Help me with my setup

[Dreadlock]

1000 watt digital dimmable MH/ hps light
3 4 site stealth hydro dwc hydro setup
Co2 cultivator
General organics go box for nutes
10 big devil autoflower seeds
I will hang light from ratchet ropes
10"fan for air circulation

I am jus looking for tips and info.... Haven't started growing yet

 

[HiddenDragon]

I'm a newbie myself, but there are a few suggestions even I can make!

First, the CO2. I know you want to increase yields, but from what I understand as a newbie grower, concentrate on getting a successful grow working in the first place before too many bells and whistles. You can mess up with CO2 pretty badly.

Second, your # of sites. If you're doing 3-4 in a stealth setup, whatever do you need a 1kw light for? In small stealth setups, heat is your primary concern, and you would fry the hell out of your plants with that much power. I would think, depending on what exactly you're trying to setup, that you could get by with 400w or even possibly 250. A nice LED would work also if you have the $.

Circulation is good, but 10" I think is overkill. Also, think of your circulation in terms of cfm, not just size of fans. You need to know the volume of the air that is moving, not the size of the thing moving it.

That's a few tips to start.

 

[68camaro]

ok send the light to me, lol!
wowsers i wish i had the equipment some of you have!!
for starters, wheres the room? reflective walls is a must for great grows! can beat flat white paint! mylars better but gets brittle and is crap. the paint is almost as effective actually very close to the mylar and it lasts a heck of a lot longer with no worries about tearing it!
the light will be to much to start them out on. although i do it but not with that much light! 1000 watts. mine are 400 veg and 430 watts for flower
good germination is a must, the root mass must be there before you do anything in the pushing phase of the plant. white roots = healthy plants!! member that! very important!
hydro is a little harder for a first time grower. its very easy to over look problems and when the problem get to a certain stage it progresses very rapidly!
air movement is also key, it needs to be exchanged with fresh air gerularly. exhaust and intake air is a must. keep the rootball off the floor. its always cooler on the floor and roots slow down with cooler temps.
wow wish i could come help!

 

[HiTimes4Me]

Imo hydro is easier then soil I started out on hydro and did 1 soil grow and it sucked so I went back to hydro now I use hempys because they are simple and don't have to worry about anything failing...and in hydro you want your roots at cooler temps because you get root rot easier in hydro and ph fluctuations both due to heat in res. The whole not sitting on the floor thing is mainly for soil grows and mainly just on concrete if its carpeted its fine...& I believe he said he is doing three 4 site systems not 3-4 plants so that would be 12 plants...i also start mine under 400w that 1000w will kill your seedlings that's for sure...i agree with the white paint also way better imo and as far as a 10" fan you didn't say if it was an inline fan or just a regular fan? Either way its not overkill like hiddendragon stated because for one he doesn't know the size of the room you will be using so he shouldn't have said that was overkill imo that was bad advice without first knowing the whole setup...for two you can always use a fan speed controller plus if you upgrade to more then 1 1000w you will want that 10" if its inline so you won't have to buy more equipment later with that being said what size space do you plan on growing in?

 

[Dreadlock]

Thanks guys.... A little more info..... Ballast is dimmable so I can run at 500w,750w, or full power at 1000.... The grow area is a closet 2.5'wX4'lX8'h.... Walls are painted white but I itends to use aluminum foil for more reflectivity. I got the 1000 watt light bc I could afford it now and plan to expand when I get better with hydro methods. I've grown outside in soil for about 10 years and have had it with the uncontrollable variables so I'm bringing the show inside lol! I have seen and heard ppl talking about not using an airstone? What are the alternatives and what will best work for a dwc setup....

 

[Dreadlock]

It's just a 10" wall mounted fan I wanted to use for circulation..... In summer I plan to use a cooling unit in the closet it's about 3"x18" and has temp range of 55-85 degrees so I can use for heating and cooling but I believe the light itself will be enough heat in winter because even at the coldest part of winter the closet is around 65 degrees without anything in it.... What if I run the light at 500w in the beginning stages and crank it up in like week 3-4

 

[68camaro]

the tiny little seedlings need low light. ive never had the adjustable ballast yet! i will one day
i believe you can do it but start out with the light very high in the grow space. gradually lower it, let the seedlings tell you when to lower it. youll be able to tell. the growth of these plants is fanominal. once its growin i raise my light at least 2 to 4 inches daily.
you will start out farther and move it closer as the seedling changes its cycle to full on veg. then youll go back up as it grows.

 

[Dreadlock]

Thanks for the tip.... Also about changing the water in the resovouir, it's only 5 gallons for 4 plants..... If I'm gonna be adding upwards of a gallon a day how often should I change the water....

 

[68camaro]

5 days in there somewhere.i did mine every ten days, but i have 20 gal of res. and 6 pots. i was shocked at the uptake of the liquids! the plants will suck those 5 gals of neuts up in a hurry! id say when you have added as much water as the neuts you started with then change it. so 5 gal of food along with 5 gal of fresh water.
now it will be slow at first and adjustmenst will be needed, same principle. dont give em full strength until ready, depending on the temps and light you can push em to. i never did because the end result seemed not as clean. make sence?
dont let the docs put things in your brain! it slows everything else down.

 

[Dreadlock]

Yea it makes sense kinda like babies and table food gotta start the feeding light and get heavier as they grow.... And ok I get it about changing the water kinda like the same principal the faster they consume nutes the more often I have to chang water.... And that sounds like a pain in the ass crack! I think I miss soil already!!! But I'm dedicated to it I geuss I'll just be subbin time fighting pest for time changing resv!!! I think I have a good grasp on the growth of the herb, I'm kinda new to all the control I have. I am used to soil in buckets sitting outside using fertilizer and water and killing a shitload of pest! I kind of figure if I have done it outside for so long with pretty good success that I could pull it off indoors... Kinda wonder if I should have jus went with soil indoors but I like the prospects of an increased yeild wit the hydro. Also a big thing any tips on keeping the smell from being so "telling" lol I'm thinking it's gonna be a bit easier keeping the smell contained seeing as how it's inside and I don't mind living with that great aroma!! But any ways to contain it in one room??

 

[HiddenDragon]

Odor control is pretty easy. Slap a carbon activated or coco fiber filter on your air outtake, and put a small ozone generator up in there. Done!

 

[Dreadlock]

Thx gonna get on that

 

[HiTimes4Me]

Odor control is pretty easy. Slap a carbon activated or coco fiber filter on your air outtake, and put a small ozone generator up in there. Done!

The coco filter is a Coconut fiber carbon filter...a plain coco fiber filter is for water... Atleast from what I understand because I haven't seen just a regular coco fiber filter for oder control because there is nothing in it to "scrub" the air so to speak that would take the smell out...such as activated carbon...But like I said that's just my understanding...If Im wrong please show me where this is stated as I would like to know...Knowledge is potential power after all

 

[68camaro]

i believe its the area that your in. that will tell you what you can use to its best performance and costs to you.
i believe the higher the exhaust outlet the cheaper, in some cases you can vent it directly out side. the vent must be a chimney and must be tall enough to get the odor up above us. no filter
charcoal filter and a good fan. dont use cheap fan for this, you will be disappointed at its capabilities.
a good clean intake is a must for any room to operate properly. you can do anything you want, but its the absolute best wat to set a room up. I DONT CARE HOW BIG OR LITTLE THE ROOM IS! air circulation is key to a descent grow. there is food accelerant in the air, its free to!
peace

 

[Dreadlock]

Yea I understand that air circulation is key, this is gonna be my biggest problem I think! I'm gonna run a 18/6 light cycle so I can open the door for about 9 hours of the day cycle to help ventilation because I can't drill or cut to get outside ventilation..... I'm gonna work on a solution to this for future grows, I'm workin on hooking in to my furnace exhaust but this will be after I expand to the whole room which is 12x12..... Right now I can't fund anything that big so the closet will have to grow me into the room..... But I think the clip fan along wit a little co2 along with venting whole closet 8 hours a day should get me by thru this grow atleast....

 

[Tricks]

Do not use FOIL! it is known to get hot spots

 

[68camaro]

there r ways to vent without breakin the bank.
a crude intake and exhaust or a single fan that pushes the air out while sucken it in through another inlet. cool air in, warmer air out. i dont spent a ton of money on fans!
those should really grow great!
peace

 

[Dreadlock]

Ok thanks for helping Avert catastrophe! I'm gonna rip the foil down this morn!! Should be starting my grow soon my babies should be here this week I'll start postin pics then to make it easier to see what's goin on..... Thanks for the advice 68...... You by any chance have a 68, I think that's the best lookin car they ever made!

 

[Tricks]

No problems bro, I'm new to indoor gardening myself, just doing a lot of reading! this site is a gold mine for info! you may want to look into emergency blankets, I have heard of people using that, but Mylar isn't to much by the roll, home-depot has it listed on their website, not sure if the stores have it in stock or not, grow on brother! Peace

 

[burton1291]

Walls are painted white but I itends to use aluminum foil for more reflectivity.

aluminum foil isn't real great for reflectivity, it creates hot spots on the plants, and they can get burn marks, flat white paint has worked better for me than aluminum foil. ive used both in complete grows, the paint is way better it may sound weird but trust me.