Hi Everyone and happy Quarantine to you! I have grown outdoor a few times (not extremely successful as last good gorilla grow was raided!) However, with the downtime that I have now and the equipment that I slowly accumulated over the years I have started a small indoor operation and would like to post my updates here for comments/criticism/viewing, and also so that I can look back on it and improve for my future grows. Setup: 2 x 4 x 5 VIVOSUN Mylar Hydroponic Grow Tent (amazon link) BESTVA SAMSUM Series 2000W COB Led Grow Light Full Spectrum (amazon link) VIVOSUN Air Filtration Kit - 8 inch Carbon Filter (amazon link) 3 HydroPod DWC 5 Gallon Buckets (cheap amazon kits-- I wont be using these again) (amazon link) Bluelab Guardian Monitor for PH, Temp & Conductivity (this thing is awesome but $$$) (amazon link) 2 Small Oscillating Fans Another small fan/air purifier/dehumidifier (not using the dehumid just yet) US Energy AD5 Reflective Foam Core Insulation (amazon link) On the way: 4 Inch Stone Disks (amazon link) 35W 65L/min 6 outlet Air Pump (amazon link) Nutrients: I have a ton of different options here as I've acquired some stuff from buddies who have done this a few times. I am still trying to figure out which are best: General Hydroponics: FloraGro, FloraBloom, & FloraMicro VEG + Bloom Dirty SHINE Bloom Additive Cal-Mag Plus Recharge Tribus (Rhizobacteria Promoter) Great White Mycorrihizac Humboldt Nutrients Verde Growth Enhancer Humboldts Secret Base A & Base B Humboldts Secret Golden Tree Fox Farm Grow Big Obviously, I am not going to use all of these different nutrients and am posting them so that you all can give me thoughts on which are better and help me setup a proper feeding schedule. Environment: Temps/Humidty: I live in the tropics and its very hot and humid here. I have been working to get my grow tent temperatures down with all the fans, doing some rigging on my AC units to block the vents to non-grow rooms and filter as much air as I can into the grow room. The grow tent temp was running pretty warm up to 84 degrees until I made some changes to my AC and added all the fans and now I have it to about 76 during the day (todays the first day since the changes). The water was running very warm up to like 78 but i have since then insulated the buckets and am rotating big ice packs in and out of the water. The humidity has been in the 40-50% range which is surprising because its normally about 80% humidity outside of my house. I think that all the fans, the ventilation, and the heat from the lamp are making that about 45% on average which seems like it should be ideal for now. Water: Unfortunately I do not have access to RO water, so I have been using tap and running it through a brita filter to lower the EC. Tap Water Reading: PH of 7.4 PPM (ECx700) of 160 EC/CF of 0.2 (Which of EC readings is standard in hydroponics?) Brita Filtered Water Reading: PH of 6.6 PPM (ECx700) of 110 EC/CF of 0.2 Grow Medium / Germination: I am using the rockwool that came with the DWC buckets and I really am disliking it. For the netpots I have them filled with Grow rocks. I also do not really like these as I washed them down very good for about an hour prior to adding them and I have found that they are still altering the current water readings and causing the PH to rise. I have ordered some Root Riot starters for the next round of seed germination. 1st Attempt: I started one of my seeds (Sleepy Yoda Autoflower) using paper towel method (4 days) and after it sprouted about 2 inches I inserted into the rockwool and let it germinate for another day and then added it into the grow tent / net pot. 2nd Attempt: The next round I started 3 seeds (Pineapple Express Autoflower) directly in the rockwool inside of a container that I have that is for creating clones - however I am using it to enclose my rockwool that has been presoaked in a balanced PH water. I put a little water at the bottom to keep it moist and stick it in a dark room. All 3 of these seeds sprouted in the rockwool however 2 died shortly after I moved them into the grow tent. I believe that it was due to the very high heat which I have since then fixed. 3rd Attempt: Currently have 4 Wappa Autoflower seeds that I soaked for 24 hours in PH balanced water and have since then added to the rockwool like the above attempt and will hopefully be adding 1-2 of these seedlings to the grow tent. Genetics of Seeds: Sleepy Yoda AutoFlower (Philosopher Seeds) Pineapple Express Auto Flower (G13) Wappa Autoflower (Paradise Seeds) Pics of Grow Setup: Week 1 Analysis: I have been battling with the PH of the water constantly rising. I have also been battling with keeping the heat down. Today both of those have finally somewhat stabilized. April 8th Tent Reading: Tent Temp: 77 F Tent Humidity: 49% Water Temperature: 69 F Water PH: 5.8 Water ppm: 280 So I am constantly checking the water PH and Temp and it has finally begun to stabilize. On April 6th (2 days ago) I added the following nutrients to the buckets: 5ml of FloraGrow (into about 4 gallons in each bucket) 1ml of Tribus Rhizobacteria Each of their PPM readings were right below 300 PPM Today, April 8th (2 days later), the readings are 280 PPM (sleepy yoda) and 270 PPM (pineapple express) Over the past few days i have been adding PH Down to each as they keep rising to close to 7 PH after I set them at 5.5 12 hours prior. Today's rise wasn't as much as I believe that the air rocks have finally fully diluted and the temperature control is better. I added 5ml of Calmag to each container prior to the above reading Pictures of the Seedlings: Plant 1 (Sleepy Yoda) 12 Days Old - Birthday 3/27 Under the LED light set to VEG the new leaves are looking a little yellow/brownish. In the pics without the lights on it looks good The roots are popping through the rockwool pretty nicely however haven't made it down through the netpot. I have the water level about 1 inch below the rockwool bottom so it is getting some splash from the water bubbling Plant 2 (Pineapple Express) 8 Days Old - Birthday 4/1 Still small but the coloring looks good on this one The roots are popping through the sides of the rockwool but still need to grow a bit to reach the reservoir. Summary / Comments / Questions: I apologize for the very long winded and information overload on this original post just wanted to document everything throughout the process. I have been running the LED light 24 hours a day but have it turned off right now to allow the tent to cool and give the little babies a break. The standard pumps and air rocks with these DWC buckets are not very good so I am patiently waiting for my new air-rocks to arrive with the stronger pump that will fit all 3 of my buckets rather then having 3 separate pumps adding to the electricity and heat. Wrapping the DWC buckets in the foam insulation and adding ice packs have seemed to really make a difference! I have made a few mistakes with the heat and not letting the seedlings germinate long enough before putting them into the buckets, I am letting this next batch get a little larger before putting them in the tent. Some of my questions: Which nutrient combo should I use and in what doses? Should I add CO2 exhale bag to the tent to help offset some of the high temp? How long should I wait until moving the rockwool or root riot seedlings into the netpots? What is the optimal lighting schedule for DWC? Anything else that I am missing?
I confess to not having read your post, but looked only at the questions. Greenleaf Megacrop, the 1-part solid fertilizer from seed to harvest, and nothing else, is what I use. I try to keep weekly starting ppm about 100*Week# up to about week 6, so at the start of week 3, I'm at 300 ppm (500 scale). Exhale bags are worthless in a vented tent, according to my co2 meter. I move mine into netpots as soon as they sprout, and give them a little light immediately, and food a day or two later, around 80 ppm. 20-4 is most popular, followed by 18-6, then 24-0. I use 18-6 to keep the temperature of the reservoir lower, and the plants seem to like it best. I've also tried 24-0 and 20-4, and the plants didn't seem to like those as well. If you want the most growth, and tent volume isn't a problem (it is for me), then follow the Vapor Pressure Deficit chart. Its high humidity recommendations are best fulfilled by top fill ultrasonic humidifiers. Don't over-feed or over-radiate, which will create unhealthy plants. I tried pushing the envelope on both recently, and the plants didn't like it. Good luck, and expect huge, high yielding autos in hydro. Too much growth can be an issue, and it might not be controllable with topping, pruning, or any other techniques. Right now I've got 2 tents nearly packed with dwc auto vegetation, from bottom to top 9 ft away.
When the plants start eating more, you'll be able to dial in ppm by watching how it changes from day to day. If ppm falls, the plants are eating more than drinking, so ppm needs to be increased. If ppm rises, the plants are drinking more than eating, so ppm needs to be reduced. Good Luck!
Thank you for your reply Wild Bill! Do you typically shut the lights off during the day? Its most hot in my room during the day so I think running at night and off during the day might be the best approach to let thing cool down every day.
I grow in a cool basement, so heat isn't usually a problem, and I have lights off from midnight to 6am. Your plan to keep lights off during the day sounds good.