I have never grown anything in my life and I'm 34 years old. I have tried a couple times over the years and have failed. A couple weeks ago I got it into my head that it is a good idea to try again. So I start planning and gathering. I have a closet the is about 3ft x 3ft by 8ft. I was going to get a grow tent that fits the space but then I had an idea to get a cabinet of some kind with doors. Meta or wood. I can make holes if and when necessary. Now I have a cabinet with a locking door that measures 24 inches x 18 inches x 66 inches. Is that big enough? I have it inside the closet. From what I have read and understand I should line the inside of the cabinet with something reflective. I know that I need more nutrients. I need a net pot still. I need hydroton still. I would like some input or suggestions. Anything really. I have read a good amount. But I am the type of person that learns by watching first or just doing. I would like to do it the best that I can from the start. I have femenized original cheese seeds that got from seedsman. I guess I also need something to germinate in or no. I'm not sure. Any help appreciated. Thank you for your time in advance.
Trying to get there...
- Thread starter Ferriest
- Start date
Fordprefect42
Well-Known Member
Well first cheese has some height per seedsman. Haven’t grown it but they list height at 300cm or about 60 inches I believe. You have to account for the height of the pot, the gap between the lights and the plant and some allowance for hanging height. The vertical space is eaten up pretty quickly. I think you will have to flip to flower quickly I imagine and or do some serious LST.
You mentioned hydroton which implies hydro. I started with ebb and flow off the bat, and I’m happy I did, but if you have really struggled soil might be an easier way to start.
Your cabinet would need ventilation in addition to the reflective Mylar you mentioned so you will want an inline fan and filter (another space eater). You can likely cut a hole in your cabinet to accommodate that. If you are going hydro you will want airstones. You will need a ph meter, a Tds meter, a hygrometer to monitor temps and humidity. You will need to decide between a sterile res or beneficial bacteria like hydroguard.
Good luck!
You mentioned hydroton which implies hydro. I started with ebb and flow off the bat, and I’m happy I did, but if you have really struggled soil might be an easier way to start.
Your cabinet would need ventilation in addition to the reflective Mylar you mentioned so you will want an inline fan and filter (another space eater). You can likely cut a hole in your cabinet to accommodate that. If you are going hydro you will want airstones. You will need a ph meter, a Tds meter, a hygrometer to monitor temps and humidity. You will need to decide between a sterile res or beneficial bacteria like hydroguard.
Good luck!
Thank you for your suggestions. What does LST mean? I have struggled with soil and hydro. So I decided if I am going to figure one out I want it to be hydro. I will be using hydroguard. I think it's botanicare? I have read a lot of good things. I have space on the outside of the cabinet for an inline fab and filter so I don't need to use up space inside. I did not take plant height into consideration. Got ahead of myself a little bit I guess. I have an led light for right now. I think that they can be closer to the plant. But I'm not sure about that.
Fordprefect42
Well-Known Member
LST = low stress training. At its simplest it means bending stems and tying them down to reduce height. I imagine you will want to top them for the same reason. There are plenty of explanations out there if you do a quick search.
Botanicare does do hydroguard. I’ve had good luck with it myself. The other thing is you will want to keep all light out of your reservoir. In my case I use totes I bought from Home Depot and I just drape panda film over the top, and it works well. If you don’t keep the light out you will have all kinds of nasty snotty floating gunk with or without hydroguard.
With LEDs you either want to follow the manufacturers height recommendation or get a luxmeter and figure out the height that way. Since you are having trouble I would say just follow the recommendations until you think you know what you are doing.
One other thing I’ll add is it sounds like you still have a lot of reading to do. Make sure you do it. There are a lot of helpful people here, but you should do your homework first. Growweedeasy is a good resource for getting started but there are others. If you start in hydro without a good understanding of the details you are going to fail, and you will quit which is too bad because growing is a lot of fun.
I have read some. I have ADHD real bad. I don't retain what I read very well. Even if I'm interested in what I'm reading. I'm listening to podcasts now. I got hydroton. A net pot. General hydroponics flora trio. Ph up down kit. Hydroguard. 2 6 inch air stones. I have water in it. I'm assuming that distilled would be better? I started to germinate seeds. I'm thinking like Sunday I'm going to put them in the net pot
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WubbaLubbaDubDub
Well-Known Member
the way you have that airpump mounted at water level or above makes it so the water wont back siphon into the airpump. I would get rig of those two check valves they just reduce the air going in and work your pump harder fighting that rubber stopper
edit-id ditch em just keep your airpump off the ground to be safe
edit-id ditch em just keep your airpump off the ground to be safe
Highlife42
Well-Known Member
First, get rid of the cal-mag! ugh. lol Nah, jk. Do you. However, synthetics are are hurting our environment. Going hydro in such a small space is an option, and looks like you're heading there. Hydro in that environment I see being an issue. IMO bro, Too much going on needed for a small, closed space and not being a total green thumb as you said lol. What are your intentions? You just want some personal goods to enjoy, expectations of harvest you want?
Eastownclan
Well-Known Member
Hey man, I’ve been where you are and I don’t know if hydro is the way to go. First time grower I would grab four 3 gallon pots, fill with FFOF or Happy Frog, and water when they get super light. That’s it. That’s my 2 cents. Good luck!
Fordprefect42
Well-Known Member
You don’t necessarily need distilled. I’m using RO water for this grow for the first time. I’m only doing it because my TDS out of the tap is kind of high at 300, and I’ve had some salt build up. I wanted to see if RO would help with that. If you use distilled or RO you would probably need calmag which is one more moving part. My advice is to keep it as simple as possible. You can always refine what you do later.
You do really need those Tds and ph test meters and hygrometer too. Don’t skimp on those. If you aren’t testing ph and Tds you are almost guaranteed to run into issues. If you aren’t managing temp and humidity you are likely to be bitten as well. I guess you could skimp on the ph meter and go with the strips that come with the test kits, but I think meters are better. Calibrating them now and then seems important. Mine seem to drift every couple weeks.
Good luck. I promise you don’t need a PhD for this to work.
green_machine_two9er
Well-Known Member
Good advice!
I'm definitely getting there. I will take the check valves out of the air loop. I appreciate the advice. I was going to do soil originally. But I was thinking to maximize my yields and still have quality I needed to go hydro. The pictures show where I am at right now. I have been germination seeds since Thursday. I think I'm just waiting for the seeds to be ready.
What is the best route to go for nutrients early on? Yes, no? I'm absolutely lost on this subject. I have even read some more. I see a wide range of th9ights on it. Is personally preference all it is? All help already is or will be appreciated! Thanks to everyone who already commented in.
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I dont know about the Cal mag. The opportunity arose. So I got it. I leaned more toward hydro because of the fact that I am not a green thumb. Dwc hydroponics to me seems like as long as you have everything in order like nutrients, ph and shit the system will kind of just work. You don't have to be a green thumb. You know what I mean? My only obstacle is getting to the "everything in order" stage. Hahah. Thanks for the help.
Had to leave the seeds in the paper towels for way longer than I wanted too. Like 10 days. They have leaves already. I don't know if that fucks them up or not. I just don't know how much if any nutrients to add. When to start them. Other then that I'm literally about to try and take them from paper towels to 2 inch net pots and see what happens. I'm going to Start with 1/4 strength nutrients. Because I seen it somewhere and it sounds good to me because of how long they were in the paper towels. Here it goes.
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So. I have germinated seeds in a paper towel. I have transplanted into 2 inch net pots on 3/20/21. To me they look ok but I honestly do not know. I added 2ml per gallon of water of Botanicare Hydroguard. And I added 1/4 strength nutrients which is general hydroponics flora trio. I have the light set to 18/6 but I’m not to sure about this either. I would appreciate some feedback. This is the furthest along that I have ever gotten.
