First Grow.EVER!

[Bill Daily]

Hello everyone thanks for checking out my first ever attempt at growing! I have shaken every branch on the 420magazine Tree of knowledge and feel like I'm ready to give this a shot. This being my first real attempt I could use all the advice you all have to offer.

The strains (all seeds) are:

2 Granddaddy Purple (feminized)
5 Strawberry Cough/Kish hybrid
3 Great White/White Widow hybrid
2 Hindu Kush/Strawberry Cough hybrid

I started germinating on Sep. 16th and feel like I'm working with some great strains.

This is the outside of the flower room. It's 8' by 5.5'

Here you have the entrance to the flower room on the left and the closet that I outfitted for vegging on the right.

My veg closet with the curtain opened up. I'm using a small flood and drain hydro set. The system currently runs 4 times per day for about 15 minutes each cycle.

For lighting in the veg room I've got a 4' 6bulb T5 florescent

Less than 24 hours in the closet and some of them already started sprouting up!

The entrance to my flowering room. I've got a 12 bucket Ebb-n-Gro hydroponic system about ready for some plants!

Another shot of my Ebb&Gro buckets with the control bucket in the back.

I've got a 1000w HPS light for flowering.

A shot of the flower room taken from above. I plan on putting a ceiling on it soon...

I put the 55gal reservoir for the E&G and the ballast for the HPS just outside the flower room to keep them out of the way and provide easy access.

I still need to add some fans for ventilation and I may also add 400 or 600w Metal Halide into the mix at some point.

I will try to keep this journal updated regularly along the way and will be happy to receive any input from you all.

 

[Doc Bud]

Nice and clean.....well thought out.....I like it!

I'm just a week or two ahead of you.

 

[The Butcher]

i'm posted. Cant wait to see this strart up..

 

[Tead]

It's like cooking... and all the ingredients are laid out on the kitchen counter just waitin to mix up something stunning!

Cheers

 

[Setting Sun]

I agree with everyone else. Looks like you've really done your homework.

I'm in!

+rep because tead is right, you got a recipe for success!

DocBud's careful planning and approach to growing is similar, and I really admire that kind of forethought and meticulous approach.

Some grows where someone throws seeds in dirt actually make it to completion, but a whole lot of them just fade away.

 

[The Weed]

Kudos SweeneyTodd!! Great job with your set-up and equipment selection. Sounds like a wonderful Seed collection too. Best of luck in the coming weeks. Happy growing! I'm signed up!

 

[The Butcher]

I agree with everyone else. Looks like you've really done your homework.

I'm in!

+rep because tead is right, you got a recipe for success!

DocBud's careful planning and approach to growing is similar, and I really admire that kind of forethought and meticulous approach.

Some grows where someone throws seeds in dirt actually make it to completion, but a whole lot of them just fade away.

damn you soo rite so many do fade away..

 

[crossjoint]

Sweeney Todd, Very nice and clean!!!! Hella props man++ !!! Cant wait till these take off. Im tuned in. Wish you all the best man! Canit wait for update pics!

 

[The Butcher]

if you havent yet check out grenislands and pitvipers grow thier using the same system as you. AS will i soon..Those two can help you out with working the kinks out.

 

[Bill Daily]

I appreciate the comments and the good words so far. I'm a big fan of your journals and it's encouraging to get your feedback. Nothing much to report today. A few more sprouts are coming up out of the cubes with a few still trying to shake the shell. Would helping them along be a problem or should I just let them do their thing? My PH seems to keep jumping up on me. I tested it and it came out around 8 so I dropped a few teaspoons of PH Down which helped but later in the day it was up on me again. I'm hesitant to keep dumping PH Downer into the system...

When I got my Ebb&Gro system I was happy to discover they included a free box of Nutrients. It's a Technaflora starter kit and seems to have some decent products to at least get me up and going.

Is there a rule of thumb on how often I should be adding nutrients?

So far so good I think but if for some reason I run into a major problem with these seeds I've got a lead on some solid clones.

I'll get some updated pics up sooner than later. Stay tuned!



Edit: I just found the "NUTES - What To Use and How to use them - Tutorial" in the FAQ page so that should be helpful in answering my nutrients question.

 

[The Butcher]

rule of thumb: always start out at 1/4 strength of what ever thew nute program says.And make sure you do this with that recipe for success. I've used it before.I'll post more info manana. Hope this helps out.

 

[BUD08]

Every thing seems to be coming along very well for you. Looks like you have every thing that you need to have a very nice grow. + rep and im in to watch this for sure!

Very cool looking box of nutes though, where did you come to find that? Seems to have every thing that a person would want for a good hydo grow. +rep

 

[Tead]

Oh look... more ingredients for the Gumbo!

Technaflora publishes a "Recipe for Success" that has the feeding schedule... and The Butcher's advice about starting at 1/4 strength is spot on.


Cheers!

 

[HazeSeeker]

Nice , love the setup and everything looks like its gonna be a good one .
here....some reps for luck ...+

 

[Doc Bud]

This looks like a winner to me.

Get a really good PH meter and use it. I used the liquid test kits and I could get within .5 of my goal......which is the difference between OK and perfect.

Hydro is even less forgiving.....you gotta get that PH on the nose! 5.8.

I think your nutes have buffers....which will make that easier, but I'd PH the water before adding nutes in that case, because that will mean less salt buildup overall.

 

[The Butcher]

This looks like a winner to me.

Get a really good PH meter and use it. I used the liquid test kits and I could get within .5 of my goal......which is the difference between OK and perfect.

Hydro is even less forgiving.....you gotta get that PH on the nose! 5.8.

I think your nutes have buffers....which will make that easier, but I'd PH the water before adding nutes in that case, because that will mean less salt buildup overall.

I agree with the p.h tester for sure.

But DON'T adjust the p.h til after you've put your nutes in keep in mind that those nutes WILL bring your p.h down so if you ajust before your going to be up sh*ts creek forsure. Matter of fact i think the recipe even says to adjust fallowing checking the p.h initially. And make sure you put the boost in first then the rest. If not it willl have a chemical reaction that will be harmful to your plants.

 

[diddydane]

i tried putting that pic i had from your grow room up sweeney, but im a computer fool and couldnt figure out how to do it. Anyways the set up looks good as hell and i cant wait till the 1st harvest. keep up the good work and you'll be smoking soon enough.
-diddy-

 

[Steve McStoferson]

nice setup dude! It looks like you're on your way to some succulent buds!

 

[Bill Daily]

After about 9 days in the system things seem to be coming along okay. Two of the twelve I was working with didn't want to sprout but I'm happy with the remaining 10's progress. I took your advice and invested in a better Ph meter which is going to be helpful as my Ph has been jumping around on me quite a bit. I'm fairly certain I over Nuted at first but when I refreshed my reservoir with some new water I cut way back. I dropped the T5 down so it was nearly on top of the plants and added a small fan I had laying around just to keep some air flowing. The plants seem to have developed pretty strong root systems and I feel like I'm going to have to get some bigger cubes soon.

 

[Bill Daily]

Just over 2 weeks into the grow and I'm not loving some things I'm seeing on my plants. The leaves all seem somewhat droopy and a few of them have some brown spots on them. I'm pretty sure the spots are from my over nuteing at first. Could it be something else?

Any ideas why the plants are saggy? Too much water? Bad Ph? Other?

Would you suggest I scrap the worst looking of the bunch and start fresh or ride these out and hope for the best?

This plant was bent in a weird way...

So I used this stick to prop it up.

Some of my plants are still looking pretty nice!


I'm going to move them into the Ebb 'N Gro soon and veg in there for a while under a 1000w MH conversion bulb I just picked up. I also have a connection to some clones which I'm tempted to pick up and get rolling.

Let me know what you think!