Grow setup, feedback and guidance greatly appreciated.

[MrThC01]

hey guys this my first post and membership to a site like this, always seemed a bit risky to me. as the thread title suggests im setting up a grow for next year, i have grown once in the past but unfortuntely due to finances at the time and living circumstances i only pulled 9g (dry weight) from 125w cfl around about 6 years ago with autos so im no expert but been researching for a while thus far.

im looking to finally set up a worthy grow for my own medicinal purposes (type 2 diabetic) with around 4 plants in a stealth wardrobe grow, i will get round to knocking up some paint illustrations of what i have in mind.

so heres the wishlist thus far, i have a couple of queries for any boffins that may be willing to give up some of their time to help aid my project.



so heres the plan:

the wardrobe is around 5.5ft wide and 6ft tall with around 2ft depth so whilst its not massive i see no problem with 4 plants in this area.

im hoping to implement an aeroponic system, exactly which im yet to decide on. the main reasons for this are simply the chance of higher yield and being in complete control of every nute my plants receive.

at this time im leaning very much towards LED lighting, even considering 3-4 P300's with side lighting to provide around about 180degree lighting (ill call it a blanket of light ) the idea is to surround the plants with light as if they were growing in the middle of africa with metres of space and plenty of sun.

atleast for the first grow im thinking of going down the auto route as these have came on greatly since my last endeavour and for the cost of around $80 i was relatively happy with outcome (was also nice to smoke)

although the cooling shouldnt be essential smell containment is as such a low cfm fan with a high quality filter i feel would be needed, i was also considering using computer fans as an inlet for fresh air to create air circulation (much the same as a computer case)

Co2 controllers, humidity gauges and regulators and fans etc are all also things im contemplating dependant on the cost of the rest of the grow, while i can be generous in my funds theyre by no means limitless.

if theres anything obvious ive missed then please do let me know.




also my primary questions really are:

how is the aeroponic system to run and implement ? are there any negative ie tendancy for root rot and does anyone have experience with these that can give an honest opinion

LED's are rather new to me (it wasnt so long ago they were condemned to being useless) do they really perform as well as HPS ? after all CFL's never really came close unless you took out all the postives they had (i.e high wattage, temp)

will the 'blanket of light' idea work and is it already something being implemented by people?

and finally do autos respond to GLR ? to my mind if you can stop them from flowering you can increase potential yield with a couple of weeks veg to increase size, strength and roots.

and as i said any extra bits you guys feel need to be said will be appreciated


many thanks

Mr.ThC

 

[Kola320]

If you wanna try and auto and see how your setup works out for you I will recommend a nice yielding auto that is pretty easy to grow. I average about 4 zips dry and others are getting the same results with LED. And is some great smoke too can't tell you how they respond to GLR never tried it myself but if you do post your findings ! Heavyweight Fast & Vast Autoflowering Feminised Seeds - Herbies Seeds

 

[MrThC01]

thanks man thats awesome

 

[Antics]

I grew with CFLs before this, and am using LED now. LED produce beastly growth. Close nodes, more than 2 shoots per node at some as well. With CFLs I didn't get off-shoot branches growing off the main branches until well into flower. With the LED I'm seeing this growth in Veg.

When the proper distances are used, they work amazingly. Too close, and obviously they can damage the plant like any other light.
Full spectrum LEDs can be used from seed to harvest as well, no need to change bulbs. You can also buy specific Veg/Flower LEDs, and some manufacturers build lights with a switch to select Veg/Flower modes.

 

[MrThC01]

hey thanks for the reply, are there any brands or lights that you would recommend? i was tempted by the mars lights and i-grow's but after reading reviews on mars and weighing up if the i-grows really warrant the cost im a little undecided.

with regards to distance, i was planning on using LED's as side lighting would you not recommend this?

thanks man

 

[Antics]

Pretty much every LED sold by the sponsors here has a grow journal using the light, so any sponsor LED will give you a light that has been proven to work well. Some other lights sold out there on auctions sites LOOK like good deals, but when you get down to the nuts and bolts, they're lacking spectrums, or output power.

Sponsors: Sponsors : 420 MAGAZINE ®

You can absolutely use them for side lighting, but still should observe all the suggested distances. Which vary by plant stage, seedling is farthest, Veg a little closer, and Flower the closest. And of course various strains/phenos will have different tolerances to the intensity of the lights.

KingJohnC Actually used some for supplemental side lighting in one of his journals, which I believe was this one: KingJohnC's Lush Lighting LED Dominator 2x Soil Indoor Grow Journal & Review

 

[MrThC01]

Pretty much every LED sold by the sponsors here has a grow journal using the light, so any sponsor LED will give you a light that has been proven to work well. Some other lights sold out there on auctions sites LOOK like good deals, but when you get down to the nuts and bolts, they're lacking spectrums, or output power.

Sponsors: Sponsors : 420 MAGAZINE ®

You can absolutely use them for side lighting, but still should observe all the suggested distances. Which vary by plant stage, seedling is farthest, Veg a little closer, and Flower the closest. And of course various strains/phenos will have different tolerances to the intensity of the lights.

KingJohnC Actually used some for supplemental side lighting in one of his journals, which I believe was this one: KingJohnC's Lush Lighting LED Dominator 2x Soil Indoor Grow Journal & Review

thanks for the reply and info man ive had a quick glance at that article before but didnt pay it a huge amount of notice then, will have to re-read it.

i do have another question tho, as things transpire with the design im finding myself with a decision to make, either i can go hydro i was thinking HPA which isnt cheap, or i can go soil and spend that money on climate control, humidifiers, co2 regulators, heat regulators etc in order to (in my mind) replicate real world conditions in some of the best regions for natural growing.

now my question really is which would produce more benefits? im leaning towards climate control atm using super soil or scaling down to the capn's hydro system

my aims really are quality then quantity, id say its quite a balancing act really

any input is appreciated

 

[Tead]

Aero systems can be a bit touchy in a few different ways.
First, they use smaller tubing that runs to the emitters. The small tubing and emitters have a tendency to clog. Any bits of goo or other debris in you water will cause issues. Dried nutrient build up will also cause clogs.
The other aspect of any pumped hydro systems is heat build up caused by the pump and lighting can really cause havoc. It really doesn't take much for things to heat up and start growing rot.
I have lots of heat+hydro=pudding stories. My first try at hydro started many, many years ago with an aero system just like yours. It was a complete failure and was just the beginning of many years of hydro frustration. Recently, I've discovered drain to waste hydro systems (hempy buckets in my case) work awesome for me. They're way easy, and I would suggest you look at a drain to waste system before you dive into a fairly intricate aero system.
Also... I'm not sure GLR gives you any bonuses in an auto grow. I'm not an auto grower, but it's my understanding that they don't care so much about a light schedule. I don't think an hour of light in the middle of your dark period would have any impact on them.

 

[MrThC01]

thanks for the reply and info tead, i did have my doubts about aero due to the high likelihood of root rot the cons definitely seem to outweigh the pro's, the nute buildup again was something im quite mindful of i figured weekly soaking in acid would be required, i then figured that would potentially cause harm to the roots and kinda defeats the point of using full organic nutes.

ill give drain to waste a proper look through and see if its what id be looking for and fit my needs, as i said at the moment im finding myself swaying heavily toward a soil grow (really want to try hydro but that may be the inner child in me)

the only reason i wondered about the GLR is because i had read that it stops the chemical being released to trigger flowering and hermie and wasnt too sure of its results with Auto (to be honest i kinda hoped someone else had tried this method and would already have the results)

thanks for the input man

 

[businessman]

Aero systems can be a bit touchy in a few different ways.
First, they use smaller tubing that runs to the emitters. The small tubing and emitters have a tendency to clog. Any bits of goo or other debris in you water will cause issues. Dried nutrient build up will also cause clogs.
The other aspect of any pumped hydro systems is heat build up caused by the pump and lighting can really cause havoc. It really doesn't take much for things to heat up and start growing rot.
I have lots of heat+hydro=pudding stories. My first try at hydro started many, many years ago with an aero system just like yours. It was a complete failure and was just the beginning of many years of hydro frustration. Recently, I've discovered drain to waste hydro systems (hempy buckets in my case) work awesome for me. They're way easy, and I would suggest you look at a drain to waste system before you dive into a fairly intricate aero system.
Also... I'm not sure GLR gives you any bonuses in an auto grow. I'm not an auto grower, but it's my understanding that they don't care so much about a light schedule. I don't think an hour of light in the middle of your dark period would have any impact on them.

Aero Setups are very sensitive. I have an aero setup. If your up to trying give it a shot but make sure u do a journal as you will run in to problems. Aero is an advanced setup. As for some of things mentioned above those problems can be avoided by simple fixes.

My aero system has NEVER clogged. I put my pumps in a pump bag so nothing gets in the lines. I also clean my system. Heat is an issue with aeroponic in the water. Either buy a water chiller or put the pump on a recycle timer. I dont have an opnion on auto as i also dont auto grow.

Aeroponics is great if you have time. They will grow fast and massive trees. However they need to be tended to and watched constantly. Because the plants grow so fast if one thing is off for even a few hours you got an issue. Me personally if you do aeroponic there are 5 requirements;
1 water chiller
2 pump bag
3 master controller
4 ph doser
5 plenty of attention from the grower