What up GC? I have been doing my research on here for some time now. I have done 1 soil grow and have decided to step up to hydro. I am going with bubble buckets, running two in my closet. Not the biggest area to work with, but it will have to do. I plan on running a scrog grow. i have two femed seeds and figure I will just germ them and go from there. never used femed seeds so hopefully it does what it claims to do...lol. Anyway my questions. 1.) For the rock-wool pre-soak I have read various thoughts and opinions as far as what to soak it in. How "basic" as far a pH goes is the rock-wool? Should i soak in an acidic solution for 24 hours or just a neutral pH solution? 2.) In my hunt for the right water I have been told to get R.O., I have only been able to find "purified" water at my local stores. The Label says it is a 3 part process with R.O. being one of the steps. Will this water work? Also can I just use distilled water? if I can do I need to add anything to it or "treat" it before I start the grow? 3.) This is dealing with water level of the BB. So I plan on just germing the seed and placing it in my 1" RW cubes, which will then be surrounded by hydroton in the 6" net pot. So how high should I start my water level in order to get the seedling enough water? Will the hydrton wick water up to the young roots or should I just have the net pot sitting in water until the roots start to show out of the bottom? Or is there a better method to start this? 4.) use nutes throughout the entire grow from start, or wait until the plant has roots out of the netpot to start adding nutes? Don't want to burn the girls... Anyway sorry for all the questions, but those 4 are where the opinions differed the most. Thanks again GC or all the help and support. I will be starting a grow journal shortly after I get everything squared away. -Budz
Hey I am a newbie on my 1st grow with hydro dwc and I can give some help but don't take it as gold but for question: 2 I use tap water I let it sit for 24hrs then ph, when time for nutes I add nutes first then ph up\down if needed. 3 I let my water touch cups about 1\2 inch up then drop to 1\2 to 1 inch below cups once roots r in the solution. 4 no nutes until week 2 (not completly sure) Question 1 sorry unsure I used perlite. Hope this could help, like I said I new just 38 days into my grow so feel free to wait for more exp input.
Thanks man, any experience is better than none in my book. I will look into the tap water too. Thanks again. Anyone else have any answers. Thanks GC
like headiebudz I use tapwater that sits out for 24 hours. I would say to let the water just touch the bottom of the pots and lower it as the roots hit the water. As far as nutes go you dont wanna give them nutes at first...and when you finally do start off with like 1/8th strength. Pre-mix your nutes too. I use Roots Organics and measure out the dose, dump it in a 1 gallon CLEAN jug then add water and stir like crazy then pour into my rez. Wait about 10 minutes then repeat the process for the next nute. Once Ive added all my nutes I check the pH. My water starts out at about 8.5pH but after all the nutes its down in like the 5-6 range. Sorry, Im rambling...best of luck!
Thanks for the info smokin. I am using the GH three part formula. I was planning on waiting for a week or so before adding nutes like you said. So I am using 5 gallon bubble buckets. From what I gather I should start teh seedlings off with only pH balanced water for the first week or so then add the nutes, but my question would be how to go about doing that? Should I mix a new 5 gallon solution with the nutes mixed in and then put the plant into that or can I just dd nutes to the current water? Thanks again.
Yo! in the same boat...........newbe to Hydro but from what I have learned is that you soak the RW in a solution of h2o at 5.5 on the ph meter. One dude said for 24hrs but thats a bit long. The RW will absorb enough moisture to start the seed growing. No nutes till its along in at least 3 leafs big. GH stuff very lean till it gets stronger. I believe that the bubbler/air stone will put enough moisture in the bucket to keep the RW moist once the baby is kickin and needs more room move to a large RW holder and put in the Clay pebbles stuff, follow the GH solution formula and learn as you grow! Cool stuff Herb
I would say to start fresh with new water when you add the nutes. My system runs off of a pump constantly re-circulating the water. When I do my water and rez changes I change all the water then get it all circulating with tepid water i.e. sitting out for 24 hours to dissolve chlorine. Once its all running and water is being pumped in and its draining out then I unhook my pump and use that water already circulating to fill my mixing jug. Mix, re-connect pump, get everything flowing, then add my first nutrient mix. Let it all cycle through (about 5-10 minutes) then repeat for my next nute. All in all it takes about an hour to add my nutes. Its kind of a pain to keep connecting and disconnecting the pump hose but hey, it works for me. I dont know much about GH cuz this is my first grow but alot of ppl use it. What I would do is figure out how ur gonna change the water and such when they get big. Lifting a baby out of the bucket is easy but what about when it is 3ft tall with a massive root ball underneath you dont wanna damage? Are you gonna start a grow journal or is this it? If you are starting or have started a diff one send me the link cuz I wanna follow this grow!
I will be starting a journal. I am still waiting on the last pieces of this puzzle to arrive so I can complete the grow area. But yea a journal will be made. Thanks again everyone for the advice and help. I am sure I will have many more questions as this grow progresses. Thanks again GC. -Budz