AtmozFear
Well-Known Member
I started growing with RDWC seven years ago, which was also my first growing experience overall, and I came to one important conclusion with full-on hydro: not only keep the ph under control, but use nutrients themselves to bring up, bring down or, most importantly, keep the ph level and stable without resorting to using any ph-up or ph-down chemicals.
I started seven years ago using Stealth Hydro's Bubbleponics six-site, ten gallon tub in my bedroom closet and had no idea what I was doing. I could hardly get past the germination because I kept putting the seeds upside down, thinking that the pointy part was where the taproot would come out. With no success this far (unaware that I was making such a simple mistake at the time), I purchased and later modified Hydrofarm's HomeGarden systems, cleared out the area under the basement stairs, moving old puzzles and board games with spider webs and cobwebs all over the place- out of there. I then went to Home Depot and bought four cinder blocks and a 4' x 4' long, thick piece of ply wood to set the two HomeGarden systems on and then I began to design my own version of the systems so that I wouldn't have to climb all the way to the back of the space to work with and drain the reservoirs of any bucket systems. This is what I came up with (though these particular plants are from a more recent grow):
For all DWC grows now, I use General Hydroponics' WaterFarms in a much larger room in the back of the basement. There, I have a utility sink, a freezer, a refrigerator, and plenty of space to keep used and unused equipment and supplies. In fact, I will be growing tomatoes, peas, and peppers at the same time as this grow, in four WaterFarms, but obviously I won't include them in our discussions.
I have maybe a dozen hydro grows under my belt, and this will be my first real shot at growing perpetual, which is sort of a change in attitude and lifestyle towards growing because it shows I want to always be growing, no matter what stages my plants are in. So now, I am using that space under the stairs as a veg and autoflower space, and I am using the back room for flowering. Sprinkling in autoflowers just becomes a little bonus and fills in little harvests between bigger ones. My two autos are Blue Dream and Gigabud. I will use them both entirely for extraction.
autos are starting and finishing in the same 2.5 Gal plastic pots
Purple Crack and GDP are starting in .5 Gal plastic pots and will be transplanted later to 5 Gal Smart Pots.
medium consists of store-bought uncompressed, loose coco with super-coarse perlite
When I throw the Purple Crack and GDP into flower, I will take two or more clones and place them in a 24-site TurboKlone under the stairs alongside the autos.
Purple Crack and GDP take 8-9 weeks til harvest, and clones begin to root in the TurboKlone within a little less than a week, which will give the clones a little over two months to grow until they themselves are ready to flower. The autos will be grown during the entire veg of the first wave of PC and GDP, which will be two months, plus half the time it will take for the second wave to be ready.
So, it will go like this:
Autos, PC, and GDP all sowed at the same time.
PC and GDP veg for two months, autos veg AND bloom for three months.
When PC and GDP are ready to flower, I take cuttings and veg those cuttings for two months in the veg room while the first two PC and GDP are left in the flowering room for two months.
When half of the that time has expired, I will be harvesting the autos, and then immediately begin sowing two new autos.
When the second half of that time has expired, I will be harvesting the first two PC and GDP, and will be moving the second two PC and GDP, which have been under the stairs all that time, into the flower room. Before I do this, I will take at least two clones from THOSE two PC and GDP and leave them in the veg room with the two newly sowed autos which will have been growing for one month at this time.
So, the pattern will go like this:
initial sowing + two months: flower
one month: harvest
one month: harvest
two months: harvest
two months: harvest
Then, it will recycle. That's four harvests every six months, eight harvests a year.
Right now, all plants are in seedling stage, which I am keeping in the flower room under a 400watt Metal Halide
veg room is under 600watt Mars veg and bloom LED, plus a 120 watt flower LED
When I throw the first wave of Purple Crack and GDP into flower, I will be using a 600watt Digilux HPS, powered by a digital Nanolux ballast, and the Digilux bulb will be mounted onto a medium Adjust-a-Wing reflector... this will be the main light I use for the newly established flower room.
60% of the nutes I will be using are synthetic.
At this point in time, all the seedlings are about two weeks old and I just gave them their first dose of FMicro, FGrow, and FBloom by General Hydroponics, and they are all looking great. I gave Purple Crack and GDP a slight overdose, flushed once, and now they are fine:
Auto Blue Dream:
Auto Gigabud:
Purple Crack (left), Granddaddy Purple (right)
One thing I am new to is this forum, but here is my treasure chest of information, all of which I have read many times over:
-not to mention endless digital and paper issues of High Times and Skunk!
I started seven years ago using Stealth Hydro's Bubbleponics six-site, ten gallon tub in my bedroom closet and had no idea what I was doing. I could hardly get past the germination because I kept putting the seeds upside down, thinking that the pointy part was where the taproot would come out. With no success this far (unaware that I was making such a simple mistake at the time), I purchased and later modified Hydrofarm's HomeGarden systems, cleared out the area under the basement stairs, moving old puzzles and board games with spider webs and cobwebs all over the place- out of there. I then went to Home Depot and bought four cinder blocks and a 4' x 4' long, thick piece of ply wood to set the two HomeGarden systems on and then I began to design my own version of the systems so that I wouldn't have to climb all the way to the back of the space to work with and drain the reservoirs of any bucket systems. This is what I came up with (though these particular plants are from a more recent grow):
For all DWC grows now, I use General Hydroponics' WaterFarms in a much larger room in the back of the basement. There, I have a utility sink, a freezer, a refrigerator, and plenty of space to keep used and unused equipment and supplies. In fact, I will be growing tomatoes, peas, and peppers at the same time as this grow, in four WaterFarms, but obviously I won't include them in our discussions.
I have maybe a dozen hydro grows under my belt, and this will be my first real shot at growing perpetual, which is sort of a change in attitude and lifestyle towards growing because it shows I want to always be growing, no matter what stages my plants are in. So now, I am using that space under the stairs as a veg and autoflower space, and I am using the back room for flowering. Sprinkling in autoflowers just becomes a little bonus and fills in little harvests between bigger ones. My two autos are Blue Dream and Gigabud. I will use them both entirely for extraction.
autos are starting and finishing in the same 2.5 Gal plastic pots
Purple Crack and GDP are starting in .5 Gal plastic pots and will be transplanted later to 5 Gal Smart Pots.
medium consists of store-bought uncompressed, loose coco with super-coarse perlite
When I throw the Purple Crack and GDP into flower, I will take two or more clones and place them in a 24-site TurboKlone under the stairs alongside the autos.
Purple Crack and GDP take 8-9 weeks til harvest, and clones begin to root in the TurboKlone within a little less than a week, which will give the clones a little over two months to grow until they themselves are ready to flower. The autos will be grown during the entire veg of the first wave of PC and GDP, which will be two months, plus half the time it will take for the second wave to be ready.
So, it will go like this:
Autos, PC, and GDP all sowed at the same time.
PC and GDP veg for two months, autos veg AND bloom for three months.
When PC and GDP are ready to flower, I take cuttings and veg those cuttings for two months in the veg room while the first two PC and GDP are left in the flowering room for two months.
When half of the that time has expired, I will be harvesting the autos, and then immediately begin sowing two new autos.
When the second half of that time has expired, I will be harvesting the first two PC and GDP, and will be moving the second two PC and GDP, which have been under the stairs all that time, into the flower room. Before I do this, I will take at least two clones from THOSE two PC and GDP and leave them in the veg room with the two newly sowed autos which will have been growing for one month at this time.
So, the pattern will go like this:
initial sowing + two months: flower
one month: harvest
one month: harvest
two months: harvest
two months: harvest
Then, it will recycle. That's four harvests every six months, eight harvests a year.
Right now, all plants are in seedling stage, which I am keeping in the flower room under a 400watt Metal Halide
veg room is under 600watt Mars veg and bloom LED, plus a 120 watt flower LED
When I throw the first wave of Purple Crack and GDP into flower, I will be using a 600watt Digilux HPS, powered by a digital Nanolux ballast, and the Digilux bulb will be mounted onto a medium Adjust-a-Wing reflector... this will be the main light I use for the newly established flower room.
60% of the nutes I will be using are synthetic.
At this point in time, all the seedlings are about two weeks old and I just gave them their first dose of FMicro, FGrow, and FBloom by General Hydroponics, and they are all looking great. I gave Purple Crack and GDP a slight overdose, flushed once, and now they are fine:
Auto Blue Dream:
Auto Gigabud:
Purple Crack (left), Granddaddy Purple (right)
One thing I am new to is this forum, but here is my treasure chest of information, all of which I have read many times over:
-not to mention endless digital and paper issues of High Times and Skunk!
