New grower looking for any advice: Seeds arriving this week

[Victorytoker]

Hi, im new. I like to ride mountain bikes, surf on a one wheel down everything and smoke weed... i grew once before and as a plumber by trade have done many set up.. never grown in dwc. But thats what im setting up for. Any experienced dwc guys here I would appreciate assistance and feedback from.

Initial Setup. ( what I have now )

-24" x 24" x 56" germination tent ( i will need a bigger tent obviously )

-2 x 1000 watt full spectrum led. ( 2000 watts total light output, 400watts consumed )

-1x partly 7w 254 gph air pump

-4 x air stone
-Black tubing

-4" net pots
-4 x 3.5 gallon buckets

-2x clip on fan.

-1x duct fan

-3 part general hydro fertilizer and calmagic.

?. Considering what i need for water treatment
I am looking for something like hydroguard but minus the hefty price tag ( in canada also ) ive heard that you can use grafefruit seed extract and much cheaper available products to achieve the same root rot prevention . I understand root rot is primary issues regarding dwc.

I have several different seeds arriving. Some are autos, will be sprouting in cubes initially. My plan is to start 4 -6 plants.

Any considerations ? I'm thinking I will get a 2nd air pump, both for aeration but also as backup.

I appreciate any guidance.

 

[Victorytoker]

I will be upgrading my intake fan and carbon filters hotly also

 

[Icemann420]

Sound good so far. Are you planning on finishing your plants in the 3.5 buckets. How many air stones per bucket. What shape air stones. What’s your ideal ph

 

[Victorytoker]

I've got seeds today, soaking in water for 12-14 hours then putting in germ cubes and moving to a germinating dome till they sprout. ( any tips for best germ rates ? ) temp in room is 24c humidity in germ dome environment is 69% right now. Seeds are soaking in distilled water in total dark

Ive only ever grown as a rookie, have done some setups for people but not done hydro really. Will sprouts need very heavy dilution nutes? Or are they nutritionally sufficient till I move to pots?

I have decided to move to 5 gallon buckets since plants will benefit, and i will require less topping of water.

Right now I have a single air pump that can do 4 ports 250gph. Have long cylinder 4"x " 2" airstones. Am a plumber, so I can make a8rstones in any fashion . I actually have a project to spiral coil the inside of 1 bucket with a custom ported copper tube and test results. ( airated water im really good at from pond and tank work ) . Main test here is too check a control with no plant to see if copper tubing kills beneficial bacteria, i have done lab work too and could create sterile env. ( res) but thats always more difficult.. i digress though.

Have a 2nd pump ordered, it does 800cfh ( way more air ) i plan on using both, 2 lines and 2 stones per bucket. If i know one thing its bacteria and water = chaos.

Have 3 stage r.o. treated water.

 

[Victorytoker]

I've heard dwc p.h. at 5.8 is ideal? I understand maximum nutriet intake for any plant to be 6.0 - 6.4, was going to aim for 6.2 ideal, what would you recommend ? I'm aiming 6.2 since this is where all nutes should be available.

Did end up ordering hydro guard also, never save a penny to spend a dollar imo I've heard you mention Gse before. can you expand on why?

 

[Icemann420]

I’d start in the 3.5 gallon buckets then work your way upTo the five. It saves nutrients that way if your changing your bucket weekly. 5.8 ph is it the way to go The seed starters don’t need any nutrients until they develop here 3rd set of true leaves. Watch out for the high voltage air pumps with the magnetic motors. They create heat and will heat the Rez temperature. 20*c is ideal.

 

[Icemann420]

Look through some of my grows I show
My setup and lights and chemicals it can give you ideas.

 

[Victorytoker]

Update. After forgetting to soak the rock wool to neutralize the p.h I had a few days not sure if they would live through.. I flushed the cubes with balanced water and shop vac the excess through the cube to flush em.. pretty rookie error on my part. Anyways, 2 are off like a racehorse. And 2 are likely to die. See photos, my 1 bigger one has a random dark spot on leaf . Nut burn perhaps? Plant otherwise does look healthy also see crippled seedling photos attached .. why these 2 and not the others ? All in same res, 2 4" air stones. Did have a humidifier mess up and raise to 90% but caught this after an hour.. now happy around 58% humid. Note twisting leafs.. I think too much light initially ( new LEDs. ) I've got 2000w at about 30".. had em at 2' ..
So setup is.
3x 254 Gph air pumps with 4 port.. only using 2 for max bubble value.

Humidifier with control
4" exhaust
3x clip on fans
4x4 tent
Added co2

I am right now running everything on p.h 5.8 ( initially rockwool cubes were raising ph a lot.. plants had some defficiancy due to lockout)
R.o water
Basic root starter .5 -1-.5 nuts.

Plan to change over water again tues, will add 1/4 strength general hydro nutrients.

Reservoir temp 24c ( air lines are temp controlled )

Also using hydro guard.


Thoughts? Suggestions ?

 

[Victorytoker]

Res temp usually sits closer to 21c but raises when I'm in tent.. body heat I assume.

 

[Sgtsativa]

I would suggest returning all of it and going in soil. Smells better and so much easier. Hydro is best for large grows with round the clock supervision. You cut a week off veg and can grow monsters but its too much work and costs a fortune. First time growing in dirt and im never going back. Got a 4 bucket hydro system in the closet now

 

[Sgtsativa]

Hydrogard is affordable at 2ml per gallon. You can go everyother week if your cleaning your buckets , stones and tubes at every change

 

[Victorytoker]

I've grown in dirt, am growing in hydro for the reasons you mentioned and I really don't find it hard to keep tabs on.

 

[Sativa1970]

I switched from dirt to DWC a few years back. Grew clones side by side in Dirt,drain to waste and DWC. Smell and taste are identical but hydro was faster, better yield, and no pest problems since I switched. DWC was easier to run on auto pilot. Big question is what strains are you growing? That will determine the fine tuning on nutes,lights,temp,ph and humidity. Root rot is from bacterial infection. bacteria can not grow in oxygenated water and algae can't grow in the dark.You don't just want air volume. you want small air bubbles to increase surface area. I use 2 smaller pumps with the manifolds linked together. If one pump fails the total air will be less to all but prevents any one plant from dying. Smaller res are cheaper and easier to manage early grow but you will get more swings in ph,ppm,and temp as they grow.If every foot of plant has 2 gallons of "water" it will be more chemically stable. Keep in mind a 5 gallon bucket only holds 4 gallons with the basket hanging.Then subtract a little for the space of the roots and that they can drink a gallon a day. That 5 gallon bucket will start fighting you at 2-3 foot.

 

[Sgtsativa]

Ebb and flow is the only way to do hydro in my opinion. Ebb and flow dwrc technically.

 

[Victorytoker]

Ive got 4 air pumps, each bucket is getting a few hundred gph turn over, oxygen saturation is at max for sure and running hydro guard to protect against rot. I am running a single 4" x 2" airstone in each bucket right now, but tomorrow will be putting 2 , 2x 2 stones in each bucket for better dispersion. Each pump can do 4 stones if required in emerg, but I use em at half capacity and based on the volume of air the entire resovoir has complete air exchange several times per minute.

Strain is grand daddy purple, from bcseedking feminized photo period

I may consider putting 2 plants per 16 gallon tote if I need to,,or just go single 7 gallon bucket, i appreciate hydro has a learning curve.

Over 10 years ago we were growing dirt ( last time I grew ) it was a modified wick system with aeration ( think water tunnel under dirt with membrane.. those plants grew stupid fast compared to the plain dirt.. im finding the speed of growth in hydro awesome. I will do what I need to and learn got 2 more lights coming, they are budget kinda lights, but they can produce decent enough. Will have 5 in a 4x4 total actual wattage 1000watt. Right now am just waiting for them to do their thing. Keeping res full, checking p.h and nutes ..

 

[Sativa1970]

If you are going to veg to 15-18 inches then flip and stretch to around 3 foot you res plans should be right on the money.If you are going to clone take records of everything and pictures. Makes it easy to spot when there is a correlation to growth spirts and slow downs so you can dial in the next grow.Look into hydrogen peroxide in hydroponics.disinfects,kils algae and mildews, stabilizing PH.Cheap safe way to disinfect equipment.

 

[Victorytoker]

If you are going to veg to 15-18 inches then flip and stretch to around 3 foot you res plans should be right on the money.If you are going to clone take records of everything and pictures. Makes it easy to spot when there is a correlation to growth spirts and slow downs so you can dial in the next grow.Look into hydrogen peroxide in hydroponics.disinfects,kils algae and mildews, stabilizing PH.Cheap safe way to disinfect equipment.

My thread here has been moved to the grow journals thread.. check it out there 8f your I terested to follow my progression, I am using h2o2 for cleaning everything, am running beneficial bacteria I resovoir so can't do it there though.. here are my plants today after treating a calcium deficiency., new to dwc here, and still learning. Have grown soil before though, and have a pretty good scientific approach to these things

More lights coming soon