My first grow

[NeoScott]

Hello everyone.

I'm thinking about starting a grow in a small 6 foot by 4 foot room by 8 foot

Strain - Pineapple Chunk FEM , Liberty Haze FEM
# of Plants - 2
Grow Type - Hydro
Grow Stage - Prep
Setup - indoor/homemade
Light - 2 x CFL 6500k 2 x CFL 2700k 2 LED (red/blue grow lights)
Nutrients - Canna a+b
Medium - canna coco coir
Room Temperature - 69-81F
Room Square Footage - 24
Hummitity: 58-80

I have a few questions.

1) I have a slow turn table(record player), Would leaving a plant on a turn table help with lighting? It seems to me it would help the light distribute across all of the plant if I left my LEDS to the side of the plants then had the plants rotating.

2) I'm unsure of how I should treat my air in this room, It has no windows or venting of any kind. I was thinking of a air purifier or an Ozone generator (As suggested by this forum). I need to cover the smell and help the air for the plant to grow strong. I have no problems spending money for a good unit.

3) RO water, I have two plants, should i get a filter or just buy bottles? Would distilled water work? Anyone in Ontario know where I can buy RO water?

4) I left 2 hydrometers and a thermometer in the room. I'm happy with the temperature, It's a good right now and it will only get colder, so I have a few weeks before i need to invest into any kind of heater, if i need any. But my humidity is jumping around does anyone have any good ideas on how to fix this?

5) CFL lights, I'm not %100 happy with the CFL lights, Does anyone in southern Ontario know where to get decent bulbs for a decent price? Ones I've found in town are around $60/each and are made by Sunblaster.

Found these Ebay: I'm not to sure on the rules about posting directly to sales related things so I'm just doing pictures

E27 14W 263 LED 360-Degree 6500K Pure White Lighting 1500lm Light Lamp Bulb 110V/ Is this LED bulb type any good for growing?

CFL light bulbs 23 watt softer white 2700k lot of 6, 1600 luminous

These are the LED panels I'm thinking of using. I would have 2-4 on the sides during the hole operation.

6) Should i grow with SCROG or just let them grow tall? I'm not looking for quantity more quality.

Pictures here of room. I'm thinking of using the top shelf for shrooms or for clones. The big pipe is a drain pipe but is made of cast iron, cutting into the main line isn't an option but the top vertical line is used for a sink in my bathroom and is made of copper (For some reason). Any other advice or suggestions would be very helpful. Thank you.


Pre-set up Room

 

[Rodrigo]

Re: My first grow.

Welcome to

If you're looking for quality then I'd suggest growing only 2 plants, maybe two strains so you have variety. Let them grow as tall as you like as long as they don't get too close to the light or they'll burn the tops.

You mention you want to grow hydro but isn't coco noir a soil? i.e it has nutrients in it as opposed to a grow medium which does not has nutrients in it, therefore it's contradictory to use a soil in a hydro system... I might be mistaken although I'm pretty sure I'm right... right?
...right...

You have enough vertical space below the pipes and that shelf, which you can use to keep supplies, but the overall space you have in there is not enough to keep two separate grow stages (veg and flower)

Use CFLs during veg but it's better when they are on the 6000K+ range, for flowering the plant you can use 2700K CFLs if you can't get your hands on an HPS, don't use LEDs as the technology is not really there yet and they are far more expensive (you save on the power bill, though) and the other options such as HPS or MH are better than LEDs, you spend more money on power but you make up for it with better yields, you also have to take into consideration that you'll need good ventilation and a carbon filter if you need to keep the smell to a minimum. Ventilation is also needed to provide the plant with fresh air which it needs.

That's what I got.

Good luck!

 

[NeoScott]

Re: My first grow.

Welcome to

If you're looking for quality then I'd suggest growing only 2 plants, maybe two strains so you have variety. Let them grow as tall as you like as long as they don't get too close to the light or they'll burn the tops.

You mention you want to grow hydro but isn't coco noir a soil? i.e it has nutrients in it as opposed to a grow medium which does not has nutrients in it, therefore it's contradictory to use a soil in a hydro system... I might be mistaken although I'm pretty sure I'm right... right?
...right...

You have enough vertical space below the pipes and that shelf, which you can use to keep supplies, but the overall space you have in there is not enough to keep two separate grow stages (veg and flower)

Use CFLs during veg but it's better when they are on the 6000K+ range, for flowering the plant you can use 2700K CFLs if you can't get your hands on an HPS, don't use LEDs as the technology is not really there yet and they are far more expensive (you save on the power bill, though) and the other options such as HPS or MH are better than LEDs, you spend more money on power but you make up for it with better yields, you also have to take into consideration that you'll need good ventilation and a carbon filter if you need to keep the smell to a minimum. Ventilation is also needed to provide the plant with fresh air which it needs.

That's what I got.

Good luck!

Thanks for your input Rodrigo.

I copied the example from the rules. (Zomg I know I read them right?)

So for my light problem I should avoid LED and stick with the Sun blaster model for the 6500k VEg cycle. Can someone explain why an LED isn't as good, All my Google results came back with LED produce more potent buds but less yield. Which isn't a bad trade off for me, But for this very reason is why I want 2-4 CFLS and 2 LED.

 

[NeoScott]

Update: I ended up going with a full tent set up and a lowryder delux. I was wondering if anyone can think of anything I might have missed or any suggestions.




I picked up a 6 site hydro lowryder Delux (3 foot) for my mother plants, after I can take clones I will take 20 clones and put them into my tent system, then probably kill 5-10 of them so the best looking plants have a change to grow or maybe a SOG seems like an easy enough. I updated the CFLs from 13 watt to 23 watt.



I still have to decide if I want to use Rockwool or jiffy or rot riot or thous plastic plus for the tent/cloning. Got a few free bags of hydron/clay balls (Not sure which one it is).



My vents right now are set up; Cool tube draws in the air from the tent which leads out of the tent to the fan which is on top of the carbon filter. I have enough materials left over to move my lights to their own vent system. I would have a vent running from the side of the tent to the side of the lighting system .



RO vs TAP water: my tap water is around 7.0(Just tested with a chemical test) I don't have a PPM meter right now, I have to order one. I also have a RO unit on the way (Bought it for drinking purpose but I'm thinking about using it for my grow.) which should I use?

Strain - Pineapple Chunk FEM , Liberty Haze FEM(2), Vanilla Kush FEM, Blue Dream FEM, Chronic Thunder FEM
# of Plants - 6
Grow Type - Hydro
Grow Stage - Prep
Setup - indoor/Tent/cabinet
Light - 600W HPS/MH Switcheable dimable with 6 inch air cooled tube
Nutrients - Technaflora recipe for success starter kit
Medium - Jiffy pellets came with the cabinet, still need to decide what i want to use in the tent
Room Temperature - 70-90
Room Square Footage - 2*4*6 48
Hummitity: unknown right now
Vent: 400 CFM 6 inch fan and carbon filter

Edit: more info and pics

 

[Rodrigo]

I think you went a little overboard with all that equipment for just a small tent, in which by the way, you can put at the very most two plants. Cannabis grows big even when the strain is supposed to be small, you will not have enough space to grow all the strains you want. Also, if you use one cabinet for your mother and the tent for your flower, where are you going to put the clones? You have three choices in the matter as I see it.

1. You can get a third cabinet for your clones a shelf with a light, you also need the dome.
2. You can put your clones in the tent (after harvest) a change the light cycle so they don't flower too young, keep them vegging a couple of weeks and then flower them.
3. Instead of keeping mother plants, flower the mother plant and keep the clones vegging, after flower is done you can clones the clones you had vegging (they're two months old and big now) and flower this first generation of clones and keep the second generation vegging, after the next two month are done you flower the 2nd gen clones and keep the 3rd, so on and so forth.

The latter is what I do, every generation seems to be the same as its mother, and genetically it should be identical.

The advice I can give you so you can get a little more vertical space is, instead of using a zip tie for the ratchet, loop the rope around the top bar (where the zip tie is zipped around) and attach both ends of the ratchet to the light. This way you get mechanical advantage when pulling up the light and it allows you to put the light a little higher.

RO water is better, I use tap because RO equipment is too expensive.

Good luck!

 

[NeoScott]

for cloning I'm thinking of buying an germ package from a local store (dome, heating mat, tray and cubes.) at the start of next year my buddy is getting me an areoponic cloning machine(We're thinking clone king beacuse of the price) in exchange for 100 clones. cloning can done under any light and I have extra CFLS from the cabinet which I can use. I do like the idea of not keeping mother plants, I might try what you suggested in 3 at first.

I really don't think I spent all that much for all my equipment, all together it was around $600(Tent, nuts, light, fan, carbon filter, everything expect that hydro unit, it was free). 400 watt light and 4 inch fan system only worked out to 500. plus the cost of the lowryder deluxe cabinet which was another 420 after tax and shipping(Had to buy cross border to find this price.)

You think I can't grow more then 2 in that tent with SOG? The hydroponics unit was free and can be replaced by a bubble(drip+dwc) system for cheap enough. Biggest tent I can have sitting in my room is 4*12*7"11 not sure I need that much space for my reasons for growing. also that would require more lights, power ETC. If I'm getting 4 ounces every 3 months I'm happy any extra will be canned.

 

[SWvoodoo]

Im currently growing 4 in a 1.2x1.2 under a scrog. Im thinking of doing a sog of possibly 18 or so next time (I need a quick turn around summers comin). it is possible with the right techniques.
As for having a mother, what happens when you photocopy a photocopy? It reduces in quality, enough said.
I found 48w cfls with both e/s and b/c fittings at my local hardware, 23watt is pretty weak still they will need to be a couple of inches from the plant to have much effect which means a lot of moving the lights.
I use tap water but if I had a filter I would definitely filter it. You can pump more nutes without increasing the overall ec. It is easier to ph and more stable, quite often the nutes will be ph balanced enough for your needs.
I like rockwool and Hydroton I believe it would provide better oxygen supply than the jiffys. But I am not familiar with that system what style is it dwc? drip feed? overall it looks good.
You should start a journal so I can watch on check out mine the link is in my signature.
Oh one thing I have my fan and filter set inside the tent before the light just so the fan doesn't run as hot( and its a bit more muffled in there) but what you have will work equally well

 

[NeoScott]

Thanks for the responses. I will start a journal after I get my rockwool cube, PPM meter and the little things to change/upgrade.

Both units are DWC, I was thinking of updating the larger unit to a DWC + with a drip system. The air stone in the larger unit doesn't seem to work. I'm going to replace the air stone and pump.

 

[SWvoodoo]

Sorry I hadn't zoomed in on your pics. keep a close eye on your water temps, dwc is infamous for root rot which is caused by low oxygen levels usually brought on by high water temps as water is able to carry less oxgen at higher temps. Keep your res below 70f or you are likely to have trouble. A water chiller may be on the cards. I run h2o2 every res change as a preventative measure (see sterile system) and to increase the dissolved oxygen in the water. I use ceramic airstones, I was using standard ones but they lasted about 2 weeks then were stuffed. Get the biggest stone and pump you can, O2 is your best friend, Light and heat for your roots is your enemy. I went as far as insulating the top of my tubs with mylar and making sure not even a peek of light can get at that water. Even the clear airlines looked like torch beams in there. That light will just feed unwanted algaes and bacteria.
Oh back to the stale air problem. You will have to get some fresh air in that tent from somewhere you need fresh co2 for your girls! heat may become an issue extracting the air right next to your tent as well as just re circulating the same air back in thru the vents try to get it a bit further away.
I am no professional just my 2c

 

[NeoScott]

I had a quick question before I start my grow tomorrow.

In my nutis package under cutting it say to pre-soak your medium with Thrive alive b - 1 Red. I'm doing seeds and not a cut, would it be smart to use this product or a waste?

 

[Rodrigo]

As for having a mother, what happens when you photocopy a photocopy? It reduces in quality, enough said.

Not so, it actually not the same thing because you are not making copies.

23watt is pretty weak still they will need to be a couple of inches from the plant to have much effect which means a lot of moving the lights.

90% of the people confuses the wattage that the bulb uses and what they put out. When a CFL is 23w it means that it consumes 23w from the power grid but they actually put out about 120w, i.e. 23w cfl is the equivalent of a 120w incandescent. meaning they put out the same light using less energy (that's why they're energy savers)
While you're right in that they are weak (compared to other lights sources like HPS) they don't need to be so close to the plants (they do put out quite a bit of heat so too close and you burn the plant) and there's no need of moving lights around provided you have enough to cover as much ground as you want. And they actually work rather well, I use 7x 20w CFLs as backup to my 400w HPS, they increase the quality and quantity of lower buds considerably.

Peace.

 

[Rodrigo]

I had a quick question before I start my grow tomorrow.

In my nutis package under cutting it say to pre-soak your medium with Thrive alive b - 1 Red. I'm doing seeds and not a cut, would it be smart to use this product or a waste?

Waste, for a seed is better not to add anything, it will sprout on its own and the seedling won't even need nutes for a couple of weeks after sprouting.
Just use tap water for the seed.

 

[NeoScott]

Hey guys, Filled out a journal then closed it by mistake, so I'm going to start a journal when all my clones are ready, Here a picture of my plant 2 weeks in. It looks very bushy and short. I can't take it any more away from the lights but I can change them to lower wattage lights if that what it needs. Right now i have 2 100 watt(23 watt CFLS)

The damage from on the leafs look like they are from netiu burn, I have already changed the water to half strength.

How long till I can take some clones from this plant? Is there anything I should do to help this plant?

IT's 2-3 weeks old, strain is not identified.
veg cycle %50 nutis technaflora starter kit
24 hour light cycle
RO water between 5.5 and 6.0 after nutis (liquid test hard to read)

 

[SWvoodoo]

That sure is a bushy little plant. to me it looks like your ph was out of whack at one stage (the burn on the leaves) but unless that has developed recently it look as though it has recovered and has some nice new growth on it. You want about 3 inch branches to cut to make your clones so depending how many clones you want depends how big you will need your mother. i would think no longer than two -three weeks if your system is running well.

 

[NeoScott]

That sure is a bushy little plant. to me it looks like your ph was out of whack at one stage (the burn on the leaves) but unless that has developed recently it look as though it has recovered and has some nice new growth on it. You want about 3 inch branches to cut to make your clones so depending how many clones you want depends how big you will need your mother. i would think no longer than two -three weeks if your system is running well.

I thought it was a pH problem as well when i changed the water I tested it it was a little high looked closer to 7 then 6. I double checked the pH after I reduced the nutis' to 1/3rd then over a week brought it up to %100 percent 1/3rd at a time. That was last water cycle, this time I gave them a day at %50 and today they went back to %100. the branches are just under 3 inches so I'll give them a couple of more days, Not really in a rush this is more of a play around plant. She's looking awesome and has an aroma which smells so sweet.

I'm waiting for some clones to come from another source and I'm hopping to get a few from this plant, the 4 big leaves will do me.