Groovy Bud
Well-Known Member
Greetings, 420 community
Let me start by presenting myself as a 1st time ambitious grower as I'll be jumping directly into the hydroponic ways. I believe that, along with greater studying motivation and with enough information filtering, a person can take off fairly elevated and take it from there. I've been wandering this forum for the past 2 months now and I believe I've accomplished enough knowledge to start getting my hands dirty.
I'm from Europe, and as so, I'll be stealth-growing, and you must excuse me for my English, which is kinda rusty.
Along this first post, you may find a lot of questions from me as I'm still on PLANNING PHASE, and for that I'm sorry if I'm letting people down already.
No, I'm not an experienced grower, still I tend to be very scientifically-minded guy, and always look at subjects after thinking over and over again, always trying to see the point from new perspectives.
As suggested by the admins/moderators I'll be answering the following questions:
Number of Plants? 4
What strain is it? 2x Blue Dream, 2 x Bubblelicious/Blueberry (still pondering, looking for mood lifting, non-earthy but fruity/herbal flavor strains, the ones that won't couch-lock you. My brain needs constant activity. Won't be going 100% sativas as I've heard they are a bitch to grow. Recommendations are well-welcomed)
Is it Indica, Sativa or Hybrid? What percentages?
Is it in Veg or Flower stage? Starting from scratch.
If in Veg... For how long? 4 weeks minimum
If in Flower stage... For how long? 55 days minimum.
Indoor or outdoor? Indoor
Space Available? 4x4x8 Mylar Tent. Budget 120$ from amazon. Just making sure it has minimum light leaks, and most important, the structure must be though to support lighting, fan and filter. Hoping to get multiple metal tubes in tent's ceiling for the needed weight support. Brands: ideas? seems that Virtual Sun is ok, but they don't ship to my country.
Soil or Hydro? Hydro
What size pot? Up until a couple of days ago I was to go with the RDWC method, covering 4 x 5 gal buckets plus one for reservoir. This method would take me a week or so to get the materials, set it up. and test for leaks. Truth is...I'm not an engineer god, and am inexperienced on this growing matter. The Guy at local store said that dwc systems are a huge pain to keep pH stable due to bubbling.. He suggested a product of their store which was a DWC with Top feed, without water aeration, as it was justified to me that the water dropping from the netpot would be enough to aerate the water. Such thing didn't make enough sense to me.
And as so, I'm building a 20-25 gal DWC "big plastic boxes" with netpot entries at the lid, applying top-feeding through a submersible pump. This will last for Vegetation, and then, for last week of veg and starting of flowering, I'll have another bucket like this, to have 2 plants per bucket, each at one side, applying constant top-feeding. (feeding intervals for vegetation??)
Lighting? Up until a couple of days ago, I was to go with the new LED technology, such as TopLed grow lights - the mars II 900w. Although their shipping rates to Europe used to be 30-35 dollars and now they escalated to 120$. And as I've read and come to the conclusion that 400-450w draw power of the model, won't bring me enough watt/ft for my 4x4 tent nor for my 4 plants during the flowering phase. FOR THAT, I'm switching to 600w MH/HPS combo set. The point is to get a dimmable ballast in order to get the MH running at lower output for early seedling phase. Thinking of going Cool-Tube + big reflector so I can have the lights closer to the ladies without burning, although the ventilation system must me adapted. I read that vent'ing hot air from inside the tent, through the cool-tube isn't very helpful.
Is it aircooled? 6'' 300 cfm inline fan. At the moment searching for silent fans due to this being a stealthgrow. Needs to fit accordingly to future installation of a Phresh Filter. Will have 1 to 2 oscillatory fans around the room for circulation.
Odor control: Will be fitting a 6x16 Phresh Filter(slightly higher cfm than 6'' fan, so I'm sure everything is getting filtered) by the flowering phase time - when the smells begin. If needed I'll pop Ona Gel.
Temp of Room/cab? To be Tested
RH of Room/cab? To be Tested
PH of media or res? Range, in theory: 5.6-6
Measuring Tools: Considering budget - ph and ppm/e.c pens + calibration solution and a regular temperature digital meter.
Any Pests ? Crossing fingers not to.
How often are you watering? For top-feed on Vegging, will be 15 minutes on each 6-8 hours. Will this suffice? REALLY NEED HELP HERE. Constant top-feed for flowering.
Type and strength of ferts used? Going to Start-off with General Hydroponics 3 part set, as there is considerable greater amount of empiric experience on these, around our community. Been wondering about Advanced Nutrients too, as they seem to deliver higher-quality results, but requires a bigger number of products . Plus Aquashield (can't find at local grow store), PH up and down, and maybe a final flowering booster.
Training Techniques: As I'm a newbie, I'll be starting with Main-Lining (consist of topping and cable training). along with some super-cropping later on to even the canopy and/or to "reveal" some branches to light, if necessary.
Hydro medium in net-pot: Rockwool-like product in center with hydroton-like (pre-washed and ph buffed) around it and a layer of it at the bottom of the netpot.
Water Movement: 1 submersible pump for each 2 plants. or 1 pump for 4 plants. But as I'll be dividing the plants from 1 bucket with 4 plants to 2 buckets with 2 plants each, I think I'll have 2 water pumps for each 2 plants (even in the veg tote) so as I move to flowering, I can have 1 water pump at each bucket to top feed. As the submersible water pump will be meant only for top-feeding purposes, what power should they have? Would 1300L/h (340 gal/hour) suffice if I choose to have 2 of these? REALLY NEED HELP ON THIS SUBJECT, only experience can tell.
Water Oxygenation: Investing in a decent pump with increased concern about noise control. 4 outlets. I'll be using 3/4 air-stones at vegging tote, and 4 (2 per tote) as I come to flowering. Is this too much of a pump for my totes? Will 4 outlet models deliver enough power to get enough bubbles going on? Should I get a bigger one (6 outlets, 12gal/min like hydrofarm)
I must apologize again for many questions, but as you can see I'm a very meticulous guy. I want my things done properly and well thought. I just hope you guys can share your 2 cents regarding any of the mentioned issues.
I'll be uploading pictures as soon as I start getting the system running and will post constant updates.
As for the next days, I'll be ordering my tent, my exhaust (fan) and assembling my lights. First point will be measuring my tap water's ppm and pH (after let for 1 day chlorine to evaporate) in order to get either Soft or Hard water nutes. After, I'll let the water bubble and be top fed without nutes or plants (pH at 5,6 altho) for at least 2 days before getting plants in. I think pH fluctuation on early stages of DWC can be due to new plastic of the totes, and so, by circulating a correct pH'ed Water before getting it running, it might even the chances of getting those Fluctuations. I've already heard, as stated before, that it's due to bubbling/diluted oxygen.
Every help will be very appreciated! I'm really eager to get to know this community and getting to share my experiences with all of you. I hope this grow turns out great for a first timer, and that it can be later used by new-comers.
Out,
Groovy Bud
Let me start by presenting myself as a 1st time ambitious grower as I'll be jumping directly into the hydroponic ways. I believe that, along with greater studying motivation and with enough information filtering, a person can take off fairly elevated and take it from there. I've been wandering this forum for the past 2 months now and I believe I've accomplished enough knowledge to start getting my hands dirty.
I'm from Europe, and as so, I'll be stealth-growing, and you must excuse me for my English, which is kinda rusty.
Along this first post, you may find a lot of questions from me as I'm still on PLANNING PHASE, and for that I'm sorry if I'm letting people down already.
No, I'm not an experienced grower, still I tend to be very scientifically-minded guy, and always look at subjects after thinking over and over again, always trying to see the point from new perspectives.
As suggested by the admins/moderators I'll be answering the following questions:
Number of Plants? 4
What strain is it? 2x Blue Dream, 2 x Bubblelicious/Blueberry (still pondering, looking for mood lifting, non-earthy but fruity/herbal flavor strains, the ones that won't couch-lock you. My brain needs constant activity. Won't be going 100% sativas as I've heard they are a bitch to grow. Recommendations are well-welcomed)
Is it Indica, Sativa or Hybrid? What percentages?
Is it in Veg or Flower stage? Starting from scratch.
If in Veg... For how long? 4 weeks minimum
If in Flower stage... For how long? 55 days minimum.
Indoor or outdoor? Indoor
Space Available? 4x4x8 Mylar Tent. Budget 120$ from amazon. Just making sure it has minimum light leaks, and most important, the structure must be though to support lighting, fan and filter. Hoping to get multiple metal tubes in tent's ceiling for the needed weight support. Brands: ideas? seems that Virtual Sun is ok, but they don't ship to my country.
Soil or Hydro? Hydro
What size pot? Up until a couple of days ago I was to go with the RDWC method, covering 4 x 5 gal buckets plus one for reservoir. This method would take me a week or so to get the materials, set it up. and test for leaks. Truth is...I'm not an engineer god, and am inexperienced on this growing matter. The Guy at local store said that dwc systems are a huge pain to keep pH stable due to bubbling.. He suggested a product of their store which was a DWC with Top feed, without water aeration, as it was justified to me that the water dropping from the netpot would be enough to aerate the water. Such thing didn't make enough sense to me.
And as so, I'm building a 20-25 gal DWC "big plastic boxes" with netpot entries at the lid, applying top-feeding through a submersible pump. This will last for Vegetation, and then, for last week of veg and starting of flowering, I'll have another bucket like this, to have 2 plants per bucket, each at one side, applying constant top-feeding. (feeding intervals for vegetation??)
Lighting? Up until a couple of days ago, I was to go with the new LED technology, such as TopLed grow lights - the mars II 900w. Although their shipping rates to Europe used to be 30-35 dollars and now they escalated to 120$. And as I've read and come to the conclusion that 400-450w draw power of the model, won't bring me enough watt/ft for my 4x4 tent nor for my 4 plants during the flowering phase. FOR THAT, I'm switching to 600w MH/HPS combo set. The point is to get a dimmable ballast in order to get the MH running at lower output for early seedling phase. Thinking of going Cool-Tube + big reflector so I can have the lights closer to the ladies without burning, although the ventilation system must me adapted. I read that vent'ing hot air from inside the tent, through the cool-tube isn't very helpful.
Is it aircooled? 6'' 300 cfm inline fan. At the moment searching for silent fans due to this being a stealthgrow. Needs to fit accordingly to future installation of a Phresh Filter. Will have 1 to 2 oscillatory fans around the room for circulation.
Odor control: Will be fitting a 6x16 Phresh Filter(slightly higher cfm than 6'' fan, so I'm sure everything is getting filtered) by the flowering phase time - when the smells begin. If needed I'll pop Ona Gel.
Temp of Room/cab? To be Tested
RH of Room/cab? To be Tested
PH of media or res? Range, in theory: 5.6-6
Measuring Tools: Considering budget - ph and ppm/e.c pens + calibration solution and a regular temperature digital meter.
Any Pests ? Crossing fingers not to.
How often are you watering? For top-feed on Vegging, will be 15 minutes on each 6-8 hours. Will this suffice? REALLY NEED HELP HERE. Constant top-feed for flowering.
Type and strength of ferts used? Going to Start-off with General Hydroponics 3 part set, as there is considerable greater amount of empiric experience on these, around our community. Been wondering about Advanced Nutrients too, as they seem to deliver higher-quality results, but requires a bigger number of products . Plus Aquashield (can't find at local grow store), PH up and down, and maybe a final flowering booster.
Training Techniques: As I'm a newbie, I'll be starting with Main-Lining (consist of topping and cable training). along with some super-cropping later on to even the canopy and/or to "reveal" some branches to light, if necessary.
Hydro medium in net-pot: Rockwool-like product in center with hydroton-like (pre-washed and ph buffed) around it and a layer of it at the bottom of the netpot.
Water Movement: 1 submersible pump for each 2 plants. or 1 pump for 4 plants. But as I'll be dividing the plants from 1 bucket with 4 plants to 2 buckets with 2 plants each, I think I'll have 2 water pumps for each 2 plants (even in the veg tote) so as I move to flowering, I can have 1 water pump at each bucket to top feed. As the submersible water pump will be meant only for top-feeding purposes, what power should they have? Would 1300L/h (340 gal/hour) suffice if I choose to have 2 of these? REALLY NEED HELP ON THIS SUBJECT, only experience can tell.
Water Oxygenation: Investing in a decent pump with increased concern about noise control. 4 outlets. I'll be using 3/4 air-stones at vegging tote, and 4 (2 per tote) as I come to flowering. Is this too much of a pump for my totes? Will 4 outlet models deliver enough power to get enough bubbles going on? Should I get a bigger one (6 outlets, 12gal/min like hydrofarm)
I must apologize again for many questions, but as you can see I'm a very meticulous guy. I want my things done properly and well thought. I just hope you guys can share your 2 cents regarding any of the mentioned issues.
I'll be uploading pictures as soon as I start getting the system running and will post constant updates.
As for the next days, I'll be ordering my tent, my exhaust (fan) and assembling my lights. First point will be measuring my tap water's ppm and pH (after let for 1 day chlorine to evaporate) in order to get either Soft or Hard water nutes. After, I'll let the water bubble and be top fed without nutes or plants (pH at 5,6 altho) for at least 2 days before getting plants in. I think pH fluctuation on early stages of DWC can be due to new plastic of the totes, and so, by circulating a correct pH'ed Water before getting it running, it might even the chances of getting those Fluctuations. I've already heard, as stated before, that it's due to bubbling/diluted oxygen.
Every help will be very appreciated! I'm really eager to get to know this community and getting to share my experiences with all of you. I hope this grow turns out great for a first timer, and that it can be later used by new-comers.
Out,
Groovy Bud