1st Time Hydro

[M.G.D.]

Hey Guys Plz Help. Ok I Got Lucky And Put A W.w. In My Veg Garden And Ended Up With 2+ Pounds Of Clean Dry Sticky Bud Off 1 Plant. ( Im Hooked). I Bought A 8 Pack Water Farm, A Good 400wt. Light, And I Have Some White Widow Seeds Left. I Started The Seeds In Rcw. Almost All Of Them Came Up 2 Days Ago. Im Not Sure If I Have The Nuts Rite. I Put 1/4 Tsp Per Gallon Of All 3 Nuts That Came With The Farm. They Seem Very Small And Skinny. I Know Its Only Been 2-3 Days But I So Dont Want To Skrew Up Early. I Have A Warmner Pad Under, And The Lighht 18/6. I Think I Might Be To Wet. I Have Them In A Small Try With A 1/4 Or Less Of Water. The Rcw Seems Way To Wet All The Time. Is That To Much Water To Early? Any Info Would Be Helpful. Thanks

 

[The Fan]

mike, i'm new to hydro too. will be harvesting my first grow on friday. i don't know exactly what you mean by Rcw, but i am assuming that it is similar to the coconut hair starter cubes i use for cloning and seed sprouting. for both, you (according to the guy at the hydro store) don't neet nutrients just yet. what is more important is hormones, and lots of times the starter cubes have this included within them, which is why they are moist when you get them. it sounds like you may have a bit too much water in your tray. the cubes are designed to hold just the right amount of moisture/air/hormone to get the cutting/seed started so what you are aiming for is having the cube moist, but not wet. i have had lots of luck starting the seed in a tray with a dome and just a little bit of water so that the "grooves" in the bottom of the tray have a bit of water in them, and the dome has a bit of condensation on it. once you get a good batch of developed roots, then you can start to worry about nutrients, but intil then, the seedling/cutting is not really equiped to absorb them. hope that helps.

i can tell you after my first hydro gow, that hydro is much better than soil. i grew for years in soil, thought i was pretty good at it. tried my first batch of hydro . . . WOW!

The Fan

 

[Racefan]

Hey there mike. I'm assuming that by Rcw your referring to rockwool. Rockwool is totally is nutrient free and needs to be prepared before use by soaking it overnight in a quarter strength dose of nutrient that has been PH'd. What type of nutrient are you using? It sounds like your using generaql hydro's 3 part flora series. If so...you have to mix these nutrients in the proper order or lock out can occure. Micro first, then grow then bloom. But always micro first. Mix each into their own container and then add to the res. Never add one nutrient straight to another. You need a PPM meter to acurately measure the amount of nutrient in your resevoir. Until you get a PPM meter use the nutrients at 1/4 strength of what is recommended. Slowly build up to full strength or about 1200 to 1400m PPM over a couple weeks time. Watch your plants for burning on the tips. If you see the tips burning back your nutrients off a hair. That means your giving them a little more than they can handle. Get a PH meter. PH determines how well a plant uses the nutrient you give it. In hydro I ran 5.6 to 6.2 ph. Others run differnt PH's but usually around those numbers.
The best advice I can give you is to read. It's the key.
As for hydro being better than soil..well it's matter of opinion. I started soil, went to hydro and grew that way for a couple of years in several different types of systems and am back to soil. Much easier to grow in soil. That's why we encourage newer growers to get their feet wet in soil before trying hydro. IMO the yield difference was to small and wasn't worth all the extra attention I had to give them when they were in hydro. But to each his own.
I hope this helps you mike. Good luck and happy harvests.