My First Grow (Hydro) Tips & Advice Please...

[edsthreads]

Ok so I have been snooping around this forum for a couple of months now
& have picked up lots of good advice about starting my first grow. After
much 'ummming & errring' I decided on a propergator for the seedling & veg
stage & a aqua farm for the flowering process

I put my three germinated white widow (feminised) into the propergator
a week ago now & they have come on quite well I think? - The last seedling
you will notice looks a bit poorly, this is because it bent whilst germinating
& is growing slowly as a result (although the root mass is huge compared to
my two healthy seedlings) they sit neatly under 2 x 55W Fluros that are on a 18
hour light cycle with 6 hours darkness.

I filled the reservoir with 13 litres of tap water that I had left for 24 hours
to let the clorine evaporate and
I also airated the water with a auqarium bubble stone & pump & got the ph down with
some ph down formula.

The room humidity is at 40-45% temp is 25 c (80F) & I have a fan on them constantly 24/7

How do they look?

I have a couple of questions to ask if anyone can help me out here...

When should I start using my fertilizer? I am led to beleive that they can go
without ferts for at least 2-3 weeks? Then how much fert should I use on the first
dosage?

When should I transplant into the Aqua Farm (flowering)?

Here are some pics of my set up so far:

Any questions, tips & advice would be appreciated...

 

[UserFriendly]

dem sum strong roots. you can start with nutes now. if there are no directions for young plants just half up the strength and add more as they get bigger.

 

[edsthreads]

So you reckon I can strat with the nutes now? The long roots in the pics is from the stunted seedling but the other 2 are not far off...

So about half strength nute solution now?

 

[UserFriendly]

nutes now = okay. since all manufacturers have different feeding schedules, you'll want to get a tds meter; that way your plants will be the ruler and the yardstick....or some junk. you should start using a weak solutions as soon as you see roots.

 

[anthonytaurus]

Looks great. The only beef I have is the clear tubing and the hydroton or netpots. That's a light leak that may cause algae to form. Feel around the tube in the water for slime or slippery substance. That's how you know it's already there. Also I would use something to cover them instead of the hydroton because the sides can still let light into your rez. Perhaps use some aluminum foil or that black/white poly it looks like you're using on the walls. The problem is that the netpots are too small for the hydroton so you can't use enough to provide that light leak protection. I use 5" netpots with rockwool or peat and the hydroton. Plenty of space to stack that hydroton up and around the base of the plant in the 5". That doesn't meant you should change what you have next time around, just be mindful of the potential light leaks. What you're using is just fine.

You can start feeding as soon as the first true leaves start to show which is now for you. The 2-3 week figure is in reference to the cotyledons which are the little round leaves that sprout first. They contain all of the plants nutrients to give it that push until the roots can start delivering nutrients and the first true leaves show up to start photosynthesis. You CAN wait until the cotyledons start to wither and fall off which is 2-3 weeks. But, you can definitely start nutrients long before that when those first true leaves show since photosynthesis can begin. Start with a quarter of the recommended nutrient formula and work your way up from there. Remember, they are still seedlings and they'll need to harden off which you'll notice as the stems become much tougher and thicker. You can kill them with nutrient burn if you feed too much, too strong, too early.

But, that setup looks clean and nice. It looks better than some of the long time growers work with.

Question for you? What is that made out of? It looks like marble or made of stone.

 

[edsthreads]

Looks great. The only beef I have is the clear tubing and the hydroton or netpots. That's a light leak that may cause algae to form. Feel around the tube in the water for slime or slippery substance. That's how you know it's already there. Also I would use something to cover them instead of the hydroton because the sides can still let light into your rez. Perhaps use some aluminum foil or that black/white poly it looks like you're using on the walls. The problem is that the netpots are too small for the hydroton so you can't use enough to provide that light leak protection. I use 5" netpots with rockwool or peat and the hydroton. Plenty of space to stack that hydroton up and around the base of the plant in the 5". That doesn't meant you should change what you have next time around, just be mindful of the potential light leaks. What you're using is just fine.

You can start feeding as soon as the first true leaves start to show which is now for you. The 2-3 week figure is in reference to the cotyledons which are the little round leaves that sprout first. They contain all of the plants nutrients to give it that push until the roots can start delivering nutrients and the first true leaves show up to start photosynthesis. You CAN wait until the cotyledons start to wither and fall off which is 2-3 weeks. But, you can definitely start nutrients long before that when those first true leaves show since photosynthesis can begin. Start with a quarter of the recommended nutrient formula and work your way up from there. Remember, they are still seedlings and they'll need to harden off which you'll notice as the stems become much tougher and thicker. You can kill them with nutrient burn if you feed too much, too strong, too early.

But, that setup looks clean and nice. It looks better than some of the long time growers work with.

Question for you? What is that made out of? It looks like marble or made of stone.

Thanks for the advice, since this was my 1st grow I have learnt a hell of a lot since then & had already replaced my tubing.. & I also now use 5" net pots as well (before reading your post!) I am now of grow 8 (I think) & I will be trying coco instead of clay pebbles next time using my Autopot system that I have going now.. (hats off to member 'Jats' for the inspiration)

The cutting board is made from recycled plastics hence that granite type look