Starting with hydro grow

[dmacd003]

So just starting out growing mj, taking a leap of faith and diving right in with a basic hydro set up in the hope of shaving a few weeks off the grow time. After reading many forums and guides, my wife and feel fairly confident. We have the grow box set up and the seeds are germinated. We started them in a standard germination kit with the little compressed soil blocks. Out of six seeds, we have four doing well, one bent and was lost, the other bent but was quickly propped up and we are trying to save it.

The grow and a reserve/prep tank are ready, just waiting for the pH meter we ordered to arrive so we can transplant our babies to their final home. We have the Canna Aqua Vega A&B, pH Up and Down by GH and clay balls waiting to go. I just learned we'll also need the Canna Aqua Flora for the flowering stage, so we'll have to order that soon. Now, according to the Canna grow guide, there is mention of Rhizo Tonic and Canna Zym needed for various parts of the grow cycle... Is that REALLY a necessity? I get that pH needs to be at certain levels, and the nutrients added correctly, but those other additives...really?

 

[Lady Cannafan]

dmacd003, and to the great community here at where we are dedicated to spreading Cannabis and Hemp awareness throughout the world.

Great to read you are starting a grow! I'm not a hydro grower, so I can't answer your question on that. I'm sure someone will be along to give some guidance there.

In the meantime, check out the new member start up area for some great information including how to start a grow journal and how to post pictures here when you are ready for that step:

New Member Start Links

You are going to have tons of fun growing this wonderful plant.
Good luck and keep em' green!

 

[ColoradoKid]

dmacd003, to . We are glad that you are here. There is a wealth of information here. Many helpful kind people hang out here also. We want to spread the word about the benefits and truth of cannabis and hemp to the rest of the world. Look around and if you have any questions please ask.

 

[MikeTbob]

Welcome to the world of Hydro.
Which setup did you choose? Ebb & Flow? Bubble Buckets? NFT? Something else? You can start your seedlings in plain PH'ed water for the first week or two. Usually until the plant gets at least 2 or 3 nodes of growth before you introduce nutrients and then only start with about half the recommended dosage.
I'm not familiar with the grow nutrients you mentioned but there are others here that can and will help with that, just be patient. Good luck and ask lots of questions.

 

[rillos]

So your very first grow will be hydro. I won't say you can't do it but you should have mastered soil grow first. There so many things you have to watch for. It's very unforgiven if something isn't right. But good luck.

 

[MikeTbob]

So your very first grow will be hydro. I won't say you can't do it but you should have mastered soil grow first. There so many things you have to watch for. It's very unforgiven if something isn't right. But good luck.

True, all of it. But I think we can help a lot. They got Dennise off Miracle Grow and she has now harvested part of it. As long as you do your homework and never stop learning or asking questions, I think you'll be okay.

 

[ColoradoKid]

I started with hydro. But I started out with an extremely simple system. I used Hempy Buckets. It worked great and I got excellent results. I did have to watch everything really close though. It was a fun learning experience. I moved on to DWCs for awhile and found them to be more work and complicated than I wanted to be involved with. I eventually got to soil and have been here ever since. I think that almost anyone can grow with any system as long as they research the system first and ask a lot of questions along the way. It is a matter of how much effort you want to put into it. And how keen you are on attention to detail.

 

[dmacd003]

Thank you all for the words of support. To answer a few questions: we are going with a deep water grow. The box I built myself. Air intake, approx 5 times the vent out (with a carbon scrubber). Used reflective adhesive coating on the walls, flat white paint for the ceiling. While the lights - T5 fluorescents - do not raise or lower, there is huge one on the ceiling and one on each side wall. I'll post some pics in a bit.

The grow tank is a 100L storage bin with holes cut in the top for 6 pots. As I mentioned, the seeds were started in germination blocks for a local hardware store. We just ordered another batch of seeds. I feel as though we may have waited too long to put the seedlings in the tank as their stems are turning dark though the leaves look fine. Two fell and bent, another one fell over today. I think with this next batch we'll try a soil grow on a few. The box has just enough room left for maybe two, possibly three, buckets. Should have just picked up a pH meter locally this past week rather count on one arriving on time in the mail.... Oh well. I won't lie, this has been an expensive last few weeks, but we are learning and hope to find a process that works well for us.

 

[Billyjack]

Welcome to the site. Not hydro so cannot help much. Nice to have you here