So this is my first grow and I have been studying up on what i think i will need and how i should be doing it. i ve got a pretty good idea on the setup but just wanted some experianced input on the specifices. i was planning on using a water culture hydroponic setup with the rubbermaid container but im not sure what size to use. i wanted to grow some strain of auto-flowering lowryder because from what i was reading and my schedule it seemed the easiest. because i wont be able to be there every day to check like probably once a week. but def more if i hear thats not enough. and thats kinda the reason i chose hydro was because i can only conveinantlycheck on it on the weekends and it seemed easier but im not 100 percent but it sounded logical to me i chose to use a 90w ufo led for the electricity efficency and the reduced heat. i only got one but the square foot coverage info seems to be diffrent depending on who you ask but the paper it came with said 20 meters squared but that seems like alot to me. should i get another i dont plan on growing many plants just enough for myself. i was thinkin maybe like 4-6 . im not sure at all what nutrients to use. thats been a real stumper. if i use an auto flower do i feed it veg nutrients for the first few weeks then go to bloom and flowering after i sex them or ... well really im not positve what to do at all well thanks for any help you can give and my bad for so many questions just wanna get it as right as possible the first time cause im pretty tired of smoking dirt and for a pretty penny too well yup thanks again everybody and spread the smoke
my 90 w ufo just blew up after less than 1000 hrs use. home grown hydroponics is selling these as hi end leds and they turn out to be cheap chineese knockoffs. leds are not what they claim to be. i am switching to a 200w cfl the led was in my vegging cabinet . the led did ok for vegging. it wouldnt flower worth a damn. so i use hps to flower. BE VERY CAREFUL WITH LED LIGHTING 90% of them are not what they say they are period.
First off, I have zero experience with LEDs or auto flowering strains. But, I hear that 100 actual watts per plants is the minimum people grow with. I'd recommend supplementing the UFO with some CFLs. 20 square meters on a single 90w LED is ridiculous. That's like 8 ft x 8 ft. I wouldn't put my 600w HPS over an area that big. I would roll with a single plant under that UFO. I don't recommend one brand of nutes over any others. At the moment I am using Technaflora products (BC boost, BC grow, BC bloom) and got no complaints. I've used General Hydroponics on the Lucas Formula and can't complain there either. Some people get uptight about checking and adjusting there nutes and pH in the reservoir(s) constantly. I go days without checking on 'em or topping off. So long as most of the roots are in the water they're happy. Hope this helps some, I wish you much growing success
i would recommend something besides led lighting, especially a 90 watt. Use an hid light. If you have heat problems, use a cool tube and a ventilation fan. Ive seen grows from cfl lights that have been great, but seriously, the hid is where its at.
thanks for all the input im super stoked to finally be doing it but the place where i planned to grow is in a garage near where there has been an outdoor bust from overhead heat signitures can they pick that stuff up if your growing in doors
Think about the lights in your grandmas house, all those incandescent bulbs all over the place. You're wanting to roll with a 90w light, in one spot. That's less heat and less power consumption than a 100w incandescent bulb. If the bust was outside and it was spotted from the air it's because someone saw it, not because of thermal detection. If someone was, say, growing in multiple rooms of a house, 3000-4000w per room then I imagine a copter in the sky would pick up a couple thousand square feet of red/orange thermal images. DEA doesn't care about someone growing 1 or 2 plants, they want the big players. Even local cops aren't going door-to-door sniffing for pot, but they are the ones that will be dicks and bust someone for a seed if they suspect something. So, if you're smart about it, there's nothing to worry about.
i would definitely be worried about the infrared given off, you can never be too careful. as i said tho, you can use a cooltube on an hid light and dissipate the heat over a wide area to avoid detection. you could use a fucking shit ton of cfl lights, but make sure you go by actual wattage not what it says its equal to.
