Zac's First Hydro-Grow Journal

[zacnasty]

Day 1: Annnnnd, here it goes. As of today, my seeds are germinated and planted. This is going to be my first attempt at a hydro-grow. I'm very excited about it. I decided that it would behoove me to try this on a small scale first, for several reasons:

1. I don't know very much about what I'm doing concerning hydroponics.
2. Indoor grow space is very limited in the house that I'm living in while attending school.
3. I have housemates that I would rather keep in the dark about growing my own medicine (not that they are against cannabis usage, just a precautionary measure).

The method that I have chosen to grow with is a homemade deep-water culture system using a three gallon reservoir set up for two plants. This, in turn, is placed inside of a handmade stealth grow box that I threw together with some materials that I happened to have laying around the house. Specifications of my box are as follows:

1. Measurements are 36" x 15" x 12"
2. One built in 15A 20A plug with 8' power cord
3. Two Silent 80mm Fans
4. 2 Carbon Air Filters (These obviously weren't laying around my home.)
5. CFL lighting for both veg and flowering stages

The box seems to regulate temperature and humidity with great efficiency. I gave it a trial before actually putting it into use. Everything turned out great with it.

I feel that the smaller sized and scaled down operation will be a little more forgiving, concerning mistakes, than a full sized growing operation. I think it will allow me to learn the ropes a little better, and I will be able to more efficiently utilize the input and encouragement from other growers on here and apply their knowledge where we may see fit.

As for plant, nutrient, and lighting information, it is as follows:

1. No. of Plants: Two
2. Strain Name: Black Jack (Not sure what the parent strains to this one are)
3. Strain Type: 50/50 Indica/Sativa mix (Feminized)
4. Nutrients: Advanced Nutrients Jungle Juice- Micro, grow, and bloom (Equal parts of each solution at this present juvenile stage)
5. Lights: Three 6500K 26W Full Spectrum CFL Long Life Light Bulbs (Planning on changing the quantity to six bulbs in the next couple of days)

The temperature of our home stays between 70 and 75 degrees during the day depending on A/C usage, and the closet and grow-box keeps the humidity around 50-60%, also depending on if the air is running.

Any words of encouragement or advice is always appreciated (unless your being a dick). Like I said earlier, I'm new to hydroponics and fairly new to growing my own medicine in general. I'm always open to new tips and tricks. I just want to make sure that it's done properly and that I produce the best medication that I can with the means I have available. Y'all wish this ol' Mississippi hippy the best of luck and a happy grow! I'll keep my journal updated as time progresses.

Cheers y'all,

Zac

 

[zacnasty]

I wasn't familiar with the terminology at first, but I'm guessing that this would be considered a micro-grow. I feel confident about it, though. I'm trying to be optimistic on this one. My green thumb isn't the greatest in the world, but I get by. Has anyone that is reading this ever done a similar grow? If so, what kind of yield did you get off of your plant/s?

 

[nmherbman]

Welcome brother! First i gotta say love the "micro setup"!

Ok.... If I am growing indoors its all hydro. I by NO means am knocking soil grows in fact i just was blown away by a friend of mine all soil organic strawberry cough. It was nice smooth and up lifting!

I currently have a G-13 labs Pineapple Express in a 14 gallon rubbermaid tough tote w/ a net pot and 1-4'' air stone. I have also ran multiple DWC setups connected to res. I do however have a bit more room then you (watch your veg height so u dont out grow your mini box) just top them and spread where u can.

I am not up to speed on an nutes so i am of little help there. This is just a thought.... with a limited space like you have I would run one plant better for roots your roots will get huge IMO and also gives you more space to open up the plant and utilize the space. like a mini scrog almost with no net or what have you. And 1 plant gives off less odor than 2 (i noticed a concern with housemates) I am assuming air pump and stones in there! i saw air hose in pic but no mention how big just watch for stones to get buried in root mass this sufficiently reduces the amount of air to the water as well as rest of root mass. Please remember this is only my thoughts based on my experience.
now not sure how noob to hydro you are but PH is key in hydro the roots require a lower PH than soil. A good PH IMO shoot for between 5.8 and 6.1 in doing this you will not encounter lockouts. Another thing to remember is that in soil you have quite a bigger buffer than hydro so be careful when mixing nutes until you get a feel for her. once again this is only based on my experience. I hope this was in some way insightful. so welcome to the forum and Happy Growing!!

 

[zacnasty]

Good Morning, Mr. Herbman. Thanks very much for the warm welcome. It's very nice to be among friends and like minded individuals. The pictures of your baby look delicious. She looks super green and healthy. I hope I fair just as well with mine.

I had previously thought about just running one plant due to the exact reasons you mentioned above, but, being hard headed and wanting to experiment, I decided that trying two would be a good way to start out. I'm fairly sure that i will end up having to transplant one to a bigger bucket after they veg for a while. The plants are supposedly short and bushy, so hopefully a transplant won't be the case. Also, I was thinking that I may be able to manipulate the plant's growth to avoid this problem. I guess it will be a trial and error type of situation.

I'm also hoping that the carbon air filters that I installed will help with some of the smell, because that is a dead give away. My room mates both know I smoke and use cannabis regularly as a medication, and they are all for that, but I think some things are better left unsaid concerning growing. Know what i mean?

I do have some stones in there, but you can't see them in the picture. I just started out with one smaller type micro-fin air pump, but decided that I wasn't getting enough air to the water, so I picked up one more larger aqua culture pump and air stone. I just added it it with the other pump and air stone. That sucker is throwing off some bubbles now. The more air the better, right? But like you said, hopefully, I won't have to worry about the stones getting mixed in with my roots. I will just have to keep a good eye on it and re-position and maneuver them around accordingly.

I have been using distilled water that I purchased from wal-mart to mix my nute solutions in, so the PH has been right where it needed to be. I have my mind set on checking the PH levels about every other day. How often are you checking your PH and nute levels?

Also, I plan on going to the dollar store today and getting some mylar to wrap my water reservoir and lid in. I figure that I should try and get as much reflection as I can to my babies.

I am EXTREMELY new to hydro, but I feel fairly confident that, with the help of people on this forum, I will have a successful grow. Sub to my journal and follow me as I go along. I'm always open to and encourage others to provide me with advice and tips. Once again, thanks for the greetings. I shall smoke one in your honor today. Cheers!

I will post some more pictures whenever my girls (well, hopefully girls) decide they want to pop up through the rockwool.

 

[Ascended Master Kief]

I think I'm going to love watching your grow here! I have no hydro experience, but I am doing a very small cabinet grow (in soil, two plants, plus some clones). I think I can say, that you might want to have a short veg, due to space. Been told that cannabis REALLY takes off (size-wise) during flowering, so even if they fit during veg, they might not during flower. Just something to keep in mind. Personally, I've been worried about my cabinet, lol.

Good luck, and subbed!

 

[zacnasty]

aestidl, thanks very much for the input and words of encouragement. Cutting the veg state early seems to be a recurring theme that I have noticed in a lot of micro operation journals. I'm not actually sure, yet, about when I will need to switch from veg to flowering in an operation as small as the one that I am doing. More research is going to have to be done on my part, as I have heard from numerous sources that also say that there will be an exponential amount of growth during the flowering stage. Have you noticed any patterns of when people are changing their light-cycles in small spaces like this?

Also, do you have a journal on here? I would like to see what you have going on with your grow.

Much love,

Zac

 

[Ascended Master Kief]

I've also heard that there are major growth differences between veg and flower. Now, please don't take just my word for it, but I've heard here of some folks starting seedlings as small as having 4 or 5 nodes (could be anywhere from 2-10 inches at that stage, I think) onto 12/12. I have also heard of SOG grows, in which the plants remain small, with small yield, but make up for it with number of plants to get a decent yield. Flowering starts early on that, I believe.

Oh, and, journal link is in my signature. (Ghetto RV Grow)

 

[Ash2man]

Nice clean little box! I like it. My little deal is a old fridge and a stand up freezer.

 

[zacnasty]

Thank you, sir. I thought it was a nifty little set-up, myself. Do you have any pictures of your operation on here? I enjoy seeing all the different set-ups that one can have. Inspiration comes in many different forms. I never thought of using a fridge before, even though I do have a small fridge at my disposal. It sounds like a great idea.

 

[nmherbman]

Good Morning, Mr. Herbman. Thanks very much for the warm welcome. It's very nice to be among friends and like minded individuals. The pictures of your baby look delicious. She looks super green and healthy. I hope I fair just as well with mine.

I had previously thought about just running one plant due to the exact reasons you mentioned above, but, being hard headed and wanting to experiment, I decided that trying two would be a good way to start out. I'm fairly sure that i will end up having to transplant one to a bigger bucket after they veg for a while. The plants are supposedly short and bushy, so hopefully a transplant won't be the case. Also, I was thinking that I may be able to manipulate the plant's growth to avoid this problem. I guess it will be a trial and error type of situation.

I'm also hoping that the carbon air filters that I installed will help with some of the smell, because that is a dead give away. My room mates both know I smoke and use cannabis regularly as a medication, and they are all for that, but I think some things are better left unsaid concerning growing. Know what i mean?

I do have some stones in there, but you can't see them in the picture. I just started out with one smaller type micro-fin air pump, but decided that I wasn't getting enough air to the water, so I picked up one more larger aqua culture pump and air stone. I just added it it with the other pump and air stone. That sucker is throwing off some bubbles now. The more air the better, right? But like you said, hopefully, I won't have to worry about the stones getting mixed in with my roots. I will just have to keep a good eye on it and re-position and maneuver them around accordingly.

I have been using distilled water that I purchased from wal-mart to mix my nute solutions in, so the PH has been right where it needed to be. I have my mind set on checking the PH levels about every other day. How often are you checking your PH and nute levels?

Also, I plan on going to the dollar store today and getting some mylar to wrap my water reservoir and lid in. I figure that I should try and get as much reflection as I can to my babies.

I am EXTREMELY new to hydro, but I feel fairly confident that, with the help of people on this forum, I will have a successful grow. Sub to my journal and follow me as I go along. I'm always open to and encourage others to provide me with advice and tips. Once again, thanks for the greetings. I shall smoke one in your honor today. Cheers!

I will post some more pictures whenever my girls (well, hopefully girls) decide they want to pop up through the rockwool.

good evening bro... OK... I hear ya on the hard headed thing lol me to! Hear are thoughts... instead of wrapping whole box in mylar cut apiece that sticks out a few inches on all sides on the top then cut x's where plants come through cause the light that hits the side doesn't reflect back up just out where if it is directly under it shoots it right back up!

I really dont think u will need to transplant 3gal. big enough your ladys be short and sweet if your box was bigger i would see the need IMO! oh just saw u said wrap top hahaha.... oh i was first subbed

 

[zacnasty]

herbman! hahaha. You're crazy, man. I like you, but you're crazy. You're logic sounds completely right, though. I had read on here in several places that if the reservoir was clear, it needs to be wrapped in something to keep light from getting to the roots. I also heard people say this was bull shit, but I didn't see any evidence to back either one of the two claims. Wouldn't light shining on the roots still help in photosynthesis, or does this only take place in the leafy greens (I like saying that, "leafy greens" )? What would be your input on wrapping the reservoir?

 

[nmherbman]

Zac light on roots BAD photosynthesis happens through the leaves absorption of light or yes leafy greens! i didnt realize your res was clear it looks to be fit snug in there. The thing is when light hits water algae grows it also heats up that combo causes root rot and a handful of issues occur ph swings oxygen depletion and worst case plant will die if not handled

that nasty slime you see is from rot. My suggestion would be.... well if u got enough to wrap it i guess it wouldnt be bad idea to for if nothing else a preventative measure or peace of mind.
and zac yes you are right I am definitely CrAzY-----> at least thats what the voices keep telling me. . . . .

 

[Ash2man]

I keep getting seduced into starting a journal. I'm 95% there. I'll let you know when it's up.

 

[zacnasty]

Thanks for clearing that up for me, pal! I've got it all taken care of now. I am going to Hangout Fest this weekend so my sister is taking care of my plants while i'm gone. They haven't even poked through the rockwool, so I figure that she can handle it the couple of days that I'm gone. Y'all stay solid. I'll post some pics of my babies when I return. I figure they should have poked through by then.

Peace,

Zac

 

[Ash2man]

I've got pics up hit my signature

 

[KingJohnC]

subscribed

 

[Truth Seeker]

Is this grow still alive?

If so, please update us with some pictures and info.

How about posting a 420 Strain Review?

If you need any help with posting photos, please read the photo gallery tutorial:
Photo Gallery Guide - How to Resize, Upload & Post Photos

I am moving this to Abandoned Journals until we get updates.

Thanks and hope all is well in your world.

Love and respect from all of us here at 420 Magazine.