My First Hydro Setup

I have put the 600w MH bulb in but dimmed to 250w and the temps sitting at 25c on top of the pots so the light may have to go higher but either way it should promote stretch.

what do you think of this bulb as I think it's just about had it's use, you can just a say see the white in the pictures but it's pretty white and only half the glass is covered in it.

PH'd them again to 5.5-5.7 but I plan to replace the water and feed on Sunday.










 
I have put the 600w MH bulb in but dimmed to 250w and the temps sitting at 25c on top of the pots so the light may have to go higher but either way it should promote stretch.

what do you think of this bulb as I think it's just about had it's use, you can just a say see the white in the pictures but it's pretty white and only half the glass is covered in it.

PH'd them again to 5.5-5.7 but I plan to replace the water and feed on Sunday.










Looks good over there. Even if the bulb is spent it will grow something until you get to getting a new one. Hopefully the temps below stay in a reasonable range for you.
 
I think your right, the bulbs been in over 24h and the plants look a little difference.

The roots are pretty much sorted now that the temps are staying down, the whiter roots is the pot on the right without the root excelurator and the one on the left has it in so you decide if you can see a difference.

So all I really need is some good vertical growth and a screen seeing as though a act of us out the question as i i my have 8 days of veg left but I suppose I could still get a good10 healthy stems at an even canopy level and only hope for a good 15g from each stem.

as for lights, I'm currently running the 250w in a 1x1m tent as you know, the door is open and the Windows open and the tent lower temp on pots is 25c so I'm thinking maybe 2 of this in a 2x4 tent may well be over kill and I don't really want to just use 1 400 as I want even coverage so I'm thinking I may have to order one of the new mars lights earlier than I wanted too due to expenses but hey ho it's a great hobby.










 
I think your right, the bulbs been in over 24h and the plants look a little difference.

The roots are pretty much sorted now that the temps are staying down, the whiter roots is the pot on the right without the root excelurator and the one on the left has it in so you decide if you can see a difference.

So all I really need is some good vertical growth and a screen seeing as though a act of us out the question as i i my have 8 days of veg left but I suppose I could still get a good10 healthy stems at an even canopy level and only hope for a good 15g from each stem.

as for lights, I'm currently running the 250w in a 1x1m tent as you know, the door is open and the Windows open and the tent lower temp on pots is 25c so I'm thinking maybe 2 of this in a 2x4 tent may well be over kill and I don't really want to just use 1 400 as I want even coverage so I'm thinking I may have to order one of the new mars lights earlier than I wanted too due to expenses but hey ho it's a great hobby.










Hey man glad to c those roots and plants growing. Should all come together nicely if you keep doing what your doing and keeping the res temps from getting that warm. Just keep in mind your busiest days in those buckets r coming up. IMO you will have to start working the ph and ppm numbers so when it comes time to do lots of large top offs on the buckets you r topping them off correctly with what the plants need. For example if the ppm today is 500 after fresh top off , tomorrow the ppm is 400 and the plant drank 2 litres, you must replace 2 litres of with 100 ppm of nutrient.(this example plant r eating) Another example if you have 500 ppm today after a fresh top off, 24 hrs later you have a ppm of 550 and the plant drank 2 litres, you must add a 2 litres of straight water to this as the plants r drinking more then eating. Balancing your nutrient will keep your ph in check. This is the art of balancing a res and anything less will result in mad ph swings when they start drinking lots. Those charts show this connection and it is a skill that is learned over time. It will all make sense later so just every time you go in the buckets take note of ppm and ph before you reset it as it would be nice to know how hard they r feeding. The numbers tell you when to bump nutrient or when to cut nutrient out.
 
Hello buddy!

Well today I have refreshed both pots, gave them, Micro, Grow, VeloKelp, Magne Cal+, H&G Roots Excelurator and Liquid Oxygen, 30L mixed up to 620ppm at 5.5PH.

Yes I've got what your talking about now, I'm glad that I have waited this long though to start doing it that way as I didn't really know what level worked for the plant the best on the water level indicator so now I know my heights I can re-mark the levels pipe so now I can keep topping up but having said that I'm flipping them to flower next Monday so I will have to refresh the pots again Sunday or am I okay to just start adding bloom up to the PPM required?

I have come to find that both plants are looking to be opposite in dominance, the left plant is showing to be sativa dominant and the right is showing to be indica dominant, so I imagine the left is going to take longer to flower maybe, but at least I can have some for the day and some specifically for the night.

I am interested in hearing some info on the sweeteners you can add, I have seen some from botanicare that look good with different flavours.
 
So after taking a look and considering what the finished size could be I think I could still achieve a good 1g per w with new light on buying next week.

I also to another look on the info on the strain and apparently it's a compact plant so maybe I am on track with the overall size at the moment but I'm going for 10 main stems and hoping to yield around 14g per stem which isn't a big ask really considering I will have equal coverage on the canopy, I'm hoping for extra branches in between to get a little extra yield for maybe cooking.

Overall I'm growing specifically for yield but I'm also growing for appearance to as I'm hoping to get some of the buds photographed and printed so as long as I can keep on top of diseases and deficiencies so I can get the leaves to grow multi coloured in a lower temperature environment.
 
Hello buddy!

Well today I have refreshed both pots, gave them, Micro, Grow, VeloKelp, Magne Cal+, H&G Roots Excelurator and Liquid Oxygen, 30L mixed up to 620ppm at 5.5PH.

Yes I've got what your talking about now, I'm glad that I have waited this long though to start doing it that way as I didn't really know what level worked for the plant the best on the water level indicator so now I know my heights I can re-mark the levels pipe so now I can keep topping up but having said that I'm flipping them to flower next Monday so I will have to refresh the pots again Sunday or am I okay to just start adding bloom up to the PPM required?

I have come to find that both plants are looking to be opposite in dominance, the left plant is showing to be sativa dominant and the right is showing to be indica dominant, so I imagine the left is going to take longer to flower maybe, but at least I can have some for the day and some specifically for the night.

I am interested in hearing some info on the sweeteners you can add, I have seen some from botanicare that look good with different flavours.
Hey man I hope things r working out for you and hope those strains work out for you as being a daytime/night time smoke. Glad to c you figuring out how to work the buckets going forward the key is the ppm. Now that you’ve mixed a 620ppm mix check it in 24 to 48 hrs or as soon as you notice the water level drop a bit and if that plant is eating hard the ppm will have dropped. If the plant is drinking the water at a faster rate then it can use the food the ppm will rise. Now if the ppm drops you’re probably close to the sweet spot for their age of growth. If the ppm has gone up you need to cut the nutrient back a little as the plants would be telling you 620 is to high of a ppm right now for them. The numbers don’t lie they will tell you what the plants want or don’t want. As far as sweeteners I can’t offer my opinion as I don’t use them but maybe someone else watching will be able to help you with that.im curious about them so as you find information on them plz let me know as I may try one or some in the future.
 
So after taking a look and considering what the finished size could be I think I could still achieve a good 1g per w with new light on buying next week.

I also to another look on the info on the strain and apparently it's a compact plant so maybe I am on track with the overall size at the moment but I'm going for 10 main stems and hoping to yield around 14g per stem which isn't a big ask really considering I will have equal coverage on the canopy, I'm hoping for extra branches in between to get a little extra yield for maybe cooking.

Overall I'm growing specifically for yield but I'm also growing for appearance to as I'm hoping to get some of the buds photographed and printed so as long as I can keep on top of diseases and deficiencies so I can get the leaves to grow multi coloured in a lower temperature environment.
What kind of light did you get?? I do remember you were talking about the new mars. Lots of people here using them with great results. I myself am still on the fence with LED/HID. As you know I run on of each side by side and I could buy 4 1000w HID setups for the price I paid for my LED. And even though my LED is absolutely fantastic the HPS yields a little heavier almost every grow. With 4 of my buckets under my led and 4 of my buckets under hps all tied to the same res and eating exactly the same thing the HPS will yield better. However my LED users less the half of the electrical power of the HPS so no gram per watt compassions over here lmao. Either way the new LEDs r much much better then a few year ago and after reading a lot on the new mars products I’m sure the plants will love it and so will you.
 
Yeah since I have refreshed there pots there looking pretty perky I will get some photos tomorrow and the roots are looking a lot better but not as many as I'd of thought considering other people's roots look a lot more big and dense, yeah sweeteners is something of like to try, look at the botanicare they have a few.

I'm going to try the Mars Setup SP 250 along with one of there tents, apparently you get 1.8g per watt so if I can achieve somewhere near that it would be a massive achievement for my first LED run, yeah I was the same I have always grown with HPS and didn't want to change due to yields but after the past year or so I'm seeing people hit 1.5-2g per watt with some of these led lights which is mega compared to the 0.5-0.8 I'm achieving which is poor, heat is also another issue I have always suffered with that in so not going to miss, as for the price, I think there cheap for 2x4 coverage, I know eventually when I can afford and find a suitable place in going to another 4x8 setup with 4-5 of these SP 250's and I do t think I will ever go back to hps now and I've been on the fence for a while so hopefully this grow will go great with it, plus they say you get real nice bud structure and bag appeal with LED.
 
Yeah since I have refreshed there pots there looking pretty perky I will get some photos tomorrow and the roots are looking a lot better but not as many as I'd of thought considering other people's roots look a lot more big and dense, yeah sweeteners is something of like to try, look at the botanicare they have a few.

I'm going to try the Mars Setup SP 250 along with one of there tents, apparently you get 1.8g per watt so if I can achieve somewhere near that it would be a massive achievement for my first LED run, yeah I was the same I have always grown with HPS and didn't want to change due to yields but after the past year or so I'm seeing people hit 1.5-2g per watt with some of these led lights which is mega compared to the 0.5-0.8 I'm achieving which is poor, heat is also another issue I have always suffered with that in so not going to miss, as for the price, I think there cheap for 2x4 coverage, I know eventually when I can afford and find a suitable place in going to another 4x8 setup with 4-5 of these SP 250's and I do t think I will ever go back to hps now and I've been on the fence for a while so hopefully this grow will go great with it, plus they say you get real nice bud structure and bag appeal with LED.
I’ve seen some top notch looking plants with the light you’re getting. I myself have heard the same things about bud structure and bag appeal. As far as bud structure I do c a difference but when it comes to bag appeal I don’t. Honestly if you’re popping by my grow you will c the buds that sit in the middle and get blasted with both LED and HPS r far superior to either side. This leaves me just hanging out on the fence lmao as well as my basement is cold AF so I rely heavily on the heat from HPS in my growing. You’re new light and tent will rock and when your get your new environment set those plants will love it. Oh ya good to hear about those roots clearing up. Keep up the good fight should be able to get a nice yield with the new gear coming.
 
Did a little more training ready for the flip to flower on monday, I think these plants will fill a 2x4 area pretty nicely with the amount of new stems that's growing.

I'm going to make some scrog screens today and get them on top so hopefully even if it's not a scrog at least they will have some support, my tents only 1x1m there currently in so I'm thinking of making 55x55cm screens, don't think the extra 5cm all around will make much difference.






 
Did a little more training ready for the flip to flower on monday, I think these plants will fill a 2x4 area pretty nicely with the amount of new stems that's growing.

I'm going to make some scrog screens today and get them on top so hopefully even if it's not a scrog at least they will have some support, my tents only 1x1m there currently in so I'm thinking of making 55x55cm screens, don't think the extra 5cm all around will make much difference.






Shit those plants seem to b liking the HID. I do see some difference between the two and ya different leaf structure for sure. Plants look good keep it up and you should be able to get some nice nugs. You have them spread nicely so far. Great job :thumb:
 
Yeah there looking pretty good, I thought they would of been a lot bigger being 35 days since breaking soil.

Yeah I'm hoping to get some nice quality buds out of these, with the canopy hopefully going to be even all the buds should be the same size and plus I will be heavily trimming the base and lower stems to promote just growth in the top 3-4 bud sites.

What I am hoping for is that the end result reflects on the name of the strain.
 
So s once I change my mind all the time I have now decided to flip these to flower today as I'm still unsure on how much they stretch, I have grown NL & BB and they stretched a good 2-3 times from what they were.

So I'm thinking of continuing to train them, keep pulling branches horizontally for another 7 days then let them reach for the light for the remaining stretch so at least this way I can find out how much pheno stretched and once I take a few small cuttings from each I can then know for sure on how much to grow the clones on the next time around.

With these plants looking to eventually have a same low canopy at least each hps is going to be great over them as I have found out that the lights not yet in stock so no worries.

One thing I would like to know is, when I swap to bloom nutes do I just start topping off with water and bloom bites or should I just start with a fresh new res?

I'm hoping for a little stretch so I can put a screen under the canopy, I will be using that silver backed bubble wrap, hoping I can get it around 4" above the top of the pots so then I can know for sure there is no chance of heat , plus I will try and find a small cooler so I can keep the water temp around 15c, if it's any colder by the middle of late flower then at least it may change the plant colour.

Just checked them there and the sludge is back, I'm pretty sure it's to do with the velo kelp so that will be getting stopped next time.



This is the schedule I'm using except the velo kelp and any other nutrient that turns out sludgy, I'm also using Plant Magic Magne Cal+, House and Garden Roots Excelurator and the Liquid Oxygen but I may also use some of the new Purpinator on one to see if the outcome is good or not.

 
They have also drank 2L since the last time I did res which I think was sunday, ppm had also dropped to 515pp so it's dropped around 100ppm and ph has went up to 6.3 from 5.5 too.

What would this tell you then bud?
 
They have also drank 2L since the last time I did res which I think was sunday, ppm had also dropped to 515pp so it's dropped around 100ppm and ph has went up to 6.3 from 5.5 too.

What would this tell you then bud?
Hey man I hope all is good. This tells you your feeding correctly and the plants r still feeding despite the root sludge. Now you could bump the nutrient up a bit as the ppm dropped but since your at the higher end of REMOs feed regiment and the plants r growing good I probably would just keep it all the same. Up to you. Switching nutrient for flower. The way I do it is if I flipped today I would keep feeding veg food for around 9to 12 days depending on when the first hairs appeared. Then switch to bloom food completely. Try not to let the temps in the buckets get to 15c as it’s a little cool. 19 or 20 is all good.
 
Hello bud, I'm not actually going by there recommended dosage I'm slightly under but the next time I make a nutrient mix in planning on only putting the cal mag in up to 150 instead of the 250ppm it's been going in at so I can add more micro and bloom but I'm going to add the grow for a little longer like you said.

I have turned the ballast up to 400w to help so hopefully if they do stretch at least the node stacking should be minimal.

Apart from the leaves you can see at the base that are pretty much gone in terms of nutrition and light yellow there isn't any problems thank goodness.




 
Hey man the plants look great and good call on turning the light up. More light more photosynthesis =more growth. Good to see your playing with your nutrient mixes as it key because every stage of growth is different. Keep in mind your plant will use the most Calcium in its whole cycle between 3 and 6 of flower. This is one reason lots of people see cal def in early flower. I myself bump up my cal after I switch to bloom food until week 6 then I cut it a little allowing me to tailor my mix better to late flower. How you feed and what is entirely up to you and everyone mixes a little different depending on stains. With the numbers you put out yesterday you could bump you nutrient but you r very close to the sweet spot for now. As I said before you got this it’s just a matter of diving in and running a few runs to figure out how you want to run as far as space, stains ,lights, what style of system if not solo buckets , training. Once you c what’s involved and how to work it you will have this on lock. The plants look good keep doing what your doing.
 
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