totally pointless as wetting the stomata (breathing holes) stops gaseous exchange. plus spraying the water will release the co2 pretty much straight away. and as far as the nutrients go, if you have your nutes correctly balanced then adding more via spray (if it's even possible for the plant to utilise it) will actually overdose the plant...
     
    sorry about the rant, there are so many products out there with empty promises using marketing patter to target newbies that just don't know any better
     
  19. Shit... lol, well good thing I have an experienced grower with me to help me out. Sucks that there's always going to be those few people who promise expansion in yield and turn out to be the exact opposite.
     
  20. As far as growing I was thinking about sativas as my first indoor grow just because indica is readily available if I wanted it plus I hate the body buzz when I'm trying to get task done but Ihave a few indies in mind.
    Okay, so the main question is how hard would it be growing sativs and indies
    In the same room? And whitch would you suggest I start with.
     

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