Aerogarden Pro 200 First Grow!. Advice!

[nukkchorris]

So I've been reading up on growing, mainly reading forums for the past year or two. I think it is finally time to grow my first plant. I bought an Aerogarden about 3 months back and had the gourmet herb kit in their for a while, really happy with how perfect those plants grew, I am excited to see what it can do with weed. I bought the Pro 200 because of the extra lighting and 2 foot extendable arm. The light puts out about 4500 lumens; I've heard 10000 is optimum so I will most likely invest in a HO T5 florescent or an ecogrow bulb soon to be a little closer. I germinated the chronic seed in between two plates with wet paper towels, it was germinated, set in the aerogarden, and sprouted within 3 days. There is distilled water and some shultz plant food "plus" (10-15-10), I think its supposed to be around 20% nitrogen but is this still ok? I've also put a air-stone in the reservoir (picture), I just ran the tubing through one of the grow holes and sealed it where the light was getting in. DON'T WANT NO ROOT ROT. The reflector shields I just made out of the box the aerogarden came in and some tin foil. Seems to be working fine, but some mylar might be a good investment pretty soon. The fan I got at Wal-mart, works great by moving air through the unit, and the shield stops it from toppling over the plant which worked out perfectly. I realize I'm really lacking in the nutrient department, I would like to go organic...possibly fox-farm or something like that. Any recommendations would be great!! Oh I also got a PH test kit, trying to keep it around 5.5-6.0. I got PH up and down at the pet store for aquariums, is it safe for my plant?

I will post more pics and updates often, any advise would be great.

Your friendly neighborhood pothead

 

[nukkchorris]

Also...The temperature seems to be higher in my reservoir now that the bubble stone is in there. Is this ok? Having trouble lowering my PH as well, wants to stay around 7.2

 

[nukkchorris]

Plant looking alright, just ordered the fox farm hyro nutes. Excited to get off that shultz plant food, it is really messing with my PH. Also plan on getting some diamond nectar as well as the fox-farm bloom when neccessary. If you guys see any problems let me know...will update again soon.

 

[nukkchorris]

So I got Ph down from petco and no matter how much I put in it seems like the ph won't go down. How much should I be using? Still looks good though. Also I have the herb and the gardeners kit nutes, should I stick with the shultz plant food or use the tablets (herb or gardeners kit??) until my fox farm comes in?

 

[nukkchorris]

My baby fell over last night!!! I knew the stem length would be an issue at some point. I've got her proped up, but will she ever get strong enough to hold herself up? Need help Thanks! Stem is still intact so im hoping for the best

 

[SlickRickMcgee]

Try detaching the light from the arm and hanging it closer to the plant so it won't have to stretch. How are you testing the PH? Just a teeny bit of the PH up or down solution should dramatically affect the actual points of the PH.

 

[nukkchorris]

Try detaching the light from the arm and hanging it closer to the plant so it won't have to stretch. How are you testing the PH? Just a teeny bit of the PH up or down solution should dramatically affect the actual points of the PH.

I'm testing using a aquarium test kit, so a meter is seeming like a better idea every day, I feel like I'm contaminating the water every time I dip my probably dirty ass hand in there. It seems like the Ph down is doing very little, I think its this shitty plant food I'm using until I get the fox farm. I put like 10 drops of ph down in there one time and it went down from 7.2 to like 6.8, worthless. Until then, I've just been flushing with PH'd water, is this a good idea? I think the light is good now (about 5 in. from plant), just messed up a little those first few days. (still had my basil/mint/thyme in there so didn't lower the light) Thanks for your input man, I appreciate it. Updated pic.

 

[FoxCompany426]

Seems like you're off to a good start. Definitely gotta keep that light as close to the plant as possible to keep it from stretching. I don't know about the stem problem. It will get stronger as it grows, just try to keep it from stretching. The pH problem probably has something to do with your water. Are you using tap water, filtered or reverse osmosis? If you're using tap, set the water out for a day or two before putting it in the AG. Filtered water is a better idea though, keeps the pH from fluctuating as much.

Other than that, good work. Glad to see another person along for the ride. Check out my first grow to get some more ideas on what to expect. I also have a second grow thread that I am working on right now.

Here's the links

1st Grow

2nd Grow

 

[nukkchorris]

I'm using distilled water, which has a Ph of about 6.0 right off the bat so I'm officially off that shultz shit, just using plain DW waitin for my fox farm. Just installed another airstone as well. talk about frustrating trying to position that little shit in there...

 

[FoxCompany426]

I'm using distilled water, which has a Ph of about 6.0 right off the bat so I'm officially off that shultz shit, just using plain DW waitin for my fox farm. Just installed another airstone as well. talk about frustrating trying to position that little shit in there...

I use the air hose to hold mine in place. What size of airstone is it? Yeah, it probably is the nutes. Bet you can't wait for the FoxFarms, HAHA! I'm using the GH line. Seems to be working pretty well.

 

[nukkchorris]

I use the air hose to hold mine in place. What size of airstone is it? Yeah, it probably is the nutes. Bet you can't wait for the FoxFarms, HAHA! I'm using the GH line. Seems to be working pretty well.

So so so ready for some decent nutes...haha I've got two 4 in. stones in there. One in the back right corner, and one in the front underneath the plant.

 

[FoxCompany426]

So so so ready for some decent nutes...haha I've got two 4 in. stones in there. One in the back right corner, and one in the front underneath the plant.

Oh ok, I've got two six inch stones in mine, and they push the hose against the side of the res, which keeps them in place.

 

[nukkchorris]

Finally got the Ph to stay put at 6.0! Everything is going awesome...I'm Still running on no nutes, will be for a few more days I think. Had a paypal problem getting the foxfarms, yadda yadda yadda, banks suck. I think I check on my plant like every 30 minutes I'm at home, this is addicting as hell. And yes, thats tooth floss...glued to a golf ball...McGiver shit

 

[Katatawnic]

Glad you got the Ph balanced! I was going to say that the AG nutes are reported to keep the Ph from fluctuating, but no worries now. And hey, McGyver was one awfully creative guy!

 

[SlickRickMcgee]

Plant looks good.

 

["SICC"]

subscribed

get some extra CFL's in there ASAP


https://www.rollitup.org/aerogardeners/168751-aerogarden-guide-faq-v-2-a.html

 

[nukkchorris]

She started drooping today, I added about 1/2 a tablet of the aerogarden nutes to try to give it a little boost. Also, the leaves are getting these white and brown spots (picture), lack of nutrients as well? Got an extra CFL, so about 6000 lumens now. I'm broke so thats all I can do right now. Come on Foxfarms...get here all ready.

 

[FoxCompany426]

She started drooping today, I added about 1/2 a tablet of the aerogarden nutes to try to give it a little boost. Also, the leaves are getting these white and brown spots (picture), lack of nutrients as well? Got an extra CFL, so about 6000 lumens now. I'm broke so thats all I can do right now. Come on Foxfarms...get here all ready.

Lumens don't add. I stole this from the purp!!!




permalink
How much light is needed for growing?
The answer depends on if you are growing small plants, in a small space, or large plants, and have a larger space to grow in. I'll try to answer this "in general" instead of being specific to one size plant.
Light seen and perceived with the human eye is measured in Lumens. There is an ideal amount of lumens for growing and a minimum amount of lumens. The very minimum amount of light required for smaller sized plants grown in the SH System is around 3000 lumens per square foot. Let me put emphasis on "minimum amount" of light. However, that's not 100% exactly accurate, since although you may have a 10,000 lumen light, the amount of light that reaches the plant varies with the distance between the light and plants, and the reflectivity of the grow area. The ideal amount is somewhere around 7000-10,000 lumens per square foot for average sized plants. As long as the plants do not show burn, as much light can be used as you want to use. (Note, the sun produces about 10,000 lumens per square foot, on a sunny mid summer day).

Determining lumens for your grow area:
First determine the square footage of your area (example in a 4 foot by 4 foot area, there is 16 square feet) If you have a 1000 Watt High Pressure Sodium Light Bulb, that produces approximately 107,000 lumens. Divide this by 16 (your square footage) 107,000 divided by 16 = 6687 lumens per square foot. So just divide the total amount of Lumens, by the total amount of square feet, and that's your lumens per square foot.

How far away from my plants do the lights go?
The lights in your grow room should be as close as possible to the plants without burning them. There is no such thing as too much light, unless there is overly sufficient heat to dry out and burn the leaves. A good rule is to put your hand under the light, if its too hot for your hand, chances are that the plants will be too hot too, so move the light up until your hand feels more comfortable. For seedlings or sprouts, I keep them a little further away from the light, because they are very susceptible to burning and drying out, at these young stages.

How do I decide which lights to use?
Efficiency is very important when choosing a type of light. The wattage is not the most important thing, different types of light produce different amounts of lumens per watt. For example, a 300 watt incandescent will produce about 5100 lumens. (not that you can grow with incandescent bulbs) While a 300 watt Metal Halide (just an example, they do not come in 300 watts), will produce 27,000 lumens. Obviously far more efficient for growing, while still using the same amount of electricity.

Approximate light production:
Incandescents: 17 lumens/watt
Mercury vapor: 45-50 lumens/watt
Fluorescents: 60-70 lumens/watt
Metal halide: 90 lumens/watt
High pressure sodium: 107 lumens/watt

 

["SICC"]

might be lacc of nutes, what is your current pH?

 

[nukkchorris]

[QUOTE="SICC";2498962]might be lacc of nutes, what is your current pH?[/QUOTE]

My kit only goes down to 6.0, its yellow, so I'd say somewhere right around 6 then. The droop almost completely gone already, I think all is well. Well see, I'll post some more pics soon.