1St Grow - Help/insight Needed - Dwc Hydro

Discussion in 'First Time Marijuana Growers' started by AdamBomb518, Jul 29, 2014.

  1. Hey guys.  I've started my very first grow 1 week ago after building my custom grow cabinet and acquiring all of the other tools & supplies.
     
    I've got a thread on both the cabinet build as well as my grow journal which can be checked out at the following links:
     
    Grow Cabinet:  http://forum.grasscity.com/grow-room-designsetup/1316897-new-stealth-led-grow-cabinetcloset-build-wheels.html
    Grow Journal:  http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1321429-first-grow-journal-bubbleponicscustom-cabinet450w-lednirvana-seeds.html
     
    I've asked a few questions in the grow journal, but haven't had any responses yet so I figured I'd make a separate thread in this area about the specific questions in there...
     
    Basically, I'm about 1 week into the grow and I want to make sure my little babies look okay.  I'm a bit nervous (as I am with everything) and want to try and have as successful of a grow as possible (don't we all?).
     
    Could you guys please help with the following:
    • [SIZE=10.5pt]Is there anything else I should be doing at this point besides just checking on them?[/SIZE]
    • [SIZE=10.5pt]Do all the sproutings/baby seedlings look okay?[/SIZE]
    • [SIZE=10.5pt]When should I begin adding nutrients?[/SIZE]<ul><li>[SIZE=10.5pt]I was thinking at least 1 more week of just water, then after the second flush, introducing ¼ strength ones.[/SIZE]
    </li>[*][SIZE=10.5pt]Does that one Blackberry look okay?[/SIZE][*][SIZE=10.5pt]Should I leave the light at that height?[/SIZE]
    • <li>[SIZE=10.5pt]When should I start lowering it a little?[/SIZE]
    </li></ul>[SIZE=10.5pt]I've attached several pictures as well.  The grow journal thread will provide a lot more insight in specifics.  Thanks![/SIZE]
     

     

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  2. To Me, Your seedlings look fine. Some seedlings will look a little weird when they first come out.

    About lowering Your plants, LED lights are something I don't know much about, but I've seen them around about a foot close to 1 1/2 foot plants. I am not sure though.

    I recommend using nutes when plant is about a half foot to a full foot. Just make sure the plant isn't very skinny and plent of foilage to take in the nutes.

    Make sure there is nice air flow, not too much, but enough.

    This is a very important part in the plants life, so make sure they have the best start. A healthy start is a healthy finish.

    Make sure to check the pH of Your water, if You are using tap water I recommend distilling it. Or at least boil it for a while. There can be many unhealthy bacteria in tap water.

    Be sure to keep Us updated and ask for gelp if You need it.

    Good luck and have a good day!
     
  3. @[member="GoolashFilms"] Thanks for all the insight!  I've read that plants can look weird when first coming out.  As it basically came out that way vs. the other 2 that seemed to come out "better" looking.  I'll keep an eye on them all as always though.
     
    I'm keeping a steady eye on the pH and it's staying between 5.5 and 6.5.  My tap water is pretty good here with about 140ppm and a pH of 7.4 or so.  I was thinking about getting a Pur filter for the faucet for now since Reverse Osmosis is a bit overkill for right now.
     
    I figure I'm gonna hold off on nutes at least another week, then start with 1/4 strength and work my way up.  I've also got Aquashield I'll be adding along with my nutes to fight off any bad bacteria and give healthy bacteria.
     
    I'll slowly start lowering my lights and see how it affects the plants.  I've read about 1-2" a day is a good start as to not overwhelm them, and if you notice issues, you know that you're too close at a more definitive distance.
     
  4. Nice. Glad to hear Your getting a hang of Your plants. Remember to ask any of Us for more information or tips!
    Keep Us updated on Your grow!
    Have a good day!
    How do You like LED lights compared to others? What is the price range?
     
  5.  
     
    They look good, you seem to have everything ok so far. How many litres per minute is your pump pushing out? The amount of air is very important.
     
    The one seedling looks in a strange way but nothing alarming. Can you take a full colour photo? The LED light hides almost all of the important detail.
     
    You can add nutrients after they are a week old but keep the ppm low, about 250 to start with and see if it rises or falls. Checkout the link in my signature and scroll down to the nutrient thread. It explains how to measure what the plants are taking up.
     
    The light height looks good to me. What LED light is that? 
     
    I would lower the lights a bit once you add some nutes.
     
    The ppm of your tap water is good, I wouldn't worry about trying to changing that. Tap water shouldn't have any bacteria in it, it should be relatively sterile. Certainly a lot more sterile than it will be once it's in the nutrient reservoir. Distilling it requires a lot of very expensive equipment and is simply unnecessary. 
     
  6. ..... Now that I re-read what I wrote about distilling I feel crazy for that. Haha.
    I wish the water here didn't have any bacteria. Water here has a terrible taste and is loaded with white bubbles floating. What ever that stuff is.
     
    Great information GoldGrower. Thank You.
     
    Have a good day.
     
  7. White bubbles are usually from the sudden release of pressure and should clear within a few minutes. If you have a bad taste from bacteria there is something wrong and you should never drink it, it could be lethal. Chlorine is usually added to water to keep it bacteria free, what country are you in ? 
     
  8. California, but the water isn't very good. I don't drink the water, well I try not too as much as I can.
    My aunt worked for home depot, I'm not sure how but home depot did a bunch of water testing around here and found out where I live is terrible.
     
    Probably just above regulations, water from a worse neighborhood than Mine taste better. Haha.
     
  9. I like them a lot so far.  I've read really good reviews on these.  I've got the Vipar 450W "A" Series.  It's a full spectrum with IR and UV.  It cost me around $220 including shipping.  I'm not looking for insane yields as I'm just growing for myself and my girlfriend.  If I have really bad luck and I know everything else is set up and done correctly, I will invest into a "higher end" brand.  From what I've seen though, these produce awesome results and a really great gram per wattage.
     
  10. My air pump is 130 gallons per hour.  So that roughly equates to about 6 liters a minute.  It's the "stealth hydro" 6 planter starter kit, but I changed the reservoir around a bit and am running 6 gallons of water in it.
     
    It does look a bit strange but it seems to be growing alright.  I'm just going to keep my eye on it.  The other ones seem fine so worst case, I'll just have 1 seeding of each strain and train them as best as I can.
     
    I'm attached 5 pictures w/ the LED lights off.  Stupid room doesn't have great "normal" lighting so I apologize for the shitty pictures.
     
    It's the Vipar 450W "A" Series.  I've read great reviews and have seen great grams per watt out of it, so I'm hopeful that it'll do good.  It's a full spectrum w/ UV & IR.
     
    I just flushed and changed the reservoir water today with 6 gallons of pH'd tap water (pH'd at 5.8-6.0) and 20ml of Aquashield for beneficial bacteria.
     
    Thanks for all the help!
     

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  11. Awesome. LED's are aomething I definitely want to try. I would probably make a LED board though since it might be cheaper, plus, why not make something for fun!

    Please keep Me updated.
     
  12. #12 LetGo, Aug 11, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 11, 2014
     
    I have grown for 3 years so far, tried a LOT of different styles of growing.  CFL/HID/LED and organic soil / chemical soil / hydro
    I am one of those people that like to do science projects so I do trial and error.  I LOVED!!!! my blackstar 500w LED but sold it to attempt a 600W hps/mh unit.   I gotta say for personal use LED is the way to go, plenty of good bud for low heat/watt cost.  the 500w led wasn't far off from the 600w hps though(600hps did produce more bud).  So LED's do work, just need the right spectrum and decent led's(3W diodes or greater, no 1W BS)
     
    Again I am no pro and still learning, but I wish I woulda never sold my 500w blackstar for the 600w hps OVERALL.
     
    I will follow this for sure, interested on how well the 200$ 450w setup does since I spent 450 on my old blackstar.
     
    Awesome cabinet btw, I am tempted to build something myself but more "stealthy" since I am in an illegal state unfortunately.
     

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