3 hydro plants = 1lb! Is it possible?

H

herbsiah

New Member
hello. pretty new to this website. i am a medical mj patient and i am making a grow attempt and i would like to have a succesful grow from 3 plants grown w/ a hydro set up. my goal is to eventually become a "small time" caregiver in my area to people i know that are in need of some medical mj to help them.

i received some free clones which i will be growing. they where described to me as an indica, a sinsi skunk and a big orange. i will be using a 13sq ft room that i built with 2 grow lights. 1 - 250watt hortilux hps bulb and 1 - 400watt hortilux blue metal halide bulb for a total of 650watts.
pretty simple set up. each plant get its own bucket. all three buckets are linked together and to the water supply reservoir.

i wanted to make this journal in hopes that some of you might be willing to follow it and offer your advice on how to get the most succesful end result possible to help me and my fellow medical mj patients.

i will be posting up some more details and pictures of the setup and plants very soon. thanks!! :rollit:
 
Re: 3 hydro plants = 1lb ? is it possible !

these pictures are not the best. was in a hurry to get them before the light shut down. next set of pictures should be better. should give the general idea of the basic set-up however. please let me know what you think is good/bad and what can be improved.

as you can see i have been having a bit of trouble with all the larger leafs turning yellow and dying. on the other hand all the new growth is looking very healthy w/ a good color. this is just starting the second week under the grow lights so i don't know if it's my nutrient solution, ph level, or just getting themselves rooted into the larger rockwools that is causing this. temperatures in the room run about 87-90 degrees when the light is on. about 10 -15 degrees cooler when the lights are off. humidity sits around 40% consistantly. also a couple of the plants look a bit thin because i just snipped some clones from them. lots of new growth however so i hope in a week they start to get bushy. running an 18/6 light cycle right now and curious as to how long i should run this cycle before switching to 12/12 cycle.

the bigger bushier plant in the back is the indica. the plant in the middle is the sinsi skunk and the guy in the front is the big orange. thanks for looking... please enlighten me w/ your knowledge and advice.

also i wanted to mention how you can really see the difference in the light spectrum between the super hps and the metal halide



grow_room6.jpg


grow_room_21.jpg


grow_room_32.jpg


grow_room_6_-_hortilux_metal_halide_blue_with_hortilux_super_hps.jpg


grow_room_5_-_resevoir.jpg


grow_room_4_-_nutrients.jpg


i think the ph level is to low, so i am going to go buy some ph up today and try adding some.

grow_room_7_-_ph_indicator.jpg
 
Re: 3 hydro plants = 1lb ? is it possible !

You link in your sig is working. I'm aboard. :popcorn: You may want to get the drip lines below the grow rocks if you can. Nutrient rich water that gets light equals algal growth. If the media on top remains dry, it will act as a barrier to unwanted growth.
 
Re: 3 hydro plants = 1lb ? is it possible !

thanks for stopping in tronix... will check out your thread as soon as i get a bit more time.

anyone have any suggestions on feeding these guys? right now i am getting yellow leafs (new growth still looks good) and a low ph

i have i think about 9 gallons of water approx. in the system w/
75ml micro
50ml grow
15ml bloom

thoughts ????

grow_room_8_-_showing_yellow_leafs.jpg
 
Re: 3 hydro plants = 1lb ? is it possible !

herbsiah said:
thanks for stopping in tronix... will check out your thread as soon as i get a bit more time.

anyone have any suggestions on feeding these guys? right now i am getting yellow leafs (new growth still looks good) and a low ph

i have i think about 9 gallons of water approx. in the system w/
75ml micro
50ml grow
15ml bloom

thoughts ????
Click to expand...

CannaStats - Nutrient Profiles for Cannabis

CannaStats - pH and Nutrient Availability

Look to the bottom of the page in the second link to show how a low pH can make most of the nutes unavailable to the plants. If that is the case, then the plants have no choice but to get the nutes from other parts of the plant in order to keep growing. The most likely culprit of the leaves yellowing is Magnesium. A Mg atom is in the center of every chlorophyll molecule. Not available in your solution because of a low pH, the plant will break down the chlorophyll from low productive leaves at the bottom of the plant to extract the Mg and transport it to the new growth on top.

The float valve: what is the fluid that fills the reservoir when it gets low? Is that connected to an RO water source, tap water, ??? Water typically can be used to up pH as it will be often in the 7 - 8 pH range. GH flora nutes especially when first mixed, will signifigantly lower the pH but will rebound within the next 12 hours. I use RO water and when I mix up my GH flora nutes, the pH has been as low as 4.8, though I usually see more of a 5.2 lately. I used to up the pH right then but since I had to pH down the solution about 4 days later, I stopped doing that. pH naturally would get back to 5.8 within 2 days after mixing nutes and won't rise above 6.1. Once you get a good system going, you don't have to even check it anymore (though it is still highly recommended as it can spot early problems like root rot).
 
Re: 3 hydro plants = 1lb ? is it possible !

munki said:
CannaStats - Nutrient Profiles for Cannabis

CannaStats - pH and Nutrient Availability

Look to the bottom of the page in the second link to show how a low pH can make most of the nutes unavailable to the plants. If that is the case, then the plants have no choice but to get the nutes from other parts of the plant in order to keep growing. The most likely culprit of the leaves yellowing is Magnesium. A Mg atom is in the center of every chlorophyll molecule. Not available in your solution because of a low pH, the plant will break down the chlorophyll from low productive leaves at the bottom of the plant to extract the Mg and transport it to the new growth on top.

The float valve: what is the fluid that fills the reservoir when it gets low? Is that connected to an RO water source, tap water, ??? Water typically can be used to up pH as it will be often in the 7 - 8 pH range. GH flora nutes especially when first mixed, will signifigantly lower the pH but will rebound within the next 12 hours. I use RO water and when I mix up my GH flora nutes, the pH has been as low as 4.8, though I usually see more of a 5.2 lately. I used to up the pH right then but since I had to pH down the solution about 4 days later, I stopped doing that. pH naturally would get back to 5.8 within 2 days after mixing nutes and won't rise above 6.1. Once you get a good system going, you don't have to even check it anymore (though it is still highly recommended as it can spot early problems like root rot).
Click to expand...

advice like this is why
A. this is the best MJ site on the net, and..
B. Why I allowed some of our MJ genius's handle the question

+munki for some solid advice. :D
 
Re: 3 hydro plants = 1lb ? is it possible !

Amazing quantities are possible with hydroponics. You may want to look onto ScrOG to maximize your grow space. Looking forward to more posts.

JC
 
Re: 3 hydro plants = 1lb ? is it possible !

:thanks:
thanks for chiming in munki with the drip line and pH level advice. i will have to read into those links and decide if i want to add pH up (which i bought today) or wait 48hrs and see if the level will automatically rise on its own.


the floater is connected to tapwater (spliced into the cold water tap for washing machine). what is RO water supply? i actually turned the valve off for the floater because i thought that the constant supply of fresh water would dilute the nutes and mess up the pH.
 
Re: 3 hydro plants = 1lb ? is it possible !

jcool09 said:
Amazing quantities are possible with hydroponics. You may want to look onto ScrOG to maximize your grow space. Looking forward to more posts.

JC
Click to expand...

thanks JC ... i have seen that method in some of the member pics floating around on here and it caught my eye. found a few websites explaining it, so i will read into as soon as i can. :thanks:
 
Re: 3 hydro plants = 1lb ? is it possible !

I'm glad to hear that the water line isn't on. Especially when starting, stay away from automating too much stuff especially when it comes to your reservoir solution. RO = Reverse Osmosis. It produces water with purity similar to steam distillation depending on the RO equipment. Small units can be purchased for the home but since house water pressures are typically low, the are inefficient. I read that 1 gallon of RO water produced by such a system can use up to 40 gallons of water. The other 39 gallons are ejected into the drain as waste. I just go down to the local water store in town and fill up my 5 gallon water bottles at 25 cents per gallon. Your system is small enough that you could do the same.

I noticed that you have no method to determine how much stuff is dissolved into your water. A TDS meter should be on your shopping list. I have an inexpensive one, the Hanna Primo. It was like $25. Daily checks of your solution can help you to know how fast the nutrients are being used. It can also check to see how much dissolved stuff is in your tap water. My tap reads at over 400 PPM (parts per million). That can interfere with my nutes so I buy my water. You may have a similar issue I did. If you have high calcium levels in the water (known as hard water), then GH Flora has a differently formulated Micro that should be used. It has lower levels of Ca and a slightly different Nitrogen makeup.

So, you are using regular Micro with tap water. Both combine raising the Calcium level too high. This will block Magnesium uptake.

So, get that pH up and either replace the Micro with Hardwater Micro or by RO water the the water store.
 
Re: 3 hydro plants = 1lb ? is it possible !

herbsiah said:
thanks JC ... i have seen that method in some of the member pics floating around on here and it caught my eye. found a few websites explaining it, so i will read into as soon as i can. :thanks:
Click to expand...

Interested in ScrOG? Do read my journal as many have been pointing to it as a good one. I think it looks good though it is my first cannabis grow. It is in my sig. ScrOG probably won't work for your plants as it helps to use only one strain. Differing maturity times would be a true headache with ScrOG.
 
Re: 3 hydro plants = 1lb ? is it possible !

munki said:
I'm glad to hear that the water line isn't on. Especially when starting, stay away from automating too much stuff especially when it comes to your reservoir solution. RO = Reverse Osmosis. It produces water with purity similar to steam distillation depending on the RO equipment. Small units can be purchased for the home but since house water pressures are typically low, the are inefficient. I read that 1 gallon of RO water produced by such a system can use up to 40 gallons of water. The other 39 gallons are ejected into the drain as waste. I just go down to the local water store in town and fill up my 5 gallon water bottles at 25 cents per gallon. Your system is small enough that you could do the same.

I noticed that you have no method to determine how much stuff is dissolved into your water. A TDS meter should be on your shopping list. I have an inexpensive one, the Hanna Primo. It was like $25. Daily checks of your solution can help you to know how fast the nutrients are being used. It can also check to see how much dissolved stuff is in your tap water. My tap reads at over 400 PPM (parts per million). That can interfere with my nutes so I buy my water. You may have a similar issue I did. If you have high calcium levels in the water (known as hard water), then GH Flora has a differently formulated Micro that should be used. It has lower levels of Ca and a slightly different Nitrogen makeup.

So, you are using regular Micro with tap water. Both combine raising the Calcium level too high. This will block Magnesium uptake.

So, get that pH up and either replace the Micro with Hardwater Micro or by RO water the the water store.
Click to expand...

hey thanks! that is a lot of good information for me to absorb! i will definately be picking up a TDS meter to try and trouble shoot and keep my system running properly. i am very interested now in what the quality of my tap water is too...

i went ahead a put 1 teaspoon of pH up in the tank and the pH looks better now looks a very light orange so that should indicate it to be somewhere between 5 and 6 instead of somewhere between 4 and 5 (where it was at). i will be checking the pH level daily to make sure it doesn't spike up (like you mentioned) in the next 48 hours.

thanks again and keep checking back, i will update soon.
 
Re: 3 hydro plants = 1lb ? is it possible !

I suggest bookmarking the CannaStats site so you can go back and re-read it over and over periodically. In this first grow, be happy with whatever comes of it. Don't worry about the outcome since the real dividend will be the knowledge gained. Learn as much as you can about growing in general and how it applies specifically to your grow situation as in what works for you and what doesn't. If you can get to the point where you can predict what your measurements will be, you will be ready to start dialing in your grow to get yield and quality product. We will be here to help but get out on the net and read read read!
 
Re: 3 hydro plants = 1lb ? is it possible !

Hey herbsiah looks like your off to a good start, there are a lot of sources to reference for help on this site. Here is a link to one that is very useful

Problems, Pests, Disease Control Pictorial
 
Re: 3 hydro plants = 1lb ? is it possible !

munki said:
I noticed that you have no method to determine how much stuff is dissolved into your water. A TDS meter should be on your shopping list. I have an inexpensive one, the Hanna Primo. It was like $25. Daily checks of your solution can help you to know how fast the nutrients are being used. It can also check to see how much dissolved stuff is in your tap water.
Click to expand...

Great suggestion Munki I just ordered that Hanna meter from discount hydroponics for $25 including the shipping. Thanks.

JC
 

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