krizmac
Active Member
Hey hey, it's another newbie here to share in the wonder of hydroponics! Tired of having to actually pay for marijuana from the "corner" I've decided to try and save some money and grow my own. Damn this economy!
Warning: This may end up being a wall of text, I have an hour to kill and ample fuel for a rambling newbie-post.
So I have never grown before. There have been some failed attempts at starting seeds, but I never had anywhere to flower (I think I just like to watch marijuana grow) so things never worked out.
This time is different. I have the space and the time to setup my idea of an NFT heaven for some foliage. So without more ado, here is what I am working with:
Seed: Dank bagseed (was some really heady herb that I had, nice high)
Lights: 400w Metal Halide, 400w High Pressure Sodium, 8x 40w Floros
note- there are plans to add either a 600w HPS to the flower room, or a single 1200w. The plants are not in flowering yet though, so I still have time.
Grow Medium: 4" PVC (sch40) holding plastic cups with 4" rockwool cubes (trimmed to size)
Nutrients: BC (from Tetraflora) Grow, Bloom, Boost (DIY mixing)
Pump: 180gph (I think) it was laying out in the garage and I hooked it up to test the system during a dry-run, ended up being just about what I was looking for. Keeps a film of water on the bottom of the PVC very nicely.
Missing anything from there? Don't think so. Moving on, we have work to do!
Okay, so I germed these little darlings with the wet paper towel in the pickle jar that was in a dark closet method. I'll tell you what, it's the best way I have ever seen to germ seeds. I get to throw all sorts of seeds in there, and pick out the best looking ones in 3 days. Fantastic.
The contraption that I built to house the seedlings will eventually turn into the home for the clones that I will have. Sadly though, I do not have a mother plant yet, and so this was a test run on the cloner machine to make sure it worked. All in all I am thrilled with how it pushed my little girls along.
Basic Cloner Construction:
I used a large cooler that I found at a yardsale ($3)
1/2" PVC for the pipe inside the unit
EZ-Clone Heads from the local Hydroponics Shop
Fountain Pump (was on a gargoyle statue at the junk yard)
11/64" Drill Bit for the cloner nozzles
Plastic Bathroom Cups
2" Rockwool Cubes
Okay, so basically I took the cooler, cut 36 holes in the top, and plugged each one with a plastic cup. In turn, each cup got a rockwool cube to complete the entire set. As I was trying to figure out how to best get the water to the rockwool (while doing the minimum amount of work, mind you
) the idea popped up that I could use a soldering iron on the bottom of the cups. Another trip to the garage and back I came with the grungy soldering iron I had long ignored in the corner of the workshop. A comfy chair, some tunes on the laptop and 20 miunutes later and I have a working cloner that would put any on the market to shame.
When the germinated seeds in the paper towel started to sprout a 1/4" stem I took the best looking ones and put them into the rockwool cubes in the little plastic cups without any issues. Sort of stuck them down a bit with a paperclip to hide them from the light. The 400w Metal Halide was set about a foot from the top of the cubes (I held the back of my hand under the light at the lid of the cooler, and when it was no longer too hot to hold my hand there I left the light at that height).
Since this is sort of a catch-up journal now, I will add the last few days of what I have been doing as well.
So the room in the back of the basement has been studded out, and almost a bathroom now. The sliding wall looks professional as hell, and I can't wait to get the magnetic locks for it. I'll feel like a mobster with my speakeasy in the basement. Now I just have to keep myself from setting up a recliner in my grow room, because I know i just love to watch the grass grow.
The girls (for lack of sexing yet) have all been put into the NFT system. That was on the night of December 30th. So they have been in there for just about 4 days now out of the cloner machine.
Nutrient Schedules:
Cloner - 4 gal reservoir - 60 mL BC Boost, 30mL BC Grow
NFT System - 25 gal reservoir - 375 mL BC Boost, 187.5 mL BC Grow
The lights are on 24/7 on the cloner and the NFT System. I have read that marijuana plants are of the C3 variety (more reading to do there) and that they do not benefit as much from dark in the seedling stage. They seem to like the lights on all the time, and I am willing to give my girls whatever they ask for.
Rather than go spend the money right now for another light, I have set up some floros around the 400w MH that I have on the NFT system. Now I know that it is not ideal, but I have already spent too much on the basement for this month, and will just have to wait a bit. The girls seem to be doing okay with the lights right now so I don't have a problem leaving them there.
I plan to take them from the NFT system into a 5gal DWC system for flowering in a separate area, and will update when that happens.
Anything that I have missed, please ask about. This is my first grow and would love some input on anyone that has done something similar.
Here is the NFT System, I saved all this for last, as it may be a wall of pictures. Enjoy!
Pump and reservoir:
One of the mascots (Buddha-cat):
See a pattern here?
Warning: This may end up being a wall of text, I have an hour to kill and ample fuel for a rambling newbie-post.
So I have never grown before. There have been some failed attempts at starting seeds, but I never had anywhere to flower (I think I just like to watch marijuana grow) so things never worked out.
This time is different. I have the space and the time to setup my idea of an NFT heaven for some foliage. So without more ado, here is what I am working with:
Seed: Dank bagseed (was some really heady herb that I had, nice high)
Lights: 400w Metal Halide, 400w High Pressure Sodium, 8x 40w Floros
note- there are plans to add either a 600w HPS to the flower room, or a single 1200w. The plants are not in flowering yet though, so I still have time.
Grow Medium: 4" PVC (sch40) holding plastic cups with 4" rockwool cubes (trimmed to size)
Nutrients: BC (from Tetraflora) Grow, Bloom, Boost (DIY mixing)
Pump: 180gph (I think) it was laying out in the garage and I hooked it up to test the system during a dry-run, ended up being just about what I was looking for. Keeps a film of water on the bottom of the PVC very nicely.
Missing anything from there? Don't think so. Moving on, we have work to do!
Okay, so I germed these little darlings with the wet paper towel in the pickle jar that was in a dark closet method. I'll tell you what, it's the best way I have ever seen to germ seeds. I get to throw all sorts of seeds in there, and pick out the best looking ones in 3 days. Fantastic.
The contraption that I built to house the seedlings will eventually turn into the home for the clones that I will have. Sadly though, I do not have a mother plant yet, and so this was a test run on the cloner machine to make sure it worked. All in all I am thrilled with how it pushed my little girls along.
Basic Cloner Construction:
I used a large cooler that I found at a yardsale ($3)
1/2" PVC for the pipe inside the unit
EZ-Clone Heads from the local Hydroponics Shop
Fountain Pump (was on a gargoyle statue at the junk yard)
11/64" Drill Bit for the cloner nozzles
Plastic Bathroom Cups
2" Rockwool Cubes
Okay, so basically I took the cooler, cut 36 holes in the top, and plugged each one with a plastic cup. In turn, each cup got a rockwool cube to complete the entire set. As I was trying to figure out how to best get the water to the rockwool (while doing the minimum amount of work, mind you
) the idea popped up that I could use a soldering iron on the bottom of the cups. Another trip to the garage and back I came with the grungy soldering iron I had long ignored in the corner of the workshop. A comfy chair, some tunes on the laptop and 20 miunutes later and I have a working cloner that would put any on the market to shame.When the germinated seeds in the paper towel started to sprout a 1/4" stem I took the best looking ones and put them into the rockwool cubes in the little plastic cups without any issues. Sort of stuck them down a bit with a paperclip to hide them from the light. The 400w Metal Halide was set about a foot from the top of the cubes (I held the back of my hand under the light at the lid of the cooler, and when it was no longer too hot to hold my hand there I left the light at that height).
Since this is sort of a catch-up journal now, I will add the last few days of what I have been doing as well.
So the room in the back of the basement has been studded out, and almost a bathroom now. The sliding wall looks professional as hell, and I can't wait to get the magnetic locks for it. I'll feel like a mobster with my speakeasy in the basement. Now I just have to keep myself from setting up a recliner in my grow room, because I know i just love to watch the grass grow.
The girls (for lack of sexing yet) have all been put into the NFT system. That was on the night of December 30th. So they have been in there for just about 4 days now out of the cloner machine.
Nutrient Schedules:
Cloner - 4 gal reservoir - 60 mL BC Boost, 30mL BC Grow
NFT System - 25 gal reservoir - 375 mL BC Boost, 187.5 mL BC Grow
The lights are on 24/7 on the cloner and the NFT System. I have read that marijuana plants are of the C3 variety (more reading to do there) and that they do not benefit as much from dark in the seedling stage. They seem to like the lights on all the time, and I am willing to give my girls whatever they ask for.
Rather than go spend the money right now for another light, I have set up some floros around the 400w MH that I have on the NFT system. Now I know that it is not ideal, but I have already spent too much on the basement for this month, and will just have to wait a bit. The girls seem to be doing okay with the lights right now so I don't have a problem leaving them there.
I plan to take them from the NFT system into a 5gal DWC system for flowering in a separate area, and will update when that happens.
Anything that I have missed, please ask about. This is my first grow and would love some input on anyone that has done something similar.
Here is the NFT System, I saved all this for last, as it may be a wall of pictures. Enjoy!
Pump and reservoir:
One of the mascots (Buddha-cat):
See a pattern here?
