i'm a complete beginner. i have a 4ft wide by 7ft tall tent, with a 4X4 table. my water reservoir holds 18gal (i'll use about 14). i have a 20watt fluorescent grow lux light for my tiny babies. and i have a 125 watt, 6500 K cool spectrum light for vegging. i've germinated several by putting them in a damp paper towel, and planted them in tiny grow blocks. do i need pics before i ask for advice? the hydro store helped me choose my setup. is everything okay? please, drown me in advice! need it bad! i've had several fails already.thank you!
4X4 ebb and flow table
- Thread starter morganx11
- Start date
cues
Well-Known Member
Advice is to check in on here daily with pics!
You are going to need a 600W hps.
Get a camera and update us regularly. A lot of people on here will help you and walk you through it.
That's what we are here for. (Pay-back time for all the good advice received from others in the past, I was once a beginner too!)
What goes around comes around. We all move forwards together.
Good luck man.
You are going to need a 600W hps.
Get a camera and update us regularly. A lot of people on here will help you and walk you through it.
That's what we are here for. (Pay-back time for all the good advice received from others in the past, I was once a beginner too!)
What goes around comes around. We all move forwards together.
Good luck man.
FilthyFletch
Mr I Can Do That For Half
HPS is High Pressure Sodium.. Its best suited for flower but can be used to veg also. The lights you have are good to start seedlings with but not much else. You can go on ebay and get a digital switchable 600 watt ballast with bulbs and reflector shipped for about $120 this will allow you to pop in te MH bulb ,metal halide, for veg as its more blue color spectrum and will help the plant not stretch. then at flower when you go to a 12/12 light cycle you pop in the hps bulb, which is in the red spectrm which is needed for flower. Your 18 gallon res is gonna be close as in a 4x4 table it takes from about 10 to 14 gallons to flood depending on table depth you have but you need to have extra so when plants drink and eat plus evap your not having to try to top off and adjust hourly look for a 20 gallon res or tub filled to at least 18 gallons. Are you using hydroton or a soiless mix to grow in? You need to make sure you ph the water to 5.5 to 5.8 with nutes. What nutrients you using? I reccomned Fox Farm trio to keep it simple and they are very good nutes.You have your in take and out take fans? Fans inside to just move air usually 2 small clip on type fans move the air fine inside.Keep the temps in the tent with lights on in the 75 to 83 F range and lights out no cooler then 65 or growth will slow alot.
FilthyFletch
Mr I Can Do That For Half
That would be odd since that goes against science since the red spectrum induces fruiting which is where the trichs come. The best is enhanced spectrum as the blue promotes growth and the red promotes the flowering traits.But yes the mix of both would increase yeild over just a blue mh.
okay filthy fletch, thank you for a seriously great response. that helped a LOT. guy @ brew and grow sold me "Age Old Organic" brand of liquid nutes. i have fans set up and everything. i feel like my setup is decent. you want a few photos?
but, shouldn't i be flooding only once or twice a day to start? i trust your judgement on the res, i'm just curious why i need so much for only 4 plants or so. i'm starting from seeds. these are bagseeds from a pretty dang good strand, i believe.
but, shouldn't i be flooding only once or twice a day to start? i trust your judgement on the res, i'm just curious why i need so much for only 4 plants or so. i'm starting from seeds. these are bagseeds from a pretty dang good strand, i believe.
SOMEBEECH
Well-Known Member
Its weird you have not heard of this with 7k post.........I did a side by side and MH was alot more frosty.Alot of ppl mix MH+HPS in flower.
Beech
cues
Well-Known Member
Yeah, and then we could go into UVB, but it's not what this grower needs at this point.
Lets get him walking before we start running.
I would start with a 600w HPS kit with a 'MH Conversion bulb' (Metal Halide bulb that runs from an HPS ballast).
Those gro-blocks hold water and twice a day floods are OK until the roots start showing through. Then you need another subtstrate (usually hydroton) for them to grow into and up it to 4 floods a day as hydroton holds less water. While that sounds like a bad thing, it's not. It's the cycle of water/air that makes hydroponics perform.
The other option is to use no additional substrate and keep the table light-tight (correx sheet) but I wouldn't recommend this for a beginner.
Lets get him walking before we start running.
I would start with a 600w HPS kit with a 'MH Conversion bulb' (Metal Halide bulb that runs from an HPS ballast).
Those gro-blocks hold water and twice a day floods are OK until the roots start showing through. Then you need another subtstrate (usually hydroton) for them to grow into and up it to 4 floods a day as hydroton holds less water. While that sounds like a bad thing, it's not. It's the cycle of water/air that makes hydroponics perform.
The other option is to use no additional substrate and keep the table light-tight (correx sheet) but I wouldn't recommend this for a beginner.
http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y445/mrgnx111/003.jpg
http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y445/mrgnx111/002.jpg
http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y445/mrgnx111/001.jpg
the blocks i have them in now are 2in X 2in grodan gro-blocks. they're currently shedding the seed off of the top (no leaves yet). that light is just a 20watt gro-lux fluorescent from walmart. i have ascending sizes of gro-blocks. at the hydro store they told me once the roots show to simply insert the smaller blocks into the larger ones and use no additional substrate. is this true?
i dug through my lights and fixtures- i have a 150 watt grow light fixture that came with a 150 watt (16,000 lumen) hps bulb. will that be sufficient for my 3plants? and if so, when should i switch them over to that light?
i also have a 125watt cool spectrum bulb..will that be of any use?
right now i'm not flooding at all, since they are so tiny. i have been top-feeding with PH 6 water (only a tiny amount of nutes added). is this okay? when should i begin flooding?
also, i should flush every few days to keep from getting build up on the roots, correct?
http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y445/mrgnx111/002.jpg
http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y445/mrgnx111/001.jpg
the blocks i have them in now are 2in X 2in grodan gro-blocks. they're currently shedding the seed off of the top (no leaves yet). that light is just a 20watt gro-lux fluorescent from walmart. i have ascending sizes of gro-blocks. at the hydro store they told me once the roots show to simply insert the smaller blocks into the larger ones and use no additional substrate. is this true?
i dug through my lights and fixtures- i have a 150 watt grow light fixture that came with a 150 watt (16,000 lumen) hps bulb. will that be sufficient for my 3plants? and if so, when should i switch them over to that light?
i also have a 125watt cool spectrum bulb..will that be of any use?
right now i'm not flooding at all, since they are so tiny. i have been top-feeding with PH 6 water (only a tiny amount of nutes added). is this okay? when should i begin flooding?
also, i should flush every few days to keep from getting build up on the roots, correct?
cues
Well-Known Member
Yes, the gro-blocks work like that. They are made of rockwool so you only really should flood twice a day. It's not the best stuff (I haven't used it for 20 years) and I would change substrate for the next run.
150w isn't really enough for that area. It will work but results won't be great. Both lights together would be better.
Plain water is correct.
Switch lights and start flooding when first true (serrated) leaves appear. Start them high (18") away and gradually lower an inch daily.
Don't trust that RH meter. I have 2 the same and they need calibrating regularly
150w isn't really enough for that area. It will work but results won't be great. Both lights together would be better.
Plain water is correct.
Switch lights and start flooding when first true (serrated) leaves appear. Start them high (18") away and gradually lower an inch daily.
Don't trust that RH meter. I have 2 the same and they need calibrating regularly
http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y445/mrgnx111/011.jpg
http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y445/mrgnx111/008.jpg
http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y445/mrgnx111/007.jpg
the two lights you see in the pic are my 125 watt cfl and the lower one is the 20watt gro-lux fluoro.
this is day 4 i believe. thanks for the warning about the rockwool. appreciated much. I hand watered again today. they've been around 86 degrees (even with all my attempts to keep it cool)..that dang 125watt cfl gets so hot. the humidity has been around 45% (even running my humidifier). you said both lights would be better, which ones do ya mean? also, i did add a tiny amount of nutes to the water, but the ph is good and all, so is that okay? should my lights be 18in away right now? or no?
THANK YOU CUES! hope to hear from you on this one. i appreciate your very legitimate response.
-morg
http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y445/mrgnx111/008.jpg
http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y445/mrgnx111/007.jpg
the two lights you see in the pic are my 125 watt cfl and the lower one is the 20watt gro-lux fluoro.
this is day 4 i believe. thanks for the warning about the rockwool. appreciated much. I hand watered again today. they've been around 86 degrees (even with all my attempts to keep it cool)..that dang 125watt cfl gets so hot. the humidity has been around 45% (even running my humidifier). you said both lights would be better, which ones do ya mean? also, i did add a tiny amount of nutes to the water, but the ph is good and all, so is that okay? should my lights be 18in away right now? or no?
THANK YOU CUES! hope to hear from you on this one. i appreciate your very legitimate response.
-morg
cues
Well-Known Member
I meant running the 125 and 150 together but if you are already hitting temp problems, maybe not. Don't panic about spectrums too much yet.
I hope the amount of nutes were tiny. Tap water has enough for now.
18" for the HPS, not cfl (more like 3" for cfl!)
Look up the 'wet salt method' for calibrating hygrometers. 45% is low for veg but again, acceptable.
Have you got an extractor fan?
No thanks needed. Just paying RIU back what I owe. Pleasure to do so. What goes around comes around and we all move forwards together.
I hope the amount of nutes were tiny. Tap water has enough for now.
18" for the HPS, not cfl (more like 3" for cfl!)
Look up the 'wet salt method' for calibrating hygrometers. 45% is low for veg but again, acceptable.
Have you got an extractor fan?
No thanks needed. Just paying RIU back what I owe. Pleasure to do so. What goes around comes around and we all move forwards together.
that cfl is doing nothing up there. you need to get it close atleast 4 inches away to start. then move it to 2 your plants are gonna topple if left the way it is. also what do you use for intake and outake? cant be anything if your temps are running high with that one cfl. i run 400 actuall watts in a small dresser with two old fans one intake one outake and temps never go above 75.
i have 2 fans in there believe it or not. one is like 4in in diameter(small) and the other about a foot wide. one is directed to intake air from my humidifier and the other is blowing out of the tent. my light is just really super hot.
it does seem ridiculous that my light produces so much heat. would i be wiser to purchase a mh and forget these fluoros?
i used only a tiny amount of nutrients.
it does seem ridiculous that my light produces so much heat. would i be wiser to purchase a mh and forget these fluoros?
i used only a tiny amount of nutrients.