Most effective grow medium for 12x12 room

nathanpunk

nathanpunk

Member
Hey all just prospecting here for a far future potential grow I am working with a 12x12 space which later can be upgraded to a 12x24 space, what grow medium would be most suited for this room so I can start learning that on the small scale, I was thinking dwc but perhaps ebb and flow might be better my ceiling is 12ft also in
case that matters
Also what lights would I be best suited with I was thinking 9 hlg 550s for the 12x12 but am open to suggestions or being told I'm plain dumb :)
Thanks in advanced
 
A

Apalchen

Well-Known Member
If you have 12 ft ceilings your best bet for lights is de hps. Nothing else’s compares penetration wise so you might as well take advantage of your height. I just got my hung and they seriously hurt my eyes just being in there a few mins gonna need some special glasses so don’t damage eyes. The only problem with de hps is heat your gonna need a good AC but your likely to need an AC in a12x12 no matter what lighting you choose if you light up the whole area.
The second best option would be 9 630 cmh, I’d buy the dual bulb ones since they work with Phillips bulbs and they are the best imo.
 
nathanpunk

nathanpunk

Member
Apalchen said:
If you have 12 ft ceilings your best bet for lights is de hps. Nothing else’s compares penetration wise so you might as well take advantage of your height. I just got my hung and they seriously hurt my eyes just being in there a few mins gonna need some special glasses so don’t damage eyes. The only problem with de hps is heat your gonna need a good AC but your likely to need an AC in a12x12 no matter what lighting you choose if you light up the whole area.
The second best option would be 9 630 cmh, I’d buy the dual bulb ones since they work with Phillips bulbs and they are the best imo.
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Thanks for your input, what do you think should be effective ScrOG medium I am strongly leaning toward dwc and have just started reading about rdwc and ucdwc are either of these more effective for a larger scale like this?
 
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Apalchen

Well-Known Member
Not saying it’s impossible for a first grow to use dwc because that’s how I started well 2nd round anyways. DWC works great but there are a ton of issues that can go wrong and it happens quick. So unless you have a lot of money to spend I’d recommend something else because to do dwc right and not have to worry about it you need a chiller.

It all depends on cost and what your willing to put in. Just remember this shit adds up quick and the most important thing is environment and light. So drop the most money you can into getting the perfect environment and good lighting.

Environment and lighting is everything, if they aren’t right then nothing goes as it should.

If you have the money and are certain you wanna do dwc I’d do undercurrent system with a chiller and automatic ph adjustment but I wouldn’t drop a dime on that til I had everything else ready including any wiring,AC, lights, dehuey. And controllers to control all that.

Smart pots with coco and perilite and advanced sensi coco formula will grow some fire herb. Just get a good ppm meter and feed much Lower than recommended. During flower I’m usually in the 600-900 range but I water with nutes every day. I just watch my leaves to decide to go up or down in ppm if leaves start to get very little tip burn I drop the feed down if they start to show any lightening in color or any red/purple on on stems I up the feed slightly.

Also let plants get established and drinking well before watering every day at first right after transplant might be every 2-3 days.
 
nathanpunk

nathanpunk

Member
Apalchen said:
Not saying it’s impossible for a first grow to use dwc because that’s how I started well 2nd round anyways. DWC works great but there are a ton of issues that can go wrong and it happens quick. So unless you have a lot of money to spend I’d recommend something else because to do dwc right and not have to worry about it you need a chiller.

It all depends on cost and what your willing to put in. Just remember this shit adds up quick and the most important thing is environment and light. So drop the most money you can into getting the perfect environment and good lighting.

Environment and lighting is everything, if they aren’t right then nothing goes as it should.

If you have the money and are certain you wanna do dwc I’d do undercurrent system with a chiller and automatic ph adjustment but I wouldn’t drop a dime on that til I had everything else ready including any wiring,AC, lights, dehuey. And controllers to control all that.

Smart pots with coco and perilite and advanced sensi coco formula will grow some fire herb. Just get a good ppm meter and feed much Lower than recommended. During flower I’m usually in the 600-900 range but I water with nutes every day. I just watch my leaves to decide to go up or down in ppm if leaves start to get very little tip burn I drop the feed down if they start to show any lightening in color or any red/purple on on stems I up the feed slightly.

Also let plants get established and drinking well before watering every day at first right after transplant might be every 2-3 days.
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The upscale I am looking at will be from my current 4x8x8 containment, that grow will be my 4th so I am nowhere near an expert but I do have my feet wet and I'm always learning, I already have purchased a 12000 btu portable ac and a space heater rated to heat a space almost twice the size I need to heat, i also have a sufficient dehumidifier, I still need a controller and I have a 14 inch exhaust fan connected to my building that I will be utilizing. So my environment is close to being stable just need a few more items, I'm more concerned what will be the most efficient for water as I am isolated from a main line and need to have it shipped and also what is best for the plants money is not of a big concern
 
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Apalchen

Well-Known Member
The least amount of water that I can think of is drain to waste. It know it doesn’t sound like it cause your not reusing water, but you really don’t need much run off at all. With other systems that hold large amounts of water and reuse them you end up dumping out water and nutrients at least every couple weeks when the water becomes unstable. I am confused on what you mean about shipping water? Do you literally have to get it in the mail? Id say drain to waste with Rockwood cubes is the least amount of water you can get by with.
 
nathanpunk

nathanpunk

Member
Apalchen said:
The least amount of water that I can think of is drain to waste. It know it doesn’t sound like it cause your not reusing water, but you really don’t need much run off at all. With other systems that hold large amounts of water and reuse them you end up dumping out water and nutrients at least every couple weeks when the water becomes unstable. I am confused on what you mean about shipping water? Do you literally have to get it in the mail? Id say drain to waste with Rockwood cubes is the least amount of water you can get by with.
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I have to load my truck and trailer with 55gal drums full of prefiltered ro water then store it in an onsite tank, and honestly I can pay someone to do this for me as often as needed I guess it's not a huge deal now that I'm thinking about it, I know aeroponics on a large scale is too much money for what it would produce (my current grow is aeroponics) so I'm trying to get the best yield and quality while being cost efficient if that makes sense I dont wanna spend 15k on aeroponics when I could spend 10k on dwc and get similar results yeild and quality wise
 
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Apalchen

Well-Known Member
Okay well if you got that kinda money to drop I’d go with current culture with all the bells and whistles. I’d get a chiller, an automatic ph adjuster and auto doser I believe they have their own at current culture. Those systems work great if you got the money to buy all that’s needed to run them properly. I myself can’t afford to buy all that at once and also I like to have my veg plants ready to go into flower when current cycle is done. I think that would be hard to achieve in the current culture but with as fast as plants grow in dwc vegging in the room won’t be that bad.

If you are already running aeroponics then I’d say you will be fine with dwc as on a skill level required it’s similar.
 
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Apalchen

Well-Known Member
Also I’m not sure that dwc yields more over all per sq ft. It yields more per plant which is why it works great with people for plant count limits. Check out highlatitudefarms on Instagram for some impressive dwc grows. I like the rooms where he is running drop light barebulbs with tall ass plants it’s kinda like a vertical grow in a sort of way.

Anyways you could possibly yield more per crop but then you got to think if you are running another kind of system where You can re Load the room and flip right away you can get more crops per year in. Over all the little bit more yield per crop is most likley not gonna make up for 4 crops per year vs 6
 
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