New Grower, NEED HELP!

[DrFelterpus]

Okay so I am new to hydroponics... need some suggestions on what I need next.. suggestions, tips, etc.

I am going to be doing this DWC, right now the seedling just germinated 2 days ago and it is in Miracle Gro under 2 cheap lights at 175W.. I still have to build my DWC if I could get some guidance on what exactly I need to buy to build it. (3 babies will be germinated)

This is a secret closet grow (dimensions: 3" x 2" x 5.5"), should I get a small grown tent, or build a box, or suggestions?? It's a small area and will probably create some humidity. I will be using autoflowering, if I could get some suggestions for that as well.

So far this is what I got ($150):
6" Cooltube reflector with add-on wings - 27" Long
iPower 400W Digital Dimmable Ballast
iPower 400W Super HPS/MH Bulbs
1/8" Rope Ratchet Hanger
24 Hour Timer

If I could maybe get some help on finding cheaper/but efficient inline fans and eventually once the girls are growing I will be getting a carbon filter.

I have been told to use the Lucas Formula if somebody could clarify exactly what that is!
My best understanding it is Flora Micro(8 ml) to one gallon of water and mix, then add Flora Bloom(16 ml) to water, and mix??
Is that every time you add nutes to the water (once a week?)? or how often? Do I flush my water once a week as well??

Any other nutes that could help yield the girls?

Any and ALL suggestions are welcome and appreciated!

Thanks,
Felterpus

 

[SOMEBEECH]

Welcome to RIU.
You need to decide on what Soiless method your gonna give a go?DWC,RDWC,Flood n Drain,Too many to list.
Waterfarms are good place to get your feet wet,and are simple.Need a PPM,and PH meters.What medium are
your seeds started in?


BEECH

 

[Warlock1369]

^ what he said. Need to narrow it down some for us. Or you will have everyone saying to grow there way. And welcome. And GH has a good starter nute kit for you to start with.

 

[mdjenks]

yeah man you can spend some grip on a set up unless you handy at building shit yourself. myself I use RDWC aka recirculating deep water culture and it aint cheap at the beginning but in the long run it pays itself off.

look up the lucas method its easy for a beginner and simple as hell and cheap as well, that rhymed!

 

[DrFelterpus]

Welcome to RIU.
You need to decide on what Soiless method your gonna give a go?DWC,RDWC,Flood n Drain,Too many to list.
Waterfarms are good place to get your feet wet,and are simple.Need a PPM,and PH meters.What medium are
your seeds started in?

BEECH

Let me give you background on this all... I having a 2x2x6 space I am using (Closet)
I am wanting to do a DWC, I believe? Please give me some input, and my seeds have been germinated then started in a miracle gro.
Going to get a fan, PPM/PH meter, but need some suggestions on nutes as well. I need all the help I can get!

 

[ringlead3r]

GH, Canna or advance nutrients is what i suggest

 

[SOMEBEECH]

If i were you id get the Waterfarm from GH comes with nutes,Then a ph and ppm meter.
Should be able to get all this for right at 100bucks.Do Lucas Formula.


BEECH

 

[DrFelterpus]

So you are saying I should do the drip method instead of an old fashion DWC? and the lucas formula is different than the nutes that comes with the waterfarm.

 

[mdjenks]

usually nutes that come with a premade system suck, yes do the lucas method it is cheap with good nutes and it really really works.

my first grow using the lucas method and the only other nutes I used was H2o2 and bud candy: BCN Diesel (auto)



my current grow blackjack, using the lucas method, calmag, liquid kool bloom and dry kool bloom for the last two weeks, and h202

View attachment 2358513View attachment 2358514View attachment 2358515View attachment 2358516View attachment 2358517View attachment 2358518

23 days of flowering

 

[DrFelterpus]

usually nutes that come with a premade system suck, yes do the lucas method it is cheap with good nutes and it really really works.

my first grow using the lucas method and the only other nutes I used was H2o2 and bud candy: BCN Diesel (auto)

View attachment 2358503View attachment 2358504View attachment 2358505View attachment 2358506View attachment 2358507View attachment 2358508

my current grow blackjack, using the lucas method, calmag, liquid kool bloom and dry kool bloom for the last two weeks, and h202

View attachment 2358513View attachment 2358514View attachment 2358515View attachment 2358516 DView attachment 2358518

23 days of flowering

What system are you using DWC? I am about to get the stuff and build my own DWC. Need to know what exactly I really need though. Im about to order Flora Micro and Bloom, I heard you didn't need the Flora Gro because of Micro??

Also, my seedling sprouted above the soil (just using miraclegro right now), when would I transfer it to the DWC?

 

[insan3]

you need a fan to blow air around and also test the temps with that 400w in the closet first. you might need to dim it 75% or 50% to keep temps under control in that size room. for the locus formula no need for grow.

 

[DrFelterpus]

you need a fan to blow air around and also test the temps with that 400w in the closet first. you might need to dim it 75% or 50% to keep temps under control in that size room. for the locus formula no need for grow.

I'm gettin' a 4" inline fan + carb filter. Also only runnin' at 50% in closet. THANKS!
Any suggestions for DWC please? first grow never done this before.

 

[mufaso22]

we can relate, im a new grower as well but iv been threw alot with my plants to tell you a few things just to get you threw the basics of what i know and whats working for me. i wish i knew this stuff before i spent alot of money. first off i recommend you building your own DWC. i spent alot of money on 1 and got it and realized like what the hell? i could of built this really simply, but being a noob and all i thought it was going to be difficult. so i grew in a grow tent, first it got really hot in there and i had a pretty decent fan and a 6" inline fan to blow air out and another to blow air in so everything was cycling but still was kinda hot, it was around 110-90 at times, so you may run into some heat problems what i did was bought a portable AC unit since none of these fans were doing the trick. next i ran into algae problems... this happen because at first i was only growing 2 plants just to test them make sure im doing things right but i left 4 open holes to my DWC open which direct light was getting into the water and building up algae. always keep those closed! do not let any light into your DWC. also algae can build up from heat even if direct light isnt getting into your system, just keep your surrounding area at a nice temp and your water temp should be fine, thats what im doing and no problem at all. a problem im currently running into right now is humidity... now you may have read up on everything im saying right now and thinking hopefully you wont run into those problems and thats how i thought but no... you might want to get a dehumidifier because if its to humid you will start getting root rot and in the long run will effect your buds (i havnt gotten there yet so i hope my buds will be fine). before i knew all this i didnt know anything about growing... i learned all this the hard way. and right now im using fox farm nutrients, at first i didnt know what the hell to use for nutrients there are so many different kind of nutrients and a friend of mine said fox farms so i said alright ill do it. since were noobys i recommend fox farms just so you can get comfortable with your first grow. i bought the Grow big, Tiger, and Big Bloom liquid nutrients from fox farms. they give you a feeding schedual its really helpful. when i was growing my test plants to make sure im doing everything okay i never gave my plants nutrients till a month in when they were growing and they were tiny and some of the leaves looked kinda deadish. it was because of nutrient deficiancy and i didnt know how important nutrients was i thought the water and the bubbles was all it needed really thought it would do good. but no. gave it nutrients and they skyrocketed. these ones im growing right now i started nutrients from the start they were doing perfect but then i went camping for a weekend and i forgot to feed them there nutrients. (by the way i flush my system once a week and give it new nutrients when i put clean water in it works best that way it seems for me) so i got back it showed some signs of nutrient deficiancy really quick like that i didnt feed them for 3 days it was running off its old nutes and they got so big they were almost touching the light a couple leaves got burnt from it but no big deal. so i thought ill feed it a little EXTRA nutrients because they lacked some for that weekend. BAD IDEA! they got some nutrient burn right away but i took care of that they arnt bad anymore but its not good and not pretty. the new leaves coming out are fine thank god but those olds ones suffered a bit. SO FROM A NOOB TO A NOOB thats the best advice i can give you and i wish someone could of giving me this advice when i first started growing and im still learning along the way. hope this helped and you can youtube videos on how to make a DWC system. it seems hard and scary at first but believe me its ALOT cheaper then buying one. i kick my self in the ass for buying one. good luck man!

 

[DrFelterpus]

we can relate, im a new grower as well but iv been threw alot with my plants to tell you a few things just to get you threw the basics of what i know and whats working for me. i wish i knew this stuff before i spent alot of money. first off i recommend you building your own DWC. i spent alot of money on 1 and got it and realized like what the hell? i could of built this really simply, but being a noob and all i thought it was going to be difficult. so i grew in a grow tent, first it got really hot in there and i had a pretty decent fan and a 6" inline fan to blow air out and another to blow air in so everything was cycling but still was kinda hot, it was around 110-90 at times, so you may run into some heat problems what i did was bought a portable AC unit since none of these fans were doing the trick. next i ran into algae problems... this happen because at first i was only growing 2 plants just to test them make sure im doing things right but i left 4 open holes to my DWC open which direct light was getting into the water and building up algae. always keep those closed! do not let any light into your DWC. also algae can build up from heat even if direct light isnt getting into your system, just keep your surrounding area at a nice temp and your water temp should be fine, thats what im doing and no problem at all. a problem im currently running into right now is humidity... now you may have read up on everything im saying right now and thinking hopefully you wont run into those problems and thats how i thought but no... you might want to get a dehumidifier because if its to humid you will start getting root rot and in the long run will effect your buds (i havnt gotten there yet so i hope my buds will be fine). before i knew all this i didnt know anything about growing... i learned all this the hard way. and right now im using fox farm nutrients, at first i didnt know what the hell to use for nutrients there are so many different kind of nutrients and a friend of mine said fox farms so i said alright ill do it. since were noobys i recommend fox farms just so you can get comfortable with your first grow. i bought the Grow big, Tiger, and Big Bloom liquid nutrients from fox farms. they give you a feeding schedual its really helpful. when i was growing my test plants to make sure im doing everything okay i never gave my plants nutrients till a month in when they were growing and they were tiny and some of the leaves looked kinda deadish. it was because of nutrient deficiancy and i didnt know how important nutrients was i thought the water and the bubbles was all it needed really thought it would do good. but no. gave it nutrients and they skyrocketed. these ones im growing right now i started nutrients from the start they were doing perfect but then i went camping for a weekend and i forgot to feed them there nutrients. (by the way i flush my system once a week and give it new nutrients when i put clean water in it works best that way it seems for me) so i got back it showed some signs of nutrient deficiancy really quick like that i didnt feed them for 3 days it was running off its old nutes and they got so big they were almost touching the light a couple leaves got burnt from it but no big deal. so i thought ill feed it a little EXTRA nutrients because they lacked some for that weekend. BAD IDEA! they got some nutrient burn right away but i took care of that they arnt bad anymore but its not good and not pretty. the new leaves coming out are fine thank god but those olds ones suffered a bit. SO FROM A NOOB TO A NOOB thats the best advice i can give you and i wish someone could of giving me this advice when i first started growing and im still learning along the way. hope this helped and you can youtube videos on how to make a DWC system. it seems hard and scary at first but believe me its ALOT cheaper then buying one. i kick my self in the ass for buying one. good luck man!

NICE FKN POST!!! I needed that help.

Quick question, so how am I going to vent out of a closet? Is it even worth it to get a grow tent? And how do I know when to move my little seedling from the small net to the DWC?
So you believe I will need more than a 4" inline fan?? How about if I had like 2-6" fans. My workspace is 3'x2'x5', not terrible, but also not very big...

I will end up building my own DWC once I figure out how I want to do it. I will prob be doin' 3-4 girls in this space... is this too much?? Should I only do 1-2??
And since I'm a noob, should I do soil or a DWC made out of like a 18 GAL tote tub?

 

[mufaso22]

i only got a 6" because my tent was built for a 6" nothing smaller and nothing bigger. for me i screwed up because i bought a tent that is more wider then taller. i thought by me buying autoflowering seeds it would be okay to grow them in there because they say they are really short but there not. but i only think there not really short for me is because i dont have a 1000watt light im using 400watt light for 5 plants. so maybe they would be good if i had a better light but as of for now i screwed up lol. my thing is i dont have a closet entirely, its weird but thats why i bought a tent but grow in your closet it should be fine i would have if i could have. and yeah a 4" for that area sounds just about right, my 6" did a great job so you should be fine. and yeah 3-4 that sounds good just remember that you only have a 400 watt light and all 3 to 4 of them are looking for light. its still going to be a good grow dont get me wrong but of course the more watts the more lummens are givin off the lights (the lummens is what the plants want) and what i read you have 1 bulb that gives off 400 watts, what i would suggest because this is what i did. i went to walmart i bought 4 100 watt bulbs and hung them up. i probs dropped 40$ on that i cant remember exactly, where you probs spent alot more then i did. so you can go to walmart even and do what i did but also run your 400 watt bulb and you can simply have lets say you get 2 of those 100 watt bulbs ull have 600 watts. that all becomes common sense. and i have a 8 gallon bubbleponic system and running 5 beautiful females on 400 watt lights(im going to upgrade my lights after this grow im just out of money now lol). 18 gallons for 3-4 may be a little to execesive but like i said im still a noob and havnt tried it im just telling you what i think from my personal experience. and now for the soil or DWC question... lets put it this way. i wouldnt say i have enough experience yet to be EXACT on this but, my friend he grows in soil and NEVER ran into any problems iv ran into from growing in DWC besides humidity (ull eventually run into it) all you do is put that in soil water it about every 3 days (i think, i never grew in soil i always found hydro more interesting) and thats pretty much all you do its really easy. he also ran into natts but thats because he never put any of those hydroball thingys over his soil which would of helped prevent from natts (the clay little balls). and all the reviews i read about how hydro gives more dense buds then soil. i wouldnt know because i havnt finished my plants in hydro and iv never grown in soil so i couldnt tell yah.

 

[DrFelterpus]

My budget is very very very low right now haha... waiting a couple weeks to get the carb filter, but I feel like the big tote tub would just be easier to make/cheaper instead of 3-4 seperate buckets? I really want to do DWC, seems more efficient and cleaner for my closet. I just can't bring myself to spend a good $100 on a tent.. hah I know I need to though. How could I vent a tent out of my closet though? My room wont stink bcuz of the carb filter, correct?

 

[mufaso22]

also sorry it looks like i missed one of your questions "small net to DWC?" im not entirely sure what you mean by that but this is what i have. i bought this http://www.stealthhydroponics.com/product.php?xProd=329&jssCart=1ab8144a8a498e8966ddcac4c9c3b8b1 (for all you experienced growers dont laugh at me i know i got ripped off for what the price is lol) but at the time i thought it was a great deal and awesome. and dont get me wrong for a noob grower this thing is good i havnt ran into any problems with it, i just know i could build this thing for alot less lol. anyways i would germinate my seeds and put them in the rockwool cubes and wet the cubes and put it right into my netting pots in my bubbleponic system and feed them and do what i have to do and yeah.

 

[mufaso22]

My budget is very very very low right now haha... waiting a couple weeks to get the carb filter, but I feel like the big tote tub would just be easier to make/cheaper instead of 3-4 seperate buckets? I really want to do DWC, seems more efficient and cleaner for my closet. I just can't bring myself to spend a good $100 on a tent.. hah I know I need to though. How could I vent a tent out of my closet though? My room wont stink bcuz of the carb filter, correct?

right it wont stink cause the filter, im not worried about smell on this grow so i dont have one but im looking to get one after this grow as well. and venting i would run a attach your 4" inline fan to a flexible air duct from your window into your closet to blow air in and then have a fan in your closet and also another 4" inline fan blowing out your closet attached to the carbon filter to block out the smell and i guess you could have that air go in your room if you want it might make your room kinda hot though id run it out the window threw another air duct. dosnt matter what ever you prefer.

 

[DrFelterpus]

right it wont stink cause the filter, im not worried about smell on this grow so i dont have one but im looking to get one after this grow as well. and venting i would run a attach your 4" inline fan to a flexible air duct from your window into your closet to blow air in and then have a fan in your closet and also another 4" inline fan blowing out your closet attached to the carbon filter to block out the smell and i guess you could have that air go in your room if you want it might make your room kinda hot though id run it out the window threw another air duct. dosnt matter what ever you prefer.

Okay because I have to be inconspicuous here... my window is like 40 feet from my neighbors house, he won't be able to smell anything if I am running that duct out the window? Okay well I guess I need to go buy my stuff to build my DWC... because I germinated the girls and put it in a net pot with miraclegro and now I want to move it to DWC.. I wonder if that is bad?

 

[mufaso22]

also all this humidity stuff, dehumidifiers are pretty expensive and heres a little trick for anyone really to get a free good one. my friend that grows had the same problem in the past and he said his little brother has a dehumidifier prescribed for him because his little brother would wake up with bloody noses and a dry throat all the time. so what my friend did was he went to his doctor told him the same thing and asked if he could be prescribed one and just like that he got one. i already setup an apointment with my doctor for this following monday to do the same thing. just tell them you wake up with bloody noses and your room is very humid and you throat is dry and ask for if they can prescribe you one. dosnt aware and suspicion and dosnt hurt to try.